THE WAREBLOG

THE PLOT –

The movie is an adaptation of the novel by Vikas Swarup and has already shot into top slots on IMDb.

Jamaal Malik is our slumdog who treads on the finest of coincidences as he meanders his way through the questions on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” – connecting each question he comes across to an anecdote in his life.

As he progresses further on the show, he is suspected of cheating and hence sent into police custody.

Amidst all this, he is also out to unite with his brother and lost love for a better tomorrow.

Will he beat all odds to conquer the show and redraw the landscape of his life?

It’s all there for you to find out.

THE CAST –

Dev Patel, as the grown up Jamaal Malik, is definitely the stand out performer.

Frieda Pinto and Anil Kapoor do justice to their roles. The entire arrays of actors, in fact, have put up good performances.

As for the best performances though – I would personally rate Ayush (youngest portrayal of Jamal) and Azharuddin (youngest portrayal of Salim) as the deserving ones.

THE MUSIC –

There has been a lot of talk about A.R.Rehman coming up with a score worth an Oscar nomination. In my humble opinion, neither do I have any clue what Oscars look for in a candidate nor do I subscribe to the opinion of Rehman deserving an award at all for this score.

The music seemed very stereotypical of a movie of this genre and in no ways was novel. In a nutshell, just about supporting the screenplay.

THE VERDICT –

With all the hue and cry surrounding this one – I actually found the movie pretty watchable and would definitely rate it as a film well made.

The elements are very true to a movie of this genre. Go ahead, watch this one..!

THE SCORE –

7.00 / 10.00

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THE PLOT –

The movie is a remake of the Tamil movie by the same name where the main protagonist was played by Surya. The film is said to also have been ‘inspired’ by the 2000 Hollywood movie Memento directed by Christopher Nolan.

Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), who is the MD of AirVoice Cellphone Company, falls in love with the bubbly aspiring model Kalpana (Asin Thottumkal) primarily out of his admiration for Kalpana’s just too excessive pro-active helpfulness towards others. However, Kalpana knows Sanjay as a common man named Sachin who is struggling to be a model/actor just like her.

All hell breaks loose in due course, again courtesy of Kalpana’s helping hand and she gets murdered in front of Sanjay’s eyes, who is also attacked severly by the goons and becomes a patient of anterograde amnesia thereafter.

Will he be able to battle all odds to secure the victory of good over evil and avenge Kalpana’s death?

It’s all there for you to find out.

THE CAST –

Having not seen either the Tamil version or the alleged English inspiration, I would say the director delivered a cross-bred movie with both Bollywood and Tamil elements.

Aamir Khan (Sanjay Singhania) & Pradeep Rawat (Ghajini Dharmatma) do justice to their roles. Asin (Kalpana) & Jiah Khan (Sunita) though are two major painpoints in the movie and are extremely passable, Asin in particular.

Aamir Khan, almost single-handedly, carries the whole film with his near-perfect portrayal of the character and shows why he is the nearest thing to perfection when it comes to acting.

THE MUSIC –

Like any other A.R.Rehman album, again, not all scores are hummable or come with prolonged shelf life. Guzaarish and Kaise Mujhe Tum are the better scores. On a personal note, Lattoo was a pretty refreshing number. On the whole, an average album.

THE VERDICT –

The movie is definitely worth a watch although some action sequences are not advisable for children (note to the parents). If not for anything, Aamir Khan is reason enough to watch this one.

THE SCORE –

6.00 / 10.00

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THE PLOT –

The story is set in modern day Punjab (India), more specifically in Amritsar.

Surinder Sahni (Shahrukh Khan), who works for Punjab Power, gets married to Taani (Anushka Sharma) in very Bollywood-like circumstances. The simple and soft spoken Surinder is then told by Taani that she wouldn’t be able to love Surinder all her life.

Enter Raj Kapoor (Shahrukh Khan), who takes Taani out of her shell and brings fresh colors into her life.

Will Taani choose Raj’s love over Surinder’s dedication?

It’s all there for you to find out.

THE CAST –

Aditya Chopra comes back after almost eight years with this directorial venture and with a surprisingly small budget and starcast.

Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Vinay Pathak are perhaps the only full-time characters in the plot.

As for their acts, they all come up trumps. Anushka Sharma is exceptional on debut (much better than Asin in Ghajini – as will shortly be reviewed) and Shahrukh Khan is superb in his portrayal of Surinder Sahni, a character very much like yester year’s Amol Paleker –kind-of-roles.

THE MUSIC –

Very hummable and in-sync music by Salim-Suleiman. The duo seem to have started off from where they left off in Chak De India. They do not disappoint with any of the scores and come up trumps in the overall score. Tujhme Rab Dikhta Hai and Haule Haule have already become very popular on the charts. Dance Pe Chance was pretty apt for the sequences. However, Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte was the ace of the album and full justice to the song was done while shooting the same. Almost time that folks like the much-over-hyped A.R.Rehman took a leaf out of their notebook.

THE VERDICT –

A family movie plus an entertainer with that feel-good touch. If you have loved SRK over the years, you will not be disappointed with this one. On hindsight, I did ‘review’ this one in the fullest sense – yes, saw it twice on the big screen before writing this.

THE SCORE –

8.00 / 10.00  (Revised)

AND…THE SONG –

5 comments