Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns - Twisted Tale

 I just loved the First installment of this movie - Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster. The story of intrigue, deception and betrayal was woven so beautifully in to the fabric of a small town UP Royal Family, that one could almost empathize with them. The Rich and royalty have money and servants who are fanatically loyal to them, but they have different problems. Loneliness, betrayal and a longing for the good old days when they were kings and treated like one. But, stopping my rambling and getting back to the movie, I really liked the second edition too.

This edition too has it all. Love, intrigue, betrayal, sex, despondency, greed, revenge and a lot more. Saheb is Jimmy Shergill, Biwi is Mahi Gill (Man, we are up to our "Gills" in this cast!!! ) and the Gangsta is Inderjit Singh - A poor royal whose family was wiped out by Jimmy's family somewhere in the past.... REVENGE!!!
Mahi as Madhavi is the Sozzled (and Sizzling !!) wife, who is also the MLA of Devgarh, in name. She is controlled by Saheb and he doles out favours using her as a proxy. Continuing from the last movie, he is wheel chair bound but as deadly as ever. The venom that he displays while talking to Madhavi can only be rivaled by a Cobra! Madhavi, as the neglected wife, displays a perplexing love for Saheb and is perpetually drunk. She drinks to forget her loneliness and neglect.... u almost feel sorry for her!!!

The game changes when Saheb's mother ask's him to get married again and shows him Soha's photo (Ranjana in the movie). He is floored and then plays a game to force her father to get her married to him. But there are no free lunches in life... her father starts plotting his downfall by attacking him where it hurts.. his criminal enterprise and sending Irrfan (who is Soha's  lover) to work on Mahi and subvert her.

And man!!. How he subverts her..!!! But Madhavi is smart and manages to subvert Irrfan..thereby creating a weird foursome.... and setting the stage for a very strange ending.

The movie is slow, but the screenplay manages to grip you. The plots, sub plots and betrayals just add to the charm. However only the main characters are well defined.. the rest are wishy washy.. I can understand his predicament.. the movie wxyould have been too long.   However,,, the acting is really really good.. Irrfan shines.. Jimmy is suitably ruthless and at the same time vulnerable. Mahi is mind-blowingly sexy, sluttish, vulnerable and ruthless. Soha is competent as she really does not have much of a part to play.. Rana as Kannaiya is strong and silent....

Btw.. the lone item song is really ghastly and spoils the mood the movie creates. Mugdha is pretty and all that,, but she was not looking sexy nor could she dance to save her life..... on the other hand, Mahi was born for this role... she has the body (or bawdy!!) language to pull it off....

I liked the movie because it is different.  It is subtle and has wheels within wheels within wheels. Do go and watch it. My friends found the movie slow and were waiting for something to happen!!! The Rowdy Rathore effect!!!  Maybe that's why I am known as the NERD..

Rating: ***1/2

Special 26 - Truly Special !!!

It is said that Art imitates Life. Sepcial 26 is one such movie which sticks true to the saying and delivers what it promises- making it truly special - well almost !!!

The movie, most would have guessed, is based on real life incidents in the late 80's where a scamster stole crores worth of jewelry by executing a bold and an absolutely genius plan, based on Human Psychology and greed. However, the way the director (Neeraj Pandey) builds up the story up to the finale is commendable.

So, the story (or the gist of it!) . Akshay, Anupam, ---, --- -are four low key and extremely confident scamsters. The movie begins with an income tax raid on a Ministers house, complete with all the trappings of  police, typewriter, official documents.. . The raid is conducted swiftly and a lot of black money and jewelry is recovered, hidden at various places in the house and car! As quickly as the raid was done, a list of all confiscated goods was made and the minister made to sign on that. When the police officer assisting the raid is told to hang around to ensure that no calls to the higher ups are made, one smells a rat. However, before one can think, the loot is transferred to another car, the four disperse by bus, train and air to their respective houses and lives, done all in a low key manner- no flashy stuff!!. Hey bingo,,, the loot is complete and everyone can get on with their lives. Except the guy who was looted!!. Now here in lies the genius of the heist. As the money and jewelry was all unaccounted for, the minister does not want to file an FIR, but only asks for the cops(divya dutta as the woman constable, and Jimmy Shergill as the Police Inspector) to be suspended - which they are!. Finished.

The script then builds up upon the lives of the four scamsters. Akshay is a single guy, living alone in Mumbai. He is in love with a beautiful girl , Kajaal Agarwal, who lives opposite his balcony. Why no beautiful girl ever lived across by balcony!!! Boss, it only happens in the movies!!. Kajaal is betrothed to another guy, Tukaram (not seen in the movie- virtual ) and is pestering Akshay to marry her. He promises her but she is scared that he will get caught one day, executing his scams. Akshay tells her that The man who can catch him hasn't been born yet..!! But she still is scared....

Anupam Kher is a married guy with some 7 children and one on the way. He uses the money to marry off his daughter and in general have a good life. He seems scared and under confident but is in his element when conducting a raid.

Rajesh sharma is shown as a henpecked husband and Mukesh Bhatt as a devotee of some sadhvi.. thats it!!. Not much footage is wasted on them. But every good thing has to come to an end.

Enter CBI Officer Waseem Khan. He is introduced by showing him ferrying his kid on his shoulder to the bus and in the next frame making a dash to Connaught place on a lambretta/Vijay Super scooter to catch a criminal. He catches his man after a  nice chase... well executed and taut. The end is near, when Jimmy shergill, as the suspended cop, appraches Waseem Khan with a list of fake raids conducted by the scamsters and wanting to catch them. Waseem is intrigued and setups up an operation to catch the four in the act.

Well, thats all I am going to say about the plot!!! You should watch it for the execution (even if you know  what the ending is going to be!) After a long time comes a movie with a well written, well executed and believable script. The screenplay is pretty good and so is the acting by all the guys. What stands out is the how one's fears can be played upon by scamsters to part you from your assets.

Highlights - Anupam Kher is very good as the nervous old man, Akshay is great and play his role with a lot of restraint... very believable, Manoj Bajpai is  also brilliant in his zeal to catch these guys. Kaajal looks heart achingly beautiful (yeah you guessed right - she is the new heartthrob). Even with hardly any makeup, she looks every part the role of a teacher, in love with a scamster. Would have loved to see some more footage dedicated to her but......

In conclusion, an excellent movie that does not drag a bit (only when the songs start-- but that is still ok). Well executed and acted. A must watch!

Rating -  ****

Some more reviews at

Zee News

Hindustan Times 

Vishwaroopam - Depicting the Global Face of Terrorism!

Well, Well, Well.... What do you say about this movie! At the outset, I must admit that all that controversy around the film piqued my curiosity so much so that I had to watch it (Pooh- As you all must have guessed- Any flimsy reason is good enough for a movie junkie like me to watch any movie.. and sometimes no reason is good enough!).
Anyways, back to the movie. The movie start is quite tepid and left me wondering whether I was watching an episode of Cheaters!!! Kamal Hasan (Vishwanath) is a kathak dancer, shown teaching his students (all women) a particular dance sequence (and thankfully the only song in this movie!). During the sequence, a detective hired by his wife, Dr Nirupama, a PH.D, who is having an affair with her boss and wants to divorce Kamal Hasan. The story is narrated by her when she is talking to her shrink. about how she married a much older man just for a green card ..blah, blah.. blah...

The detective (Peter) stumbles upon an astonishing fact, regarding Kamal Hasan's religion. What is, is not real and what is real is not it! By the way, Kamal is depicted like a complete Pansy dancer type male and is well...... pansy. The detective stumbles upon a terrorist hideout and well.. is killed. One thing leads to another and enter Rahul Bose (Playing Omar- the Mujahideen from Afghanistan).

There is a scene where Dr Nirupama discovers a different side to Kamal hasan and behold- she looks en;lightened! Have I been living with THIS guy for the past three yearr? me thinks - She Thinks. However, to cut a long story short and not act a spoiler - there is a long flashback wherein the entire Afghanistan War is shown along with the the code of the Mujahideen's. The american's as the aggressors in their Apache Helicopters and fighter jets is shown quite realistically. The Afghan landscape is shown in all its austere glory and is an eyeopener.

Cut to the chase- the story is a spy thriller, classic cat and mouse with an atomic bomb involved and a last minute defusing of the same. Who does it and how needs to be seen. The story moves along leisurely (at a pace we are not used to in spy thrillers) but allows us to soak in the characters and understand them. This movie is not a wham bam only, it build up relationships slowly and allows events to sink in. I felt that some parts were inspired by The Spy Next Door, Babel, New York (hindi) Kurbaan, and a few others interspersed but still maintains some originality.

New York and London emerge as popular destinations for a terrorist attack.. Kamal Hasam has managed to portray, quite realistically, how the New York police and FBI operate. At some places in the movie you actually feel that you are watching a hollywood movie...

As far as acting goes, Kamal is brilliant but looks tired. Shekhar kapur as the diplomat spy makes his presence felt, Pooja as Dr Nirupama, Kamal's confused but intelligent plus cheating wife is passable. Rahul bose as Omar is suitably ruthless. The other characters have not been given enough time to develop but do their job admirably.

Cinematography is excellent - the action shots are captured very realistically. The story line is jaded (unfortunately) but ..kya karen! Thankfully, other than a melodious song at the start, there are no songs to spoil the mood. I feel the first half could've been shortened by about 20 mins (Yes my dears, the movie is almost three hours), but hey.. creative license.

Overall, I would rate the movie *** to ***1/2 for its treatment and technical competence. Watch it if you have patience..

Race 2 - Slow Racy Thriller!

The reason James Bond movies are so popular among men and women is that men want to possess his panache and scant regard for death, while women swoon over his devil may care attitude, lack of attachment and the element of danger he seems to possess. We also love the tech wizardry, the relentless action and exotic locales.   But what has this got to this movie? Well, Abbas Mastan wanted this movie to look like a James Bond thriller and to some extent they seem to have succeeded.

Now, Abbas Mastan are known for their thrillers, their last one being the dud, Players. This time they offer a sequel to the highly successful Race 1,which actually was a genuine thriller with a great storyline, screenplay, songs, and and acting.  I expected Race 2 to be similar but If all expectations came true, then I would be a billionaire :). However, all is not lost.

Here's the gist. The movie starts off with a narrative about how John Abraham (Armaan Malik) has made it big in the world of crime in Istanbul(yeah,  the entire movie is set in exotic Istanbul). Deepika is also introduced as his able,  his step sister.  A hit man is shown blowing off a Lamborghini,  the significance of which we realise only later. Thereafter, a train robbery is shown, wherein thieves steal a complete train bogie full of currency paper users to make Euros. Thereafter Saif meets a casino owner, thakkar,  who owns five casino's in Istanbul, with a proposition that he executes in style.  He places a bet of five million dollars on the roulette table and loses. On being asked why he seemed so cool losing 5 million,  he says they were made from the stolen paper. So after gaining Thakkar's  trust,  Saif makes a proposition to him, that he would give him 1500 million of that currency for 500 million cash.  Thakkar agrees but he has to borrow 500 million from John to make good the deal.  John asks him for his 5 casino's as collateral. You can guess the rest. This scam was such a juvenile one that it set the tone for the movie. I mean how gullible do u think a casino owner is...!!

Anyway, the short of the long is that Saif tries to gain John's trust but as the short flashbacks in the movie show,  deception is the name of the game,  with nothing being what it seems.  Jacqueline as Omisha plays John's love interest.  Deepika  is suitably sexy and icy and plays the role of the bad girl quite comfortably and is believable.  However,  I must admit the plot had its twist and turns,  but frequent explanations spoil the surprise.  John is quite good as the gangsta who loves money and Omisha.  Anil kapoor is wasted as the fruit eating detective. Amisha Patel as Anil's sidekick is quite useless and is given pretty inane jokes to make, but is bearable. It's sad to see her in roles like these.

Saif, does a competent job and looks suitably suave but fails to connect with the audience. I think if the songs in the movie had been given a miss,  the director would have had enough time to pay attention to the characters. 

The music isn't too bad, but isn't too good either. Lat Lag gaye, Allah Duhai Hai, Party on my Mind 

and Be Intehaan are so-so. (Atif Aslams voice on Saif sounds like Saif has Pneumonia !!)

Overall,  the movie is a decent entertainer, with plenty of action and better than many B grade Hollywood movies.  Good production values are a plus. Overall I'd say timepass

Rating **

MOD - A Twist in the Tale

 MOD by Nagesh kukunoor is a slow paced story about a girl Anya (Ayesha Takia) staying on a hill station "Ganga" (whereever that is !!). She repairs watches and waits tables at a restaurant to make ends meet. Her father (Raghuveer Yadav) a singer, smitten by Kishore Kumar, has taken to drink and is under debt. The various characters - the businessman GangaRam smitten by Anya, the restaurant owner (Tanvi Azmi), the Doc - Anant Mahadevan, her classmates ...all are beautifully defined and fit it very well with the overall story line.
Anya has thrown her dad out of her house (her mom has left the house to her) because of his drinking. One day Andy (Ranvijay) comes to her door step to repair his watch. She makes him stand out side her shop for over an hour before she takes up the job. He pays her with a Rs 100 note shaped like a swan. This becomes a regular affair and she starts having feelings for him. One day at the market place, she sees him and he does not acknowledge her greeting. She starts following him and tries to unravel the mystery behind this "Sanki " Lover.  If this is not enough, a builder is after her to sell her plot to make a resort.

When she comes to know the truth, she (like all women) wants to help Ranvijay recover. But the parents are against it. The story has shades of Kartik Calling Kartik with a slightly different twist.

The movie has a nice feel to it. The storytelling is taut and does not loose grip. Ayesha Takia's and Ranvijay's performance, individually are good but they lack the chemistry together. A trademark Nagesh kukunoor film worth a watch for a sentimental evening.. :)