Issue 12

16
Reviews
GPLUS SEP 14 - SEP 20, 2013
Horror Story
Horror attempt of making a comedy film
Cast: Karan Kundra, Ravish Desai, Hasan Zaidi, Nishant Malkani, Nandini Vaid, Sheetal Singh, Aparna
Bajpai, Radhika Menon
Direction: Ayush Raina
Horror Story, Vikram Bhatt’s latest attempt
in the genre, opens with a group of twentysomething
friends cracking jokes about homosexuality
and sexual assault. Yes, that’s scary, considering
that these are the youth of the country. This
partly explains why Horror Story was the chosen title.
The youngsters, after downing one too many shots, overhear
the news of the mysterious death/suicide of a businessman
from the now-abandoned (and rumoured to be
haunted) Hotel Grandiose. They ignore the warnings of
a Mr Miyagi lookalike about the existence of said ghosts,
and decide to go to Hotel Grandiose to “check it out”.
No, really, that’s the most logical thing to do because
no one ever heard of thugs and drug addicts inhabiting
abandoned buildings. Also, who cares if amounts to trespassing?
It’s just a little, lonely, abandoned hotel after all.
As the youngsters venture further into the hotel, strange
things begin to happen. While noise from the TV has a
whisper hidden underneath its sound; one of the characters
receives a phone call and lights keep going out.
Now
Showing
Horror Story
The movie takes a turn as one of their friends is
killed and all others are trapped under the darker side.
What triggers us to move ahead with those things which
in prior notice warn us of some unhealthy and unnatural
circumstances? The depiction of the movie has a similar
plot which in spite of being experimented several times
in Indian cinemas is once again experimented.
Though there is no harm in repeating stories but the
demand of the audience to actually experience the ‘horror
feel’ might still disappoint them. The thrilling events
do not leave the terrified feeling as expected and does
not capitalize over. Even if the atmosphere carries the
deadly smell, the events shall not let you move even an
inch.
For anyone who believes in a true horror movie, it is
not a great deal to invest your time here as the so-called
horror state of the movie might turn a comedy genre for
you. But if you have a tendency to scream aloud even
on a single touch of a hand on the shoulder, this one is
for you.
Grand Masti
Anuradha Cineplex Daily at 2.30 PM Daily at 9.00 AM, 5.00 & 8.15 PM
Apsara Cinema Daily at 11.00 AM Daily at 5.00 & 8.00 PM
Cinemax
Daily at 11.00 AM, 4.00 &
9.00 PM
Daily at 9.15 AM, 12.30, 6.00 &
8.45 PM
Riddick
A smart choice of direction
Cast: Vin Diesel, Katee Sackhoff, Jordi Molla, Matt Nabl
Director: David Twohy
Firing off an emergency beacon as an impeding horde of aliens close
in on him, Riddick sets in motion a chain of events as two sets of
mercenaries head to the planet to kill him and claim the bounty
on the head of this criminal. On one side, there’s the vile Santana (Jordi
Molla) and his crew of scumbags (and potential rapists); while on the
other, there’s Matt Nable’s Boss Johns, who’s been hunting Riddick for 10
years and shares a personal connection to his prey.
While they try to track down Riddick and form an uneasy and uncomfortable
alliance, Riddick’s lurking in the shadows, engaged in a long
term game of cat and mouse.
However, when a new threat arises on the planet which threatens
them all, all three sides have to work together to survive.
So, here we are with a film which in no way meets the highs of the
anti-hero of Pitch Black but is a major improvement on The Chronicles
of Riddick. A smarter choice of direction, some more expeditious editing
and better scripting to remove some of the more morally repugnant undertones
could have seen Riddick reach the highs of Pitch Black. Instead,
it serves as a queasy and uncomfortable slice of sci-fi that doesn’t remotely
hit the mark and scotches any redemption for the film franchise.
Fun Cinemas Daily at 3.30 PM Daily 10.15 AM, 5.30 & 8.15 PM
Grand Masti
Merger of humour and sex
Cast: Vivek Obroi, Ritesh Deskmukh and Aftab Shivdeshani
Director: Indra Kumar
In the last few years, we have witnessed quite a few Bollywood
filmmakers dishing out some delectable sex comedy
flicks, that had created ripples amongst the Indian filmgoers.
Grand Masti, that features Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi
and Aftab Shivdasani in the leads, brings the sex comedy genre
back into focus.
After delivering films such as Dil and Beta in the early
‘90s and a string of flops thereafter, director Indra Kumar decided
that he’d had enough of sloppy romance movies and began
inflicting upon films such as Dhamaal, its sequel Double
Dhamaal and Masti among others. And so we have Amar, Meet
and Prem (Ritesh Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Aftab Shivdasani)
returning to the screen with their antics. Like most
Indian men, our three heroes are horribly sex starved because
their wives must take care of their husband’s family or feed the
baby or wear the pants around the house.
It has been six years since they graduated from college --
because only in Bollywood can you pass off 30-somethings as
college students -- and settled unhappily into their domestic
routine when a reunion presents them with an opportunity to
relive their carefree days and the possibility of getting laid. Thus,
while their wives go about playing out the roles they must at
home, the three men go around seeking sex on the campus with
three women suggestively named Rose, Mary and Marlow. As
it turns out the three ladies aren’t just related to each other but
also to the nemesis of our three philanderers.
Grand Masti is a very important movie for both Vivek
Oberoi and Aftab Shivdasani, since the duo’s Bollywood
career graphs hadn’t been quite impressive so far.
Though the duo makes the best use of this opportunity, the
one who stands out amongst all is none other than Ritesh
Deshmukh. Riteish does a commendable job and never leaves
the audiences down and dull in any of his scene in the film.
The real tragedy would be if this film works at box office because that
won’t just set off a trend of similar movies but, more importantly,
reveal something rather dark about our own hearts and minds.