Amitabh Bachchan Inaugurated 45th IFFI

Mega star Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated 45^th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on 20^th November 2014 at dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Taleigao, Goa in an admit gathering with lighying of the lamp, where Arun Jaitely, union minister information & broadcasting, Laxmikant Parsekar chief minister of Goa, Col. Rajyavardhan rathore minister of state information & broadcasting, Ms. Mridula sinha governor of Goa, Manohar parikar union defence minister, Gulzar, rajnikanth, Ragini Trivedi, Pawan Kalyanji, Bimal Julka and many others were present. Anupam Kher and raveena Tandon hosted the event.

Arun Jaitely along with Amitabh Bachchan awarded the Centenary award for Film personality of the year to Rajnikanth, (the coveted award had gone to Waheeda Rehman last year) beside a shawl and a trophy. Arun Jaitely presented Life Time Achievement Award to Hong Kong’s filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai. And Arun Jaitely also felicitated the International Jury.

The 2014 edition of the film festival is 11^th day in a row at Goa begins with 35^th International film Festival of India in November 2014 in state. The festival will be continue in Goa only and Government has planned to fix Donakaol, Goa for the next each IFFI. Besides, the world premieres IFFI 2014 offers a repertoire of activities, such as The Film Bazar, 3D Films, Master Classes, Stalls and Open-Air screenings.

178 films from 79 countries uring 11 days from 20^th to 0^th Novenber to be shown in the estival in different categories

 hich include World Cinema
 61films), Master Strokes 911 
films), Festival Kaleidoscpe (20 

films), Soul of Asia (7 films), 
Documentries 96 films), 

Animated films (6 films), beside 
Indian panorama section would include 26 feature films and 15

 nom-feature films. THE PRESIDENT, directed by Mohsen 

Makhmalbaf (Iran) was the opening film while the festival will be 

close with THE GRAND MASTER film by Wong Kar-wai on 30^th November 2014.

KILL/DIL Review Rating 2.5 / 5 Star

Banner

 Yash Raj Films

Producer

 Aditya Chopra

Director

 Shaad Ali

Music

 Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

THE STORY

Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali Zafar) are two orphans who are abandoned at birth and are found in a garbage dump by the local merciless gangster Bhaiyaji (Govinda). He takes them in, nurtures them and trains them to become professional killers. The duo highly regards him and everything is gung ho until one day, when a criminal reformer Disha (Parineeti Chopra) enters Dev’s life and the two fall in love. Bhaiyyaji does not accept their relationship and Dev has to make a difficult choice now. Even Tutu gets stuck between his friendship with Dev and his loyalty towards Bhaiyyaji and things thereby take an ugly turn for one and all.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

This is a story of love, revenge and betrayal where is an attempt to create a perfect blend of guns and roses. But not a single moment of emotional connection to establish with the story or the characters. Performance wise, Ranveer Singh is the saving grace of the film with his innocence and comical moments. Ali Zafar seems more impressive physically and seems rather uncomfortable in the skin of his character. Parineeti Chopra is great in her role. Govinda tries to put his best but acts in his old style. Aloknath in his brief role leaves impact. Rest cast of the film lend support well.

TRADE ANALYSIS 

Director Shaad Ali gave two super hit films under the YRF banner which were SAATHIYA and BUNTY AUR BABLI and took a sabbatical after the downfall of his last outing JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM. Sadly, he has let the audience down yet again with such a comeback after seven years. This first half is good and in the second half the story does not hurtle towards a melodramatic climax. The dialogues written by Nitesh Tiwari, Shreyash Jain and Nikhil Mehrotra are fantastic. Musically, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are good. Sham Kaushal’s action is above average. Cinematography by Aveek Mukhopadhyay is excellent. Ritesh Soni’s editing is up to the mark. Production and technical values are very good. The film was heavily publicized.

VERDICT

At the box office, despite a strong star cast, the film is expected to do moderate business.

JOHN WICK Review Rating 2 / 5 Star

Banners- Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Pictures, 87Eleven Productions and DefyNite Films

Producers- Basil Iwanyk, David Leitch and Eva Longoria

Directors- David Leitch and Chad Stahelski

THE STORY

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a former hit man who leaves the world of crime to be with the love of his love Helen (Bridget Moynahan) but returns after she is deceased, to take revenge from some Russian gangsters who messed with him and took everything away. What follows is a cat and mouse chase where the city of New York becomes the ultimate battleground for him against Vikko Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist), the leader of the Russian syndicate.

CRITICAL & TRADE ANALYSIS

The film released long ago in the States and other countries and was widely appreciated for its high octane action. The veteran stuntmen duo David Leitch and Chad Stahelski have made an impressive directorial debut with this revenge thriller. Keanu Reeves plays the title role brilliantly. Bridget is beautiful but has a short lived role. Michael Nyqvist is remarkable as the antagonist. The other cast supports well. Screenplay and dialogues are impressive. Editing is sharp. Cinematography is very good. Production and technical values are good. The publicity was average.

VERDICT

At the box office, the film is an average.

6-5=2 Review Rating Zero Star

Banner- Marcs Inc

Producer/ Director- Bharat Jain

THE STORY

Six youngsters undertake a trek in the jungles of Karnataka that goes horribly wrong when bizarre incidents are encountered by them one after the other. The friends either disappear or get killed. All of the incidents get taped in a video recorder and are presented in the story as found footage.

CRITICAL & TRADE ANALYSIS

It is a remake of the Kannada horror film with the same title. Bharat Jain has tried his level best to create a version which gives the same amount of chills to the Hindi audience as well but ends up providing a shoddy patch work of it. Undoubtedly, the genre of found footage is different and hence, an interesting experiment but he fails in terms of presentation. The cast is full of newcomers and no one is up to the mark. The script is weak. Editing is bad. Cinematography is poor. Production and technical values are mediocre. The publicity was zero.

VERDICT

At the box office, the film is total disappointed.

CHAAR SAHIBZAADE (Review)

Banner- Baweja Movies

Producer- Pammi Baweja

Director- Harry Baweja

Music- Jaidev Kumar

THE STORY

Guru Gobind Singh and his four sons Ajith Singh, Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh fought valiantly against the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s royal aide, Wazir Khan. Wazir Khan was a tyrant ruler, who was unjust with people. Guru Gobind Singh protested against his injustice. In turn, Wazir Khan attacked the Sikh community in an unrighteous way. To ensure their survival, Guru Gobind Singh’s four brave sons sacrificed their lives.

CRITICAL AND TRADE ANYALYSIS

Harry Baweja has beautifully encapsulated sensitive events of Sikh history in this 3D animated film. The subject is strong and makes the film gripping throughout. Dialogues are impactful. Ace actor Om Puri’s voiceover as the narrator makes it better. Being a stereoscopic film with animation and 3D effects, the execution was good according to Indian standards. Action is good. Cinematography is decent. Editing is crisp. Production and technical values are average. The film was moderately publicized.

VERDICT

At the box office, the film opened with a below average response and may run with word of mouth publicity especially in the north.