Zila Gaziabad – Too Loud to be Real.

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vivek Oberoi & Paresh Rawal.
Director: Anand Kumar.
Producer: Vinod Bachan.

Duration: 130 Minutes

Zila Gaziabad is controlled by two groups one headed by Brahampal Singh Choudhary (Paresh Rawal) and his counterpart Rashid Ali (Ravi Kishan). Brahampal’s right hand henchman Fauji (Arshad Warsi) the most wanted gangster betrays him keeping in mind the growing proximity between Brahampal & Satbir Gurjar (Vivek Oberoi). Fauji joins the band wagon of Rashid Ali.

This misunderstanding flares up the fight between Brahmpal supported by Satbir & Rashid supported by Fauji. With the death of Brahmpal, Satbir becomes his heir. Satbir also loses his brother and good friend at the hands of Fauji.

Here enters Thakur Pritam Singh Chauhan (Sanjay Dutt), the police officer to control the situation. Thakur falls in for satbir and helps him in his revenge saga over Fauji & Rashid.

The problem with Zila Gaziabad is, it has too much of everything but nothing of real. Too many hit plots mixed together with too many heroes showing up their over the top presence adding to its many mindless songs which come with no rhyme or reason. This is just one big over the top mayhem.

The only shining stars for me have been Arshad Warsi & Paresh Rawal who did their bits with conviction.

To sum it up Zila Gaziabad is too hard to be real. Can be avoided unless you want to.

Rating: 0.5/5

A Good Day To Die Hard – Reporting back to Duty.

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch & Yulia Snigir.
Director: John Moore
Producer: Alex Young & Wyck Godfrey

Duration: 97 Minutes

Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch) a Russian political prisoner has a confidential file, which if accessed will put Viktor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov) a Russian political big-wig in deep trouble. On the other hand Jack McClane (Jai Courtney) an undercover CIA agent in Moscow helps Yuri Komarov to escape for an access to the file in return for a free exit from Russia.

John McClane (Bruce Willis), who has not seen his son for quite some time lands in Moscow to help him out from the situation. John & Jack help out Yuri Komarov, protecting him from all the evil to land up in a hotel which has the key to a vault containing the secret file.

Irina (Yuliya Snigir), daughter of Yuri Komarov visits the hotel and brings in the bad guys as well kidnapping her own father and leaving John & Jack to be killed. Father & Son duo escape the site with some real hardcore fight.

A twist in the movie comes when John & Jack visit Chernobyl, Ukraine, which is the location of the secret file. But to their surprise they find tones of weapons-grade uranium locked up. They also discover Yuri Komarov is the master planner behind it who got himself kidnapped to access the uranium.

Can John & Jack escape the wrath of Yuri Komarov is the plot.

Coming to the movie John Moore like any other Die Hard movie has placed some extra ordinary fight sequences and heavy crashes which are a treat to watch. Especially the first car chase sequence followed by hotel fight sequence and of course the end one are splendid. Adding to it when you have the man himself Bruce Willis with his famous one liner’s it can only get better.

But in spite of all the above positives the movie lacks the fundamental element – A Strong Story Line. That is where A Good Do Day To Die Hard Falls flat. Somehow you never get convinced with all the efforts that have been put by the protagonists as the cause for it looks pale.

Possibly had there been a strong cause/motive for which John & Jack almost made hell out Moscow with complete mayhem it would have been better and convincing. John Moore keeping the movie to bare 97 Minutes has helped to the cause.

All in all if you are a action junkie or die hard franchise follower you will enjoy the movie but for others it’s a one time watch.  

Rating: 3/5

Kai Po Che – Kite Flying High!!

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit Sadh, Raj Kumar Yadav , Amrita Puri & Digvijay Deshmukh.
Director: Abhishek Kapoor.
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Duration: 126 Minutes

Kai Po Che, which means in Gujarati “I Have Cut”. The common word used during Kite Flying, in other sense it’s a “Victory Shout”. Secondly, Kai Po Che is the adaption of Chetan Bhagats book “The 3 Mistakes of My Life”.

As the movie begins you are introduced to three friends with distinct characteristics, Ishaan Bhatt (Sushant Singh Rajput), Omkar Shastri (Amit Sadh), Govind Patel (Raj Kumar Yadav). A brief about our protagonist’s, Ishaan, the Dil Wala Guy-one who listens to heart and district cricket player, Omi – Someone who is more in to himself, easily convincible and an aspiring politician and lastly, Govind- Sublime but a Man with business acumen.

Kai Po Che revolves around the life of these three friends, against the backdrop of 2001 Earthquake & 2002 riots in Gujarat. How these three friends evolve as three strong individuals during the troubled times is the story.

More than anything, Kai Po Che is what it is because of one man Abhishek Kapoor the director. Adapting a book and showing its character’s so real on screen is truly a job of fine craftsmen. Every shot by Abhishek Kapoor is designed in a way that it shows a trait of the character. To give an example : There is a simple sequence where in three friends get on the bus, but the way they move reflects the psyche of the character. Keeping the movie to bare 126 minutes yet covering all the important elements of the book and showcasing of sensitive issues so meticulously is just brilliant.

Just another example to add on to Abhishek Kapoor and how he has kept the book so close to movie, if one observes Chetan Bhagat’s character’s be it in Five Point Some One (3 Idiots) or The 3 Mistakes of My Life (Kai Po Che) there is always one character who ape’s his other friend. In 3 Idiots it was Farhan Qureshi with Rancho and in Kai Po Che its Omi with Ishaan. That close it is.

Coming to the other aspects which are equally brilliant, first being the music thanks to Amit Trivedi for some fine tunes (watch out for Meethi Boliyan & Manja). Credits to Cinematographer-Anay Goswami for showing Gujarat so beautifully & Deepak Bhatia the editor for some fine job. The screen play team has given some fabulous dialogues, one being “Tere sikkon ki awaaz meri hawa ko kam kar rahin hain”.

Lastly about the actors who have done some brilliant job, my favorite being Sushant Singh Rajput as the unconventional guy.

Kai Po Che is a true entertainer. Do not miss it....!

Rating: 4.5/5

Murder 3 – An End Hard to Convince!!!

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Aditi Rao Hyadri, Sara Loren, Rajesh Shringapure, Shekhar Shukla, Bugs Bhargava
Director: Vishesh Bhatt.
Producer: Vishesh Films, Fox Star Studios.

Duration: 135 Minutes

Vikram (Randeep Hooda), a struggling photographer based in Capetown takes up a one year assignment and leaves for India with his girlfriend Roshini (Aditi Rao Hyadri). In no time, Vikram makes big in India, which is soon followed by a relation with his hair stylist. Suspecting an affair, Roshini spies on vikram by locking herself in a secret room. One way view glasses and voice trackers being the specialty of the room. Roshini leaves a farewell message to Vikram about her exit from his life.

Unable to digest the truth Vikram ends up in relation with a waitress from a lounge, Nisha (Sara Loren). Amongst all this happenings Roshini realizes that she has lost the key to the secret door and is now trapped in the room with no way to contact.

Nisha finds the key to the secret room, and eventually figures out that Roshini is trapped in the house because she is able to communicate through tapping on the pipes in the secret room.

Murder 3 takes a twist when Nisha leaves Roshini to her fate without a help, in the fear of losing Vikram.

Can Roshini come out of the trapped room and take her vengeance on Vikram & Nisha being the plot.

For all those who do not know, Murder 3 plot is inspired from a Columbian Movie“The Hidden Face” directed by Andres Baiz with a tweak in the end though.

Coming to other aspects, personally was let down with the tweaking of the ending when compared to the original “The Hidden Face”, which has made it kind of morally debatable and is hard to get convinced with.

Good music, excellent camera work, short & crisp plot and some good editing being the positives. The lip syncing mismatch for the dialogues and some pale performances by Sara Loren, Randeep being the biggest let down.  Aditi Rao was the only one who has managed to put up a convincing show.

All in all Murder 3 is watchable for once …do not go with huge expectations tough!!!!!  

Rating: 2.5/5