Movie Review: Up In The Air - Travel light in the journey of life!

How would you feel if your entire life is packed in a backpack? All the stuff you own – from the little things in your medicine cabinet to the big things like your TV, furniture, etc; your relationships from casual acquaintances to your closest ones. Won’t you feel that your backpack is heavy? Don’t you think this will slow you down in your journey of life?

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a jet-setter, whose job requires him to travel all the time. Last year he spent 300 days on the road. He does not believe in anything that slows him down – he owns a storage locker instead of an apartment, no relationships, and keeps his family at a distance. Enter two women – Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a new hire in his office who accompanies him in one of his journeys to learn the tricks of the trade; and Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) another jet-setter whom he meets in one of his stopovers – and Ryan begins to rethink his priorities in life.

George Clooney takes the cake again for a great performance. You have to see the way he packs and zips through the airport procedures – quite fascinating! Anna Kendrick is very convincing in her role too – as a confident young career woman with immense talent and drive, yet vulnerable to the blows that life deals. The story is quite gripping – and will keep you interested till the end. All of us in the dog-eats-dog corporate world will easily relate to the tone of the movie.

Though I don’t think the movie deserves the high ratings it has (91% on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.3/10 IMDB), the novel plot, great performances, and sheer Clooney-charm will not leave you disappointed when you leave the movie hall.

Recommendations

For frequent movie-goers: Recommend
For moderate movie-goers: Recommend
For rare movie-goers: Don't Recommend

Movie Review: Rocket Singh - Aren't we sick of salesmen already?

“Do you have shixty seconds? Only shixty seconds?”

This is how the trailer of this movie starts – and a pretty well made trailer too, in my opinion. The trailer made me feel that this would be a different type of movie – and I wanted to watch this movie. I watched this movie last weekend, and the movie didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Harpreet Singh Bedi, aka Rocket Singh (“Ranbir Kapoor”) is a recent graduate, who has just barely made it through the academia. He wants to give a shot at becoming a salesman, as he thinks he has the right qualities to become a successful salesman. He gets a job as a trainee salesman, and gets exposed to the non-ethical ways in which sales deals are made. He gets angered at this practice, and the rest of the movie has the story of his steps to “cleanse” the business.

Though I thought Ranbir has done well, the movie fails miserably. The story-line is very weak, and the music score is terrible. The title song, “Pocket mein rocket” does not even exist in the movie! Rocket Singh’s attempts at cleansing the business seem too impractical, even for a Bollywood movie. I found it very difficult to spend two hours in this movie – I was always hoping that the movie would end soon!

The movie is a let down, and I don’t recommend you to even consider watching this. Though there are some funny bits, the movie fails completely as a whole.

Recommendations

For frequent movie-goers: Don't Recommend
For moderate movie-goers: Don't Recommend
For rare movie-goers: Don't Recommend

Movie Review: Wake Up Sid - Don't we all love those carefree days?

I had been glancing at the posters of this movie for a while before the movie's release - and I should say that I used to find the posters quite inviting. I saw this movie the first chance I got, and I wasn't disappointed.

Siddarth "Sid" Mehra (Ranbir Kapoor) is a rich spoilt brat with a lavish upbringing, who doesn't take life seriously. He is in his final year of college, and has no clue about what to do in his life. He meets Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma) at a party. Aisha is an independent, self-made woman who has just landed in Mumbai from Kolkata looking for an editing job. Sid graciously plays the host to the out-of-towner and helps her settle down. What follows is a clash of personalities, how they positively influence each other, and realize their feelings for each other in the process.

The movie is well made with good performances by Ranbir and Konkona Sen. Its a light, simple, romantic-comedy movie with no frills attached (No car chases, no item numbers, etc.). Ranbir fits the role like a glove - he probably had to just play himself! His wardrobe is something to watch out for - with the toon-themed T-shirts and the goofy socks. This is the first commercially successful mainstream movie of Konkona (in a lead role) - she has done well and fits the role too. Karan Johar should have been bold to cast a young chocolate-boy hero against a mature art-movie heroine - and the risk seems to have paid off.

The movie delivers exactly what it promises - A simple, light, fun-filled story that keeps you engaged. You will find the story of a carefree young boy's life experiences that transforms him to a responsible adult with a purpose in life quite exhilarating and refreshing.

Recommendations
For frequent movie-goers: Recommend
For moderate movie-goers: Recommend

For rare movie-goers: Don't Recommend

Movie Review: Kurbaan - Terrorism, bollywood-style

This much awaited Karan Johar movie starring the real life couple "Saifeena" was released last month. Being an avid movie goer, I saw this movie the same week it was released in the local movie hall.

Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan) meets Avantika Ahuja (Kareena Kapoor) in a college where they both work as lecturers. In the traditional Karan Johar way, they fall madly in love with each other. Avantika would be a visiting lecturer from a US university, whereas the college earns Ehsaan's daily bread. In a not-so-surprising turn of events, Avantika gets a call from her US boss asking her to return. Ehsaan, being a long-distance-relationship-skeptic, marries Avantika and moves to US with her. What follows is a "surprising" turn of events that involve terrorism, hatred, blood & gore, and some steamy saifeena scenes

The movie falls well short of its expectations. The only saving grace is Saif and Kareena's performance. Their on-screen chemistry is very good till they settle down in US, and once they do, they look as if they are forced to stay on the screen together. The supposedly "steamy" scenes between Saif & Kareena fail to raise any steam.. Saif's "wardrobe consultant" has done a good job, and his costumes are something to look out for. The whole movie is spun around the strong angst & hatred of the muslim community for the post 9/11 crackdown.

The only crowd-puller for this movie was the hype around the on-screen pairing of the real-life couple of Saif & Kareena. The movie does not live up to the hype, and is full of angst, hatred, & violence.Unless you are dying to see how "Saifeena" fare on screen, you might as well pass this movie.

Recommendations
For frequent movie-goers: Recommend
For moderate movie-goers: Don't Recommend
For rare movie-goers: Don't Recommend

Movie Review: De Dana Dan - Things gone awry

I wanted to watch it for the last couple of weeks, but finally got to it only last weekend. The film is directed by Priyadarshan, and boasts of the impressive star cast from "hera pheri" and "phir hera pheri"

The movie is about two friends living in penury in Singapore (Akshay Kumar & Suniel Shetty). In order to marry their rich girlfriends (Katrina Kaif & Sameera Reddy), they have to make a fortune quickly - else they'll lose the love of their lives to other "eligible bachelors" setup by the girl's parents. The brave duo of Akshay & Suniel plan to kidnap the dog of Akshay Kumar's employer, and the rest of the movie tells the story of this plan undone..

The movie starts with a good promise, but turns silly as the movie unfolds, ending in a completely silly climax. There are too many actors in this movie (way more than this 3-hour movie can handle!), and the plot is so confusing that you wish you can pause to understand what is going on. Akshay Kumar has performed well, but hardly gets any screen time to show his talent. Katrina Kaif fits the role looking pretty, but she too hardly gets any screen time to show her "talents"! Suniel Shetty and Sameera Reddy fail to impress. Paresh Rawal, the famed "Baburao" from Hera Pheri, has tried his best to hold the movie together - but the movie has so many characters that each one hardly has any time to make an impression!

Though this movie looks promising "on poster", don't dare to even consider watching this movie. Even a person like me, who has a high threshold of taking crappy movies, thought this movie is a waste of time. A utterly silly and complicated plot, inane comedy scenes, below average music score, and a pitiful direction make this movie a nightmare to watch!