Rambo IV-John Rambo : Movie Review

Nothing thrills you more than the event of your childhood heroes/characters coming alive on screen again. I was part of one such nostalgic carnage only yesterday. Mr. Sylvester Stallone is back in the fourth, and what might clearly be the last installment of the Rambo franchise. Along with playing our beloved noble war-machine, Stallone dons the mantle of the screenwriter and director too.

The film is set in Burma, where a group of American missionaries has been held hostage by the Burmese army. As you might have guessed, John Rambo leads a group of mercenaries in a mission to rescue the hostages. What follows is typical Rambo fare; gun fights, arrows being shot, commando knives slitting the guts out of baddies..it’s all there!

But!, if you think you’ve seen it all,you’re in for a big big surprise! The action is this film is not for the faint of heart; it’snot bloody..it’s GORY!!, it’s simply gut wreching material. The depiction of dead bodies, the gun fights, almost everything in this film is beyond realism. Most bloody war/fight scenes in this film would make Saving Private Ryan look like Romeo and Juliet. But it’s all so awesome; when a 62 year old hero pulls out a baddy’s larynx with his right hand..you can’t help but go yay!!

So that was John Rambo for you; yeah what else do you expect? Honestly there’s nothing more for me to write here. Do yourself a favor, go and watch this film and enjoy the 90 minute ride of hand fights, gun fights and bursting heads. Enjoy the adrenaline rushing to your head every couple of minutes, and clap all you can. The film is rated R for strong graphic violence, language and sexual assaults etc; so be careful who you take along.

Remember, Heroes Do Not Die…..They Just Reload!



Rating: ****



 

Om Shanti Om

Some films take themselves very seriously and some take themselves too lightly. Om Shanti Om is an anomaly of sorts; it gets too serious in taking itself too lightly. Doesn't make sense? Well..yeah..even the 17 odd reels of Om Shanti Om don't. That's not a point of contention however, I knew what to expect when I walked into the cinema this morning. Let's get on with the review now..shall we?
Om Prakash Makheeja(SRK) is a 70s junior artist who’s insanely in love with Shanti Priya(Deepika Padukone), who is in love with the badman Mukesh Mehra(ArjunRampal). Things go wrong, and both OM and Shanti end up dead! But….picture abhi baaki hai mere dost.

The first half with the 70s backdrop is as much a visual treat as it is a laugh riot. Yes, I’m not exaggerating here; the first hour of the film has some of the most massy and funny sequences Indian cinema has ever seen. The Dreamy Girl premiere, the whole Manoj Kumar spoof and Rajesh Kapoor(Khanna) and pregnant wife(Dimple) interview are supremely hilarious. The Rajnikanth spoof will have you holding on to your stomach, just in case anything pops out. The Dhoom Tana song where Shanti dances with Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra a la Forrest Gump is absolutely splendid. The special effects department should be lauded for this feat.The village shoot where Om and Pappu(Shreyas Talpade) are playing dacoits is again a rib tickler. In between all these moments of laughter and entertainment(which is the whole point of OSO anyway) is a friendship brewing between Om and Shanti. Their rendezvous’ are handled beautifully and Deepika looks quite charming, and if I might add, stunning. The whole set burning sequence which results in the deaths of both OM and Shanti is grandeur at its best. Among the typical Bollywood masala entertainers, this is definitely one of the most entertaining, funny and involving first halves ever.

30 years later….Take TWO!, the second half dips and dips and keeps dipping for several minutes till we have a jug full of bitter Lipton Tiger in our mouth. Om Prakash Makheeja is reborn as Om Kapoor, the son of yesteryear superstar Rajesh Kapoor. Dard-e-disco though choreographed beautifully and quite catchy semed just out of place, I dunno why it had to be there. Om Kapoor keeps hearing voices and seeing flashes from his past life. His mother(Kiron Kher) in his first life keeps chasing his car with the everlasting ‘beta ruk ja’ line. The visions, the voices..anything just doesn’t make any emotional impact. When Om is shooting for superhero film Mohabbat Man(which was a very funny sequence again) he accidentally walks into the room which used to be Shanti’s dressing room. Again come the flashes, the voices and the faces too; all this while, I was hoping this just gets over!!! Give me some more entertainment. This isn’t good for Farah Khan, if she ever wants to be a good storyteller. Farah does oblige to our requests intermittently though; with the earth shakingly hilarious Filmfare Awards sequence and the star studded Deewangi Deewangi. Anyway, Mukesh Mehra is back again, this time as Mike or Mik-ee as he wishes to be addressed. Om of course recognizes his murderer, goes back to his mother and Pappu, gets lucky enough! to find a Shanti look alike,Sandy(Sandhya) and is determined to bring Mukesh Mehra to justice(wow!..now that’s what you call absitively posilutely seriously mindless). Om devises a plan which involves the help of all his actor friends and family to bring Mukesh Mehra to justice at the same place he murdered his beloved Shanti. Surprises, shrieking old ladies, staged bhoot incidents, tampered film reels et al make Mukesh Mehra fall into the trap and justice is finally delivered in Madhumati ishtyle! climax which is immaculately shot and is truly a grand spectacle. The second half could’ve been crisper though; some serious editing flaws in there. The whole Om/Mukesh restaurant sequence, the Om/Sandy rooftop sequence are just plain boring. The dialogues are grossly overwritten, too much blah blah for no rhyme or reason. All in all, quite a disapoointing second half with the exception of the far and few in between funny moments, and the climax, which is very well done indeed.

Coming on to the performances—Shreyas Talpade as Om’s sidekick is funny, loveable and extremely confident…two big Thumbs Up to him. Kiron Kher excels in what she’s supposed to do, i.e. play the loud, melodramatic Bollywood maa. Deepika Padukone looks gorgeous, and her performance is not bad for a first timer. I have my doubts about the voice though, I still think it’s dubbed. Arjun Rampal is plainly stupid in some scenes and plainly terrific in others. I still don’t know how to rate him here. I’ll go with a ‘decent’ at best. And now to SRK—the man hams like he never has! But wait a min, that doesn’t mean what you think it does. The truth about OSO, as a matter of fact is…it’s a one man job. It is SRK’s film; he’s the spine, the heart, the soul, the joy, the laughter and the emotion(whatever little this film has) of the film. He’s a revelation in the first half specially—playing to the gallery comedy has never been his forte, but he’s just marvellous here. Some of the hamming in second half is quite annoying though, specially in the confrontation scenes. He hams, he overacts, he makes silly faces, he ridicules himself, he ridicules others and still manages to bring the film several notches above what it deserves.

So that was OSO for you. No, it’s not the mother of all masala entertainers as some of our esteemed critics seem to think. What it is though, is 2 and a half hours well spent with your family and children. A first half full of laughter and energy, a scond half which gets quite boring at times, annoying at times, fun at times resulting in a wonderfully crafted climax. Am I disappointed? Yes…still worth a watch though.

Rating: ***

Johny Gaddar Movie Review

Warning: Some plot spoilers included

Johny Gaddar is the latest offering from Sriram Raghavan, the man who gave us Ek Hasina Thi. The film is inspired by some of veteran director Vijay Anand's works and James Hadley Chase novels. The main protagonist(or should we say, antagonist!) Vikram aka Johny also borrows some of his ideas from the Amitabh Bacchhan thriller Parwana.

The premise is simple yet very different from your average Bollywood fare. Five conmen plan a deal which will make each of them richer by 50 Lakh in 3 days. Sheshadri(Dharmendra) is supposedly the top guy, a la Danny Ocean. He's supported by Prakash(Vinay Pathak), Shardul(Zakir Hussain), Shiva(Daya Shetty) and Vikram(Neil Mukesh). Vikram however, has other plans; he borrows several ideas from his James Hadley Chase novels and Parwana to double-cross his fellow associates and elope with Mini(Rimi Sen), Shardul's wife! Vikram's plan however, goes haywire when he accidentally kills Shiva in the first phase of his plan. After that point, Vikram's lady luck helps him escape every tryst with destiny untill the climax, where poetic justice is delivered.

The film had all the makings of a taut thriller, but it is marred by lack of pace. The sript was indeed interesting with one accident leading to another and so on and so forth, but it was executed in a very sluggish manner. The director seemed to have lost his vision after the intermission, where he went absolutely overboard with character development and took too much screen time familiarizing us with their personal/family lives. The sadistic outings with Shiva's girlfriend Vaijanthi were totally uneccesary, and they really left a bad taste in your mouth and stomach. Through the entire length of the film, there was not one scene which thrilled you. The only moment where the script catches you off guard is Sheshadri's dying sequence, and it was very well executed too. The script meanders a lot!, particularly after the intermission and you just don't know what the director wants; does he want to thrill you, does he want to make you sob, does he want you to empathize or does he want to tickle your funny bone? Johny Gaddar is a perfect example of a brilliant plot gone awry because of too many distractions. Part of my dissatisfaction might have to do with the fact that I had went into the theater to watch an on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller, but even if I judge the film as just another movie..it still falls flat on most of the grounds.

Coming on to the performances; Dharmendra is going through the golden twilight of his career, and he gives a commendable performance here. It could have been much better though, and his role does't really do justice to the awe-inspiring persona he has. Neil Mukesh is just about ok, he looked rather silly in the scenes where he had to convey anxiety and fear through his eyes. His Travolta-esque dance sequence was also very childish. You can't complain much though, given the fact that it was his first time acting. I'm not very keen on predicting something for him at this point though; let's just wait and watch. Rimi Sen gives one of her better performances in a rather conveniently stupid role. Zakir Hussain as Shardul was excellent and Vinay Pathak's was THE performance of the film. Vinay Pathak has charmed us with his comic timing before, and with this film he proves that he's an actor of serious mettle; his introduction scene was one of the better ones in the film. The film will tank in the single screes for sure and it just might do decent business in the multiplex centers..don't take my word for it though. To sum it up, Johny Gaddar is a half baked effort with very few interesting sequences and manages to bore you for the better part of it's length. Yes, it IS different, but I still have to call a spade a spade..right?

Rating: **

Ram Gopal varma ki AAG?...Aaaaarghhhh!!

Ever since it's release, this particular RGV venture has drawn so much flak and has been ridiculed so much that we were finding it very difficult to spend 400 bucks for the sake of curiosity. Anyway, ..we finally mustered up the courage to watch RGV ki AAG this saturday. Before I begin, let me tell you that the ONLY reason I sat through the movie was to write this review....everybody who reads this owes me big time!!

I won't get into the script details, as no one needs any. An inpiration is what RGV may have called this garbage, but it is an exact rehash of the same situations, albeit with slight deviations in the dilaogues.

DIRECTION--RGV tries very hard to put in his own flavor in many of the memorable Sholay scenes. Sadly, it all falls flat! The scene where AB saws off Mohanlal's fingers is brutally chilling though--one of the very few scenes where I could feel something!

CAMERAWORK--It gives you a headache, it really does. Jerky for most parts and angles which can only make sense to Ram Gopal Varma. Will someone please ask Mr. varma to stop obsessing with his heroines' buttocks please!

MUSIC--Dull and boring..the 'hai aag yeh' title song is sort of OK though.

EDITING--It seems the editing department slept for the better part of their job. It's our turn to sleep now.

SCREENPLAY--As pathetic as it gets. Meaningless, dragging all the uneccesary portions while giving little importance to what mattered, e.g. the scenes between Mohanlal and AB. If only they would have given a little more importance to this aspect, they would have redeemed themselves somehow.

Coming on to the performances now--

Amitabh Bachhan--It's not that I haven't been annoyed by Mr. Bachhan's performances before, Jaadugar, Toofan, Ajooba and Boom to name a few. This performance however, is something in a different league altogether. Not only did it annoy every inch of my body, it made me sad, really sad! God knows what Mr. Bachhan was thinking when he said yes to this 'grand' vision of RGV. RGV has made a total buffoon of his character, and what's more sad is that Mr. Bachhan has played it exactly like a buffoon. I wonder if he's forgotten what it means to improvise. Tacky dialogues, over the top mannerisms, hissing, snarling, nose picking!..you name it..you've got it. Inarguably the worst performance of this legend's career, in fact one of the MOST annoying performances by anyone..ever. Not only has he disappointed me, but he has also dealt a blow to his own reputation by being part of this horrendous "tribute" to Sholay.

Ajay Devgan--If there was an award for the 'worst actor in a comic role ever', it would go to Ajay Devgan for sure. Ever since AAG was announced I always felt that Ajay was miscast here, but that he could be so pathetic!! is something that never crossed my mind. The way he massacred Dharmendra's drunken 'suiciiiiide' scene almost made me cry. I kept cringing everytime he tried to do anything even remotely comic. Ajay should have never done this film..it's left me disillusioned and I'm pretty sure that goes for many others too. I had always regarded Ajay as one of the TOP 3 actors of this generation, but now..my view has changed. Not being excellent at comedy as a Govinda or Paresh Rawal or even an Akshay Kumar is OK, but being this bad! cannot be overlooked. You have to command a decent level of skill in all aspects of acting..if you don't..you're not a good actor in my book.

Prashant Raj--The guys tries very hard, yes, he does. You just cannot expect a newcomer to make an impact with what has already been immortalised by AB. I'm ashamed to admit this, but when he dies, I was actually relieved!..the lesser the irritants..the better for me :)

Nisha Kothari--Supremely irritating would be an understatement. This performance was like a loudspeaker on a mass-destruction spree. I was jumping up and down and pulling my hair everytime she opened her mouth.

Sushmita Sen--Perfect casting this was! And Suhmita did a commendable job too. The only problem I had was that she seemd to be crying every moment while in Jaya's case it was the silent sadness which was much more effective.

Mohanlal--This is what you call a terrific! performance in a terrible film. Even with his flawed hindi accent, Mohanlal portrayed the role of inspector Narsimha with all his heart and soul. His eyes spoke! ..the dormant wrath, the helplessness..everything was done beautifully. I don't need to comment on specific scenes in his case as he was nothing less than excellent in each frame that had him. I'm even inclined to say that there were some scenes where he did better than Sanjeev Kumar in Sholay...there!! I said it.

The tremendous actor in Sushant Singh is wasted in the role of Thambe...even the ever so fascinating Rajpal Yadav simply annoys in the reincarnated version of Soorma Bhopali aka Rambha Bhai. I don't know who advised him to go with that irritatingly squeaky birdy voice..maybe Mr. Varma again??

Calling AAG a half baked effort is far from the truth. It's like RGV even forgot to put it in the oven. His Bacchan bhakti it seems distracted him from the job at hand. He tries to justify Babban's cruelty by having his brother (Sachin) killed. Oh! and how he totally screws up the climax..it's not even funny. Gabbar was beaten like a dog by Veeru and Thakur in the climax of Sholay. In AAG, not only does the old and haggard Babban seem to be overpowering Heero but he's also killed in an instant! It must have been too agonising for RGV to see AB go through the manhandling that Gabbar receives at the 'feet' of Thakur. Oh! and I totally forgot about the nonsensical Abhishek Bachhan cameo in the Mehbooba song. What was he there for?? Walking around, making stupid eyes at everyone....utterly irritating! Enough with the Bacchan bhakti Mr. Varma..a Sarkar we can appreciate but not this nonsense.

Aag is a pain no one should be subjected to, I know, I've experienced it!!

Rating--Not Applicable

Chak De India Review

If you're one of those who have to bash SRK even while u're sleeping, then please leave now. No matter what I say, or anyone else says, you'll be the same forever...so it's no use!

When I walked out of the Satyam Cineplex on Friday, my jaws were aching and so were my wife's, that's what she told me. The reason you might ask...well...because we had spent the last 2 hours and 20 minutes welling up every 2 to 3 minutes and crying very often. NO, we weren't crying coz we were sad or depressed. We did all this while empathising, sometimes sympathising, sometimes crying out of sheer happiness and sometimes just being taken over by the massive adrenaline rush. Well....that was Chak De India for us. Let's get into some details now;

The film begins with the debacle of the Indian hockey team at the hands of the Pakistanis, when Kabir Khan(SRK) misses a penalty stroke. He is crucified by the media and is labelled a gaddar(traitor). Even the people in his muhalla(locality) want nothing to do with him. Khan goes into a hiatus for 7 years only to return with the announcement of a women's national team for the World Cup. He takes charge as the coach with the dream of winning the World Cup and salvaging his own reputation; oh yes! not once does he deny this.

But Khan doesn't really have his work cut out for him. The team given to him has the biggest bunch of misfits ever. Most of them have come with their regional bias, some senior players have their ego issues and some have the temperament of a raging bull. The most imminent task for Khan is to make them act like a team, and it's probably the most difficult one. He breaks them, humiliates them and does several other unimaginable things to make them better players and understand the concept of 'India' and not my Assam, my Bihar, my Jharkhand, my West Bengal or whatever. I won't spoil the fun by telling you everything, but I'll tell you about the most important sequence which sees them really coming together as a team. This happens at McDonalds, where the girls beat up!! a bunch of eve teasers, and Khan quietly sits at the table. He only reacts when one of the guys tries to attack a girl from the back, he grabs him and says "peeche se nahi, karna hai to saamne se waar karo, woh kya hai na, hamaari hockey mein chakke nahi hote"(if you wanna attack, do it from the front, you see, we don't have eunuchs in our hockey').

The second half is hockey, hockey and more hocey. Team India looses the first match 7-0 to Australia, but they make a comeback after defeating many teams including England, the rough playing Argentina and the tactical Korea. The final sees them playing against Australia again. Everyone knew what was gonna happen, still there were OOOHs and AAhs to be heard everywhere in the theater and the mad clapping after the girls did it was just awesome. The climax is soooo wonderful, it makes you leap with joy and yet manages to make you cry. SRK's reaction is a sight; the man just doesn't know what to do, he's not jumping with joy, he's just looking everywhere like a lost child. Happiness, triumph, pain, agony..you could see eveything in his eyes. This is what makes him the King, and quite frankly, it's his movie, he's the heart and soul of the movie. More than the Indian Women's team...you want Kabir Khan to win.

The girls are all good too, considering it was the first time acting for most of them. A few of them have been given more screen time and the meatier dialogues and gameplaying time. Some of Komal's dialogues are just outrageously hilarious!, what with her 'bhains ki pooch'(buffalo's tail) and 'launda'(guy) 'laundiya'(girl) lines. The Punjabi girl also makes you laugh quite a few times with her uncompromising temper and childish mannerisms. A few minutes have also been given to the girls' problems, but even these are not boring at all and add to the movie's message quite substantially. The scene when they are introduced for the first time is a great tickler too.

The most endearing aspect of Chak De India is that it doesn't try to make a big deal of anything, but, it manages to do exactly that in the end. It makes you think about the gender bias in our society, it makes you think about the lack of awareness for our national sport, it makes you think about the corruption and red tapism in the Government, it makes you think about the regional bias so deeply engraved in our minds, and it also makes you think about India. It does all of this with great elan, without sounding preachy or intellectual for a single minute. The movie entertains you to the core, plays with almost every emotion you have ever felt in your life...loss,despair,pain,struggle,victory,happiness,ecstasy. The movie is a winner on all accounts, and this, without even touching on a single bollywood cliche. No movie in recent times can claim this, not even Rang De Basanti or Lage Raho Munnabhai. It has my vote for the best Indian movie of the new millennium so far(RDB is a very close second).

Go watch it, watch it now, even if you can't stand SRK. A movie not to be missed by any Indian, old or young. As for SRK's performance, contrary to what other people might tell you, no he's not different in this movie, he's the same SRK when he yells at those girls, when he gets angry, there's a certain restraint, yes, but that's coz he's not the 28 yr old angry avenger of Baazigarr now. It's not his greatest performance ever, but yes, it's definitely one of his most mature performances, along with Swades, Veer Zaara and Kal Ho Na Ho. His greatest performances, in my humble opinion, are in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and of course..DDLJ.
Rating: *****

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix: The Review

This has been my least favourite Potter book to date. So, naturally, I wasn't expecting to be bowled over in any case. This book merely represented some events which helped the story progress and it isn't even remotely as satisfying as the other Potter books, esp. Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. Anyway, let's get on with the movie review now. Let's get over with the cons first; very little info was given on why Harry had those weird dreams and saw through Nagini's eyes, this was not helpful for people who are not familiar with the books. I had to keep explaining stuff to my wife all the way. Harry's Occlumency lessons with Severus Snape should have had more screen time. The Death Eaters' use of the Imperius and Cruciatis curses on Harry's friends in the climax was totally wiped out. How on Earth could they forget to include Voldemort's use of Avada Kedavra on Dumbledore?? That's so important!! to the storyline. Finally, this one's not a big con but I would have liked to see more of Kreacher's cursing:)

Now, on to the pros; The sets and effects are awesome. The first sequence with the Dementors was very well shot, and it was quite scary actually. The recreation of the Department of Mysteries was mindblowing!! The climactic battle was also very well shot. The parts where Harry prepares Dumbledore's Army were also very well executed and the bonding between Harry, Ron and Hermione really shines through as always.

And last but not the least, Daniel Radcliffe has finally started acting!! Rupert Grint has moved on to being 'decent' and Emma Watson, well, she's a star!!Daniel looks more Harry with long hair though:)Speaking of characterization, Dolores Umbridge was perfectly done, I don't know the actress' name, pardon me. On the whole, it wasn't a letdown but nothing too memorable either like the first, second and the fourth movies. But as I said, this is my least favourite Potter book...so you're opinion might differ. The movie is still a must watch though...every Harry Potter movie is:)

Overall rating: ***
Movie Info

Die Hard 4.0: The Review

John McClane has got to be one of the most loveable action characters in the history of American cinema. He's witty, he's sarcastic, and he has this uncanny knack of escaping death no matter what. Do you get the same John McClane this time around? Well, yeah..it's just that he's bald and old this time. Die Hard movies have always been a tad over-the-top and it's no different this time. John survives just about every mortal combat imaginable to mankind, including fighting an F5 fighter jet!! and you know what, he makes it look believable. Let's get into some details shall we...?

The movie starts off with the mysterious deaths of several hackers around the country, and McClane(Bruce Willis) is given the job to escort Matt Farrel(Justin Long) to the FBI headquarters. The action starts right away!! and it never lets up. Thomas Gabriel(Timothy Olyphant) is an ex NSA programmer on a revenge mission and he wants to take control of the entire digital network of USA. McClane being the old-school man that he is, can't understand much of it, so he takes the help of Farrel and some of his friends to counter the evil plots of the villains and in the end do what he does best, shoot 'em..lol. An emotional involvement has always been necessary in the Die Hard movies, and we get to see that with Lucy McClane(John's daughter) when she's kidnapped by Gabriel's men. A pretty predictable plot, but it's the gritty action sequences and John's overpowering presence that keeps you glued to the seat. My wife actually jumped during one of the thrilling action sequences...yeah, they're that good!!

In the end, what makes this movie work is the superbly crafted action sequences, the machine gun pace and Mr. John McClane of course. Nostalgia is also given a little room with John repeating some of his lines, e.g. 'this is not a good idea' and giving nicknames to the villains like 'hampster', 'spiderboy', 'dick head' etc. And if you're wondering about the immortal 'yippe-kay-yay mother **bleep**' line...yeah, it's there..and he shoots himself!!! right after saying it(watch the movie to see what happens).

Bruce Willis is excellent!! yet again. He is John McClane and always will be. Timothy Olyphant gives a great performance, but nothing to touch the iconic Hans Gruber played by Allan Rickman in the first movie. Justin Long also gives a stellar performance. Die Hard 4.0 is a great action movie, and you should believe me coz my wife and mum were also thrilled to the bone, and usually, they aren't big fans of action movies. In fact it's the best Die Hard since the first one and most definitely the best action movie I've seen since The Matrix. Note: By action I mean ACTION and not spiders jumping over skyscrapers and underwear clad alien men melting steel with their eyes.

Go watch it now if you haven't already...Die Hard Baby!!!!!

Overall rating: ****

Shrek 3--The Review

I, being the enormous sucker for animations that I am, was waiting for the third installment of Shrek more than anything else...and I'm dissapointed...finally!! Don't let this be a spoiler for you though, coz Shrek III, on its own, is an hour and a half well enjoyed. The film begins very inspiringly with the beaten n humiliated Charming scheming evil plots to avenge his mother's death and reclaim his throne to Far Far Away. The dying sequence of King Harold(The Frog) is roof shatteringly hilarious!!! We were in fits during that scene, I even spilled some nachos sauce on my RIN!! white shirt..boo hoo:(. Several frongs crooning the Gn'R version of Live n Let Die at his funeral was also pretty funny. Sadly, this is where the fun takes a break..for a looong! time, with the exception of Shrek's dream sequence where he's manhandled by an army of his babies(those tiny ogres are so damn cute...it was a very happy feeling to watch them). Shrek's journey to find and bring back Arthur(the second rightful heir to Far Far Away's throne) is utterly forgettable and their stint with the loony toon scientist in the woods was just plain bland. The most annoying thing during all of this was the fact that Donkey and Puss, two characters that we've come to love and adore so much were merely used as sidekicks. Donkey was almost the second hero in Shrek and Puss was THE star attraction in Shrek II but here their characterisation was a total miss!!

In the build up to the climax, you start to feel an adrenaline rush again, when the ladies start taking control over things. Snow White,Sleeping Beauty,Cinderella and Fiona with her mother Lilian start to kick some *ss, the Snow White action sequence with Heart's Barracuda playing in the background was real cool. But the action is cut short so abruptly, you feel cheated. Well...finally it all ends well... Arthur takes on Far Far Away's throne and Shrek and Fiona return to their swamp and have triplets!! All in all, a pretty decent movie without the emotional power of Shrek or the grand pace and masala factor of Shrek II. One more thing I'd like to add here; when I saw those fire breathing drankeys(yes that's what I call them) at the end of Shrek II, I thought they will be definitely used for bigger things in the next movie....but it wasn't meant to be. Anyway, if you haven't seen either of the first two movies, chances are you'll find it excellent, but if you have, then you'll be dissapointed...maybe a bit or maybe very or..maybe not!!(it's all about personla tastes). This shouldn't stop you from watching the film though....it's Shrek..and he rocks!!

Rating----***

Ta Ra Rum Pum

I had planned, and was pretty excited actually that I'll be watching Spiderman 3 over the weekend. But..it was not meant to be..thanks to my little cousin Jagrat(10 yrs old) who said "bhaiyya, abhi mujhe ye America waali English nahi samajh mein aati hai". So we decided on Ta Ra Rum Pum...the latest flick from the oh-so-prolific house of Yashraj. Saif is a pit-crew member who turns into a star racer and Rani is a well educated pianist who falls for Saif's charms.

First half is a typical love story--Poor guy meets rich babe.....the guy charms her...the guy then makes it big...he gets rich n famous....they decide to get married...the babe's father doesn't approve...they get married...have two kids.It is largely uninspiring and actually drags a lot. Saif and Rani's courtship and then the marriage is so so silly!! One of the worst romantic build-ups I've seen in recent times. Javed Jaffery's character, in the first half, looks like a rehash of his Salaam Namaste days with his not-so-good Indianized English. I even fell asleep a couple of times during some songs and silly sequences. Rani just couldn't pull off the "babe" attitude and looked very uncomfortable. The restaurant scene, where she is drunk...is laughable(not because it's funny). Saif also hams his way through the better part of the first half.

This is where the bad stuff ends though, and it's ironical because this is when the story turns bad. Saif has an accident and he loses the confidence to win again. The family now has to abandon their house and their lifestyle because they have no money. The family scenes where Saif and Rani try to cheer up the children, and the bonding between all of them is just brilliant!!! Both the lead actors more than make up for their first half's hamming in the second half. Javed Jaffery also comes into tremendous form as the guy torn between friendship and family responsibility. Both the children, aka Champ and Princess also deliver commendable performances. One more thing I'd like to add, is that, when it comes to emoting...no actress can touch Rani, as of now. The second half, in fact, is so grippingly emotional that I'm tempted to say this movie is a Must-Watch(only once though). And last, but not the least....the main attraction....the car races!! Truly amazing stuff...the final race is such an awesome adrenaline rush!!, which makes this movie's climax one of the best I've seen in recent times. You know who's gonna win, but that still doesn't stop you from getting butterflies in the stomach and then clapping and cheering when the Hero finally wins..it took me down the memory lane to Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Though still flawed in a lot of departments, esp. the music, the emotional scenes between the main characters, the immaculately picturized car races and connection you develop with the protagonists are what make Ta Ra Rum Pum an excellent entertainer.

The Good--Excellent screenplay(2nd half), Great performances by Saif, Rani and Javed & the car races.

The Bad--Uninspiring first half and below average music(except for the title track).No repeat value

Overall Rating--***1/2