Khichdi; The Movie Review

Director: Aatish Kapadia
Cast: Supriya Pathak, Rajeev Mehta, Anang Desai, Jamnadas Majethia, Nimisha Vakharia, Farah Khan, Satish Shah etc

Imagine yourself laughing uncontrollably watching a movie, almost blocking your breath, and when you reach a state that you can’t hold it anymore, you may choke, and you ‘pause’ the movie for a while, relax, and ‘resume’ the movie again, just to laugh uncontrollably and choke again. If you want to experience this, watch ‘Khichdi. It is a complete laugh riot, that the we feel that the words like ‘LOL’(Laugh out Loud) and ‘ROFL’(Rolling on Floor, Laughing) were made to describe this movie. It is truly a laughter ride, the Khichdi family makes you laugh like you had never been, before!!

Khichdi is a simple movie, without big stars. It is the film version of a TV series of the same name, and the same characters are retained in the movie. The movie is about Hansa, Praful, Himanshu, Jayshree, Babuji, and around 50 Parminders. The PJs of these people will make you die laughing, for around 110 minutes of your life!! Watch the movie, you will know.

I love PJs and jokes even more stupid than PJs, and I always wanted to be a good PJist, and was proud of my PJs. I also believed no one can beat my standard in PJs. But, after watching Khichdi I realised that I have to raise my PJ standards immediately. This movie goes to a level which is beyond your imagination. If you are a PJ lover, this is the real treat for you. I’m sure you will rate it a minimum of 8/10. It is obvious, because the makers have added so much of PJs in the movie.

We see comedy movies becoming great successes, with double meaning comedies. Often it is not so comfortable to watch such movies with our family. But this Khichdi is purely green, and you can watch it with your kids, parents, or even grandparents.

There is a cold war between the characters of the movie, to prove that who is more stupid. Hansa, Himanshu and Praful all the three of them behave so stupidly, that we can’t make a conclusion on who is more stupid. Obviously, all of them are damn funny too. Supriya Pathak is in her extreme form, and is great in each and every scene. After a simple ‘Maa’ role in ‘Wake Up Sid’, she does a character with a completely new flavour, and she is extremely successful in this role. Rajeev Mehta is first rate as Praful. He is better than most of the comedians of bollywood, and his gestures and expressions are fantastic. Jamnadas Majethia is very good as Himanshu. He is also damn funny, and is excellent. Anang Desai and Nimisha Vakharia are good in their respective roles as Babuji and Jayshree. The new girl who played ‘Parminder’ was cute. The cameos by Farah Khan and Satish Shah were good.

There are many situations in the movie, which will make the entire house down. Few of them are:

1. The ‘Akal ke Ladoo’ scene
2. Funeral scene
3. The night scene in Chhedi Singh’s house
4. The hospital scene
5. The entire court scene


On the whole, Khichdi is a complete entertainer, and is never to be missed if you like simple comedy movies. It is an opportunity to laugh continuously for almost 2 hours, and never miss this opportunity. Highly recommended!!

9/10

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey Movie Review

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Sikandar Kher, Vishakha Singh, Mahinder Singh, Shreyas Pandit, Samrat Mukherjee, Feroz Wahid Khan etc

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a movie about the Chittagong Armoury raid, that happened on April 18, 1930. The movie is very good as a movie, but as the rehash of a historical event which has its importance in the independence revolution of India, it is sadly a weak attempt from Ashutosh Gowariker. It has the things at right place, as a movie, but when a movie about a historical incident comes, the director has to pay attention to the real events that happened.Based on the book ‘Do and die’ by Manini Chatterjee, the movie slips away from the facts at several moments, eventhough it is a good work, as a film.

The movie starts with simple, yet awesome titles, and soon we are dragged into the Chotogram of 1930, a normal village of Bengal. Everything was fine there, until the british people capture an open ground, where the teenagers use to play football. And then, somebody suggests that if they can get their playground back, with the help of Surjyada, a Mathematics teacher in a school. Then we come to know that Surjyada and his friends Nirmal, Ambikada etc are revolutionaries who believe in the motto ‘Do and Die’. Soon, the teenagers are bonded with the revolutionaries and they plan to fight against the britishers. Meanwhile, two young girls Preetilata and Kalpana also join the team.

Then they planned a raid on police lines Armoury, Cantonment, Telegraph office and Railway lines. They study the entire places, prepare well, and plans to execute it on 18 April, 1930. Everything goes fine, until they come to know that it was a ‘Good Friday’ and the britishers are not there. Also, they could capture only the guns, but bullets were not found there. Anyway ,they hoist a flag of India, and escape to the hills. They are then chasec by the army, many are killed and others are captured, and are finally sentenced to death or life imprisonment. The story is almost real, but the director wanted to give the story a gentle flavour, and he included light hearted romance between Nirmal and Preetilata, and one side infatuation of Kalpana with Surjyada, and also those football playing kids, fighting to british for their playground. Also, he added enough sentiments added in the movie, to make us wet our eyes at times. But what the makers could have done was to mention like ‘This movie is based on the Chittagong Armoury Raid, and few events may vary from the real story.’

Coming to the movie, everyone have done good jobs. Abhishek Bachchan comes with a commendable performance after the commercially and critically dud, ‘Raavan’. He is apt for Surjya’s role and even he looks somewhat like the real Surjya Sen. His expressions are perfect. And I am happy to see Sikandar Kher on screen again, I always believed this guy has the talent in him, and he proved it again in this film. Deepika Padukone and Vishakha Singh look completely natural, and this will be a career booster for Vishakha Singh, after doing two forgettable movies in Tamil and one in Hindi. The rest of the cast is very good and everybody is perfect for their roles. Also, there is a strong chemistry between all of them that they look very good together on screen.

Sohail Sen has done an excellent job as the music composer of the film. All the songs are very good, and the BGM is also excellent. I guess Simaab Sen and Sohail Sen have worked together for BGM. The cinematography is fine.

On the whole, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is a very good movie, It would have been a classic if the director did some more research on the historical events and facts. Anyway, don’t miss it.

“Vande Mataram”

8/10

Yamla Pagla Deewana Music Review

Director: Samir Karnik
Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Nafisa Ali, Anupam Kher etc
Music: RDB, Nouman Jeveid, Sandesh Shandilya, Rahul Seth, Anu Malik, Late Pyarelal

This movie carries high expectations as it stars the three Deols together, in ‘Paaji’ looks and self-referential jokes, and the promos look damn promising. The old ‘Rafi song’ is remixed and used as the title track, too. Also, the composers’ list includes Sandesh Shandilya, Nouman Javeid etc, who are expectation raisers for me. So, let’s see how the songs are.


Yamla Pagla Deewana- Sonu Nigam, Nindy Kaur
The title track in the Audio CD is sung by Sonu Nigam, even though the song video shown in TV channels feature a remix of Rafi’s version, with his voice retained. The song, however good, it is not as good as the Rafi’s version, but it is a good attempt from RDB, and the Nindy Kaur’s lines in the final portions of the song somewhat spoil the song, something like what happened to Himesh Reshammiya’s Kajraare title track with the addition of Sunidhi Chauhan’s rap. Anyway the song is good. And the RDB version is also good. Strangely, Nandy Kaur’s portions look good in this version
7/10

Chadha De Rang- Shweta Pandit,Mahalakshmi Iyer, Rahul Seth
Chadha De Rang- Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shweta Pandit, Mahalakshmi Iyer
Chadha De Rang- Pervez Mehdi
Chadha De Rang- Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
The song has 4 versions, composed by Nouman Javeid, and all the 4 are just awesome!! The first two versions are really enjoyable and the 2 unplugged versions are also good. My personal favourite is the second version, sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shweta Pandit & Mahalakshmi Iyer.My only doubt is, why they have added 4 different versions?? May be like the ‘Udd Jaa Kaale’ song having 4 versions in Gadar!!
7.5/10

Tinku Jiya- Javed Ali & Mamta Sharma
This song, composed by Anu Malik is a typical song with somewhat a Pritam touch here and there. It has nothing extraordinary, it is a passable song, and can be a hit if the video is good.
6/10

Sau Baar- Omar Nadeem & Shreya Ghoshal
An excellent song, which is lovable in the first listening itself. Sandesh Shandilya rocks again!! So many beautiful songs he has been giving, still he is highly underrated in Bollywood. How sad!! In the song, Omar Nadeem’s voice resembles Atif at times, however he sings very well. Shreya Ghoshal is equally good. Very good song.
8.5/10

Chamki Jawaani- Master Salim, Daler Mehndi & Mamta Sharma
Another ordinary song from Anu Malik, and the interesting thing is Master Saleem and Daler Mehndi sing together. The song has few portions resembling the ‘Billo Rani’ song from Goal, it is an ok-ok song, and some instrumental tunes in the song seem to be heard before.
6.25/10

Son Titariya- Krishna Berua
This song is another ok-ok song with a Punjabi touch here and there. Composed by Rahul Seth and Nouman Javeid, it is performed by Krishna Berua. Nothing special about this song.
5.5/10

Kadd Ke Botal- Sukhwinder Singh
Another song by Rahul Seth, performed by Sukhvinder singh, Nothing special, it is boring to have 3-4 same type songs in one album. As individual tracks, they are fine but when we listen to them one after other, it becomes boring.
6/10

The last track, Gurbani is good. No need to rate it.

On the whole, the album is as expected. Nouman Javeid and Sandesh Shandilya give good songs, RDB is also good, while Rahul Seth and Anu Malik are average. My picks are Sau Baar, the title song and Charha De Rang.

Overall rating is 7.25/10

Rakht Charitra 2/ Raththa Saritiram Movie Review

Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Surya, Vivek Oberoi, Radhika Apte, Priyamani, Sudeep, Shatrughan Sinha, Zarina Wahab etc

There have been blood, lot of blood, in Rakht Charitra 1. The second instalment, Rakht Charitra 2, or ‘Raththa Saritram’ in Tamil, is no different. It follows the same track of the prequel, with lot of bloodshed, revenge, extreme expressions, symbolic scenes, etc etc. Plus, this movie has a surprise element to it, none other than ‘Surya the Ghajini’. Thanks to RGV, we see a completely different Surya on screen ,one who roars and spits venom in dialogues, rather than play guitar or fight as a responsible cop of the state.

The story of Raththa Saritram can be told in a few lines, but they have executed it well. The movie is performance based, rather than a story based one. It has similar incidents as Rakht Charitra 1, but the basic plot is the never-ending chain of vengeance and revenge.

While the former movie belonged to Vivek Oberoi, this Raththa Saritram belongs to Surya, just because of the way the actor has performed in the movie. The character is not penned so deeply, it is nowhere near Pratap Ravi’s character (Played by Vivek Oberoi), but Surya overcomes this problem, and carries out a commendable performance, almost par with that of Vivek Oberoi. There are many scenes that just make us say ‘wow!! What a performance!!’. Surely, this is one of the best performances of 2010, and a notable one in Surya’s career, after ‘Pitaamahan’, ‘Ghajini’ and ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’. His action sequences are awesome, the fight scenes in court and jail are very good. Also, he is on the top, in the scene of TV Bomb blast.

Vivek Oberoi, the protagonist of Rakht Charitra 1, performs equally well in this movie also. He overshadows Surya in various instances, and his expressions are just great!! Everything is perfect, and such a performance can’t been so often in Indian cinema. Even though he doesn’t get much screen space in this, he manages to excel in whatever he does. What a performance, man!! I just want to recall a few sequences, such as argument scene and the next scene with Radhika Apte, conversation with Surya and the very next scene, etc etc.. He is a show stealer, and people who watched the first part will surely be sad about him not getting lot of screen presence.

The remaining cast do their jobs well. Radhika Apte, Priyamani, Sudeep, Shatrughan Sinha, and all others are fine.

Cinematography is very good, but looks a little bit awkward and bizarre at times, especially the 360 degree rotating scenes. It would have been used in just 1 scene, but it is used in 3-4 scenes, and doesn’t look good at times.

There are nothing much to mention about the lower sides of the movie, but I really felt sad during the final assassination. Camera should have focussed to Pratap also, but sadly it doesn’t happen. It would have been a great cinematic experience, considering how Vivek performed throughout the movie. But sadly they don’t give much focus to his expressions during the assassination.

The songs are used frequently in the background, and they are good. One notable song is ‘Nagendrahaaray Trilochanaay’, it is awesome!! Also, there are many excellent dialogues in the movie.

Revenge never ends, and that is what the closing scene of the movie implies. And the director has been successful in his effort to reach the message to the viewers. This is among RGV’s finest works, and is very good in all aspects.

On the whole, I personally liked the first part rather than the second, but that is just a personal choice.This one is equally good!! Go watch it!!


7.5/10

PS: If you are a movie lover, then you must watch both the movies Rakht Charitra 1 and 2, and if you are a Surya lover, watch the second one!!!