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Just Watched: Dum Maaro Dum
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, the Indian film industry was in the hands of an actor called Amitabh Bachchan, a man who had captivated many with his brilliant performances in films like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Don and Trishul. There was something different in the characters he portrayed on screen for his roles always had this element of rage about it, something that led his many similar portrayals to be called the ‘angry young man’ roles, performances which made the man become the legend that he is now.
Abhishek Bachchan, on the other hand, hasn’t really had his father’s luck, though he did have a purple patch of sorts after starting out disastrously. He gave some gritty performances in films like Yuva, Sarkar, Guru, Sarkar Raj and even Delhi-6 (a film that I actually liked) but then there wasn’t a lot more from him after so much promise. Of late, he has been reduced to playing some horrible roles. With Dum Maaro Dum, he changes that and he does so by channeling his father’s ‘angry young man’. It isn’t like he was as magical as the Senior Bachchan, but then, it is the best that has been seen from him in a very long time. For me, Abhishek’s portrayal of ACP Vishnu Kamath has got to be amongst the most powerful and gritty performances in a Hindi film this year.
Other than Abhishek Bachchan, the only other performance that actually manages to grab your attention is that of Prateik Babbar’s. Rana Daggubati was surprisingly good but I wasn’t really interested as the dubbing was preposterous. The young lad has shown a lot of promise in the little he has down and I’m sure he has a very bright future. The performances by Bipasha Basu, Govind Namdeo and Aditya Pancholi are adequate enough for the film’s mostly tight script.
As I just mentioned, most of the script is tight but the smoothness is affected towards the end. This is one of the film’s biggest weaknesses. The way the film goes for the first hour and a half, you don’t really expect an ending that is a drag. The film could have ended beautifully at least an hour early but I guess that’s asking for too much. The direction by Rohan Sippy is very good but then again, it is Shridhar Raghavan’s script that makes the film worth a watch. By the way, I feel Rohan Sippy (@rohansippy) could have done a very good job by putting his social media skills to good use by using Twitter’s ‘Sponsored Tweets’ feature. I won’t go into the details, but a little thinking will tell you what I mean. Also, I would like to reiterate what I read somewhere- even if an item song as a siren like Deepika Padukone in it, a potty reference in it doesn’t really go down too well. Just saying. There is this very well executed chase scene too and that only adds to the film’s value.
All in all, Dum Maaro Dum could have been much better but what you get is a pretty good flick. Abhishek Bachchan lives for another day.
On that note, I conclude by giving you one of his best lines in the film-
“Aaj kal gunde bhi Facebook aur Twitter par hain.” (“Nowadays, even criminals are on Facebook and Twitter.”)
I just had to quote this, social media fiend that I am.
Personal Rating: 8.0/10

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, the Indian film industry was in the hands of an actor called Amitabh Bachchan, a man who had captivated many with his brilliant performances in films like Zanjeer, Deewar, Sholay, Don and Trishul. There was something different in the characters he portrayed on screen for his roles always had this element of rage about it, something that led his many similar portrayals to be called the ‘angry young man’ roles, performances which made the man become the legend that he is now.

Abhishek Bachchan, on the other hand, hasn’t really had his father’s luck, though he did have a purple patch of sorts after starting out disastrously. He gave some gritty performances in films like Yuva, Sarkar, Guru, Sarkar Raj and even Delhi-6 (a film that I actually liked) but then there wasn’t a lot more from him after so much promise. Of late, he has been reduced to playing some horrible roles. With Dum Maaro Dum, he changes that and he does so by channeling his father’s ‘angry young man’. It isn’t like he was as magical as the Senior Bachchan, but then, it is the best that has been seen from him in a very long time. For me, Abhishek’s portrayal of ACP Vishnu Kamath has got to be amongst the most powerful and gritty performances in a Hindi film this year.

Other than Abhishek Bachchan, the only other performance that actually manages to grab your attention is that of Prateik Babbar’s. Rana Daggubati was surprisingly good but I wasn’t really interested as the dubbing was preposterous. The young lad has shown a lot of promise in the little he has down and I’m sure he has a very bright future. The performances by Bipasha Basu, Govind Namdeo and Aditya Pancholi are adequate enough for the film’s mostly tight script.

As I just mentioned, most of the script is tight but the smoothness is affected towards the end. This is one of the film’s biggest weaknesses. The way the film goes for the first hour and a half, you don’t really expect an ending that is a drag. The film could have ended beautifully at least an hour early but I guess that’s asking for too much. The direction by Rohan Sippy is very good but then again, it is Shridhar Raghavan’s script that makes the film worth a watch. By the way, I feel Rohan Sippy (@rohansippy) could have done a very good job by putting his social media skills to good use by using Twitter’s ‘Sponsored Tweets’ feature. I won’t go into the details, but a little thinking will tell you what I mean. Also, I would like to reiterate what I read somewhere- even if an item song as a siren like Deepika Padukone in it, a potty reference in it doesn’t really go down too well. Just saying. There is this very well executed chase scene too and that only adds to the film’s value.

All in all, Dum Maaro Dum could have been much better but what you get is a pretty good flick. Abhishek Bachchan lives for another day.

On that note, I conclude by giving you one of his best lines in the film-

“Aaj kal gunde bhi Facebook aur Twitter par hain.” (“Nowadays, even criminals are on Facebook and Twitter.”)

I just had to quote this, social media fiend that I am.

Personal Rating: 8.0/10

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Just Watched: Rann

Why does Ram Gopal Varma continue to surprise me when I least expect him to? The man, whom I have always considered to be one of the most underrated directors in the Hindi film industry always comes good when he isn’t in the mood to goof around, which is exactly what has happened here.

Hadn’t seen anything made by him since Sarkar Raj, another film which was quite engaging with its wonderful setting and performances. With Rann, RGV takes Indian cinema to a place which has been discussed, albeit only briefly – the role of the media in our day-to-day lives. The way he has put together this script is very commendable. While the film does start a tad slowly, it picks up pace after the first 30 minutes and the end-result is something that gets one’s train of thought in an entirely different direction altogether. The brilliant direction apart, this film also boasts of some superb performances from Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal, Rajat Kapoor, Mohnish Behl, Riteish Deshmukh, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and Sudeep. Sudeep, in fact, is excellent as Bachchan’s brash yet reluctant son. The background score of the film is perfect for what it tries to portray and the cinematography is wonderful too. Basically, this film is a must watch for the thinking Indian for the way it shows the media tends to behave of late. Excellent fare.

Personal Rating: 8.3/10

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Just Watched: Paa

After hearing a lot of praise for this film, I finally went and watched it with my family. My mother’s reaction expressed more or less the same opinion that I had of the film — it was nothing but a form of emotional blackmail. This, mind you, doesn’t mean that the film isn’t good. In fact, it is a very interesting watch. The problem with it is the wafer-thin script, where there was a lot of scope for improvement. The direction isn’t all that good. The best thing about this film is the acting. Amitabh Bachchan as the 13-year old Progeria patient Auro is outstanding, this performance only confirms the fact that the man is a genius. Abhishek Bachchan is top-notch but has some really weird dialogues. (“Thank God I wasn’t wearing a condom!” –Really now?) Vidya Balan is quite good but rather annoying at times. Paresh Rawal and Arundhati Naag are adequate in their roles. The kid who plays Auro’s best-friend is really nice. This is one film that needs to be watched at least once, for Amitabh Bachchan if not anyone else.

Personal Rating: 6.5/10

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Just Watched: Aladin

And I thought I will get to watch Inglourious Basterds. Thanks to scheduling errors, I had to endure this farce in Ahmedabad after the end-semesters were done away with. Kids will love it but I hated it. What was Amitabh Bachchan doing in this one? One word- pathetic.

Personal Rating: 3.4/10

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