War (2019, Siddarth Anand)

It is the war on terror. In the beginning we see one of Indian super agents aiming at a terrorist leader. He shoots - but the leader giving the order is shot instead. Then come the the titles. Later we will learn, that we started with a flashforward.
Helicopters arrive and Hrithik Roshan descends, as if he was on another Mission Impossible. He is agent Kabir, setting up a special team to fight the terrorist merchant Rizwan Iiyasi (Sanjeev Vasta). Khaled (Tiger Shroff) wants to be a member of that team also, there is only a slight problem: his father was a traitor and Kabir shot him. However, Khaled points out, that his mother revealed the treason. So his mother's blood flows in his veins also. Khaled gets a chance when Iiyasi has been spotted in Morocco. He remains loyal, but there is another traitor, so the operation fails
Then we get a flashback after the interval. Naina (Vaani Kapoor) seems to become the female lead in this film. At first it seems that the director felt the need to some women in two-part bathing suits. Naina is a dancer and works very hard to get the money for her little daughter's private school. The terrorist merchant is a great admirer of Naina. Kabir uses her first as "civilian asset", but slowly she becomes his romantic interest. In a wiretapped conversation Kabir learns, that the terrorist has people from the official instances on his payroll. When Naina is murdered, Kabir tries to trace these moles.
Now it seems that Kabir has gone rogue. Khaled tries to chase him down...
The plot is told in a rather messy way. While the cinematography is stunning at times, the editing is too harsh. We move from Tikrit in Iraq to Marrakech in Morocco, have a motorbike chase in Portugal and sandwiched in between a Holi Celebration (with some good dancing by Roshan). The plot twists seem to be contrived - including face surgery in Switzerland. Those twists are not really surprising, but laughable.
The strong part is the acting between Roshan and Shroff, the testosterone pumped buddies. However, the action scenes are too much to be realistic. They would fit in a martial arts film, but seem to be misplaced here. The weaknesses of the storyline are covered by action scenes. It is always a bad omen when a film relies exclusively on special effects.
The main problem is, however, that the main persons lack depth. Both appear like bone crushers and killing machines, but lack almost completely human aspects. It is really remarkable that the romantic aspect was first introduced after the interval.
War suffers mainly from a poor script and rough editing. It lives through well-staged action-sequences and nice cinematography, but has else very little to offer.
5/10

First dance sequence: Holi as relaxation from terrorist chasing

Only bromance before the interval

Apprentice versus teacher

Has the Artic Circle before served as a location in a Bollywood movie?

 

Mr. X (2015, Vikram Bhatt)

The critics have been very harsh on this film, but I rather liked this fim. Yes, it is not at all realistic - everybody can see that it has a sci-fi component, although it seems to be set in a contemporary environment. It is about corruption in the police department, somehow, but it's also about revenge versus normal course of justice.
Yes, continuity takes some giant leaps in this plot, but on the whole it was an entertaining experience. It is not a general experience to be invisible in this world and additionally be in love with a visible woman, but even though this is a far-fetched constellation, I enjoyed this. It is entertainment and why not have an invisible super-hero?
Probably I would forget soon that I have seen this film, thus it is necessary to write a note about my viewing experience.
5/10

3G - A Killer Connectrion (2013, Sheershak Anand / Shantanu Ray Chhibber)

I really wonder, how two directors can manage to mess up a relatively good idea as mcuh as happened here. The technical aspects of this film are far from being satisfying. The editing is rather sloppy, the acting at best amateurish and the songs are far from being captivating. After the clever cinematography of the titles, you expect something rewarding, but you are disappointed.
Sam (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and Cheena (Sonal Chauhan) are on a vacation on the Fiji Islands. Sam probably wonø't be able to make it - he is a busy hipster. But he loves Cheena and manages to be there with her. ("Without you there is no us, as she puts it - and that is a self-evident truth. Sam loses his phone and needs to buy a new one. It is second-hand, but he likes it, so he buys it. During the night a call from an unknown number arrives. It is a woman - it seems she is strangled. Sam starts to change personality and tries to kill his girlfriend. They suspect that there is something wrong with the phone. They trace the previous owner in a Dan Brown-esque fashion and in the end we get some sort of explanation. It involves a porn-model who fell in love with a programmer, an app to contact spirits and the God Particle. Who can want more?
Logic and continuity are in this film very flexible, yes, even athletic as they perform giant leaps.  The actors are not given much to perform on, as the dialogue is more than clumsy. (Who will believe that a Catholic priest talks about "Life, Death and Rebirth"? How would you react, if a smashed phone would be returned to you completely intact? And so on.)
It seems, however, that Bollywood now also can accept the physical aspects of love. We see some French kissing, but Sonal Chauhan stills goes with a bathing suit in the bath tub. She goes there in the first place only to put her lingerie on display.
So - the premise was interesting, but the execution fell to the ground like flinders of a broken I-Phone.
4/10

बचना ऐ हसीनो [Bachna Ae Haseeno] (Siddarth Anand, 2008)

Laziness has ruled. I am more and more disturbed that I am mixing up the contents of films or that I forget if I really seen a certain film. So this writing exercise will hopefully help me to remember what I have seen.
This "romantic comedy" is starring Ranbir Kapoor who is probably never going to become a mega-star. On IMDb I learned that I saw him in PK as Alien 2 - yes, a minor role, even a negligible one.
 This film plays with the typical Bollywood-template. of course only to confirm it at last. The name Raj Sharma rings a bell in my mind, as a former friend who turned out to be a traitor used this as his nickname. Whatever. Raj is introduced here as stallion who seduces women in an assembly-line manner, The first one is a girl from Punjab, then an aspiring model in Mumbai and at last he meets his fate in Australia. The scenes are colorful, very scenic, but a colorful background can only barely disguise the lack of substance.
Raj is cynical and easily destroys the lives of women, giving hope and destroying destinies. This is shown in the first part, as if this was a joke. Pick up women and dumping them again is shown as a legit hobby.
The insight that this is loathsome comes to Raj by getting the same treatment when he finally meets love, but a unrequited one.  Now he remembers that maybe he has destroyed several lives already and tries to make good what he has ruined. He has to endure some purification, again something that is supposed to be funny. Yes, female revenge is a joke for the Indian macho.
Actually Raj could have skipped the purification, as the woman who rejected him at last runs into the stable on her own.
This could have been good, if the material had not been treated in such an unbearable superficiality.
The music has heavy beats and is orientated towards Western ideals.  Where is the sound of Bollywood? This is like eating Tikka Masala with ketchup.
Altogether: 3/10.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015, Kabir Khan)

From India comes a charming parable about the power of the people. Of course, also Bollywood knows about the real situation, so the whole thing is enacted as a fairy-tale. So all complaints about lack of realism are in vain, as the film visualizes a situation that could be.
Bollywood manages to treat serious themes under the premises of entertainment. Here it has everything: emotional impact, comical relief and a serious message: hatred is stupid.
Yes, the theme is the animosity between India and Pakistan. A little mute girl, illiterate, speechless in a foreign country, becomes the  symbol for this, as we see that words fuel hatred and differences, emotions and affections, not least sincerity transcend the man-made boundaries.
A Muslim girl ends up in a Hindu environment. Pawan becomes her protector. Pawan used to be an under-achiever, however one with a heart of gold. He takes care of the girl, even when he has to realize that she isn't Brahmin, not even Hindu. When he understands that she is from Pakistan, he endeavors to reunite her with her parents. His uncompromising sincerity unmasks all the absurdities, he meets on his way to the border and in Pakistan. And everywhere he meets the spontaneous solidarity of the people on both sides of the border. This is simple, but it still makes a powerful impact. A very great part of this goes to the superior acting of Salman Khan.
No Bollywood movie without songs: watch out for Zindegi  and the comical Chicken Song.
9/10 -- 159 minutes of high emotion, a colorful adventure.

Pawan and Shahida on the road on an important mission

PK (2014) - Hindu nationalists are dumbasses

This morning I read a short notice about Hindu nationalists vandalizing cinemas that  had shown the movie PK.Browsing on I saw that this film would be shown today in Valby Kino.
Valby Kino is a strange place. I love the enthusiasm of the staff, but first you have to go in a backyard, then up a staircase. Actually it looks more like a porn cinema than a regular cinema hall. I wish they would concentrate more on movies that are not shown by every other cinema.
Now to PK, the biggest blockbuster Bollywood ever had. Yes, this is proof of popularity, but not proof of quality. Actually I have a problem with Bollywood comedies, as many are less than sophisticated. They often engage in very physical humor, like the fat guy stumbling, farting, compulsory peeing etc. Laughing about fat guys and big noses is  not comedy, maybe farcical, but not comedy.
Rajkumar Hirani used these devices in Three Idiots from 2009, but he had also a superb blend of pure comedy and touching drama. Judging by the trailer I expected that the jokes in this movie would be far from elegant. However, the reaction of Hindu nationalists made me curious. Ultimately I watched the movie for their sake.Actually the trailer collects the least memorable scenes from this film.
So, what is this all about? An alien is stranded on earth; he needs his remote to call a space ship that will bring him bring to his home planet. But the remote is stolen from him and - as it turns out - sold to a leader of a sect, who then presents it to his devotees as personal gift of God. The alien - he doesn't bring a name from his home planet - is told that only God can help him.
So the alien tries to address God to help him get back his remote, but he is in a state of thrownness (as Heidegger would have called it), he is a stranger and has no clue how this planet is organized. Slowly he recognizes patterns, but he also questions all conventions with childlike (or autistic) logic. At last he comes to the conclusion that all those "managers" of God dialed the wrong number and got connected to some prankster. He also unmasks the holy man who has his remote, so that he at last can return to his home planet. But he returns after one year, to explore the gap between the gap between words and meaning (yes, langue and langage). Example: when we say 'I love chicken', we don't mean that we love animals, but that we put them on our menu).
Rajkumar Hirani has given us a very subtle film, with sentimental and funny elements, drama and comedy, laughs and tears - and "food for thought". His message is ultimately gnostic;: The real God is evading our perception, we reveal petty pretenders.
Amir Khan plays his PK with the scrutiny of a philosopher and the curiosity of a child. There are great supporting performances (e.g. by Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput as a potential Zaara/Veer-couple -- Bollywood always manages to bring new and fresh faces to the screen) . But also Saurabh Shukla as the man and Sanjay Dutt as his disciple bring great supporting performances.
I left the cinema hall happy, almost elevated - very few films bring me in that state. Yes, this is a great film, with a few concessions to the crowd, but nevertheless a most lovable film.

Some have been waiting for this: Amir Khan in the nude

Veer (2010)

This movie received bad reviews, undeservedly, I think. It tells a part of the story how India achieved independence.
In 1920 the wife of the new governor sees that the British are not very popular and she asks the stupid $1.000.000 question: Why do they hate us so much (the same stupid question that certain people asked after 9/11, but let's leave that for the moment. She is told a story about resistance and collaboration. Those who resist are called savage and uncivilized (this part is completely missing in 'Warrior of the Rainbow' who is facing a similar situation). Those who resist may be rough, but they are shown as honest. Veer, their leader to come, even goes to school in Britain. Of course he falls in love with the daughter of his worst enemy. - Veer wants to avoid a fight, but some protocol about given words, honour and karma force him to have a fight anyway. This last part is the least satisfying. Of course it may reflect the attitude of those who talk about honour and such things, but I hope that we, in general, have grown out of this attitude. It's a situation that seems to be closer to the Mahabharata than to Taras Bulba.
Anyway, the movie is nice; the story has been given some consideration and that's why it is more than the default war epic.
I will give it 6/10.

Veer has the qualities of an epic; it's about love, war and even a bit about dharma

Agneepath (2012)

Yes! This is how Bollywood should be - action, excitement, romance, an attractive sound track, in short: just entertainment.
The story is about Vijay. As a boy he had to witness how Kancha, the local criminal boss, had his father hanged. Now he only lives for revenge. In Mumbai he becomes an associate of Rauf Lala, who is a competing criminal. Vijay soon becomes the successor of his business empire and is ready for his final revenge. - The memory of his father gives him a strength and a power he didn't know that  he had it.
There are some nice subplots which add to the emotional appeal, the relation to Vijay's mother who doesn't approve of his revenge plans and also the relation to his sister who was born after Vijay's father was lynched. But there is also Gaitonde from the local police who knows that Vijay is basically good and who becomes a bit  a father substitute. And there was a lot of very good and subtle acting, especially from Hrithik Roshan. Sanjay Dutt enjoys being the evil Kancha,
I give it 8/10.

Agneepath -- the path of fire

 

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012)

I almost forgot that I watched this movie also, or rather I nearly forgot to write something about it. So, here we go.
Imran Khan plays a young man who is under pressure from his father to achieve the best. When he looses his job as architect he doesn't have the stamina to tell his father. He takes sessions with a psychologist and there he runs into Riana (charmingly played by Kareena Kapoor). They spend time together during the Christmas days and after a long debauchery, they find out that they got a marriage license.They travel to India together where Rahul meets Riana's less than conventional family.
At last they cancel their marriage (why?), but Rahul now has the courage to live his own life and not that of his father.
There are some nice and funny scenes in this movie. Kareena gives her role a charming freshness (it's like what Zooey Deschanel does for the series New Girl). Imran Khan does a good job from being "tight assed" to relaxed cool young man. Nice entertainment when one has 2 spare hours. I'll give is 5/10 stars and I don't care if it was inspired by the movie What Happened in Las Vegas or not.

Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl

I don't like the title - it sounds stupid. And additionally Indian comedies have a rather physical humour which I also dislike. But then I decided that I wanted to give the movie a chance anyway.
Ricky Bahl is a conman he cheats women to give them money and then he disappears. When one of his victims make her story public, two other of Ricky's victims decide to take revenge and let him taste his own medicine.
These women are Dimple, played by Parineeti Chopra. Critics liked her. She has some good lines indeed (which is hardly her merit), but maybe Indian spoilt brats are like that.
I  liked much better Aditi Sharma - she develops her role in a nice fashion, while Chopra's character has no discernible development.
Dipannita Sharma (how many Sharmas can there be in one movie?) plays her role as bitchy business woman in a very efficient way, not bad at all for a former super model.
Ranveer Singh is a pleasant new discovery - charming and full of talent, as it seems also as a dancer. He cons the ladies until he is conned at last.by Anushka Sharma. She plays born sales woman, full of vigour and life - it was a pleasure to see the interaction between Sharma and Singh. There is a good chemistry between these actors. Hint: This movie also contains a romance.
The script was OK, however it seemed to be uninspired in the middle. Altogether: nice entertainment from Bollywood. A film for those who like to chuckle and smile.
I will give it a 7/10.

There is good chemistry between Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh

Don (2006) and Don 2 (2011)

For a long time I haven't seen a good movie from Bollywood. There were a lot of expectations to Ra One, but at last it was a movie from all and thus for nobody. The other movie that had a high level of expectancy attached was Don2, a sequel to Don from 2006. To get the best from it, I wanted to see that movie before watching the newest blockbuster.

Don – The Chase Begins Again (2006) Don is a mobster; his antagonist is DCP De Silva. When Don is caught by the police, de Silva sees his chance to send a mole into the world of the gangsters. Vijay, a simple singer, is the spitting image of Don. Then a charade of mistaken identities is starting. Then de Silva dies and Vijay tries to prove his identity. Vijay has a foster son and the real father - beautifully played by Arjun Rampal - also has a grudge on de Silva.
But de Silva is in reality the criminal Vardhan, and Vijay is actually Don.  Additionally Don and Vijay have their respective girlfriends, as no Bollywood movie can do without a touch of romance.
All this is confusing, sometimes surprising and, of course, highly improbable.

Shah Rukh Khan enjoys visibly playing a criminal. Although his character is a murderer, he manages to portray him as a sort of gentleman criminal. His Don is not really malicious, but rather playful.  There is a very strong cast of supporting actors. I have been told that the music partionally is also a remix of older songs.The score is rather efficient.

Don is nice entertainment, although plausibility is not the strongest aspect of this movie.

I wanted to divide these movies on two evenings, but after the first part I became reallt interested in part 2. I thought it would be nivce to continue right after the 2006 movie.

Don2 (2011) even more depends on action. Don now is about to control the European drug market. His closest aim is to rob the Central Bank in Berlin. The plot is surprising, has many turns and twists and shows once more than Don is a criminal above the genius level. This time we are not concerned about the abominable aspect of drugs, but we sympathize with the devil, because he is robbing the bank. This Don is more like Thomas Crown, not so much Godfather or Tony Soprano. And there are more than hints that the adversaries deserve to be robbed. I was amused that one of the corrupt German politicians was called --- Kohl.
This movie is not worse than Mission Impossible or Ocean-11. It has become customary that voices from India loathe those movies that do well abroad. However, Bollywood has emerged as a serious competitor to Hollywood. 
And at last a movie that didn't leave us half dissatisfied.