Film Review:

Banner: Tips Films Limited
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif ,Sameera Reddy.
Direction: Abbas Mustan
Production: Kumar S. Taurani & Ramesh S. Taurani
Music: Pritam

After a dry spell at the box office primarily due to school and college exams, comes the release of one of the most awaited films of the year. Tips Industries, the producers of the film have put in so much dedication and moolah to assure the masses that they see a flick that looks international.

The director duo, Abbas-Mastan returns with yet another thriller, but this time around a flick that is sleek and high on style. After over 6 years of waiting, the duo finally does a film with Saif and is it worth all that much?

Well to take off, the film revolves around two brothers; Ranvir [Saif Ali Khan] and Rajeev [Akshaye Khanna] who own a huge stud farm in Durban, South Africa. They breed horses on their huge ranch house and are also the biggest bookies in the horse racing circuit. Ranvir, the elder of the two, is known to be a very shrewd man. He is very aggressive and is always on the move. Rajiv, on the other hand, is very laidback and is also a chronic alcoholic.

Sophia [Katrina Kaif] is Ranvir’s personal secretary. She adores her boss and loves him. Ranvir is totally unaware of her feeling and regards her adoration as her efficiency. Sonia [Bipasha Basu] is an upcoming Indian ramp model in Durban.

Sonia loves Ranvir, but through a twist of fate gets married to Rajiv. When she discovers that Rajiv is a chronic alcoholic, things begin to get worse.

Eventually, Ranvir and Sonia come very close to each other and an affair starts between the younger brother’s wife and the elder brother. When the younger brother starts suspecting his wife, all hell breaks loose.

A murder is committed, a contract killing is issued, double crossings become the order of the day… A sharp-tongued investigative officer R.D. [Anil Kapoor] starts an investigation with his brainless assistant Mini [Sameera Reddy].

Abbas- Mastan have proved it over the years that no one can beat them when it comes to the thriller genre. With films like Khiladi , Baazigar , Humraaz ; Race might just add to their list of hits. The film has several twists and turns that keep you saying ‘oh’ and reanalyzing everything so that bits and pieces of the story fill in to form the collage called Race.

But one little factor that has to be noted is that as the duo directors attempt to make things complicated and shock the audience , they just kind of lose out on the whole plot and this con man film at the end makes the viewer wonder when did certain characters team up to plot against the others.

The screenplay of the film by Shiraz Ahmed is good but at times is loose. The 1st half of the film is quite a drag and the songs look really forced upon. Next time around, Abbas-Mastan should consider chopping some tracks. Maybe this time they couldn’t do so considering their producers are Music giants.

On the acting front, the film truly belongs to Saif. Saif looks stylish, smart and carries the adrenaline in the character perfectly. His dialogue delivery is just amazing and the action sequences considering he did them all by himself is just commendable. Watch out for Saif’s jump from a great height. It’s terrifically done courtesy Allan Amin.

With due credit to all the actors in the film, Race wouldn’t be all that racy if it wasn’t for Saif. Watch out the dialogue where he addresses his younger brother on the funda of winning-losing and on the outcome of betrayal where he blows up his jockey’s car.

Akshaye Khanna does really well too. Abbas –Mastan always emerge in bringing out the negative traits in Akshaye with ease. The wickedness in Akshaye is expressed well with his smile. But the only problem here is that Akshaye has done such roles before for Abbas-Mastan thus there lacks a certain amount of shock value.

Bipasha Basu isn’t all that great. Her acting skills haven’t really been explored. It’s more of her sex appeal that has been tapped in film. Bipasha’s styling somehow fails to leave an impact; her outfits do nothing more than provide the viewer some eye candy. But credit goes to Bipasha for doing some great action sequences in the film.

On the other hand, Katrina Kaif emerges victorious. Her acting isn’t the finest around but much better than her previous flicks. She carries the secretarial role with complete elegance and ease. In fact, her styling has been sleek and apt. She carries that executive look as well as the sexy attire with ease.

Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy make an entry at the interval stage. Anil is ok as the cop, but trust me his jokes are really poor. Even the characterization with different fruits at various points in the film fails to create any impact. Sameera Reddy has nothing much to do in the film besides try and ask some stupid questions. Sameera too has just been used to create the so called ‘Sexy Look’ of the film.

Johny Lever comes in for one scene and really impresses and is spontaneous with his jokes. He surely deserves more comic roles.

The true winner of the film is none other than action director-Allan Amin. He is just terrific and it’s his action and stunts that really justify the title of the film. Amin impresses with the well choreographed explosions, Saif’s fall, edgy car stunts etc. Amin is the true star of race.

Cinematography by Ravi Yadav is top class as the film captures well the horse races, car stunts, beautiful locales of Durban and Dubai etc. Editing by Hussain Burmawala’s is ok. Maybe a few songs could have been chopped.

Dialogues [Anuraag Prapanna, Jitendra Parmar] are good. Styling [Anaita Shroff Adajania] works for Saif, Katirina , Anil and Akshaye.

Music by Pritam is Ok, but often comes in as a hindrance to the plot. Most of the numbers fail to leave that impact on screen especially Kim Hyung Sup’s-Sarang Haeyo track rendered in Hindi by Atif Aslam. The picturisation is so kiddish ; with just a single interaction you see Akshaye Khanna whose voice firstly doesn’t suit Atif already kind of romancing Bips. ‘Zara Zara touch me’ and the title track impress. Background score [Salim-Sulaiman] is really intense and adds to the action. Choreography [Bosco-Caesar and Ganesh Acharya] is good.

On the whole, Race isn’t the best thriller around but the action is sure to keep you hooked on. Saif fan’s will surely not miss this one. The chances of race not faring well at the box office is unlikely as it’s been a while since the cinegoers had any releases and this flick is sure to appeal to the masses. If not for the action and music, the pretty ladies in the film will assure a hit.

Film Review:

Banner: A V A Productions
Cast: Sara, Jagathy, Jayasuriya, Thilakan, Edavela Babu, Mala,
Aravindhan, Nedumudi Venu,Salim Kumar, Indrans,
Kochu Preman, Rajan P Dev, Kollam Thulasi, M R
Gopakumar, Lena, Sukumary, Kaviyoor Ponnamma
Direction: Balachandra Menon
Production: A.V. Anoop
Music: M Jayachandran

In Mollywood, Vishu films normally have their share of highlights, mostly being the time of well made flicks.

After watching one of this year’s entries 'De, Ingottu Nokkiye', I wonder what this dreary and misguided film is doing in the little crowded filmi market, when every one was waiting eagerly for the comeback movie of Balachandra Menon as the director.

Menon had failed miserably, this time attempting to create a romantic farce, a black comedy or a morality tale. The attempt for a funny satirical film just turned out into a night mare reminding its surprising catch line about 'an idiotic film’, made with the least intelligence. From a versatile performer of several parts, a national award-winning actor, a director, a scenarist, a lyricist, a music-composer and even a singer who proved many times before, this is an unpardonable act. You can very well stay away from this poor excuse for a film, without much regret.

As said, it's little away from being horrible. You can watch the film without being submissive, and tolerantly try to figure out where it is going wrong and ascertain how the real joke might have sounded if worked well. The plot is all about an youth, Vettikkadu Sivan, who is all set to teach his uncle and Chief Minister of the state, Vettikkadu Sadasivan, a lesson by importing his occasionally moronic twin brother who is a banana vendor at Gujarat and placing the look alike as the puppet C M of the state. To accomplish this, Sivan kidnaps the original C M with the help of his friends and presents the second man in power, closely guarding and assisting the puppet CM, who is here only to find his long missed sweet heart, Ammu.

This plot though seemingly linear and promising, is dealt in the wildest stage bound way without clarity and doesn't make plausible points in its exaggeratedly loud cynical outbursts. The ludicrous screenplay hallmarked with inconsistencies and irregularities could be the worst from the director who had been an icon in the eighties. And as a director too, Menon with his disjointed treatment fails to stand up to the need of the hour, drawing bizarre pictures of tad superficial thoughts. He seems to have a got a lot of points of social criticisms to make in every alternative scenes, but fail to draw in skillful sequences to air them. Not surprisingly the plenty of one-liners have an off-the cut, improvised feel. Interesting observations can be found as the film skims its roster of issues: the numbing effects of voting, the problems with political anarchism and increased alcoholism in the state.

As far as performances are concerned, Jagathy Sreekumar in dual roles desperately tries to deliver something different with limited success while Jaysuriya is in his usual self. The new girl Sarah seems pretty and promising. Salimkumar, Nedumudi Venu and Co is wasted in roles that demand nothing of their caliber. The cinematography by Jibu Jacob is average, while Bhoominthan in editing couldn't do any thing to lessen the distortions and the total mess up. M Jayachandran's songs and Sanjeev Lal's background scores adds cacophony to this failed project.

The result can be summed up as a satire without sting, which is the same as no satire at all. If you have more choices, don’t waste your time on this one.

Film Review:

Banner: Sagar Balaji Creations
Cast: Dileep, Meera Nandan, Reena Bashir, Sruthi Menon, Biju
Menon, Innocent, Mala Aravindan, Salimkumar, Sukumari,
Anoop Chandran, Bineesh Kodiyery, Rizabava, Ashok,Suja
Direction: Lal Jose
Production: Sagar Sherif
Music: Vidhyasagar'

The eleventh film from ace director Lal Jose - 'Mulla ' cannot perhaps be called a bad film. But neither can it be called a brilliant movie. After such critically appreciated movies like 'Arabikkatha' and 'Classmates', one did expect a lot more from the director who gave us path breaking hits, even with lesser stars. An average film that may not make much of an impact at the box office, that's what 'Mulla', is. Though a colorful film that is entertaining at times, 'Mulla' falters on many counts, being too far from an engrossing stuff and is perhaps indicative that Lal Jose and Sindhu Raj failed miserably this time, trying to give a long elusive hit to Dileep.

'Mulla' takes us to the Karakadu colony, a settlement of thieves, sex workers and goondas. Here we have got every representative from a microcosmic colony ranging from the reigning goonda gang headed by Thampi Annan to Thotty Sasi, the pimp and manager to the sex workers. Lal Jose tries hard to layer the story with issues ranging from human trafficking to parent less rearing of children who ultimately become criminals. But the juggling act of creating an action based romantic comedy is too unsuccessful with 'Mulla'.

Our protagonist 'Mulla', named after his mother who was a silent sex worker known by her smile and bunch of jasmine in her hair, grows up as an orphan following the suicide of his mother. Thereafter he becomes a dumb left arm to Thampi Annan. By a quirk of fate, he spots an abandoned child on the train while on an encounter with a money lender.

He immediately hands over the child to Lalchi, a girl who is a regular traveler in the train. Lalchi, working in bakery, on the other hand, has her share of problems, and after a day returns the child to Mulla in the colony. With nothing else to do Mulla and his men plans to rear the child. Lalchi, who is a bold, smart and outgoing girl, becomes a regular visitor to the dreaded colony to take care of the child which gradually paves way for a romance with Mulla. He tries ways to readapt himself to the new life but destiny had different designs, already set for them.

The scriptwriter seems to have followed the Balu Mahendra’s classic ‘Yathra’ or its Hindi version ‘Milan’ in the narrative style and the film even showcases some shades of 'Dhalapathy'. The problem with the movie is that after establishing the premises, whose majority is shot on the moving train, the later half falls too predicable, even though not clichéd. The film would have come in for less criticism, had it been from a less accomplished director. Lal also seems to have failed to utilize the desired elements of the plot points to race into a riveting climax, which stands inadequate for the work that he has done in the build ups to the story.

The highlight of the film is the excellent camera work by Vipin Mohan, who has beautifully covered the entire proceedings, a work that will match the best of his career. And that is the case with the art director Gokuldas who has taken pains to display the best from his team, creating the sets of the colony. . What saves this film is the cast that has given noteworthy performances. Dileep is good as Mulla, though not extraordinary. But the decision to keep him with very limited dialogues definitely did backfired, as the actor without much easy talking had always been less effective. Meera Nandhan as Lalchi proves herself in her first outing and is the surprise packages who carry the film in her tender shoulders. Biju Menon, with his towering personality and evocative eyes, looks every part the enigmatic ring leader. Anoop Chandran, Reena Basheer, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Salim Kumar, excel in the supporting roles with well timed comedies while Saiju Kurup takes a mature look as C.I. Bharathan. Bhavana too makes an appearance in a wasted and overly done cameo.

After seeing the film, one gets the feeling that the script should have been a lot slicker. The screenplay credited to Sindhu Raj, does not however make us emotionally involved with the plot, but rather opt for a detached way of narrating the story. The overall pace of the film dispels the average audience especially since the film dawdles to establish it. Ranjan Abraham in editing could have gone for some harsh cuts to initiate a momentum.

In the past, it was the music that was one of the highlights of the Lal Jose flick. But that cannot be said about 'Mulla', even though some songs from Vidhyasagar like ‘Kanavukal’ and 'Arumukhane' are not unimpressive.

To sum up, 'Mulla' is a passable fare, but not up to the mark expected from Lal Jose. A film that make you watch glazed, get amused and entertained at times, but one that make you leave the theatre exactly the way you entered........ With not much new thoughts or feelings to linger..... . And that is the rarest disappointment that you can have from a Lal Jose movie.

Film Review:

Banner: Best Group Productions
Cast: Sudeesh, Ramya Nambeeshan, Kaithapram, Madambu Kunjikuttan, Aravindhan,
Mamukoyya, Rajan Padoor, K P A C Lalitha, Bindu Vaarapuzha, Nilamboor Ayisha
Direction: Suresh Palanshery
Production: Aseez Kadalundi, Alavi Ramanattukara, Rasheed Perumanna
Music: Kaithapram

Salabham doesn't belong to any genre. Not even to the genre which challenges the established genres. Perhaps it can be called, rather force-fit into, a "menofilm", which never shaped up into one category at any circuit.

At the most it only has the steam that can be pressed into a thirty-minute short film. Without much to say, this old fashioned film doesn't offer anything engrossing in all the ninety minutes. In fact, the film has labored to reach the ninety-minute mark with a couple of songs, which are totally unwanted.

The movie has a plot which is thinner than the wings of Salabham, a butterfly. It's about the journey of a young girl into a delayed womanhood or puberty. The myths about late menstruation passed down by mothers, aunts, storytellers and community leaders from generations to generation, form the backdrop of the story.

In the movie, Meera, living with her single mother, suffers from developmental disorders. She finds it difficult to cope up with the delay in attaining womanhood. The friends of her age, incoming proposals for marriage and the neighbors… all aggravate her agony. She desires to be like others, desires to fly like a butterfly. But she can't. She keeps all the menacing sorrows to herself, creating emotional turmoil.

The narrative makes it a point to keep the actual problem subdued; dragging the proceedings further and it takes some time to move forward in the first half. There is an attempt to keep this suspense alive, but this too falls flat. With nothing more to offer in the storyline in the later half, the viewers are left to wait until the girl attains puberty, for the film to sign off.

Maadambu in the screenplay couldn't reach out to what was expected from such a film, with a rarest plot while director Suresh Palancherry shows his sparkles of directorial abilities in a few sequences. The other highlight of the film is the acting departments, majority consisting of relatively fresh faces who lived up to the demands of the characterizations. Remya Nambeeshan also fares better in the title role as Meera. Infact it is her best on screen performance , till date. Another special applause must go to Deepankuran for the careful background scoring and to cinematographer M J Radhakrishnan who is sure to excel in any given conditions. It is really pathetic that such a talented cinematographer, who has proved himself in more than fifty films, is never offered one big film in which he can work with out any budgeting compromises.

In regular intervals, a song written and set to music by Kaithapram pops up, to fill the screen time. Altogether there are four songs in this ninety minute fare. With too many unnecessary songs and no single clear cut comments on the topic, the very purpose why this movie was made stands void. It cannot be a shame for the audience, not to be in the cinema halls to witness such outdated plot lines.

Film Review:
Cast: Kalabhavan Mani, Siddique, Nedumudi Venu, Innocent, Suraaj Venjaramoodu,
ShammiThilakan, Bijukuttan, Vijayaraghavan, Saadique, Augustine, Sreehari, Irshad,
Iswarya, Sreelatha Namboothiri, Ambika Mohan, Poornima
Direction: Chandrashekharan
Music: Kailas Menon










Bits and pieces of investigative drama, that we have seen umpteenth times with the other super star movies, too sleepy paced narratives, Kalabhavan Mani in usual maneuvers, and an outdated presentation style- These could be the taglines of 'Kerala Police' which doesn't offer anything refreshing in terms of visuals, presentations or narratives..

The skeletal of the story is the same as in any Mani film of the past decade and half. Only the garb of the characters has changed to the police uniforms. Despite half a dozen movies to his credit, it appears that director Chandrasekharan ,after a long gap to filmdom ,still needs to work on updating his film making techniques .He doesn't try to experiment much, simply tweaking formulaic stuff a little to claim originality of plot.

The film is as usual about an honest cop Circle Inspector of Police Satyanath, bogged down by the system in his fight for righteousness. Just because of his backward class, many like Mukunda Varma (Baiju) and Venugopal in his same grade sidelines and ridicules him and takes credits of everything that Sathyanath does. He being an upright officer faces a lot of troubles from official circles, but with the help of his god father and Superintendent of Police, Philip Tharakan (Innocent), he survives in service.

As he smells some mysterious links in the death of a Goan based freelance photographer Bimal Roy, whose body was found in a tile factory, Sathyanath follows in close steps with the incidents that led to the murder and spots popular actress and a national award winner Sanjana ( Lekshmy Sharma) , behind the murder. On the further investigations Sanjana admits her part in the murder .But Sathyanath is not convinced that she alone can commit such a dreaded act and refuses to arrest her.

This leads to the case being wrapped up and taken away from state police to be handed over to the CBI group headed by Nandini Verma (Swarnamalya). She is highly critical about the way the police department is run in the state and from the day one, the stage is set for confrontation between Sathyanath and Nandhini. Sathyan now take leave and start a personal level investigation on the case with the able aid from constable Balram. The movie follows how the Kerala Police and the CBI race it to the finish to grab the enshrouded killer.

In this obvious attempt at making a formulaic masala movie, the resulting experience is far from satisfactory. The narrative loses steam post interval with the arrival of C B I , as it becomes a typical murder mystery without much momentum, which leaves the movie to be just an average one .More over, the liberal use of the caste cards even in punch lines and the related generalizations is not a case to be encouraged, even though they appeal to a very few .The only highlight of the movie is that the creators has managed to keep the suspense till the finale, even though the ultimate find is not a matter of bigger surprise.

As usual with the Mani movies the script by Vinu Narayanan based on a story by Anwar Abdulla doesn't offer much for him to improvise. The proceedings are not so gory that people in the movie theater along with this reviewer often have to search for the clocks. As far as histrionics go, the less said the better. Kalabhavan Mani has his way through, with nothing worth mentioning. Swarnamalya catches our attention once in a while as Nandhini but Lekshmy Sharma as Sanjana doesn't fit too much to the bill. The other saving grace of the movie is Biju Kuttan who provides a little comic relief. The technical crew also doesn’t give any mentionable outputs.

All in all, the movie doesn't offer anything extraordinary in terms of content and performance. You can be a part of it, if you still have an appetite for investigative movies that appear at least in dozens, every year in Mollywood.

Film Review:

Banner: Minerva Creations
Cast: Indrajith, Gopika, Janardanan, Mamukkoya, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Kiran Raj, Manianpillai
Raju, Anoop Chandran, T P Madhavan, Santhosh Jogi, Manka Mahesh, Mini Arun,
Lekshmipriya, Sree Nandhana.
Direction: Rajesh , Faizal
Production: T Santhoshkumar, K B Devaraj
Music: Rahulraj

A fresh team of directors, a new scriptwriter, producers and an young technician crew-every time when we hear about a movie from such a crew, we always expects much from them. Many of the recent outings from such crews proved banal and stale. But that is not the case with Rajesh Faizal's debut film 'Malabar Wedding'. It is a light hearted movie that truly delivers what is expected from it. A romantic comedy about a couple who had to endure a humiliating obstacle course to marriage, much due to a popular custom sorakalyanam, is a comedy of manners, Kerala - style.

The director duo Rajesh - Faisal proves very much through their debut film that a long term association with their mentor, Priyadarshan, have definitely groomed them to realize how to make quality comedies. This comic caper never really runs out of steam, moving unpredictably all along till the climax, with no forced sequences, making us remember some of the best from the nineties. With no nonsensical musings and slapsticks, and the deft handling of a funniest cast, who stands rooted without any overacting, Rajesh and faizal certainly deserve the credits for creating some of the pleasing laughs in a couple of years.

The cast is exclusively keralite and the setting is Malabar, where the very middle-class Maanu kuttan an his friends rule the village, playing Sorakalyanam, the custom of beleaguering and teasing the prospective grooms up to their marriage and sometimes even after that. These pranks and jokes are taken with the rightest spirit in their Ilanjikkara village where each wedding are made uproarious, loud and cheerful by maanukuttan and his gang composing of sugunan, pookkatta satheeshan, avookar, savior and sadhu.

Into this village unexpectedly arrives Smitha and her parents from calcutta, leaving back their unpleasant parts of life. Within a few days, Maanu gets engaged with Smitha, little knowing about her history. But he very well knows and fears that being the lead instigator in the group of teasers, this could be his payback time from his former victims, including satheeshan and gang. He tries many ways to avoid the confrontations, but ultimately has to fall to the consequences that wreak havoc on his personal life, which the entire gang seldom foresee.

We've probably seen many marriage related stories before but not any way related to this plot. That's one reason Malabar Wedding seems fresh. The other highlight is the excellent casting, and the tactfulness which avoids overplaying and thus makes the comedy a great deal more amusing than it might have been in coarser hands. With such a refreshing story and taut scripts by Ramesh madhavaan, wheels are set in motion for an non obstacle-ridden course of a refreshing movie. Any fan of the comedy tradition from Sathyan to Priyadarshan, can very well feel the deft touches of farce gently applied, except in a very few stretches where the antics are haphazardly staged. Compared, however, to several recent ultra-bore formulaic movie wagons that have ripped the majority of Malayalam films recently, Malabar wedding is a model of subdued charm. The resulting entertainment is just a little facile at times but the with many interconnecting tracks and caricatured characters, ending with a wedding, are encompassed with considerable skill.

And in the acting front, 'Malabar Wedding', is another movie in which the protagonists have little to do than the group that is surrounding them. But even in this course of narratives, Indrajith shines makes his striking presence felt all over. He is equally in control in witty and touching sequences, showcasing his apt comic timing once again. Gopika even though in a small role with least dialogues proves her fine facility yet again, with an impeccable performance in a role that is quite vital though not in any way truly demanding of her acting prowess.

With a bunch of talented comic actors like Suraj Venjarammood, Mamukkoya, Bijukuttan, Maniyan Pillai Raju, Anoop Chnadran, Janardhanan, K T S padnnyil, and santhosh jogi coming up with remarkable timing, none of the sequences proves ineffective Velraj in his first outing to Malayalam rightly captures the shots that suit the mood of the film and so is Arunkumar in editing who created interesting mis en scenes to create comedies. Gokuldas in art department and Rahul raj's rerecording also built up certain variations from the ordinary stuff. The movie also have a couple of songs of which''Kolusu'' is the pick.

All in all Malabar Wedding is an engrossing fare that doesn't talk too much about what we don't know. With all the right elements mixed up with elaan, this is a movie that deserves to be applauded for rightly recognising what all will work within our little budgets and with our audiences of intellect. A movie that rightly merits to win, this can be a definite recommendation for a quality viewing pleasure.

Film Review:

Banner: Eros Entertainment,Big Screen Entertainer
Cast: Sunil Shetty,Tusshar Kapoor,Paresh Rawal, Upen Patel,Esha Deol,Neetu Chandra
Sameera Reddy, Tanisha Mukherjee
Direction: Ashwani Dheer
Production: Kumar Mangat, Sunil Lulla
Music: Raghav Sachar

123 comes your way as one of the so called multi-starrers of this year (at least that’s how it was promoted). The film attempts to bring in immense comedy on the basis of mistaken identities.

The film brings in the ace at television comedy –Ashwin Dhir who has been the maverick behind the success of the tele-serial ‘Office Office’. But we wonder whether television and cinema have the same pattern when it comes to humour?

To begin with, the diamonds belonging to a Don [Manoj Pahwa] accidentally fall in the hands of Chandu [Upen Patel] and Chandni [Tanishaa], who hide them in a car. Papa [Mukesh Tiwari] and his henchmen [Vrajesh Hirjee and Sanjay Mishra] are desperately hunting for the diamonds, while police officer Mayavati Chautala [Neetu Chandra] is on the lookout for any offenders.

Enter the first Laxmi Narayan [Tusshar Kapoor] who is from a mafia family and his mother prays and awaits his first successful murder. He comes to Hotel Blue Diamond to knock off Papa which is his last chance to prove himself as Bhai.

Enter the second Laxmi Narayan [Suniel Shetty] who is also sent to Hotel Blue Diamond to collect a new car for his boss from Laila [Sameera Reddy]. The third Laxmi Narayan [Paresh Rawal] is a hawker who has made so much money selling under-garments on the footpath that he has set up a lingerie factory now. His son sends him to Hotel Blue Diamond to collect lingerie samples from upcoming designer Jiya [Esha Deol].

The three Laxmi Narayans are at the same place, at the same time. They get letters and photographs meant for the other. The first Laxmi Narayan gets lingerie designer Jiya's photo,the second Laxmi Narayan gets Papa's photo and the third Laxmi Narayan gets Laila's photo . A series of events follow which get different personalities intertwined as mistaken identities take over.

Director Ashwani Dhir fails miserably at holding the viewers attention and making one laugh. Some jokes are good but majority of it is just plain boring and more annoying. The script is loose and some characters are just so irrelevant to the script. Take for example Tanishaa and Upen Patel.

Also the manner in which Esha falls in love with Tusshar on realizing that he is a don is just so stupid. Just observe the expressions on Esha’s face when she explains her concept of an exciting love story with a bhai.

Most dialogues in the film are plain one liners, most of them not worth remembering. Some scenes evoke a gross feeling rather than being funny. The scene where Paresh Rawal argues with two women over their bra size and the remark that her husband always asks him her size before buying one is gross.

On the acting front, Suniel shetty initially impresses but eventually annoys with the ‘aapka left ya mera left sir?’ dialogue. He tries his Bhola act once again and this time it fails majorly because of a weak script.

Paresh Rawal offers nothing new; he just seems to be repeating his character over and over again. He barely makes you laugh and the so called funny erotic number between Paresh and Sameera could have been avoided.

Tusshar Kapoor fails to impress either with his jokes or few elements of bhaigiri . Upen Patel is absolutely wasted. Manoj Pahwa and Mukesh Tiwari followed by Sanjay Mishra are the best lot in the film. They bring life to their character and also in case of Mukesh , he comes as a revelation in comedy.

The ladies in the film are purely added for the glamour quotient. None of them impress with their acting except for Neetu Chandra who comes in as a surprise package as a cop with not much scope in the film.

Even the pretty Sameera, Esha and Tanishaa can’t complement the music of the film by Raghav Sachar. Some tracks are good but the placement of the tracks kills it all. The title track and the ‘Lakshmi Narayan’ dialogue filled track adds flavor.

On the whole, 123 fails to impress. The jokes get monotonous and the script is loose. Ashwani Dhir maybe be an ace at television but forgets that the comedy in cinema has to be much tighter and crisp, after all you just have 2 ½ hours to make the audience laugh. At the box office it surely means much higher revenues for Abbas Mastan’s RACE.

Film review:

Banner: Mukta Searchlight Films
Cast: Anil Kapoor,Anurag Sinha,Shefali Chhaya,Aditi Sharma,Habib Tanvir,Akash Khurana
Direction: Subhash Ghai
Production: Subhash Ghai

restigious Mukta Arts banner, Subash Ghai returns to direction with Black and White. Subash Ghai, popularly called ‘Showman’ of bollywood for his larger than life images and films of immense magnitude be it a Taal , Kisna or Yaadein; returns this time around with a much smaller film. Smaller in terms of its magnitude, budget and primarily because the film marks the debut of Anurag Sinha who plays the protagonist.


Subash Ghai goes ahead by exploring something new under his belt and steps into the world of terrorism and its harmful effects. Ghai releases this film under the Mukta Searchlight Films.

The film revolves around Numair Qazi [Anurag Sinha], who introduces himself as a victim of communal riots in Gujarat to the people around him. But the truth is that he is a suicide bomber commissioned by a Muslim fundamentalist group to detonate a bomb near Red Fort on 15th August.

In comes Rajan Mathur [Anil Kapoor] a Professor in Urdu literature. He resides in Chandni Chowk with his activist wife Roma [Shifaali Shah].

Numair somehow manages to take shelter in the Professor’s house and wins the trust and fondness of the couple. While helping Numair to get an entry pass for 15th August celebrations at Red Fort, Professor Mathur introduces him to the warm and loving people of Chandni Chowk.

Amidst all the tension, he is caught in an emotional dilemma whether to go ahead with his mission. Despite his deep-rooted fundamentalist beliefs, he sees this as one of the most colorful and loving areas. So what happens next? Will he go ahead with his mission or has there been a change in Numair’s views?

Black and White makes an attempt to look into the psyche of a Muslim fanatic and tries to justify why the so called terrorists think the way they do. But at some point or the other the film fails to leave that impact.

Subash Ghai attempts a genre or theme that has never before been explored by him and thus the film tends to loosen up and give way. Ghai’s direction is not top notch unlike several other flicks that have made Ghai the ‘Showman’ he is. The screenplay of the film is loose and so are the characterizations.

Certain characters in the film seem so wasted, for example the girl falling in love with Numair very much the love at first sight style that too across the terrace of two buildings. In fact the love angle shown is just a waste adding to the film’s length. These characters could have definitely been avoided considering the fact that these characters including the bunch of Sahelis( girl friends) lack the believability factor.

Even the characterization of Numair sometimes seems so dry. We do understand that Mr.Ghai wanted to give him a cold blooded , stoned hearted look but throughout the film , he carries the same expressions with the same tone of voice. Even in scenes where we expect the emotions to outpour, Numair stands firm and robust. The scene where Roma is shot dead by Numair’s collegues , here too Numair just stands there looking at the dead body from the door side and doesn’t emote a bit or even take few steps towards the body lying in the center of the room. Considering the fact that Roma calls Numair her brother and was very dear to him; his emotionless depiction is not justified. We can argue that towards the end Numair shoots the culprits behind the murder but even at that point the cold bloodedness look doesn’t explain whether it was revenge for his Hindu sister or the laws of Islam that forbids the murder of the innocent that provoked him to do so.

Black and White does have its share of good moments and spellbinding scenes. The sequence where Shefali Shah enters into an argument with a local Muslim youth leader and the series of events that turn it into a communal argument with the dialogues followed by Anil Kapoor are impressive.

On the acting front, it is truly Anil Kapoor who is fantastic as the patriotic and just Professor. Anil carries the character with ease and is so impressive with his dialogues moving from a high pitch mentioned in the above sequence to a low pitch at the climax while observing the kids at the parade.

Shefali Shah is very good too and compliments Anil by portraying a realistic wife. Debutant Anurag Sinha does well for a debut but the film actually doesn’t offer much scope to see his versatility as an actor. Guess we will have to wait till his next to see whether or not Anurag shifts from the angry young man to a true bollywood ‘Hero’.

The character portraying the poet is impressive and natural. New find Aditi fails to impress. Milind Gunaji impresses.

Cinematography by Somak Mukherjee is good. Music by Sukwinder Singh doesn’t have much scope in the film yet ‘jogi ayaa’ and ‘main chala’ are good compositions.

On the whole Ghai indeed tries something different but looses out with the screenplay that at times just drags the film along. Nevertheless, Anil Kapoor is worth watching and so is Anurag Sinha. Also with over two weeks since the release of Jodhaa-Akbar comes a film that hits the theatres in a dry week of college exams. So until Race on March21, Black and White fills the theatres.