'Four Pillars Of Basement' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama' (*ing - Dilzan Wadia, Allya Singh, Shawar Ali, Imran Khan & Anant Jog)

'Four Pillars Of Basement'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Debris Of Overacting'

Expectations:

Every week along with the popular films there are few small films which get released including few non-starrer films. Most of these non-starrer small films have new faces associated with it along with some noticeable character actors, whose faces are highlighted in the posters in order to attract the viewers. These films are made with small budget without any proper screenplay or technicalities attached to it. Many times, the films are produced by one of the lead actors in order to launch themselves in this glamorous world of Hindi cinema. The posters are pasted in the film based areas of the tinsel town for few days with couple of shows to its credit and within few days disappears without any trace. This week we witness ‘Four Pillars Of Basement’ which claims to be an out and out thriller. Thus, let’s find out if this movie matches up to its tall claims or might end up being yet another low grade film made only to fulfil some personal commitments. 

Story:

‘Four Pillars Of Basement’ is a story of Riya (Allya Singh) who ends up working late in her office on the Diwali night. She and her boss (Anant Jog) are the last ones to leave the office but Riya’s tyre gets punctured. At that time she meets up the security guard Sameer (Dilzan Wadia) who is obsessed with her and traps her in the basement of the building. Riya tries hard to contact her fiancée (Shawar Ali) and brother (Imran Khan) but fails due to network failure. Riya keeps hiding in the basement but Sameer has some other plans for her. What happens next is what the entire film is all about. 

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story is shamelessly copied from an American/Canadian thriller film ‘P2’. The scenes are frame to frame placed from the original film without any creative input. The screenplay lacks proper adaptation and has abrupt scenes attached to it. The girl gets molested by her boss and in next scene she is absolutely normal. Similarly, no one can escape from the building but Shawar Ali and Imran Khan manage to sneak in from nowhere. Even in an intense moment the movie breaks in to a romantic song where Dilzan is obsessed with himself only and has majority of scenes shot only on him. The C.G.I work is terrible and matches up to the level of 90’s TV serials. The bad camera angles trying to focus on the cleavage of Allya Singh makes the movie look cheap and vulgar at times. 

Direction:

The director makes a bad and cheap version of the movie ‘P2’ and ends up torturing his audience with loud performances by its lead actors. The actors are not only loud in terms of their vocals but also by their acts. The movie has loads of repetitive moments and illogical scenes attached to it. 

Performances

Dilzan Wadia looks like an uglier version of actor Sahil Khan (‘Style’ fame). He keeps on blabbering throughout the film with his loud ‘Gabbar’ style of dialogue delivery. Not only this, he also sing songs with his bad voice and horrible facial expressions. Dilzan has a face which can be used as a mask in some cheap TV horror show. It’s tough to decide between Dilzan and Allya, who screams badly in the film. Allya Singh tries to do unnecessary skin show and fails to act. All she has to do is scream and run in the film, she ends up doing both the parts very badly. Shawar Ali, Zakir Hussain, Anant Jog, Imran Khan and others are wasted.

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well, there is no dum in this terrible film which ends up like a debris of overacting and never ending torture for its viewers. 

Ratings - 0*/5

'Titli' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Titli'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Dark Chocolate'

Expectations:

Before the arrival of a multiplex era, our Hindi film industry was mostly divided into three different styles of film making. The majority part was dominated by the popular entertaining cinema and a niche part belong to the artistic type of films, followed by a small sect of films which were known as the middle of the road type of realistic films. The whole scenario started to change with the arrival of the multiplex era and films like ‘Satya’, ‘Chandni Bar’, ‘Bandit Queen’ and others. These movies had a realistic cinema as its core content, but were presented in an engaging manner due to which they managed to rake in decent box office numbers. The success of such films inspired more film makers like Anuraag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee and others to churn out more hard hitting realistic type of films which also catered the international film festivals. In recent times, we witnessed many big banners known for making out and out commercial money spinners venturing into the small world of quality based films and the latest to join them is ‘Yash Raj Banner’ with their small offering known as ‘Titli’. This movie has already been screened at prestigious film festivals and finally witnesses its local release. Thus, let’s find out whether this new attempt by the ‘YRF’ banner will add as a new milestone in our Hindi cinema or might end up yet another good concept based film, which is made only to lure the film festival audiences. 

Story:

‘Titli’ is a story of Titli (Shashank Arora) and his brothers (Ranvir Shorey and Amit Sial). The trio follows their family business of carjacking and other criminal acts. Titli wants to leave his brothers and follow his own dream of managing a parking area in a popular mall. But, his brothers have other plans for him due to which they get him married to Neelu (Shivani Raghuvanshi), so that they can add her also in their criminal activities. In short span, Titli comes to know that Neelu has her own dark secret and what happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story is something different and has lots of twist and turns attached to it. The narrative part in the first half is nail biting followed by a hard hitting but bit slow second half. There are some fantastic scenes like Ranvir trashing Shashank over money followed by him basing a delivery guy in front of his family, the brothers seeking Shivani’s hand for marriage, Shanshak and Shivani meeting Ranvir’s wife and many more which manages to engage you. Then there are some dark, disturbing and hard-hitting scenes like Shashank and Shivani’s first crime act which scares her drastically, Shashank and Shivani’s bed room scenes followed by the domestic violence out there, Shashank taking Shivani to meet her lover, Shashank fracturing Shivani’s hand and few more. It will take time for a viewer to forget these disturbing images. On the flip side, there are a few scenes involving Shashank’s change of heart, which demands more explanation followed by bit, slow screenplay in the middle part of the film. Right from the visual similarities in all the three brothers to the minor part of their personal lives (Ranvir’s obsession for good food, Amit’s silent homosexual love track, etc) to the house location which looks like a rotten hell, ‘Titli’ has some of the finest and minute detailing one could see in the recent times. Similarly, the cinematography is of top notch.

Music & Direction:

The background music by Karan Gaur acts like an additional screenplay in the film.

Director Kanu Behl who co-write and assisted director Dibakar Banerjee in ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ manages to create a huge impact with his directorial debut. Its due to Kanu’s fine sensibilities one tends to feel the skin of each and every character in the film. Kudos to his way of presenting this hard hitting film in such an engaging manner and ending it in such a way that it justifies the association of the ‘YRF’ banner which is mostly known for making romantic films. The movie seems like quenching the thirst of all good and meaningful movie lovers.

Performances

It’s good to see Ranvir Shorey back in such an intense role. The makers have extracted the potentiality of a fine actor. Shivani Raghivanshi is highly impressive and has a bright future. Shashank Arora does his part with total grace. The dilemma inside his head gets totally visible on his face due to his natural acting. Amit Sial, Lalit Behl and Prashant Singh lends good support.

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???(Spoiler Alert)

Dum??? Well, if you love good, meaningful cinema then this movie has lots and lots of dum for you. The masses might shy away from this movie, but for others, it gives you the feeling of watching something different, something good and something meaningful which ends up being a must watch type of film. The movie and its happenings will haunt you for a long time. Way back in the 90’s ‘Yash Raj’ presented a violent love story in the form of ‘Darr’ and after almost two decades, they give us one of the most unusual love story which is like a dark chocolate, which despite of being bitter is still cherished only by all those who have elegant taste of fine stuffs. 

Ratings - 4*/5

'Main Aur Charles' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Main Aur Charles'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'The News Hour Debate..'

Expectations:

Our Hindi film maker’s fascination towards real life criminals have helped them carve some great real life criminals in their films. Pran saab’s impersonation of dacoit Raaka, Amjad Khan and Vinod Khanna essaying characters like Gabbar and Jabbar Singh or Amitabh Bachchan are few among the various examples where, iconic film characters were etched based on the real life criminals. Though, there were some striking references in films like ‘D-Day’, ‘Aakhen’, ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’ and many more films. Few filmmakers tried to attempt biopic type of films in the form of ‘Godmother’, ‘Pan Singh Tomar’, etc and enhanced the level of our Hindi cinema. The latest to join them is ‘Main Aur Charles’ which is inspired by a real life happening related to international serial killer Gurmukh Shobraj who is popularly known as Charles Shobraj. The promos look exciting and Randeep Hooda, in terms of looks has a striking resemblance with its main protagonist. So let’s find out whether ‘Main Aur Charles’ will manage to give us one more good film based on the real life happenings of a criminal or might end up being just a normal film trying to cash in over the popularity of the famous criminal.

Story:

‘Main Aur Charles’ is a story of Charles (Randeep Hooda) a con man cum serial killer who escapes from one of the highest guarded prison cell from India. Police inspector Amod Kanth (Adil Hussain) and his team starts to investigate the whole matter and starts hunting for Charles in every corner of the country. Charles is supported by various people consisting of Richard (Alexx O’Neil), Liz (Mandana Karimi), Mira (Richa Chadda) and others. On the other end, Mumbai police appoints Inspector Joshi (Shanu Dev) to catch hold of Charles and what happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The movie looks outstanding on papers and even as a one liner idea. The chosen chapter from Charles Shobraj’s life in this film is fascinating and has a high amount of curiosity attached to it. Sadly, the screenplay lacks proper detailing and strong happenings. The movie starts with abrupt date references right from the 60’s era to the mid 80’s. There are loads of repetitive scenes involving the love making and drugging patterns of Charles. Many of these scenes are irrelevant, especially the whole super stretched Goa track. In the whole film, they keep hammering us by saying that Charles has hypnotic powers to charm any girl and control other peoples mind, but there isn’t a single scene which justifies or presents it in a proper manner. Also, the basic detailing about Charles is not shown, due to which the personal connect is missed out. There is definitely a high amount of curiosity in the film, which has been mildly sustained with the help of the few good scenes like Adil Hussain interrogating Charles victims followed by his chat with Richa, the whole jailbreak part, Richa-Randeep conversations, Adil Hussain gets the main motive of the case, etc. On a technical basis, there are many loopholes related to the date, style, setup, language, etc related to the era shown in the film. There is one huge blooper in the film where the police nabs Randeep and instantly in the next shot, it’s announced on radio after which the police nabbing scene again continues. The cinematography is of top notch. 

Music & Direction:

There is not much scope for music in this film. Remix version of ‘Jab Chaye Tera Jadoo’ is good, but the background score resembles the score from ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’.

Director Prawal Raman is known for making some good thrillers, like his short stories in, ‘Darna Mana  Hai’ and ‘Darna Zaroori Hai’ followed by one of India’s finest physcological thriller ‘404: Error Not Found’. He also directed a dud like ‘Gayab’ and wrote another such type of film ‘Darling’. This is his first non-supernatural film and he fails to do proper justice to it. He had a great opportunity to present one of a daring con ever witnessed in our country, but misses out due to the weak screenplay and lethargic narration. 

Performances:

Randeep Hooda highly succeeds in adapting the real life character. His body mannerisms, accent, looks, etc does full justice to his character. Adil Hussain is brilliant and adds up as a second hero in the film. Richa Chadda, Alez O’Neil and Shanu Dev lend good support, but have nothing special to boast about. Mandana Karimi, Vipin Sharma, Tisca Chopra, Heeral Mei and others were wasted. 

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well, concept wise and basic story wise there is lots of dum, but everything gets fizzled out due to weak screenplay and lethargic direction. It’s not a bad film but, you do feel bad over the lost opportunity, as it had all the potential to become a great film. On an overall basis, ‘Main Aur Charles’ is like a prime time news hour debate which has an interesting topic to start with but ends up with the same routine stuff without giving a proper solution to the main problem.

Ratings - 2*/5

'Guddu Ki Gun' - Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Guddu Ki Gun'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Firecracker Shots...'

Expectations:

As a kid Kunal Khemu was loved for his powerful role in ‘Zakhm’ and comical acts in films like ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’ and ‘Raja Hindustani’. The actor grew up to do some different type of films and found his space back into the comical films with films like ‘99’, ‘Dhol’, ‘Golmaal 3’ and few more including ‘Go Goa Gone’. He was outstanding in the later films and with the failure of his films from other genre made it clear that, the audience wants to see this actor essaying comical roles and thus, despite of low publicity and less known actors associated with it, Kunal’s latest film ‘Guddu Ki Gun’ has some curiosity attached to it. Tough, it’s not a routine comedy Kunal did in past, ‘Guddu Ki Gun’ is an adult comedy with a double meaning poster attached to it. Thus, let’s find out whether this new venture of Kunal into the world of adult comedies will end up in his favour or might damage his fading career further more.

Story:

‘Guddu Ki Gun’ is a story of washing powder salesman Guddu (Kunal Khemu), who sells his product by luring the housewife’s and by full filling their sexual needs. Guddu is happy with his life and support from his roommate Ladoo (Sumeet Vyas). Things change as one fine day Guddu find outs that his private parts have been overnight transformed into hard metal gold. Guddu and Ladoo starts to find out the root cause of this magical transformation and finds out that it’s due to a curse of an old man. They also find out that Guddu’s private parts will normalize only when he finds true love of his life and will be the same if he marries that girl. Thus, Guddu and Ladoo starts to look out for the true love of Guddu and what happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The one liner story concept is very good for an adult comedy. It’s something unseen and unattempted. There are some comical scenes like Kunal and Sumeet visit sexologist’s clinic, Kunal discusses about his private part with Sumeet, Kunal meeting Payal Sarkar, Sumeet forces Kunal to participate in a competition involving one’s private parts, Kunal and Sumeet kidnapping track, Kunal’s part in Mughal-E-Azam drama (though, others ruin the fun with their overacting) and a few more which manages to tickle your funny bone. There should have been more such comical scenes and that too with more adult humour attached to it. On the flip side, the concept is not properly utilized and at times tries to cross the fine line between vulgarity and adult comedy. The film also slows down with the arrival of love track. One will find some quirky double meaning names like ‘Lingamjitis’, ‘Lingam returns’, ‘Baba Sonekaanand’, etc. The camera work is good and goes in the favour of the film.

Music & Direction:

Music is not impressive and songs acts like bumpers in the film.

Director duo Shreeshank Anand and Shantanu Ray dares to come up with such bold and unusual adult comedy, which lacked highly over the adult humor. They dare to enter the no entry zone only to take a reverse turn and makes a safe exit like all others. The makers should have gone all their way out and should have given us a good adult comedy on the lines of ‘Masti’, ‘Kya Kool Hain Hum’, ‘etc. The movie could have been a decent entertainer, but sadly ends up being a weak and an adult clone of Priyadarshan types of films. The duo fails to keep the film slide away from adult humour to double meaning track due to which the movie ends up being trashy and demeaning at times. 

Performances:

Kunal Khemu does his part with grace and once again shines out in a comical film. Sumeet Vyas lends fantastic support and has a brilliant future ahead. Payel Sarkar, Brijendra Kale, Jameel Khan and others lend good support. 

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well the movie had good potential to cater its adult comedy loving audiences, but ends up as a half-baked product with over dose of double meaning humour and stale screenplay in the later part of the film. The movie has its moments but on an overall basis this loaded gun, ends up as a firecracker shot with fake sound and its plastic effects. 

Ratings - 1.5*/5

'Hallucinating Day Dream...' - 'Shaandaar' Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Shaandaar'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Hallucinating Day Dream...'

Expectations:

After working in production teams of films like ‘Black’, ‘Aamir’, ‘Welcome To Sajjanpur’, ‘Dev.D’ and few more films, Vikas Bahl co-debuted with Nitesh Tiwari with a sweet and small film ‘Chillar Party’. Despite of being a small film it still managed to grab its viewer’s attention and won him the prestigious National Award. The critical and commercial success motivated this talented director to make something different and his individual directorial debut happened with Kangana Ranaut starrer film ‘Queen’. This movie was a not only successful at the box office, but also ended up being a path breaking film because to its fantastic direction and ace performances. The impact was so high that the viewers for a longer period, failed to come out from the hangover of this film. It ended up being one amongst the list of highly watched and loved films from our country and can be watched over and over again at any given time. Thus, right from the announcement of Vikas’s new film ‘Shaandaar’ the expectations were sky high. To top it up the movie has Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starring in it after giving us one of their best performances last year (Haider & Highway) respectively. So let’s find out whether ‘Shaandaar’ will match up to such humongous expectations or might be yet another path breaking film under this genre of romantic films.

Story:

‘Shaandaar’ is a story of Bipin (Panjah Kapur) and his daughters, Isha (Sanah Kapoor) & Alia (Alia Bhatt). Alia despite of being an adopted child, is favourite of Bipin, but is disliked by his wife (Niki Aneja) and mother Kamala Ji (Sushma Seth).  In order to save her bankrupt family, Kamala Ji fixes up Isha’s marriage with Robin (Vikas Verma) who is brother of a multi millionaire Pandwani (Sanjay Kapoor). The whole marriage takes place in a castle and is managed by Jagjinder Joginder / J.J (Shahid Kapoor). During this process, J.J and Alia starts loving each other and what happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story is one liner and couple of fresh tracks attached to it. But, on an overall basis it’s a tried and tested type of story which is totally predictable. The first half starts with fresh note and has some good comical moments indulged in it. Scenes like Shahid-Pankaj meet, Sanjay Kapoor’s entry scene, Shahid-Alia mime chat at breakfast, Brownie-Mushroom effect, mehendi with Karan track and few more keeps you entertained in the initial phase of the film. Sadly, once these comical tracks fades out the movie goes on a repetitive and dragging mode in the later part. The bankruptcy track, father- adopted daughter track, forceful marriage track and few more are totally stale and have been shown countless times in our films. The insomniac track is interesting, but ends up being a victim of a half baked product. There are multiple characters in the film and almost everyone gets sidelined in the second half, till the finale of the film. The finale part has its funny moments but as said earlier is predictable and has been presented in totally bizarre manner. There are plenty of stuffs happening in the film, but at the same time there is hardly anything happening in the film. The screenplay lacks detailing and seems like a result of a forced product involving big names and moolas attached to it. The movie highly excels on technical basis and has a decent animation track attached to it. Also, the cinematography by Anil Mehta is of top notch and gives the movie its much needed looks. The movie is ‘Shaandaar’ in terms of its visual presentation. 

Music & Direction:

Music by Amit Trivedi is good but not among his best works. ‘Shaam Shaandaar’ goes well with the mood of the film. ‘Gulaabo’ is interesting and appealing. ‘Nazdeekiyaan’ fails to blend with the flow of the film. ‘Senti Wali’ is too dramatic. ‘Raitaa Phailgaya’ is enjoyable. Remix versions of ‘Eena Meena Deeka’ and ‘Neend Na Mujko Aaye’ fails to create the magical impact like how ‘Hungama’ did in ‘Queen’.

Director Vikas Bahl tried to attempt a fairy tale type of romantic film and partly succeeds in few scenes featuring Pankaj Kapur (animated part) along with Shahid and Alia, plus the huge backdrop of grand wedding attached to it. Sadly, this movie is nowhere in comparison to his best work ‘Queen’ and not even ‘Chillar Party’. The freshness is in parts and the movie seems like a garish attempt and has less of soul attached to it. The comical track works along with fantastic presentation but the half baked screenplay ends up as a party popper. It’s sad that whenever a good director gets hold of big budget film, they fail to do justice to it, proving the point that such directors can create only wonders when they make films with tight budgets and tough conditions. 

Performances:

Shahid Kapoor looks fabulous and all his fans who love him in a romantic avatar, will enjoy his visual appearances. Though, this movie is way below the caliber of Shahid after watching him in film like ‘Haider’. Nevertheless, he does his part with total grace and adds up as the positive point in the film. Alia Bhatt is cute and slips easily in her character. One does wonder, why the makers emphasize more on her bikini scenes (especially in the end credits) rather than focusing more on her acting skills. Pankaj Kapur lends good support but has nothing new to offer. Sana Kapoor is sweet and reminds us of her mother Supriya Pathak. Sushma Seth and Vikas Verma are fine in their parts. Sanjay Kapoor, Anjana Sukhani, Niki Aneja, Kabir Shaikh, Shibani Dandekar, Chittaranjan Tripathy and others are wasted. Cameo by Karan Johar is welcomed. 

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well the movie has some enjoyable dum in the first half, followed by few comical moments and songs. It might be liked by the diehard fans of Shahid and Alia, but will be a huge disappointment for all the fans of Vikas Bahl. Even if we don’t compare ‘Shaandaar’ to Vikas’s last film ‘Queen’, this movie works only in parts and fails miserably in the finale portion. On an overall basis, ‘Shaandaar’ is like having a hallucinating day dream, which starts on an exciting note and ends up like a dragging dream which distracts you from the reality.

Ratings - 2*/5

'Meeruthiya Gangsters' Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Meeruthiya Gangsters'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Desi Pranksters'

Expectations:

Gulzar's 'Mere Apne' could be termed as one of the inceptor film, portraying the tale of youngsters taking law in their hands. But, it was N. Chandra's 'Ankush', which dealt around the lives and happenings of these misled youngsters. On the lines of 'Ankush', many filmmakers narrated such types of tales dealing with criminal activities by youngsters but with different town or cities. The latest to join such types of films is 'Meeruthiya Gangster' which is directed by the writer of Anurag Kashyap's 'Gangs Of Wasseypur' (Part I & II). Both these parts were loved by a different set of audience and marked its own style. So, let's find out whether 'Meeruthiya Gangster' will give us another different type of crime based film or might be yet another clone of such types of films.

Story:

'Meeruthiya Gangster' is a story of a group of friends residing in the city of Meerut. The group is led by Nikhil (Jaydeep Alhawat) and consist of Amit (Aakash Dahiya), Gangan (Vansh Bhardwaj), Rahul (Chandrachoor Rai), Sunny (Shadab Kamal) and Sanjay (Jatin Sarna). Together, they do small time kidnapping and enjoy the ransom amount among themselves. One day Gagan's girlfriend Mansi (Nashrat Bhardwaj), complains about her senior colleague Jayantilal Jain (Brijendra Kale). This inspires Nikhil and his friends to kidnap him in order to seek a bigger ransom. Because to this kidnapping, police inspector R.K Singh (Mukul Dev) starts following their trials and what happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story might remind you of a recently released film 'F.U.G.L.Y' and many such types of films. The story is very minimal and has been stretched to its fullest. There is no proper screenplay or drama happening around as the film just keeps running over the routine fun, crime and stuffs. The movie starts with a super long introduction of various characters followed by repetitive screenplay. The makers also introduce many side tracks which slows down the flow of the film and ends up being dragging and monotonous. Though, the movie has its share of positive moments like Rahul Dev-Sanjay Mishra scene, Brijendra Kale track, Jatin Sarna's scenes and few more. The language used in the film is funny and enjoyable. Wished the writers would have kept the flow of the film intact, without diluting it with unnecessary subplots and details. The camera work is good and works in the favour of the film.

Music & Direction:

Music by Siddhant Madhav is fine, but not impressive.

Director Zeishan Quadri narrates his film in a non structured manner due to which the whole effort gets diluted. On an individual basis, there are a few good, enjoyable scenes, but on an overall basis the movie lacks intensity and dramatic moments. Except for some comical stuff, there is nothing new in this film.

On performance basis, Jaideep Ahlawat, Aakash Tyagi, Vansh Bhardwaj, Chandrachoor Rai, Shadab Kamal and Jatin Sarna acts decently and does their part with total grace. Nushrat Bharucha looks good but has very less to offer. Mukul Dev is repetitive. Sanjay Mishra is good in his small role. Brijendra Kale is impressive.

So bol meri ‘'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well, the movie has some enjoyable moments and decent performances by its lead actors. The movie lacks highly on intense drama and a good story telling. The impact is weak and has nothing new to offer making these 'Meerithiya Gangster' act like some local desi pranksters where after a unique style all their pranks ends up as a bland and silly act.

Ratings - 2/5 

'Hero' Movie Review. Starring - Sooraj Pancholi, Athiya Shetty, Tigmanshu Dhulia & Aditya Pancholi. Directed by Nikhil Advani. Produced by Salman Khan & Subhash Ghai.

'Hero'

Movie Review By 'G9 Divya Solgama'

'Fast Forward Version....'

Expectations:

Right from the Kapoor’s era, whenever star kids are launched there is immense curiosity and excitement related to their launch due to the aura of their parents. Except for few star kids, most of them choose the conventional path of getting launched in a romantic film or a big budgeted film. The latest launching vehicle for the star kids is getting launched in a stylish film, which is a remake of a hit film. Last year Tiger Shroff was launched in ‘Heropanti’, which was a remake of a hit Telugu film and this year we have Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty getting launched in ‘Hero’, which is a remake of Jackie Shroff starrer 1983 film of the same name. 1983’s ‘Hero’ was a path-breaking film in its own way as it narrated a tale of an anti-hero with some fantastic music and great direction associated with it. A role which was written for Sanjay Dutt, marked the right launching vehicle for Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Sheshadri (after their failed debut attempt). Thus, let’s find out whether the latest version of ‘Hero’ will do the same wonders for Sooraj and Athiya as it did for Jackie and Meenakshi in their times or might end up being another remake trying to cash-in over its past glory.

Story:

‘Hero’ is a story of a local goon Sooraj (Sooraj Pancholi), who works for a criminal Pasha (Aditya Pancholi). Pasha is facing trial in the court and will be sentenced based on the evidence provided by I.G Shreekant Mathur (Tigmanshu Dhulia). Thus, Pasha orders Sooraj to kidnap I.G Shreekant Mathur’s daughter Radha (Athiya Shettya). Sooraj disguises as a cop and manage to kidnap Radha very easily. While in exile, Radha and Sooraj fall in love with each other. After a while Radha finds out the real identity of Sooraj and still wants him in her life as she believes after completing his punishment Sooraj will be a changed man and thus asks him to surrender in front of the law. What happens next is what the entire film is all about.

Screenplay & Technicalities:

The story structure is scene to scene similar to the original film. It’s only that everything out here is hurried and taken for granted. Right from the first scene, there is no detailing to any characters nor the flow of the film is presented in a dramatic or entertaining manner. It’s just that the movie is going on and on with few dialogues and songs on a loop mode. Except for few good fight scenes, dances, locations and Salman Khan’s video in the end credits, there is nothing much to cherish in this half backed film. Sooraj’s character lacks the darkness and is not at all intense. He dances, looks smart, falls in love, parties, etc instead of being a menacing character. There is no transformation of an anti-hero to hero in his character. Everything is presented in a convenient manner without any struggle or hardship. The comical tracks were unwanted. The climax is presented with typical Salman Khan / Rajnikant style of fights where the conviction level was not at its fullest. Also, the finale part was totally predictable and bland. The love track also develops without conviction and needed more moments attached to it. This movie also makes you realize the fact that 1983’s ‘Hero’ is a great film in terms of its writing, direction, performances, casting and music. The camera work is good and the movie has been shot on some good locations.

Music & Direction:

The music of 1983’s ‘Hero’ was highly entertaining and immensely popular with songs like ‘Lambi Judai’, ‘Ding Dong’, ‘Pyar Karnewale Kabhi Darte Nahin’ and few more along with its theme flute music. Sadly, in this latest remake of ‘Hero’, except for Salman Khan’s version of ‘Main Hoon Hero Tera’ and ‘Yaadan Teriyaan’ there is nothing worth hearing in this film.

Director Nikhil Advani fails to do proper justice to the original version of ‘Hero’ and ends up delivering a half baked product. He misses out on the fine detailing and ends up delivering a bad remake on the lines of films like ‘Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag’. 

Performances:

Sooraj Pancholi looks smart and will have an immense female fan following due to his physical appearance. Sadly, he fails to express and give a decent dialogue delivery as he needs to work hard on his speech. Athiya Shetty in comparison to Sooraj Pancholi acts decently, but fails over her weird appearance. Tigmanshu Dhulia delivers one of his worst performances. Sharad Kelkar, Anita Hasdani, Vivan Bhathena are fine in their parts. Aditya Pancholi and Suresh Menon had hardly anything to offer. Salman Khan in the end credits is the best thing to happen to this doomed film. 

So bol meri 'Filmi Khopdi' iss film mein kitna hain Dum???

Dum??? Well, despite of superstar Salman Khan launching these new comers there is nothing overwhelming about any of them after watching the film. The movie ends up as a show-reel for its lead actors. In comparison with this movie, I would suggest everyone to watch the original 1983’s version to understand the value of good, well written and entertaining film. As for the latest version of ‘Hero’, the movie ends up like watching the fast forward version of the original, where you know what’s happening in this soulless film, but fail to miss out over the required detailing and entertainment quotient. 

Ratings - 1.5*/5