“Aal Izz Exceptional” with 3 Idiots

“Aim for Excellence,Success will follow you”

Aamir+2 Idiots+Kareena+Raju Hirani=A COMPLETE WINNER

.Christmas this time has provided a special gift from the Santa Claus in the form of 3 Idiots.Aamir Khan is back yet again with his magical touch after the 2008 Christmas Blockbuster Ghajini.This time he’s accompanied Madhavan,Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor too to join his success ride.Filled with heartfelt comedy scenes and a noble message,the movie is rock solid.Never does the drama tilt off its balance.Its neither a lecture nor a lesson based on career.Its in fact a bold step challenging our sada hua academic system and the basic purpose of studying with interest.Added to that,Aamir Khan,a 44 year old playing 20 around on screen is no short of a challenge and Aamir does it with an impeccable ease.Every student and a parent can connect with this movie and that’s its USP.You get drooled in your college life throughout the film and wish ourselves to be Rancho(Aamir).Besides,the movie is a treatise to how special a bond friendship is.It shows how memorable can college days be in our short life span!The filmmaker Raj Kumar Hirani sets a bench mark with 3 Idiots for other directors to achieve.Its a wonderful cinematic journey that you wouldn’t wanna miss.

The movie starts off with Farhan(Madhavan) and Raju(Sharman Joshi) searching for their long lost friend Rancho with their classmate Chatur Ramalingam.Along their journey they recollect the moments of bliss the trio shared during their college life….Farhan is a teenager from a middle class family back ground whose family are really desperate to see him as an Engineer.Raju mean while is from a family who can’t go past a square meal a day.The first day of their college sees them being ragged and that's the first instance they get to know Rancho .In fact ,he is their room mate.Then the next day, Viru Sahastrabuddhe,(Boman Irani), college principal just gives a glance on how life is a race and how tough is it to the students ,during his first meet.There starts a series of comic events happening between the 3 of them and Virus(nickname of the principal) getting them to trouble often.Rancho is a smart free spirited guy who focuses on understanding the concepts rather than simply mugging up pages and pages like his classmate Chatur Ramalingam who’s jealous of him.This is where he gets ahead of him and many other students in college.Suddenly a student in the college hangs himself and commits suicide.The reason being the failure of project submission on the required timeline and Virus rejecting it, stating that he can show only sympathy but cant break rules for the sake of anyone.Heart broken,this forces him to commit suicide and Rancho is completely at shock.After a while under weird situations,the trio meets Pia(Kareena),daughter of Virus at her sister’s(Mona Singh) wedding.Rancho makes Pia view a new side of life and his immense joyful attitude and his commitment to friendship impresses her.

As a result love blossoms between the two.Mean while,Raju’s dad is paralyzed and suffers an attack.Rancho immediately offers timely help and Raju’s deeply moved.These are the moments here and between that make the movie so special.Then comes the preinterval scene dating back to the present life,which leaves everyone in shock regarding Rancho’s identity .Post interval,coming back to the flash back,Rancho makes everyone realize how passionate one must be about their interests without giving up to parents demands.This enthuses Farhan to explore his passion of wild life photography.He feels this is the last opportunity to have a satisfying job rather than a well paid hellish one.He also convinces his parents about his future and henceforth they give a green signal to his choice.

So few days later,Raju gets caught by Virus for some serious mischief and the latter threatens him to be rusticated from the college.He even gives him a choice between Rancho and himself, on whom to be sent off.He being clueless, jumps from the window succumbing to a serious injury.Rancho,again with Farhan come to his rescue .A Fortnight later,Raju too earns a job in an interview and is thrilled.Virus previously had ridiculed him of not worthy of getting a job and he would shave off his moustache had he got so.So,not able to bear him getting a job,his ego gets the better of him and he tries to set a paper which is so difficult ,such that he(raju) fails in the exam.This leads to some ugly sequences where he loses his temper and Pia too disapproves her father to be rude and leaves the house.Ultimately,the 3 Idiots are suspended from the college after a misunderstood incident .That night,Pia’s sister being pregnant suffers from incessant pains needing to go to the hospital urgently.Due to continuous rains,the transport comes to a standstill giving her no chance of going to the hospital.Then the trio leaving with their bags packed take notice of this situation and inform Pia.So using their limited sources with the help of Pia with the web cam,the the baby is delivered and kudos to the ideals of the director.Finally “Aal Izz Well”and impressed by humanity of the 3 Idiots t,heir suspensions are cancelled by Virus,and all successfully complete their engineering course.Unexpectedly Rancho is suddenly missing from the scene and disappears from all their lives.When the truth comes out,we feel really sympathetic for his cause. So coming back to the present,then the rest of the story lies in how Farhan and Raju win him back and  make him meet Pia.The climax is easily the high point of the film.

Aamir Khan is the soul of the movie.He is such a talented actor and this performance of great multitude proves it.He thrives on challenges and success is just a formality.He’s made it a habit.Madhavan and Sharman Joshi sparkle with Aamir sharing great vibes and proving their mettle as good actors.Kareena is excellent.She confirms it yet again that she’s the no.1 in acting.Though a limited role,she performs comedy with ease and holding her presence on screen  amidst legends like Aamir is no mean task.Boman Irani shows how classy he’s ,enacting a role of a heartless principal Virus.Omi Vaidya as Chatur Ramalingam is awesome and provides good laughs especially in the speech he recites in Hindi.Music deserves a special mention which maintains the flow of the movie instead of interrupting it.Cinematography is wonderful and so is the choreography.Most importantly, for carving out a flick like this with a child like innocence,hats off to Raj Kumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. who use Chetan Bhagat’s novel to their advantage

Bollywood has had a dull year, but this movie for sure will bring smiles to the distributors ensuring good business because of its quality content.This is a gem…You’ll miss something important in life if you don’t watch this movie..So rush to the theatres!!!

RATING:5/5

Wishing all the readers a very Happy New Year…

An unwanted break?

 

The recent demands for Telangana has created a hostile atmosphere in the state dividing people with varied opinions.The root cause of the protests being students is a huge matter of concern.Students have acted in a very immature way to satisfy their demands.This has resulted in bandhs,holidays for many educational institutions thus breaking the much needed momentum in academics.This situation can be used by the students either for a break or sharpening the so- called essential skills.

                         Holidays provide an ample opportunity to students for creativity.Book Reading is a wonderful habit at any time and reading classics of Shakespeare,Sidney Sheldon,Robin Cook,John Grisham,Jeffery Archer,Erich Segal is a wonderful idea.Updating ourselves with technical knowledge  such as C,C++,Windows,Java with short term courses would help us go beyond the classroom.Reading good articles from the Internet by experts in respective fields will polish our skills.Besides, a glance of the future portions to be studied at college would keep us busy and finishing off the pending writing work may save time once the colleges reopen .Movie,documentary viewing once in a while from the video libraries avoiding the theatres could prove economical as well as entertaining.Jogging and brisk walking in the parks amid fresh air for an hour or Gym is advisable to keep the body fit.In addition,Yoga and Meditation would be best tonic to keep our minds fresh devoid any unnecessary thoughts.Listening to soulful music we enjoy would relieve us from the unduly daily life stress.Aiding our parents in the daily chores would save time for them.Ultimately it all comes to time managing balancing relaxation and our basic duties.Lets hope the unrest in the state comes to a halt very soon and we are back to our  daily routine once again.Wishing everyone A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year…

N.SRIVATHSAN

SREENIDHI ENGINEERING COLLEGE

HYDERABAD

De Dana Dan is a rib tickling laugh riot

Technorati Tags: Movie Review

The Hera Pheri Jodi work magic yet again.Priyadarshan with the trio of Akshay,Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal tickle your fun muscles wonderfully.This time the situations get whackier and more funnier.After a series of duds in the year,Akshay is back in full form with his lucky lady girl Katrina Kaif.The basic essence of the movie remains the same.Leave out your brains and enter the theatre.

STORY

Akshay Kumar and Suneil Shetty are two carefree men settled in Singapore.They lack spice in life but always believe that life will give them an oppurtunity to become rich.Akshay works as a care taker in a millionaire’s house while Suneil works as a courier agent.Akshay is very dissatisfied with his treatment in his owners house but he couldn’t do much to escape from this mundane routine as his father borrowed money from the former for Akshay’s education and failed to return it due to his untimely death.Both are having girl friends in the form of Katrina and Sameera Reddy.Katrina and Sameera come from rich backgrounds.Their parents normally want them to marry a rich person.Their respective parents try arranging a marriage for both of them and Katrina ,Sameera warn their partners that this is the last chance for them to get together if not they had to part ways.

                                     Akshay was seemingly helpless.He starts planning out a few ideas with Suneil Shetty to earn quick and easy money for a tension free life satisfying their lady loves.Cashing on the love the owner of Akshay’s workplace ,has for her dog,they kidnap it.Their plans go  awry when the dog escapes in the middle of the journey and returns back to the house.They still don't have a knowledge of it though.They scribble in the owner’s house that she had to pay a ransom of 1 crore to avoid death.She gives a police complaint and mistakes that Akshay is kidnapped.Akshay believing his life is settled calls Katrina to join him in a hotel until they get the money.He was shell shocked to see his kidnapping news in the headlines realizing they were in a big mess with neither the dog nor the money.Then the entry of Paresh Rawal and many other characters rallying around him turn you into splits.The script is ultimately the tricks the Roadside Romeo's try to win their girls.As like his other movies, “De Dana Dan” borrows its source from a Malayalam film “Vettom”.

PERFORMANCES

Akki works big time in this comic caper.He proves yet again his ease in handling comic movies.Suneil Shetty after a lull seems to have earned his comic timing back and shares good chemistry with Akki.Katrina Kaif is stunning in the songs and adds the glamour quotient to the script well along with an impressive Sameera Reddy.Paresh Rawal as a corrupt businessman performs his part with an admirable ease.The supporting cast including Johnny Lever,Rajpal Yadav,Chunky Pandey and many more do a sincere job to entertain the crowds.Priyadarshan has handled an average script admirably well to his advantage and his mettle in creating comic situations out of no where comes to the fore in Dana Dan.The music is quite good by Pritam who has delivered great numbers this year.Gale Lag  Jaa and Paisa stand out among the songs.The cinematography is quite good capturing Singapore at its very best.The climax sequence too is shot really well and kudos to the producers for investing on a good Director and a comic script without any compromises on the budget.

What works for De Dana Dan?

• The Hera Pheri combination
• Picturisation of music
• Hard-core comedy

What doesn’t work?

• Excessive length
• Too many characters
• Repetitive story line

Ultimately what an aam aadmi wants is pure entertainment  keeping his worries away and enjoying the 2 1/2 hours to the fullest.De Dana Dan is a winner among the first benchers and family crowds for sure and the cast do every bit to satisfy the audience.Don't miss this!

 

Paa is a heartful masterpiece

Bollywood has truly come of age.Its blessed with extraordinary talent but most importantly its being used now.Movies are focussing on rare and unique themes which are being appreciated by an intelligent audience.Paa is no different.Based on a rare disease named Progeria it speaks volumes on human emotions.It doesn’t get preachy in the process,infact Balki’s work contains many funny and light moments connectable to our daily life.

STORY

Vidya is a gynacolologist by profession.Amol Aarte is meanwhile an aspiring politician who wants to change the face of India and remove corruption.Both love each other but unknowingly Vidya gets pregnant.She is in a dilemma on whether to give birth to the child which might affect both their careers.Here Amol isn’t convinced about having a child and in turn wants her to abort the child as he wants to focus on his future.Vidya though is very much disappointed by Amol’s irresponsibility sheand both break up.Vidya decides to give birth to the child with the help of her mother.Her problems doesn’t end with this.She gives birth to a baby boy Auro suffering from a one in a million disease Progeria which is accelerated ageing with premature death.She is heart broken.But still she puts up a brave face and makes him grow like a normal child.Few years later Auro accidentally meets his father who is a famous M.P by then known for his great visionary.Rest of the story deals with the bonding of Amol and Auro and the weird eqations they share.Ultimately,Auro comes to know the truth of Amol being his father and is desperate to see his mom and dad patch up.The rest of the story deals under what circumstances Vidya and Amol had to face and show their love for Auro.


PERFORMANCES

Abhishek as Amol shows an immensely growing actor getting better movie by movie.Vidya is simply superb as a mom who had to face
many difficulties in life.Amitabh Bachchan pitches in a career best performance as Auro.His sterling on screen presence at such an age speaks volumes of the legend’s class.Arundhati Naag as Vidya’s mom fits the bill perfectly. The classmates of Auro perform very well.Though the actors have given in marvellous performances,this is R.Balki’s film and full marks to him for extracting the best out of his cast.The simplicity in the narrative style of the movie is beautiful.The music by Ilayaraaja is soothing and a treat for the ears.The film’s theme is such that it doesn’t require a lavish setting, but still ,the locations impress..Infact the movie nears perfection in most of the departments.

What works for the movie?

• Amitabh’s awesome performance
• Music
• Balki’s direction
• Unique theme

What doesn’t work?

• The political track of Amol
• Lack of pace in the script

Ultimately Paa is endearing experience which is so rare in these times.It will move everyone with a heart.It shows how delicate human emotions and relationships are,infact it pays a tribute to it.Go for it without any more suspicion.Dont miss it!!
RATING:4/5

Kurbaan sends a bold message on global terrorism

Well,this birthday the movie i chose was Kurbaan.The trailers,the cast,the theme made it all the more interesting.After the movie,i felt probably this this was the best thing i planned for my b’day.

Directed by Rensil D’Silva

Produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Johar

Written by Rensil D’Silva, Niranjan Iyengar, Anurag Kashyap

Starring Saif Ali Khan
Kareena Kapoor
Rupinder Nagra
Om Puri
Kirron Kher
Vivek Oberoi

Music by Salim-Sulaiman

Cinematography Hemant Chaturvedi

Distributed by UTV Motion Pictures

Country India

Language Hindi

Movie



Kurbaan takes it ideals from Fanaa and New York but turns out to be much better than the other 2.Avantika is a proffessor settled in the US.Her father’s heart attack forces her to come back to her homeland India.There she meets Ehsaan Khan with whom her love life blossoms.But Avantika is called back to return to the US and as a result,Ehsaan and Avantika decide to marry.Avantika’s father has apprehensions about giving his daughter to a Musilm but later reconciles and accepts their proposal.The scene then shifts back to New York where they both settle in a beside an Indian neighbour.The neighbour invites them to a party to their house.A few days later a girl named Salma(a girl in the neighbourhood whom she had dinner with) in the name of giving sweets to Avantika, expresses the danger of being killed by her husband.She further tells to inform the news to Salma’s only friend Rihaana who works as a TV reporter and is in a relationship with Riyaz.Avantika conveys Salma’s message to Rihaana. Avantika soon realises their neighbours are nothing but terrorists and killing innocent lives in the name of god. She gets trapped in a game plotted by none other than her husband Ehsaan Khan.She realises that she was nothing but a tool used by Ehsaan.By the time she knows this ,she’s a pregnant.She even comes to know that the flight by which Rihaanaa was travelling that night was the next on the list of the terrorist attack.She informs this to her by voicemail,but it becomes too late and the latter loses her life in the airline crash.Heart broken journalist Riyaz is determined to find out the roots of the attack.Now he recognises Avantika’s voice message that night and intelligently gets close to Ehsaan to revenge his partner’s death.Avantika and Riyaaz plan out things so delicately to reveal this dreaded truth out though the former is under house arrest.By the time they try their tricks,the gang plans out another triple attack in 3 stations.Then the climax reveals whether Avantika and Riyaz are successful in their attempt.But ultimately Kurbaan is a love story,believe me it is.

PERFORMANCES

Saif Ali Khan takes giant leaps as an actor with kurbaan.Kareena as usual is top class and shows her acting prowess to the fullest extent.Their chemistry is burning hot and works wonders for the movie.Om Puri is commanding.Kirron Kher is first rate.The surprise package is Vivek Oberoi who pitches in a memorable performance with great sincerity.In fact all actors have fitted the bill perfectly,credits to the casting director.Rensil’D'Silva couldn’t have chosen a better script than Kurbaan.His freshness impresses.The dialogues in the movie are top class and no less are the lyrics in the songs lending novelty to the situations well.Salim-Sulaiman have composed some wonderful tunes for this movie especially Shukran Allah and Kurbaan Hua.The Cinematography of the movie is top class capturing beautiful locations of India and the US remarkably.The movie is truly a Bollywood’s answer to Hollywood.Such is the quailty of this movie.Previous movies on terrorism dealt only with the emotional aspect of terrorism but this movie highlights the basic psyche of terrorists and the solution to it.It sends down a novel message.Coming to the location,casting,music Kurbaan is a winner all the way.

+ves and -ves

What works for Kurbaan?

* Kareena’s acting
* Vivek Oberoi
* Salim Sulaiman’s music
* The suppporting cast
* Direction
* Production values

Whats against Kurbaan?

* Too straight
* Violent second half
* 2:37 min running time

K’Jo has done it this time too.Dharma productions is yet again successful in bringing out a quality film.Go watch this movie to see the Indian actors proving their mettle and equally world class production values.Kurbaan should be a treat to watch.It has its own charm despite the theme of terrorism.Leave out those baseless comedy capers,come out and watch Kurbaan for an ultimate answer and I’m sure you wont come out dissaopinted.

Rating:4/5