vicramb Reviews

Shikhar (2005)

Idealism vs Greed:-The Big Picture

[9/10 · 3 February 2006]

In 1999,When I saw the promos of the movie Sarfarosh,The 1st thing that caught my eye was that it was by a débutant director.At that time,I wasn't much into movies and never heard much of the movie again.Couple of years later,The movie premiered on TV.Since Aamir was hot at that time due to the stupendous success of Lagaan(which went on to be nominated for the Oscars) and Dil Chahta Hai which many consider to be one of the coolest movies ever made,I felt that I must watch this movie.And was i stunned or what!!!!A tight screenplay,a relentlessly fast pace and a realistic scenario made this movie an immensely pleasurable watching experience.

Fast forward to 2005,When i heard that John Matthew Matthan was announcing a new movie,I was excited.Part of it diminished when I heard that it was not a Cop movie.But when i heard that it was a business thriller,i was curious as not many movies have been made on this theme,barring Kalyug which was excellent.The movie's synopsis sounded good on paper,but I had no idea how it would sound on screen.Then the movie released,the reviews said that this movie was average.I was disappointed thinking that maybe John is also a 1 film wonder like Mahesh Manjrekar who's been struggling to find his feet in Bollywood after his stupendous directing debut Vaastav.

Today,My disappointment has turned into amazement after i saw the movie on DVD.It is a poignant story of how an innocent person can be misled down the path of greed,but if his values are strong,he can get back to the right path.

It is the story of Guruji(Javed Sheikh)who left the reins of his vast business empire to his friend and started an ashram in the sylvan and tranquil village Songarh for the people to help the poor and downtrodden.He is an idealist to the core and believes that wealth is of no use until it is used for the greater good of Mankind.He also advocates the fact that the blessings of people and the goodwill that you gather is the true wealth.He tries to instill this values in his son Jaidev(Shahid Kapoor) Jaidev is a naive young man who hasn't seen much of the world and the little he's seen is the goodness of his father.So when Gaurav Gupta(Ajay Devgan)shows him the enjoyments of life such as Wine,Women etc,he's completely enticed.

Gaurav Gupta or GG as he's better known is a ruthless businessman.He believes that Money is the only thing that matters.He plans to build a city like Las Vegas in India.But Guruji stands in his way.So he uses Guruji's weakness i.e Jaidev against him,Guruji is left watching helplessly.But his greed leads to his downfall as he doesn't take enough care in hiding the shadier aspects of his character.

The movie is a real stunner.It's been shot well and has a good story.And for a change,It's a clean movie without any skin show and double entendres.

Its only fault lies in the placement of songs and the slightly slow pacing.There are way too many songs and they act as speed breakers and slow down the movie.The slow pacing of the movie may act as a deterrent to people.But,If you are the kind of person who likes to watch thought provoking movies,this is for you.

Trust me on this one;)

Bombay Blue (1997– )

The Dark Side of Mumbai's Underworld

[8/10 · 25 December 2005]

Scotland Yard Agents Donald Sumpter and Shan Khan come to Mumbai in search of a Drug Dealer(Kiran Kumar) and are helped by a cop(Mohan Agashe) and a journalist(Shekhar Suman).Shan falls in love with a girl whose brothers(Irfan Khan and Aly Khan)are searching for her because her father is on his deathbed and wants to meet her once.However they encounter bureaucratic obstacles on the way which frustrate them at each step.

The show was brilliantly shot and showed the city of Mumbai and its various hues.

The performances are pretty good too.I was reminded of this show when i read the book Shantaram(also being made into a movie).

A must watch!

Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... (2005)

Excellent Movie

[10/10 · 19 November 2005]

The perfect family movie.I loved this movie.The story is poignant,the performances are realistic,the locales appealing and the filming peppy.Excellent music too.I said it once and i'll say it again.This movie is simply too good.And if anybody did not like this movie,not my problem as they are missing out on a slice of good,clean,quality cinema.

Amitabh Bachchan seems to be getting better with each movie.The father-son relationship has been presented beautifully.Revathi is one under-rated actress and this movie makes full use of her talent.Karan Sharma makes a confident debut.He may look a little gawky,but that only adds to his performance.Annabelle Wallis looks ethereal and acts brilliantly.Here's a good actress in the making.Bhoomika Chawla touches your heart with her sincerity.She's simply too good.The rest of the cast provides adequate support.

It truly is a pity that good movies like this are rejected and some bottom of the barrel movies end up as hits.But then,that's life.........

Lakshya (2004)

Lakshya!!What a movie

[10/10 · 12 January 2005]

I'm the kind of guy who enjoys mindless action movies as well as movies that are intelligent,sensitive&thought-provoking.Lakshya falls in the latter category. The promos were slick and the music sounded good.But when i read the box-office report on this movie i was surprised at the lukewarm response this movie got because i thought this movie would be a runaway hit.However what can people like us do when such gifted film-makers like Farhan Akhtar are discouraged because their movies don't spoon-feed facts to the audience.But all said and done,This is among my personal favourites and i'm giving it a 10/10.2004 has produced some mature and intelligent movies like Lakshya,Yuva,Hum Tum,Swades etc and i'm happy that film-makers are growing up.This movie inspired me a lot and has played a role in me realising the truth that we should always have an aim in life because a life without an aim is like a body minus the soul.

+ points-Acting,Music(Background),Sound,Story,Tight Screenplay,Inspiring,Photography,Cinematography(nicely shot) -points-Length,Slow Pace,2nd half songs.

Yuva (2004)

My Review of YUVA

[10/10 · 9 January 2005]

Now,when i watched the trailers of this movie when they came out in April last year,i was excited.that's coz i'm a fan of Mani Ratnam and liked his previous works like Nayakan(dubbed in Hindi),Roja,Bombay&Dil Se.That's because his movies are the thinking man's delight.when it released,the reviews didn't sound too hopeful.So i thought i'll give it a miss in the theater.BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!When I got the DVD 2 months later and watched it,i was left kicking myself about why i didn't watch it in da theater.

Okay so here's the story in a nutshell.

The lives of 3 men,Lallan Singh(Abhishek Bachchan),Michael Mukherjee(Ajay Devgan)&Arjun Balakrishnan(Vivek Oberoi)are intertwined on Howrah Bridge under forced circumstances.Here Lallan Singh is the kind of guy u don't want to be,Michael is the kind of guy everybody admires(ideologist)&Arjun is the typical guy next door.Each man has his own life.

Lallan lives with his wife Sasi(Rani Mukherjee)who is madly in love with him even though he beats her up often.He works for his brother Gopal(Sonu Sood)who in turn is working for a slimy,smooth-talking&ever smiling politician Prosenjit Bhattacharya(Om Puri).Michael lives with his mother who is worried about him as he is growing up like his father who also was an ideologist and died for his cause&his 2 sisters who are proud of him as of his father.He has a girlfriend Radhika(Esha Deol)who teaches French and is the niece of Michael's family doctor(Saurabh Shukla).He is a student leader and wants to clean up Indian politics of dirty and slimy politicians namely Prosenjit.Arjun is a Mechanical engineering student who dreams of making it big by living the American Dream.His father(Anant Nag)however wants him to join the Indian Administrative Service.He falls in love with Mira(Kareena Kapoor)whom he meets at a disco which evolves into a series of meetings over coffee and in a tram.Mira however is getting married to a guy her parents have chosen for her.

The story begins when Michael gets shot by Lallan acting on Prosenjit's orders and Arjun ends up saving his life.The climax is Utopian with Michael and Arjun winning the elections and making it to their state assembly and Lallan getting arrested and being taken to court.

It has some amazing music by A.R.Rahman who seems to excel with each movie with foot-tapping songs like Fanaa,Dol Dol etc.The movie has some of the best acting performances,but Abhishek Bachchan is the pick of the lot.I have never seen such an intense performance.

If u find a copy of this in u'r video library,give it a try.I guarantee you won't be disappointed.