Super Star - Kunal Khemu it is!

Kunal (Kunal Khemu) wants to be a Super Star! He is a backup dancer in films but wants to make it big in the film industry. His childhood friend Mausam (Tulip Joshi) supports him and secretly is in love with him. One day, his friends and family celebrate him bagging a huge movie since his picture was in the newspaper. Little did he know, he looked exactly like the famous Karan (Kunal Khemu again, in a double role). Since the spoil Karan can not act and sing, Kunal is to be his double. Tragedy hits and Kunal has to play the biggest role of his life - to play Karan!



I'm a fan of Kunal Khemu ever since I saw him in Kalyug. At that time, I learn that he was the cute little kid in Raja Hindustani, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, and Zakhm. He grew up to be a stunner. I've been trying hard to find his films so I could watch them. His films are low budget and most people wouldn't go watch the movies he chooses. I saw Traffic Signal and was impress with him. I finally found a copy of Dhol which I plan to watch soon. When he speaks, he has this kiddish adorable voice, unlike Saif who I think has a girly voice (sorry Saif fans!!). It was a treat to see Kunal on screen again. Double treat to see him in a double role! Love him. It's ironic how the movie is about his character Kunal (like his name in real life) playing a struggling actor trying to make it big.



Tulip Joshi has a unique look to her. She can look very beautiful or just average. She is very cute in this movie. I last saw her in Dhokha in which she was great! Although she doesn't have a huge role in this movie, she still was good at what was given to her. Playing the role of the childhood friend who is secretly in love with Kunal was great for her.



Sharat Saxena - I don't ever remember him playing a father in a movie that I can remember. I always remember him as a police inspector or more of a supporting role, not a father figure. He played the father who wishes his son would stop dreaming about becoming a super star and just get a 9-to-5 job. He was great!



I adore Reema Lagoo! It started ever since I saw her as the wonderful mother in Maine Pyar Kiya. The beginning of the movie, Kunal narrates the people in his life. He compared his mother in the film as very filmy and there were images of famous Bollywood mothers such as Rakee and Jaya Bachchan. However, Reema tops them all!



Kunal #2 aka Karan, the super star. The super star that Kunal should be. The super star status that was given to Karan because he was born in a rich family which everything is given to him and not earned. He dresses nicer, gets drunk, comes to work late, can't act and dance - why? Why does people's fate fall like this? Karan looks like like a duplicate copy of Kunal, except for Karan's curly hair. Kunal is the one with talent.



Aushima Sawhney is the actress who is paired opposite Karan. Although she isn't the main heroine in the film, what makes her role significant is a scandal involving her in the film. She is the only one who can tell the difference between Kunal and Karan.



Can you tell them apart? Which one is Karan? Which one is Kunal??



Super Star is a cheesy movie worth watching. I enjoyed it a lot. It did drag a bit towards the end. I felt the ending was rushed. I like how it ended. I thought it was going to keep going on but it didn't. Thank goodness. It was great to see Kunal in a more masala flick than his last two - Kalyug and Traffic Signal. Another cute snippet of the movie is in the beginning, there were movie clips from Bollywood super stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan.



One of my favorite part of the movie is Kunal's recipe for becoming a Super Star. Since I enjoyed it so much, I made additional screen caps of it and wrote down what he said...according to the subtitles......

The recipe of becoming a star is very simple


Take a cup of Amitabh's talent
And keep it on low flame for years


Then add half a cup of Shah Rukh's charm
And boil it


After that, add two spoons of Aamir's intensity


And one spoon of Hrithik's dance

Mix them all well


After that, saut it with Salman's look

Then your Super Star is ready.

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!