Hostility has its own burden to carry, and no country can ever feel the trauma of war as much as Afghanistan; the war-ravaged land with its barren expanse laden with land mines has a history that is difficult to encompass or for that matter even touch upon appropriately in a two-hour film; the crossed interests of Russia and America, with the much feared and discussed Taliban and their extreme ways, and the jihadis of the world lending a hand to a people that have been torn by poverty, ignorance and foreign invasion, are not easy topics to address. Alas, Kabul Express is a journey that doesn’t even make a sincere attempt to address this history, placing its protagonists against the disturbing times of an unfortunate nation, and playing up anti-Pakistan emotions to illustrate the meddling of Pakistan in another neighbor’s history, while other meddling nations’ roles that are far more significant have been conveniently ignored or simply made passing mentions of.



The film rings of jingoism, even through two Indian journalists, versus Pakistan, and plays to the galleries with scant regard for the ramifications of such an interpretation, with much of its humorous approach misdirected. It is set post 9/11, and attempts a satirical approach to the subject, commenting on everything, from the sensationalism of wartime journalism and its risks, to the human side of a religion misinterpreted and misrepresented by the western world, to the strange emotional bonds that develop when humans at cross-purposes spend time in proximity with each other. But while Danis Tanovic’s No Man’s Land illustrated ably the futility of war and conflict through its searing and smart narrative, the acidic black humor hitting bull’s eye between the viewer’s heart and mind, Kabir Khan’s Kabul Express (or should one say Yashraj’s Kabul Express, as this is one attempted artistic endeavor that appears to be driven by commercial needs to appeal to the lowest common denominator, which doesn’t really work for this kind of cinema) fails miserably.



To belabor the Taliban, oft references to them and their cruel ways, is strewn throughout the narrative; and the nation’s emotions towards the Taliban is also spelt out, when Afghanis are seen beating up Talibs with extreme cruelty, reducing the perpetrator to the inhuman level of the victim itself. Herein lies the problem, as more important and consequential dramatic points are overlooked in the process, which is a mistake a film like No Man’s Land never made, taking the Balkan conflict but addressing war and humanity on a metaphorical level.



Well, as the cut-line succinctly puts it, two Indians, one American, one Afghan and a Pakistani (the Talib) are on a journey together. So you have John Abraham’s Suhel Khan and Arshad Warsi’s Jai Kapoor teaming up with Linda Arsenio’s Jessica Beckham, Hanif Hum Ghum’s Khyber and Salman Shahid’s Imran Khan Afridi (superb casting, except for John, who is a bit of a misfit in this powerhouse performance club). Actors from their own region are playing the respective roles and this really works, with Salman Shahid giving an exceptional performance, closely matched by Arshad Warsi. The mix of languages, again like No Man’s Land, also gives the film its own realistic feel that hasn’t been seen in Indian cinema to-date. Without getting into the story details, this journey is spent in a limited amount of time, and is quite interesting, if all the minus points mentioned above can be overlooked; and a comparison with the vastly superior No Man’s Land may be a bit unfair, but Kabul Express so shamelessly borrows from the Oscar-winning film that this comparison is inevitable.



The film’s strength is its technical brilliance, with Anshuman Mahaley’s lensing simply superb, capturing the sand and the mountains of Afghanistan in all its sun-soaked glory. The direction is also sharp, with some great acting being extracted from the players effortlessly, but it’s the director’s writing that is a let-down.



The constant power struggles that are endemic to human nature, with the man wielding the gun turning victor or simply winning any argument, is not used well as a metaphor in Kabul Express, though one feel’s that the maker’s intention was surely there; and the balancing act of cutting finely between the heart-rending reality of the plight of the Afghans and the inherent humor of placing two quick-witted Indian journalists in this difficult terrain facing abduction, is largely messed up. Furthermore, the “who started it?” question that forever crops up in all conflicts is grossly misdirected. For an attempted satire of this kind, this is its greatest shortcoming. ... More ... Collapse

We have seen many actors who have been referred to as one film wonders and yet one can not help but try and understand why director Chandra Barot was never able to repeat the magic he created with Don. Don is in every way a superlative film which not only has strong performances, great music, crisp writing (courtesy the dynamic duo Salim Javed) and also introduces audiences to the excellent storyteller in Barot.



Don begins, true to its title, as the story of one of the most powerful men in the business of crime, who in spite of being one of the most wanted on the list of the Interpol, remains elusive to the police. Don (Amitabh Bachchan) is not a typical Hindi film negative character; he is understated and yet dominating, a man of few words who is stylish yet not flashy, he represents a negative character who you just can not hate, as his sophisticated and sharp intelligence makes you actually envy him. Along with the police, he makes a few other enemies through his merciless approach to running his organization especially when he kills one of his own men, Ramesh, when Ramesh decides to leave the business. This introduces Don to two new enemies, Kamini (the sizzling Helen) Ramesh’s finace and Roma (a ravishing Zeenat Aman) Ramesh’s sister. While Kamini seduces Don and attempts to have the police arrest him, her plan backfires as Don outsmarts her and the police in his escape, and in the process Kamini loses her life. A shattered yet revenge seeking Roma enters Don’s gang after proving that she too is on the wrong side of the law and will not hesitate in taking the life of even a cop. This “jungli billi” appeals to Don and he allows her to work for him, without realizing her true intentions. Meanwhile after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at nabbing Don, the police finally succeed, but unfortunately Don dies during the pursuit, endangering ACP D’Souza’s (Iftekhar) plan to reach the source of all crime, the man Don reported to, through capturing Don alive. D’Souza buries Don’s body so that it remains unfound, ensuring that people believe that he may still be alive, and as luck would have it, D’Souza remembers his chance encounter with Vijay, a simpleton trying to survive in the hustle and bustle of Bambai nagariya in order to support two small foster children, who bears a striking resemblance to Don. D’Souza hatches a plan to transform the Banarasi paan loving Vijay into Don, and place him back into the crime nexus, but this time as a police informer.



Don returns to his gang, albeit while suffering a bout of amnesia at around the same time that JJ (Pran), just released from jail, begins his mission of revenge against D’Souza and his search for his children Deepu and Muni, who had been saved and taken care of by Vijay. While Roma is hell bent on eliminating Don in order to avenge her brother’s death, she is suddenly introduced to the fact that Don is dead and the man she is trying to kill is actually Vijay. Meanwhile as Vijay learns more and more about Don, his life and his contacts through his discovery of Don’s diary and Roma’s help, he announces to his colleagues that his memory is back and he remembers that he is Don and meanwhile hands the diary over to D’Souza. Celebrations ensue, as Don announces his return to the world, but things take a drastic turn when the police raid the celebrations, and Vijay’s only witness to his true identity, D’Souza ,dies in the crossfire and now Vijay is tangled in a web of confusion where the police refuse to believe that he is Vijay not Don, whereas his underworld gang realizes that he is indeed Vijay and not Don, and hence Vijay is now not only hated by the police, but also by Don’s righthand man Narang and the rest of his gang. To add to Vijay’s woes, Don’s diary which he had handed over to D’Souza and is his last hope of proving his innocence, is stolen by JJ in an attempt by him to track down his lost children, without realizing that Vijay is the one man who can reunite him with them. Vijay escapes the clutches of the police and the underworld with Roma’s help and transforms back into “chora ganga kinnarewala” but with a sword hanging over his head as he struggles to prove his identity and innocence. The climax reveals a shocking twist in the tale where Vijay discovers who is truly on his side, and who is against him.



Don boosts of a fast paced narrative with one event logically leading to the next without the pace dropping at any point (in fact the pace seems to continuously pick up from one nail biting scene to the next), along with remarkably well etched characters. The contrast between Don and Vijay is cleverly crafted and Barot chooses to introduce each character in a simple, natural manner, without the traditional dramatic introduction sequences of the hero and heroine. Barot craftily interweaves several stories without distracting the viewer from the main plot and intersperses the songs at perfect intervals, ensuring the songs help carry the narrative forward. The screenplay is nearly flawless and dialogues are smart, leaving memorable dialogues like “Don ko pakadna mushkil nahin namumkin hai” and “mujhe uske joothe pasand nahin the” etched in the viewers memory much after watching the film.



Several scenes are extremely well crafted including the sequence in jail post Vijay’s attempts to reveal his true identity and Narang realizing that he is telling the truth, to the subsequent sequence in the police jeep where Vijay intentionally antagonizes Don’s gang in an attempt to engage a reaction and mastermind his escape. Another engaging sequence is Vijay and Roma’s get away leading up to Khaike Paan Banaraswala as is the climax which reveals the identity of the true criminal mastermind. Actually the film is filled with one memorable sequence after another.



Amitabh Bachchan is probably the only actor who can be the perfect Don and yet be the perfect Vijay in the same film, allowing the contrast of the characters’ personality to clearly emerge. What is remarkable about Bachchan’s performance is that he enacts both characters in a manner which ensures that neither are over the top or clichéd; he portrays Don in the most subtle, understated, stylish manner where he delivers dialogues without overacting and yet ensuring that they remember etched in the audiences mind and Vijay in a manner which brings across his simplicity and innocence and yet manages to exhibit a certain degree of intelligence and sheer courage. Zeenat Aman is the perfect mix of feminism and aggression which truly defines the character of Roma and no other actress would have fitted the bill of this character. Pran is superb in a role which makes the audiences hate him and empathize with him at the same time; hate him because you know his actions have led to a deeper grave being dug for Vijay and yet you know his motivations and intentions are not evil and that he is at the mercy of circumstance. The film is ably supported with strong performances by Iftikhar, Om Puri and Helen.



Here is a film which in spite of being a masala fair, is not just entertaining but reminds the audiences that a good script, great direction and strong performances are the backbones of good cinema. ... More ... Collapse

This year has seen the release of many films which have catapulted Hindi films to the level of international cinema. Films like Rang De Basanti, Omkara, Lage Raho Munnabhai. Jaan-E-Mann and even to a certain extent Krrish and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna have reaffirmed that fact that great cinema can also be entertaining. However, the year has also witnessed many films which came no where near close to even good cinema and at the same time could not even entertain the audiences. At the same point in time, this year there have been films which were anything but good cinema and yet they had a certain quality to them which made them remarkably entertaining; Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal is a perfect example of this type of cinema. Make no mistake, Apna Sapna Money Money is not a case study of good cinema nor is it even as entertaining as Golmaal, and yet the sheer premise of the film, its characters and the hilarious situations which ensue make it an entertaining film.



The film’s title is slightly misleading in that not everyone’s ‘sapna’ is money. However, the events occur in a manner wherein all the lead characters’ dreams somehow get linked to money or rather to a stash of stolen diamonds. Carlos (Jackie Shroff) is an underworld king who sends his mole Sania (Celina Jaitley in surprisingly one of her best performances till date) to purchase some diamonds from a seller. However inspector Namdev (Suniel Shetty is an inconsequential role) is already on her tail and so instead of taking a flight from Goa to Mumbai, she hops on a train where she meets Kishan (a very versatile Ritesh Deshmukh) in one of his numerous disguises. With Namdev hot on her tail, she dumps the diamonds into Kishan’s back noting down the address and it is from here that multiple stories of mistaken identities, stolen diamonds and parallel love stories take over to create a chaotic, senseless, at times confusing, yet amusing plot.



Flaws are in abundance in terms of the screenplay and at times some of the antics do get on the audience’s nerves, especially Rajpal Yadav’s Sarkar act in the “tabela”. The double meaning jokes are at times a bit over the top especially the scene wherein Kishan (as Sania Aunty) is in a room with Pandit (Anupam Kher) trying on shoes while the people outside the door misinterpret the conversation. But there are some scenes which are genuinely funny like several portions where Kishan pretends to be Arjun’s (Shreyas Talpade) aunt. However the poor screenplay, the innumerable characters, the lack luster dialogues and weak performances by most of the cast (aside from Ritesh, Celina, Shreyas and Anupam Kher) leave the audiences wondering what Sivan was trying to achieve with this film especially considering that it is a Mukta Arts Production. In spite of all the minus points of this film, the plus point is that it is meant to be an entertainer for the ‘janta” audience and we are sure that this film will be loved by them and will even evoke whistles and cheering from the single screen front benchers.



Ritesh Deshmukh has been showing consistent improvement since his debut film Tujhe Meri Kasam, and his flair for comedy is very evident, a fact which his performance in Apna Sapna Money Money reiterates. It is nice to see Shreyas in a role outside the seriousness of Iqbal and ruralness of Dor and his look and dancing abilities in the music video come as quite a nice surprise. As his character is the most subtle and subdued of the wild lot, he underplays Arjun to the tee, but one wishes he would have had a more fleshed out character which gave scope to display his comic timing. Anupam Kher is as dependable as ever and he succeeds in toning down the vulgarity of several scenes without compromising on the humour. Celina Jaitley is the surprise package of the film; she gets into the skin of the character and even succeeds in evoking laughter which truly is a difficult feat considering the lack luster dialogues she is given. It seems after No Entry’s success, Celina has established a comfort level with the comic genre. Riya Sen is given minimal scope to perform, one is left wondering why Koena Mitra’s voice has been dubbed with a voice which does not suit her at all and the less said about the remaining performances the better.



Apna Sapna Money Money is not for those who are looking for good cinema or intelligent comedy; it’s for those who are looking for a paisa vasool, fun, thoughtless and at times even cheap comedy which entertains you and leaves you the moment you leave the cinema hall. Worth a watch just for sheer entertainment especially if you watch it at a single screen with a rowdy crowd. ... More ... Collapse

A meandering and overlong sequel to the original Dhoom, Dhoom 2 is an ambitious film that spends too much time and effort on its stunts (good stuff by Vic Armstrong and Allan Amin) and overlooks the importance of plot and build-up. The film with its stellar cast has an impressive Hrithik Roshan as the ace villain Aryan, this time around with beautiful Aishwarya Rai for company as Sunehri. The villainous pair add a spark to the Dhoom franchise and the makers could not have had a better substitution for John Abraham. Reprising their roles, Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra are also in good form with Bipasha Basu as ACP Shonali Bose as the new recruit. The cops versus villains set-up is simple, concentrating essentially on the screen presence of the stars with slow motion introductions, exits and ramped-up sequences taking over from any coherent screenplay ploy to build action or thrill. As a result, though Dhoom 2 looks palatable and will be devoured by the popcorn-munching audience who prefer to leave their brains behind when venturing out to the cinema, the slightly more selective and intelligent audience would decidedly have to stifle a yawn or two as the predictable action unfolds.



But Hrithik Roshan as Aryan saves the show, proving that Krrish was just the precursor to the actual screen presence and power that this actor can exhibit. From great disguises thanks to terrific prosthetics, to some class-act dance thanks to Shiamak Davar’s energetic choreography during the title song sequence, to some stupendous stunts which add new dimension to Hindi cinema action, Hrithik pulls off all and more with style and élan. The charm the actor displays in some badly written scenes opposite Abhishek Bachchan prove that the actor can pull a performance out of thin air like a deft magician! Comfortable and relaxed in usual Abhishek style, Junior Bachchan displays an acting prowess that has grown from film to film, proving his superstar mettle. One wonders why the writing is so ordinary and almost non-existent as the actors seem to be just doing their own thing to save the day.



Coming to the disappointing story, this time around the cops are chasing an elusive thief who leaves a mysterious ‘A’ as his signature at the scene of every crime, beginning with the theft of a bejeweled crown on a speeding train in Namibia and ending with the theft of a set of the first coins ever created as currency, in Rio. In hot pursuit of Hrithik’s A is Abhishek’s DCP Jai Dixit, and his bumbling side kick, Uday’s Ali Akbar. The ideas are borrowed from the ace thief Phantom from the Pink Panther series who inevitably left a glove at every grand burglary pulled off. The confrontations between Hrithik and Abhishek also remind you of the one-on-ones of DeNiro and Pacino in Heat where cop and villain share exchanges that add high drama to the central pursuit. However, Hrithik and Abhishek don’t really have the lines nor the set-up that lends itself to high drama and the actors are left to their own tricks. The direction lacks the necessary tautness that would have helped the film in its momentum and almost the entire first half of the film is spent in just establishing characters, aimlessly wandering from one scene to another. When it comes to the thrills, the problem the film faces is though the action sequences are superlative, they don’t draw you to the edge of the seat nor do you ever bite your nails in excitement. This is essentially because the writers and to a certain extent the director, make the cardinal mistake of taking the ‘suspension of disbelief’ concept a bit to far, with Aryan making good his escape not in the nick of time against all odds, but with great ease and comfort. This dilutes the action and thrill to the extent that you simply stop wondering how the ace thief will make good his escape this time, and you yawn through the action and chase sequences.



Stretching its need to ensure the lead stars all get their dues on the big screen, when the first Bipasha Basu disappears at the interval stage, she is brought back as her twin sister Monali, now residing in Rio De Janero. Call that an easy solution! Of course, she also adds to the relationship angle, getting paired opposite Ali (a great line for Uday when he says there is an Ali in Monali hence their pairing was destiny is hilarious!). However, the film’s strength is its gloss and its superb production values, reminding you of Hollywood films like the Mission Impossible franchise. Even the concept of an ace disguise artist, some finely planned grand thefts and mountain-dangling stunts are heavily borrowed from the franchise, but are well executed.



The songs by Pritam are disappointing this time around, and the makers seem to have an original Dhoom hangover in the compositions. Sadly, even the background score also does not add the necessary thrill elements to the action unfolding on screen, distracting you with a multitude of Dhoom variations as vocals. Never has a theme been so oft-repeated and abused in a franchise, and Dhoom 2 beats Monty Norman’s Bond theme composition and Henry Mancini’s Pink Panther theme composition in repetition and frequency. While both Bond and the Pink Panther franchise deployed the theme with great subtlety to fuel thrills and antics respectively, the Dhoom 2 vocal theme variation coupled with its instrumental signature gets over-bearing and relentless, with rarely a breather.



In conclusion, a great-looking film with dazzling visuals, but an empty film that is devoid of excitement. The marquee superstars and the great production ensure that the paying audience is not disappointed and the paisa is vasool; alas, one wonders what the end product would have been had the writing and the direction lived up to the performances. ... More ... Collapse