Vickida No Varghodo – A Comic Timing Fest

I  would have married all three, but Vickido is not like me.

Vickida no Varghodo has been hard for me. It is a film which has made me re-evaluate my unconditional love (spanning more than a decade) for Monal Gajjar. I might be falling in love with Mansi Rachh and her performance. But that for later.

Here are some observations though:

1.      Directors are brave people who are not scared of being Badnaam, producers are, they will never try anything new – This has nothing to do with the movie but to do with a power couple. Yes, this is a private joke - #myblog #myjoke #myspace #taareshu?

2.      I like director Rahul Bhole’s confidence, English subtitles and all, he is confident the product will go big on OTT and other languages…great great

3.      Because this is a comedy film the sub-titles to have to be funny:

Mindha – Mr Foxy

Ganthiyo – Smart Pants

Hari Hari – Hail Lord Ram…and many more 

4.      Gujarati films too are following Hollywood patterns with too many title slides.

5.      How do you know Rahul is from Vadodara? Well, Comedian Manan Desai features in his films!!

6.      Why do Gujaratis never win at badminton – they play in the open, without sweating!

7.      Pretty impressed that they made Salman Khan speak Gujarati dialogues from Tere Naam.

8.      This film confuses us about schools in villages – The Collector’s daughter studies here (has to be a good school), Yet they have just one teacher for Science and Maths and other subjects!!

9.      Villages have so much space for couples to meet, wonder why they still come back to schools in the evening to meet?

10.   Want to know more about a love drug – Phenylethylamine – watch this movie.

I don’t know about you, but I feel Malhar Thakar has given his best performance in recent times. Or shall we say this movie brings out the right combination of great dialogues, fantastic cinematography, beautiful casting and the right amount of logic for Malhar to excel.

As the name goes, the film is about a great comic timing walo Malhar (Vickido) who is to get married. And to attend his wedding comes his school love played by Jhinal Belani (looking very fresh and beautiful). So, you go into a school flashback with amazing comic timing friends and parents and innocent love and badminton in the open and one teacher teaching it all only for it to all end.

And the college love begins with Mansi Rachh (Wowow, you just fall in love)!. Fresh, lively, bubbly and oozing with great confidence this love story progresses. Only for us to come back to Vickida no Varghodo where Monal Gajjar (the eternal beauty) re-makes an entry with Mareez ni kavitao.

It all boils down to who will Vickido marry? Thankfully not a Salman-like situation here.

I repeat, Malhar has excelled in this role, with full credits to himself. Guess it needs two directors & writers to get the best out of him. Rahul Bhole and Vinit Kanojia have shown brilliant sense of timing in their screenplay and dialogues. The beauty of this film is that even the cinematographer Suman Sahu contributes to some great comedy moments. But Rahul Bhole, deserves this box office hit after a badly marketed classic, Chor Bani Thangat. Rahul has shown that he has the mettle and come back stronger.

Special mention to Anurag Prappana for carrying out the role of Vicky’s father. He too contributed flawlessly to the humour (watch out the ladder scene).

While, Monal Gajjar still ranks my favourite, she did not get enough screen time to really justify her role. Yet, when on screen she just amazes with the fluidity of her essay.

Mansi Rachh simply steals the heart with her performance. Watch out her command over her craft in the pre-kiss scene. Wonder where was she all the time! 

Jhinal Belani too does a natural job and justifies her cute looks by carrying off the school girl role well.  

The music is great, personalized (Heer toh badi sad hai - vibes) and really hits well. Draksh Khaati song probably keeps the humour quotient as well as the pace (giving Rugamiffin Manan good entry points). 

And yes, I was told to write this, Kairavi Buch is one of the singers of the song Kaanha Re 😁😀(Family First). 

But Seriously, Amar Khandha, his team of lyricists and singers did a good job.

All in all, a fantastic family watch, full of laughter and funny moments.

A tad bit long, but then you don’t mind it. 

So, I leave you with a question that Chirayu Mistry (what a great actor) asks in the movie, If suicide is a crime, who gets punished?

Watch Vickida no Varghodo, TODAY.

 

 

Prem Prakaran

A love triangle between the Hot, Hotter & the Hottest.

First & Foremost hats off to the team for withdrawing their release to accommodate The Kashmir Files.

A rare gesture.

Such rarity is also the film, rare to see a good, classy and cool Gujarati film.

The film is a great product.

The hero of the film is the music. Begins and ends only at the climax. Take a bow Amit Trivedi, you have created pulsating scores that not only maintain the pace but also gives a brilliant direction to the entire prakaran. Songs like Laagni, Zidd, Yaado Taari Tu Nahi To, Kori ne Kaachi liven up the entire experience of the prakaran. Niren Bhatt’s lyrics too touch your heart, though none have yet become hummers. Singers Jigardaan, Ishani, Siddharth Amit Bhavsar too have responded very well.

But first, there are some Prem Lessons you will get:

Prem is Love

Prem is like a label

Prem is not like cigarette.

Prem is like Nasha.

Prem is like Memory.

Prem goes but memories remain.

Prem needs to take memories with it.

Prem is a letter from the past.

Prem break-up & make-up always happens best on a bridge.

Prem is not all signals.

Prem failure makes you paddle your cycle harder.

God so much pressure on Prem, wonder what would happen to his performance.

 Furthermore, we learnt:

If you are a science student you will do arranged marriage.

If a girl gives the mother a chitthi meant for a boy, she will not read it.

MICA has an MBA and MNC job pays only Rs 22,000, might as well have joined a local.

Now, lets get serious. I went to the movie to watch two of my favourite actors, Deeksha Joshi & Sanjay Galsar. They did not disappoint. Deeksha at her goofy and beautiful best and Sanjay in his normal elements always stole the show.

But as I came out, I had added two more to my favourites list.

Director Chandresh Bhatt. Man, you are a find. What a great package.

Esha Kansara. Always liked her act, but here she completely lit up the screen from her first scene. What an amazing essay.

The story is about Aditya (always-teary-eyed, Gaurav Passwala) who falls in love with his school mate Aarti Vyas (Deeksha) who friend-zones him and life goes on. A series of turns later Aditya is dejected and shifts to Ahmedabad where not only does he become rich (wonder how!) but also classy and beardy. But his love continues to burn for Aarti till one-sad-rendition-of-the-sad-song-hothon-se-chhu-lo-tum, a rendition so sad, even Jagjit Singh cried in his grave, he meets Riya (Esha Kansara).

Now the story takes off from here and comes to point where it forms a triangle. Who will Aditya choose? That you will have to go to a theatre and watch the glamour in person.

All I can say is, you know who it would be and yet you will enjoy the reveal.

The movie is at least 20 mins too long, but the music does not make you feel the length. There are times when you wish it would pace up. But the overall chemistry among friends, lovers and the team, makes it really stand out.

Gaurav Passwala looks good and carries the role well. Besides the lead even the friends are well chosen and the entire team led by Maulik Chauhan, Manan, Deep, Aariz, Mehul Nilesh do a great job in keeping the film lively. Even the Katko, replaced by Chashma act of Manan is good.   

The frames are Bollywood, the feel is classy Suraj & Pratik have done a good job on the camera. Even Junagadh looks classy in the entire experience. Heck even the costumes are truly a class apart lifting the film.

All in all, it is a good movie, worth investing your time and money. It is not every day that you come across such good movies from

One dialogue stands out: Past is a good place to visit not to Stay.

Go Watch it Today 

Sonu Per Bharoso Karai

Sonu Tane Mara per Bharoso Nai Ke

A TV from Chor Bazaar can make you chaotically rich

Honestly, considering the name, I was confident that this would be one of those regular slapstick movies that come about. I have known the director Henil Gandhi to be good with stories, I have known Ragi Jani to be a fantastic actor, Off late Malhar's choices of films too have been pretty good, yet this movie. I was mentally prepared for one more disappointment.

But what I saw completely floored me. Of course, not before it had its disappointments.

The Story is straight simple situational. A middle class family lose their TV (in an unbelievable and painful fashion) and decide to go to Chor bazaar to buy a new one. What they discover in the TV is much more than just gold, but confusions, honesty, murders and much more chaos.  

Let us handle Disappointments first:

The first 25 mins need to be endured. It is something that shakes your faith.

Again the villain and the Hindi saga continue. Why do villains have to speak hindi? We are not South India! 

Some dialogues and narratives are more confusing than funny. 

The background music initially was just too loud, it only levelled out later...

There are some scenes which kill the entire flow and have no relation and could have been chopped especially the salon lady and the gangster meeting and seeking help (no this is not a spoiler). It is just there, doing nothing. Adding no value.

Now let us come to the Good things:

Dialogues: Punchy, funny and a lot of time PJs by Suraj Baraliya are rocking. They elevate the movie and take it from slapstick to outright funny in situations.

Ragi Jani: Take a bow. You just took the movie to great heights. There were shadows of Siddharthbhai, still the movie is all standing on Ragibhai and he carries it well. Actually very well. Always talented, he just proved himself all over again.

Malhar: He is himself and that matters. He does a good job at being goofy, funny and likeable. This is one good movie to headline.

Ditto Jayesh More: His chemistry with Ragi is just a treat to watch. Both veterans elevate the movie.

All other support characters fit in fine.

The title song, rocks. What a catchy song. Rahul Munjariya takes it a notch higher. Not to mention the Song in between, again very classy.

All in all, it is an enjoyable movie to take the family out to. Henil Gandhi, welcome to the Good Cinema club. You have actually found Gujarat it very own Priyadarshan. More power to you.

And yes, Malhar's head is more important than that of Nijal because he was wearing a helmet (honestly, a good start).

Golkeri – Awesome Foursome

Jignesh Vasavada

4 (.5 for Mansi)

Life ends one Saturday evening and toils through the entire Sunday before coming to a full circle in the evening. Yes, 24 hours of love, life and relationship is a delightful Golkeri.

Now here is the fear. Good movies just don’t get the right promotions and thus there is a fear of them missing out. Golkeri producers, guys, please go all out, you have a good product. Many a movie, earlier, has messed up with poor no promotion.

What is!

Well, this is a sweet gargle-your-way-to-a guy’s-heart love story (read Gujarati re-make of the Marathi Muramba) of a boy Sahil (Malhar) & girl Harshita (Mansi) which begins with a Break off (not Up) and traverses through Divorce (there is a difference here) and then ending with a Patch up (yeah the same thing).

Yeah yeah, once you settle into the movie you know how it is going to end, but the beauty of the story is in the way it folds, unfolds, re-folds and finally packs up. Honestly, I was waiting to see the climax hoping it would be a taxi-wala-taking-police-wala-helping-aircraft-stopping or simply running with the train ending. But the climax is truly a nice anti-climax.

Here Sahil and Harshita are aided by Sahil’s affable parents played by Sachin Khedekar and Vandana Pathak. The story, screenplay is a delightful journey of values, love, upbringing, generations and the bond called love. Good Movie.

All that is Wow

All four lead actors, simply rock.

Mansi Parekh, take a bow. What a performance. Brilliant portrayal of a stand-up comic going off and on, all the while alternating between being a girl-friend, would-be bahu and a girl. She really connects and takes the movie to an altogether new level.

Vandana Pathak, a veteran, who just keeps getting better and better. She is literally the life of the movie.

Malhar Thakar, yes, not the star Malhar, but the actor Malhar who has been emerging with movies, breaking his stereotype since Sharto Laagu excels in a great portrayal of a scared genius in love. His classical punchy style lends the much needed humour and life to the narrative. He infuses the pace and helps keep the interest alive.

Sachin Khedekar (also acted in the Marathi original), in a brilliant light portrayal of a loving, understanding and evolving father steals hearts. He too binds the narrative and is crucial in some situations where the story needs the push.

DoP, Vikas Joshi paired with the Art Director keeps the film clean and fresh. Despite very limited location you are captivated by the way the scenes have been captured.

Dialogues, by Viral Shah also add the delta in the movie’s Gujaratikaran. Most, other language re-makes miss the mark in this department. Viral has kept it real and Gujarati.

All that is Saav

Background Music alternated between being jarring, loud and sometimes forced. This department could have done with mellowing down.

The Story, while was a huge challenge, could have done with a bit of trimming and appeared to slow the pace at times.

Some scenes really looked like they were an after-thought and the green screen was visible.

Low focus on marketing would really cause a scare for an otherwise good product.

Do not miss moments

Read this more than once. Manan, aapno comedy factory waalo, hosts daaru parties where girls come home late night, drunk. Why didn’t I know of this earlier? Why did I have to learn this from a movie?

The four-seater-scooter is a nice side kick which has a maruti car’s key-chain!!

So, our hero kick-starts his bike with a slight stubble, travels few kms the stubble grows thick and then becomes light again at the end of the journey.

Looks like there is a lot of money in the spectacle shop, simply going by their bungalow.

Jenga, the game, mends relationships, yes, it is true.
Giving out Golkeri bottles, what a great PR victory!

Blatant favoritism by the producer ensures that his wife is always wearing a helmet and the hero is not :))

 

The Verdict

Oh, please go and watch it with your entire family. It is a nice delightful fun foursome ride of relationship and love. You might even end up thanking god for not making you a gold-medalist or a ranker.

Kem Chho – Maybe Majama

Jignesh Vasavada 2.75 Stars Universal saga of a married man trapped with a gorgeous kathiawadi wife, nagging parents, wayward brother and an underpaid job in this beautiful world.

 

It is one of those times in my life as a movie reviewer (as opposed to a critic) that I am bemused (not confused). People next to me, around me were all laughing away to glory while I was chuckling once in a while and scratching most of the time.

That is the effect Kem Chho has on you as a movie. And Mind you, there was more male laughter than female laughter. No marks for guessing why.

Taking a break from the routine let me try and present the rights and the wrongs.

All that is Right

The premise of the movie is perfect. Happy to note that filmmakers are now experimenting with slice of Gujarati life concepts in films too. It is a positive change.

Promoted as a saga of a married man, Kem Chho got its Target group right. They know, like all Bollywood does, connect to the heart of a married man, he will spend any amount of money to watch his own plight projected on the large screen.

Next is the star cast. Tushar looks like a poor, tall, bechara married man (with a slight paunch). He has done an above average job and could have done better if the role and story had been defined more.  Kinjal Rajpriya rocks in the look and the dialogue department. She has been the girl to watch in recent times. Right from Shu Thayu, Kinjal has shown that she is capable of not only acting well but adapting to characters and presenting herself very effectively. Watch out for her too.

Chetan Dahiya, the natural humorist always scores effortlessly. His presence brings life on the screen. Ditto with Jay ‘Palty’ Panda.

Rest all, fit into their respective places decently.  

Dialogues, some punchy and some funny, overall, this department scores well too. Sorryavansham joke was a killer. 

Songs are nice and hummable. They sound good to listen to and may hit a chart or two.

The hoardings, publicity, outreach and the timing is all in the right place. You cannot afford to miss any of this.

All that is NOT Right

Why the subtitles, baba? The dialogue and subtitles were all over the place.

Where is the story? Why so many sub-plots? Why digress from the married man’s gatha to force the audience to pakdo their matha? Story is loose and at most points appears to be dragging. There are just too many subplots which could have been done without. Somehow we keep losing the focus from the dreary life of the hero and heroine and get dragged into unwanted storylines. Too many loose ends are not tied too.

Connected to this is the pace and duration. This film could very well have been 20-30 mins crisper and would have communicated the same message well.

The viewer feels stupid at some very illogical twists.

Why would an insurance guy go to a 80 year ill man to sell a policy?

So, your wife is talking about divorce and you simply jump out to meet an ex-flame?

Your son/husband/brother has locked himself in a room to commit suicide and all you do it just keep banging the door???? Really?

You want to supplement your family income and you only make one feeble attempt at selling?

Your father has been a violent person for all your 20+ years of life and just two dialogues make him forget everything and turn into a good man?

Come on, please. I am confident the writer and filmmaker is much more intelligent to commit such mistakes.

Still, I suggest, go out and watch this once, especially if you are a married man. You never know what scene, dialogue or event you may connect with.

No, I promise you, no married man cried at the end of Kem Chho (still wonder why this name!)

Pics Courtesy Movie Promotions