Movie: Namastey London
Director: Vipul Shah
Year: 2007
Stars: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel and Rishi Kapoor

Snapshot of the story

Namastey London is an unusual and a fresh love story, director Vipul Shat has taken this movie to new heights after his last crime thriller Aankhen.
Namastey London is a story of Brit girl Jazz born and brought up in London and daughter of Indian parents. Jazz’s father Manmohan Malhotra (Rishi Kapoor) decide that he will make Jazz marry one of his friend’s son Arjun (Akashay Kumar) so that she can learn the Indian culture. Jazz refuses to do so but finally agrees to get married under a condition that she will not stay in India and Arjun has to come to London. Jazz never accepts Arjun’s love and continues to love her London based boyfriend Charlie (Clive Standen). Story becomes interesting as how Akshay Kumar manages to win Jazz’ heart and take her back to India.

Storyline

Namastey London is the story of Arjun (Akshay Kumar) who loves his motherland and their customs and his struggle to find his true love. Jazz (Katrina Kaif) is in love with Charlie (Clive Standen ), however Jazz’s father Manmohan (Rishi kapoor) wants Jazz to marry Arjun so that she can learn Indian tradition and customs which he was not able to cultivate during her upbringing.

On their visit to India Jazz gets married to Arjun but as per the pact Arjun comes to London and starts living in London. After coming to London he realizes that Jazz does not love him and want’s to divorce him and tie the knot with Charlie. Arjun (Akshay Kumar) uses all sorts of ploy to create the love inside Jazz for him. Akshay Kumar fans would love his performance in this movie were he is in a more romantic role leaving behind his action hero image. Arjun (Akshay Kumar) finally manages to impress Jazz (Katrina Kaif) and take her back to India. There are few moments in the movie that ignite patriotism in every Indian who watches the movie. Movie does not loose the grip and flow very smoothly keeping the audience engagd and interested. This has been one of the highlights of Vipul Shah’s direction. Comic timing of Akshay Kumar is good and Upen Patel also did a cameo and was looking very good.

Himesh Reshammiya looked versatile in this movie and successfully experimented different styles of music which was appreciated by the audience. Himesh Reshammiya has matured as a music director since 1998 making his debut with “Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya”. Sunidhi Chauhan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Alisha Chinai, well known US based DJ RBD and Himesh himself did a fantastic job in rendering the songs. Movie did average of $15 million in the box office worldwide which is something.

Final Thoughts

Namastey London has all the ingredients to be a highly entertaining movie with a touch of patriotism. Katrina Kaif looked beautiful and she ha done justice to her role. This is very close to her real life as she joined Bollywood after coming from London. In his second movie Vipul shah has shown signs of a good director. Rishi kapoor played a mature role as Jazz’s father and looked good.

Rating

Namastey London scores 7 out of 10 because of solid performance by all the cast especially Akshay Kumar. Namstey London failed to attract large audiences which could be because of a weak storyline but a good one time watch movie.

Tags: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Namastey London - The Patriotic Love Story, review of Namastey London, Rishi Kapoor

Movie: About a Boy
Year: 2002
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Stars: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette

Snapshot of Story:
An unlikely boy enters the life of a single man (Hugh Grant) derailing his normal lifestyle and changes all that he knew about living.

Storyline:
This is a heart-warming story that hones the acting skills of Hugh Grant and equally good performances by the other cast members to make it a very entertaining movie to watch. Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) is living the life of a single man that others can only dream of. He has income coming in the way of royalties from a one-hit Christmas song that his father produced and recorded. The money is sufficient for him not to work and to pursue his carnal desires for women and other frivolous day to day activities.

There are amusing moments where he signs up to a single mums evening class where he is able to pursue women in the guise of being a father of a single child. Things take a different and interesting turn when Will meets the boy Marcus Brewer who becomes his ‘virtual’ son. However, not everything is easy as it seems and Will and Marcus start developing a complicated relationship with Marcus’s mother Christine residing on the side.

Marcus’s often immature demands soon leads to Will pursuing the life that he had not intended and becomes more embroiled in the family affairs including Christine’s suicidal tendencies. The charming part of the story is when Will begins to almost enjoy the daily ritual of having Marcus coming to his house and having him around for company. Both Marcus and Will start to form a strong bond with each other and Will now finds himself almost impossible to hold on to the life he previously had. At one point he almost throws in the towel but Christine tries to kill herself and Will is again drawn to the family that he cannot shake.

Towards the end, Will, Marcus and other friends find a comfortable fit together and the movie ends with all of them sharing the Christmas day together.

Final Thoughts:
Hugh Grant always appears to have one persona in his representation of the movies he appears in but this is not a bad thing. His boyish British charm and innocence are well deployed in the movies he appears in and make it very entertaining to watch. In the same manner that Bruce Willis has a distinct persona in whatever films that he makes the end result is usually positive. About a boy is a funny and entertaining movie to watch especially around the Christmas and New Year’s festivities with your date or loved one.

Ratings:
7/10

Tags: Hugh Grant's single life exemplified nicely in - About a Boy, Nicholas Hoult, review of About a Boy, Toni Collette, ugh Grant

Movie: Sleepless in Seattle
Year: 1993
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director: Nora Ephron
Stars: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan and Ross Malinger

Snapshot of Story:
‘Sleepless in Seattle’ is an enchanting romantic story about a man who had lost his wife through cancer and has a young boy who calls a popular radio show requesting a wife for his dad.

Storyline:
The story was a big hit at its time due to the simple charming story and the screen presence of both stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. In fact the two went onto make another hit movie called ‘You Got Mail’.

Meg Ryan in her usual boyish but feminine way plays Annie Reed who is engaged to Walter (Bill Pullman) but is desperately looking for more in their relationship. She overhears the radio broadcast of Sam Baldwin and his son while driving back from New York and is captivated by the sad story of the father and son. The entire event is instilled in her mind and she discusses this with her best friend Suzy the next day. In the meantime, the radio show stirred up much interest from all of the Seattle folks in particular from women who sent invitations for marriage.

Annie is unable to shake the strange fascination and attraction for Sam and at one time continues to write a letter to Sam in front of her best friend in which she crumples it up and throws it into the garbage bin. Back in Seattle, Sam is inundated with letters that are now coming in sacks and while Sam refuses to read them, the boy Jonah Baldwin reads some of them with great excitement. Sam insists that the traditional approach to dating where couples meet and have drinks and dinner are the best form of attaining a partner. However, the recent event of the radio show spurs him to pull out his old telephone book and call some of his past female friends to see if he can rekindle some of the lost romanticism since the loss of his wife.

It was clear that Sam could not forget his wife who was shown appearing in one of the scenes where he was laying down to sleep. Despite his bereavement and lack of sleep, Sam continues to do his daily job as an architect and comes to learn that all his friends and colleagues have come to know about the radio show.
Jonah and his school friend come across one letter and talks about a rendezvous in the Empire State building during Valentine’s day. He is taken back by this letter and believes that this is the woman for his father and shows this to him who dismisses it as nothing important.

Sam continues to receive words of encouragement from his colleagues and friends as they learn of the radio show. One evening where Sam meets up with a good friend and his wife for dinner, he mentions the letter that his son spoke of and the wife is able to relate the meeting in the empire state building to an old movie by Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr called ‘An Affair to Remember’. This sets the tone for the remainder of the movie.
After a few missed opportunities and unexpected twists and turns Sam finally ends up at the Empire State building on Valentine’s day and meets Annie during that fateful moment.

Final Thoughts:
Although there were no actual screen romanticism on the part of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in this movie it was nevertheless a good rendition of how two different people portrayed in their independent lifestyles can make a fitting couple. This thought was left to the imagination of the audience and the same technique applied in the later movie by the two stars called ‘You have Mail’. The movie is a one-time viewing that is very heart warming, entertaining and watchable.

Rating:
7.5/10

Tags: Moview Ratings and Reviews, Review of Sleepless in Seattle, Son Look for Dating Partner for His Father in Sleepless in Seattle

Movie: Pyar To Hona Hi Tha (Love Had to Happen)
Director: Anees Bazmee
Year: 1998
Stars: Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Kashmira Shah & Bijay Anand

Snapshot of the story

Pyar To Hona Hi Tha is a love story of a thief and is inspired by the famous Hollywood movie “French Kiss” starring Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton and Kelvin Kline. Pyar to Hone Hi Tha is based on a similar plot where Sanjana (kajol) staying alone in Paris comes to India to get married. She meets a Shekhar (Ajay Devgan) who use her bag to smuggle a necklace into India. This sets the tone for the movie as the plot goes through twists and turns.

Storyline

Pyar to Hona Hi Tha can not be called an original story as it is inspired from the movie “French Kiss” but it has a strong storyline. Sanjana lands in India and soon comes to know that Rahul (one who she will marry) is in love with Nisha (Kashmira Shah) and the only reason he is entertaining Sanjana is for her money. Sanjana comes to know all this and also wants him to teach a lesson and sends a strong message that she too has a boyfriend and seeks help from Shekhar (Ajay Devgan). Shekhar agrees to this as he wants the smuggled necklace back which he hides in Sanjana’s bag.

Both Sanjana and Shekhar pretend to love each other to show off in front of Rahul and Nisha has some success but not completely change Rahul’s mind. Disheartened by this Sanjana decides to go back to Paris but in this game they starts to love each other but do not express each others feelings. The climax of the movie is very exiting as Shekhar wants the smuggled necklace which Sanjana gives to the police, Shekhar is in need of this as he need movie for his brother operation suffering for cardiac problem. Sanjana secretly help Shekhar but he comes to know from the police. Shekhar manages to stop the aircraft and propose Sanjana in front of all the passengers. Sanjana who has come to marry and find her true love.

Final Thoughts

This is amongst the finest performances by Kajol. She has been truly remarkable in all aspects and portrayal of emotions in this movie. Ajay Devgan also good but the Anees Bazmee. Jatin-Lalit’s music was the highlight of the movie and Jaspinder Naroola bagged the filmfare award for best playback singer for the song “Pyar to Hona Hi Tha”

Rating

Excellent direction, best cinematography, hit music by Jatil-Lalit, well rendered song by Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Pop sensation Remo Fernandes, Jaspinder Narula, Udit Narayan and great Asha Bhosle. Pyara to Hona hi tha was a hit and did $20 million in the box office worldwide.

Kajol is expecting the 2nd child

Upcoming movie of Ajay Devgan in 2012

Tags: Inspired Story From Frech Kiss, Pyar to Hona Hi Tha

Movie: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Year: 1999
Genre: Romance, Musical, Drama
Stars: Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram Gokhale and Vinay Pathak

Snapshot of the story

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is an emotional love triangle between Sameer (Salman Khan), Vanraj (Ajay Devgan) and Nandini (Aishwarya Rai). Nandini’s father is a classical singer and Sameer comes to India from Italy to learn classical songs. Both Nandini and Sameer fall in love, however Nandini’s father has other plans and wants Nandini to marry his friend’s son Vanraj. This sets an exciting tone for the movie and glues audience to their seats.

Storyline
Pandit Darbar (Vikram Gokhle) is a proponent of Indian Classical Music. He has a beautiful daughter Nandini who is also learning music from her father. Sameer (Salman Khan) lives in Italy and wants to learn Indian Classical Music and he comes to India to learn the art from Pandit Darbar. As Sameer and Nandini learn music together they start loving each other and share their feelings with each other.

Pandit Darbar comes to know about this and becomes furious with both of them. He refuses to teach classical music to Sameer and also fixes Nandini’s wedding with his friend’s son Vanraj (Ajay Devgan). With his father’s pressure Nandini has to marry Vanraj and Sameer goes back to Italy. Dil De Check Saman becomes a fast track drama when Vanraj comes to know about the fact and he decide that he will not come in between their way and let Nandini go to Sameer and escort her to Italy. There is yet another twist in the tale as circumstances and incident makes Nandini starts loving Vanraj. The climax of the story was hi-fi emotional drama as Nandini refuse to leave Vanraj.

Final Thoughts

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali established himself in the industry with this blockbuster hit. Debutant music director Ismail Darbar did a fantastic job by using Indian folk music for this movie. Hum Dil De Cheke Sanam bagged 9 filmfare awards including best movie of the year and best director award. Ismail Dardab received RD Burman award for best music director – debut.

Rating
Movie score of 9 out of 10 for best performance in all departments Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai gave towering performances. It has a good storyline, best screenplay, best music and strong direction that contributed to the success of this movie.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan blessed with a baby girl

Follow Salman Khan on Twitter

Tags: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Reviews and ratings of emotional love story