Singh is Kinng Posters

Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na(2008) : Review

It has been a while since I sat through a film that made me smile, and at times even break into a hearty laughter. Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, did both. The film, by Aamir Khan Productions and directed by Abbas Tyrewala, is about love.It has no great production values, no great packaging, no fantastic storyline to speak of. And surprisingly, no unforgettable lines by Tyrewala, who has given us plenty in Munnabhai, Maqbool and Main Hoon Na. The good thing is AR Rahman's music reflects the soul of the film, youthful, easy, breezy.MUSIC REVIEW: Jaane Tu... Jaane Tu, in fact, is a very barebones film that you know the story of: Young people growing up, growing apart and growing in love. So we have Jai (Imran Khan) and Aditi (Genelia D’Souza), who love each other, but lack the insight and maturity to accept it. And in the end – of course, after twists and turns and many song and dance sequences with friends – they find the courage to face up to the truth.The characters Jaane Tu is populated by parents who are 'cool' and play Scrabble, parents who are bitter and on the verge of breakup, single, hardworking mothers, corrupt, comical cops, difficult brothers, and friends who just hang around and gang around strumming guitars and getting drunk on cola. But the clichés – you can find thousands, from Dil Chahta Hai to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai – are saved by the humour. Like the scene where Jai is invited by Aditi's parents to discuss their engagement, or the one with the antics of the two brothers Bhaloo and Baghera (hilarious comic cameos by 'swashbuckling' Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan), or the piece de resistance, the delightful relationship between Jai's mother Savitri (played by Ratna Pathak Shah) and the talking portrait of her husband (Naseeruddin Shah), which leaves you in splits!The characters of course are comically exaggerated and yet believable. Friends here do not zip around in Mercs or live in Manhattan-esque apartments. They take cabs and walk the streets of Mumbai, borrow money to pay for cover charges at nightclubs, saunter around in their pyjamas, and, at times, refuse to buy a cell phone until they get a job (okay so the last bit is a little unbelievable).

Dhoom (2006)

The story starts in the streets of Mumbai, where a gang of high-speed motorcyclists (riding bikes like the Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa) are robbing banks and money-vans and disappearing into thin air - or rather into pizza delivery boys - before anyone can say "thief".

ACP Jai Dixit, (Abhishek Bachchan) a no-nonsense cop is called on the case. He seeks the help of a scatterbrained, clownish downtown racer named Ali (Uday Chopra) and devises a trap to catch the thieves, but fails. Kabir (John Abraham) the leader of the gang, eventually taunts Dixit by saying that he couldn't catch Kabir even if he were right in front of him. He is proved correct and the failure of Dixit seemingly leads to the breakup of his partnership with Ali.

Kabir then lures Ali into his gang to replace Rohit, the gang member who was killed by Jai. Jai is married to Sweety (Rimi Sen). Ali also falls in love with Sheena (Esha Deol), another gang member. The gang later goes to Goa to perform one last big heist before disbanding forever. Kabir now sets his eyes on the biggest casino in all of India. Kabir and his gang swiftly rob the casino on New Year's Eve, but soon, they realize that Jai has planned them right into a trap. Ali was working for Jai the whole time and the fight was staged. The story ends in a final race-between Life & Death

Shaurya (2008)

The movie revolves around the court-martial of a Muslim officer, Javed Khan, in the Indian army for shooting his commanding officer and is set against the backdrop of the Kashmir Conflict in Northern India. Rahul Bose (Maj. Siddhant Chaudhary) is assigned to be Javed Khan's defence lawyer, and the story revolves around his investigations in the circumstances leading up to the shooting.

Maj. Siddhant Chaudhary and Maj. Akash Kapoor are lawyers in the Indian army and are close friends. They are on opposite sides of a case where a soldier kills his commanding officer. The accused is mysteriously silent and not willing to talk about the incident. Siddhant, who is the defense counsel, is apathetic at first but starts taking a keen interest in the case after meeting Kavya, a journalist who demonstrates that the case is not as simple as it seems. The underlying theme in the movie is Siddhant's gradual understanding of what Shaurya means (his father was himself a decorated army veteran), and the resulting conflict with Brigadier Rudra Pratap Singh (Kay Kay Menon).

Rang De Basanti (2006)

Director : Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra

Cast : Aamir Khan, Atul Kulkarni, Sharmen Joshi,Kunal Kapoor, Sidharth, Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Alice Patten,

Based on accounts taken from diary entries of her grandfather (a former officer of the British Army in India), a British documentary filmmaker is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters. She requests a group of youngsters, which is indifferent to the state of affairs in India, to act in her film. After they agree and begin filming, a dear friend's death in a airplane crash is attributed to government's corruption. This event metamorphosizes them into passion-driven individuals who are determined to avenge his death.

The film's release faced stiff resistance from the Indian Defence Ministry and the Animal Welfare Board due to certain portions of the film that depicted the use of MIG-21 airplanes and a banned Indian horse race respectively. The film, which was released globally on 26 January 2006, was India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film Category, although it was not nominated for either ceremony. However, it was nominated in the same category at the BAFTA Awards in 2006.

A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned mixed reviews, had two of its tracks considered for the Academy Award nomination. The movie was well-received by critics and audiences for its production values. In India, besides several technical awards, the film won the Best Movie award at the annual Filmfare Awards among other Bollywood award ceremonies.

Johnny Gaddar (2007)

Director : Sriram Raghavan

Cast : Neil Nitin Mukesh, Rimi Sen, Dharmendra,Vinay Pathak

The plot is a classic crime setup. The story is about a gang which does shady deals. One such deal promises to make the group a lot of money, but one member of the gang has his own secret plans, leading to unforeseen situations for the group. In the opening credits the movie is dedicated to James Hadley Chase (besides Vijay Anand), and while the story is not lifted from any of his novels, it does follow a somewhat similar plot.

Johnny Gaddar keeps up a brisk pace throughout and pulls off a thrilling ending. Director Sriram Raghavan has exercised the same genre as his previous venture Ek Hasina Thi and matured it further.

In the story, five regular partners are going for a deal splitting profit five ways as usual. It is all fine until one of guys, Vikram (played by Neil Mukesh) wants it all for himself and plans to elope with his mistress (played by Rimi Sen). But of course the plan could not be executed without flaws and none of the members of the group is a rookie or push-over. Then onwards the film is a gripping tale with twists and turns.

In the movie, the viewer knows, at the very outset, who the actual gaddaar (traitor) is, but his partners-in-crime don't. The gaddaar finds himself forced to eliminate one member of the group after the other. Just when it seems that he is in the clear, there's yet another twist in the plot.


Here is a teaser which will surely make you sit through the entire movie...