Yeh Saali Zindagi

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Chitrangda Singh, Arunoday Singh, Aditi Rao, Saurabh Shukla, Vipin Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Sushant Singh, Prashant Narayanan

Music: Nishat Khan

Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire

Dialogues: Manu Rishi & Sudhir Mishra

Story, Screenplay, Direction: Sudhir Mishra

Yeh Saali Zindagi Its a quirky love story in the guise of a thriller. Its an obtuse take on how far they both the heroes go to get the women they love and how sometimes one screw-up can set everything right!

Arun (Irrfan Khan) has to save Priti (Chitrangda Singh) the woman he loves, but for that he first has to save the man Priti loves- Shyam, the future son in law of a powerful Minister.

Meanwhile, time is running out for Kuldeep (Arunoday Singh), the young gangster who is on his last job as his wife is threatening to walk out on him completely, and he begins to suspect she is leaving him to go into the arms of another man.

The job has gone haywire for it is still unknown to Kuldeep that the Ministers daughters engagement with Shyam is off and now she doesn’t care whether Shyam lives or dies and more importantly neither does the Minister who Kuldeep hoped would pay the ransom!

Priti finds herself inextractably caught in this mess and Arun has to save her life. But for that he has to risk everything, and put his own life at stake, he wonders why he should do it at all, if she still loves another.

He’s torn, but love knows no reason. Meanwhile Shyam is trying to make deals in captivity, and his goodness only seems superficial and as Kuldeep tries desperately to save his situation, there are dons coming from Bangkok, who have their own plans.

The film rides a roller-coaster towards a shattering climax, where all the players have to fend for their lives and loves. Who gets the girl, and who gets the money, and who escapes by the skin of his teeth, is now anybody’s guess. But hold on, there are still jokers in the pack, and aces up some sleeves.

Band Baaja Baaraat

By Subhash K Jha

Starring Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh

Directed by Maneesh Sharma

Rating: ***

Have you ever wondered what they mean when they talk about the chemistry between a screen pair? Watch this delightful ode to the Great Indian Wedding.It solves the mystery of chemistry for keeps.

The super-accomplished Anushka Sharma and debutant, quite easily the discovery of the year, Ranveer Singh (is this really his first film?) whip up a wondrous camaraderie in scenes written with such skill and craft you really don't see the labour that has gone into building this love- shove during the time of weddings-sheddings in the heart of Nayee Dilli.

Capital pleasure, anyone?

Band Baaja Baaraat (BBB) is an utterly joyous and enjoyable look-see at the world of Punjabi weddings in Delhi as seen through the eyes of two wedding planners, partners in business Shruti and Bittu who have sworn from Day 1 never to get involved with one another.

'Pyar' (love) and 'Vyapaar' (business) just don't jell. The couple keeps telling one another this.But are the Gods listening? The skilfully-written superbly crafted rom-com takes the no-holds-barred pair's relationship through a lavish labyrinth of shaadi shindings replete with Bhangra tracks (Salim-Suleiman) that provoke your heart and feet to jump up and dance.

Outwardly the film looks like Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding put into a maze of wedding festivities that seem to meander from one joyous jig to another until we come to a point where we ask in unison…now what?

With a smoothness of touch that shows the hand of a writer who knows his job thoroughly (full marks to the dialogue and screenwriter Habib Faizal) BBB changes the profile of Shruti-Buttu's relationship midway.

What remains unchanged is that sense of joie de vivre which comes to a film on that rare occasion when the writer and director know where they're going and how to take the characters there without giving away the signposts to the audience.

Delhi, that city of bustling streets, speeding autorickshaws, restive bus stops, bottom pinchers and money filchers has never been more vibrant and alive in any other recent film. Aseem Mishra's camera penetrates the heart of the Capital and the souls of its two unforgettable protagonists.

Unlike Yashraj Films' Bunty and Babli some years ago, Bittu and Shruti are fooling no one except themselves.

“Tujhe saanp-seedhi ka khel bahut pasand hai na?” Bittu challenges Shruti towards the end.

Oh, the games people in love play with one another to ward off the inevitable embrace! This vibrant voluptuous ride through the kaleidoscope of weddings as the two wedding planners forget that there is a planner far more powerful than they to plan their destiny, is as engaging as it is caliber-defining for the rom-com in Hindi cinema.

What does one say about the two principal performers without tripping over with the excitement of being in the midst of remarkable talent?! With just three films Anushka Sharma has grown into one of the most watchable and eloquent contemporary actresses.

To the role of the spirited Shruti Anushka adds the kind of spice that one associates with Kajol and Rani Mukherjee.In two key sequences with Ranveer Singh (where she conceals her true feelings and much later lets them all out in a tumble of smirking hurt) Anushka blows the screen apart.

As for the film's hero debutant Ranveer Singh sinks his teeth into Bittu's part with a self-confidence that comes to actors after at least ten full-fledged films. And that too if they are gifted. Here's new talent in a film industry dominated by jaded superstars.

Ranveer's spirited screen presence and quicks-silver comic timing makes the older stars look…well old, if not outdated. In the climax where he calls himself an ass for denying his feelings, Ranveer is a revelation.Go for this newcomer, producers. He will soon be booked for the next three years.

The supporting players are largely unexposed artistes. They add to that sense of feisty freshness that runs across the film.

Bravo, Yashraj for bringing such exceptional new talent to our cinema. Bravo, debutant director Maneesh Sharma for taking us through the organized chaos of traditional weddings in movements of pure pleasure and enjoyment that communicate themselves to the audience.

Hours after watching the film I've still not stopped smiling.

No Problem

By Subhash K. Jha

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Sushmita Sen, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Suniel Shetty, Kangna Ranaut, Paresh Rawal

Director: Anees Bazmi

Rating: * ½

The bad news is that good films are not doing well. But the better news is that bad films are also being rejected.

"No Problem", if we must talk about it, is no better or worse than all the other, comedies that have come and groaned. A series of wildly improbable characters and ideas strung together in sequences of flabbergasting haphazardness, this is the sort of comic romp where the laughter is lost in transit.

The credits boast of four writers. But there is no rhyme in the crime no logic in the laughter.

Just fasten your seat belts and let Anees Bazmi, a fine writer when given better circumstances, take you for a ride. The film opens with Sanjay Dutt and Akshaye Khanna playing two con men Yash and Raj (Yash-Raj, get it? ha ha) rescuing a baby gorilla from the dicky of Paresh Rawal's car.

The baby gorilla and its grateful parents show up in the climax where all the male characters (approximately 33 at last count) are dressed as Sardarjis to sing a song that goes "Kad lamba chaudi chest chest".

Ahem. Chest joking, I guess.

Not too many sequences make much sense in this homage to hectic incoherence. The gags are as flat as Neetu Chandra's belly. She has some funny moments with Suniel Shetty (playing the assassin named, with excruciating unoriginality, Marcos). But the funniest character in the plot is Sushmita Sen. A schizophrenic wife to bumbling-cop Anil Kapoor, she does the split-personality act with lip-smacking relish.

You often wonder what a woman as gorgeous as Ms Sen is doing in a place as farcical as this where anarchy prevails. Nothing makes sense. Nothing is supposed to. The film is shot in South Africa. For what purpose, we will never know. The film's confounding idiocies could have easily been located in Matunga or Mangalore.

The most important component of a situational comedy is that the actors must LOOK like they're having fun. There is not much below-surface camaraderie among the actors. Anil Kapoor brings in a zany fun into his self-deprecating role. But really, just the ability to laugh at oneself is not enough.

You have to communicate that laughter to the world that's watching you. On that score "No Problem" simply parts ways with the audience.

Bipasha is living it up down under

Bipasha Basu had a swell time shooting Down Under and living the good life, while there.

The actress who shot in Australia for Roland Joffe's Singularity has Hollywood hottie Josh Hartnett as her co-star.

The film revolves around the Marathas in 1780s India and will also be shot in India as it is set across two time periods and continents. Here's a look at the cast party on the sets.

Bips certainly looks to be in the thick of things with the crew and cast members.

Courtesy: Mid-Day.com

When Sunidhi totally felt like 'Sheila'

Singer Sunidhi Chauhan is on cloud nine. And why shouldn't she be? 'Sheila Ki Jawani' has come and conquered the whole of India and is raring to become a chartbuster hit in the country.

While people still love Munni from Dabangg, Sheila from Tees Maar Khan is equally popular. Speaking to the media, Sunidhi Chauhan says that she is very pleased with what Sheila has done for her career.

Though Sunidhi Chauhan is already a renowned item singer in Bollywood, seldom has it happened that her songs have caught the attention of moviegoers even before the film has hit theaters.

Sunidhi Chauhan very modestly announced that the entire credit for the super success should be given to Tees Maar Khan music composers Vishal and Shekhar.

Vishal Dadlani is also the lyricist of the chartbuster song 'Sheila Ki Jawani', and we have to agree that it is the lyrics of the song which has brought instant success to not only Sunidhi Chauhan but also Katrina Kaif, making the actress an overnight item queen.

In a statement to the media, Sunidhi Chauhan says that an item number with Farah Khan was long overdue. The singer – director duo were supposed to work together in Farah Khan's previous ventures Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om.

However, things did not work out. Sunidhi Chauhan though is not complaining. 'Sheila Ki Jawani' has more than made up for the absence of the singer in Farah Khan's earlier projects, the song is blaring everywhere from marriage ceremonies to discotheques.

Sunidhi Chauhan now remembers how she followed Farah Khan's advice and felt like Sheila while recording the song!

Inspired by Shakira, Katrina has no marriage plans

Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif says she drew inspiration from pop star Shakira for the sizzling item song "Shiela Ki Jawani" from her upcoming film "Tees Maar Khan".

When asked by reporters here about comparisons of her dance in the superhit number with that of Shakira, she said she can only dream of such comparisons.

"I can only dream of such comparisons. To be very frank, I drew inspiration from her. If my dance in the song 'Shiela ki Jawani' reminds the viewers of Shakira, it's a huge reward for me, " said Katrina Kaif, who was in Kolkata with her "Tees Maar Khan" co-star Akshay Kumar Saturday for the promotion of the film.

She was all praises for director Farah Khan and gave her the credit for the grand success of the song.

"We have worked hard for the song. But the credit goes to Farah and her conceptualisation of the song. She is a brilliant choreographer, " the actress said.

"Tees Maar Khan", directed by Farah, is slated to release Dec 24. It has already hit the headlines for its scorching item song "Shiela Ki Jawani" featuring Katrina.

Asked about her role, Katrina said she is not so bold in the film as it seems from "Shiela Ki Jawani".

"My role is of an aspiring actress. She is not so very aggressive as it looked in the song. She is very naive and sweet. She is the girlfriend to Akshay in the film. She lands herself into trouble because of her own stupidity. It's a fun kind of a character, " the actress said.

Katrina Kaif also says she has no plans to tie the knot right now, but feels that marriage is a cute thing.

"I don't have any plans. But I think marriage is one of the cute things. You have to leave it in god's hand, " said Katrina.

When the question about Katrina's marriage was popped to Akshay, he shot back: "Why do you want her to get married? She is a very talented actress. She is making her career. Let her make it."

The movie revolves around Tarbez Mirza Khan, a criminal played by Akshay, and his girlfriend Anya played by Katrina who gets the job of robbing antiques worth Rs.500 crore from a heavily guarded moving train. The film is an action comedy.

Deepika and Saif team-up again. What will Bebo say?

Deepika Padukone gets her wish, teams up with her fav co-star in his next home production. What will Bebo say?

Love Aaj Kal duo Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone team up yet again in an Illuminati Films (Saif and partner Dinesh Vijan's banner) project.

Contemporary script

The untitled movie has been scripted by Imtiaz Ali (who directed Dippy-SAK in Love Aaj Kal) and directed by Homi Adajania (Saif featured in his Being Cyrus).

Set to go on floors in April 2011, it will be shot in New Delhi, London and Spain.

Says Saif, "I was waiting for a script as contemporary and relevant as this is to come my way and it has been worth the wait. The story is romantic, funny and has a great balance of drama and entertainment.

I've wanted to do a love story with a modern sensibility and treatment."

About working with Deepika again, the actor-producer says, "I'm looking forward to my pairing again. She has a fantastic role and I think she has grown impressively since Love Aaj Kal and will handle it very well."

Like Imtiaz's earlier movies Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal they all delve into relationships the writer-director's script explores the various choices of life.

As Adajania puts it, "It's a similar space from where Love Aaj Kal left off and then it roller-coasters from there."

Deepika, who considers Saif her favourite co-star feels she hasn't played shades of a character like this before. "To find a script like this, which is edgy and quirky, had an instant connect for me.

It also marks the reunion of the LAK team, with Saif, Dinoo (Dinesh Vijan) and me. I'm very excited to be working with Saif again, and I hope we can recreate the magic of Love Aaj Kal once again."

Dinesh maintains, "At Illuminati, Saif and I have always wanted to develop projects of diverse genres and stories we believe in.

We want to take our time and create content that today's well-exposed audience might like. Imtiaz has given us a beautiful story."

Courtesy: Mid-Day.com