PAA

Cast:

•  Amitabh Bachchan,
• Abhishek Bachchan,
• Vidya Balan,
• Paresh Rawal,
• Arundhati Naag;

Director: R BalakrishnanWell today is the day which all of us were waiting for so long. Paa the most awaited flick released worldwide. Amitabh Bachchan, the star, the grandeur of success playing a 13year old progeric child is a treat to watch. ZANJEER broke the chain of 13 consecutive flops. AGNEEPATH was an experiment which proved worth doing. BLACK broke all barriers and well appreciated by all his critics now comes PAA.

He relives the character. He is one man who has done it all. The prosthetic makeup by Christien Tinsley (The Passion of The Christ) and Dominie Till is absolutely authentic removing every trace of Amitabh Bachchan from Auro and imparting him an absolutely new identity. Without a doubt Amitabh Bachchan deserves all the awards and accolades for his portrayal of Auro. With a new voice, face and body language here is one character of Big B which will undoubtedly stand out in his filmography for being delightfully different and charmingly childish.

.Vidya Balan’s maternal chemistry and her jelling up with Auro being the single mother is truly applaud able. You will be touched with the sting of emotion. Abhishek Bachchan puts in a poised performance as a politician and pal-turned-Paa to Auro. Pratik Katare as Auro’s schoolmate Vishnu gets the funniest one-liners. Arundhati Nag as the grandmother puts in a confident act. Even Paresh Rawal is pleasant in his extended special appearance, much charming that his recent full-length, blown-out, loud comic acts.

The movie is fun filled at the same time it will touch your heart. It has got a story whose messahe is very loud “progeria”. But Balki, the Director of the film has tried to bring out other angle as well like over-enthusiastic media, use of condoms, abortion and the political angle in, he does not sound preachy with it.

So what are you waiting for folks? Go book your ticket now. If you are trying for Sunday I am sure you have to stand in queue for hours! We just hope that it gets the Oscars nomination and becomes the next Slumdog Millionaire. All the very best to the whole unit of PAA.

DE DANA DAN

Star Cast

• Akshay Kumar...... Nitin Bankar
• Katrina Kaif...... Anjali Kakkad
• Sunil Shetty...... Ram Mishra
• Paresh Rawal...... Harbans Chadda
• Neha Dhupia....... Anu Chopra
• Sameera Reddy..... Manpreet Oberoi

Producer

• Ganesh Jain
• Girish Jain
• Ratan Jain

Executive Producer / Co-Producer

• Sanchita Chatterjee
• Sunil A. Lulla

Director

• Priyadarshan

In De Dana Dan Johnny Lever plays a hitman named Kala. He sits down in a coffee shop and introduces himself to someone: "hello, I’m Kala. The guys says: toh maine kab bola gora hai. This low-IQ, college canteen humour made me laugh, and it is as good as it gets in the film. The movie starts out funny but gradually becomes more and more exhausting. The film sticks to what seems to have become the standard formula for Bollywood comedies.
Many characters with different agendas get together in one location. What follows is misunderstood identities, slaps, Tom and Jerry style chases and cartoonish violence.
You recall Daddy Cool, Do Knot Disturb, All the Best – De Dana Dan is one more from that school of laughter.
Akshay Kumar, the reason this film got made, plays Nitin, a glorified servant who works for someone called Singapore’s Cruella de Ville, playted by Archana Puran Singh. The only thing she loves is money and her dog named Moolchand ji.
Nitin who is poor is desperate and kidnaps the dog hoping to get rich on the ransom but Moolchand ji is smarter.
The dog escapes and the police believe that Nitin is the victim.
There are around 22 characters in the film and soon every one lands up in a hotel. The hotel must have given rooms and shooting premises for free because the camera seems to pan to its name and exterior façade between every shot. And of course, the slaps, chases and violence that I mentioned follow.
Some of this strictly low-brow humour is fun. Akshay, in full throttle, energises the lame scenes and keeps the momentum going for the first half. But in the second, he does a disappearing act.
He gets shut in a cupboard and the film goes into free-fall.
We see Shakti Kapoor attempting to bed Neha Duphia who in turn attempts to bed Vikram Gokhale.
Meanwhile, Johnny Lever is trying to kill the wrong man; lots of money is being tossed around in suitcases, everybody screams and there is a wedding in progress.
The film gets more tedious as the plot gets more convoluted and by the climax, in which everyone floats around as the hotel gets flooded, I could barely keep my eyes open.
The humour is so labored that I felt like someone was beating me to laugh.
And I finally understood why the credits in many Priyadarshan films say filmed by Priyadarshan instead of directed by Priyadarshan. Because there is little sense that someone is actually directing this circus. It feels like the actors are in a free-for all and a camera is filming the chaos.
I’m always happy to revel in pedestrian comedy but De Dana Dan feels more like work than entertainment.

AJAB PREM KI GHAZAB KAHANI

Cast:

• Ranbir Kapoor, 
• Katrina Kaif, 
• Upen Patel, 
• Asrani, 
• Lalit Parashar, 
• Darshan Jariwala

Special Appearance: Salman Khan
Music: Pritam
Producer: Ramesh S. Taurani
Direction: Rajkumar Santoshi

   Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani, a comedy set in a comic book universe, is a frustratingly uneven film. Some of it is genuinely funny and delightful and some of it is repetitive, and annoyingly tedious.

   But even in its most limp moments, what keeps the film from derailing is its lead pair: Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. There is such sizzle and beauty and unadulterated charm here that you really can’t look away.

   The story, co-written and directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi, is set in a picturesque little town, which seems like a cross between Goa and Ooty.

Specifics are irrelevant because Santoshi isn’t aiming for realism here. This is a cheerfully artificial world, in which Prem, played by Ranbir, lives with his parents.

Prem is a 9th standard drop-out whose main job is being the President of the Happy Club. The happy club hopes to make people happy but mostly its members boast about doing nothing.

   Enter Jenny, played by Katrina, a lovely lady with a slightly troubling back-story: she is an orphan and the parents who adopted her are now forcing her into marriage with an obnoxious boy only because he is rich.

  Jenny and Prem, who both have a tendency to stammer when they are emotionally wrought, become friends. And Prem, who can’t bring himself to tell her that he loves her, finds himself in the uncomfortable position of trying to get Jenny away from her own wedding so she can get together with her boyfriend, Rahul, who has issues of his own.

In its best moments, Ajab Prem is crackling comedy.

   Santoshi keeps it light, fluffy and fun. There is a real sweetness in the scenes in which Prem and Jenny first discover that the other also stammers.

Some of the dialogues sparkle. The trouble is that the film cannot maintain this tone and energy. So, the humour dips and the gags become forced.

At times, the film strains so hard for laughs that it almost feels like the director is beating you with a stick and ordering you to enjoy it. But even here, Ranbir and Katrina don't let up. Of course, he carries the bigger burden.

   Ranbir, as the bumbling nerd, is in almost every frame. Watch him in a ball room scene, in which his body won't stay still or at a cop station, hesitantly declaring his affection for Jenny.

NEW YORK

Cast

Actor/Actress	Role
John Abraham	Sameer Sheikh (Sam)
Katrina Kaif	Maya Sheikh (Sam's wife)
Neil Nitin Mukesh	Omar Aijaz
Mirza Ali Quli	Zaheer
Irrfan Khan	Agent Roshan
Aidan Wagner	Danyal Sheikh (Sam & Maya's son)
Nawazuddin Siddiqui	Zilgai