Review of Kal

Kal Kissne Dekha directed by Vivek Sharma (of Bhootnath fame) is yet another movie where the director has completely undermined the need for credibility in story. Bollywood seems to be going through a very bad phase in terms of the quality of its movies. It has been made by producer Vashu Bhagnani just to launch his son Jackky Bhagnani and not in the interest of its viewers.

Kal kissne Dekha? Answer- Nihal Singh(Jackky Bhagnani) from Chandigarh. Nihal is a typical Punjabi boy- talkative, inquisitive, full of ideas, extremely pleasant and loves his mother. He is gifted in many ways and one of his talents is to build scientific gadgets in his spare time. His life is changed when he secures admission in his dream college in Bombay. Away from his hometown, college is a new experience for him and he finds it hard to make friends or even be noticed. He finds a mentor in professor Verma(Rishi Kapoor), the warden of the college who is amazed by Nihal’s intelligence. He loses his heart to the most popular girl in college Meesha(Vaishali Desai) who only insults him till one day, his highly guarded gift comes to his rescue.

Nihal has a vision from the future about Meesha being in danger and he saves her. News about it spreads far and wide and Nihal becomes the much talked about boy who can see the future. His action also makes Meesha fall in love with him and everything seems hunky dory for just a little while, till Nihal’s gift becomes his curse. Someone is trying to use Nihal’s gift to manipulate him and everything Nihal loves is in jeopardy. To know if Nihal’s visions save him or if someone close to him manages to betray him, watch Kal kissne Dekha.

The movie is not one of Vashu Bhagnani’s best. The performance by the newcomers Jackky and Vaishali could have been better. Rishi Kapoor is the best part of the movie. The movie also has Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Dutt making special appearances. The movie is a bore in the first half and gets interesting only in the second half when we are trying to figure out the fate of Nihal. It makes a good timepass movie. 

Review of Ek

After a long wait, the audience is seeing Bobby Deol (long locks and all) in a sizeable role playing the lead. After Dostana, this I thought would be a good opportunity for Bobby Deol to make a mark in Bollywood. Ek, the power of one is directed by Sangeeth Sivan, while its music director is Pritam. Apart from Bobby Deol, the star cast of ‘Ek - The Power of One’ includes Nana Patekar, Shreya Saran, Chunky Pandey and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.

Nandu played by Bobby Deol, is an orphan turned contract killer who is framed for a murder of a famous politician that he didn’t commit and then the chase begins. Nandu is on the run trying to evade the cops and on his endeavour ends up in a train where he befriends Shekar(Pradeep) who is returning home for a wedding after a gap of almost one and a half decades. They seem to become really close with relative ease where Shekhar narrates his story to Nandu. When it seems like the long arm of the law has finally caught up, they’re involved in a shootout with the police in which Shekhar is killed. Nandu trying to ‘nibah’ his dosti, goes to Shekar’s household in his village to return his grandfather’s watch and inform them of his death.

The twist arises when Shekhar’s family expecting Shekhar after a gap of over 14 years and not recognizing how he looks, welcome Nandu with open arms assuming him to be Shekhar. Nandu, reluctant to be the bearer of the bad news in such a happy atmosphere decides to play along and be Shekhar. Here he falls in love with a very cute and bubbly Preet (Shreya Saran), who is the daughter of Shekhar's grandfather's friend playng a typical Punjabi girl. The plot builds by the case of Nandu being transferred to CBI who in turn assigns it to Inspector Rane (Nana Patekar) who rears a very hip-hop look which definitely does not suit him.

There are a number of daring stunts performed both by Nandu and Inspector Rane to give the movie a very Hollywood action movie feel. The action sequences are directed by a famous Hollywood action director. In the end the climax answers all the questions built up during the course of the movie. Bobby Deol can make a better actor but yet doesn’t make a mark in this movie. Nana Patekar’s humor and comedy timing was just ok. All in all, an ok movie. Watch it if you like super-human action sequences. 

Best how to websites

Haven’t we all pondered upon the workings of things that are part of our daily life at some point or the other? When we see a celebrity on the television bragging about developing the perfect abs or putting together an exquisite dish, we enviously wish we could do that as well! I have put together a list of 5 of my favourite websites that provide information on just about anything under the sun to soothe your insatiable curiosities and I’m sure will answer any question you may want to ask. Some are particularly useful in certain areas like I’ve mentioned against them but not that informative on other topics which is why they are ranked lower than others. Check them out and let me know if you finally found the answer to all you need to know!

1.    www.ehow.com – This website covers everything from how to play pranks on friends to how to manage a business! They have great illustrations and videos for many topics and step by step instructions for making models. I haven’t been disappointed by this website till date and their top 10 ehows section is extremely intriguing and a fun read for those interested in gaining information on random topics! The website is extremely well categorised and the articles are well written.  The only drawback is that for people looking for India related information like Indian food recipes, there aren’t too many articles written.

2.    www.howtodothings.com – This is a relatively new website and does not have a large variety of articles but they do have some very interesting articles on everyday things like how to cut your own hair and how to make your computer faster. Their information on topics like finance and technology is extensive and the health and fitness articles are interesting. Drawbacks of this website: not too much information for people interested in the travel, career and cooking categories. The site also has a cramped look to it which could get a little distracting.

3.    www.wikihow.com – just like Wikipedia, this website covers various topics but the authenticity cannot be guaranteed and the information cannot be fully trusted because again, just like Wikipedia, the information on this website can be edited by anyone. They have an interesting philosophy and religion section and great hobby ideas but their sections on personal care and style and home and garden have limited articles and the websites mentioned above are better in those categories.

4.    www.wonderhowto.com – This website gives most information through videos. It has a very youtube feel to it and there aren’t many topics that would interest people looking for information pertaining to India. The best feature about this website is the dance category which is very interesting as there are videos of dance lessons for several dance forms including club dances and partner work. 

5.    www.indiahowto.com- this website provides information basically to ‘indianised’ questions just as the name suggests. They do not have fixed categories and you should check your query directly through the search tab. It gets difficult to browse though the website for other topics that may seem interesting as they are not categorised but the website provides good information on a lot of cooking and property related topics for Indians.

 “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” – Albert Einstein

For all those of you who practically live by this saying, I hope reading this will help put a lot of your questions at rest! If you’re still not satisfied, there’s always Google!

Aa math dekho zara!

Aa dekhe zara claimed to be a romantic sci-fi action thriller but in my view it was far from any of this. Directed by Jehangir Surti in what can be called only a pathetic attempt at making a sci fi movie, the plot starts off with Ray Acharya (Neil Nitin Mukesh) staring into a picture trying to look petrified and immediately the plot goes to flash back where Ray is a struggling free lance photographer. On returning from one of his escapades, he realizes his nana who was a brilliant scientist has expired and rushes to complete his last rites. Upon reaching there, his nana’s advocate narrates the story that has been, with regard to his nana. While ray is reminiscing past memories, he chances upon a key to a locker which leads him to the sci fi bit of the story – a camera with unimaginable power. Thankfully, to end the monotony, Simi Chatterjee(Bipasha Basu) comes into the picture. She is a happy go lucky dancer/DJ who also happens to be Ray’s neighbour. Being so close, their fates had to be intertwined and Ray is able to pick her up with relative ease. The plot builds with the concept of them going on happily with Ray making himself a fortune with the help of his special camera.

 Everything seems to be working out great till, what according to me seems to be the only highlight in the movie, where Sophie(Sophie Choudary) walks in, in a sexy bikini causing some tensions between Ray and Simi. But like most movies, there is the Dr. Evil played by Rahul Dev who is a hired gun by the advocate and is in search for the camera. The plot continues as a complete roler coaster ride with a lot of ups and downs leading to anything but a climactic end.

For me it was a complete waste of two hours and Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu didn’t make it any better with their acting which was just amateurish.  Aa dekhe zara has absolutely no dum in it. Watch it only if you’ve got the stomach to. 

Review of Karma

Bollywood director M.R. Shahjahan  seems to be living in the 70s and 80s when movies like Karma were accepted for a while. In fact, it seems to be highly ‘inspired’ by the film 1980s film ‘Kudrat’. The plot is hackneyed and extremely predictable and it seems like there is nothing that can surprise the audience in the movie.

The plot starts off with Anna (Alma Saraci) and Vik (Carlucci Weyant) being married and Anna  insisting that Vik settle his issues with his estranged father in India Ranvir (Vijayendra Ghatge). On arriving in India, Anna experiences strange visions and a feeling of déjà vu in the surroundings though she has never been to that place or for that matter to the country before. After a while of pondering, (not for the audience who has already guessed a case of rebirth) they deduce that she is a reincarnation of Linda (Claudia Ciesla) who lived in the same place and was killed. The story continues with Linda haunting Anna and motivating her to solve the crime.

The use of elements to create a ‘horror movie’ experience is clichéd and manages to bore the audience completely than incite any fear. The killer’s identity is known to the audience way before the mystery is solved as it is very obvious. Many parts of the story are not made too clear either for example, the reason behind the father-son estrangement.

The actors’ performances are just mediocre. Claudia Ciesla doesn’t seem to have much of a future in Bollywood due to her lack of acting ability or any screen presence and yes boys, the film comes without her much talked about topless scene. Carlucci Weyant carries the same expression throughout the movie and Vijayendra Ghatge seems uninterested. Only Alma Saraci is worth mentioning as she is quite chilling as the spirit. The editing and cinematography are the best parts of the movie and the way past and present times are shown is impressive.

A really dull film, I wouldn’t really recommend it. It’s one of those movies whose story you already know and would watch for the way it has been presented but that is again not impressive and you will only waste your time.