The title SHAADI SE PEHLE gave an impression of it being a sex comedy and Mallika's presence just strengthened the belief. But the motion got wiped off immediately after the movie starts rollin'. This ain't no sex comedy, this is an ex-comedy!
Well, read the story first. Ashish Khanna (Akshaye Khanna) and Rani (Ayesha Takia) are very much in love. Ashish suffers from hypertension and one day he misunderstands it for cancer after overhearing his doctor's (Boman Irani) conversation on the phone. Ashish is devastated and then embarks to turn nasty so that Rani starts hating him and does not have to face the suffering of his death.
Heard this story somewhere, does it ring a bell in your ears? SHAADI SE PEHLE seems obviously inspired from that frantically amusing Amol Palekar starrer MERI BIWI KI SHAADI. The filmmakers take the germ of the story and then fall into the trap of the cranky Bollywoodish masala phillum. And how? By giving it a tadka of a triangular romance by introducing the sultry dame Sania (Mallika) who is the sister of underworld don Anna (Suniel Shetty) and is crazy about Ashish. There is also this junky Rohit (Aftab) who also dotes on Rani and tries to play the fiddler. So that makes it a quadrangular love story! And yes not to forget Shayar Kanpuri (Rajpal Yadav), Ashish's idiotic friend who sees to it that everything goes fine for his friend's funeral!
The story then travels through the lanes and by-lanes of the cliched and sometimes sloppy situations and placid dialogues before coming to redicted-right-from-the-beginning happy ending. And it is helped by these slapdash cardboard characters that keep on lurking throughout without any reason.
When it comes to making a good comedy, two things become extremely important. First of all, you should not make people laugh, let them laugh! It's ok in case of the other genres where you could contrive situations and serve the purpose but you can't fake humor! Despite having veterans like Sanjay Chhel and Satish Kaushik, things here don't really work. While Chhel's dialogues are crispy in patches, they are as dull elsewhere. Now tell me for how long you can bear these lines like 'Rupa ki underwear sab pehnenge to Rupa kya pehnegi' and 'Ye gadha ghode pe kya kar raha hai', which you must have been hearing since ever! There's no innovation, no crunchy sequences, no spontaneity at all barring the initial part of the movie. The screenplay has just been devised to create funny exchanges and these guys want the audience to laugh. They succeed in some amount, but fall flat later on.
Secondly, a comedy should have the perfect casting. Actors here do their jobs accordingly, that's all I can say. Akshaye Khanna, he tries earnestly and is decent enough, that's it. Ayesha Takia looks gorgeous. Mallika does what she does best, sizzle! The others just chip in and occupy the frame. How many times is Boman Irani gonna play a doctor? And what is he doing here by the way? Wasting his talent!!! And somebody please stop this guy Rajpal Yadav. He is simply menacing here and hams as much as he could!
The music is catchy by the way. 'Ankhiyon Se Gal Kar Gayi' rocks, but the other songs just intrude. There was absolutely no need for those numbers and cause distraction from the story- flow already gone haywire.
Stuff like this we have watched a zillion times before and keep on coming every week from the Bollywood stable. So there's nothing exceptional about this flick. The makers could have made a good use of the story material, but what we get is a few petty laughs here and there. The movie sometimes slides towards sarcastic comedy, then veers to black humor and in dots bewilders towards slapstick and the end result is baffling to say the least. How many times they gonna churn out the tried-n-tested, worn out antics? This is why I call it an ex-comedy. What a mediocre follow-up by Subhash Ghai after the remarkable IQBAL.
This movie is not a compulsory watch. The movie has some moments but won't keep you engaged. The choice is yours!



Banaras

Starring: Urmila, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Raj Babbar, Ashmit Patel.
Director: Pankuj Parashar

Ashmit Patel has a problem. It's not that he can't act. Director Pankuj Parashar has taken care of that issue admirably, skirting his skills and asking him to smile vacantly at everyone. This is what Bollywood, bred on a diet of melodramatic histrionics, calls 'subtle.'
No, his problem is peculiar. A shy, silent orphan named Soham, he's a bit overwhelmed by the unashamedly frank proposal come his way from the overenthused Shwetambari (Urmila). The randy little rich girl is thrilled about Soham's music classes, and singing is clearly not foremost in her thoughts. But, Soham asks himself, is this right?...................more

Being Cyrus

With the influx of multiplexes, novel concepts and offbeat themes are being attempted with amazing regularity. The fact that the moviegoer of today is receptive to changes has given an impetus to 'multiplex cinema' that's slowly and steadily taking over India. Think out of the box, is the new mantra!
BEING CYRUS is a sign of cinema that defies the stereotype. It travels a path not many films would dare to venture into. Debutante director Homi Adajania not only opts for a story that may seem bizarre to many, even the execution of the material is innovative and distinguished..................more


UMAR

The plight of senior citizens has been depicted in a number of Bollywood films in the past, but the ones that stand out are ZINDAGI [Sanjeev Kumar, Mala Sinha], AVTAAR [Rajesh Khanna, Shabana Azmi], SWARG [Rajesh Khanna], JAISI KARNI WAISI BHARNI [Kader Khan] and BAGHBAN [Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini].
But UMAR, directed by Karan Razdan, goes a step further. It not only looks at the atrocities committed by their kith and kin during their sunset years, but the story also has a crime angle running parallel.........more

Malamaal Weekly

Malamaal Weekly is about the struggles and survival of people in a small town. Plagued by poverty, bad harvests and a monster of a moneylender called Karamkali, the people in this town are barely able to make ends meet.

What’s it about: When a filmmaker sets his own goals with films like Hera Pheri and Hungama, obviously the expectations are high.
But how can quality control be assured when Priyadarshan resorts to mass production of his movies? ...............more

TEESRI AANKH - THE HIDDEN CAMERA

There's a flip side to almost everything. If technological advancements have made life simpler and easier, there's always a possibility that someone could be misusing it to their advantage. TEESRI AANKH - THE HIDDEN CAMERA looks at the issue of hidden cameras creating havoc in people's lives.

The problem with TEESRI AANKH - THE HIDDEN CAMERA is that the moviegoers have watched a similar theme a couple of months ago, in KALYUG. Besides the concept that sounds similar, even the basic plot -- of the lead man wanting to expose those who made the blue film of his sweetheart -- bears a striking similarity to the Mohit Suri-directed Kunal Kemmu-Emraan Hashmi starrer................more

TAXI NO:9211

A simple cab journey changed their life...

An engrossing rollercoaster ride. That’s what Taxi No 9211 promises to be when its acerbic, witty and very unhappy with the world driver shifts into first gear, even as a well written and delivered commentary by Sanjay Dutt begins the storyline and with deft economy of words defines the characters and puts them in perspective.............more

CHINGARI

Some films just get you interested for all the wrong reasons. Think about it. This is a sex comedy about a bored and boring man who wants to pep up his life with a bit of wife-swapping… hardly the kind of theme and film that would qualify as little more than an effort to titillate audiences with a whole lot of junk feud in the domestic ambience. Some films just get you interested for all the wrong reasons. ........more

FIGHT CLUB

Action films will never go out of fashion. Bollywood has seen a spate of romantic musicals and family dramas in the last few years, so it was getting a little cranky. That's why action flicks come in as a fresh whiff of air. FIGHT CLUB is an action film and true to its theme it quite succeeds in packing the punch! Vikram Chopra here shows that he is adept with the technical aspects of filmmaking. But the script is a let down and hence the execution is hampered. FIGHT CLUB is the story of four friends, ..........more

Mixed Doubles

Some films just get you interested for all the wrong reasons. Think about it. This is a sex comedy about a bored and boring man who wants to pep up his life with a bit of wife-swapping… hardly the kind of theme and film that would qualify as little more than an effort to titillate audiences with a whole lot of junk feud in the domestic ambience.Some films just get you interested for all the wrong reasons. Think about it. This is a sex comedy about a bored and boring man who wants to pep up his life with a bit of wife-swapping… hardly the kind of theme and film that would qualify as little more than an effort to titillate audiences with a whole lot of junk feud in the domestic ambience........more

Holiday

With the influx of multiplexes in India, stories that were considered experimental at a point are slowly finding their way to the big screen. Pooja Bhatt picks up the essence from the Hollywood hit DIRTY DANCING [1987; Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze], garnishes the plot with a dance form [Salsa] and sets her story in the land of sand, sea and surf [Goa].Ideal date movie? Not really... HOLIDAY could've been one enjoyable joy ride. Instead, it turns out to be a bland experience thanks to an ineffectual plot and the sluggish pace at which the story unfolds.............more

Aksar

AKSAR, directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, takes a look at relationships. The story isn't about two men fighting for a woman. This one has a complex theme. In terms of storyline, AKSAR does push the envelope, but the question is, will the orthodox Indian moviegoer digest the theme?AKSAR has an out of the box kind of a plot: A millionaire hiring a casanova to have an affair with his wife, the millionaire-husband then catching the wife red-handed in an uncompromising position in the bedroom, the wife not regretting her decision… the concept, though bold, is extremely modern for the Indian audiences............more



Rang De Basanti

It is rare that such a well-crafted and beautifully told story is seen in Hindi cinema.
Genius Director Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s movie ‘Rang De Basanti’ is a must-watch for reasons that the length of this review may not suffice to express. More than just a technically brilliant flick, ‘Rang De Basanti’ has a story that entertains you, makes you think and stirs you deep inside in the end. The director merges two plots in RANG DE BASANTI. The first is about a group of friends, their bonding, and the carefree lifestyle they lead..........more