Raqeeb - Khanna.O.Rama part deux with Rahul Khanna

Not many people really paid much attention to my favorite Khanna until the Twitter world. He makes cute, witty tweets that makes you just wanna fall in love him even more :)

Before sources were available on the Internet and even online streaming, I used to have my Desi dose every Saturday mornings watching AVS TV.

That's when and how I discovered the adorable, cutie Rahul Khanna so many years ago.

A lot of people knew about his famous father, Vinod, and younger brother, Akshaye, due to their activeness in films.

I absolutely adore Rahul Khanna since back in the days. Even when he's in supporting roles like Love Aaj Kaal and Wake Up Sid, he still has a special place in my dil :)



Picking out a film for Rahul to start with was a bit difficult for me. Although Rahul is too irresitible in Love Aaj Kaal and Wake Up Sid, I didn't want to choose them because I wanted people to see his other films too. Therefore, I chose Raqeeb and plan to review Bollywood/Hollywood too.



Raqeeb is an Urdu word for "Rival."

The film is about three guys who are in love with one woman.



Meet Bachelor #1 - Remo
He is a rich businessman and is the owner of a security software company who is too busy for a love life



Rahul Khanna - I couldn't resist getting caps of Rahul smiling. I love his smile!!!



Meet Bachelor #2 - Siddharth
He works with Remo and is his sidekick. Why is he only second best?



Sharman Joshi - underrated actor who should be cast more in films! A few films which I loved him in - Golmaal, Life in a Metro, Rang De Basanti...
He looks so much like Saif Ali Khan, to me.



Meet Bachelor #3 - Sunny
He is a struggling actor trying to get a gig.



Jimmy Shergill - another underrated actor who should be cast more in films too! A few films which I loved him in - Maachis, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Strangers...



Meet the apple of the three guys' eyes, Sophie.
She is gorgeous and make the mean weak.



Tanushree Dutta - the former Miss India Universe contestant was good in Chocolate and Aashiq Banaya Apne

Even the makeup coming from the water was a bit much, nothing subtle like Bips from Jism.



Overall, the OST is not that great. The song, "Jaane Kaise" is my favorite to listen and watch (hello, Rahul!)




Song #1 - "Dushmana Rehnuma"
Opening credits





Song #2 - "Jaane Kaise"
Remo & Sophie?




Song #3 - "Anwara Manzar"
Sunny & Sophie?




Song #4 - "Ishq Daga Hai"
Sherlyn Chopra in an item number




Song #5 - "Tumse Hi Chalti Hai"
Siddharth & Sophie?





Part of Raqeeb was filmed in Pucket, Thailand. Check out the background dancers to the above song, "Tumse Hi Chalti Hai" and the following still



I just thought the guys (particularly Rahul) looked cute in the ending credits






Tanushree's makeup really bothered me. She is a beautiful woman but was caked on with tons and tons of eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick, blush, you name it



Remo had a couple of flipping action scenes, I had a hard time capturing one of them and could only get one still



Because it's Khanna-O-Rama week, more caps of the the adorable Khanna







The film starts off slowly but quickly turned out to be a thriller. Because it's a thriller, what does that mean? Someone is going to die? Someone is plotting against someone else? Watch it!

Overall, Raqeeb is not a must-watch film, but it's worth watching at least once. I love thrillers and enjoyed it for the second half.



Rahul is the main reason for the film to work for his natural acting. Sharman was a pleasure to see but was overshadowed by Rahul. Jimmy is a good actor but don't get enough props and was kinda wasted in this film. Tanushree has the looks and does decent in her part.

Speed - the Bollywood version of Cellular?

Speed is about a criminal Kabir (Aftab Shivdasani) kidnapping a chef aka undercover agent Siddarth's (Sanjay Suri) wife Richa (Urmila Matondkar). Richa makes a call and ends up calling Sandy's (Zayed Khan) cell. All he wants is to win back his lady Sanjana (Tanushree Dutta) love back. However, he ends up receiving a phone call from Richa and needs help.

Urmila Matondkar - I like her a lot. She has been laying low in her film releases. I wish she would act more cause I think she's underrated. She was the sexy actresses in the 90s with her dancing with her hour glass figure in the Rangeela hits. Later she shed the sexy image off and started to show off her acting abilities in Satya, Bhoot, Ek Hasina Thi, and Naina.

She's still looking good and fit. You can tell she's aging a lot more now around her eyes. As the leading female lead in Speed as Richa, she's a great choice. She plays the kidnapped mother and wife trying to find a way to get out very well.

Sanjay Suri - cute. I still remember him in Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi in the supporting role as Bugs. With a name like that, how can I forget?? :) For some reason, any star who debuts as a supporting role in any film ends up better in supporting roles. Maybe the audience sees it that way. Sanjay has never really been a lead actor in a film because he's in a lot of multi-star films. He's not a good or bad actor. Mostly he's just there.

Sanjay's boyish look makes him look a bit too young for Urmila but I rather have him paired off with Urmila than Zayed or Aftab! I know, Aftab and Urmila were paired together in Mast but it's okay - Urmila turned him into a fanboy in the movie.

Siddharth (Sanjay Suri) and Richa (Urmila Matondkar) lives in this nice home. He owns this nice car. Come on Richa, you think he can afford it with a teacher's salary? No wonder you didn't know about him being an undercover agent!

Undercover agent busy at work cracking codes and saving the world.

Zayed Khan - not really impress with his acting but he's likeable in what I've seen. He's perfect in goofy, silly characters like Main Hoon Naa and The Fight Club. Sometimes he can look so cute and goofy. Sometimes he can look hot and sexy. Everyone has different opinions on attractiveness but gotta give it to Zayed for staying in shape.

Zayed actually has the main role as Sandy in the film besides Urmila. He's the guy who gets a call from her and wants to help her. Although his goal is to win back his girlfriend's love, he finds a way to help Richa as well because he overhears her cries and tears.

Tanushree Dutta - Former Miss India/Universe who I have yet to be impress with her acting. She's gorgeous. No doubt about that! When I first saw her in her debut film, Aashiq Banaya Aapne, she reminded me of Riya Sen but now she has her own identity. She has been criticized for her weight gain but I still think she looks healthy and lovely. Although I hate her heavy makeup! Maybe she won't be a great leading heroine but having her in a mult-star film or item song is good enough. There's a place in Bollywood for everyone.

Trying to win her love back is hard especially when trying to explain to her you got a call from a stranger - a female especially!

Aftab Shivdasani - adore him. For those who don't know, I just adore him since Mast. He's cute, buff, underrated, and just plain adorable. I usually would praise him but not in this film! Speed is not a film that I would tell Affy fans to watch for him unless you're a true fan girl. Hate the look on him. He plays a villian. I'm okay with that but the look is not good on him. He has such a babyface and growing the hair out is a NO-NO! He tries hard to be tough and I just wasn't buying it.

Sophiya Chaudhry - not the best actress but love her music. Remix oldies queen but awesome voice. I don't think she'll ever break it big in Bollywood but glad she is in more films.

Her character is the villianous vamp. I loved it! She was tough and had a fight scene with Zayed.

Couldn't get a good screen cap of her fighting object and Zayed.

Aahish Chaudhry - cute but don't have huge roles in films. Although he was the leading hero in Girlfriend, the film focused on girl on girl fantasies. Aashish is just goofy adorable. I don't analyze his acting skills because in whatever he's been in, he has put a smile on my face. In Speed, he plays the officer Rohan who is in charge of the Prime Minister's security.

Amrita Arora - cute girl but not as sexy as older sis, IMO. I do think people snub her because of that reason but I like her. She can't act but thank goodness her roles require her to just look good. She plays Aashish's girlfriend Sameera aka Sam in Speed.

Since Speed is a Bollywood version of the Hollywood film, Cellular. Why not have everyone on a cell phone?

There were four songs in the movie. How did it fit in? First song "Tikhi Tikhi Tikhi" is the intro songs with the credits. The guys were just looking hot and cool. I have to add that I think Aashish is looking extra hot!! Love this look on him.

The ending credit has the fourth song "Hello" with everyone on cell phones. The second song "Wanna Wanna" was with Zayed and Tanushree - he was trying to win her back and singing to her. The third song "Loving You" focused on Aashish and Amrita's love making. It was a very short song.

Speed is not a bad movie. It's very fast paced and keeps you interested. It's a Vikram Bhatt movie so Hollywood elements were borrowed. I've never seen Cellular but I'm sure the Bhatt's have Indianize Speed. It's worth a watch if you have nothing else to watch or are fans of any of the stars.