CITYLIGHTS: Tragic tale of shattered dreams…and viewer’s disappointment! [2.5/5]

Remakes are not alien to the ‘Bhatt’ camp but when this giant movie production company selected one small but beautiful British indie film ‘METRO MANILA’ to bring on the table and later on, decided to rope in Hansal Mehta & Rajkumar Rao of last year’s most confident social-biographical film SHAHID to helm the responsibility to recreate; it looked like another feather in the hat and a sure-shot winner all the way. But Bollywood never ceases to surprise; or to disappoint in this case.

CITYLIGHTS sadly remains an average thriller with some promising scenes that make your heart bleed in depression, bloom in well-captured moments of togetherness and a savior in competent shoes of Rajkumar Rao- one of the few best things about the film.

After losing his shop in local market to the loan sharks, Deepak Singh [Rajkumar Rao] with his family is forced to migrate from Rajasthan to the city of dreams Mumbai. The search for a better lifestyle and a good prospect of earning his livelihood soon throw them in the gloomy, dark and depressing world of reality. Poverty is the biggest curse one carries and one should get it off the shoulder by any means and with all the efforts; guides his colleague at work [Maanav Kaul in a terrific presence] in a security agency. Together they seek the impossible looking road to redemption.

A tragic tale of dreams getting shattered and compromises taking over the hopes, CITYLIGHTS officially borrows the plot and the screenplay for the most parts from METRO MANILA. Kudos to the makers for giving the due credit in the said department upfront, loud & clear! This is something you don’t see often from the ‘Bhatts’. Even then, though Hansal Mehta does leave his mark in adopting it according to the Indian sensibilities and emotional connectivity in a complete manner, he certainly couldn’t refrain himself from falling into a much-comforted zone filled with standard ingredients for a Bollywood film. The songs that keep coming in chunks and bits, the gratuitously put love-making scenes with ongoing smooches as if we were in another ‘Bhatt-Emran Hashmi’ association and a completely messy-clumsy climax scene are enough to ruin the possibilities of coming up with a deserving descendant of SHAHID.

On the positive side, it is only and only the performances that stand out at a respectable position. Rajkumar Rao is in top form. He successfully inherits the mannerism, dialect and the vulnerability of a small town simpleton. His presence on screen alone is very fulfilling. Patralekha as his wife shines in her début role. This plain Jane has the sparks of a confident performer. The veteran theatre icon Maanav Kaul is a pleasant addition to the cast. A flawless performance is something he would never miss to deliver. Special mention to Rashmi Singh for her contribution in the consequential lyrics that gel well with the emotions characters carry on screen.

SHAHID being the benchmark for Mehta, CITYLIGHTS fails to triumph over the expectations one would have. A less honest effort to bring out deeply depressing reality of today’s times! Glimpse can be seen but is it good enough to even compromise? I won’t, may be because I have seen the original. Disappointed! [2.5/5]

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST: Entertainment just can’t get any bigger, any better! [4/5]

The most loved mutant series X-MEN returns to its original generator after 11 long years and the influence, empathy and compassion between the two grow like they were never separated. No wonder, Bryan Singer helmed X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST turns out to be the most entertaining affair of the lot. It is also an adrenaline-charged reunion of the older and newer members of the mutant gang known for their magical, mystical & marvellous powers. Together they ensure a wholesome entertainer you’ll cherish long after leaving the theatre. Action speaks louder than words but action here in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is more amusing, enjoyable and flattering but without eclipsing the power of words.

In the futuristic world of endless possibilities, heroic mutants headed by the older professor X [Patrick Stewart] and Magneto [Ian McKellan] are being hunt and gunned down by army of Robotic Giants called The Sentinels supposedly developed by the gene and blood-cells of Raven-the Mystique, played by the enigmatic Jennifer Lawrence. The threat upon the very existence of mankind and mutants are constantly getting thicken and the only way out is to rectify the mistakes done in the past by taking the much fascinating time-travel route. The volunteer chosen is the edgy & impatient Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman. Now, he has to deal with the younger versions of his associates who are still ambitiously driven by their own set of differences and unaware of the fact that eventually they had to be one at one point of time.

This journey from future to past sees ample of electrifying moments to keep you constantly on the edge of your seats. The engaging plot and unpredictability in the writing make sure you never have a dull moment even for once. Rather, the story moves forward and gets unfold in a manner that the 2 hour duration of the film looks absolutely jam-packed with much of thrills and chills. Of the lot, the best is when Peter aka Quicksilver [Played by Evan Peters] decides to help Charles Xavier [James McAvoy] and Wolverine release Erik [Michael Fassbender] in a prison-break in an almost impossible Pentagon. In a lyrical representation of how the ‘blink and you miss’ fastest of the all Quicksilver reacts in fractions of a second to this particular sequence, you are bound to be left awe-struck and overwhelmingly impressed by the ultra-slow-motion technique and the fascinating music score over it to double it up the whole experience. In another, you see Erik using his epic superpowers to thrash and lift up an entire sports stadium in the air and later, to make it a guarding wall around Washington DC. This is as big as Chris Nolan creates in his super science fictions. Absolutely breath-taking!

If anything that does get unsatisfying to some extent, is when you see many of your favourite characters like Storm played by Halle Berry getting side-lined with a not-so-evolved brief role but then possibly this is not the film for them to be remembered for. They had their own share in the previous and hopefully will get another in next. With the layered emotionally dehydrated and hilarious drunken act of James McAvoy as younger professor X, the witty reactions and one-liners of Wolverine, the action sequences involving the tiff between Erik and Raven, you shouldn’t really ask for more reasons. It tastes as good as it smells. Entertainment just can’t get any bigger, any better! [4/5]  

HEROPANTI: Save the saving grace ‘Tiger’ for his next! [2/5]

In the dead core of age-old insipid recipe for a perfect Bollywood love-story, if anything in Sabbir Khan’s ‘HEROPANTI’ really looks garden-fresh besides the lead pair, is one comically emotional scene that makes a highlight; sadly much later in the film.

When Prakash Raj, playing a dominating father of the bride [Not for once but twice] and a heartless ‘Jaat’ crime-lord bound by his own caste-procedurals finds out that his second daughter is also planning to elope with someone on her wedding-day alike his elder daughter, he decides to accompany the possible guy for the rest of wedding to ensure things happen his own way. With a father trying his best to be not ashamed again in the eyes of his own men, this scene alone dares to take the plot in a region hadn’t been visited before. Sad part is, it comes at a point when you had lost all your hopes to see anything good in the movie.

The launching vehicle of Jackie Shroff’s cute, adorable and much flexible son Tiger, ‘HEROPANTI’ is nowhere close to be fresh, new and novel in terms of content. You can foresee the events far from a mile. Girl elopes on the D-day. Father with his goons takes boy’s friends in custody to know whereabouts of the couple. One of the friends falls for the second daughter…and the rest is, showcasing lots & lots of muscle-power, abruptly put love songs and a pinch of the great Indian emotional drama, a shameless rip-off from century’s most lovable DDLJ.

Film rides high with Tiger’s stretchy elastic body-show in action sequences and dance numbers but when it comes to move the muscles responsible for expressing emotions; he definitely looks clueless for most parts. His never-ending effort to be ever-smiling on screen often lands him in fumbled dialogue delivery and bad lip-syncing to songs. From verbal sexist comments to acts of physical torture, there is constant offence against women shown on regular interval. And it hurts. Badly. If that’s not all, you’ll also find everyone just keep taking names incorrectly. ‘Rakesh’ becomes ‘Rajesh’ for more than a couple of times, but who wants to get into these small flaws when you have bigger issues to notice.

With dashing looks and chiselled physique, Tiger charms and shows off an impressive screen presence but has a lot bigger room for improvisation in acting department. I wish his next to have more than just backflips, splits, summersaults…and I am talking about acting here. Kriti Sanon, surprisingly makes a much confident debut despite having a tinier room to roam around. Prakash Raj plays an over-dramatic father of the bride, as if smitten by the Karan Johar bug.

At the end, the film of such monotonous graph gets benefited by the sparkling presence of Tiger Shroff but Tiger sure deserved better ignition to take a flying start. Why on earth does every star-kid need a love-story as his first outing, that too of the same congested box of dying rules? With 2 hour 26 min of duration, it is best to realise that you have more active cells in the brain than the writer and maker of the film do. Listening to its chartbusters on your favourite FM radio station could lure you to rush to the nearest multiplex. Beware! Save the saving grace ‘Tiger’ for his next! [2/5]

THE XPOSE: One of the cheesiest suspense thrillers, aka unintentional comedy!! [2/5]

Fans who have had regular access to gossipy magazines like ‘Mayapuri’ and ‘Stardust’ would agree more that bollywood film industry has always been blessed with cheesy, salty and spicy ‘inside’ news pieces on link-ups, break-ups, regular tiffs between stars, catfights in parties and rivalries that run longer than the film on box-office. Now, if someone from those unsighted admirers would have made a film like ‘THE XPOSE’ taking references from here and there, it would have been easily an ignorable offence…but coming from Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, a veteran himself from the industry, it is a shameful cold-blooded crime to present all of it in a hasty, half-baked and horrifically bad light.

THE XPOSE, set in glamorously stylish 60’s, is a fictional memoir inspired by real life incidents happened in bollywood. So you have a moody, egoistic and bigmouthed superstar Ravi Kumar [Played by who else? The Himesh Reshammiya], a character modeled on yesteryear Actor Rajkumar famous for his attitude and many regular interferences on set suitable to his self-proclaimed image. How can you not find the connection when he compliments one of his co-stars on her dress that he could use the same for his house as curtains??

Then, there are a couple of sex-symbols who catfights in parties and bears strong resemblance from real-life contemporaries Zeenat Aman & Parveen Bobby. There is also a top music director KD [India’s latest sensation Yo Yo Honey Singh playing someone like RD Burman] who can sell the same tune to two different filmmakers. If you could do an elephant-eyed examination, you will also find visible suggestions of Sunil Dutt saving Nargis’s life from a fire mishap on set, a publishing house giant replicating Nari Hira of Stardust and hidden interest of underworld in the business. All that and an unfortunate death of a leading actress [Divya Bharti?? Who knows!!]! Everyone is under scanner and the frisky & frolicky fiction takes over the touch of reality!

THE XPOSE is stylish and sensational but cheaply designed, undeveloped ‘insider’s view’ to encash people’s thirst for scandalous ‘behind the curtain’ news. It gets easier if you already in sync with those intimations and indications before hand in order to relate and rejoice but as an outsider, you will always miss the punch here. Watching Himesh delivering lines like, “Main jo bol deta hoon, wohi script ho jaati hai” and “Style pe aap kaam karo, attitude pe maine bachpan se kaam kiya hai” makes you giggle and chuckle at the first but soon you will feel the juice getting either too sweet or too salty to enjoy. Baby-faced Yo Yo Honey Singh looks fresh for the screen and bearable when lip-syncing his own songs. Newcomers Sonali Raut and Zoya Afroz do it as been told and predicted. Adil Hussain brings some credibility in his shorter but smarter performance. By the way, the story gets narrated by Irrfan Khan playing a blackmarketeer at cinema-halls. No explanations would be enough to understand why this special appearance??

With nasal-toned singing, ‘ice-dream khaoongi, Kashmir jaoongi’ kind of inanity in lyrics, average performance, distasteful writing and a suspense that falls more in the grid of unplanned-unintentional-accidental comedy, THE XPOSE is one of the cheesiest suspense thriller that can be watchable if you are allowed to make loud comments on its idiocy in theatre. It’s the only way out to relieve yourself of the load it throws on your intellect. Sadly, multiplex culture doesn’t pursue that any longer! So, better leave it for a home-viewing! [2/5]      

GODZILLA: Monstrous Homage to good old-times! Revisit and relive… [3.5/5]

The creature porno is probably one of the very first impressions I had of Hollywood. As small-town kids, then JURASSIC PARK was our only point of high-on-excitement source of entertainment on VHS. GODZILLA (’98), though wasn’t much ably equipped & remarkable to overshadow Steven Spielberg’s classic, was the second most popular in the segment. Evolution is what time offers to the mankind. 16 years later, this mammoth creature known for mass destruction and damages that bring your guts out is again on loose, only to bigger the excitement and better the entertainment.

Gareth Edwards’ GODZILLA works mostly on the fear of unknown. You never actually see him rising to its fullest till the later part of the movie. You’re always made sure of its presence being felt around from the first frame but as quick as the plot goes thicken, Godzilla’s found track gets all hazy and blurred with shifting focus from this one legendary monster to a couple […and a quite romantic one] of new additions; gigantic Mutos. Mutos that find their energy-boosters in radioactive materials and are capable enough to gulp down all the electricity, Las Vegas would need to produce its glamorously lit shine & sheen.

The winged male Muto and the mechanical-looking female Muto must get stopped before they could breed another set of Mutos to create massive destruction of human civilization. The only way out is nuclear detonation but hold your horses as this newer version of GODZILLA is also a gifted surprise. So if you are going in with pre-conceived expectations of having just another monster-movie, you might come out enjoying a super-hero flick. And this super-hero is none other than the age-old bulky-scaly Godzilla!

Where the second part is mainly dedicated to the nerve-wracking, nail-biting and terrifying final combat between the three monsters, the first half is quite a slow effort to build up the most frightening situation mankind could ever face. Graphically constructed Godzilla is definitely bigger, better and scarier than its previous version. With the roar filled with angst, the thumping walk and the immeasurable scale of its huge built; this is the most evolved creature seen in recent times. If you could sustain the boredom at places while assembling all the excitement towards the much awaited intensifying of the leading force, you would sure find all of it worthy enough to stay back; at the end. 

On the 3D front, it is more of an atmospheric addition to be in the same league and not for just some attention-grabbing tricks to create fake experiences. So, don’t really expect much from that part. Performances are also strictly regular. The visual effects are top-notch. Watch out for the power-packed finale that leaves you breathless and filled with a delightful entertainment. After all, it’s better late than never! GODZILLA is a monstrous homage to good old times. Revisit and relive it! [3.5/5] 

MASTRAM: A satisfying session, far from being an orgasmic delight! [3/5]

The fact that I belong to Uttar Pradesh, the dregs of North India and the very same time zone; there can’t be any possible chance of denial that I might not know about these hugely popular & highly erotic writing materials, openly available at all book stores at crowded state bus-stations and local newspaper vendors under a fictional handle-name of Mastram. I never really bothered much about who’s the man behind and what force could drive him to enter this very exploitable yet offensive sector till Akhilesh Jaiswal’s fictional biography MASTRAM came into limelight.

A small town writer from Himachal Pradesh dreams to make it big as a novel-writer in big cities like Delhi. He definitely is aware of the consequences of being a writer so doesn’t want to get into married life but soon he’s told about the girl being a typical housewife material who can cook lip-smacking mutton, he agrees. Now, this is the era where most publishers are only interested in printing study materials and not some boring ‘shuddh Hindi’ literature. Rajaram- our protagonist is forced to look out for some ‘masaaledar’ addition to his stories, often explained by people around as sex. And, thus Rajaram turns into Mastram- an unknown iconic writer of soft-porn novels!

Many would look at it with expectations to be a pornographic movie that would tickle mostly the lower part of human body but the writer-director Jaiswal boldly decides to focus on the writer’s catch-22 situation while changing gears from one kind to a completely different, the pain of losing opportunity to be known and famous and also the categorical expansion that creates competition in his self-claimed province. Film also talks; if not in volumes, in suggestions for sure, about the hypocrisy of the two-faced society. People, who read him the most, start disgusting him in the same measure after his identity comes out in light.

The real hero of MASTRAM besides the fascinating concept is Mukesh Chhabra- the casting director of the film. This man does magic with his strong sense in reading the characters and finding out talents that can carry it more than what is written, briefed or expected. Though Rahul Bagga as Rajaram is very recluse, reserved and restricted for the most part, it’s the supporting cast that outshines everyone else in the crew. Debutante Tara-alisha Berry as his charming wife, Akash Dhaiya with his publisher partner and Istiyak Khan as his best friend are outstanding.

With aesthetically shot intimate sequences, hilariously erotic dialogues on the likes of the original Mastram bestsellers, nicely built plot and believable performances, if MASTRAM couldn’t take a deserving leap from being just watchable, it is only because it lacks more layers to the story with time and again getting repetitive especially with the episodic visualizations of erotic stories he pens down.

Overall, it is an entertaining effort to bring the legend of Indian soft-porn back on screen. Watch it to relive the era or to get a brief intro to this yesteryear’s guilty pleasure if you haven’t been fortunate enough to enjoy till date. Do not expect orgasmic pleasure but a satisfying experience is guaranteed! [3/5]         

MANJUNATH: Stories with such strong relevance need to be made…and watched more often! [3/5]

In one of the cinema-friendly sequences where the corrupt oil-mafia Golu Goel [Played by convincing Yashpal Sharma] starts seeing and questioning his victim Manjunath’s inner conscience about why wouldn’t he compromised with the on-going corrupted till neck system and if he really believes that his death could bring any iota of the change he has foreseen for country’s future, Manjunath’s blank and worried face brings many questions on the table. For that matter and many more, Sandeep A. Varma’s MANJUNATH is socially very very relevant and an honest effort to underline a 27-year old whistleblower’s sacrifice on the line of duty.

Based on the real life incident of Marketing Manager at Indian Oil Corporation Manjunath’s cold-blooded murder by local oil-mafia, MANJUNATH successfully attempts the documentation of what happened when, why and how. The scattered narrative that goes back and forth to create the enigma that could meet its decided climax with all the pieces of the puzzle put together is very interesting and engaging. Though the film moves at a snail’s pace and seems a bit too stretched at time, it is the raw and real nature of the film that doesn’t bring it down. Film is extensively shot on the real locations in eastern Uttar Pradesh where the actual events happened.  

It is also one of those rare dramas where the protagonist is never a typical hero material but a common looking man who can be too nervous, anxious and restless against the powerful and corrupts to be any possible ground for the rise of a successful confrontation. So, when at first you see Manjunath in his panicky state of mind in shock of what might happen to him, you would never believe your guts that this man could ever stand strong against people of such criminal stature.

MANJUNATH’s biggest strength is the casting of the lead. With his geeky common looks and shaky mannerism, the first-timer Sasho Satiiysh Sarathy takes his own time to make a strong connect with the viewers but once you get comfortable with him, he cuts himself loose with quite a relatable performance. Seema Biswas and Kishore Kadam playing his parents deliver a complete knockout show, especially Seema Biswas. Her chemistry with her son Manjunath in the film has a sheer share of warmth and affection one could expect from any mother-son bonding.

Music score by Indian rock band Parikrama has an experimental touch but sadly doesn’t leave any identifiable mark. Camerawork by Prakash Kutty is excellently atmospheric and earthy. Film if falters on any ground, it is the dead pace in the first half and the too stretched second half in showing the after-effects of Manjunath’s murders including the crowd-funding at IIM by his batch mates to smoothen the fight for justice. A tighter and crispier version at edit table would have been a lot better for the film as whole.

At the end, it is a film that demands one time watch because of its social relevance and a real heroic tale we don’t see, hear or read much nowadays. Corruption has degraded our values in real life to much extent; hopefully this film doesn’t get affected much with cinematic corruption and stays true to its intention, execution and effect at most. A good watch! [3/5]      

HAWAA HAWAAI: Honest, sincere and simply Heartrending!! [3.5/5]

Sincerity shows. Honesty pays off. And simplicity stays…in your heart, forever. If not so, how could Amole Gupte’s just another ‘underdog takes it all’ drama HAWAA HAWAAI not only manage to entertain, excite and impress you but also stirs you up with the ruthless reality we are in without being any sympathetic or sensitive about it. Though slightly superficial in novelty, HAWAA HAWAAI could definitely be seen as a charmingly emotional story of a distant relative to Stanley from Gupte’s first directorial drama STANLEY KA DABBA. Moving and deeply thought-provoking!

HAWAA HAWAAI is all about hope. Hope that blooms and flourishes in the very odd of life where everyone else would decide to step back! After his farmer father’s unfortunate death, when Arjun Harishchandra Waghmare [Partho Gupte in a stellar-performance] - a kid with starry eyes is forced to shift to the swarming city of dreams Mumbai, he doesn’t hesitate an ounce from taking a job at local tea-vendor to offload some burden from his single mother. And there, life blesses him with a hope- a dream to fly not with some pair of wings but wheels.

HAWAA HAWAAI is about making choices you believe in. Skating is never a profitable venture one should look up to for all his life. Lucky Bhargava [Saqib Saleem] has always been told that by his ‘the great American keeda’ brother and a skating-professional now settled as an investment banker in US, but still the choice Lucky makes to train a ‘chaiwallah’ is nothing short of chasing his own dreams cherishing now in Arjun’s eyes.

HAWAA HAWAAI is also about having friends for life. Who would have thought a gajra-seller, a rag-picker and workers at Car service center & small-time hand-embroidery factory could ingest so much to make his friend achieve what he only can dream of! In one sequence; when asked about their individual dreams, one of them fervently replies, “ek time par ek hich sapna, pehle woh poora kar lete hain!”

And above all, HAWAA HAWAAI is all about kids. Kids who live, act and behave in a better manner than most of the adults would do! So when a typical burger-eating rich kid offers his expensive skating kit to Arjun as he would feel proud to see him win the competition, you sure feel imparted with the emotion. Partho Gupte is the most uninhibited performer no less than any established actors in the list. The kind of sincerity and effortlessness he infuses is mesmerizing and a textbook material for anyone interested in the business. Saqib impresses with his ease and confidence. The gang of four kids sweeps away most of the lighter moments in the film but the one who deserves all the applause is Amole Gupte. His approach of handling kids with care onscreen is amazing.

Overall; HAWAA HAWAAI is a much better film for your kids than those heavy action sci-fi superhero films despite lacking the urge of being original sometime. It may not be as fresh, new and inventive in concept as STANLEY KA DABBA but in emotions, it’s strong enough to shadow all odds like Arjun does in the movie. Watch it! [3.5/5]

क्या दिल्ली क्या लाहौर : मंज़िल से पहले दम तोड़ती एक ईमानदार कोशिश…[2.5/5]

"पड़ोसी मुल्क भी रहें पड़ोसियों से, तो क़्या अच्छा हो!

हँसे भी तो जी भर के, रोयें भी तो गले लग के!!"

भारत-पाकिस्तान बंटवारे की त्रासदी को जाने कितनी ही हिंदी फिल्मों ने अपने-अपने नजरिये से देखने-समझने की कोशिश की है, कमोबेश सबका एक ही हासिल रहा है, "सरहदें जमीन पे खिंचीं लकीरें भर हैँ, आर-पार के बाशिंदों में फ़र्क धागे भर का भी नहीं"! जाने-माने अभिनेता विजयराज निर्देशित 'क्या दिल्ली क्या लाहौर' भी इसी खयाल को और गाढ़ा, और मज़बूत करती है। हालाँकि महीन जज्बातों और जहींन किरदारों के साथ यह फ़िल्म एक अलग तस्वीर खेंचने में क़ामयाब साबित होती है, पर कहानी का हलकापन और किरदारों का एक हद के बाद बेरंग होते जाना फ़िल्म की क़ाबलियत के दायरे को उसके मुकाम तक पहुंचने नहीं देता। 

गुलज़ार साब की, उन्हीं की रूहानी आवाज़ में एक नज़्म से शुरु होती 'क्या दिल्ली क्या लाहौर' आपको 1948 में कहीं भारत-पाकिस्तान की किसी सरहद पर ला छोड़ती है, जहाँ कहने को तो सिर्फ़ दो ही किरदार हैं.…हिन्दुस्तानी फ़ौज़ का एक खानसामा [मनु ऋषि] और पाकिस्तानी आर्मी का एक अदना सा सिपाही [विजय राज], पर बातें-आहें-शिकायतें दोनों मुल्कों में बसे हरेक इन्सान से इत्तेफाक़ रखतीं हैं। मज़े की बात ये भी है कि दोनों बंटवारे से पहले एक दूसरे के पाले से ताल्लुक रखते थे, तो जहां हिंदुस्तानी सिपाही के लहज़े में उर्दू-पंजाबी की मिलावट साफ़ सुनाई पड़ती है, पाकिस्तानी फ़ौज़ी खड़ी बोली का मुरीद पता चलता है। दोनों के हालात भी अनजान नहीं हैं एक-दूसरे से, पर जब सियासत इंसानियत पर हावी होती है, दोनों एक दूसरे पर गोलियां बरसाने से भी चूकते नहीं।

किरदारों का सीधापन, बातों में साफ़गोई और उनका खुरदुरा लहज़ा-अख्खड़ रवैया अगर 'क्या दिल्ली क्या लाहौर' को एक मज़ाकिया रंग देते हैं तो उनके हालातों से चोट खाये दिल गहरा असर भी रखते हैं। एक बानगी देखिये, " हमारी छत का चाँद लगता था खाट पे ही आ गिरेगा, यहॉँ का चाँद तो मुंह भी नहीं लगाता"! खांटी हिंदुस्तानी बोली हालांकि कहीं-कहीं ज्यादा हो जाती है और किरदार भी अपने आप को बार-बार दोहराते नज़र आते हैं, असल तकलीफ तब होती है जब कहानी जरूरत से ज्यादा खिंचने लगती है और आखिर तक आते-आते आप उन तमाम मसअलों और जज़्बातों से खुद को कटा कटा पाते हैँ, जिनका ज़िक्र और फ़िक्र फ़िल्म के पहले हिस्से में सुझाई देता है।फिल्म अक्सर सिनेमा के पर्दे पर थिएटर की क़िसी पेशकश का एहसास कराने लगती है तो मुमकिन है, सिर्फ 1 घंटे 48 मिनट की इस 'जंग की मुख़ालफ़त करने वाली' फिल्म में कई बार आप खुद उबाहट से ज़ंग लड़ते दिखें! 

विजयराज और मनु ऋषि जैसे नाम किसी तारीफ़ का मोहताज़ नहीं है! दोनों छोटी से छोटी भूमिका में भी आप को निराश नहीं करते, यहॉँ तो फिर भी पूरी की पूरी फ़िल्म उनके कंधों पर दौड़ती है। कुल मिला कर, 'क्या दिल्ली क्या लाहौर' एक ऐसी ईमानदार, नेकदिल कोशिश है जो और भी अच्छी, और भी बेहतर हो सकती थी! [2.5/5]