Monday, 28 November 2016

DEAR ZINDAGI - A soft heart touching one time watch!

We have a superstar, a good heroine and a strong script.. so we need not shoot in London or New York or any exotic locations, Mumbai and Goa are just fine!
The movie is a feel good film and also an inspirational one for those who have emotional problems in life with solutions for all. We have the perfect characterisation of Alia as the confused commitment-phobic girl of today's time and SRK as the matured and quick-witted psychologist who is professional yet emotional, a couple of Alia's friends who are fun to watch and stereotypical Indian parents who have performed just satisfactorily. A couple of cameos as well which fit in well with the storyline. The film goes on a slow pace throughout which is weak point of the film especially until you see SRK entering. Also, the music is avoidable apart from one or two good numbers. In addition to it, a few product promotions like eBay and Gionee streched to emphasize.
Despite the slow pace, the story is engaging and presentation is pretty good to watch. The highlight is the conversations of Alia and SRK (therapy sessions as they called it) which could have been the weakest if not written and directed well. Gauri Shinde has done a good job to present them so well with some simple and not so filmy yet amazing dialogues to SRK which makes you wanting to see more of such sequences till the end. For the performances, Alia meets the expectation and SRK is the star of the film playing this difficult and not so starry character with so much ease and charm, he has yet another commendable and unexpected performance after ChakDe India and Don. The thoughts about life and explanations of how simple life can be (like the example of buying a chair or expressing love and happiness) are expressed with clarity and conviction.
Indeed this one is a one time watch for all, especially for the emotional ones.
Verdict - 3 on 5


Wednesday, 2 November 2016

AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL - The NRI friendzoned Generation...

Who is the Director? KJo and the cast? Ranbir , Anushka and Aishwarya, sounds great right! How I wish could say the same for the movie. The movie involves an immature one sided lover boy and a defensive convenience playing girl with her trump card of friendship... We have a dialogue saying 'Tum meri duniya ho, mera khandaan ho , sab kuch tum hi ho Par mere Aashiq nahi ban sakte aur main tumse jhut nahi bolungi'. Yes, you read that right!
The 1st half is all about the craziness of two young people trying to be fun but doesn't make you laugh for long. We have a Lisa Haydon as a lusty Bimbo (Girls are smart these days KJo, create some better characters for fun) and the cheesiest dialogues of all times which attempts to be a treat for Bollywood fans and reminds you of epic blockbusters which only include Dharma Productions and Yashraj Banner movies (Kuch Kuch hota hai, Kal ho na ho , chandni ,etc.) Those scenes were bearable only because Ranbir and Anushka acted pretty well despite of those cheesy dialogues. Plus we do not see any originality in the situations, some would remind you of Dharma banner movies,while somewhere seems to be inspired from Rockstar and other Imtiaz Ali movies. 
And before you thought you are depressed with the first half wait for the second. Here we have a gorgeous looking Aishwarya who is apparently a Shayar (Shayara the female of it) and that is visible from her dialogues. Come on you don't talk to a layman in Shayaris and Riddles even if you are in such a profession. Here is a world of NRIs who are filthy rich, no passion to be career-oriented, blessed with great talent... that reminds SRK in a cameo, a great painter who is depressed with his one-sided love for his ex-wife, the scene gives you a glimpse of Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna Returns. And you have a climax which is different, shocking and pathetically disappointing to watch. You start waiting for the movie to end. 
The good part is the performances by all the three actors. Hats off to Ranbir and Anushka for carrying it well so that we could sit and watch it till the end. The heartbroken madly in love type of Hero has only three good names in Bollywood currently - SRK, Ranveer Singh and 'Ranbir Kapoor'. They can make you believe that the character is in extreme pain of love be it any weak script as well. Aishwarya has very few scenes than Anushka which seemed the reverse from the promos. Fawad Khan had hardly anything and his major role was the controversy which gave a boost to the movie publicity. The best part of the movie is the music... We have the title track, Bulleya and Channa Mereya which are the soul of this film. The bestest Music, singing and best lyrics for this year I must say. Indeed you have an unnecessary party song and a punjabi wedding song with a Haldi sequence in a Muslim wedding (Misdirection is ok if its a KJo movie but these elements are necessary for business). 
Overall would say good performances, good music, cheesy dialogues, a weak script and bad direction makes it avoidable. 
Rating - Two stars **