Film Review -Ek Paheeli Leela

Whiplash

Film: Ek Paheeli Leela

Cast: Sunny Leone, Jay Bhanushali, Mohit Ahlawat

Directed by: Bobby Khan

Duration: 2 hrs 25 mins

Rating: *

If you have seen the trailers, posters or have heard anything about the film then you would expect that the film is either A. a titillating adventure-thriller or B. It is the so-bad-that-it-is-good category. Sadly, it disappoints on both counts. Directed by Bobby Khan, this is just a dull snooze fest – there are no corny dialogues either, which is usually the hallmark of such films.

There is precious little that happens at the beginning of the film – Meera (Sunny Leone) is a London based model who can bring the house down with her presence. She is tricked into flying to India for a photo shoot in Rajasthan. Meanwhile a music composer (Jay Bhanushali) gets these nightmares that he is being whipped by someone and that happened in his previous birth. As the hapless audience, you have endure all that nonsense in this birth though.

In no time, Meera gets married to the local palace owner (Mohit Ahlawat) and gives up her dresses for a salwar kameez. It also turns out that in her previous birth, some 300 years ago, she was Leela and it was her lover who was whipped. 

The screenplay in all likelihood was written on a piece of paper smaller than Sunny Leone’s costume. There is only one memorable line which goes “Glamor industry mein success ka short cut - short skirt”

Sunny Leone tries to be earnest but her performance is cringe worthy – they should hand over the Razzie and a Golden Kela to her right away.

Leela the mystery is a disappointment, on every count. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 12th April 2015

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte

Film Review - Ragini MMS 2

Horror Of Another Sort

Film: Ragini MMS 2
Cast: Sunny Leone,Sandhya Mridul, Parvin Dabbas
Directed by: Bhushan Patel
Duration: 2hrs
Rating: * 1  / 2

Ragini MMS was not such a bad film at least you were not tempted to make a dash for the exit door. But with Ragini MMS 2 within minutes of the film starting, you want to escape like a bat out of hell. There is no story to speak of in it and neither can Sunny Leone’s anatomy nor her gyrations and heaving can save this unmitigated disaster.

The film has been termed as a horrex, a combination of horror and sex. There was no evidence of the former and the latter was cringe worthy at best. But I guess the film makers know that there are there are enough babydoll fans to ensure that the producers laugh their way to the bank.

Sunny Leone plays Sunny Leone in this film, a pornstar who is acting in a film which is based on Ragini MMS and Pravin Dabbas dons the role of one of those over the top directors. As it happened in Blair Witch Project 2, they decide to make a film on the same location where the original incident of Ragini had occurred. She also wants to get into her character which prompts the director to say “tum porno se Rituporno kyun ban rahi ho” or something to that effect.

Most of the crew lives in the haunted house and creaking sounds are heard at night which is a good occasion for Ms.Leone to investigate the matter, more importantly, in skimpy night wear.

There is an element of ‘comedy’ introduced and there is also some ‘romance’ involved with a writer who he looks as pale as someone who has just seen a ghost.  The finale attempts to rouse some scary moments but it is too little too late. Divya Dutta plays a ‘U.S returned psychiatrist’ but all the tantra mantra mumbo jumbo in the end is just rubbish.

To be fair to Sunny Leone, she carried her role well, there were worse actors than her in this film itself. On the whole, I’d rather be subjected to ghosts in real life (if at all they exist) than endure this Ragini experience.

Published in The Navhind Times on 23rd Mar 2014

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte

Film Review -Jackpot

                                             

From Boom To Bust

Film: Jackpot

Cast: Nasseruddin Shah, Sunny Leone, Sachiin Joshi

Directed by: Kaizad Gustad

Duration: 1 hr 32 mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

Jackpot directed by Kaizad Gustad is one of those films that try to be very clever and takes itself so seriously that at no stage does it realize it has become a parody. Even at 92 minutes including a couple of songs, it appears to be way too long.  

To be fair, the basic plot had some potential but even to spot that, you have to really stretch your imagination. Set in Goa, Nasseruddin Shah plays a casino owner with dreadful dreadlocks. He is simple known as boss. Not sure what exactly Sunny Leone’s character is designated as- she is his secretary, casino manager, woman Friday all rolled in one. 

A self proclaimed con artist Francis (Sachiin Joshi) teams up with them and hatches a rather contrived plot to buy a big chunk of land which also involves another complicated conspiracy. 

Using a non linear structure, Gustad attempts a film that makes it to the so bad-that-its good category. Wonder what prompted Nasseruddin Shah to take up this role but he shines whenever he is on the screen, as he usually does and Sunny Leone is there to fulfill the glamour quotient which she does quite well.

The odds of coming out of the theater tearing your hair are considerably high with this Jackpot. 

Published in the Navhind Times on 15th Dec 2013

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte