kichdi Reviews

Wild Things (1998)

Too repeative & criminal winning in the end,

[1/10 · 2 October 2017]

I watched Wild Things, Wild things 2, Wild things 3 & Wild things foursome. I watched all 4 in one calendar day. All of them have almost identical story lines with the common factors being a detective following up on the very young crime suspects, all of them have girls as criminal masterminds, protagonist & villain actually being hand in glove. Both meeting each other + anybody who also happens to be in the scheme joining for a sexual threesome in all the movies before greed taking over their friendship / relationship. At least one person dies after the threesome. The detective who usually looks very sincere to the department till the middle of each movie is actually a player too.

Sheer disrespect to elders & parents are part of the script in all the parts. The girls look gorgeous but each usurping the other, cheating, conning, murder & lies are shown in all the parts, Today's youngsters will be badly influenced to this muck. I do not know if the directors are same for all but Mandalay films are common. I must write there is no goodness or moral values at all in any of them. Cheap crappy movies are churned out just for polluting young minds in the form of movies by this production house. The only knowledge you can gain as a young mind by watching these crap is to cheat your elders, murder, fake murder, beat the system to escape with the loot. In all movies criminal wins, if it were 3 out of 4 or 2 of 2 it would have been okay but in all 4 deceit wins. This actually is like showing young minds to be a villain to be rich. Shame..

The Stoneman Murders (2009)

Very good movie based partially on a real life incident

[8/10 · 21 September 2017]

For me movies are all about art, acting & the quality of story. In earlier times there were plays, adaptions of epics on stage, adaptions of succcessful novels also which were all so artistic to watch live. With time & slowly stage plays giving way to movie halls then multiplexes & now even our drawing rooms. The essence of the stage where acting, art & story are still intact. Everybody be it the rich or poor, young or the old wants to spend time watching something good for his / her time. The very fact somebody wants to spend time & money on something it has to be worthy of the art. This is where Stoneman murders scores high, the movie has all the ingredients of a good urban mystrey thriller, it is not slow paced, it moves quickly & mostly shot in the dark streets of Bombay. The movie really transports you to the 1980s, I was in Bombay at that time so I could really feel the real portrayal of the city. Acting of all actors were good, none outclassing the other. Manish Gupta the director has few good movies to his credit, I watched this & Rahasya in both the movies I could see he has a very good editing ability. In many thrillers I have noticed the editing or story gives way & the movie looks a bit flat on the plot. Some of the things look unrealistic but in this everything looks real. It is time we value actors not stars like in stage shows where people used to value the actors. Stars are celebrities they hardly know how to portray realistically on screen.

Stoneman murders is a must watch movie, hope I find few more thrillers like this to watch on free time.

Rahasya (2015)

Good thriller

[8/10 · 20 September 2017]

Rahasya is a very good thriller, till the last few minutes the real culprit cannot be identified, the story is well written. Chetan who is named right from the start is actually dead & has almost no role more than a minute of screen time. The detective played so well by Kay Kay actually at one time feels he is like a dog trying to catch his own tail. The best & most emotive of all actors was the role played by Ashwini as Remi fernandes. She could outclass even Kay Kay & Tisca. It is time we watch these kinds of movies than the 3 cheap Khans in their dumb movies. Rahasya is a must watch.

Mom (I) (2017)

Sri Devi all the way

[7/10 · 13 July 2017]

Mom was all about Sri Devi right from the start to the end. Her acting was way too good, the crying scene looked so real that it would sweep all awards this year if the judges are sane enough to judge proper human emotions. The movie was a big test for the very good actors like Nawaz, Sri Devi & Akshay Khanna. The lady stole the thunder of her male counterparts. The gap in acting abilities seem to be too wide. The best scene of the movie was the eerie rape scene shot from the top in dark deserted roads of New Delhi.

The worst part of the movie is there was no suspense at all, right from the rape scene one could judge the ending & the story was really too bland. It is time Sri Devi is seen on screen more often in powerful roles, fans miss her. I watched Mom the day of release as we see art in motion with her on the screen, all new actors look too inferior to her. Amithabh is the only actor who comes close to her in acting abilities.

Te3n (2016)

Good story but very poor voice of Amitabh

[5/10 · 18 September 2016]

Te3n is a good movie with fairly good acting by all the 3 protagonists, none of them looked very good but Amitabh was still the best of the 3. It is a story of tit for tat kind thriller. The weakest link was Amitabh's old man voice, I do not know who made him talk with such rubbish voice or it is his own making, his voice is a shame nowadays in movies. Earlier he would talk so clearly & also when delivering old Deewar's dialogues which he is requested to mouth them time and again, he delivers those dialogues so clearly but wonder what happens in new movies he is not a shade of what he was as an actor and for his voice. Nawaz & Vidya's voices were so normal but Amithabh's was never. He is whispering dialogues nowadays.

Pink (III) (2016)

Acting is good but dialogues are not good for a courtroom saga

[8/10 · 18 September 2016]

Watched Pink just for Amitabh Bachchan, it was a good experience especially after watching poor movies like Piku & Shamitabh. In the 3 girls only Tapsee Pannu was noteworthy, Andrea really had nothing to emote & she was like an extra without her also the movie would have been same. The bald lawyer who was against Amitabh in arguments was very good, he really stepped on the plate to perform so well. The 3, Amitabh, Tapsee & the lawyer were the top 3 performers acting wise. The movie really failed in getting proper loud dialogues for an intense court room drama, the old Amitabh movies of 70s & 80s were way better in dialogue deliveries. Court room dramas should always have good dialogues but this seriously lacks the punch, the sound & fluency. Many of the scenes really lacked proper emotion, the ailing lady dies but Amitabh her caretaker is resting in his sofa, the emotions are too westernized like most modern Bollywood movies. I am never a fan of the modern movies ending with titles going up & a smaller video showing a flashback / song / poems. Movies should end more realistically, these rotten things actually rob the fond memories of watching a movie & carrying the story home in your mind.

Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)

Anil Kapoor & Ranveer singh rock

[7/10 · 14 June 2015]

The movie was good with all the millionaire families getting together in a cruise ship. Anil Kapoor was simply fantastic along with Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Cobra & Sheffali Shetty. DDD was worth watching for the acting & the decent storyline with some comedy expressions. Anushka's role was so minuscule that she could not show her acting ability. DDD is second only ZNMD of the same director. Riddhima Sud as Noori was nice, she being such a fresh face proved that she could act.

The ending of DDD was poor with the entire family jumping in a lifeboat to save Ranveer singh was robbed out of Tin Tin adventure stories, I wish the director was more mature in ending such a decent movie. The family being chased by coast guards of a western nation looked stupid. Pluto the Dog could have been given more role. Aamir Khan's narration was good though.

The Lunchbox (2013)

Nimrat Kaur towers over Irafan & Nawaz

[4/10 · 14 June 2015]

I would have given a higher rating had the movie ended in a proper way, it leaves you guessing the main events which had to follow. The movie could have been extended by 5-7 more minutes to make it look worthwhile. After watching the movie for over a 100 minutes the viewer has to guess the end is a very bad idea by the filmmaker, that too of an important scene where the lead casts were to meet.

Nimrat Kaur's acting was superb as a young housewife, Irfan was his usual self with no variety at all in his acting. Irfan is one actor in his decade long acting career you will see him with dead looks & same slow expressions throughout his career. He was a perfect fit for a govt. officer's role though. Nawaz had nothing of note to do in the entire movie. The upper floor aunty was not to be seen at all, but it was good to hear her advices. Story was snail paced, realistic, highlighting the dabbawala system of Bombay, everything looked good until the ending robbed of all the valuable time, it looked a waste to watch this movie.

3 stars for Nimrat & 1 for the story.

Gabbar Is Back (2015)

Suman Talwar (Telugu superstar) Vs Akshay Kumar

[2/10 · 25 May 2015]

Gabbar is watchable only in parts, the movie is so bad & repetitive Bollywood fare against corruption. This movie could have been professional but the director messes the few good patches also with extreme masala.

Shruti looks decent in this movie but does not seem to be dubbing her own voice, she is mouthing but voice is not in sync in many of her dialogues. The biggest plus is Akshay Vs Suman Talwar's dialogues, apart from that the movie is not worth watching. All said, this movie is way more watchable than Happy New Year, Kick, Ek Tha Tiger & also the stupid PK. Suman Talwar should be roped in as a main villain in Hindi movies as Prakash Raj looks to be repetitive & boring with every film. Akshay Kumar is also not in his best, he was better in Holiday. His forte nowadays seems to be patriotic stories, he is following the footsteps of Sunny deol & Mr. Bharat (Manoj Kumar). My 1 star for Akshay & 1 star for Suman Talwar. Nothing for the story & other casts.

Rang Rasiya (2008)

A must watch

[9/10 · 17 May 2015]

Rang Rasiya is a movie everybody should watch, the lead played by Randeep Hooda & the talented beauty Nandana Sen. The movie takes you through the late 18th century & early 19th century when religious vandals ruled freedom of speech, art & expression. Raja Ravi Verma championed this cause & eventually won the battle. Rang Rasiya is a masterpiece which is on par with the greatest of world cinema or even better than most. The narration is so smooth, acting is superb, sets dating back over a century is also so immaculate & sex is refreshing to see in Indian cinema. Randeep & Paresh have done superbly well. Nandana looks stunning throughout the movie so is the Scottish girl. Hope there are more movies like this coming which are true to the script.

Hunterrr (2015)

Radhika & Gulshan rock

[8/10 · 7 May 2015]

This was the first movie which I saw Radhika Apte act, she has such a nice cosy voice, high sex appeal & looks to be the best actress of this generation with her high quality acting. He looks so real & girl next door. Gulshan just takes to acting like a duck taking to water. Gulshan is superb as Mandar the Vasu (womanizer), his unsure ways of approaching unknown girls & invariably coming up trumps was superbly portrayed. Hunterrr is a superb sex comedy minus the over the top double meanings & crappy acting like in Masti & Grand masti. Hunterrr rocks because it is so realistic & does not go overboard throughout. All the star cast did decent job but the lead pair were simply superb. The drawback of Hunterrr is it is not a seamless movie, there are so many flashbacks varying from few months to few years, this all could have well been avoided. In overall it is a highly recommended movie.

Queen (2013)

The best movie of the year Kangana rules the Khans

[9/10 · 30 December 2014]

Queen is a movie which is so simple, real & touching to say the least. This movie is minus the extravagant action, skimpy clothes, guns & all the billionaire lifestyles of Indians abroad. The story starts so simple & ends simple passing a message that a girl's dreams are also to be respected not just the man's. People who have been abroad can relate to this story even more than those who have lived all their lives in India. It is also nice to watch a movie where the heroine is not a sati savitri type, she lives with men, makes male friends, kisses a friend & does not even worry. Sets the trend for girls to live their life freely.

The biggest plus of the movie is the acting of all the cast, a very simple yet effective storyline & the best of all is it is minus the pomp of a typical bollywood movie.

The most disgusting scene in the movie is where a fish's eye pops out in Kangana's plate.

It is time Kangana's movies are followed by the sensible audience discarding the Khans.

Overall a must watch movie & this is not for front benchers.

The Villain (2014)

Not a thriller by any means

[4/10 · 24 October 2014]

Ek Villain is actually just a drama, not a thriller by any means, the killer is known right when Ritesh is shown on screen for the first time. The story could have had a lot many twists but unfortunately it had nothing to keep you glued to the seats. Even after on screen death of the heroine she keeps surfacing on screen as flashback scenes are shown in between & even in the end. This makes the viewer feel as if she is alive throughout the movie. Acting is bland from all, nothing even remotely good, cannot be appreciated, none of the cast had anything to show, best of them was of course Shraddha Kapoor who has a good screen presence & has a nice smile. The boss of Guru & the policeman were the worst actors one can see on screen, they just had no emotions nor their dialogue could be taken seriously.

The saving grace of the movie was the train scene where Shraddha does very well & also Siddharth shows a bit of acting. Direction of the movie is too bad, throughout the movie there is flashback & as a result the plot is fully mashed up. Not worth watching unless if you want to kill time or want to watch only the train scene.

Khosla Ka Ghosla! (2006)

Good movie

[8/10 · 5 October 2014]

The movie is very natural & is very authentic. This is the kind of movies we should expect to watch these days after the demise of Rajesh Khanna who acted in so many master pieces till 1980s. Khosla ka Ghosla strikes a cord with the urban middle class, with no bravado, no super human efforts this movie was way more realistic than the khan trashes which keep coming out these days. Anupam Kher was the actual lead as a defeated head of the family, Navin Nischol was at his best, bringing in all his 30 years experience of acting to the table, easily he was the best of the lot. Tara Sharma was at her best too, she was the best newcomer, her chirpy acting made the movie look more nicer than it is. The amounts mentioned in the movie should have been a little more realistic, as no middle class educated family would take so many risks for US$ 20,000 (12 lakhs)even 8 years before, the amount could have been more.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)

Very good movie spoilt with frequent chaotic lines thrown in

[8/10 · 20 September 2014]

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a very nice movie with limited songs, only Spanish-Hindi mix song was good, others are best forgotten. Acting wise Hrithik was good, Abhay & Farhan were good too. The movie was like a remake of holiday English movies but was refreshing with nice expressive acting. The biggest minus point of the movie was frequent poetic lines being uttered by Farhan Akthar, his weak voice was like adding insult to injury with chaotic lines which were not required at all for this genre of movie. It looked some student was reading & saying the lines, utter rubbish. Farhan was over indulging in the making of this movie, the lines could have been written by some noted dialogue writer like Kader Khan & uttered in background by Amitabh Bachchan who has the tact to utter dialogues.

Satyagraha (2013)

Rubbish Movie, is a Hinglish movie, not chaste Hindi.

[1/10 · 26 July 2014]

Satyagraha has to be one of the worst movies, the language in which it is made will surprise you, all the dialogues have English words thrown in, the movie is not at all a Hindi movie. It would be better to call it Hinglish movie, the English which is used is also of high quality at times that an average village will not be able to understand. A Hindi movie should have only Hindi words. Amitabh despite his command of Hindi is uttering dialogues laced with English even for basic words.

Amitabh looks a shadow of his glorious days in the movie & also there is no screen time for him. All other actors look awful in their performance. The story is so weak that for almost anything the local public of Amibikapur depend on the old Amitabh & Ajay Devgn as if they do not have anything else to do in their lives. Add insult to injury Manoj Bajpai being a home minister easily overrules the chief minister of the state on every decision & the CM is always letting the Home minister to take all decisions. Prakash Jha the director seems to have forgotten ABCD of directing a movie, he has robbed the entire storyline of Anna Hazare's & Arvind Kejriwal's movement.

Dosti (1964)

Good movie, not great

[4/10 · 20 April 2013]

Dosti is a good movie with an ordinary storyline but the 2 young boys look as if they are more gay partners than thick friends. Finally, when they unite the old lady "Mausi" saying you both live together adds to the agony. The "Raj kumari" young girl from the palatial villa falling sick & dying for 2 roadside singers is just undigestable. The crippled youngster Ramu who is shown as an exceptional student is being persuaded to study more by the school, neighbors, his friend & everybody in the movie. None of the cast did anything exceptional, it just is a flawed storyline & an over hyped movie. The movie is for week hearted hungry people who live on mercies.

Talaash: The Answer Lies Within (2012)

Good Movie - Aamir Khan all the way

[8/10 · 1 December 2012]

The movie is good, Aamir Khan delivers a good performance. He has no style, no airs, no over heroism, plays like a real cop. Technically the movie is very good & realistic but the story in the climax really makes you feel odd. If you believe in occult sciences then you would rate it 9 or 10 but my rating cannot cross 8. Rani too plays well but it is a Aamir Khan show. He is the best actor of this generation (who started careers after 1985), one gets the feeling no other actor of this generation would have done so perfectly without any style & unrealistic heroism. Despite being a story which revolves the life of a cop there is only 1 hit (not even a fight) in the movie. SRK, Saif & Salman are like ants infront of this giant.

Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)

Amitabh Rules

[7/10 · 17 August 2012]

Amar Akbar Anthony (AAA) cannot be rated AAA for the movie it is but anybody can rate AAA for Amitabh Bachchan's acting abilities. When Amitabh plays he can put all the cast of any movie aside & he alone reign it. This was evident for the umpteenth time by the supreme star he is. His comedy was superb, his command over Hindi & English are so effortlessly shown. His tapori Hindi of a Bombaiyya Christian suited him so well, no other actor including Rajesh Khanna (another superb star) could not have played so effortlessly. The movie is considered a classic because it was the trendsetter of those times, then a lot of movies like AAA came with different casts, none had the quality of AAA and the versatility of Amitabh Bachchan. Cheap imitations make this movie a deja vu feeling for many, as so many came & failed. The audience those days had a fresh feel with this story which was based on deceit, thrill, comedy, drama, chase & good songs. When you finish watching the movie you will only be appreciating Amitabh's acting ability. Without him or a lesser hero this movie would surely have failed. With him it was a blockbuster.

Aks (2001)

Amitabh was superb

[5/10 · 16 August 2012]

This movie is very dark, personally I do not like dark movies. The actors especially Amitabh has done superb, his all round talent was exhibited in this movie, that no other actor could have done justice like he did. He played a split personality for the entire second half of the movie. Manoj Bajpai acted second best, he really plays like a villain with an eerie laugh. Manoj Bajpai is lot more talented than all the Khans of Bollywood, unfortunately we do not seem to respect real actors like him but time pass entertainers like SRK, Saif, Aamir and Salman. This movie is full of Amitabh, when the supreme actor of world cinema acts, only you can do is keep watching him & admire.

The ending of Aks was a big let down, with all the confusion above the hill where the climax was shot. The "Atman" of Manoj Bajpai jumps to his younger brother and then in the final scene to the junior police officer is hard to believe. It was shown as if the evil can occupy anybody, anytime.

Chhoti Si Baat (1976)

Top class movie

[8/10 · 6 August 2012]

This movie is all about a shy boy & a girl who taunts him but is actually in Love with him. Amol Palekar the hero keeps following her (Vidya Sinha), she knows he follows her all the way to her office, she enjoys his attention, at times she tries to draw his attention more by asking for time & all but the too timid hero does not react immediately but keeps rehearsing in front of his mirror at home. Amol Palekar meets an Army colonel retd. (Ashok Kumar) who has started a personality development school in Khandala a hill station near Bombay. He teaches Amol Palekar to increase his self esteem & be confident in his approach. Choti Si Baat is a very neat Love story & also a very good motivating movie. A Must watch for all movie goes in the world.

The flip side is - too many visualisations (The hero keeps visualising sequences like Vidya hugging him & all) this could easily have been done away with.

The added bonus to a wonderful movie is the songs, especially the one by Hema & Dharmendra.

Family: Ties of Blood (2006)

AMITABH was the only actor in this bad movie

[4/10 · 3 August 2012]

Family is a poor movie with some of the worst acting by most cast, Aryeman the ever wrong doer of the movie, Akshay Kumar who has forgotten all his so-called acting skills, Bhumika chawla who is as bad as ever. The only actor who could act was Amitabh Bachchan who is a thoroughbred, like billions of his fans I watched this crappy movie only for the legend called Amitabh.

There is too much of violence in the movie, it is not for children. Amitabh as the villain plays superbly, his arrogance, style & dialogues tower like a lighthouse amidst pitch darkness. No wonder he is the most supreme actor in world cinema. Contrast to this angry old man role with Viruddh where he plays a very meek old man & you will know what Amitabh is all about. Phenomenal to say the least. The best scene being Amitabh pouring a jug full of water on the head of Kader Khan.

Family has no punch, the script is shoddy, Kader Khan & Raza Murad have been wasted. The movie is very badly directed & one gets the feeling that Raj Kumar Santoshi might have directed this movie in sleep. You just cannot believe he is the one who directed Damini a realistic & hard hitting movie. Not every actor is as lucky as Akshay Kumar is, his father in law being Rajesh Khanna, the actor who is as good as Amitabh is, but Akshay seemed to have learnt nothing from his legendary Rajesh Khanna. Akshay is a very poor hero who just cannot act or emote. The worst part played was by the squint eye Aryeman who cannot even open his eyes fully.

Viruddh... Family Comes First (2005)

Very poor Movie, Awful

[1/10 · 2 August 2012]

Viruddh is movie about a middle class family fighting against a state home minister's son who mindlessly murders a pub crawling John Abraham who plays the son of Amitabh & Sharmila. The story is too small, the entire film drags, drags and drags till the end. First half is very boring, the movie starts only few minutes before the interval.

Movie making has hit its rock bottom in Bollywood nowadays,entire duration of the movie there is background music which is really irritating, it gives one a feeling of watching a TV serial than a movie starring the best actors of yester years.

Despite the slowness there are innumerable flaws in the movie, John Abraham narrates the entire movie to audience, he even continues his shoddy narration even after his death, this time as a ghost. The court releases Amitabh after murdering the home minister's son (it is good to know, but cannot be a reality). When the cops come to arrest Amitabh for killing the minister's son, Sharmila hands over Blood pressure tablets to the policeman as if he is taking her husband on a tour & he is the caretaker. Amitabh too hand over her tablets to a roadside ruffian criminal mechanic to give her daily dosage tablets, as if he is her caretaker. The only motive of the movie was to show sympathy to the elderly couple other than that there was no story at all.

Talented actor like Prem Chopra is wasted in the movie. A meek & deflated Amitabh does not give any good value. Even this 1 star is for his acting ability. The quality of today's cinema is really very low, the non stop background music & slow narration are really painstaking. I do not remember a decent ABCL movie till date, this is one of the worst movies.

36 Ghante (1974)

Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt & Danny at their best

[10/10 · 1 August 2012]

If this movie is not rated 10/10 then no other movie deserves 10/10 it is as simple as that. 36 Ghante is a flawless movie based on real life situation of a happy family. 3 convicts keep the family as their captive by forcibly entering the house, Sunil Dutt, Danny & Ranjit play their roles superbly. Raaj Kumar's performance is simply outstanding in the movie as a family head. Danny's restless monkey like antics were the very best in the movie, I think he equals Amjad Khan in Sholay, he really looked an eerie monkey like dangerous criminal. 36 Ghante is a must watch for any cinema lover, a masterpiece. Raaj Tilak who has some ordinary movies to his credit stroked gold with this superb movie, all the cast of the movie played perfectly to the simple story line.

Khamosh (1986)

Amol Palekar the best

[7/10 · 1 August 2012]

Khamosh being a murder mystery it had a bit too many people in the movie, at least known B-grade actors. Naseeruddin Shah's hype as a good actor fell flat for the umpteenth time in his career. He can be rated as a poor actor, his role could have been played better by Om Puri who looks more strict. Amol Palekar as usual towers among the the other cast of the movie, he delivers sensible dialogues & is an integral part of the storyline. His expressions were of a shaken man is what a movie goer can carry with himself when a person gets fixed in an incident like in the movie. Realistic expressions make an actor worth taking note of and the movie worth watching. Khamosh is a must watch for suspense thriller fans.