Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America they are all back #trailer #Avengers: Watch videos

The trailer of all new Avengers is out by Marvel Entertainment enjoy!

Happy New Year – Good Entertainer if you are willing to participate in it.

With Happy New Year, Farah Khan is back in her form. She knows her USP well- enough to incorporate it well into a Bollywood entertainer. Unabashedly cheeky, offensive in some places, but if taken lightly can give the audiences a good time while watching this typical Bollywood masala movie.

With its grand setting in Dubai, Happy New Year tells the story of six losers, from various walks of life, united by the agenda of pulling off the biggest diamond heist.  The story offers nothing new to the audiences, borrowing instances and situations which were far commonly known to the Hindi cinema goers of the 70’s and 80’s.  Each character is supposedly shown to be a loser in his/her own style. From an inquisitive mind of a hacker, who is “uncool” enough to get laid (played by Vivaan Shah) to the angry young man Sonu Sood, who becomes “violent” on hearing anything offensive said against his beloved mother. There are more such absurd yet entertaining scenes in the film, which may make you laugh or cheer up, but certainly can’t be intolerable for a viewer, looking for sense and meaning in this entertainment driven narrative.

The story may lack logic in some instances, but it is powerful enough to run a three hour commercial pot boiler. It is interesting to see how the writing department of the film – Althea Kaushal, Farah Khan, Mayur Puri have brainstormed enough to add twists and turns in the plot, which certainly makes your heart beat faster, as a well-wisher for the team, headed by Charlie.

Despite this, the film has made dance to be one of the important ingredients of the film. This is where the character of Deepika Padukona, who plays the role of Mohini, a bar dancer who dances exceedingly well, shines like a typical Bollywood entertainer. She looks ravishing in some of the sequences, how ever, the songs are not as good as the earlier films of Farah Khan. But the particular song, “Manwa Lagey” has moments of melody with lyrics penned down by Irshad Kamil.

SRK plays the leading hero of the film – Charlie. It has got to be his film. For the fans of SRK, there is action and drama to look for with doses of romance and humour. He is the pop philosopher of the film, giving the audiences, anecdotes of how life gives one single opportunity to losers to change the fate of their lives. Abhishek Bachchan, who plays the role of Nandu, is  full of energy . He is complimented well with the sincere performance of Boman Irani, who is naturally funny in the film, with the character of a middle aged man - Tammy, behaving like an innocent and naïve teenager. 

There’s a very sweet equation that Tammy shares with his mother, Daisy Irani (good to see her after a long time) who plays the role of nagging mother to him. Her small appearance is effective in the film.

Jackie Shroff plays the role of Charan Groover, the antagonist in the film, who doesn’t really have such moments to offer in the film, yet plays his role with a fine performance. 

Yes – Happy New Year lacks logic,  is offensive in places, has high exaggerated doses of patriotism, but it isn’t trying to marvel you with its artistry or intellect either. It is almost like going to a party where you are willing to take yourself less seriously and enjoy whatever that comes in your way. If you are okay with watching an over the top song,dance,action, drama then Happy New Year is going to provide a gala time to its viewer. 

By Sourav

Meanwhile, Alia Bhatta and the famous murky twitter spell check #trolls

So, Alia's mother will definitely not happy with this Tweet

Street sexual harassment prevalent in New York City too. #video

While this video is trending on social media and almost every twitter and facebook profile, we could not help but think...Is India only affected by perverts on roads or its an epidemic?

This video by Hollaback says, “100 plus instances of verbal street harassment took place from people of different backgrounds, and this does not include the countless number of winks and whistles.” 

The video by Hollaback featuring Shoshana B. Roberts walking on the streets of New York City.

First Look of Farhan Akhtar and Amitabh Bachchan's film "Wazir"

We all love Farhan Akhtar don't we?...You will love him more when we tell you that he is goiong to share screen space with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan!

Wooooow! we heard you, can't wait for the movie? same here :-)

Zid trailer - Another erotic thriller which will have good songs

The trailer is out for ZID...Another Erotic thriller!...Do you think this is the best formula for success these days?

Need to boost the sales, fiml @HappyNewYear? #Sharabi video

So a new video has come up for the movie Sharabi

Well, the movie is in the news off late, it started one year back when Shahruk Khan had started tweeting and posting updates from Dubai.

Movie has already crossed 100 crore and touted as the fastest to earn 100 crores (4 days). Enjoy this music video now!

#FilmReview Haider: A Masterpiece or Not?

If you look at Haider from the perspective of a filmmaker, you realize that the narrative is extremely complex, which has plots, sub-plots, story outline which is borrowed from Literature (Hamlet and the Curfewed Night) and the backdrop of the political atmosphere of Kashmir in the year of 1995.

 Performances

Given with that, you have a film with an ensemble cast of highly talented actors – Kay Kay Menon,Irfan Khan, Tabu, Kulbhushan Kharbana (in a short yet poignant role), Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Aamir Bashir and a few fresh faces with effective performances like that of Narendra Jha (Haider’s father in the film) and Sumit Kaul,Rajat Bhagat (who performed the role of Salman look alike in the film).  With an ensemble cast like that, the script had chalked out powerful characters who performed exceptionally well in the film. Needless to mention, Shahid as Haider proves his metal as a serious performer and once again, a great dancer in the dramatic choreographed song, Bismil, which is one of the major highlights of the film.

As for Kay Kay Menon and Irfan Khan, they have sincerely acted in the film, much like their previous films with consistent performances. But it is the scintillating performance of Tabu as Haider’s mother, who emerges as an enigma in the film. Her character has various shades – filled with traces of love, betrayal, of silence, hidden loneliness (watch out for the song where she sings the famous Kashmiri song Rosh Wala Miyane in a sad mellow tone, creating a sense of remorse in a very ordinary scene which is made to be extra-ordinary with subtle and sensual performance).  Tabu is a treat to watch in the film. She is mesmerizing and is seen in fine costumes designed by Dolly Ahluwalia.  Shraddha Kapoor is fine in the film. Her character could have had more depth. Perhaps, she is the one who is overshadowed in front of characters with such challenging roles to offer. However, one must give the credit to Shraddha for looking like a natural Kashimiri beauty in the film. Added to that, is her soul stirring rendition of the Kashmiri folk song along with veteran singer Suresh Wadekar.

One must give the credit to the casting director of the film Mukesh Chhabra for casting a film with a fine balance of good performers, bollywood stars and a few fresh faces to look out for in the film.

Music and Visuals

Vishal Bhardwaj started his career as a musician in the film industry. Almost all his films had great musical compositions. With Haider’s setting in Kashmir and Gulzar Sahab as a lyricist, the music of the film was to become an out of the blue experience. Along with good music in the film, is blended the fine cinematography by Pankaj Kumar. Pankaj Kumar, whose, previous work includes Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus, has once again created the mesmerizing visuals in the film. The cinematography is lyrical, transcending us to a world of paradise lost – a land of Kashmir, which God must have created with special care, got wretched, torn and ruined in the hands of humans seeking revenge. The editing is crisp and clear, juxtaposing images woven with drama, action, sensuality and compassion.

Added to the visuals and stunning songs are the re-interpretation of the beautiful verses of Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz –  Careful selection of songs like Gulon mein rang bhare…sung by the fresh artist Arijit Singh, renders a composition which transports us to the beautiful romantic world of Kashmir and then there are songs like Do Jahaan (sung by Suresh Wadekar and Shraddha Kapoor),the peppy number Aao Na (popular among the youngsters), Aaj Ke Naam, which gives a perfect conclusive ending to the film. Rekha Bhardwaj’s deep insightful voice filled with empathy, makes the viewer leave the cinema hall with a heavy heart.

The music of the film has subsequently managed to bring out the various emotions in the film which will subside in the senses of the viewer.

I specifically liked the scene where Haider’s father in Jail is singing the rebellious composition of Faiz – Hum Dekhengey, Lazim hai ki humbhi dekhenge…

This is the sign of a filmmaker who is very well read and understands the skin of his character to include the timeless poetry in the film. 

Story, Screenplay, Dialogues, Direction

The writing department of the film was handled by three individuals – William Shakespeare (the invisible writer who provided the structure and the base to the story, most importantly to the characters and the fate of the film: primarily the three act structure – beginning, middle and end borrowed from Hamlet, touted to be the toughest and most complex play of Shakespeare), Basharat Peer – the celebrated novelist of Curfewed Night, which he wrote by citing personal experiences of his days, when the political atmosphere in Kashmir was at it’s deplorable state (the co-writer of the film) and Vishal Bhardwaj (writer and dialogue writer of Haider).

Watch for the scene in Haider where Ghazala anxiously calls Haider and Khurrum standing at the back, approaches towards her to say slowly:  Subah Subah Kisey Azaan De Rahi Hai Aap…

An ordinary scene, illuminated with the light of poetic dialogues. Once again, bow down to Bhardwaj for making an extra-ordinary effort at retrieving to bring out aestheticism in the popular Hindi cinema. 

Added to that, the film has been the center of various discussions and debates because of the political content of the film.  The film has been shown from the perspective of a Muslim Kashmiri and it is the freedom of the filmmaker to decide which side of the story appeals to him the most, to chalk out a narrative from it.  The co-writer of the film Basharat Peer is a Kashmiri Muslim himself and it would come naturally to him to tell a story which is related to his community. The problem is, in a typical Bollywood film we are so used to seeing the story of Ram and Shyam that if a film like Haider is made, it is bound to create some controversy.

However, I must admit that the inclusion of the song post the interval of the film,  disrupted the structure of the narrative. Perhaps, assumingly so, it must have been added to bring about the commercial element of the film.

The direction is crisp, moving the narrative forward with each scene. Vishal Bhardwaj knows the mis-en-scene way to well, to know the skin of the characters.  Good casting, Amazing screenplay and story has made his task simpler as a filmmaker,but to go and shoot the film in Kashmir, certainly required courage and passion to not give up on the subject of the film. With Vishal bearing the hat of a director, one can assume that the flawless direction is a work of extreme dedication, passion and willingness to tell a story that we Indians must pay heed to.

Watch out  the picturization of the song Jhelum to see the metal of Bhardwaj’s direction…In one song sequence, he has lyrically represented the plight of the Kashmiris during the time of political insurgency. 

Haider: A personal note

Haider makes you seek the answers to the questions it raises in the film. As a viewer, the film made me aware of the things I ought to know about Kashmir. To me, it remains a special film, in awakening my interest to research more on the issues of J&K. The film works on creating a story which is to be seen from the eyes of compassion. As for Vishal Bhardwaj, it is his most challenging film so far. Technically and Visually, it is better than his previously made films and politically, the filmmaker has matured to make a film which ends with a subtle and provoking message:  ““Inteqaam se sirf inteqaam paida hota hai. Jab tak hum apne inteqaam se azaad nahin honge, koi azaadi humey azaad nahin kar sakti.”

One thing is clear- to be able to pull off such a complex film like Haider, a filmmaker needs to have the right sensibility in place. Vishal Bhardwaj uses the canvas to paint a film, which is not only politically relevant but artistically nuanced and commercially communicated.

When was the last time you had seen a film with such a fine nexus of art and commerce?

Written by Sourav