Milenge Milenge is a poor copy of John Cussack – Kate Beckinsale starrer romantic comedy Serendipity (2001) that was about destiny bringing two lovers back together. But perhaps makers Boney Kapoor and Satish Kaushik were not as lucky to quickly encash on its success as their copy took a good seven years to come on screen. Writer-director Satish Kaushik is predictable as usual with his lead characters – love-crazy girl and a naughty but noble boy.

Milenge Milenge is not only badly written and looks like an amateurish attempt but is completely dated in its approach by Satish Kaushik. The way Kareena’s character is established in the opening credits is quite irritating and the subsequent series of events completely bore you. The film is full of stereotyped characters and monotonous dialogues which would have not worked even back in 2005 had it been released then. Himesh Reshammiya’s music also does not click. The film is shot and edited very inconsistently as well.

If one expects at least the acting to be a good thing about the film then there is disappointment in this department too. Shahid carries a huge Shah Rukh Khan hangover and irritates while Kareena is just about passable. Aarti Chabbria hardly gets any scope. Rest all are plain average.

Even if the film had released six years back, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Supporting actors like Kirron Kher and Satish Shah are reduced to playing caricatures out of Comedy Circus. Watching the size zero queen with plump cheeks and an oddly bulked up Shahid dressed up in singlets is too disturbing a visual to deal with. Songs pop out of nowhere. Performance-wise while Shahid and Kareena are earnest, they just remind us how far they’ve come from their bad dialogue delivery to the Kaminey and Kurbaan days.

The problem with this film is that it’s lacking in basic logic, and that its characters are complete stereotypes. Add to that the fact that Kaushik’s treatment is extremely outdated even for a film that was meant to be released five years ago.

I’m going with two out of five for director Satish Kaushik’s Milenge Milenge. If you’re thinking of checking it out for Shahid and Kareena’s chemistry after Jab We Met, I have a advice for you – DON’T!

If you’re young at heart or a diehard and hopeless romantic, you’d lap up I Hate Luv Storys like a kid laps up his favorite candy. I Hate Luv Storys is a young and vibrant love story with tremendous appeal for the yuppies.
It is titled ‘I Hate Luv Storys’, but the soundtrack of Karan Johar’s production venture is all about love. Composed by the musical duo of Vishal and Shekhar, the film’s music is mushy and melodious.
The I Hate Luv Storys movie stars the chocolate hero, Imran Khan and the perhaps flop actress desperate to get a hit Sonam Kapoor. This movie is an absolute entertainment piece. This film is a fresh attempt by the debutant Punit malhotra though Karan Johar has written scripts for the film. Though the star cast is not commendable yet it can be said for sure that even with mediocre star cast the movie has lived up to the expectation of its audience.

However, if you watch the I Hate Luv Storys movie, you would find that Karan Johar has himself directed the film. The dialogues are filled with fun and are absolutely entertaining. You would also find scenes which gives you splits.

In some parts, Imran is given innumerable signs to move into the direction of love. However, lot of scenes have been borrowed from the other popular Hindi films.
The actor in I Hate Luv Storys movie is shown to be pretty decent. In the title song of the movie, he not only dances well but also looks hot which just makes his fans go crazy. On the other hand, Sonam Kapoor in this film is average but still she tries her best to prove her acting skills. She is improving her acting skills.
Critics are all praise for I Hate Luv Storys produced by Karan Johar and directed by Punit Malhotra. They are of the opinion that youth will enjoy this romantic comedy. The electrifying chemistry of the lead pair Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor, the soothing music and twist and turns of the film are what the audience can look forward to in the film.
On the whole, the movies do have appeal for Youth, who loves candyfloss popcorn movies.
I will give I hate Love Storys 3 star out of 5.

Ravana, this year’s most awaited movie finally make it to cinemas this Friday and it  managed to earn mixed response from the audience. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan reunite to star alongside Tamil superstar Vikram.  Mani this time has written a story line culminating the characters of Robin Hood,  Veerappan and of course our very own Ramayana. The film’s characters have strong shades of grey where the hero is not necessarily a good man and the villain, a bad man.  Director Mani Ratnam is back with undoubtedly his most ambitious project ever, and with Raavan he triumphs. Raavan movie rating has been good overall, though movie review has been varying among viewers.

Academy Award Winner A R Rahman delivers a haunting soundtrack, with lyrics of Gulzar. The picturisation of ‘Beera Beera’ combines Bollywood funk and boy band moves with tribal dance and demonic images.

As I said earlier the Raavan movie earned mixed response from the audience. First to tell you about the weaknesses that it suffered. The story written by Mani had many glitches, though he managed to present a modern adaptation of epic Ramayana with a twist in characters, still it had lot to be asked.

The promos of Raavan may set you thinking about some of the great action sequences in the film but sadly there weren’t any worth talking about. The scenes between Ash and Abhi in the jungle are repeated most of the time. One more thing that the film seriously suffered was the bad dialogue writing. I am amazed how a Mani Ratnam movie can suffer on such a ground. The dialogues were not at all impressive and could not lend any depth to the characters. But all thanks to the beautiful camera handling by Santosh Sivan and V Manikanandan.  The jungle never has looked so beautiful before in any other Indian movie like the way it looked in Raavan. Santosh has nicely used rain, water and natural beauty of woods to give the audience a much needed freshness.

With a running time of just 130 minutes, the film is significantly shorter than most Indian cinema. The interval arrives before you know it, although certain scenes in the final reels fail to maintain the earlier momentum. Since the advent of Indian cinema, the mythological genre has been seen on screen.

Overall, you can watch Raavan but don’t expect high. If you do not expect too high from the film, you will not return disappointed. Watch it for its cinematography and amazing work from Abhishek Bachchan who has delivered very good role of character Raavan.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Director: Renzil D’Silva

Producer: Karan Johar

Banner: Dharma Productions

Star Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Om Puri, Rupinder Nagra, Diya Mirza

Storyline:

Debutant director Rensil D’Silva’s ability to maintain the intense graph of Kurbaan is the biggest highlight of this film.

Avantika played by Kareena comes to Delhi from USA. In Delhi she meets with Ehsaan played by Saif Ali Khan who is a lecturer of Islamic Studies in Delhi University. Avantika also starts working as a professor of Psychology in Delhi University.

They move to US after getting married in Delhi. But later Kareena Kapoor aka Avantika comes to know that Ehsaan was playing a game with her and he is a terrorist and married her to hide his identity from the world. Ehsaan kept her inside the house. Soon Avantika comes to know about the plans of Ehsaan to hijack an airplane……

After an arresting start, the film gets a little shaky. Post interval the pace slackens and the tension between the lead characters becomes monotonous. In the second hour you often find yourself wanting some more action to give some respite from the talk heaviness. The writers run out of surprises in this part of thefilm. Given its grim plot, two hours and forty minutes is way too long for an average cinegoer. A taut, complex film starts culminating into a routine FBI chase. Things however pick up in a lengthy but well-executed climax shot on a subway station.

The movie seems to be any other movie but it has something that will keep you get engaged till the last moment. Salim-Sulaiman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have given again their best. Some songs comes up really melodious. Saif has done a very good job. Kareena looks ok. Kareena backless/topless scene just looks in the poster outside of the theater. But in the movie there is nothing too much to watch about the Kareena’s hot scene. The movie’s cost was around 50 crores and that will come back in the producer’s hands easily. No doubt in that. Even the movie is a directorial debut for Rensil D’Silva, he has done very nice job. Surely Karan Johar shared his experiences with him that also looks on screen. The movie is a mixture of love and terrorism.

Kurbaan works in most parts because the director keeps the cinematic coincidences and liberties to the minimum. And wherever you do sense a leap of faith it is not jarring. Secondly, despite knowing how the characters will react, Rensil manages to shock you with his scenes. Note the moment where Saif reveals his identity. You know what it is all about, yet it hits you hard. Rensil doesn’t digress from his core plot right up to the climax – which might meet with mixed reactions.

However it is Vivek Oberoi who delivers a spontaneous performance. His character gives the film some much-needed energy. Vivek’s part has more range than the lead pair’s. Dia Mirza and Nauheed Cyrusi get the most significant guest appearances of their lives. Om Puri and Kirron Kher are clichéd but deliver some brilliant dialogues.

Salim-Suleiman’s haunting tunes add to the stark premise of the film – especially Ali Maula. Technically the production values are top-notch even though cleverly inspired by Hollywood. Inconsistencies aside, Kurbaan is undoubtedly among the most watchable films of the season.

Kurbaan could have been a tighter and perhaps slightly more engrossing film. But considering it is the director’s maiden effort – full marks to Rensil D’Silva. He does well to stay away from any frothy elements at the cost of sacrificing the mass entertainment value. It’s mostly a gripping thriller with several shock moments.

“Ek” is a typical Deol film, with a lot of action and heavy dialouge bazi. Bobby Deol after a long time returns to action with EK under the command of Sangeeth Sivan. It is more of a modern interpretation of BAMBAI KA BABU and DUSHMAN, having parallels more to DUSHMAN as the family and its problems are what brings about a transformation in the criminal and reforms him to become a Good Samaritan.

The brilliance of the movie from the cinematographic angle appears in patches more so in the evocative shots of the sunset in the villages and the silhouette that it creates, as also in the stunt scenes that Bobby Deol has performed, emphasizing that he is an action hero. The shooting of action scenes in two tone colors may have been done with the idea to create an impact, but it is not able to live up to it.

While Sangeeth Sivan had drawn parallels with GHAJINI for his film EK, and in terms of the action it may have parallels, the comparison flounders on the music front. A R.Rahman can enliven an action film by creating scope of music as he did in GHAJINI, but Pritam has not been able to do it in EK, the music does not have the same punch.

The redeeming feature of the film is the brilliant cameo that Nana Patekar has performed, and he has again underlined the fact that even though he made his debut in 1980s, he still can give other actors a run for their money. The punch lines of EK have been reserved for him. It indeed is a stark reality that three Ps Police, politician and the prostitute define the space in which the common governance operates these days.

May be there is a need to revisit the notion of rural landscape with the mustard fields of Punjab, as it has become such a flogged horse that the element of novelty as a cinematic oeuvre has been lost. In an action film it is rarely that the female lead star gets equal footage, and same has happened with Shriya Saran.

While Nandu, the character played by Bobby Deol is an orphan, had his process of indoctrination into a criminal been dealt in slightly more detailed manner, may be the character of Nandu could have drawn more empathy from the audience.

While the multiplex audiences may not be that receptive to EK, it would surely be able to develop a bond with the audience in the India outside the metropolitan and multiplex cities. The dialogues of the film would ensure that.

For the fans of Bobby Deol and Nana Patekar this film is a must dekho, more so because of the fact that in its original avatar as a Telugu film it was a super hit, and this is the kind of audience that also exists in the Hindi film world outside the metropolitan cities. But its high time for Bobby Deol to take some wise decisions in his career.

Rating – 2.5 / 5
By:Bollywood Trade News Network