DIL TO BACHA HAI JI

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Shazahn Padamsee, Shruti Haasan, Tisca Chopra, Shraddha Das
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

Love is probably a subject that is integral part of Indian cinema. Most if not all Indian movies has a love track. And same goes with comedy (actually its hard for a movie to be a hit it doesn't have these two main ingredients). So it was about time that Mr. Madhur Bhandarkar tried his hand at both. And so we have Dil to Bacha Hai Ji- a modern day take on the subject that has kept the human species confused for long.....you guessed it right....LOVE.

DTBHJ is story of three men and their encounters with beautiful women and of course LOVE. Naren Ahuja played by Ajay Devgn is a soon to be divorced banker, Abhay aka Abby played by Emraan Hashmi is a playboy and also a gym trainer and Milind Kelkar played by Omi Vaidya works with a matrimony company and also a part time poet, they all come together when Naren decides to rent out his house to two PGs. The three are very different from each other not only in age but also the way they look at love.

There is a 38 year old Naren who is attracted to a young intern at his office, June Pinto played by Shazahn Padamsee. Abby is stuck and confused between love and money and cannot choose between the mother and daughter duo of Anu and Nikki i.e. Tisca Chopra and Shruti Haasan. And lastly Milind, a firm believer in true love who loves radio jockey Gungun played by Shraddha Das, who uses him all the time.

Best performance is surely by Ajay Devgn who does well in his role as a middle aged man looking for love from a girl half his age. Emraan is of course at ease playing the playboy (he is a veteran in this kind of a character now).

So does DTBHJ work? Well it does in parts. I personally found the movie to be too long and slow. The dialogues could have been better (& funnier). But the movie is still enjoyable in parts. A note though you wont fall laughing from your seats watching this one.

Image Source: bollywoodhungama.com

Dhobi Ghat

Cast: Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra

Director: Kiran Rao

“What did this movie want to say?” was what my friends said after coming out of the movie hall (a thought echoed by most coming out of the hall). Dhobi Ghat is a very different kind of cinema, one with which we Indians as not too accustomed with. I actually liked the English title for the movie 'Mumbai Diaries' (it describes the movie better).

The film revolves around five characters, Aamir Khan (Arun- a Painter), Monica Dogra (Shai- a Investment Banker+Photograpger from New York), Prateik Babbar (Munna- the Dhobi), Yasmin (a young newly wed Muslim girl) and Mumbai (the city plays the fifth character).

Arun is a painter who lives a lonely life (and likes it that way), he makes a rare public appearances at his exhibition and meets Shai- a investor banker from NY, who is also a photographer. They come together and spend the night together. A night with which Arun isn't too happy about and in the process hurts Shai, who on the other hand feels they had a connection. Munna is a 'dhobi' in the morning and a rat-killer by night, who wants to be an actor. He introduces Shai to Mumbai and while doing so falls in love with her. Yasmin is newly wed Muslim girl who comes to Mumbai from a small town in UP. She appears from time to time in the video letters to her brother, which Arun accidentally discovers in his new house.

The movie shows the city of Mumbai from four different perspectives of its four central characters. It is a story of four different people from four different backgrounds and how their lives crosses each other. The complexity of everyday life is well explored in the movie. The movie opens with a view of Mumbai from a under construction building and that is what the movie is about 'Life under construction'. There are really some chilling scenes towards the end of the movie.

It has some really good performances by all the four characters but Munna and Yasmin's characters steals the show. Especially Prateik Babbar is excellent at his portrayal of Munna- the expressions, body language, everything. Kriti Malhotra does well in her role. Monica Dogra looks beautiful and is good in parts. Aamir Khan though is not at complete ease (it is probably not one of his best performances).

Kiran Rao's directorial debut is experimental and is not for everybody. The movie takes some time getting used to because we don't often see this kind of cinema here. So if you are not afraid of experiments this movie is for you.

Image Source: BollywoodHungama.com