Souvik Reviews

Trunk (I) (2009 Video)

One of the worst movies ever made

[1/10 · 11 January 2010]

I am being forced to write a review for this movie for two reasons: 1. This is undoubtedly one of the worst movies ever made and I feel I should warn people 2. There is a review from a guy called mm-70 or something that actually looks and sounds like from the production team themselves and is very misleading. This movie is all a worst movie is... and more. Bad acting, Bad camera work, bad script, bad dialogues, bad direction and a really really bad ending, this movie has it all! The movie is about a girl who gets kidnapped by a man and put into the trunk of his car, which has a two-way speaker/mic system. They keep talking to each other throughout the movie and thats about it. In the end, the girl sprays what looked like pepper and jolts him with electricity before locking him into his own trunk! The last shot shows the trunk open and bloody hand-prints indicating a sequel! Please, spare us the horror of even thinking about one! Don't even think about catching this one, even of you have absolutely nothing to do. This will bore you to no end and frustrate you to no end. I do not see an option of zero on IMDb, hence the rating of 1.

Dasvidaniya (2008)

Makes your heart bleed: How a common man lives out his dreams

[9/10 · 18 November 2008]

There are times when a movie makes you feel like crap, and there are times when a movie makes you realize life is good. Dasvidaniya falls in the later group. Dasvidaniya is the story of a common man who is terminally ill. He makes a wish-list... and lives each thing one by one. This movie will actually make your heart bleed. Because the story of Amar is our story. We do not live our dreams because we have the illusion that the end is far and we have enough time. But later realize time eluded us and we have not lived a single one of our dreams. This movie shows you what life can be only if we strive to achieve what our heart says. No time is short if you enjoy and live out every moment of our lives. Vinay Pathak, as usual, is brilliant. So are all the others. I simply never thought I would some day watch a bollywood movie where all of the characters are perfect and all the actors are at their best. This is truly a milestone. Everything about this movie is perfect, except for the 'Love' aspect of it. Vinay finds love in the arms of a Russian 'less-than-honourable' lady. Something about the situation here does not feel right. Their encounter is realistic but not their relationship. This movie truly deserves to be sent to the Oscars in the foreign film category, for India - and not craps like Devdaas and the rest of the bunch (I do not ever remember what they were!). This is what true movie making is about. This is called portraying true emotions on screen and sucking you into it. Its a shame that this movie has been defeated at the BO. I guess Indian audience has to go a long way to choose this over Dostana or the latest Bond flick.

Zibahkhana (2007)

Relies heavily on Hollywood, still well made

[5/10 · 4 November 2008]

The main purpose of writing this review is to give my honest opinion about Zibahkhana. What prompted me to write this review is the fact that most reviewers here seem to be oblivious of mainstream Hollywood gore/horror flicks. But, let me start by congratulating Mr. Khan for directing a very well made movie. As I watched it I could very well make out that the resources available for this film were very very limited. Even then the special effects, lights and the camera work was amazing. It definitely does not feel like a first time venture. But the main reason for my disappointment for this movie is the fact that it won the Best Gore flick at Austin. When I started watching this movie I was expecting something new, something fresh. Sadly, the only thing fresh in this movie are the actors. That's about it. Rooshanie, Haider and Osman deserves special mention. Why, I even almost fell in love with Rooshanie. She is a cutie and very good at expressions. I am not mentioning Rubya because she is supposed to be a veteran and hence good acting is expected. That brings me to the negatives. The primary disappointment is the Music. Its hilarious to say the least! Listen to the background score and you'll know what I mean. Come on. Mr. Khan you could have done much better than this! At least you, as the director, should know that the music is the main ingredient behind creating a truly creepy atmosphere. The other negative part is this movie relies heavily on Gore classics like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead and Haute Tension. The beginning is clearly Night of the Living dead, Middle is Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the End is almost Haute Tension! Anyone who watched these three do not bother to expect anything original. I'm aware that this is your first venture Mr. Khan and also of the limited resources and budget you had. Still you made quite an impression by merging these three films together and doing a very good job at that. But changing the background music and twisting the story a little bit more could not have hurt the budget I'm sure. Expectations from you have now increased Mr. Khan. I'm sure you'll do much better in your next venture. Kudos for a job well done. Cheers!

The Lazarus Project (2008)

This movie is slow????

[8/10 · 20 October 2008]

The different posts and reviews for this movie has one thing in common. They all say its a slow-paced movie. And thats what made me write this review. I will not dwell much on the story because the story itself is the main interest in this film. Rather, I would just discuss the so called 'slowness' of the film. For the people who said this is slow: What did you expect? A 10 min long movie? This movie is not slow. Period. The film is very well paced and fast. I did not find a frame in the movie to get up from my seat or even blink. Thats how fast this movie is. I do not really understand the understandings of cine-lovers when they say its not a well paced film. Really! Watch this movie. A great movie with a great storyline. Hollywood had started to getting boring the last few months and this movie breaks that numbness. Another great thriller. 8/10, Undoubtedly.

The Legend of Drona (2008)

Set your expectations right and you'll love this movie

[8/10 · 13 October 2008]

I'll probably be called 'promoter' of this film, or 'friend' of the director for writing this review as has been the case with the people who liked the film and dared to express themselves here. But the negative reviews here and from everywhere forces me to pen down my own thoughts about Drona. Let me start by saying that if there is any competitor for the LOR series (Loved them) or even Harry Potter series(stupid is what I call them), its this Film. Drona. A very brave attempt in introducing a subject untouched by Bollywood, but experimented with and explored by Hollywood. Drona is the story of a common man who realizes that he is the guard of 'Amrit', the potion of eternal life. His fight to save it from the hand of Asura (The demon) is the story of Drona. Abhisek Bachchan is quite convincing in this role, first as the common man, and then as the commander of Super-powers. He realizes his own strength and potential. Priyanka Chopra is beautiful as usual. We do not see women being action-heroines in Hindi Films. She dared to be different and how well! KK, as the 'abnormal' incarnation of Asura gives another awesome performance. Let me also say here that the people who are hitting KK for his 'worst acting ever' does not even realize the character he plays. He is supposed to be comical and dangerous at the same time. He is supposed to be insane. He is the incarnation of evil. What did you expect? Gabbar Singh? The story is tight set. You will not (or should I say should not?) feel lax at any point, expect for the unnecessary song-and-dance routines. There are two. Which bring me to the negative point of the film. If the director had to be courageous enough to make such a movie he should also have the guts to cut-off the totally unnecessary song-and-dance to please the front row audiences. The background music is fitting for this kind of a film. The music kind of introduces the concept of 'Theme' into this movie, which is NOT the case with most Bollywood ventures. Let me end by saying that if you have your expectations set right and if you like films in the line of LOR, this is definitely for you. Now let the bashing begin from the members! I'm ready to take them with a smile. 'I' loved Drona. Period.

Hello (II) (2008)

Loyal to the Novel, lacks the spark

[7/10 · 12 October 2008]

Hello, the movie, is loyal to its source 'One Night@ Call Center". Thats where the issue lies. Let me explain. Hello is the story of 3 Men and 3 Women working at a call center, their lives, their work and above all their relationships. Without dwelling much into the very well known and popular story I can safely say that the story is very loyal to its source. Its so loyal that it forgets that reading a piece of Literature and watching the same thing on-screen are two completely different experience. The Novel is so popular that most Indians are very familiar with the story and how it ends. When they go to watch the same thing on-screen it becomes very predictable. It actually becomes boring to he movie-goer even though the acting and the character developments are well enough to match the novel. But then again, when filming a novel of such popularity a direction just would not dare to twist the story to an extent where the original becomes separable from its copy on celluloid. So, if you have read the novel, you have seen the film too. Regarding the acting, the only thing awful in this movie is Mr. Khan. He should stop playing characters which are suitable for actors 20 years younger than him. Specially 'paired' with an actress as young and beautiful as Ms. Kaif. One of the comments on IMDb objects to the movie calling Americans Dumb. Agreed, they are definitely not. But it is a well known fact that in call centers in India the '35=10' rule is followed. It is to ensure that no agent is rude to the 'general' customers (who are, in most cases, 'relatively dumb', regardless of which country they belong to) and not to poke fun at any country. Also, racist calls are rampant in call centers. In all call centers. Not just those serving US clients/customers. Overall - 7/10. Strong recommendation: Set your expectations right before you see this movie IF you have read the book.

Shaurya (2008)

Definitely a copy.... but a good copy...

[6/10 · 17 April 2008]

Shaurya centers around the characters of Javed Khan, an army-man accused of the crime of killing his own colleague and undergoing a court marshal and the events leading to it. He is defended in court by Siddharth (Rahul Bose), a lawyer in the army. The opposition is played by Javed Jaffrey, a very close friend of Rahul Roy's character. The movie is a direct, almost frame-to-frame copy of 'A Few Good Men (1992)'. Even the very famous quote "You can't handle the truth" is delivered by Brig. Pratap (K.K. Menon), who plays his role to perfection. This movie is worth a watch only to see the acting of Rahul Bose and K.K. menon. K.K. Surprises us once again. He looks and acts the part of the brigadier to perfection, as if he IS Brigadier Pratap himself. Intense. Very intense. Its sad to think an actor of his caliber is wasted in Bollywood. He is one of the finest you will ever see. Again, if we consider that the common viewer in India has not seen the classic original (because it is an 'English' movie and does not have the usual dose of Sex and Violence) then this movie is very interesting. A very good story told in a wonderful way. However, if we consider the serious cine-goer then this movie is too predictable because we already know how it ends, don't we? And we are proved right.

6/10 - because its a good copy with amazing acting.

In the Name of God (2007)

My Introduction to Lollywood....

[10/10 · 4 April 2008]

This is the first Pakisthani Film I saw. And it made me write a review after a long time. It also made a very important change to the way I thought about the great country called Pakisthan. But lets come to that later. First the movie. What can I say? I believe this is one of the greatest movies ever to be made in Asia, or for that matter - in the world. 'khuda ke liye' is tremendous in terms of direction, Story, acting, music, drama.... what not? The list is endless. I wont really go into the details of the story. I believe this movie is to be seen to know and understand the story. I will just say this movie made me rethink. Being an Indian I never really had very high regards for Lollywood movies I must confess. But this movie changed all that. Now I want to watch more and more of this great country and the great industry called Lollywood. You rock! I remember seeing Shaan, one of the lead actors, in a music video before. I can never forget his appearance. He has the great persona of a magnificent actor. When I saw him in 'Khuda Ke Liye' I was stunned. He is too intense. You have to see him to believe me really. The director of the movie has, in all practicality, done a great job. I had heard that he is one of the greatest that Pakisthan has. I do disagree. He is by far one of the greatest that the world has seen. This movie has knocked me down. Coming to the end I must say this also changed my idea of the country called Pakisthan. This country is much greater than what we are lead to believe.If what we see in the film is true the Pakisthan is undoubtedly one of the most modern and human society that we have seen. Now that I have fallen in love with Lollywood let me now stop and proceed to dig up some more great movie-making from Pakisthan. Kudos for a job very well done!

10/10.

Bombay to Bangkok (2008)

Disappointed!!!!

[4/10 · 27 January 2008]

Bombay to Bangkok is the story of a small time cook in a dingy restaurant named Shankar (Shreyas Talpade). Faith leads him to Bangkok... well actually local Mafia goons makes him escape because he had stolen the money that they had received. There Shankar meets Jasmine (Lina Christianson). She is a masseur at a local club. Shankar falls in love with her. Because Shankar pretends he is a doctor and the Mafia keeps on chasing him Shankar hides the bag of money into one of the medical supplies going with the team of doctors that he is a part of now. Now after reaching Bangkok Shankar must take the help of his lady love to get the money hidden into one of the numerous medical supply boxes... Thats Bombay to Bangkok for you. The rest is all running around (read riding around)and some poor attempts at making this a comedy. The only highlights of the film are the songs that plays in the background whenever Shankar meets Jasmine and his dialogue "Ab bas mooh mat kholna!" (Now just don't open your mouth!) whenever Jasmin walks towards him because Jasmin cannot speak English properly and the only words that come out of her mouth are in Thai. Overall just a time pass film, that too if you have nothing else to do. Its hard to believe this as a venture of Nagesh Kukunoor. The same guy who gave us films like Hyderabad blues and Dor. Nagesh should stick to making 'his kind' of cinema and not try to be commercial. He has just proved he is not good at it at all. Good acting by Shreyas (as usual) and the man who played his friend 'Rashminder singh' or Rashes. The guy who plays KMK, the mafia Don's son definitely deserves special mention too. Other than that the whole cast of the film is a waste. Lina has a long way to go as far as acting is concerned. Lets face it - she is too wooden to act. Go watch it... if you have absolutely nothing else to do. NOTHING.

Disturbia (2007)

Good... but predictable...

[6/10 · 13 December 2007]

To write my own comments for this movie I wont go into the storyline, that has been done by most people. My own take on this movie is its good and enjoyable with brilliant performances by the actors. However its very predictable, maybe real life is... but... This movie left me yearning for more. I felt it could have been something better, or in the absence of a better word - 'More Thrilling'. A good watch though for a lazy Saturday afternoon. Recommended, but not very highly. This is NOT a classic, and it cannot be expected to be one.

David Morse was Brilliant and so was Shia LaBeouf and Sarah Roemer. The plot is dense but too predictable.

The best scene in the movie is in the beginning though. Its when Shia loses his father...

6/10.

Apocalypto (2006)

Fantastically & Brilliantly made, but not one of Gibson's bests

[8/10 · 11 June 2007]

This movie is a jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring tale of an Indian youth named 'Jaguar Paw' and portrays his life and battle to save himself and his family from the 'evil' Mayan warriors who invade his village and destroy it. The film depicts the events par-excellence and is brilliant in its story telling. However, do not expect Passion of Christ or Braveheart here. The story is much weaker than these two earlier Gibson ventures and does not really meet quite upto the same standards. Yougbloud is brilliant as the lead though everyone is overshadowed by Raoul Trujillo in his role as Zero Wolf, the main 'villain' in this movie. He was absolutely fantastic. A loving father at one end and a ruthless commander on the other. He was just brilliant. Definitely a must-watch.

The Namesake (2006)

Mira Nair at her best

[9/10 · 28 May 2007]

I saw the movie last night and I was stunned.

The story of this film revolves around a couple (Irfaan and Tabu) settled in the US. They have a Son and a Daughter who are both suffering from identity crisis as they try to merge themselves into the US crowd. The primary character of the film is Gogol, son of the couple, named after his father's fav writer Nikolai Golgol. He faces ridicules from his friends because of his name as well. The story is about Golgol and how he finally manages to find his identity. Excellent acting by Irfaan and Tabu. They are known to be perfectionists and they prove it again in this film. The way that they look and speak the part of the couple is just too good. Mira nair proves herself again. She is an industry in herself and does justice to the novel. Watch it.

Rashomon (1950)

A Tale of Human ego

[9/10 · 20 August 2006]

Rashomon is a tale of human ego. At least thats what a common cine-viewer would feel. Kurosawa is known to play with human emotions, and he uses this artistic skill to his advantage in this movie. The story, quite simply, revolves around a Bandit, A man and his wife. It encircles a wood-cutter, a priest and a common poor man and an exorcist. Thats all the cast is. The story is quite simple too. The Man travels with his wife through a jungle and a Bandit sees the wife and starts lusting for her. The bandit follows them and violates the Wife. The Husband is dead by the end of the event. Now, the story revolves around this death and the mystery surrounding it. Everyone has a different version for the event. The film revolves around all these four stories told by the Bandit, the Wife, The dead man (through an exorcist) and the wood-cutter. Every version, as told by each, is different. Every story is told and ends in supporting, or rather feeding the ego of the person telling the tale. Thats where the pshycology and the ego comes in. Amazing movie, highly recommended.

Tharzan - La vera storia del figlio della giungla (1995)

Amazing Rosa

[10/10 · 23 January 2005]

If you like porn classics here is one... Rosa Caracciolo is absolutely amazing. Her act as Jane is absolutely mind-blowing, specially the first meeting that she has with Tarzan. She has 'Expressions'- a rare quality that is missing in almost all porn stars. This movie & Rosa has one thing in common, they both carry emotions. Strongly recommended. By the way - I have become a Rosa Caracciolo fan & have started collecting her photos from the Internet.... she deserves it. Watch this movie & become a Rosa fan... she is mind-blowing.... By the way this movie also stars Her real life husband Rocco Siffredi as Tarzan himself... watch them blow the screen apart...