Showing posts with label IPL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IPL. Show all posts

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Rowdy Rathore (2012) - Movie Review



Watching Rowdy Rathore is like seeing an IPL cricket match in the stadium. It's loud, devoid of sense and proud to be so.

The party starts from the very first scene/over followed by mindless fighting/bashing for the next 2.5 hours with intervention from skimpy clad cheerleaders every 15 mins. And the audience love this madness regardless of what happens in the end.
But the point is, both of them sell and how?

Rowdy Rathore (2012), produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and directed by Prabhudeva is one for the masses; tailor made for the front benchers and those within 15 rows behind them.

And why wouldn't they love it? Akshay Kumar oozes with charm and confidence in a double role, both of which sit right in the middle of his comfort-zone. He is very convincing in both action and comedy scenes and pulls off the entire movie almost by himself. The movie works because for once, Akshay hasn't overdone himself (as in his previous 8-10 outings). Cast as Shiva and Vikram Rathore, he reprises a charm that I think he lost after playing Sunny in Mujhse Shaadi Karoge.

He is supported well by Paresh Ganatra (cast as 2G), his sidekick. Between the two, they share plenty of healthy humor that isn't cheap without getting cheap making the first half very entertaining. Also, watch out for cameos from Kareena Kapoor, Vijay and Prabhudeva himself.

The plot, which is clearly 15 songs too much and 15 yrs too old is the movie's real set back. With so many holes, the script can give a serious complex to a standard fishing net. The story is cliched; even in the non-hole areas. 
Half the story unfolds in Mumbai and the other half in a Patna version of Sholay's Ramgarh (called Devgarh in Rowdy). An honest police officer comes to a village run by the local goon; goes through the usual stuff. He is separated from his super-cute little daughter; who in Mumbai finds a baap-ka-hamshakal. Akshay is in double role and you can predict the rest. Oh yea, somewhere in between all this mess is Sonakshi Sinha (as Paro), with the only task of showing off her kamar at every opportunity.



The style of film making has Prabhudeva stamped all over it. The costumes of Akshay Kumar remind us of Govinda era to say the least. Even the Pritam Pyaare item girls religiously perform the signature prabhudeva steps. There is enough and more of gory in the movie - throats slit, reads rolled, talwaar-stabbing,

All in all, the movie is loud, stupid, full of gore and celebrates it. Enjoyable, only for the Akshay-Rowdy-Kumar who can act, fight and makes us laugh; all in the same movie. Add to this the Dont-Angry-Me attitude, he delivers a performance that is a tad better than Salman-Dabangg-Khan.

Watch this movie if you want to experience that guilty pleasure of having indulged in something below your standards. Nothing more.

My Rating: 6/10



Don't Angry me. Please leave your comments :) 

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

IPL Season 4,5,6 and beyond


IPL 1:
  • Indian cricket team has recently become the world champions of T20 cricket. 
  • A billion cricket crazy people are hungry for more T20 action. Mr. Lalit Modi caters to the demand. 
  • Bollywood & Corporate India buy stake in cricket. 
  • Corporate India expects that their efforts pay off. Dr. Mallya realizes that not all investments yield handsome returns. 
  • The dutiful citizens of India endure the masala version of the game. 

IPL 2:
  • Modi takes 'Indian' Premier League to RSA. That's SACRILEGE - It's like the world cup played on Jupiter. But  that doesn't bother cricket fans one bit.
  • k..k...k... King Khan learns a lesson. Hype and over the top publicity can sell stuff like 'OSO' and not 'KKR'. Poor performance of the team and 'fakeiplplayer' add to his worries.
  • Models don the role of expert commentators and cheerleaders get more popular than some of the players.
  • The dutiful citizens of India silently endure

IPL 3:
  • Movie makers refrain from releasing their movies during the IPL season. IPL matches instead get screened on the silver screens.
  • Terminologies of the game change. A hit for six runs become 'DLF Maximum', A significant wicket becomes 'Citi moment of success'. A mundane catch becomes, 'Karbon Kamaal Catch' & a dumb blinking balloon becomes the mark of 'Cricketing Excellence' of a nation. 
  • The drummers, Bhangra dancers, DJ's become mandatory at every ground. Cheerleaders get more cheekier with every passing game. 
  • Enjoying the madness (dubbed as sporting ambiance) at the stadium becomes the prime interest of the crowd. Cricket being just a pretext.
  • The dutiful citizens from the land-of-Gandhi endure

IPL 4: 
  • After every ball, the cameraman points to a random billboard and the commentator dutifully delivers the rehearsed phrases. 
  • Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and the other brand ambassadors of the teams share space with the cheerleaders to improve the visibility of the team.
  • BCCI allows the suspension of the team logo from the helmet so as to accommodate that of another sponsor. 
  • BCCI introduces variable pay for the players. The payment made being directly proportional to the value they can earn the team though Ad's and other promotional events. 
  • The dutiful citizens of BharatVarsh endure.

IPL 5:
  • KKR team players perform item numbers at all metro as a part of the teams PR activity.
  • Political parties buy out IPL teams. They implement reservation system in bid to improve representation from the backward sections of the community.
  • IPL cricketers campaign at the political rallies as a part of PR/Team building activity.
  • The dutiful citizens of the country endure.

 IPL 6:
  • SBI offers insurance for IPL teams covering their financial losses.
  • The cricket bat is replaced with baseball bat for IPL. Over 500 'DLF Maximums' get pounded. Commentators opine that IPL is not toptally a batsman's game. There is still something for the talented bowlers.
  • Trailers of the upcoming movies are played at the Eden Gardens between the overs. 
  • Corporate movies are shown at Wankhede during the strategic time outs. 
  • RCB offers welcome drink (no prize for guessing which brand) to the audience at their home pitch.
  • The dutiful citizens of the country endure.

IPL 7:
  • I admit. I cannot think of anything more bizarre and demeaning about the game. 
  • But I am sure, if something worse was still to happen, the dutiful citizens of India will endure.