JAAN-E-MANN

JAAN-E-MANN is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, who has given us a number of hits avec Salman Khan, and the latest one was Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. JAAN-E-MANN started slowly at the box-office, while DON which was released at the same day had a phenomenal start. However, JAAN-E-MANN picked up at the box-office, and is considered as average/hit now. It got good critics so I gave it a chance, despite Salman Khan was playing here (I am not a huge fan of Salman Khan, and I haven't seen the last films of him). It seems to be a good idea that I watched the movie because it was very good. The music is very much related to the script of the film, and sometimes it doesn't give so much sense if you only listen to the music without watching the movie. In addition, some unique film-making techniques have been used here, especially color/look which gives a feeling of watching a theatre. This is interesting because if actors fail in giving proper expressions, the effects will ensure the correct message to watcher.

The catergory of the film was romantic comedy, and it has some fresh comedy compared to "traditional" Salman Khan-comedies. We see less of his previous acting techniques, which reminds me of langoors. Akshay Kumar was good in the role of a geek, and delivers good humour as well.

Rating: 6 of 6

Q og A: gutten som hadde svar på alt (Q & A: A novel)

Good and interesting book about an orphaned and uneducated waiter (Ram Mohammad Thomas) from Mumbai (India) who wins a billion rupees on a quiz show. The boy is thrown in jail because the producer of the program is unable to pay out the prize, and bribes local authorities to declare Ram a cheater. Then enters an attractive lawyer Smita Shah, to get Ram out of prison and listen to him explain, via flashbacks, how he knew the answers to all the show's questions.

Rating: 4/5 of 6

Fritt Vilt

Huff...can't people make really scaring horror movies anymore? They allways tries to scare people with sound effects, sudden clips, scare atmosphere by use of color etc etc. The story is almost the same, every time! One man/woman who is running around people, almost with no reason. At the end of the film, there is maybe an explanation for why he/she has been doing that.

The Norwegian movie Fritt Vilt is among them, and I almost wasn't scared at all. It is only the atmosphere of the scaring public in the cinema hall, and an easy scared friend whom I watched the movie with ;), that has affected the rating a little positive. Elsewhere, it has gotten a 2. The Norwegian movie, Villmark, which came some years ago, was much better.

Rating: 2/3 of 6

Four Brothers

This "one to watch"-flick, categorized as action drama, is about four brothers who are engaged in a vendetta to revenge their mothers brutal death. The movie has some good action sequences, humour and is very easily time passing on a Saturday evening, and still above average.

Rating: 4/5 of 6

3 Deewarein

3 Deewarein came in 2003, but I didn't prioritised to watch it before now, after a recommendation from a friend who liked it very much. The movie is about three prisoners, played by Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah and the director Nagesh Kukunoor (also directed award winner Iqbal). The category was drama and since it touched me emotionally (sorry to say boys despite the fact that I am a man), I have to grade it high.

Rating: 5 of 6

Saw 3

After the huge success of Saw 1 and 2, American studios pumped out another psychotic scary movie based on the previous formula. It seems like that the director, Darren Lynn Bousman (also directed the second movie in the series), has used the formula extensively. The film is really brutal! One of the most brutal movies I ever have watched. But different methods of killing people are not enough, but rather give you feeling of a typical serial killer movie. This is especially relevant for the first half part of the movie. When the so-called story evolves, it deals with moral questions. In the first and second movie, people could sometime agree with the serial killer. This time, you will look at it from different perspective.

The last second part gives you more interesting story, so I had to give it some plus. But still, as you can see, the rating is unsure. I hope the makers tries there hands on different projects from now on, and leaves this trilogy with the history.

Rating: 3/4 of 6

Don

Some years back, I heard that Farhan Akhtar (super-hit Dil Chahta Hai and flopping Lakshya-fame) is going to “remix” the classical Don. My immediate reaction was: “OK, let’s see what happens”, but I wasn’t so optimistic. In addition, putting our super romantic Shahrukh Khan in such movie didn’t sound like good idea in my ears.

Fast forward, some months/weeks back, the promos of Don started to go on TV, and I just “woow”. Suddenly, after looking at the A-class action scenes I changed my mind, and was really looking forward to this movie. So after waiting throughout ramzan, the wait was over 27th October 6 P.M. Me and my youngest brother was so excited while we were sitting in the cinema hall.

The movie started, off course with an action scene, and slowed down a little bit after wards. However, 3 hours later with this ride, mixed with typical Bollywood masala (songs, emotion, tears, laughs etc etc) we heard: “11 molko ki police Don ko dhoond rahi hai, par ek baat jaan lo, please, Don ko pakarna moshkil hi nehin, ...........”, the public was shocked! They thought, “what happened” while they were walking out of the hall with the pumping techno-theme of Don in the background.

In other words, Don leaved us with an amazing experience and you can conclude that bollywood is experiencing a step forward with this A-class action film in its pocket.

Personal rating: 5+ of 6

The reason for not giving a full sixer is that, despite its qualities of emotion in the picture, the movie lacked soul at some points.

Woh Lamhe

There is yet another movie from the Bhatt-camp, which not turns out to be a flop. The well-used formula from the camp; low budget but still good story and good music with relatively new cast, turns out to be a success again. The pair from Gangster, Shiney Ahuja and Kangana Ranaut, is here again and their chemistry is still working in front of the camera. This time, Shiney has far more dialogues than Gangster, so he got opportunity to explore his voice in film making.

The story is known to be inspired by the producer’s real life incidents (yes, we are talking about Mahesh Bhatt and Parveen Babi), but is added with different elements to the public and to make it filmi.

Shiney is a director and Kangana is the super star Sana Azim. Their paths cross each other since they both are in the show business and guess what happens then? You are correct, pyaar! But in this pyaar, there is always an enemy, which I will not tell you how is.

The story is well told by the young director, Mohit Suri, which also has successful movies like Zeher and Kalyug behind him. Kangana and Shiney has delivered good performances, and especially Kangana who is outstanding when she is playing “sick”. After watching the movie, film ke WHO LAMHE hi yaad reh jayen ge…

Grading: 5 of 6

Angel Heart

I actually heard about this film when I was in London with my class in the spring of 2002. A class mate told me about its story which fascinated me. Afterwards, I tried to find a good deal of the DVD, which I got for some weeks ago at Platekompaniet. So expectations were sky-high when I sat down on Friday evening to watch this one.

The movie is about a detective (Mickey Rourke) who is hired to find a missing person by a shady client with pointy fingernails, played by Robert De Niro. Rourke's investigation leads him into an underworld of voodoo and forbidden desires.

The story is based in 1955, and the film was made in 1987. As people know, I am not a huge fan of such old movies. That’s the reason for why I didn’t like this movie that much. But still, I can imagine how powerful this movie could have been when it was released in 1987.

Category: (supernatural) thriller

Personal rating: 4 of 6

Match Point

I heard that Woody Allen surprised people by making this movie. I haven't seen so many of his films, but I had some expectations since it got good critics and seemed stylish. And stylish, it was! After watching a number of Bollywood-movies, which are shot in London, this one was unique. The cinematography was very well, and London looked like a heaven. This actually lead to that London looked too clean compared to the reality. Anyway, the cinematography of clean London motivated to keep watching the movie. In addition, Scarlett herself who is looking fabulous in this movie was a good motivator to watch this movie. ;)

The movie was good, but too lengthy (approx. 2 hours). It could be cutted by 10-20 minutes, and still maintained the same quality.

Category: drama/thriller

Personal rating: 4 of 6