Saturday, June 21, 2008

'De Taali' Movie Review : No claps!

I had seen and applauded his debut work 'Shool' (produced by RGV) and even liked 'Love Ke Liye Kuchh Bhi Karega', thI  guess ough it was clear that comedy was not director E(shwar) Niwas's forte. And after insipid ventures like 'Dum' and 'Bardaasht' I went in for 'De Taali' with modest expectations.

Niwas collaborates with script writer Abbas Tyrewala after 'LKLKBK', and to be frank Tyrewala doesn't seem to be in great form here. If he is going to continue in the same form with his upcoming film 'Jane Tu Ya Jane Na', it is not a very good news.

The first impression was very good. The opening credits appear on a chalk scribbled background, which not only introduce the protagonists but also give us a little background about their lives and their relationships.

And here the problem begins. Director thinks that this 'little background' and 'introduction' is sufficient and doesn't care to establish the characters. So when the film opens with a song, it feels a little plastic, specially when you see the chemistry of the friends in this song.

Similarly for the next few reels you don't understand the rhyme and reason of things. I genuinely don't know whom to blame for this mess: screenplay or editing!

The writing leaves a lot to be desired. The twists are not shocking, the gags are very few and hardly any are funny. Surprisingly every one who is dumped by Anjali/Kaarthika (Rimi Sen) becomes an alcoholic and we are treated with a useless track of 'Alcholics Support Group'. Not funny at all! However the one moment that I genuinely laughed and gave a 'taali' was when Paglu (Ritesh) shows CD of 'RGV Ki Aag' as the highest degree torture. Rare spars of brilliance from the writer of 'Main Hoon Na', 'Munnabhai MBBS' and 'Omkara'!

Cinematography is great and with great locations of Bangkok the style quotient is up to the mark! Vishal-Shekhar's music was the one reason that I went to watch the film and is the highest point of the film undoubtedly.

That leaves us with actors. I really cringed in my seat seeing Pawan Malhotra in that lame (pun intended) guest appearance! Lead actors are fine. Ritesh Deshmukh has developed his own style of comedy and is likeable. Ayesha Takia looks chubby and chirpy, but for God's sake, someone put her on a crash diet! Aftab is also ok but it is Rimi Sen who packs the maximum punch. She is the surprise package of the lot. And oh yes, there is a long forgotten Mukul Dev as well!

All in all, 'De Taali' doesn't amuse at all. It has its heart in right place but has so much incoherence that end result is disappointing. My rating is 2/5 and a recommendation that wait for DVD release, which you can then rent to watch this movie, if you have to. Better still, wait for TV Premier!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Summer Sounds

After nearly an year long hiatus I thought of writing about my favorite albums and songs this summer and there are quite a few things to talk about!

Two albums are tied for the Top Position in my list: 'Aamir' and 'Jane Tu Ya Jane Na'.

'Aamir' was the debut film for its producers (UTV Spotboy Films), director (Raj Kumar Gupta), hero (Rajiv Khandelwal) and its music director (Amit Trivedi) and one must applaud Trivedi for his fantastic debut. The album spans every genre in today's popular music and every song is a treat. Even 'theme music' makes a comeback after long time and is pretty good. Lyrics are good however a few grammatical mistakes like 'raat ka bhor' sound awkward!

Album features 'Dilruba' from 'Kailasa' and 'Bandya' from 'Khuda Ke Liye' and I need not say that these tracks enhance the value of this album even more!

If the first album was from a debutante, the other belongs to a maestro! 'JTYJN' as it is called in SMS lingo, is such a different offering from A R Rahman, that it doesn't even seem to be a Rahman creation. You need not listen to the songs repeatedly to be hooked to them, it happens in very first hearing itself! Featuring 10 unheard voices the songs sound mint fresh and range across emotions. Director Abbas Tyrewala has penned the songs and though his writing is a bit cliched, I didn't mind really.

Disappointments:
Love Story 2050 - What was Anu Malik thinking when he was doing music for this film. Ofcourse songs should look good onscreen, but that doesn't mean that they should sound bad otherwise! Only a couple of songs are appealing for their melody, rest seem to have been composed to just provide Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra ample chances to dance.

Mission Istanbul - No, don't blame me of being biased against Anu Malik. It's not my fault that his second big album features here. It's just because these two were big budget films and one expected to have good music for them. Forget tunes, Malik has nothing innvative even in arrangement. It's no coincidence that 'Apun Ke Sath' reminds you of 'Ganpat' ('Shootout at Lokhandwala'). Again only one of the tracks ('Jo Gumshuda') is worth listening.

So So:
Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic - Shankar Mahadevan is a good singer, and this album shows you when too much of a good thing can be a little...not so good! Mahadevan is the single male voice in this album and that's not very good news. The music seems to lack novelty and is partly in 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' mode (ohh just remembering that album gives me shivers. May be I should start calling it 'You Know What'). 'Lazy Lamhe' may rise in charts due to sultry, sexy avatar of Amisha Patel. Prasoon Joshi's lyrics are perhaps best among everything I talked here about. But the album is at best an average offering.


This is what I think about bollywood music, would love to know what you think.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Hyderabad Startup is looking for summer recruits!

A Hyderabad based startup LiveHead is in the process of developing a community driven Quiz Portal.

They are looking for people who love quizzing and have a passion for finding, asking and answering good quiz questions. No academic criteria but all they should be able to do is to create/find great quiz questions. A desire to go out of the routine mode and innovate with quiz formats will be not only an added advantage but also will make the person eligible for an offer from LiveHead to be a part of our team!

And ofcourse people get paid for their efforts. As mentioned impressive candidates have a chance to earn an offer from LiveHead for longer stints and much more!

Interested readers can contact livehead for more details at: contact@livehead.in.