Zindagi Na Milega Dobara

Reminded me of one Jacob Koshy in Bandra (ran an audio store somewhere on Waterfield road) who when asked what he thought of Yamaha amplifiers by a friend of mine replied, "I'll piss on it. Piss on it". Thats what I would say about this mega shit.

Rating : *

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

The future of Hindi cinema seems safe in the hands of Abhay Deol, who dons the mantle of the notorious con man Lucky Singh who terrorized the affluent all over India. The audacity of some of his heists had me wondering if this was indeed based on a true story or if Dibaker da had toked on one too many. However a quick google search proved me wrong and led me to this article at one of my favorite film websites, Passion for Cinema. Lucky was apparently more than notorious and his panache is effortlessly brought to life by Mr. Deol. Neetu Chandra plays his love interest and is not only easy on the eyes but also does a decent job of the limited role she is given. However the man who takes the cake is Paresh Rawal as he seamlessly shifts gears between a father, don and businessman. All in all this turns out to be one of the best Indian heist movies made to date.

Rating: * * *

Ek Chalis Ki Last Local

The film initially reminded me of this wonderful Kishore Kumar song. Nilesh (Abhay Deol) is a young whippersnapper who runs in to the hot Madhu (Neha Dhupia) at the time of night in Bombay when the trains disappear. It also helps that the two want to head to the same destination. The night meanders in to one that involves a bit of gambling, the cops and the underworld. Along the way a couple of pages are taken out of Pulp Fiction and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. But yet, the film calls for enjoyable viewing. It also confirms that Abhay "I want to have nothing to do with Sunny Deol" Deol is indeed the man of Hindi cinema these days and Neha Dhupia is just a bimbo with a figure.

Rating: * *

Road, Movie

Vishnu is a young nothing from Jaisalmer, staring at a life of selling hair oil, his dad's business, and is not pleased. Fortunately for him, he stumbles upon an old neighbourhood uncle who is planning to drive his old Chevrolet truck (cinema theater on wheels) to a town by the sea and donate the damn thing to a museum. Vishnu volunteers to drive and envisages a long drive full of "foul smelling farts" - its not to be as he encounters 3 strangers on the way, who pull him away from life as he knows it.

Written & directed by Dev Benegal, 'Road, Movie' belongs to the burgeoning class of alternate / independent / not-fucked-up-Bollywood cinema. Whilst the plot seems familiar, the truck, the landscape and the sparseness of it all, makes it wurf-it. Abhay Deol does a good job as a young nothing - he is definitely an actor to monitor - got an eye for cool roles. I don't think the plot does justice w.r.t developing some of the other characters - the little boy and the fat man (Satish Kaushik). Last word: Mr. Benegal is, arguably, as pompous as his Bollywood director friends.

Rating: * * +

Manorama Six Feet Under

When a sultry older woman (Sarika) approaches a man to spy on her husband, he can seldom say no. In spite of the husband being the Irrigation minister, Satyaveer Randhawa (Abhay Deol) being suspended from his dead end municipal job,  finds the decision to be a no brainer much to the chagrin of his a nagging wife Nimmi (Gul Panag). Overnight Satyaveer finds himself sucked in to the dirty world of politics filled with hot women and cut throat goondas. 

A modern day Indian film noir that grabs you and never lets go. Much of it is thanks to Mr. Deol who should change his last name ASAP.  I guess it also helped that Satyaveer felt like a character straight out of Murakami novel and direction was akin to his writing. Sarika is back though age is telling on her. Vinay Pathak is brilliant as always as the local cop and Satyaveer's brother-in-law. And of course little needs to be said about Ms. Panag who looks sexy even when being paraded as a boring house wife. Inspired by Chinatown, the film in my opinion holds it own and in many ways more satisfying that its inspiration.

Rating: * * * +

Dev.D

Welcome to the new age version of the classic Sarat Chandra story, Devdas. Abhay Deol, much against my expectation, works out an edgy version of the tragic Devdas. Dev, a UK returned young yuppie, fucks himself up in more ways than 1 - first, spurns what turns out to be his true love and then disappears into a vortex of drugs, alcohol and depression. And of course there is the character of Chanda, brilliantly portrayed by Kalki Koechlin - a product of Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry in real life. On hindsight, the plot appears tiringly familiar but what makes the movie a must watch is the panache and style that Anurag Kashyap brings to the story telling - a level of edginess that one rarely comes across in a Bollywood film.

Rating: * * *