Maryada Ramanna **1/2

Rajamouli is at it again. A hit again with Sunil and Saloni in the lead. Wonderful comedy and a simple story woven with Keeravani's amazing music ensures that the film keeps the audience glued to the seat.

A few places where the comedy is a bit off the rack, but in all, a family entertainer proving the fact that the Director is the person behind a hit more than anyone else, even the hero for that reason. Sunil has contributed with great dance moves. Saloni should be getting few nice offers for sure after this movie.

In all, a clean adaptation of  Buster Keaton's Hollywood movie 'Our Hospitality' dished out with hummable songs. Each frame has been shot with great richness, making it a supreme visual treat.

Fulltoo Mazaa !

Khatta Meetha *1/2

'Khatta Meetha' - The Hindi version of the 1988' Mohanlal starring Malayalam movie 'Vellanakalude Nadu' is a typical Priyadarshan movie that is woven around human emotions. Akshay Kumar carries the film entirely on his shoulder. Trisha Krishnan looks great in those sarees and leaves her mark, though in a not-so-significant role.

Too many characters have been pulled into the second half, making this part a mess. However, the first half is comic and enjoyable. Urvashi Sharma is wasted in the sister role. Rajpal Yadav is at his comic best. Johnny Lever fails to impress. Makarand Deshpande is apt in the role of a journalist. Couple of songs are impressive. The sad part is - one would be surprised that there are no twists that can be expected in a drama film.

A timepass film provided you have enough and enough of patience !

Madrasapattinam ***

Hats-off for recreating the Madras of pre-independence India for the current generation. A very wonderfully woven storyline combined with slick editing, and great acting. All the songs in the movie are good and the Lyrics are worth mentioning. Music by G.V Prakash is soothing. Lyrics are really spell binding and all the actors fit the roles aptly.

The story might, at places, remind one of Lagaan, Titanic or  anyother movie that has its story set in the past and especially in the times of independence struggle. But, this story has its uniqueness and the producers, art director and everyone involved in the making of Madrasapattinam are worthy of the praise.

Arya looks stunning while Amy Jackson is 'The' beauty and both have put in a stupendous performance.

A must watch !!

Red Alert **1/2

Red Alert, as the name reflects, is about the naxal movement and the steps being taken to curb it at the moment. It portrays the real incidents and theories of naxalism but the climax is hard to digest and is impractical. Everything till the climax has been handled very well by the director Ananth Mahadevan and the  great amount of research behind this idea is visible in each frame.

Bagyashree is so refreshing to watch - lets wait to see more of her soon. Sunil Shetty, Seema Biswas and Vinod Khanna are just ok, while Sameera Reddy has put up a decent performance. It is just that her deglam role was not the fulcrum of the movie. This movie would have been way too good if it was a women-centric movie with the current naxalism scenario. The background music in the beginning of the movie is awesome and the lone song in the film has nice lyrics.

Not for the regular movie watcher, this is something on the Art side !!

Happy Husbands *1/2

This malayalam movie is a poor rip-off of the hindi movie "No Entry". A family entertainer, it is to surely to go good with the crowd that has not watched the original from Anees Bazmee. Jayaram, Samvritha and Reema stand out in the picture while others fit the bill. What is disappointing is that Indrajith even wears a bracelet similar to the blue stone bracelet that Salman wears - heights of inspiration it seems to be ! Good comic timing is the only plus.

Milenge Milenge *1/2

'Old wine in a Older bottle' - that is what the film starring a non-size zero Kareena and a non-six pack Shahid is all about. The movie, if had released as per schedule in 2005, would have been a good hit in those times. 

The first half is run of the mill college romance and then as you sit through the second half, one can relate this to the 2001 comedy 'Serendipity' and to be specific to the 'Woods' in India, this is a movie inspired by the Kollywood 2003 release - 'Jay Jay' which had Madhavan and Nisha Kothari in the lead. In short, yet another Boney Kapoor movie inspired by a Tamil movie.

To recall, this hotel where the cast and crew stayed during the shooting was destroyed by the Tsunami - happy that the movie did see the light of the day atlast after so many many (and many) a hiccups including the split-up between the lead pair.

A nice time-pass film that is outdated for the current times, but a regular movie watcher can sail through it with a pinch of patience.

Jhummandi Nadam ***

A tradition-meets-trend kind of telugu movie which would remind of the 90's movie having a goodie-good hero, his all good romance with fortune as the villain and his success at the end. A very good family entertainer to keep the audience of all ages engaged. Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures has smartly worked on a sure-shot hit formula with the 'darsakendra' Raghavendra Rao heading the movie.

Songs are wonderful and the concept of having a song for every occasion in life is something innovative. Yes, visually the songs do have our Raghavendra Rao's trademark fruits, flowers and water drops romancing the heroine every time at every possible place, but is decent enough.

Manoj leaves a mark with stupendous performance, while Mohanbabu and other artistes are adequate in their roles. Debutant Taapsee Pannu as the heroine has acted well. This new-age Rambha is one glamorous heroine to look out for in the future. The climax might be typical but otherwise, the film is a good 'time pass'.

Paisa vasool for the junta !

I Hate Love Stories **1/2

Might not be the best love story, but a very entertaining and engrossing movie which is sure to go very well with the young crowd. Amazing chemistry between Imran and Sonam weaves the magic around the audience.

Its a total 'filmy' film with a couple of good songs and one can surely connect back to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai times. A few questions - Did Karan lift this from a real life situation on the sets? Where was this touch of making happy, non-sobby movies lost? Well, good to see such a movie from Dharma productions.

A nicely thought of movie, with all the right things in place. Few comic scenes are well timed and a Karan Johar movie critic(Lover/Hater) would love to see the digs taken at his own movies that came in the past. The first half is complete fun, while the second half serves the needed sentiment in the movie.

The ratings might not be great, but the boxoffice is sure to ring this time around for Imran&Sonam's mesmerizing chemistry, and the new treatment that we get to see in the film.