With his latest outing I guess Vishal Bhardwaj is trying to achieve the mass acceptance which Kaminey didn’t get and in doing so he has made an excessively long, never ending movie. The special thing about Vishal sir’s movie is the fact that they are not simple or shallow, watch them any number of times and you’ll find something new in it and that is where 7 Khoon Maaf loses the battle. The movie is excessively simple. There isn’t any string in the movie which attaches the audience to it.

Susana’s story of her search for true love and her failure to do so never makes you feel her misery baring for a couple of times. All you get in the end is a series of repetitive events. The movie tries hard to juggle between a drama and a dark comedy and finally fails to be either of them.

Another trademark of Vishal Bhardwaj’s movies are his dialogues but barring a few lines you find that magical touch missing and the dialogues are a bit too “filmy”.

Having said that, it’s not a bad movie. There are some great moments on screen, like the one where Major Rodriguez caresses Susana with his amputated limb or that genius climax with that haunting track “Yeshu” in the background and that beautifully shot “Bekaraan” which actually creates a magical atmosphere. But moments like these are few and far in between.

As Susana, Priyanka Chopra tries a bit hard to make her character look like a vulnerable woman with a stubborn child like heart. Some of the scenes where she shows her mettle are the ones with Anu Kapoor, the scene at the hospital and her final scene with Vronsky, but my favorite is the one where she kills Naseer Sa’ab.

Among the husbands Anu Kapoor gives a charming performance as the caricaturish officer. Irrfan Khan as the poet by day and sadist beast by night gives a restrained performance. Aleksandr Dyachenko as the Russian hubby is very sweet. John Abraham even with his limited role gives a wooden show with thankfully very few dialogues. Naseer Sa’ab doesn’t have much to do and has a different approach to every scene. Neil Nitin Mukesh actually looks “adamkhor” as the major but his dialogue delivery is ghastly. The show stopper of the movie is Vivaan Shah who shines in each and every scene and gives a pitch perfect performance.

In the end I’ll say that 7 Khoon Maaf isn’t a bad movie but a painstakingly boring one, so much so that during the interval when it is said that there 4 more to go you wonder once that if it’s a threat.

Rating: **.5

With Bekaraan Vishal goes the Rahman way by keeping the best track of the soundtrack for him. This one is a gem of a track. Gulzar Saab’s mesmerizing honey dipped words are brought to a whole new level by Vishal’s vocals. The way he sings each line with those beautiful pauses and stretched pronunciations will make anybody fall in love with this track.

Dil Dil Hai and O’ Mama have Vishal going the Amit Trivedi territory. The former has the feel of Zehreeley from Rock On which interestingly was also sung by Suraj Jagan this song has “Madness” written all over it. A super energetic track. O’ Mama has a slow build up. This rock song is beautifully crooned by KK.  Gulzar Saab again delivers killer lines with his “Meow Si Ladki”. The song also has an acoustic version which is equally good

Aawara is not something new, but still it is different from one of those rustic sad songs because of Vishal Bhardwaj’s orchestration which gives you a dry kind of feeling all around.

Not many people might have noticed but one combo who has always provided good songs is that of Vishal Bhardwaj and Suresh Wadkar. Yet again they come up with one of the most romantic tracks Tere Liye. Gulzar Saab’s words are simple yet touching. The music throughout the song specially the Veena played by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Info very graciously given by @bhargavsaikia) in the interlude is completely soothing. If I want to propose a girl I will definitely play this song.

The last track of the album Yeshu is a haunting prayer. This dark prayer literally gave me Goosebumps. Rekha Bhardwaj provides perfect vocals for this one which. The best part of the song is its vibrant chorus in the middle of the song which gives it a more haunting feel.

Vishal sir yet again gives us a brilliant soundtrack. It’s just the beginning of this year and am pretty sure this might be the soundtrack of the year. I generally don’t give ratings to an album but this one truly deserves a 10 on 10.

My Pick: Doosri Darling, Bekaraan, Tere Liye and Yeshu

The movie is about 5 characters in which “Mumbai” is a central protagonist. Each character has an independent storyline which is connected to each other. Shai (Monica Dogra) is an NRI banker who’s on a sabbatical and develops an increasing obsession for Arun (Aamir Khan). Arun is a loner painter who develops a bond with a girl after watching her video diary. Munna (Pratiek Babbar) is a dhobi who aspires to be an actor. And there is Yasmin (Kriti Malhotra), a girl from a small town in Uttar Pradesh who is trying to send a video letter which soon turns into a video diary. All these stories and characters reveal a face of Mumbai which is not always pleasant.

One of the best parts about Kiran Rao’s direction is her detailing of the human behavior. Take for example the scene where Shai invites Munna for a cup of tea at her home and before sitting he first feels the cushion.

But there are some things which come out as a sore point for the movie. Like the multiple number of jobs which Munna does still having time to meet Shai. Or the gangster round up of his character. Also even at 95 minutes the movie feels a bit long at certain points.

Aamir Khan does his part extremely well. This is not the star Aamir which we generally find many shades of in his movies. He truly becomes the self involved character who’s uncomfortable in socializing. The scene where he freaks out is one of the best enacted scenes of the movie. But his English dialogue delivery is too conscious and awkward.

Kriti Malhotra shines in her small role of Yasmin which oozes innocence. One actually feels for her grief and just wants to take her out of that box and tell her that everything will be all right.

Monica Dogra acts her part believably. Even though her accent sometimes gets on you still you are able to get over it because of her rock solid performance.

The real star of the movie is Pratiek Babbar who gets into the skin of Munna. His character experiences the most in terms of the variety of emotions and he performs all of them emotions perfectly.

Visually the movie is a delight to watch. The cinematographer in creates a picture perfect portrait of Mumbai. All these things are accompanied Gustavo Santaolalla’s haunting background music which stays with you even after the movie ends.

Rating: ***.5

Just today I mentioned No One Killed Jessica as one of the most awaited movie and I went to watch it today. As everyone knows it’s based on the famous Jessica Lal murder case and the court trials which ensued it. In terms of story the movie has nothing new to offer as most of us know about the case, so in such case a tight screenplay is required so as to keep the momentum of the film. Sadly No One Killed Jessica fails in it. The scenes do not flow in a smooth manner and in the result is that it appears to be collage of various scenes. The movie lacks the intensity and tension for a tight courtroom drama and hence even at a run time of 2 hours and 15 minutes the movie appears a bit long.

On the brighter side there are some superbly handled sequences like the interrogation of the accused, the intense courtroom scene where suddenly Vidya Balan breaks into a giggle and my favorite where the cop tell Sabrina that he took 75 lakhs for not touching the accused. But there are also some loud scenes which include repetition of a particular scene involving accused’s mother telling her that no matter what, he must protect her son.

The biggest culprit of the movie is its casting which barring the lead is a group of some really really loud and over dramatic actors, most of them contestant of shows like Splitsvila. Remember those gem of supporting talents in recent movies like Phas Gaya Re Obama, Band Baaja Baarat and Do Dooni Chaar and the life they infused in the movie? The supporting characters in this movie are completely opposite them. The only character which shines among the supporting group is the guy who plays the cop in charge of the case. Among the leads Vidya Balan as always performs her role well but it’s the one dimensional character which makes it difficult to feel Sabrina’s pain in the second half. Rani Mukherjee steals the show with her confident and spot on performance, pity we are not able to see much of this talented actress.

But the real star of the movie is undoubtedly Amit Trivedi without whose music the movie wouldn’t have been half enjoyable what it is now. His haunting and pulsating music brings life in the movie.

In the end I’ll say that it’s not a bad movie but a tighter screenplay and a little subtlety would have made this movie a gripping movie.

My Rating: **.5

Another year has started and with that there’s a whole new line of movie up for release. Among this huge number of movies there are certain movies which I am eagerly waiting for. So here is a list of 10 movies which have got me fascinated the since the moment I’ve heard about them.

(Movies here listed are listed in the order of tentative release dates)

No One Killed Jessica: Am sure everyone is acquainted with this movie. One of the biggest things about the movie is that even after revolving around two women the movie is not a chic flick. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta (Aamir fame) the movie looks like a promising Drama.

Release Date: 7^th Jan

Dhobi Ghat: The fact that I’ve been following the development of this movie since past 1 year is enough for me to put this movie in this list. Its first promo blew me up. I guess this would be an Aamir Khan movie which won’t be like an Aamir Khan movie.

Release Date: 21st Jan

7 Khoon Maaf: It’s a Vishal Bhardwaj movie, need I say more. Other than that movie’s story line which includes Priyanka Chopra marrying 7 guys and murdering all of them makes for a “killer” concept. Plus there is Vishal Bhardwaj’s musical score. I guess I have given enough reasons to watch out for this movie.

Release Date: 18th Feb

Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara: A director who previously made “Luck By Chance”, a star cast which includes Hritik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Kalki Kolchein and a new Spanish hottie. Ok I know Katrina Kaif is there too but …… never mind. Touted to be a road trip the movie appears to be an interesting buddy movie.

Release Date: 27th May

RA.One: Shahrukh Khan doing an action movie after 5 long years. A superhero flick, the movie is said to have some great stunts. Plus being a big SRK fan it has to be in my list.

Tentative Release Date: Diwali weekend

Don2: A sequel to the Farhan Akhtar movie, the movie has new inclusion of Kunal Kapoor, Lara Dutta and Hritik Roshan in a special 20 min role which includes a one on one combat sequence with SRK.

Release Date: 23rd Dec

Reema Katgi’s untitled next: The movie is a cop thriller and stars Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee and like always Aamir has got a new look with moustache this time.

Tentative Release Date: Christmas Weekend

I Am: The movie has already received accolades in various film festivals. An episodic movie it deals with issues like Section 377, sperm donation, child abuse and Kashmiri pundits. With an ensemble cast which includes Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Suri, Nandita Das, Rahul Bose, Manisha Koirala this is one movie which will be going to something special.

Release Date: Unknown

Gangs of Wasseypur: Anurag Kashyap’s next epic movie based on Bihar coal mine workers. The movie will be made in 2 parts with 18 songs. The movie will star Manoj Bajpayee, Piyush Mishra, Shabana Azmi and more. (Info by @nautanki)

Release Date: Unknown

Kahaani: At first I wasn’t excited about this movie as it was said to be a remake of Kill Bill with Vidya Balan doing Uma Thurman’s role. But its real story made me interested in it which is about a 6 month pregnant lady searching for his lost husband in streets of Kolkata.

Release Date: Unknown

So you just heard about my expectations from 2011, tell me about yours. I would love to know them.

I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome and wonderful. Therefore I’m promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similiar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.

Signed,

Rahul Agrawal

And am back with another segment of Top of the Tops and this time with best English movies released in 2010. A lot of superb movies released this year and so it was really difficult to pick the best 5. So here’s a list of the 5 movies form this year which I loved and wouldn’t mind watching again and again.

Disclaimer: Since Black Swann has not released in India nor is it available on the net hence it is not included in this list.

5. Kick-Ass: There is something wicked about a 12 year old child kicking asses of grownups. This movie has everything going for it, be it the dialogues, those cool actions sequences and the performances. One of the best part of the movie is that unlike other super hero movie (Nolan’s Batman not included) this movie doesn’t have those over the top, heavy duty action sequences but still manages to deliver the edge of the seat visuals.

4.  Shutter Island: Even at this age Martin Scorsese likes to have fun by messing up with our mind. I remember watching this movie alone in a dark, cold room and getting so scared that I had to switch on all the lights. The movie is not a horror but the atmosphere it creates gives you an eerie feeling, top it with a superb performance by DiCaprio and you’ll get a classic Psychological Thriller.

3.  Toy Story 3: A whole generation has grown up on this movie and hence I was apprehensive about the movie fearing that will it be as good as the first two if not better, but it’s Pixar and they never get it wrong. This movie has turned out to be one of my favorite animated movies of all time. The references it made to various escape movies were sheer brilliance and the new characters were a delight. Truly said by someone “ Pixar is the only production house which is a star in its own”

2.  Social Network: I had been waiting for this movie since the day I heard about its early reviews from film festivals started pouring in  and even though I got a pirated version before it released in India I waited for it to watch it on the big screen and man did I enjoyed this movie or what. The movie is not about the foundation of the Facebook phenomenon but about friendship, ambition, betrayal and Mr. Fincher showed it beautifully on the screen.

1.  Inception: This movie kept me thinking about it for more than a week after I watched it. A mind blowing thriller which keeps you on your toes till the end Inception is one of the best movies to come out in the history of movies. It is intelligent film-making at its best. It is one of few movies which despite of getting so much appreciation is under-rated. The academy will have to fall down in front of Nolan this time

So you just read what my fav movies of the year are. Please share your views on it. I will love to know which movies you enjoyed this year.

So we’ve reached end of another year and the whole of the internet will be filled with their lists of the best and worst of the year. So, I thought that I should also join the band-wagon and make my own list. So I’ll start with the best of the music. Here is a list of the songs which I enjoyed the most listening to this year. Now I’m not a music expert so this list is not a critic’s list but just a regular music lover’s choice. Feel free to disagree with me and put in your own suggestions.

1.       Aur Fir Yu Hua (Striker – Vishal Bhardwaj)

2.       Naav  Chadhti (Udaan – Amit Trivedi)

3.       Gal Mitthi Mitthi (Aisha – Amit Trivedi)

4.       Sajda (My Name Is Khan – Shankar Ehsaan Loy)

5.       Adhoore Tum (Break Ke Baad – Vishal & Shekhar)

6.       Dil to baccha hai ji (Ishqiya – Vishal Bhardwaj)

7.       Tarkeebein (Band Baaja Baarat – Salim Suleiman)

8.       Bin Tere (I Hate Love Storys – Vishal & Shekhar)

9.       Aitbaar (No One Killed Jessica – Amit Trivedi)

10.   Roshni (Admissions Open – Amit Trivedi)

One thing is clear Amit Trivedi ruled this year. At least for me

I love Swades. In fact I love the movie even more than Lagaan (and it’s not because of SRK). Everything about the movie is beautiful, be it the story, the  performances, the  cinematography, but the best thing about the movie is its music. For me it is one of Rahman’s best work up till this date and the song, Ye Jo Des Hai Tera is the best patriotic song in my opinion. But this post is not about that song, it is about another beautiful track from the movie which made me fall in love with the beauty named Gayatri Joshi. Now there are a number of reasons why I like this song, so scroll down to revisit this melodious song

1)      Oh that melodious music -

I somehow find this song a bit different from the other usual love songs and maybe its because of the fast rhythm it catches in the beginning. Rahman’s orchestrisation is brilliant throughout the song be it the sweet sound of Manjeera used in bits throughout the song or the introduction of the Tablas in the second interlude. Add to it Alka Ji’s superb vocals and you have one of the best romantic songs of the previous decade.

2)      The lovely Gayatri Joshi-

I’ve been in love with Gayatri Joshi since her advertising days. She is what I will call natural beauty. I bet if you look at her in the song, you will fall in love with her too. Throughout the movie she is shown so simple, with simple clothes and minimal makeup but still she manages to look so gorgeous. God! How I wish she comes back to acting again!!!!!

3)      The beautiful lyrics-

Javed Saab has written some beautiful lines for this song and the best part is that he has stayed away from those cliché’ words. The Hindi used in this song is what I will call shuddh Hindi. Here are some of the lines from the song with my hand at translating them-

Tu jo, mila, mujhe, toh ye saara, sama, badal gaya

Khilne lage hain phool se meri raah mein

Phir yun, laga, mujhe ke ye dharti, nayi huwi

Naya ambar huwa, teri aur meri chaah mein

Chanchal, hawa, taraana koyi gaaye

Nadiya bhi koyi kahaani kehti jaaye

Jabse mili sajna, tujhse najariya

Ho gayi hai sudh-budh ki mujhse gathhariya

When I found you, everything changed

Flowers started grooming in my way

Then I felt even the land is new

Sky has become new in the affection of you and me

Air is playing like symphony

River is flowing like telling us a story

When my eyes met yours my love

I have lost all my senses

4) The awesome picturisation-

I swear Ashutosh Gowariker can easily teach the likes of Yash Chopra on how to shoot a romantic song beautifully without the use of Swiss alps. Just look at the rustic beauty, humility of this place Wai, where the movie has been shot, so beautiful and calm.

Just look at these shots and you will know what I mean

So finally leave with the video of this song to feast upon and enjoy. Do let me know if you also like this song as much as I do