Not a film review Shaandaar

Watch "Shaandaar - Movie Review l Shahid Kapoor And Alia Bhatt" on YouTube - Shaandaar Review

Shaandaar is the story of two families who fix up a wedding as a business deal to save their respective fortunes.

As far as the story or plot of this film goes , there is absolutely none. The film disappoints in a big way in that department. Lots of mindless jokes make up for the plot line. 

The film is visually stunning and you'll just love the way it's shot. I mean seriously as far as the visuals are concerned the film looks spectacular, I wish the same could be said about the story. 

The actors have done a decent job, Shahid, Alia, Pankaj Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor , Sushma Seth everyone has done justice to the parts they were given. 

Music is peppy and nice and tries to lift this movie. But without a basic plot it just keeps drifting mindlessly and becomes a drag after a point of time. 

Vikas Bhal gave us the entertaining Queen, and now this. I seriously don't know what made him make this film. 

As far as the rating goes I would like to give this film two stars just for the visuals and music. This is one which is worth giving a miss and saving some of your hard earned cash in these times of high prices. 

Movie Review - Gunday

Movie – Gunday

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Irfan Khan

Directed by: Ali Abbas Zafar

Produced by: Aditya Chopra

Cinematography: Aseem Mishra

Music: Sohail Sen

Background Score: Julius Packiam

Rating : 3/5

Review

Gunday is the story of two friends Bikram ( Ranveer Singh)and Bala (Arjun Kapoor), both orphans, together since childhood. The India- Pakistan War which lead to the creation of Bangladesh also resulted in a lot of refugees, who had no clue which side of the divide they belong to. Both, Bikram and Bala find themselves in a Bangladeshi refugee camp because of this. The situation inside the camp is desperate, with hunger being the main nemesis of everyone.  A man approaches them and offers them food, and in exchange asks them to help him smuggle guns out of the camp and sell it. They agree to become gun couriers for food.  But, then something unpleasant happens and circumstances force them to run away from Bangladesh and they reach Calcutta. 

They try to lead a honest life working in a small restaurant in Calcutta, but then again circumstances force them to leave the honest life and turn to crime. They start stealing coal from trains and selling them at half the price in the market.  Time passes and Bikram and Bala start smuggling everything from cola to steel and become the biggest crime lords of Calcutta. They are happy in their existence, but then the system decides to target them again, this time in the form of A.C.P. Satyajeet Sarkar (Irfan Khan), who is summoned to Calcutta to capture them. He warns them off and tells them that they will be finished the day he finds one shred of evidence against them. Meanwhile, both our Gangsters fall in love with the same girl Nandita ( Priyanka Chopra) a cabaret dancer, and both agree that whosoever she ends up loving will marry her. But, then life isn’t a bed of roses and not so especially if you are Bikram and Bala. One thing leads to another and you soon find them at loggerheads with each other.  

As far as the cinematography goes, the film is well shot. But, then the amount of Slow motion that has been used in the movie is just too much. Almost every second scene is in slow motion. I seriously believe that if you increase the speed of all the slow motion scenes the film will get over an hour earlier. The Music is good and the background score is also nice. The background score manages to lift the movie a bit. Ranveer Singh seems to have jumped in from the neighbouring Raam-Leela set and still in the same mood. But he does do justice to his part. Arjun Kapoor is still in Ishaqzaade, a little more in the second half of the film when it gets more serious. Irfan Khan is spectacular as the honest calculating cop. Priyanka Chopra has managed to do her role with sincerity, though it was not that challenging a role. 

The film starts in a slow manner and the first half does seem to drag, with not much happening. But, in the second half the film does pick up pace and does manage to bring out the best of all its actors. Loved the use of metaphors in the film, like a dove flying when both Bikram and Bala are about to fight each other, signifying the end of peace. The train passing in the background, when Bikram promises Nandini that he will mend his ways, signifying a new beginning.  The reflection in the mirror when looking as if Bala is pointing a gun at himself, signifying self destruction. Apart, from this, the cabaret looked too advanced for the 70’s and the heroes seemed to be inspired by the antics of Salman Khan while fighting, though he had not started acting in the 70’s.

 

Overall, this movie is a mixed bag. It has its highs and quite a few lows. It’s enjoyable in parts, the first part isn’t that enjoyable, but the second half has some good moments including the smart use of metaphors. Go watch it if you are a fan of Masala flicks, and oh if you love to whistle, then the movie will give you ample opportunity to do so.

Jab Tak Hain Jaan - Old Facebook Review

This is a Review I had written after seeing the movie First Day First Show on 13 November 2012 on Facebook .. Posting this here for all the non FB to read 

Ok First Day First Show after a long long time .... JAB TAK HAIN JAAN...Yashji didn't disappoint .. typical YRF with all the emotions and love in it ... not all may like it because we are now used to mindless comedy ..... The length of this film is too long ... runtime of 3 hours ... but personally I enjoyed watching a love story develop slowly like it happens in real life .. SRK was good in the first half ... but excellent in the second when all the intense emotions started becoming part of the script ... Anushka Sharma is awesome she is a better actress than Katrina .. sorry Kat fans but in this movie Anushka excels .. after a long time actresses had work to do and not be just eye candy and Anushka does very well... the scenes are just beautiful .. London looks awesome .. but Leh, Laddhak and Kashmir look even better ... except for the length I found the movie very enjoyable ... but as I said not all may enjoy it ... go for it with a mindset that this is not going to be a brainless flick and neither a quick flick where scenes go really fast ... the film runs slowly and pics up steadily ... and haha on a lighter note SRK has kissed on screen and doesn't do a great job with it ... The Music is not that great .. Overall 4 stars

Movie Review - The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street , based on the book, with the same name by motivational speaker Jordan Belfort is a story about, money , ambition, greed, lust, sex, drugs .. everything about the movie is in excess including its three hour length which can be considered obscene by Hollywood standards.. .. well now let’s talk about the movie in itself, it starts with a young Jordan Belfort getting a job in a stock broking firm L.F. Rothschild .. the firm goes defunct and Jordan is left jobless ... with some egging on by his wife he joins a penny stock trading firm .. operating out of a boiler room .. this is where his life changes ... conning people to invest into penny stocks starts giving him so much money that he decides to start off on his own and sets up his own firm Stratton Oakmont, along with a neighbour Donnie he met by chance and a couple of his old friends .So begins the story of the wolf of wall street .... From thousands to millions .... from a few employees to over a thousand employees .. Stratton Oakmont grows and grows... Belfort and his employees lead an obscenely outrageous lifestyle fuelled by drugs, sex and how can I forget Quaaludes ...

Now enough about the story ... let’s get to the film .... the film is very well made ... except for the three hour length I found every aspect of the movie enjoyable , even the three hour length doesn’t seem to hamper the film much as it manages to keep you intrigued and interested throughout its runtime .... Leonardo DiCaprio is simply superb in his portrayal of Jordan Belfort and you’ll thoroughly enjoy his work .. from the motivational speeches to the Quaaludes fuelled antics everything .... the scene where he drives home from the club in what he himself describes as the cerebral palsy phase after taking Quaaludes is hilarious.... Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff is spectacular as well and he features far more prominently in the film than Belfort’s trophy wife Naomi (Margot Robbie) ... both Belfort and Donnie are addicted to Quaaludes, and both are capable of outrageously infant kind of antics after taking Quaaludes  

 

The screenplay of the film is extremely witty and  full of swear words .. the music of the film is the blues of the 70’s and 80’s ... Martin Scorsese has made a thoroughly enjoyable film which does not lag for even one moment ... the stellar performances by its star cast adds to it.

now I need to say a few words for the Indian censor board .... why is there a disclaimer in the movie which says smoking is injuries  to health when they are snorting cocaine .... and why is there no disclaimer when they are taking Quaaludes  .... if you can put a disclaimer on smoking .. because you think the Indian audience is immature enough to follow it if you don’t put a disclaimer the what about drugs .. are we mature enough to handle it  ... further more .. you brand it an adult film .. you can show drugs and violence and blood .. while you chop off the sex and nudity ... what kind of twisted mentality is that ... aren’t we as adults mature enough to see it ... NUTS

   

Now back to the film  this in one film that should not be missed ... go watch it and enjoy it for the film it is  ... the Wolf of Wall street is still roaring .. go watch it .. My rating 4/5