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: **

Fakebook : A Short Film By Tannishtha Sarkar

Hi Friends,

In today's time when social networking sites have become the in thing for everyone, we also come across many profiles that carry false pics, names, identity etc and sometimes it becomes difficult to know if the face behind the profile pic is actually the same person we are talking too.

Tannishtha Sarkar an upcoming screenplay writer and director tries to explore this topic in a very humorous way. So go ahead and watch this cute little film made by the multi talented Tannishtha Sarkar titled Fakebook....

Have a great day

Shaiju Mathew

Movie Review: Akaash Vani

Hello Friends,

Have been on a long sabbatical due to all the crap movies that were coming out in the name of entertainment in the last few months which didn't even motivate me to pick my pen and write any thing about them.

Now today I happened to watch 'Akaash-Vani' featuring lesser known actors Kartik Tiwari and Nushrat Bharucha of 'Pyar Ka Punchnaama' fame directed by Luv Ranjan who made the rom-com two years back with the same lead pair.

Akaash-Vani is a sweet little love story that offers nothing new apart from introducing two new talents to the star-struck industry. I must say they are surely two promising actors to look forward to especially Nushrat.

Akaash and Vani meet in college and they fall in love until one day she has to get married to man of her parents choice due to some unavoidable circumstances. However the best part of the story is that life does gives a second chance to both Akaash and Vani to revisit their beautiful relationship and what they do after that is the story all about.

Performances by Kartik and Nushrat are superb and so are by the supporting cast played by Sana Sheikh, Prachi Shah, Kiran Kumar and Mahesh Thakur. Music is good especially 'Roomani' and 'Pad Gayeji Tere Pyar Mein'.

Cinematography is wonderful but the editing could have been crisper as at times the movie seems to be dragging especially in the post interval sections.

On the whole Luv Ranjan comes up with another winner of a movie although quite different from his debut movie 'Pyar Ka Punchnama'.

The movie is a good watch. and at the Box Office the movie will start slow but with word of mouth publicity it should do well. My verdict go for it.

Movie Review: TALAASH

Three years after a movie of Aamir Khan has released and most of the audience had a lot of expectations from the movie. I too had and I must say the movie lived upto my expectations. I do agree the movie is not for the massy audiences who loved Aamir's 'Ghajini' or '3 Idiots' but still Reema Kagti has come out with a wonderful script that is far more above from the usual who done its or crime dramas.

The story starts with a case, where a superstar Aaryan Kapoor is found dead in a road accident. Inspector Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) is given the case to work on. During his investigations he comes across many clues that are provided to him by a street walker (Kareena) named Rosie.

Aamir is also going through a personal crisis of his own where he and his wife (Rani) are not able to cope with the death of their only son. The story progresses in a slow pace revealing several facets of life and the search within.

Performances by Aamir, Rani and Kareena are superb. Rani is quite explosive in her emotional outburst when Aamir finds her at a medium (Shernaz Patel's) house where she is seen soul communicating with her son's soul.

Kareena as the streetwalker who is guiding Aamir in his quest to find the truth behind the dead superstar's accident is superb (I think she will be nominated in every awards nite for Talaash rather than Heroine).

The direction by Reema Kagti is first rate while the DOP Mohanan has done a wonderful job. Music by Ram Sampat is not the typical chartbuster types but they come at the right juncture in the movie and takes the story forward.

Supporting cast is wonderful especially Nawazuddin and Rajkumar Yadav. As for the movie performing at the box office, it will definitely be a money spinner as Aamir fans would love this movie but it will not break 3 Idiots Box Office record. On the whole this movie is a must watch for everyone who loves good cinema.

Movie Review: Life of Pi

This weekend opened to two Hollywood Big Budget movies 'Life of Pi' by Ang Lee and the last installment of the 'Twilight Series'.

Having read Yann Martel's 'Life of Pi' I was looking forward to the cinematic version of the same by the great Ang Lee who has made some of the best movies in the past like 'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Sleeping Tiger and Hidden Dragon.'

As expected the movie was a cinematic journey and at no point of time did I ever feel bored or felt that Ang has not done enough justice to Yann's book. 

The story is about a 16-year-old Indian boy named Pi who survives a shipwreck and crosses the Pacific in a lifeboat with a Tiger 'Richard Parker' for company. The movie shows how survival in such tough conditions can bring man closer to God. 

The performances by young Suraj Sharma, Irfan Khan, Tabu etc. are first rate. The movie looks wonderful, the animals look beautiful, the storms look dangerous, the setting is extremely praiseworthy. Ang has done full justice to the subject and in turn gives us a memorable movie.

At box office the movie will do super business and it will also open more doors to Indian topics and actors a new doorway to Hollywood. The Hollywood-Bollywood gap is soon bridging and we can hope more such wonderful movies are made with our actors by Hollywood bigwigs. So here to hope and survival.