RAAZ – The secret is fine but it’s not scary as a solid Horror movie. (Review By Bobby Sing)

Horror Genre in Hindi Cinema has improved and impressed in the last few years and we have now entered a new phase leaving behind the pioneer makers of horror movies in India, The Ramsay Brothers. Mohit Suri, the director of “Kalyug”, now comes up with his “Raaz – The Mystery Continues” and tries his skill in a different subject than his earlier movies. Though his direction is competent but the movie is not as convincing as his earlier ones.

First of all you cannot categorize “Raaz” as a horror movie, because it does not scare you enough. On the other hand it is a suspense thriller with a secret to unfold towards the climax. Though there are some spooky scenes with a story of a spirit taking its revenge, but you don’t feel scared or haunted while watching the movie. In fact the suspense and secret is quite entertaining but its not spine chilling which makes you sit straight with your jaws open. So it was not right on the part of its producers to promote it as a solid horror movie.

The story is about a girl (Kangna) who gets possessed by a spirit who wants to take revenge from his killers. Adhyaman is her boyfriend who does not believe in the supernatural and is also involved in the crimes done in the past. Emraan Hashmi is a painter who gets glimpses of the future sequences which are going to happen with Kangna, so he wants to help her out of it. Emraan is also related to the spirit and the revenge but is ignorant about it.

The movie starts at a very slow speed with all unwanted scenes related to the love affair between Kangna and Adhyaman. And it only catches up as Emraan and the supernatural theme is introduced. Story wise its not a novel theme but is handled well by Mohit in his first attempt in the Suspense/Horror Genre.

If you are not a fan of English & World Cinema then you may find many sequences worth watching and entertaining. But those cinema lovers who have got their dose of Asian Horror movies (Thai/Japanese) would find it all cliché and not good enough. Screenplay is tightly written towards the end but is quite weak at the start. Cinematography is fine with some good effects too.

In the acting department Kangna gets most of the marks once again after “Fashion”. She again is featured here as a ramp model but she is top rate as a scared girl. Her scene where she abuses the spiritualist/politician sitting in the first row of a fashion show is the best scene of the movie. You will be surprised to hear the language used in that scene impressively as it will shake you well on your seats. Adhyaman Suman is just ok with not so impactful with his dialogues and dances. He does a much better job towards the end as the villain.

Emraan Hashmi once again proves that he is quite capable of carrying a solo hero movie and can also bring in the crowds on the first day itself. The opening of this movie strengthens his creditability with the producers to more higher levels. He impresses throughout the movie more with his eyes and expressions. The movie is sure going to add more numbers to his fan following with his stylish new look. It was refreshing to see Jackie Shroff in a special appearance and he acted fine. Musically, “Mahi” song is already a Hit and the other tracks are also soothing to the ear while watching the movie.

One point which goes in favour of the movie is the depth with which “Mohit” uses the couplet of Kabir “Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala”. The reference to these lines beautifully explains the trauma faced by Kangna in the end scene.

But the main point which works against the movie is that it is not a solid Horror movie as publicized by the producers. It is more like a Hitchcock suspense thriller with great sound effects and shocking secrets. There are certain unanswered question too in the movie, like there is no explanation given to the scene where Kangna insults the Politician in her fashion show (Why she did that?). If the script and narration was written more towards the horror factor, and more scary scenes then this could have been a big crowd puller. But for now it is just an Ok, time pass movie, which can be watched if you have nothing else to do for a few hours.

Lastly as per the tradition of Vishesh Films, “Raaz” is also an inspired movie with inspirations coming from more than one movie. The horror scenes (bathtub scene & the Well in the end) are inspired from “The Ring”. The hidden roof floor in the house inspired from “The Grudge”. The future prediction plot inspired from “The Final Destination” Series Movies. And the main secret of the movie which is told in the climax is inspired from Julia Roberts “Erin Brockovich” where she is also investigating about the water of an area getting contaminated due to the Energy & Gas plant running nearby. Sounds Familiar….

Rating : 2 / 5

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – Movie Preview

Unexpectedly & surprisingly I was able to get the tickets for a Friday evening show of “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” without any hassles and even the first show tickets were also available till late Thursday night. The situation was not same at the time of “Om Shanti Om”. The reason for this may be “The Safety Factor” which comes to the mind of every Indian after the recent Mumbai happenings.

Good films like “Oye Lucky Lucky Oye” have already suffered losses due to the same reason and I hope this doesn’t affect any more movies to come. Feeling the current vibes it seems that people are already eager to fall in love with “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” and looking at the promos it seems the movie should fulfill all the expectations impressively.

It’s a proven fact in the history of Indian Cinema that the movies in which the Hero returns taking a new avatar have mostly done well. An exciting curiosity factor is involved whenever the hero transforms himself into a new person and returns to win his love making a strong statement. “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” is also based on the same theme which goes in its favour along with other two aces, Shahrukh Khan & Aditya Chopra.

However, the music of the movie is not that impressive if compared to Shahrukh’s & Aditya’s earlier movies. But may be the songs look more convincing while watching them on screen.

Similar theme earlier in “Ponga Pandit”

Excited to watch Aditya Chopra’s movie after so many years, I also remember an old movie on a similar kind of theme featuring Randhir Kapoor. It was called “Ponga Pandit”. In this movie Randhir Kapoor, who is a simple religious village person is married to a very modern city girl. Now to win over his girl, Randhir Kapoor gets into a new avatar of a POP STAR and then enters the movie with a new charm. Though in current times that movie would not be considered impressive but in those days it was a novel theme to come up with and was liked by all.

 

“Rab Ne Ban Di Jodi” is also somehow based on a similar theme, but here the makers are capable of turning the plot into entertaining and exciting stuff with their trademark hit touches. So hoping to have a good time with Shahrukh in his latest venture, (Do read my detailed review on the movie.)

CHEERS!

 

Inspiration behind The Inspiring “Rock-On”

I am very much in favour of the new age cinema represented by films like “Rock on” and movies like these truly deserve the praise they get. “Rock on” is a movie which is well directed and brilliantly acted by the entire cast. It has a surprise in the form of “Farhan Akhtar” – the actor and he has done a superb job. (Read complete review of the movie here)

But recently I found (by a response to my review) that the basic idea of this movie must have been “The Happy Life” a Korean movie based on music released in 2007. It also revolves around the same theme of a band getting re-united after many years.

Apart from the musical theme, the reason why I was convinced happens to be the poster design of both the movies. I found the poster of that Korean movie also very close and similar to the main poster of Rock On (which is incidentally the cover of its audio cd too).

Chek out yourself at : http://www.koreanmovie.com/The_Happy_Life_kmintro_541/

and at : http://rockon.bigadda.com/images/wallpapers/wall6-800.jpg

In any case, inspiration is for the good this time as the end result is a welcome change for Indian Film Industry. The success of “Rock On” also opens new paths towards more innovative movies to be made intelligently in the coming years. So Rock On ……..keep rocking.

‘Rubaru’ follows ‘If Only’

Released in second half of 2008, “Rubaru” starring Randeep Hooda, is all inspired from “If Only” (2004). The story is hypothetical, where the hero is given one day to live again, in which his girlfriend had died. After he relives the day again he finds that the roles are twisted and now he has died instead of her girlfriend. The Hindi version follows the English original religiously.

Chek out at : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332136/plotsummary

RACE : Sadly, a well made but again an inspired version.

As I mentioned in my review also, I really wanted to believe that this is an original attempt by the director duo, but Abbas Mastan continue with their inspirational tie ups and again have followed a thriller from the other part of the world.

This time its “Good Bye Lover” released in 1998, directed by Roland Joffe. A story of two brothers, One Alcoholic, wife on one loves the other brother. There is a secretary also loving the boss. Brothers fight, One fells down, dies and then investigation is done by a Detective. Insurance angle is found and then new twists are there in the story. Everything is quite similar to RACE with only the horse racing as an added new angle to the story.

In my opinion RACE is a fast paced thriller which can be called as a good entertaining movie and one of the best thrillers. Abbas Mastan have no doubt again generated a super hit in “RACE”, but I only wish it was an ORIGINAL.

Check out these links for more details on the inspiration :

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/162466/Goodbye-Lover/overview

http://imdb.com/title/tt0119219/

Groundhog Day (1993) & Run Lola Run (1998)

When i witnessed, “Lola Rennt” (German) aka “Run Lola Run” (in English), I found its theme quite similar to the 1993 released film “Groundhog Day”. No doubt both films are of different genre (GHD is a comedy and RLR is a thriller), but the theme of living the same sequence of life again with a different viewpoint is similar in both.
In GHD, the main character is actually somehow living the same day again & again in a comic manner, but in RLR the main lead is thinking that she’s doing the same thrilling sequence of a day again in a different style.
However apart from the similarity, its the main time frame i found very interesting in Run Lola Run.
The female lead has to arrange 100 grands in 20 min. She thinks of living those 20 min arranging the money 3 times in different styles. And thats the total time of the movie too. Adding up the opening & sequences the movie, the total runtime is around 80 min.
I found that quite amusing.

Rang De Basanti

RDB was surely a path breaking movie in Indian Cinema which had a tough script and was directed brilliantly. Keeping the merit of the movie intact, “Rang De Basanti” has a similar plot lines in the following movies :
All My Sons (1948)
In this also some defective deal is done during the World War, which involves ministers and businessmen. This deal lead to disasters in the war at the cost of many lives. The deal effects the life of the persons related later after some years.
Jesus de Montreal (1989)
Here the similarity is that the actors acting in a play take the roles as real and start fighting as their roles.

It is to be noted that these movies are listed only as “similarities” and RDB should be treated as an impressive and influencing Original of its own kind on the lines of “Lagaan”.

Raaste Ka Pathar

It is one of Amitabh’s earliest films and is poorly lifted from 1960 film “The Apartment”. If you wish to see then choose the english version for viewing. The same film was again adapted recently in “Metro”.

Raghu Romeo

This film is a well acted movie but strangely even when it is an inspired movie, it won awards at certain film festivals. Sadly it’s a version of Spanish Director Pedro Almodovar’s “Atame!”….also known as “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down” which came in 1990 and also won many awards at different film festival all over the world.

More in “R” Category

Ramji London Waley – Green Card
Rakht – The Gift
Raqeeb – Murder By Natural Causes
Road – Duel (1971) / Breakdown (1997) / The Hitcher (1996)
Rog – Laura (1944)
Raaz – What Lies Beneath
Roja – Frantic (1988) (Main Theme Inspired)
Rafoo Chakker – Some Like It Hot
Ram Shastra – “Hard To Kill” & “Patriot Games”
Red Rose (1980) – The Boston Strangler (1968) (Basic Plot)