Action Replayy (2010)

Is there more to Vipul Shah’s take on Back To The Futuresque film than just the item number ‘Zor Ka Jhatka’, or is Aishwarya looking attractive in a jumpsuit all that we can look forward to? All these questions and more can and will be answered by watching Action Replayy (AR), the latest work of the man who has brought us films like Aankhen, London Dreams, and Namastey London.

AR is a film about, it seems, marital disputes and the affect they can have on the offspring. In Bunty’s (Aditya Kapur) case, the effect is that of him never wanting to get married. His parents’ fights aren’t just arguments that end in one or the other making up with their partner, but rather with Akshay Kumar becoming more long-suffering and Aishwarya Rai shopping some more. Speaking of whom, it was a good call to style her as a tricked out older woman rather than a sad woman trapped in a bad marriage with her roots showing. Score a point for the stylist of the film. Speaking of which…

AR builds a lot of its foundation on the fact that it is set in the ‘70s. The sets, with Mumbai spots being refurbished to look new (or to look like they exist again), are groovy. It’s always fun to watch a period piece, simply because it is interesting to note how many details from those times can be recreated, and for someone who has never been to India except for the old family photos and old Hindi cinema, AR is a treat to watch as it creates some of that ambience you see in older Indian films. Old Indian movies always featured those old Ambassadors and the homes that just somehow look different from the houses we are used to seeing now, and the essence of another time is captured well in AR.

Then there are the costumes. They might not be exactly what the girls wore back in the day, but they are strongly based on the idea of what they did wear, only seemingly more stylish somehow, which means the clothes have somewhat been played with to appeal to the sensibilities of a new century.

Also, how can anyone resist a film with time travel (as in the Back To The Future trilogy?) Or a really not so serious take on sci-fi (as in Honey I Shrunk The Kids)? Both make for really good means to while away time, without having to invest too much of your brain into the plot, the character development or the subtle nuances of great cinema. Although BTTF was great cinema, no two ways about it. Anyway, AR does a lot of that pleasantly mindless entertainment thing, and though it sometimes seems like the film is being carried upon Aditya Kapur’s fairly new Bollywood existence, that’s not entirely a bad thing.

Aditya has previously starred in London Dreams, and has a pretty chunky role in AR. He is the son, the best friend and the cool guy who coaches his dad on how to be equally cool and win the heart of the object of his affection. Only in AR, Bunty, as the son has to first make his father think/ feel that the pretty girl next door, Mala, with the attributes of your local badmaash is in fact the object of his affection.

Mala, played by the stoniest woman known to mankind, Aishwarya Rai, actually manages to be…not so Aishwarya for once. Yes, the high pitched voice is in place, as is Aishwarya’s penchant to not look sad or affronted even when she is, but there are times she actually breaks out of all the usual trappings and really slides into her role of someone who enjoys picking on the effeminate Kishen (Akshay Kumar). This is Aishwarya’s other release this month, along with Guzaarish, and it seems that she is totally on an acting high with both, even though AR isn’t rated as high as Guzaarish.

Akshay Kumar is pretty funny as usual. His comic timing is excellent and he works well with Bunty’s character. The actors all play off each other and each one is endearing in their own way – even Neha Dhupia, who has perhaps the smallest part in the film.

That said, AR keeps up the humour factor pretty steadily except for the few times that it falters. The jokes are not Hera Pheri funny, but they still induce smiles and chuckles. AR builds itself a sweet momentum, but then doesn’t know where to go with it – Amina Baig

Rating – 3 out of 5

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2010, Genre – Comedy/Drama, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Vipul Shah, Director – Vipul Shah, Music Director – Pritam Chakraborty, Cast - Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Randhir Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Kiron Kher, Om Puri, Rannvijay Singh, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sudeepa Singh, Rajpal Yadav

Milenge Milenge (2010)

Nothing ruins my mood and Friday more than a bad movie and Milenge Milenge did exactly that! It made last year’s Kambakkht Ishq look like a masterpiece. At least that was fresh; this one’s just simply ancient. It’s one of those movies which are so sad that after a few scenes, you stop criticizing it and feel sad for the entire crew. The plot of Milenge Milenge revolves around a young girl, Priya [Kareena Kapoor], a complete romantic at heart who expects the love of her life to be a guy who falls into the category of a true good boy, one that doesn’t smoke, drink or lie. Priya gets to meet a tarot card reader [Kirron Kher] who tells Priya about her past and when Priya starts believing in her she tells her that Priya will meet her life partner in seven days at a foreign beach. She also tells her that he will be wearing seven different colors. Immy [Shahid Kapoor] is the exact opposite of what Priya has been looking for but interestingly he comes across her diary and reads what she is expecting in her partner.

He then starts posing like her dream mate, giving her a completely different picture of himself. Like in all Bollywood films, Priya gets attracted to Immy when they go to a festival in Bangkok city and they come closer to each other. Just when they were about to leave Priya finds out about Immy’s reality and they part ways. As clichéd as it might sound, Immy then changes into the man that Priya has always dreamed of while Priya has moved on in life and is in a relationship. The rest [as predictable as it might seem] is something you need to watch the film to find out.

I still haven’t been able to figure out why Satish Kaushik and Boney Kapoor decided to release this movie? I mean it’s understandable that they wanted to recover the production costs but they shouldn’t have at the cost of their reputation and name.

The major issue with Milenge Milenge is that it’s extremely old, which is why it can’t connect to the audience whereas it is very important for a movie to click with its audience. It was made for the youth; college students to be precise, but the college students it was made for graduated a while back. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it was made for a completely different audience, with their language, their slang, their dressing styles and they have grown up now and hence cannot relate to Milenge Milenge. Today’s audience demands freshness, which is something Milenge Milenge clearly lacks.

Moreover, the screenplay is extremely clichéd – hopeless romantic girl, playboy guy meet and fall in love, guy hides his reality, girl finds out and then the guy suddenly changes altogether. We’ve seen it so many times that bearing it again one more time is just not possible. The music, done by Himmesh Reshammiya is passŽ and doesn’t really help either. Note that it was made at the time when Himmesh was quite the in thing. I doubt the youth listens to him now. The cinematography of Milenge Milenge is just typical and boring as well.

The chemistry between Kareena and Shahid is not something that produces spark on the screen but is not bad either. They are sweet together and probably the only reason why people would want to watch the film. Shahid Kapoor has done an average job, nothing compared to his recent roles though. He looks young and full of life but that’s not enough to rescue a sinking ship. Kareena looks young too but not as beautiful as she looks now. Justice hasn’t been done to Kareena’s wardrobe either.

In short Milenge Milenge tries to be funny at times but fails miserably. I thought China Town and Chupke Chupke were two disasters in which Kareena and Shahid worked together, now I know none of them was the real disaster. Watch this movie, only if you are craving more of the duo together. I assure you after this, you will never want to watch them together again. Also, a piece of advice, don’t spend money on the ticket, just watch it at home because it doesn’t even deserve the ticket price and I doubt you will be able to survive till the end – Hafsah Sarfraz

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2010, Genre – Drama, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Surinder Kapoor, Director – Satish Kaushik, Music Director – Himesh Reshammiya, Cast - Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Satish Shah, Delnaz Paul, Aarti Chabria, Kiron Kher, Himani Shivpuri, Satish Kaushik, Sarfaraz Khan, Panini Rajkumar

Kambakkht Ishq (2009)

After a long tedious week, what one desperately needs is mindless entertainment. And this is precisely what Kambakkht Ishq promises and delivers: Bollywood masala coated in glam, tossed with idiotic humour, garnished with scantily clad women, spiced with a brigade of Hollywood superstars, and of course that special condiment a super sexy Kareena Kapoor igniting the screen in an acerbic verbal tennis with Akshay Kumar.

But let’s face it, what is drawing audiences (read hot blooded males with raging hormones) to the cinemas is clearly an alluring and stunning Kareena aka Bebo – who now even has a highly unpalatable song to her name courtesy this film (and if this wasn’t worse enough a David Dhawan film due this season also has a track with the same chorus).

Kambakkht Ishq hardly has a mentionable plot. It simply revolves around the super model Bebo and the bane of her existence, the super Hollywood stuntman Viraj, the notorious womaniser played by Akshay Kumar – a role he’s done so often in films such as Garam Masala, it’s become second skin really. However his last attempt, the infamous Chandni Chowk to China fell flat, and this latest venture seems exactly what he needs to pump up his ratings. True to form though, the value in the film comes from the ludicrous situational comedy and the natural flow of humour that surges through Akshay’s perfectly delivered rebuttals, although Javed Jaffrey and Boman Irani are also included and added sparsely for flavour. Jaffrey plays the role that he has been stereotyped in after playing a ‘desi Aussie’ in Salaam Namaste, with his over exaggerated puns on the US penchant for legal action: spinning off the word ‘sue’ in a myriad of farcical ways. Jaffrey has a totally unnecessary character that has no link to the rest of the story, as does Irani, though his subdued humour makes sure that he delivers a respectable performance each time. Meanwhile it is Akshay and Kareena’s tiffs as they try and sabotage each other as they get their heads around their best friends getting married, that this film really revolves around.

Interesting additions to the cast are Aftab Shivdasani and Amrita Arora, both of whom have been absent from the scene for quite a while, and whose careers have certainly gradually sunk into the backwaters of Indian cinema. They both needed this film for a much needed boost, which it certainly has done. Although they have very minor roles, Amrita stands out with a body to kill for. Her new fully toned, highly stylized persona is testimony that she has finally joined the ranks with sister Malaika Arora Khan and best bud Kareena, who actually, despite her super sexy role, manages to look haggard compared to Arora. Kirron Kher also does her customary two bit as the aunt cum surrogate mother; a cameo of the worst and forgettable kind, and is also fairly stereotyped, particularly after Dostana.

But as mentioned before, Kambakkht Ishq is a glamorized masala film that is complete brainless entertainment so it requires nothing from the actors but the ability to deliver their pithy and coarsely humorous dialogues in a particular time sequence. The rest of the laughs the situations manage to elicit themselves naturally. The film should be a roaring success akin to that of Singh is Kinng.

However, the musical score eaves much to be desired. The only noteworthy track is RDB’s ‘Om Mangalam’ which was used in the film’s trailers. The song ‘Bebo Mein Bebo’ makes one cringe in utter disbelief that Kareena now has a song to further pump up her already pompous self. While the video of the song has strong remnants of the mutilated classic ‘Yeh Mera Dil’ from Don, only this time a slimmer Kareena is adorning a slinky baby pink sequined mini dress instead of the gold one that she wore in the former.

Nonetheless, despite these significant upsets, the film is sure to be a crowd puller for the star value and manifests in full form how far the Indian film industry has reached to be able to garner cameos such as Denise Richards and Sylvester Stallone – an icon himself of the coveted and fascinating Hollywood. Kareena as always is a delectable treat to watch, but one can’t help but feel that any actress with a body to pull off her urbane wardrobe could have easily done this role. But these days whatever Bebo touches turns to gold.

At the end of the day, Kambakkht Ishq is total paisa vasool entertainment. Leave your cognitive capacities at home to indulge in the uproarious and ribald, although at times raunchy humour, while Bebo and Akshay set the screen ablaze in more than one ways – they’ve made out ten times in the film – strange trivia to reveal but with masala comes mirch. Enjoy this scintillating summer special! – Hani Taha Salim (Rating – 3 OUT OF 5)

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2009, Genre – Comedy, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Sajid Nadiadwala, Director – Sabir Khan, Music Director – Anu Malik, Rdb, Sulaiman Merchant, Cast – Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora, Vindoo Dara Singh, Ashwin Mushran