Showing posts with label Abhishek Bachchan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abhishek Bachchan. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Looks like GAME over for GAME! Reviews pouring in
India Masala The film is shot beautifully, especially the parts in Istanbul, but the music isn’t that great and the director doesn’t seem to have much of a hold over his project. I suggest you concentrate on the other “game” this weekend.
Taran Adarsh 1.5/5 On the whole, GAME is high on style, but low on substance. Disappointing! (It is worth nothing that the other release F A L T U gets 3.5/5 from Taran!!!)
Koel Purie 1.5/5 Pace. Pace. Pace. Give me pace. I wanted to scream like the "give me red" ad. How can you make a whodunit without being mindful of the cadence?
Nikhat Kazmi 2/5 It's hard to believe Farhan Akhtar is behind this film, Javed Akhtar has scripted the lyrics and Shankar Ehsaan Loy have given the music. So many stalwarts and so little to savour. Can't remember a single song that was incidentally shot in a slipshod manner, including the item number by Sarah Jane Dias. And can't help wonder how Farhan could sign off a film which lacks both soul and substance.
SIFY.COM 2/5 Debut director Abhinay Deo (who has also directed the yet-to-be released Delhi Belly) makes the film slick and stylish, but is lacking in rock-solid content. That is the trouble with most Bollywood thrillers any way; this one is among the many.
mouthshut.com 2/5 Smoky silences, carefully orchestrated background music fishing for dramebaazi and a whirlwind trip through glitzy cities of the world doesn’t compensate for lack of thrills in a murder mystery.
Anupama Chopra 2/5 The actors veer between looking bewildered and grim and the only one who makes any impression is Kangna who brings some energy into this leaden enterprise. I’m going with two stars.
Sukanya Verma 2/5 For its entire obsession with ambiance, Game is, at heart, a frustratingly old-fashioned murder mystery. If you're the kind who follows the genre keenly, by second act, you'll have figured out the wild card and the culprit. Question is do you want to?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
So Aamir has signed on to do Dhoom 3 – rewind back to Dhoom 2!
Reading the news of Aamir signing on to do Dhoom 3, and also that Katrina would be in the film led to a flashback to my attempt to see Dhoom2!
I watched this one in installments. The first 15 minutes go by -
1. Thief defies laws of Physics and para drops right onto a moving train, landing with his feet firmly planted
2. The queen coincidentally has a long face and beaked nose just like the thief – what was he, her long lost son or something?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Pattern recognition? Aishwarya’s past and Abhishek’s future!
Abhi-Aish
If you look closely a pattern emerges. I am not alleging anything, simply pointing out what seems so obvious. Aishwarya does Jodhaa Akbar with Ashutosh Gowarikar. Abhshek is cast in Gowarikar’s next – Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey!
Aishwarya does Guzaarish with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Abhishek is now to act in the next Bhansali film!
Aishwarya does Action Replayy with Vipul Shah. Abhishek is set to act in Vipul Shah’s next!
Coincidence? You be the judge, I am simply presenting facts!
More HERE
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey - reviews 2.5 stars so far
Taran Adarsh Bollywoodhungama 4/5 "It's a film of immense significance which evokes a colossal patriotic fervor."
Phelim O'Neill, Guardian, UK 4/5 "A little-known episiode in India's independence fight gets the Bollywood treatment – and it works a treat"
Khalid Mohamed, PFC 3.5/5 "here a freedom fighter’s life kicks down the front door and sits at the head of the table. If you don’t care to know more about him, it’s your loss entirely."
Nikhat Kazmi, TOI 3.5/5 "it is the director's narrative style and his attempt to re-tell history through a racy-pacy tenor that gives the film its movement and manages to drive the message home. "
Pankaj Sabnani, Glamsham 2.5/5 "Almost the entire second half has poignant moments that keep you hooked. The scene in which the four revolutionaries kill themselves is tear-jerker. "
Raja Sen, Rediff 2.5/5 "The Chittagong Uprising makes for a smashing narrative, and Gowariker plays it loyally enough. It isn't subtle and the direction is straight out of the Jingoism Manual, but because the story itself has such immense meat, it's hard to not get sucked in as you watch it unfold."
Anupama Chopra, NDTV 2.5/5 "Ashutosh recreates this largely forgotten event with sincerity and sweat but unfortunately Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey comes off a high school history lesson: plodding, stilted and in long stretches, staggeringly boring. "
Aniruddha Guha, DNA 3/5 "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey moves you, but sporadically"
Sukanya Venkatraghavan, Filmfare unrated "Trade fads be damned. And as long as there are stories like this waiting to be told, we hope people like Ashutosh Gowariker will tell them."
Shubhra Gupta, Indian Express 2.5/5 " in its execution, the gaps between the intention and the final product : the book’s gripping characters and its rousing patriotic tale never comes fully alive on screen."
Minty Tejpal, Mumbai Mirror unrated "Abhishek carries a knowing beatific look through the film, which gets painful, and Deepika looks gorgeous but disappears halfway through the film."
Komal Nahta, KoiMoi.com 0.5/5 "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is an unmitigated disaster."
And on TV Rajeev Masand - 2.5/5 - he likened it to a school play...
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
A double game no one wants
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara remains unsold, because its producers are strapping it with some dead stock — Is it 'Game' over?
Vickey Lalwani
Posted On Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 02:44:36 AM
Ritesh Siddhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment is playing a dirty double game, which has the industry rather baffled.
Excel Entertainment is insistent that film corporates buy Hrithik-Katrina starrer Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Abhishek-Kangna starrer Game as a twin package deal.
Worse still, Siddhwani is demanding Rs 100 crore (approximately) for the same. The unjustified hubris is proving costly - both Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Game are still unsold.
Mumbai Mirror learns that two leading corporate houses have heard out Siddhwani and not got back to him as yet.
Vickey Lalwani
Posted On Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 02:44:36 AM
Ritesh Siddhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment is playing a dirty double game, which has the industry rather baffled.
Excel Entertainment is insistent that film corporates buy Hrithik-Katrina starrer Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Abhishek-Kangna starrer Game as a twin package deal.
Worse still, Siddhwani is demanding Rs 100 crore (approximately) for the same. The unjustified hubris is proving costly - both Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Game are still unsold.
Mumbai Mirror learns that two leading corporate houses have heard out Siddhwani and not got back to him as yet.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Super sugary chat with Abhi-Aish....
Haters please do not come after me, that is the title of the piece that goes on to mention diabetes etc.:
Super sugary chat with Abhi-Aish....
Haters please do not come after me, that is the title of the piece that goes on to mention diabetes etc.:
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Raavan - Movie review thread
Please post all the media movie reviews of RAAVAN on this thread.
Critic's Rating: 3.5
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Govinda, Ravi Kishan
Direction: Mani Ratnam
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 6 minutes
Story: Cop Dev Pratap Sharma (Vikram) has just one mission in his life. He wants to capture the local outlaw, Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) who may be a Robin Hood for the tribals around, nevertheless, he is a law breaker. More importantly, he has kidnapped the cop's beautiful wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) to avenge a personal grouse and has escaped into the dense jungles. Turn ofevents: the kidnapper falls in love with his trophy victim who too gets indecisive about where her loyalties lie....
Movie Review: The epics return again to contemporary cinema. After a re-telling of the Mahabharata against a political backdrop in Prakash Jha's Raajneeti, cineastes can now feast their eyes on a modern-day rewrite of the Ramayana, against a cops-and-robbers canvas.
Feast? Yes. The high point of Mani Ratnam's film is primarily its visual opulence. The film is literally a work of art where one luminescent frame follows another as the scenes keep shifting from one wet and rocky landscape to another misty mountainscape. You can't seem to get enough of the montages that leave you breathless with the excellent camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan. From the opening sequences where Beera (Abhishek) smashes his boat into wide-eyed Aishwarya's canoe, to the fleeing, flinging, fulminating visage of Aishwarya, captured against wild waterfalls, turbulent tidal rivers, crumbling trees and silken drizzle, the film is a string of breath taking images. So much so, you seem to forget -- and almost forgive -- the fact that the first half hardly has any story. It is essentially just one prolonged chase, where cop Dev (Vikram) relentlessly pursues criminal Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) in order to rescue his wife (Ragini) and book the fugitive who garners great local support.
Movie Review: The epics return again to contemporary cinema. After a re-telling of the Mahabharata against a political backdrop in Prakash Jha's Raajneeti, cineastes can now feast their eyes on a modern-day rewrite of the Ramayana, against a cops-and-robbers canvas.
Feast? Yes. The high point of Mani Ratnam's film is primarily its visual opulence. The film is literally a work of art where one luminescent frame follows another as the scenes keep shifting from one wet and rocky landscape to another misty mountainscape. You can't seem to get enough of the montages that leave you breathless with the excellent camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan. From the opening sequences where Beera (Abhishek) smashes his boat into wide-eyed Aishwarya's canoe, to the fleeing, flinging, fulminating visage of Aishwarya, captured against wild waterfalls, turbulent tidal rivers, crumbling trees and silken drizzle, the film is a string of breath taking images. So much so, you seem to forget -- and almost forgive -- the fact that the first half hardly has any story. It is essentially just one prolonged chase, where cop Dev (Vikram) relentlessly pursues criminal Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) in order to rescue his wife (Ragini) and book the fugitive who garners great local support.
The paper-thin plot in the first half, does get you somewhat restless, despite a seminal scene where Sita-esque Aishwarya suddenly discovers a strange new emotion for a Raavan-esque Abhishek. After having labelled him beastly and brutish, a complete low-life when compared to her devta-like husband Dev, she finds herself being involuntarily drawn towards her kidnapper, despite his muddy visage and his gory past. And herein lies the second hook that draws you to the film: it's revisionist tale of a Sita-like heroine flipping for a Raavan-like anti-hero, even as the traditional hero gets imbued in grey tones.... The anti-hero has always remained an alluring figure in cinema lore and Mani Ratnam carries his charisma forward with Raavan.
The second half of the film does get a semblance of story, with adequate twists and turns which reflect the Surpanakha legend (again revised), the Hanuman-Sita encounter, the Agni-pariksha demand (re-interpreted again as a polygraph test) and the film moves from sheer visual to visceral too. There are enough punches in the second half to keep the momentum going, but by and large, the film scores mostly on art and aesthete. Everything seems to be geared to make Raavan an object d'art, including the music (AR Rahman and Gulzar create a few foot-tapping numbers), the stunts, the cinematography and the no-make-up and heavily-made-up look of Aishwarya and Abhishek respectively. However, a little more attention to the narrative was desperately needed in Raavan.
In terms of performance, Aishwarya stands out as the lead actor, with her competent rendition of a woman who is torn between her love and loyalty towards her husband and her attraction towards a misunderstood brigand, with a heart of gold. Vikram, by and large remains a side hero: somewhat undefined and formless while Govinda's Hanuman-like rendition of the forest guard is flippant. Which brings us to Beera: Abhishek Bachchan is immensely watchable, but he fails to lift the character of the anti-hero to another level altogether. Maybe, a less of multani mitti (mud packs) and `bagad billa' antics would have allowed the natural actor in him to surface and bloom. Also, his other two outings with Mani Ratnam -- Yuva and Guru -- definitely tower above Beera.
But hey, Raavan is chicken soup for the senses. Go, indulge yourself.
A word about:
Performances: Aishwarya leads, Abhishek follows, Vikram lags behind, Govinda's going nowhere.
Story: The screenplay by Mani Ratnam needed more substance and bite.
Cinematography: Absolutely riveting! The camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan is the heart and soul of Raavan.
Music: AR Rahman and Gulzar create an interesting audio track, although Rahman's earlier associations with Mani Ratnam remain unforgettable. Numbers to watch out for: Beera, Behne De and Khili Re.
Styling: Sabyasachi Mukherji's costumes are apt, blending modernity with tradition, just as the film tries to do. Aishwarya's no-make-up look is a winner.
Inspiration: The film is a modern day, revisionist adaptation of the epic, Ramayana.
The second half of the film does get a semblance of story, with adequate twists and turns which reflect the Surpanakha legend (again revised), the Hanuman-Sita encounter, the Agni-pariksha demand (re-interpreted again as a polygraph test) and the film moves from sheer visual to visceral too. There are enough punches in the second half to keep the momentum going, but by and large, the film scores mostly on art and aesthete. Everything seems to be geared to make Raavan an object d'art, including the music (AR Rahman and Gulzar create a few foot-tapping numbers), the stunts, the cinematography and the no-make-up and heavily-made-up look of Aishwarya and Abhishek respectively. However, a little more attention to the narrative was desperately needed in Raavan.
In terms of performance, Aishwarya stands out as the lead actor, with her competent rendition of a woman who is torn between her love and loyalty towards her husband and her attraction towards a misunderstood brigand, with a heart of gold. Vikram, by and large remains a side hero: somewhat undefined and formless while Govinda's Hanuman-like rendition of the forest guard is flippant. Which brings us to Beera: Abhishek Bachchan is immensely watchable, but he fails to lift the character of the anti-hero to another level altogether. Maybe, a less of multani mitti (mud packs) and `bagad billa' antics would have allowed the natural actor in him to surface and bloom. Also, his other two outings with Mani Ratnam -- Yuva and Guru -- definitely tower above Beera.
But hey, Raavan is chicken soup for the senses. Go, indulge yourself.
A word about:
Performances: Aishwarya leads, Abhishek follows, Vikram lags behind, Govinda's going nowhere.
Story: The screenplay by Mani Ratnam needed more substance and bite.
Cinematography: Absolutely riveting! The camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan is the heart and soul of Raavan.
Music: AR Rahman and Gulzar create an interesting audio track, although Rahman's earlier associations with Mani Ratnam remain unforgettable. Numbers to watch out for: Beera, Behne De and Khili Re.
Styling: Sabyasachi Mukherji's costumes are apt, blending modernity with tradition, just as the film tries to do. Aishwarya's no-make-up look is a winner.
Inspiration: The film is a modern day, revisionist adaptation of the epic, Ramayana.
Raavan - Movie review thread
Please post all the media movie reviews of RAAVAN on this thread.
Critic's Rating: 3.5
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Govinda, Ravi Kishan
Direction: Mani Ratnam
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 6 minutes
Story: Cop Dev Pratap Sharma (Vikram) has just one mission in his life. He wants to capture the local outlaw, Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) who may be a Robin Hood for the tribals around, nevertheless, he is a law breaker. More importantly, he has kidnapped the cop's beautiful wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) to avenge a personal grouse and has escaped into the dense jungles. Turn ofevents: the kidnapper falls in love with his trophy victim who too gets indecisive about where her loyalties lie....
Movie Review: The epics return again to contemporary cinema. After a re-telling of the Mahabharata against a political backdrop in Prakash Jha's Raajneeti, cineastes can now feast their eyes on a modern-day rewrite of the Ramayana, against a cops-and-robbers canvas.
Feast? Yes. The high point of Mani Ratnam's film is primarily its visual opulence. The film is literally a work of art where one luminescent frame follows another as the scenes keep shifting from one wet and rocky landscape to another misty mountainscape. You can't seem to get enough of the montages that leave you breathless with the excellent camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan. From the opening sequences where Beera (Abhishek) smashes his boat into wide-eyed Aishwarya's canoe, to the fleeing, flinging, fulminating visage of Aishwarya, captured against wild waterfalls, turbulent tidal rivers, crumbling trees and silken drizzle, the film is a string of breath taking images. So much so, you seem to forget -- and almost forgive -- the fact that the first half hardly has any story. It is essentially just one prolonged chase, where cop Dev (Vikram) relentlessly pursues criminal Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) in order to rescue his wife (Ragini) and book the fugitive who garners great local support.
Movie Review: The epics return again to contemporary cinema. After a re-telling of the Mahabharata against a political backdrop in Prakash Jha's Raajneeti, cineastes can now feast their eyes on a modern-day rewrite of the Ramayana, against a cops-and-robbers canvas.
Feast? Yes. The high point of Mani Ratnam's film is primarily its visual opulence. The film is literally a work of art where one luminescent frame follows another as the scenes keep shifting from one wet and rocky landscape to another misty mountainscape. You can't seem to get enough of the montages that leave you breathless with the excellent camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan. From the opening sequences where Beera (Abhishek) smashes his boat into wide-eyed Aishwarya's canoe, to the fleeing, flinging, fulminating visage of Aishwarya, captured against wild waterfalls, turbulent tidal rivers, crumbling trees and silken drizzle, the film is a string of breath taking images. So much so, you seem to forget -- and almost forgive -- the fact that the first half hardly has any story. It is essentially just one prolonged chase, where cop Dev (Vikram) relentlessly pursues criminal Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) in order to rescue his wife (Ragini) and book the fugitive who garners great local support.
The paper-thin plot in the first half, does get you somewhat restless, despite a seminal scene where Sita-esque Aishwarya suddenly discovers a strange new emotion for a Raavan-esque Abhishek. After having labelled him beastly and brutish, a complete low-life when compared to her devta-like husband Dev, she finds herself being involuntarily drawn towards her kidnapper, despite his muddy visage and his gory past. And herein lies the second hook that draws you to the film: it's revisionist tale of a Sita-like heroine flipping for a Raavan-like anti-hero, even as the traditional hero gets imbued in grey tones.... The anti-hero has always remained an alluring figure in cinema lore and Mani Ratnam carries his charisma forward with Raavan.
The second half of the film does get a semblance of story, with adequate twists and turns which reflect the Surpanakha legend (again revised), the Hanuman-Sita encounter, the Agni-pariksha demand (re-interpreted again as a polygraph test) and the film moves from sheer visual to visceral too. There are enough punches in the second half to keep the momentum going, but by and large, the film scores mostly on art and aesthete. Everything seems to be geared to make Raavan an object d'art, including the music (AR Rahman and Gulzar create a few foot-tapping numbers), the stunts, the cinematography and the no-make-up and heavily-made-up look of Aishwarya and Abhishek respectively. However, a little more attention to the narrative was desperately needed in Raavan.
In terms of performance, Aishwarya stands out as the lead actor, with her competent rendition of a woman who is torn between her love and loyalty towards her husband and her attraction towards a misunderstood brigand, with a heart of gold. Vikram, by and large remains a side hero: somewhat undefined and formless while Govinda's Hanuman-like rendition of the forest guard is flippant. Which brings us to Beera: Abhishek Bachchan is immensely watchable, but he fails to lift the character of the anti-hero to another level altogether. Maybe, a less of multani mitti (mud packs) and `bagad billa' antics would have allowed the natural actor in him to surface and bloom. Also, his other two outings with Mani Ratnam -- Yuva and Guru -- definitely tower above Beera.
But hey, Raavan is chicken soup for the senses. Go, indulge yourself.
A word about:
Performances: Aishwarya leads, Abhishek follows, Vikram lags behind, Govinda's going nowhere.
Story: The screenplay by Mani Ratnam needed more substance and bite.
Cinematography: Absolutely riveting! The camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan is the heart and soul of Raavan.
Music: AR Rahman and Gulzar create an interesting audio track, although Rahman's earlier associations with Mani Ratnam remain unforgettable. Numbers to watch out for: Beera, Behne De and Khili Re.
Styling: Sabyasachi Mukherji's costumes are apt, blending modernity with tradition, just as the film tries to do. Aishwarya's no-make-up look is a winner.
Inspiration: The film is a modern day, revisionist adaptation of the epic, Ramayana.
The second half of the film does get a semblance of story, with adequate twists and turns which reflect the Surpanakha legend (again revised), the Hanuman-Sita encounter, the Agni-pariksha demand (re-interpreted again as a polygraph test) and the film moves from sheer visual to visceral too. There are enough punches in the second half to keep the momentum going, but by and large, the film scores mostly on art and aesthete. Everything seems to be geared to make Raavan an object d'art, including the music (AR Rahman and Gulzar create a few foot-tapping numbers), the stunts, the cinematography and the no-make-up and heavily-made-up look of Aishwarya and Abhishek respectively. However, a little more attention to the narrative was desperately needed in Raavan.
In terms of performance, Aishwarya stands out as the lead actor, with her competent rendition of a woman who is torn between her love and loyalty towards her husband and her attraction towards a misunderstood brigand, with a heart of gold. Vikram, by and large remains a side hero: somewhat undefined and formless while Govinda's Hanuman-like rendition of the forest guard is flippant. Which brings us to Beera: Abhishek Bachchan is immensely watchable, but he fails to lift the character of the anti-hero to another level altogether. Maybe, a less of multani mitti (mud packs) and `bagad billa' antics would have allowed the natural actor in him to surface and bloom. Also, his other two outings with Mani Ratnam -- Yuva and Guru -- definitely tower above Beera.
But hey, Raavan is chicken soup for the senses. Go, indulge yourself.
A word about:
Performances: Aishwarya leads, Abhishek follows, Vikram lags behind, Govinda's going nowhere.
Story: The screenplay by Mani Ratnam needed more substance and bite.
Cinematography: Absolutely riveting! The camera artistry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan is the heart and soul of Raavan.
Music: AR Rahman and Gulzar create an interesting audio track, although Rahman's earlier associations with Mani Ratnam remain unforgettable. Numbers to watch out for: Beera, Behne De and Khili Re.
Styling: Sabyasachi Mukherji's costumes are apt, blending modernity with tradition, just as the film tries to do. Aishwarya's no-make-up look is a winner.
Inspiration: The film is a modern day, revisionist adaptation of the epic, Ramayana.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Raavan - My Review
In a religious country like India, where people have ended up fighting over Rama and Allah, it needs some courage to take up one of the two greatest epics written and show our worshipped Lord Rama having a grey side to him. It takes even more courage to start telling the story from the villain Raavan’s point of view and justify his actions. Mani Ratnam is his latest film does exactly that when he gives the mythological story a realistic setting in today’s world and twists the story a bit to make people sympathize for the villain of the epic.
Abhishek Bachchan plays an outlaw called Beera(Raavan) in the film. Though he goes against the law, the villagers believe in him, his actions, and his ideology which makes him a character like Don Vito Corleone or the Sarkar. The only difference is he is wilder than those. The wildness, ofcourse is to draw parallelism to Raavan’s character in Ramayana. He kidnaps Raagini(Sita) played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to kill her for reasons told later in the film. But instead of killing her, he starts falling for her beauty, her bravery. This is where we see the film getting similar to RGV’s Jungle where the lead bandit started falling for Urmilla Matondkar and starts taking wrong decisions.
Mani Ratnam goes back to what he is most known for and does the best, depicting violence and terrorism on screen. Though Raavan isn’t exactly a film about terrorism, its style is very similar to those. He might not have come back to his real best, but it seems like he is on his right way now after Guru where I thought he completely lost his way and like other directors got pulled and attracted by commercial brand of cinema. With Raavan, he seems to be coming back to his own.
The most pleasing thing in this film is the visuals, the cinematography. Santosh Sivan is really a master of camerawork. He has never disappointed me with his camera work. While Terrorist is his best piece of work for me, Raavan isn’t very far behind. Though shooting infront of the waterfalls, and naturally beautiful scenes makes it easier for him to make the picture look beautiful, he is equally good in indoor scenes and close-up shots. He and Manikandan make the film a visual treat and worth watching just for the visuals alone.
Read more from HERE
Raavan - My Review
In a religious country like India, where people have ended up fighting over Rama and Allah, it needs some courage to take up one of the two greatest epics written and show our worshipped Lord Rama having a grey side to him. It takes even more courage to start telling the story from the villain Raavan’s point of view and justify his actions. Mani Ratnam is his latest film does exactly that when he gives the mythological story a realistic setting in today’s world and twists the story a bit to make people sympathize for the villain of the epic.
Abhishek Bachchan plays an outlaw called Beera(Raavan) in the film. Though he goes against the law, the villagers believe in him, his actions, and his ideology which makes him a character like Don Vito Corleone or the Sarkar. The only difference is he is wilder than those. The wildness, ofcourse is to draw parallelism to Raavan’s character in Ramayana. He kidnaps Raagini(Sita) played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to kill her for reasons told later in the film. But instead of killing her, he starts falling for her beauty, her bravery. This is where we see the film getting similar to RGV’s Jungle where the lead bandit started falling for Urmilla Matondkar and starts taking wrong decisions.
Mani Ratnam goes back to what he is most known for and does the best, depicting violence and terrorism on screen. Though Raavan isn’t exactly a film about terrorism, its style is very similar to those. He might not have come back to his real best, but it seems like he is on his right way now after Guru where I thought he completely lost his way and like other directors got pulled and attracted by commercial brand of cinema. With Raavan, he seems to be coming back to his own.
The most pleasing thing in this film is the visuals, the cinematography. Santosh Sivan is really a master of camerawork. He has never disappointed me with his camera work. While Terrorist is his best piece of work for me, Raavan isn’t very far behind. Though shooting infront of the waterfalls, and naturally beautiful scenes makes it easier for him to make the picture look beautiful, he is equally good in indoor scenes and close-up shots. He and Manikandan make the film a visual treat and worth watching just for the visuals alone.
Read more from HERE
Friday, June 18, 2010
Do Western reviwers treat BW patronizingly?
In Bollywood’s ‘Raavan,’ Abhishek Bachchan a ‘Ham’
By Tripti Lahiri
Mani Ratnam’s “Raavan,” whose story and characters are inspired by the epic ‘Ramayan,’ opens worldwide today. It centers around the triangle between policeman Dev (Vikram), outlaw Beera Munda (Abhishek Bachchan) and Dev’s wife Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), whom Beera kidnaps.
Early reviews are in and most praise the film for being beautifully shot but are mixed on the acting, particularly Mr. Bachchan’s. American reviewers seem to like the film much more than Indian ones do. A separate Tamil version “”Raavanan” also opened today in which Vikram plays the role of the outlaw opposite Ms. Rai Bachchan. India Real Time presents a round-up:
U.S. entertainment trade publication Hollywood Reporter’s Ray Bennet describes “Raavan” as a “pan-Indian saga with epic sweep, intense emotion and gorgeous images.”
Cinematographers Manikandan and Santosh Sivan, production designer Samir Chanda and editor A. Sreekar Prasad come in for high praise. THR says they “serve Ratnam superbly with images, settings and vitality that take one’s breath away.”
Both Bachchans do well in their roles, THR says. Mr. Bachchan’s kidnaps the character played by his wife.
“Bachchan has fun with a character who is fierce, passionate and dangerous but also comic in his self-doubt over whether to kill his captive or make love to her,” says Mr. Bennet, describing Ms. Rai Bachchan in this movie as “a force of nature.”
Courtesy of Reliance Big Pictures
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays Ragini, a policeman’s wife, in “Raavan” and in “Raavanan.”
In this mini-review, the Guardian’s Cath Clarke, however, finds this a film of “innate sexism” and says Mr. Bachchan hams it up excessively in an “absurdly extravagant melodrama.”
On the web site India.com Mihir Fadnavis says the film is a crushing disappointment and gives it only two thumbs up out of a possible (if anatomically impossible) five thumbs.
“Mani Ratnam’s epic retelling of an ancient tale is amalgamated and cut to create a stylized but characterless piece with some spectacular imagery,” writes Mr. Fadnavis. “The film is too celebratory of Bollywood’s good guy-versus-bad guy, buddy-buddy ethos to rise above the limitations of the genre, and too obsessed with its own seriousness to be a truly ’serious’ film.”
In another mini-review, the Los Angeles Times says “Raavan” belongs to Mr. Bachchan’s “exquisite real-life wife Aishwarya Rai” but laments that “it takes a couple of hours to learn whether Beauty can tame Beast.”
On Indian portal Rediff.com, Raja Sen is unhappy with the way the film draws on the epic, saying Mr. Ratnam is excessively literal in his interpretation at times, and gives the film just two out of five stars.
Mr. Ratnam “takes a big chunk of larger-than-life Indian mythology, sloppily swaps antagonist with protagonist, and ends up giving an earnest Bachchan far too much scenery to chew in far too much spotlight,” says Mr. Sen.
Read more HERE
Do Western reviwers treat BW patronizingly?
In Bollywood’s ‘Raavan,’ Abhishek Bachchan a ‘Ham’
By Tripti Lahiri
Mani Ratnam’s “Raavan,” whose story and characters are inspired by the epic ‘Ramayan,’ opens worldwide today. It centers around the triangle between policeman Dev (Vikram), outlaw Beera Munda (Abhishek Bachchan) and Dev’s wife Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), whom Beera kidnaps.
Early reviews are in and most praise the film for being beautifully shot but are mixed on the acting, particularly Mr. Bachchan’s. American reviewers seem to like the film much more than Indian ones do. A separate Tamil version “”Raavanan” also opened today in which Vikram plays the role of the outlaw opposite Ms. Rai Bachchan. India Real Time presents a round-up:
U.S. entertainment trade publication Hollywood Reporter’s Ray Bennet describes “Raavan” as a “pan-Indian saga with epic sweep, intense emotion and gorgeous images.”
Cinematographers Manikandan and Santosh Sivan, production designer Samir Chanda and editor A. Sreekar Prasad come in for high praise. THR says they “serve Ratnam superbly with images, settings and vitality that take one’s breath away.”
Both Bachchans do well in their roles, THR says. Mr. Bachchan’s kidnaps the character played by his wife.
“Bachchan has fun with a character who is fierce, passionate and dangerous but also comic in his self-doubt over whether to kill his captive or make love to her,” says Mr. Bennet, describing Ms. Rai Bachchan in this movie as “a force of nature.”
Courtesy of Reliance Big Pictures
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays Ragini, a policeman’s wife, in “Raavan” and in “Raavanan.”
In this mini-review, the Guardian’s Cath Clarke, however, finds this a film of “innate sexism” and says Mr. Bachchan hams it up excessively in an “absurdly extravagant melodrama.”
On the web site India.com Mihir Fadnavis says the film is a crushing disappointment and gives it only two thumbs up out of a possible (if anatomically impossible) five thumbs.
“Mani Ratnam’s epic retelling of an ancient tale is amalgamated and cut to create a stylized but characterless piece with some spectacular imagery,” writes Mr. Fadnavis. “The film is too celebratory of Bollywood’s good guy-versus-bad guy, buddy-buddy ethos to rise above the limitations of the genre, and too obsessed with its own seriousness to be a truly ’serious’ film.”
In another mini-review, the Los Angeles Times says “Raavan” belongs to Mr. Bachchan’s “exquisite real-life wife Aishwarya Rai” but laments that “it takes a couple of hours to learn whether Beauty can tame Beast.”
On Indian portal Rediff.com, Raja Sen is unhappy with the way the film draws on the epic, saying Mr. Ratnam is excessively literal in his interpretation at times, and gives the film just two out of five stars.
Mr. Ratnam “takes a big chunk of larger-than-life Indian mythology, sloppily swaps antagonist with protagonist, and ends up giving an earnest Bachchan far too much scenery to chew in far too much spotlight,” says Mr. Sen.
Read more HERE
Raavan Box Office reports (please add information to this thread)
B.O. update: 'Raavan' has below the mark opening, reports disappointing
- By Taran Adarsh, June 18, 2010 - 19:36 IST
Raavan The much-anticipated RAAVAN did not fetch the desired start on Friday. While certain big city plexes opened to a 50% to 60% to 70% response, the response at smaller centre plexes and also single screens was much lower, in 20% to 25% to 30% range. Even in Mumbai, which contributes heavily from multiplexes, the occupancy was extremely erratic. In the recent past, films like HOUSE FULL, BADMAASH COMPANY, KITES and RAAJNEETI had opened to a terrific start and the industry was expecting a similar start for RAAVAN. But the reports of RAAVAN -- the audience feedback specifically -- is extremely mixed, tilting towards negative.
RAAVAN has had an extensive release in the Hindi version and therefore, the Friday numbers might be better due to this reason, but the fact remains that the opening day business is below expectations. Now let's see how Saturday and Sunday fares!
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