Katrina Kaif – Filmi Files

Movie Review: ‘Jagga Jasoos’

Ranbir Kapoor as Jagga is brilliant. He lives his character on screen, which is sparkling and lively. He is aptly supported by Katrina Kaif as the London returned journalist Shruti Sengupta, who is hunting for leads in her story on the war against global terrorism. She plays the dumb-damsel with loads of bad luck on her side, to perfection. She is effortless in her comic timing and action.

Saswata Chatterjee as Jagga’s foster father Badal Bagchi, and a harbinger of “bad luck” is equally brilliant. Saurabh Shukla in a convoluted role chasing Badal is stereotypical and flat.
The plot of the film is sketchy and begins on a shaky note, but the scenes roll out seamlessly in dream-like sequences thanks to the brilliant editing by Akiv Ali and Ajay Sharma. Also, Director Anurag Basu’s frame composition shows his mastery over his craft.
The music by Pritam Chakraborty adds to the flavour of the narration. The songs in the film help to take the narrative forward as well as drive home a lesson. Striking among them are, “Sab khana khake, daru peeke, chale gaye,” and “Galti se mistake,” which is replete with philosophy and life lessons.
The choreography by Shiamak Davar is fresh and invigorating as each song is artistically presented.
Shot across terrains in Manipur, Kolkata and South Africa, Cinematographer S. Ravi Varman’s lens captured the locales in their full glory along with the animals of the region.
Overall, with a run time of two hours and forty-five minutes, there are moments when you inadvertently end up snatching forty winks. (IANS)
Our Ratings: **

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: ‘Fitoor’ by Neha Ravindran

Movie: Fitoor

Director: Abhishek Kapoor

Cast: Tabu, Katrina Kaif, AdityaRoy Kapoor

Genre: Drama

Charles Diken’s Great Expectations is a classic novel of all times. Though, it has been remade into several movies on Hollywood, none happened to garner much positive response from the audience and critics. Fitoor is the Bollywood remake of the same novel by Abhishek Kapoor and can be at best compared to poetry in motion.

Noor is a young boy who lives in the valleys of Kashmir with his sister and brother-in-law. His life changes when he visits the mansion of a rich old lady, begum and meets her young daughter, Firdaus. He is smitten by the young Firdaus and she becomes the muse for his sketches. But they are soon separated by certain events only to meet again 15 years later. However, their lives seem to be pulled by strings held by another; a story replayed again and again, but never to meet a desired ending. What will the end of their story be?

Fitoor has been shot primarily in Kashmir. Every scene appears to be lifted out of a painting and framed into the movie. Cinematography by Anay Goswamy is picturesque to say the least and the movie ranks high on its aesthetic appeal. The songs Amit Trivedi and Komail Shayan have a soulful aura about it and stay with you for a long time. My favourite song is ‘Pashmina’ by Amit Trivedi, with lyrics that knit together the storyline of the movie. This adaptation of Great Expectations has been written by Amit Trivedi along with Supratik Sen and the duo have managed to spin a tale within an Indian setting without losing out on the essence of Dicken’s Novel.

Tabu is the show stealer in the movie. Her character, Begum, is a woman with changing moods, expressions and emotions. Only an actor with sound theatre experience could have essayed the part as well as Tabu managed. She breathes life into the movie and retains a gripping hold over its flow. Aditya Roy Kapoor has been well cast into the role of Noor, he appears lost as a small time Kashmiri in Delhi and slowly fills into his role as a famous, rich artist in the city. The transition is slowly eased into with finesse by the actor. Katrina Kaif is simply the pretty, irresistibly pretty woman on screen. Her role isn’t challenging as compared to the other two.

Fitoor is an excellent beginning to 2016 and will definitely remain one of my favourite movies. It is abstract in parts and deeply moving in others. An art film in many ways, it retains its commercial aspect to appeal to a larger audience. This is a movie you would certainly not want to miss!

My verdict: ****

Saif Keeps Fingers Crossed For Phantom

By Apoorva Raturi

‘PHANTOM’ starring Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead is based on a book by S. Hussain Zaidi named ‘Mumbai Avengers’. It revolves around special agents who take on a mission to bring justice to those responsible for the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. It is a serious subject that needs to be dealt with sensitively.
The recently released trailer of Phantom gives it’s viewers the chance of seeing Kabir Khan’s another action movie after Ek tha tiger. But not just the direction department, this film needs a strong performance to connect with the audience emotionally.
The male star of the film, Saif, hasn’t been successful in portraying his ability to do movies in the spy genre earlier. With movies like Agent Vinod and Qurbaan that didn’t work out well for him, this movie seems to be his another attempt in making it work.
With the breathtaking action scenes in the movie and strong impactfull dialogues being delivered by saif, it won’t be wrong to say that this movie is different from those that he has made earlier. This is the second time that Saif and Katrina will be seen together after ‘Race’ which was their first movie together and also a hit. But unlike their other movies, Katrina and Saif will be shedding off their elite image and will be seen in a super rugged look. This is after a long gap that the 45year old actor comes with a new movie after his previous films like Bullet Raja, Humshakals and Happy Ending, all of which failed to create magic at the box office. But this movie seems promising not only in the sense of Saif’s acting as a full blown patriotic guy who goes beyond borders to get even with those who have made his country suffer, but also with his equation with Katrina in the movie, adding a romantic angle.
As we see in the trailers, Saif doesn’t fail to impress the viewers with his meaningful dialogues like the one where he questions that if the Americans can bring justice to the people for the attacks of 9/11 then why can’t we? (Indians) it is evident that this movie will raise many questions in the minds and hearts of the common people and get this movie to be a success.

Movie Review: ‘Bang Bang’ by Neha Ravindran

Movie: Bang Bang!

Director: Siddharth Anand

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Danny Denzongpa, Jaaved Jaffrey

Genre: Action-Romance

Bang Bang! is a remake of the Hollywood movie, Knight and Day. I am positively against the Bollywoodian remake of Hollywood movies as they usually end up as a bitter concoction of a story headed neither here nor there. The greek god Hrithik Roshan and Indian (with an accent) Barbie doll Kartrina Kaif have a fiery chemistry as they proved in ‘Zindagi Milegi na Dobara’. And in Bang Bang! their chemistry is only factor setting the screens on fire, of course, besides the blown up cars and bullets firing everywhere.

Now, grudgingly I have come to accept, action movies can never be filmed realistically. I have made my peace with- bullets firing everywhere but none hitting the hero, cars overturning and getting blown up but our hero is still safe (you see, he is the Hulk!) and the heroine having nothing better to do but to be lovey-dovey with the hero admist all this shor-sharaba. So I knew what I was getting into with Bang Bang! Rajveer Nanda, a criminal, steals ‘Kohinoor’ diamond from London for Interpol’s most wanted criminal Omar Zafar (Danny Denzongpa). The deal is fixed for 5 million and a meeting is fixed in Shimla. But at the last minute Rajveer decides to back out as he wants more money now. Then the cat and mouse chase ensues where Rajveer transforms into spider man to superman to what not, as he climbs up buildings and jumps down roofs with snow clad scenic mountains in the backdrop. Harleen Sahni (Katrina Kaif) is a bank receptionist is tricked by Rajveer into believing that he is her bind date and somehow (Iam still not sure exactly how) the villains and the government spies now believes that the Harleen is Rajveer’s accomplice. So now what do to? They have to keep running from city to city risking their lives. (I feel so tired even thinking about it.)

Bang Bang! is an ‘okay’ movie, it’s neither great nor bad. For action lovers, well the movie will serve you the right amount of explosions, fancy cars and guns. If you were expecting some extra ordinary acting, eerr sorry then! Hrithik’s acting is average at best because the character does not need him to explore his acting, and Katrina Kaif’s character is only there in the movie because come on! now, our hero needs to romance somebody (aaaww..). The cinematography of the movie is superb, as the audience is taken from London to Shimla to Abu Dhabi and Greece. The songs have been shot in some very picturesque locations and elaborate sets and are good enough to swing along with. All in all it is an interesting package, maybe just not the best one.

Iam going to neither suggest nor reject this movie for you. There are some really good things about the movie and some not so good. Take your pick and make your decision to watch this or something else. Either way, you weekend fun has been ensured off. Enjoy!

My verdict: ***

Katrina Kaif named world’s sexiest Asian woman for fourth time

London: (PTI) Her absence from the big screen for a year has not stopped Bollywood beauty Katrina Kaif from winning the world`s sexiest Asian woman title for the fourth consecutive year in a poll by a weekly magazine here.

The actress narrowly defeated Priyanka Chopra, TV star Drashti Dhami and current Box Office queen Deepika Padukone. She secured the top spot in the world-renowned `50 Sexiest Asian Women List 2013` with Chopra coming second, Dhami third and Padukone fourth.

A permanent fixture in the top three for the past six years, Kaif beat off competition from the world`s most stunning Asian women in the tenth edition of UK based, Eastern Eye newspaper`s definitive Sexy List.

The fourth win comes just weeks before Katrina hits the big screen again in one of the year`s biggest Bollywood releases `Dhoom 3: Back In Action`. “I didn`t know it was a record! That`s a nice surprise and a lot of fun to hear. I like it because Eastern Eye newspaper is the one my sisters see because they live in London. It`s lovely, but also people are reacting to what they see.

“Obviously if everyone were to see me when I wake up in the morning or in my track pants and then vote for me, then maybe I would be a little bit more believing of it myself. But of course it`s very flattering,” Katrina said.

Chairman of the judging panel and magazine`s showbiz editor Asjad Nazir, who annually puts the list together, said it was a close race.

Like last year, the biggest surprise of 2013 list was the sheer dominance of television actresses from India. Dhami added to a dream year by becoming the first television actress to crack the top three while her friend Sanaya Irani entered the top 10 for the first time at sixth position.

Other Indian television actresses who made the list included last year`s highest new entry Nia Sharma (11), Jennifer Winget (15), Asha Negi (18), Krystle D`Souza (19) and Rubina Dilaik (26).

The highest new entry was `Aashiqui 2` star Shraddha Kapoor (12), who narrowly missed out the top 10. The highest placed Pakistani was Humaima Malick (15) and the only non-Indian in the list was `Anger Management` star Noureen DeWulf (10).

The American actress, who stars alongside Charlie Sheen in the hit US sitcom, dominated the non-Asian vote. The oldest women in the list were Bollywood icons Madhuri Dixit (23) and Sridevi (40). Other notable stars in this year`s list include Sonam Kapoor (5), Parineeti Chopra (14), Sophie Choudry (21), Mehreen Syed (22), Sunidhi Chauhan (28), Ankita Lokhande (29), Hina Khan (31) and Shreya Ghoshal (43).

2013`s full list is out on December 6 in the magazine.

Get Ready For Five Crore Song In ‘Dhoom 3’

Much hyped film from Yashraj Films stable ‘ Dhoom 3’ is lined up for release in December. As the release date is approaching fast the film company has released their latest song ‘Malang’ from the movie.

Sources in Yashraj informed few media persons that Malang is basically a high energy number which consumed Rs 5 crore while filming. According to media reports, the song features 200 professional gymnasts specially flown in from the US. The expenses include the fees of the gymnasts, their costumes and the elaborate sets. Whether the song will be worth all this money is yet to be seen.