Movie Geek's Blog

10. Kya Dilli Kya Lahore

This film is an ironic conversation between a pair of soldiers, one from each side of the Indo-Pak border. The story is set in 1948 and it is expressed beautifully how their heart still lies with the United India but they are bound to speak for and represent their country against the other. Kya Dilli Kya Lahore is a fantastic blend of emotions and what stands out is the writing, it is poignant and poetic.

9. Finding Fanny

Finding Fanny isn't your typical Bollywood film. It is an adorable film, which has nothing our mainstream movies usually offer. Finding Fanny is a film about finding lost love, this is not a new idea for a plot but the presentation is unique and sweet. It is good to see veteran actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur taking break from the usual intense role they do and come together in a light hearted romantic comedy. Finding Fanny sometimes also reminded me of Kundan Shah's Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.

8. Dedh Ishqiya

Dedh Ishqiya is an important film, for it is a film on the lost "Genre" of  the "Nawabs and Shayaris and it's a great film. While the first film of the franchise is basically a bold crime film, Dedh Ishqiya is eloquent and classy and suave in its nature. Dedh Ishqiya is romance portrayed in bundles of poetry and what a treat it has been to see the beautiful Madhuri Dixit pair with the elegant Naseeruddin Shah.

7. Sulemani Keeda

Sulemani Keeda is the story of two aspiring screenwriters Mainak and Dulal, looking for a producer to make an entry into the film industry. They are as hilarious as their name suggests. It is an indie made on a shoestring budget. It received great reviews from the people within the industry and outside of it. One that stands apart is a thumbs up from Pulp Fiction's Screen Writer Roger Avary. Sulemani Keeda has a lot of dark humor and it is incredibly fresh. I'd definitely look for the next film from the TVF Inbox.

6. Filmistaan 

An out of shape wannabe actor who is also an avid Movie Buff is kidnapped by terrorists near the Indo-Pak Border and taken to the other side of the border. During the time he was a hostage in Pakistan, he bonds with another Movie Buff from Pakistan and discovers how the food and the people and the love for movies and cricket in Pakistan is exactly like his own country. Filmistaan is a beautiful depiction of the fact that Love, Friendship and Passion are beyond borders.

5. Highway

With Highway, Imtiaz Ali has now 5 films in his filmography as director and I have to say, he hasn't disappointed yet. Highway is a road movie which has self discovery as its main element. Alia Bhatt has delivered an intense performance in only her 2nd film that many of her seniors are yet to give. Great Music, A visual treat and a performance that shakes you to the core.

3. Haider

Haider is the third and final film of Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean Trilogy and what a closure it has been to the Trilogy. Haider is Hamlet set in Kashmir in the 1990s. This revenge saga character study comes out as an acting galore, as almost everyone in the cast given a performance worth talking about, but apart from the great performances, what stands apart is Kashmir itself. Haider is another Masterpiece by Vishal Bhardwaj and arguably his best film. With such great music, Vishal confirms yet again that he is as great a musician as he is a film maker.

Commercially, 2014 was just like any other year for Hindi Cinema, films with the greatest stars made all the money and things happened the way we expected. However, this year there were few changes that we saw in the industry. Films rich in its content received more mentions than ever. Films like Ugly would have never got this much attention if it was made 3-4 years ago. Filmfare Awards giving Best Film [Critic] to Ankhon Dekhi speak volumes of how the industry itself has changed their perspective towards quality cinema or films of substance. 

Here are 20 'Good Enough' to 'Really Good' to 'Great Films' of 2014:

20. Miss Lovely 

Miss Lovely follows the life of two brothers who used to make sleazy horror adult films at the Bombay C Grade film industry during the 80s. The film is too dark and can be boring even if you are into realistic cinema. But Watch it for Nawazuddin Siddiqui's acting, his power to get lost in the crowd and still stand apart simultaneously is commendable.

19. Hasee Toh Phasee 

Nikhil and Meeta are considered the "Weirdos" in their respective families, however they aren't really weird but unconventional. Hasee Toh Phasee is a romantic comedy about an unorthodox pair, who are re-introduced after a decade when they first met. It looks like a film you have seen before, it is a certainly a lot of things but cliché isn't one of them. It is surprisingly fresh.
18. Rang Rasiya
Rang Rasiya is a biopic on the controversial life of Raja Ravi Varma. He is the man who gave images to Hindu mythological stories through his paintings. He toured the whole country to understand the Hindu mythology and then painted them using his imagination and provided the common man an access to gods and mythological tales. Rang Rasiya is a well intentioned film on the freedom of expression, but it isn't well made as far as details are concerned. Amidst all its flaws, this film has an engaging storyline and significant references to the history of India.
17. 2 States
2 States is typical Bollywood which I like, what I mean to say is, Bollywood is not as shitty as the films with flying Scorpios and it isn't as classy as The Lunchbox. We are still somewhere in between where we make sensible films and have a few unnecessary songs and melodramatic sequences. In simpler terms, if you want to truly explain someone what an average Bollywood film is like, ask them to watch 2 States. Moreover, making a good enough film using a mediocre book is an achievement in itself.
16. PK
PK is absolutely funny right from the first scene, it makes you laugh while you agree to everything PK points out. I don't remember when was the last time I had a laugh like that in a movie theatre. It goes into typical Raju Hirani's style of films after the interval and lacked the standards of 3 idiots but the good thing is that PK is still an eye opener and delivers the message clearly that Gods must not objectified or quantified or classified.
15. Manjunath
Manjunath tells the story of IIM Student Shanmugam Manjunath, who was killed in 2005 for being a whistle blower against the oil adulteration scam run by petrol pump owners in UP. It is a well intentioned film about a man whose story deserved to be told but at the same time the film lacked a polished screenplay and is not up to the mark as a film.
14. Hawaa Hawaai
After Stanley Ka Dabba, Amole Gupte made Hawaa Hawaai and proved yet again, how beautifully he understands children and their little world. Amol Gupte isn't a Satyajit Ray or an Abbas Kiarostami, but he is certainly an intelligent film maker who can make good films with Kids at the centre. Hawaa Hawaai is a coming of age tale of a poor kid who excels at skating. It was definitely one of the better films of 2014.
13. City Lights
City Lights is about a poor family which moves to Mumbai in financially desperate times. City Lights is devastating in nature, the family is hit by poverty left, right and centre but the good thing is that the film never walks into the depression alley. The great acting performances by Rajkumar Rao and Patralekhaa makes it one of the better films of last year.
12. Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania
Yes, it's a tribute to Cult Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, but even if you aren't one of those religious fans of DDLJ {like me}, there are enough reasons for you to truly enjoy this movie. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is a "fresh cliché". Now that literally is a contradictory term, but throughout the film, you feel like "Ok I have seen this before but boy they are cute". I love this film and I think it's more than just a guilty pleasure.
11. Children of War
A little polishing here and there and Children of War could become one of the great films of this decade. If not that, it is still one of the better films of the year 2014. Children of War is a ruthless tale of the 1971 genocides happened in Bangladesh [then East Pakistan]. The brutality done by the Pakistani Army reminds one of what Nazi Germany did during the 2nd World War. It is tough to believe that it's a work of a first time director. I will definitely keep an eye open to see where Director Mritunjay Devvrat heads from here.

Best Picture Drama

Boyhood

Best Picture Musical or Comedy

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Actor Drama

Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything 

Best Actor Musical or Comedy

Michael Keaton for Birdman

Best Actress Drama

Best Actress Musical or Comedy

Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Best Director

Best Screenplay

Best Foreign Film

Best Animated Film

Cast:  Om Puri, Tabu, Chandrachur Singh

Directed by: Gulzar


Maachis is a 1996 film written and directed by Gulzar. Now Gulzar's name is enough to attract anyone to watch this film and this is just what happened in my case.

Maachis or matchbox is very apt title for this movie. Let me explain why, just like,  to fire a matchstick you have to rub it with the box, a person become an assassin or terrorist when there is a bebasi n bekasi (compulsion and helplessness). But that is not all, once the matchstick is lit; it burns itself and everything that comes in contact with it. Gulzar being the master of words chooses it ably.

Maachis is a journey of a man Kripaal from a caring friend and responsible husband-to-be to a terrorist. He ain’t uneducated, brainwashed religious naïf rather a victim of the corrupted system. After 1984 riots there has been a huge violence against Sikhs, it’s no more a hidden truth. Whose love & care for his friend and soon to be brother-in-law, forces him to revenge the atrocities faced by his friend. In the process of avenging he turns into a terrorist. He shoots Vohra(the inspector responsible for his friend’s misery) in the head and then heads back home only to leave forever and join the group that helped him shoot Vohra. The next mission of this group is a secret but it involves missile launcher and they are waiting for the person who could do that. This person turns out to be Veeran who was Kripaal’s fiancée. What is their mission? Will they succeed in their mission?

Shyam Bengal once said, “It’s this ability of great work to make you see the particular in general and general in particular.” This movie does that, it encapsulates the loopholes within the system, its hypocrisy that provides the breeding ground for people like Sanatan and Bali, also, the turbulent struggle within the hearts and minds of these people along with the physical and emotional struggle of their families. Above all it pose the accountability and sanctity of legislature and their obligation to the people who choose them. It is all of the above and has a soul of Romeo+Juliet. 

To add to this great cinematic experience are the songs. "Chhod aye hum wo galiyan" the visuals of this video are as amazing as this melody. I have reasons to believe that while making Highway Imtiaz was searching the place shown in this song. Then there’s Chappa chappa charka chale which is more or less in the similar lines. Paani paani this song is the most melodious of it all, Tabu’s expressions in the song makes it more soulful.

The performances of the actors are cherry on top, Tabu never disappoints, nor does Om puri as far as their acting capabilities are concerned it’s impeccable and unmatched. Chandrachurna singh as the lead  Kripaal  does his part responsibly, Jasjiet Shergill who I think is Jimmi Shergill shows the signs being of good actor that he is now. The rest of the supporting casts too doesn’t disappoints for a minute.

I’m a nobody to say anything about Gulzaar capabilities other than that I’m in awe with his works, be it the lyrics, writing or direction.

This movie is highly recommended!

Author: Pallavi Tripathi
Author's Rating: ★★★★

IMDb is world's busiest movie site, a film listed on that gets more attention than any other medium. 

So, I opened the list of films of 2014 [sorted by rating]. I saw Queen on the top 3, felt happy for our industry, then I looked for another great film we made this year, Ankhon Dekhi. 

I couldn't find Ankhon Dekhi on the 50 best movies of 2014.

HERE IS WHY:

A film only needs 1000 votes [ratings] to be listed in Best films of that year, and failing which the film fails to get the attention of close to 2 billion monthly visitors on the internet. 

Popular films [read mediocre] receives an average of 30k to 40k votes but of no use because they receive bad ratings, but the ones which can be on the top, fails to receive a mere 1000 votes.

Think about the difference IMDb alone making in the marketing of "Queen" and "Ankhon Dekhi". Since Queen attained the 1000 vote criteria, an IMDb user in countries like Bolivia, Vatican City, Chile, Colombia or any other lesser important place on the map, knows about a film called QUEEN, while they have no freaking idea what is "ANKHON DEKHI"

Same goes for Bimal Roy's Madhumati, Do Bigha Zameen and Bandini. They are timeless classic, but the internet savvy movie enthusiast, aren't getting the means to reach these great movies, just because of the fact that they are not receiving a meagre 1000 votes.

Let's vote, let's endorse our better films. The World needs to know what really defines Indian films, the perception has to change.

This isn't only about Indian films but many great films made in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine are still not known to movie lovers out there. Let us use IMDb's power to highlight the deserving movies. Great Art must get its deserving audience and we have to make sure that it happens.

Cast: Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, Norma Moore

Directed by: Robert Mulligan

Fear Strikes out is the directorial début of Robert Mulligan. It is a sport biography of Jimmy Piershall; this film is about the rise, fall and rise of the former American Baseball center fielder.

The film starts with Jimmy as a kid working on his slides for his baseball games, while his father [Karl Malden] helped him with his practice. His father decided that the one and only goal of Jimmy’s life is to make it to the Boston Red Sox team. 10 minutes into the movie and we see a grown up Jimmy [Anthony Perkins] playing a baseball game in a small ground and with a little audience.

He was the best in the game in his small town of Waterbury, Connecticut. Scouts from Boston came down to watch him play, so as to sign him for Boston Red Sox trainings but even then, it was never good enough for his father. 

Not that he was a bad father, but he never had it easy. During the practice session in the first sequence of the movie, he was throwing the ball at little Jimmy with such an intensity that it was hurting Jimmy’s hands even though he wore a glove. When every one of his teammates was out celebrating for a game’s victory, Jimmy was not allowed to go as it would ruin his next morning’s practice session. 

Once he got selected for training with the Boston Red Sox, he met his future wife, Mary [Norma Moore] and when he proposes her, he is confused and psyched by his own decision, because he knows his father will not appreciate it and make it look like a “mistake which will affect his game”. His confusion and psych was shown in the hotel room scene when he is awaiting a call from Mary and gets angry at his neighbor because they were playing the radio too loud and there was a critical opinion on Piershall’s game on the radio. In my interpretation, it was making him weak to stand by his decision to marry Mary.

The pressure John Piershall puts on his son Jimmy is a lesson for parents of this era, when the world has reached to greater heights of competitiveness. The relentless pressure by Jimmy’s father affected his personality and pushed him on the verge of madness. 

Karl Malden as John Piershall, played the role of the obsessively driven father, who is not just working hard for Jim’s Career but literally believes that it’s always a shared dream. Jimmy usually tells “I did it”, but John maintains the ‘we’ part. It is always a Father-Son team for him and that’s why he is constantly pressuring him to improve, even when he actually needs to be acknowledged for the game he played.

Anthony Perkins have given a performance that might have prepared himself very well to play Norman Bates in the Hitchcock classic “Psycho” only 3 years later. He did some very intense scenes, that shown his capability to do dark characters. But the best performance of the film is by Karl Malden who equally shares not just the goals of Jimmy’s Life but this film.

Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★½

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Cast: John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery

Directed by: Edmund Goulding

"Grand Hotel; people come, people go, Nothing ever happens"

This film is not the greatest from the standards of today’s cinema but for the year 1932, it was an innovative step in the then existing line of films. Director Edmund Goulding took an ensemble cast of the superstars of that era and made a creative film of intertwining stories. The cast includes some iconic names of Hollywood, such as Lionel Barrymore and the greatest Greta Garbo; other great names were Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and John Barrymore.

Plot: This is the story of multiple characters that spent 2 days in a hotel. Greta Garbo plays a ballerina who misses her country Russia and feels her life being empty and pointless and is saved by the charm of the Baron, played by John Barrymore. The Baron aims to steal her jewels and pay all his debts. Joan Crawford plays the stenographer and is trying to woo the Baron as she believes he is a rich business person. She is employed by the wealthy industrialist played by Wallace Beery; he also employed a dying old man, played by Lionel Barrymore, who is set to live rest of his life experiencing things he missed out till now, he eventually befriends the Baron. 

Greta Garbo’s character spent most of her part in isolation. Grand Hotel won the Oscar for the Best Picture at the 5th Academy Awards. It holds the record as the only film in history that won a Best Picture at the Oscars and had no other nominations. This happened because there were so many subplots in the film and it must have been tough to select one of the performances. Overall, the film was pretty interesting with all the subplots mixed and matched perfectly. Some of my favourite films with intertwined stories are Pulp Fiction, Amores Perros and Magnolia, although all of them are very different films in nature.

Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★

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I watched The Departed only yesterday. It reminded me of "Ocean's Eleven" Because Ocean's Eleven and The Departed, are two of some of the most star studded films. 

Ocean's Eleven had George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia and so many other important actors. On the other hand, The Departed has even bigger stars, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon [being the commoner in both these film], Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg. 

Both the films are equally "enriched", however the latter, is obviously a greater film. 

A pleasant surprise in "The Departed" was seeing Matt Damon playing the bad guy, he seems a very nice guy like Martin Sheen. Can't think of these two men being unreasonably harmful . But Damon did surprise me. Loved this change.

Now lets talk about Jack Nicholson, he was not playing Jack again. The last two Jack Nicholson film I saw, he played Jack in "The Shining" and "Batman". Remember the sentence on the  letter pad "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Now he is what we call the perfect bad guy. I just love him seeing as an antagonist. Even in 1980, in "The Shining" he looked as ferocious as in 1989 in the Tim Burton's "Batman" and the intensity was no less in "The Departed" in 2006.

The Joker aka Heath Ledger was a legendary portrayal of a villain and truly he is the most anarchic and one of the most loved character of all time. But I find it really discomforting, when some people simply thrash Jack Nicholson's portrayal of The Joker in 1989's "Batman". Truly he was no less and people do love him for it.

Okay, getting back to "The Departed", Leonardo Di Caprio may be the protagonist of this film [or may not be], but I loved the Matt Damon part more than his. Just loved the corrupt form of him, it was a wonderful experiment, 

The Performances by Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen are good too, this was the first time, I could really appreciate Mark Wahlberg. He had more expression this time, I think the credit should also go to Martin Scorsese for making him act. 

The Departed beat "Babel", "Letters from Iwo Jima", "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Queen" to win the Academy Awards for the Best Picture. However another great film which came that year and Academy totally ignored it was "The Prestige."

I am really disappointed with the way "The Prestige" was treated that year at Oscars. It wasn't even nominated. It had the quality of what makes a movie get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. 

But then again, it was Christopher Nolan. Is this only me or do you also think that "Christopher Nolan" is never taken too seriously by the Academy. He is one, gem of a filmmaker. People love his films. Oscars doesn't really show much love.

It is available on YouTube. You can also watch it here below.

Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★★

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Cast: Rani Mukherji, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Sanjay Taneja

Directed by: Pradeep Sarkar

Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews

Remember 'Taken' ? The 2008 cult action movie which starred Liam Neeson in the lead role. It seems like it is still ruling the minds of film lovers in all corners of the world. Taken portrayed the story of woman trafficking, and it was well received by both critics and audiences alike. Even after six years of its release, many directors are still in its hang over, and they are all trying hard to make a movie just like the Liam Neeson thriller. A recent attempt to make a thriller based on human trafficking is done by Pradeep Sarkar. His recent movie 'Mardaani' which portrays the same old story of sex trafficking has Rani Mukherjee in the lead role. Now let us see whether the movie has lived up to the expectations.

The movie can be described as the lonely fight of a brave heart woman Police Officer against the sex trafficking rackets. Her name is Shivani Roy, and she lives in Mumbai along with her husband and niece. She is deadly daring, and is not at all concerned about the worst outcomes of beating up the baddies. One day, Shivani takes up a case which changes her lifetime. She takes up the case of Pyaari, a young teenage girl who gets kidnapped. Shivani tries to take down the baddies with her full fury, but she has only 30 days to complete the task as she challenges with the mafia kingpin. The ruthless mafia king pin is much powerful, and he has all the measures to tackle the moves of the Police. And from here starts some breathtaking chases and unbelievable stunts.

The proceedings of the movie is just like any other thriller which unveils the mystery in a sequential manner. The director has succeeded in creating some fine moments, but he failed to carry this edge of the seat ambiance throughout the running time. The moment which portrays the challenge of mafia don and Shivani may provide some goosebumps in the initial moments, but later it feels like a kind of sledging. The movie is completely filled with insane language, and there is no surprise that this movie got an A certificate.

Mardaani is an in and out Rani Mukherjee show. She was excellent in the role of the daring Police Officer, and her movements was a real visual treat to watch. She delivered the dialogue with finesse, and stunt scenes were done with perfection. Jisshu Sengupta, who plays Rani’s doctor husband, has nothing much to do, and if my memory is powerful, I remember him uttering less than two dialogues in the movie.

Mardaani is a movie which has good intentions, and the story is racy too. But the weak script derails all the plan, and in most probabilities, you will not rate this movie more than an above average thriller. It is just a one time watchable movie with a fine performance by Rani. 'Go and watch Mardaani only to see the scintillating screen presence of Rani Mukherji'.

Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★

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Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper

Directed by: James Gunn

Super hero movies are of huge demand in all the corners of the world, and the case of India is no different. Indians have a rich history of making Super Hero movies block busters in the box office, and this past have compelled the distributors of Guardians of the Galaxy to hit the film in Indian screens just seven days after its United States release. The speculations of the movie distributors are now slowly proving to be right as Indian audiences welcomed the movie with open hands and a warm heart. Most of the theaters are packed especially with the educated youth in the country. The initial reports about the film are positive in nature, and this James Gunn film is showing all evident signs of emerging successfully in the Box Office. The movie which has the capability to boast about its ensemble star cast has Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace and Micheal Rooker in the lead roles. The director has succeeded in extracting the maximum from the actors, and he was amply supported by the technical crew members. The movie will impress all kinds of audiences, and it will not let you down in any manner. Now, let us discuss the movie in detail.

Image Source: www.wired.com

Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' can be considered as the right blend of super hero movie and space action adventure. The movie tells the story in the back drop of space, and this premise it self is a huge point of attraction. Peter Quill, an American pilot and adventurer gets trapped in the Galactic prison, and from here the movie begins. Soon, he join hands with some other abducts, and forms an alliance called 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. The alliance soon start their war against the dreaded baddie, Ronan, and this forms the remaining part of the story. 

The movie is completely filled with high octane action sequences, and breath taking visuals. The film is crafted perfectly by the director, and there is not even a second of boredom in the 122 minutes running time. The filmmaker and his crew has shot the film in such extravagant ambiance which will provide you the real life feel of entering the space. All the actors have done their role in the perfect manner. Chris Pratt was excellent as Peter quill, and he showed up an impeccable performance. But my pick among the lots is none other than the mesmerizing Zoe Saldana. 

The movie is brilliant in all areas of film making. The film is perfectly etched, and it has some fine elements which will glue you to the seats till the end. The story telling style is pacy, and it is a perfect epitome of making super hero movies. All the characters have given equal importance and screen space, and this clearly shows the crafting finesse of the director and screen writer. This movie will not disappoint you if you are an ardent lover of super hero movies. 'Watch Guardians of the Galaxy and enter a new world filled with thrill, adventure and action'. 

Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★

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Cast: Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Randeep Hooda

Directed by: Sajid Nadiadwala

Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews

Kick, the new movie directed by Sajid Nadiadwala with Salman Khan in the lead role hit the theaters today, and the film is opened with packed houses throughout the nation. Like any other Salman movie, Kick is also getting tremendous initial pull, and all the theaters are overflowing with unimaginable crowd. The movie is a direct remake of a Telugu movie with the same name, but the class is not maintained when Salman made this film in Bollywood. The film is strictly recommended for hardcore Salman Khan fans who wish to see their hero doing the impossible action sequences. The movie is undoubtedly unimaginative and unoriginal, and the story telling is not up to the mark. Now, let us analyze the movie in detail. 

The movie portrays the story of Devi Lal Sing, a young crazy lad who wish to unleash some thrill in everything he does. He love to call it 'Kick', and sometimes, this 'kick' overboard the elements of reality. The attempt to generate laughs sometimes fails miserably, and some audiences were howling when Devi Lal tried to generate Kick by walking with hand cuffs on while going to jail. Our beloved Sallu doesn't like to walk like a normal man, and he wish to wear handcuffs to get that extra kick. The same way, he beats up some poor lads in the bar for eve teasing. Remember, Salman have one or many reasons to beat baddies to pulp. 

In the meantime, Shaina (Jacqueline Fernandes) tells the story of her ex lover to Himanshu (Randeep Hooda). Himanshu is a Police Officer, and Shaina is meeting him due to the compulsion of her dad. The flashback of Devi and Shaina will surely evoke some laughs in the initial moments, but as time passes, it will surely make you scratch your heads. The quest of Devi to unleash Kick will compel you to kick the director, and it is high time for Salman to say a big adieu to remake movies. The story takes a new turn when Firoz (Nawazuddeen Siddique) enters the scene, and the remaining parts of the movies are filled with some high octane action scenes and chases. 

All the actors in the lead roles have performed their best in the movie. Salman Khan as always rendered a decent show, but some of his efforts to evoke laugh was quite mediocre. Jacqueline was hot to the core, and her screen presence was impeccable. Mithun Chakraborthy who acted in the role of Salman's father was apt, but Nawazuddeen Siddique tested the patience of the audience by giving the character a caricature touch. Randeep excelled in a small yet decent role. 

Kick is undoubtedly an entertainer with some fine moments. But, if you are the one who wish to see realistic cinemas, then it is wise to stay away from this movie. You should keep your brain at home while watching Kick. Whatever the case, this Salman movie have all the chances to reach the 200 crore milestone in Boxoffice. 'Watch Kick if you are a hardcore Salman fan'. 

Movie Geek's Rating: ★★

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Author: Nirmal Narayanan

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Suraj Sharma, Adil Hussain, Tabu

Directed by: Ang lee

Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews


So I thought of writing a review this morning, there were back to back conflicts in my mind while selecting the film to review. It happens when you have a young movie blog. You have so many films to write about, you just can’t settle on a particular film. So, I opened my watch list on IMDB and laid my eyes on all those movie posters of the films I have watched, suddenly I saw “Life of Pi” on one side of the web page and instantly all the doubts vanished and I started watching Life of Pi for the 2nd time.

I don’t like missing the high points of a film when I am going to write about it, so I had to watch every film once again just before I start writing about it. Life of Pi is a tough film to review, as a viewer; one may get carried away by its adventure or the fantasy element or the VFX. But above all, this is an inspirational film on life. 

It was one of the best films of 2012, among other greats like “Zero Dark Thirty”, “Argo”, “Lincoln”, "The Master" and others. I haven't watched much of Ang lee's work, Life of Pi is only his 2nd film I watched, the other being “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Just 2 films and I have become an Ang Lee fan. 

Now coming to the movie right away, the story is being told by the ‘grown up’ Pi Patel, played by Irrfan Khan to a writer played by Rafe Spall, who is looking for a story. 



Life of Pi is the story of Pi Patel, played by Suraj Sharma, who is ship wrecked and left alone on a boat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a royal Bengal tiger who is called Richard Parker. 

Pi Patel is an Indian boy who lives in Pondicherry and his family owns a zoo with many exotic animals inside. As Pi becomes a teenager, his family decides to move abroad. They left on a cargo ship with their zoo animals for Canada. A deadly storm while the cargo ship was on the Pacific Ocean changes everything. 

It is the journey of Pi Patel reaching the coasts of Mexico in more than 200 days on a life boat in the company of the Bengal tiger “Richard Parker.” It shows the friendship which was there all the time but never shown directly. It also show the attention Richard Parker had Pi, so much that he could hardly think of surviving in the sea and was rather worried about the tiger himself.

There were some unexplained fantasy element which the director or the Author of the book leaves for you to interpret. I read some reviews, a few months ago about Life of Pi, which questions the protagonist’s relationship with god, I strongly feel offended with a remark like that. That was a fantasy element, which is not the most important thing this movie is all about. 

This movie is about the conversation between Pi and Richard Parker, though this conversation has no words to it, this is about the friendship which is not to be seen but to be understood and this film is about how one can be responsible for saving your life even if he/she was not particularly kind at any moment.

I really loved a quote told by Irrfan Khan later in the film, he said "I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."

Life of Pi is an achievement in cinema, there are many great films made every year, but some sticks to the timeline of Cinema and when we talk about cinemas of the century or the millenium, a film like this is always remembered.

When great actors and great filmmakers collaborate, we get to witness a great film. Be it the Marlon Brando-Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather, Brad Pitt-David Fincher's Fight Club, Clint Eastwood-Sergio Leone's Dollar Trilogy or any other pair. The list is endless.

However there is one actor-director duo, who never worked together, which I always wanted to see; Heath Leadger and  the Coen Brothers. Ledger worked with great directors like Ang Lee and Christopher Nolan, but couldn't work with Joel and Ethan Coen before he died in January 2008.

But, the fact is that Heath Ledger had his chances to work with the Coens. He was offered the role of Llewelyn Moss in "No Country for Old Men", but he refused to do the role to take some time off from work.

This role went to Josh Brolin, he was more than happy to win the part for Llewelyn Moss. 2 days later he broke his shoulder in  a motorcycle accident.

Later in an interview with a magazine, Josh Brolin recalled the moment when he was hit by the car at the time of the accident. He was saying to himself  "Fucking Shit, I really wanted to work with the Coens."

In spite of that, his injury didn't hamper his role in the film as the character he played was shot in the shoulder very early in the film.

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I love films, not only watching it but also reading and knowing it. I can read anything that has Cinema as the background. This is what attracted me to MK Raghavendra's "Director's Cut: 50 Major Filmmakers of the Modern Era."

Director's Cut is a take on the film making styles of the greatest directors of the modern era. The book starts with an introduction section,which explains the pattern using which Mr. Raghavendra chose the most influential 50 directors among all the great filmmakers we have ever watched. 

The Pattern is actually very intelligent, he chose 1960 as a cut-off date as he believes the french new wave, which is one of the most influential movements in cinema commenced around this time and cinema became Modern only during this era. 

Since the title of the book contains the term Modern Era; we shouldn't have any grudges with the Author for not including legendary filmmakers like Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Charles Chaplin and Orson Welles as their greatest works was witnessed before the 1960s. Instead he put the spotlight on directors like Luis Buñuel, Werner Herzog and Béla Tarr. 

There are 50 chapters in this book, each dedicated to a director. Beneath the name of the director, there is a tagline defining the basic theme they have followed in almost all of their films. For example, below Steven Spielberg, you will see the words "Family Matters." 

Spielberg always portrayed family as a valuable entity in most of his films like there was a family that struggled together in "Jurassic Park", hundreds of Polish families were saved in "Schindler's List", a mother and son was reunited in "Saving Private Ryan". A Mecha [Robot] was given the love of a mother in "Artificial Intelligence" and a man returns to his family in "The Terminal." 

MK Raghavendra also included legendary directors Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, David Lean, Satyajit Ray and many other legends. It's good to see inclusion of acclaimed regional film directors from India such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan from the Malayalam Cinema and Ritwik Ghatak from the Bengali Film Industry.

This book does ignore great filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and Roman Polanski and contemporary talented filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson and Richard Linklater but still the 50 that it talks about are very aptly chosen and you will love understanding the approach with which they make/made films.

This Book Review is also Published on my Personal Blog

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It was said by 'Red' [Morgan Freeman], when the "Sisters"; a group of homosexuals in the Shawshank Prison, led by Bogs, beats Andy [Tim Robbins] 'within an inch of his life'. Andy was sent to the infirmary, and that's how Red and the boys plans a welcome for Andy.
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Birdman is the story of "A washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory". [Source: IMDb]

So, who is playing this washed up Actor..?

It's Michael Keaton, who played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's Batman [1989] and is still the most loved Batman actors for many, including me. Though I equally love the Nolan's version but I love Michael Keaton much more than I love Christian Bale as Batman, Period.

So, the plot of the movie sounds pretty much like the real story of Michael Keaton, he played an iconic superhero once, and though he is not a washed up actor, he had a pretty mediocre career of late.

Whatever the case may be, the trailer of Birdman looks very promising and since it is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, we can expect great results out of it.

Among the cast, Keaton will be accompanied by Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Zach Galfianikis.

Here is the Trailer, do let us know what do you think of this trailer.

The dystopian, Chris Evans film, Snowpiercer has been getting rave reviews from pretty much everybody, meaning you have to go out and see it in the theater right now.

Or maybe you don't have to go out since it's on your television right this instant. Welcome to the future of Video on Demand, a service that has always been great with getting you films that have run their course at the box office. But what was once a mere convenience has now turned into quite possibly the future of how we're going to get our movies. Sure, it seems like only smaller films like Snowpiercer or the documentary, Life Itself, are really getting the early home treatment. But the success of Snowpiercer's home release (Entertainment Weekly cites an estimated $1.1 million in its first week on VOD) is a sure sign that Hollywood is going to start getting interested in the possibilities of releasing films in theaters and then, putting them on VOD in only a couple week's time. Especially if they're initially failures.

But is this a good thing, or a bad thing? I think it could be a little of both. The main argument some have against this plan is that it will hurt box office sales. Why go see Transformers in the theater if you can watch it on your couch? Also, this kind of makes it seem like all movies need to be big-budget productions if you really want to get people out to the theaters. So there are definitely negatives.

But there are positives, too. Just think of all the films that didn't receive the attention they deserved, like Edge of Tomorrow that could benefit from VOD. A lot of hype formed around that film weeks after it came out. And if it were On Demand, there's a greater chance that people might check it out who wouldn't go to the theater now that it's been out for so long. The same goes for How To Train Your Dragon 2. I'm sure there are plenty of parents who, rather than take their kids out to the movies and spend all that money on popcorn and soda, would much prefer to sit in the comforts of their home and watch a brand new film that just recently came out. The possibilities are endless. All it takes is for a mega blockbuster like The Avengers: Age of Ultron to try the same tactic for us to see how this will truly impact the market. It's only a matter of time. VOD looks to be the future.

About the Author:
Rich Knight has written for a number of publications including Cinemablend.com, Complex, and SMITH Magazine. You can find more of his writing on his blog: http://knighttakesrook.blogspot.com He is also the author of the book, The Darkness of the Womb.