For those who have not been into the thick of things, here is a brief on what the story is all about. There would be no notifications of spoiler alerts since there is nothing that I can disclose here that would spoil the story, film or your experience.

Vikram Rathore is a fierce police officer who had the guts to take the uncrowned king of Devgarh, Baapji head on despite much support from the police force or the politicians. Devgarh is a small town in Bihar where Baapji is the Baap and controls everything, takes all shots – political or criminal. Vikram Rathore meets with an unfortunate fight with the bad guys and is killed while Baapji witnesses and cherishes his ill fate. Vikram has a six year old daughter, Neha, who travels to Mumbai for a wedding. There, she spots her dad dancing and prancing all around. Only that he is Shiva, the Rowdy, and not Vikram Rathore. Shiva does not believe what the girl says and is too busy to woo his lady love but a sudden attack by a bunch of bad guys compel Shiva to get to the bottom of this.

Shiva then heads back to Bihar, incidentally Sonakshi’s character also hails from the same town. There isn’t much need to delve into anything further since the remaining is the same old story of bad guys taking the ladylove of the hero and the little girl captive and then the hero going all out avenging the murder of an honest man.

That is the story of Rowdy Rathore but the screenplay is a little twisted and it starts with Shiva in Mumbai and travels back and forth between Vikram’s ill fated life and Shiva’s revenge.

There is nothing to expect from Rowdy Rathore other than some basic entertainment. The film has nothing but high voltage action sequences where the cop or the thief (Vikram or Shiva) are both larger than life and a small town’s Superman. There is a lot of music embedded here and there, songs and dances, dialogues that are aimed directly at the rural areas and attempts to incite an interest among the audience.

Watch Rowdy Rathore if you are a fan of Akshay Kumar, Prabhu Deva, Sonakshi Sinha or love to watch mass entertainers. Rowdy Rathore is an all out typical Bollywood masala flick that hardly has anything to surprise you. The acting is acceptable from all corners, whether we talk about Sonakshi or Nasser (the villain Baapji). The background score is good, choreography is fair enough and the cinematography along with editing is good as with any top notch film.

Although such films cannot be critiqued with an eye for the niche yet it would have been better to do away with a few songs and if the length was cut down by a few reels.

Arnab Chaudhuri creates the mythical era with élan in the animated film. Arjun is the journey of the third son of Pandava. A good looking young lad growing amidst the love and care of his brothers and doting mother suddenly realizes that he has a gift that other kids do not have. Yes, we are talking about the incident that marks his distinction not only for his mentor and coach Dronacharya but also for the rest of the world of Mahabharata. ‘Arjun’ takes you through the Swayamvar, the game of Pasha where Draupadi is humiliated and the countless wars that the brave warrior fought and won singlehandedly.

Arjun tracks an aspect of Mahabharata that not many earlier adaptations have done. Very cleverly, Arnab Chaudhuri decides to focus on one character and not the entire canvas that the epic naturally demands. This gives him the scope to delve into emotions of Arjun, the mental trauma when he is betrayed, the curiosity of growing up with a talent that no one can boast of, the heroic zest that he harbors beneath the armor and the vengeance that he has been nurturing to avenge his wife’s embarrassment.

The film is detailed in every aspect. Arjun’s character has been very well sketched and despite the film being an animation, the emotions come across better than it would have had there been a real human playing the character. Arnab Chaudhuri and his entire team have done a fantastic job with the visual effects and the entire animation work. The sheer attention to detail from the color of the leaves to the ripples on the water, the fights, the energy, the characters and their physical attributes, in short, everything in the film is a treat to watch. In its truest sense, Arjun is a visual spectacle.

Whether you go back to the scene where Arjun eyes for the fish or where he single handedly fights a hundred soldiers, Arjun has more than what you need for a summer blockbuster. The narrator does a fine job and so do all the artists who have lent their voices. Since there isn’t casting as such in an animated film, the selection of the artists on the basis of voice has been aptly done.

If there is any amount of discontentment among the audience after watching ‘Arjun’ then it has to be because of the fact that the film finishes without offering the epic battle of Kurukshetra. Having said that, one has to realize that Kurukshetra cannot be narrated from the perspective of only Arjun as it calls for a back story of every Pandava and some Kauravas as well!

Perhaps, we can have prequels of Bheema, Yudhisthira and others and bring everyone together in a film on Kurukshetra, ala Indian Avengers.

Some of the beauties of ‘Love Wrinkle Free’ lay in the natural essence of Goa that has been mesmerizingly captured by Sandeep Mohan with deft help from his cinematographer, the simple, dysfunctional and imperfect lives of the Monteiros and equally quaint characters that grace their lives at a time when the middle aged couple could really do without their idiosyncratic interventions.

Savio at 38 is anything but a successful sales manager and is willing to answer to his higher calling (that of starting of his own business selling edible undergarments) rather than discover the fact that his much older wife Annie (46) is pregnant. The Monteiros have an adopted daughter Ruth who is least interested in her parents’ affairs and is rather miffed with the fact that they are going to have a baby. If the reality that Annie may not be able to sing in the church choir because her voice is aging and Savio losing money because of a fake investor was not enough to twist their lives, Savio meets Natalie, a foreign tourist, who wants to photograph him while performing various yoga postures and Annie is being wooed by a young lad who has fallen head over heels for her.

Love Wrinkle Free takes mundane life to an all new height and seasons it with Goan curry, spices and herbs to come up with a tale that has not been narrated before. The screenplay and writing is crisp although the same cannot be said about the editing. The background score works and so do the melodious numbers that gel well with the coastal setting. There is a new image of Goa that has been earnestly shot and displayed that has a unique character of its own. Shiny beaches with peddlers all around make way for cloudy seashores with middle aged people instead of models taking dips and showing off their protruding bellies.

Love Wrinkle Free is unabashed and pure fun. There is no slapstick comedy here and humor, if we can call it, is certainly unprecedented. Ash Chandler as Savio and Shernaz Patel as Annie Monteiro are absolutely stunning and so are Seema Rahmani as Natalie and Ashwin Mushran.

The two elements of the film that may disappoint the audience is its length which could have been prettily cut down by twenty odd minutes or so and some mannerisms and dialogues that seem to be a little exaggerated from normality.

Sandeep Mohan does a fine job and his debut should pave his way into Bollywood, if mainstream audiences care for an indie movie that is. Watch ‘Love Wrinkle Free’ for the simple delight you would get watching this normal family of Monteiros going through a quaint phase of life.

MLA An Inside Intruder is exactly that and worse. The primary problems with MLA are the absolute absence of acting skills on the part of the lead pair Chaitanya Naidu and Ana Kalandadze, absolutely undesired and irrelevant song and dance routine, the screenplay and the dialogues. If you thought MLA was all about politics and contriving games then you are right but what you probably would not have expected is the beaten to death dialogues, clichéd or actually hackneyed political agendas and lackluster performances by the actors as well as the director.

Shiv Dubey’s MLA An Inside Intruder is about a poor boy turned rich industrialist Kamal Khushwaha who wants to set up a milk factory in his village of Bhaglipur that can change the entire economics and hence fate of the place and its people. How he becomes a successful entrepreneur is a mystery that no one can decipher. Anyway, like almost every village portrayed on celluloid, there is an MLA whose political aspirations are only to amass wealth and is definitely not a people’s man. MLA Pratap Singh, essayed by Mukesh Tiwari, along with his confidante Sukhram, played by Pankaj Tripathi, starts to scheme to, first oppose Kamal, then to deal with him and benefit from his plans after having failed to threaten him out of the way and later turns against him and decides to kill him. In the midst of all, a farmer Shankar (Omkar Das Manikpuri) who has had enough of Pratap Singh’s no work only pay, decides to voice his opinion and convinces the villagers that they need a new MLA. And that new MLA would be none other than the messiah for the village Kamal Khushwaha.

The story may seem to be either too clichéd or too niche but in reality it falls flat on its face. The item numbers, romantic numbers and all other numbers are absolutely a waste of time and money. The direction is poor. Characters have been half baked and they all seem to know only an expression or two to portray. Mukesh Tiwari and Pankaj Tripathi as usual put up a good show but with the screen time they have there is little they can do to salvage the film. Omkar Das Manikpuri had impressed all and sundry in ‘Peepli Live’ but here he is below par. It just goes on to show that in the wrong hands, even the most talented man cannot live up to his potential.

Cinematography looks substandard and editing could have been much better. The length of the film does not help either. MLA An Inside Intruder is a film with an interesting premise but a sheer waste due to the cast and crew.

Yeh Khula Aasmaan is about Avinash, essayed confidently by Raj Tandon, who is exhausted and frustrated with his failures at his studies. His parents are too engrossed in the quest of materialistic happiness to be bothered about their child’s growing list of woes. Finding no solace or any solutions to his overbearing trauma, young Avinash decides to pay a visit to his grandfather’s, something the family has not done for almost a decade. It is his tryst with his granddad Raghuveer Yadav that his perception of life changes. He receives all the lessons that he needs in life to excel.

To be fair to the makers and director Gitanjali Sinha, Yeh Khula Aasmaan strikes some chords, but only in bits and pieces. Raghuveer Yadav is simply superb in his role that seems like tailor made for him and Raj Tandon may bag the best child artiste or debutant award at some functions but in essence Yeh Khula Aasmaan remains an average film.

The trouble starts when one realizes that Gitanjali Sinha does not have much to offer than the occasional lessons on life, sometimes verbally and sometimes using metaphors. The kite flying sequences do not excite and the climax lacks punch. We desperately wanted Udaan’s Rohan to break free from the shackles of his father but here the story does not manage to stir up enough emotions for Avinash.

‘Yeh Khula Aasmaan’ is sweet, a story that has heart and soul along with some soulful music. The title track works well and the supporting cast blends in with fine performances apart from the talented Yashpal Sharma who seems to be a misfit as a professional in the UK. The cinematography and editing is simple and perhaps a bit more value in the production would have gone in favor of the film.

Touted as a film which has been to various festivals across the world, Yeh Khula Aasmaan is certainly not our ‘400 Blows’ or anything close. It remains as a film that can be anyone’s adolescent life and the lack of anything else pulls it down. The script and screenplay should have been further worked upon. It perhaps would have been better if the film was a bit fast paced to keep one inclined to the proceedings but the story unravels too slowly to hold your attention in a multiplex. Many lessons of life can be imparted through films but ‘Yeh Khula Aasmaan’ becomes too simple a film to have that impact. At times, even keeping things subtle do not work well and there is a need for further explorations of a story and Gitanjali Sinha missed out on those cues.

Mr Bhatti On Chutti is about Mr. Bhatti (Anupam Kher) who works at a bank with an irritating boss and has two desires in his life – meet Amitabh Bachchan (Bhatti is obsessed with him and his films) and meet the then president of the United States George Bush. Being a comedy, the film must have had enough elements – from characters to the plot and subplots – to make an impact on the audience. Sadly, there isn’t anything that one would take a liking to.

Mr. Bhatti wins a trip to Europe and goes over after taking a Chutti. Life takes a lot of twists and turns, from the foreigner he bumps into, the Pakistani (Shakti Kapoor) with whom he tries to share a few thoughts (and make people laugh apparently) to shady people. Eventually he gets his identity interchanged with a lookalike man. After enough efforts to incite laughter by getting Mr. Bhatti to do weirdly nerdy stuff and speak things that only someone out of his mind would speak – and here Mr. Bhatti wants to talk about world peace with Bush – sigh, Mr. Bhatti on Chutti fails to engage.

Mr Bhatti On Chutti is a comedy but it is neither humorous nor slapstick. Karan Razdan, known for his films Girlfriend and Hawas, had never tried a comedy before and possibly he should never try one again. One accustomed with his earlier films would know that his stories are not multilayered and characters are pretty one dimensional or two at the most. Not surprisingly, Mr. Bhatti On Chutti does not have any sub plots and all the supporting actors hardly get any screen time. It almost appears that Anupam Kher is on the screen all throughout the film’s runtime.

Anupam Kher is an actor of a different league but regretfully, he just does not have the right premise nor is he in the right hands. Why he would choose to do such a film is something of a mystery. Mr. Bhatti On Chutti proves that if the story is shabby and the director’s vision blurred then even an actor of Mr. Kher’s caliber cannot salvage the venture. With a Hitler meets Chaplin look for Kher and merely caricaturist dialogues, Mr Bhatti On Chutti is not heading anywhere to impress.

This is one of those films that you would wish to walk out from or regret having walked in for.

Department pulls together an ensemble cast with Sanjay Dutt playing an encounter specialist Mahadev who has just been given charge of a new task force which has been named unofficially as Department. His recruits include Rana Daggubatti’s Shivnarayan. In the underworld, we have Vijay Raaz playing Sawatya, a gangster who is feared and respected by all and sundry – why, we are not informed. Coming back into the world above, a former gangster has redeemed himself and has become a politician, our very own Amitabh Bachchan as Sarjerao Gaikwad. What ensues is a long tussle between the gangsters and the cops, the cops and the politicos, gangsters against brotherhoods from their own fraternity and the list goes on. Some cops are honest while some gangsters are refined; Abhimanyu Singh’s DK (not Bose) and some cops are not what they apparently appear to be.

RGV has talked a lot about his unique filmmaking style with a small, inexpensive camera and angles that have been hitherto unseen in Bollywood or Indian cinema for that matter. He has also been going gaga over Nathalia Kaur for the item number that had been aimed to raise some interests among the audience.

Department surely has unique angles. RGV who had once taken the world of cinema by storm with his penchant for unique filmmaking has managed to challenge his limits with a minute camera that can take you anywhere from within a tea cup to inside someone’s wardrobe. One should appreciate what RGV has done or tried to do at the least. But his touting Nathalia Kaur as the next big thing on the dance floor was perhaps promotional.

Department struggles with a weak story, weaker screenplay and average performances!

When Sanjay Dutt comes across wearing the same shirts with a few buttons open down to his brawny chest, when Amitabh Bachchan mixes Sarkar and Bal Thackeray and come up with an act and the rest of the cast play sidekick in every department, there is very little that you can expect which would be fresh and new. There is a lot of action, breaking of glasses, shells of bullets here and there and there are dialogues. But in the midst of all the jerky camerawork, underground shady deals, encounters and deceptive characters, the film hardly offers anything to take back.

RGV could have done so much better if he had spent the same amount of time working on the story and the characterization that he did while selecting the camera he would use and the angles he would bother the audience with. The filmmaking style would have worked, had there been an intriguing premise.

If the audience just does not care about the story or the film, what good would the style of filmmaking do?

Shanghai is a political thriller which revolves around politicians, their ruthless activities and the greed that spell doom for a democratic system. The film stars one of the finest actors of Bollywood Abhay Deol, the original serial kisser Emraan Hashmi and the National Award winning actor from Tollywood (Bengali Cinema) Prosenjit Chatterjee. Shanghai would be the first major release of Abhay Deol after his successful stint in “Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara”. Emraan Hashmi who was last seen playing one of the three male leads in the blockbuster “The Dirty Picture” would be seen donning an entirely different avatar for the movie. Prosenjit who has not made many Hindi films but is the most sought after actor in Bengali cinema would also play a significant role.

Among the supporting cast, we would get to see Kalki Koechlin, Pitobash Tripathy and Farooq Sheikh. The music of the film has been composed by the talented duo of Vishal and Shekhar. Shanghai’s release date has not been finalized yet. It would be distributed by PVR Pictures.

Given the present circumstances of Indian politics and the socio economic scenario, Shanghai would certainly be able to cash in on the popular sentiments. Keep checking this space for more info on what may be another path breaking film from the talented Dibakar Banerjee.

Central to all the hullaballoo we have Parma Chauhan (Arjun Kapoor) and Zoya Qureshi (Parineeti Chopra). Parma hails from the Hindu family of Chauhans whose head Surya Chauhan is a political, religious and social rival of Aftab Qureshi, the head of the other major political family in the town.

Parma and Zoya have been brought up upon strict principles. The two are nonchalant about prettiness, are outspoken and fierce. Another aspect defines them – their mutual hatred for each other. Actually, this hatred is more of an obsession than a practice. The young birds do not know why they hate each other but just that they have been taught to do so by their respective families. Time passes by and certain things happen which lead the duo to come at loggerheads. While the Aafaton ke Parindey try to outdo the other, they eventually fall in love. While its love initially, we are introduced to a twist that proves otherwise and things take a different turn. After a while, we find the duo truly in love and on the run since both the families want them dead.

In a town where gun shots mark an event and murder is like slaughtering a chicken for dinner, the lovebirds toil through the by lanes in search of a solution and to have a life of their own, of peace and tranquility.

Yash Raj Films is just the banner you would want to work with if are debuting as an actor. Ishaqzaade marks the debut of Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, the female actor in her first major role after a small stint in Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl. Arjun does a fabulous job with his acting, dancing, expressions, small town diction and his overall attitude. After Ranveer Singh, Arjun should be the next big thing. Parineeti Chopra is a revelation. She outshines everything and everyone in the film. If casting directors could have an award for them then it could go for casting Parineeti as Zoya.

The film, although innovatively based in a small town with all the idiosyncrasies, minute details and everything that is completely believable, does not manage to become an epic film. Habib Faisal, who had impressed viewers and critics alike with his Do Dooni Chaar, could have fine tuned several aspects of the film. Some dialogues are pretty out of place and after the premise has been set and the story has been established, there is very little to keep you excited. Eventually, it becomes a case of head over heels lovers fighting their familial and social issues. The social issues are hardly given their due which is also where the film misses to score.

All said and done, Ishaqzaade is certainly a good onetime watch.

By now possibly everyone knows what Dangerous Ishq is all about, thanks to the relentless marketing and promotions of the Bhatt camp and to the fact that it is the comeback film of Karisma Kapoor.

Sanjana (Karisma) is a supermodel and Rohan (Rajneesh) is the love of her life. The latter is a rich brat. Rohan gets kidnapped after Sanjana and he spend a few dramatic moments and before you know it, Sanjana starts to hallucinate. I shall call it hallucination and not past life regression since the story hardly delves into the nuances and subtleties of the concept as Satyajit Ray had done. To cut a long story short, Dangerous Ishq travels back and forth unraveling the many lives of Sanjana and Rohan. They have been destined to be in love with each other, for how many lives we don’t know and after seeing too many we simply don’t care, and in all the lives they are destined for doom. Rohan’s kidnappers demand a ransom and ACP Singh (Jimmy Shergill) is not interested in the game. Sanjana takes cues from her past lives and joins the team of cops to save her Rohan.

Vikram Bhatt had an intriguing premise. The premise was unique and defied the laws of formulaic cinema. But a genuine and promising premise can be completely spoilt by bland dialogues, weak screenplay, poor acting and bad music. To top it all, Vikram himself possibly lost thick of the things as he transcended the story to its culmination.

No one is impressive in the film. Karisma Kapoor would have been a delight in anything but in the midst of a wardrobe session, changing and getting into several attires. The costume makers should have made a lot of money with Dangerous Ishq. Karisma could also have opted for any other costar and Rajneesh certainly seems to be a wrong choice. He impressed in ‘1920’ and one wonders what went wrong with this one. Possibly he didn’t get paid much hence the expressions in the offing were very few, for some people they may not be there at all. The other costars don’t help, the proceedings do not elevate your experience and the ending hardly affects you since you want to walk out of the auditorium.

Dangerous Ishq is possibly a missed opportunity for Karisma and Vikram, the former wanted to come back to Bollywood and the latter wanted to show that he can do a lot more than make horror films.

Dangerous Ishq is not a dangerous love story but it is certainly dangerous for your weekend plans.