Cast: Genelia D'Souza, Karan Makhija, Alishka Varde, Pratiek Babbar, Ratna Pathak, Manjari Fadnis, Ayaz Khan, Sugandha Garg, Nirav Mehta, Renuka Kunzru, Anuradha Patel, Jayant Kriplani
Cinematographer: Manoj Lobo
Story Writer: Abbas Tyrewala
Banner: Aamir Khan Productions
Music Director: A. R. Rahman
Singer: Runa , A. R. Rahman, Sukhwinder Singh, Krishna , Rashid Ali, Aslam
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala
Producer: Aamir Khan
Director: Abbas Tyrewala
No horsing around. Let’s cut to the chase. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is a simple, refreshingly different romantic film that makes you wanna fall in love.
There is something about Imran Khan that makes him very endearing. He has the demeanor of a shy guy with a rare combination of the sharp and meek, the clever and vulnerable. He has an unpretentious, honest face, clear eyes and a voice that is confident and also inhibited. To a T, he suits the role of a Rajput who can’t even kill a fly, forget about punching someone or seeing the inside of a jail.
There is something about Genelia D'Souza , the way she smiles and the way she scowls. She has a fine blend of femininity and tomboyishness. She doesn’t have the face of a stunner, but it’s a face you can watch for hours without getting bored. To a T she suits the role of a girl who would love someone without knowing it, a girl who would pick fights with other boys but can’t tell what’s in her heart to the person most close.
All these actors are very appropriately cast in a story that has loads of youthful exuberance, hilarity, love, friendship, romance and heartbreak.
‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ is about a bunch of friends. Jai aka Ratz (Imran Khan) and Aditi aka Meawoo (Genelia) are so close that people close to them think they are in love. Only Jai and Aditi themselves are unaware of any such feelings towards each other. Rotlu, the brooder, has a crush on Aditi. And Bombs, the tubelight, silently longs for Jai. Jiggy and Shaleen are totally chilled out. Together the sextet makes a gang of singing, dancing, joking and joshing buddies.
Things change when Jai falls for Meghna (Manjari Phadnis). Aditi feels Jai getting distant from her and this disturbs her. Then, Aditi too finds her Mr. Right in Sushant, a broad-shouldered ‘man’ with a roving eye. Now, Jai feels he is losing Aditi. How Jai and Aditi get out of their romantic mess and discover their heart’s true desire is what ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ is about.
Paresh Rawal comes in a few scenes and leaves you floored. Ratna Pathak Shah is good. The young actors playing the bunch of friends are natural. It’s hard to notice any acting in their performance. Arbaaz and Sohail are absolutely adorable as the rustic cowboys eager to pick up fights. Not to forget A R Rahman ’s music that blends seamlessly into the narrative whether it’s played in background or in foreground.
In the end, ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ can be aptly summed up in a few lines from the song ‘Nazrein Churana’. The lines go: “dil ki yahi khataa hai, dil ko nahin pataa hai, ki dil chahta hai kya.”
Movie Review - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
Bollywood Movie - Sarkar Raj
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Govind Namdeo 
Music Director: Bapi - Tutul
Story Writer:Prashant Pandey
Producer:Pravin Nischol, Z Picture Company, Ram Gopal Varma
Director:Ram Gopal Varma
After being pummeled by one and all for his disastrous and tortuous Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag , the director redeems himself with a fairly engrossing tale of political intrigue, deception and betrayal in ‘Sarkar Raj’.
After convincing Sarkar, Shankar along with Anita goes to the villages to mobilize support of the masses. However, things are not what they seem to be. From shady fixers with an eye on multi-million kick-backs to wannnabes who are ready to incite millions of people against the highly controversial project, Shankar's dream project gradually becomes a political minefield.
With its overwhelming visuals ‘Sarkar Raj’ transports you into a dark, grim world of the Nagare family where light and shade flit across the faces of the characters like thoughts in their mind, and where the dimly-lit interiors of the Nagare household are slashed by beams of light from windows and doors. In this setting, a dirty game of politics is played, a game in which blood is spilled and the main players are themselves controlled like marionettes by someone higher above. If you thought politics was all about semantics, ‘Sarkar Raj’ might prove you wrong.
The story is set into motion with the coming of Anita Rajan ( Aishwarya Rai ), a CEO of a power company planning to set up a power plant in the heart of Maharashtra. When the proposal is first brought before Sarkar ( Amitabh Bachchan ), he rejects it outright because it would mean displacement of thousands of people from villages.
But Shankar is convinced that the project will bring benefits to the people. And being a son who has learnt to speak his mind, he convinces Sarkar and begins organizing rallies to villages to convince the villagers of the same.
The opposition comes in the form of a firebrand social activist Sanjay Somji (Rajesh Shringarpure) who – not so coincidentally – happens to be the doted grandson of none other than Sarkar’s mentor, Rao saab (Dilip Prabhawalkar).
Others wishing the doom of Sarkar clan include a middleman (Govind Namdev), the deputy CM (Sayaji Shinde) and a Gujarati businessman.
However, ‘Sarkar Raj’ falters on two grounds – first, its loud background score, second, the inclination of the characters to say something heavy or deep in every dialogue they speak. After a while, the highly innuendo-ed dialogues cease to have an impact, unless they come from Big B, of course.
The supertalented actor takes the center-stage in the last hour of the film and sweeps you off your feet.
Watch this film for him and Abhishek.
Sarkar Raj - Premiere
Bangkok, (IANS) A dazzling 'Green Carpet' welcome was given to Ram Gopal Varma's "Sarkar Raj" that premiered on the opening day of the three-day International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards gala here Friday evening as scores of fans chanted "Abhishek, Abhishek", to welcome Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, who stars in the film with his glamorous wife Aishwarya and iconic father Amitabh.
The three Bachchans were the cynosure of all eyes at the Paragon Cineplex, where the movie was screened and which was splashed with numerous posters of the film.
Hordes of Indian and foreign fans were waiting to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars at the venue.
Sahej, 12, a girl from Chandigarh, has come to Bangkok for a vacation. "I came to know that IIFA was taking place here only on the flight. So I came here to watch the stars," a gushing Sahej told IANS.
Another young fan, 16-year-old Rishi from Kolkata, wanted to watch the premiere of the film but could only manage to see the film stars. "I tried to get the passes for the movie, but couldn't. But I am happy to have seen my favourite stars here," he said.
Though the Bachchan family kept their fans waiting for almost two hours, it failed to dampen their enthusiasm to see the stars walk down the green carpet. The IIFA decided on a green carpet premiere to show its concern over global warming.
Amitabh walked in with his wife Jaya Bachchan, followed by Abhishek and Aishwarya. Among other Indian star celebrities at the premiere were Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, David Dhawan, Navin Nischol, Ajay Bijli, Zayed Khan, veteran actress Mumtaz with her daughters and also Neil Nitin Mukesh.
Though Kareena Kapoor, Viveik Oberoi, Urmila Matondkar and Diya Mirza are here to attend the IIFA, they preferred to give the "Sarkar Raj" premiere a miss.
Thai princess Sirindhorn, who was to attend the premiere, arrived late amid tight security after all the stars had settled down, and made a quiet exit.
The high numbers of foreign media covering the IIFA is an indication of the success of the event. Foreign media persons even sat and watched "Sarkar Raj".
The IIFA, which aims to promote brand Bollywood beyond Indian shores, is in its ninth edition. It has travelled across three continents and eight countries since its inception in 2000. Last year it was held in Yorkshire.
Source: www.bollywoodworld.com
Bollywood Movie Review - Hastey Hastey
Movie:Hastey Hastey
Cast : Jimmy Shergill, Rajpal Yadav, Nisha Rawal, Ashutosh Bajpai, Manoj Joshi, Upasna Singh, Ben Warner, Samuel Byen, Puja Gupta, Monishka Gupta, Jawed Sheikh, Shivaram Kumar, Charlie Durso, Shakti Kapoor, Albert Jassani, Vikas Anand
Story Writer:Rohit Batra, Bholu Khan
Playback Singer:Zubeen Garg, Shiv Ram Kumar, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala, Shaan
Music Director:Anu Malik
Production Executives:Sunil Sharma
Director:Toony
Producer:Shivaram Kumar, Ashutosh Bajpai
Banner:Go Cam Films
After dull and dry spell at the box-office, this summer vacation brings out downpour of comical delights and HASTEY HASTEY is presumed to be one of such "cool" offerings. Comical flicks have never been great on melodic quotient but have certainly provided amusing fan-fare for its upbeat titillating musical outburst. After sloppy ANAMIKA and notable WOODSTOCK VILLA, veteran Anu Malik along with dependable Sameer gets into the proceeding for this comical caper. Like its stumpy profile and undistinguished face value, the album too disappoints with its lackluster display an d adds another blob in the credits of ever-fighting composer.
The movie stars Jimmy Shergill with newcomers Nisha Rawal and Monishka Gupta.
Neel (Jimmy) is a brilliant student at Columbia University. His pedantic personality and his charming looks have Maya (Nisha), an upper-class Catholic-Indian girl, floored. It is a two-sided love which looks like headed to the altar until Neel’s career ambition gets the better of him.
Sunny (Rajpal Yadav) is Neel’s roommate and a close friend with an incurable inclination towards flirting with girls. Though he flirts, his heart beats only for one girl – a stunning blonde named Tina.
Neel and Maya’s love story is put in limbo when he travels to India to start a call centre. In this initiative he is helped by an enterprising Tanvi (Monishka) who has a crush on Neel. But when Neel rebuffs Tanvi’s advances, she plots revenge. She hatches a conspiracy and Neel finds himself stuck in a scam.
‘Hastey Hastey’ becomes somewhat watchable thanks to Jimmy Shergill and Rajpal Yadav . Though Jimmy’s performance appears half-hearted at places, overall he manages to carry the film on his shoulders. Rajpal Yadav chips in some light moments. Newbie Nisha Rawal and Monishka Gupta have great scope for improvement as far as acting is concerned.
Bollywood Movie Review: Woodstock Villa
Cast: Sikander Kher, Neha Uberoi, Boman Irani, Anupama Verma, Gulshan Grover, Gaurav Gera, Arbaaz Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Sachin Khedekar
Music Director: Aryans , Shibani Kashyap, Anu Malik
Producer: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sanjay Gupta
Director: Hansal Mehta
Banner: White Feather Films
In the tradition of film noir that is guaranteed to shock, thrill and surprise. A compelling film from director Hansal Mehta about swiftly changing moralities in today's world. After a successful businessman's stunning wife disappears, hostile and taunting ransom demands follow. As the true nature of stakes for the captor and his captives unfold, Woodstock Villa lithely transforms from a precision neo noir into a chilling and shocking thriller, and ultimately into a vivid, invigorating, icy masterpiece of murder, mystery and suspense.
The film tells the story of a jobless youth Samir (Sikander) who sleeps around with his ex-boss’s wife (which explains why he’s jobless). He lives in a rented apartment but can’t pay the rent and he owes money to a don who frequently gives him “tonic” (read thrashing) for not paying the dues.
At a discotheque, he falls for a stunner named Zara ( Neha Oberoi ), who makes him an unusual proposal to kidnap her because she wants to test her husband’s love. And the husband here happens to be a rich businessman, Jatin Kampani ( Arbaaz Khan ).
Hard-pressed with need for money, Samir laps the offer only to find himself in a mess after Zara dies in captivity. He buries the body, erases the evidence, and leaves the city. But then another surprise awaits him.
‘Woodstock Villa’ is one of those movies that try desperately hard to jolt you with repeated twists in the tale. But the way those twists unravel takes the punch out of the plot. For instance, the final twist, when the camera specifically focuses on a bag with money on two different occasions when it changes hands kills the suspense for a discerning viewer.
To put it in other words, ‘Woodstock Villa’ is a vain and superficial work of cinema.
Thankfully, Sikander Kher is the silver lining in this dark enterprise. The guy has it in him to carry a movie on his sole shoulders. There are a few moments in the movie that show glimpses of his potential. It is a pity that ‘Woodstock Villa’ is his launchpad.
Neha Oberoi is eye-catching and manages her part without hamming. Arbaaz Khan has at last begun to act in the real sense of the word. Sanjay Dutt ’s song seems deliberately squeezed in the narrative.
‘Woodstock Villa’ is a film that will appeal to those who are a sucker for style. Those who want substance should better steer clear of this movie.
