Film Review- Katti Batti

 

Sloppy Sentiments

Film: Katti Batti

Cast: Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut

Directed by: Nikhil Advani

Duration: 2 hrs 20 mins

Rating: * *

Katti Batti is one of those aspiring rom- coms with a dash of sentimentality thrown in – effectively it is more of a slap than a dash, as the screenplay nosedives towards self destruction. What starts off breezily ends up huffing and puffing as it approaches the finishing line.

The film aims at mixing all the ingredients of a successful Bollywood film with some ‘modernity’ thrown in – there is comedy, romance, drama, songs, dance and the lead pair who have a live-in relationship. For this formula to work, all these components have to be in the right measure and more importantly, there has to be cohesive story line to bring it together.  Sadly, that doesn’t happen in this case.

Inspired by the Joseph Gordon Levitt-starred 500 Days of Summer, its starts off with a certain zing when we are introduced to Maddy (Imran) and Payal (Kangana) who are living together. Their story is told in a non linear fashion as it keeps cutting between the past and the present as the plot reveals itself in piece meal. This device works well in thrillers and this is not Pulp Fiction or Memento, it’s a plain Jane romantic film. 

They met in college, it was love at first sight for him and instantly he knew that this is the girl whom he would marry. On the other hand, she is not keen on a serious relation, ‘timepass’ is what she is looking for.  Any average Joe would have jumped at that opportunity but the characters here are a bit odd to say the least.

And there are quite a few of them. Maddy’s sister must be one of the most depressing sisters to have around. His rather hip colleague takes his hand and puts it on her ample bosom to see how her heart is beating and the boss (Bugs Bhargava) keeps on yelling as if he has discovered ants in his pants.  

Towards the end, he meets a pet shop owner who has a rock band and let’s not even get into how the band was christened. Or how Maddy takes a leak in a rather expensive toilet kept in a showroom. 

The finale is meant to get you all and sentimental and sappy with a twist thrown in but you also realize you have been taken for a ride this far, because it is all too contrived. The screenplay relies more on creating a few comic scenes even if they are not particularly relevant to the story, for example the whole episode about Maddy’s parents visiting him at the college hostel. 

Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music is pleasant on the ears but they are all inserted on a cue in the film. 

Imraan Khan is sincere while Kangana makes the best of whatever she has on hand. Even an actress of her caliber cannot lift sagging film.

Published in The Navhind Times on 20th Sept. 2015
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Film Review - I Love NY

 

All Out of Love 

Film: I Love NY

Cast: Sunny Deol, Kangana Ranaut, Prem Chopra

Directed by: Radhika Rao, Vinay Sapru

Duration: 2 hrs 15 mins

Rating: *

I Love New Year is one of the most derisorily bad films to hit the theaters in quite a while. It is embarrassing on just about every count - the writing, acting, direction, music - there is absolutely nothing to write home about. Even the mighty Kangana Ranaut cannot save this film, her expressions and her acting is as odd as a 3 rupee note.

The film was in the cans for a long time now. It should have stayed there.

If you must know, the story is set in America, Chicago first, where Randhir Singh (Sunny Deol coming out of hibernation), plays a Punjabi, he is a bachelor on the verge of hooking up (Deol is 57 in real life).

In the most ridiculous fashion he lands up in the wrong apartment in New York and in such an inebriated state that it would put Keshto Mukherjee’s characters to shame. The apartment belongs to Tikku (Kangana Ranaut) and she is aghast to see him. Her boyfriend lands up there and he is even more aghast and throws a fit as if he was auditioning for a saas-bahu serial.

You really don’t have to know the rest. The script is super shoddy and the direction belongs to the era of Tutankhamun.

It was hard to find any positives in the film – reportedly, Kangana Ranaut didn’t want to be released. You can’t blame her for that and you only wish she had succeeded in stalling it.

Published in The Navhind Times on 12th July 2015

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Film Review - Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Two To Tango

Film: Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, R. Madhavan, Deepak Dobriyal, Jimmy Shergill

Directed by: Aanand L Rai

Duration: 2 hrs 2 mins

Rating:  *  *  *  * 

Tanu Weds Manu Returns is yet another remarkable feather in Bollywood’s hat. More interestingly, this is clearly a case where the sequel betters the original by a decent margin and that is something you don’t see too often.

Either by coincidence or otherwise, the former mostly, since Kahaani there have been quite a few women centric films that have stood out not only in terms of quality cinema but they have also triumphed at the box office. Tanu Weds Manu Returns is another film that is dominated (and how!) by one actress playing two characters.

The film opens a few years after Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Dr. Manu’s (R. Madhavan) marriage. They are living in England but there is serious trouble in paradise, so much so that the good doctor ends up in a mental asylum for few days while Tanu takes the next flight back home. She couldn’t care less about her better half, without flinching too much she is ready to rekindle her relationship with her old flame Raja (Jimmy Shergill) while Chintu (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub) who is a part of her support staff, harbors feelings for her.

Meanwhile Manu’s friend Pappi (the fantastic Deepak Dobriyal) rescues him from England and before you can say cheese, Manu falls for Kusum (Kangana again) a Harayanvi athlete who looks like Tanu. The girl is as feisty as they come and a romance blossoms between them leading to a climax where Manu has to choose between the duplicate and the original.

For a large part, the film is breezy, in fact the first half is devoid of a single dull moment. It gets a bit contrived in the second, including some unnecessary song and dance routines but there is enough fodder to keep you entertained. The finale is bit of a predictable cop out but now that we are seeing feisty woman characters, our film makers will push the envelope further with them. 

Full credit goes to the writers, Anand L Rai and Himanshu Sharma for those sparkling dialogues and humor. After being a bit regressive in his previous film Raanjhanaa, Rai turns the tide this time. 

There are several wonderfully crafted scenes in the film but none better than the one where Tanu wanders on the streets in the middle of the night with a bottle in her hand with Geeta Dutt’s melancholic Ja Ja Ja Ja Bewafa (Aar Paar, 1954) playing the background - Tanu doesn’t say a word but yet she speaks volumes.  

It is criminal that we don’t see a talent like Deepak Dobriyal more often on screen, his sense of timing is immaculate. R. Madhavan is apt reprising his previous role. But the show belongs to Kangana Ranaut who steals the thunder, lightning, rain and sunshine. She slips so effortlessly into both those characters that you have to marvel, what a gifted actress she is. 

For her performance as well as for a film that delivers the goods, Tanu Weds Manu Returns is eminently worth a watch.

Published in The Navhind Times on 24th May 2015

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Film Review - Revolver Rani

Guns and Poses

 

Film: Revolver Rani

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Vir Das, Piyush Mishra

Directed by: Sai Kabir

Duration: 2 hrs 5 mins

Rating: * *

Kangana Ranaut was the toast of the town with her extraordinary performance in Queen, so much so, that many people might turn up to watch Revolver Rani purely because of the Queen effect. They will be in for a surprise (not necessarily a pleasant one) to see the actress portray a completely contrasting role in this film. 

The bone of contention would be the characterization; the Rani from Delhi was so believable the same cannot be said about this lady who could join the Expendables because she shoots to kill.  Set in Chambal, Alka (Ranuat) plays the tough woman with a past that is best left behind. Her uncle (Piyush Mishra) lends her a hand to become the leader. Vir Das plays her toyboy who aims to make it to Bollywood but then there are many other usual suspects like corrupt politicians and cops who are on the wrong side of the law.

There are a few nice bits like the shootout and the excited newsreader episode which allows you to indulge in a few laughs. But towards the end it all gets a bit too high handed and the plot is lost.

The heroine’s character is interesting, I don’t think there are many dacoits who aspire to wear clothes from Paris and want to go to Italy as well.

On the acting front, while Piyush Mishra is in his element as usual, Vir Das is a let-down.

Kangana Ranaut strides into her role with confidence and conviction. The same alas cannot be said of Revolver Rani as a film. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 27th Apr 2014

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Film Review - Queen

All Hail The Queen 

Film: Queen
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Lisa Hayden, Rajkumar Rao

Directed by: Vikas Bahl

Duration: 2 hrs 20 mins

Rating: * * * * 

Vikas Bahl’s Queen is an utterly delightful film that will bring a big smile on your face when you walk out of the auditorium. Smartly written with great attention to detail and extremely well acted, it is the kind of film that reminds you of the reason why you fell in love with movies in the first place.  And if Bollywood can make such good films sans all the A list stars, then more power to it.

This is a story of self discovery under the most unusual circumstances. Like a host of films in recent times set in the capital, this also begins as a Delhi story. Rani (Kangana Ranaut) is all set to get married to Vijay (Rajkumar Rao), even the mandatory sangeet and dancing is done when she is dumped at the altar or rather mandap in this case. Just a day before the wedding, he calls it off. 

After lying low for a day without food, the Rajouri girl stuffs and couple of laddoos meant for the wedding and decides to do the honeymoon trip, alone. The trip was intended for Paris and Amsterdam and off she goes on her own. It is almost like a French revolution for her when she meets Vijaylakshmi (Lisa Hayden) who is a carefree maid, stripper and mother. The two hit it big time in a case of female bonding. The scene where they go on a drinking spree is a hoot and not since Amitabh Bachchan has anyone carried off a drinking scene so very well like Kangana has. 

In a touristic adventure, she manages to escape from a mugger and then proudly says “Woh phir kabhi Delhi walon se panga nahin lega” (He’ll never mess around with a Delhite again!)

After the Parisian venture, the next stop is Amsterdam where she is forced to share rooms with men – a Russian, a diminutive Japanese and a black Frenchman. The Delhi girl discovers that life is so much more than she knew, or rather, was allowed to explore back home. Is it a coincidence or a smart piece of costume designing that wears a t-shirt which says Alice in Wonderland? 

With the multi-national characters around, thankfully, it does not turn into a Mind Your Language kind of an affair; instead there are some genuinely funny and touching moments. The cookery episode and the Pakistani girl in Amsterdam were avoidable but that is an absolute minor grouse.    

It is the dialogues and wonderfully crafted scenes like the one where her family wakes up everyone they know to find out “Hing ko English mein kya kehte hain?” (What is Hing called in English?) It is called Asafoetida in case you want to know. And if you don’t know what ROFL means, check out the scene in the sex toy shop where she innocently goes on a shopping spree.  

All the characters are pitch perfect – she has a family at home whom she keeps updating via internet and cellphone, her supportive grandmother reminded me of Vicky’s grandma from Vicky Donor.  

Hats off to the screenwriters Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Shaikh, and the director himself not forgetting Kangana, who is credited for the additional dialogues. With Chillar Party and now Queen, Vikas Bahl has elevated himself in the list of directors to look forward to.

Amit Trivedi compositions are music to the ears and the songs are beautifully picturized as well. 

Lisa Hayden as the Paris girl with all the oomph is first rate. Credit should also be given to Rajkumar Rao who hardly ever puts a foot wrong. But the show belongs to Kangana Ranaut who gives a stellar performance in the lead role. Her savior faire is worth a trip to the theatres and the way she dances to that old song Hungama ho gaya (Anhonee, 1973) redeems the price of your ticket.

I hope they bring back the character of Rani in a future film, it will be wonderful to see more of her. But meanwhile, please book your tickets to this Queen.