Casting: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal
Director: R. Balki
Release Date: 4 December 2009
Review: Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent and witty 13-year-old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated aging. He suffers from a progeria-like syndrome. Mentally he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks five times older. In spite of his condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan) who is a gynecologist. Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) is young, progressive and a full-of-ideals politician. He is out to prove to the world that ‘politics’ is not a bad word. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol’s son.
Casting: Mandira Bedi, Mohan Bhandari, Prashant Chianani, Nauheed Cyrusi, Sammir Dattani, Saurabh Dubey, Gautam Kapoor, Rajesh Khera, Purab Kohli, Mahima Mehta, Bikram Saluja, Nausheen Ali Sardar, Anupam Shyam, Dara Singh, Vivek Vaswani
Director: Nisha Chainani
Release Date: January 09, 2009
Dev. D (2009)
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Release Date: 6 February 2009 (India)
Stroryline: Dev D is a modern-day interpretation of the classic novel “Devdas” by Sarat Chandra. Dev, Paro and Chanda of Dev D reflect the sensibilities, conflicts aggression, and independence. Free thought, exuberance and recklessness of the youth of today. A generation that is jammed between eastern roots and western sensibilities. Dev D is set in the rustic and colorful Punjab and also explores the dingy, morbid, dark underbelly of Delhi. From sprawling mustard fields to a riot of neon. It’s been written and directed by Anurag Kashyap and produced by UTV Spot boy.
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Delhi 6 (2009)
Director: Rakesh Omprakash Mehra
Release Date: 18 February 2009
Stroryline: The film opens with the ailing grandmother Annapurna at the office of a cardiac surgeon in New York. The surgeon indicates that Annapurna suffers from heart blockage and may not have long to live. Annapurna insists on returning to Delhi, her hometown, where she intends to retire in peace. Though her son and daughter-in-law object vehemently, her American-born grandson Roshan (who has a special bond with his grandmother) agrees to bring her back.
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Casting: Randeep Hooda, Arbaaz Khan, Raima Sen
Director: Madhureeta Anand
Release Date: 6 February 2009 (India)
Stroryline: Maya lives in New Delhi, is married to Vikram and has a daughter Priya. Maya’s life is mundane and centers around her family. One evening she overhears a conversation between her husband and another woman and realises that he’s having an affair. Her simple, family centric life around her breaks down and she realises how Vikram had slowly degenerated her confidence and self esteem in the past few years of their marriage. He stopped her from singing and abandoning all her dreams. During a conversation with her neighbour Mrs Mathur, who is looking for an ideal tenant, she conjures up her fantasy man, Jai. Through Jai, who keeps reoccurring in her dreams in different avtars, she regains her confidence. He inspires her to pursue her ultimate dream of singing. With the help of her neighbours, a young band, she embarks on realising her dreams. Will her fantasy turn into reality or will reality hinder her dreams?
Salaam-E-Ishq (2007)
Casting:
Salman Khan … Raúl / Rahul
Priyanka Chopra … Kamna ‘Kamini’
Anil Kapoor … Vinay Malhotra
Juhi Chawla … Seema Malhotra
Akshaye Khanna … Shiven Dungarpur
Ayesha Takia … Gia Bakshi
John Abraham … Ashutosh Raina
Vidya Balan … Tehzeeb Hussain
Govinda … Raju
Shannon Esra … Stephanie
Sohail Khan … Ram Dayal
Isha Koppikar … Phoolwati Dayal
Anjana Sukhani … Anjali
Kushal Punjabi … Rohit Chaddha
Vishal Malhotra … Jaggi
Director: Nikhil Advani
Release Date: 26 January 2007 (UK)
Stroryline: Six young couples in different situations, face different quandaries. All their problems are apparently caused by love, too much, too little, love for the wrong people, love for people who don’t want it, unrequited love, amnesia-afflicted love and what have you. Each of the 6 stories is moderately developed, the most believable being the Hindu-Muslim couple – the Ashutosh-Tehzeeb (John and Vidya) story. Then there is the starlet hungry to make it big, hatching up a publicity stunt which backfires – the Kkamini-Rahul (Priyanka-Salman) deal. The 3rd pair is that of Stephanie-Raju (Shannon and Govinda) pair, she searching for her faithless Indian boyfriend and he the Indian taxi-driver who ferries her around the country. And then there is the Shiven-Gia (Akshaye-Ayesha) yuppie marriage fiasco, with the groom with the cold-feet. The 5th story is of the stable married couple – Vinay-Seema (Anil and Juhi), whose 15 year marriage is threatened when the husband wants more than just boring, suburban life. The 6th couple’s story is of Isha-Sohail as a rural couple unable to give vent to their passion. The film runs through these 6 stories almost in parallel, taking us to their respective conclusions.
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Rang De Basanti (2006)
Aamir Khan … Daljeet ‘DJ’ / Chandrashekhar Azad
Siddharth … Karan R. Singhania / Bhagat Singh
Sharman Joshi … Sukhi / Rajguru
Kunal Kapoor … Aslam / Ashfaqullah Khan
Atul Kulkarni … Laxman Pandey / Ramprasad Bismil
Alice Patten … Sue
Soha Ali Khan … Sonia / Durga Vohra (as Soha Ali Khan Pataudi)
Steven Mackintosh … Mr. McKinley
Madhavan … Flight Lt. Ajay Rathod (as R. Madhavan)
Waheeda Rehman … Mrs. Rathod
Anupam Kher … Rajnath Singhania
Kiron Kher … Mitro / DJ’s Mother
Om Puri … Amanullah Khan / Aslam’s Father
Lekh Tandon … DJ’s Grandfather
Cyrus Sahukar … Rahul
Director: Rakesh Omprakash Mehra
Release Date: 26 January 2006 (UK)
Stroryline: Rang de Basanti’ is a film about awakening. About standing up for ones beliefs. Where the spirit of rebellion transcends time and age. A young idealistic English filmmaker, Sue, arrives in India to make a film on Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and their contemporaries and their fight for freedom from the British Raj. Owing to a lack of funds, she recruits students from Delhi University to act in her docu-drama. She finds DJ, who passed out five years back but still wants to be a part of the University because he doesn’t think there’s too much out there in the real world to look forward to. Karan, the son of Industrialist Rajnath Singhania, who shares an uncomfortable relationship with his father, but continues to live off him, albeit very grudgingly. Aslam, is a middle class Muslim boy, who lives in the by-lanes near Jama Masjid, poet, philosopher and guide to his friends. Sukhi, the group’s baby, innocent, vulnerable and with a weakness for only one thing – girls. Laxman Pandey, the fundamentalist in the group, the only one who still believes that politics can make the world a better place and finally Sonia – the sole girl in the group, tomboy and vivacious spirit, engaged to Ajay – the dashing air pilot. These youngsters could be anyone of us today and their lives mirror the kind of lives the youth of today lead – namely a self centered and materialistic existence where ideas like patriotism and making a change are strictly the stuff history books are made of. Through her film, Sue wishes to showcase to the world the efforts of these young revolutionaries and the enormity of their contribution to the freedom movement in India. What unfolds is the inspiration behind Sue’s passion for bringing their story to the world. The twist in the tale is of course the fact that more than just telling the world, Sue’s film makes DJ and his friends stop and stare at themselves for being the actual descendants of these great men and never recognizing and celebrating their courage and spirit. The film thus doubles as a narrative on the changes in perspective and values the young boys and girls acting in her documentary go through as they shoot for the film. Few scenes from the past and present are juxtaposed against each other, which renders a unique slick treatment, which serves to showcase the slow change in mindset and attitude that overcomes the group through the process of the film. ‘Rang de Basanti’ is a youthful drama, yet light hearted in the moments that the group shares amongst themselves… before some incidents effect a serious change…which ends in the climax.
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