Yamla Pagla Deewana - Review and Strategy

One may call it a reiteration of the fact that Nitin Manmohan knows better filming than Karan Johar or Yash Chopra (former, no doubt) or it may be called as a reiteration of the fact that the Deols still have the balls to rock the nation more than or equal to what Rajnikant, Salman (Dabang) or Big B can ! Some told me that it was a come back for Sunny, Bobby and Dharam paa jee, but in my sense, they don’t need a comeback.


One may look at them (Deols) as underdogs, having delivered more hits independently than SRK, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khans of the world. (besides Bobby) The yesteryears He-man Dharampaa jee whos completed 50 years in bollywood, much more than Big B, was to my belief always underrated as against the Big B and Rajesh Khannas of his time, despite 250 films and acknowledged handsomest Indian Actor. And so was Sunny, but India remembers hits like Joshiley, Tridev, Chalbaaz, Nagina, Border, Ghayal, Damini, Gadar (National Award winner for that last 3) of Sunny Deol which were super duper hits !

Well, back to the subject – Yamla Pagla Deewana was an amazing entertainer – if u liked or appreciated the Dabang or Rajni types of movies this one was 10 times better with super reminders of the hit dialogies, stunts and situations of the yesteryear with a decent storyline, where no one could get bored !
Sunny gave the most rocking action scenes, which would beat Salman Khan and Rajnikant (btw, they too have their target markets and segmentations – UP-Bihar and down South respectively, the Deols too have a huge fan following across the Punjabs and Punjabis and they are all over ! I heard more cheers and whistles than in Dabang in a suburban theatre jam packed for the Friday 11 PM show.

Dharam was on his as usual charming act and almost 90% of the shots with daaru (alchohol) – what he is known for (don’t miss the suitcase he carries with glases and bottles and even chakhnas (snacks) when he travels. His sense of humor and famous Dance steps got more whistles than that of Sunnys dance steps and actions. Btw, Sunny beats Dharam on the daaru when he drinks it from a bucket (balti) !

Bobby was as usual trying his best to cope up with his bro and dad, somewhat trying to manage well, but overall the trio along with a brilliant comedy and acts by Anupam Kher, Mukul Dev, Johny Lever, Kulraj Radhava (the new heroine), Nafisa Ali and a lot of Sardars do a brilliant job, worth a watch !

The fundamentals of segmentation clearly works here – there were huge number of Sardars witn elaborate families watching this movie. My friends mom which is from Punjab was reminding us since a month about YPD (Yamla Pagla Deewana) and how the women of yesteryear loved to see Dharmendra ! And the cheers and whistles in the suburban theatre was loud to reach Caneda (Canada – the 2nd country of Punjabis post India) This for sure is gonna be a good hit (cant tell about South, besides Metros) but the movie would draw the hardcore DEOL FANS (till yesterday, I was not so sure about their fan clan) all over India and especially in the NRI Markets – US and Canada for sure ! Movies like Robot, Dabang etc remind us that there is a strong fan club for such movies and they despite any great story can really do well. YPD is also on the same lines with a strong package and add-ons.

It was a pleasure seeing the 3 Deols together in this LYBH- leave-your-brains-home- laugh riot depicting the larger than life style of the Punjabis, making pun of them while not demeaning them with small and multiple jokes around the plot. And above all Sunny, Bobby & Dharam pajee’s sincerity and passion to perform and give the best to the fans and audiences clearly shows in each act. A good entertaining movie with a good comedy, a great team work, fresh jokes, 2-3 hot item numbers and above all the loaded DEOL TRIO - I would rate is 4/5 and a must watch !

Movies like YPD, Dabang etc should give Farah Khan, Karan Johar and Ram Gopal Vermas and Priyadarshans of the industry a last warning on not to waste the audiences hard earned monies for their selfish business motives by giving the worst flops in the name of comedy or a good packaged story (even a 10 year old kid can make better movies than them) and a movie like this should remind them that they are what they are good at and not direction for sure and should focus on their skills of dancing (Farah), gay activism (KJo) and I don’t know what can Ramu on Priyan is capable or fit to do (may be retire, go on to Himalayas and meditate for life)

DABANGG – Positioning, Segmentation and Re-positioning

Some fundamentals first....all products have a certain lifecycle and the same can vary ie increase if re-positioned, re-packaged, else the same would die a natural death. Eg. Pantene, Lux, Pepsi and even Colgate are the brands which had to go through this phase for survival amidst stiff competition from new players in the segment. Even a giant like State Bank of India has to pass through this phase given the stiff competition from young banks like ICICI, HDFC, AXIS etc. You keep seeing Bank of Baroda, Union Bank etc changing their branding, positioning, logos etc. Al Ries and Jack Trout - the management gurus have shared some great cases on Positioning from the international perspective.

Some products do not require the same and are always a hit – eg. Maggi, Thumsup etc. The same yellow package and snacky branding for the former and the same simple black cola drink with a thumsup logo emphasizing on strongness or ‘’dum’’ positioning for the latter which still keeps the same alive and any tweak in the perception or positioning of the same could be fatal.

Now, taking this fundamental to our Bollywood – Not all actors are like Shahrukh Khan or Aamir Khan who could play a college kid as successfully at an age of 40 as successfully at an age of 20. Anil Kapoor still can play a young guy as compared to the old stooping Jackie Shroff. But all are not lucky enough like the Maggi or Thumsup to have a strong intrinsic brand value within. Many actors are smart or foresightful enough to understand their product life cycles and shif their positioning – like Akshay Kumar moving from action towards Comedy, where his peer Sunil Shetty still got tagged as an action hero and died his natural death. Diversification is not an answer, but complete shift in the positioning is. Look at Amitabh Bachchan. He too failed miserably trying to woo actresses post Agneepath in movies like Indrajeet, etc. He died almost a natural death till he repositioned himself as a different product like a senior police inspector in Khakhi or a senior role player in Black etc. And he changed his segmentation from the Big Screen to Television (KBC). Re-positioning and segmentation saved the Big B.

The Biggest example is Rajnikanth. He knew well in advance in his career (post Hum) that he does not want to die a natural death like his counterparts like Mithun, Govinda (He still lived longer, due to his niche), Jackie Shroff or Rishi Kapoor. He made his style a strength and his silly stunts of popping a cigarette, or his sunglasses or similar unhumanly possible stunts became his strengths and the brand relived post repositioning with super hits in the South and even International markets with movies like “Sivaji-the Boss” and now, the forthcoming “Robot’’.

Well, following the same principles of management, here comes Salman Khan with DABANGG ! (*) Sallu knows well that he is almost on the wrong side of the age so he cant do the college kids role.
Sallu knows that he is a little naughty one or not so serious one to get considered as a “cause-for-actor image” like Aamir, Ajay etc.
(*) He has his SWOT analysis in mind, knows his strength and what roles he can do well with.
He has experimented and tasted failures in his recent tries like Yuvraj, Veer, Hello, God Tussi Great Ho and many recent ones.
(*) He knows his competitors like Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan in the young genres and the inevitables like SRK, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn (btw, these also have shelf lives).
(*) And more important, he knows his segment – The rural India…sounds different ? But, that’s the fact. Not just youngistan and young girls crazy after his body and attitude are his audience. This will be proved with Dabangg with a release around the eid and the rural segment targeted.

Well, quickly on the movie DABANGG – well since theres not much to write – Dabangg is a good movie for Salman Fans and gives you a treat of a Rajnikant flick. First, the meaning of Dabangg - Dabangg means someone who’s power is dominated on everything. Most of the time, this term is used in UP, Bihar. Eg. “Raja Bhaiyya ek Dabang neta hain”. This way people in the area show respect for the person. Its like “Todu aadmi, Pahuncha hua khiladi or Stud-Champ” etc. Those who are Dabangg are never afraid of anything/anybody. They do whatever they want to do.

Keeping your brain aside, it is a generic time-pass with some Rajni & Matrix like fight stunts, a couple of good scores, some good dialogues and a fresh Sonakshi Sinha who seems promising (a good launch pad with Salman and with more efforts could be a good competition to the young genere' like Sonam Kapoor, Genelia DSouza etc). With almost no storyline at all and complete wastage of talents like Arbaaz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar and even Om Puri, Dabangg is a story of a corrupt cop Chulbul Pandey and his tiff with the local politician-gunda Chhedilal played well by Sonu Sood. Good and honest efforts by Salman Khan, Sonu Sood and a refreshing Sonakshi. For a change a Cop wins against the Politician in UP scenario (though must be close to Gangajals, Omakaras and Gulals of the world…but no closeby…actually a different product altogether with not much UPism in it)

The movie would do good given (1) the Segment (Rural markets; Tere Naam was a Super hit), (2) the timing (Eid, Ganeshotsav, Weekend) and (3) even in the Metros the game of first 3 days especially Holidays will help gain the scores for the movie with the first show at 10 in the morning houseful ! The attitude would be “3 days holiday – atleast lets go and watch the Salman flick !” Don’t go by any great ratings as Taran Adarsh and Masands of the worlds are all fixed. From a movie perspective (story, screenplay, direction etc) its 2/5 and from just entertainment perspective 3.5/5 !

Nothing to take away from the movie - a time pass Masala movie - equal to Singh is King, Hey Baby and much better than Khatta Meetha, Tashan…..Am sure this will be a better performer at the Box office than the recent flops of Salman like Yuvraj, Wanted, Veer, Hello, God Tussi Great Ho …. It’s a good decision Salman, to go on Ranji track and repositioning your brand and segment rather than choosing a dead end like Sunny Deols and Sunil Shettys of the world…and thanks for making me revisit the strategic fundamentals of Positioning, Segmentation and Re-positioning !

Ghajini Movie Review

24th Dec, Wednesday, Mumbai : Amidst the controversies of release of Ghajini, finally made it to the Review Show and in the nutshell it was a good Christmas Eve treat. The 3 hour movie, though a Tamil and a Hollywood photocopy…..starring our perfectionist was a decent effort fetching 3.5/5 Rating and Aamir’s acting at 4/5 and new comer into Bollywood Asin at 3.5/5 clearly beating Anushka Sharma of Rab ne, giving Deepika Padukone a run for her money….way to go !

The story as most of us know is of one Sanjay Singhania a young MD of a telecom giant who falls in love with a simple girl Kalpana who is bubbly, generous and caring and that melts the heart of this Harvard return who does’nt disclose his real identity to her. The flashback shows their past and also the brutal murder of Kalpana and how Sanjay was injured and becomes a victim of Short Term Memory Loss and looses his memory after every 15 mins. Its exciting to see how he keeps his memory / important aspects rejuvenated with Polaroid images and Tattoos on his body (not disclosing in details) and finally how he takes his revenge.

The Assets of the movie : (in ascending order)
(1) Aamir Khan and beside his amazing acting skills, his new body and hairstyle is cool. Shows his sweat behind !
(2) Asin Thottumkal (Mallu Beauty from Kerela) has done a fabulous job & has an edge, by being in the Tamil version too.....she does not a typical south star (from accent or the extra inches). A Fresh face and much better than wasting (pls underline) your money on Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zintas of the world (Still Katrinas, Bipashas are a worth)
(3) The Thrilling sequencing of the story….
(4) The Superb Cinematography, Shots and angles… Ravi K. Chandran deserves an award.
(5) The Great Direction by A.R.Murugadoss.

(6) Jiah Khan was also decent – it was a sizable role as compared to rumours of her doing some 4-5 minute role or a dance number.
(7) A fight around the climax is an edge of the seat experience.

The Negatives :
(1) The movie is of 3 hrs and could be reduced to 2.5 hrs.
(2) The name itself is something which doesn’t call for the tittle stature – Ghajini is the name of the villain (Ghajini Dharmatma played by Pradeep Rawat – not the best choice ). Seems Murugadoss who has directed the original Tamil Ghajani or the banner would have kept a condition to use the same name....If it would not have been Aamir, this name would not have pulled the audience.
(3) Poor lyrics – Prasoon Joshi – everyday is not a Sunday ! (full marks on cinematography though and Rahmans music was average)– One Song is “Lattu”….and another “Aye Bachchu” its purely not required except “Guzarish” and “Behka” which is written and shot well.

The original film was adapted from critically acclaimed Hollywood psychological thriller Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan, but much different in many senses, is a must watch as the last and possibly one of the best movie of 2008 ! Reproves the steel of Aamir and his versatility – if Akki can become Comedy King, his throne of Action King could be taken way by this Khan ! Do watch it – you don’t have an option as the other offering is the animated movie Jumbo, which again will help Ghajini garner more cash at the box office for being there in the right time at the right place from a marketing perspective !

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - Review

Just came back from the night show of RNBDJ (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) or Rab ne and thought of sharing my view. In the nutshell –one thing is sure – Some may rate it 1/5 or some may rate it 4/5 (you can buy ratings), but people would still get pulled because of SRK !


Central Character of the Movie – Middle class salaried employee (9 to 5) in a Cat B town. This will hit the masses.
Plot of the movie – Small town – Amritsar, small lanes. A Cinema hall shown frequently in the movie is “Chandan” at Juhu and guess what I was there as I wanted to see the mass appeal of SRK in a non-multiplex atmosphere…. and was as usual stumping with whistles being blown at various instances !
Broad Storyline – Its a no new idea but presented so so and enacted excellently by SRK.

Its about an Amritsar based simple man who gets married to a bubbly small town girl due to pressure from a dying father of the girl who was the professor of this studious man ; his favorite student Surinder Sahani – alias Suri ) as the “baraat’ met an accident.

The girl is initially sad due to the circumstances and doesn’t accept Suri has her husband in the true sense…She loves Bollywood movies and Suri tries to make her happy by becoming a hero of the bollywood standard in real life by getting into a mod getup and style...but ends up checking out his wife’s love for him – the modern Raj or the simple man Suri….. one has to watch to see who wins !

Some Pros of the Movie –
(1) SRKs ever charming acting – the character also plays a real life actor a double role ( remember the Amol Palekar act in Golmal –old – with and without moustache) A great body language and acting as a simple humble man Suri working with Punjab Power, even in his dances to a stylo Raj and back to Suri… worth a watch.
(2) A new face – Anushka Sharma – seems a Shiamak’s choice as she dances quite well and though may give Shilpa Shetty, Lara Dutta a run for their money in terms of height. It’s a simple logic – when you take biggies like SRK as a producer, most of your monies go on his cost that you need to have such new comers debut – remember Gayatri Joshi (Swades), Deepika Padukone (OSO) etc.
(3) Vinay Pathak does a decent act and (4) One Surprise song...

Some Cons of the Movie –
(1) Post interval it gets slow in between, but picks up soon. One might guess why is this happening.
(2) If you have seen “Main, Meri patni aur Woh” starring Rajpal Yadav and Rituparna Sengupta in 2005, you may feel this is a copy – it’s a same set up and characters and story line. I found that story better than Rabne…. But SRK changes the overall game altogether. So no points to Aditya Chopra for No extraordinary work.

Some may find Rab ne…..okay, but even if critics give this a thumbs down or mid, still people will go to see the movie for SRK. People knew that Dostana was all bull – but still went ahead to see John Abraham, Priyanka Sharma and the young feel in the movie. For Rab ne, atleast in Mumbai the movie will garner the cash at Box Office as the last 2 weeks were empty for any movie post the 26 Nov Terror Attack and the strategy for the movie is right – “3 din – cash in” with having shows running every hour at major places. (Heard Aamir Khan to counter the movie has put up huge life sizes at all multiplexes and have made all the staff change their hairstyles to his Ghajini look)

I would rate the movie at 2.5/5 and SRK 3.5/5 for his acting. Worth a watch.

Dostana Moview Review

In one line if someone wants to summarize the experience after the 1st Day Last show of Dostana would be “Whims and Fancies of a Gay Man (Karan Johar) put together into a 2.5 hours of bull shit with a super wastage of super stars and strategy to fool around the innocent audience in the opening profits of first few days till all are aware of the trap”

Singh is King followed a similar strategy – 21 shows in 1 day in Fame Adlabs – one show every 20 minutes and what an opening – but the movie had something to offer – Akshay, Katrina and some comedy stuff and a few good songs too. But “DOSTANA” has literally nothing much to offer – I did not get till the end that, why was it named “Dostana” in the first place itself.

A super waste of Talent like Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra & John Abraham (I don’t know under what obligation were they required to sign this film) and the only guy who badly needed this film at the moment was Bobby Deol as he is not getting much work. And also what a waste of senior talent like Boman Irani & Kiron Kher.

On the story side – well there was not much – only Abhi & John act as gay to get an apartment and that’s it – Its not even a story surrounding a cause or area but its purely fantasies of our Gay man Karan Johar to play Homo Homo game. If some one critically needs to evaluate the cost benefit of each penny – it could be a few songs, the backdrop of Miami (that was not extra ordinary), for the ladies – John’s physique and for boys – Priyanka’s body, that’s all. If one needs to rate – Andhe mein kaana kaun for acting– it could be Abhi.

But net – net waste of time and money. Please do not waste precious time and money at the multiplexes or even when the movie comes on cable / tv. Rating – 1/5 Star and if Taran Adarsh or Mr. Masand rate this above 2 or 3 (Industry izzat), understand there is some affinity to KJ. I saw Sanjay Dutt’s EMI last week and thought it was not worth a line in my blog, but looking at Dostana, feel it could have well fitted in. God save all !

Recount - The US Elections in 2000.

On the eve of the US Presidential Elections, seeing Obama winning over Mc Cain was indeed a joy from a perspective of a Marketing guy comparing the same with new product like “Dove” in the hair care segment stealing away the mind share and the market share of the more experienced and stalwarts like - “Head & Shoulders, Pantene ” in the opposition camp and “Sunsilk” in the own camp. Would share my thoughts on the same a little later – I feel it was simple Marketing strategies focusing on Segmentation, branding and other marketing mixes.

Amidst the Obama victory and his speech flowing all over, I was recommended by one of my Professors to watch –Recount (HBO Movies) to experience the same over 90 Minutes at the edge of one’s seat. This is a story on 2000 US Elections where all eyes were on Florida which would decide the fate of Al Gore and George W. Bush.

The Story is amidst the tension in the Democrats and Republicans lobbies with a focus on the lead character – Ron Klain (Kevin Spacet) who is a Former Chief of Staff to Al Gore, the then Vice President trying his best to prove that Gore can still win.

Al Gore’s character was shown of a docile guy least bothered about the business and while already given up and on his way to announce concession to Bush, was forced to retract the same as there was some issue sighted at the Florida – Palm Beach County where there were issues of “dimple chads” – improper hole punchings on the voting cards. All TV Channels had declared Bush the winner, but on insistence of Ron, despite of his Boss, a senior advisor falling cold, keeps on insisting in Manual Recount as he and his team believes that Al Gore has won. The recount begins and stops, begins and stops, begins and stops at various instances with some judge approving it and some court staying it, building on further thrill.

Ron is not sure whether he likes Gore or not (Gore had not given him his dues) but still fights till the end, builds up an amazing team – each one in the team are equally passionate and devoted to prove that recount can change things and each tries his best possible strategies – The fight becoming though Bush vs Gore, but actually it was Ron & team and not Gore. Ron and team fights for their passion and conviction and not any party or boss per se - finally the spineless Gore gives in to Bush, and Ron has to Stop. That’s the end.

A brilliant act put in by Jack Baker, Former US Secretary of the State, Bush’s The Man, who has also shifted fences earlier in life and is a strong guy and also Michael Whouley, Chiel Field Officer of Gore’s lobby and Katherine Harris, the Palm Beach County Secretary. A Brilliant direction by Jay Roach. Worth a watch !

Golmaal Returns Vs. Fashion : Not a difficult choice.

Last weekend was a relief post the pre-Diwali once as far as the movies are concerned with someone even thinking of going to a multiplex to try his / her luck at the latest flicks – Be it “The Golmaal Returns” or “Fashion”, which I would say is worth trying.

I made it to both over the weekends and was neither highly excited nor disappointed, as both were Ok types at least not something, which you would feel, is a waste of your money. The masses would feel “Golmaal Returns” is a better movie than “Fashion”, but I would rate Fashion 3/5 and Golmaal 2/5, for the following reasons :

“Golmaal Returns” is yet another slapstick comedies like Golmaal, Dhamaal, Dhol but not as pervert as Style or similar B grade ones; though there are a few double meaning ones too. The Movie has all the old characters except Sharman Joshi who is replaced by Shreyas Tapalade (I don’t know why!!; Riteish Deshmukh would have been a better choice). But nevertheless, Ajay Devgan ( He should understand that he is a fantastic serious actor, possibly someone who can take Big Bs place in terms of acting skill) and not a comedy actor unlike his peers Akshay Kumar who can do comedy well. Arshad Warsi was cool and Tusshar Kapoor was absolutely amazing in his dumb act (The best actor in the movie; if he would not have been around then the rating would have fallen drastically). Chances of nomination as a Best Actor in a Comedy Role…way to go Tusshar.

A disappointment was Kareena Kapoor trying hard to act at something, which she is not too good at (Scripted acting). She is good at spontaneous acting and some typical roles and of course not a role of a bahu fascinated by Saas-Bahu Saga atleast who is called “Ekta”. Amrita Arora (I don’t understand why people take her in a movie, or is it the other way around – she pays for acting ?) and The hot-babe Anjana Sukhani were wasted.

But director Rohit Shetty has done a good job with not so good script, but a decent screenplay, dialogues and act put together, not to forget spoofing and making good of movies like Sawariya, Tashan, Om Shanti Om etc. The audience would have a good laugh on many scenes and dialogues, which may make them, fee that they have some Paisa Wasool.

The Best thing about the Movie was the Cast in-toto and not standalone and the screenplay and dialogues. Someone also from somewhere pushed one Song – a ditto copy from Sivaji the Boss of Rajnikanth. But it was a funny movie like one of those or better than Priyadarshan’s flick, which will not let you miss Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav.

Not a Regret to spend money on if watched in a Theatre and not a multiplex.

“Fashion” – Yet another real life by Madhur Bhandarkar after Chandni Bar, Page 3, Corporate, very well grasping the real life world of fashion.

An excellent script and story with excellent use of glamour, a couple of songs and cool babes like Kangana, Priyanka and Mughda. Kanagana – Compliment her on the best attitude someone could have carried for a role (8/10) and amazing acting too.

Mughda, first I thought has not yet entered the movie till I was told, she was Mughda (Janet- for someone who might face a situation like mine) as she looked quite different than on the Promos, which you see her burning the specific poolside ramp with her sizzling presence– decent job as a new comer.

And Sameer Soni has also done a decent job and Arbaz Khan and Kitu Gidwani was fantastic too. Raj Babbar and Kiran Razdan were wasted (If Raj compares himself with his peers like Om Puri, Rajesh Khanna, etc and despite being an MP and having a great personality) but anyways, audience need not worry on this.

The show stealer (Show Stopper in the terms of Fashion) was clearly Priyanka Chopra, the lead actress who was absolutely superb, proving yet again her fantastic acting skills (better than Kareena and Katrinas of the world) and the Body too (remember she was the Sexiest Asian Babe of 2006). This role was offered to Kareena Kapoor first and am sure now that she would have screwed it up royally than anyone – thank God she did not take it.

The only negative thing was that the movie was a bit long (3 hrs+) wherein the audience may feel bored at times (We thought the movie has no interval) but for a creative guy like Madhur, job satisfaction is more important. And yeah, guess Madhur is too much fascinated with Gays and Homosexuals or the real fashion world is like this with atleast 7/10 men who are Gays.

A good movie to see and see some of the real life character (Madhur’s speciality)like Prahlad Kakkar, Ranvir Shorey, Konkana Sen, Narendra Kumar Ahmed, Achala Sachdev, Leena Mogre and models like Jesse Randhawa, Candice Pinto, Noyonika Chatterjee and Aanchal Kumar and Designers like Shane Peacock, Wendell Rodricks etc.

This too worth a watch from the lens of a critic and a fun time cine-goer.

Welcome to Sajjanpur - What an Unwelcome Experience !!

It was only about the Man who made movies like Bose, Zubeida, Sardari Begum (for the new gens to remember) otherwise Mandi, Ankur, Suraj ka saatwan ghoda and the Hindi version of Discovery of India : Bharat ek Khoj of Nehru’s fame, one was excited yesterday !

Its 46 Long years Benegal Baabu who has been a Padmashri and Padmabhushan Awardee has been entertaining audiences but of a different kind – the Offbeat ones. He has never been a commercial movie man…. But with his creativity and artistic Bong Mind, he has given some great movies as above by tapping fresh talent mainly from the FTII and NSD like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda & Amrish Puri.

It was only one single reason why I took a step ( it was a step post the outcome; else it would have been an initiative ) to go and watch “Welcome to Sajjanpur” and believe me – one thing which I went and checked in the middle of the movie on the poster at the lounge area was that was it really Benegal ?

It was a waste of 3 hours and only because it was Shyam Benegal, I had to respect the art by sitting till the end, unlike my brother who walked out in 40 Minutes.

If I have to analyse what was good in the film and what was bad – Good ? I did not find a single thing (unlike even one babe, one number, one scenic location, one comic scene, one character, if not the whole movie which could be a self-convincing technique post shelling out those monies. ) The only good thing was a different plot of a village and multiple characters – but nothing was new / unknown – Well, if one would have screened ‘3 hrs of crisp mix of the Malgudi Days” it would have been a real treat !

A complete waste of talent like Rajeshwari, Divya Dutt, Ravi Kishan, Yashpal Sharma and Kunal Kapoor. It was only Shreyas Talapade trying to do some acting and Amrita Rao…well, a bird is better than 2 in bushes atleast… She is a decent actress, atleast she tries, but here she was also wasted along with others.

And the best part is, I thought Benegal hai..kuch story ayega…but till “The End” failed to find a story !! Non-sense humor, no plot, no spend on the movie – And the confused director did not understand who the target audience was – Was there any ? And what was the need of putting in songs ?? Or was it a formality as it is no one would have ever bought a music album of the movie !!!

Well, its Shyam babu so am limiting myself further, but the most surprising part was Masand’s verdict with 4/5 Rating on this claiming one of the best movies of the year – Come on, Mr. Masand – this loosens your credibility compared to Taran Adarsh who has rated it 3/5. Well, a strong recommendation to Mr. Masand to take a weekend off and travel to any nearby village, if that was the only thing he was excited to see for the first time. Anyways, if you ask me, with all due respects to the efforts (well not much)by all : I would rate if 1/5. 1 only because of the respect one has for Shyam Benegal and his past records, else it would have been in the minuses.

1920 -The Horror Movie - Much Better than Phoonkh

Post much a wait, I finally chose to see "1920" yesterday as there were no good movies on air - "Sajjanpur" was a choice, but chose the former one over it based on some reviews that a couple of scenes were better than RGV's Phoonk! The last one was "a Wednesday" which I quite admired purely because of Naseer's act and the thrilling plot.

Well, to my surprise, I found the movie quite good but could not understand why I did not see it in the first two weeks when I dont give a miss to a flick like "Dhol" or "Dhamaal" even ! It could be because of 1 Key Reason - Being a Marketing Guy, am not biased, but somehow feel Vikram Bhatt Camp failed to use good Marketing Strategy for this film despite having good track record, compared to Ramu, the new generation wannabe of the Ramsays (Zee Horror guys) or the Indian WB ! Remember Raaz, with Bips, which was a decent one.

Well, if I recollect 3 Key aspects of "1920" I personally liked was (1) The Screenplay, Cinematography and Sound Effects - which includes the animations ofcourse(2) The Old Brit India touch in 1920 right from the Horses with furry feet, Tongas, Apparels, Interiors, Props, Looks, Architecture etc. (though BEST Bus / Tram was not a required one) (3) Acting of Adah Sharma- The new girl on the block (Vikram's known for bringing new talent in and she was one which I felt only in the 2nd half of the movie; the first half was the usual girl next door with fair skin ! - She looked like a mix of Vaijayantimala, Sudha Chandran. Also heard about some links between Vikram and her from a close friend in the fraternity.

Though the plot used was a common one, the above factors kept the audience glued to their seats (though 70% of the theatre was unoccupied - would blame the Bhatt's for incorrect Marketing Strategies) only because of the above 3 factors. Some scenes were terrifying and some were hilarious horror, but the audience required their dose of humour to cut the fear at times. Maybe some scenes might seem to be picks from the Hollywood hits, but then too it was a decent job unlike many of our veteran Copy Cat Directors.

Decent Act put in by the Hero - Rajneesh Duggal, Raj Zutshi, Indraneil Sengupta and the Servant Character (Father of Ishaan in Taare Zameen Par) and ofcourse by the Crew in all. Rakhee Sawant Song was not required, but believe Vikram wanted to have one as a formality - you need not follow the herd dude when you have a good act. And last but not the least, besides Item No, Good Characters, Good Horror Scenes (4/5 Scenes) and Better than RGV's Sound Effects, Vikram Bhatt has ensured the blessings for his film by having given important role to Jesus Christ & Lord Hanuman with 2 full recitations of Hanuman Chalisas.

The only thing missing was enough money spent on Promotions and Hype Creation which is mandatory today than having a Script with Content to be a hit (eg. Singh is King). Understand all the above people would have worked out in the Low Budget Matrix of the Bhatt Camp, but this factor could have pulled more people to the theatre - Word of Mouth is now pulling people like us, but hope its not too late !

Am not regretting my choice of "1920" over "Welcome to Sajjanpur" which my brother walked out in 40 Mins, though some family audience with bachhas and housewives was enjoying it - But never mind, might go in for Sajjanpur on a Tuesday !