Special Chabbis (2013)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Biography/Comedy

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Kajal Aggarwal, Rajesh Sharma, Kishore Kadam

Based on true incidents, a group of 4 con artists conduct false raids against corrupt politicians and wealthy businessmen, posing as CBI sleuths or Income Tax officers. Since the money is illegal and unaccounted for, these politicians and businessmen do not want to file a police case, fearing negative publicity and people learning about their deeds. The group is led by Ajay Singh (Kumar) along with P.K. Sharma (Kher) and their 2 assistants, Joginder (Sharma) and Iqbal (Kadam). The real CBI gets wind of their false raids and CBI officer Wasim Khan (Bajpayee) is put on the job of hunting them down. Along with the help of Delhi Police Officer Ranveer Singh (Shergill), Khan starts following their every footstep and plans to nab them when they are all set to do one last mega-heist before ultimately retiring. Coming from the makers of A Wednesday the movie promised a lot and delivered pretty much to the expected demands. The only grouse that one can come up with, would be the forced romance plot and the unwanted songs. These two aspects break the otherwise good flow of the movie and can seem annoying. Akshay Kumar has finally delivered a decent movie after a very long time and Anupam Kher was his usual best. The duo get along well and can occasionally deliver the sarcastic humour which is enough to make you smirk. A must watch, at least once.

Thumbs up: Great story, amazing climax

Thumbs down: Unwanted romance and songs

Rating: 7.4/10

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Biography, Bollywood, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Good Movies,

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Argo (2012)

 Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Biography

Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Christopher Denham, Scoot McNairy, Kerry Bishe, Victor Garber

In 1979, the Shah of Iran was over-thrown by the people for having a very westernised approach, flamboyant life and leading the country towards poverty and famine. Ayatollah Khomeini became the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and subsequently its supreme leader, a position created solely for him. The people of Iran demanded that the Shah be returned to them, who was currently hiding in USA for him to be tried and eventually executed. The US governments refusal saw large protests outside the American embassy which eventually saw a crowd taking over the entire embassy and 52 American citizens were taken hostage. 6 diplomats, of the embassy managed to escape through a back door and took shelter with the Ambassador of Canada (Garber). The revolutionists had learnt of the 6 diplomats and would eventually manage to find out where they are hiding. If they are caught inside the house of the Canadian Ambassador, it would create a politically tense situation for not only USA but also Canada. Hence, due to increasing pressure from the Canadian government, USA needed to either rescue the 6 diplomats or risk a political crisis. CIA operative Tony Mendez (Affleck) is assigned the task of rescuing the 6 without anyone being the wiser. His game plan, to fake a Canadian movie production company who is currently in Iran to look for locations. This movie is one of those regular CIA/FBI run-of-the-mill spy movies and can easily be classified into the 'average' category. The big thing about this movie, due to which it has got the astounding acclaim, is only the climax. The steady build up of the suspense and final outburst towards the end is what is exceptionally gripping and very entertaining this is solely what makes this movie a wonderful watch. It should become a case study on 'How to end a movie with a good climax'.

Thumbs up: Phenomenal build up and the eventual peaking

Thumbs down: A bit slow beginning, can be discarded as any other average movie

Rating: 8.1/10

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Amazing Movies, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller,

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Outlander (2008)

Genre: War/Drama/Action/Science-fiction

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston, John Hurt

An alien ship crash lands onto Earth with an alien emerging who looks exactly like humans. Mankind is still in the iron age and Kainan (Caviezel), the alien, finds himself in Norwegian lands amongst Vikings. Kainan was carrying with him a deadly alien beast called the Moorwen which escapes from his ship when they land. Determined to get his prisoner back, Kainan goes on a hunt but is captured by Wulfric (Huston) a Viking prince and is escorted to King Hrothgar. Moorwen has already started destroying villages and eating humans and the Vikings are unaware of the power of the beast. Kainan confesses his true identity to the Vikings and offers help to capture the beast and bring peace once more to their lands. The movie is a very typical story of a hero who slays a beast and that of aliens on Earth. It offers nothing exceptional whatsoever and has probably one of the most cliched stories and climax that can be possible. If this very specific genre interests you, then only must one take the chances of watching this movie. Otherwise, this is a complete washout.

Thumbs up: Decent build-up of the action sequences

Thumbs down: Very cliched and predictable throughout

Rating: 5.3/10

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Action, Average Movies, Drama, Science-fiction, War,

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Race 2 (2013)

Genre: Action/Drama/Crime/Romance

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandes, Ameesha Patel, Anil Kapoor

Bollywood would never die without giving up on trying to make a typical Hollywood movie. What does a typical Hollywood movie comprise of? Fast cars, hot girls, loads of action, high-tech gadgets and a plot that has little relevance or sense. Race 2 has effectively done each and every one of those in the worst possible manner ever. When you have playing cards that have 'thermal sensors that tell reflect on Deepika's sunglasses what cards her opponent has' and sports cars with 'parachutes that automatically trigger if it senses a freefall', you immediately know what an amazing movie this is going to be. The original movie had cars involved in it to a higher degree but it seems that in the second movie the makers were far too involved in showing Deepika and Jacquelines body to bother about the vehicles. Armaan Malik (Abraham) is a million-dollar tycoon who has made his money doing shady dealings. Ranvir Singh (Khan) is a con artist who has an idea for which he needs funding and who better to approach than Armaan himself. Armaan buys the idea not knowing that Ravnir's main motive is to dis-repute him and take revenge from him for murdering his girlfriend. The movie is a joke for the word 'movie' and is a disgraceful attempt at trying to be cool. From gadgets that are simply unimaginative and outlandish, gripping action that was missing throughout and a plot line that was far too twisted to be realistic, the movie is a complete wash. The only reason to watch would be the long-legged women but I am sure that cannot be the sole incentive to ever watch this movie. Avoid!

Thumbs up: Good loads of eye candy

Thumbs down: Horrible everything else

Rating: 4.2/10

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Action, Bollywood, Crime, Drama, Pathetic Movies, Romance,

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L.A. Confidential (1997)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/Mystery

Starring: Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, David Strathairn

Hollywood, L.A. and Vegas, that is what everyone dreams of achieving one day. The flamboyant lifestyle, the money and the riches. However, all that is shining on the surface is always dark on the inside. The movie shows the life of 3 police officers of the LAPD and their involvement with organised crime. Officer Bud White (Crowe) is a plain-clothes officer who fights for crimes against women. A new recruit in the department, Ed Exley (Pearce) is the son of a famous LAPD officer who intends to live up to his fathers reputation. Jack Vincennes (Spacey) works for the anti-narcotics department and is a movie star amongst the cops. He rubs shoulders with film personalities and receives tips from The Hush-Hush magazine for providing information about big celebrity arrests. Ed and Bud cross paths when Ed's testimony against Bud's partner leads to his partners' removal from the department. A violent mass murder takes place at the Nite Owl coffee shop that Ed starts investigating. The investigation starts revealing the filthy under-belly of the LAPD which involves sex, crime, drugs, hookers and money. The movie is a gripping tale of crime and mystery which keeps you entertained and glued till the very last moment. The performances have been fabulous across the board with every character developing a unique personality for themselves. A must-watch if you love a good crime movie set in the rolling '50s.

Thumbs up: Fabulous plot

Thumbs down: An extended run time

Rating: 8.8/10

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Action, Amazing Movies, Crime, Drama, Mystery,

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50/50 (2011)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance/Biography

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston

A lot of movies have been made with people having various diseases, problems and disorders and this movie does not chose to be very different. Based on a true life story, Adam Lerner (Gordon-Levitt) has a tumour in his spine which has turned cancerous. He has a 50% chance of survival and this sudden news seems to have hit him very hard. Most of the movie focuses on the ups and downs with Adam and him trying to cope with the cancer. From a mother who feels left out, a girlfriend who is two-timing him, a friend who is using him as a bait to get women and a psychiatrist who has no previous experience, Adam's life does not become any easy but it only gets harder. The movie does not throw up anything exceptional in terms of Adam trying to deal with his illness and is very normal and predictable. The movie might be worth that one watch, but then again it might not be. Leaving the story out, the movie is perfect in all other aspects but its simply the uneventful plot line that becomes a bit of a damper.

Thumbs up: Good performances

Thumbs down: A very predictable and obvious story

Rating: 6.5/10

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Average Movies, Biography, Comedy, Drama, Romance,

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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime/Romance

Starring: Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur, Shabana Azmi, Arya Babbar

Vishal Bharadwaj has a distinct style of his own that makes his movies different from the rest of the lot. Usually set in rural India, unique story lines, sarcastic humour and rowdy abuses; that is what Bharadwaj is all about. Mr. Harry Mandola (Kapoor) is an extremely rich land lord living in the village of Mandola in Harayana, India. His dreams of setting up an automobile factory near the village, is not as simple as he thought when the villagers refuse in transferring their lands to him. However, Mr. Mandola actually has a bigger problem then simply acquiring land, and that is his alcohol problem. 4 pegs of his favourite drink is all that he needs to become a completely different person, so much so, he even led a protest outside his own house against himself. To counter this problem, he hires Hukkum Sigh Matru (Khan) a well-educated driver and servant who is in charge of preventing him from getting too drunk.Chaudhari Devi (Azmi) is the local politician who has vested interests in the land deal and Mandola and his wealth. She strategically wants her son, Badal (Babbar) to marry Mandola's daughter Bijlee (Sharma) so that she may inherit all of Mandola's wealth when he eventually passes away. Pankaj Kapur puts on a fabulous performance of a drunk Mandola, of a stern Mandola and of a frightened Mandola with so much of ease and simplicity. The movie has got good performances but the songs get a bit too much after a point. The movie too is not up to the expectations that you would have of Bharadwaj but nonetheless, the movie is definitely worth it to hear Pankaj Kapur's drunk antics and the regular 'Bhencho-Bhencho'.

Thumbs up: Fabulous Kapur and the rest of the cast

Thumbs down: A bit long and too many songs

Rating: 7.3/10

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Bollywood, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Good Movies, Romance,

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Lincoln (2012)

Genre: Drama/Historical Event/Biography

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Tommy Lee Jones, Hal Holbrook, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) is one of the most respected President's in the history of United States politics. This respect is not futile, but something that he has earned due to the work that he did. During his second term as President, the American Civil War between the southern states and the northern states was raging and there was mounting political pressure to end the war and bring peace. Lincoln, on the other hand, was strongly of the favour to bring about the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution which would prohibit slavery of any kind. This amendment would not only boost public sentiment for the Republican Party but also ensure that the war ends. However, in order to pass the bill, a 2/3 majority is needed in the house and currently Lincoln is falling short of 20 votes. He must procure these votes from the opposition and at the same time battle with his fellow party-men who are against the bill and eventually create history. The sole reason why the movie succeeded was due to the efforts of and only one person, Daniel Day-Lewis. His phenomenal performance of Lincoln is by far one of the best one might have ever seen and he might even be able to put the real Lincoln to shame. The movie wonderfully shows Lincoln to be not only concerned and thoughtful but also shrewd and cunning, the makings of a true politician. The biggest let down of the movie is the first half, which is slow and very dragged. A load of political jargon and verbose dialogues plague the first one hour which makes the movie a difficult and boring watch. Since the first impression is weak, the better next hour can get easily discarded by the audience as being the same, but it thankfully isn't. The movie picks up smoothly and delivers a composed climax which isn't very over-the-top and isn't too blunt either. A great movie to watch about a great man, but just keep some patience.

Thumbs up: Daniel Day-Lewis

Thumbs down: Unsimplified and verbose dialogues, a bit dragged first half

Rating: 7.1/10

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Biography, Drama, Good Movies, Historical Event,

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Life of Pi (3D) (2012)

Genre: Adventure/Drama

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Adil Hussain

Based on a novel with the same name, Piscine Molitor Patel aka Pi (Sharma) is  16-year old boy who lives with his family in Pondicherry, India. His father, Santosh Patel (Hussain) runs a zoo and Pi has grown up amongst animals. Due to a change in the political environment, his father chose to relocate to Canada and sell all the animals in USA, a decision that Pi was against but could do nothing. The cargo ship on which Pi, his family and all the animals are housed upon, sinks in the middle of the Pacific and Pi is the only survivor on a lifeboat. For company, Pi has a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a tiger who goes by the name of Richard Parker. Living on a boat in the middle of a vast ocean with an animal who has every desire to eat you, Pi finds himself in a very difficult situation and realises that he would become Richard Parkers dinner very soon if he doesn't do something about it. The movie is very enchanting and has a mystical aspect attached to it. It talks about god, animals and the wonders of faith and determination. The 3D effects of the movie is stunning and the animations done on all the animals are extremely life-like and very hard to imagine that its actually all digital. Although the movie does get a bit slow in the middle, the movie is still very entertaining with a lot of hidden meanings and aspects attached to it that not everyone would be able to fully grasp or understand the meaning of. Worth a watch, especially in 3D.

Thumbs up: Awesome 3D, very enchanting story

Thumbs down: A bit slow in the middle

Rating: 7.8/10

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Adventure, Drama, Good Movies,

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