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The Great Gatsby:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Debicki, Amitabh Bachchan

Direction: Baz Luhrmann

Genre: Drama

Duration: 2 hours 24 minutes

Story: Jay Gatsby conquers poverty and becomes 'great' - but is he good enough for elegant Daisy, married to aristocratic Tom?

Movie Review: Right up, Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby (TGG) is Hollywood's Devdas. Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio) and Daisy (Mulligan) fall in star-crossed love. Poor and ambitious, Gatsby reinvents himself, but Daisy's won by aristocratic, womanizing Tom (Edgerton). Jay arrives in 1920s New York, abuzz, as Daisy's cousin Nick Carraway (Maguire) notes, with a 'golden roar'. Stocks and skyscrapers are shooting up, prohibitions and morals crashing down. Suddenly-rich Gatsby becomes NY's newest celeb, throwing his fantastic (Disney-inspired?) mansion open for amazing parties, befriending Nick hoping he'll bring Daisy back to Gatsby's life.

Which Nick does - but does the party end in whimpers or bangs?

Luhrmann's take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel is a beautiful bash - that lasts too long. On the upside, the music's super and the 3D - decorating dinners to orgies, advertisements gliding silkily along a taxi - stunning. Add DiCaprio, perfect as the golden, mysterious, toffee-hearted Gatsby, to Maguire - that most wry of observers, the loner at the party - and you're swept away by the mood. Other performances fit like ice-cubes - Mulligan conveying Daisy's soft, deadly uncertainties, Debicki dashing as ironic golf-star Jordan, Amitabh Bachchan shining as gangster Meyer Wolfsheim in a sharp little role, witty as he echoes Gatsby's deceptions about his folks - "all sadly dead now" - frightening when he shows off the tooth hanging around his neck.

Edgerton begins with OTT-bluster but ends puncturing Gatsby with wounding bluntness. DiCaprio and Edgerton's duel unpeels the glitter's ugly core - pre-Depression America was brutally snobbish, 'old money' trumping ambitions, everyone romping with corruption, yet few paying. Luhrmann captures all this from inside a shimmering cocktail glass. His Gatsby is greedily gorgeous and occasionally sags, luxuriating in a 3D-theatric too many. Still, it showcases Fitzgerald's drama with flair - a society dancing on a knife's edge, where everyone drank and romanced too much, but you also heard an odd, wistful sigh - maar daala.

Note: You may not like this movie if you don't like 3D-heavy literary adaptations.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi

Direction: Mira Nair

Genre: Thriller

Duration: 2 hours 12 minutes

Story: The film is a gripping adaptation of Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid's acclaimed novel on conflicting ideologies and a search for identity, beyond religion.

Review: Can you be who you really are when the world around you forces you to believe otherwise? 9/11 changed the West's perception of Islam forever. While various films have had the unsettling issue as a backdrop, Mira Nair's riveting adaptation goes way deeper. Its sensitive yet unsubtle narrative succeeds at retaining the book's ambiguity, as well as raising pertinent questions on Islamic fundamentalism, emigration and USA's interference in Pakistan. Nair captures the finer nuances of the thought-provoking tale with great conviction.

Hard-working immigrant Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed) is happy living his American dream. Confident and talented, he's considered as a promising financial analyst at the renowned Wall Street business valuation firm, Underwood Samson. While he's busy climbing the corporate ladder and finding love in Erica (Hudson), an artist, the twin towers are attacked. As a Muslim in the US, the act of extreme violence not only shatters hopes of Changez's bright future, but also makes him question his ideologies, objectivity and identity.

The beauty of the film lies in the depiction of its protagonist's unspoken words, suppressed emotions and unwavering beliefs. The incredibly talented Riz Ahmed enables the film to deconstruct the meaning of 'fundamentalism', which forms the core of the story. What leaves you in awe of the adapted screenplay is its brilliantly drawn parallels between Changez's personal, political and social situation. You feel his pain, vulnerability, denial, inner turmoil and psychological conflict. The film keeps you thoroughly engaged, even in parts where the pace drops a bit. While the film is more of a thriller, it doesn't cease to be a human drama, thanks to sublime supporting performances from Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and Meesha Shafi.

The music is soulful. Songs like Kangna, Bijli Aaye ya na aaye help build the mood. Cinematography is impressive and in sync with Nair's trademark style of storytelling. Poignant and relevant, the film will convince you to look at Pakistan differently.

Note: You may not like the film if films on religion and social reality are not your cup of tea.

Epic:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Steven Tyler, Jason Sudeikis

Direction: Chris Wedge

Duration: 1 hour 43 minutes

Story: A teenage girl lands up in an enchanted forest, the scene for a showdown between the forces of good and evil. What lies at stake is the fate of the forest and the world.

Review: A forest inhabited by tiny dwellers, an eccentric genius scientist obsessed with discovering their existence, and an estranged father-daughter relationship. These are some of the elements cobbled together in Epic. Added to this is the familiar trope of the unlikely hero, Nod (Josh Hutcherson) getting the girl, Mary Catherine ( Amanda Seyfried) - a little love story served up on the side.

Leader of the Leafmen is the battle-seasoned Ronin (Farrell). Queen of the Leafmen, Tara (Beyonce Knowles) is reminiscent of Tinkerbell. Out to destroy the Leafmen and all life in the forest (for reasons unexplained) are the evil Boggans.

Meanwhile, Mary lands up at her dad's (Professor Bomba, voiced by Sudeikis) house, which is in the forest, to spend some quality time with him. However, much to her chagrin, she realises that he's bothered more about the quest to prove the existence of the tiny forest people. Disappointed, she prepares her return to the city, but a chance encounter with a fatally-injured Tara and a wacky turn of events leads her to shrink size and become part the Leafmen vs. Boggans battle.

Bufo the toad (Pitbull), Mub the slug (Aziz Ansari) and Nim Galuu (Aerosmith's Steven Tyler) are pretty funny. The animation makes everything look quite vivid, but doesn't break new ground in the VFX department. Also, it takes more than a star-cast providing voice-overs to make an animated flick really rock. Yes, the ingredients are in place but somehow, it doesn't engage you at the emotional level that say, a Toy Story did. And neither does it present something truly unique as Wall-E did.

Other than that, the film is adequate. It's sometimes slapstick, sometimes emotional, and funny at times. All in all though, the ambitiously-titled Epic is in fact anything but epic.

Aurangzeb:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Prithviraj, Sashaa Agha, Jackie Shroff, Amrita Singh

Direction: Atul Sabharwal

Genre: Drama

Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes

Story: Twin brothers find themselves caught in a quagmire of sex, lies and deceit between the cops and a notorious businessman. Will good triumph over the evil?

Movie Review: Ajay and Vishal(Arjun Kapoor) are twins separated by a set of adamant parents—Jackie Shroff and Tanvi Azmi; he, a notorious real estate developer and she, a conscientious homemaker who turns police informer. And, there's there's a family of cops—Rishi Kapoor, Prithviraj, Sikander Kher, who wear tainted uniforms; introduced in the film's opening sequence as collectors. By a twist of fate the twins find their lives entwined with that of the cops. The real-estate developer's wife and one twin are saved by one an honest cop (Anupam Kher) in a bizarre `encounter'. And he keeps them hidden for 25 years . In what is a convoluted plot, the dishonest bunch of policemen (Rishi and co) makes plans to kill Jackie Shroff, his estranged wife, their twins and take over their empire. So they plant one of the twins as an infiltrator.

Set in Gurgaon, the satellite land maze, the writers of Aurangzeb borrow plot-points and lines from Deewar, Trishul, Naam and you also see slight similarities to Hollywood cop capers like Pride & Glory and Departed.

And if you wondering why the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's name has been used; well we're told he was a traitor, who proclaimed that `kinship shouldn't come in the way of kingship.' In other words the end justifies the means. .

Arjun Kapoor is still raw and needs polish to juggle the shades required to balance a twin role.

Sashaa Agha is petite, pug-nosed and has a nice figure. But her portrayal of the golden-hearted whore, like the one Parveen Babi played in Deewar, is insipid.

Go Goa Gone:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari, Pooja Gupta

Direction: Krishna D.K., Raj Nidimoru

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 1 hour 37 minutes

Story: In a first of its kind zomcom(zombie-comedy) three friends gatecrash a rave party on an island and find themselves attacked by zombies the morning after. Will they make it the shore safely?

Movie Review: So who's a zombie? For some it's a sleep-derived person who walks around as if in a trance. For others, it's a soulless creature who can be revived by witchcraft. But in Krishna D K and Raj Nidimoru's Go Goa Gone, the zombies are some interesting creatures who've overdosed on a drug that is said to be more dangerous than MDMA, or Ecstasy as most of us know it. And now these living people have turned into a brain-dead lot who know nothing but hunger.

So where do you find these zombies. Wait. Let's start at the beginning. Three fun-seeking friends—Kunal Khemu(Hardik), Vir Das(Luv) and Anand Tiwari(Bunny) join Puja Gupta(Luna) at a rave party in Goa. Their host is a Russian Don—Saif Ali Khan(Boris). The night is young; the company vivacious. Drinks are aplenty and the drugs lethal. As the party reaches a crescendo, the friends find themselves enthralled. Alas, there's a price to be paid. Each of the three friends wakes up the next morning `wasted' and in fairly interesting company. They have a zombie or two in their vicinity. Scared out of their wits, the three friends and their girlfriend, Luna, run for their lives. But it isn't that easy. The island is now home to a large group of fast-mutliplying zombies, who are eager to make these human-beings `meat' for their insatiable appetite. Boris, their knight-in-shining-armour attempts to rescue them but the zombies are not easy to shake off. As the part hilarious, part scary adventure continues, you find yourself laughing aloud with the three boys and their wisecracks. And you also find yourself scared shitless of the zombies who keep cropping up unannounced in their creepy avatar.

Go Goa Gone is positively different from anything you seen before. And for the young and restless(tattooed, ring-pierced, rave-party enthusiasts) or even those who like whacked-out fun, it's a great ride. With easy performances from Kunal, Saif, Vir and Anand and the crackerjack dialogue, the film will keep you in splits for the most part. What is a little tiring though,is the pace of the zombies, who are a bit too monotonous. Sachin-Jigar's Babaji ki booti adds to the mood, almost tempting you to light up and lie back. The shores of Goa and Mauritius seem enticing enough. However some of the situations in GGG are repititive. Hence, the laughs that were coming spontaneously till a point become a bit forced at some juncture.

Star Trek Into Darkness:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban

Direction: J.J. Abrams

Genre: Sci-Fi

Duration: 2 hours 11 minutes

Story: Captain Kirk, Spock and crew find themselves battling an enemy aboard the Enterprise who is hell bent on causing their utter destruction. Will they be able to save the ship and themselves in time?

Movie Review: It's emotions versus practicality and the needs of the many versus the needs of a few that's the underlining message in this, most recent Trekkie outing. James Kirk ( Chris Pine) is a brash and bold risk taker with an ego to match. Spock, of course, is the cold, calculating, logical Vulcan voice of reason. The film has situations aplenty that calls for use of both their approaches. The opening scene has them beating a hasty exit from an alien planet, featuring exotic, crimson flora that sears the screen. They're there to save the planet from extinction by plugging up a volcano. It's not 'logical', but the visuals are so exciting that you can't help but watch.

The movie then shifts focus to the one-man-army, sharply-dressed John Harrison (Cumberbatch) whose need for vengeance makes him seemingly unstoppable. There's a scene where Kirk and Harrison zoom through an interstellar asteroid field that'll have you at the edge of your seat. Don't let the 'Into Darkness' part of the title mislead you; It's a fun movie with more than a few cheeky one-liners in between - and even during -energetic action scenes.

The film will grab you from the opening shot and not let go. Despite a running time of over two hours, you won't feel as though you've been watching for that long because there's not a wasted nanosecond. Its pace is frenetic but not exhausting. J.J. Abrams sure knows how to make his films with style and the stunts in here are pretty awesome. Far from being superficial, the story and plot underscoring the breathtaking visual effects is solid. What you see is what you get, and this is one heck of a good entertainer. Don't miss it.

Note: You may not like this film if you are not into Star Trek movies or fast-paced action/sci-fi films.

Shootout At Wadala:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Kangana Ranaut, Manoj Bajpayee, Sonu Sood and Tusshar Kapoor

Direction: Sanjay Gupta

Genre: Crime

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Story: A conscientious college student is wrongly accused of murder. Post his jail break, he attempts to take over the Mumbai mafia. Does he succeed? Or does he succumb to the law?

Movie Review: Sanjay Gupta's Shootout At Wadala largely draws inspiration from journalist-author S Hussain Zaidi's Dongri to Dubai-6 decades of the Mumbai mafia. But the maker takes the cinematic liberty of changing the material at hand to make his film and characters more engaging. Or should we say largely entertaining.

15 minutes into the film you know Gupta means business as knives gash, guns explode, blood flows, actors mouth expletives galore and items girl gyrate shamelessly.

SAW has two protagonists—Manya Surve( John Abraham) a bright college student from the 70s, who finds himself inexorably drawn into a vortex of crime. The other leading man is Aafaque Bagraan(Anil Kapoor) a trigger-happy cop who wants to clean up the streets of the maximum city.

As the police and the criminals play the regular usual cat and mouse game; the screenplay introduces the viewer to endless gangsters and their girls. There's Vidya( Kangana Ranaut), Manya's love-interest, Sheikh Munir(Tusshar Kapoor), Gyanchod (Siddhanth Kapoor) and a couple of more hoodlums who are his henchmen. And you have their deadly opponents—the Haksar brothers, Zubair ( Manoj Bajpayee) and Dilawar(Sonu Sood). Manya and Zubair wrest to take over the Mumbai mafia. Quite naturally the opposing gangs bay for one another's blood. And in true Bollywood style, the slaying is interrupted only with the swaying; so you have three item songs lined up. The first item has adult star, Sunny Leone, whose song—Laila teri Le Legi is alone worth the price of a ticket. This Canadian-Indian girl is such an object of desire; she makes other dance girls pale in comparison.

The other selling point of the film is Milap Zaveri's dialogue. Many of the lines are claptraps. But be warned, there's a liberal peppering of filthy lingo that will make you cringe. The performances are largely A-grade. Manoj tops the list. And though he's a Mafioso, his demeanour will get the maidens to melt. Sonu who plays Dilawar, succeeds in spreading menace and speaks eloquently with his eyes.

John is the one with the maximum screen time. From vulnerable to invincible, from a testosterone wonder to a believable actor, Manya is his career's best act. Tusshar is earnest and effective. Kangana may not have the item song benefit but she has recall value as the anguished gangster's moll.

Siddhant Kapoor, son of baddie Shakti Kapoor is also a young talent to watch out for.

Anil Kapoor does his encounter specialist act with elan. He's supported ably by Ronit Roy, Mahesh Manjrekar and Jackie Shroff who puts in a guest appearance as the police chief.

SAW ultimately belongs to Gupta, who stays true to the genre and makes a welcome return to the credible lot of Bollywood directors.

Note: You may not like this film if don't have the appetite for blood and gore.

Iron Man 3:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Rebecca Hall

Direction: Shane Black

Genre: Sci-Fi

Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

Story: After saving the planet (in Avengers), playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark now faces anxiety issues. Plus, the 'vulnerable' superhero is bombarded with threats from the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a Middle Eastern terrorist and an army of indestructible (Terminator-T-1000-esque) lava men. Can the superhero get his act together?

Movie Review: Like The Dark Knight Rises, for a major portion of the film, the Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) stays unmasked. His new armour flies piece-by-piece to his body. He stays mortal, as in most scenes, you see him wearing just one part of the armour.

Right in the beginning as Tony Stark declares he is a 'changed man', you fear the character might lose out on its core personality. You wonder if Shane Black can pull it off, considering it's his first outing as an Iron Man director and it comes after the massive success of The Avengers. But Black breathes new life into the franchise while retaining its trademark charm. He keeps the film vastly different from Jon Favreau's previous installments by adding his own brand of action-humour and twists.

Black combines spectacular action, comedy and drama to get you entertained and emotionally invested in his characters. Scenes where Tony confesses his fears to Pepper ( Gwyneth Paltrow), his interaction with a small boy are heart-rending. Robert Downey Jr gets a multi-layered role and he performs with absolute finesse. His smirk and those classic wisecracks amuse you the most.

However, Ben Kingsley steals the show! He is bound to get major applause for his performance. Guy Pearce (Aldrich Killian) is effective as an actor but his motives seem unconvincing. His character fails to make the desired impact.

From the jaw-dropping attack on Stark's Malibu estate, his brand-new prehensile armour, to a mind-blowing airborne rescue scene, Iron Man 3 is every bit the superhero blockbuster you'd expect it to be. Just do not leave the theatre once the closing credits start rolling!

Note: You may not like the film if you find solo super-hero films tedious post 'The Avengers'!

Aashiqui 2:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor

Direction: Mohit Suri

Genre: Romance

Duration: 2 hours 13 minutes

Story: A fading singing sensation finds new purpose in life when he falls in love with a talented singing aspirant. But the blitzkrieg of stardom makes, breaks and shakes their love story.

Movie Review: He sings. She sings. He, for his stardom. She, for her supper. And the twain meet. In a restrobar, where she croons and he swoons. And Aashiqui is born. Again! Retelling the celebrity story that stardom ain't an easy ride. It sometimes vrooms and then goes sputter, the fuel of celebdom often running out. Like Rahul Jaykar (Aditya) discovers; once basking in a 'rockstar' like status, but soon losing it to alcohol, addiction and self-deprecation. But when he meets budding singer Aarohi (Shraddha), his heart finds a new beat and his crumbling life finds a cause. He trains her to become the Nightingale of India; she shines while he stays her shadow; sometimes sober, mostly stoned. The real lyric of this story is their romance, pulsating with passion and intensity - on high notes and 'higher spirits'.

Suri's musical love story doesn't bear much semblance to the original 'Aashiqui'; instead it finds its own rhythm. He pitches the story with old-world romance, high-drama and well-crafted heart-breaking moments. Aarohi's character is endearing and Rahul stays 'bottled' (like 'Devdas' with a cause), with sudden outbursts. The story slows down in parts and the climax might seem unreal to many, but maybe a 'fix' for die-hard aashiqs.

Aditya is likeable in mushy moments, he shows intensity in flashes but sometimes loses grip. A mature role like this demands a lot, nonetheless, it's a good effort. Shraddha looks innocently beautiful. Letting her emotions play out brilliantly in high-strung scenes with supreme confidence. This is a talent to look out for. The jodi's palpable chemistry heightens the drama. The music is the strongest supporting cast, with captivating tunes like Tum Hi Ho (Arijit Singh), Sunn Raha Hai (Ankit Tiwari) and Bhula Dena (Mustafa Zahid) pouring more passion in to the story.

This could be good soup for the lovers' soul - with a dash of old-world flavour.

Note: You will not like this if die-hard romantic films don't leave you enthused or entertained.

The Croods:

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Clark Duke

Direction: Chris Sanders, Kirk De Micco

Genre: Animation

Duration: 1 hour 38 minutes

Story: Grug Crood's (Cage) brute strength and hunting prowess has helped his family - wife Ugga (Keener), daughter Eep (Stone), son Thunk (Duke), mother- in-law Gran (Cloris Leachman) and baby Sandy (Randy Thom) - survive over the years as a tight-knit unit living in a cave. Their life is thrown out of gear with the arrival of Guy (Reynolds), a drifter who believes 'the end is coming'. Grug's daughter Eep takes to Guy strongly. Should Grug be worried?

Movie Review: The film grabs you as early as the action-packed opening hunt sequence with a quick character introduction along with a gander at other prehistoric creatures that could only have come out of someone's imagination.

The story. Well, it's a fairly simple one. Something not quite unlike another recent release about a prehistoric family (of woolly mammoths and other assorted friends) plot-wise. The detailing, rendering, textures and stereography in Croods, however, is miles ahead of that film. Some scenes are worth watching out for.

The voice cast in The Croods is competent, the gags come thick and fast and almost never let up, leaving you in guffaws more often than not. The new spin brought to an old concept actually works with limited characters. Despite the predictable premise, you're eager to see what comes next. The movie cruises along at a healthy running time and that's actually a blessing as most films in the genre tend to be over-indulgent. A fresh, fun and mostly footloose feature, you wish there was more to the story than just a race 'into the light'. The premise's inherent simplicity is just as easily its only undoing.

Note: You will not like this movie if you don't like animation films with simple stories.