SAADA HAQ (punjabi) movie reviews !

in most contemporary movies, Sikhs and Punjabis are the center of jokes. Movies coming out of the Punjabi Film Industry follow the trend as well. You will often see a Punjabi man characterized as the disgusting guy with an overgrowth of facial hair, carelessly wrapped turban, a bottle of homemade liquor hidden in his dirt-covered kurta, and a constant need to talk loudly. The Punjabi woman is the one decked out in a heavily embroidered salwaar kameez, long braid in hand, loudly saying things like “party-sharty,” “food-faad,” “dance-vance.” You get the picture.

We laugh, holding our stomachs, memorizing the comedy so we can repeat it. This is perhaps the Punjabi culture we are encouraged to observe and then replicate. Our true heritage is not represented in modern media because that heritage has the power to awaken sleeping lions. When we talk about the history of Punjab, it is nearly impossible to segregate it from Sikh history because they are intertwined like body and soul. It has taken nearly two decades for someone to talk about the true history of Punjab after 1984 and that movie has been banned by the Punjab government—which has only encouraged a larger, worldwide audience.
Sharon Gill, a Canadian student, travels to Punjab to conduct research for her PhD thesis, “Minorities at War.” Her research allows her the opportunity to meet Kartar Singh in prison and learn his life story. Along with Sharon, the audience gets a chance to witness the various circumstances that gave birth to the “terrorists” that wreaked havoc in Punjab in the 1990s. Sadda Haq provides insight into a corrupt governmental system, where the protectors of the people are the ones who deliver inhumane torture.
For those who are not familiar with the history of bloodshed in Punjab, this movie will take you through it from a perspective that has been suppressed for several decades. If you are Sikh, you will understand why we pray in every gurdwara for the well-being and release of Sikh prisoners on a regular basis.
Sadda Haq is a must watch for everybody, especially Sikhs. The movie does not take any religious or political sides; it simply shows the truth behind the turmoil of late twentieth century Punjab .
RATINGS : **** (5) !!

GIPPI movie review !!

Cast:Riya Vij, Taaha Shah, Divya Dutta and Doorva Tripathi
Director: Sonam Nair

SPOILERS AHEAD

Yippee, it’s Gippi! Sadly, that isn’t the reaction that this well-intentioned but uneven film is likely to elicit.

A low budget release from Dharma Productions is certainly news. It isn’t news, however, when a film about growing up isn’t quite all that grown up.

For all its attempts to look and feel different from the run-of-the-mill, Gippi is pretty obviously not the ultimate film about adolescence.

But there is no denying that it is a warm-hearted film, if nothing else, with some nice touches that might strike an emotional chord.

The pivotal character of the film is an eponymous overweight 14-year-old Shimla schoolgirl who lives with her single mom and younger brother and jives to Shammi Kapoor songs.

She comes across as real and believable. The girl’s mother (Divya Dutta), who runs a beauty parlour to earn her family’s keep, also emerges as a character that one can relate to.

She is a Punjabi woman who has been unceremoniously dumped by her husband (Pankaj Dheer) because she is too earthy for his liking. But she is a tough cookie who lives her life on her own terms.

The manner in which the mother-daughter relationship unfolds is really the best part of Gippi. “You can talk to me, mamma,” the teenager says when her mother needs to share her innermost feelings.

The mother reciprocates in kind. “Bras, boyfriends, parties, you are a big girl,” she tells her pre-pubescent daughter when the latter seeks permission for a night out. Unfortunately, none of the other relationships and connections that the film explores is half as tangible.

Gippi (Riya Vij) frets no end over all the little highs and lows that are a part and parcel of a teenage girl’s life, but the problem that bugs her the most is her girth, which is the butt of insensitive ridicule in school and elsewhere. So far so good.

Unfortunately, the narrative tropes that first-time director Sonam Nair takes recourse to in portraying life on the school campus and the many challenges it poses for a girl who is happy in her own skin are ham-fisted and trite.

It is all bunged in for conventional dramatic effect: the tussle for boyfriends, a fractious election for school head girl, heartbreaks, heated confrontations and life-altering revelations. There’s nothing particularly original in there.

While Gippi faces constant ribbing on account of how she looks, she, on her part, loses no opportunity to direct unkind jibes at her own brother, Booboo (Arbaz Kadwani), for his apparent lack of interest in the opposite sex.

The crucial turning points in the plot are rather unimaginatively handled, often pushing an otherwise commendable effort into all-encompassing shallowness.

Especially appalling is the cringingly poor writing in the pre-interval party scene – remember this is a Karan Johar production and boisterous parties are at the very heart of human existence.

Gippi’s escort for the evening, Arjun (Tahaa Shah), a much older boy that she has a crush on, turns out to be an insufferable oaf, and her bitter classroom rival, Shamira (Jayati Modi), the girl with the hot bod, high marks and pots of money, humiliates her in public.

Surely a girl who goes to the best school in town would have the sense and social finesse not to call a classmate a “fat, ugly loser” without any apparent provocation. But she does because the screenplay desperately needs her to be obnoxious.

Gippi has many such awkwardly overwrought scenes, none worse than the one that pits the girl’s mamma against her estranged husband at the latter’s second wedding with a foreigner. At the end of it, when peace has been restored by the spunky Gippi, they all pose for a happy family portrait.

Gippi is a feel-good drama and everything, even an overdose of clumsy preaching, is fair when the principal pursuit is happiness.

moreover not the story line but the songs are also fully enjoyable !!

Ratings: *** (5)

GO GOA GONE

language: HINDI
year :2013
genre: comedy
release date :10 may 2013

STORTLINE :

A comedy. A horror-thriller. An action-adventure. Go Goa Gone is all of these rolled into one! A unique combination of fear and funny makes this film a one-of-a-kind genre bender - A Zombie Comedy, or ZOMCOM!
Hardik and Luv are two dope heads who tag along to Goa with their best buddy, Bunny, on his business trip. Luv comes across a free-spirited girl, Luna who casually invites them to an exclusive underground rave party on a remote island! The party is the brainchild of the macho Russian Mafioso, Boris, to launch the ultimate party drug.
But something is not right on this island! All of a sudden, they are accosted by zombies! Where did these zombies come from? And who is Boris really? And why has this cold-hearted drug-dealing don come to save their lives? Together they need to get the hell out of the infected island! But do they?

Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK do a fantastic job with the visuals by styling every frame with enough colour and cheekiness to take on their audience by the horns, engaging them from the very beginning. The pace is solid and rarely falters, except towards the sketchy climax which is the films biggest flaw.
Zombies are all about their walk. Yes, the tissue exposing face and lifeless eyes are important, but it’s their signature move that makes them stand out from their evil counterparts. Kudos to the directors for going the extra mile and making every single actor in the frame master that walk.
The dialogue is urban, contemporary and very current. The writers definitely have a pulse on what’s hot at the moment and create the right moments between their characters.
Vir, Kunal and Anand are distinctly different from each other, and that is what keeps you interested till the very end. Performances are effervescent and effortless. Kunal Khemu is at home playing the flirtatious Hardik whose ‘Jai Hind’ salute to his God will stay with you even after the film ends. There’s no denying his on-screen charm, but what impresses is his perfect timing and jugalbandi with his co-star Vir Das who is a professional stand-up artist.
Puja Gupta has some witty one-liners and she goes all out to prove there's more to her than her accentuated figure. Anand Tiwari and Vir Das play their parts like stage actors who know when to drop those punches. It is a stellar ensemble, but the scene stealer is Saif Ali Khan who will have you in splits with his Boris act. Even when the accent and the props wear out, Saif never stops delivering the goods. The soundtrack blends is in sync with the mood of the film. Full marks to the makeup artists for giving the zombies their signature look.

Only if the second half and especially the climax had been better fleshed out, the film would have been exceptional. Right in the middle, you get that feeling in your gut, “how will they wrap up this freak show?”, and it isn’t an easy task giving all that madness some method.

Go Goa Gone is a drug that takes you on that high, but wears off soon enough before you start tripping
Ratings :***1/2 (5) !
go enjoy it !!