Hindi Movie Reviews

Inspired by the folk tales passed on from one generation to another, 'Dus Tola' is a simply told story of victory of goodness over greed. The story is set in Sonapur, a quaint little town that has its share of eccentrics.

Shankar (Manoj Bajpayee), the local goldsmith, is head over heels in love with his neighbour's daughter Suvarnalata (Aarti Chhabria) much to the chagrin of her father Daya Shastri (Dilip Prabahvalkar). Shastri is bent upon finding her a suitable groom from Dubai and cover her with gold at the wedding, which will help him climb up the social ladder. Armed with nothing but a heart of pure gold, Shankar sets out to overcome the obstacles of devious plots and heartache. 'Dus Tola', a slice of life tale which mirrors our society, and is light hearted in its narrative.

Over 4000 years ago the inhabitants of the Indus Valley sculpted the image of the shape shifting snake. These half cobras, half human creatures were said to inhabit an awesome, mysterious temple, made of material unknown to mankind, deep within the jungles, far, far away in the legendary spice forests of the Malabar Coast. It is the year 2008, an American man, named George, packing high tech gear, and evil intentions, makes the arduous journey into the heart of the forbidden forest. He captures a male cobra the size of a large python when he`s at his weakest, while mating. Little does he realize when they embark on testing this mysterious creature in their high-tech lab, what horror and destruction awaits him....

The film revolves around a lower caste guy who had gone along with his 2 friends to a village – Jhanjhar in Bihar, his native place, to watch Ramleela. These 3 students of Delhi University go missing in the dusty village. In the previous 3 months there was no clue where the young students have vanished. Media and students movement all over Bihar takes a pivotal step for getting hint of these students, its then government appoints CBI officers Sidhant Chaturvedi and Pratap Kumar and find out the truth under it. A person residing in Bihar himself and, Pratap understands the intricacies of race relations in small towns like Jhanjhar. Pratap tries to use his charm and smartness to crack investigation whereas Sidhant has a very no non-sense, direct approach investigation. It’s simply a clash of personalities and ideologies.

Investigating in Jhanjhar becomes a tough task for these officers as the local police force Headed by Bhura Ram with the help of local MP’s and landlords run a major branch of the Shool Sena. At the same time the two officers cannot break the ice with local Low cast community members, due to years of fear instilled in them by regular and highly planned Shool sena attacks. Roshni (daughter of the most powerful and richest person of village) acts as a key element to reveal certain realities and give a new direction to the investigation.

Soon the effect of their investigation causes mayhem in Jhanjhar, with riots, burning of houses and killing of peasants in broad daylight. Slowly Pratap with Siddhant’s help starts cracking the case by exerting his influence upon Geeta (a victim to the same inhumanity), who acts as a final key to the investigation. How amongst the animosity created by Shool Sena and the fear of losing more peasants do Pratap and Sidhant solve this mysterious case is explained with a chain of exciting, funny and intelligent events that form the climax of the story.

KnockOut is a fast paced thriller that happens in real time. In just two hours 11am to 1pm an enigmatic vigilante pulls off an incredible, mind blowing coup and a new chapter of Indian history is written. Sanjay Dutt plays a new age lone ranger who has the latest weapons and gadgets at his fingertips, and is a man who trusts and depends on no one. Working alone, he effortlessly uses his wit, his skills at hand to hand combat, and his love for stealth technology, to manipulate and trap his elusive target. The target, played by Irrfan, is a street smart investment banker who has made his way to the upper echelons of power. A man who unwittingly holds the keyto India's destiny, Irrfan is a man consumed by his own obsessions, an extremely clever and unstoppable foe.

Through a brilliant play of truth and pretense, Sanjay strips Irrfan of his arrogance and attitude, opens his heart and confounds his brain, locking him in a tangle beyond redemption… a tangle which can only be unraveled one way… leading to the biggest 'counter heist' in the history of this nation. Hot on the trail of these two men is a hardnosed television journalist, played by Kangna Ranaut. She will stop at nothing… or so she believes, till she is faced with the ultimate call of conscience. Choosing between another man's life or herself… Choosing between the country or herself. And each time she rises to the occasion, showing that the new India has its heart in the right place, its soul intact.

As the film reaches its action packed climax, every citizen of this country becomes a witness to the live action that unfolds before television cameras. For a nation that has endured political thieves for six decades, this counter heist of a massive scale wakes them up in a way nothing has ever done before. The film ends in a huge wave of euphoria. The mysterious vigilante fights and wins an impossible battle, a battle that raged not just in the streets of Mumbai but also in the minds of the whole nation. True to style, he manages to walk off into the celebrating multitudes, his identity forever hidden… maybe to strike another day… and India awakens to a new beginning.

Jai has a knack of getting into trouble. His Father was a gangster who wanted to reform. On assurance from his friend Inspector Joseph, Jai's father agreed to rat on his evil bosses. Inspector Joseph guaranteed him that he would find Jai's father and Jai a safe passage into the world of good once his bosses have been exposed. But the unexpected happened. Jai witnessed the fatal double cross on his father, despite his confession, by a senior police officer. Joseph's valiant effort to save him went in vain. This traumatic incident left a lasting impression on Jai's mind that there was no point in being good and that 'It's Good to be Bad.'

Joseph adopted Jai out of guilt and tried to instill his Christian values of finding a God within but the memories from the past had already cast themselves deep in Jai's mind. Despite repeated attempts to reform him, Joseph failed to ignite the light of good within Jai's soul. And when matters went almost completely out of hand with Jai's checkered criminal life, Joseph arranged an alternate identity for him as Suraj Bhardwaj and sent him away to Australia – a land far away from his past. Jai had promised Joseph in Australia he would stay clear of any trouble. It was a golden chance to feel the grass on the other side of the fence.

Almost immediately after landing, Jai met Suhani, an Indian Australian with an unadulterated honest vision of 'one world'. Although she hailed from a conservative traditional Punjabi family that took pride in being Indian, Suhani secretly fostered a much liberal outlook towards life. Her elder brother Samarth was just the opposite. Samarth was convinced that Australians had a one-point agenda to bring Indians down. Jai found his home with the bumbling punju boys GoldE and gang. They were happy go lucky 'sardar' boys who knew that the ticket to heaven was through attaining a permanent residency in Australia. GoldE almost echoed Joseph's voice when he warned Jai to stay out of trouble and concentrate on his work – he arranged for Jai to get a job as a taxi driver in Samarth's garage.

Suhani was intrigued by Jai's manner. He was flirting but with a flair. He was lying but in style and he was conniving but with a pure heart. She could spot in the first instant that she met Jai that beyond his prankster lying front, Jai had a deeper side to himself that he refused to acknowledge. Jai knew that if he could make Suhani fall in love with him he could eventually attain permanent residency by marrying her but her brother was too much of an obstacle. So while Jai was busy scheming for Suhani's love he was also flirting with Nicole, the stripper from a nearby strip club. But his problems with Nicole were almost similar to Suhani's as Nicole's brother, Russel, was a rowdy skinhead from the block.

Trouble followed Jai where he tried to run away from it as he witnessed the cold-blooded racial assault on Samarth. Going to the police would mean an investigation on Jai's credentials and walking away would mean losing Suhani. Jai had fled from India to find a new hassle free life and now found himself in the heart of a racially disturbed city. Jai's plight grew as the racial attacks spread across the city. The only way to deal with the issue at hand was to take the bull by its horns. He found himself at a crossroad of good and bad. But ironically the line dividing good and bad was running straight through his heart. It was a time when Jai had to figure whether it's Good to be bad or it is Good to be Good.