DOLLY KI DOLI: An enjoyable ride! Short & sweet!! [2.5/5]

Marriage is a box full of surprises. You never know what comes next and in what shape, each & everyday. Sometimes, you keep waiting for one all your life and it never happens. But few are really the luckiest to have it experienced the very first morning. At least, for the on-screen grooms and their families in Abhishek Dogra’s con-comedy DOLLY KI DOLI!

A fake, cheat and single-minded bride is on loose to con filthy rich grooms. She [Sonam Kapoor, too fragile for a con artist] makes the target fall in love with her, marries him, drugs the whole family on her very last of the ‘first nights’ and runs away with all their shitloads of money and jewellery. In her victims, there is Sonu Sehrawat [Rajkummar Rao] a Haryanvi flashy boy and a desperate mumma’s boy from Delhi [Varun Sharma of FUKREY fame]. Picture this; when they meet each other appreciating the fact that Dolly is the one married to both, Varun asks naively, “bhai, iss hisaab se humara rishta kya hua? (Bro, what kind of relationship we are in now?”. Giggles come with guarantee at such cases and there are many in DOLLY KI DOLI, no doubt on that.

Based on a real chain of events and a crime-story of ‘Looteri Dulhan’ in northern India, Abhishek Dogra’s DOLLY KI DOLI works because of the humor in the script that comes easy like one after the other and the characters who despite being the typical ones, charm you endlessly. Rajkummar Rao is in top form. Watching him dancing like there’s no one to care in an item number with Malaika, is a treat. His Haryanvi is perfectly portrayed and wins your heart by the simplicity in the character and the sincerity in the performance. Sonam plays Dolly with total ease yet she doesn’t look very convincing as a con artiste. Varun is cute, indeed. He, in a sense continues his FUKREY performance. So, if you had liked him earlier, have another slice of the same. Pulkit Samrat as the cop after Dolly’s capture definitely had Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey in DABANGG as his acting reference. Taking cues from Salman’s dialogue, “hum yahaan ke robin hood hain”, he even possesses the name Robin.

And then, my favorite track in the film. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub [of RAANJHANAA] plays the fake brother to Sonam’s Dolly and at one point; he declines to play her brother anymore as he has romantic feelings for her. This alone has so much potential in creating comedy and drama both. Alas, it wasn’t treated well. Film’s biggest strength is the length. In its crisper than masala papad 107 mins of total duration, film could have been a laugh-riot but it comprises with being just an enjoyable watch; and the culprit here is the uneven screenplay lacking the power to convince. Film hurriedly tries to justify Dolly’s reasons to go for fake marriages after she fails in one. In today’s times, can you imagine a courtship of more than a couple of months and there is no ‘kiss’ happening between the two because of the stupidest of all ‘yeh sab shaadi ke baad’ excuse? All because, we can’t show our bad girl being so bad! Black is here not so dark. I wish writing in Bollywood gets mature soon.

At the end, DOLLY KI DOLI is an enjoyable ride you won’t regret much after leaving theatre. Rajkummar Rao ensures most of it. It’s short & sweet unlike Indian marriages. [2.5/5] 

MARDAANI: In all those hopeless commercial biggies, a small promise of change! [2.5/5]

Pradeep Sarkar’s MARDAANI is a small small film. Small neither because of its crispy, edgy & cross 114 minutes of total duration nor because it lacks a male superstar must for the most. Could be a disappointment because of the fact that it comes from one of the biggest film production houses in Bollywood! Well, it is small by and large because it did have the opportunity of going miles with an uncompromising burning issue in hand but sadly doesn’t take the required flight and succumb to being a hardcore commercial film. Still, better! Much much better than those nonsensical comedies, meaningless action entertainers and male-dominant plots. Credit goes to the earnest performance by Rani Mukerji and the issue based plot craving for immediate attention from allover.

Child sex trafficking is one of the fastest growing illegal, inhuman & heartless criminal practice on every corners of the globe. And India is apparently the biggest hub for abducting and pushing victims of 12 years & more into the darkest pit of crime known as sex slavery. MARDAANI is all about one fearless cop trying to bust one such syndicate all alone with best of efforts, toughest of anger and strongest of determination. Shivani Shivaji Roy [played by Rani Mukerji] is a street smart tough cop who can mouth foul words without having any agitation or discomfort especially when on duty and also doesn’t mind cooking for her family even if in uniform. She is the new hero in Bollywood who is ready all the time to fight back the bad & the ugly, even in her sleep.

Problem with MARDAANI is that it never takes itself rightly. Where it could actually take the leap, it decides to lie back and get easy with the comforts of a commercial cinema. For instance, how could a missing girl’s information not alarm our sincere cop about the possibility of her being a victim of human trafficking? And where is the gravity of the issue if it requires a personal angle to charge up our main protagonist? Thankfully, the film doesn’t bother to feed you pointless added details like the back-story of main lead, dramatic outbursts in her professional life, emotional quotients responsible to shape up her stature the way she is today and so many others. Even cinematically, you will not find anything too multifaceted. It’s simple, straightforward and very much existent. So, do not expect a cat & mouse chase with high octane action sequences. Though the climax is quite unimaginative and a little dramatic!

Performances are subtle and restrained enough to give you a realistic feel. Rani as Shivani is in form. From her first in RAJA KI AAYEGI BAARAAT to this, her acts of resentment, resistance & revolt have always been appreciated. She can be fragile at one time and ferocious at the very next. Here too, she sets the screen on fire. Her character definitely deserves another chance with better hand at script and plot. Shivani Shivaji Rao could be a serious contest to all the SINGHAMs & DABANGGs! Tahir Raj Bhasin as the cool, calm & composed mastermind of the trafficking syndicate impresses with his ease with acting for camera. Veteran actress Mona Ambegaonkar surprises or rather shocks you in her excitingly vivacious yet vindictive shade of character. Why on earth we don’t see her more often on big screen?

Overall, it is a film that deserved better and more evolved hand at direction; the plot & the writing sure had it in glances & glimpses. Watch it for an unexpected change it promises to bring to Hindi commercial cinema but don’t anticipate whatever you have been praising till the very last entry in the 100 Cr club. It’s better; in content and in intend both! [2.5/5]  

GULAAB GANG: Good old ‘Good vs. Evil’ clash in a new plastic bottle! Better not taste!! [2/5]

There were times when a Bollywood film didn’t necessarily need much in the name of content and plot but definitely superstars of ‘larger than life’ stature and in numbers. The era of multi-starrers, then, was measured by how big and how many stars one could bring under one roof, supported by an impressive face of villain. You must have encountered some of those on the bygone VHS viewing. Saumik Sen’s GULAAB GANG brings back memories of the same but in a bad bad taste. It is nothing more than two great actresses of their times coming together for the first time to share the screen. That’s it.  

Rajjo [Played by ravishing Madhuri in quite a typical role] leads a group of women, deprived by destiny, dressed in pink and dogged to fight. Together they can make things work in the system. From fighting for basic necessities like education, electricity, food to standing out as a powerful judiciary system of their own, they play cool until enters a mean, wicked, heartless menace Sumitra Devi [Juhi Chawla stealing the show as her first strive in negative role]. Sumitra is a self-centered power-hungry politician who barely has left any signs of humanity and sympathy against suppressed in her, though the kind of creepy smile on her face never really goes missing even when things aren’t much in favor. The clash can’t be averted. It’s just a matter of how, where and when.

Despite the fact that the makers are in complete denial, film clearly finds indisputable similarities with the real life Gulabi Gang led by Sampat Pal of Chhatisgarh, in look, intent and in functioning too. This is a shameless dark side of the profession but that’s actually nothing in facade of the lack of earnestness while making the film. Rajjo’s obsessive dream to open a school in the village often looks melodramatic. Performing on well-choreographed songs is like the only other activity this gang is occupied with. And if it is not over, there are gravity-defying action sequences too where you witness Rajjo turning heroically into ‘Singham’ ‘Dabangg’ ‘Rowdy Rathore’ kind of mass-entertainers who could fly, jump and kick anyone from anywhere.

Saumik Sen directs well especially while creating drama [Watch out for the abduction scene of a rapist in the village pond] and even shows an impressive hand in an overall look of the film but once the gimmicky ‘Madhuri comes opposite Juhi’ factor enters the scene, the rest gets carried away. In other mentionable part, Divya Jagdale and Priyanka Bose strike and provide delightful moments as members of the gang. Their chemistry together has sometimes more sparks than the leads. Tannishtha Chatterjee is wasted. She definitely needed a better support from writing.

Subject could have been the hero but sadly it’s always the Madhuri Vs Juhi. Madhuri dons the role of Rajjo with total ease, looks smashing, acts flawless and dances to win hearts but for me, it is Juhi Chawla who beats everyone with her bravura performance. I wasn’t expecting this from her at all. Definitely writers have worked on her part well and she has done full justice. What a comeback!

At the end; if you really want to celebrate ‘Women’s Day’ and the sentiments of Women empowerment, I will leave you with two choices. Try to catch Nishtha Jain’s honest, real and an eye-opener documentary ‘GULABI GANG’ or if not anything else, go for Kangana Ranaut’s QUEEN. Saumik Sen's ‘GULAAB GANG’ is a must for only Juhi Chawla Fans! [2/5]

JAI HO: Prabhu Dheva-meets-Sooraj Barjatya! Being SUPER human-sans-common sense!! [2/5]

Do not dare to complain. You had seen it coming. Didn’t the character of Salman Khan warn you in the promos itself that “Aam Aadmi ek sota hua Sher hai, ungli mat kar…jag gaya toh cheer-phaad dega”? Only problem is that the film in question JAI HO decides to take the same salient statement in a very literal sense and not in what it actually intended to be.

So, this ‘Aam Aadmi’ stands nowhere near the classification of a common man, projected & presented well in recent Delhi state elections. But this common man played by the mass hysteria Salman Khan, largely called as ‘Bhai’ does have an overcrowded family with mother & sister ready to participate wholeheartedly in the proceedings as soft targets of evil forces…and whenever that happens, ‘Bhai’ takes a drastic transformation from ‘Being human’ to ‘Being SUPER human’ with the immense power of an incredible hulk like creature who roars loud to deafen your ears, nails his teeth deep in the veins of his enemies and even goes shirtless to make his fans go wild and frenzy over his gigantic stature.

An official remake of Chiranjeevi Starrer Telugu blockbuster ‘STALIN’, again a inspired version of Hollywood drama PAY IT FORWARD, Sohail Khan’s JAI HO [earlier titled as MENTAL] is a film good at heart because of the social message it carries to help out at least three people instead just saying a ‘thank you’ in return of anyone’s help but turns sore, cliché & tiresome with the route it takes to communicate the same. When it is good, it is as sugary as Sooraj Barjatya’s heavily traditional family entertainers. When it is bad, it is as unendurable as Prabhu Dheva’s mindless action-thrillers. Avid movie-watchers can vouch for the both being a non-entertainer.  

And then the regular dosage of absolutely inane & offensive jokes! Calling names like ‘Chhota Chooha’ when our leading lady sees a bathing kid without clothes and to make it equal, the kid calling her ‘Pinky’ as, in one of her odd days, she somehow authenticates wearing pink colour undergarments, if this is the height of efforts to make us laugh, I refuse and retaliate to be entertained. Trust me; soon you’ll hear these terms in your zone and Mr. Khan will not be there to protect you with his own fans.

JAI HO is one such film where actors on screen for lesser time look less exasperating than others, to earn comparatively less disapproval and more regards for their ‘short & sweet’ performances. You see so much of known faces in every character on screen that if I put their full names in written here, a 1-page review would need at least 20-odd pages of a coffee-table book to fit in and that in case when their performances don’t bring much to say.

Tabu makes a comeback sort and is good to see but definitely deserves better writing support to match her skills. Nadira Babbar is known for her excellence in theatre but as the mother, she only earns yawns here. Pathetic is the word. Daisy Shah doesn’t get much to appreciate than her dancing skills in the introduction scene. One powerhouse of talent is the Child Artist Naman Jain. See his confidence in comic timings to believe.

And now the man himself! Well, Salman is Salman. No one plays him better than he himself. He does things he believes in. His self-indulgence shows on screen and that is what his fans love to watch. Who am I to come between the God and his die-hard followers? All I can say to rest my case is that JAI HO is a confused platter of spicy southern curries with extra-mild Jain recipes. Better avoid ordering! [2/5]

SINGH SAAB THE GREAT: Loud, melodramatic, outdated action potboiler! SINGHAM saab the great!! [2/5]

With a catchy phrase of ‘‘badla nahin badlaav’, this SINGH SAAB THE GREAT fights against corruption & more but in his own way. He saves a girl from an obsessive lover-turned-acid attacker and pours the bottle in his pants, only to realize later that it was cleanly swapped with absolutely harmless nontoxic water. In others, he hits back to ill-practices of hefty donations for higher education, crime-syndicates indulged into food adulteration & illegal storage, the in-vein bribery in bureaucratic system etc.

At one stage, he also doesn’t forget to comment on TRP-driven media with ‘aap journalist hain…thodi toh samajhdaari dikhayiye’. Sounds good?? Yes, sounds good but loud too…in fact, extremely loud! & that’s the problem with SINGH SAAB THE GREAT! Everything that happens, happens with a noisy-ear deafening sound beyond the range of decibels set for normal human hearing.

Anil Sharma’s SINGH SAAB THE GREAT is a loud, melodramatic, over-aged action potboiler that is best enjoyable at single screen theatres where claps set the mood for anything outrageous and compensate for the most of inconsequential parts. A supposedly comeback vehicle of the real action star Sunny Deol, film seems to be going forward with a noble cause of social reformation as its structural content base but fails to built an inspiring legend out of it to meet its desired end. A mediocre script filled with run of the mill plot-subplots & superfluous emotional sequences including hero’s women affiliations i.e. lovely wife, bubbly sister!

Story written by GADAR fame Shaktimaan smells rotten & out-dated where an honest district collector Saranjeet Singh [played by Sunny Deol] sweats his blood out to stop corruption personified by a local dominant king of all illegal actions Bhoodev Singh [played by Prakash Raj in his regular avatar as if coming straight from the sets of Singham & Dabangg 2]. In one scene, when the villainous Prakash Raj tries to twist Deol’s character Saranjeet Singh’s arm by kidnapping his sister, Saranjeet Singh hits back with taking Prakash Raj’s wife & daughter into his custody. Now, isn’t it something we all have thought as an escape-plan to our emotional to the core Bollywood heroes? But surprisingly it’s one of the few exciting moments in the film that brings an effortless smile on your face.

On the performances, Sunny looks every part of his character. He succeeds in charming you with his personality and the honesty dripping off his face. Prakash Raj, when not chewing off his lips, sure entertains you in bits & pieces especially in an item song where he dances with his left feet following ‘dance like no one is watching’ attitude. You have to see it to believe it [Considering his real life better-half Pony Verma being an established choreographer]. New face Urvashi Rautela is mostly there as a regular heroine material with her plastic smile best for advertising the new toothpaste in your nearest supermarket. Amrita Rao is inconsistent but looks quite impressive. You also need to have some kind of magical powers to deal with unbearably annoying sidekicks of both on screen & that includes actors like Johnny Lever, Manoj Pahwa.

I wish if it would have been released soon after GADAR, it would have become an instant crowdpuller but as of now when everyone looks so done with SINGHAM era, it is just another of the league! You can even re-coined its name as ‘SINGHAM SAAB THE GREAT’! Watch if Sunny’s Roar can evoke electrifying energy in you! For me, it’s just OK! [2/5]

BESHARAM: It is not so bold & shameless but a shameful out-dated entertainer! [2/5]

In a scene where Ranbir Kapoor, playing a car-thief named Babli, tries to escape by tying up an ageing police inspector, played by his off-screen father Mr. Rishi Kapoor, with a bedsheet and refers him as ‘mota! dharti ka bojh!’ [Fat man! The useless burden on the earth!], you laugh, of course; but not at the situation, not at the forceful wit lines throw at you but for the very fact that they both share a father-son relationship in real life. The pun was intended and achieved! I wish if the same goes with the most of jokes in Abhinav Singh Kashyap’s second directorial venture BESHARAM. I seriously wish…

In a lifted paper-thin storyline that’s no indifferent from the bollywood hits of 60’s, 70’s and of 80’s to some extent, Babli [played by super-charged Ranbir Kapoor] is an orphan who masters in stealing posh cars. No prizes for guessing that he contributes most of his hard-earned money to the orphanage for the welfare of the kids and now wants to leave all this for his love of life Tara [newbie Pallavi Sharda in her full-fledged debut]. Meanwhile, the Law enforcers dressed as Chautala duo [absolutely adorable Rishi Kapoor & ravishingly charismatic Neetu Singh Kapoor] and the lawbreaker Hawala-king Bhim Singh Chandel [Jaaved Jaffrey in a delightful surprise package as a grim-faced villain] both are waiting for him to settle the final score. What waits for you in the store is anything but a breathless, mindless, action packed climax!

With his first the fearless ‘DABANGG’, Abhinav impressed all of us with a style of unseen fresh writing and a solid hand in well developed characterization but in this shameless ‘BESHARAM’, it’s only the writing that lets him down. You are never out of sight as what will come next. In swear to be bold and blatantly unashamed, all he could come up with a few dialogues here and there that talk about ‘fart’ & ‘shits’ in literal. In the screenplay, songs come back to back as if either you are watching a musical or a ‘Chitrahar’ on Doordarshan.

Film, if even for once, could be pronounced as watchable, it would be the performances. Ranbir Kapoor alone has his charm to run shows houseful. Though there is not much to surprise, he is confidently there to stand tall. Pallavi Sharda is good but I don’t see the promise to bring something fresh on screen with her typical looks. Amitosh Nagpal as Ranbir’s friend does create some cackling moments. Rishi Kapoor too has been exploring an impressive second innings in Bollywood with his notable selection of films but I could never stop my heart beating at a speed of a bullet train whenever I had my privilege to watch Ms. Neetu Singh Kapoor setting screen on fire with her spontaneity and marvelously aging beauty!

At the end, it is a film that will be under scrutiny because of the expectations people have from Abhinav Singh Kashyap’s being the Captain of the ship and the track-record he has set with ‘DABANGG’. Alas! We have to wait for another to judge his potential better, as of now BESHARAM is bold, shameless & funny in parts; but for the most, it is a formulaic forced entertainer that is filled- loaded & packed with all the masalas of Bollywood potboilers we have been watching from ages. And this is probably not the best time to serve ‘run of the mill’ stale meal. An average entertainer and a big disappointment! Watch it if you really have to! [2/5]