Holiday Review

*** This is repost from the Bollyspice.com review***

Sometimes it’s a curse when you watch various language films. Especially when the remake season churns out yet another one. You rely so heavily on the writers and the actors to give you something to enjoy and walk away with. Walking into Holiday was like that for this writer, but alas, she didn’t walk away with much. In fact, after watching A.R. Murugadoss take Ghajini from Tamil to Hindi, I was more scared. Scared to expect anything like Ghajini’s history. Well, history did not repeat itself and the magic of re-creation has failed.

The story is pretty simple. Military man Virat played by Akshay comes home for holidays but stumbles into a terrorist game plan. On the side we have Saiba played by Sonakshi Sinha for the funnies and some glamour. But it doesn’t take a long time for people to see where the connecting dots are. So we step into the “how they did it”.

Making a frame by frame replica of film may seem like the easy way out. But it wouldn’t be fair on Cinematographer Nataraja Subramaniam. The similarity isn’t as bad when it came to the songs. Why didn’t they choose to change it? Possibly for the same reason there is little to no change in the script. After all, everyone wants their movie to be a grand success. So maybe the director, who is also the writer for both the original film and this remake, is looking at something flawless. The truth is however different. And the falling flat in your face-ness continues with Pritam. Barring ‘Aaj Dil Shayrana’ and ‘Ashq Na Ho’ for Arijit Singh and ‘Tu Hi To Hai’ for Benny, you have heard them all before. The format is the same.

Now we all know this is nowhere near one of the finer movies in Akshay Kumar’s career, but he made use of the skills he has and when the camera shifts from cinematic perfection to security camera footage, you know the person jumping from building to building is the real deal. Kudos to Greg Powell, the stunt director. Sonakshi Sinha starts off with a spunk that quickly fizzles out, making her part redundant and indication for a song. Sumeet Raghavan is pretty much a gags guy until Akshay needs support in making a logical link. But you can bypass these flaws if you look at it as a semi-masala flick. However, the biggest drawback in the cast would have to go to Freddy Daruwala. He has the most crucial role to play and should be oozing with a deadly menace in his silence but I got nada. Zilch. Not even the background score could make you change what you are supposed to feel – shivers down your spine intensity – to what you do feel – Pappu needs to sulk a bit more. Every cinegoer knows the hero’s impact will only look good if his villain has charisma to charmingly scare your socks off.

At the end of the day, the original film with Vijay Chandrasekhar and Kajal Aggarwal had a few advantages that were simple. There was no expectation of logic, the role of a military man was new for the lead actor and the antagonist played by Vidyut Jamwal commanded fear on screen. There is no doubt Akshay Kumar has the skill for the role but I’m sorry Akki, you need to remember your age when its showing. So while comparisons were never the intention, as a hindsight, you wonder if A.R.Murugadoss had done the same when remaking the film in Hindi, Holiday may have seen a different fate.

So where does this all leave the girl in the crowd reading her ticket stub outside the theatre? Holiday – A prepaid planned disaster.

Dum Maaro Dum Review

**This review is a reprint of the Bollyspice Dum Maaro Dum review**

The stakes are high and lined up when it comes to Dum Maaro Dum. For Abhishek Bachchan, he needs to come back to form after Game andKhelein Hum Jee Jaan Se failed to muster up the marks. Rohan Sippy returns to wield the megaphone after 5 years. Besides the success duo, Bipasha Basu, Rana Daggubati and Prateik Babbar join them in a movie that has all the makings of a hard-hitting suspense thriller that's been hyped since the initial promos were released. Does it live up to the expectations? Read on to find out. 

Goa: A beautiful paradise on earth for so many. But every paradise has its demons that lurk in the night. For Goa, the snake with the forbidden fruit is drugs and Goa is swamped with them. It's the black stain on a white cloud and it's ACP Vishnu's (Abhishek Bachchan) job to get rid of it. But the battle against drugs is not his alone. There is Lorry (Prateik) who takes a wrong turn out of desperation for money. His story intertwines with Joki (Rana Daggubati) who bares scars from his lost love Zoey (Bipasha Basu) and who tries to help Lorry get out of the trap he's fallen into. However, before they can blink, the two get caught into the sickening web that Kamath is trying to clean. Kamath begins working with Joki and Lorry and turns his investigation to public figure Lorsa Biscuita aka the Biscuit [Aditya Pancholi]. But it is not only Biscuit that is at the heart of the evil, it is the shadow that hides in the background. The Drug Kingpin that has had the Goan police fooled for so long. The time has come for Kamath to get rid of this shadow named Michael Barbossa and with help from Lorry and Joki,Dum Maaro Dum is about the three men's battle with the snakes in the society but also the demons hidden within.

First of all, this film bears no resemblance to the past successes and failures of Rohan Sippy so it is best that the past be left where it is, in the past. This film marks his shift in genre to a thriller that has enough suspense to hold the audience's attention and entertain. But let's step back a bit and start with our performers. He may have hit damp squibs in the recent past but Abhishek Bachchan works ACP Vishnu Kamath to the full capacity while looking amazing. Whether it's anger, frustration or the confidence of a street-smart cop, he scores and is convincing to say the least. Right by his side is Rana Daggubati. The actor acts his part well and his potential that shined through in his first film Leader is evident again in his Hindi debut. He is fresh yet restrained while standing his ground next to A-list actors. This film is yet another example of the acting talents of Prateik Babbar. Only three films down, he is proving to be versatile with his role selection just like co-star Rana, and throughout the film there is never a moment that you feel he doesn't fit the character with his emotions and body language matching perfectly. Bipasha Basu plays an ambitious Zoe that is like a modern version of her role in Aakrosh as a "traumatized victim" character. However, the actress does make her presence felt in a male dominated cast and her chemistry with Rana is sweet and simple. Aditya Pancholi has an impressive track record somehow the actor doesn't hit the mark as needed. Where he scores in his outbursts, the subtle slyness and evil persona that is necessary for the antagonist isn't present all the time in his performance. Govind Namdeo hams on occasion and gets to the point of irritating in the second portion. Anaitha Nair is cute but barely there while the actor that plays Ricky is effective as is Vidya Balan.

Rohan Sippy has taken his time to get back into the director seat but the wait has proved beneficial. The director brings to life Sridhar Raghavan's story about three men of varying backgrounds and weaves them together in an easily understood yet intriguing narrative. If there is one aspect that stands out in DMD, its the cinematography by Amit Roy. Not a stone out of place like authenticity yet stylishly sexy, Amit brings the beauty of Goa onto celluloid that has rarely been seen before. From the intoxicating surroundings of a rave to the town parades, his work speaks for itself. Background score by Midival Punditz is top notch while Purva Naresh's dialogue is sharp at times.

However, DMD isn't a straight clean shot, the scenes in the second half lack the necessary depth needed, making them more like speed breakers to a fast pacing narrative. Editing by Aarif Shaikh should have reduced the intermittent lag that is present in the second half, including in the sequence leading up to the climax, but instead it falters and considering the crispness of the first half is so fresh, the audience tends to get bored and restless. 

Yet, is this enough to call it a bad film or even a badly made good film? With so much hype and gloss surrounding the film, does Dum Maaro Dum deliver? No and Yes. With awesome performances, great visuals, a thought out story and easy to understand screenplay, Dum Maaro Dum isn't a masterpiece but it has merit. And Abhishek Bachchan.

Rating:  

Ready Review

** This review is a reprint from the Bollyspice's Ready Review**

Remakes are part and parcel of the Indian Film industry. But when one story travels from state to state and is remade in 4 languages, the question arises as to what is so special about this film? Not to mention there has to be something extra special for movie buffs to watch the same story again and again. For the film Ready, its blockbuster journey began in Telugu then went on to be a smash hit Kannada and then within one year it was remade in Tamil, seeing huge success there as well. Now it is Hindi's turn and at the helm Annes Bazmee plus the extra bonus it stars Salman Khan. However, taking a film to Hindi from the South has proved to be a hard task for some directors. Yet it's not a first for Salman Khan or Anees Bazmee, both as actor-director combo and otherwise. So the question is, was Anees Bazmee able to continue the track record and successfully adapt it to the Hindi audience and their liking?

Let's start by introducing Prem Kapoor (Salman Khan) A self confessed "bholi shakal kameena", he is the lovable brat of the Kapoor family living the high life. Like any other family, they want their "laadla" to be settled but he has a specific kind of girl he wants. Here we meet Sanjana (Asin), who is running away from her own marriage nightmares. In series of coincidental events, Sanjana overhears Prem's plan to ditch a girl his parents'have chosen. She decides to masquerade under the name Pooja and enters Prem's house to hide from the goons chasing her, at least till she finds a way to escape from them permanently. So while Sanjana successfully convinces everyone, Prem is not impressed. He plots to get rid of her but when he finds out who she is and why, he helps her instead. Having developed a soft corner for her already, the new-found friendship develops into deeper feelings but before either can say anything, Sanjana's past comes back to haunt her. A past that saw no ordinary goons but it is actually her own family, her uncles to be specific that are forcing her into a marriage all for the sake of money. It's now up to Prem, with the help of their charter accountant Balli (Paresh Rawal), to not only get his girl without the bloodshed Sanjana's uncles are accustomed to but also teach them a lesson or two along the way.

To be quite honest, if you're expecting logic, intense story-telling and powerful performances or anything similar, this isn't the film for you. Its loud, it's out there and it has Salman Khan in it. Now he wasn't the person you would expect in a role that was originally, and in the subsequent remakes, tailored to be a college going youth but that's not to say it doesn't work for him. Thankfully, they have taken the college backdrop out of it and just kept the fun. In fact, the role has been re-written to suit not only Salman but his style of comedy that was present in Wanted and Dabanng. The actor aims for your heart and worms his way in whether you like it or not. Both him and Paresh Rawal are sure to have you in fits of giggles from start to finish even though Paresh enters after the interval. At the same time, this isn't Paresh's awesome best that we are used but that doesn't take away from his awesome work. Yet while Salman, and Paresh too, seems to be visibly having fun bringing the house down, leading lady unfortunately, Asin doesn't make much of a mark. Given that she has major part in driving the story, it's a poor show from Asin who looks out of place at times and hams badly with some questionable styling and make-up. The entire ensemble playing the Kapoor family which includes Mahesh Manjrekar, Anuradha Patel, Manoj Joshi and Manoj Pahwa are mad fun to watch as they bounce off each other in the later portion. Akhilendra Mishra is a little too loud but is meant to be at the same time. Sharat Saxena is in the same category but scores better as he's a few decibels lower. Sudesh Lehiri is just about ok. Sunil Patel and Thomas Xavier for cinematography make their presence felt with some decent camerawork while Pritam comes up with foot tapping tracks with Character Dheela not showing any signs of dropping from the charts any time soon. Special mentions are in order for Devi Sri Prasad who makes an awesome debut in Hindi with Dhinka Chika. But the film does have set backs.

Editor Ritesh Soni could have used his scissors more liberally to keep the screenplay a little tauter. But in his defence, the writing has a few speed breakers in it for sure with locations not matching to the screenplay. Plus the lack of chemistry between Asin and Salman doesn't help the love angle of the story. So where Anees scores major points on his signature fun factors, he loses out when he gets tries melodrama, especially in the climax. Yet with that said, the film does make it up majorly because of Salman and his one liners care of Farhad and Sajid.

So while Ready isn't rocket science, its Salman's masala magic science. Take off your thinking cap and you’ re sure to be entertained thoroughly.

Rating: