Tag: Bollywood

Deepika Padukone is all set to go on her first world tour ever, for her upcoming film ‘Happy New Year’ this September. Directed by Farah Khan, the film, which stars the industry’s biggest names, is now in news for its unique promotional and marketing strategies.

As a part of their innovative promotional idea, Deepika Padukone will be touring the United States of America and Canada for the ‘SLAM’ musical concert. The actress will be on tour along with her hit film co-star, Shahrukh Khan and the rest of the ‘Happy New Year’ cast. With ‘Happy New Year’, Deepika hopes to deliver another entertainer for her fans this year. This is the actress’ third film with superstar Shahrukh Khan. The film is produced by Gauri Khan under the banner Red Chillies Entertainment and distributed worldwide by Yash Raj Films.

Actor Sean Penn’s daughter is thrilled that her father has found love in actress Charlize Theron. The 38-year-old actress has been dating the 53-year-old actor for the past eight months, reports femalefirst.co.uk. “They’re a great couple. They’re both very happy and yeah, I love it.

They’re both extremely strong personalities and they’re very intelligent so conversation lasts between them,” said Dylan, Sean’s daughter from his marriage to Robin Wright. Theron sparked speculation about an engagement when she was recently spotted wearing a ring on her left hand. Dylan, 23, says she has no idea if they are planning to walk down the aisle. She said: “I don’t even know. I have no idea.” But asked if she would welcome Theron into the family, she said: “Always. Sure, why not? If it’s meant to be.” And the model was equally enthusiastic about a sibling for her and brother Hopper, 20. She said: “Always. The more the merrier.”

Brody, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton,
Saoirse Ronan
Direction: Wes Anderson
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 36 minutes
Story: As murder, fascism and war surround,
can Gustave and his iconic hotel survive?

Review: Wes Anderson is Hollywood’s Lewis Carroll – and The Grand Budapest Hotel is his Wonderland. Set in the imaginary Eastern European republic of Zubrowska, in the delicately hysterical years between two World Wars, the Grand Budapest Hotel is a lacy handkerchief of nostalgia, a naughty piece of silky lingerie – and a dagger soaked in blood.

Monsieur Gustave (Fiennes) is the supremely stylish concierge of the Grand Budapest who watches the 1930s hotel’s luxuries “like a hawk with a horsewhip”, frequently delighting its rich ladies with room service in bed. His wide-eyed lobby boy Zero Mustafa (Revolori, later Abraham) shadows Gustave with adoring admiration – even when Gustave’s imprisoned, accused of murdering millionaire Madame D. (Tilda Swinton) by her son Dmitry (a deliciously dark Brody) who unleashes his feudal Frankenstein Jopling (chilling Dafoe) on a trail of chopped fingers, sawn-off heads and a thrilling ski chase. Framed by Dmitry and pursued by Fascists, can Gustave, Zero and the Grand Budapest Hotel survive?

Anderson is famous for his richly picturesque films and TGBH reaffirms this. Every scene is like a painting come alive, some characters straight out of Edvard Munch, scenes – slender lanes that twist archly as they draw you into their misty embrace – like a Van Gogh with people walking within. Alongside, the humour – don’t miss the ‘Kunts Museum’ – is trademark Anderson, ironic, witty, Martini-dry.

Ralph Fiennes is perfect as Gustave of the silken manners, large heart and bedroom eyes, while Revolori is a revelation as poignantly pure Zero, with only Gustave and Agatha (Ronan), his baker girlfriend, to call his own.

Alongside, several cameos – Jude Law as a pipe-chomping writer suffering ‘Scribe’s Fever’, Bill Murray from a stewards’ society that channels Wodehouse, Jeff Goldblum as a monochrome lawyer, golden-haired Owen Wilson as ‘Monsieur Chuck’ – divertingly tease. But it is the story of the Grand Budapest that stars, for this is an ode to an age of beauty and brutality, velvet and crystal, puddings and pomade, based on ‘the Bureau of Labour and Servitude’ – which discards its diamonds and puts on its war boots.

This whimsical tale oozes charm while brisk editing lets you enjoy – but not be overwhelmed by – cakes like mountains and mountains like cakes, chandeliers, perfumed men and Persian pussies. Hitchcock, Rembrandt and Orwell are some of the guests at The Grand Budapest Hotel. If you like them, you will like this Wonderland.

English model Kate Moss recently revealed that she wasn’t always proud of her body. During an interview with photographer Nick Knight, the 40-year-old beauty, who had started posing since the age of 14, said that she was really skinny and tiny back then and felt very “self conscious”, the Daily Express reported. She added that she just used to have junk food and snacks back then, as the fashion jobs she had didn’t provide food. Moss, who’s mom to a teenage daughter, Lila Grace, also said that her girl has the same frame that she had at her age, and her wrinkled smile really reminds her of The Face magazine’s cover, which she did back in 1990.

Cast: Sushant Singh, Surveen Chawla, Jay Bhanushali
Direction: Vishal Pandya
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

Story: Two photography students fall in love. But is a blissful life together just an illusion for them?

Review: Hate Story 2 is a revenge drama on the lines of Rakesh Roshan’s Khoon Bhari Maang and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies. What it lacks is an A-grade star cast. Also, this one is slightly more predictable in pattern. However, the doses of erotica added to the screenplay just to give it that gleeful taste work well. Sonika (Surveen Chawla) with an hourglass figure is the mistress of a powerful politician, Mandar Mhatre (Sushant Singh). But at heart, she is a simple girl who wants a chance to taste real love.

A fellow-photography student Akshay (Jay Bhanushali) and she fall head over heels in love. And though she warns him of her ‘tainted’ image, his intentions stay honourable. The two elope and set up their paradise away from the prying eyes of the power-drunk politician. They hum Arijit Singh’s truly melodious Aaaj phir tumse pyaar, lock lips passionately and make steamy love. And, just when you’re feasting your eyes on Surveen’s dusky bare skin, the bad guys find them. What follows from here is the real suspense tale.

The lead pair Jay and Surveen, both of whom have an ardent following on the small screen, pass muster in their movie outing as well. However, the scene-stealer is the antagonist, Sushant Singh, who delivers a powerful performance. On the flip side, the proceedings on screen lack tempo that is needed for an erotic thriller. However, to stop you from fidgeting, the makers have cleverly roped in adultstar Sunny Leone (Indian cinema’s best import in recent times) to shimmy. She beckons you to look at her pink lips in an item number.

So, even if the plot points in this vendetta drama seem asinine, with Surveen, Sunny and sex thrown in, the less pretentious will go home satiated.

Bollywood’s reigning Khans are in their late 40s and 21- year-old Alia Bhatt feels she needs to look more matured to look convincing with the superstars. When asked if she thinks she is too young to be paired with the Khans, Alia said: “I am right now definitely (young) because I look small not age wise, age is just a number, but my face.

I am just maturing right now – from Student Of The Year till now you can see a difference. “So, when I become a little more matured looking, then it can work. But having said that I have done a film with Randeep Hooda, in which I looked too young without make-up, which didn’t look bad at all. So if there is a scope or a character and a role like that then it will work,” she said in a group interview. The actress, who has worked with new entrants like Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra, is yet to team up with the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. Alia’s good fortune in filmdom started with her debut vehicle and the actress says success and accolades bring a lot of pressure.

After hitting a hat trick with her first three films – Student of The Year, Highway and 2 States, she recently appeared in “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania”, which also got a favourable response at the box office. Asked if she feels under pressure after doing so well in Bollywood, she said: “Yes, I am constantly under pressure because goodness becomes a burden on your shoulders so do the flops. So with every film, no matter how bad or good, there would be pressure.”

Sandra Bullock is all set to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic ‘Tupperware Unsealed’ by Sony Pictures.

Tate Taylor would produce and direct author Bob Kealing’s non-fiction book adaptation, about Brownie Wise, a divorcee marketer extraordinaire from Detroit who convinced a plastics inventor to let her go crazy marketing that made the storage product a household name and into the multi-billion company, Deadline.com reported.

Other producers on the project would be Tom Shelly of Steele Mill Productions and Taylor through his Wyolah Films.

John Norris and Alex Young would serve as executive producers. Hannah Minghella, president of Production for Sony would oversee the project for the studio along with Andrea Giannetti.

Bullock and Taylor are represented by CAA. Hoberman and Lieberman are represented by WME. Shelly is represented by WME and attorney David Colden.

Supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley will front the spring campaign for the luxury jeans brand Paige Denim, owned by designer Paige Adams Geller, for its new collection which will launch in January 2015. The “Victoria’s Secret” angel shared the news on her Twitter and Instagram accounts Friday, declaring her excitement over her collaboration with the label, reports femalefirst.co.uk. Paige quickly sent the 27-yearold a reply on Twitter welcoming their new muse to her brand’s “family”

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Mos Def, Hailee
Steinfeld, James Corden, Adam Levine, Catherine Keener
Direction: John Carney
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 hour 44 minutes

Story: Gretta (Knightley) and Dave (Levine) are a couple but are also song-writing partners. When Dave gets his big break, will their love and artistic integrity be sacrificed at the altar of his musical success?

Review: Struggling record label exec Dan (Ruffalo) and Gretta are both a bit worn at the seams after being dealt a few bad cards by the hand of fate. Dan is no longer on talking terms with his wife Miriam (Keener) while Gretta is heartbroken and angry, for hell hath no fury like a woman cheated on. And in this case, the cheat is her longtime beau, fellow musician and apparent babemagnet Dave, who took matters beyond music and into the boudoir with a female producer in Los Angeles.

Gretta might be heartbroken with this betrayal and the proverbial ship set adrift in a lonely sea, but she is very talented and fiercely independent to boot. And if there’s one thing she knows, it’s how to pen a soulful song. Dan and Gretta’s paths cross in a bar one night, when Dan hears her sing. He is impressed enough to know that it’s not just the alcohol veil that makes her music sound so stirring to him.

This, coupled with the fact that he hasn’t signed any good talent in a while, leads him to do his damnedest to convince her to allow him as producer to help cut an album. Gretta is hesitant for various reasons but ultimately has one of those ‘Oh, what the heck’ moments and goes with Dan’s intuition.

Despite some hiccups, they manage to scrape together an album. Meanwhile, Gretta’s heart still harbours hope for Dave and when she sees him perform a song one day, it stirs old, bittersweet memories. Dave tries to make amends but is the cut of betrayal too deep for a superficial apology to heal? Gretta’s also now suspect of Dave’s balance between passion and commercialization. Decidedly different from super-budget, superhero fare, this one is sometimes sappy but mostly engaging and definitely driven by music.

If we thought that Deepika Padukone’s versatility was limited to the varied roles that we saw her playing in her back to back hits last year in Race 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewaani, Ram Leela & Chennai Express, there is a lot more to come from the actress which will surprise the audiences.

The actress will be seen in completely diverse looks in her releases to come. Knowing Deepika, we have seen her choose roles that are very different from her previous roles. Starting from her look in Finding Fanny which shows her as a Goan for the first time to a Maharashtrian look in Happy New Year it is a wide range that Deepika will be seen covering in terms of her characters and looks.

Post Finding Fanny and Happy New Year, we will also see Deepika in different looks and characters in Tamasha, Piku and Bajirao Mastani. Imtiaz who usually does not prefer to repeat his female cast has however made an exception with Deepika.

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Shukla,
Ashutosh Rana
Direction: Shashank Khaitan
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Duration: 2 hours 13 minutes

Story: A bride-to-be on a wedding shopping trip finds just what she was not looking for. Love! Will she untie all ‘knots’ for her newfound pyaar?

Review: He’s Sir Hump-a-lot (or at least make out-alot). Maybe that’s why his nick is ‘Humpty’.

Typical Delhi ka munda, part-dilwala, part-gunda. So we have a classic ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge’ in the mix. Fastforwarded to today (18 years later).

Where love is a ‘Facebook’ post and the generational shift allows you to ‘makeout’ with your gal and smoke-up with your papajiin- law-to-be. All is cool! Yet, at its core, the story retains its roots in the chhotta-chhotta shehers its set in.

The ‘surround sound’ coming from a big-fat-Punjabi -wedding with the usual paajis, vijis, bijis, maajis … Oh-ji! The dulhania here is an Ambala girl, with oodles of attitude – Kavya Singh (Alia) – who agrees to marry NRI boy Angad (Sidharth) of her bullying bauji’s (Ashutosh) choice.

Her demand is a Kareena Kapoor style designer lehenga (even the couture has caught up with time). Kavya takes off to Delhi to buy her shaadi-ka-joda, where she meets Humpty (Varun); their love blossoms over party-sharty (she slips out of *patialas* and downs the ‘pegs’), coffee, cuddles and conversations.

But Humpty has to win over the stubborn Singh sir – and break this ‘tailor-made’ wedding with a ‘designer dulha’ – to take home his dulhania.

And he will go as far as pickling desi achaar for the girl – only to please papa. The strength of Shashank’s debut film (tribute to ‘DDLJ’) is the performances and characters, whether it is Humpty-Kavya’s cutesy, charming chemistry or the unbeatable boy-gang bonding with Shonty and Poplu (Saahil Vaid – howlarious act!).

Unlike the characters, the story doesn’t enthuse or grow beyond the original plot, but it’s pinned with warm, delightful moments and laughable dialogues. The music is average.

Alia is spunky, spontaneous and simply superb. Varun has put all heart into this role; he doesn’t let Humpty fall even for a moment. Sidharth looks smashing, but doesn’t get much scope (disappearing without a warning), while Ashutosh shines through. HSKD has plenty of feel-good moments, but nothing that will leave you punch-drunk. For romantics who believe in their dils and their dulhanias.

Actress Priyanka Chopra will soon be promoting the Indian sari on international platforms, officials said Thursday. A proposal to this effect was being given final touches and the National Film Award winner has given her consent, union Textile Secretary Zohra Chatterjee said during her visit to Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While the Bararasi silk saris would be at the forefront of this branding, the larger branding by the actress would be for the Indian handloom industry, officials said. The union government wants to promote the ‘desi’ handloom and textile industry in a big way the world over and a “detailed publicity campaign is being planned for the same,” a senior bureaucrat said.

The union government, it is learnt, is also toying with the idea of opening a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in the temple town after which the products of the weavers in the city would be “integrated and upgraded” with the help of the institute, officials said.

Mother of two, Gisele Bundchen has bagged the whopping amount of 27 million pounds last year, earning approximately 74,000 pounds a day. Brazilian fashion model, who will turn 30 this month, has held this position for seven years continuously and has left behind Australian model Miranda Kerr by 20 million pounds, Metro.co.uk reported. The model is the face of Pantene hair products and Oral-B toothpaste in Brazil.

Kate Moss has been voted as Britain’s new ‘Fashion Icon,’ which is equivalent to 1960’s fashion face, Twiggy. In the poll conducted on 2,000 people to celebrate Ascot’s King George Weekend, the 40-year-old supermodel beat the likes of Cara Delevingne and Naomi Campbell to claim the top spot by gaining 41 percent of votes, the Daily Express reported. In the swinging sixties, English model Twiggy’s popularity had not only influenced people copy her style, but had hugely helped to increase the power of models in the fashion industry. Moss was seen very similar to the blonde beauty, now 64, who was wellknown for her pixie look as both the Moss and Twiggy are 5ft6in, and posses the slender frame and elfin looks.

Story: When Dusty the racing plane can no longer race due to a gearbox that’s out of whack, he gets a second chance with a new job as a forest fire-fighting plane along with The Smokejumpers. Review: If there ever was a film with a more literal title that tells you exactly what you’re going to expect over the next hour and a half or so, it is this one.

With the movie seemingly set in a retro-looking America, Dusty Crophopper (Cook) is an over-zealous but underpowered single-engine plane who lives and loves to race. But he fries his gearbox during a warm-up for the Corn Fest race one day. Back in the hangar, Dusty is told by a mechanic plane that he can only hope to fly high without crashing to the ground if he keeps his ground speed below the red line limit as shown on his speedometer. And the glory of racing is now completely out of the question.

That’s as good as owning a Ferrari but driving below 25 km/h. Dejected Dusty is understandably frustrated at having his wings clipped, but gets a new lease of life (and a definite change of gear) with the aforementioned firefighters.

In the heavily wooded countryside, he meets the fire chief, a rescue helicopter named Blade Ranger (Harris), along with his jaunty and experienced team comprising Lil’ Dipper (Bowen), a heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter (Studi), cargo plane Cabbie (Dye) and a motley bunch of highly excitable ground maintenance crew. While racing was risky, Dusty’s new job has its own hazards and involves a whole new set of skills that he picks up along the way while learning to adapt.

While the film is pretty to look at (the rendering of forest fires are pretty realistic), it’s not in the same league as a *Frozen*, *Shrek* or *Toy Story.* While the script is full of obvious and easy aircraft metaphors which are funny, it lacks the kind of witticisms and wisecracks that elevate other contemporary animated films so that they can be enjoyed by a much wider audience.

Story: Bobby desperately wants to be a proper jasoos – what happens when a mysterious stranger hires her to track young girls? Review: So, Bobby Jasoos is a Hyderabadi pearl of a movie, worn with terrific aplomb by its star Vidya Balan. Playing the 30-year-old Bilquis or Bobby, who has no detective course but fearless passion, Vidya dazzles as Bobby Jasoos, tracking mysteries as a buck-toothed palmist, a dreadlocked sadhu, a hobbling fakir – suddenly distilled into a tongue-tied girl who discovers love. Bobby lives in Mughalpura’s tight, twisting lanes, supported by her adoring mother Zebo (Pathak), censured by her stern father, criticized by her marriagearranger aunt.

Bobby’s determined to crack cases and make her family proud – but what happens when a rich stranger Anees Khan (Kumar) hires her to track young girls? And when she finds herself engaged to cocky TV star Tasavvur (Ali) – who wants her to reject him? Vidya runs away with Bobby Jasoos. She is both the film’s hero and heroine, performing with deft innocence, presenting Bobby like a breeze. But her leading man Tasavvur is also nailed by Ali Fazal, who captures the ‘Alert India!’ star’s urge for ‘lifestyle banana’ with the comedy of getting hooked to madcap Bobby – and the sudden, delicate power of discovering love.

Ali impresses with his acting while Arjan Bajwa, as local goonda Lala, impresses with his smouldering looks, soorma and stubble making Bajwa steamier than ever before. Alongside, supporting actors lend colour to the canvas, Tanvi Azmi standing out in a small, sharp role as Bobby’s tart-tongued khaala, Rajendra Gupta credible as Bobby’s disgruntled dad, the jasoos’ merry men, Shetty, Munna and Suhail, leaving a fine imprint upon the tale. The cinematography delights – with the steam from chai escaping into an afternoon of green-leafed rain, Bobby Jasoos clearly boasts a cinematographer (Vishal Sinha) who thinks. With a music director (Shantanu Moitra) who feels, his score unobtrusive, yet pleasing, ‘Arziyaan de raha dil’ specially exquisite. There are slight drawbacks – the acting sometimes slips into sit-com mode while the second half relaxes where it could’ve been more taut. But quibbles aside, Bobby Jasoos is a clever and joyful film.

It’s Nargis Fakhri’s dream to do a movie with Salman Khan but right now she has to be content with an item song with him in “Kick”. But this does not make her jealous of the film’s leading lady Jacqueline Fernandez. “I am not jealous of Jacqueline because even I am getting an opportunity to be part of an item song. Of course, in future I would love to work with Salman in a film…that would be a dream and I hope it comes true,” the “Rockstar” fame actress said. “Kick” marks producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s directorial debut.

Talking about her dance number with Salman, she said: “It’s very underground, edgy and sexy dance number. I was a little worried what if I missed out on steps, but he ended up being the best person ever and I had so much fun. “He has great energy and great sense of humour and I think his energy was making me feel very comfortable and happy. Overall it’s an amazing experience.”

No, the waif-like actress did not pile on the pounds but was weighed down by an elaborate gown which she dons for the role of a jazz singer in Bombay Velvet. Anushka Sharma wears the green and gold number, designed by costume designer Niharika Bhasin Khan, for her opening song in the period drama. The sequined gown, with a long train, is covered in applique flames and Anushka needed plenty of help to carry off the heavy-duty number, literally. “The scene sees her behind the mic in a club.

It took her two-and-half hours to dress and two assistants had to carry the train for her. Thankfully she did not have to dance in it,” says Niharika. The National Award-winning designer (The Dirty Picture), who collaborated with Anushka on her 2010 film Band Baaja Baarat, says that weight was not the only challenge they faced. “The prep was on for a year but the dress was damaged in transit. The upper half was ruined in the Sri Lanka rains. We had to re-do the damaged part,” says Niharika who designed a total of 144 outfits for Anushka’s turn in the film.

An action packed thriller, Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman is the story of a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal. She turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. Written and directed by Luc Besson, Lucy will release in cinemas across India in August 1, 2014. Based on the hypothesis that humans use only a small portion of their brains at any given time, this is the story of Lucy (Johansson), a carefree young student living in Taiwan who is tricked by her boyfriend and held hostage by the merciless Mr. Jang (CHOI MIN SIK),whose thugs surgically implant in Lucy a package loaded with a powerful synthetic substanceone that would likely kill her if it were to leak.

When the chemical is accidentally unleashed in and absorbed by Lucy’s system, her body begins the unimaginable: her cerebral capacity is unlocked to startling, and previously hypothetical, levels. As she attempts to comprehend and incorporate the incredible changes in her mind and body, Lucy begins to feel everything around her-space, air, vibrations, people, even gravity-and develop superhuman traits including telepathy, telekinesis, expanded knowledge and breathtaking control over matter.

British Actress Emma Watson, best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the ‘Harry Potter movie series, has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. The UN Women is dedicated to issues of gender equality and empowerment of women. Watson, a humanitarian and recent graduate of the Ivy League Brown University, will dedicate her efforts as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador towards the empowerment of young women and will serve as an advocate for the body’s ‘HeForShe’ campaign in promoting gender equality, the organisation said. Watson described her appointment as Goodwill Ambassador as “truly humbling” and said she will take up her new responsibility with all seriousness since not everyone gets a “chance to make a real difference”.

“Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting. I still have so much to learn, but as I progress I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience and awareness to this role,” the 24- year-old actress said. Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said Watson “embodies” the values of UN Women.

“The engagement of young people is critical for the advancement of gender equality in the 21st century, and I am convinced that Emma’s intellect and passion will enable UN Women’s messages to reach the hearts and minds of young people globally,” Mlambo- Ngcuka said. Watson has been involved in the promotion of girls’ education for several years and previously visited Bangladesh and Zambia as part of her humanitarian efforts. Watson is the first Goodwill Ambassador appointment under Mlambo-Ngcuka’s leadership.

Story: The film adaptation of John Green’s bestselling novel centers around two cancer-stricken teens, Hazel and Gus, who fall in love knowing theirs won’t be a ‘happy ending’. Review: Most love stories end with ‘and they lived happily ever after’. But what happens when you may not live another day? Will you still fall in love, knowing your time is limited? The Fault in our stars Stays faithful to the book. What you see is what you get. When a practical Hazel (Shailene Woodley) meets the charming and cheerful Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) at a cancer support group, sparks fly. He fears oblivion, while she believes it’s inevitable.

In his company, she discovers there’s a world beyond hospitals, medication, pain and cancer. Their shared passion for books, common fears, and heartfelt talks make the two inseparable, until death comes knocking… If you like feel-good, escapist films, this one’s not for you. The Fault in Our Stars is one of the most unpretentious tragic love stories told in a heart-warming manner. ‘Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened’ pretty much sums up the story. Earnest performances lend depth to the characters, making them come alive.

Shailene Woodley is brilliantly melancholic while Ansel Elgort displays the complexities of his character with great maturity. The film is not about crying over what you may lose, but learning to live with what you do. After all, it’s not the fear of death that makes you bitter, lack of love does.

Story: When Guru’s love Aisha is threatened by Rakesh, a villain, the evil within him resurfaces. He too bays for blood and how. Review: Guru (Sidharth) is a gangster who is happy to let his gun speak. Till the effervescent, virginal Aisha (Shraddha), a Good Samaritan, crosses his path. Opposite attract. His gun goes silent as the two of them chase the rainbow together. The texture of their relationship has that fairy-tale quality. And just when they start to build their castle, brick by brick, their life is stopped on the tracks by a psychotic serial killer Rakesh (Riteish). Guru, who had dropped his gun in exchange for a bed of roses with Aisha, rediscovers metal. Inspired largely by Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon’s I Saw the Devil (2010), Mohit Suri’s romantic thriller is Bollywoodised for the desi market.

While the Korean film relied on too much blood and gore, Suri’s film mixes romance and violence in equal measure, letting the plot meander a bit butallowing for some sharp twists as well. So there are those sweet moments interspersed with the melodious galliyan track rendered beautifully by Ankit Tewari. And there are also those look-over-your-shoulder thrills because suddenly, you have not one, but two villains running amok on screen. The cat and mouse game between the two bad men is exciting. However, there is some repeated violence that makes you squirm and wish that the writer had kept the plot tighter.

Sidharth kills with his good looks and delivers an angry man performance deftly; Riteish strikes the right amount of fear in his maniacal gear. Shraddha is bubbly and achingly beautiful. But the supporting cast should have been chosen more discerningly. Aamna Sharif as Riteish’s nagging wife is an irritant and Remo Fernandes as the mafia don should definitely have had more menace. You cannot fault the scale of Ek Villain or berate its lead star cast. But you wish you could celebrate this thriller like you did Suri’s last movie outing Aashiqui 2. This one lacks soul.