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Aditya Datt’s mysterious thriller opens with the explanation of its title on the screen which refers to the Article No. 21 of the Indian Constitution talking about the “Right To Live and Personal Liberty”. But since the film deals with a secret to be revealed in the end, therefore I would not like to talk about its story details here which may ruin your experience of watching this above average thriller, with thankfully something different to offer.
TABLE No.21 begins with some picturesque romantic moments lived in Fiji by the lead couple who are there on a trip won in some undisclosed contest. Once these initial routine 15 minutes are over, the film actually begins as soon as Paresh Rawal enters the scene with his exciting game of few questions (with a board reminding me of JUMANJI) and a prize money of 21 crores. Finding it interesting enough the couple readily agrees to the deal and start answering the questions truthfully to win the big prize. Performing new challenging tasks associated with every question asked, they start facing some unusual & surprising situations which in turn make the film quite engrossing and entertaining.
But post intermission, as the narration begins to go into the repetitive zone and the actual secret behind the game is exposed, it somehow reduces the overall impact of the build-up made by its first half. The social angle prominently there in its final moments doesn’t turn out to be that explosive as one expects it to be. Therefore the moment you know it all, the game doesn’t seem to be convincing enough and the whole set-up looks like quite weird and over the top. However the plus point of TABLE NO. 21 remains that, it at least tries to give you something fresh and unique moving ahead than the usual Bollywood stuff and its fixed formulas.
Having said that, this is not the first time such concept of a game has been used for an intense suspense thriller in Bollywood. In 2011, there was a small budget and not so well publicized film called CHITKABREY, which also had exactly the same plot with the socially relevant angle revealed in the end. Now the only difference here is that where CHITKABREY featured a game similar to the famous BIG BOSS format, the present TABLE No. 21 revolves around a game reminding you of the controversial SACH KA SAAMNA program. Probably Rajeev Khandelwal also got this film due to the reason that he was only the anchor of SACH KA SAAMNA show in reality too.
So in one way, it can also be called an unofficial remake of that unknown film of 2011 which was comparatively a pretty weak project with an amateurish cast. Honestly, its quite possible that the similarity being discussed here is purely unintentional or coincidental. And in case it really is then surely the culprit here is the trend wherein film-makers normally don’t watch the new films released in the Hindi Film Industry itself due to their own distinctive reasons.
Progressing on an engaging track before its final 30 minutes, TABLE No. 21 tries to win over the audience through its well written narrative and surprises thrown in every 10-15 minutes of the film which only work in its first half. Musically you don’t mind watching the few forgettable songs while enjoying the scenic beauty of Fiji captured well but Background Score could have been better as per the requirement of its theme. In other words, I strongly feel that if you are ready to gamble with a new subject then why not try giving it another edge with an innovative background music too.
The film completely relies on its 3 key characters, who perfectly suit their respective roles like ‘T’. But I really didn’t find anything new in the character portrayal by Paresh Rawal. He is good no doubt but there is nothing novel in his act which went against my own expectations from the veteran having a wide range. Rajeev Khandelwal on the other hand plays it well and one must praise the kind of projects he is choosing since his AAMIR. He has got the star-presence and looks quite natural playing the game with Paresh across the table. May be because he has already been through many similar sequences in his own TV show mentioned above. Tena Desae, as his wife, gives a fine performance and the girl does have some talent waiting to be exploited. Though she doesn’t look stunning in all her outfits, but with some careful choices made she certainly can prove both her talent and confidence for sure.
Overall, TABLE NO. 21 makes a good impact till its intermission, drops towards the mid and then turns out to be less explosive than expected with a preachy kind of climax. It may disappoint you in the end too as one doesn’t like to suddenly go into a ‘Social mode’ while watching an exciting mystery thriller. Moreover once you know the real truth, all that website business and cameras seem to be added deliberately into its narrative without any reason. Hence it can be seen once if you wish to try something fresh attempted in Hindi Films. But to say the truth, it’s nothing more than a better version of CHITKABREY (released in 2011) with a finer vision, superior production values and a talented cast.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
(Note : Please don’t read the CHITKABREY review (here in BTC) if you wish to see TABLE No. 21, as it will clearly reveal its surprising twist to you.)
Tags :
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Aamir Khan’s latest solo venture TALAASH coming after a long gap met with a mixed response at the box office mainly due to its unexpected culmination giving it a supernatural touch. Now though the writing team of the film reportedly claims it to be inspired from a real life incident they personally had in their own life. But still, the film has many acute similarities with few other projects which cannot be ignored as mentioned below.
1. It reminded me of a Thai horror film called SHUTTER (2004) which also starts with an accident wherein the spirit of a dead girl comes in front of a car and the couple in it thinks that they have actually killed her. The spirit of the girl then starts haunting the boy as he was responsible for her death a few years back and was a part of the evil game played in that ugly past. But since after the initial accident sequence, the film moves on to a completely different track so this minor similarity can be taken as a mere co-incidence.
2. Secondly the exactly similar references present in T. Jefferson Parker’s mystery novel THE FALLEN are tough to ignore because it also revolves around an investigating officer who gets visions of various kinds while talking to people and also has a wife who has decided to leave him. The case he is investigating revolves around the mysterious death of another cop who too had a broken marriage, reason of which was the drowning death of their three years old daughter. The findings of the case later get related to a prostitution racket and its involvement with many high ranking city officials.
3. Coming to the spirit angle in TALAASH, it straight away seems to be taken from an English thriller ELEPHANT WHITE (2011), which also has the spirit of a beautiful dead girl, forced into drugs & prostitution, visible only to an assassin. Now here too she helps him kill all the people involved in the flesh trade or girls trafficking business like a real person only. And quite similar to TALAASH, this action thriller also starts with a colorful tour of the dark lanes of Bangkok where drugs, prostitution and trafficking is in full swing. Plus later when the secret is revealed, here too we have some scenes re-shown without the girl’s spirit to explain that the assassin was actually talking to nobody.
Hence though Reema Kagti did come up with an interesting mystery thriller along with Mr. Perfectionist in the lead, but its plot had too many loop holes and their choice of subject surely could have been better moving ahead than such clear inspirations.
Tags :
TALAASH (2012) and its possible inspirations, Inspired Bollywood Films, Hindi Inspired Movies, Copied Concepts in Hindi Films List by Bobby Sing, Copied Hindi Films, Inspired Hindi Films from Novels.
Kunal Kohli has been associated with ‘All Inspired Films” since his first venture released in 2002. And working on the same formula, after a whole decade he once again comes up with a film based on another borrowed idea, this time taken from a Taiwanese film called “Three Times” or “Zui Hao De Shi Guang”. Reportedly Imtiaz Ali was also inspired from the same film for making his “Love Aaj Kal”. But then he didn’t blindly follow it and his script talked about the different eras as part of flashbacks related to his few key characters. Whereas in TERI MERI KAHAANI, Kunal adapts the concept as it is from the original giving it his own Indian touch in the three different eras.
Now where the original deals with 1911, 1966 and 2005, this present version deals with 1910, 1960 and 2012. But this time Kunal really works upon the inspired concept and majorly re-shapes it with his own vision converting it into a marginally interesting one. Honestly, I neither liked the Taiwanese film for its lifeless content nor I really loved the present unclear version of Kunal Kohli. However I would like to mention one big difference here, in the way a story can be conceived by two different directors making it more realistic in their own ways.
In TMK, when the script moves into 1910 we get to see the era depicted by colourful sets, people from different religions, British police officers and freedom fight struggle going on in the country along with few peppy songs. But when the Taiwanese film goes into the year 1911, its narration suddenly becomes mute as a silent movie….Why….because obviously it was an era of silent screen communicating with the audience through the running captions. And that’s the difference between the vision of a creative director and a commercial one.
Talking about 3 distinctive love stories happening in 3 different eras in TERI MERI KAHAANI, it basically looks like a direction less project taking you no-where. As it begins with 1960s everything is fine and you enjoy watching the lively era without any major development in the story. But when the same keeps happening in the other two eras too then one becomes restless and starts looking for the basic purpose behind showing all this. In fact till the last 20 minutes of the film, both the viewer and the director remain clueless about what is happening on the screen in a strange manner. And when all the explanations are given in the final reels, one doesn’t feel convinced or interested at all in the way it is depicted.
In short, the first era of the 60s remains the best out of the 3, whereas the representation of 1910 remains the weakest. In between these two, the 2012 version of the love story never rises above the average. So, where the initial 40 minutes of the film are refreshing, the rest showcasing the other two time periods simply give you nothing. And in the end, it really makes you think that why on earth Kunal chose this inspired subject when he never knew what he is going to do with it on the screen. The director also remains confused in his re-creation of the past, both in the sequences of 1910 and 1960. For example, he shows a big flex hoarding being displayed in the year 1960 whereas there were only handmade hoardings or multiple-sheet paper posters used in that time for publicity. Moreover, he takes too many liberties in depicting the complex 1910 era when India was still struggling under the British rule. But here the silver lining in the dark is that probably TERI MERI KAHAANI is the first film ever which takes the British rule over India in such a positive and cool manner. And I seriously wish this was done in a more appealing way coz it could have actually turned the film into something interesting.
Technically, though it was quite cosmetic in looks but still I enjoyed watching the 1960s graphical representation (Set Designing & Cinematography) on screen and loved the spirit in this particular part of the film. But the same cannot be said about the 1910 era as its recreation was in fact way below the mark and not competent at all. In the performance section, both Shahid and Priyanka frankly had nothing to do in the script except looking good and keep smiling. The story dosent give them the opportunity to display a wide variety of emotions and they both majorly remain the same throughout the film. Yet TMK can easily be called a Shahid’s film more than Priyanka's. The pair does well particularly in the first half of the film but frankly I liked Prachi Desai’s small cameo a lot better than Shahid-Priyanka’s complete two hour act put together. Neha Sharma is ok looking quite different from her looks in CROOK and Vrajesh Hirjee is as usual fine in his role of a reporter or detective.
In all, the only merit of TERI MERI KAHAANI is its soundtrack which gives you some good foot tapping numbers keeping you engaged in its otherwise uninteresting storyline. Sajid-Wajid can easily include this film in the list of their better works as the duo's music truly remains the only hero in TMK unarguably.
So you can go for it, in case you love watching your favorite actors doing the same routine song-dance-drama on the screen in a feel good script without any basic storyline. It does have some cool, lovable moments in its 3 love stories happening in 3 different eras. But at the same time TERI MERI KAHAANI is also one of those unexplainable films which strongly forces you to think that ‘How could a lackluster script of this kind get approved by such renowned and image-conscious Stars of the current times?” or “Do these actors ever read the script on which the film is supposed to be made or not?
Ratings : 2 / 5
Tags :
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Priyadarshan’s love for making inspired (or copied) movies continues with TEZZ which can easily be included in the list of director’s weakest movies till date. Revolving around the plot of a bomb placed in a high speed train, the film has very less of the train and more of all unexciting and directionless drama going on amongst many Indian and foreign characters vaguely. In fact the funniest part of the film lies in the manner all the western actors are talking in fluent Hindi which looks quite weird and illogical as per the concept and grandeur of the product is concerned. (May be they have a different version to be released overseas.)
The plot of TEZZ has no novelty and neither has its execution which looked quite promising in its promos. Indian viewers have already seen this before in a far better and entertaining movie called “The Burning Train” (1980) which was made more than 3 decades ago but still remains a much more enjoyable fast paced thriller than the current TEZZ. In the World Cinema there are more than one references of films made on similar subjects from where B. R. Chopra’s 1980 film was also inspired. In 1975, there was “Shikansen Daibakuha” or “The Bullet Train” made in Japan (from which TEZZ copies many exact sequences) followed by “1 2 3 Monster Express” with a speeding bus made in Thailand in the year 1977. Before it there was “The Cassandra Crossing” which revolved around a disease spread in a speeding train, released in 1976. In 1985 it was “Runaway Train” having two escaped convicts trapped on a train with no brakes. In 1994 Keanu Reeves was there to stop a fast speeding bus with a bomb in “Speed” and most recently there was “Unstoppable” released in 2010 wherein Denzel Washington tries to stop a speeding train without a driver.
So after reading the above references the first question which comes to my mind is that what was the need of making this movie which had nothing new to tell or show the audience in the first place? The attempt would have been justified if it had some worth watching actions sequences or graphical representations converting the old plot into a worth watching one. But sadly the film has nothing to offer in that department too and is a totally uninteresting watch for particular the viewers who have seen at least one of the above mentioned movies in the past.
The screenplay is unexciting and so are the performances from the veterans as they are given nothing in the script to showcase their talents. The unwanted songs and deliberately added half baked love angles further ruin the project completely accompanied by a quite badly written and laughable climax (which cannot be revealed here). In short the film really makes you wonder that what really forced reputed actors such as Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgan and Boman Irani sign this film after reading its script (assuming they were given one before signing it). Now I have not included Mohan Lal in the names above because I know he must have done this project purely due to his years long relations with the director, otherwise there was nothing for him to do in the entire film at all. The ladies are all there decorating few parallel running story tracks which could have been avoided easily. As a casting blunder it also has a girl posing as a child artist who at present is playing 'The Elder Bahu" in an ongoing serial on TV. Frankly speaking, what more can be written about a film called TEZZ which actually has very few exciting high voltage sequences involving ‘The Real Train’ and just keeps wandering in the places outside the train for most of the time.
Summing up, I would like to ask all the readers here that, What do you think has to be the most important aspect of a film titled TEZZ based on the plot of a speeding train with a bomb waiting to explode? Just try to give it a thought before reading further.
Yes, the script has to be there, the content needs to be there along with a great execution on the screen and yes the performances also have to be there to support the concept. But what’s most important in an exciting chase thriller such as TEZZ is its “Background Score” which should make your heartbeat run faster and should be capable enough to bring the viewer on to the edge of his seats.
Unfortunately, TEZZ has one of the weakest Background Scores not complementing the actual theme of the project in any way. A racy soundtrack doesn’t only mean increasing the BPM (Beats per minute) on the mixer. But it should have a great composition too which can make you feel the tension and danger being shown on the screen involving the lives of so many people.
So failing to meet this very first requisite of making a fast pace chase thriller involving a ticking bomb, for me TEZZ has no Tezzy (Speed) in it as per its name and its just like a years old wet cracker trying to explode loudly. And if you really want to know what I mean by the musical point mentioned here then do watch Denzel Washington’s UNSTOPABBLE and see the difference what Background Music can cause to a project of this nature.
Rating : 1.5 / 5
(Note : Dear Priyadarshan, please give us something great & original once again!)
Tags :
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