Movie Review Of 2 States By Bharathi Pradhan

Movie Review: `O Teri!` I wasted my hard earned money

Cast : Pulkit Samrat, Sarah Jane Dias, Bilal Amrohi, Anupam Kher, Vijay Raaj, Manoj Pahwa, Mandira Bedi

Directed by: Umesh Bist

Rating: *

There is no denying the fact that nowadays, making both ends meet by tapping on the issues pertaining to 'Mango Man' (common man) has become one of the most favoured idea among those who love to spin money by crafting offerings associated with the issue.

Be it political aisle or showbiz , everywhere it's that "Aam Aadmi Factor" which is filling up the think tanks of those on the top , to come up with one or the other offering to please the masses. And so seems to be the case with recently released journalistic-satire `O Teri` which has scams, Indian Political system, lobbyist and media in its `shooting range`.

Well before going ahead with the biopsy of this recently released satirical-drama it is pertinent to mention here that except present time, where electoral fever gripping whole of the nation with every passing day, and probably there wouldn't have been more appropriate time for the release of 'O Teri'.

This production venture of Atul Agnihotri, directed by Umesh Bist and starring Pulkit Samrat, Bilal Amrohi, Sarah Jane Diaz, Anupam Kher, Vijay Raaj and Mandira Bedi, despite having a backing of Salman could not invite the expected number of foot fall, and opened with a bleak occupancy of 7 percent at the multiplexes.

Jotted by Umesh Bist and Neeti Palta premise of "O Teri" narrates the story of two neer-do-well kind of journo, Prantabh Pratap aka P.P. (Pulkit Samrat) and Anand Ishawram Devdutt Subramaniyam \ A.I.D.S (Bilal Amrohi), for whom it's a question of life and death to prove their worth to their senior , Monsoon (Sarah Jane Diaz) by unearthing some big scam. Though each of their efforts go futile, but their destiny takes a turn when a dead body of a murdered CBI official land in their car. 

Oblivious about the conspiracy behind, the duo try to make it big news but fail in doing so. Subsequently their fate takes another turn, when a CD exposing the involvement of various big guns comprising of politician, lobbyists, media et al in 'Asian Olympics Games' lands in their hands. So what follows next, does P.P. and A.I.D.S succeed in exposing the tainted elites, or do they themselves end up being the scapegoats. To find out watch 'O Teri'.... 

As stated earlier that, it is a `Maha-Mantra" these days to knock on some socially relevant issue and get the maximum mileage and outreach among the masses. And if we analyse the script of 'O Teri' then it looks like, before going ahead with the script of the movie script-writers Umesh Bist and Neeti Palta took tremendous pain of doing a crash course of a sort in "Scam-ology of India". 

Although in order to avoid any legal hassle they maintained that the movie in no manner is a take on notorious CWG scam, but the high degree of resemblance with the same lay bare the credence of those tall claims. 

If we further try to dissect the premise of 'O Teri' then it's not that it shares a similitude with real life incidents only. Besides the writers of 'O Teri' have generously borrowed from the premise of Nasser Saahab and Ravi Baswani starrer cult classic "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro" too, and the only discrimination which they have kept from the characters of the latter is that, here our good-for-nothing chums are struggling journalists and not the shutterbugs. 


There is no denying the fact that in order to come up with a hilarious yet swiping satire on politico-lobbyist nexus and role of media, Umesh and Neeti have tried to bunch-together nearly everything from the "scam arena" which made it to headlines in the recent past. But their this effort of bringing so many things under one umbrella, somewhere down the line adversely impacted the entertaining efficacy of the movie, where primary objective of the movie straightaway becomes tertiary. 

Undoubtedly the story idea which Atul (Agnihotri) and party grabbed to tailor an entertaining cine chronicle is worth a "dekko". But that "something from everything" approach lying beneath storyline up till some extent obliterated the entire focus of the makers, subsequently resulting in the creation of a substandard end product. 

And further what adds to the ongoing catastrophe is haywire screenplay. Where Umesh Bist looks even more confused. Probably because of the burden of serving so many things at the same time. Be it the flow of narration or concocting of various cinematic ingredients, everything's is out of the place in 'O Teri'. But yeah the man who did a commendable job is editor, Devender Murdeshwar (not by any magnificent editing dexterity), but by keeping the run time of movie as low as 107 minutes and saving the viewers from getting further brutalized by the onscreen torture. 

In the music department, O Teri has some foot thumping numbers, but their being peppy nowhere contributes to their necessity coefficient. And rather they look something un-necessarily obtruded in the movie. 


If we talk about performance spectrum then after proving his acting delicacy in `Bittoo Boss` and `Fukrey`, this time Pulkit fails in re-portraying anything luminous. And I felt so because in the past we have seen this talented lad exhibiting his acting adroitness with utmost excellence. As far as Samrat's onscreen ally Bilal Amrohi is concerned then the guy needs to learn to discriminate between acting and going overboard. Probably Bilal debuted in the showbiz in the heat of moment and before taking this quantum leap he should have thoroughly worked upon his acting skills. Sarah Jane has a very limited screen appearance and within that span she is just OK. 

Ace performer like Anupam Kher could have been utilised in a more persuasive manner, but due to lack of vision of Umesh Bist, this iconic actor too fails in delivering half of what he could have. Mandira remains in full control throughout her span of onscreen appearance, but due to ill defined character fails in putting her best foot forward. Vijay Raaj effortlessly slips under the skin of his character, but even the marvellous talent of this class performer too remains under exploited. Rest of the cast comprising of Murli Sharma, Manoj Pahwa too succeeds in performing their respective parts satisfactorily. 

Earning? Well there are only two things which can make this wearisome so called "spoof on Indian Scam-ology" sail well on BO, and that is either Pulkit's legacy or Salman's backing. Otherwise O Teri has got all the good reasons to make way for cine flicks scheduled to release next Friday. 


To sum up, with a borrowed premise from yesteryear cult classic `Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron`, and decorated with some of the recent notorious instances from "Indian Scam-ology", ` O Teri` could have been a great cine affair, where it could have presented scams, politico-corporate nexus and role of media in an altogether different hue. But due prevalence of sheer dichotomy in conceptualization and execution and non-unification of the ideas it ends being an irksome affair with tons of tedium in it. 

So after undergoing that trauma for almost 107 minutes, I am going ahead with one star for this hope-shattering "cine not-a-delight". And for all those who have some inflated expectations with 'O Teri' all I can suggest is, avoid it if you really want to escape from the guilt of throwing away your hard earned money for something codswallop.

Movie Review: `Main Tera Hero` is a total `Paisa Vasool` cine chronicle

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Ileana D'Cruz, Nargis Fakhri, Anupam Kher, Arunoday Singh, Rajpal Yadav, Saurabh Shukla

Direction: David Dhawan

Eras come and go in Bollywood and it is widely seen that every era is governed by one or the other kind of movie making. But "masala entertainer` is one such ilk of cine crafting, which had never lost its charm, neither among the cine artisans nor among the cine enthusiasts.

Be it the era of 90s or the decade which has just gone by. In every decade masala entertainers have made a mark for themselves and at the same time have bestowed some of our ace leading man with an opportunity of exhibiting their acting talent with utmost prowess.

But in the recent times we witnessed the inclination of some of our cine wizards towards making content driven movies, but in spite of that the art of making masala movies never lost its lustre among those who are adroit enough in crafting an exceptional cine offering despite having a "common or garden" kind of script in their hand.

And undoubtedly `maestro of masala movies`, David Dhawan is one such cine conjurer of Bollywood who has got that magic wand, with which he can effortlessly create a quaint visual delight for the viewers.

In the recent past numerous cine-whiz tried to garner the legacy of this evergreen ilk by casting some of the glittering stars of showbiz, but unfortunately none of them succeeded in doing a thorough justice to the genre. And movies like `Besharam`, `Phata Poster Nikla Hero` and even the `R Rajkumar` failed miserably in extracting the expected response from the audience. But this time it's the masala movies' maestro David Dhawan who for the first time teamed up with his son Varun to recapture the apex throne of his fiefdom.

David has got a signature style of movie making from which he seldom prefer to part. Be it about dishing out something totally innovative, or working on the remakes Dhawan never forgets to maintain a sort of uniformity in his creation with his stamp all over the end product. So is the case with just released `Main Tera Hero`.

Although `Main Tera Hero` is the remake of southern superhit "Kandireega", but in spite of that it has a winsome fragrance of David-ian style of filmography. At the power of which Dhawan introduced the masses to an altogether different side of actors like Govinda, Salman, and Sanjay Dutt in the past. 

Anyhow, coming to the premise of "Main Tera Hero", the movie narrates the story of "happy go lucky yet bad in studies", Srinath Prasad aka Seenu ( Varun Dhawan) who after receiving an emotional bashing from his father (Manoj Pahwa), of course because of his 'bad in studies status', land in a Bangalore based college to prove his worth. 

As soon as he arrives in the college he has a rendezvous with Sunaian (Ileana D'Cruz) and falls head over heel for her. But unfortunate for Seenu, there is another stalking rowdy cop Angad Negi ( Arunoday Singh) who is behind Sunaina and want to marry her at any cost. 


With the frames rolling ahead our very trickster, Seenu takes up the gauntlet of Angad of winning Sunaina's heart and subsequently succeeds in doing it too. But things literally get toppled for him when a Bangkok based mafia lord, Vikrant Sighal (Anupam Kher) kidnaps Sunaina because of his daughter Ayesha's (Nargis Fakhri) fascination for Seenu.

So what happens next does Seenu succeeds in bringing back Sunaina, or ends up sacrificing his feelings to save her. To know watch this mindless yet entertaining cine delight from the factory of David Dhawan. 

Be it any decade of David's cine career, his cine offerings have always made it to cine arena with an unsaid and unwritten disclaimer that "leave your brains at home" if you really want to enjoy the flick. So seems to be the case with "Main Tera Hero".

Some may find that plot of `Main Tera Hero` is too flimsy to be tagged as something out of the box, but it is that prevailing simplicity in the narration which does the miracle. And on top of it, it's the scribing dexterity of Tushar Hiranandani who in spite of re-tailoring the storyline for a remake, has succeeded in keeping the USP, i.e. humour, alive. 

Garnished with quick witted, Tom and Jerry kind of humour blended with Govinda styled comic timing and that too sans gaucherie, undoubtedly plot of `Main Tera Hero` leaves no space for yawns and ennui. Besides, it's the guileless yet hilarious dialogues of Milap Zaveri which further adds to the magnificence of the movie. 


Even while tackling the screenplay realm Hirannandani has adroitly managed to put the right things at right places in order to keep the viewers' gazes glued to the big screen. And from inception till culmination flow of the narration seems to be rolling like a slickly flowing stream. In addition to it 

But yeah the presence of so many positives doesn't mean that `Main Tera Hero` is just about goodies. Just like any other cine offering of its ilk, this one too has certain short comings. Like induction of a serious twist just before the half time in a somewhat jocular manner. Moreover, contrary to first half, the post interval part gets a bit sluggish where a few of the overstretched sequences may stupefy the viewers. But keeping in view the overall value of entertainment these minor flaws can be overlooked. 

As far as music is concerned then decorated with some of bouncy and invigorating aural delights like `Palat` and `Shanivaar Raati` the music of Sajid Wajid is indeed cheerful and foot thumping. In addition to it the "Govinda cum MJ" styled choreography of Remo and Bosco Martis further adds to the visual value of songs.


Before going ahead with performance analysis, I would like to make a special mention of the fact that, one should not take this thing for granted that because of `Main Tera Hero` being David Dhawan's cine venture Varun's bound to get the limelight. And that's because by his performance the young lad has proved that `Main Tera Hero` in totality belongs to him only. Throughout his performance span Varun has so effortlessly amalgamates the spectrum of acting attributes that you don't feel like taking your eyes off him. And probably if `Main Tera Hero` would have been his debut flick, then certainly this marvellous performer would have raced miles ahead of his contemporaries. 

After her last cine outing `Barfi` this Ileana too has succeeded in putting her best foot forward and looks like a more seasoned actress than her previous cine stint. On the other another leading lady of the movie, Nargis has once again done nothing different and up till some extent fails in leaving any long lasting impact. Arunoday is strictly OK in both of his character types where he plays a rowdy cop on one side whereas a stooge of a sort in other. 


After being part of some of the miserable cine flicks in the recent past, Anupam Kher once again returned to his form with a bang. Saurabh Shukla too plays his part with utmost prowess. As far as supporting cast is concerned then Evelyn Sharma, Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Shukla are apt in their respective roles. Besides, unnecessarily obtruded Shakti Kapoor (who plays Johny in the movie) is totally surplus and wasted.

To sum up, despite having a somewhat mediocre kind of script, but decorated with an over the top humour and stupendous performance of Varun Dhawan `Main Tera Hero` is a kind of entertainment whiz-bang for which the viewers were longing after seeing the masala disasters like "R Rajkumar", "Besharam" and "Phata Poster Nikla Hero". So for this must watch PAISA VASOOL kind of cine delight, with a half star extra for Varun's performance, I am going ahead with 3 out of five stars.

Movie Review: `Highway` is mesmerizing, but not enthralling

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Rating: **1/2

There is an altogether different league of cine thinkers staying in tinsel town who over the years by their cine magnificence have fetched an exclusive repute for themselves. And certainly Imtiaz Ali is one of them, who over the years have not only kept fans fascination fixated to his style of movie making, but at the same time has always succeeded in matching the expectations of fans' too. Be it "Love Aaj Kal", "Jab We Met" or the just released "Highway" every time Imtiaz has come up with something innovative yet pleasing.

This Randeep Hooda Alia Bhatt starrer, romance on the road kind of love saga opened with an above average occupancy of 63 percent at the multiplexes.

As the story of "Highway" marks its onset, it showcases the kidnapping of Veera (Alia Bhaat), who is the daughter of an influential business pioneer, by a gruff, rustic criminal, Mahabir Bhaati (Randeep Hooda), during former's late night highway outing with her fiancee. With frames rolling ahead entire kidnapping gang headed by Mahabir ends up being in a state of panic due to the influential status of Veera's family, but it's Mahabir who remains unperturbed on his decision of demanding ransom in lieu of releasing Veera. And from there begins a pleasing road jaunt across some of the most aesthetic locales of north India. So what happens next does Veera gets released or not to know watch this mesmerizing love saga from the creativity lab of Imtiaz Ali.



Well as far as storyline of Highway is concerned then with "Highway" Imtiaz has once again exhibited his fascination for the love on journey kind of cine tales. Although "Highway" falls in the league of unconventional movies and that's because it's been long since any such premise has made its way to big screen.

But instead of making it a plain cine delight moving on and off the road Imtiaz has deployed a good amount of human factor, by embedding a few heart touching emotional condiments like childhood suppression etc.

As far as this Alia and Randeep starrer is concerned then contrary to his style of picking a unique story idea while trying his acting prowess, this time Imitiaz has opted for a somewhat OK premise, but with an unconventional pairing.

Some of the cineastes may feel that it is a novel premise, but if we try to turn the pages of Indian cine history then one ends up being in the era of eighties, when Subhash Ghai's "Hero" featuring Meenakshi Sheshadri and Jackie Shroff made it to theaters. Certainly both these cine-flicks subsequently have a rendezvous with different fates, but due to a high degree of resemblance in their plot, it's the "Highway" which ends being on the lower notch despite having a different premise in the contemporary age of Indian cinema. As far as scripting is concerned then sans any unwanted inflation "Highway" is appropriately placid on that front.

If we go by the screenplay of "Highway" then it is something which emerges as a stand out feature of the movie where everything knitted in it magnifies the overall appeal of the onscreen proceedings with a great magnificence. Soon after marking its onset premise of Highway starts enveloping you, especially till the moments it keeps itself away from the purview of romance, but as soon as the first hour ends the advent of emotional drama somewhere down the line diminishes the pace of the narration and adversely impacts the appeal of the movie.


But what further adds to the charm of "Highway" is its, DoP which captures the scenic beauty of Northern India with such a brilliance that you completely gets enveloped in what is being offered to you in the form of this on-road love saga.

Besides, it's the top notch cinematography of Anil Mehta and editing of Aarti Bajaj which somewhere down the line prevents Highway from sinking into the quagmire of boredom. Certainly at a few places Aarti seems to be losing the control over editing part which could have been more edgy, but for that it's the over stretched premise of the movie which deserves to be held responsible.

As far as, direction of Imtiaz is concerned then, undoubtedly he has done a commendable job on various fronts, but if we compare Highway to the previous works of this ace cine wizard then it lacks that charisma which Imtiaz's previous cine delights like "Jab We Met", "Love Aaj Kal" and "Rockstar" had in them.

Coming to the performances then, certainly Alia has looked far more improved then her urban dame avatar of "SOTY" but this stunning damsel needs to improve a lot if she really wants to carve a niche in Bollywood and have a fate different to her elder sis Pooja. As far as Randeep's performance is concerned then it is going to be like praising something which has already secured an apex position in the hearts of the masses. Supporting cast comprising of Durgesh Kumar (who played the character of Goru), Saharsh Kumar Shukla (Aadooo) despite having a very limited scope for performance manages to grab your attentions with latter emerging as a somewhat stand out performer.

With tracks like Pataka Guddi etc, music of AR Rahman is as usual top notch, and never alienates from the theme of the movie.

Although, it's Imtiaz's legacy which always succeeds in making his cine chronicles a talked about affair, but this time despite having so much intelligence and emotions deployed in "Highway" the movie may not succeed in emerging as a great BO success story.


To sum up despite having a mesmerizing romance, a magnificent execution, and some very aesthetic locales the movie may not succeed in making a dent on BO and may end up a run of the mill kind of the affair. But yeah at the same time it will conveniently succeed in satiating the emotional quench certain classes. So despite it's being a mesmerizing cine affair, but sans entertainment I am going ahead with 2.5 stars for "Highway".