Club 60 Review Taran Adarsh!

Rating:***

A few days ago, I glanced at a wonderful quote on life, which I deem fit to share with the readers...

"Life stops when you stop dreaming, 
Hope stops when you stop believing, 
Love ends when you stop caring, 
Friendship ends when you stop sharing." 
That, in short, is the essence of CLUB 60, directed by debutant Sanjay Tripathy. 

CLUB 60 narrates the heart-warming and uplifting journey of five irrepressible individuals linked together by the quirks of fate. The lives of each of these [Raghuvir Yadav, Satish Shah, Tinnu Anand, Sharat Saxena and Vineet Kumar] revolves around a tennis court of a club and how each of them inspire a couple [Farooque Sheikh and Sarika], suffering from post-traumatic depression, to come out of it and fall back in love with life again. 

CLUB 60 starts off with a sparkling monologue, laying the basis of the plot on which the director builds his story, delicately weaving together the lives of several individuals. Well penned and adroitly executed with a number of impeccable emotional moments, Sanjay does a credible and convincing job of exposing the depression faced by each of those characters, which, frankly, also mirrors the lives of most septuagenarians in today's age. 

Conversely, while the emotional moments do make you moist eyed at times, the light moments don't really leave much of an impact. In fact, a couple of sequences [featuring Raghuvir Yadav specifically] are far from amusing, while the track featuring Sharat Saxena in a bar and the episode that ensues seems unwarranted when one looks at the larger picture. Furthermore, the film could've done without songs. 

Though a bit stretched with a run time of over 2 hours, CLUB 60 does manage to keep you absorbed for most parts thanks to the message it attempts to convey. Additionally, the gradual progression of the story, detailing each character while taking the film ahead, is seamlessly executed, leaving the audience no time to stagnate on any particular topic. The plot also builds up to an emotional climax and what really works in favor is the optimism it attempts to convey through the characters. 

Farooque Sheikh does a splendid job, portraying the part of a dejected and disheartened father who ultimately breaks free from the shackles to lead a renewed life. Complimenting him at every step is Sarika, who proves her credentials in several moments of the film, especially the one when she breaks down. Raghuvir Yadav, as the fun-loving, overtly vocal Manubhai, tends to go over the top at times, but leaves a mark nonetheless. Satish Shah is in terrific form, enacting the part of a Gujarati entrepreneur to perfection. Suhasini Mulay, as his wife, is adequate. Tinnu Anand is wonderful, Sharat Saxena is first-rate and Vineet Kumar is convincing. Zarina Wahab appears in a cameo. Himani Shivpuri, Harsh Chhaya and Viju Khote are alright. 

On the whole, CLUB 60 talks of senior citizens facing a late-life crisis due to personal loss convincingly. An emotional journey of friendship, warmth, generosity and the indomitable human spirit, it's an honest attempt for sure.


http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/687029 

R.. Rajkumar from Taran Adarsh!

Rating: *1/2

There's an overdose of masala films. And practically all prominent names have featured in masalathons this year. Take a look: SRK [CHENNAI EXPRESS], Ranbir Kapoor [BESHARAM], Ajay Devgn [HIMMATWALA], Akshay Kumar [BOSS], Sanjay Dutt [ZILA GHAZIABAD, POLICEGIRI], Sunny Deol [SINGH SAAB THE GREAT] and Saif Ali Khan [BULLETT RAJA]. Sadly, most of these films were shown the red flag by cineastes, which prompted the cynics to believe that it's the end of the road for the 1980s-styled formula films. But there's also the school of thought that strongly feels that masala entertainers will never go out of fashion. The good ones will work, the awful ones will bite the dust...

Prabhu Dheva revived the masala genre in Bollywood with WANTED, triggering off a plethora of entertainers subsequently. Not deviating from what he re-introduced to the audiences, Prabhu Dheva has fruitfully crafted and churned out desi entertainers one after the other. This time, the actor-choreographer-director teams up with Shahid Kapoor to narrate a story that's set [once again] in the countryside. The only difference is, R… RAJKUMAR is *not* a remake of a South Indian hit, like Prabhu Dheva's previous endeavors. 

Curiously, a few weeks ago, Shahid Kapoor teamed up with Rajkumar Santoshi for an entertainer [PHATA POSTER NIKLA HERO] and many a people are drawing parallels between that film and this one [R… RAJKUMAR]. Not true! Now to the next question: Is it a replica of a standard masala film or there's more to it? More significantly, how compelling is Shahid in the masala space? Does he look persuasive and convincing enough, rattling mass-friendly dialogues and bashing up dozens of rogues like we swat flies? Let's find out…

Rajkumar [Shahid Kapoor], who works for a drug dealer Shivraj [Sonu Sood], is entrusted the task of eliminating the rival drug dealer [Ashish Vidyarthi]. Prior to that, he eyes Chanda [Sonakshi Sinha] and falls head over heels in love with her. Rajkumar is unaware that Vidyarthi happens to be Chanda's uncle. In the meantime, Shivraj too falls for the charms of Chanda. He makes peace with Vidyarthi and expresses the desire to marry Chanda. The battle lines are drawn…

Masala entertainers are all about compelling the spectators to believe in the super-hero qualities of the protagonist. He has to be an all-rounder actually: emote, romance, sing, dance and flex muscles, when required. Prabhu Dheva has been serving us the staple dish, albeit in new avatars and modifications, successfully. Much like his last outing RAMAIYA VASTAVAIYA, Prabhu Dheva emphasizes on romance yet again in R… RAJKUMAR, with action being the icing on the cake. And while positioning it as a romantic fare, Prabhu Dheva also packages light moments aplenty and chart-busting music to make R… RAJKUMAR a wholesome entertainer. 

While R… RAJKUMAR has everything that the hoi polloi looks for in atypical mass entertainers, the problem lies in the fact that there being an overdose of masala films, one can actually foresee what's in store next. The story is done to death, the screenplay is far from inventive and everything seems conventional. Sure, a few moments do keep you glued and hooked to the proceedings, but the waferthin plot and lackluster screenplay plays spoilsport. 

Another reason why R… RAJKUMAR falls like a pack of cards is the casting. Although Shahid Kapoor has genuinely acted well, placing him in the same zone as Salman Khan [DABANGG] and Akshay Kumar [ROWDY RATHORE] looks far from convincing. Making him battle an army of villains, led by Sonu Sood and Ashish Vidyarthi, and reducing them to pulp looks completely far-fetched even in the masala scenario. In short, Shahid is at home when he has to sing songs and romance Sonakshi, but looks far from convincing when he has to act as a super-hero. 

Prabhu Dheva has always excelled in the masala genre and that's the reason why he's labeled the king of entertainers, but a feather-light concept and predictable goings-on act as dampeners. Like I stated earlier, a few sequences/moments do manage to keep you attentive, but they're few and far between. One swallow does not a summer make! Dialogues too are serviceable, with a few clever lines integrated in the narrative. 

Pritam delivers a chartbusting score. 'Gandi Baat', 'Saree Ke Fall Sa' and 'Mat Maari' are catchy and the first two songs especially have already caught the fancy of listeners. But 'Kaddu Katega' appears reminiscent of the item song in ROWDY RATHORE ['Aa Re Pritam Pyaare'], while the romantic track ['Dhokha Dhadi'] is plain average. Action sequences, though executed well and high on energy, fall in the same mould as the ones we have watched in scores of masala entertainers. 

Shahid Kapoor gets to portray a mass-friendly character and he gives it his best shot. He's an exceptional dancer and emotes very well too, but, like I pointed out earlier, he looks far from real when it comes to fighting an army of villains. Sonakshi Sinha seems to be getting repetitive and needs to reinvent herself. Ditto for Sonu Sood, who plays the mandatory villain without much of an effort. 

Asrani is just about okay. Ashish Vidyarthi plays the evil uncle to perfection. Mukul Dev is passable. Srihari doesn't get ample scope. 

On the whole, R... RAJKUMAR doesn't work. It is Prabhu Dheva's weakest Hindi film to date!

http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/566875 

Weeping Boy Malayalam, by Rediff!

Rating:**

Off lately we have seen a few Malayalam films tackle the subject of anti-abortion, but Weeping Boy handles it very poorly, writes Paresh C Palicha.

Sreenivasan is a name that guarantees a certain standard for whatever project he is associated with, whether as actor, writer or director.

Filmmakers have used his star power and self deprecating humour to propagate causes they believed in.

But, you cannot help wondering what a new director like Felix Joseph intends to do by giving him the title role in Weeping Boy.

Sreenivasan plays a veterinarian named Sahadevan, who is so sensitive that anything can make him cry. He is locked up in jail and cuts a sorry figure.

He seems mentally unstable as he keeps talking to someone who is invisible to others. This brings on the flashback in which he narrates to a psychiatrist how he had married late and his wife (Lena) had gone through a few miscarriages.

When she got pregnant again, her doctor had ordered complete bed rest and Sahadevan was fully involved in taking care of her.

At this crucial time he gets a posting to a remote village called Kannadikkara. He reluctantly reports for duty as his job was at risk.

Communal animosity runs high in Kannadikkara. Sahadevan is privy to the love affair between Faizal (Arjun Lakshmi Narayan) and Geethu (Shritha Sivadas) and he gets involved in stopping it from culminating in a disaster, which ultimately lands him in jail.

We have seen a few anti-abortion (the crux of this film) films in Malayalam in recent times like Akku Akbar’s Kaana Kanmani(2009) and Anamika (2009), but this film handles the subject very poorly.

The storyline, credited to the director himself, not only depends very heavily on Sreenivasan, but it is confused about whether to tap into his comic image or to make the character a serious one.

This shows in Sreenivasan’d performance--he seems stranded between being outright funny and being sentimental.

Other actors make fleeting appearances, whether it is Jagadeesh, who plays Faizal’s father, or Praveena who plays his wife.

As one witty viewer remarked while leaving the theatre after watching the film, the film is not about the Weeping Boy but about the weeping audience.

http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-malayalm-film-weeping-boy-will-make-the-audience-weep-south/20131206.htm 

Kalyana Samayal Saadham Reviews from Rediff!

Rating: ***

S Saraswathi says Kalyana Samayal Saadham is not just about a big fat Indian wedding but also highlights the emotional and sensitive topic of stress-related erectile dysfunction that is becoming an increasingly common problem among the modern youth.

Prasanna and Lekha Washington team up for Kalyana Samayal Saadham, a romantic comedy written and directed by debutant R S Prasanna.

The film is co-produced by Arun Vaidyanathan, director of the critically acclaimed Achamundu Achamundu, and distributed by C V Kumar's Thirukumaran Entertainment along with ABI TCS Studios.

Despite its title, Kalyana Samayal Saadham (Marriage Feast) is not just about a big fat Indian wedding.

Besides all the rituals and ceremonies that form an integral part of a traditional wedding, KSS also highlights our belief in horoscopes, blind superstition and the various ego issues that crop up between the families of the bride and groom before and during the wedding.

In addition to all this, the primary focus of the movie seems to be the rarely spoken of and intensely sensitive subject of impotency.

KSS has been in the news since the release of its innovatively presented promotional video song, Mella Sirithai that went viral on all the social networking websites.

Raghu Viswanathan (Prasanna) and Meera Chandrasekaran (Lekha Washington) are both engineers belonging to typical Brahmin families.  Too busy with their respective careers, they decide to outsource the job of finding their life partners to their parents.

After carefully scrutinising the various matrimonial websites and taking into account the job profile, annual salary and family background, Meera’s parents zero in on Raghu. 

After the traditional ‘bride seeing’ ceremony, the families believe that Raghu and Meera would make an ideal match, and the couple gets engaged.  The wedding is eight months away and the beautiful period of courtship begins.

Raghu and Meera slowly get to know one another, while their parents are busy making rounds of wedding halls, decorators, caterers and musicians.

Then, with just a month to go for the wedding, there is a big twist in the story.

It is Meera’s birthday, and after a huge party with friends, alcohol and wine, the couple feel that with the wedding just a month away, it would not be wrong to get intimate. To Raghu’s shock he realises that he is impotent.

What happens now? What do the couple decide? Will they call off the wedding and disappoint their families? All this and more in the second half.

Prasanna deserves special credit for playing a role that most actors would hesitate to take up.

Lekha is perfectly cast as the modern bride, who knows exactly what she wants from life and at the same time has a healthy respect for family and traditional values.  Director R S Prasanna has chosen to handle an extremely sensitive subject with humour rather than being overly dramatic.

He also manages to bring in all the fun and excitement of a typical Tamil Brahmin wedding; the Kancheevaram-cladmamis, who love to gossip, and the silk-dhoti mamas, add a nice touch.

The background score by Arrora is also a plus, especially the popular Mella Sirithai and the Pallu Pona Raja number sung by actor Prasanna himself.

Kalyana Samayal Saadham is a creative, funny, yet thought-provoking film.

http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-kalyana-samayal-saadham-is-funny-and-thought-provoking-south/20131206.htm 

Bullet Raja Review Rediff!

Rating:1/2

Bullett Raja is more ego trip than cinema, according to Paloma Sharma.In order to enjoy Bullett Raja, it is important to remember that this is not cinema -- it is simply an ego trip. 

Unless you can relate to the characters, Bullet Raja will bore you to death. 

Saif Ali Khan stars as Raja Mishra (pronounced: Miss-raa), a well-meaning yet trigger-happy local boy with a fiery temper. 

Raja is being chased by goons when he sees a wedding procession and joins it in order to escape. The wedding procession turns out to be headed for the local strongman's daughter's wedding.

Raja immediately befriends the bride's cousin, Rudra Tripathi (Jimmy Shergill).

After a day of dancing, leeching and drinking, Raja sneaks into the forest for some sexytime with the unnamed item girl (Mahie Gill) when he overhears a plan to assassinate his new BFF and the rest of his family. 

Raja decides to pick up arms for protection but unbeknownst to him, this decision gets him sucked into the dark, murky world of Uttar Pradesh politics. 

Saif Ali Khan's Raja Mishra is the less sophisticated country cousin of Agent Vinod. Aside from the diction and the tikka, they're both basically the same guy. All that Khan does in the film is look angry. 

Even his hair has more range than him.

Between him and Jimmy Shergill, the latter seems to be the more seasoned actor. Shergill's Rudra Tripathi is the right blend of slick and believable. 

Sonakshi Sinha is back to being the typical middle class, homely Bengali girl with big dreams -- dreams which she gives up at the drop of a hat to run away with her beloved Raja.

Ravi Kishan was handed an amazingly interesting character but unfortunately, the film chose to not explore its potential.

Also, it must be noted that the true star of the film is not Saif Ali Khan but Vidyut Jamwal despite him appearing only in the last half hour or so of the film.

Bullett Raja claims to be an action flick but despite the desi guttas firing almost non-stop throughout the film, Jamwal is the only one who can pull off the tough guy act with ease.

The soundtrack is mediocre and the background score inappropriate at times, almost in contrast with the emotions that the actors are trying to portray.

Bullett Raja is rife with predictable scenes, bad editing and a lack of control over the script, which spirals into an unending loop of absurdity. The pseudo-patriotism blends into personal enmity with the corrupt without much warning, leaving the viewers confused. 

While no two people can like the same kind of films or even agree on the definition of a good film, it is difficult to judge if even hardcore Saif Ali Khan fans should go for this one.

Vishudhan Review Rediff!

Rating:**

Director Vysakh, known for his mass entertainers, has tried to surprise viewers in his latest venture Vishudhan, a dark emotional drama with Kunchacko Boban in the title role.

The film opens with the camera focusing on gore all around and a voice-over intoning biblical phrases. Sunny (Kunchacko Boban), a young priest, is put in charge of a church in a rural area. The people there are faithful but poor. The church runs an old age home which is sponsored by the only rich man in the area, Vavachan (Hareesh Peradi).

There Sunny meets Sister Sophie (Mia George). The two working sincerely in the old age home and in the process discover the motives behind Vavachan's philanthropy. He has an agreement with the home that he gets the unclaimed dead bodies for the medical college run by his son (Krishna Kumar), which is always short of cadavers.

When he is threatened with exposure, Vavachan begins a smear campaign against Sunny and Sister Sophie that gets the sister, an orphan, thrown out of the church on the charge of having an illicit affair with Sunny.

Sunny then leaves the priesthood to be her protector. They get married and eventually come back to the same place to live and prove that they have not done anything wrong. The story is wafer-thin and we cannot help feeling that director Vysakh has taken this sensitive subject just to prove that he is a serious filmmaker, but somehow he misses the larger plot in the process.

His bad guys and good guys are clearly distinct as black and white. The villain is over the top as far as acting goes.

Kunchacko Boban has been trying to do serious roles that suit his age for a while now.  Mia gets a role that is on an equal footing with the hero and she pulls it off. Vishudhan, director Vysakh's attempt to get into the league of serious filmmakers, turns out to be clichéd to put it mildly.

http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-malayalam-film-vishudhan-is-cliched-south/20131125.htm