Phata Poster Nikhla Hero is NOT FUNNY enough!!!

First the disclaimer. I've a bais towards Shahid Kapoor. This is because I have always appreciated the fact that like a few other actors in India, he is a hard working and self made actor. He never got any favour for being Pankaj kapoor's son and so when he took a emotional decision to not sign any film for two years since he wanted to completely give himself up for his father's project 'Mausam', I could understand why he was doing it.

I was excited to watch him on screen after he had proved his worth in films such as 'Jab We met' and 'kaminey' but then at this peak of his career, he had taken that decision of not working in any other film beside 'Mausam'.

So naturally, when the teasers of 'Phata Poster Nikla hero' (PPNH) was released, there was a slight excitement in his fans to watch him on screen again. The fact that, it was Rajkumar Santoshi's film after his 'Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahaani', made it all the more enticing but with a heavy heart, I have to say, PPNH was a big let down.

Shahid has done his role to perfection. As he himself puts it in the film that he danced, fought, was romantic, was Maa-ka-lal and blah blah, but then there was no story in the film. It seemed it was an 1970s storyline where Ma (Padmini Kolhapure) wants him to be a police inspector, while son wants to be a hero and how he fakes a policewala act but then when Maa ko shock lala, son decides to give up his dream and works with the police.

The film could have been a good comedy but Santoshi fails to use the actors such as Sourabh Shukla, Zakir Hussain, Darshan Jariwala and sanjay Mishra. But then there was not much to do for them in the film as there scenes and dialogues were not funny enough and so what we get is a cake which was left half baked.

The comedy quotient of the film was never consistent. Few of the scenes and dialogues were funny but then the next scene was cliched and irritating. The fight scenes could have been better, while the songs were clearly forcibly inserted  into the scenes and completely disrupts whatever flow the script could manage.

The first half was fairly decent with a few funny situations but the second half tired out the audience with the revelation of Napolean (the villain) and with scenes which seemed where last minute inclusion to give poor Illeana D'Cruz and gang some reel time because the actress especially adds absolutely nothing to the film. Sanjay Mishra was wasted and his best scene is the one shown at the teaser. Sourabh Shukla too could have been given much better scenes and dialogues.

Shahid acted well, whether it was convincing Tinu Anand for landing a role or imitate Dev Anand in the climax. In fact, the Tinu Anand scene was so powerful that for a moment it felt it could have been better if he had done such an intense role rather than comedy.

Talking about climax, Santoshi tried to recreate the confusion of his 'Andaz Apna Apna' but fails miserably. In fine, this could have been a good vehicle for Shahid to once again rise his stakes as an actor, if only santoshi had spent more time on the script and dialogues.

Overall, I would go with a 2 and a half out of 5 for this film.

What Raj Kumar Gupta can learn from 'Ghanchakkar'

From the high of 'No one killed Jessica', Raj Kumar Gupta hit a low with his 'Ghanchakkar'. Well, it did decent business in the weekend but the expectations (because of the publicity) was so high that it left audience confused and their hopes crushed. 

First things first, Ghanchakkar is not the worst film of 2013. It is much better than the matrix-inspired, logic defying action films which has nothing apart from a big star. It's comedy is subtle and much better than the slap-stick homophobic comedy movies which are released nowadays in the name of cinema. But then, Ghanchakkar missing the train because it somehow fails to tell a story. Audience are left waiting for a thrilling finale where all ends would be tied but what they get is a shocking revelation and a new character, who was no where in the scene for the first 20 minutes of the film. So can't blame the audience for feeling cheated but then I have felt worse sitting in a hall and for me it was just plain 'okay'. 

Raj Kumar Gupta might crib for his film got bad review and ratings, which impacted its success. But instead of crying over split milk he should try to understand why audience didn't like the movie, where did he go wrong. 

First, a film cannot win the heart of the audience (especially whom he is targetting) without a story. 
Second, if you want to make a movie with four characters, you got to write their story well, give the audience something to feel or connect to them.

Third, don't underestimate the intelligence of the audience, who have grown up watching thrillers -- films, books and TV series -- much before they learnt walking. So if you want to create confusion in the mind of the audience, make sure they are not able to guess the twists and turns or else you will hear yawns in place of gasps in theaters.

Fourth, a pair which has done well in one film, may not do well in another but still if you want to cash in on their chemistry then you have to give the audience something which is fresh. Vidhya Balan needed to put on weight for a reason in 'Dirty Picture' but in Ghanchakkar to play a nagging Punjabi wife with a heavy accent, she need not be a fat ass with an obsession for style.

Fifth, Never introduce a new character in the end if you can't justify it.

Things which you could have done right

First, you could have given the characters shades of grey. The characters were one-dimensional. I didn't understand why Emraan was sulking and angry right from the start and stays a ghanchakkar till the end. Probably, he himself could have turned out to be the master mind or probably, Vidya, though did good with her over the top clothes and "Haaaaaa" punjabi accent, could have turned up as the vamp if you could have justified it, made her role a little more meaty. Mr Gupta, the robbery scene was spot on especially due to the masks and secondly, the music was also apt for the film. 

Well, for someone who knows the difficulty in making a film, I might not have got bored but if you want a much wider audience and appreciation, its better you pick up your socks before making another film because you are one of the most promising filmmakers and but your transition into a master filmmaker will depend on how you can better tell a story. I for one, will be waiting for your next release and hope that you enthrall us the way you did with 'No one killed Jessica'.

Delhi Belly:An edge-of-the-seat comedy

At a time when Dabaang, Ready and Double Dhamal types of movies are trying to make people laugh with their slapstick and double meaning and often offending dialogues, Delhi belly comes has a breath of fresh air. It is a no-nonsense and on-your-face comedy which doesn't try to be a comic but tickles your funny bone by its sheer situation and characters and their predicaments and difficulties and its fast pace of narration.

Delhi Belly falls in the line of movies such as Sanket City, Phas Gaya Obama and love ke liye kuch bhi kharega, which have entertained people with the sheer power of their scripts and performance.

Delhi Belly doesn't have a great story but it's biggest strength is its script, dialogues and screenplay besides the performances. From the first scene to the last frame, the director never leaves the acccelarator even for a moment as the characters and their predicaments unfold in a breath-taking pace which leaves the audience enthralled.

In fact, by the time the credit starts rolling, you actually feel completely satisfied with Aamir Khan's I hate You (Like I love you) item number serving as a perfect dessert for the audience.

But having said that, it is not for the ones who likes to go out on an weekend with their families or for the moral policing couples. It is a perfect outing for a group of friends -- the 20 and early 30 somethings -- or for couples who are more friends than husbands and wives.

Reasons: Its language is crass, full of slangs, perhaps you can make a dictionary of slangs out of this movie. It is the language of the youths especially of Delhi, which almost every commoner hears day in and day out in the capital and though the language is raw still at no point it seems that the director tried to forcibly include those slangs in the movie. Also if toilet humour makes you abominable then stay away from it, because you have plenty of it here.

Also some of its scenes are too raw by Indian standards, because we think twice before including those in Bollywood perhaps fearing the moral police, although, it is a reality of the young and ever-changing India.

In fine, Delhi Belly is a laugh riot, a complete paisa vasool. It is a kind of film which gives a lot of hope to an industry which generally depend on homophobic and racists jokes to entertain people in the name of comedies. It gives a ray of hope to the dying genre of comedy in Bollywood.