Perhaps, the title 'Raaz' should've got everyone's adrenalines shot-up, anticipating it to be a stupefying ride of roller-coaster. Well, the 'Bhatt' factor seems to spell tremendous magic when it comes to 'Horror'. Of course, who can refuse it or forget the most scintillating horror flicks released by the 'Bhatts'. Years back it was 'Raaz' and then '1920' had us tied to our seats and now 'Raaz – The Mystery continues' isn't an elision.

Mohit Suri brims with a commendable directorial and precisely, he strikes with a decent effort on all quotients. Not only does this flick include a gripping screenplay; his top-notch designing of the technical aspects of cinematography and background score too has us raising our hands for a grand applause.

Does 'Raaz – The Mystery Continues' offer a never-seen-before show of an exceptional storyline? Nah! You've the clichéd plotline of a ghost's unaccomplished desire for seeking revenge. But, the difference comes in the form of the unique intentions of a thirsty soul. Don't get surprised to experience certain replicas of 'The Exorcist', or the Recent Hollywood releases 'Mirrors' or 'Stigmata'. With all these properties Mohit Suri doesn't get you disappointed at any moment of the show.

Precisely, at particular points we've him getting through the lines of the 'classic-horror touch' that'll let your nerves frizzled and move you to the edge of your seats. Looking for an illustration; Uh-huh! Kangana's bathtub sequences, Adhyayan Suman dropping cash from an ATM Machine, they are sure to horripilate your senses.

A successful model Nandita (played by Kangana Ranaut) is in love with a creative director of a television program, Yash (played by Adhyayan Suman). Everything is fine and cool until Nandita's life takes a dramatic turn when she meets an artist, Prithvi (played by Emraan Hashmi). He tells Nandita that all the paintings he has made on her are getting disfigured which spells impending danger for her. Initially, she does not believe him but then she starts facing horrifying situations herself. After this, hell breaks loose and an unstoppable storm begins. Thus unfolds some of the most thrilling horror sequences of Bollywood with 'Raaz – The Mystery Continues…'

Kudos to Kangana, Emraan and Adhyayan; they are 'wordlessly stupendous,' showcasing their brilliant performances. Kangana engrosses with her fantabulous actions as a scary girl on the pursuit of detangling the dark-hidden mysteries. Watch her scream while on her anesthesia, they're tremendous getting you awestruck. Obviously, it's a million-dollar expression. On the pars, we have a flabbergasting performance by Emraan Hasmi in a silent-stubborn guy bounded with inscrutable looks. Possibly, Mohit Suri seems to have been vividly influenced by Ed Norton's looks in 'The Illusionist'. Thus getting similar makeovers for Emraan... Doesn't look like a debut show, but a decorous act by Adhyayan. Emoting to different situations of joy, horror and pain, he's patently colossal. Jackie Shroff does justice in his minimal role.

When it's a horror flick, everyone's gotta follow Hitchcock's traits of coalescing the factors of 'foreshadowing', 'pre-planting' and what else? Shuddery twists and turns with shocks 'n' surprisals. Mohit Suri doesn't tread away from the master's theory. If he had penned an impaling screenplay sans unwanted songs and presenting a fine-ending, things would've been far better than the present scenarios.

In fact, a 'horror' doesn't strike richer without perfect musical scores and a spellbinding cinematography. Of course, it's the most innovative angle-moves that fling such a feel… Ravi Waliah's cinematography is top-notch, particularly in the exotic locales.

A short-break from horror is offered through the songs 'Soniyo' [Raju Singh] and 'Maahi' [Sharib-Toshi]. The background scoring is stunningly prodigious enhancing the visuals, especially on scary sequences.

On the whole, 'Raaz – The Mystery Continues' is a superb horror flick with few middling attributes. Although it doesn't happen to be as powerful as '1920', it's worth watching for the enchanting directorial of Mohit Suri.

Verdict: Scary on many parts

Rating : ***

Perhaps, Chandni Chowk to China has nothing phenomenal, but a timeworn script of a coward transcending into a hero, and an estranged family getting unified. Producers promoted CC2C as 'First Ever Bollywood Kung Fu comedy' and for your kind information, the flick doesn't possess top-notching humorous elements or the splendid Kung-Fu you would expect. Well, you've them in bits 'n' pieces amidst of a very long show, running for 160 minutes. Sluggish screenplay blended with lots of ridiculous factors does get you annoyed and Nikil could have cut the duration short thereby favoring him.

Despite Akki, Ramesh Sippy, Warner Bros and biggies together on the lead, the flick doesn't surmount your expectations. Above all, the most disappointing attribute is that we don't get to see spell-binding stunts choreographed by Huen Chiu-Ku. Naturally, everyone expected there to be ones like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Kill Bill” Volmes. 1 and 2 and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". Again, it's all about dashing down our hopes.

Our protagonist Sidhu (Akshay Kumar) is the lowest on the totem pole, cutting vegetables at a roadside food stall in Chandni Chowk in Delhi. He longs to escape his dreary existence and looks for shortcuts- with astrologers, tarot readers and fake fakirs - believing anything except himself, despite his father figure Dada's (Mithun Chakraborty) best efforts. His redeeming moment arrives when two strangers from China claim him as a reincarnation of a war hero in the past and take him to China. Sidhu now dreams of wine, women, and a princely existence in foreign lands. Thanks to the devious translator, a conman by the name Chopstick (Ranvir Shorey), little does he know that he is being taken to the Promised Land to rid the Chinese village of the vicious smuggler Hojo (Gordon Liu)!

Therefore, Sidhu blissfully sets forth to China with Chopstick who instigates dreams of a delicious future and forgets to reveal the perils, which await him. Along the way, he meets Sakhi (Deepika Padukone), Ms. Tele Shoppers Media (Ms. TSM) who has embarked on a journey to pay homage to the land of her birth and her dead father and twin. Initially, Sidhu through a series of lucky coincidences manages to sidestep being beaten by Hojo's men but finally Hojo catches up with him and exposes him as the country buffoon that he really is. Sidhu has the fire of revenge in his belly and finds the one man who will make him a Kung Fu expert and set the village free. Armed with his Sifu (master), faith in himself and the love of the fair Sakhi, Sidhu sets forth to conquer all!

Nothing to blame on star-casts for they stride with their best spells. Akshay Kumar getting back to pavilion with action-hero is over the top and comedy sense is a splendid show. But, he gets stripped out with an inadequate script. A newfangled Deepika Padukone on dual role steals the show, especially on the characterization of 'Meow-Meow'. Alas! There's nothing such as romance so-touching between Akki and Deepika, blame Nikil Advani for that.

Gordon Liu strikes with a mind-boggling performance. Be it his gestures or his scaring stare, they're awesome. Mithun Chakraborthy with his minimal role makes a good impression (As in his previous flick 'Yuvvraaj'.) Ranvir Shorey with his clichéd acting wins appreciations emoting stupendously on all situations).

The narration is really perplexing. Wonder how Warner Bros picked up a flimsy script with absurdities. It is ok to miss out fine logics when you're penning a script on fantasy-action, but Nikil Advani comes up with quite galling attributes. How come strangers from China assume Akshay as their reincarnated war-lord? Even a dim-witted or 5-sense individual wouldn't fleet to a strange land ignoring his relations with a blind plan. In fact, how does Mithun permit Akki for this meaningless venture? All these are questions to which we can’t find answers. And Deepika's trip to China is well expected and a formula already tried and exhausted in many films.

Perhaps, this is the first ever film to be extensively shot at the Great Wall of China, but again cinematography isn't worth mentioning. Songs are catchy on the screen especially 'Sidhu' is fantastic with hilarious elements blended. The whistling of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' as signature tune is a good pick. Thanks to Mozart for an enchanting tune. 'Chak Le' is where you to get to watch Akki preparing for retaliation. Rather than depicting him seriously frustrated, it's weird to watch the protagonist with goofy gestures. These sequences fail to make an impact on the audiences. The latter half of the film lacks solidity with a dragging screenplay that offers 'boredom' till the penultimate sequences. Signature style of voice uttering 'From Chandni Chowk to Africa' during the climax is sure to delight Akki fans because we can expect a sequel.

On the whole, Chandni Chowk to China would have been better if Nikil had penned a substantial screenplay that could've got our attentions from getting scattered. Apart from a few hilarious scenes and Kung Fu (Especially Roti-rolling style), the flick lacks finesse.

Verdict: Middling on all quotients.

Rating: **½

Arundhathi - A Spellbinding Masterpiece

Appealing visuals combined with graphical technicalities has been producer M. Shyam Prasad Reddy’s stronghold since his first inception ‘Ammoru’ which gave way for wonders in Telugu cinema. Following the movie’s smash hit ‘Anji’ came posing an unique plot filled with twists and turns.

The delay in the release of Shyam Prasad’s latest movie ‘Arundhathi’ has no way affected its charm. His passion for cinema made him undergo such a long project that took 3 years to be conceived on celluloid. The makers unveiled the Sankranthi special film on Jan 16th that has made the audience spellbound.

The days and months of burning the mid-night oil and the filmmakers toil could be related on screen. When I come doesn’t matter but how I impress when I arrive does. In the same way, the days we took to finish is not what matters but the quality work bought out does. These could be the words rewinding in Shyam Prasad’s mind and it reflects in the end product. Read below for a concise review on ‘Arundhati’.

Story

The story unfolds with young girl Arundhati (Anushka)’s arrival to her ancestors palace located in the outskirts of Gadwal province. Engaged to her beloved Rahul (Deepak), she is filled with joy about her impending marriage. Arundhati’s grandfather, Bhupathi Raja (Kaikala Satyanarayana) and Chandramma (Manorama), their loyal maid look upon her as the heiress in the lineage next to Jejamma (Anushka), the princess of Gadwal province three generations back.

The time shifts to the past revealing the daring princess Jejamma who fights and slays the evil doer Pashupathi (Sonu Sood). She restores peace in her reign and Pasupathi’s soul prevails around his Samadhi bound by a magical spell. He awaits the time to break free and get his vengeance on the princess.

In the present, a couple on their way to meet Arundhathi with her wedding cards meets with an accident near the haveli (mansion). The lady goes missing and the man possessed by evil spirits breaks open the Samadhi. A Fakeer Anwar (Shayaji Shinde) who dwells around the place senses bad omen and summons Arundhathi to vacate the place for her own safety.

The Good VS Evil fight begins as Pashupathi mistakes Arundhathi for Jejamma and seeks revenge on her.

How the young girl Arundhati fights back the evil spirit and reigns over the evil doer in the present unveils on screen in a twisty, edge-of-the-seat narration filled with spellbinding visualization and astounding graphics.

Performance of Artists

Anushka, who appeared as a glamour doll till date, sheens in this new role that gives her space to perform onscreen. She is seen in a fresh antique look in one of the dual roles as Jejamma. Her performance as Arundhathi is also laudable. Although her work in a few scenes, in the second half is disappointing, her overall performance is appealing.

Sonu Sood the debuted star of 'Super' has improved considerably and his performance in the negative shade as Pashupathi is excellent. Ravi shankar's dubbing for the character brings life to the role on screen. The expressions and gestures of Subhashini who has played Pashupathi’s mother is good.

Kaikala Satyanarayana has returned after a long gap in movies. Ahuthi Prasad, Chalapathi Rao, SivaParvathi, Annapurna, Manorama, Meena, Jayalalitha have all did well in their respected characters. Baby Divya who played Arundhathi in her childhood years has exhibited a notable performance. Shayaji Shinde as the fakeer has made his presence felt in the movie.

Technicians Work

Koti has composed excellent tracks for the movie. Even though he was prominently not heard for sometime, he has made a mark. Especially, his background musical score that stands as the main highlight for the film.

The most important aspect to be taken note of is the special effects. Bringing back the old palace to life (taking the audience to the past glory of the palace); the murders committed by Pashupathi; the climax sequences in the old palace; the scenes depicting the raise of the spirit from the dormant samadhi and creating a havoc are notable. All this was mainly because of Senthil Kumars photography, Ashok's creative work in construction of sets. Surely these are the key elements in the film. Rahul Nambiar's creativity is also good.

The dialogues 'Ammaale…bommaale…' written by Chinthapalli Ramana, has given a caricature for the character of Pashupathi. His dialogues for Arundhathi suit the feel.

MS Reddy, Dr C Narayana Reddy, Ananth Sriram and Veturi's lyrics are nice. The song penned for Jejamma is enjoyable.

Shivshankars choreography in the sequences, while the spirit is being bound with the spell, is exceptionally well. During the drum dance, if the re-recording had been done on a high pitch, it would have been even better in the cinema halls.

Shyam Prasad Reddy’s pure passion for cinema unlike other producers interest in commercialism is evident in ‘Arundhathi’. Based on a heroine-centric subject, he has daringly invested 13 crores to churn out a spectacular entertainer sans compromise, which has re-established Mallemala Entertainments banner value.

Director's Portrayal

The director of cop stories, Kodi Ramakrishna got the name as the maker of graphical extravaganzas with M. Shyam Prasad Reddy’s produced ‘Ammoru’. He was away busy with small time movies and some predicted he might join the list of veteran directors. He did come back with a big budget magnum opus like ‘Arundhathi’ and reiterated his niche in creativity with this mile stone project.

Criticism

Shyam Prasad holds maximum credit for investing the huge amount in a woman oriented subject that didn’t use Anushka’s glam looks but her acting skills. His daring move has passed out with flying colors and has come out in glory. Even though two days late for the festival, ‘Arundhathi’ is the latest sensation and box officer forecasters predict it will rain collections in the coming days.

In a nutshell, ‘Arundhathi’ is Shyam Prasad’s technical wonder that had brilliantly reached the target.

And at the end of this year, there's a bedazing blockbuster in Indian Box office. Here comes our maestro of perfection swaying on with a different genre from his previous ventures. Merely, producers wouldn't have considered Ghajini as an 'Empaling Speculation' for enormous reasons. Well, when you've South India's top-charting Director, Bollywood's superstar, Musical Maestro and versatile technicians teaming up, undoubtedly results are off grandeur. On the buttons, 'Ghajini' is so tremendous on all panoramas of narration and technical aspects. The film had raised everyone's expectations across far-flung corners as Tamil and its Telugu dubbed version had walloping critical acclaims.

So, what's special about Aamir's Ghajini? Thank God! It isn't a copycat of Christopher Nolan's 'Memento' and carries more divergence from Tamil version in latter half. Well, even for those who had soundly watched Tamil version, they're gonna experience an enhanced spirit on emotions. Of course, tho' it's an action-packed thriller, emotions are boundless….

Perhaps, Murugadoss's gripping motif, script and polished screenplay shores on corking grounds with Aamir's more have-to doe with on all vistas. Fine! Let's pretermit Direction and Music, just pick out editing… Mr. Perfectionist's touch is more revealing on Antony's editing. It's more illustrious with each and every cut in 'Bekha'.

Tales centering on amnesias aren't something new in Bollywood, but a unique of its type 'Short Term Memory Loss – An individual losing out his memory for every 15mins' surmounted everyone's expectations. And what else? Aamir's eight-packs had its turn of grabbing everyone's outlooks prior to film's release.

The film isn't as complicated as Memento. Ghajini is a head-spinning venture of Sanjay Sanghania (Aamir Khan) who has determined to avenge for his girlfriend Kalpana's (Asin) death. Protagonist seeking revenge for his ladylove's death; its so clichéd, isn't? Nevertheless, his greatest stumbling block is that his memory loses every bit of details for every 15mins. And what doesn't get bleached from his deep memory is death of Kalpana and the name 'Ghajini' (Pradeep Rawat) who murdered her. Again, the biggest obstruction is that Sanjay doesn't remember antagonist's identity.


With a Polaroid camera, a cell phone in his hands and alarms beeping on every 15th minute, Sanjay has to tread settling his scores.

Screenplay is narrated on two separate chronicles; present life and flashback sequences of Sanjay. It's so gripping that you would ne'er feel restless or look at your watches throughout the complete show of 180mins. Except, 45mins of next-to-last sequences, there isn't any slight changes from original version and characterizations have been marvelously depicted.

'Wordlessly stupendous' – Aamir Khan or Mr. Perfectionist, whatever you like to call him, he is simply brilliant. Just note this down, unlike his previous flicks 'Rang De Basanthi', 'Fanaa' and 'Taare Zameen Par'; he has nothing do with dialogues. Perhaps, it's Asin, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat who jump on uttering more words. For everyone, who were fond of this line 'Actions Speaks More than Words', you'll witness it with Aamir Khan. He emotes spectacularly with his facial expressions and gestures. For instances, watch him out in 'Bekha' where he spells the most minute expressions with brightness. While taking revenge, it's not the furiousness that's disclosed on his face, but the outburst of emotions for his lost love.

Of course, Asin deliver an over-the-top performance on every scene. She doesn't strain a lot but creates a deep impact on everyone with her role. She's got a great time here in Bollywood and she will rock with her well-brought-up show.

Don't expect a lot from Jiah Khan, if you were spellbound with her performance in 'Nishabd'. It's about doing justice to her role and her well-enhanced show is evident in penultimate scenes. She has to thank Murugadoss for depicting her so exquisitely.

Pradeep Rawat takes on with a decent role and his portrayal is as powerful as his characterization is so powerful than Aamir.

A.R. Murugadoss – He crowns each of his films with 'Success' and his debut directorial in Bollywood isn't an elision. With a trenchant script and screenplay, he reveals of a detailed work on every frame and shot. Working with Aamir Khan, should've made him fine-tuning his before-now version that yields his laurels from universal audiences. A hunky-dory of its kind, you'll witness a vivid groundwork put forth by the auteur, especially a fine-ending unlike Tamil version. As you step out of theatres, it's all about good shades of protagonist arresting your senses and not about hero's act of vengeance filled with bloodsheds.

A.R. Rahman with his tranfixing tunes steals the show. In particular, as everyone starts heeding to Mandolin's interlude on 'Guzarish', its claps, hails and whistles. Scenarios persist with 'Bekha' and getting to watch Aamir's acts and 6 get-ups, it's an appreciably innovative. 'Kaisa Mujhe' is sure to remain along with these two numbers on the charts of evergreen tunes.

Ravi K Chandran's cinematography requires special mention. Don't miss his stylish shots on exotic locations of 'Guzarish'. A grand round of applause for Location Manager for zeroing down an unforeseen never-never land. Costumes are so convincing and it's so nice to see Asin on finest looks in 'Aye Bachu'.


A matured touch of 'cuts' by Antony brightens up visual quality. Be it exposing Aamir's physiques or catching up for the mood of 'fast running notes in Bekha', he deserves best credits.

The film has whole lot 'A-FACTORS' of Aamir, A.R. Murugadoss, A.R. Rahman and Allu Aravind. Naturally, it's A-ONE quality rendered on their roles.

On the whole, Ghajini ends this year with a great Dhamaka for all universal audiences. For those who watched this year's releases with tentative thoughts, can head for Ghajini to witness 'The best film of this year'. For sure, all Khans, Chopras and Kumars should be eyeing on Murugadoss now while rest of the cast-crew would witness a great new dawn in Bollywood for this New Year.

Verdict: Remember this – It's a blockbuster

Rating : 4/5

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Reportedly King Khan (read Shahrukh Khan) has seen his upcoming film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi at a private screening and he loved the film. A private screening of the much awaited film was recently held by the banner Yashraj Films for the film’s cast and crew which included SRK,Gauri Khan, their kids, Anushka Sharma, Aditya and Yash Chopra and Karan Johar. Everyone loved the film that’s the news we are getting.

The story line of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was being kept as a guarded secret. There were reports that there were only three copies of the script. And even till end, Anushka wasn’t shown the script.(lol) But now it has been leaked.

So, heres the story line, apparently the film is a very earthy romantic film about Shah Rukh Khan who is married to Anushka Sharma and there is a huge age difference between them and they are not what one would call a perfect couple. They are merely stretching their marriage with no real romance in between them. They are two very different people. Theres reality dance show called Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - which is the main backdrop of the movie. The show is on the lines of popular television show, Nach Baliye.

Apparently Anushka wants to take part in the dance competition but she cant because her husband is old and not hip and happening she fears that if she dances with him, she will lose the show and become the laughing stock among all her friends, who are taking part in the same. Shah Rukh Khan overhears his wifes problem and decides to go in for a makeover. He then watches some movies and changes his image completely and comes back to the show and woos Anushka off her feet.

All the way through the dance competition, she keeps falling in love with this new and improved Shah Rukh Khan, without once realising that the man she is dancing with is her real husband."
Yash Raj films has refused to comment on it.

Aditya ne bana di Superhit !

Rating : 3/5