AKSHAY IS BACK!-WEEKLY MOVIE GUIDE (what to watch and what to miss in Cinema)

DESI BOYZ      (promising debutant director)

Genre                  Comedy/Drama

Release Date       25th November

Director               Rohit Dhawan

Duration              120 minutes

Cast                    Akshay Kumar,John Abraham,Deepika Padukone,Chitraganda Singh,Sanjay Dutt (cameo)      

Pluses                 Akshay is back with good comic timing,Deepika and Chitrangada looks good,Chitraganda's role as teacher is hilarious and sensuous,2nd half is full of laughter,Chart buster songs

Minuses              John is clueless,editing is uneven,1st half is boring,stale plot

Verdict               2.5/5 (watch it for light hearted comedy with smart one liners and good music)
Box Office Predictions 30 cr first weekend and 70 cr lifetime nett collections-above average!

(catch exclusive reviews of 3 Hollywood releases here tomorrow)

WEEKLY MOVIE GUIDE (what to watch and what to miss in Cinema)

AARAKSHAN

Genre                  Drama

Release Date       12th August

Director               Prakash Jha

Duration               167 minutes

Cast                     Amitabh Bachchan,Saif Ali Khan,Deepika Padukone,Manoj Bajpayee,Tanvi Azmi

Pluses                  Awesome first half with series of power packed dialogues,Amitabh and Saif are too good,Manoj is outstanding,writing is top notch by Anjum Rajbali and Jha,Tanvi and Deepika lends good support

Minuses               Second half is too slow and starts drifting in altogether different direction of improvement of education system plus private coaching bashing,Prateik is unfit in his character,climax is too predictable and stereotype,film ends up being a 'masala' flick sadly,Prakash Jha as director is a let down this time

Verdict                3/5 (watch it to experience how a great first half,burning subject with great actor and powerful dialogues can salvage a film even with an average director at helm)

Box Office Prediction        It will collect in excess of 50 crore nett as it has a great cast plus huge amount of curiosity due to controversies it had generated (which are totally unnecessary) but will not be a huge hit like Jha's last release 'Raajneeti'

PHHIR

Genre                  Thriller

Release Date       12th August

Director               Girish Dhamija

Duration               120 minutes

Cast                     Rajnish Duggal,Roshni Chopra,Adah Sharma

Pluses                  Tight story,thrilling climax,average performances

Minuses               Bad special effects,technically film is below average,songs are unnecessary

Verdict                2.5/5 (watch it to surprise yourself with a thrilling story and underdog film)

Box Office Prediction        No expectations from the film and zero marketing and it should collect not more than 10 crore nett

CAPTAIN AMERICA:THE FIRST AVENGER

Genre                  Action/Adventure

Release Date       12th August

Director               Joe Johnston

Duration               124 minutes

Cast                     Chris Evans,Hugo Weaving,Samuel L. Jackson

Pluses                  Above average action,good performances from lead cast

Minuses               story offers nothing new,untidy direction,bad background score

Verdict                2/5 (watch it if you like old styled action adventure flicks)

Box Office Prediction       It can maximum garner around 5 to 7 crore nett in India

WEEKLY MOVIE GUIDE (what to watch and what to miss in Cinema)

DUM MAARO DUM

Genre                  Action/Drama

Release Date       22nd April

Director               Rohan Sippy

Duration              130 minutes

Cast                    Abhishek Bachhan,Bipasha Basu,Aditya Pancholi,Prateik Babbar,Rana Daggubati

Pluses                  High on style quotient,racy editing which goes well with the mood,tight direction and screenplay,impactful background score,songs add to the film(a rarity in today's films) especially title track shot on Deepika and passionately rendered 'Jiyen Kyon',on the edge performance by Abhishek,Aditya Pancholi and Rana Daggubati,Prateik does well and suspense in climax is icing on the cake

Minuses                Bipasha's role is too cliche,Abhishek's flashback track is unnecessary

Verdict                 3.5/5 (watch it for 'masala' Bollywood at its best with modern and racy styling)

Comments            Abhishek should has a hit this time after three successive failures in 'Raavan','Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Say' and 'Game',main reason of this success is that Abhishek has limited presence on screen backed by taut script and supported by good actors like it was the case in 'Dhoom','Dhoom 2','Sarkar' and 'Yuva'.Rohan Sippy proves again his command over medium.

ZOKKOMON

Genre                  Children Drama/Adventure

Release Date       22nd April

Director               Satyajit Bhatkal

Duration              110 minutes

Cast                    Darsheel Safary,Anupam Kher,Manjari Phadnis

Pluses                  Good storyline

Minuses               Screenplay is shabby,actors sleepwalks(really),irritating music

Verdict                1/5 (watch it to believe how boring a children movie can be even after a decent cast and fabulous producers Walt Disney)

YOGI BEAR

Genre                  Animation

Release Date       22nd April

Director               Eric Brevig

Duration              80 minutes

Pluses                  Apt voice over by Justin Timberlake and Dan Ackroyd,cute storytelling

Minuses               slow paced

Verdict                3/5 (watch it with kids as it is an ideal weekend film for them to enjoy)

THE ROOMMATE

Genre                  Thriller

Release Date       22nd April

Director              Christian E. Christiansen

Duration              93 minutes

Cast                    Leighton Meester,Minka Kelly,Danneel Harris,Cam Gigandet

Pluses                  Not any

Minuses               Everything(bad script,poor direction and pathetic performances)

Verdict                0.5/5 (watch it if you really wanna sleep in multiplex or have a nice 'company' with you)