Agneepath: The Angry Young Man Returns.. with a Bang 10/10

In the Mediocrity of mainstream bollywood movies, agneepath is one of the most moving and engrossing movies i have seen in the past couple of years. Especially when compared to trash like dabanggs, readys, bodyguards, delhi bellys  of the world and other dirty pictures. Agneepath is pure action with no nonsense or dilution of comedic bull shit. Its about Revenge and at any cost. The angry young man (or even if you want to call him the anti-hero) is back and with a bang. The movie has its 70s bollywood and maa-behan type cheesy moments and could have been 15 mins shorter but i am ready to overlook all that just because of its sheer 'being true to the story' treatment. Hrithik Roshan establishes once again that he can play almost ANY role with elan and is not limited to any genre or fan following and the Khans can shove it up theirs. A 10/10 from my side.

The best part about Agneepath is its not following the original and 'adapting' it rather than 'remaking'' it. Even though the basic plot is taken from the original, the new characters, the twist and turns, the double crosses, the triple crosses make you engrossed in the movie throughout. Even though at some points the movies goes too bollywoody with the usual maa behan episodes, pitaji ke sanskaar, baap ki maut ka badla type cliches enter, the film still does not seem to bore  and you just ignore those and move on. These could not have been avoided because all these cliches form the base of the story in itself.

Agneepath is one of the few movies in the past (say 5 years) which rests on phenomenal performances of almost all of the lead characters. The actors are not playing characters. They ARE the characters. Be it the scary Kancha or Rauf lala  played ammmmmazingly kick ass by Rishi Kapoor. Not to forget, Hrithik Roshan who shows everybody that HE is THE actor in bollywood. He does not care about a loyal small town audience or playing the same Rahul/Raj even though playing a super hero. He is an ACTOR first and STAR later. He can play a retard in Koi Mil Gya or a Superhero in Krrish or an Angry Young Anti Hero in Agneepath and still be brilliant in any role. Be it Fiza or Mission Kashmir or Kaho na Pyar hai, he can play different characters and not get limited to any one style or genre. Hats Off. You have just found a fan in me after Agneepath. Apart from these 3 other characters (including priyanka) just lie on the sidelines but don't feel a misfit in any scene.

Another thing i really loved about the movie is the detailing and not compromising on any aspect of film making. Be it the background score which reminds you of The Dark Knight and Sarkaar Raj. The Art Direction and horryifying Sets of Mandwa, the Voldemort look of Kancha, The dark cinematography and everything around it. It just seems like one of the most complete films in the recent times.

Also, Let me be very clear (for the purists and the cool ones) that Agneepath is not path breaking 'cinema' but as a mainstream bollywood movie, so please don't  get 'cinematic brilliance' in the picture. The movie is in competition with the bullshit served by the so called A list actors. It is a slap on the face for all those 150 Cr plus box office collections made through 'loyal fans' and over the top/ in your face marketing. The movie works on the narration, treatment and performances and not because the lead actor is shaking a leg in some malls or on dance/comedy shows. Not because the hero acts like a retard and people laugh over the stupidities but because the lead actor is able to involve the audience in his story of revenge and you want him to win in the end at any cost and avenge his father's death.

Yes, the movie is about 15 minutes longer than ideal, has its share of cliches and cheesy dialogues, has a couple of songs which were not required, has the usual Hrithik's greek god bodyshow and all that. But still all that can be ignored because the movie 'moves' you. You feel for Vijay throughout and are relieved when he kills Cheena and then dies 'peacefully'

Overall : One of the most complete films in the last few years in bollywood. A Slap on the face for the so called Stars and an absolute must must watch for anyone

Feel-O-Meter: 10/10 (Yes, i am ignoring all the negatives here. The movie 'moved' me and that's what cinema is supposed to do)

Guess a man should be called a woman's Sole-mate.. Jo bhi kar ley joote to khaane hi hain :P

Players: Game Over (Well Almost)

If you have seen Italian Job, don't even think of watching Players. The Bad memories will stay with you forever, especially the absolutely ham-ful performances by ALL the lead actors. But if you haven't, then Players would turn out to be a decent watch providing you enough twists and turns to keep you interested throughout the length. The credit goes to the original movie. Abbas Mustan simply take every scene and shoots it with the new Actors. Bad performances, Pathetic Music, No 'Oh my God' sequences, Corny Dialogues but with an interesting plot. Bottomline. Watch if you haven't seen the original, Ignore otherwise.

Players revolves around 5 con artists who are trying to steal 10000 Crs worth of Gold from a moving train. Then Betrayal by one of them and it turns into a revenge drama, suddenly there are all sorts of bollywood elements like orphans, handicap children, puraane sapneys, double crosses, triple crosses etc and in the last half hour turns simply too confusing just to differentiate from the original. Should've stuck to the original i say.

The biggest problem i had was, 'why can't you make an original movie'. It's not that we are living in the 90s where we hardly see hollywood flicks. We have already seen Italian job like a million times and there is nothing new you can do to make a remake look like an original and even if you can do it, why don't you make an original only? Half the battle is lost, when you see the 3 Minis running on the streets and realize its a copy. Next, You bollywoodize it. Why do you want to put all that senti stuff in. Pyaar Mohabbat, Puraani Yaadein, Apaahij Bacche, Anaath baccho ka ashram and all that. I mean, why does it HAVE to be about some good cause !! Third, Casting. I mean you actually think Omi Vaidya is a Punjabi Sunny Deol wannabe!! Sikandar Kher as a Deaf.  Neil Nitin Mukesh as a cyber hacker, Sonam Kapoor as a.. wait.. i don know what she does.. You can only laugh when you hear stuff like 'Yeh hain Duniya ke best players'. Duniya ke Best Ch****e i tell you sounds more apt.. Fourth, the performances. You can't expect Award winning stuff from any of the actors but i wish they could simply act at a below average level rather than ham their way to glory in every scene. I can go on and on and on so let's just leave it there.

The good part is, that if you remove the bad acting and bollywoody treatment. It does reasonable justice to the original in terms of filming. The added twists and turns though stupid and confusing, still add that interest factor in the last 10 minutes since the movie moves away from the original plot (Thanks to extra characters and love angles). Another good point was some(but only some) of the dialogues which were actually funny and the usual Abbas Mustan Johny Lever type comedy. In a couple sequences, you actually laugh and forget about the misery you witnessed in the past half an hour.

Overall: If you forget it's a remake. Then you could actually go and enjoy the movie with all its bollywoody treatment, the story, twists & turns, jokes after ignoring the bad acting and corny dialogues.

Feel-O-Meter: 4/10 if you have seen the original. 6/10 if you haven't

Don 2: Entertaining, Gripping, Stylized, but too Hollywood-y

Don 2 is definitely entertaining and gripping thorughout most of its length.Interesting Storyline, Tight Direction Decent performances by all, Very Stylized treatment, International Standards in filming and very hollywood-ie treatment overall but the soul of the movie is not in the script/story but rather in just chasing hollywood and seeking acceptance internationally. Its just another Mission Impossible served for Indian audience.  A Definite Recommend if you are an SRK fan and don't watch a lot of hollywood action movies. Also, to see how quickly the gap is being bridged in the quality of filming and not to mention its very tight and gripping treatment throughout the most length to keep you engrossed and does not let you bore.

The plot revolves around Don wanting to steal Euro Printing Plates from a Bank in Berlin and in the process get Immunity from Various International police forces around the world for the acts done by him in the past. He ropes in his old arch rival Vardhaan (Boman Irani), A contract killer Jabbar and Ali (Kunal Kapoor). The rest of the plot revolves around 'how' he manages to do it and has its own share of twists and turns almost every 20 minutes, which keep you in your seat and provide you the 'Ab kya hoga' moments.

The best part about the movie is its overall look and feel. The cinematography is definitely International Standards and you don't get a feeling of watching a Bollywood movie. Well, almost if you ignore the same old Rahul/Raj SRK donning the Don Cap.The Action Sequences are also very neat and done in a very spectacular fashion. No complaints there either.

On the negative part, there are two things i can't ignore. One is a perennial SRK problem, He NEVER plays a character, It doesn't matter if he is Raj or Rahul or Don, he is still the same SRK playing himself. The arms wide open, the knee half bent romancing the female lead. I'm sure all of us want him to go back to his Darr, Baazigar days when he was not the ever-romancing Rahul and please stick with the character in the next if possible.

Secondly, the whole idea of the movie is to prove a point to hollywood, just like Ra.One. Hollywood is a billion years away from us in terms of quality of filmmaking, Scale and Originality. No matter how good a copy you make, it is still a copy. It would definitely be considered a spectacular movie in the Tier 2 cities. But for metros where audience (may) see more hollywood movies in an year than bollywood, it is just another hollywood action/thriller rip off. There is too much Mission Impossible in it in almost all sequences. On One hand it's good that the mainstream bollywood fan would be able to see the hollywood quality in a bollywood movie, but it takes away from the soul of indian film making. We should be telling stories rather than chasing something done already. But yeah, that's a macro point not related to this movie per se. So ignore it anyways.

Overall: A very Tightly treated and gripping narrative providing edge of the seat excitement (for bollywood standards) with very International look and feel, though has too much of  Chasing Hollywood. Recommended Surely (if you haven't already)

Feel-O-Meter: 7/10