The Wareblog

THE PLOT –

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani finally offers me something I had hoped to see more than an year back – Katrina Kaif opposite Ranbir Kapoor.

The plot is not much to speak about – a clichéd storyline so to speak with some good, some excellent and some sub-par performances.

But what sets APKGK apart is the finer moments every now and then that make you feel that this movie can’t just be written off. The director (Raj Kumar Santoshi) returns to the comic genré after a long time – Andaz Apna Apna being his last such venture. And although he still retains elements of banana-peel humor which makes you frown and feel cheated at moments during the movie, yet there are enough novel comic ones that keep the funny-bone tickled every now and then.

THE CAST –

Ranbir Kapoor is once again just too good – he carries the film on his shoulders for the most part.

The on-screen chemistry between Katrina & Ranbir looks good and promises to hold good prospects for more ventures in due course of time.

Darshan Jariwala and Smita Jaykar are exceptional in their acts and so are the bunch of friends hanging around with Ranbir.

The other actors barring Upen Patel are reasonably good too – Upen Patel delivering one of the most feeble roles to have been portrayed in recent times.

THE MUSIC –

The music from Pritam is superb (most of the tracks) and has been complemented well by S. Thiru’s terrific cinematography.

Most of the tracks are already topping the charts and will continue to do so on account of superior shelf life content this time from Pritam.

THE VERDICT –

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is a movie whose verdict depends on the kind of frame of mind you are carrying in to the auditorium.

In my opinion, this movie will tickle you every now and then and on the whole convince you to forget the crappier humor and situations thus making it a watchable time-out option.

The film will actually do great business as is obvious from the sold out shows all over.

THE SCORE –

6.50 / 10.00

THE PREMISE –

Bachna Ae Haseeno should’ve been the first review to belong here. Somehow, the review did not get to see the light of your LCD and remained confined to the blog post archives folder – all the time, when I merrily kept hitting the keyboard for one movie or the other.

This movie would always remain special for me – for it marks the first getaway during the best phase of 12 months of my life.

As for the review, well here goes…

THE PLOT –

Bachna Ae Haseeno is one movie that promises you, if nothing, at least a superb screenplay – advertised fantastically by the opening title track.

The plot revolves around Ranbir and his ‘stints’ with the Haseenas – Minnisha, Bipasha & Deepika.

The movie provides you all the stories in a nutshell during the first half and then moves on to a damage control phase – from Raj’s (Ranbir) point of view, which so often is the pulse in most YashRaj movies.

The plot snowballs into a predictable climax though and thus leaves you with less than the right punch in the end.

THE CAST –

Ranbir Kapoor is fantastic!

He makes great use of his terrific screen presence – and delivering superb project and chemistry with all his leading ladies.

Minnisha Lamba and Bipasha Basu are equally good in their performances and complement the storyline superbly.

Deepika Padukone is the worst thing that could’ve happened to this movie – why didn’t they have Katrina Kaif for the role? She would’ve looked much more convincing!

The rest of the cast is good too, including Hiten Paintal and Kunal Kapoor.

THE MUSIC –

The music is just so so superb!!

After a very long time we find an album here which can boast of a chartbuster in each of its numbers.

The title song however would have to be the first among the equals – nostalgic when you consider Sumit Kumar singing along his legendary father and Ranbir Kapoor shaking a leg to one of the most popular numbers filmed on his illustrious father.

This album has both shelf life and substance. Two thumbs up!!

THE VERDICT –

Bachna Ae Haseeno is without doubt one of the top entertainers this year and would go down as probably one of the better films to have come out of the YashRaj stable.

This weekend (and perhaps a couple more!), you know what to watch when you are in the mood for movie & mischief..!

THE SCORE –

8.50 / 10.00 (Revised)

THE PLOT –

London Dreams actually did not feature on my must-watch list this weekend, but then there was nothing else to watch (like all those days!) – so, here goes!

I actually did not have an inkling of what the storyline was meant to be when the movie just about began, but quite soon it did manage to meander into a clichéd drama of sorts in prospect.

The story deals with the single-minded determination of a boy to achieve success against all odds and how his best friend goes out of his way to work for his success – and oh yes, all the misunderstandings that follow.

THE CAST –

Salman Khan walks away yet again with the honour for man-of-the-movie. He exudes superb confidence in playing out his character and rarely looks out of place or overboard – which is exceptional given the kind of role he had on his cards.

Ajay Devgan & Rannvijay are just about alright while Asin is completely misplaced – in fact, I wonder what makes folks cast her in the lead when in fact, Sakshi Gulati would have been a better choice (rather than limiting her to a cameo).

THE MUSIC –

The music is not quite at par with the ‘Rock-On’ score but yes, some of the numbers do end up looking and sounding better in the movie than they would on the audio players.

Although the score lacks shelf-life, it’s not an entirely forgettable album.

THE VERDICT –

London Dreams could have been a story better told and time better spent had the director thought of putting more substance and a convincing crescendo to the apparently weak climax.

The movie actually scores low in screenplay at crucial junctures and at some times gives you the impressions of an ad-hoc editing production.

It’s not passable altogether but yes, as I have been saying for some time now, with not much else to choose from, London Dreams is not a nightmare altogether!

THE SCORE –

5.00 / 10.00

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THE PLOT –

All The Best is supposed to be a full-length comedy flick and how I wish it were true.

I actually sat through the movie only due to decent performances by a couple of characters like Sanjay Mishra (Apple Singh) and Bipasha Basu.

The plot actually revolves around a comedy of errors that is brought about by the central character’s (Sanjay Dutt) arrival. Although the plot has been a framework for several well-made films in the past like Golmaal and Rang Birangi, this one fails to live up to that benchmark.

THE CAST –

As mentioned, the memorable performances so to state would not feature any more that Sanjay Mishra and Bipasha Basu in the line-up. Atul Parchure has also played his role with aplomb.

In the also-ran category you could easily place Ajay Devgan, Mugdha Godse & Fardeen Khan – all extremely lacking in their projection.

Sanjay Dutt & Johny Lever just about manage to hang on.

THE MUSIC –

The music is extremely forgettable and has nothing to speak about.

It’s one of those soundtracks that come with an expiry date prior to the date of manufacture.

No shelf life – to put it straight.

THE VERDICT –

All The Best is again a movie that has had some amount of audiences due to the extremely pathetic set of movies doing the rounds during the time.

In any normal course of runs, a movie like this would have fallen by the wayside about a week into the release.

THE SCORE –

4.50 / 10.00

THE PLOT –

Well, we didn’t actually have much to do, so we just went in for some purist time-pass. The story isn’t much of an eye-opener, but Blue somehow just clings on and makes you just about stand the whole tale.

The story revolves around marine-lines entrepreneur, his stand-out employee and the employee’s brother. While the men make merry and hunt for treasure, you are left wondering if this is how all shipwrecks are actually discovered!

The plot is a little devoid of attention to detail and therefore leaves you with more to be expected – in fact, the movie ends with a suggestive sequel punch

THE CAST –

Akshay Kumar is yet again looking the part. He easily remains the mainstay of the movie with some reasonable performances from Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta & Sanjay Dutt.

Rahul Dev returns after a long hiatus – but doesn’t quite fit the bill.

Katrina Kaif ends up being a total waste and a showpiece character to state the least.

THE MUSIC –

The music by A.R.Rehman is nothing short of pathetic.

In fact, barring the ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ number, you can hardly even classify a song in the hummable category.

A very poor and forgettable album.

THE VERDICT –

Blue is an attempt at bringing to life a good storyline into mainstream Indian cinema but where it falls short is the screenplay and execution.

If you have nothing else to see and badly need a movie, you might just add on to the queue (if any).

THE SCORE –

5.00 / 10.00