| List of Movie Reviews |
| 1. Taare Zameen Par |
Bhavna |
In Hindi movies children are generally shown to be quite precocious. They seem to have
wisdom, intelligence and maturity far beyond their years. In fact, it would be fair to say that
in most Hindi movies, the children don’t act like children at all.
In a refreshing contrast, this movie’s central character is a child, and one who has to deal
with very challenging situations. This is the debut performance of young Darsheel Safary,
who plays Ishaan. His performance is simply superb. |
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| 2. Om Shanti Om |
Neha |
| From the wonderful juxtaposition of old and new stars to the hilarious Filmfare awards to the awesome fire sequence to the flamboyant fight with a stuffed tiger to Deepika’s well shot dimples to SRK’s glistening abs – one cannot help admiring Farah for the fantastic scenes in OSO. |
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| 3. Aap Ka Suroor |
Mayuri Sharma |
| The music, though immensely hummable when you hear it, is marred by badly picturised songs. I quite liked the sound of 'Aasalaam' and 'Tera mera milna' before I saw the songs performed on screen by a cleavage-popping image of Himesh. The much-hyped 'Mehbooba' number with Mallika Sherawat abruptly appears at the end of the movie, without any explanation, and ends the same way. |
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| 4. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom |
Mayuri Sharma |
| The second half of the movie follows the same pattern as the first half. An attempt to add a story is made by the scriptwriter but it seems like he abandons it midway. To compensate for the lack of story, you guessed it, more song and dance. By now, Audience thinks of painting toe-nails. |
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| 5. Namastey London |
Jaya Kaushish |
| What do you get when you blend romance, drama and humor into one film? Apparently, Namastey London! I, however, beg to differ. |
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| 6. The Namesake |
Visi Tilak |
| If the director had stuck with Boston (the location in the novel on which the movie is based) as the setting, and eliminated some of the stereotypes associated with Indian Americans, The Namesake would have been a lot more powerful and would have been a surefire success. |
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| 7. Salaam-e-ishq |
Mayuri Sharma |
| Nikhil Advani made his directorial debut with 'Kal Ho Na Ho' his mentor Karan Johar's production.
Heavily inspired by 'Love Actually', 'Dance with me' and '50 first Dates', Advani presents 'Salaam-e-ishq', his 2nd film, which is about 6 different couples dealing with love in its various forms. |
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| 8. Dhoom 2 |
Jaya Kaushish |
| The verdict is in. A complete entertainer all the way, Dhoom 2 is a success. Action films involving cop-and-robber chases have never been better in Bollywood. Dazzling and feisty, the film is fast-paced and keeps you entertained throughout. The locations in the film are stunning, and the movie truly is a visual treat for the viewer. |
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| 9. Dor |
Ashini Desai |
| This movie deals with sensitive topics such as treatment of women and widows in India. At the same time it is sad, it's also beautiful and uplifting. I'm really grateful to the filmmakers for bringing the real anonymous women of India so up close and personal. The woman whose face is under a dupatta has a personality, a love and fire within her, which is more often suppressed by society. |
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| 10. Don |
Jaya Kaushish |
| Almost 30 years after the release of Chandra Barot’s sensational film with Amitabh Bachchan playing the lead in Don, Farhan Akhtar recently made a sleeker, but disappointing remake of the original. Shah Rukh Khan plays the lead role, and while many believe the modern Don is trendier, any true Bachchan enthusiast would vehemently disagree. |
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| 11. Umrao Jaan |
Jaya Kaushish |
| There is only one word that comes to mind when you see Aishwarya Rai’s portrayal of a refined courtesan in the recently released Umrao Jaan. Repulsive.
Her nondescript performance, scene after scene , makes you understand why some beauties are better left untouched by the big screen. She may be a stunner, but she cannot act, despite trying profusely for over a decade now. But to be fair to the ex-Miss World, the film’s ruin isn’t solely her deficiency as an actor. It seems as though the film’s director made this movie with a mission to fail. Everything about the film is just frightful. |
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| 12. Silent Waters |
Nandini Pandya |
| This is a beautifully produced movie and it is also well-written and well-directed. It would be worth watching for those reasons alone. But, here is what makes it a "must-see": it is about Partition and it is about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan as early as 1979. The story s told through the lives of Ayesha, a middle-aged widow living in a Pakistani village and her 20-year-old son. |
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| 13. Water |
Heartcrossings |
| Perhaps the only positive thing I can say about Deepa Mehta's movie Water is that it provoked me to list in
painful detail all of the reasons I did not like it - that is possibly a better reaction to a movie than to have walked away to
get dinner started and not been able to recall the name an hour later. |
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| 14. Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna |
Vandana Vasudevan |
| KANK is not high art and one should know that before buying the ticket for a KJo movie. But I enjoyed it and came back with this feeling of satiation that you get only after a Gujju thali lunch or a sumptuous Bollywood movie. Here are 8 reasons why. |
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| 15. Krrish |
Jaya Kaushish |
| Sequels almost never live up to their originals, and Krrish definitely proves this theory right.
Rakesh Roshan, who mesmerized Indian audiences with his last film Koi Mil Gaya, has definitely disappointed his fans with Krrish. |
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| 16. Krrish |
Rekha Radhakrishnan |
| The verdict has been announced – Krrish is the best Indian movie ever made! Ok, let me tell you that this proclamation was made by our eight-yr old son who simply adores Hrithik Roshan. So even if we grown-ups have a long list of critical comments about the film, lets just play along for a little while and see this film from a child’s perspective! |
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| 17. Fanaa |
Jaya Kaushish |
| What do you get when you cast Kajol in a film? A grand opening, of course! This is Kajol's comeback film, following a five-year breather after her last blockbuster – Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum.The movie had an extraordinary opening at the box office, but given the disappointment that many viewers feel after watching this film, I wonder how the film will fare in the long term. |
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| 18. Apaharan |
Jaya Kaushish |
| Socially relevant films have always had a limited viewership, and Prakash Jha’s Apaharan definitely falls into this genre. The story is an account of how a young Indian man slowly gets entrapped in a world of crime and corruption. |
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| 19. ABCD |
Nandini Pandya |
| I recall viewing the movie "American Desi" with quite a bit of anticipation and then feeling disappointed with its depiction of 2nd-generation Indians in America. I found the movie Flavors almost as much of a letdown as well. So, when I moved "ABCD" to the top of my Netflix (where it has only a 2.5 star rating) queue, I did not have high expectations.
I am pleased to report that I was pleasantly surprised by "ABCD". Although it started out slow and somewhat tentative, the movie redeemed itself in the second half. |
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| 20. Rang De Basanti |
Jaya Kaushish |
| What does patriotism mean to today's generation? Would someone give up their life for their country? Why is our nation so accustomed to corruption and dishonesty? These are some of the questions dealt with in Rang De Basanti. |
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| 21. Iqbal |
Jaya Kaushish |
| This is the story of an underdog who wishes to play cricket at the national level. It is a chronicle of a deaf-mute boy who dares to dream of being a bowler in the Indian Cricket team. |
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| 22. Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya |
Jaya Kaushish |
| The movie primarily captures two women falling in love with one man, but surprise, surprise- it also greatly resembles a sensational Broadway play, which was later adapted on the big screen under the name of Cactus Flower. Creativity and originality are so difficult to find in Bollywood! |
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| 24. Salaam Namaste |
Jaya Kaushish |
| This movie tackles issues such as living together, pre-marital sex and modern day pregnancies very rationally. This film basically deals with trying to stay in love once the sugarcoated days are over, and boy, is it a pleasant change from plots that entail marriage as the ultimate objective of all lovers. |
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| 25. Born into Brothels |
Nandini Pandya |
| The documentary proceeds on two parallel tracks. One track is about Ms. Briski’s decision to give the children cameras (and instruction on how to use them) so they can take pictures of the world around them. The other track is about her attempts to place the children in boarding schools so they might eventually escape their inevitable destinies – girls forced into prostitution at ages as young as fourteen and boys into lives of crime. |
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| 26. D |
Jaya Kaushish |
| D is the story of a young man named D or ‘Deshu’, played by Randeep Hooda. He portrays an outsider trying to make his way in the world of crime. The brooding character of D suits Hooda very well. In my view, watching Hood’s debut is probably the only reason to watch this movie. Although the masses didn’t appreciate the movie, many people have had good things to say about Hooda’s acting skills. |
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| 27. Bunty Aur Babli |
Jaya Kaushish |
| A chance meeting at a railway station leads to the making of their con story, and one of the best comical scenes is when Rakesh and Vimmi mutually agree to become Bunty and Babli while sitting in a bus. Then follow a series of hilarious sequences - they start to con people when they realize that it doesn't pay to be honest in this world. |
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| 28. Kaalpurush (Memories In The Mist) |
Debasree Bhattacharjee |
| This is the story of a father and son, who get estranged after a misunderstanding that gets blown out of proportion. The opening scene shows the distraught father Ashwini, portrayed by Mithun Chakraborty, a doctor by profession and a wanderer at heart, following his grown-up son, Sumanto, portrayed with great sensitivity by Rahul Bose. |
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| 29. Viruddh |
Jaya Kaushish |
| The story of Viruddh revolves around a typical Indian, middle-class, elderly couple, Vidyadhar Patwardhan (Amitabh Bachchan) and his wife Sumitra (Sharmila Tagore). John Abraham plays their only child, Amar, who is studying abroad and briefly returns to India to spend his birthday with his parents. |
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| 30. Dus |
Jaya Kaushish |
| When you have as many as eight celebrated Bollywood stars in one movie, it normally indicates that the script is powerful and the director is compelling. This movie can easily disprove this theory. |
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| 31. Sarkar |
Jaya Kaushish |
| The script of Sarkar revolves around family relationships, crime, deception, corruption, avarice and of course, revenge. Superbly shot, the director has made generous use of close-up shots, which help in portraying their intentions, moods and thoughts without the use of any dialogue. |
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| 32. Flavors |
Nandini Pandya |
| This is yet another offering in the NRI genre of Indian movies. It is a collage of four stories that come together, somewhat clumsily, at the end of the movie. |
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| 33. Kaal |
Jacqueline Fa'anunu |
| A horror movie that is worth seeing for the other good things the director has brought to it. |
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| 34. Swades |
Jacqueline Fa'anunu |
| I felt that the storyline was tortuously contrived in some sections, but that did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the film. (I am becoming used to losing myself to the fantasy aspect of popular Indian cinema narratives which Hollywood cinema tends to lack). |
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| 35. Raincoat |
Gauri Sirur |
| The story is set against the backdrop of the rains – a natural metaphor for the pathos that pervades the film. Essentially, this is a tale of separations and reunions. |
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| 36. The Terminal |
Nandini Pandya |
| For a movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks, The Terminal has too many implausible elements. Regardless, it is a heart-warming, laugh-out-loud movie that leaves the viewer feeling good about the triumph of the human spirit. |
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| 37. Morning Raga |
Ranjani Nellore |
| The simple story moves between the authentic rural milieu and the urban landscape of today’s Hyderabad. Director Mahesh Dattani elicits convincing performances from the entire cast. |
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| 38. Veer Zaara |
Poornima Apte |
| The good news first - Veer Zaara has a semblance of a credible plot complete with twists and turns. The bad news - there is hardly any other good news about a movie that is an agonizing 3.5 hours long. |
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| 39. Bride and Prejudice |
Madhumita Gupta |
| Gurinder Chadha’s film, Bride and Prejudice, may be part of an NRI’s childhood fantasies - but India it ain’t. The snake dance and the elephant ‘baraat’ in the film might have been included as a bit of harmless fun, but they seem to cater to the West’s view of India as a curio shop. |
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| 40. Phir Milenge (another review) |
Madhumita Gupta |
| Although the film has been criticized for the faintly documentary touch in the concluding monologue in court by Abhishek, it was perhaps the only proper denouement for a film, whose objective is more serious than to just entertain. |
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| 41. Phir Milenge |
Rekha Radhakrishnan |
| The movie is based on Jonathan Demme’s ‘Philadelphia’ but adds new insights to the issue. By casting a woman in the central role, Revathy adds new dimensions to the original story. She also brings forth the point that society may be lenient with a man who has HIV but it can be merciless to a woman in the same position. |
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| 42. Rakht |
Gauri Sirur |
| Mahesh Manjrekar’s supernatural thriller RAKHT (or ‘blood’) is ‘inspired’ by Sam Raimi’s Hollywood offering, "The Gift". In fact, Manjrekar seems so inspired by the original that he pays it the ultimate Bollywood tribute of copying it almost frame-to-frame. |
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| 43. Kal Ho Na Ho |
Poornima Apte |
| Kal Ho Na Ho’s strongest assets are its cinematography and picturization. New York City has not been so beautifully captured, at least in Bollywood, before. The city herself is a show stealer, and for that reason alone, the movie is worth a dekho on the big screen. |
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