India Masala

Don 2: Don’t expect too much

It’s been a while since Bollywood dished out a slick, fast-paced action film. Wait, who am I kidding? Bollywood doesn’t do fast-paced action films any more, we just turn to Hollywood to get our share of those. So kudos to Farhan Akhtar that he thought of attempting it — not once but twice.

While the first was a remake of the 70s hit “Don”, the sequel is an entirely new story, and doesn’t have too many connections with the previous film, except for some of the characters who make a comeback.

We are introduced to Don (Shah Rukh Khan), five years after he escaped from the clutches of police — with longer hair and the entire Asian drug trade at his command. When he decides to move his trade to Europe, drug lords there decide that Don is better off dead. To escape from their clutches, and hoping to stay safe in prison, Don surrenders to Interpol officer Roma (Priyanka Chopra), who till 5 years ago, was part of his gang. How she makes that switch, we are never told.

Inexplicably, the minute he gets inside prison, Don makes a plan to escape. If all he wanted to do was escape immediately, why surrender in the first place? And that’s the first of the plot holes. Unfortunately, Akhtar makes no attempt to plug any of these holes — they only grow larger as the film progresses.

Don escapes with Vardhan (Boman Irani) and plans for a daring heist in Berlin with Roma hot on his trail.

Akhtar channels his inner Steven Soderbergh and a lot of the plot sounds similar to “Ocean’s Eleven”. However, what’s missing from this action film is some pace. If an action film begins to drag and you lose interest in the plot halfway, you know something’s wrong. By the time the climax rolls around and shows no sign of ending, you are squirming in your seat. In the last ten minutes, I had no idea why the characters were doing what they were doing.

There are plot holes the size of craters. The Interpol is shown to be as clueless as the audience, which I refuse to believe. On the plus side, the film is packaged very well and there are some sequences which make sure you are on the edge of your seat, especially the car chase sequence through the streets of Berlin.

Shah Rukh Khan’s new look in “Don 2″

It’s been a little more than a year since the last Shah Rukh Khan movie released but this year the star has two big releases — “Ra One” and “Don 2″.

“Ra One”, starring Khan and Kareena Kapoor, is set for a Diwali release while “Don 2″ is releasing on the Christmas weekend.

Given his long absence from the silver screen and the muted response to his new TV show “Zor Ka Jhatka”, Khan will be banking on these two projects to do well.

“Don 2″, directed by Farhan Akhtar, is the sequel to his 2006 remake of “Don”, and stars Khan along with Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani and Lara Dutta.

The film was shot in Berlin and the cast is currently shooting in Malaysia. Here’s a picture of Khan’s look in the film. What do you think? Which avatar of Shah Rukh Khan have you liked the most?

Karthik Calling Karthik: Farhan saves this insipid thriller

Farhan Akhtar has now come to be associated with a particular kind of cinema – slick production values, quirky characters and smart writing. So when I went in to watch his latest production, “Karthik Calling Karthik”, I was expecting something similar. While I got to see the first two aspects, the third, and the most important was gravely missing.

The film, a thriller about a meek, submissive man called Karthik, whose life changes when he gets phone calls from an anonymous caller who also calls himself Karthik, starts off well, and is engaging enough, but for some bad writing and corny dialogues, which take away from the edge-of-the-seat thrill that a film like this should give you.

Akhtar plays Karthik Narayan, a mousy MBA grad who is bullied by pretty much everyone around him, including his tyrannical boss, and pesky landlord. He is secretly in love with Shonali Mukherjee (Deepika Padukone), who works in the same office, but is unable to muster up courage to talk to her, instead writing her an email everyday and then saving it in his drafts folder.

Fired from his job, and with no friends to turn to, Karthik is on the verge of suicide when one phone call changes everything. The caller always calls at 5 am and identifies himself as Karthik. He instils confidences in Karthik, exhorting him to set his life right. After the initial apprehension, Karthik actually looks forward to the calls, and egged on by the mysterious caller, sets about reclaiming his life.

The film is meant to be a thriller, but as I said before, there are hardly any edge-of -the seat moments. The narrative is a little bumpy and some of the dialogues are unintentionally funny. Director Vijay Lalwani sets out with a good enough intention, glimpses of which are visible throughout the film, but doesn’t quite reach the destination he intended. Also, the ending of the film is predictable, and I wish had been dealt with in a better way.

But watch this film for Farhan Akhtar, and his performance as Karthik. In some places he reminded me of Naseeruddin Shah in Sai Paranjpe’s “Katha”, where Shah plays a similar meek, submissive character. He carries the film even through its bumpy moments. Deepika Padukone tries her best and looks ravishing, but her acting still feels laboured.

This is a good one time watch at the movies, especially if you are a Farhan fan.

Luck By Chance: An insider’s look at Bollywood

My favourite scenes in Zoya Akhtar’s “Luck By Chance” are when Rishi Kapoor is on screen as the over the top, aging Bollywood producer Romy Rolly.

And that’s not just because he is brilliant in the part — he is. But the scenes capture perfectly the subtle performances and nuanced characters this film is bursting with.

“Luck By Chance” is the story of Sona and Vikram, both struggling actors who are looking for a break in the big, bad world of Bollywood. Through their story, Akhtar depicts the confounding, ugly and yet oh-so-attractive world of our film industry.

The director tells the story light-heartedly but don’t expect direct humour. There are a lot of subtle references to real-life Bollywood characters, dialogues said in the passing and facial expressions, a refreshing change from the in- your-face slapstick humour we are subjected to most of the time.

The film follows both Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) through their journey in Bollywood, one they undertake with the understanding that nothing here comes easy. So she sleeps with a producer who promises her a big break and he has no qualms about flirting with a yesteryear actress in the hope she will cast him in her daughter’s debut project.

A host of characters as well as some top Bollywood actors make an appearance in this journey. What is commendable is how Akhtar has astutely used even two-minute guest appearances. So you have Aamir displaying his “perfectionist” tendencies, Abhishek mentioning “Pa” and John Abraham talking about doing “experimental films.”

Also a part of this colourful ensemble are Juhi Chawla who plays the producer’s doting wife, Sanjay Kapoor, who ironically plays the failed actor brother of a big producer and Dimple Kapadia, the yesteryear siren who now grooms her daughter and is referred to as a “crocodile in a chiffon sari” by Romy Rolly in a fit of frustration. One of the highlights of the film is undoubtedly Hrithik Roshan, who plays the role of the insecure star with such skill and ease.

Rock On: A band’s story of love and friendship

Rock bands and their members don’t really have a cult following in India — at least not the kind seen in the West.

So, basing an entire film in a milieu not many Indians would recognise is a risk in itself.

Then to cast a first time actor in the lead role, a television “bahu” in a crucial part and two former VJs to boot — you certainly have to credit director Abhishek “Gattu” Kapoor with a lot of nerve.

By the time the credits roll, you can praise him for a lot more.

“Rock On” revolves around a band named  Magik. Friendship, love and marriage are all essential elements in the film and Kapoor renders them beautifully.

There is hardly a moment when your mind wanders and all the pieces fit beautifully at the end. In a lot of ways, “Rock On” is like “Dil Chahta Hai” and in a lot of ways, it isn’t.

Aditya Shroff (Farhan Akhtar) is a high-flying investment banker who lives and breathes his job and hardly has any time for wife Sakshi (Prachi Desai). She discovers by chance that he was once part of a band called Magik and attempts to set up a reunion.