Trust Bollywood to lift a fine film like Luc Besson's Leon and make a complete hash of it.



Bichoo is the ugly Bollywood version of the charming 1994 Jean Reno-Natalie Portman film Leon a.k.a The Professional.



Bichoo stars Bobby Deol as the cold hitman Jeeva who takes in his neighbor Kiran (Rani Mukerji) after her family is wiped out by the bad guys after her father skims off some of their money.



Kiran wants revenge on the bad guys for killing her brother and asks Jeeva to train her in the art of using firearms. Meanwhile, the folks who wiped out Kiran's family are out to get her since she is the sole witness to the heinous crime.



In The Professional, Luc Besson sensitively explored the relationship between Jean Reno and Natalie Portman Bichoo director Guddu Dhanoa handles the Bobby Deol-Rani Mukerji relationship in a crude and garish manner.



Bobby Deol can't even seem to dance, a requirement that's a minimum in Bollywood.



Avoid this film even if you have nothing else to do in life. It's that bad. ... More ... Collapse

What a delightful movie.



In Bend it like Beckham, UK-based director Gurinder Chadha has fashioned an outstanding comedy that meshes an original story and fine acting by the key players.



Jessminder Bhamra a.k.a Jes (Parminder Nagra) is the younger daughter of UK-based Indian immigrants Mrs.Bhamra (Shaheen Khan) and Mr.Bhamra (Anupam Kher).



Much to the consternation of her conservative Sikh parents, particularly her mother, Jes has a strange passion for an Indian girl - an obsession with playing football.



Obviously, Jes' idol is not a Bollywood hero but the British football star David Beckham, who can supposedly "bend" the ball like nobody else.



To Jes' mother, her daughter's love for football is incomprehensible. You see, all the mother wants is for Jessminder to be like a normal Indian girl - learn how to cook Indian food like Aloo Gobi or round chapatis and marry a nice Sikh boy.



Another football-crazy girl Jules (Keira Knightley), who plays for the amateur Hounslow Harriers club sees Jes playing in the park with the boys and arranges a meeting with her coach Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who tells Jes she has potential and invites her to join the club.



Although forbidden by her parents to play football, Jes sneaks away to play the game, an obsession that almost throws the spanner in her sister's upcoming marriage.



As if playing football was not enough to send her family up the pole, Jes is also attracted to her White coach Joe much to the dislike of her pal Jules, who is also smitten with the guy.



UK-born Parminder Nagra has put in a solid performance as the young girl Jes conflicted by respect for her tradition-bound parents and her passion for football.



Who can forget the memorable line from Jules' mother struggling to make sense of her daughter's passion for football - The offside rule is when the French mustard has to be between the Teriyaki sauce and the sea salt.



Deservedly, Bend it like Beckham won a whole bunch of awards. ... More ... Collapse

Dei gratia, Bollywood has delivered one of those rare watchable movies in Being Cyrus.



Tackling the unusual theme of a dysfunctional Parsi family, Being Cyrus eschews the jaded five dances-four songs-three fights Bollywood formula.



Being Cyrus' finely crafted story assembles a rich cast of unusual characters, of whom the most interesting is Cyrus Mistry.



Playing the apprentice Cyrus Mistry to an aging, dope-smoking pottery artist Dinshaw Sethna (Naseeruddin Shah), Saif Ali Khan has once again delivered a memorable performance.



Dinshaw lives with his frustrated wife Katy Sethna (Dimple Kapadia) in Panchgani, a hill station near Mumbai. Katy is sick of both her old husband and Panchgani and yearns to move to the happening city Mumbai.



Cyrus' arrival sets the stage seemingly for Katy to seek pleasure in younger arms.



Then there's Dinshaw's cantankerous and domineering brother Farokh Sethna (Boman Irani), who lives with his timid wife Tina (Simone Singh) and senile father Fardoonjee Sethna in a decrepit building in Mumbai.



The movie alternates between the two estranged households in Panchgani and Mumbai plumbing the unhappy depths of both families.



With these oddball characters, nothing is what it seems on the surface. Then, there's a murder most foul adding a bizarre new dimension and contributing ultimately to an unexpected ending.



What adds to the allure of the movie is the rather matter-of-fact manner in which the story is narrated by Cyrus himself in flashback.



Besides Saif Ali Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia and Boman Irani also throw in fine performances.



While the Shahrukh Khans, Salman Khans and Aamir Khans may currently be bigger Bollywood stars, Saif Ali Khan is emerging as the better actor. After his notable performance in Parineeta, Saif Ali Khan again serves notice of his remarkable talents with Being Cyrus.



The first film of Homi Adajania as director, Being Cyrus provides welcome relief from Bollywood's intolerable tripe parade. ... More ... Collapse

Inspired by the Hollywood film ‘Return To Me’, Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha is about a happily married couple (Salman and Preity), and a heart patient (Bhumika). Salman’s life is thrown into depression after the shocking death of his wife. And just when it seemed that all life interests have gradually waned inside our hero, there comes Bhumika into his life. For some strange reason, Salman feels drawn towards Bhumika. It is much later that he comes to know that inside Bhumika beats the heart of the woman he loved the most.The chief flaw of Dil Ne Jise is that it has been poorly written.

Salman’s performance in the movie is quite disappointing Preity Zinta animates the entire screen with her vivacity in the first half of the movie and Bhumika does a decent job playing a girl on the deathbed. Atul Agnihotri's directorial debut with DNJAK, is dissapointing. ... More ... Collapse