Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011)

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar, Tara D'Souza  
Genre: rom-com
Lenght: 2h:19m.28s

I have been waiting for this movie since April. At first, I was curious because of Imran Khan and Ali Zafar. Then I got a bit nervous when I found out that the female lead was going to be Katrina Kaif. With every picture, trailer, song promo and behind the scene footage I saw I got less and less nervous and more and more impatient. :) Then the music composed by Sohail Sen released. I trusted him since the beginning, seeing as I still love his debut album What's Your Raashee, even after two years. I got so hooked on the music that there wasn't a day when I didn't listen at least to a snippet (mostly Choomantar :p). Besides, I really liked what I saw of Katrina in the promos and with that my last concern disappeared.

Hmm, this may be my longest review yet. Just felt like warning you guys :)

Of course, nobody expects objectivity from me, right? At least I hope so...

Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)

Director: Gautham Vasudev Menon
Cast: Surya Sivakumar, Simran Bagga, Sameera Reddy, Divya Spandana
Genre: action, romance, drama
Lenght: 2h:49m

Luckily this isn't one of the movies I liked that turned out to be a flop. In fact it was one of the most successful movies of 2008. It was a bit hit and miss between me and Gautham Menon - I really liked Vinnaithaandi Vaaruvaaya, but was quite indifferent towards Kaakha Kaakha (my first Menon movie). Maybe I've come to the stage where I can appreciate these kind of movies.. talking about 'these kind'.. I don't really know how to cathegorize Vaaranam Aayiram. It's not the typical masala, though there's a little bit of everything.

Break Ke Baad (2010)

Director: Danish Aslam
Cast: Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sharmila Tagore, Lilette Dubey
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Lenght: 1h:52m.42s

Just let me get this out straight away – I didn’t hate Break Ke Baad. Quite the opposite, I found it entertaining, funny and charming. Not really lavish, but still Bollywood-y and over the top in some aspects. Highly enjoyable. Don’t expect any bashing from my side. I don’t review movies I don’t like. :)

So, this movie was a flop. Remember how a month ago I wrote about Jhootha Hi Sahi, one of my most favourite bolly movies ever? (another flop!) I mentioned I would stand up for the movies of 2010 which I loved, yet failed to impress the other viewers. I guess the audience got so used to actors over 30 playing ‘young boys in pursuit of their first love, which is of course the only one there really is’, that it can’t appreciate a normal couple going through a relationship crisis. And just imagine the boy being the quiet, mousy type and the girl the aggressive, selfish careerist. The horror!

Yahaan (2005)

Director: Shoojit Sircar
Cast: Jimmy Shergil, Minnisha Lamba, Yashpal Sharma
Genre: war, drama, romance
Lenght: 2h:23m.09s

A year back, I was losing interest in Bollywood movies. It just seemed that everything I watched looked and felt the same, same stories, same overacting, same sounding music. I discovered South Indian movies, namely Tollywood and Kollywood, and it seemed I wouldn’t get back to Hindi cinema for a while.

Then I watched Yahaan.

Amrapali (1966)

Director: Lekh Tandon
Cast: Sunil Dutt, Vijayanthimala
Genre: historical, drama, romantic
Lenght: 1h:59m.32s

Amrapali is my very own Mughal-E-Azam. It’s a historical romance, it’s epic, the music is beautiful and.. and words fail me – I can’t describe Vijayanthimala’s beauty, dancing and acting. Here the comparison ends, because even though these attributes (doomed love, beautiful and gifted actress...) could be used with MEA too, Amrapali is the one that nestled itself into my heart and left a lasting impression. It reminded me of a fairytale. Maybe it isn’t the best way to describe it, seeing as it was based on true personalities and events. Yet I’m not sure how much ‘authenticity’ remained in the finished product; I’m sure the director changed some events and shaped the story according to his wishes. Either way, does it matter? :)

Brindavanam (2010) vs. Yamadonga (2007)

I LOVED Brindavanam. There was so much awesomeness, spectacular fights, great dialogues, 'subdued and nuanced' performances by the cast... you get my point :D By the end of the movie I thought it was the best Jr. NTR flick I've seen. The funny thing is, the first 15-20 minutes I was bored. To tears. Well, except for the video song, which was fantastic. When I look back at the beginning, I think I'd like it better the second time around. It's just that it looked like any other star driven movie - megaman fights, punch dialogues, pretty girls, OTT parents... I'm not one who watches a movie only to see a star being awesome, which is why Yamadonga is my favourite NTR Jr. movie yet. Yes, Brindavanam came pretty close to winning, but couldn't really dethrone Rajamouli's socio-fantasy.

Why? Let's compare them...

Aagey Se Right (2009) ~Screencap review

Starring: Shreyas Talpade, Kay Kay Menon, Shiv Pandit, Mahi Gill, Shenaz Treasurywala
Director: Indrajit Nattoji

Now this is what I call a great debut. I love movies like this one where I don't expect much and end up being in love with it – the story, the characters, the music, the everything. I may be biased, because I love comedies and this is one of the best (made in BW) I've seen. And why a 'screencap review'? Because I'll try to let the movie speak for itself. Sometimes mere words don't do justice...