Meenakshi Rao's Bollywood and Hollywood movie reviews

Youngistaan Starring:  Jackky Bhagnani, Neha Sharma, Farooq Sheikh Rated :5.5/10 A 28-year-old Prime Minister of India, living in with his more than hot girlfriend, leaving behind the the wild party sizzle in Tokyo to head a much more tumultuous party — the great Indian democracy — yes, you can talk of  badlaav  reel time.  Youngistaan , as the title suggests, is a modern romance in the midst of, well, modern Indian politics. There is the right dose of righteousness in the proceedings, there is the stubbornness of youth too and there is a whole lot of talk around what’s happening around us, as the nation goes to poll in less than 15 days. So, as timing goes, this one is picture perfect, as content goes, it is tuned in with topicality and as performance goes, it’s young as expected, and happening too — till a certain extent that is. Jackky Bhagnani as India’s youngest ever Prime Minister with a neat and clean image adding the iron to his made-to-order politi...

Sabotage Starring : Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Olivia Williams, Terrence Howard Rated:  5/10 Arnie is old — and much too gory. There’s more of bloody innards assailing your senses than anything else in this movie revolving around covert anti-drug warriors who are being hunted down by an unknown entity for reasons best known to none. There are some million-dollar grabs involved and allegations float around unhindered among feds but the target of them all — Arnie the chief warrior — is completely unfazed. His mind is stuck on only one thing — how to get to the drug lord who killed his wife slowly and steadily on camera and then sent a tape to haunt him for life. For people averse to all the stark bloodshed on screen, this one is the one to stay away from. For others, it is a mildly interesting story managing to keep the secret of the killings close to gun for a pretty long time.  Source: Sunday Pioneer, 30 March 2014  

Noah Starring:  Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins Rated:  8/10 A  big movie, an ensemble of big actors, a big canvas, stunning visuals and a story from the Bible’s most happening chapter — Noah has no scope to go wrong or limp in any of its 2 hour 15 minute trajectory — and it doesn’t. Russell Crowe’s sizzling presence, peppered well with his simmering performance as Noah; Anthony Hopkin’s larger than life screen presence and his curry talk with son Noah, showing him a way out of Hopkins choice, skydrop camera work with stunning landscape-capturing meant essentially for religious drama of yore and yet a dash of modern realism to the proceedings in a Holy Book — indeed Noah is the film of the week, despite the little discomfort you may have balancing the 3D glasses with the popcorn and cola. Actually, there is no time to peep into for eats as the gripping story unfolds before you, steered well by Crowe and marinated by...

Ragini Mms 2 Starring:  Sunny Leone, Saahil Prem, Parvin Dabas, Sandhya Mridul, Anita Hassanandani Rated : 4.5/10 Sunny Leone asks her co-actor why does every producer treat her like a whore. Perhaps, because she behaves like one, could be one answer. And why does Ekta Kapoor propel pornographic talk in the garb of a horror story? Because Dada Kondke is her secret inspiration which has fallen out of the closet in this one. So, brace yourself for some brazen dialogues by Leone and generally pornographic talk and gestures (like the hero looking down his pants and talking to his family jewels once every while) assailing a haunted house while the ghosts make some futilely spirited effort to make their presence felt. Well, not so much as the four-letter word which a possessed Leone throws at you repeatedly, but well it’s a ghost of an effort nevertheless. The only difference from the run-of-the-mill ghosts dropping out of the big Indian screen, this one is much too horny, sl...

Ankhon Dekhi Starring:  Sanjay Mishra, Rajat Kapoor Rated:  4/10 Rajat Kapoor is known to have a zen for  hatke cinema. On that count, this one indeed is  hatke stuff. But where all this being different leads you in this film is quite another matter. The film starts off well in an Old Delhi house where  babuji  (a delightfully unkempt and much too real  babuji  played brilliantly by Sanjay Misra lives with his wife two children and brother’s family. Yes, he is weird and gets weirder by the day but the humour in the situation soon dries up and that’s the problem with this light-hearted film. It only flirts with humour and tries to delve deep into depression, meanwhile getting philosophical about life and its meaning. The mix of these three very distinct strands gets Rajat somewhat mixed up, a condition that bogs down the movie so much that it turns suicidal by the end of it. But in the midst of all these hues, one must admit that the ...

Muppets Most Wanted Starring:  Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey Rated:  6/10 The muppets are back and how — one, on a movie week slim on blockbusters, two with story and music that keeps you engaged, three with the familiarity that is rather becoming. It’s the evil frog vs the honest frog in the middle of deception, treachery, drama and heist in which a human has a frog for a boss. There is a Miss Pig too with a big nose for romance and a group of show-maker muppets on a world tour, not to mention a French nuanced cop clashing with his CIA counterpart, one human, another a muppet! As is with usual animation win Hollywood, this one too is flawless though not a spot on the  Madagaskar and  Ice Age  kind of animation. Essentially for children who love their popcorn along with their cartoon characters.  Source: Sunday Pioneer, 23 March, 2014  

Bewakoofiyaan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor Rated: 5/10 Yes, there is a lot of chemistry, but between the wrong pairs. Yes, there is a story, but size zero thin. Yes it is a halka-phulka love story but much too halka-phulka for it to catch on. The only reason Bewakoofiyaan somewhat hits off is because of the burly Rishi Kapoor who plays a retired IAS officer to perfection. And it is his chemistry with Ayushmann Khurrana more than anything else that keeps the clock ticking. Sonam Kapoor, yes she is out of Vogue as usual though she keeps talking about Zara more often than she talks of her relationship with sacked marketing executive Ayushmann. The two together are not bad, only too plain, be it emotionally, physically or even professionally for that matter. Bewakoofiyaan comes with a lot of potential but it all falls on the wayside mainly due to an unhappening script and a storyline that could have done with more incidents than portrayed onscreen....

3 days to kill Starring: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Richard Sammel, Eriq Ebouaney Rated: 5/10 Kevin Costner for you after a long break so there couldn’t have been too many faults in this one — and there aren’t too many. As the title suggests, just three days set the pace for this CIA thriller which emanates in Europe and then settles down in picturesque Paris to unfold a somewhat flawed plot of big money makers and dirty bombsters. Costner, as usual, is at his undertoned best as a reluctant CIA operative used for instant kills in tricky places. His no-ado-business-as-usual killings bring as much mirth to the film as his recurring cough (despite the cough syrup) irritates the hell out of you. His daughter doesn’t like his stubbled and unkempt look and neither do the audience. But his histrionics go a long way in assuaging these minor niggles. Conservatively speaking, the thriller is not too realistic, what with a deadly woman CIA operative sub-h...