Dhoom 3 Review from Yahoo!

‘Dhoom 3’ is big on style and completely delivers on the entertainment quotient. The fact that it comes at a cost of suspension of logic at times, I guess is a given. What rankles is that a film with Aamir Khan is expected to have some kind of coherence to rationale. The film’s adherence to plot points slips every now and then but they make up for it with super chase sequences.
The ‘Dhoom’ franchise has always been obsessed with the anti-hero. From Hrithik Roshan’s different looks in ‘Dhoom 2’ to the suspense around who will be chosen as the next villain has always garnered attention. Much before the shooting started we were already discussing who would be the female lead opposite Aamir Khan, what would be his look, what would be different in this installment of the action flick?
I guess as far as the anticipation around the anti-hero is concerned, ‘Dhoom 3’ does complete justice – Aamir’s screen presence from his very first appearance is commanding. His well-chiseled body as he looks over the Chicago skyline, his open challenge to the police and the sequences where he drives dangerously through downtown, shows that Aamir relishes brandishing his craft, every time attempting a role that is completely different from what he has ever done before. More than once you find the audience breaking into spontaneous applause.
And because you know Aamir’s craft you wonder why you never see him execute any of the robberies, you repeatedly see the chase but never the actual act. You would excuse this in the prequels but not when Mr Perfectionist is involved. It also baffles you when you see that the climax is as predictable as the rest of the series.
Even though you understand that the actual heroes wouldn’t actually have much to do in this film, it is still exasperating to see Abhishek Bachchan sleepwalk through another film. I guess he still feels that getting cast in a film is his birthright.  He plays his role straight, bringing no variation or novelty to his portrayal. Abhishek’s character has been so relegated to the background that the director doesn’t even bother with providing him with a romantic interest any longer.
Jai (Abhishek) and Ali (Uday Chopra) have no spunk and bring zero comic relief. Their wisecracks have been done to death and I couldn’t manage a genuine laugh in all the banter that kept going back and forth.

Kudos to Katrina Kaif for having us take notice of her in a role that is a little longer than a cameo. Watching her in ‘Kamli’ and ‘Malang’, as her skin shimmers and she displays immense flexibility and fitness, you realize how much hard work has gone into preparing for it.

It is sad that the romantic track and the emotional bits just pull down the pace of the plot. It is also interesting to see how Jai (Abhishek Bachchan) uses emotional manipulation as bait, clearly incapable of doing anything smarter. With better opponents for the very savvy illusionist/joker/thief the film would have been at a completely different experience.
Except the ‘Malang’ song there’s not much to say about Pritam’s music.
If you are still wondering why I gave the film 4 stars after all I have said, I must accede that the 4 star rating is very generous and it is because the film was super entertainment, the first half really has edge-of-the seat tension and the twists are really well executed. To give the film its due it is definitely the best ‘Dhoom’.

Rating:****
http://in.movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-reviews/yahoo-movies-review-dhoom-3-113327588.html

R.. Rajkumar Review from Yahoo!

Just when you thought that Prabhu Dheva had perfected the art of churning out potboilers with typical southern spicing, ‘R… Rajkumar’ disappoints like nothing else.

‘R…Rajkumar’ is the kind of formulaic film that was very popular in the 1970s. When made well, it works because of nostalgic value but unless there is at least one unique thing in the plot, the action formula has become so passé.

Rajkumar (Shahid Kapoor) decides to become the right-hand person of a local goon after he’s struck by love at first sight. His research is so bad that he doesn’t even realize that he is helping the rival gang. By interval the director has exhausted all his ploys and yet we are forced to sit through another hour of mindless violence and slapstick humour.

If stories like this one need to have some sort of structure, we have already seen the set-up, the conflict and have a fair idea of the resolution by the end of the first half and the later half holds little promise to keep us hooked.

We have grown tired of watching flimsy plots that reek of shoddy writing and have nothing to boast of but slow motion Matrix-style action sequences, peppered with songs shot in exotic locales and raunchy items songs shoved in just to titillate the audience. I just couldn’t get over the ‘Kaddu Katega’ song from ‘R…Rajkumar’, how do the censors even let this pass?

Sonakshi Sinha has made a giant leap in her acting career; from just batting eyelids in her previous films, she gets to shoot a fiery glance now and then in ‘R…Rajkumar’, she also gets to break a beer bottle on someone’s head in her introductory scene and start a small fire by burning wedding cards.

Shahid really needs help when it comes to choosing the right role. He is saddled with a character that has little scope to improvise. The right dance moves and all the Keanu Reeves-style action is just wasted in this film.

‘R…Rajkumar’ is a huge disappointment because there is hardly a single praise worthy thing in the whole film.

 Rating:*1/2

http://in.movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-reviews/yahoo-movies-review-r-rajkumar-121001838.html 

Gori Tere Pyaar Mein Yahoo Reviews!

Cast: Imran Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Anupam Kher

Direction: Punit Malhotra

Rating: **1/2

I have always maintained that Karan Johar teaches his protégés well; they almost always get the entertainment quotient and the slick productions qualities right but alas that can’t be said about ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’.

The production is so slick that even when Dia Sharma (Kareena Kapoor Khan) and Sriram Venkat (Imran Khan) choose to stay in a dusty Gujarati village, they are always impeccably dressed. Imran’s white linen shirts don’t even have a speck of dust on them, Kareena’s kohl-lined eyes are always perfectly done and she exhibits the most extensive cotton kurta collection possible in a poor village. I guess she dresses immaculately to express solidarity with the impoverished village folk.

And this in effect is what exposes the inherent superfluousness of the plot. Sriram actually makes a very valid point when he erupts and blames Dia of being a hypocrite. The fundamental problem with ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ is that there isn’t an iota of conviction in the narrative - whether it’s the heroine’s activism, the hero’s love for the heroine or the entire living-in-the-village, among-the-poor, understand-their-plight charade that they carry on throughout the second half.

What really doesn’t help their cause is the complete absence of chemistry between the film’s lead stars, Imran and Kareena. I understand that we have established at the onset that our social activist is older than our chocolate boy but that doesn’t mean that their relationship has to be asexual. There is not a single passionate embrace or kiss or even a look that can allude to some latent attraction underlying their relationship.

In fact, the only thing that rings true is how mechanically Sriram goes through the motions of an arranged marriage, even after the girl has told him that she is in love with someone else. So self-absorbed is our hero that he refuses to be the fall guy and insists that if she is so hopelessly in love, she should gather the courage to tell her parents. The director doesn’t romanticize the arranged marriage set-up nor is there any dramatic meltdown. And what really makes the situation funny is how deftly the prospective bride Vasudha (Shraddha Kapoor) manages to systematically brainwash our vulnerable hero into believing that he is still in love with his former girlfriend, and thus ensuring her escape. That I thought was really well played.

The film tends to gloss over a lot of real issues. Why take them up when you can’t do justice? Stick todil, dosti and friendship and you’ll have a winner all the way. Real issues just expose a pretentious approach and superficial concern for social causes like education, poverty, illegal land acquisition and sanitation.

‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ is an insipid love story dragged down by a flimsy plot that limps on at a tedious pace.

Actual Review Links:

http://in.movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-reviews/yahoo-movies-review-gori-tere-pyaar-mein-120554266.html