Fan - Rehne De... Tu Nahin Samjhega.

Story - 

Gaurav a die hard fan of Aryan Khanna, calls himself as the Junior Aryan Khanna from Inder Nagar, Delhi. He has let Aryan Khanna grab the major part of his life & his only aim in life is to meet his idol in person. What happens when he tries to meet his idol? What happens when his obsession takes a dangerous turn? What happens in this battle of Star vs Fan? The answers to this forms the entire film.

Movie -

The first half is decent paced as it firmly establishes the character of Gaurav. Best thing about the first half is it has been kept as realistic as possible. The journey of Gaurav from Delhi to Mumbai has been very well handled & the moment when Gaurav watches Aryan Khanna for the first time is captured superbly. The character of Gaurav is so well written that even his personality speaks to the audience. He's an obsessed fan but a shy lover yet he's an over enthusiastic kid when it comes to his idol. The twist in the tale & the plight of Gaurav when he doesn't understand why he's being punished is yet another master-stroke. The first half ends on an emotional high.

The second half straight away falters by trying to follow the predictable path. Despite that, the intentions of the writer & director is pretty clear. The references between Aryan & Gaurav is well drawn here. The shock in Aryan's face when he fails to understand why he's being punished  is another master-stroke. But then the writers decide to take it too far & the film loses the touch of reality, going completely against the tone set by the first half. The pace considerably dips big time here as there isn't much suspense left. The film picks up towards the climax as once again the two main characters clash & this time it's the emotional clash rather than plain chasing.

The ending was spoiled to me already thanks to the miscreants in the social media. It did lose it's impact but also the predictability of the screenplay in the second half had it's fair share in lowering the impact.

Performances - 

Shah Rukh Khan is at his best as both Gaurav & Aryan Khanna. It's a treat to watch him especially as Gaurav. There are certain moments in first half & towards the end of second half where he just steals the show.  Waluscha D'Souza hardly has anything to do. In fact the supporting cast looked good on screen but they had nothing much to do as the entire film relied only on Gaurav & Aryan.

Plus - 
1. Shah Rukh Khan's bravura performance.
2. The scene where Gaurav watches Aryan outside Mannat for the first time.
3. The jail scene in the first half.
4. The same scene with Aryan in second half in London. Like I said the reference is perfectly made.
5. Gaurav's reaction in the pre-climax.
6. Role reversal. It's not always Gaurav stealing the show, Shah Rukh Khan shows his control as Aryan Khanna too.

Minus -
1. Becomes completely unrealistic in the second half.
2. They took it too far in the second half. Morally it was unacceptable to see Aryan get insulted to such extent.
3. The movie has his heart in the right place but it does go against the film in major scenes post interval resulting in logic take the back seat.
4. Predictability.

Also, the first half of the film set such high standards that second half found it to be impossible to match it.

My Rating - 3/5 (Just for Shah Rukh Khan.)

Final Words - Rehne De... Tu Nahin Samjhega.

Theri - A predictable entertainer that just about works.

Story - 

Joseph Kuruvilla (Vijay) & his daughter Nivi (Nainika) are living in Kerala. The cute girl's teacher Annie (Amy Jackson) is impressed over Joseph. As she tries to get closer to him, certain hidden secrets start creeping up. He's not who he says he is. Now who is Joseph Kuruvilla? Who is Vijay Kumar? What is it that Joseph is hiding in order to protect his daughter? The answers to these questions forms the entire film.

Movie -

Initial reels start of on a simpler & heart warming note establishing the father & daughter characters with their cute little antics. Joseph is the one who stays away from any controversies. Annie (Amy Jackson) hits a goon for misbehaving which leads to the goons running over Annie & Nivika with their car. Annie lodges FIR against the goons & Joseph Kuruvilla's true hidden identity starts to creep up.

The film is completely formulaic masala entertainer that relies on the flashback as the true backbone to the entire screenplay. All in all, it's a simple revenge story that sticks to the basics. The pace of the first half of the film is good as it has enough comedy elements & commercial action elements with proper build up to the hero. The story turns serious with the rape episode & it's handled effectively. The interval ends on a high note yet again for Vijay starrer.

Post interval, the pace dips as it travels through the predictable path. The logic takes a back seat. The flashback scenes once again takes up major screen time in the second half too. Thankfully, there are no extra songs here just for the sake of the presence of another heroine. The last half an hour of the film totally pleases the fans & action film lovers as Atlee delivers what he promised to give in this Vijay starrer.

Performances - 

Vijay is THERIFIC in his role of Vijay Kumar & Joseph Kuruvilla. He has handled both the shades extremely well along with his trademark antics. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is decent. Amy Jackson doesn't impress & gets limited screen space. Radhika Sarathkumar impresses whenever she appears on screen. Prabhu Ganeshan gets hardly any scope to perform. Motta Rajendran uses the given opportunity ably. 

Special Mention to Nainika playing Vijay's daughter. She's a show stealer, extremely cute & lights up the screen every time. Meena's daughter is destined to have a great future. Mahendran has given another THERIFIC performance as the main villain of this film. The ace director shines & looks ever menacing throughout.

Plus - 

1. Vijay & Nainika chemistry.

2. Strong interval block.

3. Very well shot action scenes. Infact more credit to the cinematographer for the quality product.

4. The last half an hour.

5. Tamil directors know to create extra sentiment to tragic scenes. But what works this time is the proper timing of the dialogues.

Minus -

1. Extremely predictable film. In fact there's no suspense left whatsoever 10 minutes into the movie.

2. Amy Jackson looks uncomfortable throughout.

3. Songs don't work at all. Kudos to Atlee to not have an extra song in the second half instead the dance number between Vijay & Amy Jackson is shown in the end credits.

4. A bit too violent themed for a U certified film.

My Rating - 3/5 (Extra 0.5 just for Baby Nainika, she's way too adorable especially her cute dialogue delivery.)

Final Words - A predictable entertainer that just about works. On the other hand, treat for the fans who were extremely disappointed with Puli.

The Jungle Book - The best cinematic experience of 2016 so far.

It's always fun to see our beloved characters come alive on the big screen. It's not just about the nostalgia or our love for the characters / story, it's about taking that journey to the magical land & for those 106 minutes living with those characters. A brilliant novel achieves & despite the visual aid, we rarely see a cinema perfectly achieve this. The Jungle Book falls into those rare list of films.

This 1894 novel has consistently mesmerized generations with it's captivating story & heart touching characters, making our childhood feel like as adventurous as Mowgli's life in the jungle through it's various adaptations through films or tv-series. The world has kept on changing for better & The Jungle Book has stayed on to be the better story each time. Be it the 1942 version or the 1967 animated version, the journey this story takes us has been the same.

Now in the era dominated by CGI & motion capture, this epic story & beloved characters deserved this technology. Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa, Shere Khan, Raksha, Akela are alive on screen & apart from the technology, it's the stupendous voice over by stellar star cast which includes, Bill Murray, Sir Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlette Johansson, Lupito Nyong'o, Christopher Walken & ofcourse Neel Sethi, the young kid all provide the soul to the characters. Thanks to Jon Favreau for doing superb justice to this story, doing the needful changes to the tone of the film. It's a lot darker than we knew The Jungle Book as yet it stays as heart touching & full of fun as ever.

This version of The Jungle Book is a visual treat. I just for fun, re-watched the 1942 & 1967 version films before watching this 3D re-telling of the tale. Having known this story for over 2 decades now & also having re-watched the older gems once again this week, I still felt like being exposed to the characters for the first time. I felt the characters emotions as if it was the first time. This is the magic of cinema. Hats off to the cast & crew for this.

May be I went with the mindset of not wanting to be critical towards this movie. I bought the ticket & just let myself in on the journey of Mowgli. Every other character Mowgli encounters instantly made a connection. May be I didn't want the makers to change the story much. I just wanted The Jungle Book I knew. We're going to have yet another Jungle Book movie next year, so let the changes happen in that version.

Plus -
1. The riveting CGI.
2. Voice over by the stellar cast.
3. Neel Sethi as Mowgli.
4. Initial scenes showcasing the relationship of Mowgli with Raksha, his wolf mother.
5. Shere Khan's entry.
6. Baloo teaching the Jungle song to Mowgli.
7. The entire King Louise episode.
8. Stunning visuals that included landslide.
9. The Elephants.
10. Basically the entire Jungle.

Minus - 
1. The pronunciation of the characters names by the western actors. Also certain words like bandar-log is more relevant as a hindi word to us but it's pronunciation disappoints. Probably the Hindi dubbed version would do more justice to it.
2. Wanted a bit more attention given to Akela. I'm just greedy here.
3. The pace drops a bit in the second half but is made up by action packed climax.
4. As usual didn't enjoy 3D much. May be IMAX 3D would offer something better.

My Rating - 4/5

Final Words -  A visual spectacle indeed.

Sardaar Gabbar Singh - 163 mins long video of self propaganda. Thattukovadam kashtam ra babu.

Story - 

Rattanpur is a village that still has a royal family with their internal feuds. There's a royal villain (Sharad Kelkar), a helpless princess (Kajal Aggarwal) & enters a maverick cop (Pawan Kalyan) who will save the helpless princess as well as the helpless people of the village from the royal villain.

Movie -

Since it's routine screenplay sticking to the basics, the film starts with introducing Sardaar Gabbar Singh as an orphan kid followed by the scenes reserved to establish Bhairav Singh (Sharad Kelkar) character through his heinous atrocities. Following this is the entry of the hero Sardaar Gabbar Singh (Pawan Kalyan) in Indo-Nepal region, ofcourse just for an action scene & an opportunity for Pawan Kalyan to say "Entire India is my jurisdiction". Anyways, the ways of Sardaar results in him getting transferred to Rattanpur. Now that the two characters are introduced, time for the princess Arshi (Kajal Aggarwal) to make her appearance in a scene right away trying to prove how helpless she is. Anyways blah blah comedy.... blah blah comedy in the name of romance.... blah blah an item song featuring Raai Laxmi... blah blah heroism... The stage is set... Bhairav Singh lusts for Arshi whereas Sardaar & Arshi are in love. blah blah, a forced accident scene involving kids to create sentiment for the well hyped interval bang.

Post interval, Bhairav Singh seeks revenge, Sardaar wants to help in things that doesn't concern him (what's the point of him mediating in selling the palace to a businessman, he's a cop for heaven's sake. But again it gives an opportunity to Pawan Kalyan to speak about CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility. Well he knows things people, remember it during next election) & as usual Arshi falls head over heels every time Sardaar shows some heroism. Blah blah comedy, well Brahmanandam is there so can't help. Suddenly, the love affair of Sardaar & Arshi gets revealed, she's royal blood, he's an orphan.. ergo from a lower caste. Oh why! Well an opportunity for Pawan Kalyan to speak up for lower caste people, you can guess the speech.

Enter the final act, Bhairav Singh over powers Sardaar in his own cunning way. Sardaar who is supposed to be more cunning, just doesn't see it coming & falls for the trap. While Sardaar grunts like every honest cop proving himself to be not corrupt, one thing leads to another, Bhairav Singh & Arshi's marriage is fixed. Anyways, during the Sangeet ceremony Sardaar goes there to plead forgiveness (?!) instead he's asked to entertain by dancing only because Bhairav Singh forgot to invite Shah Rukh Khan to perform. Let me admit, the whole Sangeet episode is the highlight of the film just like the antakshari scene in the prequel, Gabbar Singh. Sudden twist leading to action filled climax where it only takes one punch for our hero to win. Seriously?!

Oh yeah, Raja Sardaar Gabbar Singh continues.... Are they really gonna make the third part?

Performances -

Pawan Kalyan show all the way. Kajal Aggarwal looks pretty. Sharad Kelkar tries to look menacing. Brahmanandam tries to be funny. Urvashi succeeds in being funny. Ali is wasted & so is Tisca Chopra. Mukesh Rishi gets a decent role. Sanjjanaa in an almost dialogue less role. Long list of actors who've nothing much to do.

Plus -

1. Pawan Kalyan

2. Sangeet scene. Pawan Kalyan dancing to the songs of Megastar was super fun.

Minus -

Way too many to list.

My Rating - 2/5 (1 star for Pawan Kalyan, 0.5 for the comedy & 0.5 for everybody's dedication to complete remaining 70% shoot since this January)

Final Words - 163 mins long video of self propaganda.

NEERJA - After Bajrangi Bhaijaan, it's Neerja who brings back the tears & the feeling of pride.

STORY - 

Neerja tells the story of a martyr who sacrificed herself to save 359 lives & went onto become an inspiration to million others. The story focuses on the last two days of Neerja's life & the events which transformed her to become a hero.

Neerja Bhanot (Sonam Kapoor) is the youngest daughter of Rama (Shabana Azmi) who has to leave home for work 2 days before her birthday on 7th September. She's the head purser for PAN AM 73 flight carrying 379 passengers to New York via Karachi. A die-heart Rajesh Khanna fan, she's also a well known face thanks to her modelling career. Despite her successful modelling career, she's happy being an air hostess. While she bids goodbye to her loved ones, in Karachi, a group of Libyan terrorists are preparing themselves to hijack the plane in order to demand a release of a terrorist. While the story moves back & forth firmly establishing the scenes from both angles (Neerja's as well as Libyan terrorists), the mood is effectively set. How does one react an unthinkable situation they're forcefully put in? How does Neerja stands out from rest of the people? How could Neerja be that strong at that moment? What did she go through in those hard times? To know all this, watch the movie.

Plusses -

1. Terrific pace of the film. No boring moments.

2. Brilliant performances by everyone.

3. Stupendous direction by Ram Madhvani.

4. Once the hijack happens, there's no stopping. You will not be able to take off your eyes from the screen.

5. A story which must be told.

6. Beauty of the screenplay lies in the fact that all of us no what's going to happen in the end, still effective narration makes us want a fictional ending just to see our hero alive.

Scenes that touched hearts as well as gave goosebumps -

1. The effective mix of scenes - both terrorist attack as well as Neerja's abusive marriage. So nicely used to depict how strong her character has evolved into.

2. The scene where Neerja (Sonam) is holding onto the kids while they say "We want to go to our mom" & she replies "Me too".

3. Zindagi lambi nahi, badi honi chahiye.

4. The scene when Rama (Shabana) is informed about the hijack by her husband & how she tells him to stay strong.

5. The whole hijack episode... goosebumps guaranteed.

6. Such high performance from the actors who played terrorists... Khalil, man oh man... his outburst is so scary that even other terrorists stay afraid of him. That whole scene, kudos to the actor as normally in such films nobody really care to notice the terrorists as the sides are already been chosen.

7. Sonam Kapoor in 3 different scenes - why not mentioning them individually? Because the purpose of these 3 scenes is to show her get control of herself & evolve stronger.

8. The entire climax, completely ruled by Shabana Azmi. The legend shows why she is one. Just her eyes.

9. Pushpa, I hate tears.

10. And the end credits where a bunch of real photographs of Neerja Bhanot is shown. The real Indian daughter. Standing ovation guaranteed.

Special Mention to the Performances - 

This is a role of a lifetime for Sonam Kapoor. What you see is not Sonam instead she makes us believe that she's infact NEERJA. The powerful actress in Sonam Kapoor got unleashed big time. Salute to Shabana Azmi. Terrific performance. It's these two actresses who have made sure justice is done to the real story. Can't imagine any other actress in their place.

A bit of concern on why Pakistan banned this film -  

This is definitely the most shocking decision by Pakistan film chamber. The film depicts Libyan terrorists hijacking the plane & if Neerja is doing her part inside the plane, it's the Pakistani officials & the army that do their honest work to save everyone. There were multiple scenes showing honest Pakistani officials plus it's Libyan terrorists for heaven's sake. Lastly, even Pakistan gave Neerja a bravery award, it's Pakistan that sentenced the 4 terrorists to death initially, later to be changed to lifetime imprisonment. Don't understand what made them hesitate in letting this story to be told in their country.

My Rating - 4/5

Final Words - Don't you dare to miss this flight. The head purser is gonna leave a lifelong impact on you.

Bruce Lee The Fighter - Yet another Sreenu Vaitla misfire !

STORY (What it was supposed to be?) -

A middle class father Rao Ramesh has 2 children, one is Kriti Kharbanda & the younger one is Ram Charan. Their financial status is such that Rao Ramesh can only afford to provide better education to only one kid & he chooses the son over daughter like every middle class families in India, vowing to make him a collector in the future. The good hearted perfect brother at that young age itself decides to sacrifice everything in life for his sister & makes it his goal to make her the collector while hiding all his sacrifices from his father. Now right after his sister writes her civil exam, she gets into trouble in the hands of the villain & how Ram Charan saves her while proving to the villains never to mess with his family is supposed to be the actual story.

STORY (What we're force fed..) -

Okay.. The initial minutes shows the childhood days of the hero & how he sacrifices for his sister to get her all the best things in life. After they're all grown up, we're introduced to Ram Charan who works as a stuntman in films in order to support his sister's education. He dresses up as a cop & fights some goons. Riya played by Rakul Preet Singh watches him fight & falls head over heels because for no reason she's obsessed with cops. (Don't try to remember Ileana D'Cruz in Phata Poster Nikla Hero).  So she puts up his pic on facebook getting over 1 lakh likes which makes the hero search for her. When they meet, it's love at first sight for the hero too & he lies to her that he's an undercover cop. She goes on investigating privately busting crimes & calls Ram Charan for help. He goes to save her & in between kicks all the goons getting them arrested & the illegal crimes taken over to custody by cops who take credit for themselves. Sadly, all the illegal crimes they hit are run by the villain Arun Vijay. (No no please stop trying to remember Phata Poster Nikla Hero).

Anyways, the hero in order to save himself, makes everyone believe that there's a lookalike who is a cop. Problem solved because everybody will believe him right away, no questions asked. There's a lookalike then there's a lookalike, as simple as that. One thing leds to another, Ram Charan beats the hell out of Arun Vijay & puts him in a coma (such a new thing). BAM it's interval which means main villain will enter now who's going to be revealed as Arun Vijay's father who vows to destroy Ram Charan & his family. (No no don't try to remember all the Telugu masala films you've seen so far.) Anyways, the "not a cop" Ram Charan is given the mission to expose the main villain & solve this huge case all by himself. Awww... so sweet of Indian Police in fact intelligence bureau officer to let some stranger take over an entire mission while they sit back just because he's the hero. Oh wait! His sister is involved just to remind the audience that the director does know the actual story about how Ram Charan will do anything for his sister. After all that is the script.

Performances -

Ram Charan does exactly what he has been doing till now. Dances well, a bit more control over himself in emotional scenes, a bit more control over his comic timing but lesser impactful when it comes to punch dialogues. Rakul Preet Singh is sensuous in the songs & that's pretty much she's used for. Kriti Kharbanda is wasted as Ram's sister, she deserves better. Straight promotion to sister roles, feel very sad for Kriti. Rao Ramesh finds it cakewalk to play a father. Sampath Raj as the main villain has got yet another routine role but for a change he gets some comic moments. Arun Vijay as another villain looks menacing (he looked the same as in Yennai Arindhaal) but eventually he's wasted too. Nadia has an important role but not utilized. It was extremely sad to see Tisca Chopra in such a weak role getting slapped by Brahmanandam in the name of comedy. Her introduction scene was awesome but after that she was limited to getting slapped only. Brahmanandam as Suzuki Subramanyam & Ali as PK including Posani Krishna Murali don't evoke laughter as the scenes they get aren't funny. Brahmaji gets a role similar to what MS Narayana has played in Sreenu Vaitla's earlier films. If he was alive then he would've played this role.

CHIRANJEEVI is phenomenal. The MEGASTAR is the real deal. The audience went super mad watching him on screen & he provided the right dose of entertainment in his brief cameo. But then, the whole point of his special appearance is utterly pointless & is done as a last minute attempt to salvage the film.

Plusses - 

1. MEGASTAR Chiranjeevi.

2. Choreography.

3. A bit of fun episodes here & there.

Minusses -

1. Mediocre Direction.

2. The 2nd half of the movie runs haywire. It keeps floating everywhere.

3. Failed comedy scenes in the 2nd half.

4. Routine script.

5. Repeating the formula used in Dookudu, Baadshah, Aagadu again.

• For instance, in Dookudu Brahmi does mono acting of simply showcasing his various expressions in various situations. Here, Ram Charan asks Brahmi to imagine himself to be a monkey & then gives him situations to act out same expressions. Brahmi making faces might be funny but it comes out as Shah Rukh's failed attempt to evoke laughter by making faces in Chennai Express.
• The cop angle... it's the most common thing in all those 3 films too. In Baadshah Jr. NTR will be an undercover cop but here Ram Charan acts as one.
• The routine, join the villains, be with them while fooling them throughout the film using Brahmanandam & others... too boring now.

6. Too much over the top.. 15 mins to deadline to save the dying father & also save the heroine who is held hostage in some other place while the villain plans to leave the country in just 30 mins. Stuntman calls the Megastar for help... Instead of bringing cops, Megastar arrives himself to single handedly beat everyone, save the damsel. But after the fight, the megastar asks the stuntman to go on a slow motion horse ride because "Fans praise Ram Charan to be a good horse rider". The main villain leaving the country in 30 mins can wait... It's India, traffic & all, villain ain't going nowhere even though the road he's travelling is completely empty.

My Rating - 2/5

Final Words - Only for that glimpse of Megastar after 6 years. Don't even dare to expect anything more.

Sreenu Vaitla ain't learning from his mistakes. Period.

HERO - Newcomers get an unimpressive remake to make an impressive debut.

First things first, the magic created by classic originals is impossible to be re-created. PERIOD. And when you mess with the original characters, sketch out a weak characterization to those characters in the remake then you're just not even remotely trying to do justice to the original let alone make a decent film.

Story -
Hero is a remake of Subhash Ghai's 1983 classic of the same name. Sooraj is a certified Goonda (dialogue writers have ensured to stress on this a lot) who kidnaps Radha (Athiya Shetty) who is the daughter of IG played by Tigmanshu Dhulia who happens to have some evidence against Sooraj's dad incidentally played by Aditya Pancholi. The kidnap saga triggers the love story between the Goonda & IG ki Beti, which both their family oppose. How the lovers rebel to earn their deserving freedom forms the rest of the film.

What Works - 
1. Sooraj Pancholi & Athiya Shetty's chemistry.
2. Impressive music.
3. Humor in certain scenes (which are few & far between). Not the unintentional humor, the audience in theater genuinely laughed at those funny lines uttered by Hero's friends & Athiya.
4. The action scenes (not the first one) are appealing.
5. Salman Khan's version of Main Hoon Hero Tera in the end credits. Got the maximum whistles & cheering, nobody moved till the entire song was over.

What Doesn't Work - 
1. Poor characterization which has affected every character in the film & in turn the whole film itself.
2. Weak writing shows it's impact throughout.
3. The friends characters are important. Here they are completely under-utilized. What makes it worse is that it's these characters that contribute to humor in the first half but they're completely ignored for the rest of the film.
4. Predictability.
5. I loved Main Hoon Hero Tera song but here the song is used only in the "background" which personally disappointed me. So Main Hoon Hero Tera song works, but it's usage does disappoint for people like me who wished it to be full blown romantic number picturized on the lead pair.

Performances -
Sooraj Pancholi is a HERO. But he's yet to find finesse in terms of acting which shows in the second half as his characterization doesn't allow him to be more. But he has a great body & voice, dances well & comes in handy during action scenes. He shows a lot of potential. Athiya Shetty proves that she can act but poorly written role limits her from emoting more. Whenever we get to see her acting skills be it romantic, dramatic or funny, those moments are followed up with her mouthing dialogues like "dog faced muppet" which makes it hard to take her seriously. The rest of the characters suffer from faulty characterization & hardly connect with the audience. In a crucial scene, Tigmanshu confesses about him being a disgraced police officer. To feel his pain, there are actually no scenes showing him go through that insult. It's just thrown right at us out of nowhere.

My Rating - 2/5 (A very lenient one)

Final Words - A ready-made blockbuster script deserved better treatment than this & so did the promising newcomers.