Movie Review: Desi Boyz

Plot

Jerry (Akshay Kumar) and Nick (John Abraham) are two friends living in London. Both of them lose their jobs during recession period. Unable to find anything else, they end up working as male escorts with 'Desi Boyz' as Rocco and Hunter. Nick's fiancee Radhika (Deepika Padukone) soon finds out about his job and dumps him, and Jerry loses custody of his nephew to a foster home. Rest of the story is about how Jerry and Nick accept responsibility and find better jobs.

Actors Performance

After delivering series of flops for the last 3 years, I dont know what better I was expecting from Akshay Kumar's movie (other than the loud cheap comedy and double meaning dialogues that is). On the scale of pathetic acting, he scores a perfect 10. He's a 44 year old guy, why doesnt someone tell him that he should start acting in sensible movies now at least. He's a good actor, but I dont understand why he's wasting his talent by acting in such second grade movies.

John Abraham scores even better than Akshay, for he cant even act. As in Force, his body looked a little too beefed up. He seriously needs to go train at an acting school before its too late. Deepika is alright as Radhika, but even she needs to find better scripts to work on. Chitrangda Singh had no major role, and looked horrible in the film. Anupam Kher and Omi Vaidya are wasted. The kid couldn't act for nuts. Rest of the cast was mediocre.

Story-Screenplay-Direction

David Dhawan was very famous for his cheap comedy, but his movies did make sense even if they were too loud. But his son, Rohit Dhawan (story, screenplay and direction) seems to have forgot to use his brain while scripting and filming this movie. The story made no absolute sense. The best part is that Jerry doesnt lose his job because of recession, but because of his careless attitude. But then, he's good enough to become male escort. Nick joins him because he doesnt want to leave his friend alone (I have tears in my eyes). I dont wanna talk of rest of the movie, cos it will take forever for me to finish. To nail the coffin, direction is pathetic. Forget John, he couldnt even make the kid act. Screenplay was mediocre.

Other Departments

Barring two songs (Desi Boyz and Hero), music by Pritam is nothing great. I liked 'Hero' song quite a bit. Background score by Sandeep Shirodkar is alright. Cinematography by Natarajan Subramaniam is pretty decent. With so many films being shot in London, he dint have anything new to capture. Editing by Nitin Rokade was alright. Production values could have been much better, for the sets used in the film are worse then the ones used in 1950's (a very bad painting of a skyscraper at the window is supposed to make us believe that the courtroom is in London).

Verdict

Unless you are jobless like me, or unless you have a thing for cheap senseless humor, please avoid this film at all costs. Its an absolute waste of money. The story is pathetic, direction worse, and acting mediocre. I wish Akshay Kumar would stop acting in such 'ghatiya' movies.

If you want to watch this film even after reading this review, go watch this film with a group of close buddies so as to have a laugh at least.

Dumbo's Rating: 4.5/10

Movie Review: Rockstar

Spoiler Alert!!

Plot

Janardhan Jakhar/JJ/Jordan (Ranbir Kapoor), a middle class Haryanvi guy is a wannabe Jim Morrison. His college canteen owner, Khatana bhai (Kumud Mishra) philosophizes that a person needs a heart break to create awesome music. Going by this, JJ tries to woo the heartbreaking chick of the college, Heer (Nargis Fakhri). After a series of comic episodes, they become very good friends, and JJ helps organize Heer's wedding. The rest of the story is about how JJ and Heer realize their love for each other, and how the heartbreak makes JJ a Rockstar!

Artists Performance

Ranbir Kapoor is fantabulous in the lead role. Its clearly visible that he had put in a lot of effort into this character. He has about five different get ups in the movie, and he carried all of them with ease. The only problem was his characterization (Il get into that later). Nargis Fakhri is a good find and looks really beautiful (though I thought that she looked very very lean). On acting front, she aint that great. It looked like she tried to imitate a number of actresses through the film. She's definitely got talent which can be probably be put to use in better films. Shammi Kapoor has a very small role, and was good. Kumud Mishra is excellent as JJ's manager. Aditi Rao Hydari was good as the journalist, who later becomes JJ's ***. The rest of the cast was relatively new, and alright.

Story-Screenplay-Direction

Boy oh boy, where do I even start?? After roaring success of Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal, director Imtiaz Ali seems to have lost his head. With Rahman to support him on music front, all he could churn out was a pathetic story; a married woman suffering from cancer, who cant even stand on her feet, sleeps with the lead actor, gets pregnant, and then slips into coma. And this forms the core story around which our loser becomes a rockstar. Seriously dude, WTH?? I dont even want to get into rest of the details. The first five minutes of the film had brilliant screenplay and so I was hoping for one hell of a film. Even the first half of the film actually turned out to be good. But post interval, everything went down the drain. The guy sitting in the next seat kept repeatly asking his friend "Why is he doing this???". We all need an answer Imtiaz!.

Being titled Rockstar, there is nothing rocking about the script. All the characters were very badly scripted, worst being Jordan. This guy seriously doesnt know what he wants. He initially cant even pronounce Prague properly, but then becomes perfect at everything. He is supposed to be in love with Heer, but is more than happy to kiss and play around with other girls. There was absolutely no conflict point in the movie for Jordan to actually go through pain, cos Heer is more than willing to sleep with him (forget constantly kissing him backstage, while her husband is sitting in the front row). The most disappointing part was the lead up to 'Sadda Haq'.

Imtiaz was able to get awesome performance from Ranbir, and even from Nargis in parts, but with such a weak, draggy script, Rockstar/Imtiaz disappoints!!

Other Departments

The pre Slumdog Millionaire Rahman is back, and he absolutely mesmerizes us with his music (though it aint exactly Rock music). The background score is very good as well. I loved the way he mixed the tracks for the bg. I was disappointed on the fact that my favorite song 'Sheher Main' was missing in the film. Lyrics by Irshad Kamil are a lil too complicated to figure put, but good. Cinematography by Anil Mehta is excellent, but most of the shots in Himachal looked similar to the ones in Jab We Met. Editing by Aarti Bajaj is pathetic. The story itself was such a drag, and on top of it, there are like 'n' number of scenes which could have made the cut but dint. Production values by Eros and Ashtavinayak are excellent.

Verdict

Ive been waiting for this film for a long time now, and was really hoping that it would do well. But alas, it competes with Ra.One on the level of stupidity (actually, ignore that, nothing can ever be compared to Ra.One). As mentioned, the first of the film is pretty decent and promises a good film, but the interval bang and post interval episodes are pathetic. I really couldn't understand why Heer would sleep with Jordan in the first place, and then scream her lungs out after everything was done. And this leads to 'Sadda Haq' (listen to it lyrics, then you'll  probably understand why I keep saying that). The audience started clapping when Heer slips into a coma, which proves how good the movie was. And later when she steps onto the stage for 'Tum Ho', followed by the end credits, I could hear at least ten people scream 'What the ...'.

So that basically sums up my Rockstar experience. I got out of the theater with a nice head ache. Except for the music, this film doesn't even deserve a one time watch.

Dumbo's Rating: 5/10

PS: Go get a DVD of a Telugu movie 'Prema' which runs on a pretty similar but much better story line instead of watching this!!

Movie Review: The Adventures of Tintin - TSOU

Plot

Tintin (Jamie Bell), a young journalist, happens to buy a model ship named Unicorn. Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig) tries to buy the model from Tintin, but fails. The model is stolen from Tintin's possession, and he soon discovers that there's more than meets the eye. He goes on about an adventure trying to solve the puzzle, and meets Captain Archibald Haddock (Andy Serkis) through his journey. The rest of the story is about how they solve the mystery together, and discover the lost treasure of the Unicorn.

Artists Performance

Honestly, it was quite difficult for me to judge the artists performance, as it was motion/performance capture film. It was also hard to imagine most actors in their respective roles. Jamie Bell was alright in the lead role. Andy Serkis was brilliant as Capt'n Haddock. His comic timing was superb. Daniel Craig was good as the sinister. He was the most difficult one to imagine (James Bond playing a negative role!!). The true star of the movie though was Snowy. He was a brilliantly created traditionally animated character.

Story-Screenplay-Direction

Based on three of Herge's original comic books (The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure), screenplay by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish was very well written. Ive never read the comics myself, but do remember watching the cartoons as a kid, and I thought these guys did a pretty good job of combining the three to write an effective screenplay. I did feel that it was a little too long at times, but with a running time of 107 minutes, it actually wasn't. Direction by Steven Spielberg was again very difficult to judge. Id say that he did a pretty good job. I thought a couple of scenes in the movie were brilliantly shot: the one where Haddocks recalls the story of the Unicorn (running in parallel to reality), and the scenes after Haddock  blows the dam in Bagghar. Though he dint direct the movie, the motion capture work by Peter Jackson does deserve a mention in this section.

Other Departments

Music by John Williams was a disappointment. For a franchise of such magnitude, I expected a haunting theme music. Cinematography by Janusz Kamiński was excellent. The zoom out shots were really good.  My only problem was with the 3D. Except in a couple of scenes, there were no 3D effects. It looked like a 2D film being screened on 3D. Editing by Michael Kahn was pretty decent. The animation was of top notch quality, and every character and location looked very believable.

Verdict

First thing Ive realized after watching this movie is that its very tough to review an animation film (at least, this one was made using motion capture). Though everything seemed to have worked really well for the movie, I somehow wasnt totally satisfied when it ended. The spark you expect in an animation was missing. The story also seemed a little complicated. It is a adventure film with its share of fun moments. Overall, a pretty decent watch, but not a classic!!

Dumbo's Rating: 7.5/10

Restaurant Review: Palace Heights

Place: Palace Heights

Location: Abids, behind Taj Mahal Hotel

Cuisine: Multi-cuisine

Meal: Dinner (with a couple of friends)

Place/Ambiance

Palace Heights is one the oldest restaurants in the city. Its located in a small lane behind the Taj Mahal hotel, on the 8th floor of Triveni complex (It can be a pain to find). The interiors and decors are very well done, and the elevation gives us an exquisite view of the city.

Its been a while since I last came to this place and I was kinda excited to be here. My friends wanted to go to Santosh Dhaba, but I somehow convinced them to come here, promising them awesome food.

Menu

They have a huge menu, right from Punjabi, Chinese, to Mexican food and Sizzlers. They even serve drinks. We ordered Vegetable Gold Coin and Chilly Panner for starters, Malai Cheese Kofta and Panner Khurchan along with Kashmiri Naan, Masala Kulcha and Stuffed Paratha for two of us, and Chicken Biryani for the third.

Food

It took forever, and I mean forever for the starters to arrive. After 30 minutes, and reminding the guy a couple of times, the Gold Coins and Chilly Panner were finally served, with Schezwan sauce and some kind of chutney.

The Gold coins were crispy and very well baked. They had few cashew nuts here and there, the bread was good, and the stuffing was tasty. The Chilly Panner was excellent. Its probably the best Ive had in recent times. Even my friends loved it. The Panner was fresh, and well fried. It wasnt too greasy though. Not so spicy either.

Though we were miffed because of the long wait, perfect start to the meal. And then came the rest of the stuff we ordered.

The Panner Kurchan was alright. Ive never actually tasted Kurchan before, so had nothing to compare it with. It pretty much tasted like a blend of Panner Butter Masala and Kadai Panner. I thought that it was pretty dry with not much gravy to it. 

The Malai Kofta according to me was really good. It was very very creamy, and the kofta ball was very very soft. I couldnt feel any cheese, but there were quite a few nuts in there. 

The Kashmiri Naan was pretty good. There were three huge pieces of it. It was a little sweet, but no so much to spoil the taste of the subzi. The first two pieces were well baked, but the third was a little too crispy. The Masala Kulcha was alright, and the Stuffed Paratha was excellent. 

My friend was happy with his Chicken Biryani.

Service

For a restaurant of such high reputation, the service was pathetic. About three guys were rushing us to place the order from when we were seated, but no one bothered to respond after the food was ordered. We actually dindnt know who was incharge of our table, cos there would be a bunch of them when food was served, and they would disappear into thin air thereafter. My friend had asked for paper napkins, and each guy would point fingers to the next one to get them.

Verdict

Having pulled my friends from a cheaper, better place to this one, I was almost thrashed when we got out of the place. The food was alright yes, but the prices were exorbitant. It wouldnt have mattered so much if each of us enjoyed our meal, but thanks to the horrible service, we were quite disappointed. The starters were great, and the rest of the food was alright. The quantity of food served was pretty decent (we had leftovers packed up). The ambiance was definitely a plus, but the place was too loud at times. 

Overall, a pretty average meal.

Food: 8/10

Ambiance: 8.5/10

Service: 4/10

Dumbo's Rating: 7/10

For more reviews, do visit Zomato.com - India's biggest online food & lifestyle guide

Movie Review: Real Steel

Plot
Set in the future, where robot fights are a craze, Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a former boxer, who survives on unsanctioned robot fights. He comes to know that his ex-girl friend is dead, leaving him his 11 year old son Max (Dakota Goyo). To clear his debts, and buy robots, Charlie gives Max's custody to his ex's sister Debra on payment of 100 grand. Max stays with Charlie for a couple of months before Debra can take him along. During these two months, Max discovers a obsolete scrap robot Atom, and pesters Charlie to train Atom. The rest of the story is about how Max changes Charlie's life, and how Atom goes on to become 'The People's Champion'!

Artists Performance
Hugh Grant is excellent as the careless, indifferent father, who isnt serious about anything in life. He plays his character to perfection. The true star of the movie though is Dakota Goyo. He brings in a lot of innocence to his character while thinking very maturely, and was really really cute. His expressions while talking to Charlie are brilliant. Evangeline Lilly has a limited role in the movie, and was good. I would have loved to see more of her on screen.

Story-Screenplay-Direction
The story of the film is very very predictable. Its got a Rocky Balboa kinda theme to it, but instead of boxers fighting out, its robots. Story by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven is pretty decent, but director Shawn Levy couldn't get everything right. The story seems to drag many a times. He tried to play with a number of emotions, instead of sticking to one thread. He handled the scenes involving the kid very well. He was able to generate subtle humor through the father-son relationship. Screenplay by John Gatins could have been better, but I have no qualms.

Other Departments
Music by Danny Elfman is alright. I liked a couple of soundtracks. The sound effects weren't as great as Super 8, but were pretty decent. The Animatronic robots used looked very real and believable (Tom Meyer). Cinematography by Mauro Fiore was excellent. The scenes involving shadow fighting were shot brilliantly. Editing by Dean Zimmerman could have been way better. As already mentioned, the film dragged in parts, and a lot of scenes could have made the cut. Production values by Dreamworks are good.

Verdict
I didn't like the trailer, and therefore was planning to skip watching this movie. But I finally did after a number of people told me about it (and in fact asked me for a review). And thankfully, I wasn't disappointed. But I wasn't too happy either (mainly because of the Dolby turning on and off during the movie in the theater, Inox). It was a pretty decent movie which had its moments. The climax of the film was brilliantly shot, and makes up for most of the flaws in the movie. Plus points are Hugh Grant, Dakota Goyo and the shadow cinematography. But on the downside, I could see similarities to a number of hit flicks. I actually felt like I was watching a Bollywood film because of the drag and sentimental scenes.

Its Rocky Balboa, but instead of Sylvester Stallone, you have Atom fighting the fights.

Dumbo's Rating: 7.5/10

Restaurant Review: Just Parantha

Place: Just Parantha
Location: Rd. No. 12, Banjara Hills, further to Santhosh Dhaba
Cuisine: Punjabi
Meal: Takeaway

I saw this place once while travelling on Rd. No. 12 and wanted to try it ever since. So here I was to pick up dinner one night. Its a small joint, something similar to a pan dabba to look at. Its got a couple of chairs laid outside to sit and eat at the place. It serves a wide variety of paranthas and Punjabi curries.

I ordered Pyaaz, Gobi, Aloo Meethi and a special paranthas. I wanted to order Panner Masala, but they were out of that. I ordered a Shahi Panner to go along. I wanted to order Pulao, but they were done with that as well. I also ordered a couple of Phulkas. It took a while for him to prepare all of these. He had customers pouring in. Roaring business. He gave some pudina chutney along with the paranthas. I also took a Punjabi Badam milk bottle.

The paranthas were absolutely delicious. The special parantha was the best of the lot, Pyaaz was excellent. I was not so happy with the Gobi initially, but it was really good. I dint taste the Aloo Meethi, but I suppose it was good. The Phulkas were soft and fluffy. The Shahi Panner was alright. It was a little sour, and wasnt fresh. I figured that all the subjis were precooked. The pudina chutney wasnt so good either.

The best part of my meal though was the Badam milk. It tasted like little drops of heaven. It was really really creamy, full of cut badam pieces. It wasnt too sweet either, which made it taste perfect.

On the whole, a very very decent place. It was an easy on the pocket meal. The paranthas were very reasonably priced at 20 bucks a piece (except the special which was 30).  The subji was 70 bucks. The size of the parantha was pretty good as well.

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who's looking for a good meal. Dont forget to try their badam milk.

Food: 8/10
Ambiance: NA
Service: NA
Meal for 3: Rs. 185/-

Dumbo's Rating: 8.5/10

For more reviews, do visit Zomato.com - India's biggest online food & lifestyle guide

Movie Review: Super 8

Plot
Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is a 14-year-old boy who recently lost his mom in an accident. His dad, Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler) is the Police deputy of the small town they live in. Joe and Jackson are going through a tough phase with the recent death. Joe, his secret crush Alice (Elle Fanning), and his friends are shooting a Zombie movie at an old train depot, when a huge train crash occurs. The event gets recorded on their camera. The rest of the story establishes reason for the crash and its consequences.

Artists Performance
Every artist in the film was absolutely brilliant. Joel Courtney was excellent as the lead kid. His expressions were good towards the climax of the movie. Kyle Chandler was good and fit the bill perfectly. Riley Griffiths was fantastic as Jack's best buddy, and the director with a secret crush on Alice. I loved the scene where he asks Jack if he could manage things without him. The best performance though, is by Elle Fanning. I was absolutely spellbound by her act as the heroine (like everyone else), and even as the zombie. She looked really mean and scary while dressed as the zombie. Other friends of Jack were great. It was a perfect ensemble of cast.

Story-Screenplay-Direction

Written and directed by J.J. Abrams, Super 8 is one of those freaky, sci-fi alien movies which makes an impact. It was like watching a Steven Spielberg's film, but with a different take on things. I loved the screenplay. The way he scared the living hell out of the audience, without actually showing us the alien was brilliant. Also, I liked the way he established the animosity between Jack's and Alice's dads as the story progresses. The direction was spot on. He was able to generate the best out of the kids, while infusing subtle humor throughout the film. The movie never lost its momentum. The Zombie movie during the end title credits was brilliant.

Other Departments

Ive seen quite a lot of movies, but Ive never watched anything which literally made me jump of my seat for its sound effects. This film did that. Credit goes to Michael Giacchino for the mind blowing music, re-recording and sound effects. CGI effects house Industrial Light and Magic are really good. The train crash scenes had the best effects, and was very well canned. Cinematography by Larry Fong was excellent. As already mentioned, the way the alien was never shown properly in any frame until the climax was brilliant. Editing by Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey was perfect. The film never dragged. Production values by Amblin Entertainment (Spielberg), Bad Robot Productions (J.J. Abrams), and Paramount Pictures are excellent.

Verdict

Its one of the best movies Ive watched in recent times. It was spooky, freaky and humorous, all at the same time. The actors fit the bill perfectly, and did an awesome job. I felt that the movie had a message infused into it. Plus points are the casting, brilliant screenplay, direction, and the sound effects. I cant think of any negatives. Its a film to be watched in a theater. I absolutely loved it, I hope you do too.

Dumbo's Rating: 9.5/10

PS: The film released about 4 months ago in the U.S, but released just a couple of days ago in India. Ive been waiting all along to go watch it in the theater. And it was worth the wait!!

Restaurant Review: Alex Kitchen

Place: Alex Kitchen

Location: Liberty Circle, Opp. TTD Kalyanamandapam

Cuisine: Chinese

Meal: Dinner

Alex Kitchen is one of the oldest and famous Chinese restaurants in town. It’s a small place right next to Universal Bakery, a little inside the building, is little cramped, but has a decent décor. I remember my brother bringing me here along with his friends while he was doing his Hotel Management. They knew the Chef back then, and used to get into the kitchen. Over years, Chefs have kept changing, and the standard kept falling. But still, hoping for some miracle, me along with a couple of friends dropped by on a Friday evening. And to my surprise, it was packed even after all these years.

It took about 10 minutes for us to be seated at our table. Once seated, it took forever for the waiter to serve us water and take our order. We almost had to struggle to get his attention. We ordered Noodle Soup, Spring Rolls, American Chopsuey, Soft Noodles and Manchuria (all Veg.).

The soup was served first. The quantity was pretty good, but it tasted bland and had no flavor to it. Even adding tons of chilly sauce, salt and pepper dint make any difference. Next came the Spring Rolls. I remember them being really good, and for once I wasn’t disappointed. They were infact excellent. Crispy, fried to perfection. Yummy!

After a long wait came the Chopsuey, Noodles and Manchuria. The Chopsuey was very very sweet, and I've never tasted an American Chopsuey so sweet. It had some crunchy noodles in between, but not a lot.

Thankfully, the Noodles and Manchuria weren’t sweet. The Noodles was alright, nothing great. Manchuria was good. The sauce was thick and tangy, and the balls were well cooked.

We somehow finished everything but just weren’t satisfied. We had definitely hoped for a better meal, but I atleast was disappointed. The quantity of food served was good, but what is the use if it doesn’t taste good? The service was pathetic. I had to ask 3 people to get some water. This place is the best example to show how bad a restaurant can get if the standards are not maintained. Except for the Spring Rolls, rest of the food was forgettable.

Food: 7/10

Ambiance: 7/10

Service: 4/10

Meal for 3: Rs. 500/- (Approx)

Dumbo’s Rating: 6/10

Movie Review: Oosaravelli

Plot
Oh boy, this is gonna be tough. Tony (NTR) and Niharika (Tamanna) are kidnapped by terrorists in Kashmir. They somehow manage to escape from there. Tony follows Niharika to Hyderabad, and makes her fall in love with him. At the same time, he is also plotting to destroy a gang of goons. The rest of the story deals with establishing why he is after the goons, and how Niharika is involved in all of this.

Artists Performance
NTR is good in the lead role. As the tittle suggest, he is a Chameleon in the movie, in all aspects. He is brilliant in few scenes, and sucked in a few others. You think that he's looking good for a second, and immediately there is a fatso in the next frame. He looked terrible in the last song. But otherwise, he was pretty decent. His comic timing was good, and he was pretty much the only one to provide laughter in the movie. His dances for 'Dandiya' song are really good. It would be great if he could lose some weight and maintain his figure (sheesh, never thought I would say that for a guy!!).

Tamanna has a very very good role in the movie, and is excellent. She should be really thankful to have bagged such a meaty role in a Telugu movie. She was actually brilliant in few scenes, especially the flashback episode. She looked gorgeous in the songs.

Prakash Raj has a relatively small role, but is excellent. Jaya Prakash Reddy was really good, and so was Raghu Babu. Vidyut Jammwal (Force fame) was absolutely wasted. The girl who played Tamanna's freind, Payal Ghosh, was good. The rest of the cast was alright.

Story-Screenplay-Direction
It was one hell of a story by Vakkantham Vamsi. It in itself was a Chameleon. It apparently is inspired from a Chinese movie 'Vengence'. The first half of the movie made no absolute sense. It was only in the second half that the motive was established. The problem is that the motive aint strong enough. As mentioned, its a story which changes colors. A small girl sitting in the next seat couldnt make head or tail of the movie. But even though it looks so complicated, it is actually not. Its the screenplay which makes it look so. Director Surender Reddy did a decent job. Only glitch was that he tried to hold the main plot till almost the end of the movie, which made the audience feel uncomfortable, as they (me included) couldnt understand the motives behind what was happening. But otherwise, the screenplay and direction were alright. Unlike Dookudu, the movie didnt have much comedy, but makes it up with a better story line.

Other Departements
Music by Devi Sri Prasad is good. I loved the first track of the movie 'Brathakali'. The background score, especially the theme bg score is excellent. Dialogues by Koritala Shiva are pretty neat. There were a number of words which made the cut during sensor, which was a little irritating. The climax set work (Art by Ravinder) looked really fake. Otherwise, it was pretty decent. Fights by Ram-Laxman are decent. If you thought that Dookudu was shot beautifully, watch Oosaravelli, cos the camera work by Rasool Ellore is absolutely brilliant. Graphics by Cgtrix are of top notch quality.  My friend who works for them just happened to mention that they they really had to work hard for this movie, and it shows on screen. Production values by BVSN Prasad are good.Thought he didnt spend a lot, he made sure to mint money by releasing the movie in record number of theaters.

Verdict
Its one hell of a movie. Whether you take it positively or negatively is your choice. It was a different film, alright, but could have been dealt with in a much better way, A strong motive in the flashback episode would have done wonders to the film. Its good to see a heroine oriented film in Telugu. Though its all and out NTR film, the narrative is based on Tamanna's character. Plus points are NTR (not the fatso), Tamanna, good music and excellent cinematography. Though the movie was long, it dint feel long. On the downside is the complicated looking screenplay. Its a pretty decent watch, but everything depends on how audience reacts to such different story line. In my opinion, it is better than Dookudu (by a wafer thin margin), but am sure not all of you would agree with me.

Dumbo's Rating: 7/10

Movie Review: Force

Plot
Yashwardhan (John Abraham) is a tough police officer working for the narcotics control bureau. He keeps bumping into a social worker Maya (Genelia D'Souza) often, and eventually falls in love with her. On job front, he kills a drug lord Anna (Mukesh Rishi). Anna's brother Vishnu (Vidyut Jammwal) kills Yash's team member to avenge his brothers death, and is after the rest of the team. The movie ends with an wrestle fight between Yash and Vishnu.

Artists Performance
"I don't want to do action like that because it does not look real, but the masses like it and the film becomes a hit. Maybe sensible people don't like it, I don't know. I am comfortable doing realistic stunts."
--John Abraham in an interview with Rediff.

Oh John, what was all that about?? He himself says that sensible people might not like it, and still goes ahead with the project. That's fine, but I really dont understand why he had to look so beefy in the movie. He looked more like a goon or the villain than the hero. And in which country does a police officer walk around wearing a vest while on duty?? John is not a great actor, period. His assets are his body and good looks. But since they aint enough for a movie to work, he needs modulate his expressions in a better fashion. In certain scenes, it was like, as my friend put it, watching a piece of furniture act. He was alright, but could have been much better. I cant think of a better choice than him for this remake, but he was no where close to match up with Suriya (Tamil).

Genelia needs to realize that Bommarillu (Telugu movie) is a thing of the past. Yes, she is great while portraying such bubbly characters, but I believe this was a more serious kinda role. After watching Jyothika (Tamil) and Asin (Telugu) do such beautiful job in the regional versions, it was quite difficult for me to watch her. She was good in parts, and a little irritating in few other.

Vidyut Jammwal is a cool hunk. Similar to all the guys with the great body, he cant act much, but can do much better if he works on it. He gave a tough fight to John in the climax. Mohit Behl, Mukesh Rishi, Raj Babbar were alright. Sandhya Mridul overplayed her role.

Story-Screenplay-Direction
It is very tough to remake a film. There are a number of factors which help a film work, and you cant get all of them right every time. The original will always be better (and mostly work better) when compared with the remake. Keeping all this in mind,  I deem Nishikant Kamat did a pretty good job. He stuck to the original Tamil plot while making very few changes, but he could have worked a little more in fine tuning the script to suit Hindi junta. The screenplay was really good. I loved the way where in he showed multiple fights at multiple locations in parallel. Direction was good in parts. He should have tried to generate more from John while extracting little less from Genelia.

Other Departments
Music by Harris Jayraj  is good. He used two of his old tracks, Uyirin Uyire from Tamil original and Manasa from Munna (Telugu). Other than these two, the rest were nothing great (He should have used Ennai Konjam as well). Background score by Sameer Phatarpekar was mediocre. The sound mixing and recording was good. Action by Alan-Amin was fine, but went overboard at times. Cinematography by Ayananka Bose, and editing by Aarif Sheik was alright. It was comparatively low budget film.

Verdict
Frankly, I liked it better than the Telugu 'Gharshana' according to the story line. The Telugu one was a drag in the second half, but this one had better screenplay and left out lot of unnecessary senti crap. Acting wise, Tamil 'Kaakha Kaakha' wins the trophy hands down. Both John and Genelia could have performed better. Music is a plus. Overall, a gory but neat film, and a decent watch.

Dumbo's Rating: 7/10