Guzaarish: Don't expect 'Black' Magic

Guzaarish is one of those movies, which rests on the very idea of making people cry through suffering and it succeeds to a large extent as well. There are a couple of scenes which shake you down but those are not enough to hold your attention throughout. It was a great idea on paper and it had that bhansali touch of grand sets, dark cinematography, use of whites, greys and blacks all over the canvass (although Red is an addition this time around) 'Black' style, stars who can sell movies just by their names, some really good actors in cameos, but there is something lacking. May be it tries too hard to do a 'Black' but sadly doesn't match up in any sphere. The first half was pretty neat and grippy but suddenly the second half felt like a different movie altogether and the last 20 minutes were just so unbearable. Can Watch for some really 'scenes' which make you cry though don't expect some 'black' magic.



The plot as most would already be aware revolves around Euthanasia(Mercy Killing), wherein a quadriplegic ex-magician Ethan (Hrithik) files a petition in the courts to allow him to end his life. Either the story seemed confuse or i couldn't understand the plot because the script makes the characters jump from one end of a viewpoint to another with in sequences. Hrithik at first is a person who thinks life is a gift and actually has written books on the topic. He delivers lectures on positivity and runs a radio show on the same lines. And Suddenly in the second scene he decides to kill himself. Anyways, the story and the helplessness of the lead character is touching to say the least but sudden changes in ideologies don't add to the narrative's consistency.



Performance wise, Hrithik's acting is mind blowing in a couple of sequences and suddenly you go, 'Dude, he's the man' and suddenly in the next sequence he would start hamming so bad that KRK seems like an Oscar winner. Though i feel that given this year's other films, Hrithik could easily take home a couple of best actor awards. Aishwarya according to me was a perfect mis-cast since she just looked too plasticky and emotionless (i am not sure, if it was deliberate from her end or she just ended up being like that). You just couldn't feel her love for Ethan throughout the movie. The winner according to me was Aditya (Yeah, ex-channel v vj aditya) who seemed so comfortable with the character he was playing. His performance was just too smooth to ignore. Others do justice in their cameos so no problems there.



On the direction front, i think SLB is trying too hard to go the german, french, italian cinema way. It appears as if he made this movie not for the story or the script or the indian audience, but to show the 'world' that he is a technical genius. I think he overdoes a lot of things, from victorian era sets to strangely dressed actors, just for making it feel 'different' from regular bollywood stuff. Too much of everything is bad and this is a prime example of the same.



Music is HORRIBLE to say the least. It is just one of the worst scores i have heard in recent times and definitely a let down. I think SLB was too busy showcasing his genius that he forgot that movie making is a team effort in the end.



Although, i must mention that there are 3-4 sequences where you just cannot hold back your tears or can feel Ethan's agony in your own soul. Those scenes just rescue the movie from the trash it could have been. For me, especially the sequence where Ethan sings 'Its a wonderful world' after his mother's death just nails it completely. Show me sequences like those and i will watch the movie again only for those. Hrithik just takes the movie suddenly to a different level altogether and those are the high points of the movie.



Overall: A Brilliant Story lost in SLB Grandeur. A pretty grippy first half but seemed to lost its way completely in the second. Watchable for 3-4 damn neat sequences which make you 'almost' cry.



Feel-O-Meter: 5/10



PS: I felt so bad for monikangana dutta, She is such a big supermodel and here, she was given 1 dialogue, 1 kiss and (i think) at max 2 minutes of screen time. As if the director got so angry with her that he cut her whole part or something.

The Social Network: Accept the Friend Request

No points for guessing but The Social Network is easily one of (if not THE) best picture this year. It is exactly how cinema is supposed to be. No High flying cars, No over the top drama, No 3D or 'special' effects. Its the script, the dialogues, the characters, the direction, the acting and above all the pace. The movie is gripping and there are hardly any moments that let you wander your mind away. From the first scene onwards, although you might be/are are aware of the 'story' but its how it unfolds that makes it interesting. Everything about the movie was almost perfect. It stays with you after you walk out of the cinema hall just like alcohol. It slowly gets to your mind and stays there. The best part is, The Hangover stays. A Must watch, whether you are on facebook or not.



The Story (as all are aware) is about facebook founder, a 23 year old and world's youngest billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and how facebook became a worldwide phenomena. More than the story of facebook, the movie illustrates the relationships the founders share, the ruthlessness that comes with being an entrepreneur and the biggest irony that the person who united the world through one website making everyone connected with each others' friends, he himself didn't have any. He was a complete loner and remained till the end. THIS irony is something that i truly loved. How he got everyone connected but still remained disconnected. How he is lonely amongst 500 million friends.To me, THATs what the movie was about rather than a documentary.



The script is edge of the seat without the 'forced drama'. No hard hitting fights between friends, no emotional betrayal, no remorse, no crying. Exactly as the life. No exaggerations. That according to me made the movie it is. The subtleties make it a class act. Because of the same, you can relate to all the characters and identify with their motives and antics. You don't go 'aah.. thats not possible' anywhere. May be its largely because its NOT fiction but hey aren't we used to masala in non fiction as well? Also, i simply loved the ending, it just makes the irony of the loner with 500 million friends so glaring. Just superb. How the movie comes full circle. Brilliant. I will not be too surprised if there is an oscar nomination on the adapted screenplay bit.



The Dialogues were just crazy. I think this could be one of the few movies you could relate with the dialogues that will be repeated for some time to come and. Another thing to notice was the speed at which the dialogues were being delivered as if the actors were trying to meet the pace of the movie itself, which was another highlight of the movieThe movie just runs away without any hiccups and nowhere you had this 'ohh you can skip it' feel. It was among some of the most perfectly paced movies i have seen in recent times. Neither too long nor too short. Everyone performed their part amazingly well, but i somehow loved Justin Timberlake the actor the most out of the lot.



Overall: To be honest, I can't really think of any negatives as of now. May be if i watch it again. I might notice a few problems here and there.A Must Watch even if you are not aware of 'the facebook story'. The movie in itself is pretty engrossing. Just book the tickets and go.



Feel-O-Meter: 9/10



PS: May be i am too much of a facebook fan, but here i am only writing about the 'movie' and not the social phenomena that mark and his friends founded. BTW, i think Mark as a person is an absolute failure and a cunning bitch himself but just loved the entrepreneur in him.

Golmaal 3: Dear Mr Shetty, Please learn from your Comedy Circus Contestants

What's the bad thing about a joke? No matter how funny it is the first time, It ceases to be if you hear it again and again. The same is the case with the Golmaal franchise, I think the first movie was a laugh riot and an absolute cracker of a comedy. One of the best in the last 10 years according to me. But then, the second was a little lesser and the third one seems just like a reflection of the last two. Rohit Shetty is riding a tiger called the Golmaal Franchise. He didn't know what to do and was too afraid to let go of the same. So he decides, Hey why not cash in on the brand recall. Atleast people will watch it once and it will be a hit anyways. And Eureka ! Exactly thats what happened.



Let me clarify that i am a HUUUGE fan of mindless comedies. The kind of movies where you can forget logic/sense and just have some fun. But the most important thing to keep in mind is that a comedy is supposed to be funny. I am sorry, but dogs biting people's asses, rockets burning down fireworks' shops, or people on a chaat wala tawa screaming are not funny to me now. Especially given the fact the last two instalments were funny not only due to the antics but due to the script part too.



The punches are pretty neat and topical but the thing that lacks is a common threat that binds the movie together. The 'plot' is not there. Its as if the director says, 'Who Cares about the story anyways right?'. I agree, that it doesn't have to be a heart warming story but even a very basic thread that binds the overall progression of all of whats happening on the screen is a very important requirement and THAT wasn't present. At 2.5 hours, it was too long for a comedy without a plot to sustain.



The movie just seemed like different Comedy Circus contestants coming together and making a movie. Where its not a 'movie' but rather a collection of different 'acts'. And ya, Mind you, the contestants on the show are FAR FAR funnier than ANY of the actors/writers/director of this 'comedy'. I think the 'judge' needs to learn a lot more from the contestants there.



Have you noticed that a number of times these Stand up comics come together, make a movie and nobody watches that. THATs also mindless but has brilliant comedians (much better than our movie stars) and still the movie is a flop. The reason nobody wants to watch these contestants on the big screen no matter how good the plot/script could be. Its like a reverse process in this case. The actors are bad, the script/plot is not existent but still it works because its the 'Brand' that sells.



The two things good about the movie were 1. Addition of Kunal Khemu, who provides some freshness to the stale cast. and 2. Some REALLY funny and topical punchlines.



Overall: A Mindless non-comedy. Give it a Miss. A couple of funny scenes here and there but definitely not worth spending 2.5 hours (Even if the tickets are sponsored)



Feel-O-Meter: 4/10