No One Killed Jessica Movie Review – The Echo of a Gun Shot

Oh Boy! What a start to the year. I really hoped that this year starts off on a good note but No One Killed Jessica changed all that because it’s not a good film, it’s a great film. The film is on the murder of Jessica Lall, a subject that everyone knows too well and that’s why it was a challenge to make this film. How do you portray something which has been seen and read so many times in an entertaining manner? Well, just like UTV Spotboy and Raj Kumar Gupta have done. ...  More

The Social Network Movie Review – Lonely with a Million Friends

“You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies”, Damn right you don’t. This tagline from the posters of The Social Network got my attention straight away and the best part is that it held my attention all throughout the film. Its a really well made film that hits the right spots but make no mistake, its not a film that everyone would appreciate.

The film is about the founding of Facebook and the two lawsuits that its founder Mark Zuckerberg got slammed with on his rise to become the youngest billionaire in the  world. Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as a supremely genius nerd who has no social skills and Andrew Garfield plays his best friend Eduardo Saverin co-founder of Facebook. Both the actors are in superb form specially Eisenberg who brings out different shades of the character and makes you beg for more. Another central character who appears only in the second half of the film is Sean Parker, the founder of Napster played with a lot of flair by pop star Justin Timberlake.

The dialogues are top notch and so is the screenplay and its because of these that the film works so effectively. The film follows a non-linear narrative between the founding of Facebook and the two lawsuits, all brought out simultaneously in front of the audience. This film is a great example of what great story telling is all about and the credit for that goes to Aaron Sorkin. The dialogues add to the fast paced narrative as they are dished out with the same velocity. All this gives the film a very nail biting kind of feel which needs to be experienced to understand. Some scenes are of epic quality like the “its started raining” scene and especially the “countdown to a million friends”, it will give you the goosebumps.

What touched me most is how the man who connected more than 500 million friends lost the only friend he had and in the end preferred to sit alone in a closed board room with the only friend he was left with, his laptop.

Overall The Social Network, part fact part fiction is a very intelligent film for the intelligent audience but it will not be appreciated by the masses. Its one of the best films of the year so if you are more than an average multiplex viewer, go for it right now.

Rating: 4/5 ...  More

Dabangg Movie Review – The Adventures of Chulbul Pandey

I still don’t think I have a proper review in my mind for Salman’s Dabangg, but I am going ahead and writing it coz I don’t think i will ever be sure of what to call it. First let me clear the air a little. Dabangg, for all its worth, is a damn entertaining film. However, it will be really hard for non Salman fans to actually enjoy the film with its rustic humour and dabanggiri. 

The film starts very much like Wanted, with Inspector Chulbul Pandey being introduced to the audience in a fight scene. But this fight scene has lot of humour thanks to a ringtone as well as Rajni style stunt by Salman using his Rayban. The film moves at a decent pace with songs thrown in between the adventures of Chulbul who has no problem in dancing on the street to express himself.

The music is actually a big plus for Dabangg with two songs already becoming superhits including Munni Badnaam which has created mass hysteria in fans and news channels alike. Sajid Wajid have done a commendable job and one song that really stands out is Udd Udd Dabangg which is very original and very fresh. Another thing that makes Dabangg truly entertaining is the action, which at times are bizzare and yet they never sieze to amuse you. In one particular action piece during the climax, Salman even outdoes Rajnikant by removing his shirt (It had to happen) in a manner which has never ever been scene on the silver screen (Its almost straight out of Dragon Ball Z).

Ofcourse I am not ignoring Salman Khan, and frankly its impossible to that coz he is the heart and sould of this film. He gets under the skin of the character so well, its impossible to imagine him as anyone else but Inspector Chulbul Pandey. Credit is also due for the people responsible for developing the lovable Chulbul, Abhinav Kashyap (brother of Anurag Kashyap) and Dilip Shukla who have written the story along with Jalees Sherwani who has written the dialogues. I would not be surprised if we see a new adventure featuring Chulbul. Go watch Dabangg for a great performance by Salman and one of the most memorable characters of our times, . After all “Inka naam inki personality ko shobha deta hai”.

Rating:   Movie – 3/5   Chulbul Pandey 5/5 ...  More