What is it all about?
For all those who where wondering Bollywood getting serious nowadays, this crazy, undeniably hilarious, juvenile, smart, mad caper came down the pike & steals the show. Bollywood is known for its Dhawan, Bazmees, Sajid type laughter’s which where entertaining but not very innovative in its concept and the writing department. Bollywood had hardly tried something on the lines of ‘Hot Shots’, Austin Powers’ or ‘Russians are coming’ sort of wild wicked whacky stuff.
First timer helmer Abhishek in his own story breaks the mould and churns a non stop smartly done laughter; it’s an achievement to imagine the most notorious Laden as an inspiration for a Bollywood comedy.
The story……of course
Smartly written with never a single dull moment, Ali Zafar, an ambitious young reporter, working in a down market Pakistani TV news channel, is desperate to get to Amreeka, (read America) anyway. His repeated attempts to immigrate are shot down as his visa is always rejected. Desperate Ali makes a fake video of Osama bin Laden, using a look-alike, Noora, who happens to be a humble chicken farmer and hopes this would be his ticket to the US. and sells the video to news channels as a breakthrough scoop.
Unfortunately, there are serious ramifications as the White House gets involved and dispatches an overzealous secret agent on Ali's trail.
What to look out for?
This one marks the entry of Bollywood‘s most goofiest movies that makes fun of the world’s most outlandish villain Osama, the film knows its turf and astonishingly hardly missteps when the Americans come in. The odd mix of sophisticated and smart lowbrow humor with hilarious situations and dialogues where writer cum helmer Abhishek does a splendid job by transplanting Osama’s character into a chicken farmer who speaks Punjabi and is awed by the make up girls charm and is proud of his hen who is a world champ in crowing into this comedy that plays the Islamic militancy crises for a hearty laugh.
First timer Abhishek Sharma shows he is brave and experiments with finesse right from reel one to the last credits the movie is non stop laughter. Lot of funny sequences but the two ones that stay are the one when a hen makes a crowing that sounds like a solid Punjabi gali (abuse) and the one when Piyush Mishra falls in the drain and lands straight on the hot seat.
The art director deserves credit for creating Pakistan in Hyderabad and the lens work from Santosh Thundiyil's camera is fantastic. Dialogues especially the smart ones are brilliant. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy do a good job with 'Ullu Da Patha'.
The casting director also deserves a pat on his/her back; Ali Zafar is cool and does a marvelous job.
Performances
Pradhuman Singh as Osama Bin Laden is outstanding. Pradhuman does his act with strong conviction. Piyush Mishra is good. Sugandha Garg is very impressive. Nikhil Ratnaparkhi as Gul, the cameraman, is excellent. Rahul Singh as radio jockey Qureshi fits in the role. Barry John is convincing. Chirag Vohra as Lateef the pareshan editor is good. Chinmay Mandlekar is humorous. Rajendra Sethi as the travel agent is fine. Over all, the cast has done what the director asked for!
What not?
Ideal for juvenile lovers, some sensible wallas might question the idea of making a very serious issue into laughter.
Conclusion: ‘Tere Bin Laden’ is very juvenile, innovative, smart, wacky, full on cornball entertainment. Don't miss it!
Rating ****
lamha movie review
What is it all about?
Disappointing, when a national award winning maker like Rahul Dholakia who made the sensitive ‘Parzania’ tackles the burning issue like ‘Kashmir’, you expect something unknown, untold will be revealed in a stark and sensible manner. But what is this…… ‘Lamha’ mixes fact with fiction…. Means it takes a real life situation & tries to churn a thriller from this.. Then why the tagline which reads “The untold story of Kashmir'?
Rahul in his ‘Lamha’ tries to repeat the same story of Kashmir which everybody knows from print and satellite media. Lamha’ swings between facts and fiction and lands no where, it goes over the head of common audience in trying to get involved in the complicated situation of the valley and then suddenly get into the thriller mode and hence slips from the laps of the connoisseurs of quality cinema.
The Story …….of course
Without telling something unknown, Lamha is a story of an intelligence officer played by Sanjay Dutt, who is sent to the Valley on a special mission. He must investigate the secret on-goings and unveils a sinister plot that threatens to derail the ongoing elections in the troubled state which has been grappling with terror and violence for the past three decades.
Sanjay assumes the identity of Gul Jehangir. The same day that he lands in the valley, Haji (Anupam Kher), a top separatist leader, survives a blast. Is there a connection between the blast and the operation?
To solve this conundrum, Vikram teams up with Aziza (Bipasha Basu), Haji's young, aggressive and outspoken protégé. The intensity of their beliefs and their will to survive against all odds creates a special bond between them. They embark together on a journey to uncover the truth.
What to look out for?
The DOP James does a splendid job in showing us the heaven on this earth, the movie has been shot in actual locations and it’s a treat for your eyes, editing is sharp and technicalities are brilliant with superb production values.
The movie does has one superb moment where the director shows a child playing with bullets in a manner marbles are played.
The sequence where Bipasha is attacked by the women workers of her own separatist women party is awesome. Kunal Kapoor is okay. Anupam Kher is the actor that is able to get into the skin of the character and does a great job.
Jyoti Dogra, Murli Sharma, Shernaz Patel, Rajesh Khera, Yuri Suri, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Asif Basra, Denzil Smith and Ehsaan Khan do justice to their roles.
What Not?
Failing to impress anyone, Lamha is a waste of talents. A lot was expected from Rahul but he disappoints, no one expects the filmmaker to give solutions and it should have stick to being realistic but alas. And on top of that actors like Sanjay Dutt look out of place and disinterested. Bipasha doesn’t look like a Kashmiri though she tries really hard.
Conclusion: Go if you really mustRating **
Anurag Kashyap’s cinema is radical, it defines norms but the question is how far can one Go? Its not ‘unbelievable’ that some people don’t ‘believe’, but a good cinema always tells two sides of a story. Anurag pens ‘Udaan’ with Vikramaditya Motwane and also gives him the chance to helm the film where the story is told in only one angle from the boys point of view and further it doesn’t explain the era, means in which year, period, decade the incident took place is absent. If done so, the questions which will follow might not have come up.
The Story…….of course
Rohan (Rajat Barmecha) is thrown out from his high profile boarding school with his bunch of friends after they are caught watching a C-grade smut film , off campus. Rohan is forced to return his dad (Ronit Roy) a factory owner of a small industrial town of Jamshedpur and finds himself closeted with an authoritarian father and a younger half brother who he didn't even know existed. Forced to work in his father's steel factory and study engineering against his wishes, he tries to forge his own life out of his given circumstances and pursue his dream of being a writer.
What to look out for?
An entirely performance based film shot in docu – drama style. The move has some biter sweet moments like the first encounter of Rohan with his step brother, when his sloshed father asks him, ‘sex kiya kya’, the morning workout and race where the father always wins, the sequence in hospital when Rohan takes care of his step brother and starts loving him, the confrontation between the brothers, the scene when the future of Rohan is discussed in a family dinner are major highlits of this flick where first timer Vikramaditya excels.
Technically sound and fine production values, ‘Udaan’ boasts of some great acting by Ronit Roy who plays the arrogant father to perfection. Ram Kapoor as his brother excels. The two kids, Rajat Barmecha and Aayan Boradia, are simply superb. Rajat gets into the skin of the character with such ease that he looks like a seasoned performer. Aayan, the step brother is cute.
What not?
The principal character of Rohan is not very much focused and he is not a thinker, that’s the major flaw of this film apart from its alien period where the son of a factory owner even in small town in Jharkhand talks to his friends in Mumbai from STD booth. This makes the film feel outdated which may not connect with tdys youth. No internet, no mobile…. The father wants his son to stand on his feet first then he can pursue his dream that’s fair enough. Rohan doesn’t thinks, he is ruled by his emotions, he doesn’t like his dad but steals his money and car for a booze night outs. Hostels are not for spoil brats; it provides quality education and brings discipline also. In one scene Rohan asks his father to keep a cook where he replies that you earn and have whatever you want.
But here Anurag goes further and tries to show the father a villain and threatens the film. The end is illogical.
Conclusion: ‘Udaan’ is edgy, well performed drama which could have been much better an uplifting. A ‘dekho’ for those who wanna see something different but nothing worth ‘Cannes’.
Rating ***
