mustafa-saify Reviews

Madras Cafe (2013)

A parallel fiction to the real event

[9/10 · 25 August 2013]

This movie is a rare attempt by Bollywood cinema where actual events are subtly intertwined with fiction to bring a plausible conspiracy theory. LTF creation,peace force deployment,role of RAW and final assassination was perfectly brought on screen through the glass of RAW agent (though a fictional character you can't distinguish when fiction turns to reality, thanks to intelligent story telling).

The screenplay and cinematography was dot to the time frame. Linguistic dialogue were according to characters and situation which gives movie a feel of what it should be. Bringing out character of Bhaskaran (as pointed out by Jaya-Nargis Fakhri "A man dedicated to cause and cannot be bought") was crucial to the movie. So the final verdict is its a very apt political thriller encapsulating the actual historical event. Only thing boggles me is the the title "Madras Cafe" doesn't justify though i understand its a sensitive movie. Anyway everything else is just pure.

John Abraham earned respect by investing (as producer and actor)in such risky (both in terms of money and subject) venture.

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (2013)

Game of Power,Politics and Seduction returns..

[7/10 · 12 March 2013]

The sequel returns with powerful punch Lines and Dialogues. Yet again Brilliance of director (also story,screenplay and dialogue writer) Tigmanshu Dhulia.Man abuse more because they don't cry,You have become so cheap i don't even have change to give you these kind of punch lines are soul of movie. Rest is just another power and sex oriented thriller.

Though its a delightful watch "Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster returns" could have been another class if editing was bit tighter. In between it seem dragging on screen while difficult to keep track of who is with whom and what's their purpose with their flipping loyalties. The relation between "Saheb and Biwi" is still unfathomable. When love becomes hate and when hate becomes love is enigma to decipher (Yet I believe such relation exists). Everything else just circle around power, politics and vendetta.

Jimmy Shergill (Saheb) and Irfan Khan (Indrajit Singh) doing their best as a central characters. Mahie Gill (Biwi) good but sometimes irritating with her tone and overdoing. Rest did their part. And one more thing I liked in both parts is back-ground scores. The score which was played before building of certain situations was pleasure to listen and provided some different feeling.

Verdict : 7.5/10 For Keeping conversations deadly but missing out bit of crisp editing.

Special 26 (2013)

Special Neeraj Pandey's another special one.

[8/10 · 9 February 2013]

He did it again. Though budget was seven times than "A Wednesday" (first masterpiece directed by Neeraj Pandey ) still it wasn't much hyped one ( or may be i don't watch TV these days). I came to know about this notorious saga when one of my friend messaged me to watch it . Thanks to her!! Its being ages since I watched well crafted ingenious Bollywood thriller( recommended to get over with trauma of Race 2). And that to con classic is a really a treat. And what makes it more interesting is "Based on real story" factor (though definitely more fiction).

The movie is set in late 80's (specifically 1987). For starting 10 minute never felt that its a con movie. Thought of some kind of vigilant drama. But then subtle revelation made it clear. Story moves with introduction of all characters. One thing which was perfect about the movie was the feel of 80's. Airports, roads, vehicles, hotels,places where people use to hide money, panoramic view of cities, clips of events from 80's, demeanor of characters (Pleat pants wore by Bajpai,simple sweaters even the watch wore by Akshay was 80's item). The perfectly executed raid scenes with money shelled out from imaginative places. Brilliant and unpredictable climax. All adding stars to this con epic.

Only week points were repetition of some scenes which were unnecessary, lady love of Akshay Kumar as per Indian Rule book, boring songs.

Good to see Akshay Kumar doing something good (small trivia Neeraj waited for this movie almost 3 years just because he wanted Akshay to play lead role and in return benign Akshay charged only half of his normal fees), Anupam Kher and Manoj Bajpai at their best. Others playing their part.

Final verdict : Watch it for intelligent con thriller, horse and buggy Indian days and Stellar Akshay Kumar's performance.

Rating : 8/10.

Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011)

melancholy of every committed guy!!

[8/10 · 24 June 2011]

yes movie is a complete resemblance of guys in a relationship. i know personally i have been in shoes of all three guys and know we can't do much about it. relationship is a chewing gum u can't throw neither u can sallow it. though i don't want to conclude that every relationship suffers same trauma. but in some way or other i feel guys have to go through all this! On serious note heart and soul of the movie is script and dialogues are. the punches are so comic that i burst into a laughter riot. A well done research on relationships and life styles of software engineers. A matured description of their professional life on screen. starting had gr8 impact depicting frustration of every SE. the pace of story is too nice never felt bore though it was 2 and half hour stretched. only thing which lost 3 points was too dramatic in last half n hour. the one more thing was the movie is not a cliché its an original with the feeling of next door story intertwined with lot of humor.

some of the scenes where so natural that i felt yes hey!! this what actually happens and the guy is speaking on behalf of me. and the 5 minutes of frustration of rajat(Kartikeya Tiwari) after her girl friend comes to vikram(Raayo Bakhirta) was the best thing in the movie. i know girls will protest that its bit harsh on them because the 3 actresses were shown was a bit over done.

direction was good. all leads were fresh and totally depicting the generation(gosh!cant imagine amir khan in 3 idiots) the acting was nice from all debutant but Divyendu Sharma(Nishant Agarwal) stood out among them playing a typical agitated SE who never had a girl but saws coll with his pals but when he got he fell badly.. reminds me some of my classmates.. music was good and fits completely wherever it was needed. life sahi hai has great lyrics which made me listen it twice.

all n all please guys go n watch too sympathize injustice inflicted on us.. and girls please don't take it personally try to realize how u people treat as like dogs(ban gay kutta).

p.s. for my girlfriend- please sweetheart don't take this review and movie seriously you know how much i love u!!!!

Haunted - 3D (2011)

3d well done but plot missing

[5/10 · 14 May 2011]

plot completely predictable and prosaic more of drama than horror. oddly placed romantic scenes which hardly make any sense.. for dialogues you will scratch your head because there are too stereotypical. please let's not get into acting as it was totally juvenile as i anticipated. mimo had only one expression throughout movie and the actress whatever her name don't even know how to scream when u see a ghost.. her screams (which were not at all chilling) agitated throughout.

only thing good and deserved 5/10 was some of the well choreographed horror scenes sudden evil popping out was scary though not at all disturbing..

a let down from vikram bhatt because i was expecting lot..

Dum Maaro Dum (2011)

'Dumb Maaro Dumb' really exhibit some 'DUM'

[8/10 · 3 May 2011]

movie contains everything what comes to our mind about 'GOA'.. beaches, Bacardi blast, foreigners,loads of drugs with there mafia distributors, suppliers,carriers, police, bribing and treason. so in nutshell a well executed thriller with twisted tale in the end.

starting was bit clumsy with juvenile acting of pratik babbar(lorry). a scene where he cried made me feel how stupid he is to be an actor. Abhishek did his part really well, bips didn't had lot to do.. but one who stood out completely was Rana Daggubati(joki). his screen presence was excellent with natural goan character he was impersonating. Rest did their part convincingly. character sketching was completely on theme.

movie had all over different feeling. an appealing locations, fine cinematography(though expected little more because of gr8 camera work at beginning). dialogue were also something which was quite matured and made sense most of the time( far better than Bollywood dramas). black comedy was the theme with some seriously witty scenes.. (that interrogation scene.. LMAO!!!!)i liked songs with Portuguese used heavily throughout d movies in songs as well. but at times songs where over done. direction as u expect after bluff master from rohan sippy was flawless( please don't think about chandni chowk to china).

though it would be far fetched estimation to say this movie is revolution in main stream Bollywood cinema but still it had marrow of film making that is a good story and equally good screen play.

if u want to watch amazing edge keeping thriller than u wont be disheartened because after long time u will get something nice to watch at theaters from Bollywood.

Guzaarish (2010)

another over hyped eye candy of sanjay leela bansali

[6/10 · 26 November 2010]

cinematography-9/10 acting-8/10 music-7/10 main characters were nicely drawn with good dialogue. plot was unique in its sense. direction was completely fabulous for whole movie in a small place.

only thing that was missing was script. the script was really really weak for such a subject and screenplay as well. the whole subject was explained in starting 5 min. than the movie dragged for complete 2 hrs( exceptions are music and some splendid visual appearances). it was full of boredom.

i don't believe the director like sanjay forgot to depict some of the characters such as (co magician of Ethan and Sophia's husband). they hardly appeared and why they appeared is also a mystery??

only thing was to watch was Ethan(hritik) the character was really well done a blend of frustration and never dieing spirit (which depicts from his sarcastic comments). And Sophia was joy to watch a blend of goan culture and beauty. both aish and hritik was perfect cast. aditya roy kapoor again stood out after his debut. he did well and as again his acting was quite fresh.

music really stood out it was quite unique from typical Bollywood chart busters. overall movie has its own feel. but honestly script is too weak. which makes it unbearable for 2 hours!!!

Action Replayy (2010)

pplz GOD replayy the time i watched this movie

[3/10 · 15 November 2010]

i went to watch this movie with great expectation because i am very fond of sci fictions and watched BACK TO FUTURE so was keen to watch Hindi version of it.. but all expectations were shattered because 1) its not a sci fiction at all 2) its no where near to "BACK TO FUTURE"

the plot is complete mess. no story at all random jumps from here to there. screenplay was even worse. though it had few good punches in between but it fails to give u good feeling about of movie overall. it was desperate attempt to bring back the fashion of golden 70's on screen. And it was the only motive of the movie(as i mentioned no story at all). As it was considered the era where the designer used to play with colors. so fashion designer tried that leads should wear all types of stupid colored dresses( which i think even in 70's no one used to wear that). everything about clothing was cheap!!! except Aishwarya in Saree in one or two songs. The next irritating thing was akshay kumar with his old repetitive style of acting(comedy which doesn't make you laugh now). i am really disappointed by him he being doing same thing from past two years and direct consequences are failure at box office.

Aishwarya full of over acting. The only good thing about the movie was the new actor aditya kumar roy. he is screen presence and spontaneousness is quite impressive. he really made his mark with his debut (though it was a wrong one).

and the one thing i noticed that in starting why every oldie was looking black(as if they haven't washed their face from years). GOD bless director's thinking. overall this is sub standard movie with superstars.. every thing is really bad to watch. i wasted 200 rs on this rubbish stuff.. my suggestion would be say your money and more importantly 2and1/2 hours.

Family: Ties of Blood (2006)

vengeance but in different way

[7/10 · 14 November 2010]

though its old story of vengeance but put it in whole lot different way!! may it would remind you of old 70's angry young man taking revenge but this time the revenge is more systematic and rational(in sense not a single man fighting whole system alone). the best thing i liked was music(cold blooded one)and screen play(hats off!! to mr.shridhar raghavan).

areyman ramsay justified the role completely. but amitabh was a real catch!! everything thing about him was extraordinary. he completely fits in the shoe of godfather whether its about his stylish wear or dialogue he deliver. especially in end when he talks about how he became criminal and all with policeman is too good to watch.End was bit violent and exaggerated but still it was overshadowed by amitabh's look and acting in last 30 minutes.

A always thought thought raj kumar santoshi bit heavy to digest in past( though this one also falls in same category thats why 7 rating) but cinematography,screenplay,music and dialogue were really good to get it to 7. I always wonder why such movies don't get enough audience's to theater and other hyped movies takes it all. Indian cinema needs to change its mindset because beyond ordinary their is always excellence!!

16 December (2002)

more like this is what India needs!!

[9/10 · 7 November 2010]

it is quite entertaining movie. keeps u al1 the time on edge of your seat. it depicts intelligent film making by mani shankar. very well written story. good direction and and better cinematography. Though actors didn't look matured apart from the supporting actor victor, danny and gulshan grover. Milind was expressionless same goes with actress. But overall good story telling. n i believe its a original one not a copy of some Hollywood flick!!

though end was bit patchy and child genius concept was little difficult to grasp. overall complete movie is good stuff. A definitely recommend this to those who want to see some intelligent film making by Bollywood.