Review - Ek thi Daayan - New Era Daayan .

Director: Kannan Iyer.
Star-Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi, 
Konkona Sen Sharma
Music Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Producer: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Vishal Bhardwaj
Genre: Musical Thriller
Release Date: April 18, 2013





Review - 

This Horror thriller movie is from the kitty of Indian cinema's creative minds  ie  Vishal Bharadwaj and Ekta Kapoor. We already had a glimpse of 'Dayaan' in Bhardwaj's Movie 'Makadi', but ETD  finally found a pride of place where Chudail  actually deserves to be – horror film genre. The movie is based on short stories of Mukul Sharma (Konkana's real life father).
Story revolves around, Bobo(Emraan Hashmi) , a magician , his hallucination n past experiences with 'Dayaan' and 3 womaniya's  (Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi, Konkona Sen Sharma) who glued audiences in Playing 'Guess the Daayan'. 
I will not reveal the story as it will take out the gist of the movie and will spoil total movie watching experience.
The first half is all about Bobo's childhood ,to where the audiences are taken through a hypnosis session on Bobo. This portion of the movie is awesome, Mukul Sharma's story brings  the daayan to our very own city of Mumbai, into our building.The production team has done a wonderful job with the sets.There is a creepy lizard shown in it, which is really scary , at least for people like me who have a phobia for reptiles. The story evolves with concepts like The 'Ulta pair' of indian Chudail ,Long lusturous 'choti' ,No. 666,and kid eating 'Dayaan' which glued the audiences in the first half.
The second half is not much exciting,  the script is predictive but with little twist as the director wants the movie to end. Though the first half gave a  new perspective to horror movie lovers but again the latte half got trapped with the stereotype.But at least the director didn't show the cliches 'Tantric Baba' kind of end in it, that's what makes it refreshing than any other jadoo-tona witch movie.ETD manages to maintain a great balance
The casting is good, Emraan is good in his character, above average with no overacting .He played undertone and generous enough to let the ladies play their roles.The one who shines apart among the three ladies is Konkana Sen Sharma, with her unconventional beauty n looks.She is successful to scare the audiences.She did a wonderful job.She has delivered several hard-hitting performances in past of her movies but ETD shall be one of her most memorable performances for sure! The other actors like Kalki and Huma Qureshi have also did their parts quite well.Nothing much to do for Kalki in it and got overpowered by the other two actresses but did her part well. And not to forget the two Kids (essayed by Sara Arjun as Misha and Vishesh Tiwari as the young Bobo and his sister) are worth mentioning, they did their part wonderfully and  are really gems for their age. Pavan Malhotra (Emraan’s father) is natural as always.
Music is not so effective except for one or two songs, 'Yaaram'' and ''Kaali Kaali'' are gems. but the background score is well made perfectly fit to a horror movie giving  goose bumps and chills.
The direction is good. Kanan Iyer as a first time director should take a bow as he emerges as a promising director with his strong hold on script.
Rating - 3 out of 5
Verdict - Definitely a much needed change in horror genre movie,Light hearted horror lovers go for it.             If not anything else,Just go for Konkana Sen's performance.For best experience watch in it theaters.

Bollywood Quiz

A very simple Quiz.
There are two lists. List A contains Amitabh Bachan's movies. List B contains the English movies from which they were copied or rather inspired. All you have to do is match the two lists. Unfortunately i am pretty clueless for now about points and gifting, so maybe from next game onwards. 

List A 1) Main Azad Hoon 
2) Satte Pe Satta 
3) Agneepath 
4) Hum Kisise Kum Nahin 
5) Black 
6) Ek Ajnabee 
7) Sharaabi 
8) Hum Kaun Hai? 
9) Kaante 
10) Aks 


List B 
A) Fallen 
B) Meet John Doe 
C) Reservoir Dogs 
D) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 
E) Man on Fire 
F) Arthur 
G) Scarface 
H) Analyze This 
I) The Miracle Worker 
J) The Others 

So here goes and happy matching. 

Movie Review - ChashmeBaddor - Crowd-pleasing entertainment

Director: David DhawanCast: Ali Zafar, Siddharth, Divyendu Sharma, Taapsee 
Writer - Sajid - Farhad (dialogues)
Music -Sajid-Wajid
Release Date - 5th April 2013

Director David Dhawan well known as the King of  Comedies in 90's with his brand of slapstick comedy but later disappointed with sleazy comedies which was too B graded for new generation comedy lovers. For a change this time he scores full marks in casts relatively young faces and tries to remake a cult comedy movie of 80's.

The story revolve around friendship of 3 boys , Sid (Ali Zafar), Omi (Divyendu Sharma) and Jai (Siddharth) who are room-mates in Goa. Sid is more of serious type all siddha -saddha ,simple kind of character, while the other two  Omi and Jai spend much of their lives womanizing and having a largely carefree 'bindaas' kind of life.

In their neighbourhood,comes  Seema (Tapsee Pannu)  who runs away on her moped, from her Father (Anupam Kher) who is an Army Man and wants her daughter to get married to a Army Man. She drives straight to her uncle’s ( Again Anupam Kher - Twin Bro) home in Goa.Omi and Jai spot Seema and tries to whoo her one by one. Both fail but lie about the result, using ‘flashback to each other.

Their friendship is later challenged when Sid wins the heart of Seema .Jealous of Sid's romantic success, Jai and Omi pledge to break the two of them apart.

The story has the same flavour of the original, but with some comedy David Dhawan Tadka.The Movie does have some comic sequences and situational comedy scenes.
As far as performances are considered, Divyendu and Siddhart stole the show, Diyendu makes you laugh and giggle throughout the film, with his scintillating performance and oneliners His comic shayari and plain faced comedy leave you in splits, his one liners and shayari's were successful in audience's bursting in laughter. All these dailogues and oneliners are presented in David Dhawan style – loud and cheesy college humour garnished together by Farhad-Sajid’s brand of dialogues – puns and too much obeisance to cinema. .Zafar is more concerned about he how looks than emoting,Nothing from his side, all overacting.Tapsee brings freshness to the movie, good effort from her , nothing much for her in the movie.She keeps smiling all over the movie.

The story also have a interesting side plot of love angle between Rishi Kapoor and Lilette Dubey.Their onscreen romance look warm, Cute and credible, and gave movie freshness from its monotonous treatment.

Music is average, it has some good numbers like Har Ek Friend Kamina Hota Hai', 'Dhichkyaaon Doom Doom', 'Ishq Mohallah'. Although it doesn't have like a chartbuster song, but according to the genre it gives appropriate and perfect songs throughout the album

Rating - 3 Out of 5 

Verdict - Movie is entirely for Youth , Multiplex audiences gonna enjoy it, but it does lack the innocent comedy and Chamak  of the original. It hasn't given full justice to the original ,But Comedy Lovers should give it a try.

Answers of Bollywood Quiz !!!

1) Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, was directed by Milan Luthria, and was a tribute to the 70's era of Bollywood. Milan's father himself was a famous director of yesteryears. He actually came to the industry, wanting to be a playback singer, started out as an assistant director to Guru Dutt, and later on became a director. Interestingly Luthria's first movie Kacche Dhage , takes it's title from a movie of the same name that was directed by his father, starring Vinod Khanna and Kabir Bedi. Who am i referring to?

The director was RAJ KHOSLA.

2) Hari Kumar Goswami was a big time fan of Dilip Kumar. So much that when he entered movies, he choose his screen name after the name of Dilip Kumar's character in the movie Shabnam. His dream of working with his idol came true, when he was cast opposite him in Aadmi. Later on Dilip Kumar acted under his direction in a blockbuster movie of the 80's. Who is this actor?

Of course MANOJ "BHARAT" KUMAR , and the movie in reference was Kranti.

3) This 70's Hindi thriller was based on the Hollywood movie Desperate Hours which had Humphrey Bogart in the lead. It had Sunil Dutt, Danny and Ranjeet as 3 dangerous criminals who take Raj Kumar hostage in his own home. Just name the movie.

The movie here was 36 GHANTE , fairly decent thriller.

4) He had his screen test along with Rajesh Khanna , and also played a minor role in Aaradhana. He acted in a host of Punjabi movies that did not do much for him as an actor. The script for his first movie was rejected by many producers, before N.N.Sippy backed it. The movie went on to become a run away success, and it was a major break for the lead actor, who till then played mostly negative roles. He also has this Hitchcock like tendency to make a small appearance in the movies he directs. Name him.

Right on it is SUBASH GHAI , And the movie in question is KALLICHARAN ,which also gave SHOTGUN SINHA his first break.

5) Shammi Kapoor made his debut as a director with this 70's remake of Billy Wilder's classic Irma Le Deuce. This movie had Sanjeev Kumar and Zeenat Aman in the lead roles, and was based on a love story between a constable and a prostitute. However the movie did not do too well.

The movie was MANORANJAN.

6) Manoj Kumar's landmark movie Roti, Kapada aur Makaan was one of the biggest hits of the 70's set against the turbulent times of that decade. The title of this movie would be the slogan of a famous political leader of that time. ( Hint: Daughter of the East).

I have seen many Benazir Bhutto answers, but it was her father Z.A.BHUTTO i was looking for. Anyway since the question seemed ambiguous, i take it as my mistake, and giving points for any of the two.


7) Danny Denzongpa was originally slated to play the role of Gabbar Singh in Sholay, which was later immortalized by Amjad Khan. Danny rejected the role, due to his commitment with a Feroze Khan movie, and the rest as they say is history. Which movie i am referring to?

The movie was DHARMATMA.

8) Sreeram Raghavan's Johnny Gaddar , a tribute to the 70's Hindi movie thrillers, takes it's title from a reference to Vijay Anand's Johnny Mera Naam. However the basic plot of the movie, as also some of the key scenes, are heavily influenced by this 1971 thriller that had Amitabh Bachan in a key role. Which movie i am referring to?

PARWANA, the entire murder scene in the train in JG is taken from this.

Bollywood Ultimate Puzzle - Ninth

Try this  A to Z Quiz n Win some exciting prizes !!!

A made a special appearance in movie B in the early 90s, starring C and D in the lead. C wasn't seen in any more movies for the next 10 years or so, but D has had a flourishing career. D's movie E had F in a special appearance, along with a string of other stars. D and F also had a husband-and-wife cameo in movie G, starring H and I in the lead. H and I both had cameos in movie J, where D also made a special appearance; all three had speaking roles in the movie. J had K in the lead, and K's dad L also had a cameo in the movie. Movie J also starred M in a prominent role. M's wife N made a special appearance opposite him in movie O. P, who was cast opposite the leggy Q in movie O, was cast opposite H in movie R, where S had a tragic cameo - his character dies in the movie. S's wife T made a special appearance as a blind girl in a terrible movie U, featuring V, W and D in the lead. W had a cameo in movie X where he played himself and one of his dialogues included an insider joke about the leading lady. W and Y were the male leads in a comic caper Z, and were never seen together in a movie again, though there have been rumors about a sequel. To close the loop, movie Z also had a special appearance by A.

Bollywood Quiz

Most of the questions in this Quiz are workable, and can be guessed if you have some knowledge of Hindi movies. Kindly avoid Googling  , as much as you can. Try to work out from the clues in the Question. 

1) Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, was directed by Milan Luthria, and was a tribute to the 70's era of Bollywood. Milan's father himself was a famous director of yesteryears. He actually came to the industry, wanting to be a playback singer, started out as an assistant director to Guru Dutt, and later on became a director. Interestingly Luthria's first movie Kacche Dhage , takes it's title from a movie of the same name that was directed by his father, starring Vinod Khanna and Kabir Bedi. Who am i referring to? 

2) Hari Kumar Goswami was a big time fan of Dilip Kumar. So much that when he entered movies, he choose his screen name after the name of Dilip Kumar's character in the movie Shabnam. His dream of working with his idol came true, when he was cast opposite him in Aadmi. Later on Dilip Kumar acted under his direction in a blockbuster movie of the 80's. Who is this actor?

3) This 70's Hindi thriller was based on the Hollywood movie Desperate Hourswhich had Humphrey Bogart in the lead. It had Sunil Dutt, Danny and Ranjeet as 3 dangerous criminals who take Raj Kumar hostage in his own home. Just name the movie. 

4) He had his screen test along with Rajesh Khanna , and also played a minor role in Aaradhana. He acted in a host of Punjabi movies that did not do much for him as an actor. The script for his first movie was rejected by many producers, before N.N.Sippy backed it. The movie went on to become a run away success, and it was a major break for the lead actor, who till then played mostly negative roles. He also has this Hitchcock like tendency to make a small appearance in the movies he directs. Name him. 

5) Shammi Kapoor made his debut as a director with this 70's remake of Billy Wilder's classic Irma Le Deuce. This movie had Sanjeev Kumar and Zeenat Aman in the lead roles, and was based on a love story between a constable and a prostitute. However the movie did not do too well. 

6) Manoj Kumar's landmark movie Roti, Kapada aur Makaan was one of the biggest hits of the 70's set against the turbulent times of that decade. The title of this movie would be the slogan of a famous political leader of that time. ( Hint: Daughter of the East). 

7) Danny Denzongpa was originally slated to play the role of Gabbar Singh in Sholay, which was later immortalized by Amjad Khan. Danny rejected the role, due to his commitment with a Feroze Khan movie, and the rest as they say is history. Which movie i am referring to? 

8) Sreeram Raghavan's Johnny Gaddar , a tribute to the 70's Hindi movie thrillers, takes it's title from a reference to Vijay Anand's Johnny Mera Naam. However the basic plot of the movie, as also some of the key scenes, are heavily influenced by this 1971 thriller that had Amitabh Bachan in a key role. Which movie i am referring to? 

Bollywood Ultimate Puzzle - Eight

Try to Solve this and win some cool prizes :)

A and B were close friends, and A dedicated his 70’s movie C to "B and the city of Bombay". A had earlier worked as an editor with D, and during the shooting of E, a movie with a reincarnation theme, A got the idea for a movie. A’s debut movie was called Musafir, and it starred F who was also the hero of E. 

A got a major commercial success, with this 50’s movie, that had B in the lead role. G who was the heroine opposite B in that movie, acted in an award winning movie H that was directed by D. I and J were G’s co stars in that movie. 

I had one of his best roles as a honest man in A’s movie which also had K as the other actor. J and K together appeared in another movie directed by A, that had J winning the National Award, and also singing a rap song. 

C starred L and M in the main roles. L, I and K together appeared in this 1975 blockbuster, which also had N and O in the heroine roles. P who directed the 1975 movie earlier directed N in a double role that also had I and K as heroes. O made her debut in A’s 1971 movie, which had I playing a cameo as himself. O and L later fell in love and married, as did N and I. 

N incidentally made her debut in a movie opposite B, and the title of that movie, led to her nickname. L and M again appeared in another movie Q that was again directed by A. Q also had R as one of the female leads, who later on formed a hit pair with L. 

L,R and O together appeared in the 1981 movie, that was directed by S. M had earlier acted under direction of S, along with T. T came in a 60’s movie directed by A, that also featured I as the male lead. And later on T,I, O,L appeared in a 70’s comedy again directed by A. 

T made her debut in this 60’s Hindi movie opposite U, who was the brother of B. V who directed this Hindi movie also gave M his first major commercial success that had T as a co star. V & M together formed a successful pair, giving out many hits. 

W who was the brother of U &B, came together with L in X that was directed by S. Y who played the heroine opposite W in X, later on married B’s son and W’s nephew. Z who played the heroine opposite L in X, later on appeared along with L, W in an 80’s blockbuster directed by P himself. 

Review - Sona Spa

REVIEW - SONA SPA

Director: Makarand Deshpande
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Writer: Makarand Deshpande

Producer: Madan Paliwal

Cast & Crew: Naseeruddin Shah, Aahana Kumrah, Shruti Vyas, Pooja Pradhan , Vineet Sharma, Romi Jaispal and Nivedita Bhattacharya

Release Date: Mar 22, 2013




Review -  The story revolves around Sona Spa , a place where people hire someone else to sleep for themselves.These sleep workers sleep, for Rs. 2,500 per hour, and dream — this takes us to the regions of men’s lives, urges and fantasies.so while the client continue with his routine,  sleep worker sleeps for him and he feel rejuvenated and fresh?

Rucha (Shruti Vyas) and Ritu (Aahana Kumrah) both newcomers join Sona Spa in the hope of sleeping for their dear ones!  Rucha wants to sleep for her wealthy father who doesn’t get sleep since her mother’s death and is dance bar zombie and Ritu wants to sleep for her sister who’s equally traumatized after her mother and brother’s death. Rucha’s client includes Mr. Choksi (Romi Jaispal), a rich man who doesn’t get sleep while Ritu’s client is an undercover cop.

Sona Spa has a senior sleeper as well, Meenakshi (Nivedita Bhattacharya). A former prostitute, she no longer sleepswith her clients, but sleeps for them.

The first half deals with the dreams and fantasies of the clients of sona spa, Mr Choksi's sexual fantasies, his illicit extramarital affairs and violent scenes.It has some abusive dialouges and a couple of scenes with cross-dressing.

The second half deals with the two , Rucha and Ritu having metamorphosed phase and deals with their personal life problems due to the clients dreams troubling them.

The movie is pretty much shown in the trailer.Nothing new apart from it.The story has some  interesting premise but the director was not able to fetch audience interest. 

As far as the actor’s performances are concerned, Naseeruddin Shah As Baba Dayanand hardly had any much to do, he is televised avatar .Aahana Kumrah did a brilliant job and gave full justice to her role. Nivedita Bhattacharya as Minakshi had some good dialogues and she too leaves a mark as an actress.Overall, the Actors picked by Makarand Despande had given some matured level of acting, I hope these so called big star of bollywood can perform at-least 20% of what these new comers had done. Hatsoff to the casting.

Makarand Deshpande as a director and writer disappointed.Cinematography is worse.

For all those who expected an 'Hatke' film, sorry people, the film is far from even being a thriller and is merely a sleazy fest and will disturb your movie watching appetite  After hearing of the play’s success one hoped the film would repeat history but maybe not.

Best Dialogue -“Hum neend ka business karte hai, Hum neend ka business karte hai”

Rating - 1 out of 5

Verdict - Ignorance is Bliss.Better to sleep for yourself and save your time and money.