Movie Review: Kai Po Che!

Before watching "Kai Po Che!":

Me: Hey! Let’s watch Kai Po che.. A movie about Friendship, Forgiveness, Passion and..

Bro: wait.. yet another movie on ‘friendship’! Another 3 idiots! Another Zindagi na milegi dobara... Come on! Don't you get tired of watching movies about same old stuff.. Can't we watch ‘Die Hard’..?

Yippee ki yay!

Me: No.. ‘Die Hard’ got bad reviews.. And seriously? Choosing 'Die Hard' over 'Kai Po Che' is the dumbest thing that must have ever come to your mind. Nopiee ki nay!

Bro: Ok then.. let's go.. But we will watch Die hard after we are done with Kai Po Che.. ok?

Me: Ok. Cool.

About the film:

The film title Kai Po Che is originally a Gujarati phrase that means "I have cut the kite" which refers to a kite competition where one of the competitors uses his kite to cut off another competitors kite and yells "Kai Po Che!"

Adapted from "The 3 Mistakes of my Life"(Chetan Bhagat) and Directed by Abhishek Kapoor (Rock On!!) this is a character driven film about friendship, forgiveness, passion, love.. all in the backdrop of some real events. The story mainly revolves around three friends, Ishaan played by Sushant Singh Rajput, Govind played by Raj Kumar Yadav and Omi played by Amit Sadh, who set out to open a sports training academy.

The Good:

A film about friendship is not a new thing in Bollywood. We have already witnessed "3 Idiots", "Rock On", "ZNMD", "Dil Chahta Hai".

“Kai Po Che” looks similar at first but peel off the layers and it's much more.

Adapted from a book titled "3 mistakes of my Life" this film is a tightly scripted and crisply edited drama that never bogs down or dumbs down for its audience and instead resorts to subtlety.

Playing with themes like dreams and aspirations, friendship standing test of time, a commentary of our education system is not an easy task and the director does an incredible job of weaving everything together.

Cinematographer Anay Goswamy has made look Gujrat so beautiful that I feel like taking a vacation and running off to that place for the Kite festival.

Also, music given by "Amit Trivedi" is refreshing especially the song "Manjha".

But it's the characters that drive this film and the three leads are a revelation here.

Rajkumar Yadav, Amit Sadh and Sushant Singh Rajput not only have a good screen presence but they can actually ACT! (Sorry about me shouting and all.. but can’t control my emotions right now)

The actors have such great chemistry that it reminded me of my college days. These guys are not actors in this film. They ARE Govind Patel, Omkar Shastri and Ishaan Bhatt. And this is where this film hits it out of the park.

A capitalist money minded friend. A political friend. An emotional/day dreamer friend. These are people whom we have met somewhere at some point in our lives. These are people whom we can relate to and care about.

The Bad:

Not applicable.

Final verdict:

Cricket, Love, Friendship, Passion, Politics.. It’s all what India is about and it’s something that any sane minded Indian wouldn’t and shouldn’t miss.

After watching "Kai Po Che!":

Bro: Damn you… (sniff)

Me: What! You didn’t like it? (sniff)

Bro: My eyes are watery. It’s so embarrassing! F***ing friendship movies… (sniff)

Me: Oh come on now! Since when did you start crying for a film (sniff)

Bro:  Oh and why is there a bubble under your nose?

Me: I.. I got cold. (sniff..) Ok.. So next Die Hard.. I’ll go buy the tickets and then..

Bro: F*** Die Hard. Let’s watch this again. (sniff)

Movie Review: Special 26

A movie, in my opinion, in a given running time should be able to involve us in its world and should do justice to what it's trying to be. That’s all I ever want from a movie, whether it is commercial, non-commercial or any weird stuff.

 “Special 26” directed by Neeraj Pandey (A Wednesday fame) is a cleverly written commercial drama/thriller/heist film that managed to suck me into its world and kept me hooked till the end.

Inspired by a real-life heist that took place on March 19, 1987 where a group posing as CBI officers  executed an income tax raid on the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri in Mumbai, this commercial flick kicks into action from the word GO but unapologetic-ally takes pit stops for some appalling & unconvincing love angle.

Peppered with witty one-liners and some good ‘chor-police’ drama, the film with its running time of two and a half hours feels aptly paced and only bogs down in parts.

If a film says its set in 1980’s India, it has to be shot well enough to make you believe.  Late cinematographer Bobby Singh succeeds in creating an authentic world that looks real and convincing.

The booming background score by M. M. Keeravani and Himesh Reshammiya though mediocre makes sure that you don’t look away from the screen but the lousy songs add nothing to this film.

But what keeps this film alive is the charming performances.

Akshay Kumar , Jimmy Shergill, Manoj Bajpai and Anupam Kher and even actors playing little characters play their parts well with an exception of Kajal Aggarwal who sticks out like a sore thumb.

“Special 26” wouldn’t be half as good as it is if not for the director who succeeds to keep you on the edge of the seat with some good direction.

Though not as effective as the director’s previous venture “A Wednesday”, this film has more than enough wit for a commercial cinema.

Final Verdict:  Entertainment guaranteed. :)

Movie Review: David

Here’s how the director must have convinced the producer for getting a green signal for this flick.

Director: Hey I got an idea.

Producer: Tell me.

Director: Three lives.. Three destinies.. One name. David.

Producer: Whoaaa..! That sounds so cool man.. Here’s your cheque.

David(2013) is an action/crime/drama thriller directed by Bejoy Nambiar,(the man behind Shaitan) that tells three stories of three men from three different eras that are linked by one name David or so we know until the final few minutes when the actual connection is revealed. Sound’s promising isn’t it?

David is one of those films that try to be different. So if you are a person who chants ‘Different is good.. Different is great’ every time you enter the movie hall then chances are you might just end up liking this one.

As for me I am fine with ‘different’ as long as it doesn’t bore me which sadly this movie does. And to be frank there was nothing different except the editing that mixes three different time periods skillfully and some good music mixed with innovative slo-mo sequences that got me saying “Yeah.. now we are talking baby!”

If you find my opinion horribly inconsistent, then seriously it’s not me… it’s this film that jumps up & down from entertaining to deathly boring every few minutes.

So in a story set in 1975 London we have David(Neil Nitin Mukesh) who works for Iqbal Ghani, a mafia don.

Then we have another David(Vinay Virmani) in another story set in 1999 Mumbai where he is a musician born to a Christian middle class family who struggles when his family is dragged into a political issue

And there is a third David(Vikram) who is a fisherman living in Goa who falls in love with a deaf-mute girl Roma(Isha Sharvani) who would be getting married to his best friend in 10 days.

So in simple words..

1- Serious Action

2- Political Khichdi/Action

3- Romantic Comedy

Of all the three stories the first one is easily the best of the lot. Shot in sepia and nicely acted this story seemed intriguing in parts.

The second plot felt contrived and ok.

The third one was entertaining in parts but horribly boring otherwise.

Surprisingly this movie has such good actors and no one is convincing. Neil Nitin Mukesh and Vinay Virmani are OK and Vikram tries his level best to inject some life into an otherwise dull and poorly written character.

At the end of the day it’s the gorgeous Isha Sharvani who saves the film.

Stylishly shot and slickly edited this movie is attractive to look at but the writing is so ardent for being ‘out of the box’ that it never settles its butt.

Conclusion: Disappointingly average.