new releases of 2013 reviews/updates

Rating: 1/5 stars (One star)

Star cast: Rajeev Khandelwal, Tena Desae, Paresh Rawal, Hanif Hilal, Dhruv Ganesh.

What's Good: Rajeev Khandelwal and Paresh Rawal's performances; a couple of bikini scenes.

What's Bad: The lame 'dares'; the insipid climax; the predictable storyline; the frustrating wrong timings of the songs'

Loo break: Anytime. Might as well not come back.

Watch or Not?: Not really. This disastrous flick will not entertain you at all.

User Rating:

"If you lie, you die' you die." Cheesy as it may sound, there are some really good flicks made on that clichd line (I haven't repeated the "you die" for effect, it's verbatim from the movie) with the brilliant Phone Booth being the most memorable. However, Table No. 21 tries hard to be a psychological thriller but ends up being a me-too, and then ruins things further with a social message type ending.

Vivaan (Rajeev Khandelwal) and Siya Agasthi (Tena Desae) have just won a free trip to Fiji. It's a timely getaway for the couple who are not only in a rough patch due to Vivaan being out of a job, but also because it's their wedding anniversary. Between the clink of glasses, a certain Mr. Khan (Paresh Rawal) makes them a mouth-watering offer. What lies between them and Rs. 21 crores are just 8 questions and answers. The catch? They have to answer all the questions truthfully and complete their dares.

Unable to resist, Vivaan and Siya sign on the dotted line and the game begins. Before millions of online viewers, Vivaan and Siya answer personal questions about each other and do things that they never imagined they would. While it starts off with something as simple as kissing in the middle of a crowded street, the tasks get more absurd and dangerous at the proceeding levels. When they try to escape, they are informed that the lie-detectors on their wrists will detonate if they go beyond a certain distance.

While Vivaan and Siya think they know everything about each other, the game shows them otherwise. How long does this sinister game continue? What is the real reason behind the questions? Will they win?

The rest of the movie reveals the answers.

Table No. 21 Review: Script Analysis

Sheershak Anand, Abhijeet Deshpande and Shantanu Ray Chhibber try an innovative game-show technique with Table No. 21 but it falls flat. Right from the start, the game looks nothing like a show with "millions of online viewers", even though Mr. Khan reiterates it half a dozen times (considering that we are likely to forget those 5 words because of boredom). The tasks and questions that follow are so lame that even a local TV show would not use it, let alone an international show with a prize money of millions. The dares are a bit inspired from movies like Saw 5, but it's nowhere near as gruesome.

The characterizations are badly done. Vivaan and Siya are supposed to be college sweethearts very much in love with each other. Yet Siya only screams "nonsense" when the task includes having her hair shaved off, not when her husband has to spurt out 500ml of his blood for the earlier dare. After the interval, the dares become predictable and boring. You can see the finish line, and you want the darn film to just get there. And when it does, it's not a pretty sight.

Abhijeet Deshpande's dialogues are ordinary, though he tries to spice things up with poetic couplets.

Table No. 21 Review: Star Performances

Can someone give Rajeev Khandelwal a good film already? It's a shame to see a talented actor like him having to do sorry roles like these. He does really well in the movie as Vivaan. Tena Desae gets to mostly huff-and-puff, and show off lots of skin, but she's good as Siya. Paresh Rawal is wasted as the mysterious Mr. Khan, and even has to sport an unsightly arc of hair on his head throughout the movie. All the characters suffer because of bad writing with none of them ever living to their full potential.

Hanif Hilal does not get a single line in the film, but his acting is good. Dhruv Ganesh is also fine.

Table No. 21 Review: Direction, Music & Editing

Aditya Datt does a mediocre job with a disappointing script. The characters have been handled badly and there's not much to look further to at any point in the movie. Strapping a Steady Camera on to the protagonist has become a trend of sorts now-a-days and this movie shows why it's utterly unnecessary to do so. Amar Mohile's background score is alright. The two songs ' by Gajendra Verma and Sachin Gupta ' are perfect in their wrong timings. Ravi Walia's cinematography is very ordinary.

Table No. 21 Review: The Last Word

Table No. 21 is a shameful waste of some really good actors where the makers sleepwalked through the entire film. Best to avoid this one.

Table No. 21 Trailer

Rating: 2.5/5 stars (Two-and-a-half stars)

Star cast: Leander Paes, Jimmy Shergill, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Puja Bose, Sudhanshu Pandey, Gulshan Grover, Sayali Bhagat, Achint Kaur.

What's Good: An intriguing narrative and well bound story.

What's Bad: Lacks logic at many crucial points in the film and loose acting by many at large.

Loo break: One (You need the interval to digest in the first half)

Watch or Not?: If social dramas interest you, don't miss this one. It is good for its subtlety in delivering a message which is quite loud in character. Given the present social scenario, this film will entice one to think about the current state of affairs in our nation. This film makes for a decent one time watch.

User Rating:

Following the vein from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra'sRang De Basanti, this film follows the lives of four passengers traveling from New Delhi to Mumbai in a first class compartment of Rajdhani Express. A middle class Bengali Antel (Priyanshu Chatterjee), a snobbish man from the tinsel town(Sudhanshu Pnadey), an almost unnoticed and unsuccessful item girl (Puja Bose) and a man (Leander Paes) running from the shackles of his goon of a Godfather are put together in a train compartment and the story follows.

It un-homogenously follows the trail of the life of the protagonist (Leander Paes) and the incidents that occur with him inside the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express. The story unwraps easily and one won't have any difficulty in recognizing the characters as they are people we have seen on screens before. Hence in terms characterization, the film indeed lacks a certain luster as well as freshness. The action in the film is quite predictable, but one would still be hooked to know the climax. The protagonist does manage to draw a significant amount of sympathy from the audience given his back-story conveyed through flashbacks.

Keshav (Paes) is forced to pull out a gun and when the news of it reaches the police they take immediate action. The consumerist and sensationalizing media hypes the news deeming Paes to be a terrorist, without having an inkling of idea about the entire story. Does the Rajdhani Express reach its destination? What happens to Chatterjee, Bose, Pandey and mostly Paes? What is the role of Police and the media in this incident? Rajdhani Express is a good attempt at a social commentary, while the audiences find answers to afore mentioned questions.

Rajdhani Express Review: Script Analysis

We cannot call this film preachy but it surely works on those lines. The narrative is adhesively strong but the actors fail to deliver as courageously. The characterization might seem picked up from a narrow repertoire of ideas and the events depicted have been seen before. The movie is releasing at a time of national crisis which will work better for the film.

Often at pivotal points in the story, you will find a lack of in sync with the main story. Also at places, the quintessential link of logic will be found missing. But if you are an overblown melodramatic atom of the Hindi fillum watching audience, you will clearly overlook those bits.

The dialogues are well scripted and decently executed by most actors. Interactions between the characters reflect the social hegemony of the nation and also bring out social stratifications prevalent in the Indian society. The pace of the story is maintained by minimizing the dance-song effects of the film and sticking to the no-nonsense fashion of story telling. The film fails to satisfy despite a good story. Given the current hues of the social scenario, the movie will hit your sub-conscience and demand instant social action on part of the general public. The movie dons a thought provoking demeanor in the end, which does push the lackadaisical audience to think.

Rajdhani Express Review: Star Performances

While all eyes are on Leander Paes, it wouldn't be wrong to say that he doesn't really disappoint you. For a first film and absolutely no background of acting, at places he does manage to make you forget that he is a Wimbledon winning tennis ace. His dialogue delivery would however need some improvement and mostly being an actor, his eyes fail to speak the pain and the thrill that his character was feeling. He makes Keshav stand out, lending a lot of help from his director and the script.

Munish played by Sudhanshu Pandey was interesting. Pandey, being a natural looker and a charmer works well for the ladies! He almost plays himself in the film and that doesn't really require much effort from his side and the role is quite well done. Priyanshu Chatterjee, however, proves to be the quaint humor factor of the film. He drinks Rum, reads philosophy and as the Bengalis colloquially term them, he plays a perfect Antel reveling in his Antel-amo. His comic timing and dialogue delivery are both perfect which works in favor of the film.

Puja Bose, who plays Sunita, is bound to disappoint you. Her character is strong but her weak acting dismally fails it. The Bollywood aspiring item girl Sunita, is ready to compromise on morals and that doesn't really show women in a strong light which offended the radical feminist in me, personally.

The power packed performance of Jimmy Shergill is impeccable and flawless as the police officer Yadav. He exhibits a range of fine emotions of his character which depicts the general command of the Indian Police and their vulnerability at the service of politicians. Gulshan Grover as the T.T Sharma is brilliant. One cannot miss Achint Kaur who does a good job at representing the commercialized face of the Indian media.

Rajdhani Express Review: Direction, Music & Editing

Ashok Kohli did pen down a marvelous script. The editor has done his best to work on the flaws of the actors in order to maintain the compelling nature of the script. His work is definitely lucid. The editing work has been done impressively on the flashback sequences. The cinematography was good as well. As far as the music goes, the background score fits on the frame without looking out of place. Songs aren't really important in the film and perhaps only 'Armaan Jagti Hai' will manage to strike you.

Rajdhani Express Review: The Last Word

Go for Rajdhani Express, if social dramas interest you and you do not really mind experimenting with your film watching schedule. There is a higher chance the frequent sloppiness of a few characters get on to you. But if you are looking for a good story here's one if you merely excuse the not-so-great execution.