Archive for the ‘Review’

  • Exclusive Review: Sudhir Mishra’s Tera Kya Hoga Johnny
    Quick! What’s common in Johnny Gaddar, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, 99, Sankat City? Besides the fact that they all represent the fast growing Indo-Indie genre, they were all heist movies. Each of these movies made good box office gains together with appealing to the mojo of urban film goers. So, the obvious question is, is heist drama the easy bait and the formula for commercial...
    by Girimohan Coneti at November 19th, 2009 at 10:11 am
  • Paa Music Review
    Ilaiyaraaja is without a doubt a living legend in the Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam music scene, so I was looking forward to Paa’s music release (btw, has anyone listened to his compositions from Chal Chalein?). Have been listening to Raaja’s compositions for Paa throughout the day, and the compositions are actually relaxing to listen to… Mudhi Mudhi Ittefaq Se...
    by Amanda Sodhi at November 17th, 2009 at 06:11 pm
  • Gandha and 7 Ans: Bitter-Sweet Scent of Cinema
    The sense of sight, touch and hearing have been well covered by cinema over the years. Even the sense of taste has been covered but not as much as the former senses. But very rarely would you come across a movie which uses the sense of smell as an integral part of a story. Thanks to the good folks [As Rajeev Masand Says ] at Alliance Francaise de Bombay I have had the...
    by Rasik Tirodkar at November 16th, 2009 at 11:11 am
  • Fakir of Venice: Good Short – Yes! Terrible Feature Film
    You have the budget to shoot in the most picturesque of locations in Venice, Ladakh and Benares, you have big name acting talent and then you have that all essential novelty in the script with a title on the front page that reads “Fakir of Venice”. Then you go about shooting, but fail to capitalize on the acting talent and you end up wearing off the novelty...
    by Girimohan Coneti at November 14th, 2009 at 06:11 am
  • 3 Idiots — All Izz Not that Well
    The music of one the most anticipated film of the year is out now and just like the style of music launch strived to connect with the youth , the music also aims to do so . Looking at the cast , my memories of RDB got refreshed and I started thinking why did the music of RDB worked ? Everyone knows why it worked , the lyrics and music was great and most importantly it...
    by Saurabh at November 12th, 2009 at 06:11 am
  • 500 days of Summer
    This isn’t a story about a normal guy meeting a normal girl. This is about a normal guy meeting a classy, sexy female. And this changes a lot in the dynamics between them. The pointer of the control exuded doesn’t shift from one to the other. It constantly is pointing towards the female. It may be the same when a normal girl meets classy hunk, but I will be the last...
    by Gaurang at November 10th, 2009 at 08:11 am
  • Jail: A Stiff Sentence
    Madhur Bhandarkar has made a name for himself as a realist filmmaker (this and that he has won 3 national awards always precede a piece on him). His films like Page 3 and Fashion broke the art film-commercial film barrier for him. Bhandarkar has comfortably placed himself as a ‘mainstream-realist’ filmmaker. After documenting the lives of bar-girls, corporates, the...
    by Padmaja Thakore at November 8th, 2009 at 08:11 am
  • APKGK : Hasna Zaroori hai in this Love Story of Mr. President
    Forget unstoppable media frenzy with the stories of powerful Presidents and details of the secret behind the physical beauty of the few of the first ladies, APKGK is far more interesting story of a far more interesting President and his love interest. What if he is the President of a small youth club “Happy Club” only? Unlike political Presidents PREM is here to...
    by Rk at November 7th, 2009 at 02:11 pm
  • Fish Tank
    In my opinion (at the risk of generalizing), rebellious teenagers are more equipped to pursue their dreams and make things happen. On the other hand docile teenagers are more likely to go with the flow and end up dormant as the sun is about to set. Now, the reasons for which they may rebel, may seem utterly ridiculous, or may not even be on the right side of morality....
    by Gaurang at November 5th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
  • Ek Niranjan- a formula film from the Puri Jagannath Factory
    Prabhas and Kangna Ranaut in Ek NiranjanAfter Bujjigadu-Made in Chennai, the combination of director PuriJagannath and hero Prabhas is back again with Ek Niranjan. This one bears the stamp of typical mass hero formula films in Telugu, something that Puri Jagannath seems to relish following the stupendous success of his Pokiri. The plot is fairly simple. The movie begins...
    by Sethumadhavan at November 4th, 2009 at 08:11 am
  • London Dreams – Is the Better of Bollywood Reality
    At the fag-end of a season of big-budget films (Aladin, Main aur Mrs Khanna, Blue, Acid Factory, Wanted) where you wondered at the smugness with which filmmakers insult the intelligent audience comes Vipul Shah’s London Dreams. I want to argue that London Dreams is different in that it tells an average story with a conviction and engages its “target” audience...
    by Padmaja Thakore at November 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 pm
  • Jackie Brown-Of Tarantino and Blaxploitation
    One  of  the  numerous  slam  bang  movies,  i  saw  as  a kid  during  the  late  70’s  in  India  was  Black Belt Jones.  It  had Jim  Kelly,  one  of  the  main  characters  in  the  70’s   martial  arts  flick,  Enter  the  Dragon,  that  had made  Bruce Lee  an  icon  of   sorts,   especially  during  the ...
    by Ratnakar Sadasyula at November 3rd, 2009 at 08:11 am
  • Monu & Tony on PFC: Satyakalpadroom
    Dear Reader, this is not Magik’s review. This post is jointly written by Monu & Tony. Till date we had submitted hundreds of well-worded and heart-felt posts for PFC, all of which had been ruthlessly rejected. We had to resort to this trick, especially after we got to read the recent post on “One time Superstars“. Now if that post can go up on PFC,...
    by Magik at October 31st, 2009 at 09:10 am
  • Aladin Review – And Analysis
    Aladin is a decent film – not great, but not as bad as some people seem to be gleefully making it out to be. It’s good clean fun, it’s laugh-out-gut-bustingly-loud in several places, and it’s the kind of film you can happily take your kids or kid cousins to. While I wouldn’t say it’s a path-breaking classic, I would definitely say all seven of us had a good...
    by Kenny Basumatary at October 30th, 2009 at 05:10 pm
  • This Is It : It never happened but it did
    The film unravels in its ultra-slick avatar, much of what one would have seen in the concert had it happened. And witnessing it with all the helpings of technology for once it makes sense to have the film out and jam the funk out of the cacophony much of what is media and anti-MJ lobby generated noises about things which would be anything but just to the music he gave...
    by Tushar at October 29th, 2009 at 03:10 am
  • NAGINA (1986) : Not just another Ichhadhari-Nag(in) flick
    After roaming in a world of Vampires, Werewolves and Werebeasts etc. in Hollywood movies for a long time, the need was to get acquainted with some supernatural beings in Hindi movies. These don’t include those Junoon types, directed (ghost?) by Mahesh Bhatt and clearly lifted from Hollywood movies like ‘The Wolf’ and ‘An American Werewolf in London’. In this...
    by Jahanpanah at October 27th, 2009 at 10:10 am
  • Paranormal Activity (2007, 2009): Lets redefine FEAR, in a SIMPLE way!!!
    Written and Directed by Oren Pali Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat Shiny silver sheets cover a sleeping couple seen on their personal camera sitting on the tripod in the other end of the room. Fast forward as time comes nearer. Play mode again and a shadow barely makes an appearance on the open door, continued by a THUD. Swallow that fear because it is just beginning....
    by Jateen at October 24th, 2009 at 06:10 pm
  • Paragraph 175
    Probably history was after all, meant to be a study of human consciousness in guilt. Of course, there is always a need to realize something valuable out of the past, that a study about the past is after all a human being’s reverse-troubleshooting guide. Probably that’s the reason why there are beautiful pictures of stoic, stiff-lipped people in our high school...
    by Fazil at October 23rd, 2009 at 07:10 am
  • Dacait(1987)- Sunny Paaji in Chambal
    /*  Spoilers  In Post The  camera  pans  over  the  desolate  landscape,  littered  with  ravines,  valleys,  criscrossing  streams.   Forbidding,  haunting,  the dreaded  Chambal  Valley,  India’s  own  Wild  West  frontier,  a name  that  spelt  terror  during the  70’s.   A  place  synonymous,  with  backwardness, ...
    by Ratnakar Sadasyula at October 23rd, 2009 at 12:10 am
  • In A Lonely Place – ‘hedunit?’
    Personally, I find ‘whodunits’ uninteresting by and large. Nicholas Ray’s “In a Lonely Place” starring the great suave Humphrey Bogart is technically a whodunit, but on a lot of levels, it isn’t. It’s more – it is what you would term a ‘hedunit?’ and one of the better thrillers I have seen. Of course, trivially shoving it...
    by ArSENik at October 21st, 2009 at 11:10 pm
  • Paranormal Activity – Goes way deep than some goosebumps on surface
    Being fearful comes naturally to us. We need not be conditioned for it. However, bravery, courage and other virtues seek example. Fear stands on its own. Tall, unfettered bonded to our psyche naturally.  All great horror movies revel in the fact that ‘it is not about what you show, but what you not show’. They exploit the human imagination and spur it on...
    by Tanul Thakur at October 21st, 2009 at 10:10 pm
  • Blue: Amusing Blue Job
    It's not a Blue film, it's a comedy The expectation A well promoted Diwali release. Big Stars like Akshay Kumar and Sunjay Dutt. Eye candies Katrina Kaif and Lara Dutta. Bahamas and bikinis in abundance. Kylie Minogue. Music by Rehman. Produce of Sri Asthivinayak Cine Vision that had earlier produced films like Bhagam Bhag, Jab We Met, Golmaal returns, Kidnap and Luck....
    by ~uh~™ at October 21st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
  • Come and See (1985)
    In times of adversity, stories of triumph, grief and inhumanity are not unusual. Humans are subjected to emotions which are extreme. “War” brings out the best and worst in humans. Come and See (1985) by Elem Klimov is one of the finest examples in world cinema which depicts war in its truest sense. It has no messages to offer to its audience. After watching Come and...
    by Sourav Bhuyan at October 20th, 2009 at 06:10 pm
  • Blue
    After watching Blue, there are quiet a few facets of the Hindi film industry which have come to the forefront now: Film Making Courses: So far there are quite a few institutes like FTII, Anupam Kher Prepares and Whistling Woods where one can learn film making. Now they all have stiff competition. Here come the Dhilin Mehta’s Uber-Cool Diploma School (DUDS). Dhilin Mehta...
    by Sudhir Nair at October 20th, 2009 at 08:10 am
  • Puthiya Mugham Movie Review
    This blog is taken down. As per PFC’s policy an author can only publish original posts not published anywhere online or in print. Please refer to PFC’s guidelines in the About Section. The author is requested to contact the editors in case he has any questions.
    by Suraj Nair at October 19th, 2009 at 06:10 pm
  • Blue Velvet-Nightmare on Lynch Street
    Scripted  style   lettering,  super imposed  over  a  backdrop  of  undulating  blue  velvet  cloth,  to  tune  of   Angelo  Badalamenti’s stringed  score,  sensual,   haunting,  a  throwback  to  the  early  Hollywood  movies  of   the  50’s.    And  then  the  blue  velvet  cloth  dissolving  into  clear  blue ...
    by Ratnakar Sadasyula at October 19th, 2009 at 08:10 am
  • Y.M.I. & Aagey Se Right: Music-vusic Oye!
    While everyone is going latoo over APKGK’s music (read Tu Jaane Naa), I felt like writing about some slightly older OSTs which might have slipped off the radar—Y.M.I. and Aagey Se Right. Yeh Mera India Bas ji, sirf 4 tracks hai Y.M.I. mei. But, it’s quality not quantity that matters, hai naa? Bansuri is a nice soft-rock composition from the Siddharth-Suhas duo,...
    by Amanda Sodhi at October 17th, 2009 at 07:10 pm
  • Pazhassi Raja – worthless lives, priceless freedom
    Pre-empting a scriptwriter like MT Vasudevan Nair is futile, as he wanders the creative landscape like an un-reined white horse. Committing that error, I walked into Audi 05 of PVR cinemas for the initial show, with ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’ and its memories still fresh as a blooming lotus petal in the mind. What showed in the screen was entirely opposed to...
    by Ram V at October 17th, 2009 at 08:10 am
  • Main Aurr Mrs Khanna – A Movie that’s as confusing as it can be
    Disclaimer – Spoiler Alert A tale of marital discord with the lead actors being the ever popular Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Shot in impressive locations abroad & with nearly half the movie based in an airport and added to this is an array of well known names doing cameos. All this automatically makes Main Aurr Mrs Khanna (referred to as MAMK from hereon) a...
    by Sethumadhavan at October 16th, 2009 at 03:10 pm
  • Rita – A Marathi Movie that’s getting noticed
    Marathi film industry has seen a spate of releases recently. With many Bollywood production houses pumping money, its exciting time for Marathi film Directors. Alas, the same can not be said about the quality of movies which the industry is churning out. Rita is the directorial debut of Renuka Shahane. The story is based on her mother Shanta Gokhale’s novel- Rita Wellingkar....
    by cinemausher at October 15th, 2009 at 03:10 pm