Agent Vinod

A nuclear bomb which can be activated by Ummar Khyyam's Rubiyyat has been acquired by a terrorist group who are planning to detonate it in New Delhi and thereby triggering a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. The plan is intercepted by a RAW agent, who is killed before he can pass on the full information, which brings Agent Vinod on this case.  You will get all that is expected of a spy movie with bomb blasts, shooting, guns going bam bam, lots of running, bike chase, auto chase, everything.  Movie has a fast pace, so it will keep you engaged.  Saif has done a good job as an action hero, he has spotted a stubble (more than a stubble) throughout the movie perhaps in an attempt to look macho.  Kareena looks great.  Prem Chopra, Gulshan Grover, Shahbaz Khan are the other baddies.  The only spoiler in my case was a guy sitting beside me who kept on saying "yeh bakwas movie hai" to his girl friend.  I wonder what more he was expecting in a movie named Agent Vinod.

THE HELP

The help is a drama movie based on a novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. Movie attracted me because I read in newspaper this movie received four Academy Awards nominations. So curiousity made me watch this movie and it was worthwhile.

The movie is set in Jackson, Mississippi during Civil Rights era in early 1960s. The movies revolves around Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) and 2 maids, known as Helps, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis)and Minny Jackson(Octavia Spencer).

Skeeter has moved back home to her family's plantation after graduation from University of Mississippi. Back home she find that her childhood maid who raised her, Constantine, has quit job at her home. She is quite upset about this because she thinks Constantine would have written to her.

She finds job as a homemaker columnist with Jackson daily and for that she takes help of maid of her friend Elizabeth, Aibileen who is a middle aged lady who has been raising white children all her life from the age of 14. She knew she would be a maid because her mother was a maid, her grandma was a house slave. Skeeter feels uncomfortable the way her white friends treat their Helps, especially Hilly Holbrook Bryce Dallas Howard) a strong racist who has proposed a bill to provide separate bathrooms for black maid because they carry different diseases to white people.

Skeeter eventually tells her plan of writing a book from the Help's percpective to Aibileen to which she refuses telling it will cost them their life because of the law in Jackson. Later Aibileen changes her mind when she realizes that white children they raise are growing up just like their parents hating colored people. Her friend Minny, who is outspoken but with excellent culinary skills also join Aibileen. She was thrown out of job from Hilly Holbrook's because she used their bathroom during a tornado storm night. Hilly poisons all other families and Minny is left jobless and her daughter drops out of school to work as a maid.

Aibileen helps Minny find job with Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) who is married to a rich socialite Johnny Foote (Mike Vogel)who also is ex-boyfriend of Hilly Holbrooke. Celia being from a working class is not accepted by Hilly and group even though she is white.

Skeeter send stories of Aibileen and Minny to Miss Stain, an editor for Harper Row in New York, who thinks it as interesting but needed a dozen more. But no one was willing to come forward until Medgar Evers, an Civil Rights Movement activist was brutally murdered and following arrest of Hilly Holbrooks' new maid for pawning a ring because she was not given loan by Hilly for helping maid's children go to college. The Helps realize that this book will give them an opportunity for their voices to be heard. Minny shares a last story so that no one will reveal the book was about Jackson, Mississippi. She as a revenge for firing by Hilly, bakes a chocolate pie and presents it to Hilly. After she finished 2 slices,Minny informs her that her own shit was baked into the pie. Skeeter wanted to add her own story and confronted her mother who told Constatine was fired by her to save herself during a reception. But when later they went to bring her back home, they knew that she passed away heart broken as soon as she was thrown from Skeeter's home.

The book is published and became a huge success. Skeeter shares the royalty with each maid and Skeeter got job with a publishing company in New York. Her boyfriend but breaks up with her when he comes to know about the book. Hilly make Elizabeth fire Aibileen and Aibileen denounces Hilly as a godless woman and leaves the job to start a new life and Skeeter leaves to New York.

Excellent acting is done by Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook, the extreme racist,we cant help hating her. Viola Davis as Aibileen, Octavia Spencer as Minny, Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote.

Wall E

Nobody likes to be lonely, not even Wall E, a robot, who leads a lonely existence on earth.  Earth is covered with litter and human beings live in a large space ship in outer space.  His job is collecting waste (e-waste), and compressing them into cubes and then arranging them.  The year is 2775 and 700 years ago, human beings left for outer space in a giant ship called Axiom.  This ship is controlled by machine "Auto."  Human beings have still not lost hope of living on a planet, and so send probes periodically to other planets to check for signs of life.  One such probe robot named Eva lands on earth and Wall E is head over heels in love with her.  He befriends her and invites her to his home and shows her his latest collection, a young plant that he has discovered.  Eva immediately places the plant inside her and goes into sleep mode as her mission is accomplished.  Wall E tries to revive her but to no avail.  When the mother ship comes to collect Eva, Wall E also jumps on it and thus reaches Axiom, where he sees human beings for the first time.  Human beings are now obese, fully machine dependent, unable to walk.  Wall E befriends a few of them.

The captain of the ship is happy on seeing Eva’s finding on earth, and decides to take Axiom back to Earth but Auto, the machine, which controls the Axiom is against it and a mutiny ensues and how Wall E, Eva, and his friends overcome this major obstacle forms the rest of the story.

The movie touches many aspects of life such as friendship, loneliness, environmental degradation, too much dependence on technology, artificialness of virtual life.

Direction, screenplay, and story by Andrew Stanton, this is yet another winner from Pixar studios. A must watch even if you are no animation buff.

Beautiful is Beautiful !

I went to watch V K Prakash's 'Beautiful' by default because I couldn't risk taking my wife to a late night show of 'Dirty Picture'. Vidya Balan in the posters was the only other woman in the entire Cinema complex. Hence we decided to watch 'Beautiful' and I must say, we came back reasonably happy.

Let me begin with the minus points. First of all there are some gaping loopholes in Anoop Menon's story and screen play. Most important being how John, the character played by himself fails to recognize Stephen [Jayasurya] as his childhood classmate till he stumbles upon an old photograph. This is baffling considering their age when they parted during primary school days.

The second point I found awkward was why does John walk away with the Police when a case of attempted murder was foisted on him when he knew very well he has done no wrong. What happens after that is too sudden a twist, perhaps to keep the movie under 140 minutes.

Coming to the positives, let me begin with the character 'Anjali' played by Meghana Raj. She is 'Beautiful' and oozes tonnes of oomph even while fully clad. She does full justice to her role. Jayasurya and Anoop Menon strike a nice male bonding. They bring the best out of each other. Both have given fabulous performances.

Jayasurya as the millionaire paraplegic goes on to scoff at Sanjay Leela Bhansaali's 'Guzaarish' and declares life is to celebrate. Even if he can't move a finger, he still loves to enjoy looking at 'Beautiful' things in life. In an interesting scene, he derides a TV host about our love and admiration lasting only a few minutes. Anoop Menon too refuses to sympathize with the paraplegic because he has seen worse. These moments add to the wholesomeness of the movie.

Rest of the cast has given commendable performances. The movie is easy on the eyes and ears with nice photography and background music. The twist in the tale at the tail end comes as no great surprise because there are enough tell tale evidences of where we are heading. But it still has been handled reasonably well.

This is a feel good movie about positive attitude. This is also slightly philosophical without being preachy. There is male bonding and there is romance with two ill defined love triangles. One involving John, Stephen and Anjali and the second involving John, Anjali and Meera.

None of the relationships are explored below the superficial layer because a lot of time is consumed by minor incidents like those involving the ashes of Kamalu's father. And finally there is a twist with a rather abruptly handled suspense angle. Thus even though we feel we have watched a 'Beautiful' movie, we still are left with a little bit of incomplete feeling.

I don't know if this movie is inspired from some Hollywood Cinema or Korean movie. Even if it is, I still would appreciate the effort that has gone into the making of the movie. Definitely worth a visit to the cinema.

Krishnanum Radhayum

Master Feces

At least three of my friends wanted me to join them in watching Santhosh Pandith's magnum opus "Krishnanum Radhayum" in Kanoos Cinema in Kochi. I was bombarded with messages about the traffic block the movie had caused in the southern parts of Kochi.

Many people were laughing even at the mention of the name. My beloved wife asked, "What is that poster ? Who is that man looking like a clown ?". After watching the trailer of his movie on Youtube, my Mom declared, "This is Mamu Koya's son". It offended me no end. I just adore Mamu Koya, you see !

Driving past the Pulleppady bridge, I got a strange brain wave. If Santosh Pandith decides to film his forthcoming movies in 3D, he will start with an advantage. His teeth won't need much technology to reach out to the audience. They pop out even from those billboards.

But the commercial success of this ultra-low budget movie goes on to prove one thing. He has created a new trend in marketing. He has sold crap and reaped gold in one of the most sensational sales tactic I have ever seen. Santhosh Pandith is the scrap dealer in Malayalam Cinema.

So finally with all the cajoling, blackmailing, white-mailing and emailing, I still couldn't muster enough courage to view this Master Feces from the new rag [e] of the Malayalam Cinema. WHY ?

Just watch this... I simply am not brave enough !

Hail the new Merchant of Whines !

Sneha Veedu

Satyan Anthikad for me, is the finest commercial movie Director who has survived into a fourth decade of meaningful movie making. He began by directing a delectable comedy in 1982. Almost 30 years later, he perhaps is the only Director of the older generation who has retained currency in this era of decline of Malayalam cinema.

After suffering series of horrible Mohan Lal movies, I had stayed off his 'Pranayam' fearing a boring old-age drama. So if I decided to watch "Sneha Veedu" on first day, it is because of my admiration for Satyan Anthikad. Let me confess he hasn't made any great movie here and this is not 'Vara Velpu' or 'Sandesam'. It is a mix and match of Satyan's old formula. But it works beautifully simply because of the theme of love.

Ajayan Menon [Mohan Lal] as a Chronic Bachelor shying from commitment to a marriage only to see his mother happy in her old age is the protagonist. Veteran Sheila playing his mother complements the picture of 'Love' in a home full of love.

Then there is Sunanda [Padmapriya] a neighborhood girl with charming manners and great conviction in whatever she does. Balan [Biju Menon] plays the role of Ajayan's friend, philosopher and side kick. He is a Sub Inspector of Police and is fabulous. Innocent as Karinkannan Mathai is his usual best. An Anthikkad movie is incomplete without these kind of characters.

There is drama, suspense, earthy comedy, love, puppy love, mother - son sentiments [so thankfully not overdone] and a little bit of tragedy. Then there is a humane climax that comes like a wave of the ocean, all of a sudden; touches us and leaves us wet in the eyes yet happy for the effect.

I wouldn't like to spoil the thrill of watching the movie by discussing the story. But let me add this, the new boy Rahul Pillai is a huge surprise package. He walks away with honors appearing on screen for the first time along with the likes of the stars mentioned above. Some real talent !

The music is beautiful and songs are fabulous. Hariharan and Shreya Ghoshal add variety to the songs. Palakkad and surrounding villages have been shot beautifully to make the visual experience pleasant. A little bit of sagging in pace during second hour apart, "Sneha Veedu" is a wholesome entertainer.

Malayalam cinema suffered all these years because people like Shaji Kailas had turned a magnificent actor into a monstrous Frankenstein of a Superstar. We can't thank you enough Mr. Anthikad for giving us back the 'Common man' Mohan Lal !

Recommended: For every Malayalee who has missed the beautiful family entertainers of the 80s and early 90, go watch this one. And for the new generation growing up on Hindi, English, Tamil and dubbed Telugu masala movies, watch this one to understand Malayalam Cinema !

Chappa Kurishu: A Must Watch !

Disclaimer: I am not much of an avid watcher of foreign language movies because I don't understand those languages. If the movie I am talking about is a remake of some Korean movie, don't bombard me with references. I am happy with Indian movies, even if they are inspired; simply because I can understand what they are talking.

Two in a Crowd !

After the delicious 'Salt and Pepper', the next Malayalam movie I watched was "Chappa Kurishu". Being a Non-Malayalee, I had no idea what it meant. But after watching the movie with a strange name, I am happy I chose to watch it.

It is a story of two totally different people, Arjun [Fahad Fazil in a come back role] and Ansari [Vineeth Sreenivasan]. One is a rich and upwardly mobile techie with ruthless selfishness. The other, a much abused lowly employee of a super-market. The former is getting engaged to a rich girl Ann [Roma in a dumb belle role], but indulges in oh so hot romance with his colleague Sonia [gorgeous Remya Nambeesan]. 

Ansari on the other hand is a slum-dweller who can't even express his soft corner for his beautiful and supportive colleague. He takes all abuses of his Supervisor and others without a whimper and continues to eat cheap food to save money so that he can send money-order to his mother.

Arjun shoots his own rendezvous with Sonia on his mobile camera. When Sonia realizes that he is getting engaged to another girl, she wrecks havoc in his professional life. In the middle of an extremely well shot altercation, Arjun loses his phone. That phone lands in the hands of Ansari who doesn't even know how to use it. This is the beginning of a chase and a race that changes two lives completely.

As Arjun frantically tries to get his phone back, Ansari begins to feel a strange sense of power. He isn't after money. For the first time in his life, he wants to enjoy the power. He uses Arjun to avenge his insult. But this act of innocent rage lands the lives of Arjun, Ann, Sonia and all the people connected to them in a huge turmoil.

The movie smoothly moves towards the climax with some tense moments involving Sonia and Arjun and a series of hit and miss events between Arjun and Ansari. The climax is all about how the incident changes the life and outlook of both the protagonists completely. Arjun, the suave operator realizes the importance of relations in life and Ansari gets the balls to take life head-on.

Vineeth Sreenivasan is simply fantastic and lives the role of the underdog. But Fahad Fazil who looked like a dud in his first movie [Kaiyethum Doorathu] is a complete revelation. Remya Nambeesan looks gorgeous, does a very competent job as the sinned against Sonia and has done a very bold love scene without which the movie would have been incomplete. Niveditha as the friend-less Ansari's only friend looks cute and does well. Roma does well in a very limited role. All the supporting cast is equally efficient.

Music and background score adds to the tempo of the movie. Camera-work is excellent and brings out Kochi as a character on its own in the movie. Perhaps the movie would have been even better with a little crispier editing. But as a whole experience, I will buy this from a first time Director. Sameer Thahir making his Directorial debut will have a lot to live up to in future. Here is one more new Director with a fabulous first movie. All this augurs well for Malayalam Cinema and I am happy for that.

Iqbal

Cricket is a passion for us, Indians, and Iqbal, the protagonist of this movie is no different, but there are differences, unlike us, he is deaf and dumb and also he wants to represent India internationally.  Coming from a rural background he faces a lot of hindrances and roadblocks, but love and support of his mother and sister and his own persistence eventually helps him to realize his dream.  Along the way, he also converts a drunkard ex-player into his coach, his cricket hating father into a supporter.  This movie has shown the politics that goes down at the grass root level and how some coaches manipulate those in power to get their ward selected.  Watch it if you have not already, it is sure to lift you up....starring Shreyas Talpade as Iqbal, Nassruddin Shah as Mohit jee (his coach), Shweta Prasad as Khadeeja (Iqbal's sister ~ you are going to love her).  Nagesh Kuknoor is the director.


Watch this song for the feel of this movie 

Salt n Pepper

This movie is like a perfect dish which has all the ingredients added in correct proportion by an excellent cook. Director Ashiq Abu has made perfect choices of actors for his characters. Baburaj who until now had remained as a villain and nightmare has turned overnight to comedian and he excelled in his new Avatar, cook Babu.

Story runs as different threads woven together in a beautiful manner. Kalidasan (Lal) is an archeologist, Maya (Swetha Menon) is a dubbing artist, both in their middle years. What connects these two are their passion for cooking and soon their friendship blossoms to a "delicious" relationship. Meenakshi(Mythili) Maya's roommate and Manu (Asif Ali) Kalidasan's nephew too portreyed their part well. With some twists and turns and all is well ends well, this movie is a sure watch. Other casts include Baburaj as Kalidasan's cook, Kalpana as Maria who runs a beauty parlor and gives paying guest accommodation to Maya and Meenakshi, Vijayaraghavan a fellow archeologist.

Music is rendered by Bijipal and there are some good songs and the Aviyal band has also rendered a good song.

Traffic

Linear narrative is the simplest way to tell a story and we have been hearing, reading, and watching the linear narrative for most of the time.  But when the story consists of different strands, woven together by the hand of fate or destiny, can linear narrative do justice to the story or the characters, each of whom has a different story to tell ? I dont think so......A complex story can be told very clearly using non-linear narrative, which is just the case with Traffic.  Just imagine the toil put in by the script writers (Bobby n Sanjay) to tell this story, which moves from multiple points and the director (Rajesh Pillai) who has manned the movie beautifully and thereby not letting us slip into traffic jam, at any point..............great work guys.......The innovative way of multi-speaker perspective keeps the viewers on the tenterhooks and I am not surprised that I heard so much good being said about this movie.

The story moves forward from a 4 person perspective, a traffic cop (Sreenivasan), a doctor (Kunchako Boban), an actor (Rehman), and a TV journalist (Vineeth) who is embarking on his first assignment, and it consists of the happenings in a 12-hour period, in which all the 4 characters are involved.


If you are among the few who have not watched it yet, then go ahead and watch it....it is an entirely new experience for a Malayalam movie watcher.


Tamil and Hindi versions of this movie are in the offing, I sincerely hope that they won't be tinkering with the script.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Mankind has and will survive every adversity it faces. Humans are generally passionate and intelligent. It is our intelligence that has brought us where we are today. However in our own quest for knowledge and medical breakthrough we started experimenting on animals. Animals have been sacrificed for generations with 'for greater good of mankind' as the reason.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a movie that showcases this view point from both the human standpoint of research breakthrough and the animal's viewpoint of oppression and suffering, in this case the apes.

Hold on can animals think logically and are capable of reflection and contemplation. Yup this movie shows how and moves way beyond. In a way it tells the story of all mankind under oppression and what happens when it goes beyond the breaking point.

The movie is well directed and the story line is good. It is a complete movie experience and highly recommended. I hope I have convinced you guys without giving away anything. Watch it and get the awesome feeling. If you guys missed the trailer here it is.

Tum Milo To Sahi

Watching a (good) movie is similar to sipping a warm glass of tea on a cold rainy day.  It is a wonderful experience, sipping slowly, breathing in the aroma, letting in the essence of the tea leaf through ones senses.  The tea (Tum Milo to Sahi) in my case was accidental and going by the reviews available on the net, I would have never sipped it in the first place.

TMTS tells the story of Lucky Cafe, which is a restaurant plus children's library run by an elderly Parsi woman Delshad (Dimple Kapadia).  Her cafe is not just a cafe for her, she has nurtured it like her own child for many years and has a dedicated band of followers.  Many people who met over a cup of tea at TMTS become life long friends, Amit (Suniel Shetty) and Anita ( Vidya Malvade ~ chuck de goalee) being one such couple.  In the mad rush of life, Amit has become so obsessed with his work, that he will go to any length to usurp Lucky Cafe for his MNC real estate company.  In order to evict Dimple, the MNC hires legal counsel.

Subramaniam, (Nana Patekar), a retired legal clerk, a loner, and an eccentric, whom we are introduced to earlier, steps in to help his foe turned friend Delshad.  Many of the memorable moments in this movie has Subramaniam in the frame, but every one else has given their best shot too.   There is also a budding college romance between Bikram Jit Singh (Rehan Khan) and Shalini Kasbekar (Anjana Sukhani)....

That I skipped the songs in this movie may have increased the aroma quotient and taken me closer to the essence of the movie, something which the reviewers may not have had the privilege to do.  But still, if you are in need of a good tea, you can have it here.

Zindagi Na MIlegi Dobara

Even before Zoya Akhtar began this movie, I have believed in the title of this movie. My only concern was how will she make a movie with this title. I must say I returned happy.

Zoya, the Director derives a lot from her brother's iconic movie 'Dil Chahta Hai' here. There are 3 bosom buddies, Kabeer [Abhay Deol], Arjun [Hritik Roshan] and Imraan [Farhan Akhtar]. There is male bonding. There is misunderstanding between two of them. There is the middle of the path friend who brings the estranged friends together. There is a girl full of life and love. There is a tour and a lot of masti. And there is realization about life and love at the end and the truth that you only live once.

The three friends on a holiday meet one another and then themselves in the process. One ends up breaking his engagement. Another realizes money isn't everything in life if you are not living today. The third decides to open up to the world with his poetry.

Though this one doesn't scale the same heights as DCH, ZNMD does leave you contented and feeling warm. Abhay Deol and Farhar Akhtar get equal billing with Hritik. Each one gets a chance to foist upon the other two, his idea of adventure during a bachelor's holiday in Spain.

Each adventure brings one of the boys face to face with what they really want. For Arjun, it is love. His love for the simple, lovable and vivacious deep sea diving instructor Laila [Katrina Kaif]. For Imraan, it is his own inner angst against his biological father [Salim, played with dignity by Naseeruddin Shah] and his final triumph over the fear of taking the jump. Kabeer, forced by family commitments finally decides to take the bull by the horn to call off a forced engagement with Natasha [Kalki Koechlin].

The dialogues are simple and are straight out of real life. Reema Kagti who directed the delicious "Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd" has joined hands with Zoya in weaving a smooth screen play and endowed it with fabulous dialogues. If the movie is a tad slow, that is because it is happening almost in real time. There are narrated flash-backs but no fast forwards. Javed Akhtar's poems credited to Imraan in the movie add to the impact.

Songs are nice and music easy on the ears without being memorable like DCH. Technically ZNMD is a contemporary movie and is up to date. It did not make me go ROTFL. There are some LOL moments but mostly it kept me smiling.

All actors from Hritik, Farhan, Abhay, Kalki and Naseeruddin Shah to the Spanish actor Ariadna Cabrol have done fabulously. But Katrina Kaif is a revelation. She has matured into a fabulous actor. And even in minimal makeup, she looks gorgeous. Overall it is a satisfying movie experience.

In short, 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' is 'Dil Chahta Hai' 10 years younger, stylized and in slow motion on beautiful Spanish Roads. This is a journey worth your time, money and most importantly intellect.

My verdict: Haven't you watched it yet ? Must be kidding !

Paa

The promos of 'Paa' released in December 2009 were quite interesting.
Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal and Introducing Amitabh Bachchan'.
That was a good reason to watch it straight away on day one.

After the disappointing "Bbuddah hoga Terra Baap", I went back to some old DVDs of Bachchan to refresh my faith in 'The Bachchan' phenomenon. I do so every time a 'Bbuddah' or a 'Family' happens. This time I chose 'Paa' because I wanted to see 'Auro'. A role that won the 'Best Actor' National Award for Bachcahn.

Critics have compared the movie to the ‘The curious case of Benjamin Button’. But this movie is absolutely different except for the ‘Progeria’ issue. This movie is about life and about living your life to the best with what you have got. This is also a movie that celebrates the ‘Greatest Indian Movie Star of all times’.

Amitabh Bachchan has acted in so many movies which were plain dumb. Toofan, Jadugar, GJS, Lal Badshah, RGV ke Aag and many more. But then he has given us some of the most poignant moments on celluloid like in Mili, Anand, Deewar, Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Baghbaan and many more. He also gave us many outrageously funny moments in Amar Akbar Anthony, Khuddaar, Namak Halaal and Satte Pe Satta.

'Cheeni Kum' was a nice and intelligent movie. 'Sarkar' was intense and will be remembered among his best. He did well even in multi-star capers like 'KANK', 'K3G' and 'Mohabbatein' playing the roles of senior citizen. But the one thing missing was ‘Something Special’. All he did was good, but nothing out of the box like what Kamal Hassan has done in many movies!

With 'Paa', Bachchan finally has broken the jinx. At the age of 67, he plays ‘Auro’ a 13 year old boy with a very rare congenital illness that leads to accelerated ageing and early death, Progeria or “Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome".

Auro, his mother, grand-mother, his teachers at school and even his friends take it as a matter of fact. There is no lamenting or no melodrama till the climax. But all are concerned about Auro and they take care of him well. He grows up to be a funny and fun-loving but a little too head-strong boy with a very sharp brain. In spite of his frail health and awkward looks, he is a very popular character at school.

He comes up with one-liners that are funny and cool. When his grand-mother starts getting on his nerves, he tells his Bhaloo, “Are you not a non-vegetarian ? Why don’t you eat her ?” He is a boy with an attitude too. Written on the door of his room, “Knock, else I will knock your head off’. He also has his way when he decides to leave his best friend Vishnu back as he joins his Politician Father on a trip to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Auro's revenge over his unsuspecting father for the 'uss-se pehli galti' is well executed. Those scenes between the father and son are very well crafted. There are some potty jokes. But perhaps they are pretty commonplace with 13 year old boys. 

R. Balki, who also made the delightful ‘Cheeni Kum’ with Bachchan and Tabu has come out on top with a fabulous idea and a wonderful movie experience. The beauty that Bachchan brings to the role of the 13 year old Auro is matchless though he looks too tall for a boy with Progeria.

You feel like you are one of those characters in the movie as you cheer on towards a climax. Vidya Balan as his Gynecologist mother and Abhishek Bachchan as her estranged lover and Auro’s father are good. Vidya especially so. Arundhati Nag is good too. Only Paresh Rawal is perhaps a little wasted. Auro’s friends are cute and loveable and Vishnu is too good.

There are moments like the little girl apologizing to Auro and presenting him with a caricature of himself made of ‘Sorry’ that are touching. You will not be wetting your hankies even though Auro has to depart at the end. His birth did them apart. He lived as everyone’s loved. And his death had to bring them together.

A mature and sensitive movie from the Bachchans and R. Balki. Though it goes a little 'Round and round' at climax. I would buy it because for commercial viability, they perhaps needed a little melodrama there. For cinematic value though, a little mature and under-played climax would have been better.

Finally a huge 'Thank You' to Balki !

Bbuddah... hoga Terra Baap : A Bachchan Remix

I have heard people complaining about paid reviews being published on many portals. Always thought Raja Sen of Rediff.com wrote too many nice things about Shah Rukh Khan movies and too little good about all others including Bachchan. Even 3 Idiots was put down by him. So I expected him to be negative about Bachchan's latest venture. But instead Raja Sen went gaga with Bachchan mania. So I thought this must be a must watch and thus I went to watch with Big B expectations. And this is what I felt after watching the movie.

There is a character of an underworld [Mafia in his language] henchman played by Makrand Deshpande in the movie. He begins questioning the Bbuddah's place in the bar and ends up being his unabashed fan and a more than willing sidekick. Director Puri Jagannadh is exactly that; a Bachchan fan blinded by the opportunity to direct the legend for the first time. He ends up dishing out a remix of Bachchan songs, dialogues and movies. For me, a Bachchan fan since Amar Akbar Anthony, this works out to be just that, a Remix without a soul. Well, a little soul may be in the form of 'Haal e Dil' song. Wonderful song this is sung soulfully in the Bachchan baritone.

There hardly is anything we haven't seen or heard about the Bachchan here. He emotes, sings, fights, punches and spews punchlines with gusto. He elicits spontaneous applause for some of his dialogues like "Hum jahaan khade hote hain, line wahin se shuru ho jaata hai". But the punchlines are far and few in between. In 'Go Meera Go" song he does a remix of his legendary songs. May be I am old-fashioned and that is why I prefer the originals.

We are told Viju comes from Paris for one final act. But we can't be faulted if we tend to believe he came from Hyderabad. His dress sense and sun-glasses look inspired from old Telugu movies of Krishna. Not cool at all. If riding Harley Davidson and punching a bunch of boys is his idea of heroism, Puri Jagannadh doesn't know Bachchan. Give me 'Sarkar' part-3 any day.

I have more than a soft corner for the Divas of my school and college days. Raveena Tandon [Kamini] is one of those favorites. Yes, the 'Mast Mast' girl plays Momma to a grown up girl and looks like an elder sister and ravishing. There ends the positives. Her role is ill-conceived, ill-defined and ill-presented. She comes across more like a teenaged star-struck dumb fan than a married lady, once in love with the aging hit-man. Completely stupid. And her much touted item number was missing in the movie. May be "Chandigarh ki Star" doesn't sell in Kochi.

Hemamalini [Sita] has little to do in the movie. She looks beautiful, dignified and goes through the role with charm and ease. The famous Bachchan - Hema chemistry witnessed in movies from 'Naseeb' and and 'Satte pe Satta' to 'Baaghbaan' works even in 2011. They really make a fine pair.

Sonu Sood [Karan] looks stern and often too stiff. But his remote resemblance to Bachchan works in favor of the role he is given. The girls are eye-candy and are marginally better than Raveena. Prakash Raj [Kabir] is a fabulous actor. But he has very little to do here except look menacing, grimacing and foolish alternatively. So sad for Hindi movies that they somehow have no challenging roles for his talent. Rest of the cast including Makrand Deshpande go through motions.

In more than one ways, this movie is "Yamla Pagla Deewaana" with Bobby Deol missing. The same errant father and upright mother with a powerhouse of a son theme. An Iconic father parodying his own roles from past. Bachchan does a Dharmendra here. Unfortunately the Sunny factor is missing and that is why this movie suffers. Sonu Sood can be a lot of things but not Sunny Deol. Most importantly, there were so many gags and punchlines in YPD, it never slacked. BHTB starts slow, moves slow and punches slow. 

My verdict: Watch it if you are a diehard Bachchan-maniac like Puri Jagannadh. If not, don't blame Bachchan. The 'Bbudah' looks and acts cool. But the movie isn't so. My pre-teen daughter summed it all with, "Time-pass because Bachchan is great. But can't remember anything once inside the car".