Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam – What a disaster !!!

Whats wrong with Rahul Bose, an actor of his calibre signing up to such a dud movie. Its one of my bad days in terms of decision making, I chose ‘Man Gaye’ in place of ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ and paid the price in terms of both time and money. Sanjay Chhel of ‘Khoobsurat’ and ‘Kya Dil ne kaha’ fame or shall we say misfortune has added another disaster to his directorial credit.

Sources suggest that Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam is a lift-off the classic 1983 Hollywood flick ‘To Be or Not to Be’ starring Mel Brooks, the plagiarism is all evident in the movie with some of the shots lifted scene-by-scene. The film is set in Goa of 1993 when terrorists are plotting to bomb-blast Mumbai. In a small Goan town is a theatre company run by Uday Shankar Mazumdar (Paresh Rawal) and his wife Shabnam (Mallika Sherawat). One of the theatre junkies is Arjun (Rahul Bose) who is a RAW agent and has a crush on Shabnam. The agent wants to team up with the drama company and try to bust the ISI agent Haldi Hassan (Kay Kay Menon) who pretends to be a ghazal singer.

Maan Gaye Mughal –E-Azam movie offers nothing new, the story is hackneyed, the screenplay is disastrous and execution sadly very poor. What one finds is an overdose of Mallika’s assets (desperate attempt to cash in on her curls & curves), poor acting performances by all the leads and a thin plot which gets wiped out even before you make yourself comfortable in the theatre. Sanjay Chhel should realize that he’s good at dialogue writing (Partner, Yes Boss, Rangeela) and should stick to it.

Mumbai Meri Jaan – A common man’s movie

Amidst regular pot-boilers in our film industry, its very rare that you come across a movie which coveys a strong social message in an entertaining fashion. It’s a rarity that you come across a movie that has an outstandingly original screenplay and more importantly it connects with the viewer convincingly. Only once in a while do you come across a movie that incites you emotionally and is technically flawless simultaneously. Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s Mumbai Meri Jaan for you.


This movie is a varied mix of 5 different plots that run in parallel and converge so seamlessly in a dramatic climax. It’s set against the backdrop of the 2006 suburban train bombings in Mumbai. This movie explores the impact of this devastating incident on the lives of people of Mumbai.

Suresh (Kay Kay Menon) is an extremist who has a cynical outlook towards the minority community. Nikhil (R Madhavan) is a contemporary corporate guy who opposes plastic bags, endorses public transport and is progressively patriotic. Rupali (Soha Ali Khan) is a popular television journalist who sensationalizes news to make it saleable and considers that as freedom of expression. Tukaram Patil (Paresh Rawal) is a senior constable at the verge of retirement and is paired with a patrolling partner Sunil Kadam (Vijay Maurya) whose young blood wants to rebel against social injustice and corruption. Thomas (Irrfan Khan) is a nomadic coffee vendor who doesn’t gain a sense of acceptance in the class-driven society and has his own uncanny ways of getting back to the aristocrats.

Tarun Adarsh has this to say about the movie ‘Nishikant Kamat has executed the sensitive subject with gloves, handling each of those five stories with care. A number of emotional moments in the narrative move you and at times, depress no end. Credit must also be reserved for its writer as also the art director, who has recreated the ghastly incident so realistically.

Every performance in the film is applaud-worthy. Paresh steals the show. This performance should easily make it into the Top 5 performances of the year. Irrfan is marvellous. Watch him hate the fragrance of the perfume soon after he has been insulted at the mall. It’s superb! Kay Kay is fantastic. The actor makes his part appear so real. Soha is a surprise. Watch her emotional breakdown at the morgue and you know that she has gradually evolved into a terrific actor. Madhavan is equally competent, conveying so much even when silent. Vijay Maurya is superb. His scenes with Paresh are incredible’.

Mumbai meri jaan sends a strong social message and leaves a lasting impression which goes well beyond its run time of two hours.

Phoonk – Does it pack enough air?

I have to admit I’m not too much into horror and the thought of watching Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) horror flick didn’t excite me much to say the least, so I have left it to Tarun Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama News Network to provide his expert comments on this movie.

PHOONK is easily amongst RGV’s finest works [although BHOOTH was scarier] and it holds your attention all through. As a viewer, you’re keen to know how RGV would culminate this story. The culmination, of course, would meet with extreme reactions. Some would rubbish it, but the believers might endorse the finale. In my individualistic opinion, it’s outstanding!

All said, PHOONK is a fantastic experience. The subject — black magic — is its biggest star and that alone would ensure House Full boards outside plexes/cinemas.

Rajeev [Sudeep], a successful construction engineer, with a loving wife and two children, is an atheist to the core. He scowls at people who believe in the dark forces, till one day when an evil is let loose in his happy home, which threatens to destroy his family and shake up the very foundations of his convictions and beliefs.

Thanks to the hype and curiosity generated around the movie, you expect to be scared from Scene 1 itself. And RGV emphasises on lighting and artefacts, besides an eccentric woman [Ashwini Kalsekar], to create the right atmosphere.

Of course, you do get the jhatkas in a scene or two, but you don’t clasp your hands tightly even once, nor does your heart goes dhak-dhak at a lightening speed. Gradually, RGV plays with the camera [excellent camerawork by Savita Singh] and sound [Kunal Mehta, Parikshit Lalwani] to heighten the impact. Like all RGV films, the camera angles bear the unmistakable RGV stamp, while the background score [Bapi-Tutul] takes an ordinary scene to the next level.

RGV is back with a bang. There’s a certain consistency from start to end and this time, he gets the right subject to prove his detractors wrong. Every sequence bears the stamp of a genius that RGV is, hits and flops notwithstanding.

On the whole, PHOONK is a fascinating cinematic experience on a subject that’s rarely tackled by the dream merchants in Bollywood: Black magic. The subject itself is the biggest star of the film, which would ensure a flying start at the box-office and in turn, prove a jackpot for its producers who’ve distributed the film themselves.

Box office collection for the new releases this weekend

Phoonk takes the cake with 85-90% opening collections even though its released on a limited number of screens.

Mumbai Meri jaan is slow to take off but is sure to pick up given the response its receiving from both critics and public.

Maan gaye Mughal-E-Azam sinks even before it starts off, poor openings coupled with lot of choice of cine-goers will add this movie onto a long list of flops this year.


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