Review: Mausam

Verdict: eh..let down
"K" Rating: 2.2

Watch: Theater/DVD

Mausam is a love story of a Punjabi boy Harry and an Kashmiri Pandit  girl Aayat which spans 3 continents over 7 years. A journey from the first crush of a village boy to the mature longing of an Air force pilot. Mausam has an old world charm, elegance about it which is a little out of pace with today's audience. 

The film marks the directorial debut of Pankaj Kapoor, the story is penned by him aswell. Pankaj Kapoor is an accomplished actor/comedian and we hope after this movie he sticks to just that. The storyline is flawed and weak, to the point actors potential seems wasted. Its a clear case of trying to stuff too much in the plot. Too many world events packed in the 7 year span, along with the extraneous last half hour makes the movie unnecessarily lengthy and dragging.  The characterization of Aayat from bilanes of Punjab, to Ballet classes in Scotland, back to Ahmadabad seems unrealistic.

Shahid Kapoor is brilliant in Mausam, he delivers a stellar performance and looks spectacular. He is THE reason to watch this film. It would not be an understatement to say he carries the movie forward on his shoulders. Sonam Kapoor surprises you with her capacity to portray a wide canvas of emotions with innocence. Anupam Kher is wasted in the film.

Music by Pritam is goes from some good soulful numbers, dance tracks to "less said the better" numbers. Two songs which stand out are "Sajh Dhaj Ke" and "Rabba Mein To Mar Gaya". 

Two big reasons to watch this movie are - Shahid Kapoor and the effulgent, picturesque cinematography  by Binod Pradhan. It does not live up the the hype it created but definitely worth a watch [at least on DVD].

Promo: Mausam

Starring Sahid Kapoor & Soonam Kapoor,  this "seasons" much hyped and talked about film's promo is out. This is Pankaj Kapoor's directorial debut  with his son, in a love story where Airforce  is the backdrop. Here is a the theatrical trailor!

First Look: Thank You

Thank You is an upcoming comedy flick by Anees Bazmee starring Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty, Bobby Deol, Sonam Kapur,Celina Jaitely, Rimi Sen and Irfan Khan. It also has Vidya Balan in a cameo and the hot Mallika Sherawat in an item number. The promo reminds one of films like No Entry and Masti. Music is by Pritam and it has a remix version of the song Pyaar Do Pyaar lo from  the 1986 filme Jaanbaaz.Watch out for this release, post world cup on April 11th, 2011.

Review:Aisha

Verdict: Timepass

"K" Rating: 2.5/5

Watch: DVD (or Theater if you're have a gals party)

Alright "Aisha" is officially India's first  out and out Chick Fick! and is rightly up there with its Hollywood counterparts with its pink n purple look, its feel, its music and can even give them competition, in our own Indian way. Aisha's closet with Dior clothing and shoe rack full of Jimmy Choos  reminds one of Carries style in Sex and the City. However Aisha is an apt portrayl of the South Delhi upper middle class, socialite scene. This desi adaptation of Jane Austin's Emma is a light, breezy,timepass movie.

Now lets see what does not work for the movie - at  couple of places in the movie the film looses its pace and drags ( the camp song sequence for example ),the movie could have been shorter in length. The ending seems to be picked right out of an infamous 80's  movie and is too abrupt. Its also light on the "magical romance "quotient.

Abhay Deol's talent is wasted in the movie. Sonam Kapoor has given a good performance and looks good. Cyrus Sahukar as the Delhi Punjabi munda and Amrita Puri as the desi girl from Bhadurghar in addition to Ira Dubey are simply exalting. Kuddos to the casting director for finding such a brilliant ensemble caste! India's latest import, our desi version of Angelina Jolie- Lisa Hayden definitely adds the oomph factor. Music wise "Gal Mitthi Mitthi Bol" proves to be a great club-number, "By the Way" is peppy, very today. 

Review: I Hate Luv Stories

Verdict: Good Timepass/Light hearted

"K" Rating: 3/5

Watch: Theater/DVD

Chiffon-clad heroins atop snow capped mountains, heros sporting leather jackets. dancing in the rain with loads of drama -all so cliched Bollywoodish. And yet we buy it every single time! Why? This movie explores the answer. "I Hate love stories" (IHLS) is a maxim Jay Dhingra "J" (Imran Khan)  lives by. However he is an assistant  to the industries most romantic filmmaker Veer Kapoor (read Karan Johar  spoof) on a current love story project. J's cynicism clashes with set-designer Simren's world, (Sonam Kapoor) who is a sucker for love stories and even has boyfriend Raj to complete her perfect, dreamy world. 

IHLS  has great comic timing and spoofs which send the audience in splits of laughter.Sonam Kapoor has a new look and  gets an A for effort however she still comes across Barbie dollish. Imran Khan is fantastic in the movie and essays an array of emotions effortlessly - not to mention his abs! Sameer Soni as Veer Kapoor and Sammir Dattani as Raj are note worthy in their performances.

The title track "I hate Luv Stories" is already a hit with the charts,but you may find yourselves humming to "Bin Tere" aswell. Manish Malhotra has done a great job fashioning for his nephew Punit Malhotra's film. The look is young,hep and so Abercombie & Fitch!! All in all IHLS is a "Good Luv Story",  barring a few hiccups where it drags from time to time but its fun to watch, to sit back relax and enjoy.