Bang Bang and Haider Public Reviews

6 Comments
  1. Author
    aryan 9 years ago

    Bang Bang Movie Review by Raja Sen

    Bang Bang is loud, dumb, exhausting

    Bang Bang is a B-grade film made on an A-list budget

    Action films aren’t what they used to be. Gone are the days when a girl would heat a knife on a candle and dig out a bullet while Amitabh Bachchan threw out a trademark grimace.

    Nowadays all the girl needs to do is shine a torch while the guy puts on a bandaid.

    Expecting these insipid heroes and heroines then to, well, bang-bang seems like too much of an ask, especially from the man who made Ta Ra Rum Pum.

    All we end up with is a film full of bad foreplay which cuts to a song just when the characters should go bang.

    They aren’t even good looking songs, alas. Every song sequence in Bang Bang, as well as the many uninventive but expensive action set pieces, looks like a television commercial for something: deodorant, talcum powder, lavender scented bath soap… This aside from the fact that the film is positively mired in grotesque product placements for pizza and fizzy drinks. This, of course, is what happens when a film happens to star two celebrities who are completely packaged products in themselves.

    Unfortunately for director Siddharth Anand, however, his actors have zero chemistry.

    On paper, I admit it’s a good idea, to try and give us the Dhoom 3 experience we never had — by bringing back Hrithik Roshan, heists and a hot girl — and to improve it by removing Uday Chopra from the equation.

    Somewhere in the middle of this restructuring, somebody had the bright idea to call this an official remake of Knight And Day, a Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz romp that had a ridiculous plot but worked because of how gamely the two superstars dealt with the material.

    Roshan takes the material lightly and goes through the motions charismatically enough, but the formerly svelte Katrina Kaif — trying too hard to recapture Diaz’s sprightly goofiness — comes across as insufferable. Perhaps she’s been drinking too many of those artificially-sweetened mango-flavored drinks she flogs.

    Bang Bang is all about Roshan stealing the Kohinoor — which, given the film’s advertorial bent, I’m surprised wasn’t a product placement for basmati rice. The world is thus after him, but he falls for a naive girl dreamily hunting for a “kitna susheel” boy, possibly the only girl in the world who takes one look at the legendary diamond and asks what it is. Brilliant. Besides the consistently cringeworthy dialogue, all Bang Bang holds are stunts.

    Oh, if only they were good stunts.

    Alas, every over-choreographed look-at-me sequence looks like something we’ve seen a dozen times over, never thrilling and fundamentally unexciting — if for the simple reason that Roshan’s unstoppable character, much like the director, never does anything fresh or clever. He gets into big-budget fixes, sure, with cars and buses and seaplanes, but unlike in the original, where Cruise would actually do something ingenuous to get out of a jam, here conveniently timed coincidences do the job for him. As a result, the stakes never seem significant.

    This is a stupid, stupid film trying to be slick, a B-grade film made on an A-list budget.

    The one saving grace is to see Deepti Naval and Kawaljeet, two fine, underused actors, playing an old married couple. Except they live in a house named House. Everything else is like bad guy Danny Dengzongpa likes his pizza: mass-manufactured, with a cardboard crust and extra, extra cheese.

    Rating: 1.5/5

    https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-bang-bang-is-loud-dumb-exhausting/20141002.htm

  2. Author
    aryan 9 years ago

    Haider Movie Review by Sukanya Verma

    Haider is bewitchingly clever

    And it will haunt you long after you’ve left the theatre, promises Sukanya Verma.

    By its very virtue, melancholy is a lonely, lingering, tedious and consuming emotional state. It simply cannot be hurried. Except if you persist sympathetically by the side of the man devastated by its grip, the upshot is more heartfelt than ‘words, words, words’ can articulate.

    In Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Kashmir’s trials are mirrored in its eponymous hero’s ruin and rude realisation of betrayal from the ones he perceived his own.

    A retelling so clever, so bewitchingly clever, a further validation of Bhardwaj’s deep-rooted understanding of the Bard that gets more and more intimate with every passing Shakespeare he tackles. After testing his mettle in the dark guilt of Maqbool (Macbeth) and honing it further in the regrettable impulses of Omkara (Othello), Bhardwaj not only recreates Hamlet but also takes the liberty to rewrite it — such a bold move but such a darn beautiful one.

    There’s a line, “I must be cruel only to be kind. This bad begins and the worse remains behind,” which is attributed to Hamlet in the play but refreshingly redefines the motivation of someone else in the adaptation.

    Bhardwaj plays with Hamlet’s structure and timeline to inspiring results and so before it becomes a full drawn saga of indecisive avenging of a father by his son against his uncle and mother, Haider familiarises the viewer, with generous help from co-writer Basharat Peer, to the hostile, early 1990s atmosphere of the snow-covered paradise (captured to delight in Pankaj Kumar’s sweeping frames).

    Peer, who I have a fleeting memory of in rediff.com’s office, strokes the script with unflinching scenes of terror and tension that afflicted the population of Kashmir, caught in the crossfire between militants and army. I haven’t read his acclaimed Curfewed Night but I do recall this heart-breaking diary, which offers a disturbing glimpse of the horror he encountered personally. He even appears in a brief cameo doing what may seem amusing at first but is mostly a painful reminder of scars left on a tortured psyche.

    For those constantly living on the edge, madness seems like a foregone conclusion if not a much-needed escape, Haider plays on it shrewdly. Even when its delicately crafted walnut wood carved décor, crewel-embroidery namdas and drapes colour the screen with prettiness that belies its reality, so potent is the film’s distrustful vibe, even a warm gesture to embrace seems like an unfriendly move to frisk.

    Only this is Vishal Bhardwaj and his signature whimsy and chutzpah, which acts as both — an attitude and pun, is highlighted in Haider’s light-hearted departures where Salman Khan is the only glimmer of cheer in this war-torn hell.

    Haider’s first fifty minutes are like a prologue allowing us to form an opinion, a first, second or third impression of its key characters and their reasoning through teasing imagery but isn’t quite neutral where its politics is concerned. But if you agree to Haider as a poignant account instead of a comprehensive study, the somewhat one-sided picture may not offend.

    I found myself a little restless by its initial pace but Haider’s deliberations are essential and, eventually, rewarding because it sensibly concerns itself beyond its titular man.

    Some of the most classic scenes (and verse) from the play are faithfully reproduced but Bhardwaj’s true calibre shines in his reinventions that lend Haider an ideology and individuality that is entirely its own. (It also makes complete sense to have released on October 2.)

    Its visual narrative is just as significant, like how Haider’s prelude to wild behaviour finds an eye-catching metaphor by way of gray langur in the backdrop. Whether it is intentional or not, I do not know. If not, what a breathtaking coincidence.

    Though never taking precedence over the spoken word, sound –as melody, as design, as background bears a thoughtful presence in Bhardwaj’s film. Its stirring songs by Gulzar and Faiz and a background score dominated by violins (the most human of all instruments, in Louisa May Alcott’s words) and sirens require a certain experience with sorrow if not the sensitivity to understand or appreciate.

    Bhardwaj is an actor’s dream. And the cast, so many wonderful actors even in five-second roles, realise this opportunity in different ways.

    I liked the benign tempered Narendra Jha as Haider’s wronged father and Kay Kay Menon’s composed rendition of the corrupt but not completely deplorable uncle. I enjoyed the three elderly gravediggers as well as the Salman fanboys (Sumit Kaul and Rajat Bhagat) and a certain carrier of a plot twist I will not mention. I found radiant Shraddha Kapoor’s depiction of fair Ophelia a confused mix of gullibility and guts. Her (needlessly) ill pronounced English spoiled two good scenes.

    I was impressed by the crescendo of Shahid Kapoor’s performance. He doesn’t talk often but his eyes do. Sometimes pale like a ghost, sometimes burning with hysteria and insanity; sometimes tender with moist tears that is recipient of gentle kisses from the women he loves. The lattermost is a subtly explored territory in Haider.

    He’s absolutely electrifying in the scene where he goes all out to pronounce his madness. His work as Haider is a challenge well met, a film to be proud of. His younger avatar, played by Anshuman Malhotra, is quite a find as well.

    But the one I am going to bow to is Tabu. Tabu, oh my god, Tabu. A world is said without uttering as much as a word. She plays us through her slightly puffy eyes and enigmatic, cold smile. Occasionally, the veil of steely composure slips and her insecurities come through.

    Gertrude is almost impassive in Hamlet but as Haider’s young mother, Ghazala, she is granted the benefit of mystery. And Tabu lets on the secret in a manner that will haunt you long after you’ve left the theatre.

    Rating: 4/5

    https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-haider-is-bewitchingly-clever/20141002.htm

  3. sputnik 9 years ago

    Bang Bang Movie Review by Anupama Chopra

  4. cr7 9 years ago

    Reviews are pretty much on expected lines .Haider looked great from the promos.Bang bang never looked like a quality film .

  5. sputnik 9 years ago

    A WTF Open letter from Bollywoodhungama

    An open letter to Shahid Kapoor: Why are you committing professional harakiri?
    By Bollywood Hungama News Network, Oct 1, 2014 – 06:00 IST

    Dear Shahid,

    As you gear up to commit celluloid suicide with the release of Haider, I fail to fathom the reasons behind this fallacy. While you have been one of our most memorable chocolate boy heroes thanks to your films like Ishq Vishk, Chup Chup Ke and Jab We Met, your gradual progress to a darker and brooding image a la Kaminey was much appreciated. However, the recent past has not been kind, especially with your releases like Mausam, Teri Meri Kahaani, Phata Poster Nikla Hero and R…Rajkumar that somehow missed their mark at the box office.

    After the debacle last year, we have been pining to see you back on screen playing the sweet boy next door again, but what we get is a half bald and crazy Shakespearean inspired Haider. At this point, not questioning the filmmaking capabilities of Vishal Bhardwaj, I wonder why you chose such a script, keeping in mind that the Indian audiences, who are relatively unaware of Shakespeare’s plays, will find it hard to relate to an adaptation of one. But then again Kaminey that also featured an offbeat story did well.

    Sadly, unlike Kaminey that was a somewhat solo release, Haider will have to compete with a giant in the form of Bang Bang, wherein lies one of the biggest obstacles your film faces. Bang Bang, which is an official remake of the Hollywood film Knight and Day featuring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, promises to have all the western action combined with the Indian melodrama. Adding to it further is the fact that both the lead actors of the film Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif have been on a career high with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Agneepath, Krrish 3 and Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Dhoom 3 respectively, certainly making it an uphill task for Haider.

    However there is a silver lining, and this time it’s Shraddha Kapoor, who has been rather successful with Aashiqui 2 and Ek Villain making it big. But the question still remains will her success be enough to entice the audiences?

    Another factor that will seriously play a big role in Haider’s overall success is the film’s promotions. Given the fact that Bang Bang already stars actors on top of their game, the film has been much talked about, thanks to Hrithik Roshan’s honeymoon with the media with his marriage to Suzanne going kaput and the astronomical alimony she seeks. However Haider, has hardly been spoken about except for the cuts and its rating by the censor board. Thanks to this, Bang Bang has a massive start in terms of film promotion with the film’s name already being known by the audience. Now considering the above and the massive number of screens that the makers of Bang Bang will ensure, Haider will be audience’s second choice right from the onset, a factor that is more than damaging to any release.

    However like in every disaster story, there is always an escape route, in this case the five day extended weekend the film will enjoy. With most of your fans preferring to look the other way and concentrate on the collections made in this period, I will have a lot of people saying that I am wrong, but when analyzed on face value, Haider, which could earn a neat Rs. 50 crores (approximately) over these five days to lifetime, could have earned much more had it been a solo release.

    Not forgetting the fact that good word of mouth and a tight script and screenplay will go a long way contributing to the overall collections.

    On a positive note though, the trailer of Haider that released a while back has managed to generate a bit of interest among the audiences. But this will have to be heavily backed up with positive reviews and obviously good promotion.

    So here’s wishing you all the luck for your release Haider, hoping that your film will generate decent collections and stand tall at least through the first weekend.

    Link

    • yakuza 9 years ago

      A complete WTF piece .. Was BH editor smoking when allowing such kiddish shit ??

Leave a reply

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?