Teen Thay Bhai

Finally managed to catch "teen thay bhai" and am certainly glad I did. Thanks to the "multiplex culture" small budget movies manage to make a big screen presence alongside the mega-budget ones.

The movies is about 3 brothers (as the name suggests!)played by Om Puri, Deepak Dobriyal and Shreyas Talpade. The estranged brothers are brought together by the death of their grandfather. The trio finds out that there is a will left behind their grandfather, dividing the property amongst them. With a tiny "conditions apply" asterisk! The 3 of them have the spend the death anniversary in a desolate bungalow, for no less than 3 years! You can very well imagine what follows next!

Om Puri is brilliant, hands down a fabulous actor and completely fits the bill of the eldest brother Chixie Singh, who is struggling with his garments business and the with the larger issue of getting his daughters married. Deepak Dobriyal plays a quack dentist, whose solution to all dental problems is simple: tooth extraction! But my favorite of the 3 is Shreyal Talpade who plays the youngest brother Fancy Singh. A wannabe actor with a limited quota of luck and brains! All 3 come together for a fantastic comedy.

Very good for a few laughs. Leave-ur-brains-at-home comedy!

Just Go With It

This concept has been done to death. The lame old story...a man falls in love with a good-looking girl, dutifully helped by the assistant, only to realise in the end that all that he was looking for was right in front of him all the time...his assistant. Nothing hatke for sure!

The movie opens on Danny Maccabee's (Adam Sandler)wedding day. Danny overhears his would-be bride confiding to her girlfriends that the real reason she is marrying Danny is because he is a doctor! The wedding is called off, but the wedding ring stays; Danny's twisted logic being it attracts the women. Some 10 years later, the ring is still on the finger. Until one day Danny runs into Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), and realises this is the girl he wants to be with. But first he needs to explain the ring, enter Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston), a single mom and the much needed assistant. Soon Katherine finds herself playing Danny's soon-to-be-divorced wife. One lie leads to another and soon Katherine's children also get involved. And before we know it the entire party finds itself in Hawai, along with Danny's cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson).And then the realisation strikes home! Happily ever after!

Not an award winner, but a cute movie with brilliant chemistry between Jennifer Aniston & Adam Sandler, which makes me wonder; why haven't they been paired earlier?! Adam Sandler is in a unusually restrained avtaar (as compared to his earlier movies)and Jennifer looks fabulous (what does she eat? if she ever does, that is!). The kids are fantastic especially Bailee Madison (am sure we will see a lot of her in the near future).

And yes, did I mention the film also stars Nicole Kidman (when was the last we saw her?)

No Strings Attached

Is it just me, or is there really a dearth of good movies? After the highly disappointing Tanu weds Manu, the case in point is No Strings Attached.

The movie opens to show chance meetings between Emma (Natalie Portman)and Adam (Ashton Kutcher)and before long they end up in bed. Both decide to keep the relationship about sex, yes you guessed it, without any strings attached. No dating, no flowers, no interference in each other's life. They are free to see anyone they want, although, they don't is another matter! This situation works out well for both of them, as Adam is in no mood for a relationship after his girlfriend ends up with his dad! and Emma is a cynic who wants no emotional dependence. So far so good. The problem starts with Adam actually falling in love with Emma; who wants none of it (case of role reversal!)

Nothing ground-breaking happens next, except Adam trying to win her over with his "love". She finally comes around. Lo and behold...a happy ending.

There is nothing romantic or comic about this romantic comedy. no endearing moments, nothing to hold it together. The chemistry between the lead pair is zilch, so much so that they appear almost uncomfortable with each other.

Completely avoidable.

Patiala House

A movie about the clashing ideologies of father and son. Now where have we heard this one before?! Anyway, moving on!

It is always a delight to see Rishi Kapoor on screen. One of the most popular Kapoor of his generation, he manages to make his mark and hold his own even today. So be it the lovable cafe owner cum love guru to Saif in Love Aaj Kal, a middle class school teacher struggling to make ends meet in Do Dooni Chaar, and now as the patriarch of the Kahlon family in Patiala House, Rishi Kapoor lights up the screen.

The movie talks about the racism faced by 1st generation Punjabis in the 50s & the 60s in England. Bauji (Rishi Kapoor) becomes the face of the Punjabi community fighting for respect and individuality in Southhall. This means that he abhors the English and does not want an iota of their influence/culture into his family. As is the case, their is a flip-side to this stand. The entire family has to adhere to his diktats, which means that their dreams and aspirations are put on hold. So in keeping with Bauji's wishes Gattu (Akshay Kumar) gives up his dreams of playing cricket as a member of England's squad. Years later Gattu, by quirk of fate, is given a second chance to play for England and realise his dreams. The entire family conspires to help Gattu realise his dream in the hope that they, too, might be given a chance to live the life of their choice.

Anushka Sharma plays the love interest of Akshay, even though the movie is less a love story and more a story of father-son conflict. It must be said that Anushka manages to hold her own ground in front of stalwarts like Rishi Kapoor & Akshay Kumar. She seems to have effortlessly endeared herself to the audiences with her chirpy charm!

This is Akhay Kumar's most restrained performance and he totally excels in his portrayal of a man conflicting between his respect & loyalty towards his father and his love for the game of cricket. Wish his many such roles of substance and less of buffoonery!

Dimple Kapadia plays Rishi Kapoor's wife in the movie, and yet again they make a lovely pair.

Music of the movie is good, and we have another wedding anthem of the season, although you will have to wait till the very end of the movie for it!

Tanu weds Manu

Never judge a book by it's cover, they say. Never judge a film by it's teasers, I say! With all the reality shows on the idiot box, marketing a movie has become really easy. And the slickly edited promos make the job really difficult for the audiences to judge the movie.

If you haven't seen Tanu weds Manu as yet, take my word for it...do not waste ur time or money! If u want to decide for urself, go ahead, watch it, just don't tell me, I didn't warn u!

The movie opens with London based Manoj Sharma (Madhavan)coming to India to get married. His parents have lined up a bevy of girls for him to "see" and "select". First girl he meets is the Kanpur based Tanuja Trivedi (Kangana R), who, he, falls in love with...without even exchanging a word! The kahani mein twist is that Tanu is in love with someone else, what follows is useless nonsense.

Madhavan is completely wasted in the insipid role. Jimmy Shergill, likewise. Ravi Kishen is in blink and miss role. The only saving grace are Deepak Dobriyal & Swara Bhaskar, both of whom are very fine actors. About the rest, less said the better.

The music of the movie does not help it either. "Rangrez", with it's Sufi bent manages to make a mark. The movie also gives us the wedding anthem of the season with "saadi galli".

Inception

Moving, swifty, on from one bizarre concept to another. From tinkering one's mind to tweak the memory (The Manchurian Candidate) to manipulating with dreams, wow, Hollywood sure conjures up bizarre concept movies. Sometimes its a bit too much to comprehend, but when you have the oh-so-delicious Leonardo, well, then anything goes!

Inception is a movie about dreams, the very private, subconscious mind, which springs into action when we sleep. There are no boundries in the dream world, everything is possible nothing too outlandish, there are no limits, no inhibitions and certainly no pretensions, that plague us, when we are awake. Now, imagine a possibility that this world is not private anymore, that dreams are not just fantasies locked up in an impregnable world. That someone can very well invade this sacred oasis and steal your deepest, darkest secrets. This is the premise of the movie.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo) plays a skilled thief, who specialises in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets, by entering the subconscious mind during the dream state. So the subject and the thief are in a dream state together, sharing a dream! No, he does not do it for fun, this is the new avtaar of corporate espionage. And Cobb is a specialist. The movie takes this bizarre concept and spins it on its head (yes its possible, it's Hollywood after all, not Bollywood, where dreams are elaborate song & dance sequences!!). Hence the next logical step, not to steal a secret, but to implant an idea! This would require a sequence of dreams, all planned to perfection, and dreams within a dream and the very real threat of being stuck in a dream; danger of being stuck in a limbo and never waking up! Imagine that!!!!

The movie makes for very interesting viewing. Leonardo is ably supported by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page (nice to see her after Juno), wonderful cinematography and attention to detail. Christopher Nolan delivers again. Must watch. Sweet dreams!

The Manchurian Candidate

The US government does a lot of things, apparently for a reason, although not many comprehend it, let alone agree. Nevertheless this small fact doesn't deter them from trying their many stunts. The Manchurian Candidate, for example, is supposedly based on true incidents. Obviously there is no one to corroborate it, but what a helluva movie this turns out to be. Must see for sure.

The human mind is one amazing apparatus. It can take us to dizzying heights of euphoria and in a flip second it can plunge into despair and depression. It would not be wrong to say, that our mind, indeed, does have a mind of its own! and it does one helluva job storing, memories, information and the sundry tid-bits. It's all there somewhere in its dark crevices, to be accessed at the appropriate time. But, imagine, what if someone tinkered with your mind? you know, tweaks your memory a little bit...for their own sinister needs? How does the idea of brain manipulation sound?

The movie begins with a group of soldiers in Iraq during operation desert storm. The party is ambushed; Captain Ben Marco (Denzel Washington), the platoon's commanding officer, is knocked unconscious. Seargent Raymond Prentiss Shaw (Liev Schreiber) emerges as the hero, who saves the platoon. For his heroics, he is awarded the medal of honor and eventually emerges as a popular vice-presidential nominee. All is well until, (now) Major Marco is haunted by incessant dreams of the ambush. Is all what it seems? did Raymond Shaw deserve the adulation and honor, so generously heaped on him? What if the reality is not what it is?

The pursuit of truth reveals more than what Major Marco, could have ever imagined. As he tries to put semblance to his sanity, he uncovers a plot of bizarre ramifications,if revealed, it could destroy the present career of Raymond. The murky web of deception and lies that exposes the personal agenda of the power brokers who have become hungry beyond reason or reality. The powerful consortium of the US government & the rich corporate world, which together profits from the war and resultant chaos. Anything and everything is justified in their pursuit of power & control. In this mission of exposing the truth, one can trust no one and believe no one. Just imagine if the people you trust the most are the ones you need to be distrustful of. Paranoia rules.

The Manchurian Candidate is a remake of the 1962 thriller of the same name. The movie has been updated from the Korean war to Iraq war. With stellar performances by Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, this political thriller is a must watch.

It will make you question...what if...?