Yuh Hota to Kya Hota?

4 sets of people, different reasons, destination America, fate?
Naseerudin Shah's directorial debut was keenly watched and anticipated, a hatke movie, an effort to confluence art with commerciality, result - a failure at the box office. I didn't quite enjoy the movie.

Lage Raho Munnabhai

This feel good caper will make you pause,ponder,laugh and cry.An original from the house of chopra's ( Vidhu Vinod ) Lage Raho Munna Bhai is a breath of fresh air in Indian cinema, when all other producers doles out inspiratio,this original piece of work by Raj Kumar Hirani is a sweet pinch of reality we all need. A slice of Gandhi garnished with mumabaiya lingo, sweetened by Sanjay/Arshad and Vidya Balan with their acting prowess, brought to life by Hirani's brilliant direction and Shantanu Mitra's fitting score.
A must watch!

Omkara

After Kishore Kumar I cannot think of any other who's as versatile as Vishal Bharadwaj, The writer director co producer music director singer ......did a kick ass job with OMKARA, he had already earned the applause with Maqbool, but this shakespeare written vishal inspired Omkara has won a lot many cinegoers heart with his narrative brilliance. This earthy feel movie reveals saif the actor yet again. If you are looking to feast your eyes and ears to a hatke movie Omkara will surely please your appetite.

Golmaal

Nonsense fun, that's what this movie is all about,
Highlight: funny one liners and sharman joshi

Worth a watch on DVD...
Caution: please take off the "critique" in you when you watch it.

Taxi # 9211

Milan Lunthria proves himself as a good copy cat director by xeroxing "changing lanes" in ditto. Taxi#9211 is a brilliant film if you haven't watched the original, but because I enjoyed the morgan freeman/ben affleck starrer hollywood entertainer, this taxi was a bumpy ride for me. If you haven't seen the movie I will strongly recommend you, the music is nice , Vishal Shekhar does a pretty good job in stealing the limelight from the Nosy Reshammiya for a bit. John and Nana is awesome....

Watch it!

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

First things first, this movie is definitely worth one watch. Nothing much can go wrong in a Karan Johar movie. When you have all the given of a Box office success the chances of a black friday is as remote as finding nemo in your aquarium.

Larger than life charachters, stellar stars, New York, mellifluous music, an appetising TV campaign, the curious interviews .....Karan made sure he reached and sold the movie much bfore it hit the screens.

Will it be a HIT, i am sure it already is,

Is the movie great : Nah!, its a flawed script dowsed in glamor and glitz.

Will you get entertained: You bet!, first half is funny, Amitabh and Abhishek steals the show, Shahrukh swims the "karan sea" with ease, Rani and Preety looked great ( courtesy: Malhotra) and did their jobs.

Any other highlight: Shankar Ehsaan Loy came out with one of their best alopathic tunes ( tunes that instantly replaces chartbusters ) and will compel you to sit thru the numbers when they run. All the numbers are brilliant to ears ( Mitwa and the theme song is soothing ) and on screen, Farah Khan does her duties as a friend and a choreographer, won't win her any awards though..

Will you cry: May be, depends on how much you can control...

How long is this movie, three episodes of Mahabharata ( 3 hours ),

Anything missing in this movie: YES, soul, it doesn't have the punch, its a never ending gift wrap, you realise that the gift was the experience.

Go watch,you have seen much crappier movies.

Mixed Doubles

Rajat Kapoor's directorial debut "Raghu Romeo" failed to romance the crowd, with Mixed Doubles Rajat swung with "wife swapping" and delivered some fun but a lot of discomfort, MD is fun flick catered to the multiplex crowd, its a bold theme so you may want to watch it alone.

Phir Hera Pheri

With Priyadarshan having his hands full, Nadiadwala's bet their monies on writer/director, Neeraj Vohra to direct the much awaited sequel"Phir Hera Pheri". Living to the cult of "hera pheri" was tough and Neeraj fell way short of expectation in good comedy.
Phir Hera Pheri scored for three reasons:
1)The prequel was a all time hit
2)Same look and feel
3)Brilliant pre release publicity

The movie will tickle you in spurts, a paisa wasool affair if you are looking for nonsense fun.

KKrish

Krish is worth a big screen watch for the best on screen special effects till date for a bollywood flick. There are two actors in bollywood that you can blindly bet your 100 bucks on, Aamir is one, the other is Hrithik.

The success of Krish rides on Hrithik's performance and the special effects. Rajesh Roshan dug his "Kamchor" days to come up with few lilting tunes for the movie.
In all a family entertainer.

Gangster

My first movie in India, Gangster doesn't live up to the hype that the critics in India lifted it upto. A story of how the gangster's love become the reason for his death is fairly colored by Emran Hasmi, Kangana Raut and Shiny Ahuja on Anurag Basu's Canvas. The Bhatt camp has a panache for music and Pritam gives them reason to cheer about this time with numbers like, Bheegi Bheegi , Ya Ali ..... Of the actors Kangana leaves a notable mark, Hasmi is usual, Shiny Ahuja somehow couldn't impress me, he is a great actor and performed stellar in Hazaron Khwahise but as the Gangster he shined without dialogues. In summary, Gangster is worth a DVD watch.

Malamal Weekly

This one has laughs in spurts, an avoidable priyadarshan movie after the disastrous "kyon ki". A plot that had a lot of potential goes waste because of poor content work.

Passable.

Shower

Shower is a simple story brilliantly told, Da Ming receives a postcard from his mentally ill younger brother and rushes home thinking his father was dead. A businessman by profession, Da ming gets immersed with love and warmth and find himself at home among his aging father and retarded brother. Beautifully depicted, Shower will shower you with pleasant feeling and leave you fresh.

Watch it!

15 Park Avenue

15 Park Avenue is the story of a schizzophrenic girl's struggle thru the experience of her family. No doubt its a "hatke" movie, but my only point to Ms. Sen,Why make such sad and depressing movies, you don't have to prove your prowess as a director NOR Konkona needs to prove herself as an actress anymore...

Cinderella Man

Cocoon, Apolo 13, Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man have one thing in common - Ron Howard. Cinderella Man is a warm and engaging tale of Jimmy Braddock's ( played by Russel Crowe) triumph at the heavyweight boxing title in the 1930's. A true story,Cinderella Man is an inspirational tale of a fighter whose determination, will, perseverance take him to the heights of success after being written off by the press and the boxing council. Ron Howard does a brilliant directorial job. Russel Crowe pays Jimmy Bradock with a lot of conviction, supported beautifully by Renne Zelwegger and Paul Giamatti.

Watch it!

The Weatherman

Nicolage Cage is one of my personal favorite."The Weatherman" played as David Spritz by Cage is the story of a weatherman separated from his wife and children unearthing the dilemma of professional and personal life. The Weatherman's highlight is performances by both Cage and Caine.
Caution: Strong sexual language.

Definitely Worth a Watch!

Décalage horaire (2002)

Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno stars in this Canadian/French production, Décalage horaire ( Jetlag). Reno ( Felix ), a stressed out chef turned businnesman collides repeatedly with Binoche (Rose), a beautician in the airport. Love happens.
Passable.

Under the Sun (Under Solen )

Under the sun is a heartwarming love story of a illiterate simpleton farmer (olof) and his housekeeper. Under Solen is a picturesque movie combined with brilliant performances by the main protagonist. Without giving much about the story I highly recommend this sensual lovestory to the romantic at heart.
Watch!

Zinda

I haven't seen the inspiration "Oldboy" but Zinda is not a bad attempt, you can always expect Sanjay Gupta to give you a sleek product and you get that with Zinda, Sanjay Dutt gives a brilliant performance supported by John Abraham. I will recommend Zinda if you are in the mood to see a "hollywoodish" kinda movie.

If you are a Sanjay fan, this is a must watch.

Manchurian Candidate

You can check the review on Yahoo

Training Day

On the first day of his job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears as.
Ethan and Denzel does a great great job, the movie however is Okay.
If you have options, Pass.