Shor In the City: Makes the right noise

Shor In the City is a movie which should appeal to almost all types of cinegoers. From the masala lovers to the intellectuals. Whether you are looking for a light hearted entertainer or a realistic feel. Its somewhere between commercial and arty. New Age bollywood meets Masala. Multiplex Audience meets the Seetis types basically. It goes on a pretty decent pace, gets slightly slow in the middle, but picks up in the end quickly to give you that 'it was money well spent' kinda feeling. It has something for everybody. Good direction, Grippy Script, Neat Performances, Nice Music and overall a well packaged movie. So do watch it tomorrow.

The movie's plot revolves around 3 (and a half) stories. One, the story of three friends who are lukkhe bambaiya one of whom has a business of printing pirated books (ethically btw) and who help each other out in times of distress and how they steal a bag from a local train to find a couple of desi guns and an AK 47/56 along with a bomb and their rather funny adventures. Two, a struggling cricketer who wants to marry his girlfriend but doesn't have a career yet since he hasn't been selected in Maharashtra team coz he doesn't have the money to grease palms. Three, a US Return entrepreneur being harassed by some local bhais for extortion. And the half story of the pirated books printing guy (from the first story) and his relationship with his newly wedded wife. And as you would have guessed it, all the stories meet towards the end to complete the picture, even though the protagonists from the 3 stories never meet !! I'm more or less sure that you wouldnt have got a clue of the stories even after my mention here. And to be honest, the movie is not about the stories per se, its about the relationships, the hardships, the funny moments, the crying times and everything in between.
The best part about the movie is that it doesn't try too hard to do anything. It doesn't try to be too funny or too emotional or too apologetic or too 'oh poor baby'ish anywhere. It keeps its balance perfectly and doesn't let you get bored through most parts. Especially the story of the 3 friends and their adventures is very interesting and more than 60% of the 'goods' are delivered in that part particularly. The directors do a perfect job and managing the overall pace of the movie. No where you get that 'arey yaar ab yeh thoda zada ho gya' feeling. It just flows so smoothly that you hardly notice the time. Though i still think that the NRI story could have been done slightly better and it gets boring for say 15 minutes in the middle but quickly picks up its pace in the second half and a power packed climax. All's well that ends well i say.
On the performance front, i think Pitobash (who plays one of the 3 friends from the first story), Take him out and the movie would have fallen on its face. Tushar Kapoor does a decent job as well along with the girl who plays his wife. Hmmm, on second thoughts, even apart from the above mentioned, all the other guys do a good job and nowhere you feeel that such and such person is a miscast or somebody else could have done a better job. Everybody plays one's part exactly the way it should have been played. One of the finest overall performances after i guess Rajneeti last year
Music is brilliant along with the background score. Especially Saibo and Karma is a Bitch (or what ever the song is called). Saibo has such a soothing feel that you feel like listening to it on loop all by yourself sitting in the balcony with no one to disturb, One of the finest songs this year with no 'too much sufi-ish' feel. Just about perfect. I think hardly anybody would be able to hold on to their shoulders while Karma is a Bitch plays. It has that groovy feel that brings a smile on your face when it plays. I couldn't find any problems in any other department too given the fact that the movie went soo smoothly that i hardly noticed anything great or bad.

Overall: A Definite watch this weekend. Watch it for the immaculate direction. Fresh Treatment and Amazing performances.

Feel-O-Meter : 7.5/10

Dum Maaro Dum: Jhel Saale Jhel 4/10

Dum Maaro Dum is a classic example of a good cause gone wrong because of poor direction, acting, script, music and all everything that remotely relates with cinema. On paper it sounded like an interesting storyline, exploring the drug mafia in goa, but add to it the non-direction and you screw it all up. There was absolutely no clue whether the movie was supposed to be action or a suspense thriller or a hodge podge of every masala possible in bollywood. In the end it just remains a 70s movie made in the 2011 which tries everything and fails on most counts. Waste of time and money and you might end up getting more frustrated than you were before you walked in the hall. Miss it.




The problem with the movie was on multiple counts. First and the most prominent was on the direction front, the director had absolutely no clue whether he wanted to make a docu-drama or a masala flick or an action packed adventure or a suspense thriller. So what you do? Try everything and end up making a confused movie. There was too much 70s in the movie, with Zameer ki Awaaz, Mari hui Biwi ki Awaaz, Kabristaan, So many characters, Stupid Suspense (and character names). First he tries to make it a kinda docu-drama on the drugs circle of Goa and takes inspiration from some of the drug/drunk shots from Dev D and tries to make it 'cool' and fails. Then he tries to make it sweet story of a couple who were once in love and fails. Then he tries to make it a melodramatic family died in accident and i am repenting kinda story and fails. He tries to make it a socio-politico-ethical-economic and god knows what else drama and fails.In the end, he wants to make it a suspense thriller where everyone is searching for one guy and which was like the last 'Keel' in the coffin and 'Kills' the movie.



The movie starts with a sweet li'l story of a couple (especially the guy) who wants to go abroad to study and can't go coz he got no money and he gets into the Goa Drug Mafia's haath and screws up his life. Then comes the story of a ex-corrup cop (or a corrup ex-cop or an ex-corrup ex-cop) who has lost his family in a bizarre accident and the dead wife speaks to him on more than one occassion in the film. Then there is a love story of a couple wherein the girl has left the guy to be a pseudo-rakhail of the kingpin of the drug mafia. Add to that, some cheap sex, loads of drug addiction, nigerian-algerian-russian-british-local drug mafia and their problems and a character who nobody knows anything of. A lot to digest? Wait till you watch the movie.



On the performance front, Abhishek tries his best (or worst) at the Raavan inspired hamming and does it the way only he can. Bipasha does what she is supposed to do. Flaunt some cleavage, wear a white shirt (look ma, no pants), show those digitally (or surgically) enlarged breasts and other muscles and hmmm.. thats it. Prateik does a good job being whatever he was supposed to be but who cares right? Rana Dagubatti could have delivered a good performance and would have won the best actor award if there were only two heroes left in the industry- him and john abraham. The dubbed hindi voice doesnt help. There are a few others who i don't even remember so just leave it at that and Deepika's trashy dance number makes you almost puke, so i guess better not to say anything on that front too.



Music is bad and tries to ride on a single song 'Te Amo' which plays like 15986 times in the movie as a background score. Rest nothing to mention. Enough has been said about the lyrics, so won't waste anytime there. The cinematography tried a Dev D but a copy is a copy right? The awkward angles became too awkward in the end and did not do anything for me. Script had absolutely no clue, there were characters being introduced every 15 minutes and nobody gave a damn about it. It jumps from here and there and does not make any point.



It was a good movie on paper with a strong story but the direction (or lack thereof) killed it. Make it again without the glamour and big star cast on a small budget. I am sure it will be a bigger success and a better movie. A bit tad long too. The movie has a couple of moments here and there which are like good but then all that is washed away coz of all the style which the director just wanted to be there. So sab kare dhare pe paani types.



Overall: Would Not Recommend to anybody, especially given the summer. Take out some old Hindi Movie and watch it on DVD at home.



Feel-O-Meter: 4/10

Given the condition of other games, 'Sorry' should be filled in the forms 'Asking for which state you play for

Given the jams and bottlenecks maybe someone could change the spelling to infra-STUCK-ture

3 Thay Bhai: The Brotherhood of Bakwaas 2/10

Given the fact that there were some of the finest actors in the industry today like Om puri, deepak dobriyal and Shreyas Talpade, i was quite excited about the movie even though the promos didn't seem quite promising. But to be honest, its one of the worst movies i have seen in recent times. it makes even Tanu Weds Manu seem like a masterpiece. The Trying hard performances by the lead actors doesnt seem to compensate for the lack of script. Its a one line storyline which tries very hard to rest on performances but when even the gags are not funny, there is little that the performances can do as well. Its just a bad movie with a bad script and complete lack of direction or sense. It seems heavy on you and with in the first half of the first half itself, i was like WTF why can't it end already. I tried hard hard and really hard to survive the whole length of the movie and don't think most would have the similar amount of courage and patience. Don't Watch it even if someone pays for your ticket.






The movie is about 3 brothers who hate each other (apparently for some kiddish things happened in their childhood) and whose dead grandfather leaves them a real estate which may be theirs if they can spend 1 day every year at the estate together. Two years go by and the third year at the same day, they are trying to spend the day together and a number of things happen which are neither interesting nor funny. It is just a pathetically stretched version of the director going 'hey what do i do now, i still have 2 hours left'. And he starts depiction of supposedly funny 'situations' one after the other. You are like, What the F is happening and more importantly, Why the F is this happening. There is no connection between one scene and the other. Even though the actors try their level best and do not disappoint in their personal performances, the lack of story/script leaves you disappointed AND irritated.







Suddenly, the movie goes in flash back, then comes back, suddenly there are new characters which are introduced which are sillier than the story itself. The movie tries to be intelligent, emotional, slapstick and fails on all counts. You just can't seem to decide what and why is happening. It seems like a college (or rather a School) Skit being performed on screen and to be honest, i have seen much much better skits in my school-college days than this. You can't just take good actors and put them in a bad movie and expect audiences to watch.







There is absolutely nothing in the movie to be excited about. Music is horrible, Background score as irritating as Kangana Ranaut screaming 'you baskeettttttttttt', Direction (or lack there of) is nowhere to be found, Story Script is non existent, Characters are not lovable. Absolutely nothing except decent performances by all 3 which can't seem to hold attention of the audience in the stupidity of narration anyways.







Overall, one of the worst movies i have seen. Left me more irritated than disappointed. Don't watch even if you get free tickets.







Feel-O-Meter : 2/10

Dear RCB, Ghar ki daaru hone ke baad bhi don't know when your HAPPY hours will begin

Q. If bobby darling goes to US, where would he/she live?
A. Middle-Sex ;)

Rio: Flightless

Rio, is a tale of a 'domesticated' at the verge of extinction bird called Blue and his adventures/misadventures in Rio. The movie proves a very basic point that no matter how much you market an average movie, it still remains an average movie. Rio was supposed to be the next big animation movie but proves to be just another average happy go lucky, some good moments kinda movie. There are its own moments, but they are far and few. It gives you multiple opportunities to go out and grab some popcorn which essentially is not a sign of a great animation feature. Its not bad but just isn't cool enough. You may like it in parts and not hate it anywhere but still don't love it. To sum up, just your usual Animation feature with a couple of cute moments and largely average. Avoid if you can or take the kids along in a HAVE TO situation.

Blu is a Domesticated (supposedly last male Blue Macau on the planet) Bird which cannot fly. He understands everything 'human' and nothing 'birdly' and lives with his best friend/owner Linda in Minnesota. One fine day, an ornithologist Tulio comes from Rio and tells that in order to save the species they need to take Blu to Rio and make him mate with Jewel the last female Blue Macau. Linda agrees, Blue goes to rio, Meets with Jewel who is exactly his opposite, is fierce, loves freedom etc etc. Now the movie takes a Rom-Com Turn where Blu and Jewel hate each other first, then become friends, then fall in love, then fight, separate and then get reunited. Also throw in a few bird catchers who want to capture the last two blue macaus to sell them off and Beautiful Scenery of Rio and the Carnival etc etc.

The good part about the movie is the colors pallette used. The whole feel of the movie is very vibrant with the screen lighting up with the reds, blues, yellows, greens and is an absolute treat to watch. The Animation (given the current standards) is pretty amazing too. There are a few 'awww moments' here and there too, which come after every 10 minutes and you are not bored enough to leave the cinema hall. The characters are kinda cute, but none are remembered after leaving the hall, which i guess is the most important factor in the success of a animation movie. I mean you remember Shrek, Woody, Wall-E, Nemos of the world but not Blu or Jewel. Infact i had to google to figure out what was the name of the Female Lead :P

The bad part as i said that its just not good enough to remember anything about the movie per se. From the very start you know what the story is going to be like and the lack of 'OMG Moments' makes it kinda flat. There is no up down graph or a rollercoaster excitement anywhere. Its just too smooth for an animation feature. The characters don't stay with you when you come out of the hall. There is absolutely no edge of the seat excitement. The love is not lovey enough, the fun is not funny enough, the excitement seems too forced in and overall it looks more like a Rio Tourist Council advertisement rather than a 'story' about the Blue Macaus in love. The whole Rio bit is done a bit too much i guess.

Overall: Just an Average Animation Feature. Nothing too Great. Nothing too Bad.

Feel-O-Meter: 5/10