Review : Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara the title says it all. One of the best guy movies directed by a woman Zoya Akhtar. A beautiful piece of cinema which I got to experience this weekend. ZNMD is the story of three young men played by Abhay, Hrithik and Farhaan who take a holiday that changes their lives forever. Kabir [Abhay Deol] is engaged to Natasha [Kalki]. Kabir decides to go on an extended bachelor party, before he gets married. A 3-week road trip with Imraan [Farhan Akhtar] and Arjun [Hrithik Roshan], his two best friends since school. The only problem is Arjun is too tied up with work. After much emotional blackmail and cajoling, the boys set off on a journey they were meant to take four years ago. A fantasy holiday they had planned to take after college, which never happened. A road trip where each one gets to do the ultimate sport of his choice and the other two just have to do it with him. Whether they want to or not!

Kabir, Imraan and Arjun meet up in Barcelona and set off on an adventure that not only make them iron out their differences, but also face their fears, alter their perception, unravel their fabric, force them to break out of the box and teach them to seize the day. This holiday changes their lives forever.

Unlike her debut movie Luck By Chance, Zoya does something visually and thematically diverse this time around. In ZNMD, Zoya chooses an attention-grabbing story and garnishes it well with moments that may seem straight out of a person's memoirs. The first half has several wonderful moments and the strain between the Imraan and Arjun is well presented, the post-interval portions right till the well-thought-of culmination keeps your attention arrested. While there are few moments which are very slow in the movie however when you see the overall effect and the entire movie you would like to pass them off.

The Spanish plain is captured very well by the cinematographer Carlos Catalan especially the Tomatino festival and the Bull sequences are breath taking. Dialogues by Farhaan Aktar are wonderful which is mixed with couplets penned by Javed Akhtar. The music is wonderful although they are not mass numbers but they do mix well with the theme of the movie.

Actingwise Katrina Kaif and Farhaan Akhtar are a treat as they are evolving better with each movie. Hrithik, Abhay and Kalki are superb as always. Naseerudin Shah and Deepti Naval in a brief role have done a very good job. On the whole ZNMD is a must see for every person to understand how life is more meaningful and colorful and how every moment and every minute is worth living because you don't know if you can ever live those moments again.

Movie Review: Delhi Belly & Muder 2

Last week and this week were really exciting weeks for a movie buff like me. Loads of entertaining movies to pick from and I picked Aamir Khan Production's Delhi Belly and Vishesh Film's Murder 2 the second in the Murder series.

DELHI BELLY:

As expected from an Aamir Khan Production, Delhi Belly didn't disappoint me at all. It is a madcap comedy surrounding the three protagonists of the movie played by Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapoor and Vir Das with a Poorna Jaganathan and Shenaz Treasurywala thrown in for titilation and fun.

Delhi Belly tells the story of Tashi [Imran Khan], Arup [Vir Das] and Nitin [Kunal Roy Kapur] - flat mates, buddies and partners in crime. Tashi is to get married in a month to the glamorous Sonia [Shenaz Treasury]. Arun has been dumped by his girlfriend and also has an annoying boss [whose idea of creativity is sketching a smiling banana in percentagewise smile]. And Nitin is about to discover that eating delicious Tandoori Chicken off a street vendor is going to give him the worst case of Delhi Belly he's ever known!

Three regular blokes lead a regular life, except when they get on the hit list of a deadly crime syndicate [Vijay Raaz].

Director Abhinay Deo and writer Akshat Varma may have been inspired by the adult comedies of Hollywood, but Delhi Belly is an Indian film at heart. The characters are very Indian and the humor, equally desi. As a matter of fact, there are situations and dialogue that the desis would take to instantly - it's inherently Indian.

Aimed squarely at the youth brigade, Delhi Belly makes an undisguised, earnest attempt to woo this segment of moviegoers. What really works is its screenplay that packs one twist after another. You are as clueless as the on-screen characters about what's in store next. Also, the humor is very on the face and sardonic. It's not one of those humor-laden films that we've been subjected often. Here, the makers don't underline a joke, you need to be intelligent enough to comprehend it. This film speaks a language that the youth would connect with instantly and it will go down in the history of Bollywood as a cult film in its genre.

As far as acting goes everybody has performed well. There are sequences which made me hold onto my stomach and laugh especially I would like to point out the sequence when Vijay Raaz dumps the content of the bottle (shit instead of the supposed smuggled diamonds) that has been delivered to him by Vir Das on a velvet cloth or when the ceiling of the flat where Imran Khan and friends stay comes down on Vijay Raaz and his men etc... Towards the end of the movie it is revealed that there is also a likelihood of a sequel to be made titled 'Disco Fighter' which might star Aamir Khan alongwith the original cast of Delhi Belly. Music of the movie is the highlight and so are the dialogues. As a cinema fan I thoroughly enjoyed the 96 mins of nonstop or rather uninterrupted entertainment dished out by Aamir Khan and his team. I highly recommend this movie for every 'ADULT' viewer.

MURDER 2:

MURDER 2 is the second in the much appreciated 2004 moive MURDER produced by Vishesh Films and directed by Anurag Basu starring Emran Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat. It is not a sequel to the previous blockbuster however it is a new story with nothing common to the earlier movie. Directed by Mohit Suri who had earlier made RAAZ 2 which was another movie in the RAAZ series tells the story of Arjun [Emraan Hashmi] who is an ex-cop who earns his bread doing the odd jobs for gangsters and flesh traders. Arjun meets Sameer, a Goan flesh-peddler, who has been suffering a huge loss as his hookers have been disappearing mysteriously. He assigns Arjun the responsibility of tracing the missing girls. Priya [Jacqueline Fernandez], a model, loves Arjun. However, he is hesitant to commit to this relationship.

Arjun realizes that the missing hookers are connected by one cell phone number. He decides that in order to catch the lion one must feed him the lamb. He devises a plan that involves sending a girl to the particular customer.

Reshma [Sulagna Panigrahi], a college student, takes to prostitution to support her family. She becomes the innocent prey and is sent to the antagonist Dheeraj's [Prashant Narayan] house. The unexpected happens. In the meantime, Arjun and Dheeraj cross paths. Arjun gets into a tiff with Dheeraj and they both land up at the police station. Dheeraj admits to a crime so heinous that even the police are stunned by his outrageous behavior.

Now it's all up to Arjun. He has just one night to find proof against Dheeraj and also trace Reshma.

Director Mohit Suri and writer Shagufta Rafique come to the point at the very start, when a gruesome murder takes place. Thereafter, we are introduced to the varied characters in the plot and what makes it all the more interesting is that all characters are either grey or black. Also, the identity of the serial killer is never concealed, but the motive is, which one realizes much later. It comes as a jolt. 

The story is good, the music is average and the performances are outstanding. Emraan Hashmi and Prashant Narayanan gets their role of a lifetime while Sulagna Panigrahi is fantastic in a very important role. Jacqueline Fernandez gets very less to perform however she is much better compared to her earlier movies 'Aladin' and 'Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai'. 

On the whole this weekend for me was total paisa vasool with these two movies although I would also be watching Salman Khan's home production 'Chillar Party' in the coming days.