The Dark Knight Rises:A stunning conclusion to the series

 The most anticipated movie of 2012 is none another than The Dark knight rises.Nolan has certainly gained a great number of fans after the 2008 superhero film The Dark knight.which was not only a superhero movie but also an excellent crime thriller with the fantastic performance of Heath Ledger as Joker.Nolan returns with another batman movie which is termed as 'An Epic Conclusion'.Expectations were Skyhigh and as usual Nolan delivers an exciting and power packed thriller which concludes the series with a Stunning and Brilliant conclusion.After all,he doesn't have the habit of disappointing people.

Coming to the movie,The events of the film happens after 8 years from Dark knight when Batman takes responsibility for Harvey Dent's crimes and disappears to the dark.But he is forced to return from exile because of a new threat to Gotham namely Bane,a ruthless mercenary planning to destroy Gotham.With the help of his armed thugs,Bane is able to snatch a nuclear reactor to blow up the city.Eventually he encounters the Dark knight.But with his superior muscle power,Bane is able to thrash the dark knight and leaves him for dead.How the Dark knight will rise to save Gotham city and defeats Bane forms the rest of the story.There are also a good amount of supporting characters like Catwoman,Commissioner Gordon,A rookie Cop John blake,Lucius fox,Miranda tate,Alfred who plays key roles in the film

Christian Bale returns as the billionaire Bruce Wayne and also as the Caped crusader.He is excellent as the protagonist unlike the previous film The dark knight where Heath ledger as Joker stole the show.This is his best performance as Batman in the trilogy.He performed well in the action scenes and his dialogue delivery was cool.Tom Hardy as Bane is a plotting and tough villain but no where near Heath ledger's Joker.Yet,he manages to be a powerful adversary for the Caped Crusader.His fight scene with Batman at the beginning and the end provides some much required thrills.His dialogue delivery was not much audible because of the mask he wears but it was not much of a problem because of the subtitles that were provided.Anne hathway as Catwoman was cool.She has a key role in the movie and she does well.Marion Cotillard as Bruce wayne's love interest Miranda tate was convincing.Joseph Gordon Levitt was good as the rookie Cop John Blake in a major role.He had more screen space than expected and doesn't disappoint.Others were Batman films regulars Miachel caine,Morgan freeman,Gary oldman does justice to their roles..Liam neeson and Cicilan murphy plays brief roles as Ra's al ghul and Scarecrow/Dr Crane respectively.

 Music by Hans ziemmer moved the movie to the next level.Made the movie more thrilling.

The star of the film is director Christopher Nolan.He delivers the necessary goods as usual.Some of the one liners were awesome but not as that of the predecessor.The scene at which Batman produces the Bat signal using fire was brilliant.1st hour was merely a build up and was moving at a slow pace.The return of the Batman was the turning point of the movie.From there on the movie becomes exciting and leads to a explosive climax with planes,bombs and fights.The twist at the end was totally unexpected.In the end,the film delivers what was expected or even more.Crisp dialogues were always a part of Nolan's Batman series and its present here too.The climax of the film may not sound impressive to some.Yet,as a Batman fan,I liked the climax despite the mixed opinions.There was a standing ovation after the movie which again proves that Nolan is one of best in Hollywood.Looking forward to his next film.This trilogy will be a cult classic in the coming years and will remain an sincere and realistic portrayal of the caped crusader.Comparisons to the predecessors can be made But The Dark knight rises stands up to the level of Dark knight and Batman Begins.The series itself is a must watch to all Batman fans.

Overall,The Dark knight rises was worth the wait and a movie that finally stands up to its hype.Must watch for all Batman Fans and Nolan fans.As for me,I am going once again as this might be the last Batman movie I will be watching in theatre.

Rating 4.5/5

Shanghai:A brilliant political thriller

Dibakar Bannerjee's career seems to be picking up at a fast pace.Debuting with the excellent black comedy Khosla ka ghosla,He got the praise of critics.Then he made another of the same genre,Oye lucky lucky oye which was an Ok kind of movie.The pathbreaking one was Love sex aur dhokha particularly known as LSD which is one of the best movies in bollywood.Now he is back with a political thriller Shanghai,which is an example of brilliant film making.Packed with powerful performances,this one should not be missed

The Plot consists of nothing special.The story takes place in Bharat nagar which is soon to be developed by International business park,A project which is supported by the ruling government.But the social worker Dr Ahmedi(prosenjit chattejee) i has a different opinion.His opposes IBP and conducts rally against it.He also shares a kind of illicit relationship with his one of his  followers,Shalini(kalki).After his programme against IBP,he is hit by a truck driven by a drunk driver.This incident is viewed as an accident at first which turns out to be shocking conspiracy.Collector krishnan(abhay deol) is held in charge of the enquiry commission.Jogi(emraan hashmi) who is a cameraman claims to have a tape which reveals the conspiracy.The film deals with the efforts of these people to reveal the truth behind the incident.

Direction by Dibakar is top class.The movie,which is under 2 hrs is engaging from the start right till the very end.Ending could have been dramatized but film portrays it in a realistic way and does not go over the top.Absence of Background musicat most parts of the movie can be noted.Dialogues are good.This is not Dibakar's best work,yet the film will be another feather in the cap for him.

Coming to the performances,Emraan hashmi delivers one of his best performance till date.He had always been an underrated actor in bollywood and his potential was not much used by the directors.He comes in a never-before-seen avatar with his regular onscreen kisses missing which dissappointed his fans.He puts in a powerful performance as Jogi,a small time cameraman who finds his life turned upside down after the accident.With the evidence in his hands,He struggles to uncover the truth while endangering his life and that of others.His performance in the song Bharat mata ki jai is splendid.Kalki as Shalini does justice to her role and actually brilliant in some sequences and does better than her recent films.Abhay Deol is cool as the collector Krishnan.His tamil accent is just Ok but excluding that,He excels in his role of a tough officer.His performance near to the climax was excllent.Prosenjit Chatterjee as Dr.Ahmedi is good in a brief role.Pitobash Tripathy as Bhagu did well.Havent seen this guy before but he is certainly one to look out for.Rest of the cast does justice to their respective roles.

There are only 2 songs in the movie.Bharat mata ki Jai and Imported Kamariya.Baharat mata ki Jai song is well choreographed with excellent perfromance from Hashmi while Scarlett Mellish Wilson excels in Imported Kamariya song.I felt that Morcha song could have also been included in the movie.Its used as background in some parts of the movie.Other songs from the album are also absent but that could have slowed down the movie.

However,The film is not without its share of negatives.The plot is predictable to an extent and the movie has nothing new to offer.The direction and performances saves the movie and makes it a good thriller.This is not a regular bollywood film,the movies from Dibakar never has been and this movie also stays that way.Movie lovers cannot afford to give this one a miss.

Rating:3.5/5

Grandmaster:A twisted thriller

After the box office dud The Thriller,B unnikrishan is back with another police story with Mohanlal,with whom he made his first superhit Madambi back in 2007.This is not a regular police story with firebrand dialogues,3-5 fights and a lukewarm climax.Its a different flick by B unnikrishnan avoiding the regular police movie Cliches.Finally we get a neat,twisted and Simple thriller that provides some genuine thrills.

The Story resembled the old malayalam serial Black and white which was my favourite show at that time.Mohanlal plays IG Chandrasekhar,the head of Metro crime stopper squad who lost his interest in work after his divorce.When Jereme(riyaz khan) kidnaps 3 girls,He returns with a bang to stop injustice.Later ,Chandrasekhar receives a letter by a mysterious person stating that he wants to play a game.Hence,The movie is a battle of wits between the mysterious killer and Chandrasekhar.Helping him in this task are Kishor(Narein) and Rishi(Jagathy) and his ex-wife Deepthi(priyamani).The killer kills his victims in the alphabetical order.Who is the Killer, what is his motive and how Chandrashekhar nabs him forms the story of Grandmaster.

Mohanlal puts up an energetic performance which was missing in his last few films.He shines as Chandrashekar who is in the trail of the serial killer.His dialogue delivery and fight scenes were excellent.He doesnt have much long essay dialogues and war of words with his superiors like the regular police stories which is a disappointment for lal fans.Its a relief for me though.His supercool performance makes the other actors just spectators and it works well for the film too.Narein was decent as the sidekick and Jagathy too did well.Priyamani had an important role as Chandrasekhar's ex-wife and did it without much flaws.Siddhique was cool in a brief role.Roma,Anoop menon,Babu antony,Riyaz khan did their parts comfortably.Others were good.

B unnikrishnan hit the mark with this one.Great takings, good screenplay,crisp dialogues and good direction that makes the movie engaging till the end.The suspense was good and not predictable as the plot is twisty at times and it was completely different from what I expected.So to say,He was one step ahead of the audience's minds which was not expected,atleast by me.He deserves much of the credit for this neat thriller but I felt the movie dragged in the first half.Still this one remains as one of his best works but for me Tiger is way ahead.Though it was directed by Shaji kailas,it was written by B unnikrishnan.The Chess playing scenes between hero and the mysterious villain which was repeated many times in the movie was interesting and caught my attention

Songs were a big let down considering the music director was Deepak Dev.The first song Akale was better than the rest.BGM was good at times.The running time of the movie could have been cut short.a bit.

Alltogether,Grandmaster lies entirely on Mohanlal.Watch it for the maestro's cool performance and the movie also provides some much required thrills and suspense.The climax gets us by surprise with an unexpected villain.The movie ends up as a decent thriller.In the box office,Film will have a tough time competing with superhits like Mayamohini ,ordinary and all but I hope this one ends up as a winner.

Rating :3/5

AVENGERS:A spectacular superhero showdown

Expectations were sky high because of the excellent reviews for Avengers flooding the internet during last week.It forced me to watch the first show and it was worth the price of the ticket.Truly amazing,thats what you can call this film in terms of entertainment.Film doesnt fall short of entertainment and actors.This is a genuine multistarrer and the fans of superhero movies cant afford to miss this one.

There is no point in going into the story of the movie.Its just regular stuff-A villain trying to take over the world and a superhero fighting him and saving the world.But in this movie,There is not one but 5-6 of them trying to save the world including Black widow and Hawkeye.The film begins with attack from Loki,The villain on a lab and stealing the power source.Loki also takes control of the Doctor and Hawk eye.Nick fury goes to assemble the superheroes Ironman,Black widow,Captain America,Hulk and together they fight loki to stop his plan of raking over the world.Though there is an unexpected visit from thor during the first hour.The rest of the movie is full of guns,shootouts,missiles and breathtaking action scenes which will hold your attention.The last 40-50 min is full of action and entertainment.The film also leaves a chance for a sequel.

The first hour is somewhat slow in the middle.Many dialogues were not much audible but the movie later picks up.The introduction of characters took a long time.Indeed there are many to introduce,still that hampers the pace of the movie.The dialogues of Iron man to Captain America was great.There are comic scenes here and there.The 2nd hour is the unlimited action,full of thrills and fights.The special effects are awesome.3D was really effective,I found myself blinking on approaching missiles,Ironman and all.Thats something I really miss nowadays in 3D films.3D was worth after all  in a pathetic theatre.

On going to the performances,everyone did their part perfectly but the show stealer was Mark Ruffalo as Hulk.His intro was welcomed with tremendous applause.He rocked in the 2nd hour and his confrontation with Loki was hilarious and one of the best scenes of the movie.I didnt like the incredible Hulk but in this one,Hulk was excellent.After Hulk,credit goes to none other than one of my Favourite actors Rober Downey Jr.His dialogues were cool and his performance was supercool as always.My pick is his scene with Loki.I am not adding spoilers,But Just watch out for that scene when Loki tries to take control of him and next one.That was the best scene in the movie.Chris Hemsworth as Thor did his part well.His intro was good than the others and also fight scenes.Chris Evans as Captain America was Ok,nothing much to perform though.Samuel jackson as Nick fury was good.Scarlett Johnson as Black widow looked great and performed well.Tom Hiddleston as Loki was convincing as the routine villain and Jereme Renner as Hawkeye was Ok.

Direction was slow in the middle but later picked up and the 2nd hour was entertaining with comic and action scenes.Dialogues were good and funny.Fight scenes are well shot and blended in the movie and eventhough 2nd half is full of fights,Its doesnt become tiresome and boring.Special applause for that.

Alltogether,Avengers is a spectacular Superhero Showdown that should not be missed for fans of Superhero movies and also for regular audience.In the box office,This one is sure to break collection records.As I said,a sequel can be expected as the film gives hints about it in the end credits.I go with a 4/5 for Avengers and it really is worth the price of the ticket.

Rating 4/5:Entertainer

22 Female kottyam:Bold and Brutal

My expectations for this film was because of none other than Aashiq Abu who made a dood debut with Daddy cool and improved a lot in Salt and pepper.And my expectations were fully satisfied when I came out of the theatre today after watching this movie.Hats off to him for making a film based on this theme particularly on a vacation time along with so called entertainers and making this one worth the money of the ticket.Looking forward to his next film.

This is not a regular malayalam film with 2-3 songs,fights and silly comedies.Its a serious Thriller based on relevant social issues.This is the story of a 22 year old Kottayam girl Tessa who is working as nurse in Bangalore.Things take a turn when she meet Cyril,A visa agent and both of them fall in love and what follows is a drastic change in the lives of Tessa as she encounters the worst part in her life.I am not going more into the story but I assure that this one is worth watching for its neat direction,Brilliant performances and a superb climax.

Rima steals the Show as Tessa.Brillaint performance.Liked her after Ritu.She carries the movie on her shoulders from the first scene onwards.Fahad also did well as Cyril,though not brilliant,A good performance.He is one to look out for.Prathap Pothan as Fahad's boss and Sathar portrayes their roles with ease.Others did their part well.The Song and BGM is nice.

The 1st Half ends quite unexpectedly and the 2nd half is somewhat slow in the middle but gets over it and ends with a great climax which may be disturbing to some viewers.The film is not your regular cup of tea.It leaves you with an impression after the movie gets over. Comic scenes are there but few.It provides some laughs but after that the film becomes serious.I found the climax portions somewhat lengthy though.Dialogues are also good.

The movie draws inspiration from Bollywood movie Ek hasina thi but i guess its not a problem since most of the malayalam films are copies nowadays.New Sibi-Udayan films are copies or mixtures of their own scripts from previous movies.Whether or not its a copy,The movie should be good and it succeeds in that.

I am not telling that its a masterpiece.But its certainly a refreshing one.Its not a family entertainer that families prefer these days.So no idea about its Box office verdict.Audience liked the movie i guess,it was evident from the huge claps after the film got over.Suprisngly,rush was there and the theatre was almost housefull.Audience are finally getting some sense and starting to accept these new kinds of movies.

Grab your tickets now for this venture.Its worth it.Thumbs up for 22 FK team!!

Rating:3/5

Gangster review:A Romantic Thriller

Gangster is one of the finest films in bollywood.Its basically a romantic thriller which is a rare genre in bollywood.

Story of a woman caught in a dilemma.As the tagline suggests,She betrayed him the day she loved him.Simran is always in a state of turmoil.She has nothing going for her.No friends,no relatives because she loved Daya who is a gangster.Akash is a singer in a bar who is interested in Simran.He cares for her.Simran has to chose between one of these men and who she chooses becomes the rest of the story.

Kangana Ranaut is stunning.She portrayed the role of Simran brilliantly.Her acting reminds me of the best heroines of bollywood industry but you have to keep in mind that it was her first film.The Bhatts have donated a great actress to the bollywood through her.Her presence in the movie is the main positive feature of the movie.

Emraan Hashmi does a decent job as Akash.A different role for him from his previous movies.He did well.
Shiny Ahuja is another actor to look out for.He plays Daya,The dreadful gangster.His portrayal of emotions was good.He plays a strong and important role in this movie.Neat direction by anuraj basu and this might be have been his best film if not for Life in a metro which was somewhat realistic and better.The twist at the end was good.Particularly the ending was emotional and good.
Pritam's music is simply awesome.All the songs are equally good and chartbusters.It kept the pace of the movie intact

Altogether,Its one of the best movies from the Bhatts camp and also in bollywood.
My rating:3.5/5

Don 2: An SRK show

Saw Don 2  at a Terrific theater atmosphere.Even after reserving the tickets,we had a tough time entering the theatre.

Now coming to the movie,Don 2 is a fast paced thriller that lies entirely on SRK and Farhan,what makes it a watchable thriller is SRK's energetic performance,Looks and Charisma and Farhan's direction.Movie doesn't have much Story to offer.It starts off from where the first part ends.Don returns to Malaysia where he eventually surrenders to Interpol officers Roma and Malik.From there he goes to the jail to see his arch enemy Vardhan(villain in the 1st part)where he has set new plans for a robbery and then the film deals with the execution of the robbery and of course there are some twists and turns here and there.

Shahrukh as the villainous hero Don is the main highlight of the film.He portrays the role with ease.His looks and action scenes were top notch.His entry look was simply superb.I really liked the way he delivers the good one liners.The film entirely lies on his shoulders.Cant imagine any other person to do this role.(maybe AB.he did it in 1978,But now there is no chance for him too)

Priyanka Chopra did her job very well.Looked good in the movie but a bit boring in the 2nd half,didn't have much role when compared to the 1st part.Final song sequence was not needed though Boman Irani as Vardhan did what he was told too.Not too outstanding and not too bad. Kunal kapoor,Lara dutta and the Others did what was demanded.Not much to do though.Hritik Roshan's Cameo was not very needed but it doesn't cause any harm to the film also.Like I said earlier,Its an SRK film and its SRK all the way overshadowing all the other others with his performance

Farhan Akthar who is known for trend setters like Dil chahta hai ,Lakshya returns to direction after 5 years with Don 2.He lives up to the expectations to a certain extent,His writing deserves a special mention.I loved the dialogues.But on the Whole,The movie could have been better.screenplay should have been more tight and romance of Don with Roma could have been removed from the film.

The main drawback of the film is the lack of thrilling moments we expect from a thriller.Apart from a chase sequence in the first half,There are not many scenes to thrill.In the 2nd half,plot becomes predictable and twists became very weak.We feel that we have seen it all somewhere and that is where the movie fails.

Music is also another drawback.Yet i liked the track Zara dil ko tham lo from the movie which i didn't like earlier.Background score is awesome though.

Well I would rate Don 2 as a watchable fare which could have been better.SRK fans might love it and In the box office,Don 2 is sure to set he cash registers ringing.Farhan should focus more on the story and screenplay if he plans for a DON 3.

Rating:3/5...watch it for SRK

Awarapan review.....a feel good movie

In my opinion,Mohit Suri is one of the most underrated directors in Bollywood industry.Iam not saying that his films are flawless but there is a minimum standard to his films than just old wine in new bottle type Karan johar films.His first movie Kalyug was a good thought provoking movie,a good theme but direction had flaws,nevertheless it was his first film.Basic problem of his movies are the sequences in the last part of the movie.In most of his films,the climax portions are big letdowns like raaz 2,Kalyug,Crook.But I can ensure that Awarapan is his best movie.Climax is also handled very well.

now coming to the story.Shivam(Emraan Hashmi) is part of the gang lead by Bahrat malik(Ashutosh Rana)which involves in illegal activities.Malik treats Shivam as his son.....Malik has the business of selling girls for prostitution.He encounters such a girl named Reema and has love for her but he suspects that she gave her heart to someone else.....so he instructs Shivam to keep an eye on her.On seeing her Shivam begins to have memories of his long lost love Aliyaa(Shriya saran).But dangers lie for Shivam as he realizes that Reema is in love with a pakistani boy.Will shivam be loyal to his master malik or will he help reema.This forms the rest of the story.

Emraan dons the role of Shivam.Really great performance,refreshing to see him in a different role other than the usual womanizer roles he does.Another surprising fact is that he does not have a kiss in this movie.Ashutosh Rana also delivers an excellent performance as Bharat malik,a great actor to look out for.Newcomer Mrinalani Sharma gives an OK performance.Nothing to brag about.Shriya saran has a short role.She has nothing much to perform.All other actors had did there part well.Nobody disappoints.

Songs are the soul of the movie.All the songs are pleasant to hear and blended well with the movie.Tera mera Rishta song goes well with the flow of the movie and in the climax parts it gives a certain effect to the movie.Direction was gripping at parts but Emraan-shriya romance scenes were hampering the pace of the movie.

Overall,Awarapan will not disappoint you in any way.Its a nice movie to watch.....

Rating:3/5