Indian Releases

No One Killed Jessica

Studio – UTV Spotboys (UTV Films) (Previous Release: Tees Maar Khan)
Director - Rajkumar Gupta (Previous Work: Aamir)

In a nutshell....

No One Killed Jessica is based on a true life incident which involved the murder of Jessica Lal, an aspiring model cum celebrity barmaid, in the presence of hundreds of Delhi’s big shots, at a social party. Despite several eye witnesses, nobody accuses the actual killer (Ayyub) either fearing his high power politician father (Sharma) or just for staying aloof from a murder case. Sabrina (Balan), Jessica’s sister, seeks justice but has to go through the dirty political and social games. Meera (Mukherjee), a feisty reporter comes to Sabrina’s rescue and together, both the women set on to uncover the truth.

We've already seen a similar type of storyline in Halla Bol but No One Killed Jessica shows a lot of spark, especially Rani Mukherjee's character as seen in the promos. I think this one's going to change Rani's career in a way. Besides, Gupta's last was of the highest grade and this one seems equally interesting and entertaining.

Runtime - 137 mins

Genre - Crime/Drama/Thriller

Rated - A

Principal Cast

Rani Mukherjee – Meera Gaity (Last seen in: Dil Bole Hadippa!)
Vidya Balan – Sabrina Lal (Last seen in: Ishqiya)
Shireesh Sharma – Pramod Bhardwaj (Last seen in: I Hate Luv Storys)
Neil Bhoopalam - Vikram JaiSingh (Prime Witness) (Last seen in: Fatso!)
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub - Manish Bhardwaj (Unknown/Debut)

Principal Crew

Rajkumar Gupta - Writer

Anay Goswami - Director of Photography
Aarti Bajaj – Editor
Amit Trivedi – Music Director

Film’s USP

It brings together, for the first time, two razor-sharp actresses Rani and Vidya, in a highly controversial true life based story.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzGZ9oL9Lv0

Anticipation Rating - 3.5/5

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Paranormal Activity 2

Studio – Blumhouse Productions, Room 101 (Previous Release: Tooth Fairy, Debut)

Director - Tod Williams (Previous Work: The Door In The Floor)

In a nutshell....

A couple sets up security cameras around their home after experiencing break ins. But to their horror they cannot see the one who breaks in. Things get creepier and scarier as the days pass by and finally the subject/object of interference is identified. Paranormal Activity 2 is a parallel prequel that tells the story of Micah and Katie two months before and days after the attack.

Everybody lived the horror of Paranormal Activity and it was praised world over after it made a mark on audiences across the globe. So much so that it attracted Steven Spielberg's attention and he took it to distribute the film.Paranormal Activity 2 has already opened in the US and UK theatres and seems to not have the spark of the previous one. Director Oren Peli is not associated with this one, however the cast remains the same. After watching the trailer though, it still seems to be thrilling enough. I think it's going to do better business than its predecessor, because of the popularity, but it wouldn't be as good.

Runtime - 91 mins

Genre - Horror/Thriller

Rated - A

Principal Cast

Katie Featherson – Katie (Last seen in: Walking Distance)

Micah Gloat – Micah (Last seen in: Paranormal Activity)

Molly Ephraim – Ali (Last seen in: College Road Trip)

Brian Boland - Daniel (Last seen in: The Mole Man Of Belmont Avenue)

Principal Crew

Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon, Tom Pabst - Writers

Michael Simmonds - Director of Photography

Gregory Plotkin – Editor

Mark Binder - Sound Designer

Film’s USP

It is a parallel prequel to Paranormal Activity.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SSc3bmdd8o

Anticipation Rating - 3/5

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Life As We Know It

Studio – Village Roadshadow Pictures (Previous Release: Legend Of The Guardians: Owls Of Ga'Hoole)
Director - Greg Berlanti (Previous Work: The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy)

In a nutshell....

A couple set their best friends, Holly and Eric, on a date which does not go great. A few years later, the couple dies in an accident and leaves behind a daughter to be taken care of. They name Holly and Eric as the caretakers thus making the stay together and take care of the child. Raising a child becomes a hell of a life for Holly and Eric who then cannot see eye to eye. Will the little kid have to live with all of this forever?

Life As We Know It has an interesting storyline and a situation. The trailer suggests it's a funny popcorn entertainer in the typical American style, which isn't always a cinematic masterpiece. Such films are never expected to do an awesome business but they are the ones that you wish to watch when you're bored. But sometimes they also are just too typical to digest. I guess this one has enough potential to do about average in both, its business and liking.

Runtime - 114 mins

Genre - Comedy/Drama

Rated - Unknown

Principal Cast

Katherine Heigl – Holly Berenson (Last seen in: Killers)

Josh Duhamel – Eric Messer (Last seen in: Ramona And Beezus)
Josh Lucas – Sam (Last seen in: Tell Tale)

Principal Crew

Ian Deitchman, Kristin Rusk Robinson - Writers

Andrew Dunn - Director of Photography
Jim Page – Editor
Blake Neely - Music Director

Film’s USP

The little baby.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32DB3GP96ag

Anticipation Rating - 2.5/5

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Impatient Vivek

Studio – Search Film (Previous Release: Unknown/Debut)

Director – Rahat Kazmi (Debut)

In a nutshell….

Vivek falls in love with Shruti on a trip to Goa but she doesn’t respond well. Two years down the line Vivek bumps into Shruti in Rajasthan, his hometown. He proposes her and learns that she is already engaged. Enraged, Vivek plans to kidnap Shruti, whose family tries to get her back which leads to several comic situations. What happens to the lover boy and the reluctant girl is to be known.

Once more the Hindi film industry pops up a rom-com, and this time even the failed actors are spared. Impatient Vivek seems a boring film and doesn’t have anything new to offer, they aren't even promoting the film well. The studio (Search Film) which has made this film will really have to search their film in theatres once it releases. They say it’s going to have the audience in splits; well I just hope wives do not split with their husbands for taking them to such a film.

Genre: Romance/Comedy

Rated: Unknown

Runtime: Unknown

Principal Cast

Vivek Sudarshan – Vivek (Debut)

Sayali Bhagat – Shruti (Last seen in – Jail)

Principal Crew

Rahat Kazmi, B. K. Tyagi - Writers

M. Sethuraman – Director of Photography

Jalindar Thorat – Editor

Shahdaab Bhartiya, Neeraj Shrivastava, Raja Ali, Aanamik – Music Directors

Film’s USP

The coming together of débutantes.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxpnluvbk7c

Anticipation Rating : 1.5/5

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Yeh Faasley

Studio – Bhawani Pictures (Debut)

Director – Yogesh Mittal (Debut)

In a nutshell….

Arunima has returned to her town to stay with her wealthy widower father, Devinder, after finishing her studies. She has a strong bond with Devinder, who raised her after the mother expired when Arunima was just an infant. One day Arunima comes across a will and a testimony written by her mother, and upon reading them realises that her parents weren’t happy together, unlike what her father insisted, and perhaps there was another shade to his personality. She also realises that her mother was completely different from what Devinder had always told. Thus Arunima embarks the journey of finding the truth about both her parents and the reason why Devinder told her things differently.

This is an extremely low budget film, riding on the back of Anupam Kher, with a few other known faces. Although, it has a gripping and suspenseful storyline, upon watching the trailer I wondered whether the execution is fitting. There is something about this one which brings hope for such small budget films but the very same thing gives a feeling of it just not being enough. I’d like to hope that the coming together of three writers hasn’t spoilt this one. From what I’ve seen and read, the effort seems to be decent but whether it stands the ultimate test of winning the audience’s hearts remains to be seen.

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Runtime: Unknown

Rated: Unknown

Principal Cast

Anupam Kher - Devinder Devilal Dua (Last seen in: Nakshatra)

Tena Desae - Anurima Dua (Debut)

Pawan Malhotra – Digvijay Singh (Last seen in: Badmaash Company)

Rushad Rana – Manu (Last seen in: 8x10 Tasveer)

Principal Crew

Atul Tiwari, Rajendra Makhijani, Yogesh Mittal - Writers

Amitabh Singh – Director of Photography

Suvir Nath – Editor

Deepak Pandit – Music Directors

Film’s USP

Anupam Kher in a serious, full-fledged role.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewVbEAcxZkQ

Anticipation Rating: 2/5