Chalo Cinema

Where's the edge?

Aa Dekhen Zara
U/A; Thriller/Action
Dir: Jehangir Surti
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Sophie Chaudhary, Rahul Dev
Theatres: Urvashi, PVR, Inox
''

What's it about: A magical camera, that shows you the future, changes the life of photographer Ray (Neil Nitin Mukesh). Unemployed and debt ridden, Ray uses the camera to forsee future wins in lottery tickets and gambles enough money to get himself a girlfriend (Bipasha Basu).

Now only if life wasn't a bittersweet experience, Ray's story would have ended here.

But Jehangir Surti weaves a tale of revenge and betrayal to present a film that's visually pretty but shallow.u00a0

What's hot: Surti has been influenced by the kings of thrillers Abbas-Mustan.

The action scenes and the car chadses set in Bangkok are impressive.

The background score has flavours of house and trance to it, giving the track a fast pace.

What's not: When you have an action adventure that's supposed to captivate you from the word go, there needs to be a tight script.

The film's biggest drawback is its flat screenplay, lacklustre characters and a tedious second half that drags towards an unbelievably hackneyed climax.

Neil made an impressive debut with Johnny Gaddar, but his follow-up is disappointing. His character has no edge and the effort to evoke dramau00a0 fails.

Even though there's sincerity in his attempt the lack of a good script leaves him fumbling. Bipasha looks fabulous, but has nothing much to do. The romantic tracku00a0 suffers due to the lack of any chemistry between Neil and Bipasha.

Verdict: Despite technical finesse and an intriguing premise, the film fails to keep you engrossed with its hollow characters and half-baked script.

Few takers for an old tale

Videsh(Hindi)
U/A; Drama
Dir: Deepa Mehta
Cast: Priety Zinta, Balinder Johal, Vansh Baradwaj, Ramanjit Kaur
Theatres: Inox, PVR Cinemas, Innovative
''
What's it about: What a film buff will sorely miss is Deepa Mehta's intensity in a film like Videsh. Chand (Priety Zinta) hails from a typical Punjabi family, marries an NRI munda Rocky, and moves to Canada to live with his nagging mother, spineless father and jobless brother. Rocky turns out to be a sadist who enjoys beating up his wife. Chand swallows the insults and the abuse until she finds a "miracle cure" a potent powder which when given to the abusive man will make behave like a lamb! Keen to have her husband whisper sweet-nothings instead of whipping her, Chand takes the stuff but feeds it to a cobra instead (remember the immensely popular Nagamandala?). The cobra falls in love with Chand and the two craft a tragic-sci-fi-mythological-family drama!

What's hot: Priety Zinta is good as the typical Punjabi kudi, who finds herself transplanted in an alien land with a sadist for a husband.

What's not: The plot. Itu00a0 drags on and on.

Verdict: Go only if you are a die-hard fan of Priety Zinta.

Wah, kya family hain!

Anywhere but home (English)
U; drama
Dir: Seth Gordon
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon
Theatres: PVR, Fame, Fun, Inox
''

What's it about: This tale of how a couple lands up in the company of their divorced parents and spend the Christmas holidays with them has immense dramatic possibilities, which are sadly wasted. Vaughn and Witherspoon hail from fractured families and find itu00a0 draining to manage volatile relationships.

What's hot: There are some interesting scenes, where the two find themselves either trapped in their family's company or trapped in each other's company.

What's not: The zero chemistry between Vince and Reese.

Verdict: Stay away.

Shut up and shoot

Kannadada Kiran Bedi(Kannada)
U; action
Dir: N Om Prakash Rao
Cast: Malashri, Srinivas Moorthy, Ashish Vidyarti, Rangayana Raghu
Theatres: Nartaki, Pramod, Uma, PVR
''
What's it about: This lady cop pulps the baddies and hangs them out to dry with such abandon that you willingly suspend disbelief and watch her in wide-eyed wonder. Bhagyalakshmi (Malashri) is a nimble-fingered pickpocket in a small town. Head constable (Srinivas Moorthy) finds an uncanny resemblance between her and his dead daughter, a top cop called Kiran Bedi (Malashri again). He urges Ms Pickpocket to don his daughter's uniform and when she refuses, he launches into a sentimental sermon. His tears melt the stubborn girl's heart and in her new improved version, she beats the living daylights out of every tough guy in town. There's no love story to sidetrack her or poor you, so be prepared to sit through three hours of fights and more unbelievable fights.

What's hot: Malashri's action sequences are good, and the credit should go to the actress and her stunt master Palaniraj. Cameraman Vishnuvardhan has done a neat job.u00a0Ashish Vidyarthi and Rangayana Raghu excel.

What's not: The crude dialogues of the villains and the violence are off-putting.u00a0

Verdict: If watching Malashri throwing punches indiscriminately is your idea of holiday fun, go aheadu2026 enjoy maadi.