Aa Dekhen Zara - SciFi thriller flick with Neil & Bips

Yah, I finally got to go watch Bips on the big screen again. It's actually been a while since she had any films released, last one being Baachna Ae Haseeno

As I mentioned on my previous post, I didn't plan to watch Aa Dekhen Zara because I wanted to go hiking with the family. Yesterday, it was raining nonstop! So the plans got canceled and took my daughter for a 4-miler and then headed out to eat some yummy Indian food! She told me that she and I have to eat Indian food every week. Now, that would be nice. However, maybe we could do it on a monthly basis instead. :)

The Palace is our favorite Indian restaurant in Atlanta! The best! I've eaten at several other Indian restaurants before but nothing compares to The Palace. Their buffet consists of so many varieties -- chicken masala tikka, tandoori chicken, samosa, masala dosai, chaat, etc -- just to list a few! What I love about them is that the waiter never ask if you need a refill, they automatically refill and bring you fresh, hot naan every time! Gosh, I love this place!!!!


In addition, the restaurant is next to the Indian cinema theater. We went to the first show of Aa Dekhen Zara. Waiting for the film to start, I decided to pick up ADLABS magazine of The Plot, March 2009, with John Abraham on the cover. Heck yeah! My hottie! When we first sat in the theater, we were the only ones there. Oh no!! After 10 minutes more people came to watch but still not a sold-out show. But I didn't care. I came there for Bips. :)

The only trailer that showed any forthcoming film was Kambakkt Ishq. Does not look like I would want to go watch that! Looks stupidly funny, not worth a theater watching unless you're a die-hard Akki or Bebo fan. Anytime you have once-hot Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards in a Bollywood film, no way am I rushing to see it!


With nothing going on in his life, the struggling photographer, Ray Achara (Neil Nitin Mukesh), hopes his fate would change one day. When his grandfather passes away, he inherits a camera, which he needed badly since his was stolen. What Ray never realize is he can not set a current date on the camera, but only future dates. With just a click of a button, the developed photos show the future - whatever he has set the date and time to. While going through the future clicked photos, he realized there were some potential danger for some of the people that were in the photos when he was clicking randomly.


One of them being his neighbor, Simi, the aspiring singer who works as a DJ. After saving Simi's life, Ray enters her heart. He wants to give her the best things but he's still struggling to find a decent job. One day, he thought about using the camera for good use to help him get some cash. Although he was cashing in money, he started to ignore Simi, which drifted them apart.


While his love life is failing, two other people want this camera. How do they know about this camera? To make matters worse, Ray's photo was clicked and showed his fated doom, just like his grandfather.

Rest of the film is trying to change his fate and run away from the two people who want the camera and may be a threat to his life.


Originally titled Freeze, Aa Dekhen Zara is a fast-paced thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat. That's what I love about it. However, after the intermission, the pace is still great but the script is weak. If you want a brainless, fun, fast-paced thriller, than the film is worth it for that. Or watch it if you're a Neil and/or Bipasha fan. If you want to analyze and nitpick the flaws of the weak script in the second half, then forget it, don't waste your time.


Neil had a lot to live up to. Especially after Johnny Gaddar. Why haven't we seen him since then? Was he being that picky about his roles? He has several films lined up this year - New York (with John Abraham & Katrina Kaif), Tera Kya Hoga Johnny (with Kay Kay Menon & Soha Ali Khan), Jail (with Manoj Bajpai & Mugdha Godse).

I thought Neil was great. Aa Dekhen Zara is definitely his movie all the way. The weak script had nothing to do with his acting. But I am sure others will down on him for that.


Bipasha's beau, John Abraham, encouraged her to be in the film. Her look of her character, Simi, from Aa Dekhen Zara reminded me of the young Radhika in Bachna Ae Haseeno. With the Rockstar style and wanting to be a singer, it is almost identical to the young Radhika. Just like the young Radhika, Bips also played the slightly older woman. Shoot, with a figure like Bips, she can play a sexy cougar anyday!

Even though Bips was mainly the love interest in the film, what I love about her is she chooses characters that aren't bimbo-ish or dumb. Simi spoke her mind and was strong.


Some people may have complained about Neil and Bipasha's "lack of chemistry." But you got to think again, what kind of film this is. It's suppose to be a SciFi thriller. Not only that, just because they didn't have any intimate scenes may have made some people think that they had no chemistry. Regardless, both were comfortable with each other and glad to see Bips on the big screen again.


To me, the film was entertaining. It was fun. You got Neil. You got Bipasha. That's enough for me to watch the film.

If you want to think further, then this is what you get....


Who the heck is this "captain" guy who wants the camera. There is really no back story on him. He comes out no where knowing about the camera.

Rahul Dev is the perfect bad guy. He excels in them.


Then there's also Sophie who is interested and wants Ray to be a part of her "business."

Sophie Chaudry is wasted and is just there for eye candy. Why does she play these short, stupid roles?

Both Rahul and Sophie's characters just wasn't given enough information to be liked more. The script failed there.

My daughter liked the movie a lot and was entertained. And so was I. We loved the songs. She even wants me to put the soundtrack on her IPOD!

Yeah, I know Pritam is a copycat. You don't want me to start on my list of Bollywood music that has copied from other places...most of the list is Pritam too!

"Rock the Party"
DJ Simi

Watch Below



"Mohabbat Aapse"
Ray and Simi drifting away.
My favorite song!!


Watch Below



"Gazab"
Song could have been removed from movie. I think it was more of an icebreaker song to sing and dance in Thailand.




Watch Below



Song - "Aa Dekhen Zara"
Ending credits

Watch Below



Again, not a #1 2009 film. But a good timepass flick on a raining Saturday afternoon. :) 7 out of 10 from me!

Five underrated films in 2007 worth watching

It's already June 2008! Woah! I haven't watched many Bollywood films this year.

Since I didn't write anything in here from 2007 about Bollywood movies, I'll talk about the 2007 films now. I'm all into low budget films. Sometimes the overpriced, big budget films are beautiful to watch but that's about it. A big star also help promote the movie. For example, anything that Shah Rukh is in, people will watch. I also like finding new faces.

Here are movies that you may not have heard of. Or wasn't sure you wanted to watch it because of the cast because you're unsure of them. Or have watched a bad movie of them before so you were just uncertain. I'm just choosing five films and writing about them.

Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee

Five friends - Rajiv (Dino Morea), Ishita (Anjori Alagh), Jai (Sameer Dattani), Monica (Nauheed Cyrusi), and Manish (Aftab Shivdasani) talk about what would make them happy in life. They each make a bet after five years who will be the most happiest.

To Rajiv, happiness means success. To Jai, happiness means power. To Monica, happiness means fame. To Ishita, happiness means money. To Manish, happiness will come to you which you will know.

There is indeed five different mini storylines in the movie. Each told beautifully.
Sure the movie has the cast of C graded actors. I'm just exaggerating here but I say this because the star cast alone will not bring enough audience to watch the film. I mainly watched the film for Dino. But I also adore Sameer and Aftab. If this film didn't have Dino or maybe Sameer and Aftab, I probably wouldn't have watch it.

I'm glad I watched the film. I loved it! I had zero expectations. What I love most about this movie is I love the meaning of it - the purpose of life. I enjoyed everyone's performance. I don't analyze the star's acting criteria as much as others. Nor do I think, so and so was so great in this movie but fell flat in this movie. I think this movie was a bit too serious for some people and with the cast, it flopped. It definitely has a multi star cast, whether you want to debate or not if they are stars.

What I also love about the movie is none of the five friends hooked up with each other at all. They were true friends who went on with their lives and every year had a reunion to meet up and chat about their lives. Give Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee a watch, you may surprise yourself and end up liking the movie.

1971 - Prisoners of War

1971 is a story about six Indian POWs (Prisoners of War) - Major Suraj Singh (Manoj Bajpai), Captain Jacob (Ravi Kissen), Subedar Ahmed (Chitaranjan Giri), Captain Kabir (Kumud Mishra), Flight Lt. Ram (Manav Kaul) and Flight Lt. Gurtu (Deepak Dobriyal) in Pakistan who plans to escape the camp to the Indian border.
Manoj Bajpai is an awesome, underrated actor. I don't go out and watch all his movies but I do appreciate his work. What attracted me to watch this movie is it's a war movie. Some people may yawn at that genre but I like watching war movies.

Why this movie is different from most war movies? Not only is it powerful and simple but the movie is realisticly told. Unlike LOC (Line of Control) where there is a song and dance with many flashbacks. 1971 isn't like that. Try to watch 1971 even if war movies aren't for you. This movie is brilliantly directored and different from a lot of war movies.
Awarapan


Shivan (Emraan Hashmi) is a lonely guy who is hurt and heartbroken searching for happiness. Shivan works for a gangster Malik (Ashutosh Rana) who ask Shivan to watch his young mistress Reema (Mrinalini Sharma) while he goes on a business trip. While Shivan does his job, he learns about Mrinalini's boyfriend. When he tries to follow Malik's orders, his conscious comes to haunt him because of his tragic past.

Another Bhatt movie, oh gosh! Oh no, and with the smootch king Emraan Hashmi! I'm sure many has said that when they heard about Awarapan. I knew about Awarapan remaking the Korean movie, A Bittersweet Life. Before watching Awarapan, I decided to watch A Bittersweet Life first. I disliked the movie! I was hoping the Indian version would be better because I liked Zinda, the Indian remake version, more than the original Korean version, Oldboy.

As an actor, I liked Emraan ever since I saw his debut film, Footpath. Awarapan is Emraan's best performance! You can feel his pain when he cries. When he's confused and lost, you can see it in his eyes. Mrinalini was a joy to watch. She is so beautiful and this role didn't give her an opportunity to actually show off her acting skills but she was decent.

Unlike most people, I enjoy Bhatt movies. They have the best music soundtracks! Just watch this movie and give it a chance. Even if you don't enjoy it, you'll sing the "Mahiva" song and get it stuck in your head.

Dhokha

Dhokha is a story about Zaid Ahmed (Muzamil Ibrahim), a Muslim police officer whose wife Sarah (Tulip Joshi) was killed in a suicide bombing. He later learns his wife may be the suicide bomber. With memories of his wife, he learns about her past and reasons of her actions.

Unfortuantely Dhokha is another Bhatt movie that the audience overlooked. The Bhatt's are good at giving newcomers, mostly model turn actors/actresses, a chance in non masala films. Whether it's John Abraham in Jism or Udita Goswami in Paap, this time it's Muzamil Ibrahim.

The movie gives out a powerful message. Again the music is wonderful. Maybe, just maybe, you'll enjoy this film. If not you can at least drool over Muzamil. Tulip is very lovely in the movie and it's her best acting till date.
Some people nit pick over details. "Muzamil is too pretty to play that role" or "Bhatt's always have too much skin exposure" Whatever. Get over yourself sometimes. If it's let's say the Yash Raj banner, films like Salaam Namaste, Dhoom, Neil N Nikki, Dhoom 2, etc - they had plenty of skin exposure but it's okay just because of the banner.
Johnny Gaddar


Five guys - Vikram (Neil Mukesh), Prakash (Vinay Pathak), Seshadri (Dharmendra), Shardul (Zakir Hussain), Daya (Shiva Shetty) - partner up for a plan to steal some money and to split it five ways. Vikram turns the table when he wants the money all to himself and plans to elope with his mistress Mini (Rimi Sen). The plan is not going according to what he wanted. With many twists and turns in the movie with crime, betrayal, love, and murder.

Although I've been a fan of Dharmendra since I first saw Seeta Aur Geeta when I was a little girl, I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this film. After reading good reviews, I decided to give it a try. Watching Dharmendra on screen again was wonderful. He is still very handsome and the only actor who I was familiar with.
Neil is one of my fave newcomers in a while. Not only is he good looking, he can act. I love his facial expressions. Rimi is just there and never really cared for her. She's beautiful but that's it.

A well-made film. One of the best crime thriller movies! However, sometimes just don't have high hopes, you'll enjoy the film. I thought it was slick and stylish. Everything about it is stunning and the way it was delivered. Just go watch it!