What is it?
‘Karthik Calling Karthik’ is a movie that one can admire without exactly embracing it.
Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment’s next after ‘Luck By Change’ is a paranoia-inducing suspenser about a spit personality in this sort of psycho thriller toned mind –game of a movie.
Crafted with a commanding aloof precision by Vijay Lalwani in his first outing as a writer and a helmer takes an unusual dive into this genre which is not common in Bollywood without apparent rules and manages to generates an intriguing intellectual intrigue that covers 70% of its running time which allows to arouse buffs, trendies and techies more than the mainstream auds.
It’s not that dark, edge of the seat thingie but answers your ‘inner voice’ which demands some expecting moments.
The Story………….. Of course
'Karthik Calling Karthik', is the story of a lovable loser Karthik (Farhan), who lives in fear and how his life changes with the help of someone who also claims to be Karthik calls him and makes him a confident human being but things take a ugly turn when he doesn’t listens to one of his advice and loses his job and his pretty girlfriend Shonali (Deepika) and when he overcomes, the viewer gets introduced to an unknown secret.
What to look out for?
‘Karthik Calling Karthik’ projects the same sense of style that will inevitably be compared to a cross between Asian and Europe cinema that shows glimpse of steely technical mastery in the service of a story that demands an involving narrative.
Farhan Akhtar who after the dramatic appearance in ‘Rock On’ and the difficult but well done ‘Luck By Chance’ learns with ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’.
The actor is at ease in those sweet romantic scenes and shows confidence in playing the happening guy and simultaneously manages to make the viewers note his discomfort in dealing with a voice that changes everything in his life, a bit more intensity lessons for this role would have worked wonders but still it’s a noteworthy performance.
Deepika Padukone, the tall and the beautiful lass, contributes by her all-important warmth in whatever space and scopes she gets.
Ram Kapoor as the Boss and the immensely gifted Shefali Chhaya as the psychiatrist chip in with valuable support.
Technically, the film is immaculate, with Sanu Varghese sleek lensing, rich production design, Aarti Bajaj’s sharp editing, Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s grooving score “Uff Teri Ada” is finely done and the dense sound work by Midival Punditz.
What Not?
The movie does overlook some vital aspects in the characterization and takes liberties which are not easy to digest.
Like normally a person suffering form Schizophrenia is not aware of what the other character is doing but here its shown that he is aware and unaware according to the demand of the script.
The winding up of the entire plot is hurried and appeared forced that threatens to almost kill the tempo and the mystery tone which was twined around.
Conclusion: Go but with an open mind.
Rating: ***
What is it all about?
‘Teen Patti’ is a huge corporate blunder but what is more disturbing is to see two stalwarts of acting Big B and Sir Ben Kinsley coming together on screen and absolutely doing nothing for the viewers and more depressing is to see Sir Ben Kinsley doing a mere listening act.
Money, money its so funny ahha…. Anyways Leena Yadav’s ‘Teen Pattti’ coming after ‘Shabd’ which made many go ‘speechless’ after watching it maintains its insanity giving a perfect example of a movie which by calling it bad is an understatement ‘probably’ unnecessary should be the right word.
Movies centered around gambling has been a routine in west, Bollywood has had it stories on playing cards like ‘Baazi’ and ‘Shree 420’ but they where not thrillers so a good movie about card sharks should be far more plentiful than they are. Because card playing is not as inherently visual as, say, other games. Still, you'd think that, with all the TV hours devoted to Housie, Pehchan Kaun, Poker and other things, some enterprising filmmaker would figure out a way to make it all work for the movies in India.
Movie like this has been made in this 21st century of the same name ‘21’ starring Kevin spacey but that was on a true story whereas ‘Teen Patti’ is of course indianise. No it’s not a copy but it does take some vital elements from it.
The Story……of course
The reclusive genius Venkat (Amitabh Bachchan) has cracked a theory that could redefine the principles of probability and randomness. Venkat is encouraged to test his theory in the real world by professor Shantanu (Madhavan), an ambitious colleague of Venkat.
Although Venkat has no interest in the money that could come from practicing his equation to crack 'Teen Patti', which could rake in all the moolah, he eventually succumbs to Shantanu's charismatic persuasion. Soon, with the help of a few students, they explore the underground gambling dens of Mumbai.
But what starts out as an experiment between a charismatic young professor and an eccentric older one soon descends into a game neither of them can control.
What to look out for?
Big B uses his brilliance, snaky charm and the great baritone voice to good effect.
Mahadevan is in element. The newcomers Dhruv Ganesh, Siddharth Kher, Vaibhav Talwar and Sharadha Kapoor are decent and have potential.
What Not?
The shocking point is the writer-helmer Leena along with her writing partner Shiv Kumar strangely believe that they are into something compelling and original.
So what Leenaji does? She delivers a mess from a premise which had all the ingredients of a thriller cause the helmer is all gloss if only the director Leena and her partner in scriptwriting (you can also read crime) Shiv Kumar Subramaniam had not opted for glitz.
With all prefabricated stereotypes characters, the movie also misrepresents genius.
Card counting, after all, is not the same thing as mastering superstring theory – an autistic savant with a low IQ, can be a whiz at it. The film doesn't even do a good job of explaining how card counting works.
Big B can use his snaky charm and the great baritone voice to sell almost anything, but here he is reduced to a weirdo mathematician who keeps talking to Newton and other great mathematicians in his room.
What ‘Karz’ Mahadevan is in and how much money he has to pay our makers don’t seem to bother…
In the original, the card game was made interesting to watch by use of sign languages but here nobody understands the theory as it is vaguely explained with those floating formulas, numbers, spades, diamonds and what not adding to the confusion.
On the mundane suspense part that who is the guy and all, it miserably fails to register any thrills.
Those addas, joints appear so fake that even makes us wonder whether he was the original Jackie Shroff showed in one of the joints.
Conclusion: The sexy number in the film ‘Teri Niyaat Kharab Hai’ sung by Sunidhi Chauhan is okay but the fact is the ‘neeyat’ (intention) of the movie is not Kharab but sadly the entire movie is.
Rating *
What is it all about?
Toh baat pakki (its clear) that even a slight recall of the nostalgia called Basu Chatterjee still fills the air with freshness and media shy or angry….whatever Aditya’s ‘DDLJ’ will remain as bollywood’s ‘Amar Prem’ Katha (means story in English). But bhau (brother in marathi) amcha manoos Kedar Sharma helmed ‘Toh Baat Pakki’ for the Tauranis turns out to be a gadar (tremendous) miscalculations where the promising helmer in marathi starts with Basuda’s sweet musical romancer Chitchor (Amol Palekar, Vijendra Ghatge, Zarina Wahab ( SRK’s mother in MNIK for new comers) then does a Raj from DDLj….of course naam sab ne suna hai and ends up with (falling short of space as the bollywood list of romancers rightly threatens to appear on the ‘wanted’ list). Writer Pramod Sharma gets inspired from Basuda’s ‘Chitchor’ and uses the element of a family concern for the marriage of their daughter and when they see a potential partner in a guest then they arrange situations so that they come closer. In ‘Toh Baat Pakki’ it’s the elder sister planning the whole move. Yes u do feel the smell , aura of a small town and the cinema of the 80’s where things like finding a suitable bride for your daughter/sister was more heroic then fighting with super natural powers and saving the world etc.
The Story….of course
Rajeshwari (Tabu), married to Vinay (Ayub Khan), dreams of getting her sister Nisha (Yuvika Choudhary) married to the most suitable boy within their Saxena community. Also, Rajeshwari is against the dowry system.
Rajeshwari finds a good Saxena boy studying engineering and has prospects of a promising future. Rahul (Sharman Joshi) is a good proposition for her sister and she even gets him to move into her house as a paying guest.
However, when Rajeshwari learns that Rahul is not interested in marriage, she smartly devices a plan to bring her sister and make them get to know each other. She's confident that once he meets Nisha, there is no turning away. They fall in love. Rajeshwari is happy. Marriage is fixed.
Things take a turn when Yuvraaj (Vatsal Sheth) lands up at Rajeshwari's house. Yuvraaj is also a Saxena. He has a good job and is waiting to move into his house. Rajeshwari can't believe her luck. This is a better prospect. The story takes a turn when Rajeshwari tries to set up Nisha with Yuvraaj.
What to look out for?
Tabu after ‘Cheeni Kum’ comes up with more sweetness charm and brilliance in her portray of the concerning but dominating in the end didi which is a crossover between Rekha in Khoobsoorat and Sridevi in her hubby’s ‘Judaai’ (film we mean silly).
Some romantic moments between Sharman (comes up with another strong one after ‘3 Idiots’) and new comer Uvika Chaudhary who has a cute and charming face. Vatsal comes up with a sincere effort.
What not?
But the problem is though ‘Toh Baat Pakki’ knocks on the nostalgia door which opens slightly with a smile but then immediately shuts it. The movie faces difficulty in sustaining any kind of comic or dramatic momentum after the surya graham thingie say about 15- 20 minutes from the start. Why Uvika doesn’t speak up when she is being handed over to another person? The writer and the helmer forget to ask the girl to act. The second half turns into an aggressive Raj from DDLJ where Sharman tries various boring tricks to stop the marriage of Vatsal (fine) and Uvika. Resulting in a real endurance contest for all the viewers. Of course, Tabu tries to hold but the helmer and the writer doesn’t have enough ‘cute’ buttons as required for a perfect romantic dress for your evening. On top of that, music is a huge disappointment considering the fact that the movie comes from a production house which is also a music company.
Rating: **
What is it all about?
‘Click’ helmed by Sangeeth Sivan is a first Hollywood inspired horror which was a remake of a Thai horror flick. Honestly the inspirations had the potential for our desi junta where a black-haired, pale-faced, wraithlike ghost girl comes crawling back to terrorize the living, baring a couple of shots where the ghost walks upside down and the climax shot, otherwise it doesn't stretch the boundaries of horror cinema and turns into a yawner and sorry guys your wife won’t be scared from this and by the end of the flick she might turn out to be more scarier then before. For those who get creepy vibes after visiting a theme park ride that scares kids, ‘Click’ can frighten only newcomers to the genre provided they have the patience to wait till post interval to get the eek kick. Sangeet Sivan’s bollywoodie singing dancing remake of an original Thai horror drops the ball in delivering what the original had to offer. This is completely odd considering that the Thai version was really creepy. So what the hell went wrong? How about almost EVERYTHING?
The Story………of course
Harish Nair is credited for being the story writer maybe for indianising the story, anyways, CLICK is the story of a young photographer (Shreyas Talpade) and his girlfriend (Sadaa). He takes beautiful pictures and yet when they're printed they have a secret. A secret that is so dark and menacing that he hides it from his girlfriend. A secret from his past that if revealed, threatens to ruin not only his life but that of his friends and loved ones. What happens when the spirit comes back to haunt you?
What to look out for
Shreyas for his sincere effort and one creepy moment in the entire film where a black-haired, pale-faced, wraithlike ghost girl comes walking upside down.
What not?
On a basic level, the idea behind ‘click’ is pretty cool and it could have worked wonders. Unfortunately Sivan with his writer Harish Nair fractures the flick with its pacing and placing. The film had no traction, and the mystery behind our main characters and their ghosts didn’t feel severe enough to make us give a shiver.
People didn’t begin to die until the audience wants to leave the theater.
Starting with the cinematography. The film was too bright, not menacing and had zero suspense coming from the camera even after T Ramji tried the ‘RGV’ way. Then, there was this special FX, which look like something out of a video game. Also, it didn’t help that the girl cast as Sneha doesn’t look scary and Sada is not very hot to make a cameraman go wild. Adding further to the films misery was the score/soundtrack by Sandeep Chowta that was trying too hard and thus took away all suspense and added further to our woes.
Rating: *
