Top 10 Movies of 2011

Top 10 Movies of 2011 -

1. 7 Khoon Maaf
2. Shabri
3. Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster
4. Shagird
5. Pyaar ka Punchnama
6. RockStar
7. No One Killed Jessica
8. Mirch
9. Chatur Singh 2 Star
10. Band Baja Baraat

2013 First Quarter Reviews (January to March)

1. Matru ki bijlee ka mandola – 4.0 Stars.

• It is a movie in ‘weird’ zenre. If you don’t get into the whacko attitude of it, you will switch it off. Otherwise it has a likable weirdness to it. Story is thin and nothing much happens, but a pink cow meshed with what’s important in life is all part of the story.

2. Table No 21 -  2.0 Star.

• A billionaire calls a couple to an island to play a game to win 21 crores, the game incudes everything illegal and stupid…. But there is a twist.

3. Inkaar – 3.5 Stars.

• Pretty decent effort on a movie on corporate sexual harassment case. Both sides are grey and you are kept in dark what will be the end, but gets a little boring in between. 

4. Deewana mein Deewana – 1 Star.

• Yes, it has Govinda and Priyanka Chopra together! It is made by KC Bokadia!! Don’t know when it was made and why we ordered it. 

5. Dabbang 2 – 0 Stars (minus 1 really) –

• Though I am not a fan of mainstream movies, but this is by far the worst mainstream movie by a mile. Dabbang had some spunk and novelty of crazy Chulbul Pandey, this one was a bad copy of the first with everything exactly the same just little bad. Songs and story and dialogues exactly the same except just little worse. Salman Khan forgot what he did in Dabbang so he tries to copy himself and fails at it!

6. Rajadhani Express – 3.0 stars.

• There is a difference in Tennis and Movies, leander paes is ok but you wonder if he thought he really had potential he got his answer. The movie is a thriller and suspense and I guess it has Jimmy shergill so the movie can’t be that bad (our favorite). You also get to see priyanshu chaterjee who came in one good movie before that, and he is again ok. Rajdhani Express is going and there is a bomb threat and a murder on the train… whodunit.

7. Chakradhaar - 0 stars. (minus 1 really).

• Yes, It is minus. I want my money back. The lead actor probably is son of the director and forgot that 80s are passé… He is being introduced like Ajay Devgan and sunny deol … he is a bad man, a lover, a fighter, a singer… everything. He acts mechanical and there is no spontaneity. To compound things others around him decided to act even worse to make him look good. Try it if you want to have a laugh.

8. Son of Sardar – 2.5 stars.

• It had a few laughs, but overall it dragged. Somehow Ajay Devgan and comedy doesn’t jel but somehow he has become the king of comedy and comes in all comedies!. Even sanju baba sleep walks through his role. Sonakshi sinha probably can do her stuff in sleep, probably she doesn’t need to be told what movie she is doing because she does the same in every one of them.

9. Luv Shuv te chicken khurana – 5.0 Stars.

• First great movie of 2013. It has everything, little love and a little chicken khurana. Its basically a love comedy. A guy who comes with bad intentions gets caught in funny and cute situations and stumbles on to chicken khurana.

10. Kismat Love Paisa Dilli – 3.0 Stars.

• With such a name it looked like a ‘sex comedy’ but it was not. In face for first half it was a pretty good thriller before completely loosing track and stopping in its track. 

11. Khiladi 786 – 3.0 Stars.

• Another remake of a south hit which has no story or content. One catchy tune and physics defying stunts which are getting old. It is pretty ok not as bad as other such mainstream movies. So if you want to watch a mainstream garbage I guess this one will do.

12. Jab Tak hai Jaan – 1.5 Stars.

• I did not see this as Sapna went to theater to watch it. Even she said it was average which means it is not better than 2 star. SRK’s confusion days continue.

13. Chakravyuh – 4.0 Stars.

• Abhay Deol movies are never bad and this one follows the trend. It is a naxal movie, lately naxal movies have flooded the market. This one is a friendship with the naxal backdrop. 

14. Aiyaa – 3.5 Stars.

• On the face of it, looked really bad. It was not. It was marketed as a ‘oomph movie’ but was nice small budget film about a middle class girl and her daily life challenges and her love. Not bad.

15. Talaash - 4.5 Stars.

• Reviewing it again. Sapna wanted me to see it (generally i don't see movies she already went to theater for - as my official stance is that I only see because she wants to see). It was heavy movie, Aamir's trauma of kid was the hilight for me in the movie. I couldn't let it go. Very well done by Aamir and I have never liked Aamir's acting before. But the more I see the older actors do stuff the more I think this guy is good. Some people absolutely hate the movie just because of it's concept, lower your ego guys. You can take aliens talking english and stupid physics defying stunts but not this! The movie has so many layers of talaash, search for peace of your mind is so much bigger than what is truth or not. The street scene between Aamir and Rani explains it. Good one.

Top 10 Movies of 2012

Good crop of movies this year made it difficult. When you have blind followers, the responsibility doubles for me. You have entrusted me with biggest asset you have - your time. which you want to waste on movies. 

Here is the top 10 for 2012. Some stats - there were 4 - 5 star movies and 3 - 4.5 starrers. 13 - 4 starrers. So only 3 out of the 13, 4 starrers were chosen for top 10 honors but all are mentioned in honorable mentions. Please do let me know which ones were your favorite, just for fun.

1.Kahaani – 5 Star. Edge of the seat thriller.

2.Teri Meri Kahaani – 5 Star. Sheer Poetry. Romantic.

3.English Vinglish – 5.0 Star. Drama.

4.Jannat 2 – 5 Star. Thriller / Drama.

5.Gali gali chor hai – 4.5 Star. Comedy.

6.Oh My God – 4.5 Star. Comedy / Thought provoking.

7.Talaash – 4.5 Star. Drama / Thriller.

8.I am Kalam – 4.0 Star. Drama / offbeat - kid is the protagonist.

9.Dus Tola – 4.0 star. Drama / offbeat.

10.Fatso – 4.0 Star. Comedy / Offbeat.

Honorable Mentions - Pappu Can’t Dance Saala, Paan singh tomar, Rockstar, Shirin Farhad ki to nikal padi, Ladies Vs Ricky Behl, Ishaqzaade, Bittoo Boss, Challis chaurasi, Cocktail, Ek tha Tiger.

2012 Fourth Quarter Reviews (October to Dec)

1. Choddon kal ki baatein – 3.5 Star. 

• A copy of an English movie (ground hog day). But still well copied I guess. A guy stuck in one day over and over again. 

2. Kya Super cool hain hum – 0 Star. 

• I don’t think I completed it. It was horrible. Tushar and Riteish over act. It is a pure sex comedy, every dialogue is double meaning. We don’t get enough sex comedies in hindi so if you want to watch for that purpose. Go ahead. I don’t find anything funny about it. 

3. Jism 2 – 2.0 Star. 

• Sunny leone doesn’t know how to act. Our favorite Randeep Hooda is wasted. Tried to make a passionate movie but didn’t happen. Bad.

4. Bol Bachchan  - 3.5 Star. 

• It has some funny moments. It is a copy of golmaal. But it has some original good scenes. Film drags but it is a good watch if you want to watch a completely silly movie. Don’t compare it to golmaal though.

5. Mere Dost Picture abhi baaki hai – 1.0 Star. 

• Poor movie suneil shetty and everyone else are trying to be funny. But really nothing is funny, not even bad funny. Though I will have to admit I never comepleted the movie. 

6. Gangs of wasseypur II – 3.5 Star. 

• Somehow this one is better than the first part. It is probably one of the most gruesome hindi movie you have watched. Somehow the story is easy to fall and you root for the guy. Also Nawazuddin siddique (the kahaani police officer) is awesome, he is one find of this year. Look out for ‘definite’ this guy is awesome. The scene where siddique asks for what is real name of definite is awesome. 

7. Bumboo – 1 star. 

• Wasted great talents like sharat saxena. Generally good in comedy but this one is just poorly made movie. 

8. Shirin Farhad ki to nikal padi – 4 Star. 

• Though we are not fan of farah khan and boman irani. But still this was a well made cute movie. It is good one to watch an older couple love story. 

9. Heroine – 0 Star. 

• Madhur bhandarkar has made this movie almost like 2 times now. It was a poor copy of fashion. Every cliché associated with movie industry is in it and they depict it as if it should come as a shock to us (in the same manner as page 3). Drugs, money for sex, gays all over ( in a negative way), women are not on phone without a naked guy lying with them… it is just bad direction. Basically there was no reason to make this movie. Kareena acts as if saying – look at me, I am acting so well I will get an Oscar. 

10. Oh My God – 4.5 Star. 

• An anti religion movie which basically point by point state the negatives of organized religion in an entertaining way. It almost threatened to become a monologue or documentary but it doesn’t. In subtle ways it also talks about Geeta teachings and spirituality Vs religion. 

11. Kamaal dhamaal maalamaal – 2.0 star. 

• I am still watching it. But it shows no promise. It is a sequel of maalamaal. 

12. Rush – 3.0 Star. 

• We are emraan hashmi fans and he has set high standards. According to his standards this was a disappointment. Same plot like all his movies, guy with good heart stuck in bad situation. But the soul is missing in this movie.

13. English Vinglish – 5.0 Star. 

• Everyone is good in the movie. The French actor, sridevi everyone. Even the bachchan cameo is great. Typical Indian mom and her struggle to get some respect within her own house. Very well made movie, nobody over acts, no melodrama, no one is the bad guy. Even the husband is a loving husband in his own right. The American neice is awesome and just gives the right amount of spunk to the role. Americans are normal people Indian people are fallible, this film avoids all hindi movie pitfalls and is just a great watch. I had a lump in my throat all through the movie. Sridevi caps it all with 2 perfect lines which explain the underlying philosophy. Watch it. 

14. Talaash – 4.5 Star. 

• Sapna watched it in theater. I still need to catch up on it. She liked it a lot, it had intrigue but also had drama and ‘drama’ is a must for sapna. So don’t look  for an out and out thriller just sit back and enjoy is the recommendation.

2012 - Third Quarter Reviews (July - Sept)

1. Vicky Donor – 3.5 Star. 

• I know some of you loved it and think it is too low. But the movie had a great script and some really funny scenes (check out the grandma drinking with the bahu scene) but after a while the movie just doesn’t move after introducing the great concept. So it is definitely a good movie but see with lowered expectations. 

2. Jannat 2 – 5 Star. 

• ALERT – this is the kind of movie which I love for my own reasons. Probably for you it may be a 4 star, but make no mistake it is a good movie. I love how they have developed the concept of Jannat, it is not the same story as Jannat1 but the ‘soul’ is the same. It just means that a bad guy wants to be good because he wants his jannat (love). The chemistry between Randeep Hooda and Emran Hashmi is perfect, probably long time after Bachchan movies did someone do so stylish ‘heartbroken cop’ as Hooda. The ending is aahh.. perfect. 

3. Anjuna Beach – 0 star. 

• This seemed like shot in 1970s and then someone found this reel and released it. Though it seems to be a mystery but we didn’t have it in us to go beyond first 15 minutes. 

4. Department – 3.0 Star. 

• First 45 mins into the movie and I thought I am not even going to watch it anymore. But after that surprisingly the plot thickens and it becomes decent. The problem is ‘bad acting’ overall and bad presentation. Camera moving like crazy maybe a style patented by Ram Gopal Varma but he should stop doing it. It was so annoying I wanted to slap the camera man. 

5. Char din ki chandni – 1.5 Star. 

• Another DDLJ try. Pretty bad. Everybody is pretending to be funny but they know it’s not funny. There is anita raaj in the movie in case any old fans are reading this.

6. Ishaqzaade – 4.0 Star. 

• We loved the treatment of this movie. Sapna and I like the female lead (pareeniti – piggy chops sis). It has pretty decent twist at the interval, and then movie does give you couple of more twists which is rare for a love story. Generally love stories are predictable and bad but this one was good.

7. Tezz – 1.0 Star. 

• Anil Kapoor and Ajay devgan facing off ….. in a Hollywood style thriller. The problem? MANY – why everyone in England is pseaking hindi (regular white people too). Why are they being lectured in hindi? Why are Indian cops telling them what to do in the hour of their national crisis? Why is Devgan mad in the first place? Uh… Has anyone seen ‘post slumdog – Anil Kapoor’? He is horrible and his accent is from nowhere. Anyway… if you want to just get tickled watch it for a while for all the above.

8. Housefull 2 – 3.0 Stars. 

• Sapna went to the theater to watch this one. So I didn’t watch it, but she says it is much better than the first version and though it was stupid she liked the story.

9. Shanghai – 3.5 Stars. 

• The movie starts slow but picks up to a pretty healthy pace. It’s a thriller which surprises you in the end as you think - how bad it started and how well it ended. Good different script. Real Indian feels to the movie which I always like. The only negative is we both can’t tolerate that girl Kalki. 

10. Rowdy Rathore – 2.5 Stars. 

• What do you expect of a south Indian movie? Yes all that is in there. A ‘Wanted’ re-run. 

11. 3 Bachelors – 1.0 Star. 

• Guy becoming a girl and no one noticing. This is the kind of comedy which are bollywood staple, probably even kids don’t laugh at this stuff. 

12. Gangs of Wasseypur – 3.0 Stars. 

• Sorry guys, I know it has been critically acclaimed and loved by some of my friends. It just didn’t connect. It is pretty authentic Indian stuff (which I like) but I still couldn’t get the point. The story telling was week. Documentary needs to entertain too. It keeps on going and going… aimlessly probably trying to be true to the incidents but what’s the point? Don’t get me wrong a good movie but went in with too high level of expectations.

13. Ferrari ki sawaari – 3.5 Stars. 

• Typical feel good small movie. The doting father wants to give his kid a ‘cricketing life’ and wants to borrow Sachin’s Ferrari. It just goes the beaten track of such films never rises from that but never sucks bad either. 

14. Isi Life mein – 2.0 Star. 

• Rajshri nth attempt to make a Maine Pyar Kiya (with DDLJ thrown in between). To be fair to Rajshri they have never budged from Nadiya ke paar / Maine pyaar Kiya theme. Small town girl with ‘values’ etc etc…. 

15. 3 Night 4 days – 0 Star. 

• Trying to cash in on ‘life in a metro’ kind of zenre. Where you discuss for the entire film relationship problems. But then you better understand what you are doing. The stars explain where this movie went. 

16. Teri Meri Kahaani – 5 Star. 

• Sheer Poetry. Again ALERT – this movie gets brownie points because when a romantic movie hits at heart to both me and Sapna …. It is magic. We get moist eyes and we kind of renew our vows. AND this movie did it. Oh.. romance… all 3 stories.. has clichés of the eras they depict but ohh.. it has romance. Love stories… which make you cry and laugh at the same time. And in the end the director as if listened to Sapna and changed everything! Piggy chops as usual get into the character, the cute punjaban accent of pre-independence era, the stylish Khan guy – shahid kapoor in the last story very impressive. Also look closer all 3 story characters have similar ‘nature’ the lovers have the nature just the times change. Also in the 60s era depiction … what catchy music and telling the entire story in the cute 60s style of music. You get the point … for some reason we loved it. 

17. Ek tha Tiger – 4.0 Star. 

• Sapna watched in in theater so I didn’t watch it. Sapna said she was surprised to see Salman not acting cheap and the movie in fact having a story! She liked it more than any other Sallu movie for last 2 years, not much of a baseline but still pretty good. She also liked the portrayal of Katrina.

18. Barfi – 3.5 Star. 

• Again Sapna went to theater (hmm… she has been going to a lot lately) so I don’t watch it. She liked it, illeana is beautiful obviously… and Ranbir Kapoor is good at any challenge thrown at him. So a pretty good movie very different than a normal one. Savi sat through the movie and understood it. Very big step for Savi :)