BOMBAY TO BANGKOKBOMBAY TO BANGKOK is a cute romantic story with its heart in the right place. It also has a subplot within the plot, which comes as a surprise towards the end. What Nagesh Kukunoor tries to portray is that love has no boundaries and can surpass even language barriers. It also overlooks obvious flaws. No matter where you find it, when you do, it’s the most delirious feeling. Here, Nagesh hits the nail on the head.
The narration is simple; there’s nothing over the top and the moments between Shreyas Talpade (Shankar) and Lina Christianson (Jasmine) are handled very romantically.
Nagesh gets straight to the point with his central character, Shankar, and follows his path to Bangkok where cupid strikes and love blossoms. Shankar is a bawarchi working in a local restaurant and one night chances upon a pouch full of money left behind by the local don’s hoodlums. Unable to contain himself, he takes the bag with him, in the hope of getting a better treatment for his ailing mother and a better life for himself. But the goons soon catch up with him and instead of his original destination to Dubai, he masquerades as a doctor and hops on to a chartered flight to Bangkok. In a massage parlour, he chances upon Jasmine and the seeds of love are sown.
The narration is simple; there’s nothing over the top and the moments between Shreyas Talpade (Shankar) and Lina Christianson (Jasmine) are handled very romantically.
Nagesh gets straight to the point with his central character, Shankar, and follows his path to Bangkok where cupid strikes and love blossoms. Shankar is a bawarchi working in a local restaurant and one night chances upon a pouch full of money left behind by the local don’s hoodlums. Unable to contain himself, he takes the bag with him, in the hope of getting a better treatment for his ailing mother and a better life for himself. But the goons soon catch up with him and instead of his original destination to Dubai, he masquerades as a doctor and hops on to a chartered flight to Bangkok. In a massage parlour, he chances upon Jasmine and the seeds of love are sown.
Shreyas Talpade is soon turning to be the common man’s hero. He gets into character playing the caring son, confused in love idiot, and the fake doctor with aplomb. Watch out for the scene when the two lovers are running around in circles to get into each others rooms in the middle of the night. Also, the scene at the parlour, where Shankar tries to convince Jasmine of his love, and his ‘first time’ at the parlour.Lina, the Thai actress oozes of charm and confidence. She is cute, sexy and someone you would want to take home. No wonder Shankar falls for her. Nagesh has chosen his characters well, even the doctors, especially Dr. Rati, who falls in love with the gangster turned rapper. Those scenes too have its moments. You could call it “moments of madness”. The scene where language is the monster is very cute. Especially when both are trying to tell the other their feelings or even when they are making fun of the names originating from their respective countries!
The title track “We are same, same but different,” rocks and you want to shake a leg with Shreyas and Lina as they scorch the scene in this dance number.
TO GO OR NOT: For those in love, this is a must-see; for those yet to fall in love, do watch it. And for those who look down on romance, you might just change your stance.
Rama Rama Kya Hai DramaYou don’t go with much expectation to watch this film, but you leave the multiplex a bit surprised that the movie did manage to raise a few laughs. And credit for this turn around should go to Rajpal Yadav who single-handedly steers the film from stagnating to a mundane comedy. With his experience and expertise he lifts the film a few notches higher. However, with not much support coming from the other cast, it gets lost somewhere.
But this is not to say that the entire support cast was mediocre. Frankly speaking, the writer left no scope for the others with Rajpal hogging the limelight and Sanjay Mishra coming a close second. If things were put in proper perspective, Chandrakant Singh would have had a surprise hit on his hand. Had a little more pain been taken to develop the relationship between the two couples (The other couple being Ashish Chowdhary (Prem) and Amrita Arora (Khushi), the story would have been quite different. All said and done, you can safely say that this has been the most entertaining film of the year, so far.
But this is not to say that the entire support cast was mediocre. Frankly speaking, the writer left no scope for the others with Rajpal hogging the limelight and Sanjay Mishra coming a close second. If things were put in proper perspective, Chandrakant Singh would have had a surprise hit on his hand. Had a little more pain been taken to develop the relationship between the two couples (The other couple being Ashish Chowdhary (Prem) and Amrita Arora (Khushi), the story would have been quite different. All said and done, you can safely say that this has been the most entertaining film of the year, so far.
The film is about marriage and the problems that come along due to misunderstandings. Fed up of his marriage with Neha Dhupia (Shanti), and envious of the lifestyle of his bachelor colleague and his live-in relationships, Rajpal Yadav (Santosh), starts imagining romances which gets him into a lot of trouble and finally into a police station.The comedy at most times is never over-the-top and credit to this, once again goes to Rajpal, who I guess, does not know how to overact - his act is clean and flawless.
Anupam Kher and Rati Agnihotri have nothing of note. Amrita Arora does not have much to do and one expected much more from Aashish, especially after he put up a good performance in DHAMAAL and a negative role in Vikram Bhatt’s SPEED. As for Neha Dhupia, her husband leaves her no room to perform, as automatically, whenever he walks into a frame all eyes are focused on him.
To go or not: This movie will do well in the interiors of the country, where the front benchers will have a fairly good time with Rajpal’s comedy. In the cities, I’m afraid; it will not get much of an audience.
My Name Is Anthony GonsalvesE Niwas has worked his magic with a raw newcomer and an intense supporting cast to make magic with MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES. The director has a tight script and is assisted with some slick editing by Rameshwar S Bhagat. However, Bhagat should have chopped off around 15 minutes. What will work for this movie though is ‘word of mouth’ since it has no big names to boast about.
E Niwas has his stamp all over the flick. He has handled his characters very well, especially Nikhil Dwivedi, who surprises with his performance. The trio of Pawan Malhotra, Mukesh Tiwari and Daya Shankar Pandey are a treat to watch. Caught in a Julius Casear-Brutus-Cassius like situation, the three owe alliance to Murtuza (Anupam Kher), a dreaded underworld don.
The dialogues are witty and sometimes intense. One dialogue in particular, has everyone erupting with laughter when Anupam faces opposition as he hands over the reins to Sikander (Pawan Malhotra) instead of his nephew Maqsood (Mukesh Tiwari), from Riyaaz (Daya Shankar Pandey). When Riyaaz tells Murtuza that Maqsood is his blood and he should take over, Murtuza says, “Khoon to khatmal mein bhi hai, iska matlab yeh to nahi ki unko gaddi de do.” As the kingpin, Anupam Kher controls his men with maturity, but it is Pawan Malhotra who towers over the rest with his personality, dialogue delivery and body language. Utmost care is taken to see that his attire does justice to his image.
Sikander had adopted a young Anthony (Nikhil Dwivedi) and put him in charge of Father Braganza (Mithun Chakraborty). Though Anthony works in his bar, Sikander has kept him away from the world of crime he is in. Anthony nurses a dream of making it as a film star and makes the rounds of various auditions. One day, Anthony, accidentally witnesses Sikander, Maqsood and Riyaaz taking off a dead body from the basement of their home. That’s when all hell breaks loose. Sikander is caught between killing the one he has adopted, and accepting the decision of the one who adopted him (Murtuza).
The movie has enough twists and turns to keep you entertained in your seats. The end, however, is reminiscent of the 80s when everyone would be at one place with the cops reaching just in time.
Nikhil Dwivedi has a bright future. The boy has confidence in his abilities and this will stand him in good stead in films to come. Amrita Rao, who is cast opposite Nikhil is sweet as the role demands her to be. She adds freshness to the thrills with her cute expressions and spontaneous performance.
Overall, the look of the film is good keeping in mind the gangster theme. There’s an item number, too, thrown in to spice up things with Hrishitaa Bhatt and an appearance by Prikanka Chopra which begins the proceedings with a bang.
To go or not: Total time pass and guaranteed paisa vasool fare. But like I said earlier, with no big names to boast, this film might sink. Word of mouth will definitely do the trick.
E Niwas has his stamp all over the flick. He has handled his characters very well, especially Nikhil Dwivedi, who surprises with his performance. The trio of Pawan Malhotra, Mukesh Tiwari and Daya Shankar Pandey are a treat to watch. Caught in a Julius Casear-Brutus-Cassius like situation, the three owe alliance to Murtuza (Anupam Kher), a dreaded underworld don.
The dialogues are witty and sometimes intense. One dialogue in particular, has everyone erupting with laughter when Anupam faces opposition as he hands over the reins to Sikander (Pawan Malhotra) instead of his nephew Maqsood (Mukesh Tiwari), from Riyaaz (Daya Shankar Pandey). When Riyaaz tells Murtuza that Maqsood is his blood and he should take over, Murtuza says, “Khoon to khatmal mein bhi hai, iska matlab yeh to nahi ki unko gaddi de do.” As the kingpin, Anupam Kher controls his men with maturity, but it is Pawan Malhotra who towers over the rest with his personality, dialogue delivery and body language. Utmost care is taken to see that his attire does justice to his image.
Sikander had adopted a young Anthony (Nikhil Dwivedi) and put him in charge of Father Braganza (Mithun Chakraborty). Though Anthony works in his bar, Sikander has kept him away from the world of crime he is in. Anthony nurses a dream of making it as a film star and makes the rounds of various auditions. One day, Anthony, accidentally witnesses Sikander, Maqsood and Riyaaz taking off a dead body from the basement of their home. That’s when all hell breaks loose. Sikander is caught between killing the one he has adopted, and accepting the decision of the one who adopted him (Murtuza).
The movie has enough twists and turns to keep you entertained in your seats. The end, however, is reminiscent of the 80s when everyone would be at one place with the cops reaching just in time.
Nikhil Dwivedi has a bright future. The boy has confidence in his abilities and this will stand him in good stead in films to come. Amrita Rao, who is cast opposite Nikhil is sweet as the role demands her to be. She adds freshness to the thrills with her cute expressions and spontaneous performance.
Overall, the look of the film is good keeping in mind the gangster theme. There’s an item number, too, thrown in to spice up things with Hrishitaa Bhatt and an appearance by Prikanka Chopra which begins the proceedings with a bang.
To go or not: Total time pass and guaranteed paisa vasool fare. But like I said earlier, with no big names to boast, this film might sink. Word of mouth will definitely do the trick.
