Filmi Review

Rock On!! Director Farhan Akhtar and TV star Prachi Desai's acting debut is directed by Abhishek Kapoor. Quite frankly I expected nothing from Rock On!! As the director's last movie on boxing titled Aryan (Sohail Khan) was poor. A text message from a friend, who had been to the preview show, came as a pleasant surprise. His message read "Rock on is too good. Must watch!" and fortunately that's exactly what it turned out to be.

Rock On!! is about 4 extremely talented musicians; Aditya (Farhan Akhtar), Joe (Arjun Rampal), Rob (Luke Kenny) and K.D (Purab Kohli). The four friends come together to form a band named Magik and are soon on a look out for that big break. Their dream is to make Magik the biggest band the country has ever seen, but they don't make it and due to a misunderstanding they part. A decade later, they come together and continue from where they left off... Rock On!! is about relationships, dreams, failures, fate and life.

Rock On!! has a few similarities to Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai. A part of the story is similar; a group of friends part ways due to a misunderstanding only to come together years later when their lives have changed. But what works for Rock On!! is it's a simple story with a heart and it connects. A refreshing change from all the masala movies that have been dished out over the past few weeks.

Abhishek Kapoor after the disastrous Aryan, has surely worked hard on Rock On!! His execution of the script and attention to detail is perfect. The characters are real, you identify with them. Emotionally too the movie is strong, there are scenes that make you cry. There are a few hilarious scenes, watch the scene wherein the band group perform dandiya.

The music, so important to a movie like Rock On!! is brilliant. The songs are beautifully placed, a great example of how songs add to the overall experience of a movie. Shankar - Ehsaan - Loy, you guys rock!

Like even the best of movies, Rock On!! is not without flaws. The pace is slow and to a certain extent the second half is predictable.

But the performances more than make up for it. Farhan Akhtar proves to be an extremely talented actor. A great debut. Ditto for Prachi Desai. It should be Arjun Rampal's best performance ever, just cant recollect any of his other note worthy performances. He's good throughout, surprisingly great in those emotional scenes. Luke Kenny and Shahana Goswami are good. Purab Kohli is fine.

Rock On!! is a movie that no one should miss!

I confess I am not a rock music aficionado. And I guess I am too young and with too little experience to completely identify with the theme of dreams and aspirations crushed by the cruelty of fate and life. I am perhaps still building my dreams, and maybe that's why I didn't respond as emotionally to Rock On as many others have.

For Rock On is really not so much about music, as it is about following your passion and living your dreams. It is about the regret, disappointment and frustration that inevitably haunt a life fueled by compromise, but as rocker-turned-investment-banker Aditya Shroff (Farhan Akhtar) says in the film- 'Compromise kaun nahi karta?'

The first half of Rock On is too glum for its own good, and having established Aditya and Co. as tortured, unhappy souls, one wishes that the screenplay writers Abhishek Kapoor and Pubali Choudhary spent more time and energy establishing the friendship and camaraderie among the band, and their past journey till when they fall apart. The fun, madness and humour are almost completely missing, and that's where Rock On fails to do a Dil Chahta Hai.

The male bonding just doesn't come across strongly enough, and the film turns soggy, even boring- I mean come on, the rock band in this movie is so unbelievably scrubbed clean, it is not funny- and in that context it is only perhaps fitting that they sing songs with embarrassingly nursery rhyme lyrics that go- 'Aasmaan hai neela kyon, Paani geela geela kyon, Gol kyon hai zameen' and have a name like Magik.

So while there are two instances of some cool great tongue-in-cheek humour- including that hilarious scene where the band is forced to do a dandiya gig to raise money, and another one that takes a dig at the corny and poisonous-sounding lyrics that feature in songs by young rock bands- the film struggles to find its feet and rhythm, uncomfortably shuttling between past and present.

That said, the second half, while equally predictable works way better than the first, and it's really a pity because provided a more solid foundation earlier, it could have worked wonders. The feeling of reminiscence and nostalgia doesn't quite reach our nostrils in the latter part of the film simply because the film doesn't give us enough to reminisce about in the former. Still, some clichés (and-spoiler alert- an unforgivably soppy and unnecessary brain tumour angle) apart, the nicely understated humour, emotional moments and most importantly, the performances keep you hooked on till the neatly drawn and fairly rousing end.

Farhan Akhtar may not exactly be a great singer (and while he doesn't sound awful, I do hope he restricts any future singing to the shower), he impresses with a confident and mature debut performance. Prachi Desai also scores in her big-screen debut, and she is delicate and vulnerable without turning into saccharine. Arjun Rampal (looking every inch a rock star) and Luke Kenny are nicely restrained, while Purab Kohli is his usual endearing and affable self, adding that dose of cheer when the film needs it the most. But the standout here is clearly Shahana Goswami, who despite having a brief role manages to more than make her presence felt, every glance of hers effectively portraying the pain and angst of a woman who sacrifices her own dreams for her family's sake, forced to be harshly pragmatic, take charge and wear the pants in the house as her husband (Rampal) struggles with his failed idealism.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music while decent could have been way better, and the love ballads work way better than the other tracks which lack that quality to lift us off our feet. What really deserves applause is Jason West's superb photography that is as stylish and textured as it is beautifully evocative.

Rock On is a lovely, almost fable-like story that uses music as a metaphor for life and all we hold dear in it, and would probably be loved by many viewers for various personal reasons- and I can completely understand why- because when a film's story touches that chord deep within, the heart takes over the head and the film transcends its cinematic artifice.

For someone like me, however- Rock On is, after all, another movie and there is no denying that the cinematic potential contained within the story is far from exploited to its fullest. Rock On takes way too long to take off, and when it finally does, the sheer adrenalin rush we deserved from this film is missing, and hence, while Abhishek Kapoor's second film is a laudable effort which often surprises you with its subtle layering, it does fall short, and that makes me feel sad- for this could truly have been Magik.

Balaji Motion Pictures the producers of C Kkompany promise to entertain with the comedy featuring Tusshar Kapoor, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav and Mithun Chakraborty. Sanjay Dutt has a small role; Celina Jaitley has an item number. There are also a host of television actors in special appearances.

Akshay Kumar (Tusshar Kapoor) is a crime reporter, Ramakanth Joshi (Anupam Kher) is a retired accountant trying to deal with his ungrateful son and Lambodar (Rajpal Yadav) are friends. These three share their respective plight with one another and find solace in each other's company. On one occasion, they play a harmless prank to tackle their problems. One thing leads to another, and before they realize, the incident becomes news.

But things don't stop there. They put their new founded fame to good use, and this in turn triggers off a series of incidents, which propel them to such heights that the three become the talk of the nation. Things get beyond their control, and the three are left with no choice but to be mute spectators to their newly acquired fame, especially since no one knows their identity.

Was Ekta Kapoor trying to promote her television soaps through C Kkompany? Quite a few renowned television actors from her serials make an appearance. The movie takes several digs at her K serials and what's more Ekta Kapoor herself makes an appearance. We have an underworld don (Mithunda) who gets all emotional and sheds a bucket of tears while watching Ekta's tele-soaps.

There are spoofs on almost everything. Amitabh Bachchan and his Kaun Banega Crorepati, under world, Karan Johar, Talk shows... the list is endless. Unfortunately though, nothing is funny or entertaining. The dialogues are some of the worst I have heard in recent times. The lesser said about the music, the better.

The only positive about C Kkompany is the performances by a few actors and no prizes for guessing who. Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav and Mithuna stand out but you can't expect them to rise above the below average script. Tusshar Kapoor is poor, as expected. His mannerisms just don't work anymore. It's really high time he quits acting and gets into production.

Raima Sen is wasted. Although she looks beautiful and those super expressive eyes are enough to make you fall in love with her.

To sum up, C Kkompany is poor in every department; except for decent performances by the veterans, NOTHING is worth a mention.

The biggest strength of this gritty espionage thriller is also its primary weakness. So real and bleak is the world of espionage created by writer-director Mani Shankar, that you wonder if the sheer sexiness of being a spy that we saw Dharmendra and Tom Cruise experience in "Aankhen" and "Mission Impossible" was a cinematic hoax created to hoodwink us into believing in the heroic hi-jinks of people who risk their lives for the sake of national security.

"Mukhbiir" creates a universe of continual searching and annihilation, where heroes are made and unmade with the passage of one bullet from gun to temple, and god help the temple.

The young protagonist Kailash (Sammir Dattani) is young, vulnerable and so brutally thrown from one ruthless organisation to another (legitimate or otherwise) that at the end of his anguished journey in search of a self-identity, we want him to be liberated of the pain that seems to be his only constant companion.

The characters come and go in episodic eruptions. Silence is Kailash's final ally.

What "Mukhbiir" does to the spy genre is to turn it inside out. We aren't looking at James Bond's stirred-and-sexy world of the spy who loved the good life.

"Mukhbiir" takes us into the murkiest depths of the espionage business where survival isn't a craving. It's a fugitive option offered to a few lucky ones.

Luckily, for the gripping and gritty script, the protagonist is a boy-man constantly thrown into situations of severe uncertainty and terror. The tension never slackens.

The reluctant young spy survives by sheer instinct and guts. The screen time is segregated into various episodes from Kailash's life as a government informer in action.

The shoot-outs, somewhat amateurish in their chaotic eruptions, do not define the protagonist's life as much the human contact.

Every encounter written for Sammir's character creates a new level of existential summit in his doomed life until we come to the finale where on Kailash's life (and death) hinges the survival of a city.

The director fills up the awkward ill-defined spaces in the narrative with pockets of humour and bridled drama all signifying the dynamics of an individual life's relationship with a troubled and violent society.

The final dialogue on Islam and violence between Rahul Dev lingers after the film.

Mani Shankar's storytelling is highly original. There're no false moments in the discursive yet clenched drama of dissociation where Kailash becomes so distanced from his original identity that he eventually forgets who he is.

The powerful script lets us know there is no mercy for the weak in this grim and unsettled world of espionage and extremism. The two fatally-compatible worlds meet in strange eerie places where Kailash's masquerade as a man removed from his natural roots is so complete you wonder if he can ever go back to a 'normal' life.

Immense warmth and empathy are created in Kailash's interactions with people like his mentor Om Puri who first tutors Kailash into being a mean machine and then lets the poor boy loose in a world where death is the only certainty.

Alok Nath, Suniel Shetty, Raj Zutshi and Sushant Singh play various other characters, who come in and out of Kailash's life, with wonderful warmth or wickedness.

There's also a bit of diverting romance in Kailash's life when the pretty Raima Sen shows up for a while and departs, leaving the desolate protagonist to his own devices.

But it's the mentor-turned-tormentor Om Puri's relationship with the boy-man-misinformed-informer that holds the plot together providing it with a sensitive centre.

The sequence where the Mukhbiir must watch his mentor being tortured and then kill him with his own hands without giving the game away is devastating in its intensity and impact.

Mani Shankar's narration provides the hero's journey from disembodied salvation to abject doom and near-damnation with an energetic reined-in adrenaline that flows across the narrative's veins in restrained motions.

What you go away with is the protagonist's pain heartbreak vulnerability and an untraceable reserve of inner strength that he uses to survive in a constantly treacherous world.

The doom and the doomed eventually merge into one in "Mukhbiir".

Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Prachi Desai
Direction: Abhishek Kapoor



Come, go off your rockers. Vibe to the Zeppelinish scene, ignite a purple haze, bang a thousand tin cans, heaven’s knocking at your door. Here’s a ‘today’ movie with slay-the-guitar riffs. And band member tiffs.

The cool news is that the Abhishek Kapoor-directed Rock On!! (did a numerologist insist on the two exclamation marks?) is hard candy. You love it, especially in the pre-intermission segment. And the uncool news is that you do have some massive reservations. It’s the performances are of the highest order. Farhan Akhtar doesn’t exactly have a range of expressions to display but is more than competent and convincing. Arjun Rampal gives his angst and ecstasy a lifelike edge. Way to go! Ditto Purab Kohli who has a sprightly screen presence. Luke Kenny, for his first time out, is remarkably in sync with his character.
about as much pure rock as a woolen sock.

Imagine a rock band which doesn’t even know about drugs, doesn’t touch a cigarette and generally behaves like aunties at a high tea party with cucumber munchies. Really, for rock music, the group Magic is so squeaky clean that it’s CUTIE POOH.

And innagadda-da-vida can you call the Ehsaan-Shankar-Loy music ‘rock’? Only by pumping up the volume madly or comparing it to a wedding band’s. And the lyrics, man! Javed Akhtar, also glimpsed in a photo-frame, writes about Sinbad the sailor, laundry bills..taash se heart ka king….chandni ka ring.. na na na na. Na na is right.

Now, if you don’t mind a simplistic script, incredible tragedy (brain tumour strikes) and thousands of resemblances to Dil Chahta Hai , then you’ll be fine. Because at the end of the show, you’re rocked, shaken and stirred. Also, there are nostalgia-oozing references, say to the vintage hit I will survive. And there’s that stray Bob Dylan album cover and vignettes of group bonding, reminding you of the music and friends that were.

Here boys meet boys, form Magic a glitter pop-ish band, win a V-channel contest, are asked to make compromises, squabble and go their separate ways. Lead vocalist Adi (Farhan Akhtar) becomes a buttoned-up executive and ignores his sweet halwa wife (Prachi Desai, appealing). Lead guitarist Joe (Arjun Rampal) becomes bitter, just hangs around and is constantly berated by his wife (Shahana Goswami, excellent). Drummer K D (Purab Kohli) sleepwalks at his father’s designer store, and keyboardist Rob (Luke Kenny) composes jingles for Anu Malik. Oh, oh.

Ten years later, despite differences, the Magic friends kiss, hug, make up and head for that V-channel contest once again (presumably, V’s make-compromises policy has altered). Suffice it to say, the last concert is terrific, marvellously photographed by Jason West and performed with livewire zeal by all the four Magic members. The styling, the locations and editing are all upbeat.

In fact, the performances are of the highest order. Farhan Akhtar doesn’t exactly have a range of expressions to display but is more than competent and convincing. Arjun Rampal gives his angst and ecstasy a lifelike edge. Way to go! Ditto Purab Kohli who has a sprightly screen presence. Luke Kenny, for his first time out, is remarkably in sync with his character.

Yeah, so Rock on..four exclamation points.

Cast: Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra
Direction: Kabeer Kaushik



He’s sullen, an eyebrow is permanently arched and the lips are tightly-shuttered. A man of few words and moods, Chaman aka Chamku (Bobby Deol) has been programmed to kill. To be fair, director Kaushik orchestrates several action scenes with chutzpah, along with Tinu Varma. A slug-out on a train, for instance, pushes you to the edge of the seat.

Director Kabeer Kaushik, who earlier helmed the gutsy Sehar, is not a smooth storyteller this time. Picking elements from Zanjeer (child watches family murdered) and the French jawbreaker La Femme Nikita, he strives to tell you about a kid who grows into an adult, programmed by the government, to kill. So far, so bang-bang.

Trouble bubbles at a shopping mall when Chamku finally sees the thakur (Snake Eyes) who had exterminated his family. Flashback, flashback, flashback. Too many, and also there’s an excessive use of fade-outs, which slacken the pace.

The romance between our male Nikita and Priyanka Chopra is strictly sing-song-sang. The project could have been a gutsy, feel-angry actioner like Ghayal. En route, Kaushik lost himself in the back alleys of the screenplay and couldn’t find his way out. Surely Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra could have done with better-written roles and some chamak in this Chamku.

Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Raima Sen, Balaji Telefilms Signboard
Direction: Sachin Yardi



Hello, this must be the first of its genre in the world – an entire movie devoted to making fun of its flagship concern, Balaji Telefilms.

So KMithun KChakraborty, shows up behaving like Don Muthuswamy, who’s nuts about the K-serials. Saas-boo-hoo, he goes, and flirts with Sakshi Tanwar whose latest role is as a plastic surgery bandage.

Anyway, Don’s reign is threatened when three dumbos (Tusshar-Anupam Kher-Rajpal Yadav) become the town’s new extortionists. How that happened would require a University College course in Lunacy.

Anyway, you see Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Raima Sen and Celina Jaitly running in and out of the movie. Chances are that you’ll be doing just that. Or you could just watch the ceiling lights on the multiplex Kceiling.

Cast: Sameer Dattani, Om Puri
Direction: Mani Shankar



Eerily, the subject is similar to Chamku. A hapless kid is transformed by the Establishment into a killer-cum-informer. Alas and alack, in director Mani Shankar’s script, there’re so much gloom that you feel even your life’s under doom machale doom.

Neither the visuals nor any department of technique elevate Mukhbiir beyond the commonplace. Characters mushroom and then become instant soup, like Suniel Shetty who’s hit by more bullets than yesteryear’s Coolie. Om Puri shows up in one of those bizarre roles (he even pretends to be a street beggar) which he isn’t likely to highlight in his bio-data.

The last 10 minutes are directed with a certain amount of passion. But that’s it. In other words, you can walk in very, very late into Mukhbore if you must. Incidentally, Sameer Dattani is quite efficient and vulnerable. Surprises never cease.

REVIEW


It may be cos I had watched Bruce Almighty, I found God Tussi Great Ho amazingly boring & bad attempt of cloning the same. Just mix Indianised copy of Bruce Almighty + Overacting of Khan Brothers + Mistimed Songs and you got God Tussi Great Ho. Forget Salman matching Jim Carrey even Big B didn't matched Morgan Freeman's performance The whole movies is just crap and sheer wastage of time and money The worst thing is that theres no skin show, no kiss from priyanka




RATINGS

If I give Bruce Almighty I'll give God Tussi Great Ho


VERDICT

Don't bother to download 700MB for it

Director Rumy Jafry's directorial debut pretends to say something deep and indelible, but ends up being as profound as a bowl of soggy noodles staring at you for edible nirvana.

Arguably one of the most botched-up comedies in recent times, "God Tussi Great Ho" takes us into territory that the Khan brothers - Salman and Soahil - have been together in David Dhawan's "Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya".

The cartoon-like cat-and-mouse game between Salman and Sohail to get the perky Priyanka Chopra's attention is completely devoid of zing despite the familiar ring. Though admittedly Sohail, who's rapidly emerged as one of our most delightful comic actors with films like "Salaam-E-Ishq", "Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya" and now this where he gives big brother a run for his money, takes the lead.

The in-house channel war between the two Khans is reminiscent of Shah Rukh Khan-Juhi Chawla's comic competitiveness in Aziz Mirza's hugely underrated "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani". In fact, Sohail is wickedly inventive in a plot that pulls the characters down with each creaking push of the writer's pathetic pen.

Who wrote this garbage? You wonder. And why must Amitabh Bachchan be subjected to this sort of tripe trip at this juncture of his career?

After Rishi Kapoor in Kunal Kohli's "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic", it's the Big B's turn to play god on a set that has a cascading waterfall, cotton-candy clouds and Salman suitably dressed in a formal suit.

What's missing is the fizz in this askew cocktail. As a writer Rumy Jafry is on shockingly shaky grounds. Just like Salman's Volkswagon, which changes colours from drab pink to bright red in the second-half when Salman gets godly powers from the 'real' god.

Never mind. Because Priyanka's nose-ring changes from left nostril to right.

That's about all that the narrative gets right in the trite second-half.

The second half of the film is so crummy and scattered that you wonder what happened to the director. Was he on leave while god ghost-directed the second-half?

Appalling in structure and abysmal in content, "God, Tussi Great Ho" is somewhat bearable for Sohail's comic aptitudes. And yes, Priyanka is easy on the eyes.

Wish our directors would know where to stop before comedy becomes a travesty.

Mindless entertainers seem to be the statement makers for a long time now. Adding to the list is 'God Tussi Great Ho' directed by Rumy Jaffrey. The movie stars Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Sohail Khan in the lead. The movie has been in the making for a long time now. The promotion has been low key, any hopes?

Arun Prajapati (Salman Khan) has been trying to be a successful TV anchor but success has always eluded him. He only blames God for this. Arun is head over heels in love with Alia (Priyanka Chopra), who is a TV anchor and well-known star working in the same channel but he has never been able to express his love for her. Destiny plays a cruel game with him when Rocky is appointed as an anchor for the channel. Arun starts believing that Rocky will win over Alia. Circumstances go out of hand for Arun and he gets thrown out of the channel.

He has nobody to blame but God. And very soon he has an encounter with the God Almighty. An argument ensues between the two. God then decides to give Arun the power to run earth for seven days as Arun claims he can do a better job. After Arun becomes God, he becomes successful. He puts Rocky into an uneasy spot and wins Alia's heart. Also, he grants everybody's wish, and much to his dismay this becomes the biggest problem of his life.

A few moments of laughter and fun is what God Tussi Great Ho is all about. The director has etched in some crazy scenes here and there in a plot line that makes very little sense with few songs attached to add to the runtime of the movie. The first half is spent in telling us about the failures of our hero Arun and how he gets the power of God. After all this, you expect a good second half but it disappoints. The pace is slow and the songs in the later half are bad! A few scenes between Salman Khan and Anupam Kher are good. But that is all the movie has got to offer. As a whole, although entertaining, it fails to hold the viewers attention. It's the script that lets the director down more than anything else.

Cinematography is good. Dialogues are very hilarious at times. Music by Sajid-Wajid is strictly okay, doesn't live up to their usual standard.

Coming to the performances, the movie hardly has any scope for the actors except Salman's character. Salman Khan has the meatiest role and he carries it off like he usually does. His chemistry with Anupam Kher is good. The legendary Bachchan can carry off any role and he suits the role of God. Anupam Kher is great. Priyanka Chopra's role doesn't demand any acting talent. Sohail Khan is okay.

Overall, God Tussi Great Ho is an average entertainer. A few funny scenes make the Bruce Almighty rip-off worth a dekho for Salman Khan fans.

Ah. Finally, it has come- that breeze of fresh air, that booster dose of good, genuine and honest cinema that keeps our cynicism in check, that removes the horrible bitterness that follows months of suffocatingly plastic films that leave you gasping for breath and hope.

Hope comes this Friday in the form of Nishikant Kamat's heart-hitting Mumbai Meri Jaan- hope not only for the future of Indian cinema but also for peace and humanity. A magnificent tribute to the much-abused 'Spirit of Mumbai', Kamat's first Hindi feature (after helming the much acclaimed Dombivli Fast) could be well called India's answer to Crash, but this original and superbly written and performed film deserves better- praise on its own terms, and not through ubiquitous comparisons.

Mumbai Meri Jaan is based on the tragic bomb blasts that hit Mumbai on July 11, 2006, targeting the very veins of the city, the local trains and shaking up the very heart of the city. But rather than being a scalpel that opens those wounds, Mumbai Meri Jaan acts as a healing balm, one that gently rouses and lifts the spirit.

Writers Yogesh Vinayak Joshi and Upendra Sidhaye create a detailed, engrossing script that's thoroughly real, relatable and laced with compelling characters and a wonderful sense of humour- at once both full of comforting warmth and tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. With the backdrop of a terrifying tragedy, the journey of the six main characters of the film vividly delves into the human psychology of fear, hatred, frustration and acceptance. The writing is intelligent, sensitive and serves as a showcase of topical issues without being didactic or preachy, and salutes the city of Mumbai without losing objectivity.

The terrific ensemble cast (one of the best assembled in a Hindi film in a long time) does more than justice to the painstakingly drawn characters, and the performances are all first-rate. Soha Ali Khan couldn't quite take the weight of her demandingly complex character in Khoya Khoya Chand, and she is a lot more in command here playing a journalist who has no qualms about turning stories of human suffering into sensational scoops until a personal tragedy makes the tables turn on her in an almost surreal manner while she looks on helplessly.

Irrfan Khan crafts yet another gripping portrayal as a Tamilian coffee vendor who struggles in frustration to find space for himself in a city that seems to no longer want him. Kay Kay Menon is brilliant as an out-of-work computer salesman who is on the fringes of being a fanatic, underlining his performance with his trademark deadpan comic timing. R. Madhavan is nicely subtle and understated in his role as a man scarred by the blasts and fractured by fear. But the best parts of the film are undoubtedly the ones featuring the Guru-Shishya pair of cops played awesomely by Paresh Rawal and Vijay Maurya. They complement each other beautifully, Maurya's hot-headedness and raw vulnerability serving as a perfect foil for Rawal's character, who with experience has learnt to deal with the unfairness of life with humour.

Maurya is a revelation, but it is Paresh Rawal who stands shoulders above the rest with a humble but towering performance. Each wrinkle on his face reflects the wisdom, pain and understanding accumulated over years of a career with no apparently significant achievement (At his farewell, all that his immediate senior can muster in praise of him is that he cracked wonderful jokes). But while he may not know it, it is he who truly embodies the unbeatable, resilient spirit of the city, and that is his real accomplishment. What joy it is to see one of our country's most skilled and underused actors finally feature in a film that does justice to those vast reservoirs of talent lying wasted all this while. Rawal is good as gold, and in a film full of delicious dialogue he is given to best lines, and he delivers them with the calm assurance of a veteran. Even when the film teeters towards tedium, Rawal is the jaan of Mumbai Meri Jaan keeping the film throbbing and alive.

Technically too, the film is first rate- while the fact that Kamat's direction is outstanding is a given, Sanjay Jadhav's gritty camerawork splendidly captures the ethos of the film and the city, and the background score is resonating, quite like the film itself.

Yes, the film isn't without it's faults- the Soha Ali Khan track is a tad weak and unconvincing in comparison to the others - why she would willingly allow herself to become a victim is something one can't really fathom completely, and the writers' keenness to wrap up everything neatly means that the film is about 15 minutes too late by the time it reaches its wonderful culmination. But quibbles aside- it's still an experience that's not to be missed, and besides, when art mirrors life so closely and beautifully, it's only apt that it too, like life, is forgiven its minor imperfections.

"Mumbai Meri Jaan" is a sincere attempt to capture the aftermath of the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai's local trains that ripped apart the city's lifeline on July 11, 2006, killing 80 innocent commuters and leaving scores injured.

By recounting the individual trauma of a few of those affected, director Nishikant Kamat tries to delve into the genesis of communalism through the everyday life of Mumbai's common people.

Though Kamat's objective is noble, he succeeds in his enterprise only partially in terms of communicating to the viewers what he intends to say.

Although the movie ends with Hindus and Muslims of the city regaining their trust in each other, what precedes is a tale of hatred, distrust, helplessness and anguish, a tale which is also about ineffectual police administration, unconcerned and unfeeling about the woes of the common men.

In essence, the underlying theme of "Mumbai Meri Jaan" is to show the city's mood in the face of odds. But that does not come off on the screen as convincingly as it should have.

Scenes are repetitive and the delineation sketchy. Before one can absorb the mood of a scene, it dissolves into another of the same nature.

Perhaps, by intention, the script has no strong characters, because the writer's objective is to present Mumbai as a composite character, a city braving the after effects of the blasts.

The only character that stays with the viewers is the one of a Hindu fanatic played by Kay Kay Menon. The actor delivers the goods by his convincing portrayal of man obsessed with his hate-Muslim campaign.

As constable Tukaram Patil, a symbol of decadence in the police department, Paresh Rawal, as usual, acquits himself splendidly. The performance of Vijay Maurya in his role of Sunil Kadam, Patil's younger colleague, but who is diametrically opposite to him, is praiseworthy.

Soha Ali Khan actually springs a surprise in the movie by giving a realistic performance in a deglamourised role of Rupali Joshi. She plays a TV reporter, who is traumatized by the devastating effects of the train blasts in which she has lost her fiancé. Kamat has extracted the best out of her so far.

R. Madhavan, as Nikhil Agarwal, an IT professional, and Irrfan Khan, as Thomas, a roadside coffee vendor, do the best within the limited scope the script provides them.

Madhavan moons about India's future and Khan does his best to spite the country's mall-obsessed middle-class, but why he does so is not clear.

In sum, "Mumbai Meri Jaan" is the director's tribute to the spirit and resilience of Mumbai and its people. The theme of the movie is commendable, but the narration lacks spontaneity. This is because Kamat wants to tell the story through the lives of too many people, so that, by doing so, he loses the thread here and there.

Nevertheless, the movie is worth watching. A movie like this helps society to introspect, to find its strength and drawbacks. Better still, it helps Hindus and Muslims to understand each other better.

Professionals of the VFX studio, Tata Elexi, deserve kudos for simulating the blast sequences with awesome reality. This one sequence would be enough for the viewers of "Mumbai Meri Jaan" to comprehend the brutality of the murderers, otherwise known as terrorists.

With Phoonk Ram Gopal Varma has promised to scare the hell out of the viewer. The buzz around Phoonk was mainly due to the 5 lakh prize money awarded to the individual who succeeds in watching the movie completely, alone in the theatre. The movie also has a superstar from the Kannada Film Industry, Sudeep.

"Phoonk" is the story of a confirmed atheist whose belief systems are shaken up when his loved ones are subjected to unspeakable horrors by forces whose very existence his rational mind refuses to accept. It is also the story of a fanatical devotee who is forced to turn her back on God in the face of traumatic experiences.

"Phoonk" is also a very scary film, but the fear element is not just on the surface level like for instance in a film like "Bhoot". Here it seeps into you and plagues your entire belief system thereby making you highly vulnerable and will also put you into an emotional state wherein you would start fearing the most inane objects which you would normally take for granted in the daily course of life.

I have always believed the post-intermission portion of a movie is most important, as it makes the last impact on the viewer. An average - above average first half followed by a great second can carry a movie through. Phoonk just falls short in both. The first half is poor. Forget about scaring you it's at times funny. Quite a few people in the crowd were actually making fun of a few scenes, mainly because a few unnecessary scenes in the first half are irritating. The second half is strong, very engaging but falls short of being perfect. 3 - 4 scenes make a strong impact, climax is a letdown.

The camera angles in Ram Gopal Varma movies are really getting annoying now. Also how does the director expect to build fear in a viewer by capturing shots of toys? It's anything but scary. The background music irritates at times.

The performances, apart from Ashwini Kalsekar are decent. Sudeep a veteran actor from down south does well. Ahsaas is fantastic. Zakir Hussain hams in a few scenes. Amruta Khanvilkar is good.

On the whole, the only horror release of the year disappoints. The poor direction in the first half lets the movie down. At the box-office, the movie should recover its investments given its low budget and the curiosity the movie has managed to create.

Movie: Phoonk; Cast: Sudeep, Amruta Khanvilkar, Ahsaas Channa, Kenny Desai, Ashwini Kalsekar and Ganesh Yadav;
Director: Ram Gopal Varma;



Phook reminded me of a hilarious episode of decade old Jaspal Bhatti’s comedy show Ulta Pulta, aired on our National channel, where the comedian tries to make a thriller and is surprised to win an award for Best Comedy Film for the same flick. At least you can say this for the first half of Phook where instead of getting scared one would laugh his/her heart out. After seeing the promotions of Rs. 5 lacs prize money for the person watching this flick alone, this wasn’t been expected from a proven director like Ram Gopal Varma.

The story of the movie revolves around Rajeev, a successful Construction Engineer with loving wife, and two children aged 10 and 8. Rajeev is an atheist to the core. He scoffs at God and even more at people who believed in the dark forces till one day when an evil is let loose in his happy home threatening to destroy his family and shake up the very foundations of his convictions and belief systems.

The movie starts with some funny camera angles and annoying music and that keeps repeating in the whole first half. Unnecessary sound effects and weird close up shots are simply unnecessary. Known to create an unexpected shock for the viewers by use of his creative camera angles, Ramu has failed to live up to his expectations this time around. In a desperate attempt to create horror, RGV has added some unnecessary horrific scenes in the movie.

But the same couldn’t be said for the second half of the film which seems to be pretty impressive, leaving few things aside. It surely makes people quietly sit at the edge of their seats. The scenes are so powerful that no one in the audience dared to utter a single word.

On the acting front, the little kid Ahsaas Channa is pretty impressive. She is really brilliant in the 2nd half. The others have also given a good performance leaving apart Ashwini Kalsekar, who is really irritating in the first half. Her laughter is more like someone screaming loudly in your ears and trying to kill you with that.

Background music is surprisingly good while the camera work would really have been much better. After all it plays a very important role in the making of a horror flick. I really wish first half was as good as second one. It looked like first half was directed by some sub standard director while the second half was handled by RGV himself. With many young and talented directors making their debut in Bollywood, Ramu really needs to deliver some good stuff soon, if we want to enhance his career in Bollywood.

To sum it up; the movie was not so bad not so good, but it could have been made really well if they had taken care of the first half. I mean, if you can’t add fear in the mind of people then at least don’t make them laugh, it’s supposed to be a horror movie.

This film means to be quirky, cute and comical. It ends up being a crashing bore. And the sound of the crash that you hear could be those plaster-of-paris props that adorn the stage where the cast enacts the worst version of K. Asif's imperishable romance "Mughal-e-Azam" ever conceived.

As often happens, the film must have sounded so much better on paper. All the accomplished actors who constitute the vast cast must have got the joke and agreed to do this intended satire about the goofy adventures of a stage troupe during the week of the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

Alas, Asif weeps in his grave. And so do we.

This is a political satire combined with a naughty comment on theatrical infidelity with Paresh's sexy wife Mallika being wooed by a smitten Rahul (suitably wide-eyed and far removed from his Mallika-driven affections in "Pyar Ke Side Effects").

Kay Kay, who had done a serious gritty film on the bomb blasts in "Black Friday", slips into its satirical interpretation with astonishing fluency. As a bumbling cheesy ghazal singer with terrorist links (remember Naseeruddin Shah in "Sarfarosh"?), Kay Kay brings a sparkling tongue-in-cheek quality to the goings-on, a sparkle that the film doesn't deserve. It fails to earn itself the committed devotion of such a distinguished cast.

Pavan, another fine actor, is also delightfully over-the-top as a sleazy gangster who gets as confused about the characters played by Kay Kay and Paresh (a bit of Kundan Shah's "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron" here) as we are about this film's intentions.

Is this a theatrical film on play-acting? Or is it meant to be a cinematic interpretation of theatrical hi-jinks? Be that as it may, while Kay Kay goes from "Black Friday" to goofy Friday, Mallika (god bless her costume designers) goes from "Murder" to blue murder. Watching her do a re-mix of "Pyar kiya to darna kya", Madhubala must be smirking in her grave.

If Mallika's "Murder" on infidelity was a path-breaker (at least as far as sexual audacity goes) her attempts to flirt from the pokey stage with her besotted spectator right under her suspicious husband's watchful eyes can at best be described as "Pati Patni Aur Woh" gone to the dogs.

Chhel has always been a capable wordsmith. As a director, he had his polished moments in "Khubsoorat" where Sanjay Dutt turned ugly duckling Urmila Matondkar into a swan.

One is never sure if Mallika is the duck or swan in "Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam". All one knows at the end of this horrifically hammy ode to a hammy theatre company's outrageous attempts to save Mumbai from the underworld (yeah, but who saves us from this film?) is that there is no more than perhaps seven minutes of bonafide humour in the entire tale.

The dialogues are either dreadfully double-meaning or primary school gags. RDX and R.D. Burman are equated for laughs. But the film has neither Burman's melodiousness now the explosive quality of RDX.

Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat
Direction: Sanjay Chhel



Probably inspired by Kundan Shah's classic Jaane Bhi Dho Yaaron director Sanjay Chhel who penned movies like Rangeela directs Maan Gaye Mughall-e-azam with an interesting star cast. We have Mallika Sherawat, Rahul Bose, Kay Kay Menon and Paresh Rawal.

Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam is a mad, contemporary comedy involving a drama troupe - Kalakar Natak Company. They produce socially relevant, thought-provoking plays, which no one understands and hardly anyone sees. But the actors of this natak company believe they will change the society one day and everyone will say, 'Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam'. The theatre group gets involved with an undercover agent who is working on saving the country from a bomb blast. One by one they come forward to help and are eventually instrumental in making a deadly game plan to save the world.

From the first few initial reviews, most critics have thrashed Maan Gaye Mughal-e-azam. So I watched it with no expectations and it turned out to be better than it's made out to be. Sure, the sets aren't great and the movie has a B-Grade feel to it but few scenes here and there are rib tickling. The dialogues and performances by the lead actors make the senseless story watchable.

The music by Anu Malik is poor. Seriously, he has been way below average in his last few music albums.

Paresh Rawal, as the lead actor of the theatre group who is married to a hot young babe (Mallika Sherawat) is in top form. The veteran makes you laugh with his mannerisms, expressions and comic timing. Kay Kay Menon for some reason disappoints. Pawan Malhotra is okay.

Rahul Bose can't match Paresh Rawal but does manage to put up a good show. Mallika Sherawat does what she usually does in most of her movies, look hot and flaunt her cleavage to the maximum possible.

To sum things up, Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam is not as bad as I expected it to be. There are a few scenes which make you laugh out loud. Performances are decent. At the box-office, the movie could do better business at the B and C centers. It's a movie more for the masses. More of a DVD watch, so wait for the DVD to be available on rent.

Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat
Direction: Sanjay Chhel



Sanjay Chhel’s Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Azam is too lengthy a title to announce to anyone, to type and then to watch. You actually performed all those feats to conclude that you shouldn’t have. Never, never, never.

Although Chhel can be a sparkling dialogue writer, here both his lines and direction are as flat as week-old beer. Evidently, inspired by Ernst Lubitsch’s 1942 comedy, To Be or Not To Be (wow, man what sources!), this Mallika-e-Azam is about her bare back, bling costumes and a plot that would need a research team to deconstruct.

All you know is that a hammy theatre troupe, spearheaded by Paresh Rawal (oof, even he can’t save this) is trying to get hammier. And they do when they are joined by a RAW agent (Rahul Bose) and then an ISI baddy (Kay Kay Menon). What they say (loads about RDX) and what they do (try to be Lubitsch meets Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro) aren’t worth half a chuckle. You just sit there, as round-eyed as the Phoonk maid-servant , and hope this Moan Gaye.. will go away like the monsoon flu.

Indeed, the words ‘the end’ have never looked more precious..

Mumbai Meri Jaan
Cast: Paresh Rawal, Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan
Direction: Nishikant Kamat



His moustache more salt than pepper and bemused with the ways of the police force, a senior cop is about to retire. And at his modest farewell function, he delivers a speech that knocks you out of your seat. Touching on quite a few of the pitfalls and ironies of Bombay – from malls at former mill areas to dreams of migration turning into nightmares -- it’s the kind of Paresh Rawal, as the retiring cop, in fact turns out to be the sturdiest track of Nishikant Kamat’s sarcastically-titled Mumbai Meri Jaan, alluding to a ’56 song from CID. Mr Rawal is fantastic, belting out a performance that’s not only world class but a text book in acting.
speech that’s delivered every day, at various farewell parties, in various spheres.

Paresh Rawal, as the retiring cop, in fact turns out to be the sturdiest track of Nishikant Kamat’s sarcastically-titled Mumbai Meri Jaan, alluding to a ’56 song from CID. Mr Rawal is fantastic, belting out a performance that’s not only world class but a text book in acting.

And he is flanked by Vijay Maurya, as a rookie cop, who is also nothing short of extraordinary. Besides these two absolutely garland-worthy performances, Kamat’s report on the before and after scenario of the local train bomb blasts in July 11, 2006 – in which 209 were killed and 700 injured -- has heart. As importantly, it has a mind which cannot delete a devastating tragedy from his workfile.

Kamat analyses the reasons behind the devastation. Sensibly, he doesn’t offer quickfix solutions. The stories of disparate lives, like Life in a Metro but with a sense of purpose, weave into a tapestry of tragedy. The screenplay by Yogesh Vinayak Joshi-Upendra Sidhaye works seamlessly as it has a point of focus. Also, Kamat’s direction is Hercules-strong, be it while depicting the blasts or the charade played by a tea vendor from Tamil Nadu, on a row of shopping malls. A bit dangerous to show the modus operandi of hoax calls, but the vendor (Irrfan Khan, excellent ) does redeem himself, to underscore the point that there’s a reason behind every crime, big or small.

The storylets of the cops and the tea vendor work. So does that of a Muslim-hater (Kay Kay Menon) but for that unconvincing all’s-well-let’s-share-a- chai denouement. In addition, the shock of the byte-obsessed TV reporter (Soha Ali Khan, credible ) is poignant when the tables turn on her.

Of all the accounts, it’s the numbness of a white-collar worker (Madhavan) which isn’t quite plausible. Why would a man who has gone through a near-death experience hide this from his family? Also, the background music for this section– with an incessant electronic beep – makes you plug your ears. Again, in an effort to cram in too much, there’s a gratuitous look at an NRI’s condition in the U S, which in any case comes across loud and clear in the dialogue.

Yet, the sheer power, concern and the guts of such a close-to-life effort far outweigh the flaws. Technically, Sanjay Jadhav’s camerawork is inspired. The result is serious, strong and sharp at a time of Kinng-sized entertainment. There’s room for every kind of film. And this fist-packed one asserts that there’s more to cinema besides jumping on and off helicopters.

Cast: Sudeep, Ahsaas Chanana, Crow, Dog, Cat, Owl, Nimboos, Bones
Direction: Ram Gopal Varma



Owl scowls. Meow, a cutie pie black cat sits by a roadside. A maid-servant’s eyes become rounder than water melons. Granny nods, nods, nods (in different degrees). Smiley ball smiles (naturally). Chauffeur guzzles booze and looks through a window like Ranjeet the Rasputin would in the 1960s. And dear child Ahsaas suddenly decamps to gape at a crow which doesn’t even caw in a tribute to the silent movies. Perhaps.

That’s Ram Gopal Varma’s Phoonk which is essentially about Baby Ahsaas developing a male voice like Sonu Nigaam’s and behaving like Linda Blair from The Exorcist. Chill, guys, she doesn’t barf out dehydrated pea-soup like Blair did. Our Linda just lies in a bed, driving her parents (Sudeep-Amruta Khanvilkar) crazy-hazy. That means Lilette Dubey, like Victor Bannerjee in Bhoot, fetches up as a psychologist to say something about “psycho dissassociative disorder.” So much medical research, it’s touching.

Don’t be taken in by Psycholette though. It’s actually voodoo being practised by a portly nerd and his cackle-cackle wife. Enter an Exorcist, with eyes hitting the ceiling, who does a number on Linda, Ahsaas, whoever. And lo, you want to rush out and gape at a crow. Real-life ones even caw caw.

Standard Ram Gopal Varma horror dish, this. Better spend the ticket money on gaping at fried fish. Or better still, even eat it with a phoonk and knife.

Bachna Ae Haseeno is special. Ranbir Kapoor is cast opposite teen deviyaan Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone, Minissha Lamba. It's produced by a premier production house, the credits read 'Story by Aditya Chopra' and most importantly, it's helmed by Siddharth Raj Anand, who merged form and content so beautifully in Salaam Namastey and Ta Ra Rum Pum. The expectations, therefore, are humungous.

Before we go any further, let's clear a misconception at the very outset. Bachna Ae Haseeno is not inspired by THE BACHELOR [the industry feels so, hence this clarification], but it bears an uncanny resemblance to the yesteryear film TEEN DEVIAN [1965; Dev Anand, Nanda, Kalpana, Simi Grewal] and Telugu film Naa Autograph [Raviteja, Bhoomika, Mallika, Gopika, Kanyaka]. Of course, Chopra and the screenplay writer try to be different and any resemblance with any film could be purely coincidental.

Now let's move on! Bachna Ae Haseeno has a great cast, great chemistry amongst actors [so sizzling, it could melt butter], great locations [jaw dropping actually] and some great moments. But all these factors combined together don't make a great film. Bachna Ae Haseeno suffers, to a major extent, due to its screenplay running out of steam in the second hour.

The gist of the story is truly captivating -- the guy is a complete flirt, he wears his heart on his sleeve. Enter three women in different stages of his life. Love is in the air. Two dream of marrying him, but he ditches them and the third, whom he intends marrying, says a blunt 'No' to the offer. Heart-broken, the guy realizes his folly and plans on doing prayashchit. He goes back to the first two women and apologises. Wow! A story to bowl you over indeed!

Bachna Ae Haseeno has splendid moments in the first hour. In fact, the three stories, minus the culmination of course, are beautifully told in the first hour itself. There're some attention-grabbing moments in this hour [details later] and you genuinely feel exhilarated after having watched those portions.

Now to the second hour -- the guy repents for his misdeeds and years later, goes back to the first two women in his life. That's where the problems surface...

From the writing point of view, the first story [Minissha] is given an appropriate and beautiful culmination in the second hour. But the second [Bipasha] and third [Deepika] stories face rough weather. These stories don't work and therefore, colour your judgement on the movie. Like it happens with most Hindi films, the writing is the culprit here as well. It lacks the power to keep you hooked in the second hour.

In a nutshell, Bachna Ae Haseeno could've been the ideal youthful entertainer, occupying the position that Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na enjoys amongst the yuppy crowd. But as things stand now, it's a great looking film with nothing outstanding about it. Strictly okay for a single watch, that's about it!

Meet Raj [Ranbir Kapoor]. He falls in love thrice...

The film talks of three love stories: Raj and Mahi [Minissha], Raj and Radhika [Bipasha], Raj and Gayatri [Deepika]. Different ladyloves at different times in his life. And each of them teach him a little bit about love and a little bit about life, in their own sweet, sexy or sassy way.

Director Siddharth Raj Anand knows the craft too well by now and his handling of the romantic and emotional scenes is worth appreciating. Take the sequence at the airport -- Minissha stands stunned listening to Ranbir's tale of 'conquest', with tears rolling down her cheeks. The silence says it all!

Note the sequence when Ranbir woos Bipasha, but eventually dumps her on the eventful day. It's raining and Bipasha just can't come out of the shock. The silence is deafening! Note yet another tragic end to the love story, when Deepika refuses the wedding proposal from Ranbir. Flashes from the past come alive at this point. It couldn't get better!

Post-interval, Ranbir's story with an already-married Minissha and her husband is equally moving. Ranbir's apology looks convincing and the culmination to this chapter couldn't be better. Ranbir moves on to Bipasha and it's here that the writing begins to go downhill. She's a wounded tigress and no amount of cajoling or apologies from Ranbir would melt her. So far, so good! But the path she uses to teach Ranbir a lesson is weird, sorry ludicrous.

The third story, with Deepika, is written in haste, one presumes. The girl suddenly has a change of heart and wants to marry Ranbir, she even writes to him everyday, not knowing that he's out of town. The culmination to this story is amateurish and one wonders whether the writer was in a tearing hurry to end the movie since the 2-hour mark had already been crossed.

Directorially, Siddharth Raj Anand offers stunning visuals and some really fine performances, but is letdown by the script. Vishal-Shekhar's music is just alright, nothing to rave or rant about. Barring 'Khuda Jaane' and 'Lucky Boy', the remaining songs don't have a lingering effect. Cinematography is a class apart. Besides, the cinematographer gets some spectacular locales and he does complete justice to it. Dialogues are good at times.

Ranbir Kapoor is marvellous. An incredible actor. One will run out of adjectives and personifications describing his performance. Amongst girls, Bipasha Basu stands the tallest. First RACE and now Bachna Ae Haseeno, the actress is finally getting the right roles that do justice to her talent. Also, she looks fab! Minissha doesn't work at the start, but scores in the emotional scenes, especially in the second hour. Deepika is a sore point. Her role isn't convincing and that's the reason why this performance doesn't work. The only consolation is, she looks gorgeous.

Kunal Kapoor is supremely efficient, handling his role with utmost maturity. Hiten Paintal is a revelation, a talent to watch out for. His camaraderie with Ranbir is top notch.

On the whole, Bachna Ae Haseeno has an interesting first half, but a weak second hour spoils the show. At the box-office, thanks to the hype built around the film, the opening weekend should be great, but beyond that, has tough chances of sustaining. Multiplexes at some big centres would be better, but that's no consolation.

Source : IndiaFM

His first film, the brazenly artificial “Saawariya” — a kind of Bollywood “One From the Heart” — was a box-office flop and undeservedly panned. But it didn’t hurt Ranbir Kapoor’s career. He’s a star, and he carries “Bachna Ae Haseeno,” his second movie, playing Raj, a Don Juan who woos three lovelies: the innocent Mahi (Minissha Lamba), the ambitious sexpot Radhika (Bipasha Basu) and the self-possessed Gayatri (Deepika Padukone).

An amiable romantic comedy with fatal attractions to primary colors, glorious scenery (locations include Switzerland, Italy, Australia and even India) and 360-degree pans, “Bachna” starts too cute. But it grows more serious and interesting as it contemplates the various permutations of romance in a culture with rapidly changing sexual mores. Does Radhika lose Raj because they have sex before marriage? Can Gayatri have a career, a love life and some kind of freedom?

Mr. Kapoor doesn’t fully convince as a cad. He comes into his own, though, in the remorse and redemption sequences. Blame it on his puppy-dog sweetness, a quality that will serve him well as a Bollywood leading man. And Ms. Basu helps, contributing some believably bad comic behavior when Radhika becomes a pampered, ill-tempered movie star.

About that excellent title tune, with its chugging, catchy horn riff: it conjures some groovy bell-bottoms thriller, and no wonder. It’s a retooled version of a song from the 1977 film “Hum Kisise Kum Naheen,” composed by R. D. Burman, a powerhouse who wrote more than his fair share of Bollywood’s best music. That movie’s star? Rishi Kapoor, Ranbir’s dad.