The Weekual Thursday PP: Haunted Love

THE 3RD WEEKUAL THURSDAY PP

I haven't got much time right now, because we need to do a lot for school and so on, so that's why I'm not posting as frequently as otherwise. I'm sorry for that, but off course I will stick to writing your Weekual Thursday PP (though I wont write as much as I usually do).

So here's we have of new releases for tomorrow:

India's First Stereoscopic 3D film... by known-to-make-many-bad-films Vikram Bhatt...

And (I know I stole that line from someone): Yash Raj Ka the End... by some "Bumpy" (?)

Haunted 3D
Director: Vikram Bhatt (Elaan/ Raaz)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

The only film of Vikram Bhatt I've seen is Ghulam. I was 10 years or so then, so I don't remember much else than Rani, Aamir, some catchy tunes - and a lot of blood and disgusting dishoom scenes.

Haunted, honestly, looks like some very bad collage of the "best" scenes from Hollywood Horror hits, and the scary part seems to be those where we hear a woman screaming. Which is, like, 20 times (only in the trailer).

I'm not familiar with the actors, but what I've seen of the leading actor is not what I call promising. The woman, I think, is only supposed to be beautiful and able to scream.









Luv Ka the End
Director: Bumpy (debuting with this one)

THEATRICAL TRAILER


Look, I have this problem with film titles that are misspelled. I haven't seen "I Hate Luv Storys" (= I Hate Love Stories) yet, only because of its title.
So, you see that this is the first wall between my and "Luv Ka the End".

The other one is the actress, who has some similarity with Amrita Rao, but a much squeakier voice.

And I also find the trailer very fake. It just... it doesn't look fun. It doesn't look genuine, but more like some very through-thought commercial teeny production, that is supposed to make YR films look younger and more successful.








In a nutshell: If I were in India, I'd either go shopping for some DVDs, or watch some of the older releases I haven't seen yet.

The Weekual Thursday PP: Dilli, I Am In The City (+ 40 Naughty Men)

THE SECOND WEEKUAL THURSDAY PP

Let's first take a look at the films that released last week:

While Zokkomon seems to have turned out just as bad as I predicted, Dum Maaro Dum received some rather positive reviews from many viewers, and even the critics didn't tare it apart completely.

This week includes some more releases than the last one, and I'm quite proud that I managed including all of them in my post title. I mean, that's pretty clever, right?

So, what's waiting for filmgoers with access to a cinema showing those films (and I'm not jealous - Thor is releasing here in Denmark, so I might watch that one instead): 

An urban thrillomedy Mumbai Noir, based on a short film

A road(,) movie with lovely Lara

Highly acclaimed, and long-awaited offbeat drama "I Am"

Yeah, some new "No Entry" bla, bla: "Men Will Be Men"

And finally: a Govinda-comedy

Shor In The City

Director: Raj Nidimoru (shaadi.com/ 99)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

After the highly acclaimed "Dhobi Ghat" (by the way: when is that DVD finally releasing???), a new Mumbai Noir flick is already on its way to the Indian theatres.

With "Shor In The City", director Raj Nidimoru combines the stories of three different men, living in Mumbai. This happened due to the good response he gained for his 2008 short "Shor". 

All of his films have received a current rating above 7/10 on IMDB (except for Flavors, which has 6.7), so though I have not seen them (yet), I trust those filmgoers: this man surely does have talent. 

Viewing the trailer a couple of weeks ago, my curiosity was awakened - and still is, off course. 

The film stars a fine (but underrated) Kapoor - Tusshar - and some other rather unknown performers.

So, "chaos begins" today, and I hope that many people will go and watch this promising release.

Chalo Dilli 

Director: Shashant Shah (Dasvidanya)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

... Wait a minute: Akshay Kumar is also in this one? I thought it was all Lara and Vinay. Not that it's bad, though - as you know, I happened to like two of his latest films, that I didn't even want to like.

But I think we can agree, that Lara is going to be the star in this one. And that's so wonderful, because even though she has been accepted in Bollywood for a long time, it seems like she never really got that big break.

She was always the second violin, sometimes better (Billu), sometimes worse (Kaal).

Vinay Pathak is somewhat of a riddle to me. Sometimes he comes near to the annoyance of 90's Johnny Lever, and  sometimes he's incredibly funny.

I also can't say anything about the director, apart from "I've only heard good things about Dasvidanya".

But in a nutshell/ in a trailer, "Chalo Dilli" smells like fun and entertainment all the way to little Denmark.

I Am

Director: Onir (My Brother... Nikhil/ Bas Ek Pal)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

Maybe I'm blinded by the love of the moment - but I think I'm even more excited for "I Am", than for "Dhobi Ghat" (did I mention, that I really, really want that DVD to release?). Might also be because of Manisha Koirala, who will always stay my favorite Indian actress, aside of Preity Zinta.

Or perhaps because Nandita Das is back on the screen - or because Juhi Chawla is back on the good screen.

Or is it because homosexuality is portrayed in a sensitive and realistic way? (Yes, I know that without having seen the film).

At least I can do something to help myself, until this DVD releases: Watch my copy of "Bas Ek Pal".

Yes, I think that's a good idea.

And for those who are as privileged as being able to watch this flick tomorrow: What are you waiting for? Book your seats NOW!

Men Will Be Men

Director: Gorky (Krishna Arjun [TV-series])

Yeah, right, there's not even a theatrical trailer, and the film is directed by some forky "Gorky", who directed a tv-series that no one saw, in 1998. After that, he spent his time being associate director in some unimportant productions, and now he decided to make an own film.

The title is also very original - not at all reminding me of... "Friends will be friends..."... yeah. I mean, the song.

Okay, I can't find more words for this soon-releasing-box-office-desaster.

Naughty @ 40

Director: Jagmohan Mundhra 

THEATRICAL TRAILER

Hey, this film isn't even on IMDB or Wikipedia. And who is that Amisha-Patel-look-a-like gori? Ah, forget it, I don't even want to know.

Because this is a very good example for a film, that I don't want to watch. At all. Even though Govinda can be funny and sweet (in a teddy-bear kind of way).

We've all seen a "comedy" about some guy in his 30s or 40s, who's still a virgin, and on his search for a girl to hit the bed with.

This is one of the rare films, where I'd say "no, thanks" to someone offering me a free ticket for it.

------------------------------------------------

The films in order of how much I want to watch them:

1. I Am

2. Chalo Dilli

3. Shor In The City

4. ---

And here are some links I really enjoyed reading (because I've never done a link-post before):

Gaja Gamini is as brave as selecting her Top 10 Hindi Songs

Luella was successful on her search for the Worst Movie Ever

ApunBindaas rambles about remakes - and there's quite a discussion going on in the comments!

Andy Buckle reviews Thor, a film I'm certainly going to watch at the cinema. 

Shweta was so nice to share her knowledge of Danny Denzongpa singing.

And Jack L., my favorite non-Bollywood-viewer-movie-blogger, viewed a lot of films last week. 

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

The Weekual Thursday PP: Dum Maaro Dum, and Other Drugs

A few minutes ago, sitting in my desk chair, enjoying the view out of my window while the warm day of spring slowly comes to an end, a beautiful idea fell down from the skies. An idea for a new series of posts, called The Thursday PP. You know what the first three words mean - "The" is an article, "Thursday" is the 4th day of the week and "weekual" is a common adjective. Now, let's get to the mysterious two similar letters at the end of the title... PP.

Preview-Package? Poster-Post? Poster-Preview, Package-Post?
Okay, that's up to you. Important is, what this is about: Every Thursday, I'll ramble about the (Hind) films releasing that week (you know that this depends; some release Thursday, other Friday or Saturday). I'll also try watching them, but probably I won't have a chance before the DVD-releases. And that's about it. So, let's start with...

THE FIRST WEEKUAL THURSDAY PP

Thursday, 21.04.2011

We have only two single releases in India this week, namely two very different films:

A long-awaited and intensely discussed drug-thriller

And... oh, I've never heard about this film before. Okay, the poster tells us, it's a Disney production.

Dum Maaro Dum

Director: Rohan Sippy (Bluffmaster/ Kuch Naa Kaho)

TUBE THE TRAILER 

The film is set in Goa and revolves around drugs. We have a Deepika-cameo that has already gained too much attention in my eyes, Bipasha, trying-to-save-career Abhishek and newcomer Prateik.

What set a start to the intense discussion and attention towards DMD, was the First Look featuring Deepika's... well, part of her body, and the tattoo on her waist. People said that her cameo was going to be the new "Sheila" and that she'd be wearing the shortest skirt ever made. 

Yeah, I don't care about those discussions, also because I don't like Deepika, but the poster does look good. Very stylish, dynamic, colourful. Some palm trees on the right hand. Have you noticed that Goa is becoming a frequent set in Bollywood films? 

Deepika's hair looks blue, I think... And there's a man with a gun standing in the upper left corner. That means drugs are a bad thing, and you shouldn't talk to those men with long coats standing in corners. Did you hear me, Raju? Come home straight after school. I don't like your friends, they're no good company for you. Especially that girl with the short skirts and tempting curls.

Verdict: I'm scared it might be stylish only.

ZOKKOMON

Director: Satyajit Bhatkal (Chale Chalo - The Lunacy of Film Making)

TUBE THE TRAILER

Hey, it's the cute little boy from Taare Zameen Par! Oh... Oh, he's... he's wearing a superman-costume. And Anupam Kher is wearing a... wig. Oh.

The first 30 seconds of the trailer look promising: a little boy with his friends, sunshine, a mother (or elder sister), some problems.

But then we get the full package of a scheme-superhero-kids-film, and find out that Javed Akhtar and S-E-L made the soundtrack/lyrics for this. Why? Why did they do this, why did the cute TZP boy do this? 

Can it be, that this is a good movie? But the trailer looks awful. I'm sorry but... even the name "Zokkomon" is not really original, immediately making me think of the iconic Manga series "Pokemon" (not that I like it, but it's famous).

I just hope that the film doesn't praise violence. The trailer also reminds me of "Azaad" - remember, that 2000-Shilpa-Shetty-flick that I warned you about?

Verdict: Please, dear God, let this not be as horrible as it looks like in my first impression.

We'll have a whole bunch of new releases for next week, in contrary to this week's little florilegium (a new old word I learned), so be excited and if you like, then please tell me what you think of this new series.

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.