WORLD INFO 24x7

Directed by Shakun Batra

Rating: **

It is the season of love, heart-shaped balloons and diabetes-inducing greeting cards. So when a movie tries to cash in on this circus of affection, you know what you’re in for. But despite being packaged as a V-day extravaganza, this film doesn’t subscribe to every cliché associated with this auspicious day for getting Main and Tu to become Hum. To describe the core of this film without being a spoiler, we can say that all love is friendship but not the other way around. Confused? Here’s a chart.

Like every heterosexual love story, this one has a boy and a girl. And since contemporary love stories have to live up to the new world solution (escapist cinema) of ditching the daily drudgery for chikna neighbourhoods, they will be based in Las Vegas. Our boy, Rahul Kapoor (Imran Khan) is a failing architect by profession, closet photographer and full-time domesticated rat, constantly pushed around by his parents. The girl, Riana Braganza (Kareena Kapoor) is an imported reincarnation of Geet from ‘Jab We Met’ who speaks more than she processes and is annoyingly and constantly happy without reason.

Predictably, Rahul and Riana meet in a situation where they can look beyond their drastic differences to comfort each other on their mutual pain point: lack of employment. The rest, you can script. The free-spirited trains the jailed-spirited to try a new spirit and everyone gets a little too tipsy to pay attention. Luckily, the borrowing from ‘What happens in Vegas’ is limited to the drunken eloping which the notorious Nevada city is infamous for. The ‘morning after’ is casual and melodrama-free and the swift mutual decision to file for an annulment (to call off the wedding) jets the story ahead. At this point, the film could have hit it out of the ground. But unfortunately, they just fumble around with excavating Rahul’s fun side which refuses to surface without consumption of alcohol, while Riana bounces about making merry.

Imran Khan is comfortable in the skin of a one-dimensional person and has surely moved up a rank in the acting department. Kareena, unfortunately, lends only little more than a pretty face here and is tolerable only intermittently (the parts where she isn’t speaking). Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah are apt as Imran’s doting and exacting parents and make their momentary screen presence worth the multiplex ticket. The music is just there to be enjoyed during the movie and probably won’t make it to your CD rack, apart from the deliriously happy number ‘Aunty Ji’.

The lead pair in this film may have negligible chemistry but you would suffer even worse if you use this review to convince your girlfriend for an alternate V-Day plan. So go, fall in love or sleep or munch loudly to drain out the dialogues. Just remember, when you’re walking out of the movie with your hands chained to your partner, it will be worth it. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Asin Thottumkal, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Riteish Deshmukh, Zarine Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Shazahn Padamsee, Mithun Chakraborty, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Boman Irani

Directed by Sajid Khan

Rating: *

Comedy fueled by confusion yields very little. And in Bollywood, this leads to people repeating their punch lines, screaming while spitting with expressions more animated than the next Pixar production. Here we have a house full of just this. The success factors are the usual: foreign locations, a minimum of two top stars (John-Akshay) and a maximum of two average stars to make the top stars feel more significant (Shreyas-Riteish). Then there has to be unaccountable opulence (since the audience wants to escape from their middle-class drudgery), dhishooming at the ratio of 30:1, naach-gaana by the united blues of Thailand and so on. 

If two heterosexual men get this close physically, one would question their orientation but arching one’s brows like that doesn’t convey much love. And Sunny (Akshay Kumar) and Max (John Abraham) are bitter enemies. This is explained through a tiring flashback song sequence. If you’re pulling out your hair to guess if they resolve their differences, don’t. Not at the cost of sacrificing hair that probably won’t grow back. But then again, taking you through this story would ensure they grey evenly, so you might as well pull them out.

What is the point of casting John Abraham if he can’t lift pool tables and bring them down to smash and bruise multiple extras? So he does just that between playing a suave pickpocket who forever seeks occasions to slip out of his t-shirt. John’s fans, rejoice! 

We often say that our film industry is superficial to the extent of believing that a big star can save a sinking film by his/her mere presence. But then, how many of us pick our multiplex plans just based on the stars we want to see on the screen? Exactly, so fickle films are a product of a fickle audience. Go watch this movie and send out a strong message to financiers that this is what you want so that they can help Sajid Khan make another sequel. If he casts Vidya Balan in his sequel, it could be called Blouse-full.

Directed by Sriram Raghavan

Rating: *
The best way to diffuse a bum is through butt crunches. Unless one is referring to the Hinglisized word for a bomb. And the much-awaited dhamaka that this thriller hoped to detonate at the box office might just be diffused once you read this review.  Despite miraculous leaps in production values, spy thrillers in Bollywood end up looking like Chinese equivalents of western products. And here, the characters are even stereotyped to the extent of detectives wearing trench coats and moles being obvious, shifty-eyed and literally uncomfortable in their own skin. So let’s just say foreign locales, weapons to annihilate the world, designer suits and not-so-excruciating interrogations don’t cumulatively justify ‘Agent Vinod’ as a thrilling movie-watching experience. 
RAW agent Vinod (Saif Ali Khan) divides his screen time between being questioned (when he is captured) and playing real-life Counter Strike when he’s trying to escape from the baddies. Now when you’re a spy in a movie, you need to be indestructible, trained to do just about anything and hop across continents like they were puddles on the ground after a drizzle. So Vinod does all this without a scratch – until he’s commissioned a case that allows enough air miles to win a free ride to Pluto. So he jets to Russia, Latvia, Morocco, Pakistan and a dozen other countries to solve the mystery of this curious super weapon referred to as “242” and nothing else. While these three numbers don’t seem world-threatening and knee-trembling, we soon learn that they refer to a nuclear bomb, no less. And it is indeed a unique product: it looks like a mosambi juice-maker and the detonator fits snugly into a poetry book. And the very minute this magical device is handed over to the controller, a few words of caution are offered, “Yeh nuclear bomb ka detonator hain, don’t lose it.” Now that’s something that should be included in the manual as well just to be doubly sure.

In his quest to discover and diffuse “242”, Vinod meets Irum Bilal (Kareena Kapoor), an agent just like him (only with far fewer facial expressions) from our neighbouring wonder, Pakistan. Irum and Vinod are obviously headed for a common goal and are subjected to endure the same misadventures: surviving bombs, Prem Chopra (as a Moroccan gang-lord perpetually dressed in a maxi), double agents, triple agents but thankfully no LIC agents. During this, the two try very hard to evoke feelings for each other but if they do, they really don’t make it apparent to the audience. So if there was to be love story hidden cleverly somewhere within the indiscriminate firing, we really need a spy to crack it.

Vinod and Irum have to be the most tormented secret agents ever. While severe interrogations and dodging a million bullets can be exhausting, what seems to hurt them the most is assuming any recognizable facial expression. Perhaps special agents are trained to be poker faced. Perhaps Saif was too cautious of not letting out his potato-chips-endorsing self. We will never know.

While this film will be forgotten for many reasons, it has a few remarkable sparks that will regrettably stay with the audience. One of them being how Ram Kapoor (playing an international arms dealer) can’t spot the mole amongst his personal security that comprises a Russian, another Russian and Ravi Kishan. Then there is an epic scene where Irum smashes out of the window of a towering building to point out the villain who is about to make a slippery exit by an aircraft awaiting him. All this, after she has been shot repeatedly, damaging her liver and a few other organs. But life is yet to be sucked out of her and she later even has a painfully long phone call with Vinod who is on the verge of transporting the live nuclear bomb outside Delhi on a chopper. Will Irum die before the people in the audience breathe their last? Will transporting the nuclear bomb outside Delhi save most earthlings that matter? These questions are best left unanswered.

When the lead cast of the film fails you, it’s like the tail-enders are put to task. But with Saif and Kareena both believing that expressions are injurious to health, there was little that the supporting cast could do to save the day. The VFX of the film is being widely discussed and even appreciated by those who form opinions based on promos. But the climax features Saif piloting a chopper that nails aerial somersaults to celebrate the bomb's diffusion. The point being, this chopper looks like a remote controlled toy being maneuvered by an inebriated person.

Music director Pritam’s chori has been caught openly and his uninspired tunes don’t inspire much either. While Kareena’s mujra song was badgered by the media for not being an authentic one, her moves and grooves are more aerobic and less graceful to suit the genre.

We hear that Saif is already planning a sequel. Perhaps he could call it ‘LIC Agent Vinod: The return of the killer policies’.

Located in central Poland, Warsaw is easily accessible by train and plane. The airport is conveniently located within the city limits and only a 15-minute drive or 30-minute bus ride from the centre.

Legend says the city's name is based on the love story of a fisherman named Wars, who meets a beautiful siren on the banks of the Vistula river named Sawa. They marry and live happily ever after, with others naming the village after their union.

In modern times, just 20 years after ditching Communism and going into default, Poland is the European Union's economic success story. With central Europe's largest economy and a population of 38 million people, Poland is the only EU member to have avoided recession in recent years.

Warsaw, which combines the old with the new, leads the country's economy -- providing a busy home for the headquarters of many companies, a thriving stock exchange, government offices, international institutions, universities and many tourist attractions.

FRIDAY

5 p.m. - Start your trip by looking out on the entire city from the top terrace of the neo-Gothic Palace of Science and Culture in the heart of the capital.

The palace, at 754-feet (230-metres), is Warsaw's tallest. It has 42 floors and hosts restaurants, theatres, bars, museums and a swimming pool. It was built in the 1950s as a gift from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to remind Poles of where their loyalties should lie during the Cold War.

Located between the central train station and a main shopping area, this "living museum of socialist realist art", is visible up to 20 miles away.

6 p.m. - After enjoying a view over the entire city, take a lift back down, run by an old-fashioned lift operator, and make your way to have dinner and/or drinks at the trendy and artsy Cafe Kulturalna, the socialist-realist and monumental ground floor of the Palace, set up inside a theatre. Cafe Kulturalna often hosts alternative music bands that play small live concerts. Reservations are recommended.

8 p.m. - If you are up for a short walk, take a stroll to Foksal street. There you will certainly find a bar of your liking. Reservations on weekends are recommended if you want to sit on one of the beautiful patios on a summer evening.

If you are feeling more ambitious, walk over the Poniatowski bridge (the walk should take 20-30 minutes) to see Warsaw's newest investment - the National Stadium built for the UEFA European Championship soccer cup this June. At night it is beautifully lit up in the red and white national colours.

10 p.m. Go to Przekaski Zakaski - Bistro a la Fourchette on nearby Krakowskie Przedmiescie (Royal Avenue). Move back in history and have Communist-style vodka shots and herring snacks, overlooking the Presidential Palace.

SATURDAY

10 a.m. A walk down the Royal Avenue (Krakowskie Przedmiescie), the route of Polish kings for travelling between their city and summer residences, is an ideal start to the day.

You can stop by the Church of All Saints, by the Copernicus Monument, where the heart of Frederic Chopin is buried.

The Old Town awaits you at the end of your stroll.

Don't be fooled, though. The old town is not that old - it was reconstructed after World War II. It is an almost exact replica of the original - from before the destruction.

During the war and particularly during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Warsaw was torched, bombarded and razed to the ground, including the Old Town area.

You can get the idea of what Warsaw looked like back then from a famous scene in the Pianist, when Adrian Brody (playing Wladyslaw Szpilan) emerges from his final hide-out and looks at completely ruined Warsaw stretching for miles.

Surviving architects after the war searched for old photographs, plans and documents in an attempt to ensure an exact reconstruction of the Old Town (Stare Miasto).

12 p.m. - Enjoy lunch at Kompania Piwna, accompanied by a large mug of beer. The restaurant is located in a historic building, right next to the Old City's red-brick walls. There you get to see and feel the original size of the city since the walls were once the old fortress walls protecting Warsawians from outside threats.

2 p.m. - After lunch you can visit the modern and interactive science museum, the Copernicus Science Centre, near the Old Town and the Warsaw University, where you could, for example, see what jumping up and down would feel like on different planets, depending on their gravity levels.

6 p.m. - Enjoy dinner at restaurant/wine bar Enoteka, hidden in the basement of a historic building on Dluga Street. You can choose wines from around the world at cost prices to go with the delicious menu on offer.

If you're up for a more posh evening, head to Mielzynski wine bar - one of the hottest places in Warsaw, located in the once industrial part of Warsaw. Enjoy great wine in what looks to be an old warehouse. Reservations are advisable.

10 p.m. - If you feel like partying into the night, pick one of the many clubs on Mazowiecka street, the place to be on a Saturday night.

SUNDAY

10 a.m. Make a perfect start to a beautifully sunny Sunday on the Square of the Three Crosses (Plac Trzech Krzyzy), lined with trendy cafes offering tasty breakfasts. Just the thing if you are recovering from a heavy night.

Sit in the sun and sip an espresso, looking across at the Warsaw bourse, the symbol of Poland's transition to capitalism in 1989, and watching the world go by.

The building which now houses the bourse makes a neat physical symbol of Poland's transition from communist country to capitalist democracy. It used to be the headquarters of the Communist Party Politburo, one of the most inaccessible and guarded buildings in the country during the Cold War.

12 p.m. Take a bus to Wilanow, a beautifully green district of the capital and walk through the Baroque royal residence -- the Wilanow Palace Museum, which was the summer residence of King John III Sobieski, famous for the erotic letters he exchanged with his beloved French-born wife and his great victory over the Turkish army in the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

2 p.m. Slowly make your way back to the centre. Get off the bus at the prime minister's office on the Ujazdowskie Avenue and walk to Atelier Amaro for an exceptional lunch experience.

Atelier Amaro is the first Polish restaurant to earn a Michelin Rising Star award.

You could also lunch at the Belvedere Restaurant inside the Lazienki Park - a beautifully located restaurant-orangerie. If you sit on the outdoor patio you might get a visit from the resident peacock.

4 p.m. After lunch, take a stroll through alleys lined with blossoming roses and chestnut trees in Warsaw's most famous Lazienki Park before heading home.

In the summer months, Chopin piano concerts are organised in the park on weekends.

(Reporting By Karolina Slowikowska, editing by Paul Casciato)

"I am very lucky to have a supportive and encouraging mother. She has always been there with me through the thick and thin. It is because of her that I have grown in my career," said Prachi, who started her acting journey with popular television serial "Kasamh Se" and then graduated to the big screen with hit film "Rock On!!".

Neha, who comes from an army background, expressed gratitude to her mother too.

"My mother has encouraged me to give my best shot in whatever I do. She has been the strongest pillar of my life. Her extreme reactions are seen only when I am unwell otherwise she is very supportive," Neha told IANS.

Prachi and Neha were here with their mothers - Amita Desai and Manpinder Dhupia, respectively - at the unveiling of Asia Mom Survey Thursday by consumer goods firm Procter&Gamble.

Both the actors plan to take an off from work and spend Mother's Day Sunday, with their mom.

"I am going to spend the entire day with my mom the way she wants to and ask my sister to come over and give her a surprise," Prachi said.

"I am here (in Delhi) to spend the weekend with her. We are planning to go shopping, watch movies and gossip together," said Neha, last seen in "Dear Friend Hitler".

Her mother, says she loved Neha's gangster avatar in "Phas Gaye Re Obama".

"Neha has improved a lot in her performances over time and every role that she played has taught her something or the other. Out of all her work, I loved her the most when she played a gangster in 'Phas Gaye...'," Manpinder told IANS.