Madras Cafe - Good Political Thriller,worth a watch

Its time to get off the Chennai Express and get into Madras Cafe,I so knew it this would turn out much better than the last two Hindi movie releases of this month. A good engaging story is always more welcome than the mad tamashas(masala hindi movies) we watch in the name of entertainment. The violent history of the Sri Lankan civil war and Rajiv Gandhi's tragic assassination in 1991 are quite well etched in our memories and the movie to a large extent has captured the essence quite well. The thrill element of this movie is well maintained but yes they could have surely done it more gripping job of it. A war movie can never be a happy one so if you thinking you are going for a movie to whistle,clap and cheer at cheesy lines then this one is not for you. John Abraham looks great as always and did a reasonably ok job, well as an actor there is only that much he can do ,nonetheless not disappointing. Nargis Fakhri as the British Journalist fits the role quite well , she has done with lot of conviction and speaks English throughout the movie which was realistic but John always speaking to her in Hindi wasn't :) Prakash Belawade was fantastic as John's associate,the way he always soaking himself in alcohol to overcome his compromise is something to watch out for. It was good to see our favorite Quiz Master- Siddhartha Basu :) Sanjay Gurbaxani as the former Prime Minister is apt. Kannan Arunachalam as Shri is perfect,remember the strict trainer in 'Fauji' Rashi Khanna playing the role of John's wife comes across as a very sweet girl. The cinematography by Kamaljeet Negi is brilliant. Fact of life - the heroes in real life are always unsung, sizes smaller than life but yet their impact in our lives is huge and we would never be able to thanks them enough. The best part of this film is that the film doesn't take sides. If it is against anything it is the culture of violence. Overall a good political thriller,recommended for sure. Don't miss it, good Hindi movies rarely happen these days :)

Chennai Express - one word -disappointing

I am taking out the diehard SRK fan in me and writing what I felt exactly. From 2009 to 2012 it was Salman Khan's job to come up with trashy movies every Eid and this year he seems to have passed on the baton to SRK unfortunately SRK has always chosen movies with some sort of storyline be it 'My Name is Khan','Chak De India','Veer- Zaara','Swades','Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna','Don' even 'Main Hoo Na' and 'Om Shanti Om' had some story in place. I think after director Rohit Shetty got SRK and Deepika together he decided to drop writing the story and just take ideas from here and there read DDLJ in that and have fun which I am sure he did but then when you decide to price the ticket more expensive than regular price you bloody well deliver some entertainment and that entertainment does not mean picking up one region and making fun of it- of the people, of the culture get a life dude and coming up with jokes which is in real poor light and SRK too is to be blamed to promote this kind of idiotic stuff though I am a huge fan of him but still what is wrong is wrong which includes him promoting fair and handsome creme in a nation which swears by the fair complexion and discriminates its people based on the color of the skin, yes we are racists. I was mentally prepared to watch a complete mindless,illogical cinema but this was just too much to take,agree for a potboiler kinda movie one has to keep the brain aside but it has to be entertaining right not to question the logic and it fails there for sure in the first half. Second half is relatively ok the songs and pleasant presence of Deepika Padukone kinda make up for it and yes SRK does charm you as always and yes I will admit he looks great much better than he did in his last few movies much fresh and much younger. I thought the 'Thalaiva' song towards the end was quite entertaining and it was a nice way to end. Wish they had made this one entertaining one instead of a mockery show. Bollywood directors you need to brush your knowledge about your country,please realize apart from entertaining you also have a social responsibility towards the audience and misleading this way is really harmful - from when did the river in Goa meet at Rameshwaram..seriously ??? Bollywood has 3rd class habit of stereotyping regions in a poor light and this movie is one such example And you got to teach pronounce the names in the right way and not make fun of it . Looks like Bollywood has only one aim except for few exceptions and that is to make movies that will churn 100 crores at any cost. Bollywood of today's time seems pretty sad they really have a long way to go they can learn from the directors of the regions which they make fun about. Best Example - Mani Ratnam's 2007 release 'Guru' which captured the essence of Gujratis beautifully instead of making fun of them or his Roja which captured the essence of Kashmir so beautifully. Please watch 'Ship Of Theseus' if you still haven't , that's what good cinema is about.