Comedy films of 2009

November 28th, 2009

We are almost coming to the end of 2009 and if we look back in Bollywood there were so many films this year that attempted at tickling the audience’s funny bone. However out of all of them some were successful while some flop at the box office.

Here is a list of top 10 comedy films that entertained me this year

1. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani – directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, this film was a thorough entertainer. Ranbir was at his comedy best and Katrina too added her charm to the movie.

2. All the best – Staring Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu and Mugdha Godse, this was a typical Rohit Shetty film who has directed successful films like Golmaal and Golmaal returns.

3. De dana dan stars the famous comic trio of Hera Pheri fame – Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty. Directed by Priyadarshan, this film has 27 characters!

4. Do knot disturb – when it’s a David Dhawan comedy, you know what to expect! Starring Govinda, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh and Sushmita Sen, this film is a typical Bollywood comedy entertainer.

5. 99 – Starring Kunal Khemu, Soha Ali Khan, Cyrus Broacha, Boman Irani and Mahesh Manrekar, 99 is a different, innovative comedy directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK.

6. Quick Gun Murugun – comedy at its best! Based on a character Murugun which already has a cult following when it was launched, this film makes you laugh aloud and how!

7. Chintuji – Staring Rishi Kapoor, this is a simple but a beautiful comic story  which is directed by Ranjit Kapoor

8. Paying guests – Bollywood is full of such comedy situation in a typical film like Paying Guest. Multiple characters, chaos, confusion and amongst all that are the comedy situations that arise out of the first three. It stars Shreyas Talpade, Jaaved Jaffrey, Ashish Chowdhry and Vatsal Sheth and is directed by Paritosh Painter.

9. Bachelor Party – starring Jimmy Shergil and Arbaaz Khan, a yet again typical comedy flick

    10.  Aagey se right – Based on real life humor, this film entertains you with its situational comedy.

    Tags: , , , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year

    November 28th, 2009

    Bollywood has had a mixed year so far. Some big names have worked and some others have not. Still, the year has one-two month left and some releases are eagerly anticipated. Some upcoming releases include Paa, 3 Idiots, De Dana Dan, Kurbaan etc. Some of these are from big banners are have glittering star cast. One movie that is being talked about in silent whispers is ‘Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year’. Movie is creating all sort of right buzz and newspapers and filmy magazines are already going ga-ga over its theme. Movie stars hot favourite Ranbir Kapoor who will be donning a completely new avatar. Yes, we will see Ranbir kapoor in a frame that he has not tried before. He will be wearing turban in this upcoming venture with Yash Raj Films. As the title suggests he will be playing the role of Rocket Singh in the movie.

    The movie has been written by Jaideep Sahni and directed by Shimit Ameen of Chak De fame. Both the director-writer combo augurs well for the movie because of their previous combined venture Chak De and its huge success. The movie starred Shahrukh Khan and earned both box office acclaim as well as critical acclaim. They are expected to create magic once again.  Ranbir Kapoor is also fresh with his successful movie ‘Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani’. The movie has performed well on the box office and people have really appreciated Ranbir’s comic talent.

    Yash Raj Movies are also in search of an elusive hit after the bombing of Tashan, Kabul Express and Dil Bole Hadippa. Apparently, in the movie Ranbir is playing a clever and enterprising character of Rocket Singh who manages to do well in the world afflicted by recession. His turban look is already attracting media publicity and hope movie stands up to the hyped expectations.

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Popular Love Movies

    November 21st, 2009

    Talking about romantic movies, how can we forget to include, ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ (1995)? Directed by debutante Aditya Chopra and starring romantic pair of Shahrukh Khan-Kajol, movie is one of the biggest successes in Bollywood history. Everhything about the movie became a rage. From dresses, songs to locales, themes and leading star cast, this movie was lovers’ delight. This movie made Shahrukh khan what Shahrukh Khan is today.   

    In the 90s, one movie captured the heart of all cine-goers. Yes, we are talking about Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) which was directd by talented Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Movie had Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan in a triangular love story. This was a beautiful and sensitive movie. All the leading actors’ performances made it a dream romantic movie. The most famous song of the movie is ‘Tadap Tadap ke is dil se’ by KK.

    Early 90s witnessed spate of romantic movies who managd to do robust businesses. Films like Maine Pyar Kia, Aashiqui, Deewana, Sadak, Dil Hai Ki manta Nahi etc generated numerous dreams in te hearts of romantic couples. Aashiqui was released in 1990 and Mahesh Bhatt had directed it. Movie starred two newcomers Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal and it was the biggest hit of the year. It bagged al the awards in the Film Fare award ceremony. Movie had great songs that are still hummed. All the songs are equally romantic and nice. Before Aashiqui, Maine Pyar Kiya was released in 1989. Directed by Suraj Barjatya and starring lead romantic pair of Salmaan Khan-Bhagyashree, this movie broke several box office records. Movie has wonderful songs and it gave bollywood a new star in form of Salman Khan.

    Tags: , , , , , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Aamir Khan

    November 18th, 2009

    Aamir Khan means a lot to the Indian film industry. His name today is synonymous with creativity, freshness and versatility. He is by far one of the most accomplished actors in Hindi cinema. Although Aamir made his debut with the movie ‘Holi’ in 1984, he stared in the film `Yaadon Ki Baaraat` in 1973 as a child artist. His first hit film was `Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak` where he was paired opposite Juhi Chawla who also made her debut in the same film. Aamir also received a Filmfare award for the same for best male debut. He received his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in `Raja Hindustani`.

    Aamir Khan won accolades for his film Lagaan in the year 2001 which was directed by the renowned filmmaker Ashutosh Gowarikar. His second release `Dil Chahta Hai` was also a huge success at the box office. Aamit Khan then did Rakesh Omprakash Mehra`s `Rang De Basanti` where his role was highly appreciated and the film selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars. He then did `Fanaa` in 2006 was also highly acclaimed and but the film was a moderate success at the box-office. His film, `Taare Zameen Par`, which was produced and directed by him did wonders and earned him a lot of respect even as producer and director.

    Seeing his journey so far, Aamir Khan has truly been an inspiration to so many of us. He has established his own charm and identity and his upcoming film 3 idiots is sure one of the most awaited films of 2009. 

    Tags: , , , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Great Romantic Movies

    November 14th, 2009

    Hindi movies have a glorious history. The Hindi film industry offers all types of movies in every genre. You name it and you have it. From comedy, romance, action to thriller, horror, social themes or parallel cinema, Bollywood offers it all. If we just talk about romantic movies, it will be hard to figure the total number of movies belonging to the said genre. We have witnessed great romantic cinemas that have created history on box office. The golden era of bollywood gave numerous such love films and that are still admired and appreciated. In fact, romantic movies are one genre that has never gone out of fashion and will remain the same even in coming time. Let’s talk about some of the popular romantic cinemas of Hindi film industry. Of course, we can cover hundreds of such beautiful movies but we can always cover some of them.

    Bobby was released in 1973 and was directed by legendary Raj Kapoor. Movie also signalled arrival of top bollywood actors Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. This movie was based on teen love story and was an astounding success. Raj Kapoor had made this after disastrous collections of his dream venture ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and movie proved to be a runaway success. The success of this movie brought spate of several other romantic movies.

    ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ was released in 1988 and was directed by reclusive Mansoor Khan. The movie had lead pair of Aamir Khan-Juhi Chawla and once again, a fresh romantic movie with a first time actors and directors and wonderful songs registered phenomenal success. Songs like Ae Mere Humsafar, Papa Kehte hain etc have become immortal.

    EK Duje Ke Liye was released in 1981 and starred Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri. Movie was directed by K Balachandar and movie buffs lapped it immediately. A sad love story but a major hit. We will talk about some more romantic movies in next articles.

    Tags: , , , , , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Top 10 Movies of 2008

    November 8th, 2009

    Jodha Akbar – Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai at their best. This movie is simply mesmerizing and transports you to a world from where you wouldn’t wish to return.

    Ghajini – Ghajini was one of the greatest hits of all time. This movie was directed by A. Murugadoss who directed the same film down south.

    Fashion – A Madhur Bhandarkar film, This movie won Priyanka the best actress award. Fashion exposes the reality behind the fashion industry.

    Rab ne bana De jodi – An Aditya Chopra movie, it stars his favorite actor Shah Rukh Khan and debutant Anushka Sharma.

    Jaane tu ya jaane na – Aamir’s nephew Imran became a rage among the crowd along with Genelia in this film

    Race – Directed by Abbas Mustan Race is a pacy thriller which is full of twists and turns

    Rock on – This coming of age movie was a thorough modern day multiplex kind of entertainer. Shankar Ehsaan Loy did a fabulous job with its music.  Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal were excellent.

     Dasvidaniya – Vinay Pathak at his best. This movie inspires you to live life, celebrate life and enjoy every moment it offers. Simple but touches your heart.

     Aamir – This movie is a fast paced thriller about terrorism. Starring TV star Rajeev Khandelwal, this movie was very innovative and effective and hence it went on to become one of the top 10 hits of 2008

     Wednesday – When you have a great idea, half your battle is won and this is what applies to Wednesday. This Naseerudin Shah and Anupam Kher’s movie went on to become the surprise hit of 2008.

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Charm of Old Bollywood Movies

    November 7th, 2009

    Whenever someone asks you to name your favourite Hindi movies, there are high chances of most of your favourites being old Hindi movies. Unless and until you are a teen who has survived on staple diet of new age movies, you are most likely to go ga-ga over quality of old Hindi movies. If truth be told, modern day Hindi cinema does not stand any chance when we compare them to old Hindi movies in terms of content, music and message. Most of the old movies were socially relevant and they catered to specific needs of society. They conveyed certain messages and made you think. Right from plight of women, casteism to reformed Dacoits and philosophies of life, movies combined entertainment as well as thoughtful themes. Expressions used to be more natural, songs were simple and full of meaningful lyrics and acting style was far more original sans any method. Olden times were definitely best phase of Hindi movies.

    Moving on to sixties and seventies, some new genres arrived with western music. All genres were covered like action, suspense thrillers or the Indian family drama. Every movie showed victory of good over evil and that is so firmly psyched in our mind set.

    Parallel cinema also had a wonderful period in the history of Hindi movies. Most of these art cinemas were associated to social concepts. They showed movies in a more realistic perspective sans any glamour. Art movies covered life of a normal person, what difficulties he faces in life, what kind of social taboos are faced by him on a regular basis. Women oriented subjects were also covered. Old films had single theme and not much of issues like dual stories, assortment of screen play and specialization in functions etc. Film making was more of a process, a kind of devotion and not a business or commercial.

    Tags: , , , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    London Dreams – Review

    November 1st, 2009

    London Dreams, starring Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan and Asin has been marketed widely. As all of us know this is a film about two childhood friends. The movie has its valleys and mountains which take the movie up and down. The basic story revolves around these two friends, one who is extremely ambitious and wants to become a pop star, the other who has a gifted voice and is a natural singer but has no interest in pursuing it as a career. The music is average with little freshness, an unsuccessful effort by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.

    The story begins in the fields of Bhatinda where Arjun and Manu are school students. Manu, the mischievous one is busy chasing girls whereas Arjun is more intense and serious. Arjun wants to be a musician but as usual his father opposes it. Arjun thinks of ways out and immediately after that his father passes away. Wow what luck! His uncle Om Puri takes him away which separates the two best friends. Arjun reaches London and runs away from the airport since his uncle is also the no-singing types.

    After a 20 year leap, he’s all grown up into Ajay Devgan and is ready to become a rockstar. Manu a.k.a. Salman on the other hand is a village band master. Gradually Salman moves to London where he joins Ajay’s band as Ajay has lost his voice. How Ajay’s fans are now Salman’s fan, the way Ajay envies him and tries to put him down follows in the story. The scenes are beautifully shot. Asin looks average as her dressing sense in the movie is absolutely pathetic and VJ Ranvijay and VJ Aditya who play the role of Pakistani brothers are impressive. Overall the movie is worth a watch but could have been way better.

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Golden hit songs

    October 29th, 2009

    One of the first major hit song was “Main Ban Ke Pancchi” in the 1930s sung by Ashok Kumar. Thereafter several musicals came and each of them left a mark in the listeners’ hearts. One of the other major hit was “Aayega, Aayega Aanewala” from movie “Mahal”. It was on the top of the charts in the 1940s. Thereafter, it was one hit after another. Songs like, “Awara Hoon”, “Bol Radha Bol”, “Jaane kyaa tuune kahii” from Pyaasa etc had audiences on their feet.  As Indian musicians started to experiment with various new music and instruments, more and more heartfelt songs started to make waves. The songs which lingered on in public memory were,             “Ai mere pyaare vatan” from Kabuliwala,

    “Ab ke baras bhej bhaiya ko babul” from Bandini,

    “Phuulon ke rang se” from Prem Pujari,

    “Chandan saa badan, chanchal chitavan” from Saraswati Chandra,

    “Man re, tu kaahe na dheer dhare” from Chitralekha,

    “Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain” from Guide,

    “Din dhal jaaye, hai raat na jaaye” from Guide,

    “Kuch to log kahenge logon ka kaam hai kehna” from Amar Prem,

    “Pay Kia Toh Drna Kya” from Mughal-e-Azam to name a few.

     

    Other popular songs in last few decades that made history on the basis of sheer mass appeal and recall value are,

    “Papa kahte hain” from qayamat se qayamat tak,

    “Tujhe Dekha Toh ye Jana Sanam” from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,

    “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from Dil Se and “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” from the movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. These songs are just few drops in the vast ocean of popular Bollywood film songs.

    Tags: ,
    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    Songs from Indian Films then and now

    October 22nd, 2009

    Song and dance have been so unique to India and the film industry here. One of the reasons of a strong presence of Hindi movies in UK, US and other countries is the presence of song and dance sequences. Not only Hindi movies but all regional movies also have songs as their integral part. These songs and dance scenes are quite elaborate and lavishly filmed. Right from the inception of Indian film industry, songs have always been a prominent feature of all the movies.

     

    Some of the recent hit songs have been Kaminey’s Dhan te Nan, Blue’s title track, Luck’s Aazma Luck, Love Aaj Kal songs especially Yeh Dooriyan, inn rahon ki dooriyan’ sung by Mohit Chauhan. Morey Saiyan from the film Teree Sang is also appreciated. ‘Hai Junoon’ from the film New York and Pehli Baar Mohabbat from Kaminey are also amongst the hit tracks.

     

    The early years of Indian cinema i.e., 30s and 40s had primarily included classical music with less use of instruments in the film songs. Songs from Indian films have kept changing with the changing tastes of music aficionados and yet the typical Indian essence has remained intact. India has produced many great singers and musicians who have attained worldwide fame. Few notable musical talents India produced are K L Sehgal, Kishore Kumar, Khaiyyam, Mohd. Rafi, R D Burman, Lata Mangeshkar, S D Burman, Asha Bhonsle, and A R Rehman amongst others. With changing times, Indian music, songs and dance may change but the core of it will never change and will be kept alive in our hearts

    Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

    « Older Entries