Movies Home Showtimes New Releases Top Rated Upcoming Rate Movies Review Movies Random Movie
Celebrities Home Random Celebrity
Videos Home Top Favorites Random Video
People Home Random User
News Home Todays News This Weeks News This Months News Random News
Wallpapers Home Actress Actors Movies Top Favorites Random Wallpaper
Fun Stuff Home Play User Quizzes Play Non-stop Quiz Polls Discussions Upload Photo Upload Video Create Poll Create Quiz Take MTM
People Home | Random User
Search
Kamal's Profile
Scrap the user
Ignore the user
Compare MTM
2 Friends
2 Scraps
0 Recommendations
6 Movie Reviews
31 Discussions
5 Favorite Movies
0 Favorite Videos
0 Favorite Photos
0 Videos uploaded
2 Photos uploaded
Compliments
       
(0)   (0)   (1)   (0)  
     
(0)   (0)   (1)  

Kamal's Reviews

SICKO SINGH IN DUMBO JUMBO MEETS A WHACKO‏
Aug 12, 2008
 
Movie: Singh Is Kinng Compliment the user
Overall Rating

SINGH IS KINNG

SICKO SINGH IN DUMBO JUMBO MEETS A WHACKO‏

Cast: Starring

Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Sonu Sood, Om Puri, Neha Dhupia, Javed Jaffrey

Director : Anees Bazmee

Producer : Vipul Amrutlal Shah

Musician : Pritam

If there was ever a tale without a head or a tail than this would be the king, as it is we have a Punjabi Sikh played by Akshay Kumar in the worst imitation of Adam Sandler as a dumbo jumbo who is sent by the retarded Punjabi villagers who all behave like they live in the Simpsons movie, but that was funny compared to this absolute trash which spends half an hour on a chicken being chased in a village by the self made comic moron - Akshay Kumar, he then is sponsored to go to Australia to morally rehabilitate a local boy who has attained  the status of the biggest crime lord in oz.

But surprise of all the mother of surprises British airways takes him by mistake to Cairo where he runs into miss Kaif, who is easily the worst star actress ever on Indian screen, as they snog and sing and dance in Cairo for a day they are magically transported to Luxor too, next stop is Melbourne and that is of course Australia where the Indian gang lord rules the roost like the Australian prime minister.

The nightmare is completed with some garish sets complete with dinosaur skeletons and strobe lights to make you epileptic.  Some more songs follow to disgrace the great Bhangra Punjabi nation as the most non-musical people on the globe.

The movie then becomes a total mess where people are pointlessly running around and singing tunes stolen from Snoop Dog to Tupac in the name of Punjabi music, meanwhile miss Katrina kaif arrives as a foreign educated criminologist after her song dance stint in Egypt has been completed,  betrothed to the richest man in India, so we can re-ignite the Cairo love affair with Mr. Kumar, after all the world is so small, we run into people we know from the moon to mars everyday in Melbourne and Mumbai.

After Mr. Kumar decides to ruin her wedding, the movie has to end sometime but instead it goes on and on forever like a chewing gum which has no taste and is stuck in your mouth. You finally have to vomit to get rid of the nausea induced by this utter absurdity full of racial abuse and toilet humour with jokes about excrement and sexual innuendoes.

This makes Tashan and welcome look like masterpieces and it spells a new artistic low for Hindi cinema which has produced something worse than ever in this sicko dumbo epic.

Any signs of logic will only be seen from outside the space as this caters to the aliens alone,

I feel really sorry for Kiron Kher and Om Puri who have given the worst performances of their lives and as for Katrina Kaif she cannot act at all, so that simplifies the riddle completely and makes this the worst movie since Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, no mean achievement.

Rating: 0

View 2 Comments
Post a comment
Was this review useful?
Useful  (1)
Funny  (1)
Not Useful   (2)
Report Abuse  
Send this review to a friend
Add this to my favourite
Only Black no White
Mar 10, 2008
 
Movie: Black & White Compliment the user
Overall Rating
I wish Subhash Ghai had left us with some good memories of his colourful past after the awful YAADEIN and KISNA, but then if all my desires were granted, I would not be writing this review but rather watching an entertainer like TAAL or KARZ, but I am afraid instead I have to warn you against watching a very implausible movie, which is a shame as it is rather a sincere effort.

 The central premise is noble, the reformation of a terrorist is the solution rather than killing the terrorist as that only creates another terrorist, and that is indeed an idea to cherish, as the script goes onto preach that all terrorism is born out of injustice and can only be eliminated by correcting the social milieu that is responsible for that calamity, but cinema is more than a great idea or noble thought, it is about execution and scripting the thought in words and images and Mr.Ghai seems to have forgotten that aspect when conceiving this rather dull but inspiring theme of correcting and reforming an afghan Muslim suicide bomber terrorist, sent by some men from somewhere in Afghanistan to blow up the red fort in Delhi on 15th august during the independence day parade, thus massacring thousands, we never get to know what purpose this will achieve other than the bomber recurrently repeating a silly dialogue, I will not respect anyone who does not respect Islam as if Islam was his sister or mother and this was a matter of family honour, but let’s talk about the execution.

 It kicks off with a scene lifted straight out of George Clooney’s SYRIANA where the suicide bombers are recording their last video message, here the protagonist talking in Urdu /Persian is Anurag Sinha, a tall, dark not-so-handsome actor with no acting talent whatsoever, he doesn’t look afghan and that is fine as he is smuggled to Delhi as an  Indian Muslim, with a false ID, borrowed from Mr. Naqvi who was burnt alive with the rest of his family in Gujarat riots by the Hindu mobs, this gives Mr.Sinha the excuse to look glum and miserable for the rest of the movie, as the suicide date draws nearer and he is explained to everyone as the Muslim victim in search of a job in Delhi, while he sketches red fort in black and white in his pocket diary.

 The loopholes appear quickly as Indian security gets wind of the conspiracy and start harassing Muslims around CHANDNI CHOWK, where everyone in this movie lives, sings and dances, he is befriended by a Urdu Hindu professor Anil Kapoor, who is playing Gandhi here as the Muslim friendly secular intellectual, who quotes Arabic verses from Quran and Urdu verses from ZAFAR, while teaching an all girl class at college.

 He also has a irritating wife played in her worse role ever by Shefali Shah, who goes around slapping and lecturing youth in the street as a social worker, and they both live happily with their dumb [really] daughter.

 As we are in the middle of Chandni Chowk and also it is a movie about Muslims we soon have a heroine called Shagufta [Aditi Sharma], making her grand entrance as the daughter of a newspaper baron, she is anything but fresh like her name and is the worst actress ever in a Mukta Arts movie [remember Mahima, Manisha, Madhuri, Aish], she cannot act or dance or even look good and still manages to do 2 awful song-dances, the worst ever I have seen from the maker of Taal and Pardes.

But all is not lost as you have an awful Qawali with Allah and noor in it, except any musical quality or aesthetic lyrics, but it was better than the khawaja number from JODHAA AKBAR, anyway the romance prospers with the professor adopting the bomber as an adopted brother, while the afghan wants to use the Hindu as a launch pad for getting into red fort.

 There is no logic by now at all in the script, as the afghan psychopath goes around indiscriminately massacring his Muslim accomplices, accusing them of not respecting Islam, and as he is overheard conspiring by the old man Ghafoor who is the man who has harboured him in his house and a dreamer who seeks secular harmony, Mr Ghafoor dies the next day of a heart attack, by now half the Muslims in Delhi seem to know about the conspiracy, which is a top secret, except the Hindu professor and his wife who get a pass from the police for the bomber to get into the VIP enclosure in red fort.

 If you have ever missed the worst circus in the world, and want to watch it, go see the climax of this movie in red fort as the bomber is smuggled in with professor carrying the bomb as a fountain pen, yes it was parker, and while the bomber by now is a reformed man and has changed his mind about blowing Delhi up courtesy of the songs of Ghafoor and professor and his wife, the sheer folly of misdirection where he escapes from the fort with the whole Indian army in pursuit is hilariously bad and embarrassing, but that is not all as you have a really funny terrorist attack on a Qawali function in Kutub minar which is staged by the Muslims, so bomber can save the profs child and charms his wife, that seems to be forgotten and ignored as if it’s a daily routine in Delhi, the director and script writer just about do anything they will, the terrorists are watching the blowing up ceremony in red fort on their laptops through signals coming from the pen ,this is sheer lunacy and will give a real bad name to Indian cinema, but I don’t think it will be seen by even a lot of Indians.

 This is a real lame horse with no bridle or saddle, the terrorists look like clowns, the cops look like villains calling Muslim youth as filthy insects, while everyone but Ghafoor and professor are villains, this is truly black and white rather than grey, as a good idea is given the worst treatment ever by Ghai in a terror oriented movie by Bollywood.

 I will suggest you watch DILSE, MAACHIS OR HU TU TU, rather than go near this chaotically unfunny, inadvertent comedy, yes it is better than KISNA and JODHAA AKBAR, but it is neither well made nor entertaining.  If only Ghai had reviewed his script, if he ever wrote one in the first place, this had a chance of becoming a decent movie as the story was sound, but between a wooden lead actor and actress who are the worst newcomers ever given by Ghai and a badly flawed script which is rehashed from SYRIANA and DIL SE, you have a terribly haphazard mish-mash, some awful songs and a thoroughly overacted stereotyped role by Anil Kapoor as professor Arjun.

 I am afraid this is not going to help Anil Kapoor resurrect his career as it has neither anything intelligent or new to say about terrorism or any entertainment value and as for Ghai, he needs to retire gracefully now as this is his third turkey in a row.

 If you still want to watch it, there is some eye catching cinematography of Delhi and some good Urdu jokes between old man Ghafoor and his wife in the first half, and the background music is well scored, but apart from that I can’t find anything to recommend it, except that it doesn’t make any sense like most movies these days.

 All black and no white, this a black hole for Ghai and a black mark on Anil’s career, which is sinking fast as the titanic, pity as he was good even in Calcutta mail, but that was a long time ago and even Calcutta is called Kolkata now, is it not ?

http://www.maadhukari.com/misc/Blackandwhite.html

View 1 Comments
Post a comment
Was this review useful?
Useful  (2)
Funny  (0)
Not Useful   (5)
Report Abuse  
Send this review to a friend
Add this to my favourite
A TRIUMPHANT DOLL(Gudia) Mithun, Pran, Nandana Deb Sen
Mar 7, 2008
 
Movie: Gudia Compliment the user
Overall Rating
OFFICIAL SELECTION CANNES COMPETITION 1998
CAST pran ,mithun , nandana sen
director goutam ghose
duration 140 minutes
released 1998
language urdu/hindi


this forgetten gem from indian cinema was a worthy tribute dedicated to ray by its maker , it works as a political satire but above all its an emotional drama which captivates you with its trivial details .

it is also the last great performance by pran as khan sahib, the great legend who is one of the most versatile actors on indian screen , along with the great mithun , playing the central character as johnny ,this subcersive political satire becomes an unmissable movie in every context ,based on the novel by mahashweta devi ,its a devastating political satire dressed as a doll.

it will be an understatement to say sparks fly when the two great actors rub shoulder on screen , the chemistry between the duo is scintillating ,to say the least and they are perfectly cast as an aging muslim pathan ventriloquist and a young angry man who comes to be his pupil , learning the trade from the master who has devised a giant sized puppet doll as a showcase for passing satirical comments on politics and religion .

this seems to be inspired by real life theatrical events from mumbaii where the parsi community used to perform these kind of plays and it seems they were very popular at one time as well , i dont know the details however the puppet is dressed and acts like a chaste young muslim girl , dressed in virginal white and seems to be a cultural symbol singing gazals and acting as an umrao jan ,its delightful to see it sing and dance as well as mock the society in a subtle way.

the artist who has invented the doll is dying of a terminal illness and bequeathes his cherished puppet to mithun ,who becomes obsessed with the guria , so much so that his girlfriend starts feeling neglected and jealous of the doll , the sequences where nandana sen tries to adopt the look of the doll and act like her to get more attention from her boyfriend are very gripping yet essentially reflect on the feminine nature .

the doll assumes a real identity thanks to the masterful script and the directors skills and its fascinating to see pran and mithun adorably dressing her and decorating her to make her look more beautiful then ever and her mannerisms and the lines she utters are charming ,yet devastatingly satirical of our social and political system , johnny reinvents the doll with modern cothes and pop music to attract a wider audience and his efforts pay off in a big way ..

nevertheless the act gets frigheningly real with mithun in charge and the local politicians are alarmed by the popularity and start seeing it as a threat to their malicious ambitions , as the doll questions the political morality of our system and her remarks start to stir popular unrest amongst the ordinary people ,it almost starts a rebellion with its comments .

this is not acceptable to the beauraucracy and as mithun turns down their bribes to tone down the show they instigate a riot with the help of some local gangsters where the doll is symbolically stripped and raped ,while mithun and the audience are beaten mercilessly , the shameless act while comprising the climax is so relevant to our prevalent culture where nothing except naked greed is sacred .

the scenes where mithun is shown holding the desecrated doll and weeping are memorable as are the dialogues and expressions of this great actor in that sequence alone .

i wonder why despite movies like mrigyaa and guria , mithun never got the acclaim he deserved from hindi cinema , indeed this movie is proof enough that hes second to no one else .

the direction , makeup and background score help to make this a haunting experience and the camerawork with the giant doll and the ventriloquistic detail is a triumph in itself , a difficult act to accomplish but made to look seamlessly natural ,thanks to the cast and crew

This is essential viewing for all who enjoy meaningful well made cinema which is entertaining as well as realistic , a virtue fast disappearing from cinema world over .

the movie was deservedy acclaimed at festivals worldover and is a cult classic
thanks for reading
View 0 Comments
Post a comment
Was this review useful?
Useful  (0)
Funny  (1)
Not Useful   (0)
Report Abuse  
Send this review to a friend
Add this to my favourite
Titli -a metaphorical metamorphosis
Mar 6, 2008
 
Movie: Titli Compliment the user
Overall Rating

Titli -a metaphorical metamorphosis

This very discerning product from kolkata [india] took the festival circuit by storm for its audacious comments on modern day approach to feminism and sexuality in 2002.

The media driven world we live in today is satirically presented here as a young teenager [Konkona Sen] falls for a movie star [Mithun Chakraborty] who is almost 2 decades senior to her in age and also unknown to her is the ex-flame of her mother [Aparna Sen].

The plot is further given a twist as the mother and daughter accidentally meet the man himself and destiny takes its toll as the fascinated daughter realises the truth behind her mother financially compromised marriage to her father.

The truth is the movie wins hands down as it makes no revelations as to if the couple still love each other or they just share a mutual affection for each other, but the resentment and the hostility with the heartbreak suffered by the daughter make the rest of this fascinating tale a treat to watch.

The script is simple yet multi-dimensional and the characters are alive rather then living due to the sheer force of the well-etched performances enacted by the entire cast.

The daughters vulnerability and hatred for her mother slowly dissolving to give way to sympathy for a by gone time when a woman was dependant on her family when it came to matrimonial issues is a truly metaphorical journey, yet the mothers total passion for her daughter and her grief as she looks at her fragile child and her hostile sorrow is very affecting and apprehensive.

But it is the man who is sandwiched between the two women who walks away with the applause in a non author backed role, as he eagerly tries to please the daughter in a sham effort while really trying to get a few moments of happiness with his past love which he lost years ago.

The irony that the girl could have been their daughter if fate had been kinder is never lost upon him and his eyes reflect the sense of loss as he looks at the two women, but his resignation to the present is apparent as well as he makes no pretence of hiding his affection for the daughter and his intense emotional involvement with the mother.

The movie is a triumph for Mithun and Aparna as they rekindle their lost love for a few moments in the backdrop of the tea estates in the foothills of Himalayas, which are magically captured by the master lens man with a haunting background musical score which leaves nothing to desire, as Aparna renders a beautiful love poem on her lovers insistence without a background score, you can feel the pathos of every lost love resound in the valleys of the eternal Himalayas.

The directors is making a relevant commentary on the relativity of time and its immense impact on human existence and he symbolises this with the beautiful fleeting images of Buddhist monks chanting ancient hymns who add a spirituality to this modern day story of lust and love which is a must see for anyone interested in quality cinema from India which does not resort to any melodrama or the song dance routines to add to its credibility.
ghosh also has made choker bali an adaptation of mr.tagores book as well as raincoat ,titli means the first rainbow after the moonsoon rain and is the name of the young lady in the movie.

Writer: Usman Kawja

View 0 Comments
Post a comment
Was this review useful?
Useful  (0)
Funny  (0)
Not Useful   (0)
Report Abuse  
Send this review to a friend
Add this to my favourite
Jodhaa Akbar: Lost in a Yudh-War
Feb 15, 2008
 
Movie: Jodhaa Akbar Compliment the user
Overall Rating
Jodha Akbar: Lost in a Yudh-War

jodha lost in a yudh-war]
if there ever was a war fought for so many lost causes,then it would have to be this tale of the great mogul retold in the most insipid manner with as many historical fantasies as a phantasmagoric mind can conjure ,never mind its miscast ,misconceived and misdirected from the word go .akbar is mr roshan who looks like a steroid gym bunny with the squeaky voice of a mouse,who spends ihis spare time taming toothless elephants and doing some ninja routines with his shirt off in the palace courtyard a la jackie chan,his virginal wife is a rajput princess who is married against her will as a political pawn,but insists on keeping her virginity for some unexplained reasons, while singing devotional songs ,badly tuned by mr.a.r,rehman,who also is responsible for the most inept background musical score in a historical epic,it varies from screeching to plain out of tune quawallis,poor jodha [ash]is left a sulking virgin as a result of a deadly misunderstanding created by akbars protective WET NURSE,PLAYES AWFULLY BY ILA ARUN in easily the worst performance since stone age,as the bride is sent packing back home, a horde of political conspiracies are being hatched by the vamp and villain and this becomes a typical bollywood formula of boy meets girl,loses girl ,sings songs and live happily ever after,but frankly by that time i was too fed up to endure this audio-visual torture and it is a royal torture in the true sense as it is over 3 hours long ,with a mix of everything that hollywood and bollywood have made since 1940 in the name of historical epics,the script borrows shamelessly from troy to mughaleazam to meera ,except come up with some really decent dialogue or even a remotely dramatic sense of proportion,the supporting cast looks more like a motley gang of clowns from a circus then a royal court and the urdu accents are atrocious ,the queen mum is kept standing in the court while akbar and his courtiers feast seated ,and we are talking of the queen hameeda bano,who has a magnificent edifice built in her memory by her son in delhi,the factual distortion is so screwed up you cant even say they are loopholes ,in fact its a canal through which you can sail the titanic,but that shipping disaster is nothing compared to this humorless ,dry as a bone epic,devoid of any juice or spice,this is even worse the last years taj mahal and that was bad enough.this is total hokum with sets which look like colors smudged onto the screen as if the moguls,who built wonders would bear to even go near these technicolour idiosyncracies which resemble the abodes of common nautch girls then sheesh mahal ,so painstakingly constructed by the great k.asif for mughaleazam ,shame on gowarikar and everyone associated with this third rate rip off , mr .roshan take some elocution and acting lessons,for its simply not enough to just have a hunky physique to make it as a HOLLYWOOD HOPEFUL,you also need some God given talent,which both mrs bachan and mr roshan are badly in need of, but unfortunately talent does not grow on trees.

Rate: *

usman khawaja: A writer of New york time..
View 1 Comments
Post a comment
Was this review useful?
Useful  (5)
Funny  (0)
Not Useful   (2)
Report Abuse  
Send this review to a friend
Add this to my favourite
E L A A N: Assertive Declaration and Proclamation
Jan 31, 2008
 
Movie: Elaan Compliment the user
Overall Rating
E L A A N
An assertive Declaration and Proclamation


This urban modern day reworking of the Sippy’s classic works primarily as it scours the prodigal body of law and order and questioning the effete judiciary as well as making some very relevant comments on the international extradition treaties, but it has a crisp script and a fine narrator as Vikram Bhatt who stylishly translates this dark but fast paced thriller onto the silver screen.

The modern tale of a menacing, cold, calculating mastermind criminal is played by a highly charged Mithun who looks every bit the international criminal who publicly announces the assassination of a billionaire for ransom and then executes it while making a mockery of the law and order, his malignant smile, mean sneer and panther like posture are enough to make this a truly dark character as evil as Hannibal Lecter, this is a stellar act and he walks away with the highest plaudits, but Rahul Khanna as the bereaving son who must reap justice for his fathers soul is superb too as the quiet and shy but extremely intelligent youth who recruits a brilliant ex army mastermind to plan the vendetta, played with Elan by Arjun Rampal as the single parent with a young daughter and they are accompanied by John Abraham, a conniving, but cunning criminal who joins the group for lust and greed.

The weakest link are the 2 female leads, while Lara Dutta as Abraham’s femme fatale Mata Hari lookalike girlfriend as a dancing diva injects the movie with a lethal dose of glamour, Amisha as the investigative journalist posing to be Rahul khanna’s lover is very ineffective as are the romantic production numbers which mar and hamper the narrative.

But the visual splendours are enough to make up for these shortcoming as the thriller progress from Mumbai to a gondola chase in venetian canals and a motorbike-lorry sequence caught on an alpine freeway against a panorama which puts bond to shame.

The movie is darkly yet atmospherically shot from Italy to the Bavarian heartland and the gunfights are breathtakingly staged on the snow capped alpine slopes with a technical finesse rarely seen in Hindi cinema, it is here that the soul of this erstwhile classic is imbued with its urban metaphysical form as the style and content come together with a brilliant director and an ensemble cast.

This is one of the most alluring products from the Bhatt stable and despite somewhat hurried and makeshift finales; it is a worthy successor to its classic predecessor.

The socio political comments on the Indian judiciary and the establishments impotency to protect a victim or punish the aggressor are chillingly narrated in a highly affective manner and this makes an effective declaration of a great proclamation an eye for an eye and while some may argue that can make the whole world blind, I would rather live in a blind world rather then an unjust world.

This is how you execute a criminal and an erstwhile classic when you are remaking Sholay’s and Dons, the only other Hindi thriller made by the talented Farhan Akhtar which was even better then this fine product in totally overshadowing its predecessor even though the original products are just as credible as the remakes, but they have to be executed with a vision and finesse and not just technical wizardry which while exciting can lead to a damp squid like recent remakes.

Usman Khawaja
View 0 Comments
Post a comment
Was this review useful?
Useful  (2)
Funny  (3)
Not Useful   (2)
Report Abuse  
Send this review to a friend
Add this to my favourite