Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Tennyson

What is it about? :: Anshul (Kartik Aaryan), Siddharth (Sunny Singh Nijjar) and Tharun (Omkar Kapoor) are best friends who share a flat. Anshul meets Ruchika (Nushrat Bharucha) during a party, gives her his mobile number and their relationship begins. Siddharth comes across Supriya (Sonnalli Seygall) at a wedding program and immediately falls in love, hoping to get married to her as soon as possible. Tharun meets Kusum (Ishita Raj) while at the gym and with his infatuation, their love story begins. But all these three relationships don’t move forward as expected. They try to make things better, even by going to a trip to Pattaya, but the situation remains the same. It seems almost impossible to get along with each other, with a split ready for all the three couples.

The defence of Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 :: The comic side of this movie is strong as expected. The same successfully generates a lot of laughter in the theatre. Making the audience laugh a lot is not that easy, and that has been achieved, both in the case of men and women viewers. The songs are okay. The vain love based on infatuation gets the beating here, even when there is absolutely no need to bring a message here or be serious about its idea. The jokes related to online life and the struggles of Siddharth to impress the girl’s parents are the best among them. This movie only does what it is supposed to do, and if anyone wanted it to do something else which it was never planning to come up with, they can hate the movie, but bringing just one point up is more like vendetta. I agree that this could have done differently, and that would have surely improved my opinion, but this product works.

Claws of flaw :: You can see that critics have chosen to degrade this movie, but most you will see that the reason itself is one-sided and prejudiced, as it can only be found by digging the wrong way. But this movie is no big thing either. The flick actually starts with some drag, and it only gets better with the men meeting the women. All the comedy stuff won’t work that well either, and it is not applicable for everyone in the same way throughout the flick. Some dialogues were quite unnecessary, and the movie surely had better scope. The acting department is not that great either, but not much is required in this movie as the cast manages okay. You will also get less out of this movie if you have decided to thrive in the negative idea given to you by the critics, and won’t watch this as a regular movie loving human who thinks not from or in favour of any category.

Soul exploration :: I keep wondering why some critics think that this movie hates women. It makes no sense, because anything against women in this movie is from three male protagonists who are pretty much dumb (nobody needs to believe even a word they say); so if there is anything negative here, it is to be shared between both sexes. I can have problems about how men are portrayed in this movie too! Well, it is a modern take on the relationships which have no value and about those which are too hasty; it is about how decisions taken without base never last – it is also applicable both ways; you can also see a male character whose girlfriend has ditched him, and it is clear that the particular person appears as the mirror image. People are free to come up with opinions, but some people surely need to develop some tolerance – otherwise, these people might not have the right to call the political parties and religions intolerant.

Further soul exploration :: This just a story about a relationship, and not judgment. There are movies with good women and there are others with bad women; sometimes there are those which are full of bad men and otherwise good women. But if you look closely here, are these characters the kind of people who can’t exist in this world? Haven’t you seen the shades of some of them in your life? Don’t try to deny it because of your prejudice. Well, if you are looking for the same story to progress from all angles with just one movie, you are looking at the wrong place. These people who pass judgment in favour of just one side of this flick really need to think again. If they need movies which hate women, Bollywood has many of them along with another Indian flicks, and this movie here is not one of them – you will know if you remove those shades of prejudice. Nobody with sanity will let this movie define their world except for laughing at the jokes! This is never really about true preaching! No characters here are heroes to imitate either!

More of soul exploration :: If you are determined to hate this movie, and looking for points to note down, feel free to write something even before watching this movie. If you think that men in this movie are so awesome and women so bad, you need to look into your viewpoints about the good and the bad; because all that this movie has is a collection of grey characters. You don’t even feel that the women are evil in this movie if you look deeper; what you see here is a case of not finding the right person, as each human being is different. These three men found the wrong women, and they suffer for it – the men are not really angels either, and their choices were just dependent on infatuation or lust. Here is a message for you to take home even if there is none intended – don’t go for looks and don’t fall for what you feel with first looks; go for character. You got the message when there is none; happy? Now, that is a good addition.

How it finishes :: Actually, under normal circumstances, if you are looking to take a message from a full comedy movie, you are looking at the wrong place. What to expect from this movie was pretty much clear. I went for this movie thinking how terrible this would be, thanks to those critics who only saw only one side of this one. But that only helped me to once again understand why I shouldn’t go by the opinions especially when they are focusing on one particular thing which is not even the basic factor of this movie. I haven’t watched the first movie, but about Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, I am sure that it will make the viewers laugh, and the genre here is comedy – note that down. It doesn’t have anything else, and this is not a movie to be taken seriously. If you thought that this was going to the movie with a grand love message, the problem is on your side and not with the movie makers. Use that side of brain somewhere else, as there are many serious ones and grand superstar movies which work against equality.

Release date: 16th October 2015
Running time: 136 minutes
Directed by: Luv Ranjan
Starring: Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sonalli Sehgall, Ishita Raj, Omkar Kapoor, Sunny Singh, Rumana Molla, Sharat Saxena, Manvir Singh

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Welcome Back

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: Thank You. I appreciate it.

Vampire Bat :: What do you appreciate? Why?

Vampire Owl :: You said welcome back when I entered the theatre.

Vampire Bat :: I was telling the name of the movie when you entered. Why do you talk as if the theatre is my ancestral property?

Vampire Owl :: Actually, as you spend a lot of time here, I had the feeling that this is really your home. You should actually think about shifting here. This way, you can sleep in the queue and when you wake up, you will be the first one on the queue.

Vampire Bat :: This is why nobody listens to your ideas.

Vampire Owl :: Or you can marry the daughter of a theatre owner, or ask for some kind of season ticket for movies. See, I am giving you free advice which nobody else can offer.

Vampire Bat :: You can do me a favour by not giving me any idea.

Vampire Owl :: You are going to make me watch a Hindi comedy movie after you got me to watch Humshakals and Main Tera Hero. You will be forced to return to my ideas in return.

Vampire Bat :: That was because we missed the movies which we were actually going to watch on those days. Now you have ruined the day already by talking about those movies.

[Gets ready for the movie].

What is it about? :: Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu Pandey (Anil Kapoor) have ceased being dons and are running big hotel business in Dubai, as they try hard to control themselves from going back to their life of crime again. But they are finding a certain amount of loneliness in their lives, and the realization that even their low level henchmen are happily married with kids makes them very depressed. They look for the right person to marry as they find Nandini (Ankita Shrivastava), a stunningly good-looking girl who is also a princess from some royal family. With beauty and royalty there in store, both men falls for the same girl, and hopes to have the happy ending for themselves. Her mother, the royal mother, the Maharani (Dimple Kapadia) makes arrangements for the wedding.

And welcome back the problems and confusions :: There is the tough decision to make, based on which of the two to marry. Ever since they were shot on the heart with one sight of the girl in bikini at the beach, both of them are not ready to back-off. Meanwhile, Uday’s father comes to the scene with another daughter in his third marriage, Ranjhana (Shruti Haasan) and hopes that the former underworld dons try to get her married too. The mother-daughter team who are not really of royal blood, but con women who are hoping to steal as much money from the two friends as much as possible, come up with the condition that their sister has to be married off at first, because it is the tradition. This is where Doctor Ghungroo (Paresh Rawal) and his step-son Ajay Barsi a.k.a Ajju Bhai (John Abraham) comes to the picture.

The defence of Welcome Back :: There is no moment when this movie pretends to be smart, and you know what to expect here right from the beginning and throughout the movie. The visuals are stunning, and they have used Dubai to give some of the best treats for the eyes of the audience. The laughs are there, and most of the jokes are delivered through some interesting dialogues – the path is lead by the trio of Paresh Rawal, Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor as expected. With these three around, there is the certainty of fun; the comic timing is right there as even the more simpler situations are turned into scenes of comedy. The pick of all the funny scenes is the one at the cemetery. There is also no shortage of style and good-looking people in this movie. There are only a few comic situations which goes down in effect; otherwise the comedy, despite being mindless is right there.

Claws of flaw :: The silliness of the movie is heavy, and it gets more ridiculous by the end. There is a strange mayhem going on in the end along with some extra meaninglessness added as if to make things come together. There are big SUVs, helicopters, remote controlled copters which explode, gangsters shooting, people running around, random people falling – there is even a sand storm and running camels making no sense even with nothing in the mind. The songs are not much interesting, and the source material surely had scope for better development and even more fun. May be they never really needed another big don here, and may be the focus could have always been with how the former underworld dons are manipulated into agreeing to the marriage, with mother and daughter playing interesting parts in it happening. But this has chosen to keep any trace of logic out of the scene, and has also stretched the flick.

Performers of the soul :: John Abraham proves to be good – he is not the show-stealer here, but he has done his part with sincerity, and here he is showing some skills with the comic side. He has managed this avatar just the way one would expect it to be. Shruti Haasan looks very cute throughout the movie, and doesn’t have much to perform. The big performances go into the hands of Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor who steals the show along with Paresh Rawal. These three make this movie the fun that it has managed to be. They just can’t be replaced, not even a twenty sequels later (who knows how many more will come this way). The new comer Ankita Shrivastava might be the most beautiful person around, and she has some skills for the comic side – there is future. Dimple Kapadia joins the fun well and Rajpal Yadav has some short, but funny moments. Naseeruddin Shah and Shiney Ahuja get a few such moments too.

How it finishes :: About the special appearances, only Surveen Chawla makes some impact. This one actually has similarities with Main Tera Hero, but doesn’t go that way to become a disaster. The credit for the same goes to how things are managed without heroism and the overacting which was abundant in that movie no longer exists here in the case of Welcome Back. The cast itself is the big boost to this movie as Wecome Back can provide something to those looking for this type of mindless comedies. This could have still been shorter, and getting rid of some of the cliches and repetitions would have been nice – one has to wonder what is hindering the innovation when not much trouble has been taking with other departments including the script. What we need here is not to think and just to enjoy the comic side. The South actually got Kunjiramayanam to enjoy more at the same time.

Release date: 4th September 2015
Running time: 152 minutes
Directed by: Anees Bazmee
Starring: John Abraham, Shruti Haasan, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Ankita Shrivastava, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Shiney Ahuja, Paresh Rawal, Supriya Karnik, Sakshi Maggo, Rajpal Yadav, Surveen Chawla (cameo), Lauren Gottlieb (cameo)

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Phantom

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: Finally, we have someone whom we can add to our team.

Vampire Bat :: I have no idea what you are talking about. This movie is not related to any Phantom about whom you have heard. Actually, not even to Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Vampire Owl :: What? Not the Ghost who Walks? Not the Phantom of the Opera? Not even the usual ghost?

Vampire Bat :: No is the answer for all the three questions.

Vampire Owl :: I still like this poster. It seems to be designed with certain skill.

Vampire Bat :: Well, they have cancelled the shows for Double Barrel. What choice do we have?

Vampire Owl :: I believe that watching a non-Malayalam movie for Onam is a true case of cruelty.

Vampire Bat :: Well, we are forced to do the same.

Vampire Owl :: Phantom it is then!

Vampire Bat :: I am sure that the movie will have its moments.

[Gets the tickets and goes to buy cheese popcorn].

What is it about? :: Daniyal Khan (Saif Ali Khan), a former soldier who was dishonorably discharged from the Indian Army has another chance at reclaiming his lost reputation and the love of his ex-military father. As RAW looks for the least suspected and less known face which they can depend on, Daniyal seems to be the best choice, despite that one bad decision which was made at the India-Pakistan border. He is given the task to eliminate a number of masterminds behind the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks, as an unofficial mission without the approval of the Indian Government. With the help of a former intelligence agent Nawaz Mistry (Katrina Kaif), Daniyal starts his mission at London, which will be followed by targets at other parts of the world.

The defence of Phantom :: As expected, Phantom is a thriller which attempts to make something which hasn’t happened to be represented as a possible truth which the audience are supposed to like. The feelings of every Indian will be touched here. With regular doses of patriotic statements and some interesting moments of action and thrills, Phantom does manage to accomplish that. With the early statements and the shots, this movie does create that feeling required in the viewer to move on. The idea is always there, and it never ceases to make the audience think over it again and again. The locations are really well created. There is a very realistic feel concerning the environment everywhere throughout this movie. The pace is kept good, and there is no dull moment, and even a possible romance doesn’t really happen, which is a clear bonus in the end. The ending is also something to be loved.

Claws of flaw :: The inability to use the full potential of Phantom is rather disappointing – there was so much to be done and something like the earlier espionage thriller Baby was possible here. But it just goes on and on with its material without completely developing the same. It does begin in a smarter way which somewhat struggles during the later stages, and when they do, they just add the gunshots or the chases. This should have been an espionage thriller movie with precision rather than making too much noise – in the gamer’s terms, instead of going Hitman: The Silent Assassin, this one becomes Unreal Tournament or Quake 3 Arena at times, chasing and shooting people around. One has to wonder why the thrills could not be embedded into this story instead of just coming and going; the story itself has the problems in the later stages, but couldn’t this have made it a lot stronger?

Performers of the soul :: The movie rests on the shoulders of Saif Ali Khan who plays the man who makes the difference and brings justice to the victims of the terrorist attacks not only in Mumbai but also at the other places. Even though he doesn’t go on to create that huge impact as this character, he surely controls things. He maintains that tough looks, and keeps the determination required for his character. The best moments from him are also in the first half of the movie, even though Katrina Kaif gets them in the second along with a few lesser known actors. The support is actually very good here, and there are times when the viewers wish for them to be there for more time on the screen. Katrina Kaif is not required to do that much here, but she manages things very well. The characterization make sure that not too much is demanded.

Soul Exploration :: There is the tagline “A story you wish were true”. It talks about the known fact that the masterminds who were really responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks are still living in peace and the truth that justice was not served to victims of that brutal terrorist attack which remains a permanent scar. The movie tells the viewers about how it could have been, and what would have been able to bring peace to the souls of the deceased. There is the freedom of being a fantasy movie asserted and taken right from the moment that tagline was first displayed on a poster. But it surely makes one think about all which have been said, and it does ask relevant questions. The shades of patriotism are also strong, and the strength of rewind can be seen here.

How it finishes :: It is only later that Phantom doesn’t really justify its title. The reason is its transformation as the whole thing moves from the strong point which was the brain to be adventurous. There is a car chase and public exchange of gunfire to kill the main villain which was not according to the movie’s soul – there was surprisingly no back-up plan. But as mentioned earlier, this does end well and along with being a thriller, this one has the strength to touch the emotions. So, Phantom remains an interesting movie which could have been even better. Well, this is Onam, and lets take some time to enjoy this movie too along with those large number of Malayalam movie releases as the festival season in Kerala going on in full power. I wish you all a Happy Onam! Enjoy and watch more movies!

Release date: 28th August 2015
Running time: 147 minutes
Directed by: Kabir Khan
Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Mir Sarwar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Rajesh Tailang, Denzil Smith, Qazi Touqeer, Brandi Alexander, Paul Lazenby

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Drishyam

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: So, we are now going to complete watching a trilogy of Drishyam(s).

Vampire Bat :: Yes, even though there are a total of five Drishyam(s) with only two movies having exactly that name and only four movies having similarities to that name.

Vampire Owl :: I was simply making a simple statement which is also true in another way.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, but the statement that I made is also true if you look deeply into it.

Vampire Owl :: I still appreciate this movie for keeping the title of the original. This way, I can tell people that I have watched Drishyam twice.

Vampire Bat :: Well, when you say that you watched a remake so many times, do make it clear that it is Drishyam and not Bodyguard. We have to keep certain horror standards.

Vampire Owl :: Do you know that I had no clue that this would be remade into this many languages when it had released with lesser hype than some of those mindless movies?

Vampire Bat :: Do you remember that this is the Drishyam movie that we are watching with the cheapest tickets?

Vampire Owl :: Is it? I have no memory about the bloody human currency. They can’t even keep one standard currency for their realm – how bad is that?

Vampire Bat :: Actually we paid Rs.116 per ticket for the Malayalam version, Rs.90 for the Tamil version, and it is Rs.50 for this one. So, this movie is actually very cheap and will surely give us the money’s worth.

[Gets the tickets].

What is it about? :: The story might be well known, but lets go for a recap. Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgan) is a simple man and a huge movie lover running a cable television network in a locality in Goa. He watches a lot of movies and lives happily with his family consisting of his wife Nandhani (Shriya Saran) and two daughters. But when an unexpected guest comes into their life to ruin the life of his elder daughter Anju (Ishita Dutta), their small world get a twist of events. The guest is dealt with, but the mother of that missing boy is IG Meera Deshmukh (Tabu) who is ready to go to any extent to find his son who came to the house of Vijay. The protagonist has his plans, but how far can a man with minimum education go to save his family against the angry IG and her husband (Rajat Kapoor)?

The new Drishyam :: Just like we have already seen in the original Drishyam, Papanasam and the other remakes, this begins as the family drama, but here it gets into the thriller side much earlier. In less than fourty five minutes, this one gets into the main action. The movie also has some fine visuals of Goa as it is never completely a rural setting, and the families are surely richer as you can see from the houses of both the protagonist and the police officer. This is also the lighter one among the three, as the police torture is lesser with no bones broken compared to the Tamil version, and the girl also accidentally hits the boy as she aims the mobile phone which is lifted over his shoulder – she never really has the idea of hurting the boy there. The bad boy’s car remains yellow in colour, but there is a certain upgrade here from Maruti Suzuki Zen in the other two verstions to a Hyndai Getz.

Positives and Negatives :: As I have talked about earlier, I have watched only three versions as of now, and so the comparisons are to be limited to them. The version here inherits only the positives and negatives of the original, expect for the small changes which have been made. The biggest visible change is that the elder girl was adopted by the protagonist – one has to wonder if it is because the girl is considered too old to be the real daughter of Ajay Devgan and Shriya Saran or if it comes as part of the goodness package for the hero who was to be established as the good man. I like the fact that this movie quickly got into the thrills, and it might also be the shortest in total run-time among the three, which is favourable. The police officer is also bigger cop, than the big mother figure, and even has her own slow motion sequences from the prison after getting random villains beaten up.

Performers of the soul :: The script is the hero as everyone knows already, and the rest of the factors are supposed to follow. Once again, there are no comparisons to be made directly between the leading actors of the three movies. Still, indirectly taking a look at the same, even though not making the impact as Mohanlal and Kamal Hassan who had made their roles memorable in their own ways, Ajay Devgan is also very good here even without being that intense or emotional. It is good to see different actors doing the same thing in different styles without moving that much out of the core thing. Shriya Saran might be the best looking among all the actresses among five movies, but considering the three, she makes the least impact, may be because the Hindi version has cut some of those family scenes and the opportunities are less. The cut happens in the first half itself.

More performers of the soul :: Ishita Dutta who makes her Bollywood debut here is also quite good in her role as the elder daughter. She did very well for a debutante, especially in those emotional sequences. Esther Anil of the Malayalam and Tamil was the best option for the younger daughter’s role as she has done the same in the Telugu version too; the choice here is just okay. Tabu stays very strong here, as she matches Asha Sarath of Malayalam and Tamil with her strong cop role. The original’s Siddique and Kalabhavan shajon have their mirror images in this movie as not that strong, and the same is the case when compared with Papanasam’s Anant Mahadevan and Kalabhavan Mani. But any problem here is mostly erased by the strong script, and the movie has risen high already. After watching all these versions, I feel that I might be having confusion with the comparisons and so I would stop here!

How it finishes :: With the fifth movie of a very long remake saga, this version of Drishyam also manages to come strong with the audience, and once again asserts the importance of one’s own family strongly. In a theatre having a complete non-Keralite audience, the claps were so many and people were clearly entertained. Those haven’t watched the original or the other remakes should surely watch this one, and even for others, this will provide that feeling of going through that nice experience all over again. I still do wonder why some people had to get out of the theatre early and miss that final moment of revelation – are they even aware about what they missed? There are not many shows of this movie at this part of the nation because everyone knows a lot about this story, and so one should catch this Drishyam soon!

Release date: 31st July 2015
Running time: 163 minutes
Directed by: Nishikant Kamat
Starring: Ajay Devgan, Shriya Saran, Tabu, Ishita Dutta, Prathamesh Parab, Rajat Kapoor

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: How come you decided to watch this movie all of a sudden?

Vampire Bat :: There is too much hate all around. I thought I could escape from it through whichever movie that proclaims universal brotherhood.

Vampire Owl :: But we don’t officially trust these kind of movies.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, I have been reading the hate messages on social networking sites. People need movies like this to bring down the hate.

Vampire Owl :: But are you sure about this choice of movie?

Vampire Bat :: Yes, mostly because I don’t see any other. The reviews are also positive like the box-office collections.

Vampire Owl :: Whatever the collections are, I hope this one collects more than the depressing things like Krrish 3, Dhoom 3 and Chennai Express.

Vampire Bat :: Lets see what we can get from this one to contribute to the reviews.

Vampire Owl :: Yes, I hope that you are right about this one.

Vampire Bat :: Well, even the Vampire Oracle has favoured me on this choice.

[Gets the tickets].

What is it about? :: Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi a.k.a Bajrangi (Salman Khan) has a love story going on with Rasika (Kareena Kapoor), and as he is considered not good enough for anything, he got to prove his worth to her father (Sharat Saxena) with six months left. He has been traditionally declared as such a failure that his first success brought a heart attack to his father. Meanwhile, Shahida (Harshaali Malhotra), a speech-impaired little girl from Pakistan gets lost in India during a pilgrimage trip and ends up with him because she had to get down from the train and do a “Mary had a little lamb”. As everyone comes to know that she from Pakistan after she claps with a Pakistani win over India in a cricket match, he decides to get her to Pakistan in one way or the other. But he might have to break more than a few rules for the same.

The defence of Bajrangi Bhaijaan :: Strong in its messages and emotions, Bajrangi Bhaijaan does manage to keep people positively interested in the movie. The elements which would please the crowd and even bring them to tears are interestingly intertwined to create a nice effect in totality. There is comedy added here and there and a light tone is maintained. The actions scenes are less, but are there to make sure that the usual crowd will like the stuff. The visuals are very nice, and the second half does have a big advantage over the first because of getting rid of the silliness, and the ending, even though a little overdone, is okay and the movie finishes off with an emotional touch which seemed to be very much enjoyed by the audience in the theatre. The performances led by Salman Khan and the little kid also work very well.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is still old wine in a new bottle up-to an extent. The story is something rooted in many others of the past, and even with the current changes, the soul remains the same. Yes, there is more care taken in how certain things are managed here, but the melodrama comes up at times, and some jokes are not really effective either. The plot is just ordinary, and it is treated with all those which could make an impact on the audience. The love for truth displayed by the main character is rather overdone, and so are those songs, among which none makes an impression. The chicken song was rather too irritating. The romantic angle is completely out of order, and the flashback in the bus was the lowest point of the movie. There are also too many predictable events happening in the first half and things are not that much believable. Well, the end does justify the means up-to an extent.

Performers of the soul :: My favourite movie from Kabir Khan remain the more realistic Kabul Express. Salman Khan continues to bring the crowds into the theatres, and along with the same, he manages this character with skill. Even though the character becomes just “the good brother”, he has given the same some interesting moments which are going to stay in the minds of the viewers. Harshaali Malhotra, the kid remains the big star of this movie, and she is the one making the biggest impact, as one would expect; that too with no words spoken. Kareena Kapoor was totally unnecessary in this movie and so was the whole sub-plot related to her, but she does okay here. Nawazuddin Siddiqui provides great support.

Soul exploration :: The message of universal brotherhood is nicely used here. There has been too much hate going on these days, and if you look on the social media, it is crystal clear. The movie gives a lesson about how important it is to love the others beyond the borders, with respect for other religions, races and traditions. Patriotism and nationalism shouldn’t be about hating people of other nations. People should be free to support any nation when a sporting event is happening. Cricket is not a test of hate-based patriotism. The right patriotism should be about love for one’s country and not based on hate. It should be about working for the development of the nation and not to tarnish its image by intolerance and prejudice. At a time when even state-based hate is propagated and even dogs have better status than humans, can one hope for a better situation?

How it finishes :: People have been actually judging this movie by its title. I have actually heard people saying no to the movie due to the same. I don’t know about the Bollywood audience, but it has given a strange feeling in this part of the world. So, it is not easy to guess why I had almost nobody local in the theatre. People judge a movie by its title, but this movie is a fair watch. It is nowhere near perfect, but is enough to provide an entertaining and emotional ride. With its core, what it reminds me of, is about Picket 43, a movie about the relationship between two soldiers on the two sides of the border – there is no relation with the stories, but in the soul, both seems to have a similar connection, of people and their families.

Release date: 17th July 2015
Running time: 159 minutes
Directed by: Kabir Khan
Starring: Salman Khan, Harshaali Malhotra, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kareena Kapoor, Meher Vij, Najeem Khan, Kamlesh Gill, Om Puri, Sharat Saxena, Alka Kaushal, Adnan Sami, Atul Srivastava

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

ABCD 2

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: I still don’t understand one thing.

Vampire Bat :: I know. This rush is not so natural considering the fact that this is day time on a Monday with no Khan presence or even Akshay Kumar, Hritik Roshan and those popular stars whom our audience has been appreciating so much.

Vampire Owl :: No, I am thinking about how American Born Confused Desi became Any Body Can Dance. Shouldn’t it actually be Anybody Can Dance and so called ACD?

Vampire Bat :: I think that they are talking about “any body” in which the word “body” stands for their dance team as a group. And it is also the body which moves.

Vampire Owl :: Do you know that missing a letter is still awesome? Like ABD of South Africa?

Vampire Bat :: I don’t really think that this movie will perform like AB DeVilliers.

Vampire Owl :: I don’t demand that much. We are only paying one hundred rupees here.

Vampire Bat :: Do you know that this queue is very large and the theatre is quite small?

Vampire Owl :: Yes, but I have counted the number of seats in this theatre, and according to my calculations, we will get through with around twenty seven seats to spare.

Vampire Bat :: You know, that sounds really weird.

[Waits in the queue].

What is it about? :: Suresh (Varun Dhawan) wishes to make it huge in dance competitions and prove his worth as his mother (Prachi Shah) herself was a famous dancer. His childhood friend Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor) also has a similar wish, but their group is disbanded as they are branded as cheaters in a reality programme accused of copying steps from a famous dance team. Suresh wishes to go to Las Vegas for a big dance competition, and for the same, he and his friends hope to have Vishnu (Prabhudeva) as their choreographer, to which the man agrees. Despite an initial problem with the crowd and the organizers over their cheater tag, the team manages to win the competition at Bangalore to qualify for the big competition in the United States. But Vishnu does have more than one reason to go to Las Vegas, and the team has to battle their role-models to win – can they do that?

The defence of Any Body Can Dance 2 :: The movie achieves what is mostly expected of it, to provide those nice moves, some of them which are really amazing, and 3D makes a lot of it better. 3D actually takes over from the beginning title sequences itself. There is also a lot of style involved not only with those dance steps, but the way the surroundings are captured. The Bangalore dance sequence remains the best one in the movie followed by the one which they do against the team which they idolize. We have an Indian dance movie in 3D, and that too with two wonderful young stars and the master of dance, and it automatically becomes something we can be happy about, despite the flaws which can be found. 3D and dance – you know what to expect from this movie, and it is certain that most of the viewers have already watched or have known about its predecessor and they know what is coming. The ending is also fair.

The claws of flaw :: There are not many innovations or surprises with Any Body Can Dance 2. There is also not much with the story which goes on through the predictable lines. You can find too many things which comes quite natural to the movies as things start with the late mother’s wishes, goes on through difficulties in finding a teacher and team along with the financial difficulties to finally overcome them all to reach Las Vegas. Then there are also the extra additions which were rather expected, including injury to a member and some disease for another. There are also too many unnecessary problems created with the strange love triangle, one member’s tendency to run away and a number of off-stage fights with another team. Some of these things were seriously not needed. Also, the best dance sequence ends with the first half and it is not really the best thing to happen for the audience.

Performers of the soul :: Unlike the first movie, this one has a well-known cast. ABCD didn’t have that big a release here, and those bigger theatres didn’t have the movie in them even though the Tamil dubbed version did make an appearance here and there. But it is not the case with ABCD 2 as it was widely released and crowd has flocked to the theatres. Varun Dhawan does an okay job as the protagonist here. There is nothing special here but he is indeed good with the moves which he proves in this movie. Shraddha Kapoor is a joy to watch in the movie too, as she does some of those memorable movements – she has given it a lot, as it seems. We know how good Prabhu Deva can be in a movie like this, and it is once again proven. The supporting dancers are excellent as expected, and even the foreign actors do fine work.

Soul exploration :: The movie’s basic idea remains what one expects it to be – to have the lesser known or rather notorious dancers who work at random places for wages come together to make a big impact on a stage which is so huge that it would remain near impossible in the beginning, but so close by the end. The second half actually runs through things after adding some unnecessary sequences and in the end, there is no exceptional performance, and muscle show is the best that can be managed. After watching the trailer, what I was looking for was that dance sequence which was already over in the first half. A rise in the level isn’t there from the concluded half, and that hurts. A great finale was needed, even though “the stumble element” about which further talk would be a spoiler, could still prevail.

How it finishes :: We have just finished watched the Kannada and Malayalam versions of Mythri which told the story of another underdog, and here they go Step Up 3D with the underdogs of dancing. We are so much attached to such stories that even if someone tells us a story which is not real, we might fall for it. There are many motivational classes which find time to talk about one of them, even though there will be options to get them written from their lack of existence rather than reproduced from the presence. ABCD 2 is sure to work with most of the audience who are looking for entertainment, as even with its length and all the melodrama, the movie manages to make sure that there is not much drag. Whatever your favourite genre is, you have to appreciate the dance sequences and the effort which is put in here.

Release date: 19th June 2015
Running time: 147 minutes
Directed by: Remo D’Souza
Starring: Prabhu Deva, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Lauren Gottlieb, Dharmesh Yelande, Punit Pathak, Raghav Juyal, Pooja Batra, Prachi Shah, Jack Samuel Gill, Tisca Chopra, Kapil Sharma, Ganesh Acharya, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Remo D’Souza, Jineet Rath, Pooja Batra, Terence Lewis, Sushant Pujari, Pravin Bhosale

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Ek Villain

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: Didn’t someone say that Riteish Deshmukh was very goood in this movie?

Vampire Bat :: Just a little better than Arjen Robben with a dive, I guess.

Vampire Owl :: If it is better than most of the football actors, we should surely watch it because it will be worthy of many awards.

Vampire Bat :: I heard it was just like I Saw the Devil.

Vampire Owl :: Well, I didn’t see that saw.

Vampire Bat :: Neither did I.

Vampire Owl :: Then I would say that watching this villany is necessary.

Vampire Bat :: As long as he doesn’t bite.

Vampire Owl :: That shouldn’t be a problem as this is not in 3D.

Vampire Bat :: Shraddha Kapoor in 3D was actually too good to be true!

[Enters the movie hall].

What is it about? :: Guru (Sidharth Malhotra) is a former gangster and assassin who has retired from his dangerous life of crime to live with his new found love Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor), but things take a big turn as she is murdered by an unknown assailant who enters her home, uses a screw driver and pushes her through the window. A CBI officer Aditya (Shaad Randhawa) takes charge of the situation being aware of what the former assassin is capable of, but that doesn’t prevent Guru from going after the clues. He first go to his former boss Ceaser (Remo Fernandes), but realizes that he didn’t have anything to do with the same. As he sits in a church looking at the crucifix, he notices a boy coming up and presenting a few of his toys to the statue which involved something from his house. By following the boy, he reaches the place of Rakesh Mahadkar (Riteish Deshmukh) who is the henpecked husband of Sulochana (Aamna Sharif) and an unsuccesful employee who is always scolded both at home and the office. But he doesn’t seem to be capable of anything like that, as he is always the victim, not someone who can harm even a mosquito. But such a visage was never going to confuse a professional killer like Guru, or was it?

The defence of Ek Villain :: The cast remains strong in the movie, especially the male leads, and it is good enough to draw the audience. The fact that it has enough material to work on from the South Korean flick is more of an advantage as not many people have watched that one. The movie successfully establishes a nice environment to work on, right in the beginning, and the point they stop at the interval is pretty nice. The romantic side has its good moments, most of them related to God and otherwise when they are in a song. Even though not really the kind of thing that suits a movie like this, the songs are actually good and are worthy of being in one’s USB device in the car. The cinematography is nice and the world around are nicely captured to the delight of the viewer’s eye. There is not much slow motion used and it is a good thing because there was going to be tendency. Our hero surely has some nice moments in a mental asylum, a hospital and a railway station where he scores in style. The thrills are mostly around our villain though, and the message of good being rewarded and bad being punished, along with the plight of the common man in a society which has nothing for him are nicely shown.

Claws of flaw :: The movie has not much idea about how the suspense is to be maintained and the thrills are to be boosted, as we know the killer too early as well as his motives. The story could have developed better, especially as the material of I Saw the Devil already available and ready to inspire. The path taken by the narrative to go back and forth doesn’t work that well with this one either, as this is the kind of movie which should work when the things to be revealed are not hidden and vice versa. Even the killings are taken care of without too much violence, may be fearing that the family audience will stay away. The director’s earlier venture of Murder 2 could handle the darker shades better, but not this one which tries to be too cute, even cuter than its own heroine. Shraddha Kapoor kind of ruins some significant light moments with a certain kind of overacting which makes one wonder if she is playing a mentally challenged girl, but not all the time for even she has her very small moments. Riteish’s character is also not without its flaws, but it is him who manages to handle it well within the limitations. He could have surely had better dialogues, after all he can do this villain stuff nicely.

Performers of the soul :: Among the star cast, Riteish Deshmukh was the one whose performance stood above the rest, not by much, but enough to be the star of the movie. I did expect some transformation like Vikram in Anniyan on a smaller scale, but that was not to be, but still his different character had moments to remember for the viewers. Sidharth Malhotra was good with his romantic side and just a little behind in the action scenes, but still lacked a bit in energy. Shraddha Kapoor is cute, and seems to think that she is acting in a possible Ashiqui 3, with that hangover which she still seems to show with some Ashiqui 2. I was confident that she will be a lot better in this movie, but it was sad to see that she decided to stick to the stereotype – it does suit her immensely, but not the character she was playing nor the style of the movie. I was particularly impressed with how well Aamna Sharif did so well with her role opposite our bad guy, the first time I was seeing this lady on the screen. Prachi Desai’s item number was pretty much beautiful. Remo Fernandes was okay in the smaller screen presence that he had, and Shaad Randhawa could have surely done nice with some more to do on screen.

Soul exploration :: One major question remains about what lead to the creation of the villain of Ek Villain. If it is about our hero-villain, we can say that it was the childhood situations, but for our real complete villain, it is the wickedness of the so called civilized section of the society who finds it nice to take on the people who are not as fortunate as they are. As said in Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”, and this is the situation that becomes the cause, and this inequality in his own class gives rise to this one serial killer who murders people who used bad words against him or even accuses him of not being good enough, including the situations when he just feels so due to his mood. The need for the words of love from his wife despite her yelling at him all the time becomes his anger which he brings out with the murders rather than being angry at her or anyone else. It is the need to get rid of the frustration which brings the villain to the point of no return, and changes him from a simple man to a serial killer, but as most of the other movies, here too bad deeds never go unpunished, and good deeds have some advantages. The movie does assert the need to be good and not to be abusive or use bad words at others, especially those who struggle to succeed in life.

How it finishes :: Ek Villain had the usual Bollywood things added to an otherwise rough and tough theme, which could have been avoided. There is one villain in every love story as they say, but this is still not a love story, and it surely should not have gone through that path – romance is not always a necessity, as it can always make way for many other things according to the genre and style of the movie. In a more violent and bloody movie, the thing more needed might be a screw driver, one would say. Zinda which released years ago had a better idea about it, which is why we can still afford to watch it with Oldboy of South Korea as well as Oldboy of the United States of America. Murder 2 with similar theme also holds an advantage over this. As Ek Villain had to make it romantic in its base just like the Malayalam movie Anwar did while copying The Traitor from Hollywood, it lost its most important part, which was the generation of fear which had to rise above everything else including romance. But with the success that the movie have managed in places with the exception of this part of India, one has to say that it did work in favour of them even as not for the same as a work. Still, next time may be the can innovate a lot more when coming up with such stuff.

Release date: 27th June 2014
Running time: 130 minutes
Directed by: Mohit Suri
Starring: Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Aamna Sharif, Kamaal R Khan, Remo Fernandes, Shaad Randhawa, Prachi Desai

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Bewakoofiyaan

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Tennyson

Why the Bewakoofiyaan? :: Now that should be a valid question because this was not among those movies which I was looking forward to watch. If there was any Hollywood movie or a hyped Malayalam movie releasing this weekend, I would have surely skipped this with so much ease. Neither the trailer nor the much talked about bikini scene of Sonam Kapoor actually created any interest in this movie. But if we consider the talks about the Cricket World Cup T20 affecting this movie’s business, it can only be partially true in case of a failure to prove false. I am pretty sure that cricket and movies can’t be considered in the same league. Cricket is just another sport (or the least significant of them, thanks to the match-fixing, overdose of money and the retirement of all players who were role-models as IPL has been successfully crowned as the good WWE’s evil twin brother), and movie is an art (even as there have been a lot of high-grossing movies from Bollywood in 2013 itself which attempts to prove that there is a lot of trash); so in this situation when there are not many other movies releasing to challenge this one, Bewakoofiyaan will have only itself to blame.

What is it about? :: It is the love story of Mayera Sehgal (Sonam Kapoor) and Mohit Chaddha (Ayushmann Khurana) who have been in love for quite a long time. In the beginning itself, we come to know that Mohit was promoted and now has a salary above rupees sixty thousand per month. Mayera earns more, and her father VK Sehgal (Rishi Kapoor) is an IAS officer with lots of influence in the police and the government. He is a strict father who wishes to get his daughter married to a rich man so that she can get whatever she wants. But unfortunately, she is in love with an orphan who earns less than what happens to be her salary, and Sehgal can’t accept him. So he puts his future son-in-law in a probation period as he checks his records and keeps a track of his life so that he can understand if he is any good for his daughter. At the same time, he hopes that he can somehow rejects the guy who seems not good enough for his daughter. The movie is all about how the relationship between the three progresses as the situation worsens.

The defence of Bewakoofiyaan :: There are not many things that the movie can boast about. But it does hold onto its mediocrity with such power it doesn’t end up being boring despite not being on the interesting side for long. There are no particular moments which are exceptional or too bad. The movie is like a straight line and it doesn’t go above that standard which it sets in the beginning. The flaws are there, but they can be forgiven up-to an extent as this movie takes no risk, thus keeping everything under control, no bringing any fatal blow on itself. The songs are just about average. The message of love reigning over money is there, even as it works only partially, and most of the time one is left to wonder about all the relationships in the movie, may be with the exception of one very minute love story between the workers of a coffee shop. But there is still the love, and once again they say that money has no real significance in front of love, and there comes the morality tale’s tail and it wags.

The Claws of flaw :: There are always movies like Besharam which eats and breathes flaws in bulk and thrives on nothing else. But Bewakoofiyaan doesn’t go that way even when the tendency is always there. The plot’s predictability is the first thing that keeps pulling the movie back, as we have seen such stories so many times that such overdose can make Barnabas Collins lose his faith in eternal love and burn copies of Romeo and Juliet. The emotional element is indeed weak, as the so called love separates just in the name of a rock show and shoes. Then everything just comes into place after a sudden transformation from the future father-in-law out of nowhere. This lack of ideas and innovations makes brings to us the makers’ need to inflate the movie further. The funny moments doesn’t work fully and the laughter is limited. In that case, the relief is Rishi Kapoor who handles that side with care, even as we know that there could have been so many more moments created with a story like this. I would say, use that stupidity in the title to create a big advantage!

Performers of the soul :: The first impression that one might get after hearing about the movie might be that it is the movie of Sonam Kapoor, and there is the need to look out for her. We wish that there would be something special coming up, but there is nothing. She ends up being just the third important character in the story in a movie which is all about her getting married to the man she loves, and the one thing she manages is to looks awesome throughout the two hours. Ayushmann Khurrana does well though, in a character which doesn’t seem to being anything new. We can’t say that they haven’t tried to bring the title of the movie into the plot though. But the whole thing is taken over by Rishi Kapoor more than anybody else. He remains funny throughout the movie, even as the character can’t escape from being irritating at times. We have seen better father-in-laws who wish to save their daughters from making the wrong choice, but as far as this one is concerned, it is the actor who makes it more interesting. He only gets better by the time the movie gets closer to the end.

Soul exploration :: There is question of choosing money or love, and our characters seem to choose both of them at one or the other point of time. Still, love is asserted again and again, and somehow the hero and heroine manages to stick together until that one stupid fight which lands out of nowhere. The father-in-law is too much into money until he suddenly transforms. If the message is about how minute a thing money is, that is still a fine message, in a world where Gandhiji works only paper. The movie also touches the dignity of labour and the value of true friendship, and the fact that nothing is forever; they are even doubtful about the couple happily living ever after as they write so in the end. As far as reckless spending is concerned, this doesn’t work that well as the Malayalam movie Diamond Necklace or even as much as London Bridge, as that side is too much eclipsed by the romantic side. But one can’t disagree to the fact that some lessons might have been learned by the protagonists and there is a lot more in store.

How it finishes :: My birthday was this week, just a few days ago and my desire to watch a movie on the day was finally fulfilled with this one. Yes, I am giving a certain amount of birthday bonus to this movie, as there would have been no birthday movie for me if it wasn’t for this one. Yes, there are no better movies which released this weekend. The number of theatre going audience has gone down, but still the fact remains that they have failed to release movies like Prisoners, Oldboy, Ender’s Game, I Frankenstein and Non-stop here; when they don’t release such movies which can bring audience, and instead did come up with movies like After Earth and Mortal Instruments: City of Bones last year, there is no doubt that they don’t know what the viewers want. Then there is 300: Rise of an Empire with the most shows in a multiplex which will be abandoned by families; so this is your week, Bewakoofiyaan – hold on to it, and if you can stick to the screens and the opinions won’t go too bad, you can come out well; after all you are still better than movies like Chennai Express, Krrish 3 and Dhoom 3.

Release date: 14th March 2014
Running time: 118 minutes
Directed by: Nupur Asthana
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor

@ Cemetery Watch
✠The Vampire Bat.

Highway

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Tennyson

The eternal wait :: The one question that I had to ask myself is “On the second day of October, what did the movie Besharam give to me”? It did take away seventy rupees, but I am not talking about that. The answer is a lack of interest in Hindi movies since that Gandhi Jayanthi had come up with terror which had me watch no Hindi movie at all for almost five months (yes, not even on the television). So, it was a necessity that I wait for sometime so that such disaster won’t happen too soon. But there is no denying the fact that I almost watched Jai Ho, but the show was housefull. There are not many movies that have been as hyped as Highway despite having no big male star right in the middle of the story. I always knew that the best thing would be to watch my next Bollywood movie in the form of Highway rather than any other. There have been so much talks about this movie like “what is it going to be?”, “what story will it tell?”, “Alia Bhatt should be so awesome in it, so its a sure watch?”, “isn’t it about Stockholm syndrome?” and so on. The Vampire Bat had heard so much or rather too much about the movie, and he finally decided to fly to the theatre on a motor-bike.

What is it about? :: Veera Tripathi (Alia Bhatt) is kidnapped just before her wedding as she goes on a night ride with her fiancee trying to keep away the pressures and tension of the big function. She is kidnapped by a group of criminals as they stop at a petrol pump. But as the gang realizes that she is the daughter of a rich and powerful man with links to the government, police and the army, they decide to cancel their plans. But Mahabir Bhati (Randeep Hooda) is not ready to give up as he takes her on a road trip away from the place so that they won’t be tracked. Even as she is initially bound and gagged by them, Veera gets more and more comfortable with her captors, and a bond develops between Mahabir and her. She feels free even as she is a captive, and feels so happy. She even refuses to escape when there is chance and feels that she should be with him for so much longer. She herself says that she doesn’t want the journey to end, as she has no desire to go back or go where the journey ends. But how long till her people finds them and the travel diary is put to a quick end?

The defence of Highway :: Most of the Keralites should remember a pseudo-travel movie with the long name Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi and a big drag which begins with about fifteen minutes into it and ends only when the story finishes. Highway is far ahead of that one in almost all aspects, the most important ones being the acting and the visuals. Highway is a visually superior movie with its awesome locations, especially as it has succeeded in capturing the beauty of the paradise which is Kashmir. The beauty of nature becomes more and more joyful to watch as the movie moves on to the latter part of the second half, and it gets stronger and stronger by the time it reaches the end. Its messages of finding oneself and reaching beyond one’s fear are also stronger than ever. It’s use of the two protagonists, a man and woman, both having traumatic childhood works so well to touch our hearts. There is so much honesty in the way these are portrayed too, as there is no addition of stupid masala which makes worthless movies super-hits.

The claws of flaw :: The movie drags a lot, and shows potential to keep dragging. From the beginning itself, the movie seems to make the viewers feel that there is not much to come, even as it is wrong. The character of the lady protagonist is rather too far-fetched to make one believe. She seems rather crazy at times (loosely reminding us of the semi-kidnapped lady protagonist of the Malayalam movie Kilukkam), and her attachment towards a criminal who keeps threatening her comes rather too soon. Except for one or two songs which are okay, the music fails to get the attention of the viewers, and there are times when they come when not needed. There is also the use of other languages or may be variations of Hindi which was rather difficult to follow. There was the need for subtitles at least in it comes rather South. The movie takes one away from any kind of usual entertainment which is usually looked for in such a flick. It won’t give anyone the exaggeration that they might look for in a love story as this keeps that side plain and simple.

Performers of the soul :: Well, most of us won’t identify the faces in the movie other than that of Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt. The former (he is the reason why I lament missing John Day which had only one late night show here – who cares for good thrillers with non-superstars who can act, right?) comes up with a powerful performance of brilliance, even as there are less dialogues for him; we can strongly believe that this portrayal by him will be appreciated. We can surely expect a lot more from him. Alia Bhatt is there as the centre of everything, right from the beginning to the end. Even as there is some struggle, she seems to be custom made for the role, seeming to be in so much ease with her character. There are occasions when one would wonder if she does rather too much or a lot more than needed, but that should have come with the character. It is hard to believe that this is only her second movie, and I had missed her first one, Student of the Year. She remains incredibly cute throughout the movie and makes it impossible for any other actress to come up with a better performance in such a role soon. She is so dynamic and full of energy that just her presence keeps the whole thing working so well.

Soul exploration :: The movie is the story of two people whose lives get connected by just one act of crime, a kidnap. It comes up with a lot of things to think about, and it remains so close to being a movie of the soul even if not there completely. Even as not all of them remain close to the truths about life, it is evident that there is a clear attempt to bring to the scene as much humanity as possible; not without its troubles, not in the absence of the good side, yet not abandoning the darker side which tries to get closer to the human soul with more power than ever before. Stockholm syndrome is explored from one side while it continues to be a travel diary as a whole. There are realizations being made about life, and it changes both the kidnapper and the kidnapped in a journey which goes on for kilometres. As Saint Augustine of Hippo says “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”.

How it finishes :: As the movie for which we have been long waiting for, Highway mostly delivers, thanks to the performances of the leading actors, the visuals and the message that it delivers. Despite the drag and the occasional inability to connect, the movie thrives in simplicity and that humanity which are its own Kraken and Leviathan in the huge ocean of movies this weekend. It’s emptiness is not of the soul, but of the physical world, and that is one void that everyone can afford to avoid. As Robert Frost says, when two roads diverge, you have to choose the one less traveled, and here it is Highway, and even as it might not go as expected, this one makes the difference, and there is no doubt about. But let me tell you, happiness is highly subjective, just like the opinions on this movie seems to be – ask Alia Bhatt’s character in Highway and she reiterates money can’t buy you happiness, or even anything close to that. So, if you are making a choice, think about all these factors mentioned above.

Release date: 21st February 2014
Running time: 133 minutes
Directed by: Imtiaz Ali
Starring: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt, Saharsh Kumar Shukla, Pradeep Nagar, Durgesh Kumar, Arjun Malhotra

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Murder III

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Tennyson

The Vampire Bat has never been the fan of the original movie, Murder – but he was forced to change that one opinion to think about following the series with Murder 2. That made sure that this was going to be a series which has the worst in the beginning itself. It doesn’t matter how good people might think it was, it was never a good copy from Hollywood. The second was more close to glory as Prashant Narayanan came up with one of the best performances witnessed for such a long time. It was both gruesome and awesome at the same time. Then, the question would be about Murder 3 right now and the answer might be somewhere in between the first and the second of the series. It could never rise upto the second, but still creates a better impact than the first. It is supposed to be the remake of the Colombian thriller The Hidden Face, but at no point does it gives a feeling that it does not belong to this part of the world, for it has been changed well enough. It might still seem to defy logic, but that is something which is to be forgiven to attain the maximum effect of the needed horror.

Any disappointment about the movie has to be left to the first half, which is a little strange – it has a photographer who has turned alcholic after losing his girlfriend, along with his new girlfriend. He is a young man who just lost his future wife and has brought another one out of nowhere; not really inappropriate for the Murder series, but still something which tells the viewer a little about the protagonist, the new-age Icarus whose interests are as unlimited as his ambitions. He has his wings, but the question might be about the path through which he is flying, and also about his other interests while moving so close to that fire-starter who can burn more than just a few things of wax. He might have to think again about all these, and it is doubtful when he will have the opportunity to do so. Meanwhile, his first girlfriend is more of the one who sacrifices her own interests. Now that would make the question of her leaving him obsolete. That is a fact which would keep the cops on his tail, investigating about his hands in her disappearance. But knowing them as a loving couple, not many would doubt his involvement in her absence.

His second girlfriend is more of a Lady Icarus, from one angle, even as she is shown more as a sympathizer in the first half. There is no point where one can be sure about this one character though. She is not really a static character, but still not someone whos progress can be easily traced. There are events happening all around, indicating the presence of some supernatural force and a mystery that surrounds the protagonist. Most of it just seem to happen just for the sake of frightening, until most of the twists and further explanations are done in the second half of the movie. It brings light to what lies inside the shadows of a world which looks too simple from outside. It brings two worlds and combine them into one; there is one inside the mirror and the other outside; both human, one free and the other imprisoned – but the souls of both might be in their own prison. One of them is not seen and the other is there for everyone to see. A reversal of roles is a possibility which is attempted soon enough, what lies beneath the depths of the hearts of two women and one man is difficult to know.

The whole story revolves around the three people and the love triangle. While the first half almost made a mess of it with a kind of “romantic horror” or “horror romance” which was neither here nor there, the relations get intense and further explained in the second half. It suddenly surprises and even shocks the viewer out of nowhere, at a moment when it seemed to be running out of everything. It starts climbing from there, towards a good, justified climax and a fine finish. That wouldn’t make the first half bad though, as it never really failed in a collateral manner even in the beginning stages as some might have thought it to be. There are shades of what might happen in the second half right from the beginning itself. The essence of mystery never leaves the little world of this movie. It leaves some scratches for the audience to be in the hunt for the mystery. The creepy house and the strange surroundings are supported by a bath tub, bathroom sink and the shower acting in a supernatural way.

The most exciting question of the movie would be if there is a murder which would justify the title? The second movie had lots of bloody murders, but this one is more of a psychological murder. There is the murder of faith and trust, and there is the possiblity of one or two murders which might have happened in the end – that is an ambiguity, an ending which could be interpreted in more than one way. It might be an end with the death of two, death of one and the imprisonment of the other, or with nothing too bad happening in the mansion. Love continues to be a matter of life, death, horror, mental disorder and everything else, and its role is above the supernatural yet again. It might reach even bigger heights of the mind in a possible Murder 4. What we see in the movie is that redemption is attained by the ones who has taken them out of the attention of fake, carnal love. The rest are left to feel the heat. Well, there is beauty to the heat, and gorgeousness to the horror – not one, but two; for there is no way to deny that.

Sara Loren and Aditi Rao Hydari has made this one more of a movie centred on two women, almost entirely different, but still has their lives centred on one man. The former keeps the first half running with her stunning looks while the latter runs the second half. The female characters run from sympathy to seduction and possessiveness to torment, a journey which is independent from one another, but not entirely separated in the sequence of events. Both of them begin as simple victims to an infatuation which drives them to one man and the creepy mansion. It is only a matter time before the love-birds would be no less than the vultures of selfishness. As it continues to bring more and more questions into the heads of the viewers, the more successful it becomes. But still, there are the missing parts, for the movie has its own low points where its horror becomes kind of laughable. But that is something worth forgiving for the total effect, especially for the minutes towards the end of the movie.

Thinking about the most talked-about side of the movie, this is not exactly the erotic thriller. There is sensousness and the scarcity in the department of clothing could be taken into account. But this actually takes the elements of relationships and mental status to the new heights instead of the physical relationships. This time, it gets closer to the emotions even if the skinshow never loses its role in the movie. The philosophy might be mostly hidden, but the absence of a true villain or a true hero is the evidence of the fact that this is more open to the discussions than ever, unlike the previous two movies of the series. That adds to the absence of Emraan Hashmi as a new thing to the series. In simple words, what Murder 3 has done is that it has provided some proof that there is hope around here for the horror genre even without ghosts and serial killers; there is future in many forms, and this future is more than just stunning.

Release date: 15th February 2013
Running time: 120 minutes
Directed by: Vishesh Bhatt
Starring: Randeep Hooda, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sara Loren, Rajesh Shringarpure, Shekhar Shukla