Movie Review: Shor in the City: Humour, characters work wonders

SHOR IN THE CITY is a juxtaposition of random sound and visuals of Mumbai during the sonorous Ganesh Festival,enlivened with frothy humourous dialogues, lively city-bred characters and some drama.The film mostly works in its humour bits. The drama is a little steely, with people getting away with murder umpteen times, without any police intervention.Thankfully, the director duo (US based, of Indian origin), do not take things too seriously and spin a fun yarn of three bumbling goons,a NRI, a budding cricketer, a newly-wed couple and a girl flooded with marriage proposals.

Tilak (Tushar Kapoor, adequate), Mandook (Pitobash Tripathy, standout) and Ramesh (Nikhil Dwivedi, good) steal a bestselling author's manuscript, Tilak plans to publish the same to boost his pirated book business. Abhay (Sendhil Ramamurthy, cast suitably), back in India to start a new business, is hounded by local goons for 'protection' money. Sawan (Sudeep Krishnan, fits the part), is a struggling cricketer hoping to make it to the Mumbai under-22 team.

The central idea, how the city's arrested, shunted spaces, the booming human population, the resultant noise, affects the way people act, is reflected vibrantly on the characters. A Lord Ganesh idol strapped to a car seat, couples kissing at Marine Drive in broad daylight, are couple of eye-catching vignettes.

The familiar Mumbai lingo finds its crazy outlet in Mandook's loafing character, and this is where we find the most engaging scenes. The female strands are as unconventional as they come, though it is never clear how Tilak's wife (Radhika Apte, arresting) ends up in wedlock. Yet, there is a bitter-sweet humour in how a young girl (Girija Oak) complains about her dry lips and later of a forcefully extracted ring.

There are not many complaints, as the directors seem to have achieved what they set out to achieve - an entertaining, irreverent tale of Mumbai, with both real and comic book style interpretations gelling in to the narration. Go for it, best watched on 70mm. 

Final spark
A 'professional' protester douses himself in kerosene and rants a mock-sacrifice monologue, then goes stiff in horror when a lighter flame is held before him.  

Movie Review: Golmaal 3: Overcooked, raw, nonsense - some great laughs though...



Not thrice as fun, not bad either...

The Golmaal Series has always worked for its skit-like sequences, the storyline is a mere prop for the proceedings. Director Rohit Shetty has the undeniable thing for pulling out genuine moments of laughter and Hindi film spoof pieces.

The third film of the series doesn't disappoint.

It starts with a bang with a war of words between the eight (more than ample) main characters, but paling in terms of coherent story-telling, needless plot threads, tepid, unconnected fight and action sequences (finger-bending crap), length, and the tired, repeated, mercilessly extended Johnny Lever act.

Nonsensical, asinine, cluttered, bumpy are some of the words that describe the movie, would recommend it for the genuine moments of laughter it raises in the first half, and some in the second half. The cast and the dialogue delivery adds punch to the scenario.

Arshad Warsi is a live cracker, he seems to have enjoyed this the most; Ajay Devgan is good - a gem of a actor wasted with limited scope; Tushar Kapoor dumb act is still endearing; Kunal Khemu makes for freshness, making most of the opportunity; Shreyas Talpade, the amazing talent that he is, is again not given his due.

Mithun Chakraborty is the show-stealer, effortlessly gliding into his badly sketched role with charm and understated lines. Ratna Pathak Shah is wasted, while Kareena Kapoor's tomboy act is a gap-filler than a solid cameo it could have been. There, that is just the main cast.

Considering the sheer talent and promise Rohit Shetty continues to display, and despite the original, not-so-run-of-the-mill stuff, the film is a disappointment for the classic movie experience it could have been. So good, yet so, so, so many 'bads'. Still, worth a watch, cut the stunt mania and add more flesh to story, we say.

Real Fun

Mithunda reprising one of the over-the-top roles of his 80's potboilers and getting to deliver one the film's best spoof lines...translated - "Thee, whose houses are made of glass, change your clothes in the basement."