2009: Disappointments

DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2009

2009 was a poor year with some epic big budget disasters. Movies that were expected to be classics, were thrashed by the critics and rejected outright by the audience. Here is our list of the Top 5 most disappointing Bollywood movies of 2009

5) Blue -

Huge budget with stars allegedly being paid

double salary.. all wasted on a film that

completely lacked a plot. Filled with lame dialogues and a 50 year old Sanjay Dutt uncomfortably romancing the sexy Lara Dutta, the film was a disappointment start to finish. The only saving grace were those underwater sequences, which many preferred watching on National Geographic. Released during Diwali, Blue opened to huge numbers, only to eventually witness a huge crash during its weekdays.

4) What’s Your Rashee? -

The Oscar nominated

director of Lagaan and acclaimed films like Swades

and Jodha Akbar, returned this time with a comedy starring Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra. The result? A clueless film that dragged on for hours and put most in theater into deep slumber. Certainly we expected more from Gowariker.

3) Delhi 6 -

From the biggest stars like Hrithik Roshan to

newbies like Ranbir Kapoor rejected the film, and after release we know exactly why. Fresh from the super success of Rang De Basanti, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6 was at worst, expected to watchable. Sadly, Mehra got it all wrong. Right from the story, direction, to the characterization and even the dialogues.

2) Kambakht Ishq -

Akshay Kumar returned after 2 back to back

failures and while Kambakht Ishq recovered its investment, the movie was a waste of time and money. Hollywood bigwigs Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards, Brandon Routh, Bollywood stunners Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora et al couldn’t save this tragically torturous film. Wonder what the makers were thinking?

1) Tasveer 8 x 10 -

Accused of acting in far too many mindless

entertainers and a overall lack of variety in the characters he portrays, Kumar’s biggest claim to critically acclaim turned out to be a damp squib. The film didn’t even manage a face saving opening at the box office.

DVD - This Week

Official DVD Releases of this week are:

WAKE UP SID

RATING: 4/5

Actors	Ranbir Kapoor & Konkona Sen Sharma
Director	Ayan Mukherjee
Year	2009
Languages	Hindi
Subtitles	English
Region	Region 2 - Will only play on European Region 2 or multi-region DVD players.

WHAT'S YOURS RAASHEE?

RATING: 2/5

Actors	Priyanka Chopra, Harman Baweja, Suzy Brack, Debbi Burns, Darshan Jariwala, Tommy Bartlett & Dilip Joshi
Director	Ashutosh Gowariker
Year	2009
Languages	Hindi
Subtitles	English
Region	Region 2 - Will only play on European Region 2 or multi-region DVD players.

3 Idiots

Directed By

Rajkumar Hirani

Written By

Chetan Bhagat (plot)

Rajkumar Hirani (story)

Cast

Aamir Khan

Sharman Joshi

R Madhavan

Kareena Kapoor

Boman Irani

Music

Shantanu Moitra

Genre

Drama

Comedy

Romance

Runtime

2 hrs 34 min (Approx.)

Sound Mix

Dolby Digital

Certificate

PG

UA

THUMBS UP: PERFORMANCES, FIRST HALF, STORY

THUMBS DOWN: DOESN'T LIVES UP TO EXPECTATIONS, ORDINARY MUSIC, TRIES TOO HARD TO BE FUNNY, LACK OF EMOTIONS

PREVIEW

The biggest ‘Kaminah’ this year has been those expectations that we have had, right through the year with movies like Delhi 6, What’s Your Rashee and many more. All from highly talented directors, fresh from classics. Strangely few have managed to live upto expectations. With 3 Idiots, the biggest and most hyped release of the year, you expect on-screen magic - a heart warming classic due to two names

1) Rajkumar Hirani - The universally acclaimed director of Munnabhai Films.

2) Aamir Khan - One of the very best in the business, both as an actor and a film-maker.

Can’t get bigger or better, can it? Sadly, Rajkumar Hirani doesn’t get it right this time.

SYNOPSIS

3 Idiots is about 3 friends - Rancho (Aamir Khan), Farhan (Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi), doing their engineering in one of the top colleges in the country which is run by a weirdo Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani). Like most professional colleges in the competitive world that we live in, its all about scoring the highest marks. The result? Mental pressure, rise in suicide rates and a lot more. With almost every parent wanting their son / daughter to be a engineer or a doctor, the director also talks about the lack of passion for the profession amongst students.

REVIEW

What works for 3 Idiots

• Rajkumar Hirani once again takes up a socially relevant issue and successfully conveys the message, while entertaining the audience with humor, without getting too preachy.
• Except Boman Irani’s character, all the characters in the college are easy to relate to.
• Dialogues written for Aamir in the film are fantastic and would work big time with the audience.
• The music is good, All Izz Well rocks!
• Aamir Khan looks young and almost perfect for the character of Rancho. He is brilliant with his comic timing and equally good in emotional sequences.
• Aamir’s character is very similar to Munnabhai - witty and funny with a heart of gold.
• Sharman Joshi and Madhavan are good, not much scope to perform though.

What didn’t quite work

• 3 Idiots lacks the subtleness of Hirani’s previous films. Over-the-top sequences (read the section below), melodrama, unrealistic situations just don’t work.
• Kareena Kapoor has about 30 minutes of screen time and frankly, has nothing to do.
• Boman Irani’s character which was meant to be funny was outright awful. He tries hard to make faces, to lisp and harder to make you laugh but never gets it right.
• The second half is slow, lengthy and way too filmy.

Scenes worth a mention

• When Kareena and Aamir first meet up at the wedding.
• Sharman Joshi’s interview scene.
• Madhavan’s scene with his father, when he tries to convince him to take up wild life photography.
• Feel good scenes involving Aamir.

Unrealistic, filmy and over the top sequences

• Mona Singh’s 10 minute long baby-delivery scene on the table tennis table. The floods in the city, Kareena directing Aamir over the webcam, power failure and finally the vacuum cleaner used as a suction to pull out the baby. One word - Disgusting.
• Kareena walking out of her marriage for the second time, too filmy too unrealistic.
• The twist just before the interval doesn’t work. Was it even necessary?
• Frequent dropping of pants and pissing wasn’t funny.
• Rancho’s disappearing act.

THE VERDICT

Overall, 3 Idiots tries too hard to be funny, the first half is good, the follow up isn’t. It works in parts but coming from Rajkumar Hirani, we expected better, much better! It lacks Hirani's 'emotional touch' for which he is known widely for.

Worth a watch once for Aamir Khan fans and for the message that Hirani has conveyed through the film - a must for parents and students.

CINELABS RATE-o-METER: 3 / 5