Bollywood

“To this day Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron remains a crazy film” – Subhash K Jha reviews this 1983 release

Written by Subhash K Jha on November 3rd, 2012

Starring: Naseerudin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Bhakti Bharve, Pankaj Kapoor, Satish Shah Directed by Kundan Shah It was the year before Mrs India Gandhi was assassinated. The nation was not in the best of moods. There were raised voices and frayed tempers prevalent across the nation as corruption and intolerance reached an all-time high. Given the [...]

“Jha enters the dark largely-unexposed world of the Naxalites fighting for their land and dignity” – Subhash K Jha about Chakravyuh

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 27th, 2012

Starring Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Anjali Patil, Esha Gupta, Om Puri, Manoj Bajpai Directed by Prakash Jha Becket beckons Bollywood once again. The immortal French play by Jean Anouilh was furnished a sensitive renewability by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in Namak Haraam 38 years ago and then again much later by Govind Nihalani in Dev. Now the stories of two friends separated [...]

“Rani gets a firm grip on the intriguing flavour of this out-of-the-box comedy.” – Subhash K Jha reviews Aiyyaa

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 15th, 2012

Starring Rani Mukherjee, Prithviraj & A Cast Of Certifiable Lunatics Directed by Sachin Kundalkar Somewhere towards the ‘grind’ finale, when you are grinding your teeth in exasperation at the banality of the burlesque, a hideous character named Gagabai is seen slithering dancing and cavorting all over a set that looks like a psychedelic nightmare-scape from Anurag Kashyap’s Dev [...]

Subhash K Jha: “Makkhi is fiercely original and an engaging piece of cinema”

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 13th, 2012

Starring Sudeep, Samanth Ruth Prabhu, Nani Written & Directed by S S Rajamouli This is a love triangle with a twist. It’s a the story of a man,woman and…a fly! By now we’ve all heard of Rajamouli’s Eega cracking boxoffice records inTamil. The Hindi version comes to us with a tremendous pre-release expectations. Shall we just saw, [...]

Subhash K Jha reviews Chittagong: “Long live the upsurge of acting talent that has taken over Bollywood.”

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 11th, 2012

Starring Manoj Bajpai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajumar Yadav, Jaideep Ahlawat & Delzad Hiwale Directed by Bedabrata Pain Right away, Chittagong, taking its title from that scenic lush-green spot in Bangladesh where a band of brave boys took on the British Raj and gave it a run for its money, must be praised for taking a slice of relatively-unknown [...]

Subhash K Jha reviews English Vinglish – “Gauri Shinde brings to the comfort of the familiar a feeling and flavour of wonderment, discovery and beauty”

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 5th, 2012

Starring Sridevi, Adil Hussain, Mehdi Nebbou,Sujata Kumar Directed by Gauri Shinde There are no villains in English Vinglish. Only imperfect human beings like you and I, who make that common error of taking loved ones for granted. Admit it. At some point in our lives we have all felt that if we don’t speak good [...]

Hindi Film Review: ?

Written by Subhash K Jha on February 17th, 2012

Footage Compiled by Yash & Allison It is rare for horror in Bollywood to not appear horrific in ways that the genre was never meant to be. More often than not, horror films in India rely on stock shock treatment – creaking doors, heart-pounding background music, startling sound effects…you numb it! Here is the real [...]

Subhash K Jha Reviews Gali Gali Chor Hai

Written by Subhash K Jha on February 3rd, 2012

Starring: Akshaye Khanna, Shriya Saran, Satish Kaushik, Mugdha Godse, Anu Kapoor Directed by Rumi Jaffery While credit must be given to writer-director Rumy Jaffery for focusing on the issue of corruption noble intentions don’t necessarily make a notable work of art. Certainly Gali Gali Chor Hai(GGCH) must have sounded amusing and topical on paper.It is [...]

Subhash K Jha selects his 10 Favourite Films of 2011

Written by Subhash K Jha on January 28th, 2012

1. Pyaar Ka Punchnama: The year’s sleeper success that kept us awake for a good 2 hours with its celluloid anthem of ribtickling misogyny. Three room-mates and their troubled love relationships formed the core of the comic conflict. Every character and each episode spilled over with a delightful déjà vu. Debutant director Luv Ranjan managed a [...]

Chaalis Chauraasi Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on January 13th, 2012

Starring Naseerduddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon, Ravi Kissan Directed by Hriday Shetty Four fine actors, one wild unpredictable night of adventure. As a premise for a two-hour adventure-caper this sounds exactly like the recipe Sudhir Mishra ordered from his scriptwriters when he made Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahin 15 years ago. Times have changed. [...]

Land Gold Women Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on December 2nd, 2011

Starring Narinder Samra, Neelam Parmar, Chris Villiers and Hassani Shapi Written & Directed by Avantika Hari There is a nip in the British air…The verdant tranquility of Birmingham is torn apart by the kind of domestic violence that we read about and talk only in hushed whispers, and that too when references are made to [...]

Miley Naa Miley Hum Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on November 5th, 2011

Starring Chirag Paswan, Kangna Ranaut, Neeru Bajwa and Sagarika Ghosh, Kabir Bedi, Poonam Dhillon Directed by Tanveer Khan There are some unexpected surprises in this sleeper rom-com, the newcomer Chirag Paswan being one of them. In a tailormade role that projects him as an ideal son, considerate boss, supportive friend and sensitive lover Chirag doles [...]

Damadamm Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 26th, 2011

Starring Himesh Reshammiya, Purbi Joshi, Sonal Sehgal Directed by Swapna Waghmare So here he is. Himesh Reshammiya is back in front of the camera. This time he moves away from the wannabe-rockstar’s image to play a working-class nerd. Himesh’s Sameer is a bit of an idiot. So he celebrates the departure of his over-possessive bossy [...]

Azaan Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 15th, 2011

Starring Sachiin Joshi,Candice Boucher,Sarita Choudhary,Aly Khan, Ravi Kissen, Aarya Babbar Directed by Prashant Chadha Rating: *** ½ As we see rescue operations post a bombing attack being carried out in slow motion, the soundtrack goes almost inert in a show of frozen protest…And you know there and then that Aazaan has something out-of-the-ordinary to offer [...]

Mod Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 15th, 2011

Starring Ayesha Takia Azmi, Rannvijay Singh, Raghuvir Yadav, Tanve Azmi Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor Ahhhhhhh! It’s been a while since one felt that stab in the heart while watching a love story trot towards its somber culmination. Love’s like that. When put on film it can make you fall in love with the emotion called [...]

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on October 1st, 2011

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And the power to create a cinema that takes the prevalent language of narration into the domain of the dark and unpredictable, is a privilege belonging to some politically savvy filmmakers. Sudhir Mishra tops the list. Tigmanshu Dhulia follows close behind. The manner in which Dhulia brings into foreplay the murky sleazy [...]

Not A Love Story Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on August 21st, 2011

Which demons could possibly provoke two normal healthy ambitious young people to kill a man, cut his limbs into several pieces and attempt to dispose of his body in the thick jungles? Not A Love Story attempts to unravel the abiding mystery of human nature and the extreme measures it resorts to when pushed to [...]

Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on August 20th, 2011

Starring: Parvin Dabas,Vansh Bhardwaj,Ashish Nair,Kudeep Ruhil Directed by Parveen Dabas Ekdum sahi hai, boss! As Anna Hazare – God bless his revolutionary soul – shifts from Tihar to Ramlila Maidan, our cinema has made a far more gradual movement from the ‘arty-unintelligible’ grammar of Mani Kaul to the ‘arty-accessible’ language of Parvin Dabas’ film. This is the land [...]

Subhash K Jha Reviews ‘Phhir’

Written by Subhash K Jha on August 15th, 2011

Starring: Rajneesh Duggal, Adah Sharma, Roshni Chopra Directed by Girish Dhamija The best performance in this pretty but listless supernatural thriller comes from the film’s producer Vikram Bhatt who plays a sinister extortionist’s voice on the telephone. We never see the character. But it remains the single-most expressive performance in a film suffused with deadpan [...]

Khap Movie Review

Written by Subhash K Jha on July 29th, 2011

Starring Om Puri,Govind Namdeo, Manoj Pahwa,Mohnish Behl, Anooradha Patel,Uvika Chowdhary,Sarrtaj Directed by Ajai Sinha Rating: *** Issue-based films tend to get themselves into trouble.And we don’t mean just the trouble caused by disgruntled parties, political or otherwise. The balance that needs to be struck between headlines and their cinematic interpretation often tends to get lost [...]

Subhash K Jha Review: Cycle Kick

Written by Subhash K Jha on June 17th, 2011

Starring: K.P. Nishan, Sunny Hinduja, Dwij Yadav, Tom Alter Directed by Shashi Sudigala In the clamorous clutter of releases this week Cycle Kick stands out for being the least fashionable/trendy and the most original. Yes, it has its flaws…It is excessively syrupy in places and often amateurish in parts. But the sum-total of the components [...]