EARN MONEY
Movie Preview: Kisaan
By Bollywood Hungama News Network
This sweeping, melodramatic saga of a powerful father, and his two sons, presents an honest view of the rugged life and goals of a simple farming family against the lush green agricultural lands of modern day Punjab.
It begins with a Kisaan, Dayal Singh (Jackie Shroff), a widower who's immersed in the legacy of his ancestral lands as he raises two very different sons; Aman, (Arbaaz Khan) is formally schooled to become a city based lawyer while Jigar (Sohail Khan) through lack of funds and inclination towards anything other than farming is kept by his father's side.
When Sohan Seth (Dalip Tahil), a shrewd businessman, convinces many beleaguered farmers to sell their lands for his commercial interests some by using the violent tactics of the village's heavy hand, Nirmal (Romeo) it shatters the harmony of village life, and Dayal's family is jeopardized. Dayal Singh and his sons are locked into a battle of right; each is focused on their path to success. The brother's are pitted against each other with a different outlook of land and its value as the crisis in the village unfolds. The ground at their feet, is it Motherland or simply Property? It spin tails them down a direction they can never return from, leading to a shocking turn of events as their women Priya (Dia Mirza) and Titli (Nauheed Cyrusi) add to the drama and conflict. In the struggle of land and brotherhood, tragedy befalls forcing each man to re-examine his convictions.
Is blood thicker than water?
Will loyalty and honor outlast stubbornness and pride?
Because land, land will outlast them all.
Kisaan, the story of a farmer.
Characters:
Anubhav Anand: Aman
Aman is a talented young architect who has been raised by his loving uncle (Mr.Bhalla) ever since he came to America as a young child. While working toward his dream of having his own architecture firm, Aman life's takes a beautiful turn when he bumps into his perfect match Neha. Not to be bothered by such trivial concerns such as family involvement in his relationship, Aman beings to lose sight of what is truly important while pursuing his career goals. It isn't he realizes the true extent of the love his Uncle has for him that he beings to understand the real meaning of family.
Nandana Sen: Neha
A beautiful, charming and intelligent girl, Neha sweeps Aman off his feet at first sight. As an only child, she feels that her family's opinion on her preferred match is as important as her own. When she realizes that her father (Mr. Patel) is not so crazy about Mr. Bhalla, she and Aman try anything to just get them to get along.
Boman Irani: Mr. Patel
A conventional family man, Mr. Patel runs a motel in suburban Southern California. A proud father of his only daughter Neha, Mr. Patel would go to any extent to keep his daughter happy. Any extent that does not extend beyond his simple, disciplined, vegetarian, alcohol-free lifestyle. All it takes is one meeting with his counterpart Mr. Bhalla to draw the line and call Neha & Aman's perfect match a Mismatch.
Anupam Kher: Mr. Bhalla
A loud and colorful personality, Mr. Bhalla lives a full life with his family in suburban Southern California. The things that drive this family man are great food (non-vegetarian), great jokes and Jack Daniels. Mr. Bhalla has raised his nephew Aman as his own child and is elated to meet the parents (The Patel) of his preferred match. It takes one meeting of the hyper-vibrant Mr. Bhalla and the conventional Mr. Patel for them to realize that this is the perfect Mismatch.
Susan Smythe: Amy
With a lot of spunk, this pretty young lady tries to out everything that's going on in Neha's life. A good friend and a great listener, Amy is enchanted by Neha's colorful stories of her family and relationship.
David E. Webb: Dave
A loyal and true friend to Aman, Dave is almost Indian himself. Finding great joy in being around Aman's family, Dave makes it a point to be at all the family gatherings.
Rashmi Rustagi: Mrs. Patel
An ever loving and caring mother, Mrs. Patel is a bit more lenient than her husband. Coming from a woman's point of view, Mrs. Patel is a little better equipped to understand what her daughter is going though and tries to convince her husband to see the light.
Sheel Gupta: Preeti
The perfect little sister, Preeti and Aman share a close bond. Cute and bubbly, this young lady has an endless supply of love for family and especially her brother helping him thought the toughest of times.
Perfect Mismatch Ranjita Chakravarty: Mrs. Bhalla
An over-protective mother of her daughter Preeti, ever-loving aunt to Aman, and the one keeping the Bhalla house close to sanity, Mrs. Bhalla is someone every lady will relate to.
Synopsis
Aman (Anubhav Anand), a talented young architect, raised by his uncle has all the love and care a family could offer, even if he does take it for granted. While working towards his very own dream, his life takes a beautiful turn when he bumps into the perfect girl Neha (Nandana Sen). The two fall in love, and nothing seems able to come between them.
Nothing, that is, until it comes time for their families to meet. Sparks fly. Every known disaster strikes when the hyper-vibrant Mr.Bhalla (Anupam Kher) and the rigidly-conventional Mr. Patel (Boman Irani) meet and their differences become hilariously apparent. The two are woefully mismatched from the start. Disapproval inevitably comes when the two fathers lock horns, but the lovebirds, true to their feelings, are ready to do anything to make their dreams come true. They must find a way to bring their families together which leads to a comical series of misadventures of the two disapproving, faultfinding fathers.
Between the struggles of making his career dreams a reality and bringing two families together, Aman realizes the true definition of family and what it really means to love someone.
The movie is a passionate view of hilariously star-crossed romance while never forgetting the importance of family, culture, and staying true to one's emotions. Join Mr. Bhalla, Mr. Patel, Aman & Neha, along with their families as they celebrate life, love and everything in between.
Film: "Jashnn"; Cast: Adhyayan Suman, Shahana Goswami, Anjana Sukhani, Humayun Saeed; Director: Raksha Mistry and Hasnain S. Hyderbadwala; Rating: ***
Rejoice! The Bhatts are back with a film that rips a hole in the heart and lodges itself deep into your consciousness...for a bit at least.
It's hard to move away from the territory of trauma that Bhatt perennially creates for his characters. His protagonists suffer because they allow themselves the luxury of feeling and hurting in an utterly self-centred way.
In a marked departure from the sacrificial mother figures of our movies, the film's central character Nisha (played with gut-wrenching brutal honesty by Shahana Goswami) is shown to be a rich man's mistress not because of her kid brother but because, as she roars in one of the narrative's soul-piercing highest-pitched sequences, she has gotten so used to luxuries she can't stand in queue for buses any more.
"Jashnn", like Mahesh Bhatt's "Jannat" before it, wallows in the transparent hunger of today's lifestyle and how far individuals are ready to go in pursuit of the next thrill.
At its heart, "Jashnn" is a simple story about four troubled people tied together in a baffling labyrinth of complicated emotions.
As Adhyayan Suman, rising to the challenge of playing the author-backed role of Aakash -- 'didi's ladla' and destiny's unfavoured wannabe Michael Jackson -- says to his spunky girlfriend (a never-say-why girl who moves in with her guy in his garage music room): "Your brother was supporting my sister. Now you're supporting me. What a family we are!"
Bhatt's people are never afraid of facing the truth about themselves, no matter how ugly. And it can't get any uglier than the sequence where Akaash -- angry, embittered, cornered and moneyless -- steals from a woman's purse in a bar to pay for his drinks.
There is a redemptive counterpoint to this hideous moment of compromise. There always is. And when it comes in "Jashnn", you feel like applauding our young hero's proclivity to look life in all its garish shades straight in the eye.
In what could be considered the best re-launch since Mallika Sherawat in the Bhatts' "Murder", Adhyayan gets a role with a graph and grip that most newcomers fantasise about.
Adhyayan surrenders himself completely to the bum musician's inner world, emerging with emotions that lie buried too deep for tears, fears and jeers. He cries openly and feelingly for his lost and redeemed dignity, he makes love to his girlfriend with the same tender look in his eyes as when he cuts a cake with his sister. He grits his teeth when his sister is insulted for her parasitical life as a rich man's mistress. He rejoices when she is liberated. He's a Mahesh Bhatt hero.
Shahana, the truest new-millennium inheritor of Shabana Azmi's histrionic kingdom, goes through the role of squalid dependency and emotional liberation with a velocity of expressions that expand the screen space into a universe of articulated angst.
Of course, the dialogues help. Shahana's sequence where she tells a cheesy guy she wants to be something better than meat in the market is proof enough of her capabilities.
It's interesting to see Anjana Sukhani turn a routine role of the spoilt but eventually sobered-down heiress into an area of interesting possibilities. The girl is spirited and plays her part with a determined relish.
The film's other protagonist Humayun Saeed hams his way through most of the material. He isn't to be blamed all the time. Some of his sequences lack the insightful intensity of what the writers offer the other principal characters. And to see this villain weeping in repentance at the end kind of takes away from the sting and bite of the tangy dish on contemporary compulsions that the Bhatts have prepared for posterity.
Mention must be made of the actor who plays Aakash's best friend Sukesh. The boy gets the point.
It isn't as though "Jashnn" has something new to say. If you've been observing the cinema of Mahesh Bhatt you'd know they secrete dark recesses of resonant emotions serving more as mirrors for the mores of our times rather than just vehicles to get audiences into titillated submission.
The women in Mahesh Bhatt creations are extraordinarily striking creatures. And there are two such women in "Jashnn". One is a tortured mistress of the night. The other is a wealthy woman who lives with her struggling boyfriend and refuses to abort her illegitimate baby.
A scar is borne. The womb is a wonderfully warm place to tell screen stories about people who manoeuvre out of materialistic morass in redemptive rhythms.
Co-directors Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala have here created a parable of pain written across the theme of a musician's journey from rejection to victory.
Some stories seem very interesting on paper, but lose their sheen on celluloid. That's the problem with DEKH RE DEKH. The idea could've translated into an engrossing fare, but the story development as also its execution leaves a lot to be desired. Even its short running time doesn't salvage the situation.
Babli's marriage in a rich family has already turned into a nightmare and she is back home after getting divorced. But a robbery involves her childhood friend Shyam into her plan; Shyam also is in need of money to bribe the minister for a government job. At this juncture, one more character joins them, Yadav, a struggling politician in need of money for his party fund to get ticket for election. Since they have no experience of robbery, they plan to involve a professional thief in the mission: Charan.
DEKH RE DEKH establishes the characters well, but the screenplay unravels in such a casual manner that it becomes the biggest drawback as it moves further. One can never tell when the film rolls into flashback mode and back. It's only later that you realize that there actually were flashbacks and by that time, you've already lost track of where the story is headed.
The film's tagline states 'laughter behind darkness' but neither does the film make you laugh, nor is it a dark subject from any angle. The comedy just doesn't evoke mirth. Music is irksome.
Vijay Raaz is the best of the lot. He's excellent. Gracy Singh is plain average. Siddhartha Koirala is just about okay. Raghubir Yadav does a fine job.
On the whole, DEKH RE DEKH is not the type that would catch the viewer's eye.
The coming weeks will witness the release of some hugely-anticipated films. The first promo of WANTED has met with tremendous response, with the aam junta greeting the promo with rare enthusiasm. This writer is confident that the first promo of Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision's BLUE, directed by Anthony D'Souza, will also be welcomed with whistles and claps. In fact, the first promo will be unveiled on 14th August with KAMINEY.
While on BLUE, a section of the industry feels that the film won't make it in Diwali since the actors have yet to dub for the film and also A.R. Rahman has not recorded the background score yet. It's far from true, since Akshay Kumar has already completed his dubbing, while Sanju and Katrina are expected to dub in the forthcoming week.
Also, the maestro, Rahman, has started recording the background score in Chennai. Sure, the CG work will take time, but the makers are 100% sure that BLUE will hit the screens on the scheduled date, on 16th October. That should put an end to all speculation vis-à-vis the release date of this biggie.
Film: "Sankat City"; Director: Pankaj Advani; Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Anupam Kher, Rimi Sen, Chunkey Pandey, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Rahul Dev, Yashpal Sharma, Hemant Pandey, Jehangir Khan, Manoj Pahwa; Rating: ***
"Sankat City" is one of those rare movies that have a dozen odd characters, all of whom are not just connected to one another but even contribute to the film's main plot. This is the reason why none of them can be called a supporting actor since they are all the principal protagonists in the film.
Let's begin with the least known names first. If one leaves out Hemant Pandey (Philip Fattu) then the brain child of the climax of "Sankat City" would go missing. If one ignores Jehangir Khan (Lovely) then the muscle power would lose its meaning. If Manoj Pahwa (Gogi Kukreja) is removed from the plot, then the story won't move forward. And if Yashpal Sharma's (Pachisia) importance is forgotten then the entire 'con' angle would be diluted.
All credit to debutante writer-director Pankaj Advani who brings them all together along with a more experienced star cast and spins a tale that is as original as it gets. Yes, Advani has carefully studied Guy Ritchie's way of filmmaking - "Snatch", "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" - something which clearly reflects in the way he has spun the tale of "Sankat City".
So what you get to see is a series of events that are all related to one another with practically every scene beginning from where the previous one left. There are no 'jump movements' in the narrative, which could have been a possibility had an amateur been at the helm of affairs.
Advani keeps things under check for most part of the film's narrative.
What mars the film to an extent though are the production values, which can be termed below average. Lack of funds is clearly visible in all departments - whether it is art direction, choreography, sets or locations.
Two years back we saw "Johnny Gaddaar", which was again a thriller and made a much better impression since it boasted of neat visuals. In case of "Sankat City", lack of visual appeal proves to be a major hindrance.
But this is compensated by a good storyline that keeps you involved for most of the film. While the initial portions of the movie are a cracker, what with a dozen odd characters being introduced, what keeps the wheels moving is the entire 'money' angle - The way different people are connected to the same amount of money is brilliantly executed.
Around the interval point the grip becomes a little loose while in the second half there is a see-saw in the narrative. The climax is well-spun though and comes with good twists and turns.
Also, the ending of "Sankat City" is a little too sudden. An epilogue would have perhaps made it an even more entertaining watch.
Still, it's the collective prowess of Anupam Kher, Kay Kay Menon and Rimi Sen that makes "Sankat City" a comfortable one time watch at the least.
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