MICKEY VIRUS: Movie Review

There were around nine releases this week including the English Movies and out of them the most notable being 'Mickey Virus' directed by debutante Saurabh Varma. Mickey Virus is an almost-perfect comic-thriller starring VJ turned actor Manish Paul and Bigg Boss inmate Elli Avram. 

Now coming to the comparisons to 'Vickey Donor' I must tell you that they end with the similar sounding names along with the Delhi setting and lingo. Mickey Arora is a lazy, street smart Delhi boy who along with his set of friends Pancho, Floppy and Chutney are a group of harmless hackers. The motley group is guided by a Professor ably played by Nitesh Pandey.

Mickey finds his dream girl in a vegetable market Kamayani George (Elli Avram) who is a replica of his own created animated virus 'Kung Fu Chameli'. Delhi police hot on the heals of a dangerous hackers gang - Bhram Gang sought the help of Mickey to track them down.

Soon our hero’s simple, happy-go-lucky life takes a sudden U turn and he gets entangled in a net of multiple murders and a 100 Crore bank theft. How Mickey tries to come out clean is the entire story all about.

Manish Paul manages to stand tall even in his debut film. He’s a natural on camera and nowhere does the anchor overshadow the actor. Manish makes you believe that he is Mickey Arora – an aloof guy who is quite capable of hiding a trick or two up his T-shirt sleeve. If his spontaneous hosting is impressive on the small screen, the actor’s spontaneity on the silver screen cannot be missed. 

Elli Avram’s looks glamorous and she’s far better than the other foreign imports like Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandes  or even Katrina Kaif. Elli emotes well and looks sexy, with good roles and notable directors she will shine out BIG in the coming years.

Varun Badola is the lifeline of Mickey Virus like Annu Kapoor was for Vickey Donor. Superb acting with some wonderful perfectly timed dialogues with a punch in true Dilli-andaaz. HopeMickey Virus does the same to Varun’s career that Vicky Donor did to the talented Anu Kapoor’s. 

Manish Choudhary as ACP Siddhant leaves his mark. Saurabh Varma for his debut chooses a movie that is different and he ably leaves his mark as a director. The writing is good. The cinematography and action is wonderful. Music is below average as there is not even one notable track you will take home. The first half is dull compared to the gripping second half, a little editing in the first half would have made it more taut. 

On the whole Mickey Virus will definitely grab some good appreciation and if the word of mouth is good then it should garner some profits for its makers.

My Verdict: *** 

BOSS : Movie Review

What is with Bollywood these days? Every movie that hits the screen with one of the leading superstars' happen to be a South Movie remake. Akshay Kumar's BOSS adds to the crowd. Like all the south inspired remakes BOSS is also laden with mundane songs, fights, dialogues, drama, romance etc. Unlike Anthony D'souza's debut attempt BLUE, BOSS seems to entertain in parts, although the story rests on a wafer-thin plot.

Coming to the story Satyakant (Mithun Chakrabarty) is an upright man of principles who banishes his son Surya after the boy takes up the wrong path and ends up murdering a friend. The boy is picked up by the transport king Big Boss (Danny Denzongpa) and ends up being called Boss (Akshay Kumar), his protege.

Years later, Boss’ path of life crosses again with his father when his little brother Shiv (Shiv Pandit) ends up in jail for the crime of falling in love with the cop Ayushman Thakur’s (Ronit Roy) sister Ankita (Aditi Rao Hydari). Hired to kill his own brother Shiv by Ankita’s fiance, Boss tells a story of love, brotherhood, redemption and warmth.

The movie is a remake of Malayalam Blockbuster 'Pokkiri Raja' starring Mammooty and Prithviraj (Aiyya and Aurangazeb fame). The screenplay has its share of potholes, the direction is average, the fights are good, dialogues are crass, acting by Akshay Kumar and Ronit Roy are the highlights. The songs are not that great if you compare the songs of Akshay's Rowdy Rathore which was another South remake. Out of the songs the title track and 'Party All Night' stands out.

My verdict, BOSS is strictly for Akshay fans and offers nothing remarkable that will force people to throng the cinema halls.

BESHARAM: Movie Review

After a long hiatus, I am back reviewing movies. So this week opened big with Ranbir Kapoor starer Besharam directed by Abhinav Kashyap. However on the onset let me clarify that if you are expecting another DABANGG then BESHARAM is nowhere in the league of the Abhinav's debut movie. Therefore, I would like to review BESHARAM keeping DABANGG aside because both the movie belong to two different genre and audience in mind.

Besharam is the story of Babli (Ranbir Kapoor) who is a small-time car thief with that X factor- through which he manages to charm everyone in his sight. His mantra is "Na sammaan ka moh, na apmaan ka bhay" (No yearning for respect, no fear of humiliation). Babli falls head over heels for Tara (Pallavi Sharda), but he is clearly not her type. Eventually, she in turn, falls for him. Babli is being chased by Inspector Chulbul Chautala (Rishi Kapoor) and his wife, head Constable Bulbul Chautala (Neetu Kapoor). Tara wishes for Babli to change and be a good guy, but that clearly doesn't come easy in Babli's life.

The first half is quite entertaining, but the second half lags a bit with continuous songs one after another. The movie is ladden with toilet humor and is nothing beyond the expectations set by the promos. The acting is good especially the Kapoor troika Rishi, Neetu and Ranbir. Pallavi Sharda is a total miscast for the role of Tara someone like Anushka Sharma or Parineeti Chopra would have fit the bill. The supporting cast played by Amitosh Nagpal as Titu and Javed Jaffri are commendable.

The music is average barring 'Love Ki Ghanti' and 'Lut Gaye'. The cinematography and action are good. However again if I have to compare the technical expertise of DABANGG then it is less impressive. On the whole BESHARAM is one time watch for hardcore Ranbir fans as he does not let them down. At the box office, it will be a miracle that can save the movie.

My Verdict: **