Rowdy Rathore Movie Review (Hindi)

ROWDY RATHORE MOVIE REVIEW

Story: Low-life thief Shiva and top-cop Vikram Rathore are identical. Vikram's killed by foes but his daughter thinks Shiva's her dad - can this Rowdy win respect?

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Nasser, Yashpal Sharma

Direction: Prabhudheva

Genre: Action

Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes

Avg Readers Rating: 

Movie Review: In case I get a spelling wrong, that's because my ears are still ringing with all the seetis and taalis at Rowdy Rathore. The film's an unabashed, gunpowder-hot, sambar-spiced star-vehicle which runs along energetically most of the time because its star - Akshay Kumar, essaying a double role as Rathore and Shiva - is worth it, something that's emphasized often. At one point, a girl asks Shiva, pursuing pretty Paaro (Sinha) from Patna, 'Na tum mein Hrithik ke looks hain, na Shah Rukh ka charm, na Aamir ki cuteness, na Salman ki body - what's so cool about you?' Akshay drawls back, "Lagta hai Khiladi ko bhool gayi aap." Cue for crowd - erupt in rapture.

ROWDY RATHORE OFFICIAL TRAILER (HD)

Multiply that moment by 100 and you have Rowdy Rathore, a peppery pot-boiler brimming over with action, slapstick comedy and romance, dynamite lines and Akshay Kumar - lots of Akshay Kumar, channeling vintage heroes Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, adding a dollop of Jeetendra, topping with his trademark flair as he snarls, tongue deeply in-cheek, "Don't angry me!"

A lull in its second half aside, Rowdy's mostly quick-stepping, moving from Mumbai's malls to medieval Bihar where Baapji (Nasser) and his hamming henchmen terrorise Devgarh's townsfolk through pillage, beatings and rape. Till cop Vikram Rathore (Kumar) arrives on the Shramjeevi Express, assaulting local yokels with handy gannas, infusing new meaning to 'sugar-cane'. With terrific overhead shots capturing his exploits, the fearless Rathore even bumps off Baapji's vicious beta Munna, so Baapji won't rest till Vikram is killed.

SEXY SINHA: SONAKSHI SINHA

Despite an injury to his brain (which the doctor says causes 'hammo-rage'), Vikram and his little daughter Chinki reach Mumbai. Here, their paths cross with Shiva who adopts Chinki when Vikram's felled. And goes to Devgarh where he tells Baapji, 'A village can have only one Rowdy.' It's time Baapji - or 'lemon-chus', as Rowdy addresses him - shoved off.

This involves toe-curling violence though. A guy gets stabbed in the mouth, a head's crushed on a rock, swords slash through navels. Against the gore, Shiva's dancing with Paaro provides breezy relief but the music itself is unmemorable. In a Prabhudheva picture, expectedly the dances are eye-catching, some moves like sweet caresses, some sexy little bites. Sonakshi glows as Paaro, a spunky Indian beauty showing flashes of her star-father's confidence when she snarls at the villains, 'O saand ke bhes mein kukur." This Patna girl's stepped out in style with Rowdy. But the same can't be said for those playing Devgarh's dread-struck. Apart from Yashpal Sharma (sincere as a junior cop), the rest are unconvincing, as is the villainous set-up itself, located somewhere oddly between feudal Bihar, accented Andhra and Sholay's bandit lair.

Indeed, Rowdy Rathore pays homage to iconic filmi characters - identical heroes, golden-hearted chors, brave Men in Brown beating evil people to pulp. However, it pays most homage to its own star, Akshay Kumar, who pulls off Shiva with style but Vikram less so, possibly because all that violence overwhelms acting itself. Not that the crowd seemed to mind. As Shiva exhorts a woman raped by Baapji's son to beat him up, the girl next to me cried, "Why doesn't she?" Her neighbour replied, "She will." And she did - much to the crowd's Rowdy delight.

Tip-Off: Fans will love Akshay's mooch-twirling masala-act but be ready for hardcore action too - some pretty gruesome.

Housefull is BACK again!

Story: Everyone's chasing tycoon JD's son 'Jolly' for their daughters - but when four Jollys appear, there's a House-full of confusion! 

Critic's Rating: 

Direction: Sajid Khan

Cast: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Riteish Deshmukh, Shreyas Talpade, Asin, Jacqueline Fernandes, Zarine Khan, Shahzahn Padamsee, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Boman Irani, Johnny Lever, Mithun Chakraborty

Genre: Comedy

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Avg Readers Rating: 

Movie Review: Sajid Khan is in love - no, it's not what you're thinking. The director of 'Housefull-2' is in love with the movies - especially 1970s Bollywood, all disco-balls, leering villains and hard-chested heroes. Khan mixes this with luscious English locales, PYTs in short shorts, cheeky jokes and star power - and lo. You have 'Housefull-2' - a castle full of mischief under a midnight-blue sky, lovers, fathers, imposters and 'Prince Charles'. For those seeking Albert Einstein, step aside. For those who'd like an apple-pie comedy, all slapstick - and some slap and tickle - Housefull-2's a breeze.

Khan follows Manmohan Desai's funda - give the audience so much, so fast, they'll be too dazzled to carp. It works - most of the time. Housefull-2 opens in London with sibling rivalry between, ahem, the Kapoor brothers (Randhir and Rishi), elder Dabboo 'najayaz' but given part of his father's business, younger Chintu bitterly resentful. The resentment seeps across this house - Rishi's daughter, Heena ( Asin) and Randhir's girl, Bobbie (Jacqueline) at each other's throats. Each brother wants to marry his daughter to tycoon JD's son, 'Jolly' - Riteish who loves full-figured model 'J'Lo' (Zarine) but is too terrified to tell Daddy - Mithun Chakrabarty, striding across his English castle in a starched dhoti, a tycoon who smiles frostily only at Man Friday, Patil (a frothy Lever). 

But the Kapoors engage 'Aakhri Pasta' - Housefull-1's Indo-Italian, Chunky Pandey - still wearing skin-tight neon suits, delivering his 'I'm-a-joking!' line with creepy panache. Marriage-fixer Pasta brings an eligible match to Chintu, but playing a vinegary uncle with tang, Kapoor insults the father - with offensive 'African jokes' - landing him in hospital. His son (Talpade) swears revenge, begging buddy Jolly to romance Chintu's daughter, then break it off - but jittery Jolly drags in muscular Max (Abraham) to have him play 'Jolly', employing sleazy Sunny (Kumar) for the other brother to get the same. 

The rival Jolly-boys enjoy purani dushmani - but that's forgotten with two hot girls, a crocodile and a desert island that, like a skit in British comedy 'Little Britain', has a luxury resort behind the beach. Yet, some starvation for the clueless girls ensures love and soon, there are four pairs - and four Jollys - hotting things up. With each Punjabi Papa - and one Batuk Patel (Irani, all dimples and nasal inflexion, father of Parul, Talpade's sweetheart - Shahzahn, with more bikinis than lines) - vying for Jolly, the 'dirty dozen' reaches JD's house. But they're walking on water here. JD's got a temper, a dark secret - and a gun. 

Housefull-2 is a bag of laughs with eye-candy - Akshay in linens, Jacqueline in minis - and some crackling performances. Mithun commands with sheer presence while the climax belongs to rip-roaring Lever. Riteish plays 'helpless' with flair while a guest scene by '70s veteran Ranjeet - "From rapist to therapist" - provides a vibrant stroke of colour on this house-wall. Abraham manages the muscle-man while Malaika Arora Khan sizzles in 'Anarkali Disco Chali' - and an oomphy little scenario later. But the film belongs to Akshay Kumar who carries off a sharp suit and 'jhaari-mein-chalein' jokes with glossy aplomb. And to Sajid Khan who, despite a smorgasbord of stars, ensures one prevails - the mad storyline. The music (Sajid-Wajid) could have been punchier while some scenes sag. But with cracks like, "Aasman se gire, Khajuraho mein atke," as Akshay parachutes down on his mum-in-law, you can't complain - unless you were looking for Einstein, of course.

Courtesy: Times Of India