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Love stories are beaten to death. The type has been do again, visited and re-visited again and again and again. So much so that all love stories look, seem and sound alike. But JAB WE MET, helmed by Imtiaz Ali, takes a fresh look at love stories.

Frankly, the story isn’t new. It has traces of the Abhishek - Ash starrer DHAAI AKSHAR PREM KE and Govinda - Urmila starrer KUNWARA, but director Imtiaz Ali’s execution of the subject takes it to another level altogether.

Movie review of Jab We Met

Also, for any love story to work wonders, it ought to have the germs to make the viewer jump with joy and participate in the goings-on. And the principal characters here — Shahid and Kareena — are so real, so natural, so believable and so winsome that the viewer gets absorbed into their world as minutes pass by.

To sum up, JAB WE MET is as refreshing as an ice-cold watermelon juice in scorching heat. Imtiaz Ali’s expert storytelling coupled with Shahid and Kareena’s sparkling performances make this film a must-watch!

Aditya [Shahid Kapur], an industrialist, is heartbroken as the girl he loves is getting married to someone else. Unable to muster up the courage to return home, he drifts out of the gathering and aimlessly boards a train, bounding away into the night.

As destiny would have it, he meets Geet [Kareena Kapoor] — a beautiful but annoyingly talkative girl who is leaving Mumbai to go her hometown — Bhatinda. Later, she has plans of eloping with her boyfriend [Tarun Arora].

Geet irritates Aditya to the point of getting him to leave the train. As she tries to get him back on the train, she ends up missing it and the two find themselves stranded on a desolate station with no luggage or money.

Begins the idyllic journey through the exuberant North Indian heartland in which this odd couple makes their way through buses and taxis and camel-carts to reach her house in Punjab.

On arrival, Geet’s family mistakes the two for lovers. Before this misconception can be cleared, Geet escapes to her boyfriend in Manali. Aditya leaves with her, confirming the suspicion that they are lovers. In Manali, Aditya feels empowered to return to Mumbai and resurrect his ailing business.

Life takes a positive turn and Aditya begins to do well. One day, Geet’s family, who think that she is with him, tackle Aditya. He is shocked to learn that Geet has not returned home. He takes it upon himself to find her.

He finally tracks her down in a Himalayan town and begins another journey to reach Bhatinda and flow into the colors and conceptions of a loud and happy North Indian family. How their separate journeys become one, forms the remainder of the story.

Opposites be a focus for that’s the spirit of this love story. The journey of two individuals who cross each other’s path one night and develop a deep bond is skilfully and convincingly depicted at the very outset.

The highpoint of JAB WE MET is its story. Although the story bears an uncanny resemblance to some films, it never gives you the feeling of déjà vu. The sequence of events in the first hour is akin to a roller coaster ride. The journey that the couple undertake to reach Bhatinda first and Manali later is mesmerizing.

But the pace slackens in the second hour. Partly because the goings-on get dramatic and serious. Also, things seem to be stretched in this hour. The love story takes its own sweet time to reach its destination, when the fact remains that it could’ve [and should've] reached the finale earlier. Thankfully, the end is expertly executed and takes the graph of the film higher.

Imtiaz Ali deserves brownie points for handling the subject with such maturity. The fun-laden scenes are truly funny and the emotional ones make you moist-eyed. Striking the right balance between light and heavy moments is akin to walking on a tight rope and Imtiaz handles the two extremes with remarkable ease. An accomplished storyteller undoubtedly!

Pritam proves his versatility yet again. ‘Poochho Na Poochho’ and ‘Tumse Hi’ are seeped in melody, while ‘Mauja Mauja’ and ‘Nagada’ are racy, foot-tapping and easy on the lips. N. Nataraja Subramanian’s cinematography does justice to Imtiaz’s vision. The indoor look as well as the exteriors are dexterously captured by the lensman. The writing [Imtiaz Ali] is almost foolproof. Also, the ambience and setting in the Punjabi household are excellent.

Both Shahid and Kareena vie for top honours. Shahid delivers his career-best performance in JAB WE MET. He goes for a complete transformation vis-à-vis his looks and attire to look the character he has chosen to portray and the understanding with which he enacts his part is worthy of lavish praises.

Kareena is in top form as well. JAB WE MET is a turning point in her career [personally as well as professionally]. Fantabulous — that’s the right word to describe her work this time. The confidence with which she handles the contrasting characterization speaks volumes. This film should do for her what KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI did for Kajol.

On the whole, JAB WE MET is one of the finest [romantic] films to come out of Bollywood in 2007. At the box-office, it has the merits to work big time. Strongly recommended… Go with your family!

Directed by Stephen Sommers
Screenplay by Stephen Sommers
Cast (in credits order)

Hugh Jackman …. Van Helsing

Kate Beckinsale …. Anna Valerious

Richard Roxburgh …. Count Vladislaus Dracula

David Wenham …. Carl

Shuler Hensley …. Frankenstein’s Monster

Elena Anaya …. Aleera

Will Kemp …. Velkan

Kevin J. O’Connor …. Igor

Alun Armstrong …. Cardinal Jinette

Silvia Colloca …. Verona

Josie Maran …. Marishka

Tom Fisher …. Top Hat

Samuel West …. Dr. Victor Frankenstein

Robbie Coltrane …. Mr. Hyde

Stephen Fisher …. Dr. Jekyll

Produced by
Bob Ducsay …. producer

Sam Mercer …. executive producer

David Minkowski …. associate producer: Czech Republic

Stephen Sommers …. producer

Matthew Stillman …. associate producer: Czech Republic

Original Music by Alan Silvestri

Cinematography by Allen Daviau

Film Editing by Bob Ducsay

Runtime: 132 min

Van Helsing is a hero who’s faith is important and not since Wes Craven’s Dracula 2000 has a movie with monsters had so many spiritual references and twists.
(2004) Film Review by Mike Furches

Story Of Van Helsing

Deep in the mountains of Carpathia lies the mysterious and mythic land of Transylvania–a world where evil is ever-present, where danger rises as the sun sets, and where the monsters that inhabit man’s deepest nightmares take form. Innovative filmmaker Stephen Sommers–who so imaginatively re-envisioned Universal’s classic Mummy character in the worldwide blockbusters “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns”–now widens his cinematic scope and multiplies his creative inspiration by breathing new life into the most time-honored pantheon of classic Universal monsters and setting them in a stunning new world of fantastical reality. Sommer’s all-encompassing vision for a world as tangible, real and visceral as any caught in the stranglehold of inescapable evil blends the recognizable and the unimaginable into a vivid, epic backdrop for his tale of ultimate evil against a lone force of good: Van Helsing.

Audiences will be drawn into a visionary, supernatural but seemingly all-too-real world of Sommers’ singular creation–set in 19th Century London, Rome, Paris and Transylvania–where mankind is in constant danger from incarnate evil in a multitude of forms: monsters that outlive generations, defying repeated attacks from the doomed brave souls that challenge them in their never-ending war upon the human race. In Sommers’ hands, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man and others are effectively reborn as dynamic heirs to the traditions handed down by the filmmakers of the classic Universal monster pictures. Honoring their legacy while propelling them into the next generation of cinema, Sommers turns what was once classic into cutting edge.

Into this world, brought to life and played out on massive sets and sweeping locations, Sommers brings Van Helsing (Jackman), the legendary monster hunter born in the pages of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In his ongoing battle to rid the world of its fiendish creatures, Van Helsing, on order of a secret society, travels to Transylvania to bring down the lethally seductive, enigmatically powerful Count Dracula (Roxburgh) and joins forces with the fearless Anna Valerious (Beckinsale), out to rid her family of a generations-old curse by defeating the vampire. Also populating Sommers dense canvas are: Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley as Dr. Frankenstein’s misunderstood monster; former Matthew Bourne company leading dancer Will Kemp as Velkan, Anna’s stalwart brother who transforms under the full moon into the Wolf Man; Kevin J. O’Connor as Dr. Frankenstein’s loyal yet treacherous assistant, Igor; David Wenham as Carl, a friar entrusted with ensuring Van Helsing’s safe return; and Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca and Josie Maran as Dracula’s three bloodthirsty brides who will stop at nothing to help their master in his plan to subvert human civilization and rule over a world of havoc, fear and darkness.

Reviewer’s Summary - Action Movie

Language: Hindi

Year: May 2007

Actors: Vivek Oberoi, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Tusshar Kapoor, Diya Mirza, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Neha Dhupia

Director: Apoorva Lakhia

Producer: Sanjay Gupta & Sanjay Dutt

Written by: Apoorva Lakhia & Suresh Nair

Screenplay: Suresh Nair & Apoorva Lakhia

Dialogs: Raj Vasant

Music: Anand Raj Anand, Mika Singh & Biddu

Lyrics: Dev Kohli, Dr. Palash Sen, Mika Singh & Sanjay Gupta

Watching Shootout at Lokhandwala is nasty punishment for Bollywood fans.

By golly, we haven’t seen such a young, substandard gangster movie - either Bollywood or Hollywood - in 40 years.

Shootout at Lokhandwala’s director Apoorva Lakhia has skillful a feat that we thought was impossible. Lakhia has made a movie inferior than his previous disaster Ek Ajnabee.! Way to go.

Featuring the ex-junkie and real-life criminal Sanjay Dutt, a bunch of B-grade Bollywood flops like Vivek Oberoi and Suniel Shetty and C-grade misfits such as Tusshar Kapoor and Neha Dhupia, Shootout at Lokhandwala is a film that’s crude in beginning, awkward in execution and crass in action.

Shootout at Lokhandwala was free on May 25, 2007 just as Sanjay Dutt is about to be sentenced for illegal control of deadly weapons.

Much is wrong with Shootout at Lokhandwala.

The gangsters Maya (Viveik Oberoi), Bhua (Tusshar Kapoor) et al are not fear-inspiring, the songs not bewitching, the action scenes not thrilling and in their angst the cops just not convincing. As a result, the narrative is seldom gripping.

For the hapless viewer caught in the crossfire of the various bubbleheads involved in the making of Shootout at Lokhandwala, the overall effect of this repellent farce is plain agonizing.

Inspired by an actual shootout at the Lokhandwala building complex in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1991, Shootout at Lokhandwala is relate in flashback by three policemen Shamsher Khan (Sanjay Dutt), Kaviraj Patil (Suniel Shetty) and Javed Sheikh (Arbaaz Khan) during an inquiry following the killing of six gangsters in the fiery shootout.

Shootout at Lokhandwala traces the rise and fall of gangster Maya (an assistant of the big don Dawood Ibrahim) and his associates in Bombay.

But none of the key players come alive in the movie.

Of this gaggle of mediocre actors, Sanjay Dutt inflicts the least misery on the audience.

Viveik Oberoi is grossly inadequate as Maya, the smirking henchman of Dawood Ibrahim. The young lad is pathetically unequal to the rigors of playing the role of a dreaded Mumbai gangster.

When Vivek is not overacting (which he is most of the time in Shootout at Lokhandwala), he’s looking plain silly. It’s hard to imagine Vivek Oberoi surviving another flop (remember that nightmare called Naksha?).

Suneil Shetty is forgettable.

Confined to bang, bang, the action scenes in this gangster movie lack finesse or any artistic merit. Many decades after Hollywood made such classic gangster films as Godfather and Scarface, Bollywood is still churning out rookie gangster movies.

Son of yesteryear hero “Jumping Jack” Jeetendra, Tusshar Kapoor is completely bereft of any acting talent. If you thought Jeetendra proved the theory of evolution with all his prancing on screen in the 1980s, you ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen his brat Tusshar go through the motions of acting.

With his bulging eyes and skinny features, Tusshar Kapoor looks positively clownish, especially in the gymn scene where he threatens police officer Suneil Shetty, who’s twice his size.

As Maya’s mother, Amrita Singh makes a decent impact despite a fairly small role.

Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek Bachchan have small roles in the movie, as a prosecutor and policeman respectively.

Nehu Dhupia and Diya Mirza have insignificant parts. All the better. Nehu Dhupia has the least acting abilities of any actress, west of the Bay of Bengal and east of the Arabian Sea.

Music, or what passes for it, in Shootout at Lokhandwala is a joke. The Ganpat song/dance sequence of the gangsters dancing was a hoot. None of the songs have any charm.

Shootout at Lokhandwala put us into a anger of frustration that Bollywood continues to throw such rotten movies at its fans.

All lows and no highs, Shootout at Lokhandwala is a strong contender for winning the award.

it’s Christmas Eve and five kids have just been snowed in at the airport — and there isn’t a parent in sight. Unaccompanied Minors follows awkward Spencer (Dyllan Christopher), rich-girl Grace (Gina Mantegna), tomboy Donna (Quinn Shephard), geeky Charlie (Tyler James Williams) and bashful Beef (Brett Kelly) as they try to outwit a disgruntled airport official (Lewis Black) and reunite with their families. Using “borrowed” golf-carts, a canoe on a snow hill and the help of a reluctant flight attendant (Wilmer Valderrama), these kids are about to prove the holidays aren’t about where you are, but who you’re with.

it’s Christmas Eve and a huge blizzard has just shut down the airport, threatening to ruin holiday plans for all stranded travelers.

Snowed in en route to their father’s house, two “Unaccompanied Minors”—dubbed UMs—Spencer (Dyllan Christopher) and his little sister, Katherine (Dominique Saldaña), are ushered to the airport’s Unaccompanied Minors Room, a holding cell for dozens of stranded, parent-free kids from all over the country.

Caught in the crossfire of projectile cupcakes and juice boxes and desperate to escape, Spencer makes a run for freedom along with four other UMs, who couldn’t be more different if they tried: spoiled rich girl Grace (Gina Mantegna), trailer-park tomboy Donna (Quinn Shephard), academic overachiever Charlie (Tyler James Williams) and comic-book geek Timothy Wellington a.k.a. “Beef” (Brett Kelly).

clearly the most eagerly awaited film after Devdas (and also the most controversial), ‘Kaante’ moves on to newer pastures, keeping pace with Hollywood standards. In simple words, - ‘a Bollywood movie with a Hollywood feel.’

With the star cast comprising of some biggies, the movie is slated to bail out the sagging morale of the industry. And it does achieve to an extent.

Revolving around a robbery, you get to see Amitabh Bachchan spearheading a second bank dacoit in recent times (on-screen, of course). And this is no ’sarkari’ bank in a remote rural area with lathi-weilding guards, and the biggest resistance for the robbers, being the cops’ malfunctioning ‘desi’ revolvers. But hey, this one involves a high-tech bank on foreign shores (Los Angeles).

The movie starts with a boom, exploring the petty criminal records of a bunch of Indians who are pulled up every now and then, for questioning by the police. Fed-up of constant harassment, they team up to teach the law-enforcers a lesson, by hatching a plan to rob the very bank, in which the cops have their accounts (Service American Bank, ..Just in case you wanted to know).

Well, there’s Major (Amitabh Bachchan) in the lead, with gang members including ‘The Bouncer’ (Sunil Shetty), ‘Ajju’ (Sanjay Dutt), ‘Andy’ (Kumar Gaurav), ‘Baali’ (Mahesh Manjrekar) and ‘Mak’ (Lucky Ali).

Almost all have some genuine reason to commit the crime. Major, nursing a bed-ridden wife (Rati Agnihotri), ‘The Bouncer’ wanting to keep her girlfriend (Malaika) off performing in bars and Andy trying hard to save his marriage.

The plot, jotted down to the minutest detail, leaving barely any loopholes. And till the interval, the crime is already executed, without any hitches.

But…BUT… Barely had they left the bank, they face the police. And what follows if bloodshed. In the crossfire, one among the gang is injured, but all manage to escape to their hideout using different sources.

They now face a grim reality - “Who amongst them tipped the police?” The whole second half is spent in knowing the ‘thorn’ in the flesh, as the gang turns against each other in mistrust.

The director makes you think at times, thereby achieving what he set out to. But he should also shoulder the blame for making the film drag a lot in the second half.

The high points include a tight screenplay in the first half, and the brilliant camerawork, aided by the eye-catching dance numbers.

Of the cast, Amitabh Bachchan stands out (as usual). Sunil Shetty is competent, whereas Sanjay Dutt is simply menacing, playing the second-in-command to Bachchan. Lucky Ali is o.k. and Kumar Gaurav, as the computer-savvy hacker, displays a wooden self all along. And lastly, Mahesh Manjrekar has done a commendable job playing the ‘good-for-nothing’ type, with an eye for women. He is the sole comic relief in the otherwise serious action.

Just one more point… Everybody knows that there is an undercover cop who plays spoilsport. But take this - Everybody die towards the end. Except one. Guess who?.. Think again. He’s not the cop. Then who?… Hey, a tricky one, right? (Self-service man, go watch it for yourself).