AASHAYEIN

 I know that this forum is dedicated to reviews on new movies but couldn't keep myself from writing something about this movie.
I had read a lot about how Aashayein was going to be a path breaking movie for John since he is working with someone like Nagesh Kukunoor.  Aashayein, if I am not mistaken, was ready before 2009. But due to no takers, it was in the cans for long and saw light of day just this August.  The movie turned out to be a dud, eventually leading to Percept Pictures not recovering any money.

Anyway, that was the background of the movie.

Aashayein is about a compulsive gambler who has won a huge sum of money in cricket betting. John plays Rahul who has changed his name since he didn’t like the name given by his parents which was "Bhaskar". Guess this is John's way of showing respect to SRK :).

One day, John's character realises that he suffering from Lung Cancer, thanks to years of chain smoking. John had just proposed to Nafeesa played by Sonam Sehgal (of Radio fame featuring Himesh Bhai). Rahul decides not to get married to Nafeesa and leaves without saying anything. He ends up in a hospice for people who are suffering from chronic diseases and are counting their last days. This place has a lot of characters; Farida Jalal, suffering from aids who was a prostitute by profession, Girish Karnad suffering from throat cancer, Anahita nair also suffers from cancer. Also, Ashwin Chitale, the chhotu from the marathi movie Shwaas.
Rahul comes to this hospice to spend his final days but ends up being a Good Samaritan to all the people at this shelter. The core of the movie is about all the events that take place at the hospice.

This movie could very well be compared to Anand, but I feel this is novel way of saying the story of Anand.
Highlights of the movie have to be chemistry between John and Anahita Nair. Anahita Nair (chak de girl) is superb, also has some cracking dialogues. Ashwin Chitale is a sweetheart kid to watch and a natural actor.
The track of Raiders of the lost Ark used by Nagesh Kukunoor is very imaginative and very relative, a kind of risk we hardly see in movies, probably only one seen was in No Smoking which also had John in the lead.
This movie reminded me a lot of John's performance in No Smoking; probably both the characters were depressed. John has underplayed and not over done any scene.  Lot of speculation is there regarding his acting but I think, there is nothing one can complain of in this movie.

Nagesh Kukunoor has tried to tread on the path of realism and fiction very finely. Felt that it got kind of filmi at one point, similar to what happen to Tasveer, nonetheless it never reduced the entertainment factor of the movie. (After all, a movie is supposed to entertain). To some he must have treaded successfully and to a lot of them, unsuccessfully.
A slow movie but entertaining, it would be difficult for a masala movie lover to sit through it. Personally, I never got bored throughout, the actors and the screenplay held my attention for a good 2 hours.
To see what happens to John when he becomes Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark and what happens at the hospice, please watch the movie. And yes, this movie too has Nagesh Kukunoor in a special appearance like all his previous movies. :) 

Mahesh KHALEJA(Telugu)-Review

Mahesh-KHALEJA

             Mahesh Khaleja, a telugu film which came out with huge expectations because of Mahesh’s screen presence after three years and his team up with Trivikram srinivas after massive hit Athadu.

Paleru is a village in northern Andhra Pradesh which is affected very badly with the contamination of water and air. Lot of villagers die with new diseases and deaths keep going. The reason for the deaths is found to be the GK plastic factory located nearby and their false practices.

            The film story starts with village head/Swamiji (Rao Ramesh) and his men looking for a person (known to be their GOD) who can stop these deaths. Swamiji’s disciple siddappa starts his journey in search of their GOD who can save their lives. He finally reaches Rajasthan.

              Alluri sitaramaraju/Raju is a taxi driver who works for orange cabs. After continuous accidents done by subhasini(Anushka) ,he feels that she is a trouble to him and he stays away from her. His Cab gets damaged when he tries to rescue one of his passengers after the murder of other passenger who is a geologist. This incident leads raju to go to rajasthan to recover his money,where he again meet subbhashini and usually love develops between them. Some unknown people injure raju and tries to kill him but he fights back. Injured Raju meets siddappa who feel that Raju is the god who came to rescue his village and takes him to the village and treats him. Everyone worship Raju as their god, which he hates and runaway from village. Siddappa follows him to city and raju keeps few tests to check whether he is a really god. All tests prove positive. He accepts to help PALERU villagers.Raju starts finding out the reasons for the deaths in Paleru. He finds out that GK (Prakash Raj), an industrialist is leaving poisonous chemicals into water to kill all the villagers and dig the village for the newly found Iridium by the geologist. Action starts from then....and it goes till evil dies :)

          Mahesh who made his screen presence after the gap of three long years looks charming and has done a tremendous job. He is the main driving factor for the film. He did a fantastic comedy, stunts, and dances. His screen presence was worth watching. Anushka looks very beautiful and has some role to play for entertainment part in the first half. Prakash Raj performance was short and good. Needless to mention performances of remaining cast because there is nothing new for them to do.

           Trivikram who is known for his entertainment in his films tried to give the whole package of mass entertainer. However a dull screenplay in the second half beginning spoiled the tempo. But I feel he succeeded in giving reasoning to all the unrelated incidents which occur in the first half of the film. His mark of entertainment and action sequences is worth watching. Cinematography of Yash Bhatt who is known in Hollywood circles did a tremendous camera work. A better editing in the second half by Sreekar Prasad would add little more interest to the film. Music by Mani sharma is a big letdown. Producer Singanamala Ramesh who also produced KOMARAM PULI would be happy if the film really attracts masses.

Watch it for Mahesh entertainment and Trivikram mark comedy. Happy weekend.

Cheers!!,
Praveen.

Endhiran Ratings

Endhiran Movie Review(2)

ONE LINE VERDICT: ANOTHER MASSIVE BLOCKBUSTER FOR SHANKAR AND SSRK. IT'S A PAKKA SHANKAR FILM WITH RAJINI HOGGING THE LIMELIGHT AS THE EVIL CHITTI

The list of GETHU(thumbs up):

Shankar ... What imagination, passion and dedication to execute this humongous project.

The special effects team ... The best that an Indian film can get in this area ... The final special effects extravaganza is itself worth the ticket amount.

Super Star Rajni Kanth (SSRK) ... As the nice Chitti, he is perfect with his robotic voice and mannerisms ... As the evil Chitti, it's a piece of cake for the superstar ... The crowd goes wild ... Terrific paisa vasool stuff from SSRK as Chitti the Robot ...

Aish ... So  slim and attractive even after 35 ... Terrific dancer and a decent portrayal ...

The producers ... so much guts and daring to take up this huge project. They've put in 200c. They are gonna take back minimum 500c ...

Kilimanjaro and Oh Baby songs picturisation. The locations, chemistry and looks of both SSRK and Aish were superb in these songs

The list of VETHU (thumbs down):

The villain Danny Denzongpa. Such a blank face with poor lip sync. Can't help feeling what Sathyaraj or the Big B could have done in this role

Some shady special effects. We still have a long way to go to match the Avatar standards

The mosquito sequence was pakka needless ... Irumbile Or Idhayam's picturisation needed much more than just a super beautiful Aish.

The scientist Dr.Vaseegaran. Could not help feeling that a younger actor could have done a better job than SSRK. His wigs and beard in the initial robot creation scenes were weird.

Average BGM from Oscar ARR. For how long is he going to play the song tunes as BGM? After the grand Raavanan effort, much was expected in the BGM dept from ARR. Raja Sir and Yuvan would have gone berserk given the potential in this project for grand BGM. 

SOME OBSERVATIONS:


Karunaas and Santhanam were more like buffoons. They are big comedians in their own right. But in an SSRK film, all they could do was some buffoonery.


Rajini's parents in the film are the same age as Rajini in real life. Avoidable casting.


Though the film has such a big budget, the visuals didn't have the gloss and class that a Billa or Kandasamy had. Don't know why. Maybe the projectors in Cauvery theatre were sub-standard.


ON THE WHOLE, BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT AT ITS BEST. MULTIPLE VIEWINGS ARE REQUIRED TO SAVOR THIS AWESOME FARE.


SHANKAR IS MILES AHEAD OF THE REST. SABAASH ...

cheers,

Kaushik Lm. 

Endhiran(ROBOT) Movie Review!!

Dr.Vasikaran is a scientist who designs a ROBOT (Chitti) which looks just like him. He considers it as a life time dream. After teaching all the basic skills required for a robot to enter social life, Dr.Vasikaran introduces his new machine to the world, where Chitti performs in front of people. Like everyone, Borah(Danny Denzongpa), the  mentor  of Dr.Vasikaran, gets impressed with Dr.Vasikaran’s new product. He wants to steal the specifications of Chitti, as he fails to deliver a similar product to bad white people who have ideas to use it for destruction.

When Dr.Vasikaran places Chitti in front of Artificial intelligence Research development to get approval, Borah succeeds to stop Dr.Vasikaran by proving that Chitti is just a machine which has no feelings towards humanity and can be misused easily.

The problem starts when Dr.Vasikaran decides to add feelings to the neural system of robot. Chitti starts reacting to feelings. In this process he loves Sana(aishwarya rai Bachan),who is in love with Dr.Vasikaran. This negative side of Chitti gets misused by Borah. There start the thrilling adventures of Chitti and his army. Watch them on screen!

Rajnikanth who created wonders at box-office alone with a single role, imagine how the fans feel when they see 100’s of Rajni(Chitti and his army). It is a carnival for the fans. It’s all WHISTLES WHISTLES WHISTLES . Rajinikanth who started his career by doing roles with negative shades has lived in the character of ROBOT when he turns bad. Every scene has a logic and no chance given for people who criticize saying Rajinikanth styles has no logic .It’s a film which made Indian film industry (which is not just bollywood) proud.

No one would have imagined that they would watch an Indian film like ROBOT in the near future. Kudos to Shankar!! I am very happy that Shankar didn’t discuss any social issues in this film even after  having a super-hero character which can take on the social issues. The story has its originality. It would be very bad to say that this film is taken like HOLLYWOOD film but it would be good if someone tells that film is no less than a Hollywood flick. Aishwarya Rai looks very beautiful in the film and had a major role in the script.

A special mention needed to the producers of the film. Sun pictures gave a memorable film to Indian audience. Kudos!! to Rajini’s Mass appeal which helped producers come forward to give such a master piece. Tremendous camera work by Rathnavelu . Superb editing by Anthony. Though AR Rahman’s Magic didn’t work great for the film, it helped in setting international platform for the film. Fantastic eye catching graphics by Stan Winston Studios and thrilling stunts by Peter Hein.

On the whole it’s all in all a Shankar’s technical master piece with amazing performances by Rajinikanth. All Bollywood fans at least go to theatres to watch Aishwarya rai's beauty, you will come out praising Rajinikanth, Shankar and technicians .

Rajnikanth, A hero who can make wonders with no superhero image got license to show all his capability. If this is the situation for ROBOT/ENDHIRAN, imagine how would his capabilities turnout when he comes on screen as an animated character, which would have no boundaries to show his style and action. WAIT FOR SULTAN THE WARRIOR. Till then enjoy this master piece ROBOT.

Every Rajinikanth fan enters the theatre as if they are running into battlefield and I am very sure everyone comes out as a winner with lot of happiness and love.

cheers,

Praveen.

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Media Mavens, is an initiative by the students of Manipal University –MBA (Media & Entertainment Division), to explore the world of movies, music and television commercials and present it to you in the form of reviews.

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