India Masala
Bollywood and culture in an emerging India
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu: A rom-com that “gets” it
Through the first half, Shakun Batra’s romantic comedy “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu” follows an entirely predictable path — boy and girl meet, get drunk, get married and realise they don’t want to stay married. Circumstances dictate they must spend time together while waiting for their marriage to get annulled. At the interval, one of them even has the “I’m in love” epiphany.
Of course, you don’t mind the predictable storyline because there is zippy dialogue, some great writing and the performances are in tune with all of the above. So far, so good. But we all know the second half is where it gets tricky, and not too many film-makers know how to end well. Well, clear all doubts now. Batra is not one of them.
The second half of the film is even better than the first, because it adds an element of unpredictability to the mix of great dialogue, writing and acting — and what you have is a Bollywood rom-com that is funny, romantic and mature enough for today’s audiences.
Imran Khan plays Rahul, a poor little rich boy in Las Vegas, cowering from his overbearing parents and too “uptight” for his age, as a family friend tells him. He bumps into Riana Braganza, a scatter-brained, effervescent hair stylist, and on a drunken night out, the two get married. Of course, they wake up the next day with a massive hangover and the realisation they have made a huge mistake.
They apply for an annulment and since Riana is broke and doesn’t have a place to stay, she camps at Rahul’s house. They hit it off, and he realises he’s in love.
From this point on, Batra takes the path less travelled — there’s some good writing (by Ayesha Devitre and Batra himself) and the performances really pick up. Kareena Kapoor is the star of the film — you cannot take your eyes off her. Imran Khan is the perfect foil to her energy, and together the two of them add that much needed ingredient to a romantic film — chemistry.
If you are a sucker for romance, don’t miss this one. Even if you aren’t, I’d give this one a chance, “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu” will be worth your while.
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan: Fun one-time watch
Ali Zafar’s “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” is a slightly mindless but mostly funny rehash of an old romantic movie theme. Two guys, one girl, a wedding, lots of impossible situations and lots of songs are what make up this film.
Imran Khan plays Kush, a young Bollywood director entrusted with finding a bride for his London-based elder brother Luv (Ali Zafar), after the latter breaks up with his long-term girlfriend and decides he has had enough of relationships and wants to “settle down.”
After several false starts, Kush zeroes in on Dimple Dixit, the effervescent but slightly kooky daughter of a diplomat. Both families agree and within no time, they assemble for the wedding festivities. Both Kush and Dimple end up spending a lot of time together and of course, in accordance with the law of romantic movies, fall in love.
We are given no explanation for why Dimple and Luv do not communicate. It’s almost as if telephones and the internet didn’t exist, and in today’s age, it is difficult to believe that a couple in an arranged marriage wouldn’t communicate with each other more than once. Definitely something that rankles.
You will find many such holes in the script, especially in the second half, when Dimple and Kush use all kind of ruses to make sure Luv breaks up the marriage. However, what salvages this film is the light tone that Zafar manages to keep throughout. The dialogues are funny and Zafar himself is pretty adept at his comic timing.
Katrina Kaif brings zing to her role, and even though she overdoes it at times, (especially in the ‘Sholay’ scene), she is immensely likeable as Dimple Dixit. Her chemistry with Imran Khan is crackling and a large part of why the film worked for me.
There are way too many songs in the film and Zafar loses control sporadically. This could have been a shorter, tighter film.
Delhi Belly: You need to have the stomach for it
Abhinay Deo’s “Delhi Belly” isn’t your average Bollywood film. For one, it can hardly be called a Bollywood film, because the primary language isn’t Hindi, it’s English. Like most Bollywood films, this is also not a “family film”.
All those cuss words and toilet humour would be tough to endure with your parents or kids sitting next to you — with friends, it might be funny though.
And there is plenty of toilet humour and cuss words. The story, about three room-mates caught in the middle of a cross-fire thanks to a misunderstanding involving a cache of diamonds and a stool sample, is peppered with plenty of smart one-liners, spoken in the language of the demographic we call new India.
Imran Khan plays Tashi, a journalist who lives with two friends in the most run-down, filthiest room you could imagine with two room-mates — Arup, a cartoonist and Nitin, a freelance photographer, whose desire to eat some tandoori chicken off the street leads to a bad case of the Delhi Belly and sets the chain of events in motion.
As a result, a chunk of the film involves shots of Nitin (Kunaal Roy Kapur) straining himself on a toilet accompanied by all kinds of sounds. I don’t know why this toilet humour should be funny if we find the same kind of toilet humour in an Anees Baazmee film repelling. After a while it gets to you.
That apart, the script is a strong one, and writer Akshat Varma manages to keep you engaged in his story. There is a sub-plot of a romance between Tashi and a spunky journalist played by actress Poorna Jagannathan, which is interesting.
To narrate any more of the story would be unfair to the film. This is more about the journey than the destination. There are several memorable characters in the film, including the trio’s landlord, and Vijay Raaz, who plays the crook hunting down the trio.
World Cup mania hits Bollywood brigade
Football fever is taking over the world and Bollywood’s glamorous brigade hasn’t been left untouched.
Film stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Imran Khan and Lara Dutta are either headed to or are already in South Africa to catch a glimpse of football heaven.
While Shah Rukh and Dutta watched the semifinals, actor Imran Khan, fresh from promoting his movie “I Hate Luv Storys” will be leaving India soon to watch the finals.
“I am not a huge fan of football but it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to watch the FIFA finals,” Khan told Reuters.
But he is sure to find some familiar faces there. Shah Rukh Khan is currently in South Africa with family and friends as is former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.
“(I) am so excited that will be showing my kids the world cup…hope they remember it like I do seeing it on TV with my mom,” Khan wrote on his Twitter account.
Those not in South Africa catching the live action are content to do it at home. Bipasha Basu and John Abraham are catching all the action from Mumbai, as is the Bachchan family.
IHLS: I hate boring love stories
At one point in Punit Malhotra’s “I Hate Luv Storys” one of the characters tells another to just follow all the clichés and go for it. That could well have been Malhotra’s motto while making this run-of-the-mill love story that drags on for what seems like forever.
Malhotra seems to take every single cliché you can think of and insert that into his film – while pretending that this is a different love story. Boy who is commitment phobic – check; girl who has an overdose of pink in her bedroom and believes in love at first sight – check; Hate turns to love – check; Boring boyfriend – check. IHLS is definitely not big on the originality factor and you know how it is going to end. You just wish the journey to the end was pleasanter.
Imran Khan plays Jay, a young man who doesn’t believe in love stories and cringes at the slightest hint of mush but ends up assisting a maverick director who only makes love stories. Forced to work with art director Simran on a film, he pooh-poohs her ideas of romantic and ideal love and her “perfect” relationship with her boyfriend, appropriately named Raj (Sameer Dattani).
You don’t really need me to tell you how it goes from here. Jay and Simran spend time together, fall in love, one of them realises it, the other doesn’t and so most of the film is spent trying to get through situations that wouldn’t have been necessary if only the duo had had a heart-to-heart chat with each other.
Along the way, there are a lot of really inane dialogues (“Women are like buses, if one leaves another one comes along, but ultimately there is only one bus which can take you home”), some awkward acting and a lot of rich, pretty people and palatial homes. In fact some of the best lines in the film are not spoken, but printed on the t-shirts that Jay’s friend wears.
Malhotra spoofs movies like “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” and “Dil to Pagal Hai” and “Dil Chahta Hai“, but fails to rise to the standard that made these films the cult films that they are. The direction is amateurish and the pace of the film could have been shortened considerably without hurting the plot. There are some moments that make you laugh in the first half but the second half just goes downhill. By the time the climax rolls in you don’t care what happens to the two protagonists.
Imran Khan tries to make the best of his role and succeeds to a large extent but Sonam Kapoor is stuck with such a one-dimensional role she can hardly do much. Simran it seems has nothing else in her life except for the idea of love, and a great taste in clothes.
Movie not even worthy of a ranting comment… really pathetic. Money wasted which could and should have otherwise ben employed in making something worthwhile.
Luck: Donβt stretch your luck with this one
Sometime in April, I wrote an entry on this blog, lamenting the dearth of movies at the theatres during the producer-multiplex row. Fridays for me were just not the same without films.
But three months later, I want to eat those words.
Following duds like “Kambakkht Ishq”, “Short Kut”, “Kal Kissne Dekha” and now “Luck”, the movie going experience for me is becoming less enjoyable than ever.
Soham Shah’s “Luck” — starring Imran Khan, Mithun Chakraborty and debutante Shruti Hassan – has the germ of a good idea but is made so tackily it is difficult to find anything you might like.
Sanjay Dutt plays Moosa, a don who runs a global betting syndicate and believes in “betting on people’s luck” (whatever that means).
His assistant, Tawang (Danny Denzongpa) does the field work for him, searching for ‘lucky’ people to participate in a 20-day ‘game’ where they perform death-defying stunts to test their luck.
Imran Khan plays one of these “lucky” and desperate people as does Shruti Hassan, Ravi Kissen and Mithun Chakraborty all of whom fly to South Africa to play.
Mithun, Ravi Kishan and Danny Save the Luck. Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan, Shruti all look like wooden faces.
Salman not Pappu, he can dance – Aamir Khan
It’s official. The ‘Pappu can’t dance’ number in the latest Aamir Khan production wasn’t meant to poke fun at actor Salman Khan.
Aamir, with nephew Imran Khan in tow, set the record straight on Salman’s television gameshow ‘Dus Ka Dum’.
In an episode telecast on Friday, host Salman asked Aamir if he was the Pappu referred to in the song in Imran’s debut film “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na.”
The lyrics refer to someone named Pappu as a “muscular bachelor” with an “MBA” who can’t dance.
Aamir’s answer: Salman cannot be Pappu simply because -
a) Salman does not have an MBA
b) Salman dances extremely well
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The Wall
