jal
Release date: 04.04.2014
What: A man blessed with the ability to “find” water in the desert finds himself involved in a game of bitter politics, prejudice and pride in this National Award winner (Best Special Effects) set and shot in the Rann of Kutch.
Thumbs up: An earnest Purab Kohli, Sunita Radia’s picture-perfect frames.
Thumbs down: Lack of big names, boring plot, some half-hearted performances.
Verdict: FLOP
 |
main tera hero
Release date: 04.04.2014
What: David Dhawan makes son Varun dance and romance with abandon in this comedy about a young man caught between two girls (Ileana D’Cruz and Nargis Fakhri).
Thumbs up: Varun ‘Govinda’ Dhawan’s winning act, Ileana and Nargis as eye candy, the side players — Saurabh Shukla to Anupam Kher — Sajid-Wajid’s foot-tapping numbers — Palat to Besharmi ki height to Galat baat.
Thumbs down: Wafer-thin plot, mindless twists and turns, Varun’s obnoxious ‘boob jiggle’ in Palat.
t2 review: In Varun, David’s found the young Govinda with that same verve and energy, that infectious mix of goodness and guile and that adorable air of nonchalance. Dhawan Jr. clearly has got our attention.
Verdict: hit
bhoothnath returns
Release date: 11.04.2014
What: Six years after Bhoothnath, Amitabh Bachchan returns as the friendly ghost with one mission — to scare the living daylights out of children. Instead, he ends up contesting the elections!
Thumbs up: Bachchan as the fun and feisty Bhoothnath, an entertaining first half, the songs — Mika Singh’s Party toh banti hai to Honey Singh’s Party with the Bhoothnath.
Thumbs down: The preachy Half Two.
t2 review: Director Nitesh Tiwari is a skilled storyteller and is good at handling kids but he doesn’t have the judiciousness of a Rajkumar Hirani to mix gyan with giggles or guffaws.
Verdict: AVERAGE
 |
2 states
Release date: 18.04.2014
What: Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller of the same name comes alive in this Karan Johar production about love across community and caste triumphing against all odds. This Abhishek Varman-directed romance was entertaining and engaging enough to power into the Rs 100-crore club.
Thumbs up: The Arjun Kapoor-Alia Bhatt chemistry, the seamless book-to-Bollywood adaptation, a few fun Punjabi-‘Madrasi’ moments, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s top tunes — Offo to Locha-e-ulfat, Mast magan to Chaandaniya.
Thumbs down: A tad too long, a one-note Arjun Kapoor, cliched.
t2 review: 2 States is a simple story well told. The story that tells you “pyaar kaafi nahin hota”.
Verdict: BLOCKBUSTER
revolver rani
Release date: 25.04.2014
What: ‘Queen’ Kangana Ranaut becomes Revolver Rani — a ‘Phoolan Devi on steroids’ with killer attitude and spiked bra — in this disastrous ‘tribute’ to the gangster films of Anurag Kashyap and Quentin Tarantino.
Thumbs up: Kangana’s winner act as a looney trigger-happy nymphomaniac, some mad moods and moments.
Thumbs down: A mindless and meandering plot, individual set-pieces that don’t translate into an entertaining film.
t2 review:
Kangana might have hit bullseye one more time but the Queen’s been clearly assassinated by Revolver Rani.
Verdict: FLOP
kaanchi
Release date: 25.04.2014
What: A spunky small-town girl wreaks revenge on the men who have wronged her in this Subhash Ghai yawnathon.
Thumbs up: An earnest act from Calcutta girl Mishti.
Thumbs down: Everything else.
t2 review: What happens when a veteran director takes a long break from filmmaking? You get Kaanchi, an example of how (not) to make a woman-centric Bolly flick.
Verdict: FLOP
samrat and co.
Release date: 25.04.2014
What: A wannabe whodunit with Rajeev Khandelwal as a desi Benedict Cumberbatch. Result? Disaster!
Thumbs up: You must be joking!
Thumbs down: The film.
t2 review: Call Samrat & Co. what you may, but whatever happened to Rajeev Khandelwal after the brilliant 2008 film Aamir or his follow-up effort Shaitan? The only precaution against his ‘STD’ is to avoid the film.
Verdict: FLOP
Hawaa Hawaai
Release date: 09.05.2014
What: Stanley Ka Dabba man Amole Gupte crafts a simple and sentimental tale about a young tea boy who dreams of becoming a roller-skating champ.
Thumbs up: The refreshingly real look and feel, inspiring acts from Partho Gupte as the young Arjun and Saqib Saleem as his supportive coach, some heart-touching moments.
Thumbs down: Emotionally manipulative in parts.
t2 review: Despite some genuinely touching moments and the carpeted feel-goodness, the over-sentimental Hawaa Hawaai lacks the innocence of Gupte’s far superior earlier film.
Verdict: FLOP
children of war
Release date: 16.05.2014
What: The gritty and gory fight for survival of thousands of abused women in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War found screen space in this hard-hitting film.
Thumbs up: A plot that minces no words, stellar acts led by Raima Sen and Indraneil Sengupta.
Thumbs down: Not many people watched it.
t2 review: Children of War may not have that big star or chartbuster item number. What it has is far bigger: a story of the human spirit — browbeaten but never broken.
Verdict: FLOP
the xpose
Release date: 16.05.2014
What: A ’60s-style murder mystery of, by and for Himesh Reshammiya — who dons the hats of leading man, singer, music director, script and screenplay writer in this Ananth Mahadevan film. A disaster from start to finish, The Xpose also starred Yo Yo man Honey Singh and... Irrfan Khan!
Thumbs up: The unintentionally funny dialogues.
Thumbs down: Himesh, Himesh, Himesh.
t2 review: Himesh Reshammiya is not only a candidate, he is a chalta-phirta naachta-gaata party. In fact, he represents himself in every constituency. And when HR strikes a pose, everyone presses the nose!
Verdict: FLOP
 |
heropanti
Release date: 23.05.2014
What: Jackie Shroff’s son Tiger flexed his six pack and flaunted his dance moves in this predictable love story that surprisingly powered its way to big box office (made on a budget of Rs 25 crore, it raked in upwards of Rs 60 core).
Thumbs up: Tiger in the action set-pieces, newcomer Kriti Sanon’s refreshing screen presence, Sajid-Wajid and Manj Musik’s tunes led by Whistle bajaa.
Thumbs down: Noodle-strap thin plot, a wooden Tiger, especially in the emotional scenes.
t2 review: There’s something remarkably fake about Tiger. Whether it’s a turn of the head or a simple looking up or that irritating smile, there’s absolutely nothing real or natural about him. It’s as if a machine had been keyed up just before the shot got canned. That too not a well-oiled machine.
Verdict: HIT
kochadaiiyaan
Release date: 23.05.2014
What: Rajinikanth found himself romancing Deepika Padukone — 35 years his junior — in India’s first motion-capture film, directed by daughter Soundarya. Despite the hype and hoopla, Kochadaiiyaan — with three Rajinis! — failed to impress even die-hard Thalaiva fans.
Thumbs up: Rajini as the fearless warrior Rana Rannvijay, some of the battle scenes.
Thumbs down: Predictable plot, amateurish imagery and computer graphics, cringe-worthy dialogues.
t2 review: Despite the presence of Rajinikanth(s), Kochadaiiyaan fails to hook. The story is done-to-death and even the plot twists — at interval point and towards the end that throws it open for a sequel — are nowhere close to edge-of-the-seat.
Verdict: FLOP
citylights
Release date: 30.05.2014
What: The Shahid team of Hansal Mehta and Rajkummar Rao took inspiration from the Filipino film Metro Manila to come up with a simple and topical tale of a small-town couple’s struggle for survival in Maximum City.
Thumbs up: The hard-hitting premise, stellar acts from Rajkummar and debutante Patralekha, Jeet Gannguli-Arijit Singh’s melodius Muskurane ki wajah.
Thumbs down: The overly sentimental background score, not many people watched it.
t2 review: Citylights is simple, honest and topical and although there is many a scene you’ve seen before on screen, the tragedy at its heart is timeless.
Verdict: FLOP
filmistaan
Release date: 06.06.2014
What: In a case of mistaken identity, a film buff gets kidnapped and smuggled into Pakistan only to realise that it is Bollywood that acts as the bridge between borders.
Thumbs up: The hatke premise, the numerous feel-good moments, winning performances from the largely unknown cast — particularly Sharib Hashmi and Inaamulhaq.
Thumbs down: Lack of big names, very little publicity.
t2 review: Many
heart-warming moods and moments make up Filmistaan, a film with a small budget but a huge heart.
Verdict: FLOP
 |
holiday
Release date: 06.06.2014
What: Akshay Kumar oscillates between soldier and secret agent but “never goes off duty” in this bore fest directed by Ghajini man A.R. Murugadoss. Holiday, however, found enough favour with the viewer to
become the newest entrant into the Rs 100-crore club.
Thumbs up: The action sequences, Govinda in a cameo.
Thumbs down: Asinine plot, the stale Akshay-Sonakshi Sinha pairing, Pritam’s recycled music score.
t2 review: Representing India, Indian army, Indian police, Indian intelligence and Indian manhood is one man who is nowhere!
Verdict: superhit
fugly
Release date: 13.06.2014
What: A group of young friends are falsely implicated in a murder case by a corrupt cop (Shaitan, anyone?) in this howler produced by Akshay Kumar that marked the Bolly debut of boxer Vijender Singh.
Thumbs up: Nothing really.
Thumbs down: Predictable plot, awkward performances, lack of twists and turns.
t2 review: The big question, after you have watched the film, is not “Yeh F*ugly F*ugly kya hai?”, rather “Yeh F*ugly F*ugly kyun hai?” Will producer Akshay Kumar answer that or is he still on a holiday?
Verdict: FLOP
humshakals
Release date: 20.06.2014
What: Three Saif Ali Khans, three Riteish Deshmukhs, three Ram Kapoors — and one Sajid Khan — churned out the worst film of the year. But Humshakals, buoyed by a Rs 40 crore first weekend, has made enough money for Sajid to announce a sequel. Brace yourself!
Thumbs up: You must be joking!
Thumbs down: The whole film.
t2 review: There’s Good Friday. There’s Friday the 13th. And then there’s the Friday when a Sajid Khan film releases. We poor critics are scared, petrified and
mortified of those three hours at the movies because in the past his films have scarred, pulverised and maimed many for life.
Verdict: HIT
ek villain
Release date: 27.06.2014
What: ‘Man of steal’ Mohit Suri borrows generously from the Korean thriller I Saw The Devil to make a film about a gangster reformed by love. But then, there’s a serial killer on the loose....
Thumbs up: A well-crafted thriller, Sidharth Malhotra’s intensity, Riteish Deshmukh’s evil turn, the music — Galliyan to Banjara, Zaroorat to Awari.
Thumbs down: Lacks suspense and thrill, contrived and convoluted in parts, an irritating-in-parts Shraddha Kapoor.
t2 review: Despite the contrived replication, the slush and the sentimentality, the very ’80s dialogues and the forced good vs bad gyan-giving, there is a lot of oomph in Ek Villain.
Verdict: hit
PLUS…
bobby jasoos
Release date: 04.07.2014
What: A young Hyderabadi girl nurtures the dream of turning detective in this Samar Shaikh film powered solely by the talent and box-office pull of Vidya Balan.
Thumbs up: A feisty Vidya and her fun disguises, the simple look and feel of the film.
Thumbs down: Not gripping enough, lack of genuine twists and turns.
t2 review: That lady can be anything. She can be sweet, she can be sexy. She can be cheap, she can be classy. She can be raw, she can be refined. She can be vulnerable, she can be violent. She can be romantic, she can be rowdy. She can be Vidya, she can be Bidya.
Verdict: opened average
Lekar hum deewana dil
Release date: 04.07.2014
What: Two loverbirds elope on a whim, get
married in this fun road film... and then their problems start. Lekar Hum Deewana Dil marks the debut of Raj Kapoor’s grandson Armaan Jain and Calcutta girl Deeksha Seth.
Thumbs up: A.R. Rahman’s tunes, the spunky premise, the many laugh-out-loud moments, Deeksha’s arresting screen presence.
Thumbs down: An awkward Armaan, lacks novelty.
t2 review: What works most for Arif is that it’s not only his first film but also the first film for his two leads, Armaan and Deeksha. There’s a certain rawness and unpredictability not only in the way he handles his scenes but also in the performances that make the characters and the film that much more real and relatable.
Verdict: OPENED AVERAGE
Which was the best/worst film you watched between April and June? Tell t2@abp.in
fast forward to Q3
 |
Which of these films is on your must-watch list? Tell t2@abp.in
