Kya Super Kool Hai Hum: No Brainer. This

TrustBollywood to overdo a joke and they would oblige it gleefully, KSKKH canvouch for it. Watching Kya Kool Hai Hum was one of the guilty pleasures onlonely nights I used to indulge in and that was what propelled me to watch thissequel. I had to say I was not impressed but I don’t complain much either.Towards the end of the film the leads say that they are heroes of an ordinaryfilm and that is what this film is. Ordinary and some times less than it butwhat works in its favor is its unpretentiousness and the way the makers don’ttake it too seriously. Certainly not one for the purists.

Thereisn’t even a semblance of plot in this but if you still were adamant aboutputting two and two together, you would be embarrassed at what you get. All thejokes are below the belt and while a few of them work, there are many thatdon’t making the film look long and a bit painful to sit through. All the humoris below the belt and no one looks straight to others. Much of it is chaotic,loud, does not make sense but it parades through unapologetically towards theend.

RiteishDeshmukh can now be considered a veteran in these kinds of roles and he holdsthe film together with his act. He looks suitably enthusiastic and ready forthat one line to send the audiences into guffaws but it never comes. TusharKapoor is so bad in this film that you have to hire someone to watch his partfor you. The girls however are good to ogle at and act decently too. Sachin Yardy's screenplay is a farce filled with sexual innuendos and SMS forwards. His direction looks gross with the amount of screen time he choses to devote to the libido of Shakru(a pug). Songs are foot tapping and are particularly apt for the film. If you are not too discerning a couple of songs are immensely enjoyable with a special mention to "Dil Garden Garden Ho Gaya"

Likingthis film would depend on your inclination to like it and spend a good timelaughing at inanities and double entendre. It gives you a laugh or two for surebut the total lack of a plot never lets you to relate to anything happening onscreen. It is just a series of gags, songs, girls and Goa. That’s all there isto know about it.

Inall KSKHH is no KKHH and I seriously doubt the possibility of a trilogy.

Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara: Much Ado About Nothing

Balakrishna would be a relieved man after Uu Kodathara Ulikki Padathara. He is done with the film and it won’t be as embarrassing for him as it was for Nagarjuna for his film with the other Manchu Brother. UKUP is such a wannabe film that it makes every one of it’s cast except Balakrishna look like one. It is like that kind of kid who is eager for a performance after mastering a couple of moves. The moves will be appreciated but that’s all he has got and it soon falls flat.

UKUP is an ambitious film that has got a great ensemble cast, a producer willing to spend the money to make it as grand as it is but the lack of vision and poor execution play the spoilsport. It is amusing to think what it could have been but it is a shame that we have to be content with what it is. And it is cringe worthy to think that it resorts to a misleading promotional campaign to cover up for its ineptness.

When Lakshmi Manchu said that the film is among the lines of Arundhati and Chandramukhi she probably meant a mishmash of both because it is exactly that. The film showers us with a million poorly conceived sequences that by the time the decent last act tries to salvage it, we are no longer interested in what happens to whom. Manoj is all over the place with his antics and inanities substituting for any acting while the supporting cast mostly has underwritten roles that mean little to anyone or themselves. Which brings us to the only saving grace of the film.

Balakrishna.

After Simha, this film utilizes the screen presence of the veteran to the delight of the audiences. His benevolent smile, cheroot smoking grimace and the majestic appearance bring an edginess into an otherwise lackluster tale and are the only things to watch out for in this film. He seems to have enjoyed playing Narasimha Rayudu and hits the perfect note in every emotion. Had the film been half decent as him, his character would have been Rajnikanth-esque in Peda Rayudu.

With all the things going for the film, it is hard to come to terms with the fact that it turned out to be a substandard product. Some more time at the scripting stage would have helped.

Tooneega Tooneega : Flies to Obscurity

Tooneega Tooneega positively reeks of formula and is so clichéd that if you start counting the number of the scenes you have seen earlier you would wish for more fingers on your hands. A film like this can only work with great music and comedy and the makers clearly haven’t given much or any thought about either. Instead they chose to spend more time on tiresome drama even after all the problems seems to be sorted out by themselves or by divine intervention.

Under the disguise of a teen romance TT is basically a melodrama with an utterly predictable plot on the lines of Subhash Ghai’s Taal. MS Raju even has the music from the latter in his film. So much for homages. Though Ghai’s film was nothing great in terms of it’s writing, TT makes it look like a masterpiece with the kind of underdeveloped characters it has for itself. And watching the supporting cast in the film ham through their roles is a painful task for even the seasoned moviegoers.

The leads played by newcomers act terribly and lack screen presence. Raju directs his son Ashwin in the lead role, but the kid does not charm enough and has to carry the film on his shoulders, an act he was unable to pull off with little help from the script and other experienced actors around him. His dances evoke indifference or at best an appreciative nod but in either case do not add any value to the film. And Paruchuri Brothers are too old now to take a crash course in screenwriting. In fact it is a wonder that they churn out films like Racha and TT these days when their earlier works prove them to be of a different league.  Whatever it is that has gone wrong for them needs to be fixed.

It is an irony that the loud catcalls and whistles for the entrance of MS Narayana are totally wasted as they didn’t have anything written for him and his role seems to be added just as an after thought. And for a man known for opulence and grandeur in his films, TT does not score even on that front. Except for its decent cinematography there is nothing redeeming in the other departments as well.

If you can recommend Tooneega Tooneega to your friend who once stabbed you in your back, you will be even.

David Billa: Bland and Insipid

Right from the very first sequence Chakri Tholeti gets it all wrong in David Billa, a prequel to Billa. His take on the past life of the Gangster is excruciatingly slow saved marginally by a controlled performance by Ajith Kumar and a decent sound track but there is only so much they can do to salvage this. Oh this is fast heading down south.

David Billa has four men credited for story and screenplay and while they had come up with stuff that had potential, the execution spoils it for everyone involved in it. Worse still, the inconsistency it suffers exposes the ineptness of its director in a song the Don dances in. It is one long and drawn out film and it certainly feels like one with the number of people the man has to kill on his way to become the Billa.

When in doubt Chakri borrows liberally from a list of successful gangster films and makes Ajith swagger after every killing. The sound track resonates, cinematography amuses but nothing ever works. And this film must have the blandest and the most insipid dialogues ever heard in Telugu Cinema. Some of that may be coz of the film being a dubbed one but that is no excuse for the kind of dialogue they had.

Except Ajith, no one registers. He has to wear a single expression of grimace for the entire duration of the film and he is too good an actor to disappoint on that one. They have a Russian Vilan with a poor accent who does a decent job when he is not talking. There is endless flow of blood and gore but one can not understand why Billa never kills them all the first time he meets them.

Except a song picturized in the Sin City style and a couple of Ajith moments, there is nothing in here. 

Cocktail: A Love Triangle for the nth time

Imtiaz Ali is a good writer and romance is his forte but it’s probably a writer’s thing when he chose to follow his characters’ life rather painfully instead of getting through with it while every one of us including him could see how it all ends miles before it actually ends. Damn!! I had to buy more pop corn.

Basically what more could you add into a classic love triangle that has not been explored umpteen number of times by our very own Bollywood. If you got the answer right, the makers beat you to it. It’s the clothes. And other than that and some great music Cocktail has nothing new to offer right down to Second Hand Jawani. Liking the film depends on how badly you want to see Saif and Diana reunite at the end and how Deepika gets to play and lend so much dignity and vivacity to Veronica. I can’t remember if I liked her personally in a film ever but this has to be the one for me.

As far as love stories go this is pretty much as per the textbook but the excellence of men behind it makes it a superior film that celebrates its irreverence. The women in this film get meaty roles and are competent. But Imtiaz and Adajania, two men who gave Saif his better roles earlier have got this one off target for him. Saif looks a bit too old and a bit too suave to play Gautam Kapoor and doesn’t charm as much as the film portrays him to be. I guess no one has to start all over again with Boman Irani. He is a delight and so is Dimple.

Locations and visuals show a lot of exuberance and adding to them are the tastefully choreographed songs. There is really no way this one could have been better except that it could have been shorter. But that is only meant to say that it gets done pretty soon. It makes for a good time with a girl friend in a cozy multiplex recliner but that can be any film.

Bottom line: Not the stuff of the names on the posters.

Bol Bachchan: Loud, Funny and Unfunny

Rohit Shetty is a Hrishi Da fan. It’s a fact that he tries too hard to prove which might even make it look like a fixation. He borrows not only the story but also the footage of the famous comedy GolMaal but can only do what a Rohit Shetty can do out of that. By now we all know what to expect from his films. Loud comedy which is occasionally funny and unfunny where grown ups mouth inane dialogues like “Maine Aapke Tooth Paste Khaya”, gravity defying stunts with automobiles running into each other or over each other and of course Ajay Devgn.

Bol Bachchan is the kind of film, which you would enjoy if you were prepared enough to let your grey cells go for a ride for the entire duration of the film. Once you have set your benchmarks and are willing to suspend your disbeliefs it is an enjoyable fare. True, it takes time in setting up and the gay comedy is a bit overdone but it still has its moments when it evokes laughter. But make no mistake, by no means is this even a patch on what Hrishikesh Mukherjee has done with this comedy of errors.

Abhishek Bachchan gets a meaty role after a long time and with no difficult regional dialects to master, he appears comfortable and very enthusiastic in his portrayal of Abhishek Bachchan and Abbas Ali. His gay act and the dancing sequence are the stuff of hoi polloi and elicit guffaws. Ajay Devgn seems to be having fun speaking terrible English and an accented Hindi but his role seems to be written like an extended cameo made into a full fledged one as an afterthought. The women get a raw deal with underwritten characters providing little scope to perform or impress. There are a couple of forgettable songs injected into the narrative, which slacken the pace, and the Welcome/No Entry style ending is getting too predictable. However Shetty is in his elements with his over the top action sequences, which are fun to watch or ridiculous to believe depending on which side of the benefit of doubt you give the film. And for a comedy of errors this has decent writing but too many conveniences in the narrative spoil this for the discerning.

In all Bol Bachchan is the kind of film, which you wont feel too sorry for stumbling upon. Just make sure to keep the volume down and be prepared for a mild assault on your intellect.

Eega: Buzzing Revenge

In all probability you don’t need this review or any review for that matter to watch S S Rajamouli’s Eega. The man has won our confidence with his body of work which if anything else shows that he cares for what we want and come looking for in a cinema. With Eega he goes one step ahead ensures that his vision is aligned with that of his viewers be it a mere fly or a Chatrapati on screen.

“Narula valla kani Vaa Narula valla kani naku Mrityuvu Rakudadu “ states NTR is his famours Ravana’s role showing his utter disdain for men and apes whom he thought to be inferior to him and could do him no harm. How he would have flinched looking at a housefly killing the Ravana-esque Sudeep in Eega. This film might well be the answer for all creature films that are churned out from Hollywood on a regular basis and to achieve it in an industry dominated by stars and item songs is no mean feat.

The story is as old and as generic as the Ramayana itself but what makes it a memorable viewing experience is the sheer conviction with which it was made. The producers deserve a pat on the back as well but they would have felt safe with SSR at the helm of the project. To pit the protagonist, a miniscule housefly against a rich and powerful antagonist would be to fight against all odds since there is simply no way to copy from anywhere as the concept itself was unprecedented in any cinema of the world. Everything has to come from researching and careful study from how it is born to how it would eventually fly. One of the very few moments of self-indulgence of the director comes when Eega realizes that it can fly and enjoys itself in a park with families. It alludes to to SSR realizing what he can do with it. Bravo. Indulgence was never this delightful or thoughtful.

With all the blood it spills along its way to revenge, Eega is still a sweet film. We want the fly to succeed but still feel it to have something stopping its way only to see how it copes with it and emerges a winner. Every little battle that the little one wins is ably supported and enhanced by the soundtrack, which resonates long after we leave the theatres. Rajamouli knows he has a lot on his palette to impress, entertain and intrigue the audience and he prepares a sumptuous film, which is unpretentious and grounded in its sensibilities as to who wins the battle of good vs. evil. The action is clean and does not carry any fuss or the weight of in your face attention to detail. Make no mistake this is a kids’ film and if the hoots and whistles are any indication this has found its way right into their hearts.

This is not a perfect film by any means but it has something for everyone in it even for nitpickers but that is not the point of the film. It is an important film in the history of Telugu Cinema for its sheer vision and the unremitting belief the crew had in the film. 

Supermen of Malegaon: Super Men Indeed

That a documentary like “Supermen of Malegaon” has found a theatrical release in India should serve as a testimony for the passion and the efforts of Faiza Ahmad Khan that has gone into making it. As we get accustomed to the jerky hand held camera movements, we were told that there is no entertainment in Malegaon except cinema. While, this can be hold true for many villages across India, the uniqueness of Malegaon arises from this team who makes films like Malegaon Ka Sholay with limited means and show them to the people of their village. They even call themselves Mollywood and have ‘M’ imprinted in place of ‘S’ for the eponymous Super Man Movie.

There were some truly hilarious moments in what essentially is a documentary and I don’t know whether they have been written into this or have really happened as they shot the film. We never know how the film looks like as it was never shown and we are treated to the endearing warmth of the film making a truly passionate maker can exude. Mind you this is no art and the makers never raise any claims. They knew the kind of film they are about to make and their belief and energy levels are what make the documentary more special then the film.

Malegaon as we are told is a Muslim dominated village and the difficulties they faced or getting a heroine to dance with the skinny Super Man was one of the many hurdles the team crosses during the course of its 65 minute run time. It is brisk, effective and never overstays the welcome with some occasionally deep lines like no writer would ever get to see more than 20% of what he has written and even cites Titanic as an example. The director claims his knowledge of cinema came from watching English movies and sites Charlie Chaplin films as an inspiration for attempting a comedy.

It is a delightful film that most probably has not been released in smaller towns and even in some cities, but if you do get a chance take this trip. The only thing that irked me was the exorbitant price of 180 Rupees I was charged for watching this in a multiplex. Now I’m sure the director himself would have favored a reduction in the price.