Johnny Gaddaar

Cast: Dharmendra, Neil Mukesh Mathur, Rimi Sen, Vinay Pathak, Zakir Husain
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Rating: ***

Some films exude a cultivated cool. Others are born with it. Sriram Raghavan's "Johny Gaddar" belongs to the category of naturally cool.

Simmering with an urbane discontent and exerting an anxious debate on the power of money to dominate morality, "Johnny Gaddar" is a homage to many things - It's a tribute to R.K. Narayan, as Rimi Sen is caught reading Narayan's "Guide" in the opening sequence, James Hadley Chase, Jyoti Swaroop's "Parwana", Vijay Anand's "Johnny Mera Naam", Ram Gopal Varma ...you name it!

It is a relentlessly rigorous take on the wages of crime and what evil men do to their conscience for the sake of money.

Hamletian in tone and utterly liberated from the artifice that often underlines noire films from Bollywood, "Johnny Gaddar" is a feast of feverish fury harnessed very cleverly.

It's also a cunningly noire-ish homage to some of the most sizzling film songs of the 1970s including "Rama rama ghazab hui gawa" from "Jugnu" and "Bachke kahan jaoge" from "Yakeen" - all remixed by Vishal-Shekhar with sly synergy.

Sometimes a film goes way beyond its prescribed genre in search of a kind of cinematic nirvana that is as tough to achieve as it is for the audience to accept.

Sriram Raghavan's tutorship in the Ram Gopal Varma school of filmmaking has served him well. He does away with all the surface humbug of the noire genre, and comes up with a work that's original in thought, super-original in execution and always a step ahead of the audiences' expectations.

Raghavan makes surprisingly sparse use of technical panache. Less is always more for this articulate filmmaker whose appetite for detailing is immense.

Watch the sequence in the train just before Daya Shetty is murdered. The old lady sharing the compartment with the man who is about to die lends a crucial character-credence to the plot ... Yup, Hitchcock would approve.

The contours of the narration are flexible yet firm, as a young gangster Vikram (debutant Neil Mukesh Mathur) tries to break from a life of crime ... but only after a carefully planned betrayal that leaves Vikram's guru (Dharmendra) dead on the floor.

Neil plays the amoral Romeo with icy steadfastness, going from betrayal to betrayal, his eyes not giving away anything. It's a brave and thoroughly unconventional debut for this engaging actor. Neil sinks his teeth into the complex character with focused intensity.

The rest of the performances range from the extraordinary to the exceptional. Vinay Pathak's dexterity with the cards in the gambling scenes are matched by Zakir Hussain's power to create dilemma out of treachery.

And falling in the extraordinary category is Ashwini Kalsekar as Vinay Pathak's wife. Though the character derives inspiration from Shefali Shah in Ram Gopal Varma's "Satya", Ashwini gives it her own interpretation.

"Johnny Gaddar" isn't outstanding in the context of how far it takes the gangster-noire genre. But in narrating the underbelly of betrayal in a language that's calm, controlled and constantly compelling, Raghavan's work is next to none.

One of the most gripping tales of crime and retribution, "Johnny Gaddaar" calls the bluff of all the other recent 'cool' crime capers that have hit Bollywood

Go

Film: "Go"
Cast: Gautam Gupta, Nisha Kothari, Kay Kay Menon, Rajpal Yadav
Director: Manish Shrivastava
Rating: *

This is the story of Gym and Jill, the two main characters in the film, who come tumbling down. Watch "Go" and you will agree producer Ram Gopal Varma's Factory needs to be shut down for serious overhauling.

And this is despite the fact that this story of Gym (newcomer Gautam) and Jill (Nisha) has some peppy and perky moments. In fact debutante director Manish Srivastava pumps up the adrenaline real hard in this rowdy road movie.

But overall, the movie is a maddening mix of guns and songs. Unlike "Daud" and "Road", Varma's earlier two road movies, "Go" has no star value. It has a pair of lovers who talk in terrible, tongue-twisting riddles and squirmy one-liners.

The lovebirds squabble incessantly while Kay Kay Menon, playing a dour cop, often stands around watching the couple with the look of a man who has just encountered an unpleasant smell.

Don't blame Kay Kay. The odour comes from Ramu over-doing the gangster-politicians-cops theme. His supporting cast, which includes Ravi Kale, Govind Namdeo and Rasika Joshi, has become so predictably inter-changeable, you wonder where Ramu is heading with his cinema.

Arshad Syed's dialogues too need a serious re-write.

Muscle-boy Gym snorts drugs in a club, womanises to tease his neighbour-lover and barges into her bedroom in his underwear, while her mother (Rasika Joshi) goes into a swoon.

If you haven't already fainted at the brain-dead antics of Gym and Jill, there's more. The squabbling neighbours and their much-in-love children is borrowed from K. Balachander's "Ek Duje Ke Liye". Nisha's character is even named Vasu after Kamal Haasan in Balachander's film.

Everyone in the film seems to be in the mood for some on-the-job fun. Only Rajpal Yadav, doing a series of demented take-offs, actually makes you laugh even as you wince at the sheer absurdity and stupidity of the goings-on.

While love songs come on intermittently in the first-half, the second-half is more chase-friendly with our couple fleeing to Goa singing, fighting and laughing while a man dies in the backseat of their car!

Insensitivity isn't just a brutal reality of the world that Ram Gopal Varma has so diligently built since "Satya". He has now extended it to his audiences as well. Does Varma really think audiences will tolerate this mix 'n' match masquerade of mayhem and mirth?

Go for "Go" at your own risk.

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Cast: Imaad Shah, Shreyas Talpade, Smriti Mishra, Nikita Anand
Director: Manish Tiwari
Rating: **

One is a cool dude and the other is a rustic who wants to be a student leader. But the twain do meet in writer-director Manish Tiwari's maiden venture "Dil Dosti Etc".

However, one wonders why Tiwari with all his creative and other resources, including authentic locales, in-sync music and credible actors, couldn't come up with a film that compares favourably with other films about college life and coming of age.

Tigmanshu Dhulia's power-driven film "Haasil" on campus politics, Goldie Behl's "Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai" and Farhan Akhtar's "Dil Chahta Hai" seem to be the reference points about youth gone astray in a film that seems to lose it's path in delivering a homily or two on the direction-less generation.

Delhi University and its vicinity are a hotbed of hyper-activities. The campus and other Delhi locales are sought out by the camera with a self-congratulatory flourish. Not once do we get the feeling that this film knows its mind any more than the youngsters whom it tries to take into its grasp.

Tiwari's portrayal of love and politics on the campus ends up being more wheezy than wondrous in its storytelling. Maybe the narrative was being true to character. But both Imaad Shah and Shreyas Talpade portray confused characters with lathered gusto.

Imaad is Naseeruddin Shah's son. No one can call him a chip of the old block...not yet. But he does have a certain psychedelic charm, which unfortunately gets drowned by this week's other debutant Neil Mukesh Mathur's rock-steady performance in "Johny Gaddaar".

There are no hard places in the jaggedly designed plot for the characters to hold on to. Neither the director nor do we come to grips with the uncertainties of the characters.

The ladies don't help either. Smriti Mishra makes a gritty but stereotypical prostitute. Nikita Anand and Isshitta Sharma don't have too much to do either.

"Dil Dosti Etc" is more about the 'etc' than the dil and dosti promised in the title.

Ajay is a very good cook

New Delhi, Hubby Ajay Devgan is a wonderful cook and dishes up mouth-watering Mughlai and Chinese cuisine, vouches Bollywood actor Kajol, while admitting that she is a "bad cook".

Talented actress Kajol told IANS here: "I am a bad cook! My husband cooks really well and makes mouth-watering food varying from Mughlai to Chinese. He is a multitalented person."

In the city to promote Whirlpool home appliances for which she is the brand ambassador, Kajol said her idea of a perfect home is one that has loads of harmony.

"A perfect home is one which has 60-70 percent of harmony. You can never have 100 percent of it, as small tiffs are inevitable. Moreover, if the kitchen is great what else can you ask for," said Kajol, whose daughter Nyasa is four years old.

The actress, who was last seen on screen in "Fanaa" with Aamir Khan, is teaming up with her husband in their home production "U Me Aur Hum", which also marks Ajay's directorial debut.

Their last film together, "Raju Chacha" (2000), sank without a trace. But Kajol said: "It is true that while working together we are more comfortable."

Elaborating on the difference between working in ad films and feature films, she said: "Working in ads is a little more difficult than doing a (feature) film because you have to convey so much in a time span as short as 30 seconds."

And to what extent do endorsements boost the popularity of a star?

"Endorsements have enormous reach and one can connect to a wider and varied audience. It proves beneficial to a star."

Kajol gave a spirited performance in hits like "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge", "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" and "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", to name a few.

Apart from her home production, Kajol will be seen in Yash Raj Films' upcoming venture "Tashan", which also stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

Why Sharman lost 'Dhamaal' and 'Golmaal' sequel

Mumbai, Rumours are rife that Sharman Joshi lost "Dhamaal" as well as "Golmaal Returns" -- which now has Shreyas Talpade -- because of his high fee.

Sharman, however, denies asking for Rs.15 million.

"I wish I had the guts to ask for that kind of money. And I wish somebody would actually offer me that much. What I charge is nowhere near that amount. So I don't know who's spreading these rumours and for what purpose," Sharman told IANS.

"I didn't do 'Dhamaal' because I didn't like the role. As for 'Golmaal Returns' I'd have loved to do it. But my dates were clashing with another project. If money was an issue, how am I doing another film to be directed by Neeraj Vora for the same banner (Ashtvinayak)?"

The actor, who has accepted some non-comic roles, says he is not making a conscious effort to move away from the all-boys' comedy mould.

"The industry conveniently forgot that I started my career with a serious role as Shabana Azmi's son in Vinay Shukla's 'Godmother'. They latched on to my comic roles in N. Chandra's 'Style' and 'Excuse Me'. Not a problem because I enjoy comedy.

"My new release 'Dhol' had me working with Priyadarshan for the first time. I've learnt a lot about comic timing from him. My co-stars in 'Dhol' were friends. So there was no attempt at oneupmanship. I can't work in a tense competitive atmosphere. Of course, Tusshar Kapoor, Kunal Khemu, Rajpal Yadav and I were competitive in 'Dhol' when the camera was on. But we were happy in our individual space."

Talking about the serious roles he is doing, Sharman said: "In Anurag Basu's 'Life In A Metro', I was seriously appreciated. Then in 'Raqeeb', my efforts at a non-comic role went to waste.

"Now in two of my films, Farouq Kabeer's 'Allah Ke Bande' and Sourabh Narang's 'K11' (the title of this thriller refers to the seat number in a multiplex), I don't have a chuckle to waste."

Sonam and Ranbir embarrassed to be labelled

A story in a tabloid that Sonam Kapoor threw a royal tantrum on the sets of one of her promotional television programmes has the young debutante as embarrassed as another story declaring Ranbir to be a gay icon.

Says Sonam, “Yes, it’s true that I re-shot one portion of one of my promotional programmes on Channel V. But please, there was no starry tantrum. I was very apologetic.” Sonam further explains, “I’ve been tutored in the Sanjay Bhansali school of filmmaking. Over there, we were taught to strive for the best, no matter what the medium. For me a tv show isn’t a chalta hai occasion. So after shooting the whole day if I re-shot for fifteen minutes does that make me a tantrum thrower?”

Ranbir Kapoor is even more embarrassed at being called a gay icon by the same tabloid. “I’m just starting out. My first film isn’t released. I’m in no position to be called any kind of icon. Once I prove myself I’d be happy to be loved by any community of people.”

Shahid Kapur To Appear On Nach Baliye

According to the rumor mill, Shahid Kapur will be a special guest on Star TV’s immensely popular celebrity dance show, Nach Baliye. As you would have guessed, Shahid’s appearance is a part of the promotion campaign for Imtiaz Ali’s keenly awaited Jab We Met releasing on October 26 worldwide.

Says our source, “Shahid will be the celebrity guest on Nach Baliye. He will comment on the participants’ performance and at the end of the show go up on stage and shake a leg to the remix of the Mauja Hi Mauja track from the film.”

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