Meenakshi Rao's Bollywood and Hollywood movie reviews

Abduction Staring: Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins & Alfred Molina At: PVR & others Rated: 6/10 If you can get over the constant suspicion that Jacob is calling out for Bella and that Taylor Lautner is not really in the Twilight series this time, this one is a heady thriller. Innovative in concept and pacey enough to go around spooky men from CIA and the Russian bad guys on hunt for a very special boy, Abduction is one of those Hollywood stories that come and get you every once in a while. Lautner, as the boy, who finds himself in the rigmarole of this rather violent hunt, thanks to his father’s risky job profile, does well to keep his head in a fight that spews all over him rather unexpectedly — killing his parents on his first date, running around unknown faces with no one to trust, and knowing nothing much about his biological parents, this one catches you unawares. Source: Sunday Pioneer, 25 September, 2011

Zookeeper Staring: Taylor Kevin James, Rosario Dawson & Leslie Bibb At: PVR & others Rated: 5/10 The last time I liked this much of animal talking was when Eddie Murphy got the vet drug which made him talk to his pets. Zookeeper, in that context, is a copycat but with some differences. Dumped by his girlfriend who found too much zoo talk weighing down her glamour quotient, Kevin James all but gives up on life other than the one existing in the cages. But then, the girl returns to lure him away and the animal kingdom will not have that. Talking to Kevin and suggesting a whole lot of get-your-girl-back options without leaving them, is what the movie is all about. Sadly, however, the fun element falls short on expectations and the funny bone is tickled only now and then. Wish this potential frolic was hyped instead of being trimmed. On the whole though, a watchable souffle with some laughter thrown in. Source: Sunday Pioneer, 25 September, 2011

Mausam Staring: Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Supriya Pathak At: PVR & others Rated: 6/10 You wouldn’t expect anything but an extremely righteous movie from the stock of a seasoned cinematist like Pankaj Kapoor and Mausam is nothing but that — politically impeccable, picture perfect, dignified in love, controlled in war and quite maturely balanced between history and romance, old world charm and modern mores, not to mention poised in the midst of a tragedy of errors, missed opportunities, difficult circumstances and conniving persons. Spanning the flashpoints of history over 13 years, across the globe, Kapoor pitches for a balance that can only come from experience — a quiet romance amid a raging war, a parallel cinema on a box office cabinet. It all starts with flashpoint Kashmir where 1989 is spewing blood and venom. Kapoor picks a Kashmiri Muslim being targeted for saving a Kashmiri pundit and that sets the tone for the political correctnes...

Crazy, Stupid Love Starring: Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling At: PVR & others Rated: 4.5/10 The title says it all, though not in its entirety. It is more stupid than crazy and that stems from its staccato demeanour. The storyline does not flow smoothly. There are too many things happening to too many people and that’s not too good for a well-blended romance. Wife sleeps with another man and the husband is devastated enough to fall into wrong advice and go in from being a one woman man to a too many women man — still pining for his wife however. The beauty lies in Julianne Moore who regrets the ennui in her more than a decade old marriage to actually step out and into alien bedsheets. Then there’s a 13 something boy in love with a 17 something babysitter who is in love with his 40 something father! All this could have been funnier than it manages to be in this one. However, towards the last half hour the sit-romcom picks up to give the viewers something to ...

Starring: Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton At: PVR & others Rated: 6.5/10 You like a brawny brew? Muscled men punching the blood out of their opponents for no apparent reason? Ring maniacs, training for annihilation to a cheering jam-packed crowd? Those Rocky Belboa type of aspirants in it not so much for pride as for money? Warriors is a strange mix of all this something more, and it’s that something more that scores the brawny as well as the brownie points for it. And that something is the interweaving of a whole lot of emotions around an estranged family of a father — drunk wife beater boxing legend and his two sons, one a family man and the other a secluded shadowy character — all alluring, frustrated, helpless and yet laudable characters in their separate domains. All losers too, in a way. But, all winners in the end. The little bit of a hitch with  Warriors  is that it takes time to build up the poignancies of a family which has seen a mother dying i...

Staring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis & others At: PVR & others Rated: 7/10 In a season starved of romance — from both Bollywood and Hollywood —  Friends With Benefits comes as benefits for the audiences. Soft, funny, fluffy, romantic and modern — the love-without-sex and sex-without-love jumble tumble, or should we call it romp, keeps you happily engaged for the week. Add to that the soulful eyes of Mila Kunis which dominate the screen as much as they dominate the heart of Justin Timberlake and you have a good one drawing you out. The Los Angeles vs New York tussle works for the film too — space vs Manhattan mania, a relaxed lifestyle vs rat race, the courteous vs the uncouth — there’s lot of meaningful banter around a romance that takes just about the entire film to figure out. But that does not put you off — you will love it for the situational matters of the heart which never gets too intense for you to manage and yet tugs alluringly at your heart as the c...

Staring: Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar, others At: DT Cinemas & others Rated: 6/10 It has its starpower, something that you would always expect from a YRF banner. It also has its music which again you take for granted with a YRF film. It has its fun element, its engaging exterior, its locale and its showstopper heroine. So far so good. But does it have oodles of romance? Not really — it pegs itself more on fun and frolic, more on comic interludes, more on song and dance than on romance. Mere Brother Ki Dulhan , as the title would suggest, is all about, well, brother’s  dulhan  and chhotey bhai’s  romance with her. That would suggest a comedy and it does not disappoint. Katrina is the showstopper though purists would say she acts like a silly school girl. Personally, she is engaging in her role as is the poker-faced Imran Khan who draws the punches for his role from his straight face and straighter personality. But together, the two etch quite a tr...