Movie Reviews

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  'Bodyguard' - delivers the goods (Movie Review)

  For three years now, every Eid, a Salman Khan movie has become one of the rewards of the festival. Whereas last year we had "Dabangg", which despite its simplicity had layers into it, this year we are treated to "The Bodyguard" which isn't a patch on "Dabangg". Despite this, it has enough to hold the attention of festive audiences.

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Standby

  “You were a footballer. How could you embezzle Rs 20 lakh from a bank?” asks the TV reporter. Seriously. How? The fellow being questioned is rightly flummoxed. So should the viewer. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Shabri

  Unlike popular insinuation, this is not a movie based on a female Mafiosi. Instead, it follows Shabri (Isha), the slum woman, on the run. Read On..

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  'Sahi Dhande Ghalat Bande', an honest effort by Parvin Dabas

  Ekdum sahi hai, boss! As Anna Hazare shifts from Tihar to Ramlila Maidan, our cinema has made a far more gradual movement from the 'arty-unintelligible' grammar of Mani Kaul to the 'arty-accessible' language of Parvin Dabas' film.

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Not a Love Story

  Not A Love Story is the first film from the director, since Sarkar Raj (2008), which comes with a script. Or at least an appealing story line. Mayank Shekhar writes.

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  Mayank Shekhar's Review: Aarakshan

  Young Sushant Seth (Prateik Babbar, looking perpetually dumbfounded) is a rich kid who’s just graduated from a college that his father is a trustee of. The boy wants to get into Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia’s popular mass communications programme. He’s opted for a career in the media. It’s a tough course to get into. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Office Office

  Being common in Third World is some sort of a crime all right. Especially, in a congenitally corrupt nation that daydreams of becoming developed some day. First World, by definition, is determined by how the last man standing gets treated in his own country. Shining India is furthest from it. You can tell. This film is valid commentary of that state. Read On..

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  'I Am Kalam' gives message without preaching (Movie Review)

  The boy is a dreamer. One look at the former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on television and Chotu decides to call himself Kalam. Kalam believes every child has the right to education. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Bubble Gum

  Boys eye girls their age, mark one of them as their own (in their head: “book karke rakha hai”), hope to eventually score someone for real, to legally announce her as their “GF” (girlfriend): the decisive 'neighbour’s envy'. Girls, demure, yet aware of all the male attention, juggle several boys at once. They play hard to get. Yet keep all hopes alive. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Gandhi To Hitler

  What do these characters – Gandhi, Hitler, Aman Verma -- have to do with each other, or the film itself? Doesn’t matter. It’s sheer genius that the filmmakers find enough in this time-space continuum to break into an upbeat Holi song here. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Singham

  It’s his signature move. The hero, in a massive leap of faith, rises up in the air, flings his legs out, thumps his palm on top of villains’ bobbing heads. Victims fall flat to the ground. They could be buried six feet under, with the same thudding sound. At one point, for lack of a better weapon, he yanks off a street lamppost, goes charging against a bunch of goons zipping off in their topless jeep. Which is unnecessary. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

  Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a hard-core male-bonding 'bromance' all right. Their dares probably have more to do with overcoming their own personal, pet fears, or phobias, if you like. Mayank Shekhar writes.

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  'Zindagi Na Milegi...' - about love, life, friendship (Movie Preview)

  After enjoying a madcap image of youth in "Delhi Belly", it's time to take a fun-filled trip with another bunch of guys - Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol in the exotic locales of Spain in "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara", which releases Friday.

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  'Murder 2', desperately dark film

  The sequel to "Murder" is nothing like the first part of the frenetic franchise. And Jacqueline Fernandez who has been built up in "Murder 2" as the next Mallika Sherawat is nothing like the overrated Mallika….Thank God for that! Fernandez exudes an unbridled sunniness even when pouting in the bare minimum.

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Murder 2

  "Bheege hoth tere. Pyaasa dil mera…" That's a popular Kunal Ganjawala song, most would know, from the commercial success Murder (2004). This is its supposed sequel. So the villain has the same track for his cellphone ring-tone, he sings it too, ending the stanza with, "Kitna mazaa aaya. Tere tukde karoon chaar (How much fun it'd be, if I chop you into four pieces)." Read On..

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  'Chillar Party' - small film, huge heart and talent!

  At one point in American history, dogs and blacks were not allowed in public places. During the British occupation of China, it was 'dogs and Chinese' while at the first Mumbai marathon the rule was against dogs and wheelchairs. A dog has thus become a metaphor for seclusion, for denying someone their fundamental rights. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap

  You may have seen this bizarreness in the promos. Describing his relationship with Mumbai, “We’ve gotten wet in the rains together,” Amitabh Bachchan’s Vijju (or is it Birju, Bijju, Virju?), a poor parody of his old self. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Delhi Belly

  Delhi Belly, most would know, is a fairly common bowel problem. Usually firangi, low-budget backpackers get these loosies, when they hang out in Third World countries (like ours), where their food and water supposedly comes mixed with 10 per cent shit. It’s called the Traveler’s Diarrhea. Read On..

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  'Delhi Belly' - Wicked voice of new India

  It is a cliche as old as this nation - of the many Indias that breathe under one India, Indian cinema has hardly been representative of even a few of these. Yet, one would have expected, after globalization and the emergence of a new bold, urban India, that at least this class would get representation in commercial cinema. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Double Dhamaal

  If you’ve seen Dhamaal, this film’s reasonably fun prequel, you’ll recall that it is loosely inspired by It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. This time the filmmakers were possibly busy scoring a tax-free contract to shoot in Macau and the editors were paid to keep their trap shut. Read On..

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  Subhash K. Jha on Double Dhamaal

  Some things never change. Like Indra Kumar's style of storytelling. From "Dil" in 1990 to "Double Dhamaal" now, the fun never stops…that is , if fun is what you derive out of overgrown boys played by actors ranging from 20 to 50 who repeatedly get hit in their testicles. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Always Kabhi Kabhi

  Let me see if I got this right. A girl hacks into her friend’s email account. Looking over the laptop, you can tell, she’s found so
  mething serious in there. You imagine what. It’s a rejection letter from the MIT (I’m assuming Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not Manipal). The boy would have read that email in any case. She passes on a hardcopy of this letter to everyone in this school, which looks like anything but. This buddy of ours can’t face his peers now, his dad would have him for dinner anyway. Read On..

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  Mayank Shekhar's review: Bheja Fry 2

  The first part, the surprise commercial success of 2007, had a lot going for it. There was a good performer (Vinay Pathak) on board — a part adorable, part pesky character (Bharat Bhushan) in the screenplay. The pic had a plot, courtesy a French original, The Dinner Game (1998). Read On..

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  'Bhindi Baazaar Inc' shakes you, sometimes to core! (Movie Review)

  You can take the gangster out of Mumbai, but you really can't take Mumbai out of the gangster genre of cinema. How many films have we seen where young people from the seamier side of Mumbai's notorious underbelly get into the world of crime and other furtive pleasures? Read On

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  Salman back as lover-boy in 'Ready' (Movie Review)

  She's a runaway bride. He's a runaway rogue, a little rough around the edges but a good hearted lovable soul. Salman Khan can play this character over and over again with his eyes closed. In "Ready" he is back to playing the lover-boy clown.