KAABIL - Hrithik Roshan show all the way.

Okay, I am dehydrated & suffering from fever. I forced myself to not cancel the movie plan only because I had booked the tickets 2 days before itself. Boy, tickets are so expensive that I had to take a chance with my current health condition. Thankfully, the situation didn't worsen neither did the film contribute towards making it.

Story -

It's a straight forward revenge drama. The entire plot was already revealed in it's two trailers. So two blind people Rohan Bhatnagar & Supriya played by Hrithik Roshan & Yami Gautam meet on a blind date, fall in love & leading to their marriage. There's a baddie Amit (Rohit Roy) whose brother is a corporator (Ronit Roy) & they ruin the dreamy life the lovable pair are leading. How the system betrays the helpless couple & how Rohan takes revenge on the villains against all odds forms the entire story.

Movie -

The movie begins with Rohan getting to meet Supriya on a blind date(?!). As Rohan says, it is love at first sight (oh come on, I'll get to these dialogues later). Rohan succeeds in charming her over with his cheesy lines & of course a dance number. The proceedings here is smooth & the characters are established in a text book manner. The lead pair though blind are sweet & extremely cute which reflects in their dialogues & action. Likewise the baddie Amit is introduced with a crass dialogue on the blind couple establishing his nasty character & so on. Amit & his friend Wasim, harass the couple which takes a nasty turn. The whole world of Rohan & Supriya is crushed. The two songs don't spoil the proceedings & the pre-interval scene with a powerful dialogue firmly sets up the revenge drama for the second half.

The second half begins on a predictable note. A filler item number is included which does nothing to the storyline. But once again, the song doesn't hamper the narrative. Once you buy into the premise, nitpicking on the logic doesn't matter much considering how convincing the performances are by the lead actor. So the predictable concept succeeds in entertaining with more clap worthy dialogues as well as cleverly handled scenes. The pace does seem to drop due to predictability towards the end but the well inserted twist makes up for it. The film justifies it's run time & no where feels like it is lengthy.

The point to notice is the way Sanjay Gupta has concentrated on the details. I remember a meme mocking Rohan using a candle or a watch. Mind you, those things are integral part to the script & well explained. Likewise it's these detailing which makes the second half an engaging watch ably supporting Hrithik Roshan's terrific performance.

Performances -

Hrithik Roshan has come out with a stellar performance. He's extremely believable & he single handedly carries the film on his firm shoulders. Be it the dramatic moments or the romantic ones, he never misses out.

Yami Gautam looks pretty & again comes up with a decent performance. Even she's believable in her portrayal, complimenting Hrithik throughout.

Ronit Roy doesn't have an exceptional role but it's his portrayal including his accent that leaves a mark. Rohit Roy too is first rate. Narendra Jha is very good as the cop & I wish there was more to the character of Girish Kulkarni, such is his performance. Urvashi Rautela appears in the Saara Zamaana track & just to be honest, it was a bit vulgar mainly because it's just a filler song.

Plusses -

1. Hrithik Roshan's performance.
2. Paisa Vasool second half with powerful dialogues & more seeti maar scenes. Just to reveal one spoiler, the kills are really well handled.
3. Narration doesn't falter & it's easy to buy into the premise.
4. Superb interval scene with powerful dialogue which was shown in the teaser. It's something to watch out for.

Minusses -

1. Highly predictable script.
2. Cheesy dialogues in the entire first half that just sticks out as a sore thumb. And yes, biggest complain regarding the first half will be these dialogues & few other cringe-worthy ones.
3. Camerawork in couple of crucial scenes look artificial both in first half & second half.
4. Logic goes for a toss. If you're among the nitpicking ones then you might not enjoy the film much as the entire film runs on predictable note with even the order at which the baddies die is not surprising.

My Rating - 3.5/5

Final Words - It's a Hrithik Roshan show all the way. What an actor! And the film's dialogue mouthed by him suits the best "Kalakar hoon na... main bhi manta hoon".

Khaidi No.150 - Megastar effortlessly shines in this mediocre remake.

First let me admit, I enjoyed Kaththi. I had watched it first day first show in 2014 & the only reason to watch the remake that too on first day first show is obviously Megastar.

Here's the link for my Kaththi review -
Kaththi Review

Story - 
Khaidi No.150 is a loyal remake of Kaththi with minor changes made which does impact the movie overall. It's about lookalikes Shankar & Kaththi Seenu played by Megastar Chiranjeevi. While Seenu is a thief who has escaped from prison, Shankar is the good guy fighting for the survival of his village. A murder attempt on Shankar leaves him unconscious & provides Seenu an opportunity to escape from the cops. He steals Shankar's identity resulting in his arrest & Seenu takes Shankar's place. As he tries to loot the money by cheating the old people, the truth about Shankar changes him. Now what does Seenu do to make up for his mistake? Will Shankar get out of prison proving his innocence? How will Seenu help villagers to win the legal battle against the corporate firm forms rest of the film.

What is different in this remake is the overall treatment due to the mass elements added just to please the Megastar fans as it is his ambitious 150th film. Brahmanandam as Doberman is included despite having no scope resulting in few comedy scenes that drag. Kaththi remained an action-drama with enough comedy, the dosage of comedy in Khaidi No.150 is tad bit more as even the action scenes are laced with it. The only major change happens in the climax which brings the film down.

Performances -
Megastar Chiranjeevi is a legend. After 9 years gap, he has the same charm, same grace & same hold over his act. He plays the double role effortlessly. A role like this isn't really challenging to the actor of his stature but he does full justice to both the characters. Even now he can give the young brigade, a run for their money. A real treat indeed.

Kajal Aggarwal just like Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the original is limited to the songs. Thankfully the pairing isn't as bad as Chiranjeevi-Trisha in Stalin  & most importantly not much scope to show any chemistry. Much of the scenes she's in is without any dialogues.

Tarun Arora as the main villain lacks the fizz. He doesn't look menacing & even suffers from poor characterisation. To put it simply, he remains no match to Chiranjeevi. Those little moments Neil Nitin Mukesh had in the original is missing here.

Ali plays the sidekick & does his job well. Brahmanandam's character is forcefully added one. Most of the funny scenes fall flat as they remain routine. Posani Krishna Murali too is routine. Nagababu appears as a judge & is watchable.

Director V.V.Vinayak does a cameo similar to that of A.R.Murugadoss in the original. Raai Laxmi sizzles in the Raththaalu song & Ram Charan has a surprise cameo in a song which is bound to get the fans crazy.

Plusses - 
1. Megastar Chiranjeevi.
2. Story that appeals to the masses.
3. Coin fight scene laced with comedy works here. It's a bit longer than the original but definitely entertains.
4. Two dance numbers, though not much of a fan of the audio but on screen Megastar lights up the screen.

Minusses -
1. The treatment lacks the intensity of the original as most of the major sequences lack it.
2. Forced comedy scenes add on to the run time. But it's understandable how everyone wanted to be part of Megastar's 150th film.
3. The highlight speech towards the second half is pretty much toned down here with only Chiranjeevi lifting the scenes. No mention of 2G scam because Chiranjeevi the politician supported the previous government. Basically all the nitpicking is because of these little stuff which shows up glaringly.
4. Climax is a letdown. Kaththi climax was subtle & mature whereas the climax here reminds us of V.V.Vinayak's earlier films Adhurs & Nayak. Shankar getting out of his character was needless.
5. Lastly, the background score. Major reason for many crucial scenes failing to elevate beyond Chiru's attempt.


My Rating - 2.5/5 (additional 0.5 more just for Megastar)

Final Words - Boss is definitely back. Wish V.V.Vinayak had Boss's back.