Anushka Sharma – Filmi Files

Movie Review: ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’

If you are content to simply bask in the company of a middle-aged Shah Rukh Khan and half-his-age Anushka Sharma, the two attractive leads who star as Harinder Singh Nehra aka Harry, a Punjabi, and Sejal Jhaveri, a Gujarati, then this romance is for you. Otherwise, you would be questioning your motive for sitting through this film.

Once again, it’s hard to put too much hate on a film that clearly tries hard to dazzle its fans, but the elephant in the room here is clearly the script. Yes, this is a wonderful film to gawk at as the locales in Europe are beautiful, but you will find that you are doing just that. The plot meanders on multiple occasions and the characters, especially Sejal, is given some of the most atrocious dialogues that make you chuckle inadvertently.
Sejal is a tourist in Europe, who at the airport on her way back to India, realises that she has lost her engagement ring. Disappointed, dejected and defiant, she opts out of the group to search her ring. She ropes in her tour guide Harry in her endeavour. The premise, albeit cliched, and the setting promise an entertaining romance. But alas, it is nowhere palpable.
Imitaz Ali’s latest oeuvre seems to be mounted on an outdated, perfunctory script packed with cardboard thin characters, silly conversations and a weak plot that lacks depth, drama and the seriousness of a heart-felt romance. This makes the entire narrative seem forced and pretentious, and loses connect with the audience.
Added to the anguish are the performances. Though both the lead actors are ace performers, Shah Rukh does not seem to get out of his comfort zone. His performance lacks lustre and freshness. Anushka matches Shah Rukh with her energy levels but together their on-screen romance lacks chemistry and chutzpah. Her accent is fake and inconsistent.
Aru Krishansh Verma as Harry’s friend along with Evelyn Sharma as his love interest has nothing much to offer. Chandan Roy Sanyal as Gas, the illegal Bangladeshi immigrant thug, does have his moments of on-screen glory.
Director Imtiaz Ali seems to have taken the easy route assuming that a film with Shah Rukh Khan will automatically work. The film sorely lacks drama, interesting twists and freshness. It trudges along on an even keel throughout. The first half is watchable as it establishes the setting and characters, but the post interval half drags needlessly.
The songs “Hawaayein” and “Radha” are melodious and well-picturised, but do nothing to enhance the experience.
The film expectedly boasts of good production values and the cinematographer captures the beauty of Europe with utmost sincerity.
Overall, good actors cannot uplift a poor script and a ‘When Harry Met Sejal’ suffers from that and a lot more. With low entertainment quotient this one fails to appeal. (IANS)
Our Ratings: **

Anushka Appeals For Help To Martyrs In Sukma

NEW DELHI: Actress Anushka Sharma has made a heartfelt appeal to the people of the country to offer aid to the bereaved families of the CRPF personnel who lost their lives when Maoists ambushed them in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district earlier this week.

“Our brave jawans in the CRPF martyred their lives for the sake of the nation in the recent Sukma attack. It’s my heartfelt appeal to everyone that if you want to truly pay your tribute to our fallen braves, then visit the Indian government’s website bharatkeveer.gov.in and make your contribution to show their families that India stands with them in solidarity in this moment of grief,” the Sultan actor said in an audio message.

The website, http://www.bharatkeveer.gov.in , was launched on April 9 this year, and actor Akshay Kumar has played an instrumental role in its conception.Home minister Rajnath Singh had inaugurated the new government website along with the actor. The site allows common people to make monetary donations to families of paramilitary troops killed in action, with an upper limit of Rs 15 lakh to a single family.

If you wish to help these Sukma bravehearts, you can contribute directly into the account of their kin by clicking on this link:bharatkeveer.gov.in

Phillauri Trailer Crosses 2.5 Million Views

c396o0tvyaaij-r There’s comedy, romance and a hook in Phillauri trailer, the response to which has left the film’s makers content and excited. The trailer was unveiled on Monday morning to a positive response as Bollywood buffs found the idea of actress Anushka Sharma playing a ghost very unique and interesting.

Anushka, who has also produced the movie with her brother Karnesh Sharma under their banner Clean Slate Films, said over phone from Mumbai: “We are very ecstatic. When you put out a film like this, you don’t know how people will receive it because you’re trying to tell a story differently.

“So when such a response comes through… It’s great. We are grateful with the response, and we are very charged up with the rest of the promotions, thanks to this amazing start.”

The trailer begins with Suraj Sharma — yes, the Life of Pi actor — in a very different persona as a NRI Punjabi boy who is made to marry a tree before he marries his fiance as he is ‘maanglik’. The humour comes in when the ghost who lived on the tree starts trailing him.

Anushka’s histrionics as the friendly and entertaining ghost look endearing, and the VFX adds to the look. In a jocular tone, the actress said: “I thought playing human was too mainstream… Insaan se bore ho gayi (Got bored playing a human). But… this ghost is different and fun.”

Gradually, the trailer gives out that the ghost has a back story of unrequited love from a bygone era. And her love interest — a man who sings really well — is played by the multi-talented Diljit Dosanjh, who is happy to be a part of this “different” story.

“This film’s story was very different. I am a singer in real life, but not the kind of singer that I play in the movie. It was wonderful to be in this film. Punjab is looking very beautiful in Phillauri,” Diljit said, when asked about the picturesque hinterlands of Punjab that the trailer gives a dekko at.

From the trailer, one cannot tell much about what leads Anushka’s character to become a ghost. But that was the whole idea, says the film’s director Anshai Lal, who is making his feature film debut.

Here is the trailer of ‘Phillauri’

(IANS)

2016 The Year of Heartbreaks and Heartaches!

By Deepti Duggal

The year 2016…also a Leap year.. a year good for love and romance according to astrologers but it seems our stars in showbiz are bent upon proving our poor ‘jyotishis’ wrong. While the whole world welcomed 2016 with a kiss and hug , our stars kissed and hugged each other good bye…
Here we bring you some of the heart clenching celebs’ breakups which have taken over the B-town these days….

1) Farhan Akhtar – Adhuna Bhabani

Love really does wonders to one and does not even see the age difference, so while we thought that Farhan Akthar and the much older to him Adhuna Bhabani were the couple to look up too, one was left in shock when they announced to go their separate ways after 16 years of marriage. Although they both did it in the most dignified way keeping their kids as their utmost priority, a little birdie said that it was Farhan’s proximity to his Wazir co star Aditi Hydari that led to this bye bye. We are also as clueless as everyone else…

2) Ranabir Kapoor- Katrina Kaif

Ranabir left Deepika and Katrina left Salman to be together… sounds like a jigsaw puzzle, but when they both came together we thought we would see one more Big Fat Kapoor Wedding ! This was further strengthened when the pics of both of them kissing on the terrace on 31st eve went viral. But alas our hopes were shattered when they both decided to go their own ways. Its been 4 months today and last heard is that Katrina has moved out bag and baggage from their love nest…. The reason still being a secret. Oh c’mon guys.. the suspense is killing us !!

3) Virat Kohli – Anushka Sharma

Their famous On-Off relationship was the talk of the town. While this couple had been quite open about their status, from Anushka being trolled on twitter when Virat didn’t perform well to their secret rendezvous in foreign lands, still it took a toll on their happy go lucky fairytale and they parted ways. It was rumored that Virat wanted marriage while Anushka wanted career…Last heard they are trying to get together and hence the season of dinners and holding hands in public have again started.

4) Arbaaz Khan – Malaika Arora

Their love story was everyone’s dream love story.. meeting for a coffee ad to getting married in one of the biggest filmy families, it seemed nothing could go wrong. But all fairytales don’t have a happy ending and most of us fainted when we heard that this couple had also split. While both kept quiet and made us think and think over the reason, some said it was due to Arbaaz’s financial incapability to support his wife to some saying that it was Malaika’s lifestyle that caused the rift. Ultimately they just gave a dignified statement. Only time would tell us the real reason.

5) Hrithik Roshan – Kangana Ranaut

The most controversial of relationship and the most ugly of breakups. To cut a long story short, it all started when Kangana called Hrithik as her “ silly ex” , Hrithik sending a legal notice and then started a series of legal notices, emails going viral, Kangana’s so called obsession with Hrithik… phew… now that’s tiring….

Last heard they were still embroiled in the legal tussles and in the meantime Hrithik was on holidays with his sons and Kangana was winning the National award.

But inspite of the breakups, Bollywood also tasted some marriage times like Priety Zinta marrying Mr Goodenough and Karan Singh Grover marrying Bipasha Basu… well that would be told in another tale till then lets for the last time wish that these heartbreaks don’t hamper the bollywood business.

Movie Review : ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ (**Two Star)

(By Akshat Sharma)Vishal Bhardwaj’s stature as a competent director in Bollywood is well too known. He gave us movies like ‘Maqbool’, ‘Makdee’, ‘Kaminey’ and ‘Omkara’ but these movies had some storyline and a matching screenplay to keep pace with it. Watching a Vishal Bhardwaj film could be an experience in itself if he gets his story and screenplay in place. If these two vital ingredients are missing in his film then you get confused a film like ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ or a ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’.

‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ is not a cinematic disaster but the message it wants to communicate is so hazy and ambiguous that even after the movie ends you don’t know what exactly has happened in those two hours. The confusion begins with the title itself because the title doesn’t make any sense. Why the movie is called ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ ? Is it a quirky rhyming scheme or some kind of creative absurdity? No explanations! To be very frank ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ doesn’t even sound like a Hindi film. No wonder some people thought it could be a Telugu movie!

When the film was being promoted ahead of its release the director had claimed that the movie was about land acquisition and it was a political satire. As cinegoers we understand the limitations of being a mainstream Bollywood director but it doesn’t mean he has the licence to play with our wits and makes us feel like ‘Gulabi Bhains’.

Harphool Mandola aka Harry (Pankaj Kapoor) is a builder who also operates as a land shark. He wants SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in the vicinity of his village and dreams of smoking chimneys instead of lush green agricultural fields. Matru (Imran Khan) is a ‘Jattan Ka Chora’ who after completing his education from Delhi is forced to work as a bonded labourer to Mandola because his grandfather had taken some kind of loan from him.

Harry’s daughter Bijlee (Anushka Sharma) is a bindas village belle who doesn’t mind getting a strategically placed tattoo in Hindi screaming ‘Dekho Magar Pyar Se’. Like all typical Indian fathers Harry wants his daughter to marry Badal (Arya Babbar), the son of a corrupt female politico Chaudhuri Devi (Shabana Azmi). This matrimony is supposed to be an integral part of the SEZ land acquisition which would catapult Harry into the big league of builders.

If narrated in linear motion this story would have been easier to grasp but Vishal Bhardwaj takes the random route. His characters do random things in the first half and do not make any meaningful progress till the interval. Just before the interval there is a twist and the film gets political with Matru doubling up as Mao.

The story meanders aimlessly in the second half as well but the screenplay holds the film to a certain point. We get some nuanced lines from the characters. Pankaj Kapoor comes to his own in the second half and makes the movie bearable. He along with Shabna Azmi comes up with the best performances in the movie.

Imran Khan doesn’t look convincing playing a Jat lad and so is Anushka Sharma. She is a complete misfit in the film. ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’s music is also very average with only the title track creates some buzz at the end.

‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ is an average film which fails to meet the high standards set by the director. Watch it only if you are willing to see veterans like Pankaj Kapur and Shabana Azmi displaying their ability to perform with conviction without much storyline support.

First Look : Trailer For ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’

The first trailer for Vishal Bhardwaj’s upcoming film ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ has been released online for the audience. Vishal has casted actors like Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur, Shabana Azmi and Arya Babbar in this movie and the shooting is in full swing as the year comes to a close.

‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ is scheduled for early January 2013 release. Take a look at the trailer..

First Look : Exclusive Trailer of ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’

The first trailer of veteran director Yash Chopra’s upcoming movie ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ has been released today. The movie featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma is scheduled for November 13 release.

Showcasing Ladakh in the background this movie gives an impression an old world style of romancing. The movie has been filmed on many locations in Jammu and Kashmir and the UK. The music has been composed by AR Rahman and the lyrics are penned by Gulzar. Enjoy the first trailer of the movie.