I have returned
After a very very long break from blogging, I have returned. And I come fully loaded. With three movie reviews and lots of juicy tid-bits to follow. So, without much further ado, allow me to get to the reviews. In alphabetical order then.
Bunty Aur Babli, which I watched today, was a decent watch. I did not love it, as I had expected to, but it was a fun watch nevertheless. The beginning is wonderfully done, and the plot is pretty decent. But the later part of the movie is a bit disappointing, and the last half hour left me a bit stunned. Stunned at how they could mess up such a brilliant beginning, and at how miserably the movie fails at living up to the promise created by its unusual plot. The movie was, till then, impressive in parts, with the highlight of the movie, without doubt, being the item number by Aishwariya Rai. I thought Ms. Rai was looking breathtakingly beautiful. I do not usually like Aishwariya, but this song was something else. It made me almost forgive her for all that giggling and fake accent putting-on during Letterman and Oprah. The movie does have its moments, and most of the attempts at humour are pretty credible. Rani Mukerjee is looking very hot at times, and not so hot at other times. Amitabh Bachchan, as always, has done a bloody good job. In retrospect, I have a feeling that if it wasn't for the last 30-40 minutes, the movie would have been a delightful one. But as things stand, it isn't.
Mr. And Mrs. Smith was, to put it bluntly, terrible. Once again, the plot held great promise, but at no point in the movie did I feel that justice hasd been done to it. The movie doesn't even come close to being a good watch. Agreed, the dialogues are crisp and witty, and Angelina Jolie has never looked hotter. But even Angelina Jolie, aided a bit by witty dialogues, can't hold together a movie that has no story, with no clear beginning, no clear middle, and no clear end. Not taking Angelina Jolie into account, the movie was a big waste of time and money. It was a miracle that I survived it. I guess the only thing that saved me was my realizing, at a very early stage in the movie, that the only way to enjoy it was to keep staring intently at Ms. Jolie. It might be that I am being unduly unfair to the movie because I sat in the first row of the hall to watch it, but the only other time I have felt as disappointed with a Hollywood flick was when I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Both the movies were very similar in how they made me feel once they were over. After watching both, I was left with nothing but a rather odd sensation of having been slapped in the face with a wet fish.
Parineeta, the third movie I watched this week, was simply brilliant. It was, easily, the best of the three. While Bunty Aur Babli, at least in the first half, looked like beating it to the first position, it lost out in, as I said, the last half hour. Mr. And Mrs. Smith didn't even come close.
The reason I liked Parineeta was that out of the three movies I saw this last week, it was the only one that actually made full use of a superior and unusual plot. Maybe it was because Mr. Sarat Chandra Chatterjee had already done all the hard work, and the movie makers didn't have to do much. Whatever the reason, the result is an extremely well made movie, with well-delineated characters and a well-paced, convincing screenplay. The direction is praiseworthy. All actors have performed very well. It is difficult to believe that this is Vidya Balan's debut movie, for her acting is of a caliber not usually associated with newcomers. Something tells me that she shall do well in the future. She is reasonably good looking and, as she proves with this movie, a very good actor. Saif Ali Khan, as in many of his last few movies, has come up with an impressive performance. Sanjay Dutt has made the most of his rather limited role. The peripheral actors have also delivered satisfactory performances. My only complaint with the movie is its weakness in the music department. Also, Rekha is too fat to do an item number. But then, one can't have everything.
This post has now become long. And it has become late. I have to go and sleep, for I am extremely tired. The juicy tid-bits, therefore, shall have to wait. But I promise I shall return soon. And then I shall write a long and nice post full of them. Till then, let the comments keep coming in.
Bunty Aur Babli, which I watched today, was a decent watch. I did not love it, as I had expected to, but it was a fun watch nevertheless. The beginning is wonderfully done, and the plot is pretty decent. But the later part of the movie is a bit disappointing, and the last half hour left me a bit stunned. Stunned at how they could mess up such a brilliant beginning, and at how miserably the movie fails at living up to the promise created by its unusual plot. The movie was, till then, impressive in parts, with the highlight of the movie, without doubt, being the item number by Aishwariya Rai. I thought Ms. Rai was looking breathtakingly beautiful. I do not usually like Aishwariya, but this song was something else. It made me almost forgive her for all that giggling and fake accent putting-on during Letterman and Oprah. The movie does have its moments, and most of the attempts at humour are pretty credible. Rani Mukerjee is looking very hot at times, and not so hot at other times. Amitabh Bachchan, as always, has done a bloody good job. In retrospect, I have a feeling that if it wasn't for the last 30-40 minutes, the movie would have been a delightful one. But as things stand, it isn't.
Mr. And Mrs. Smith was, to put it bluntly, terrible. Once again, the plot held great promise, but at no point in the movie did I feel that justice hasd been done to it. The movie doesn't even come close to being a good watch. Agreed, the dialogues are crisp and witty, and Angelina Jolie has never looked hotter. But even Angelina Jolie, aided a bit by witty dialogues, can't hold together a movie that has no story, with no clear beginning, no clear middle, and no clear end. Not taking Angelina Jolie into account, the movie was a big waste of time and money. It was a miracle that I survived it. I guess the only thing that saved me was my realizing, at a very early stage in the movie, that the only way to enjoy it was to keep staring intently at Ms. Jolie. It might be that I am being unduly unfair to the movie because I sat in the first row of the hall to watch it, but the only other time I have felt as disappointed with a Hollywood flick was when I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Both the movies were very similar in how they made me feel once they were over. After watching both, I was left with nothing but a rather odd sensation of having been slapped in the face with a wet fish.
Parineeta, the third movie I watched this week, was simply brilliant. It was, easily, the best of the three. While Bunty Aur Babli, at least in the first half, looked like beating it to the first position, it lost out in, as I said, the last half hour. Mr. And Mrs. Smith didn't even come close.
The reason I liked Parineeta was that out of the three movies I saw this last week, it was the only one that actually made full use of a superior and unusual plot. Maybe it was because Mr. Sarat Chandra Chatterjee had already done all the hard work, and the movie makers didn't have to do much. Whatever the reason, the result is an extremely well made movie, with well-delineated characters and a well-paced, convincing screenplay. The direction is praiseworthy. All actors have performed very well. It is difficult to believe that this is Vidya Balan's debut movie, for her acting is of a caliber not usually associated with newcomers. Something tells me that she shall do well in the future. She is reasonably good looking and, as she proves with this movie, a very good actor. Saif Ali Khan, as in many of his last few movies, has come up with an impressive performance. Sanjay Dutt has made the most of his rather limited role. The peripheral actors have also delivered satisfactory performances. My only complaint with the movie is its weakness in the music department. Also, Rekha is too fat to do an item number. But then, one can't have everything.
This post has now become long. And it has become late. I have to go and sleep, for I am extremely tired. The juicy tid-bits, therefore, shall have to wait. But I promise I shall return soon. And then I shall write a long and nice post full of them. Till then, let the comments keep coming in.
posted by Manu Saxena at 7:24:00 pm
14 comments
14 Comments:
mr and mrs smith is worth watching just for jolie i guess ! and as far as b&b is concerned...its a pathetic movie, from what ive heard from others. havent watched it though, but couldnt really stand rani in that nach baliye song...disaster.....and parineeta might as well be national award material.....
It's been a long while again.
Anyways, about the movies:
B&B: I totally agree with u. The first half was very entertainig and well done.
I thought Abhishek Bachchan was good, perhaps, for the first time. However, I have never liked Amitabh Bachchan for some very queer and unexplainable reason and yet again I thought he over acted.
And I haven't seen the other 2 movies mentioned.
There are certainly mixed opinions on Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Aishwarya was the highlight of BnB?!! I thought the song was horrible and Ash looked FAT. Also, the movie wasted one of the biggest events in Indian cinema: Big B and Junior B together on screen. Their scenes were pathetic and Amitabh's character was not as memorable as Bunty's and Babli's characters.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith: agree with u. Major failings: too much gun firing, a stretched climax and the length of the movie. Saw Batman bgins...another 2 hour plus english movie. what's wrong with hollywood?
Parineeta: no comments on "Tod Shekhar Tod"? The music tends to grow on you. Just wait till your neighbours start playing it day and night, Veer Zaara ishtyle.
Saurabh, you are absolutely right. Rani was not looking nice in the 'Nach Baliye' song, especially in that tight black outfit of hers. She was looking fat and horrible. But she looked nice in some other parts of the movie.
Akanksha, both Abhishek and Amitabh have done good work, but as I see it, Amitabh was the clear winner. As far as the over-acting goes, I think it was a part of the character he played.
TT, Aishwariya Rai was NOT looking fat in the song. She was looking wonderful. As I said, I found her breathtakingly beautiful. Don't spoil this for me.
The "Tod Shekar, Tod" part from Parineeta was a bit unfortunate. It was sad seeing Saif Ali Khan trying to break a wall all by himself, while all the others could do was egg him on with hearty cries of "Tod Shekhar, Tod". Lazy Bongs.
Another funny thing was how Shekhar had to contort his face in agony while picking up the White Garden Fountain/Ornament thingy, but once he picked it up, not only could he hold on to it, but also swing it wildly against the brick-wall, with almost minimal effort, and not even the slightest hint of a grimace.
All in all, I felt pretty sorry for Shekhar. It's sad, the things we men have to do to please the women we love.
Incidentally, as I just found out on talking to my mother, in the actual novel by Mr. Chatterjee, from what she remembers, Shekhar, much in the way of us normal, civilized human beings incapable of demolishing brick-walls manually, used the gate instead.
ty manu
only coz of ur review i was saved from watching mr mrs smith.. my friends were really at it but i stopped them
"Stop in the name of Manu", I said...
ultimately we ended up bakaiting
hey manu give my blog a look too man......i could use some tips from you.....thanks
Mani, you made the right choice.
Saurabh, you don't need tips. You need an audience.
I half agree with TT. Ash ( Manu it's not "Aishwariya" but "Aishwarya" ::))) ) was the highlight of the movie but in quite the opposite sense. The song was absolutely gross and unasked for. Yes TT, she is BLOODY FAT. Newayz. c ya manu
yeah Menk!
Ménk and TT, go stick your heads in a pig.
14th comment.
AINDRILLA, you're completely right. We don't.
Post a Comment
<< Home