[Movie] Hasee Toh Phasee

The movie opens with a bunch of people screaming and trying to open a door in a Chawl in mumbai, and a man comes up the staircase and is told it is his daughter who did the prank. He calls her aside, doesnt chide or scold her but tells her to open the door and finish what she started and they high 5. On the other hand there is another family, the dad is a cop and his 2nd son Nikhil [Siddharth Malhotra] is a naughty kid- who they lock in a room and go to watch a movie, but he doesnt stay locked in, he is out and watching the movie from the other side of the screen in no time.

Producers: Vikas Bahl, Hiroo Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar

Production companies: Dharma Productions, Phantom Productions

Cast: Parineeti Chopra,Sidharth Malhotra,Adah Sharma

Hasee Toh Phasee is quite the entertainer, it was such a feel good movie that we walked out of the theater smiling, recollecting the quirky moments.  Coming back to the movie, the 1st time Nikhil and Meetha [Parineeti Chopra] meet is when Nikhil is passing by a house when he spots a tomboyish girl trying to escape through the barbed wires. He helps her escape and as she is fleeing the place, she says "Socho, mein idea hoti aur tum technology, humari patang kya mast udti na?”   

Now, the main plot of the movie is not a new one, it is about a guy and girl all set to get married, when the guy falls in love with another girl in the process only to go after her on his wedding day. But the way it has been taken, the approach, the characters - that is what sets this movie apart.  

Meetha is a daddy's girl [daddy's role played by Manoj Joshi], a girl who runs away because she dint get what she wanted from her dad. Her uncle is constantly yelling at her [she has short hair, wears T-shirt and trousers, is spoilt, too independent, etc etc]. She hails from a traditional Gujarati family that doesnt understand her, nor do they encourage her brilliance.  She disappears on the eve of her oldest sister's marriage only to reappear after 7 years for her 2nd sister's wedding. Infact, Karishma (Adah Sharma), her sister invites her for the wedding  but introduces her as a guest to Nikhil. It is only later that he discovers the relation, the background and Meetha as a person. 

The story is all about Nikhil and Karishma's wedding, the families preparing for it, Nikhil perpetually in need o money, Karishma constantly angry with him, and the rest of the family adding to the chaos in their own little way. Nikhil and Karishma have had a crazy relationship, she has threatened to break it off numerous times, but he holds on to the relationship saying "I know her, I love her, who is to say the next girl will be the perfect one?" 

Meetha is an oddball, she has the wildest twitches and habits, she speaks a million words a second, she drinks gallons of water and popped a dozen pills periodically. Nikhil ends up picking her up, finding her accomodation, retrieving her from the dump and putting her up at his house, driving her around, and various other adventures. During these times he learns about her, realises she is not a bad cookie, but just a misunderstood cookie. And as they discover each other, romance blossoms. On the evening of a family gathering, Meetha tags along with Nikhil for she wants to meet her dad [ hasnt seen him in 7yrs] but is told he is angry and might have another heart attack, and so he whisks her away. But then the car breaks down, and she instantly solves the issue. That evening, she shares her entire life story with Nikhil, showing off the ball that bounces like crazy, that could one day provide power for an entire apartment complex. 

Her stares, quirks, sharp dialogues, her twinkling eyes, sudden bursts of chinese, tooth paste eating, chocolate stealing habits are just amazing. Infact, she is the highlight of the movie and Parineeti has acted brilliantly, essaying the role to the dot.  Nikhil is so drawn to her that by the end of the movie he is all set to help her find the money she needs even though it is not the acceptable path. And as expected, the movie does end with a happy ending. 

It is a must watch for anyone who needs a good laugh, or wants to hold on to the belief that love does exist. Such a rib tickling, sweet, endearing, feel good, warm fuzzy movie that was.  And then ofcourse, Siddharth looks good, so does Parineeti [there is also certain cuteness in her]

Overal rating - 4.5/5 [ the .5 less because some scenes I felt were unnecessary, just as some characters were...]

[Movie Review] Kumki

After hearing rave reviews, i nudged a few friends to watch Kumki. Alas, it was not to be, we were at the theater, Inox, waiting for the doors to open when a staff came over to tell us there was some technical issues and the screening was cancelled. Our hopes fell and we were disappointed. Anyways, that weekend an excolleague of mine called asking if i would like to catch up, and what do you know, it began with us watching Kumki, at Escape Cinemas, Express Avenue. 

I had seen and enjoyed Director Prabhu Solomon's earlier movie Mynaa, which is set in the village and is very rural. Wondered if maybe this movie too would be similar. There ends the similarity. The setting was the only common factor between the two flicks. 

What was Kumki about? 

It is a fairly simple tale about Bomman (Vikram Prabhu, Sivaji's Grandson & Prabhu's son),a mahout who along with his uncle and another help[played quite well by Thambi Ramaiah and Aswin] go from town to town with their elephant [Manickam]. They get invited to temple functions and other such small festivals. On the other side is the village of Adhi kadu [in the region of Panimalai, Marthandam)]where a wild elephant Komban has been on rampage. The wild elephant attacks women who are out in the field and has killed quite a few, especially during harvest season. Unable to deal with the menace and determined to not run away to another town [which is what the cops suggest the villagers do], the village chief calls for a Kumki [a trained elephant used to tame wild elephants] 

The scene where we are introduced to Komban and his rage is quite disturbing. He is all set to trample Alli [Lakshmi menon] when she slips and just about escapes.  One day when heading back to base after a brief spat with the officials after Bomman fails to show Manickam's papers [which his uncle had lost somewhere along the way], the man who helps them Mani annan receives a call from the village asking if the Kumki elephant is ready to be transported to the village. 

The twist in the tale happens now, the ordered Kumki elephant's mahout is stuck with some personal emergency and says he will take about 3days to reach the village. In the meanwhile, Bomman volunteers to go to the village and hold fort till the real Kumki elephant takes over. The villagers welcome and treat Bomman, his clan and Manickam with great revere. While they are under the assumption that Manickam is a kumki, reality is that Manickam is indeed a very timid elephant who shies away from breaking coconuts

In a turn of events, Bomman sets eyes on Alli and falls in love with her, forgetting the real purpose of thier visit to the village. He decides to stay on, telling the owner of the real Kumki that he will manage, and train Manickam to deal with any kind of emergency. Eventually, he understands the severity of things and comes to a point where he says  "i cannot mislead the villagers, i am putting everybody's life at risk, we should just leave" What happens next is the climax of the movie...

As real as the visuals are, i felt the director could have shown more scenes of Manickam and his antics, and of Kumban as well. The songs are beautiful, especially Sollitaale Ava Kaadhala ,Ayyayayo Anandhame and Onnum Puriyalai. The romance is sweet, the pride the villagers have of their property and heritage is amazing.
Vikram Prabhu has done an amazing job, for a debut artist. The scenes where he cajoles and pampers the elephant, the push ups he does on its tusks, wow... shows the relationshiop between a mahout & his elephant.   Lakshmi Menon fits the role perfectly and has played her role well.  Thambi Ramaiah is wacky as always, and infact i felt he got more screen space than others.

A movie worth a watch.... yet another offbeat story..

I would rate it 4/5

[Movie] Reel on.. II

More Movies i've seen over the past 2 weeks!

Ugly Truth

Director: Robert Luketic


Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, Eric Winter  .

Rating: ***1/2

  Abby Richter, an ambitious television producer in Sacramento hasnt had a boyfriend or some action in quite a while...one night when she is at home, her cat presses on the remote and "The Ugly Truth" by Mike Chadway is on, Abby calls in and argues with him on-air. The next day, she discovers that the station is threatening to cancel her show because of its poor ratings, and the station owner has hired Mike to do a segment on her show to boost the TRP ratings.

At first, the two are at war till Mike finally convinces Abby to listen to him to conquer the man of her dreams, a doctor named Colin who lives next door.She follows Mike's instructions step by step, with quite a few goof ups thrown in... and finally realises she is someone else with Colin, and has fallen in love with Mike... This is a movie whose humour is nothing ne, but its one of those feel good, light, Romantic comedy flicks..

Watch it for Gerard Butler... remember 300 and PS I Love you?? ;)Oooh!!!

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Death at a Funeral

Directed by Frank O

 

Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Alan Tudyk, Daisy Donovan, Kris Marshall, Andy Nyman, Jane Asher, Keeley Hawes, Peter Vaughan, Ewen Bremner, Peter Dinklage, Thomas Wheatley, Peter Egan........

This was a movie i had picked up awhile ago, saw bits and pieces till finally last evening me and my friend decided to give it a go and cracked up completely..... It stars a mostly British ensemble bunch of actors, most of whom look familiar and yet are unfamiliar.

The death of the Daniel and Robert’s father and the attempt to hold his funeral is what the plot circles around.. the occasion brings a whole lot of dysfunctional family members together. And amidst all this, when a midget of a man shows up threatening to reveal the deceased man’s shocking secret[That their dad was gay and he was his lover]  unless he gets some cash-15000 pounds, the two brothers are forced to figure out a way to deal with this blackmailer. With every scene, you are left laughing, completely flabbergasted at the chaos that is unfolding.... 

The hallucignic durg that Simon takes, making him go cuckoo, how Martha tries to keep him from jumping off the roof [ where he stands buck naked]... her useless brother, who was the reason all thsi happened [ who created the pill and put them in a Valium bottle] and so many other wierd members of the clan, each with their own set of problems and worries..!!! 

A fun movie, that is not so much as original comedy, but you will definitely have a few good laughs...

Its being remade in Hindi as Daddy Cool!! God save Bollywood and the rest of the world that watches it in hindi!! wonder how it will be!! hehe... 

[Movie] Reel on.. I

The past couple of weeks, work has been good, busy but not crazy busy, so managed to catch quite a few movies.. Indian and Foreign.. Am just gonna go ahead put up the names and a mini review on them...!! :)

Kanthaswamy

Director: Susi Ganesan

Actors: Vikram, Shreya Saran and a host of others... 

Rating: **

A movie that has been in the news forever was quite a disappointment and had way too many frills and fancy stuff.. After 3hr 15min, we walked out thinking had it been for an hour, it would have had quite an impact. the story is also nothing very new, or original, its all about how Vikram and his 10 buddies are the new age Robin Hood, taking from the corrupt rich and giving among the needy....Revolving around the Kanthaswamy temple, it is a movie where wishes made by Devotees on the tree comes true...  Way too many traces of Gentleman and Anniyan is a bit of a spoiler here... !! 

  

Shreya- dont even get me started on her.. Not only does she not look good[ some mite beg to differ..] but Suchi's voice is a total mismatch... Flat with zero emotions... And whoever did dance choreo for Shreya needs to take dance classes.. The best scene acc to me is the Fight in the corn field and ofcourse the En Peru 

meenakumari dance by Umaith Khan.. Her dance, lip sync and movements were soo awesome, i loved it... 

Watch the movie if you are a crazy Vikram or Shreya or Shankar Fan... dont expect too much, you wont be disappointed!!

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Quick Gun Murugan

Direction: Shashanka Ghosh

Cast: Rajendra Prasad, Naser, Raju Sundaram, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Rambha, Anu menon aka Lola kutty..

Rating: **

Quick Gun Murugun is an unlikely Superhero with sufer Gun powers. A Sincere South Indian Cowboy who considers it his duty to serve and protect all around him. All i knew of this character were the little snippets shown on MTV and the Ennada rascala in Om Shanti Om!!

The movie basically revolves around [mis]adventures of Quick Gun Murugun and his fight with his arch villain Rice Plate Reddy!Not to forget the Rowdy MBA and Mango Dolly who are all part of his clan!! Rice Plate has a bee in his bonnet because he wants to be the supreme overlord of Dosa-makers, and kidnaps anyone who possesses the perfect recipe for making lip smacking Dosas.
 

Though i dint really enjoy the movie, or wasnt laughing my head off, there are some funny scenes , only one i remember is the  take off on Clint Eastwood's 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' parodied  in Carnatic mix... A movie meant for those who like Slapstick comedy, and dont mind seeing Southies being ridiculed!! maybe if i were a northie, i mite enjoy it more.. who knows!! :)

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Ninaithale Inikkum

Director: Kumarvel

 

Actors: Prithviraj, Karthik Kumar, Shakthi, Priyamani 

Music :Vijay Antony 

Rating: ***

Ninaithale Inikkum is a remake of the Malayalam film "Classmates".... Its just a tough guy with a heart of gold Shiva beats up bad guy Vasu. He has the support of friends Shakthi and Bala.

On the other side is Meera , the daughter of an MLA and she opposes Shiva at every turn. Then there's Sethuraman the silly hostel warden, the cook Subramani and a pointless lecturer character who make up the college side of things. Completing the troop is Shali  a quiet Muslim girl, who at the end you see a completely different side to... The story just ping pongs between present and past, making you wonder what you are watching... and if this is the today or yesterday!!! 

Loads of bits and pieces for the audience to remember, until the end where they finally fall into place..
i've heard the mallu original is a beautiful movie, after watching this 2hrs of "makes no sense, songs start off for no rhyme or reason" movie, i think i'll take a peek at the Mallyalam version to understand the story!!! 

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[Theater] Love in a Tub

My high school friend V called me fri night asking if i wanted to come for a play[Supper theater, yes, you read it right, they give you a performance and feed you afterwards...], it was one of their client's who was organising it.. asked her for the time, since on sat i had a meeting from 3pm... she said "its called Love in a tub, directed by Aamir Raza Husain & Virat Husain, and is only at 7.30, at Park Sheraton, shall sms the details".. i said "vokay, cool... i'll be there"...

Sat dawned, i was a bit nervous about the meeting, but must say it went off quite well! was interesting to see big wigs discuss issues, and how the meeting went!! We wound up around 6.30, and since i was in Adyar, made my way to Anokhi (a lovely quaint place, perfect for a quiet cuppa).. reviewed the notes i had taken during the meeting, sipped on a glass of cold coffee and spent a bit of time by myself!! Around 7.10, got out, made my way towards Park sheraton, which was just a hop skip jump away, and waited for S and V...


Though the play which was to start at 7.30, began only around 8.20.. There were plenty of cocktails, juices, and bites to grab before the show.. we chit chatted, while scanning through the room for familar faces.. i did catch a few, went and said hi... :)

Finally, we were shown to the hall [Mowbray's] where the play happened and must say, it was one hellova stress buster.. had quite a few laughs, it was one of those plays where you dont look for logic, just enjoy it for what it is....

Here is a summary of the play....

Its all about a couple Mr Richard Willey n his wife Pamela Willey[Virat Husain], who book into a room at the Westminister Hotel... Caught in the scam is Richard's colleague/secretary/or whatever they are called in the Brit Parliament, George aka Pigeon[ played superbly by Aamir Raza husain] !!! The plot is all about Richard wanting to meet with Jennifer Brissto for a secret rendezvous, and what happens after wards... How George becomes Dr Santa Christmas and Richard is Sir Charles Easter/Dickie/ and what not... hehehe... one of those mindless comedies, the play had us all in splits everytime there was a goof up.... not to forget the antics of the wacko Japanese waiter who keeps bringing in 6pots of coffee everytime someone orders 1 pot of coffee..
A whole bunch of people, zillions of names, crazy wacko stuff had us going ballistic through the evening....

The surprising thing about this group is that they dont play their stuff to the general public, most of it is for the corporates, their clients and if you know someone in that loop, you get to watch it, like i did!! Aparently they are in town for 5days, a show on each day!!!

After the play, dinner buffet opened.. and the entire 10000 people [okay, i'll admit, am exaggerating, it was probably 100...but sure seemed like a zillion people]... made our way through the queue... ate a bit and wound up for the evening!! :)

Now, am looking fwd to The Hindu Metro Plus Theater Fest beginning Aug 1st!!

[Movie] Mere Baap Pehle Aap

My Friend,S and i decided to go check out Blind date movie, which is a concept at Satyam theaters, where we dont know what the movie is.. It could be a new release or it could be a movie dubbed in Tamil.. i've not been to one, so we went to the theater assuming we'd get tickets.. alas, it wasnt so... anyways decided to catch a movie and this was one running at the 7pm slot... Mere Baap pehle Aap..

S had seen it, but said she dint mind watching it again... so got tickets and must say, its one movie where i laughed like crazy....

The movie is all about Janardhan Rane (Paresh Rawal, at his peak..hehehe ), who has two son (Akshaye Khanna) and Chirag (Manoj Joshi). Gaurav, now grown up, takes care of his father, like a father!! i mean literally, he shouts, screams, orders and even threatens his baap but all cos he loves his dad too much.. The father and son duo manage the business as well as the household chores, dad is the cook!! Janardhan's chaddi dost, Madhav (Om Puri), is desperate to get married, but Gaurav is dead against their friendship.

Because, Madhav is forever on look out for a bride and almost always land himself and Janardan into trouble,couple of times at the Police Station(Archana puran singh as the Inspector..), and it is upto Gaurav has to bail them out and face the embarrassment. And this happens not once or twice, but way too many times!!

One day, Gaurav stars receiving crank calls from a girl calling herself Rose, who claims to be his classmate. Rose is in fact Shikha (Genelia) who's playing a prank with Gaurav.. After a while, zillion phone calls to his store and to their home, seductive talk to his dad about how she has a child with Akshaye, etc etc... Shikha accepts the prank and they become friends. Shikha lives with Teacher Anuradha (Shobhana) n her friend.

When the dad is busy looking for a girl for his son, in comes Anu(the teacher), upon seeing whom Janardhan is lost.. it takes a whole bunch of intervention from the kids to figure out the truth and what happens next is the entire story.....

Genelia is adorable... never seen her this cute in any movie.. and she has also acted well..
The wacko scenes with Rajpal yadav and Akshay was hilarious.... laugh till your tummy hurts!!

There are some parts which i dint quite get:--

Anu suddenly says ok to marrying Janardhan
The 1st daughter inlaw who is against her FIL, Janardhan remarrying agrees to it and is all smiles at the wedding... did just a slap do the trick?? hmmm..

Disclaimer-leave your brains at home and go enjoy the movie...