rajat-vashishta

If you watch the first 2 episodes of Tandav, you will realise how social media hashtagging works. And you will also realise why this show is so poorly rated on IMdB :)

Tandav is a good show. Not great. The first episode especially is poorly directed and makes it look like a wannabe political party bashing show. I almost stopped there! But it builds up. The tension and the drama unfolds. The direction gets better. The acting gets better. Even the stone-faced Sunil Grover becomes menacing and gels into the character. Rest of the actors are seasoned so anyways their acting cannot be questioned. But Dimple Kapadia outshines everyone else. She is outstanding!

Again, the direction could have been much better. And the plot too at some places was either very straighforward or unnecessarily complex. Some parts just did not make sense "why was this shown"! The saving grace for this show has to be the starcast and the performances.

Nevertheless, a show you should watch once. I just hope the producers come up with Season 2.

What a nice beautiful show! Brings back the memories of 90s. The portrays a time when people things aren't as straightforward as now, and the language of love is mostly spoken by eyes than words, even though the protagonists (especially the college students) are very hep and forward thinking. Loved the story of Sarita and Akhtar and Akhtar's friendship with Sudhakar. The show is at just the pace it is supposed to be. Exactly how it was in the 90s. Slow and steady. Brilliantly done Netflix!

What a Spectacular movie! I never thought anyone, even Peter Jackson, could beat the class of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Well, The Hobbit is well on its way!

I watched the movie in 3D and though it doesn't have that great 3D effects, the overall product is a masterpiece. The graphics and soundtrack are at par with LOTR and I wouldn't be surprised if Peter Jackson wins a new set of Oscars for these.

For those of you who don't yet know, the movie is a prequel to the LOTR trilogy. It begins with the story of Bilbo Baggins and has many scenes which you will remember from LOTR. The connection between the two franchises is superb. The movie is a little more light hearted at places which is great and it manages to make you smile and even laugh at many instances. The action is awesome and you can easily compare it with LOTR - in short, the movie feels very familiar and yet very original.

9.5/10. Waiting for Part-2.

Enough cannot be said about the awesomeness of Taken-1. Liam Neeson is god and looks like he can single handedly take on James Bond and Jason Bourne together! In Taken-2 however, he looks weak and vulnerable. The plot is good, Maggie Grace looks beautiful, the location of action perfect, but the action is very weak. The cameras move too fast and the Bryan Mills of Taken is missing from this movie. The ending itself is so sudden that you don't even realize how soon the movie ends. But if you are a Taken fan, then you could go and give it a watch. It's a light movie - light on comedy, light on action, but like-able nonetheless.

The Dark Knight blew me away and I had humongous expectations from this 'most awaited' movie of 2012. 'The Dark Knight Rises' has delivered. This is yet another masterpiece from Nolan and it puts all your expectations to dust as Batman rises up to the occasion and saves Gotham city yet again. But not without the help of his aide - Catwoman and the most dependable Fox.

The Dark Knight Rises is a story with a lot of twists and turns. Still, it is not as complicated as The Dark Knight, but then it does not have the character so menacing as Joker, which is why I feel that The Dark Knight will remain the best movie of this trilogy, forever.

But talking of villains, Bane strikes fear in your heart as you see him destroy Gotham and Batman. To rise one must fall and so the knight does. Every sequence is crafted masterfully and the way Bane has been portrayed, his intimidating modulated voice coupled with the strong but austere background music of Zimmer, is excellent. Bane is threatening as hell and would nearly have competed with the Joker but for the end, which I found drifted away from the spirit of the movie.

But then it is the end you want to watch out for. Nolan keeps the audience wanting for more. Do we expect a Batman-4? Quite possibly.

I have just returned from the first day late night show of this movie (the first part) and it has totally blown me away.

The movie starts with a bang and carries the charm throughout. The way each character is introduced is terrific. It is story telling at its best. From Shahid Khan to Sardar Khan to Sultan, you actually end up fearing them all - the characters are so beautifully portrayed. Manoj Bajpai is amazing as Sardar (he really got into the character) and the narration (by one of the gang members) adds a lot of flavor to the entire flow of the movie.

Siddiqui's role is brief in the first part and I have a feeling he will play a major role in the remaining part of this epic. He is already looking good. Tigmanshu as Ramadheer Singh is terrific, his expressions too good.

Apart from this, the movie is informative - it very subtly tells the audience all about the way Indian coal mafia has progressed over the years, the gang wars, the politics. Obviously there is a lot of slang. I have not seen a Hindi movie with so crude a language ever, absolutely not recommended for family viewing and children/teenagers.

The camera angles, especially the final sequence is superb.

Anurag Kashyap is India's answer to Quentin Terentino. Gangs of Waseypur is already a Cult.

This movie so very excellent, it deserved more Oscar nominations. It easily finds its way among the best fighting movies of all times and in my opinion it's as good as, if not better than, Rocky. The last sequence specially is amazingly well done and brings you close to tears. The fights are portrayed stupendously, and in fact they seem extremely real.

As far as the characters are concerned, Nick Nolte takes the cake with his brief but marvelous show of emotions. Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy too are great. I loved the passive aggression and the pent up anger showed inside Tommy Conlon. Kudos to both the scriptwriter and Tom. In fact I found about Tom after searching IMDb for the villain in Nolan's next - Dark Knight Rises. Now more than Batman, I am eager to see what Tom is capable of! I would've loved to see Nick Nolte's role extended in the movie, even if that meant extra few minutes. He truly deserved the Oscar nomination.

Full marks to the movie though. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it on DVD with full surround sound to experience this truly remarkable story.

Paan Singh Tomar is a feather in the cap for critically acclaimed director and writer Tigmanshu Dhulia. It is one of the best biopics i have ever seen and the character of Paan Singh has been made immortal by the superb performance from Irrfan Khan. The entire script, screenplay is good, while dialogues are made awesome by the superb delivery from all the actors. For the uninitiated: the movie's dialogues are not in Hindi but in a very rustic UP language, which is the true USP of this masterpiece.

Irrfan Khan has risen as an actor and how! I first saw him in Dhulia's debut - Haasil in 2003 and since then Irrfan has only bettered himself with each of his roles. Obviously some credit needs to go to Dhulia for extracting the best from him. Irrfan really gets into this character of Paan Singh and delivers stupendously. Some sequences are an absolute delight to watch, like when the reporter meets Paan Singh for the first time, and almost all the scenes between Paan Singh and his wife. Mahie Gill also delivers beautifully as the shy village girl.

Not much has been written about Paan Singh and what he did for the country. The movie is an eye opener of some sort about unsung heroes of Indian sports. The disappointing part is, such heroes come to light through cinema only when they die or are converted to goons like in the case of Paan Singh Tomar! Nonetheless, an excellent piece of cinema. We want more such movies.

What an astounding piece of screenplay and direction! Midnight Run begins with action, ends with action and has action throughout. The best part is that all of it is mixed intelligently with classy and genuine humor all the way. And what makes this action and humor stick together to make a masterpiece? The great original soundtrack. The background score in the entire movie gives you the feel of mischief and naughtiness and gels amazingly with the awesome screenplay.

Robert De Niro is simply amazing as the bounty hunter and Charles Grodin does it superbly as the irritating accountant or bounty. I also loved the character of Alonzo Mosely.

The movie's direction, editing and acting by every single character makes it so real that you actually start believing all of the chase and deceit is possible! It's a classic and deserves to be in everyone's all time favorites list.

Tom Cruise pulls off a cracker with this one!

Ghost Protocol was perhaps the most hyped Hollywood movie this winter in India, because of the presence of Anil Kapoor - our very own bollywood superstar (he was also in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire). While Anil Kapoor left no stone unturned to make a fool of himself in the short 5 minutes of his role, Tom Cruise left none in making this movie a masterpiece.

The action begins right from the first scene and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. Some sequences (like the ones shot inside Burj Khalifa, Dubai) were so brilliant that they left the whole theater audience gasping. Jeremy Renner is brilliant as Brandt and so is Paula Patton as Jane. In fact Paula looked stunning towards the end. The plot is good and there is not much to complain given the excellent acting and some really amazing shots. Hats off to Brad Bird.

Tom is brilliant as Ethan Hunt and his stunts were awesome as always. If Tom is not getting any younger, he is not getting any older either! My money is definitely on the movie and my aspirations now on MI5! 10/10

I read some reviews and nearly missed watching the show of Cars2! Cars2 is a good, watchable, family entertainer with some great animation and a wholesome story line. I guess, people who did not like this movie were expecting some Bond/Bourne type fireworks? Well, if you are too, please do not. This is unadulterated animation with a sweet ending and a decent plot. In fact, bond fans will not even be disappointed by the action!

Cars2 shifts the focus from Lightning McQueen to Mater and gives you some high class action sequences in the process. Larry the Cable Guy is as usual great as Mater, but the surprise pack is Michael Caine as Finn McMissile. It'll take you about 5 seconds to recognize his impressive voice.

Watch Cars2 for entertainment..only!

This is the best movie ever! Anyone who has ever worked can get a kick out of this amazing comedy. Even the minutest details shown are so true! The red stapler, the bad boss, the annoying secretary, the printing machine, man!! It all happens to us all the time.

and I particularly liked Peter Gibbins and his ambition of doing nothing. He is just so very much a part of every office goer. Ron is par-excellence as Peter. His expressions are matchless in the movie. Ajay as Sameer 'Not gonna be here' and David as 'Michael Bolton' are terrific as well. Gary as Lumbergh - the boss is so good that you actually begin to hate him! Milton, well what can i say, i thought the guy is actually real.

The movie has been shot with so much detailing that its hard to believe its just a movie. All characters are great, the script is heavenly. Even after 10 years, the movie tells the story of the office goer as he is today. Office Space will live to be a legend and i am pretty sure, no other director will even try to make a movie similar to this, because it's the best!

If i had the option of writing a one word review for kung fu panda-2, i would leave it at that - incredible! Kung Fu Panda-2 is spectacular, excellent, awesome and better than the first one. Better in animation, better in action, better in effects (i watched it in 3-d by the way), better in the story and so so much better in humor. My god, this movies's humor had me in fits.

Po, you are the god of kung fu. In some ways Po reminds you of Jackie Chan's style of fighting; there's action and there's humor at the same time. This movie also has a lot of new characters. What a creative imagination of bringing a peacock as the deadly villain - shen. and of course Po's pals, the tigress and mantis, are awesome as well.

Watch The return of awesomeness. Watch Po save the world from the end of kung fu!!

What a nice movie. I never expected this movie to be this good. The trailers, the storyline all seemed like clichéd sex comedies, like American Pie. and surprisingly, Superbad has none of that crap. Its a wonderful story about friendship and well about sex alright, but without any of it!

Jonah Hill is amazingly funny as Seth and so is Christopher Mintz-Plasse as McLovin. The whole cast is good and the script is brilliant. Superbad's funnier than other teen sex comedies and way more genuine.

If you want to see great movie about teens, their blunders, and their sex and have a good laugh along the way..go watch Superbad!

I loved this movie. Not as much as the first one, but my money went worth. The wolf pack decides to go to Thailand for Stu's wedding and well, the mess up begins. The sequel is as much crazy as the first and in fact this time the chaos is even more insane and even more raunchy.

Hangover 2 begins predictably and ends predictably and there are a lot of sequences directly copy pasted from the legendary first part, which was sad somehow. Originals should be left untouched. In fact it would have been great if the director had tried to be a little more innovative with the script, but he chose to stick with the tried and successful formula of the first part. But still, the movie scores on a crazy script and of course "the 3 best friends that anybody can have".

Hangover 2 is not there to be missed. If you go there wanting to have a good time with this sequel, you most definitely will.

Whatta movie!! Wow. Hangover is the best comedy movie ever made. Don't read anything else. Just go and watch the movie.

How the hell did they manage to find this guy Alan. and why haven't we seen him any other movie till now?! Alan is superb, the spine of the movie if i can say. Stu is hilarious and Phil is the kinda guy we all want to be - cooler than ice.

Great script, superb performances, the merc looks stunning and so does Tracy in the bridal dress. and the soundtracks are too good. I've been running around to get all the songs from this movie for so long now!

Well even if you have a crazy bunch of friends like these guys, you have to watch this masterpiece. 10 on 10.

I am a huge fan of the Hangover and with it of Zack (Alan). So when Due Date hit theaters, i knew the producers are trying to bank of the success of hangover by casting Alan and trying to make money out of the first viewing of this movie. After viewing this movie, my thought remained the same..just that they didn't make a bad movie either! I laughed at many places and some parts were extremely hilarious (btw i never saw any trailers for this movie).

The drawbacks - well, for starters, Robert Downey didn't belong in this movie. I felt someone like Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler would've done justice. Then the emotional part towards the end sucked. Then again, directors should understand that there will NEVER be a second hangover (i haven't seen Hangover2 either but i can say that with confidence), so please don't overuse Zack. He is good. Don't make him predictable.

Overall i liked the movie. Go watch it for Alan.

I can watch this movie so many times! Great lively comedy, superb special effects, amazing performance by Jim Carrey and a very entertaining story.

I don't know much about Oscars but in my opinion Jim Carrey was terrific, worth an Oscar nomination at least. and for sure the amazing special effects deserved an academy award. Carrey was superb both as the green guy and as the nice suited up guy. Cameron Diaz looked stunning! In fact i cannot remember when she looked this hot and this pretty ever. and boy, what a stupendous performance by the dog, Milo. respects!

My review: (10/10) for a complete entertainment.

So much more could have been done with this movie, especially with 2 absolutely hot Latinas in the cast! Cruz and Hayek were cute. So was Steve Zahn as Quentin, who i initially mistook for Ewan McGregor. The action was immature, in fact it was also 'cute' at best!

I watched the movie for Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek only and I had some fun. Never expected anything out of the movie as such. The enjoyable part for me lay in the communication between these seductresses and of course their show of affection for the lucky investigator Quentin!

Overall it was some good unadulterated fun. and if you're getting Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz in the same frame for some good 90 minutes, I don't think you should complain ;)

Wow! first things first. Watch this movie for a spectacular performance by Daniel Day Lewis as Bill "the butcher" Cutting. He is mean, bad and good at the same time, and the man 5-points is absolutely scared of. The character of Bill Cutting is so complex that you actually do not know whether to like him or to hate him. but he is the pivot on which the movie hinges. All other characters are secondary.

Now about the movie. Gangs of New York not only brings to the screen a rivalry between 2 gangs but also presents a picture of America before, if i could say, civilization. We all know Civil war destroyed the country, but its gory picture as shown in this movie actually makes you think how much the US has progressed indeed!

A must watch for people who love history and a must watch for all Scorsese fans.

Just back from a late midnight 3D screening of the movie and am i not entertained to the core! "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" belongs to Jack Sparrow, oh i'm sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow :) as all other Pirate movies do, but for me this movie rates above the last 2 sequels.

Johnny Depp was at his usual best. Geoffrey Rush was spectacular as Barbossa and so was Ian McShane. Of course we would have loved some more of Black Pearl and the extremely gorgeous Penelope Cruz, but who wants to complain when you got Jack Sparrow to entertain! Watch it for great comedy, good action, the mermaids and of course your favorite captain.

I recently watched this movie on DVD and boy was i TAKEN by surprise!! The movie is awesome; one of the best modern day action flicks.

Taken is much better than any Bond movie i have seen and in fact has the material to give any Bourne movie a run for its money. In fact i couldn't help but notice, the protagonist in this case is also "B"ryan! Neeson is amazingly good as the ex-spy and looks really scary in some sequences, just the way an agent should.

I would love to see Neeson back in action soon. A sequel to this maybe??

A recommended movie for anyone looking for a good high class action.