A quick update of Bengali movies in the 1st Quarter of 2015

Year 2015 started in a good note for Bengali movies as the last two releases of 2014, "Baadshahi Angti" and "Byomkesh Fire Elo" did a good business throughout the first month of 2015. Moreover there were almost seven big releases in the month of January among those two were big hits. But the same did not continue for the month of February and March. Mostly because of the World Cup cricket and exam seasons very few big movies released during this period.

Here is a month wise recap of Q1 2015.

January

There were five Fridays in January and total seven big movies released in that period as a result there were two releases on two back to back Fridays which is very rare in Bengali film industry. Among these there were various range of movies like out an out commercial entertainers like "Herogiri" and "Romeo Vs Juliet" to festival circuit art house film "Chhotoder Chhabi" to urban style movies made for Multiplex audiences like "Ebar Shabor" and "Open Tee Bioscope". In this month both Prosenjeet Chatterjee and his better half Arpita Chatterjee appeared in two different movies "Lorai" and "Bodhon" respectively , but for both of them it was not a lucky month they got good appreciation for their individual performances but the movies failed to impress the audiences as well as the critics.

Among the commercial movies "Herogiri" did fair enough business at the small centers but failed to repeat the success of other Dev Koyel pair hits. On the other hand Eskay movies released their commercial movie "Romeo Vs Juliet" after almost six months of their last release. It had again Ankush in the lead this time with a new girl Mahiya. This movie did an average business at least better than its direct competition "Herogiri". The good thing was the rival production houses Venkatesh Films and Eskay movies choose not do to a head to head collision and released their movies in one weeks gap.

Here are the movies which caught our attention in the month of January:

Ebar Shabor 
It was the first release of 2015. A crime thriller set in today's time based on a novel named

"Rwin". With this movie, Bengali movies get a new on screen sleuth Shabor Dashgupta which was played brilliantly by Shashwata Chatterjee. It was directed by veteran actor Arindam Shil and had an ensemble cast of some very talented actors like Swastika Mukherjee, Abir Chatterjee, Ritwick Chakraborty, Payel Sarkar, Rahul , June Malya,Dipankar Dey, Deboleena Dutta etc. The story was about a murder mystery where a lot of characters were the suspects and each of them have some deep secrets with them. How the detective from Kolkata police crime branch, Shabor Dashgupta, solved the mystery was the story.The music was composed by Vickram Ghosh and it has been used wonderfully in the movie. The technical team was brilliant. Special mention should be given to cinematographer Sirsha Ray for capturing the different locations of Kolkata in such a nice way. The over all impact of the movie was very nice. It got a good start and kept doing well at the ticket windows till the end of the quarter and successfully completed around successful 100 days in the theaters. So far it is the most successful movie of this year.

Open Tee Bioscope
Famous Bengali band Chandrabindoo's member Anindya Chattopadhyay wore the director's hat for the first time with the movie "Open Tee Bioscope". It was his own tribute to his

childhood memories , the memories of the mid 90's, the memories of para culture. It was a story of a teenager boy Fowara (Played wonderfully by Riddhi Sen), his childhood memories with his friends, his first love, how he became a part of the local para. The story was very heart touching focusing some very strong relationships like a relationship between a son and his mother, a relationship between a coach and his disciple. Moreover the favorite sports of Bengali culture football was also a part of the story. The whole cast had done wonderful job lead by Riddhi Sen, Sudipta Chakraborty, Rajatava Dutta, Ambarish Bhattacharya, Kaushik Sen and all the kids in Fowara's gang. The technical team had done an extraordinary job to recreate the 90's era authentically. As a director of course Anindya did a very good job. The music composed by Upal Sengupta and Shantanu Moitra was superhit. Box office performance wise also this film did very good. It did a good business from its first week and continued its success till the end of the quarter completing around 75 successful day. 

Chhotoder Chhabi
Master story teller Kaushik Ganguly came  back with yet another different story about the

life of some dwarfs who used to work as joker and entertainers in circus. He used to present their life beyond our regular thinking , he presented them as human beings. They are not just jokers , they have their own life, own emotions, own ambitions. The casting was a vital part for the movie as the most of the actors had to be dwarfs as per story's demand and at the same time they had to be good actors who can carry off the story on their shoulders. And as a extremely talented director , Kaushik Ganguly made this tough job possible by casting very good actors Dulal Sarkar and Deblina Roy as the leading pair. This movie got very good response at many National and International film festival. In one film festival Dulal Sarkar bagged the best actor award too. It also got the National award for best movie on social issues. Unfortunately the box office fate of the movie was not so good probably because of the lack of popular stars and the too much depressing tone of the story.


February

In the month of February some three four good big movies were released including Parambrata Chatterjee and Parno Mitra starer "Glamour" and Shashwata Chatterjee and Tanushree starer "Ichchemotir Galpo" but the only movie which got the attention of audiences as well as impressed the critics too some extent was "Bheetu".

Bheetu
Director Utsav Mukherjee's second directorial venture, "Bheetu" was a dark thriller about two sister's, how they overcome their inner fear and also how they revive the bonding

between them. The story had been presented quite well specially because of the solid performances by Ritwick Chakraborty and Sudipta Chakraborty. The negative character was performed brilliantly by Ritwick Chakraborty. The performances by Parno Mitra and Saheb Bhattacharjee was also good. Some of the sexual abuse scene were too much disturbing but still overall it was a good enough thriller and did a fare business at the box office.

March

In the month of March there was hardly any movie which was impressive. The cine goers were hopeful with the movie "Sajarur Kanta" which was a Byomkesh story where Byomkesh was shown as an old guy played by Dhritiman Chatterjee. The supporting cast was also full of talented actors like Konkona Sensharma, Kaushik Sen, Indraneil Sengupta. But in spite of the presence of all these talented actors the film could not catch anyone's attention because of the loose storytelling. Another movie which had created some buzz was "Ajana Batas", because it was director Anjan Das's last film as a director and released after his death. But this Paoli Dam starer could not make it to the audience's heart.

Overall the 1st quarter was average for Bengali film industry mostly the the movies made for urban audiences earn good revenue and the commercial movies kept failing at the box office.
We are very much hopeful with the second quarter with movies like "Bitnoon", "Amanush 2", "Nirbaak" and "Belasheshe".


Top Actors of Q1 2015:

• Prosenjit Chatterjee - Lorai
• Riddhi Sen - Open Tee Bioscope
• Dulal Sarkar - Chhotoder Chhobi
• Ritwick Chakraborty - Bheetu/Ebar Shabor
• Abir Chatterjee - Ebar Shabor
• Shaswata Chatterjee - Ebar Shabor
• Rajatava Dutta - Open Tee Bioscope
• Rahul Banerjee - Ebar Shabor
• Kharaj Mukherjee - Lorai
• Ambarish Bhattacharya - Open Tee Bioscope
• Kaushik Sen - Open Tee Bioscope

Top Actresses of Q1 2015:

• Deblina Roy - Chhotoder Chhobi
• Arpita Chatterjee - Bodhon
• Parno Mitra - Bheetu
• June Malya - Ebar Shabor
• Swastika Mukherjee - Ebar Shabor
• Sudipta Chakraborty - Open Tee Bioscope/Bheetu

Top Songs of Q1 2015:

• Jonaki,Kichhu Kichhu Katha - Larai
• Nei Raat - Ebar Shabor
• Bandhu Chol, Pagla Khabi Ki, Tor Janno - Open Tee Bioscope
• Ke Tui Bol, Mariya, Janeman - Herogiri
• Bekheyali Mone - Romeo Vs Juliet
• Raat Amar Shareere - Bheetu

Main Highlights of Q1 2015:

• Bengali movies has rocked in the National Awards this year.
• Director Srijit Mukherjee has got the best director award for the film "Chatushkone". 
• Sudeep Chatterjee has got the best cinematographer award for the same movie.
• Kaushik Ganguly's movie "Chhotoder Chhabi" has got best movie based on social issue. 
• Churny Ganguly's directorial debut "Nirbashito" has got the award for best Bengali film.
• Director Anjan Dutta has choosen actor Jishu Sengupta as his new Byomkesh.
• Director Aparna Sen started shooting for her next directorial venture "Arshinagar" featuring  Dev and Rittika as leading pair. The movie is based on the story of  "Romeo & Juliet".
• Director Kaushik Ganguly started shooting for his next movie "Cinemawalah" featuring Parambrata Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar as the leading pair.
• Actor Ankush finally signed a movie outside Eskay movies banner as his contract is over now. He has signed his next movie "Jamai 420" under Shree Venkatesh films.

A quick update of Bollywood in 1st quarter of 2015

The first quarter of 2015 was not so good for Bollywood as per box office business. There was not a single 100cr film only few movies fared well at the box office that too because of their low budget. Very few big budget movies were released specially from the second half of February and the month of March because of the world cup cricket season. But quality wise it was not so bad ,there were some movies which were not made with big stars or big budget but the movies were very well made and got appreciated by both critics as well as audiences.

Lets have a quick month wise recap of the Hindi movies in first quarter of 2015.

January

The first big release of the year 2015 was Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha starer "Tevar". It was a full on commercial south Indian remake and trade analysts were hopeful with this

movie considering the box office success of Arjun Kapoor's last few releases and the pre-release buzz of the film but in spite of getting a good opening weekend collection it became flop on the final run. It was followed by Bipasha Basu starer "Alone" which did average business due to the onscreen as well as off screen sizzling chemistry of Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover but it also could not be a successful film. There were some other flops too like Sonam Kapoor starer "Dolly Ki Doli" , Ayushmana Khurranna starer "Haawaizada" and Bhatt camps horex (horror + sex) movie "Khamoshiyan". The only successful movie of this month was "Baby". The successful combination of director Neeraj Pandey and actor Akshay Kumar got a good response from both classes and masses. It was an action thriller about the secret agents and their fight against terrorism. This movie was released in the long weekend of Republic day and got an advantage of that too. Also the good word of mouth publicity and good reviews helped the movie to continue good revenues till 3rd -4th week. Though it could not make it to 100cr club but so far it is the highest grossing film of year 2015 with a collection of around 95cr.

February

The month of February started with Big B starer "Shamitabh". Trade analyst and Big B fans were very much hopeful with the combination of director R. Balki and Amitabh Bachchan but this combination did not work this time. Although the performance by

Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush was very much appreciated but the story did not worked in favor of this duo. The next release was the valentine day special "Roy". It got the biggest opening of 2015 so far considering it was a Ranbir Kapoor starer after a gap of almost one and half years and also for the superhit music of the film. But in actual, Ranbir Kapoor was just in an extended cameo in the movie and leading man was Arjun Rampal. Very soon people realized the fact that it is not a Ranbir Kapoor film and its collections kept dropping rapidly. On the final run it became just an average earner that too because of the big opening weekend collection. Next big release of this month was Sriram Raghavan directed revenge drama "Badlapur" featuring Varun Dhawan in a character ,totally opposite to his screen image. It was

a well made engaging thriller with good story and wonderful performances specially by Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Huma Qureishi. The music was also a big hit. It got a good opening for the presence of Varun Dhawan and later it continued the good business at box office because of the good reviews as well as good word of mouth publicity. Finally it earned more than 50 cr at the box office and became a hit. The last release of this month was "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" a small budget film from a big banner, Yashraaj films. Aditya Chopra was very much sure that the heart touching story will work for the movie so he kept its promotions in very low profile.Even it was released in comparatively smaller scale. As a result it got a poor opening but due to the positive reviews and feedback, the film did good business later and finally became a surprise hit considering its small budget. A thing that should be mentioned about the business of this movie is its lifetime box office collection was three times than its opening week collection which is very rare in today's times.The sequel to "Ab Tak Chhappan" also came in the last week of February but could not repeat the magic of the first part and went unnoticed. 

March

The month of March saw so many small budget movies which was neither have star

power nor have a good content, like "The Dirty Politics" featuring Mallika Shehrawat, "Dilliwaili Zaalim Girlfriend", "Hey Bro", "Badmaashiyaan" etc. As expected all these movies flopped badly at the ticket windows. The only film which shines perfectly in this month was "NH10", a well made thriller in a limited budget. But for a good movie, its content works more than its marketing and same happened for "NH10". It was an edge of the seat thriller with brilliant acting lead by Anushka Sharma. It got an average opening and later for its wonderful reviews and feedback it did a good business and became a hit with around 28 cr collections. Later another movie came in March which got some good reviews and an average collection and it was "Hunterr", the directorial debut of Harshvardhan Kulkrani.  It was an adult comedy about a sex addict person which stars no big star and have almost zero publicity but still it manages to earn more than 10cr because of its good content. No matter how vulgar  the subject was but the treatment was very nice and the actors lead by Gulshan Deveiah and Radhika Apte had done a wonderful job.

On a whole the first quarter have provided some good movies but did not provided good amount of money at the box office. We are hopeful about the next quarter which have some big releases lined up to release specially in the month of May and June.

Best Films of Q1 2015

• Baby
• Badlapur-Dont Miss The Beginning
• Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• NH10

Top Performers of Q1 2015:

Actors:

• Akshay Kumar - Baby
• Amitabh Bachchan - Shamitabh 
• Dhanush - Shamitabh
• Varun Dhawan - Badlapur
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui - Badlapur 
• Ayushmann Khurrana -Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Raj Kumar Rao  - Dolly Ki Doli
• Sanjay Mishra - Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Gulshan Deveiah - Hunterr

Actresses:

• Bhumi Pednekar - Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Anushka Sharma - NH10
• Huma Qureishi - Badlapur
• Radhika Apte - Badlapur
• Sheeba Chaddha - Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Seema Pahwa - Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Sonam Kapoor - Dolly Ki Doli
• Radhika Apte - Hunterr

Top Songs of Q1 2015:

• Khamoshiyaan, Batein Ye Kabhi Na - Khamoshiyaan
• Suraj Dooba Hai, Tu Hai Ki Nahin,Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan - Roy
• Jee Karda, Jeena, Judaai - Badlapur
• Chheel Gaye Naina - NH10

Review of NH10

Few years ago director Navdeep Singh had made an unconventional suspense thriller "Manorama Six Feet Under" which goes almost unnoticed in spite of being a good film but this time he has been more lucky to get a better subject as well as to get a mainstream actress Anushka Sharma as the main lead of his latest film "NH10" and both these factors have worked in favor of this movie and it has got a good pre-release buzz.
It is an intense, engaging, hard hitting film which targets the the difference in the mindset of the urban and rural India.It also tries to loud its voice against violence and discrimination against woman in India and tries to teach how to cop up with it.

The story begins with a happily married urban couple in Delhi, Arjun(Neil Bhoopalam) and

Meera(Anushka Sharma). They make a plan to spend a holiday in a private villa at the outskirts of Delhi  to celebrate Meera's birthday but destiny have planned something else for them. During their journey on the National Highway they stop at a roadside dhaba for lunch and there they see some local villagers are beating a couple badly. Arjun tries to intervene but it goes against him and unwillingly he brings himself and Meera in danger  as they witness the gang of the villagers to kill the newly married couple. After that it follows a typical cat and mouse chase of Arjun and Meera to survive from the gang of ruthless killers in a unknown jungle where some unknown danger is waiting for them at every corner. In her different attempt to survive , Meera tries to get help from every possible person whether it is car driver passing by the highway or the local policemen or a local migrant labor or the sarpanch of the nearby village but she fails to bring help for her and her husband. Later she realizes that she have to help herself , to survive among the killers she has to be like them and have to fight back.

The story is inspired by the English movie"Eden Lake" but it has been scripted very well by Sudeep Sharma , in Indian backdrop raising some burning issues in India in today's times. Very effectively it highlights how different is the mentality of people in rural areas from the the residents of metro cities though the geographical distance is not too much. Although the film took more than required time around 10 minutes to introduce the urban lifestyle of Arjun and Meera in the beginning but once they start their road journey the screenplay takes its pace and after that you will never feel bore rather you will get involved unknowingly with Arjun and Meera in their journey. The script is so engaging that after sometime you will start caring for the safety of Arjun and Meera. The climax is also superb and deserves rounds of applause for the way the character of Meera fights back with courage.

The screenplay has all the elements of an edge of the seat thriller as it maintains the tension till the end and also keeps throwing surprising twists in the regular intervals as a result in spite of being an uni-dimensional story it never feels monotonous or boring. But only one thing should have been done in a better way and that is the way Arjun involves himself in the danger. The writers could have think a better situation for that.
There is some other good points of the script that makes it a better watch than an average thriller and that is the social message it tries to deliver that too very silently without giving over the top dramatic dialoguebaazi, through some small references. Like there is a reference of how a toll tax collector gets killed by someone just to prove his power or how simply a policeman demonstrates that democracy is a meaningless word once you crossed the last mall of Gurgaon. There is reference how woman are unsafe even in big cities and how their hard work is considered as a special favor from their boss for being a girl.Also there is the brutal honor killing sequence where a couple is killed just because they have chosen their life partner from the same gotra. This small moments will surely force the audience to think about the current situation of our country. The dialogues penned by Sudeep Sharma is very realistic and effective.

As a director Navdeep Singh has hits the bulls eye. From choosing a good subject to presenting it in a proper way to the audience, he has done it very effectively.He has created such a realistic world that while watching the film the audience will find  themselves in the center of the action. Very efficiently he has created the contrast between the two different worlds.

The whole cast of the film is perfect in their roles. As the leading lady Anushka Sharma

is excellent. She is the hero of the film in every sense. There is no doubt it is the best character of her career to showcase her talent and she has given more than 100 percent to utilize this opportunity. Her transformation from a young educated professional in a big city to the helpless woman fighting for survival in an unknown territory is superb. In the climax for around 10 minutes there is hardly any dialogue but by her impressive eyes and body language Anushka Sharma has succeeded to convey the mindset of her character Meera, very clearly. Anushka Sharma's portrayal of Meera will be remembered as one of the finest performances done by the any Indian actress ever.

Among the other actors , Neil Bhoopalam is very impressive in a comparatively short role. He looks genuine as scared and wounded Arjun who is struggling for his own life and his

wife's safety. Darshan Kumar who was last seen in "Mary Kom" has played a totally different role in his second movie as the menace, ruthless Satbir who can kill his own sister effortlessly in the name of her families honor. Darshan Kumar shines very well in this negative role and his acting his credible enough that the audiences will hate him for his brutal act. Deepti Naval appears in a cameo in a role which gives a surprise element in the story and she is impressive in her small appearance. Among the supporting cast Ravi Jhankal is effective as Mamajee in Satbir's brutal gang.
The rest of the cast has provided good support in their small roles. The credit should be given to the casting director for casting such nice actors in the supporting roles.

The technical team has done a fine job to give this film a realistic look and feel. The cinematography by Arvind Kannabiran is very impressive. Most of the film has been shot in night and the light arrangement is wonderful. The editing by Jabeen Merchant is very sharp as required for fast paced thriller only the first 10 minutes portion in Delhi could have shortened a bit. Special mention should be given for the sound design for the film which is very authentic. Another special mention is deserved by the make up artiste and stylist of the actors. As the story is of just one night that too is very eventful so the make up artist have a huge responsibility to maintain the continuity of the look of the characters.

There is hardly any scope for music and the all the songs has been used in background and are just functional has not much impact on the film. The only song which works well is the song "Maati Ka Palang" in the climax.

On a whole it is hard hitting thriller which is brave enough to show the reality of today's burning India without compromising its brutality. Don't just go for entertainment rather watch this thought provoking movie and salute the brave attempt of the team. Also watch the film for the arresting performance by the leading lady of the film Anushka Sharma.

Review of Bengali film Bheetu

After making his directorial debut with a satire "Half Serious" director Utsav Mukherjee is back in a totally different form with a dark thriller with "Bheetu".In his second movie he tried a totally different way to deal with the dark side of human psychology.

It is a story of two sisters Rohini (Sudeepta Chakraborty) and Sohini (Parno Mitra). Both of them do not share a good rapport though Rohini loves her younger sister Sohini very much but Sohini is not very fond of her elder sister. Because she always thinks that when she used

to be abused by one of her uncle in her childhood, her elder sister could have save her from that but she did not managed to get the courage to protest that. So Sohini has not forgiven her elder sister. Both the sisters have their own problems too in their lives to deal with. Rohini has became a handicapped due to a fatal accident and for her physical disability her husband (Anindya Banerjee) wants to divorce her and also he wants to take back their daughter Jojo with him. All this mental stress has made Rohini mentally too weak to resist against anything. She doesn't have the courage to protest for herself or for her family. On the other hand Sohini is confident working woman who lives her life on her own terms. She has a boyfriend Andy(Saheb bahttacharya) and she is happy with him. But somewhere in the deep in her mind she is yet to recover the trauma of her disturbed childhood but she tries to hide her fear within herself and at least tries to protest if something is going wrong with her. There is another important character too who has a large impact on Sohini's life and he is Ronny(Ritwick Chakraborty) a waiter by profession at Andy's father's restaurant. Ronny is a pervert with psychological disorder. He is too much obsessive about Sohini and can go to any extent to get her. He has an unsatisfied sexual life and he does very absurd things for that like capturing  videos of girls in his mobile or collecting under garments of women. In the beginning Ronny started as a stalker but later his obsession for Sohini grows much more and at one point Sohini also understands that. Now how Sohini will fight back against Ronny and will Rohini can help her this time by overcoming her internal fear that forms the climax.

The subject is relatively fresh and rare for Bengali movies but the screenplay is not a smooth one to justify the subject totally. The screenplay has its low points and high points it does

not go in a same pace. It starts in a promising note where we can see two young girls have been raped and murdered by a group of goons. Later the story shifts to the two sister's personal life but an investigation for the two murder's keeps on going on a parallel track. Which looks out of place though the stories got connected in the climax but before that audience will be clueless to think why the parallel track is going on. Also in the first half there are some scenes and a song too involving Andy and Sohini's love story which was not required and it makes the film lengthier. Even in the second half specially in the climax involving the two sisters and Ronny and his sidekick has been stretched out a bit more. But the twist in the tale at the end saves its faults too some extent. Another minus point for the film is its too much boldness, though it is an adult film but there are some scenes which are very much disturbing specially the rape scenes. It could have been shot in a more subtle way without being too direct. 

As a director Utsav Mujherjee should be given credit for choosing a bold and a different subject. he has handled this mature subject quite well but he should have been a bit more control to his screenplay and editing to keep the pace a bit fast for the film. 

Among the actors who has snatched attention from the crowd is none other than Ritwick Chakraborty. As the sly pervert negative character Ronny , he is just awesome. His body

language and his dialogue delivery is in very much sync with his onscreen character. He has portrayed it so well that you will hate him for being such a negative character and that is his prove that he is a brilliant actor. Only in the climax he has done little more drama which could have been avoided.
Another brilliant actor in this brigade is Sudeepta Chakraborty. Her portrayal of a helpless handicapped Rohini is superb. She has less dialogues but she has managed to express with her eyes as well face.
Parno Mitra has a very good scope to showcase her talent and she shines in some parts too but still it can be said she is not mature enough as an actor to handle such complex role. But she is improving herself as an actress film by film and we should encourage her for that.
Saheb Bhattachraya has very little to do and he is just okay in that. Anindya Banerjee has left his impression in only four scene role. Watch out him in his first scene where he tells Sohini that he will leave his wife Rohini. His facial expressions shows his characters' hesitation very well.Kamaleshwar Mukherjee has played a police officer who is   investigating the murder case of two girls. He is a very good actor and done a goo job. His scenes with his junior are the only source of of humor in this serious film. But one thing need to be said that Kamaleshwar is too good as an actor to play such unimportant characters. The rest of the cast members are just okay.

The technical team of the film has done an average job. There is scope of improvement specially in the editing department. The music of the film is also not too much popular and it does not lives with you even after leaving the theaters. The songs have not been used that well in the movie too.

Overall it a refreshing subject and if you like psychological thriller then you can give it a watch. But the USP of the film is obviously the acting by Ritwick Chakraborty and Sudeepta Chaltrabrty.

Review of Dum Laga Ke Haisha

When in recent past lots of the directors were taking us to the same old world of 70's and 80's director Shrata Katariya has given us a refreshing treat to go back to the 90's . The mid-nineties when there was no internet , mobile or wi-fi even the CD and Cable tv were just introduced. It was the time dominated by audio cassettes, VCR, Landline phone and of course Kumar Sanu songs and you will get to enjoy all these throughout the film along with the journey of the leading couple who are trying to settle down in their post married life which was forced on them by their parents in the name of an arranged marriage."Dum Laga Ke Haisha" is surely one of the best movies we have seen in recent past in Bollywood but it is sad to see Yashraaj Film spend so less on its marketing and publicity but still we are thankful to Aditya chopra for backing such a good script and Manees Sharma for bringing the script to Aditya Chopra.

It is a story set in Haridwaar in the mid nineties. Prem Prakash Trivedi (Ayushmann Khurrana) who is a 25 year 10th standard fail, under confident guy who sits at his father's

audio cassette repairing shop and listens to Kumar Sanu songs all the day. On the contrary to it Sandhya Vernma (Bhumi Pednekar) is a well educated confident young girl who wants to be a teacher. She is little over weight but she doesn't feel ashamed of that rather she is confident enough to deal with it. In the beginning of the film these two opposite minded people get introduced to each other for a formal meeting before arranged marriage in the presence of a group of people from the would be bride and grooms families. After the first meeting, Sandhya likes Prem but Prem has problem with Sandhya's over weight figure, but due to his father and whole family's pressure he had to marry Sandhya. As expected their is no understanding between these two from the first night of their marriage. Prem keeps avoiding Sandhya as he feels ashamed of her while Sandhya keeps trying to make a place in Prem's heart as well as on his bed with the help of satin nighty to adult English movie but none of these works in her favor. Although frustrated with each other Prem and Sandhya continued to drag their mock relationship due to family pressure but one it got over when Prem vent out his frustration after getting drunk at a friends wedding and insulted Sandhya by calling her a "moti saand". Sandhya lefts Prem's house and came back to her parents and files divorce. But with the family member's intervention they are convinced to live with each other once again to give the relationship a second chance before taking the final decision about their divorce. On their second chance they realize that they are different not only physically but also psychologically and gradually they try to feel the gap too as they start knowing each other better now. Finally it reaches to the climax which is sort of predictable but still it will make you happy.

About the story and screenplay it can be said it is a simple story which has been told in a simple narrative style. Though it is based in the nineties but it has not been made in true

nineties over dramatic style rather the treatment to the subject is very realistic and simple which reminds us the old classic films of Basu Chatterjee or Hrishikesh Mukherjee.It is written from heart which connects with your heart. The story has some light moments which will surely bring smile on your face on the other hand it will make you moist eyed too. It is a journey of two strangers who come close to each other after knowing each other better and their discovery of each other never looks too hurried. The screenplay gives them enough time to know each other without making the pace too slow. All the characters around the leading pair are also very interesting and real whether it is  the parents and bua of Prem and his friends or Sandhya's parents and her brother, no matters how long is their screen time but everyone lefts an impression. A lots of references of nineties has been used throughout the film but it never looks forced. The best among them is the silent fight between Prem and Sandhya where they fight with each other without saying a single word but only playing hit songs of nineties on the tape recorder. The only disappointment with this film is the game show in the climax which goes little over the top considering the realistic treatment given to the rest of the film. The writer could have think a better way to conclude the story.

As a director Sharat Katariya has done a wonderful job, though it is his second film but it is his first opportunity to work under a well known production house and he has done a hard work to utilize this opportunity perfectly. He has given the film very realistic touch from the characters to their looks and language to the music and the production design of the film, everything is just perfect. His eye for detailing is very much clear in every frame. We hope this movie will surely give a much needed boost to his career as a director and end his long running struggle.

Ayushmann Khuranna is in terrific form, he is a talented actor and once again he has proved that. He has totally synced himself with his on screen character, Prem prakash Trivedi.

His dialogue delivery and body language is awesome. In every frame he looks Prem not Ayushmann. The other key player of the film is Bhumi Pednekar who has made a confident debut. Just like her character Sandhya, this young lady is never ashamed of her weight rather she is confident about her talent and she has impressed everybody with her brilliant performance. She has not the look to be a regular Hindi film heroine but considering the new age films of today's time she can have a good future with her acting abilities. Together Ayushmann and Bhumi have a wonderful chemistry. 

Among the rest of the cast it can be said everyone has given an A grade performance but among them who shines out most are Sanjay Mishra as Prem's father , Seema Pahwa as Sandhya's mother and Sheeba Chaddha as Prem's bua. Here credit must be given to the casting director Shanoo Shrama for casting such wonderful actors in the roles perfectly suited for them.

Among the technical departments who deserves credits are of course the production designer Meenal Agarwal and costume designers Darshan Jalan who have created the look and feel of nineties so authentically. Here special mention should be given for the over the top costumes in the "Dard Karara" song. The sound design by Sajith Koyri and cinematography done by Manu Anand has been done very nicely as it captures the small town ambiance of Haridwar very well. You can feel your presence in the real locations while watching the film.

Though its not a musical and there is not enough scope in the movie to put songs but a nineties story is never complete without  songs that too by Kumar Sanu and you will get

that nostalgic feeling of Kumar Sanu in the opening credits as well as in the end credits in "Tu" and "Dard Karara".Both the songs are very cliche but sounds very refreshing as we have heard something like this after a long time and it really take us back to that time. Anu Malik has done a good job as a composer not only recreating nineties melodies with Kumar Sanu but also composing the other melodious song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" which is very melodious and has been used very well in the movie in background. The song "Dard Karara" has been choreographed by Chinni Prakash in a true nineties style with dozen of background dancers and it looks good on screen.

Overall it is a movie with a heart touching story and brilliant performances. Go and watch it to feel the nostalgia of the nineties as well as to feel the superb love story between two different peoples and fall in love with them.