A sequel has its upsides and flipsides-Phir Hera Pheri is no exception.

Raju (Akshay Kumar), Shyam (Suneil Shetty) and Baburao (Paresh Rawal) who earn big bucks at the end of the first part; live a lavish life at the start of the second episode. But with the money comes greed for more money. So, in the greed to double their money, they borrow more money from the underworld and invest it in a chit fund on the behest of Anuradha (Bipasha Basu). But the company turns out to be bogus and thereby they lose all their assets coming back to square one. From here on starts their attempt in paying back loans taken from the underworld.

The movie runs at jet speed pace and you hardly get time to breathe, gasp, feel, absorb, react or relate. The film is cluttered with so many characters that you lose count after some time. And while none of the actors are bad, they are unnecessorily boisterous at times. Phir Hera Pheri anduces plenty of laughter but you do feel that with a little more fine-tuning, it could've been more hilarious. The movie however, ends quite abruptly, keeping enough scope for a sequel to continue the series.We just hope the next episode gets better.

Till then, JUST CHILL! 

The good news is that Kareena doesn't talk in this film.

The bad news is that everyone else does... they don't just talk, but shout, scream, shreik, screech and yell. Chup chup ke continues Priyadarshan's stint in loud comedies.

The good news is that this Priyan film has a story to narrate. The bad news is that this time again, the story is a hindi adaptation of a Malayalam film named Punjabi House.

However, the story is interesting enough. Jeetu (Shahid) is drenched in debts that he is unable to pay back. So, he attempts to commit suicide by jumping in the sea, only to be caught in the net of fisherman Bandya (Rajpal Yadav). Bandya's master Gundya (Paresh Rawal) in turn has taken heavy debts from Prabhat Singh Chauhan (Om Puri). As a loan security, Gundya keeps Jeetu as a deposit at Chauhan's house, who takes to being a mute and deaf guy. Chauhan's neice Shruti (Kareena) who is actually mute, falls for Jeetu. Confusion steps in when Jeetu's ex-fiance Pooja (Shusma Reddy) comes into picture.

The comedy lasts for two hours after which the genre shifts to drama. But after a good dose of laughter in the first half, you don't feel like changing moods with the subsequent on-screen emotional outbursts.

The good news is that Himesh Reshammiya composes the music of the film. The bad news (for some) is that he even sings some of his tracks. Chup chup ke- a few good laughs, but too few we saw!

Overall, 'Chalega' stuff

Well, to start off with, Arjun has chosen the best script for his debut as a producer. He manages the film very effeciently. Even the selection of the actors is very good. And the ending is such that a sequel can be made on it, only if you think hard (which I have).

The story is about Raj Jaiswal (Arjun) who hosts a show called British Raj. One fine day he sees Vipasha hanging around his balcony. On enquiring further, he comes to know that she is a spirit, but only Arjun can see her. Now he has to carry on with her till she gets 'mukti' (salvation).

Arjun carries out his character skillfully, but is a bit stiff on some occasions. Vipasha is a stunning beauty and carries out her debut role elegantly. Chunkey Pandet mekes his presence felt. Sophie is doing what she does best - over-acting. Boman Irani makes his presence felt. Sonali Kulkarni is wasted. The two walk-in camoes by Hrithik Roshan and Shahrukh Khan are noticable.

The cinematography is ok or average. Editing could have been better. Direction is good. Story , Script and Screenplay were excellent. The music by Vishal-Shekar is awesome, fabulous, mind-blowing and fantastic. The best tracks are subah subah, halo halo and kehna hai jo. The lyrics , by Vishal, were fabulous. The track sachi huyi, according to me, had best lyrics.

Overall, a very good product from Arjun's stable, considering that it was a first-time effort, it was better than many other debuts. Arjun rocked as Raj Jaiswal.

A word to Arjun- If you ever think of making a sequel, look no further because I've got a story that's even better.

And to everybody who thought I left Chakpak- Picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost....

Well, to be frank, this movie has pleased me as well as disappointed me. I don't know what Raj Kumar Santoshi was thinking while writing this movie, but he has certainly forgotten a few things in the first half. The depiction of the film industry and the functioning of politics just doesn't click. Casting couches are already shown in various places, so it's stupid to show them again. Politics, power, public and money go hand-in-hand. Does anyone need to tell us this? Frankly, Santoshi has just wasted the first half.

The movie actualy starts from the scene where Ashfaq a.k.a. Sameer (Ajay Devgan) remembers his past, his street plays, his real acting, his guru- Sidhu (Pankaj Kapur). After that scene, Santoshi doesn't look back. It's clearly a mob-stirrer from there. If you are not awakened after watching such scenes, then you are not a human. You are just a dead body, a money-earning machine.

The story goes like this: Sameer Khan a.k.a. Ashfaqullah Khan ( Ajay) is a small-town-actor-turned-top-rated-action-hero. He attends a party, where he sees a murder being commited (Resemblence to Jessica Lall murder case is very intentional ). He first stays quite as he does not want to tarnish the name he has earnt after struggling so much. It's very true. If you have earned something by working hard and toiling day and night for it, you wouldn't to lose it in a jiffy. But, after realising his duty as a public figure and some very powerful speech by Sidhu( Pankaj Kapur), he jumps into the arena against a politician and a liquir baron, whose sons have commited the crime. At first, he loses the case as an insider from the police is helping the criminals. But then, after help from Sidhu, he stages a street play and awakens the masses. What follows is sensation. Fight sequences, dialogues, drama and what not. Truly a film which deserves a National Award.

Pankaj Kapur essays one of the finest written roles in history. His dialogues are hard-hitting and his presence, very inspiring. " Agar khud ke badan pe chot lage to jaanvar bhi chillata hai, insaan woh hai jo doosron ke kaam aaye" is a line which has truly inspired me. Ajay Devgan essays his role perfectly. His performance in the second half reminds me of Sunny Deol's performance in Ghayal (another Santoshi film, a bench-mark for Hindi Cinema). Vidya Balan makes her presence felt in the film. She's got just one powerful dialogue, " He's (Ashfaq) got balls. He's got courage. Woh ek aisi ladki ki ladai lad raha hai jise woh jaanta tak nahi..."

The script makes scathing remarks on the Khans- Aamir, Salman and Shahrukh. But that's called 'Creative Freedom' something for which SRK is rallying now-a-days. Santoshi does an awe-some job in the second half, but disappoints in the first half. But whatever happens, please do continue making such movies, Santoshi sir.

And now the most important thing........

I LOVE YOU, VIDYA BALAN.... 

wArNiNg: THIS IS A MUSIC REVIEW, NOT FILM REVIEW

Gentlemen and ladies... and BALD- HEADED BABIES....

Presenting the first music review on chakpak.....

 The first thing that strikes you when you listen to the tracks for the first time is that these tracks are a part of us, but we haven't yet realised it. It is fun to discover ourselves in this way. You will be able toconnect to the music the first time you hear it...

 Well, to start off, the album has seven tracks, six of which are composed by the versatile trio of Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy. One, very beautiful composition (though all are beautiful, this one has an edge over the rest) is by Adnan Sami. It leaves you with emotions you might have never experienced. It's called 'Mera jahaan", sung by Adnan himself, who puts a different life into his different  composition. It reflects a child describing his own world. Really, after listening to it,  I felt like going upto Adnan and requesting him to compose songs like this one only.

 Now, back to Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy compositions. First comes 'Bheja Kum' which means dumb, stupid and many other things.  Sung by Shanker , it asks the child why is he stupid, why is he slow in doing work, Why???? It is not a groovy number, but can definately pass off as a rock song. The beats are lovely, especially the pauses.

 This trio always surprises us. But the next one is a shock.... Its starts off with flute music, then Aamir saying funny things like "Chaka laka chi chai riko piko....." If you think that's surprising enough, think again. 'Bum Bum Bole' will definately shock you. Sung by our very own Shaan, it has everything. Just EVERYTHING. You can dance to it, you can sit back and enjoy it, it will cheer you up when sad, it will increase your happiness in happy times. Best of all, it will bring a smile on your face.

 Third in the line is 'Jame Raho'. It belongs entirely to everyone in the first half. The use of guitar is rocking. This number will pep you up in the morning. The second half, though, belongs to the cute kid, Darsheel. It aptly describes his mental situation. In this half, it goes from slow to fast, according to the felings of the child. Sung by Shanker again ( I ain't complaining).

 Now comes 'Kholo Kholo', dedicated to all the kids and adults who want to make a mark in the world. The full song is in guitar (my favourite instrument) , by Shanker again. The high point is the rhythm of the song.

 Next track is a lovely one called 'Maa'. It brings out the well-known idea, " The mother knows everthing". This is another beautiful song sung by Shanker ( really, if Himeshbhai made such songs and sung them himself, people wouldn't be abusing him. Infact, they'd love him, even the critics would accept his 'nasal' voice). I beacme emotional ang hugged my mother after listening this song. I am sure you will also do the same.

 As they say, "Last, but not the least" , here comes the title track. It sounds like a jingle-bell type number, but after listening to it, you feel like listening to it again and again and again. Even if you heard this song after a few tears, it would sound as fresh as it is now. Shanker has beautifully carved this song with his voice.

 I kept the lyrics for the end. Lyrics are given by Prasoon Joshi, the same guy who has given us Fanaa and RDB. No questions about the lyrics. Thye are rocking as usual. I give it a 5 star.

 Overall, the album's lovely. It feels as though Aamir has worked very hard for it. Take this album if you are bored of the normal filmy songs which keep shouting " DUS....BEES..." and God knows what.

 Insha-Allah, Aamir will succeed. TZP will be a big hit. Aamin. I pray for him.  

    "Vidya Balan, I love you !!!"

  But first things first, the movie is a remake of the Tamil hit 'Manichitra Tazhu' (forgive me if  I got the name wrong) with an award winning and critically acclaimed performance of Shobana. It is a good movie, overall, considering Priyan's genre being comedy. He has done full justice to the movie.

 It's not a regular Priyan movie, where he has a bunch of jokers, spilling some ok-ok one liners, (most of them repeated from old movies) written by Neeraj Vora (the mastermind behind Hera Pheri and many Priyan movies and Mann starring Aamir & Manisha) and bundled with loads of unwanted songs. B B is different. It has got a proper story, comedy at regular intervals and songs when needed (to break the continuity)and it lives up to it's genre (horrer-comedy). It's has also got some scenes which are not for the faint-hearted. Priyan has again repeated the trio of Paresh Rawal-Asrani-Rajpal Yadav, who do full justice to thier roles. Manoj Joshi is also a Priyan loyal.

The story goes like this- Sidharth ( Shiney) is the heir to a kingdom. He is supposed to get married to Radha (Amisha) who is the adopted daughter of his chacha (Manoj Joshi). But when he returns from America, everybody is shocked as he has already married Avni (Vidya), who is an archeologist. He (Shiney) entrusts the work of redecoration of his ancestral palace to his fupha, Paresh Rawal. The palace is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a court dancer - Manjulika ( a Bengali dancer). Her spirit is locked on the third floor due to her untimely death (watch the film for full story). Avni, not afraid of ghosts and not believing in stories about them, opens up the heavily-guarded door (mantras and stuff like that) with the help of Rawal's daughter. Strange incidents happen after that. The key-smith who duplicates the key is found dead, Rawal's daughter is attacked and Radha (Amisha) is suspected. Sidharth (Shiney) suggests that Radha is unstable as she is adopted. Enter Dr Shrivastav (Akki)  as a psychiatrist just before interval. He is the entertainer for the whole movie, even though he enters just before interval and he is perfect for the role. In fact, the casting is outstanding.

As far as the perfornances are concerned, Vidya has delivered her best performance (and Aishwarya, who was the first choice, could not have matched it. It would have been a mistake) and she is the most beautiful actress. Even though Akki enters just minutes before the interval, he steals the show. Shiney has lived up to the standards set by him in Gangster, Woh Lamhe & Metro. The other actors do justice to their roles, especially the comic trio of Paresh Rawal-Asrani-Rajpal Yadav who provide the much-needed dose of humour in the first half. The second half definately belongs to Akki and Vidya. Shiney is present throughout the film and makes his presence felt.

The music definately rocks, the pick of the lot being Labon Ko, Sajda, Allah Hafiz and the Bengali -Classical number Amee Je Tumhaar. Hare Ram is a chartbuster, so nothing to be said except that Samir (lyrics writer) has lost it. A sample of the nonsense is -

"Tu meri Khamoshi hai

 Tu meri Madhoshi hai

 Tu mera Har Afsana

 Tu mera hai Fasana" 

 Is this the same Samir who gave beautiful songs like Aashique, Sadak & Sajan???

Well, to end it, it's a much watch if you are a fan of the cast, especially Vidya and Akki because as you leave the theatre, you are left desiring more of Akki and Vidya, especially her Kathak dance (sorry if I got the form wrong. My knowledge of dance is limited to the defination that it is something I can't do. If one of my friend is reading this, could you suggest a dance teacher or if you know how to dance, could you teach me? ) Well, Sayonara for now.