Swades

Jambo folks! I am writing after three months. In the meantime, I had my half yearly exams and a memorable holiday in Kenya! Now let's get back to our mission i.e. looking for must-watch movies.

Mohan Bhargava (played by SRK) is a big shot at NASA who takes a couple of weeks off to go to India and bring Kaveri Amma (Kishori Ballal), his motherly nanny, with him to the USA. When he reaches the old age home where Kaveri Amma had been living, he gets to know that she left that place a few years ago and went to live in some small village named Charanpur. Here he finds his childhood friend Gita (Gayatri Joshi), who brought Kaveri Amma with her and works hard to spread education in the village. Then the story revolves around the social problems Mohan witnesses in the village and the kindling of his love story with Gita ( because you gotta lighten the mood in a commercial film :P )

Many of my readers would wonder why I am blogging about this well-known film starring none other than the Baadshah of Bollywood himself. The reasons are :-

1. Many people I have met haven't seen this film or have forgotten it.
2. Many people appreciated his recent movies including 'Chennai Express' and 'Happy New Year'

 I believe in the ideology of 'to each his own' but at the same time, I want to give words to my views. This man has worked for decades as an actor which is easily visible in the quality of his acting but the issue is with the quality of scripts he has agreed to work on. Lately, he has also exploited the fame of his superhit film 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge' in at least three films including the two listed above and the third being 'Dilwale'.  Well, you can't blame him too. He has tasted all: Name, Fame, Critical Acclaim and Money. It's the last thing which one just can't have enough. He's got nothing to prove and a fanbase which's gonna consume anything with his name on it but we can't let him waste his talent on movies like Chennai Express. Even SRK has the right to complain because when he works in a masterpiece like Swades he gets a low response at the box office but if he acts in a crappy movie like Chennai Express, the box office gets hundreds of crores. A shopkeeper can't sell products which are not popular among the masses irrespective of their quality.

Swades covers social problems like the ill fate of senior citizens, woes of farmers, the evil caste system and low levels of development in the rural areas of the country and at the same time it never loses it's entertainment factor. Its well-accepted songs have been penned by the legendary lyricist Javed Akhtar and have been set to music by AR Rahman. It's always a treat to have them work together. The movie is certainly a delight. Let's hope there is a change in the taste of the masses and such movies get their due at the box office as well.

                                                                    

Directed by	Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced by	Ashutosh Gowariker Ronnie Screwvala
Screenplay by	Ashutosh Gowariker Sameer Sharma
Story by	Ashutosh Gowariker M. G. Sathya
Starring	Shah Rukh Khan Gayatri Joshi Kishori Balal
Music by	A.R.Rahman

This movie is UDAY-CERTIFIED !!

Shaurya

Howdy folks ! This is the second courtroom drama I am writing about.
The first one was FRACTURE :( http://uday-certified.blogspot.com/2016/06/gregory-hoblits-fracture.html ).

The movie begins with a military operation taking place on a rainy night in some small village in Kashmir. A bullet kills a major. A captain fired the gun and it's no accident.

Captain Javed Khan (Deepak Dobriyal) is accused of killing his superior officer Major Virendra Rathore ( Pankaj Tripathi) and he faces court martial. Even though it appears to be an open and shut case due to Captain Javed's silence, it's a sensitive one since the incident took place under the command of Brigadier Rudra Pratap Singh (Kay Kay Menon), a highly decorated and influential officer. Major Akash Kapoor (Javed Jaffery), a sincere person who is serious about his career is assigned as the prosecutor of the case. His friend, Major Siddhant Chaudhary (Rahul Bose), a not-so-serious guy who really doesn't aspire to achieve heights in his career (which he chose due to parental pressure) insists on getting posted with with him so Major Akash gets him appointed as Captain Javed's defense lawyer. Initially he doesn't take his case seriously but after getting himself in a mess by giving an interview to Journalist Kavya Shastri (Minissha Lamba), he starts taking this case seriously. From here the movie picks up pace. Would he be able to defend Captain Javed against all odds? Is captain Javed guilty as accused? Would Brigadier Pratap's power influence the case and vice versa ?



This movie is inspired from 'A Few Good Men', an American legal drama made in 1992. I have seen that movie too but I chose to write about this film because of three main reasons:-

• I am a fan of Kay Kay Menon's dialogue delivery 
• The movie has a backdrop of Kashmir
• Having seen Bollywood all my life, I am used to happy endings :P

 As I have said before, Kay Kay Menon 's dialogue delivery is the soul of the film and as far as I can recollect, he has only four scenes in the film. Rahul Bose's character was a bit irritating in the beginning but he did a good job in showing the conversion from a careless guy too a guy with an aim in mind. Minissha Lamba's character was irritating to me throughout the film but that's no fault of her. Maybe the writers added such characters to balance the serious theme of the movie (and that's where Bollywood needs to work on). Javed Jaffrey did a great job too. Only while writing this post I realised that Captain Javed is none other than Deepak Dobrial, the guy from Tanu Weds Manu. An actor has done a commendable job if he is able to absorb his character completely and being a theatre personality, Deepak Dobrial didn't have a tough time doing so. There is also a poem by Javed Akhtar (my idol) which tells what true shaurya, true valor is all about and it is recited by Shahrukh Khan, who in his own mesmerizing style adds life to the poem. In short, the movie is gonna be a different experience.

Directed by	Samar Khan
Produced by	Haresh Dayani
Written by	Samar Khan Jaydeep Sarkar Aparna Malhotra
Starring	Kay Kay Menon Rahul Bose Minissha Lamba Javed Jaffrey Deepak Dobriyal PankajTripathi

This movie is UDAY-CERTIFIED !!

Luck By Chance

This is the 10th movie and the 1st Hindi movie I am writing about !! I hope you guys are getting to know about some good movies via my blog. Keep giving your support and suggestions to improve this blog.

The movie is an insight into Bollywood. It exhibits Bollywood from different perspectives. You have Bollywood's view from a struggling actor, a starlet, a producer, a director, a star kid, a superstar and even from wives of directors and producers. As the name suggests, the movie also emphasizes on the 'luck factor' involved in the industry.

The story revolves around Vikram Jai Singh (Farhan Akhtar), a struggling actor who is hardworking, optimistic and has an edge over others with his manipulation skills. Even though he doesn't believe in luck or destiny, these play a crucial role in him achieving his goal. He meets Sona Mishra(Konkona Sen Sharma), who supports him when his own friend lambasted (#vocab :P ) him. What happens when he tastes success? Is he able to keep his relations unharmed? Does he sever his ties with those 'who knew him before he was nothing'?

Zoya Akhtar made her directorial debut in this film and she has done wonders in it. The story never loses your attention. Dialogues and lyrics have been written by none other than Javed Akhtar. Songs are class-apart. Sapnon se bharein naina is a gem.

Rishi Kapoor is extraordinary in his role of Rommy Rolly, the producer. He is natural in his acting and manages to extract laughter from the audience with his appearance every single time. Saurabh Shukla plays the role of an acting teacher and the mastery of his role is conveyed at the very beginning. Dimple Kapadia too added life to her role of Neena Walia, the diva. Isha Sharvani plays Nikki Walia, the ditzy star child really well. Hrithik Roshan and Juhi Chawla have special appearances in the film and they too are entertaining. In short, all the actors have done justice to their roles which makes this film a treat to watch.

It's sad that the film didn't get the recognition it should have had.I hope you guys enjoy it !

Directed by	Zoya Akhtar
Produced by	Farhan Akhtar Ritesh Sidhwani
Story by	Zoya Akhtar
Starring	Farhan Akhtar Konkona Sen Sharma Alyy Khan Rishi Kapoor Dimple Kapadia Juhi Chawla Isha Sharvani Hrithik Roshan Sanjay Kapoor
Music by	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

This movie is UDAY-CERTIFIED !!