Force | Mad's review

Force is inspired from the Tamil movie Kaakha Kaakha…starring Suriya and Jyothika in 2003. The Hindi remake stars John Abraham – in one of those single hero movies and Genelia D’souza., and is directed by Nishikant Kamath , who earlier directed Mumbai meri Jaan.

Force is a story of ACP Yashwardhan, who is unattached to anyone in this world. He is tough cop and beats his opposition to pulp for good measure. After all he has the body built to that effect and is put to good use.  He is part of the Anti-Narcotics team, headed by Raj Babbar, and puts together an inner circle to fight the drug mafia. They manage to wipe out the menace when they realize that the informer was making it too easy for their comfort. All that happened was set the stage for Vishnu (newcomer Vidyut Jamwal) to rule the drug empire. Meanwhile social activist Maya (Genelia) randomly bumps into him till he develops feelings for her and realizes when she meets with an accident. She then turns on her bubbly charm and makes all attempts to get him to reciprocate, which well takes a while. Why? ACP is a lil slow on the emotions department and thinks they are a distraction and he can lose his focus. But she will just not give up, till they finally decide to get married.

Vishnu’s brother is killed in an encounter and the rest of the movie turns into a run-catch-kill not just the team of the NCB, but their families as well.

What I liked:

Superlike: John’s awesome sculpted body

Masala movie with all the action – esp the opening scene where John tries a rock climbing thing like Tom Cruise in MI2

Amit Gaur as Mahesh (Khadak Singh) – very cute and nice to the eye

What I super dislike:

John cant emote or be romantic for nuts – too wooden, like his sculpted body

Monotonous characterization of Genelia – she has replaced Preity Zinta on the bubbly meter but is highly irritating

Story is too slow and can distract you from what’s happening on screen

My rating: 2/5 (just watch it if you wanna watch John’s abs and want a typical masala movie)

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Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Yashraj is back again this time with Mere Brother ki Dulhan, with Imran Khan (Kush Agnihotri), Ali Zafar (Luv Agnihotri) and Katrina Kaif (Dimple Dixit). Slated as a Rom-com and a family entertainer as usual.

The movie starts with Luv, the investment banker in London, breaking up with his girlfriend Piyali (Tara D’Souza) of 5 years. Suddenly reality strikes him and he calls up younger bro Kush to find a girl for him to be married to. Reason: when they were kids, they both liked Madhuri Dixit. So he trusts Kush’s choice in women. Kush and parents go on a bride hunting spree and finally land up with Dimple Dixit as a choice.

But here lies a shocker. He knows Dimple from his college days where she was as wild as she can be. Predictably, the family likes the alliance and they are all set to get Luv married to Dimple. With the preparations, Kush feels attracted to Dimple but is not really aware of it. Kahaani mein slight twist happens with Luv coming down to India for the wedding. And with that Kush n Dimple realize their feelings for each other but do not know how to get out  of the engagement.

Putting their brains together, and infused laughter situations to sort this out is the rest of the story. And since there is no cog in the wheel, one gets created to just extend the story. All’s well that ends well.

My rating: 2.5/5 – very average

What is likable?

Kat is improving in the wardrobe and dance department

What is not likable?

The Imran of Jaane tu … and Delhi Belly is missing… Please come back soon

No memorable music

Zero sparks between Imran and Kat

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That Girl in Yellow Boots

Anurag Kashyap. That name on the movie poster is enough to draw me to watch the movie in a theatre. Whether he is producing it, directing it or just rooting for it, does not matter. There's bound to be something special. (Think about Black Friday, Dev D, Gulaal, Shaitaan )

Directed by Anurag Kashyap and starring Kalki Koechlin the movie is a dark, intense and hard hitting portrayal of the life of, that girl in yellow boots. It is co-written by Anurag and Kalki.

Kalki is Ruth, a British citizen in Mumbai looking for her father who left Ruth and her mother when Ruth was five years old and her step sister committed suicide. Years later, Ruth receives a letter from her father and sets off on a journey to find him. This journey takes her from the government offices to have her visa renewed to a spa where she works as a masseuse. In this realistic portrayal of Ruth's journey the camera weaves in and out and takes you into the massage parlor  where middle-aged and the young turn up for a massage and maybe something more.  Ruth's boyfriend Prashanth (Prashanth Prakash) a drug addict who gets into a debt with a local gangster Chutiyappa (Gulshan Devaiah) who strangely enough is a Kannanda (language of southern state in India) speaking don and who is determined to collect his debt from Ruth. 

While it may seem like parallel stories the entire plot comes together in a slick manner and with a common focal point of that girl in yellow boots. What this movie does is take you on Ruth's journey. Right through the lewd lascivious looks of the government officials, the lecherous 'hafta' collection of the policeman, the painful and disturbing behavior of the druggie boyfriend, the gangster whose emotional weakness is the story of a drunkard father and to the final climax of finding her father. Your journey is as involved as Ruth's and while the ending may seem predictable, what Anurag does through smart casting and some deft twists is ensure you do not guess it exactly. 

If you are looking for some fun and entertainment go watch bodyguard instead. If you are looking for some involved serious film-making then go and watch this one, again and again. Amazing performances from Kalki, Prashanth and Gulshan. Looks like Kalki has stamped her authority on any 'expat' kind of sensitive role. The cinematography is beautiful and caresses the streets of Mumbai, the dingy government offices and sets a tone for this movie while will add to the lump in your throat when it ends. What is possibly the only let down of this movie is that it could have been so much more but in trying to bring together various facets through various characters tends to weaken the 'search for the father' theme.

Is it worth watching ? Definitely.

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Aarakshan

Aarakshan, got me pulled to screen to watch it just for the reason that it is a Prakash Jha film. I dreaded for watching this sensitive issue of quota system being rambled in the Indian society for playing a big role in the political drama, affecting the country in large scale.
Unfortunately even the strongest star cast Big B could not help this script become powerful, reason being the story line starts with an impactful way of quota system’s effect on the society as a whole but eventually it more or less becomes the fight of a man who is trying to be practical and sincere with his approach of thinking and living.
The story starts well at bringing up the issue of caste based reservation systems in India but half way through loses its issue in show casing the arguments against demands of expensive coaching institutes. I feel the audience perhaps would have wanted to watch a deep insightful conversation of the topic reservation at more political level, as the promos of the movies tried to promise. You can nonetheless watch the movie for coarse performances and some real high recital drama in few scenes.
I would rate the movie 2/5.

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