Indian Releases

Fast Five

Studio – Universal Pictures (Previous Film: Your Highness)

Director - Justin Lin (Previous Film: Fast & Furious)

In a nutshell....

As ex-cop Brian O'Conner and conman Dominic Toretto assemble an elite team of top racers to carry out their last job in Rio De Janeiro, a corrupt businessman wants them dead. Also, the hard-nosed federal agent, Luke Hobbs, wants them behind bars. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns that he can't separate the good guys from the bad and now has to rely on his instincts to corner his prey.

More excitement, more thrills, more drama, more action and more adventure is what this fifth instalment of the Fast & Furious series has in store for its most ardent fans. Justin Lin brought a fresh vision to this series when he directed Tokyo Drift. Since then the films have got better in terms of entertainment and style. With Fast Five, the telling takes another step towards advancement in all arenas of filmmaking, especially the shot taking. Excellent cinematography, a power packed star cast and exotic Brazilian locations will definitely pull huge crowds to the cinema halls across the globe. This film is going to see, without a shred of doubt, a marvellous opening. It has already done an awesome job, both critically and financially, at the UK and US box offices.

Runtime - 130 mins

Genre - Action/Drama/Crime

Rated - A

Principal Cast

Vin Diesel - Dominic Toretto (Last seen in: Fast & Furious)

Paul Walker – Brian O'Conner (Last seen in: For Colored Girls)

Dwayne Johnson - Hobbs (Last seen in: Faster)

Jordana Brewster- Mia Toretto (Last seen in: Fast & Furious)

Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges - Tej (Last seen in: No Strings Attached)

Principal Crew

Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson - Writers

Stephen Windon - Director of Photography

Kelly Matsumoto, Fred Raskin, Christian Wagner - Editors

Brian Tyler - Music Director

Film’s USP

5th part + addition of Dwayne Johnson to the cast

Anticipation Level - POTW (Pick Of The Week)

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Haunted 3D

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Studio – BVG Films (Debut)

Director - Vikram Bhatt (Previous Film: Shaapit)

In a nutshell....

Rehan has bought a property in the misty hills of Dalhousie and has already struck a deal to sell it forward. But to see the deal through he needs to first deal with the spirits haunting the house else he stands to lose millions. As he begins to uncover the reason behind the murky past of the house, he learns that Meera, a beautiful woman in a painting, is the reason for the house being haunted.

I was thrilled when I first read about this Vikram Bhatt 3D film as it is truly India's first stereoscopic 3D venture. But as the cast names surfaced, it made things clear that this is going to be nothing less than a dud. We have the ever charming Mahakshay Chakraborty, previously known as Mimoh, in the LEAD. Yeah, shocking it might seem, but the son of Mithun Chakraborty can surely get a second chance, and it isn't fair to write somebody off just because of a flop debut. But his look and performance in Jimmy, which was nothing less than a disaster, had assured me that he'd need a wonder pill to bounce back. I wonder whether he certainly got that wonder pill or whether the screenplay of this film was so unappealing that even the B grade actors rejected it. Sure, the full of baby fat Jimmy boy has returned with a makeover but thrusting the weight of an entire film on his shoulders is a huge gamble. The makers are lucky that no big film is releasing this week. So, this film being in 3D might be able to drag some audiences to the theatres. Talking about the success, I think it won't manage to even recover the costs despite it being a semi medium budget film because of its cheap thrills and cliched story. But I'm sure of one thing, this film will definitely manage to scare people in 3D. If the thrills and theatrics fail to do so, the director's got Mahakshay as the back up. Thank God it's an adults film, the kids will be spared.

Runtime - Unknown

Genre - Horror

Rated - A

Principal Cast

Mahakshay Chakraborty - Rehan (Last seen in: The Murderer)

Tia Bajpai – (Debut)

Anchit Kaur - (Last seen in: Guzaarish)

Principal Crew

Amin Hajee - Writer

Praveen Bhatt - Director of Photography

Kuldeep Mehan - Editor

Chirantan Bhatt - Music Director

Film’s USP

3D

Anticipation Level - Won't Even Suggest It To My Enemies

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Water For Elephants

Studio – Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Previous Film: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son)

Director - Francis Lawrence (Previous Film: I Am Legend)

In a nutshell....

Jacob Jankowski, now ninety, remembers his teenage days when he was a veterinary student and was put in charge of caring caring for a circus menagerie. There he met and fell in love with the beautiful equestrian star, Marlena, married to August, a charismatic but twisted animal trainer.

Based on one of the most famous novels of recent times, Water For Elephants has a decent storyline, and the potential to be a nice drama. The setting seems to be perfectly stylised and the trailer has an evidence of some brilliant cinematography. Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz form a wonderful trio which will be the main reason why people will flock to the theatres. But with a romantic drama centred based in a circus, I'm not sure how keen the audiences will be to watch this one, especially those who haven't read the novel. I think this film will not have a great box office opening irrespective of it being good or bad, and I hope it doesn't end up looking like a circus.

Runtime - 122 mins

Genre - Drama

Rated - A

Principal Cast

Reese Witherspoon - Marlena Rosenbluth (Last seen in: How Do You Know)

Robert Pattinson – Jacob Jankowski (Last seen in: Eclipse)

Christoph Waltz - August Rosenbluth (Last seen in: The Green Hornet)

Principal Crew

Richard LaGravenese, Sara Gruen (novel) - Writers

Rodrigo Prieto - Director of Photography

Alan Edward Bell - Editor

James Newton Howard - Music Director

Film’s USP

Cast

Anticipation Level - Wait For The Reviews

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Luv Ka The End

Studio – Y Films (Debut)

Director - Bumpy (Debut)

In a nutshell....

Rhea is the perfect girl next door who is in love with the handsome, rich and the most popular boy from college, Luv Nanda. On her 18th birthday, when the two love birds had planned to take the relationship further, Rhea discovers that Luv is not as nice as he pretended to be. Rhea decides to take revenge in her own way by taking the help of her girl gang.

Luv Ka The End looks fresh in many ways and also has a different story. It doesn't seem to be the usual candy floss rom-com. Shraddha Kapoor showed good promise with Teen Patti, but I'm not sure how well would she handle the weight of the film being in the lead. The debutant director, and the makers are sure going to enjoy some success as the songs of this film are already doing well on the charts, and there's also a lot of buzz around this film. Hope this one doesn't turn out to be a turkey.

Runtime - Unknown

Genre - Comedy

Rated - U/A

Principal Cast

Shraddha Kapoor - Rhea Dialdas (Last seen in: Teen Patti)

Shenaz Treasuryvala – (Last seen in: Radio)

Taaha Shah - Luv Nanda (Debut)

Principal Crew

Ashish Patil - Writer

Adil Afsar - Director of Photography

Saurabh Kulkarni - Editor

Ram Sampat - Music Director

Film’s USP

Unusual Cast and Story

Anticipation Level - Wait For The Reviews

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Beastly

Production Cos. – CBS Films (Previous Film: Faster), Storefront Films (Debut)

Director - Daniel Barnz (Previous Film: Phoebe In Wonderland)

In a nutshell....

A contemporary take on one of the most famous stories of all time, 'Beauty And The Beast', Beastly is about a young guy from New York who is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.

Alex Pettyfer did a decent job in I Am Number Four and having another release in a span of two weeks will give his growing number of fans a chance to watch him in a different avatar, quite literally. The trio of Pettyfer, Hudgens and Olsen will be the most important thing that shall draw the audiences to the film theatres as all 3 have been, or are, heartthrobs, and thus they perfectly fit into this contemporary take on Beauty And The Beast. But this is also the very reason why I doubt this film might tumble down, as it seems it lacks substance and may depend only on the popular cast to pull it off. Thus the fate of this film is very unclear. It was thrashed at the UK and US box offices. Although, I must admit that the Beastly look is quite well done.

Runtime - Unknown

Genre - Fantasy/Drama/Romance

Rated - Unknown

Principal Cast

Alex Pettyfer – Kyle (Last seen in: I Am Number Four)

Vanessa Anne Hudgens - Lindy (Last seen in: Bandslam)

Mary Kate Olsen - Kendra (Last seen in: The Wackness)

Principal Crew

Daniel Barnz, Alex Flinn (novel) - Writers

Mandy Walker - Director of Photography

Todd E. Miller, Thomas J. Nordberg - Editors
Marcelo Zarvos - Music Director

Film’s USP

Cast + Contemporary version of Beauty And The Beast

Anticipation Level - Watch It On DVD