Author: #TIPEntertainment

Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor Khan, who has set the screen on fire with her moves in item songs such as ‘ Fevicol Se’ and ‘ Halkat Jawani’, is all set to do another item song. According to reports, the pretty actress has been signed for an item song in ‘Gabbar’. Quoting choreographer Vishudeva, a Bollywoodmantra.com report says that Gabbar will have an item song in it.

Though he has not confirmed if Kareena will do it, he said the shooting of the song will commence from March end. Gabbar, directed by Krish and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is a Hindi remake of Tamil film Ramana made by A.R. Murugadoss. The movie will see Akshay Kumar paired with the gorgeous Shruti Hassan for the first time.

The movie has also been made in Telugu and Kannada languages. The report further adds that Kareena will join the cast of the film in Pune by end of this month. With a fresh pairing of Akshay and Shruti and a sizzling item number by Kareena, Gabbar will surely set the boxoffice on fire.

Actress Anushka Sharma’s Sri Lankan schedule for “Bombay Velvet” turned out to be the most “amazing”, thanks to the talented cast and crew. “Wrapped Sri Lankan schedule of ‘Bombay Velvet’.

This was the most amazing crew and cast. Crazy talented bunch of people. Feel truly blessed,” she posted on her Twitter page. “Bombay Velvet”, directed and co-produced by Anurag Kashyap, also stars Ranbir Kapoor. If the grapevine is to be believed, Anushka’s trip to Sri Lanka was special thanks to a visit by cricketer Virat Kohli, with whom she is reportedly in a romantic relationship.

STORY: A young couple’s perfect love story turns upside down when recession leaves the boy jobless. Moreover, he has to win over his lady-love’s terror-dad to marry her. Will his out-of-job status leave him out-of-love too?

REVIEW: ‘Romance in times of recession’ can be a buzzkill. When currency crash leads to heartbreaks and house-breaks. And the youth are left with bankrupt dreams. Morbid, huh? Hold on … this one is far from a depressive rich-girl, poor-boy plot; instead, ‘Bewakoofiyan’ is a light-hearted story of how an out-ofwork lover-boy signs on for a full-time job of making his love-life work. Mohit (Ayushmann), a successful senior airline marketing executive, is madly in love with a hip banker, designer damsel, Mayera (Sonam).

To burst the bubble in this ‘all things good-looking’ love story, enter – sullenfaced VK Sehgal (Rishi), Mayera’s deadly dad (retired IAS officer who could never make big bucks). He ruthlessly rejects Mohit as the “bloody fatichar” who can’t afford his darlin’ shopaholic daughter’s haute fashionable fantasies. He puts their pyar-on-probation with targets, tests, timelines, et al. To make matters worse, Mohit gets the ‘pink slip’ (fashionable in times of recession) and Sehgal gives the bechara bankrupt boy a tough run for his money (literally!).

This funnily leads to a series of lies, traps and troubles for the twosome which has to prove that their new-age love is not as ‘plastic’ as their platinum credit cards. Picture this: They party hard, she shops even harder. They guzzle cocktails and swipe credit cards till his bank balance dips to a 3-digit number. Never mind, love can feed the hungry. Really??!! Nupur Ashthana’s rom-com has its moments; the coolest scenes are with Sehgal and his to-be son-in-law. The film needed to invest in wittier writing (Habib Faisal), more chemistry and a tad more comedy to make it a heartwarming love-story.

The couple lack chemistry, and they fight and make-up quicker than a quickie. Even the music is unexciting. This isn’t Sonam’s best, but she looks every bit the fashionista (sizzles in a bikini too) and breezes through the film (stilettos on!). Ayushmann is charming but desperately needs to step out of his comfort zone. It is a sheer joy to watch Rishi Kapoor, who makes even stupidity seem delightful. ‘Bewakoofiyaan’ has its khoobiyaan but mostly it has majbooriyaan where the story is concerned. It tells you not to overspend. Yet the script is not as ‘penny wise’, gettit?

Kate Winslet is going to receive a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame soon and James Cameron and Kathy Bates will present her with the award. Walk of Fame ceremonies’ spokesperson said that they are very happy that the ‘Titanic’ star would be there to receive her “well-deserved star”, the Daily Express reported.

The rep said that they have been seeing the 38- year-old actress shine in her roles and fans around the world have been waiting for this special day. Winslet is the 2,2520th celeb to be inducted to receive the honour.

Following her friend Naomi Watts’ ill-fated role playing Princess Diana, could Nicole Kidman become the next victim of the princess curse, as her new film ‘Grace of Monaco’ is now stuck in limbo.

While the film is scheduled to open the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, Kidman’s friend, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, has effectively dropped the project, taking it off his company’s slate of north American releases for this year fater having a dispute with the movie’s director, Olivier Dahan, the Syndey Morning Herald reported.

The film has already been delayed twice; it was originally intended to be released last November. Dahan told French newspaper Liberation last year that The Weinstein Company, which owns the film’s US distribution rights, had been demanding a ”sanitised” final cut and referred to two versions of the film – ”Harvey’s and mine”. Apparently, Weinstein’s version chopped 22 minutes off Dahan’s version.

STORY: A gripping melodrama about the lives of the Westons, who gravitate back to their Oklahoma hometown, the film is about the interpersonal relationships of this family during a crisis situation.

REVIEW: An old country house sets the scene for the proceedings in this movie, where Violet Weston (Streep) raised her three daughters – the aggressive Barbara (Roberts), the meek Ivy (Nicholson) and the flirty Karen (Lewis). Violet’s husband Beverly (Shepard) is an aging poet. Barbara has a pill addiction and is in the early stages of mouth cancer. One sweltering day, Beverly goes missing-presumed-dead. Distraught, Violet calls her sister Mattie Fae (Matindale) and brotherin- law Charles Aiken (Cooper) as well as her daughters.

The three sisters arrive. Ivy is single but Karen brings her latest boyfriend Steve (Mulroney) and Barbara gets estranged hubbie Bill (McGregor). Although no one knows that they’re estranged. A few days pass, after which the county sheriff shows up with the bad news: Beverly’s body has been found in the bottom of a lake. After the body is correctly identified by Violet, the family find themselves having to deal with each other in a way that most of them seem unprepared to do.

What follows is a series of interactions between family members that takes the term ‘family drama’ to a new level. The sleazy Steve, for example, tries to get into Barbara and Bill’s 14-year-old daughter Jean’s (Breslin) pants. Ivy tells Barbara that she secretly is in love with Little Charles (Cumberbatch, playing Mattie’s son). The film is full of angry exchanges and confrontations, mostly between the drugged-up Violet and Barbara, who gives as good as she gets.

At regular intervals, various crazy secrets of the family emerge. Streep stands out as the unbalanced matriarch. Roberts too is someone to watch out for. In fact, there’s not one weak link in the portrayals of this train-wreck of a family. The music by Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel) helps add to the dramatic tension in the film, generously laced as it is with dark humour and plot twists aplenty.

The animated musical Rio 2 has Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg lending their voices for the birds, Jewel and Blu. And Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan have been roped in by producers Fox Star Studios to parrot for the lovable macaws in the dubbed Hindi version.

While voicing the delightfully funny lines, Sonakshi ended up crooning a few too. According to a source, “The dubbing happened last Saturday. It took only a couple of hours and Sonakshi had a real blast. And during an interesting party sequence she sang a few lines too.”

When contacted the actress confirmed the news saying, “I really enjoyed dubbing for the film and I felt that both Imran and I were perfect for the characters of Blu and Jewel. There’s a scene where the two macaws are dancing and singing so they made us sing a few lines too. It was a novel experience but super fun because I love singing.

I’d have loved to sing more but unfortunately, I’m just a bathroom singer.” The sequel to the 2011 film will open in theatres on April 11. It releases in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The comedy unveils in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janero and will see Blu and Jewel, along with their three kids, leave placid domesticity behind for a journey to the Amazon rain forest.

Bollywood diva Deepika Padukone has never hidden her relationship status. She recently admitted that she cried a lot after her break up with her former boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor. However, she is not sure if she wants to get back with him.

Speaking to Mid-Day, the leggy lass said that both Ranbir and she have moved on in their lives. However, she said the breakup taught her many things and made her realize that she should not be very attached to anyone or anything in life.

She finds herself to be a better and more mature person and thanks Ranbir for that. However, she admits that she does not want to rush into things with her current beau Ranveer Singh. She wants to give it time to know him better as a person.

STORY: Queen is an ignorant Delhi girl who finds herself on a ‘honeymoon’ all by herself. What happens along the way forms the crux of this sweet, sensitive, fun social drama. REVIEW: The action begins in a middle-class Delhi household.

The father is a mithaiwala; his daughter Rani Mehra or Queen (Kangana Ranaut) is naive, even appears stupid in today’s context, a virgin, waiting to get married. Destiny has other designs for her. Que sera sera, without divulging too much, you can safely cut to her taking off to Paris, all alone.

The start of Queen’s journey bears resemblance to that of Sridevi’s in ‘English Vinglish’. This Delhi girl is as nervous on her flight to Europe as that Pune housewife was when she was flying to America. Their dumbstruck expressions on the flight and on discovering the magic of their foreign destination, their Indian attire, the dilemmas of what to eat and whom to speak with seem identical. However, that’s just a brief resemblance. Otherwise Rani’s journey of self-discovery charts its own course.

In Paris, Rani meets the long-legged, dusky Indo- French girl Vijaylakshmi (Lisa Haydon) who befriends her, giving her lessons on love, lust and life. Slowly, Queen’s low self-esteem gives way to supreme confidence. Before you know it, she’s on a train to the sex capital of the world. At a hostel in Amsterdam, Rani shares a room with three men. And this motley group goes on to forge a bond. Soon, you are as engrossed in their friendship as she is. Kangana Ranaut’s performance is outstanding.

Whether she’s crestfallen or ecstatic, selling golgappas or naively buying sex-toys, hiding her infatuation for an Italian restaurateur or showing deep dejection about her wimpy beau Vijya (Rajkummar Rao), she’s a class act. Lisa Haydon and Rajkummar Rao lend good support. But this film belongs to its director Vikas Bahl. This is his first solo outing. Earlier he co-directed the National- Award winning ‘Chillar Party’ with Nitesh Tiwari. Bollywood should blow bugles in his honour.

STORY: Sid & Trisha have moved beyond dating days. They’ve survived multiple lovers’ tiffs and overcome PMS (read: pre-marriage syndrome). Bravo! Now they are a happily married couple. Wait! Only until a ‘pregnant’ pause changes it all.

REVIEW: He says it. She disagrees. He reacts. She overacts. He makes mistakes, he says sorry. She makes mistakes, ‘he’ says sorry. So there! Even geniuses like Socrates and Einstein couldn’t crack a fool-proof plan to a ‘happy marriage’. Even novel cosmic concepts like Men are from Mars and Women are from all over the place (lol!) can’t explain this ‘heavenly’ intervention. So then? Let’s take a look at Saket Chaudhary’s insightful story of shaadi and its shocking effects. Sid’s (Farhan) married life seems to be rocking with his adventurous wife Trisha (Vidya), until a chance ‘unprotected’ moment of pleasure lands them with a ‘bundle’ of unwanted problems.

He puts his musical ambitions to rest, from composing jingles to singing lullabies for his little girl (even breaking into ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ – Wake up, Guns ‘n’ Roses! Hilarious!). Trisha turns into an idiosyncratic, full-time mommy and Sid is left missing their lovely ‘twosome’ life. Pillow talk turns to potty talk and spousal spasms crawl into their shaadi, leading Sid to seek advice from bro-in-law (Ram Kapoor, lending good support). Does the quick-fix save-the-shaadi solution create more cracks, or stoke the chemistry? The best part is that Sid and Trisha don’t ‘fake’ it.

Ever! They are believable characters living real life situations. Yet, their quirkiness leaves you with delightful guffaws. Saket’s story (sequel to ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’) pulls everything together skillfully, with conversations that turn into epigrams and chemistry that exudes wit and lovability. There’s nothing schmaltzy or superficial about it. The director strikes a fine balance between humour and emotion in this slice-of-marriage story.

The first half takes a while to catch up, but the dialogues (Arshad Sayed) provide ample laughs, while giving wisdom for wedded bliss. Vir Das in his funky avatar is a riot. Vidya is brilliant and hits a high note in the emotional scenes. The film belongs to Farhan who stuns you with his straight-faced witticisms and plethora of expressions that amuse and move dramatically. Single or married, this film will have more of a ‘special effect’ than ‘side effect’ on you.

Actress Sunny Leone enjoyed shooting action sequences for the climax of her forthcoming film “Ragini MMS 2”, and says she feels getting bruised during the shoot was “worth it”. “I love action and it was definitely not easy. Towards the end I shot some action scenes. I worked the hardest for those scenes,” Sunny said. “It was physically very demanding with bruises and scratches all over the body, but it was worth it,” she added.

Known for her bold image, the Indo-Canadian porn star says that she is open to performing explicit scenes only if a role requires it. “I believe in a role and whatever is required in it that’s what I need to do. If the role requires it, then I will do it,” she added. Directed by Bhushan Patel, “Ragini MMS 2”, will hit screens March 21. It also stars Divya Dutta, Parvin Dabas and Sandhya Mridul.

She has been shuttling between the US and India for a while. However, it seems likely that Mallika Sherawat will be spending a few more months in the Hollywood countryside. According to a statement, the American broadcast network CBS has offered the Bollywood actress a role in one of their top primetime shows. Mallika will join the cast of Hawaii Five-O, a top-rated American TV show.

The part that she will be playing on the show is being kept secret, but it has been reported that due to her contractual obligation, she had to cancel a previous engagement at the Oxford University where she was scheduled to participate in a debate. Post her rather strong comments at Cannes, Mallika has been invited to the university to speak about women’s rights & equality, but she had to refuse it at the last minute due to the American TV series. Mallika will soon leave for Honolulu, where she will shoot for a couple of weeks for Hawaii Five-O.

Supermodel Miranda Kerr has flaunted her curves in shoe company Reebok’s Skyscape advertisement. In the ad, Kerr illustrates what happens after she gets home from a workout by stripping down as she gets ready to take a shower, reports eonline.com.

She walks through her home, takes off one single piece of clothing – her top, yoga pants and lingerie, at a time. Kerr is seen naked in the shower until she realises she forgot to take off her shoes because they’re “so comfortable, you forget you have them on.”

Katie Holmes has ended her five-year partnership with stylist Jeanne Yang in their fashion line ‘Holmes and Yang’. Sources revealed that the former wife of Tom Cruise ended the deal on the eve of the Oscars due to an “interpersonal conflict” which has soured things between them, the New York Post reported. Sources added that line, which was launched in 2009, was also having difficulty because its creators live on different coasts and reports suggested that Yang was leaking information about Holmes and Cruise following their divorce.

STORY: The film is the real-life story of Rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof, a homophobic electrician, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1985 and given just 30 days to live. Unable to come to terms with his condition, he decided to fight not just the disease, but also the complacent American health-care system.

REVIEW: A film on an AIDS-stricken protagonist (who, in order to prolong his life, becomes an accidental entrepreneur-crusader-activist) could easily emerge as a melancholic piece of socio-medical drama. Instead, Jean-Marc Vallee uplifts and inspires by just showcasing Ron’s (an emaciated Matthew McConaughey) relentless resilience without glorifying his bigoted views or outrageous (drugs-prostitutes-beer) lifestyle. He is the unlikely hero who knows he is fighting a lost battle. He lives in a trailer park and hates ‘faggots’, who according to him are the only ones to contract AIDS.

After his friends shun him owing to the ‘disease’ and the doctors give him 30 days to put his affairs in order, instead of succumbing to depression, he becomes his own physician. He discovers and smuggles unapproved but effective drugs into the US from Mexico and other countries for himself and to make money. But somewhere down the line, he also ends up reaching out to those abandoned by society like Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman addicted to cocaine and infected by HIV. Their deep bromance forms an integral part of the story and is far more interesting than the insipid love track between Ron and Dr Eve (Jennifer Garner). What seems like a standard plot is elevated to excellence by the lead actors’ remarkable performances.

There’s more to McConaughey than the drastic weight loss and an author-backed, Oscar-friendly role. From getting the Texan mannerisms, swagger and his character’s juvenility right, to producing a range of emotions, he reinvents himself and gives the performance of his career. It would be a shame if he doesn’t bag the much-coveted Oscar for it. Leto is a revelation too and deserves the accolades coming his way. Ron died in 1992, seven years after he was diagnosed with HIV. This is his incredible life story, told with a dash of humour and an empathyevoking narrative. Brilliant would be an understatement.

STORY: Wealthy Veera is kidnapped by brutish Mahavir. Is she on a highway leading to hell – or away? REVIEW: Straight up, Highway is not a sunny, funny road-trip. It is Imtiaz Ali’s starkest, darkest work yet.

Rich Veera (Bhatt) steps away from her Monsoon Wedding-style shaadi preparations (a handheld camera capturing gold, ghaghras and a girl going, “Bhaiyya, flavvers lappet do!”) for a break with her reluctant fiance. Driving into a foggy Delhi night, Veera steps out to breathe free – and gets kidnapped by violent criminal Mahavir Bhaati (Hooda) and his gang. Gagged, tied-up, slapped and starved, Veera’s thrown onto a terrifying truck that drives off on a never-ending highway, leaving established society far behind.

What does Veera experience on this trip? Highway belongs unabashedly to Alia Bhatt. Her Veera is stunning – sincere and simple, prettily earnest, shakily emotional. Bhatt’s range and prowess are evident in her timid confidence, the slow swagger Veera gains as she takes control of the situation, captivating her captor, confronting assault. Hooda’s Mahavir is frightening, tightly controlled, the actor conveying dark dislike with crackling tension, switching to bewilderment with comic ease.

Alongside, Aaroo (Durgesh Kumar), Mahavir’s companion, who breaks into a delightful trance-wala dance with Veera as she sways to ‘English music’ on the road, is memorable. But what stamps this film indelibly is its sheer boldness. Imtiaz Ali must be congratulated for his daring novelty, for a powerful heroine-centric story, for his heroine who looks like a Vermeer painting dressed in a dusty ghaghra.

At times, Highway feels like an unending Bharat darshan, a long look at suffering souls through several deserts and eucalyptus trees. But some meandering is its only flaw. Watch it for its cathartic creativity, for colours akin to Iranian palettes, for sound design where melting qawwalis, chirruping crickets and a screeching train make layers of noise – for that shot where Veera rests her head on a pillow of water.

Ragini MMS – 2, the forthcoming horror-erotica film, contains a horror-packed scene shot inside a lake. In fact, there is even a fleeting shot of the said scene in the film’s trailer. It appears at the point when Sunny’s costar follows her to a lake hoping to make love to her. The lake was in Vasai on the outskirts of Mumbai, in a scary and quiet location. The said scene had to be shot at midnight when the water was cold, so as to get the desired effect.

Sunny had to dip into the water to give her best shot but was petrified because the lake was quite a walk from her vanity van. There was also talk of water snakes. The scene took an entire night to shoot and Sunny fell ill the following day and developed a minor skin allergy. “I saw dead fish. The water was dirty,” said Sunny. “I was scared as hell,” she added.

After superstars like Shah Rukh Khan (The Incredibles — English version) and Priyanka Chopra (Planes — English version), Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan have lent their voices for the Hindi-dubbed version of Hollywood animation flick Rio 2. They are featured as the voices of the lovable macaws, Jewel and Blu.

The English version of the movie has Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg doing what Sona and Imran have. “I love animation films. So, when they approached me to lend my voice to the sequel of one of the most loved animation films, I didn’t think twice,” says Sonakshi, adding, “It’s a completely new experience for me and I’m very excited!” Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak had dubbed in Hindi for the characters of Nico and Pedro in the earlier version of Rio.

Though she is known more for her quirky fashion style, Bollywood diva Kangana Ranaut seems to have ditched western dresses to go for traditional ones.

The pretty actress is now being spotted donning Indian wear while promoting her upcoming film ‘Queen’. A report says the actress first wooed the audiences dressed in a vibrant anarkali at India’s Got Talent. She then surprised us all by wearing a simple churidar-kurta for a promotional event.

Her ‘simple, girl-next-door’ image is proving to be beneficial for her co-star Lisa Haydon, who is stealing the limelight with her sexy western outfits.

Kim Kardashian went under a new beauty treatment in order to reduce wrinkles on ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ show. The 33-year-old reality star paid a little visit to Dr Simon Ouvian to splurge on some casual lasering around her cleavage area, Daily Star reported.

The recent outing of Kim was shown in the new episode of ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’, where her fans saw her sitting in the patient chair with a blue surgical gown, oversized safety goggles and makeup free for the cameras in the latest episode of her TV show.

Hillary Duff was recently spotted with a mystery man, as they held hands at Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz concert in Los Angeles. The 26-year-old former Disney star walked into the concert at the Staples Center arm-in-arm with a dark haired hunk and joined her sister Haylie Duff to watch the ‘Wrecking Ball’ hitmaker perform, Radar Online reported. Duff, who had earlier announced her split with husband Mike Comrie, was wearing a low-cut black top, leather jacket, jeans and a statement necklace while her mystery man was clad in a tank top with a denim shirt and white jeans.

STORY: Set in 79 AD, Pompeii is a rich girl/poor boy-style romance served up with heaps of bloody gladiatorial action and of course, Mount Vesuvius, which erupts in a curtain of molten magma. REVIEW: As a young boy, Milo (Harington) sees his parents killed by a Roman general Corvis (Sutherland) as the Romans suppress a Celt uprising.

He is then taken into captivity and grows up to become an expert gladiator, fuelled by hatred for the Romans. His skills impress his masters and he gets a chance to fight in the amphitheatre of Pompeii during the Vinalia festival.Along the way, he meets Cassia (Browning), the daughter of a wealthy businessman Lucretius (Harris) and his elegant wife Aurelia (Moss), and the two become a veritable Romeo and Juliet of ancient Rome.

This displeases the visiting Senator Corvis, who fancies Cassia but despite his rank, air of entitlement and imperious lines, has the charm of a doorknob. Unsurprisingly, Cassia is repelled by him straight into the arms of Milo, who also befriends the man-mountain of a gladiator, Atticus (Adewale). Atticus, due to be freed after one last death match, begins to help out the already capable Milo during combat and reminds him to keep his eye on the prize – Cassia. So, they fight for freedom and love respectively.

Anderson cleverly cuts to the increasingly ominous rumblings of Mount Vesuvius whenever the story is in danger of dragging, to refocus on the movie’s focal point. You will notice the inevitable parallels with Gladiator and Game of Thrones and the script is often rudimentary (“My name is Milo. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” or “You looked at him. Did you see his muscles?”).

But that is par for the course because brutish gladiators are meant to fight and kill, not speak flowing prose in the King’s English. The love story itself is forgettable and cheesy. But that is only incidental compared to what you can watch this movie for – its fight scenes and cataclysmic climax, both produced and recreated in good detail.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S star Courteney Cox reportedly wants her musician boyfriend Johnny McDaid to move in with her. The 49-year-old actress sparked dating rumours with the Snow Patrol musician last year, when she attended Jennifer Aniston’s Christmas party with him, reported Contactmusic.

“Johnny went home to Ireland over the new year, while Courteney headed to Mexico with Jennifer Aniston. The time apart made her realise how serious she is about him and as soon as he got home she asked him to live with her,” a source said. “This is the happiest Courteney has been in a long time,” the source added.

Actress Eva Mendes was allegedly caught using her cell phone while driving but managed to avoid a ticket.The 39-year-old Training Day star narrowly avoided a ticket when she was pulled over by a police officer on a bicycle in Los Angeles after he spotted her chatting into the device in her grey Lexus SUV, reported TMZ online.

Eva Mendes was reportedly given a piece of paper but apparently talked her way out of a ticket. The brunette beauty has had a difficult time recently as rumours surfaced she split from her boyfriend Ryan Gosling after almost three years together over Christmas. But a spokesperson for the actress said that the breakup reports were just rumours. The 2 Fast 2 Furious star also sparked speculation she was pregnant when she refused to go through an airport security scan recently.

STORY: Based on Mark Halprin’s 1983 novel by the same name, Winter’s Tale makes us want to believe in miracles and eternal love that transcends time and space.

REVIEW: In spite of the escapist theme and a beautiful snow-clad setting, the time-travelling romance seems ineffective as you have demons, a magical white horse and much more barging into the story, making it all look more ludicrous than fascinating. However, diehard fans of mushy love stories may still like the film, given the ‘feel-good’ execution. Coming to the plot, the story spans across centuries.

Set in a mythical New York, it all starts in 1895 when orphaned thief Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) falls for Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a wealthy young woman dying of consumption. However, Peter is being chased by crime boss Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe), who is actually a demon in the service of Lucifer (Will Smith).

A magical white horse whisks Peter away, every time he faces trouble but in return, can Peter become the guardian angel of Beverly and rescue her from the clutches of death? While the setting, cinematography, background score, outfits, imagery, everything is ideal for a ‘magical love story’, the adaptation is way too convoluted and unconvincing. It all looks beautiful but you don’t feel for the characters or their love, which is a big drawback for a romantic fantasy.

Barring Jennifer Connelly’s cameo, even performances are mediocre. The two lead actors have no chemistry. Colin Farrell survives for some 100 years to ‘find and fulfill the purpose’ of his immortality but you fail to find the purpose of this never-ending love story. Russell Crowe hams while Will Smith embarrasses himself by taking up the role. Farrell sports a funny hairstyle but acts well. Jessica Brown Findlay looks gorgeous but has nothing much to contribute. If you dream about Colin Farrell, you might like this one, otherwise read a Jane Austen novel instead.