Another list of the Star On-screen Actors who debuted during 2000 - 2009
Hrithik Roshan – For sure, he made a dashing debut in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai before stealing the performance in Koi mil Gaya apart from appearing a zillion forgettable movies.
Madhavan – The boy next door in Alaipayuthey performed extra-ordinarily in Nala Damayanti (Ramji Londonwaley) and many other Tamil movies.
Vikram – An actor who was overlooked for most of the last decade, had a new lease of life in Sethu and excelled in roles including Pithamagan and Anniyan.
Surya – An unlucky actor last decade, found his luck in Khakka Khakka and Nandha before settling for ‘Vijay’ish roles in Ayan and Aadhavan.
Dhanush – For someone thin and un-heroic like him, this Kadhal Konden star has come a really long way.
Jothika – My favorite female star had eyes and expressions that could speak a 1000 words and she made the best use of it in many many memorable movies.
Katrina Kaif – Not my favorite, but she sure has lucky charm to make any movie she stars in a hit; just hope her acting gets better too!
Priyanka Chopra – Surely a star-performer including her roles in Fashion, Aitraaz and What’s Your Rashee?
Preity Zinta – Though she debuted during the last decade, she made her mark in an un-wed mother’s role in Kya Kehna and then made herself a worthy star with movies like Dil Chahta Hai, Salaam Namaste etc.
Kareena Kapoor – Will never call her a good performer except for Jab We Met, but she has survived this decade and is going strong!
Abhishek Bachchan – Probably another actor whom Mani Ratnam gets the best out of (Guru and Yuva).
Asin – Kalpana in Ghajini is probably one of the most chirpy characters in recent Tamil/Hindi cinema; hope she gets more laurels.
Konkana Sen Sharma – No one could have enacted her role in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer or 15 Park Avenue or Life In a Metro or Luck By Chance; she is a boon to Indian movies.
Ranbir Kapoor – Almost written off after a dud in Saawariya, he is now the pin-up boy after an extremely enjoyable Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.
Emraan Hashmi – This serial kisser had good music and decent storylines in a few of his movies and made a mark.
Mallika Sherawat – Partially responsible for giving Emraan Hashmi a successful career; and no one can break the record 17 smooches on screen.
Showing posts with label Priyanka Chopra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Priyanka Chopra. Show all posts
Dec 26, 2009
Sep 28, 2009
What's Your Raashee?
Disclaimer: The review follows the movie in terms of length :).
Braving the length of the movie and the not-so-good reviews it has been getting, I sat through 'What's Your Raashee?' (WYR?), with no expectations, though I knew Ashutosh Gowarikar (AG) would have something different to entertain with. For a person with an impeccable track record of three epic (long) movies, shooting (rather stretching) a romantic comedy should have definitely not been a hard task. After all Jodhaa Akbar, if set in modern times would classify as a romantic movie with hints of comedy thrown in between.
'What's Your Raashee?' will probably a film, that AG would definitely like to show to people that he is capable of not only period films, but also light ones. And he should definitely be proud of making Priyanka Chopra (PC) star in twelve different roles and extracting the best performance from her.
The storyline of the movie is quite simple. To obtain ancestral property, to help his brother settle his debts, Yogesh Patel (Hurman Baweja), based in Chicago, has to get married in 10 days. The wedding date is set, the wedding hall is ready, he just has to search for a bride. In trying something that is novel, he decides to meet just 12 girls, who are of twelve sun-signs and select one out of them. He meets the twelve and finds PC in everyone of them. How the proceedings go, how he interacts with each of them and makes a decision is what is told in a funny, at times over-the-top, and interesting manner.
Coming to PC, she is probably the heart and soul of the movie. Portraying varied characters, none like another, with respect to mannerisms or body language or the accent, is quite a hard task. Starting off with Anjali who attempts to show off a cool girl including the 'Mondates, Tuesdates' and 'No menson,' to the 15 year old Jhankana, she carries off all her characters with elegance. (details on all characters in the end). PC may be overlooked for awards, but she surely deserves praises for taking the challenge of acting in 12 different roles. (I personally feel, this movie and these characters were far better etched than Kamalhassan in 'Dasavatharam.')
At the intermission which comes after almost close to 2 hours, one thing that needs to be appreciated is that, not one character is shown as a perfect girl, and nor is someone shown totally bad to reject right away. It would have been a disaster if a few girls were eliminated at this point.
A three and half hour movie needed a tight script backed by dialogs which engage the viewer. At most times, the dialogs are quite hilarious though the screenplay tends to drag. But, AG can be excused from this, for providing good laughs all way through the movie. Also, the amount of the details provided to minutest things including the props on screen is really appreciable.
A.R.Rahman a regular in AG's films is sorely missed, and Sohail Sen is no ARR, but gives decent tunes which blend well through the mood of the movie. He sings a couple of songs, and AG regulars like Bela Shinde (Mann mohana in JA), Madhushree (Swades and JA) lend their voices to this movie.
Hurman as Yogesh is sober, and luckily doesn't have any heroics to display in this PC-dominated movie. I am sure AG would have to compromise, if he had any other actor play this role bending to the actor's stature. Yogesh's family members are quite funny, but do blackmail him emotionally most of the time, putting him in a tight spot. The families of the each of the twelve characters (wherever introduced) are mostly believable, show the typical Gujarati behavior. The regulars in AGs films are present in this movie as well. The cinematography is spectacular capturing a few locales in the songs very well.
What could have been better off in the movie was --- a tighter screenplay with less focus on songs for each rashee, and probably doing away with the detective sub-plot (which did invoke laughter at most times). One thing that's realistic, but something that I couldn't digest is – what happens to the rest of the suitors. In reality, I don't think any one goes back to check their status out, but here we've grown attached to each of the PC's characters and do want to know what has happened.
Verdict: It was repetitive and long, but refreshing and entertaining! :)
Roles of the suitors for Yogesh all played by PC:
Anjali (Aries) pretends to be this cool girl with English and many other things, only to flop at the end. You begin to sympathize with the character, and probably think if this is going to be the end of it.
The character Hansa (Cancer), the silent girl who comes out with the past truth is easily the girl, one would emphathise on (including Yogesh).
Kajal (Gemini), the chirpy college girl is entirely the opposite, with her spontaneous romance.
Sanjana (Aquarius) with whom he goes on a drive even after rejecting her (forced by her), is initially a weak character, which does evolve over time.
Rajni (Libra) is a no-non-sense ultra-practical girl who wants a marriage partner who will dance to her tunes. This was a little impractical with an agreement before marriage. However the song is quite imaginatively shot.
Chandrika (Pisces) believes in re-incarnation and thinks they were together in the past. A song that shows Yogesh like a South Indian hero, shot at exotic locales comes up. The only thing you remember about this girls is her dad that says 'Humari koi shaakha nahi hai'.
Mallika (Leo) is a good dancer, whom Yogesh falls for, just to be rejected for his show-off as an NRI with a delicate stomach.
Nandini (Scorpio) is a aspiring model (sober at home) who wants to use Yogesh as a ticket for an entry into Chicago fashion industry.
Bhavna(Sagittarius) is an astrologer who predicts something really ridiculous for Yogesh and seduces him, only to facilitate his departure from her house really early.
Pooja (Virgo), the doctor was the most realistic character and surely a contender if not for her 'Swades'hi dream. Kudos to PC for downplaying the character very well.
Vishaka (Taurus), the girl who tries to test Yogesh, if he is after her money, fails terribly in her attempt by acting crazily. I wonder why one would do such a thing. The song that comes in this segment is quite foot-tapping.
Jhankana (Capricorn) is an underaged girl forced into marriage, and is portrayed so very well by PC (supposedly a 27 yr old). The way she finally thanks Yogesh, saying she wants to study further is a bit emotional, but ends well.
Braving the length of the movie and the not-so-good reviews it has been getting, I sat through 'What's Your Raashee?' (WYR?), with no expectations, though I knew Ashutosh Gowarikar (AG) would have something different to entertain with. For a person with an impeccable track record of three epic (long) movies, shooting (rather stretching) a romantic comedy should have definitely not been a hard task. After all Jodhaa Akbar, if set in modern times would classify as a romantic movie with hints of comedy thrown in between.
'What's Your Raashee?' will probably a film, that AG would definitely like to show to people that he is capable of not only period films, but also light ones. And he should definitely be proud of making Priyanka Chopra (PC) star in twelve different roles and extracting the best performance from her.
The storyline of the movie is quite simple. To obtain ancestral property, to help his brother settle his debts, Yogesh Patel (Hurman Baweja), based in Chicago, has to get married in 10 days. The wedding date is set, the wedding hall is ready, he just has to search for a bride. In trying something that is novel, he decides to meet just 12 girls, who are of twelve sun-signs and select one out of them. He meets the twelve and finds PC in everyone of them. How the proceedings go, how he interacts with each of them and makes a decision is what is told in a funny, at times over-the-top, and interesting manner.
Coming to PC, she is probably the heart and soul of the movie. Portraying varied characters, none like another, with respect to mannerisms or body language or the accent, is quite a hard task. Starting off with Anjali who attempts to show off a cool girl including the 'Mondates, Tuesdates' and 'No menson,' to the 15 year old Jhankana, she carries off all her characters with elegance. (details on all characters in the end). PC may be overlooked for awards, but she surely deserves praises for taking the challenge of acting in 12 different roles. (I personally feel, this movie and these characters were far better etched than Kamalhassan in 'Dasavatharam.')
At the intermission which comes after almost close to 2 hours, one thing that needs to be appreciated is that, not one character is shown as a perfect girl, and nor is someone shown totally bad to reject right away. It would have been a disaster if a few girls were eliminated at this point.
A three and half hour movie needed a tight script backed by dialogs which engage the viewer. At most times, the dialogs are quite hilarious though the screenplay tends to drag. But, AG can be excused from this, for providing good laughs all way through the movie. Also, the amount of the details provided to minutest things including the props on screen is really appreciable.
A.R.Rahman a regular in AG's films is sorely missed, and Sohail Sen is no ARR, but gives decent tunes which blend well through the mood of the movie. He sings a couple of songs, and AG regulars like Bela Shinde (Mann mohana in JA), Madhushree (Swades and JA) lend their voices to this movie.
Hurman as Yogesh is sober, and luckily doesn't have any heroics to display in this PC-dominated movie. I am sure AG would have to compromise, if he had any other actor play this role bending to the actor's stature. Yogesh's family members are quite funny, but do blackmail him emotionally most of the time, putting him in a tight spot. The families of the each of the twelve characters (wherever introduced) are mostly believable, show the typical Gujarati behavior. The regulars in AGs films are present in this movie as well. The cinematography is spectacular capturing a few locales in the songs very well.
What could have been better off in the movie was --- a tighter screenplay with less focus on songs for each rashee, and probably doing away with the detective sub-plot (which did invoke laughter at most times). One thing that's realistic, but something that I couldn't digest is – what happens to the rest of the suitors. In reality, I don't think any one goes back to check their status out, but here we've grown attached to each of the PC's characters and do want to know what has happened.
Verdict: It was repetitive and long, but refreshing and entertaining! :)
Roles of the suitors for Yogesh all played by PC:
Anjali (Aries) pretends to be this cool girl with English and many other things, only to flop at the end. You begin to sympathize with the character, and probably think if this is going to be the end of it.
The character Hansa (Cancer), the silent girl who comes out with the past truth is easily the girl, one would emphathise on (including Yogesh).
Kajal (Gemini), the chirpy college girl is entirely the opposite, with her spontaneous romance.
Sanjana (Aquarius) with whom he goes on a drive even after rejecting her (forced by her), is initially a weak character, which does evolve over time.
Rajni (Libra) is a no-non-sense ultra-practical girl who wants a marriage partner who will dance to her tunes. This was a little impractical with an agreement before marriage. However the song is quite imaginatively shot.
Chandrika (Pisces) believes in re-incarnation and thinks they were together in the past. A song that shows Yogesh like a South Indian hero, shot at exotic locales comes up. The only thing you remember about this girls is her dad that says 'Humari koi shaakha nahi hai'.
Mallika (Leo) is a good dancer, whom Yogesh falls for, just to be rejected for his show-off as an NRI with a delicate stomach.
Nandini (Scorpio) is a aspiring model (sober at home) who wants to use Yogesh as a ticket for an entry into Chicago fashion industry.
Bhavna(Sagittarius) is an astrologer who predicts something really ridiculous for Yogesh and seduces him, only to facilitate his departure from her house really early.
Pooja (Virgo), the doctor was the most realistic character and surely a contender if not for her 'Swades'hi dream. Kudos to PC for downplaying the character very well.
Vishaka (Taurus), the girl who tries to test Yogesh, if he is after her money, fails terribly in her attempt by acting crazily. I wonder why one would do such a thing. The song that comes in this segment is quite foot-tapping.
Jhankana (Capricorn) is an underaged girl forced into marriage, and is portrayed so very well by PC (supposedly a 27 yr old). The way she finally thanks Yogesh, saying she wants to study further is a bit emotional, but ends well.
Aug 16, 2009
Reviews - Love Aaj Kal and Kaminey
Reviews for the two Hindi movies I watched in the theatre after a really long time. And I was looking forward to Kaminey for a long time!
Love Aaj Kal – A perfect example of how being 'practical' can unnecessarily complicate things. I wouldn't say it was a perfect movie or liked it entirely. The dialogues were one of the best in recent times. But the premise was a realistic one and something that everyone in the age group 20-30 faces, after all we are Mango people (Aam janta :P). Though, I wouldn't call it a tale of not-being-able-to-get-over-someone, that was what happened finally. The main characters were utterly selfish and this is true in today's life. The Punjabi kudi Harleen, actually a Brazilian model was the surprise package of the movie. Saif's Punjabi accent was something he could have improved on. Deepika Padukone was her usual wooden frame - looking good, but no acting skills to speak about. Her dialog on the second day of her wedding to Rahul Khanna- 'I have done a mistake, please let me go see Saif now, I will come back and apologise later' was enough to crack the entire audience. Pritam for once had a track that was not taken off any source. Loved the Twist song and the Rahat Fateh Ali Khan song. Rishi Kapoor didn't have a great role in the movie, but the way the second story was interwoven was really interesting. It was a good watch with interesting dialogues and decent touch of reality.
Kaminey – A movie you'll totally love or totally hate. Initially, I thought I was going to fall in the latter category, but surprisingly no! It was not an extra-ordinary tale, but was a dark (literally and on-screen) tale with each of the characters being selfish (yet again). The new style of story telling will surely will be a tutorial for a few film-makers. Fhahid.... oops Shahid Kapoor had the role of his career in this movie and executed it pretty well, both as Charlie and Guddu. As the Guddu character, he is shown as a simple NGO worker, and is pitted against Priyanka. Priyanka is shown as a talkative Maharashtrian girl, and had a few good lines for herself, though her role was limited on screen. Charlie is the 'F' for 'S' guy, with big dreams and trying to take a shorter shortcut to success. His characterization was near-perfect, both as a dutiful brother (son – as we are later told) and as a ruffian-in-the-making (is that word right?). Amol Gupte (the partial director of Taare Zameen Par) is in a nice 'Raj Thackeray' role. The movie subtly touches upon the 'Jai Maharashtra' issue, in addition to HIV prevention (Fatak songs) and drug peddlary. Though violent, it was not shown on screen graphically. Music as always in any Vishal Bharadwaj movie was top-notch. And in the end credits, the Mohit Chauhan song that plays should have found a place in the movie (in fact some romance shown in those credits could have been placed in between the movie.) The Dhan Te Nan song, the highlight of the movie found its place in the right portions in the movie and was used as energetically as it was sung by Vishal Dhadlani and Sukhwinder Singh. And I wondered why it earned an A certificate in India, and realized it, thanks to the 'intense' kissing scene between Piggy Chops and Shahid Kapoor. That one scene, though shot aesthetically, was enough for the movie to get an R rating. The dialogues were interesting yet again, and the timing sense was excellent. Overall an interesting watch, with a good time-pass element.
Love Aaj Kal – A perfect example of how being 'practical' can unnecessarily complicate things. I wouldn't say it was a perfect movie or liked it entirely. The dialogues were one of the best in recent times. But the premise was a realistic one and something that everyone in the age group 20-30 faces, after all we are Mango people (Aam janta :P). Though, I wouldn't call it a tale of not-being-able-to-get-over-someone, that was what happened finally. The main characters were utterly selfish and this is true in today's life. The Punjabi kudi Harleen, actually a Brazilian model was the surprise package of the movie. Saif's Punjabi accent was something he could have improved on. Deepika Padukone was her usual wooden frame - looking good, but no acting skills to speak about. Her dialog on the second day of her wedding to Rahul Khanna- 'I have done a mistake, please let me go see Saif now, I will come back and apologise later' was enough to crack the entire audience. Pritam for once had a track that was not taken off any source. Loved the Twist song and the Rahat Fateh Ali Khan song. Rishi Kapoor didn't have a great role in the movie, but the way the second story was interwoven was really interesting. It was a good watch with interesting dialogues and decent touch of reality.
Kaminey – A movie you'll totally love or totally hate. Initially, I thought I was going to fall in the latter category, but surprisingly no! It was not an extra-ordinary tale, but was a dark (literally and on-screen) tale with each of the characters being selfish (yet again). The new style of story telling will surely will be a tutorial for a few film-makers. Fhahid.... oops Shahid Kapoor had the role of his career in this movie and executed it pretty well, both as Charlie and Guddu. As the Guddu character, he is shown as a simple NGO worker, and is pitted against Priyanka. Priyanka is shown as a talkative Maharashtrian girl, and had a few good lines for herself, though her role was limited on screen. Charlie is the 'F' for 'S' guy, with big dreams and trying to take a shorter shortcut to success. His characterization was near-perfect, both as a dutiful brother (son – as we are later told) and as a ruffian-in-the-making (is that word right?). Amol Gupte (the partial director of Taare Zameen Par) is in a nice 'Raj Thackeray' role. The movie subtly touches upon the 'Jai Maharashtra' issue, in addition to HIV prevention (Fatak songs) and drug peddlary. Though violent, it was not shown on screen graphically. Music as always in any Vishal Bharadwaj movie was top-notch. And in the end credits, the Mohit Chauhan song that plays should have found a place in the movie (in fact some romance shown in those credits could have been placed in between the movie.) The Dhan Te Nan song, the highlight of the movie found its place in the right portions in the movie and was used as energetically as it was sung by Vishal Dhadlani and Sukhwinder Singh. And I wondered why it earned an A certificate in India, and realized it, thanks to the 'intense' kissing scene between Piggy Chops and Shahid Kapoor. That one scene, though shot aesthetically, was enough for the movie to get an R rating. The dialogues were interesting yet again, and the timing sense was excellent. Overall an interesting watch, with a good time-pass element.
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