Ok, we have to give it to Kiran and Aamir. Kiran - for wanting to make a different kind of a movie. And Aamir, for experimenting and making it a commercial release. Aamir has always been an astute businessman. In the business of movies, he knows what works and what doesn't. And so, he worked in  the film and tried to keep the budget low, so as to recover the money. He even positioned it as a Parallel film, when he publicly said it  won't be appreciated by the masses. Though earlier I thought that he was being too arrogant and trying to question the audience's intelligence, but now I know why. He must have seen the end product!

Dhobi Ghat is aptly tagged "Mumbai Diaries".  Because, its narratively incoherent. It's about 4 lives intertwined. One is an Artist, one is an investment banker who is on a sabbatical, one is a Dhobi and one is a Muslim housewife. The Artist is mesmerized by the housewife trapped in the tapes he finds in his new apartment. The investment banker is besotted with the artist and the Dhobi falls for the Banker.

Now, the movie is 95 minutes long and has no intervals. But even then, it is lengthy. There is no story as such, and the movie moves at its own pace. The pace has nothing to do with the impact. What the movie lacks is punch. It lacks emotional connect and hence, its dreary. Kiran Rao doesn't delve into the psyche of the characters. There is no explanation, just narration. I am not talking about spoon feeding, but about building the character. Maybe its a deliberate choice, but that totally alienates you from the film. There is no connect.

Prateik Babbar, has done a fine job, though his character is too chiseled and proper for a Dhobi. Thoda attention to detail would have made the difference. He wears the whitest of white T-shirts, a US army locket, knows about the Doors etc etc. Aamir looks strangely out of place. Specially when he is delivering the dialogues in English. His , is the most confused character of all. Grouchy at times,  affable the other. A less known actor would have helped. Aamir carries too much baggage. Monica Dogra, as the NRI investment banker, fits her character well and Kriti Malhotra, the  housewife in the tapes, is fabulous. She gets really small bits to act and the camera is mostly on her face and she has done an awesome job.

Well, we have seen innumerable films romanticizing about Mumbai and still, it manages to astound you with its beauty. And Tushar Kanti Ray's camerawork, capturing the beauty of Mumbai during the rains is the highlight of the film. Then there's the music which elevates the mood of the scenes and breathes life into the vignettes Rao creates. A decent start by Kiran Rao, but a bit dreary for me. A little more connection with the characters would have helped.

Rating : 6 /10

Surprise, Surprise. Generally, when the Deol's are near, you tend to fear - entering the theater, I mean. But this time, there is nothing to fear, Coz Sunny Paaji is in Top Gear!

YPD is about Sunny Paaji's journey to find and win back his long lost Father and Brother. Dharam and Bobby, are con men in Banaras and pull off stupid capers periodically. They dance, they drink and womanise. Sunny Paaji on the other hand is an NRI from Caneda! But beware, he is superhuman. He can blow your brains out with a shriek and bend iron rods with his shoulders. Dharam refuses to recognize Sunny but Bobby recruits him into the gang, seeing his inhuman strength! Later Bobby falls in love and Sunny helps him win the girl. Happy Ending.

What makes YPD lovable is the fact that the Deol unabashedly spoof themselves. While Dharam and Sunny bash goons, Bobby romances. And the comedy, though stupid at times, is clean. It's unlimited buffoonery. And Sunny Paaji's goofy charm works big time. Dharam was always good at comedy and returns in top form. But Bobby is the real loose end. He tries hard but falls flat on his face in every scene. Bobby's heroin has precious little to do, except look decent!

The first half of the movie is laborious. It's just Sunny Paaji's strength that carries you to the second half. And then starts the mayhem. We reach Punjab and Anupam Kher arrives with his bunch of sturdy brothers and 1 corny sister. Anupam Kher completely rocks as the gun trotting Big brother. Mukul Dev, as the drunk big brother, is awesome and Sucheta Khanna ( as the Heroin's sister) is plain hilarious.

Do not enter the theater with any preconceived notions and you will definitely have fun. There are enough laugh-out-loud moments in the second half to overpower the gloom of the first. Also, Sunny Paaji is fantabulous. He looks good as a Serd and smashes the pulp out of the goons with unimaginable ease. Watch it just for him, I say. Go on, coz Sardaaraney Chak Ditta!

Rating : 6 / 10

The promos were provocative, the music was kick ass and well, the initial reports were encouraging. But Drama killed it for me.

No One Killed Jessica is a film that should have been made and somehow it's good that, of all people, Rajkumar Gupta wrote and made it. Already having shown his knack for brewing up a taut thriller (Aamir), it was assured that this film wont be a total waste.

Rajkumar is a smart director. After a long time in Hindi cinema, a Woman powered movie has made so much noise. And it was mostly due to the smart characterization and spunky dialogues. He has also picked a couple of good actors to fill important roles. In fact he has picked up some atrocious actors deliberately to give it a comic touch in between. e.g. (Mothers of Jessica and Manu Sharma - both are hilarious! )

Everyone knows the story, but what I wanted to see is how Rajkumar would treat it. Unfortunately, he went a little over the top - and pumped in a little more drama than required. Then he handled a few emotional scenes amateurishly. Also, there is a little bit extra stress on expletives, which seem out of place at times ( I dont mind it though!!).  He had a great story, but the opening line of  "hybird between fact and fiction" killed it a little. Fact was more interesting than fiction weaved in and they would have done well to stick to facts.

But, the movie has some excellent moments. it has awesome music and ofcourse, the screenplay is good.  Vidya is subdued and Rani goes a little over the top. Rajesh Sharma as the investigating cop is brilliant. Myra Karn as Jessica is competent and infact, its a good job by the ensemble cast.

The promos, publicity categorized this as a thriller, but a thriller is something which keeps you on the edge and you don't know what will happen next. Well, this doesn't fall anywhere near that definition ( much like Valkyrie). If the objective was to make a thriller, well, Rajkumar failed. Also, the problem is, it did not evoke too much emotion in me. I wasn't enraged by what was happening, not moved by what happened. And that was the biggest disappointment. It could well be labeled as fast paced Drama that goes a bit over the top. Overall, a decent start to the year.

Rating : 6.5 / 10

Happy New Year to all you Cinemaniacs. It's been a funny year. Goliaths have fallen and Davids have risen to the fore. And that gives me immense pleasure, even though overall this has been a disappointing year. For me personally too this year has been a rollercoaster and I have missed out on many films. My fdocu-drama ilm in the making, has remained in the making for a year and it seems it will take another couple of months to be ready. Now, I know the kind of effort is required to make a small film, let alone a Super Duper budget film. Vision is one thing, as a director you need to have Patience and Perseverance.

Anyways, here's my list of the films I liked this year:

Jan  - Ishqiyaan : Well, sometimes a small film can save us from a calamitous big budget blooper. Ishqiyaan let me recover from the horrendous shock that "Veer" provided. The film was nuanced. The finer elements of direction, acting and music really elevated this film. Vidya was enticing , Naseer steady and Arshad manic. Though it wasn't spectacular, this film set the tone for the year.

Feb - Karthik Calling Karthik : Another film that was strong in terms of the storyline. Had a competent protagonist, Farhan, and had some decent music. Though it was predictable, it was different. It did not depend on money, but the power of screenplay. Though it did not do very well ( mainly due to the release being so close to My Name is Khan), this film was again a step in the right direction. 

I missed "Road to Sangam" - which I hope to see very soon.

March - Love, Sex aur Dhoka : March was a busy month for me. Had started my shoot. So it was great to know that some utter crap hit the screens. But 1 film emerged as the lotus in the swamp. The breakthrough film of the year, of the century - LSD. A revolutionary film, as provocative and creative as it's title. Brilliant stylization, awesome storyline and screenplay, and some excellent acting. This movie was probably the film of the year.

Well Done Abba : Well, Shyam Benegal has a knack of making this cool, small budget, delightful films and this was a very well executed film. Had some decent comedy, an in-form Boman Irani and a delightful message. It was a feel good film, that did not bore me at all.

April -  Not one movie rose the bar. It was Prince and Housefull that stole the show, and that tells you how crappy the other films would be. I missed "City of Gold","The Great Indian Butterfly" and "Pankh". Will catch them sometime.

 May - Started with a bad-mash of a film Badmash Company and ended with the boring Kites. May was again a bad, bad month for cine goers

June -Rajneeti - Thank god for Rajneeti. A big budget film that finally worked and also helped us go through the month and save us from the shock we were about to get "Raavan". Rajneeti, was a big film, with several actors competing with each other. Though it was a little weak in terms of storyline, the actors made up for it. Rajneeti, in terms of scale and complexity was probably the toughest film to make in the year and I am glad it did well.

July - The best month of the year.
Udaan - What a film! Simply brilliant. Udaan touched a chord with me. A touching story told beautifully. Ronit Roy played the character of the year and the young Turk, Rajat Barmecha, did a great job. This film is a notch above LSD and my most favourite film of the year.

Tere Bin Laden : Well, what do I say! TBD had me in splits. A smart script, some awesome acting and good background score. The only problem was the production value, but its exciting that small films with good scripts are being made. And the fact that it succeeded was even more exciting. Poora Paisa vasool.

Though Once Upon a time in Mumbai did well, I thought it was just about average and not worth mentioning.

August -
Peepli Live : Another small film, great acting, awesome dialogues and a good message. The fact remains that even though it was a good film, it required Star Power to make it the run away hit of the year, in terms of ROI. Sent to the Oscars, the only problem with this movie was that it was a little stretched out and the idea was not really novel.

I really wish to catch Antardwand very soon.

September - The biggest month of the year.
Dabangg - Not for the fact that it did well or for the story. It was simply a movie that was unabashedly mindless and exploited the fact that Indian viewers wanted total bakwaas. Very very smart director and well, Salman's most compelling performance in his lifetime.

October -
Robot - Without a doubt the movie that has surprised me the most in years. Astounding. Seriously. Turned me into a believer. What vision and execution by Shankar. India's most expensive, most technically sound movie ever. Robot hit the nail on the head. Yanna Brilliantaaa

Do Dooni Chaar - The most heart warming and feel good movie of the year. Sweet storyline, Rishi kapoor at his best, some awesome ensemble acting and a lighthearted comedy that worked. Not to forget the authenticity in characterization. Do Dooni Chaar was one of the best films of the year.

November -
Guzaarish - The movie was a dud at the box office, but you cannot discount SLB's vision, execution of this movie. If only SLB had cut the movie a little bit short, this would have been a better movie. Also Hritik's sincere effort. This was definitely one of the big budget movies that worked for me.

December -
Phans Gaya re Obama - The year of the small budget movies was complete with this film. Good screenplay, good acting, sensible comedy, this movie was another slap in the face of the big budget blunders.

Band Baaja Baaraat - Another surprise, specially from YRF. Habib Faisal had made Do Dooni Chaar and it was quiet fitting that he wrote another good film. BBB had the fun element that we needed in the year. A good leading couple, a surprisingly good new hero, a decent storyline, great characterization again and good production value. Good to see it worked.

In all a bad year for QUALITY of cinema, very bad year for big budget films and a great year for small films. My top 5 - Udaan, LSD, Robot, Do Dooni Chaar, Peepli Live/Rajneeti.