Dhobi Ghat

Director: Kiran Rao
Date & cinema: 29th January 2010, TGV Pyramid
Actors: Aamir Khan,introducing Prateik,Monica Dogra and Kriti Malhotra

The storyline, acting, cinematography, background songs, the monologue and the silence between scenes are so dark, intense and the debut director who is also Aamir's wife successfully captured the essence of loneliness of all the characters beautifully without having to tell too much details about each of their motive coming to a new city to start their life all over again. As the movie goes on the audience figured out about that themselves, yes its a bit slow but all for the right reasons. Must give credit to all the newcomers especially my favourite ; it has to be Monica as she played her character so naturally and with such elaan, Prateik truly proved he has the Smita Patil's genes while for Kriti she projects her pain and emotions through her sad eyes and voice as she was the voice throughout this movie. Kudos to all of them , who would believe this wa their first work alongside the perfectionist Khan himself. Well for Aamir, what else can I say that haven't been said as he is the best with his craft. Simply the right Hindi movie (glad it was my first) for me to kickstart this new year as it filled this empty and intense moment of my life perfectly, I would recommend this movie to all movie goers who can stand watching a quality movie who doesn't bother to create some scenes just to make the audience feels good when they come out from the cinema. It tells from an honest perspective of view of how hard can struggling be especially for someone who wants to live their dream in this mean world.

Good movies makes me feel good :)

B word that makes me Happy

When Pang loves My Name Is Khan and told me how beautiful ‘I’ looked in the movie, when In-chan likes the movies I suggested esp. those which are totally different from the typical Bollywood’s style ( Wake Up Sid & Aisha) , when Saiful texted me to tell how awesome is 3 Idiots and what is my take on Anjaana Anjaani before he bought the DVD, when I (without fail) made Pza fall in love with the beautiful movies produced by Aamir Khan, when the girls start to go gaga with hindi movies and consider it as one of the choice when we go out to cinema, when we start to exchange DVDs and when many other people who have been affected by my Bollywood-ism begin to give compliment and sincerely enjoying them without being constrained by me; it gives me such a pleasure because it always a good thing to make others fascinated in what we love although at the beginning it was a totally alien subject to them.

Those who grow up with me may be used to my habit of spreading the magical world of Bollywood but to those who I just knew for the past 4-5 years especially my university’s friends they are still getting familiar and cope with it. With times Hindi movies are changing to a better storyline, issue, script (they are more lucid especially in storytelling) compare to the time where lame dancing around trees is a must. Now days you can find a lot of movies prefer to keep the tracks as their background scores rather than wasting 1 extra hour for the songs itself. Songs are what lay man tries to avoid while watching Hindi movies, but not me. I LOVE THEM! At the end of the day what is Bollywood without it songs? Duhhh. I may be bias and exaggerate on certain things but who doesn’t when it comes to the thing they love full heartedly since like forever so don’t blame me, watch them yourself.

This remind me of the last 3 movies I watched back in 2010 which I keep delaying in giving reviews because of certain reasons, all 3 of them are close to my heart as I can really relate to each movie for diverse reasons. Hoping for more great and awesome movies this year, hope all those which are hugely anticipated won’t let us down. Talking about movies made me excited waiting for this year Filmfare’s award (Oscar for Bollywood), fingers crossed for MNIK’s team.

We Are Family
12th September 2010

When Bollywood says that they just inspired by Hollywood movies, don't believe them because they just copied from scene to scene but when Karan Johar decided to join venture with Sony and make a remake of Step Mom; he produced a heart wrenching movie which has been Indianised in every way and the other. They try to make the movie their own without having to rely much on the original version, the songs are awesome thanks to my favourite Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. You'll start crying just by listening to their slow arrangements.

What's best: Kajol powerhouse performance.
What's hot: Arjun!
Why should you watch: When two leading ladies take control its a wonderful journey from the word go.

Anjaana Anjaani
4th October 2010

This one's a love story, but it doesn't follow the beaten path. It doesn't follow the rules laid out by the romantics in Bollywood. And that's where its strength lies. Generally, couples in love commit to die for each other, but in this film, romance blossoms much, much after the two meet at the bridge for the first time, when they are about to commit suicide. From strangers to lovers to strangers again is how the film explores the relationship between this couple.It works for two major reasons. The first being the powerhouse performances by its lead pair. Having watched their careers from the very onset, I would like to state that the two actors deliver career-best performances in this movie and the second reason why itworks is due to the terrific moments in its second hour.

Final word? ANJAANA ANJAANI is worth a watch. If you are a romantic, or even if you are not, this movie is a must-see for its interpretation of modern-day romance. Recommended! Vishal-Shekhar's music has a lot of heart. Again, it won't be wrong to state that their compositions take the movie forward. I have often stated that Ranbir is the finest actor of his generation and the fact comes alive yet again as you watch him donning a new character in this one. Priyanka sinks into the role beautifully, so much so that she forgets herself and starts becoming Kiara.

On the whole, ANJAANA ANJAANI is an unpretentious romantic saga that revels in the exuberance of newly found love. The film has everything going for it: top notch performances by two super-stars, good music, a sensitive director with a good track record, a simple yet absorbing story and of course, terrific moments [emotional as well as humorous]. Don't miss this one!

Break Ke Baad

26th November 2010

A sweet, smart story that seems straight out of someone’s life. Break Ke Baad has an endearing everyday quality including twists and turns that reek of reality. Aliya Khan (Deepika Padukone) and Abhay Gulati (Imran Khan) have known each other all their lives and have been dating ever since they can remember. He is sorted, quiet, indulgent and patient, very patient. She is wild, willful, self-centered and selfish in a self-absorbed, I-me-myself way. He knows they will end up together. She is commitment phobic. But knowing all these he still just want to be with her the rest of his life[it sounds to good to be true isn't it?But still it is so damn sweet to get a soul mate like this]



The film works because you have no choice but to fall in love with these two people. You love Abhay for his tolerance, his understanding, his goodness and his instinctive wisdom about Aliya. You love Aliya because she is who she is. She knows not another way. Debutant director Danish Aslam seems to have lived these characters or at least known people like them. Break Ke Baad is not just about love, it is also about what it does to us. You can throw it out of the window but it will return tongue firmly in cheek,and if two people are meant to be together they will be. While you root for Abhay’s quiet affection and endless understanding, you also want Aliya to find her way. Even if she’s being mean, shallow and stupid along the way. As Abhay’s bua (played wonderfully by Lilette Dubey) in the film says, “Tum log sab kuch chahte ho, lekin dard nahi?” or some such. What she means basically is there is no shortcut to love. It’s a mean bitch that will take its due from you. “Be fearless,”.



It is an indeed an intelligent film with very few flaws. The supporting cast is fabulous esp Shahana Goswami shines as Nadia. Someone please rediscover this amazingly talented girl and give her more to do. As for the lead actors, they are perfectly cast. Deepika improving tremendously from her Om Shanti Om days and Imran, what should I say. He is just too lovable and you want this nice guy to get the girl. Possibly box her ears and tell her to behave but get her ultimately. Break Ke Baad is possibly the best love story I have seen last year, Dharma Production please take a bow for giving chance to a new director to tell their stories which are young and real.

p/s: Imran is getting married today, another loss for single ladies out here.

2011: Mega budget movies in pipeline.

'iRobo un kathil,I love you sollatta?'

There’s Ajith,Surya,etc but if you want to watch your first Tamil movie in cinema make sure it’s by the Superstar himself, Rajnikanth. To be honest I’m not his biggest fan; I prefer Kamal Hassan any day for his intense serious roles or slapstick funny characters. But growing up watching Rajni’s movies like Muthu, Padayappa, Chandramukhi, Sivaji,etc it just have to be his movie or nothing at all and that’s why when Endhiran been declared the biggest and the most expensive project from Indian film fraternity, plus the hypes and positive reviews especially the animation and graphic we decided to join the bandwagon of the actor’s well wisher this time around. Oh boy we have not been disappointed, not this time although there are some flaws but they just ought to be there or else it won’t be called a Tamil movie. Fortunately most of my friends also shared the same passion about experiencing our first Tamil movie in the theatre, I must say AR Rahman music does influence me more than Rajni himself. I’m a big fan of the music maestro’s works, although I don’t understand most of the words but I love ‘Kaddal Anukkal’, ‘Kalimanjaro’, ‘Irumbile Oru Idhaiyam’,etc.They all are so hummable. Being a Malaysian this is one of the way to express our freedom either to join other races in celebrating their excitement or to watch whatever movie we want, but some people still have this sceptical mind that ‘No way you’ve watched a Tamil movie. You are a Malay, you don’t speak Tamil’. So what? I’ve watched this movie twice already and to all who have second thought about the so called bombastic or exaggerated statements made so far, go and enjoy it yourself.

ENDHIRAN

We don’t have to speak the language to fall in love with the people

I Hate Luv Storys

Movie: I Hate Luv Storys

Date: 2^nd July 2010

Cinema: TGV, Sunway Pyramid

Director: Punit Malhotra

Casts: Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor.

At first when I got to know about how the title is spelled, I hate it how Bollywood turns into Hollywood titles wise much for its publicity stunt. But then its Karan Johar’s Dharma’s production people so it meant to be that way, even when I tried (really hard) not to have pre-conceive idea of what is the storyline all about I know for a fact it’s going to be a candy floss kind a movie with extravaganza sets when it comes to abroad shooting scenes and the naach-gaana where skimpy clothes are obviously preventable depicted. I love most of the songs, thanks to Vishal-Shekhar combo of hummable sweet and pop tunes. The story of how Jay who doesn’t believe in luv storys (for the sake of this movie) becomes foe then buddy to Simran who is a hardcore believer of luv storys, a perfect Raj, marriage, vagera vagera (ya, line from this movie.haha) then realised that he fall in luv with that girl and can’t live without her, TYPICAL? I guess you can envisage how it goes from there; yup it’s a happy ending story. One again I’ve been disappointed.

Manish Malhotra’s nephew managed to get his uncle’s touch in terms of enchanting wardrobe but for a debut director he doesn’t really bring anything new or delicious on the plate, yes it’s entertaining but it stops there. Imran and Sonam were moderately okay, their characters aren’t those where you need to have 2 months workshop in advance to get into the mindset of both role. Dragging in some of the scenes, pointless dialogues, lame jokes, repetition of so many songs, scenes, etc from KJo’s previous works like KKHH, RNBDJ, KHNH, etc. In short this movie is a carbon copy of numbers of scenes from KJo’s movies put into one for the duration of 2 hours+. Yet still it garnered crores in its opening week and in its way to become the highest grossing in Bollywood this year.

p/s: KJo built Imran's chocolate boy image and made him worked hard to get those abs but seriously it doesn’t have any effect on me at least as Imran should be Imran who is naturally geek, nerdy, good boy image compare to John’s.

Dictionary

Naach-gaana: Dancing-singing

Vagera: Etc

Crores: Millions

I hate typical Luv Storys.

Raajneeti

Movie: Raajneeti

Date: 18^th June 2010

Cinema: TGV Capsquare,KL

Director: Prakash Jha

Casts: Naseeruddin Shah, Manoj Bajpai, Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor.

When we have power packed performers in the house we expect nothing less but an A-class delivery, with an established screenplay writer and author-director like one who leads this project I must say this movie fulfilled all my anticipations especially after months been waiting for its release. For 2 years during its production nothing has been revealed for promotion purposes nor for media publicity yet it’s the biggest opening for this year’s releasing so far and continue being on strong ground for the last 4 weeks, all the big names in the industry came under one roof and for me this movie is the best turmoil political drama from Prakash Jha as I’ve been watching all of his works. Waiting patiently for his next venture.

Acting wise all have done their best and surprisingly Katrina actually ACTS for once, a huge improvement I must say from just being a-mix-good looking-heroine-who-doesn’t speak Hindi to a politician that went through too many hardships mainly political rivalry as she’s the only woman who stood up and voice out the destitution that the people in that village is facing due to poverty, corruption, etc. The only reason why this movie is in my ‘MUST’ watch movies this year is of course for Ranbir Kapoor, I just have to watch all his works or else........just feel the need to witness him going from strength to strength. Glad to say he didn’t let me down, again.

The cinematography is typical presentation from this team; all songs were portrayed only as background in the scenes where words can be ignored for that particular moment and the dialogues written are more towards political terms and they used [real] Hindi as it should be(where it’s hard for me to understand if there were no subtitles) compare to Hing-lish.

P/s: Arjun Rampal is the hottest politician ever, hands down! Outstandingly in the scene where he sings while murdering that bad cop!

Politic indeed bring out the evil in us!

Kites

Movie: Kites

Date: 27^th May 2010

Cinema: TGV Bkt.Raja

Director: Anurag Basu

Casts: Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori

This time the overhype publicity garnered by the latest venture by actor cum director and producer of the big banner, Rakesh Roshan’s Kraft Films didn’t pass the expectation by the public in general and critics in particular like they usually successfully did. The only worth mention about this movie is that it was really well promoted across the globe until it’s become one of the selected movie for the opening of this year Cannes Festival. It also eventually becomes the highest grossing film of this year so far produced from Bollywood although quite disappointment as it suffers huge loss within the India refion. I guess local audiences just refuse to adapt to this English-Spanish narration, they still go for modern Hindi-English medium.

Just because the movie got the opportunity to have an exclusive touch from Hollywood editor it acquired international attention. Although the storyline is quite lame and predictable like normal action love story flick, the performances by the lead actors especially the hero, Hrithik Roshan as Jay and the villain, Nick Brown as Tony deserved all the credits. They portray the characters to the perfection; they were so believable that we can feel the rush of adrenalin in all chasing scenes. I must also agree that the cinematography reach the worldwide anticipation despite to its countable locations, they don’t use so many settings as using flashback storytelling. The script and dialogue stick to the basic ground as possible, not so much conversation as the boundary in the languages. They focus more on the action scenes, even the background songs quite hummable as well as forgettable for some of its number. The tunes somehow bring back the KHNH and KMG memories, what to be expected when it comes from the same production house as well the same composer.

In short from lots of reviews it can be said that the kites didn’t manage to take off.

Filmi Wednesday

It’s been a hiatus since the last time we went for movies, to be precise 10 weeks as 3rd year students so when we got the so called Wednesday filmi day out we watched 3 movies back to back at the famous MBO [Melaka Box Office, the only source of entertainment for broke people like us!] but I’m not going to write the reviews of all 3 of them as although I watch Malay, English, Mandarin, etc movies in cinema I only wrote what I’m best in which is Hindi a.k.a Bollywood movies for you guys. It’s been ages too since the last Hindi movie I watched, and this reviews are collection from last year’s outing until recent one in February. Get the DVDs........from me!hahaha. So here it goes........

Movie: Kurbaan
Date: 28th November 2009
Cinema: TGV Sunway Pyramid,Subang Jaya
Director: Rensil D Silva
Actors: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor & Vivek Oberoi

Movie: Rocket Singh-Salesman of the year

Date: 24th December 2009

Cinema: TGV Capsquare KL

Director: Shimit Amin

Actors: Ranbir Kapoor

Movie: 3 Idiots

Date: 29th January 2010

Cinema: TGV Capsquare KL

Director: Raju Kumar Hirani

Actors: Aamir Khan, Boman Irani, Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan & Kareena Kapoor.

Movie: My Name Is Khan

Date: 12th February (Worldwide release, 1st show in the 1st day), 13th February 2010, 12th March 2010 and counting.

Cinema: TGV Capsquare KL, TGV Bkt Raja Klang.

Director: Karan Johar

Actors: Shahrukh Khan & Kajol

♥Nur Kasih ♥ Nur in my heart ♥

I would never forget the 1st time this drama [1st episode] aired it created not just sort of phenomenon to the entire nation especially drama goers but as well created a mini stir in my little heart about love not just towards each other but towards Allah S.W.T. Sometimes people tend to see the things that only make them content and feel good about themselves but there are so many things lies beyond that, I'm still looking for it and learning to appreciate it if I’m lucky enough to get the ‘NUR’.

.

I am/was an avid follower like other millions viewers even our mothers. It was 30th May a night before we moved out from Emerald Park and the night before Ayah’s 51st birthday and after almost 6 moons away and 25 episodes later today[yesterday,Raya Haji] 27th November 2009 I [we all actually!] sat anxiously in front of the TV and waiting patiently for the ending 1 of the best Malay drama I've ever watch so far[2nd have to be Sephia']. Even 1 of my buddy in our 'Nur Kasih-ains' click texted 30 minutes in advance to remind all of us not to missed it!hahaha.YES,we are so thoughtful when it comes to stuff like this*what to do!simply us!*

I said it once in 1 of my earliest entry and I will say it again, without doubt definitely Khabir Bhatia&Mira Mustaffa is one of my favourite director and screen/story writers. Thanks to them I cried buckets of tears, typical me.*sigh*

Each and every one of the actors carry their role with such elan that they go deep into the skin of the character and portrayed the roles as if we been knowing them for a long time, how we pity Nur, how we respect Aidil, how we hate Siti Sarah, how we feel for Katrina's suffering, how we angry with Adam, and others.

The finale as highly expected was a happy ending, for me its totally credit to the TRP or else TV3 would be dare and different enough to take the risk in allowing the director to offer such twist that were more dramatic yet give some morals to be seriously and critically thought about by us.

The theme song by Yasin;'Nur Kasih' gives me goosebumps everytime I listen to it. It have the simplest yet meaningful lyrics with soothing melody. Among the lines that I adore are:-

Resah hati yang ku pendam pada takdir dan harapan,
Detik waktu dan suratan siapa tahu ketentuan ku mencari
cahaya dalam bayang kegelapan...
Aku kembali pada kerana masih mencari yang hakiki
Sinar pasti...janji suci yang abadi.

Best closing; the line that we all been hearing from our parents and even in the holy Quran:-

‘Apabila malaikat menjemput, terputuslah amalan anak-anak Adam kecuali ilmu yang bermanfaat, sedekah jariah dan doa anak-anak yang soleh’.

me,loving NUR & thinking about getting the DVD box set:)