Movie Review : Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Movie sequels are all too often horribly musty affairs. Tanu Weds Manu Returns isn't one. The film begins four years after the marriage of Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu Sharma (Madhavan) who’re now struggling to get along with each other. After a serious clash that lands Manu in a mental asylum, Tanu finds herself back in India with her family. Manu follows soon after his friend Pappi (Deepak Dobriyal) rescues him. Both are in their respective hometowns and things just get worse when Manu decides to send his wife a legal notice. 

It pushes Tanu to become the same old fiery and brash woman she used to be and this time, she goes out seeking the attention of Raja Awasthi (Jimmy Shergill). Meanwhile, Manu falls in love with a student athlete from Delhi University, Kusum (also Kangana), who happens to be a look-a-like of Tanu. Matters get complicated once it is learnt that Kusum is supposed to get married to Raja. And more confusion follows when Kusum also falls for Manu and accepts his marriage proposal instead. Now the stage is set for yet another wedding, which can’t happen until Tanu and Manu are divorced. What follows is what the rest of the film is about.

Music Review : ABCD 2

Remo returns back with the sequel to his successful dance-centric film, this time spearheaded by Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor, along with Prabhu Deva. The last ABCD had some good numbers which were completely overshadowed by the eclectic dance moves. Will this time also the soundtrack meet the same fate?

This time, UTV and Remo has retained Sachin-Jigar to work the magic again. The lyrics is handled by Mayur Puri, and the album has ten songs to listen to. Let’s see how each song fare…

Chunar: When you listen to an album for a dance-centric film, you would certainly expect it to start off with a dance based number. However, the album surprisingly starts off with this ode to all the mothers. And what a beautiful start it is! Sung by the ever-dependable Arijit Singh, this song can be heard on a loop as many times as you want! The lyrics and the use of classical instruments works well. All in all, a great start!

Sun Saathiya: You have seen Shraddha Kapoor show some amazing moves in the video of this song. Sun Saathiya is a lovely ballad with Priya Saraiya doing a wonderful job carrying the song on her shoulders. Divya Kumar enters the song later and lends her ample support. The song catches up pace in during the interlude, but it doesn’t affect the overall impact of the song. Brilliant!

Bezubaan Phir Se: The best song of the original ABCD, Bezubaan, returns here in the form ofBezubaan Phir Se. But this time, it goes one level higher, as it ropes in Vishal Dadlani, who shines in his full-throated rendition, with Madhav Krishna as an added flavor to the male vocals. Anushka Manchanda brings in her ethereal voice in the proceedings as well. In the final portions, the song gets into super-fast mode, which I am sure, is a cue for some amazing dance moves. However the best part of the song is when we hear the strains of the original song. Loved it!

Happy B’Day: Give way to this year’s party song, as Happy B’Day is definitely going to rule the discs for months ahead. Varun Dhawan gives the intro to the song, before Sachin-Jigar and D. Soldierz enter the revelry. The best bit was their take on ‘Jai Mata Di‘ chant, where they exchanged those words with Happy B’Day! The lyrics by D. Soldierz may sound totally inane, but do they matter in these kind of songs! Totally rockin’!

Music Review : Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Like Tanu Weds Manu had Sadi Galli, Tanu Weds Manu Returns too has one guest composition, by Tanishq andVayu. Like the former, this one too follows the techno-folk mix route, and this one too is a fun ride. Some interesting use of folk instruments in the backdrop (the flute, and  that harmonium towards the end deserve a mention), even asBrijesh Shandilya & Swati Sharma do the vocal honours very well, of lyrics written by Vayu (particularly loved theBanno Tera Swagger Laage Sexy line). Lead composerKrsna and lyricist Rajshekhar take over the reins from here on (incidentally both of them debuted in part 1 of the movie). And their first song is Ghani Bawri, a richly arranged (Haryanvi?) folk piece full of energy. Something that works perfectly to singer Jyoti Nooran’s strength, and she owns it. Stripped off all its folk instrumentation, Aditya Dev’s remix doesn’t hold your interest much.Mat Ja Re has a nice tune, but the arrangement sounds dated (cannot take the combination of dafli + melancholy any more). Ankit Tiwari sounds better than he usually does, singing this one.

There is something odd about Anmol Malik’s (Anu Malik’s daughter, for the uninitiated) accent in Old School Girl at times, but the song is nicely done otherwise – in terms of tune, singing and arrangement. Truly an old school jazz piece, like its title, with some excellent trumpet solos by Joseph Monsorate. Krsna sticks to the same tune but changes the instruments for Haryanvi Version – mandolin (Tapas Roy), guitars (Sanjoy Das) and accordion (Lewis Kane) take the lead here – Sanjoy is especially fab. The Haryanvi-accented singing by Kalpana Gandharv too is brilliant !

Bombay Velvet ( Not So Velvety .. )

Bombay Velvet follows Balraj (Kapoor) and Rosie’s(Anushka Sharma) stories. She is a nightclub singer and he is a streetfighter turned henchman. Rosie has suffered abuse since she was a little girl and Johnny has survived poverty. He is in a hurry to become a “big shot” and gets picked up by journalist and businessman Kaizad Khambatta (Karan Johar introduced in a yellow jacket). Khambatta sets up a nightclub called Bombay Velvet, where he can entertain clients who need persuasion and where liquor flows despite prohibition. Johnny and his friend Chimman are given the task of running Bombay Velvet.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Mistry (Manish Chowdhary), Khambatta’s childhood friend, current friend and editor of “Glitz”, makes Rosie his mistress. He then sends her to Bombay Velvet to do some digging about Khambatta. She’s supposed to seduce Johnny for information and she does, only to fall in love with him in earnest. And so begins a love story full of betrayals and danger. (That Mistry conveniently disappears later in the plot is another matter).

Consider the elements that Bombay Velvet has been trumpeting (pun intended). It’s supposed to be an epic love story mounted on a grand, lavish scale set in the Bombay of ’50s and ’60s. The sensational promise of jazz, cabaret, nightclubs; a distressed, heavily made up singer with heavy gowns and big red flower bows in coiffured hair; a perpetually beaten up boxer, madly in love with her; a sly Shylock. The big appeal is the backdrop — the city’s post-independence history of mill strikes, rooted in a non-fiction book, Mumbai Fables by Gyan Prakash.

Trailer Review: ABC’s Quantico - Feat. Priyanka Chopra !

A diverse group of recruits has arrived at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible that one of them is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York City since 9/11.

“Quantico” stars Priyanka Chopra as Alex, Dougray Scott as Liam, Jake McLaughlin as Ryan, Aunjanue Ellis as Miranda, Yasmine Al Massri as Nimah, Johanna Braddy as Shelby, Tate Ellington as Simon and Graham Rogers as Caleb.

“Quantico” was written by Josh Safran. Executive producers are Josh Safran, Mark Gordon and Nick Pepper. “Quantico” is produced by ABC Studios.

Music Review : Dil Dhadakne Do

Dil Dhadakne Do is the eagerly awaited Zoya Akthar venture, hot on the heels of Zindagi Na Milengi Dobara. It re-assembles the winning musical-lyrical combination of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Javed Akhtar and features vocals from Siddharth Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh, Farhan Akhtar and Priyanka Chopra amongst others. 

The title track certainly starts things off with bang. The techno-rock track features an infectiously catchy hook with decent lyrics to boost. Priyanka Chopra encapsulates the attitude and confidence of the track perfectly but Farhan Akhtar’s vocals sound rather strained at times. Otherwise, the track has all the making of a chart buster.

Pehli Baar is classic rock and for that matter classic Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. It is a very like-able duet by Sukriti and Siddharth with a trendy yet old-worldly charm to it. Siddharth is particularly outstanding, his vocals a brilliant mix of the new and the old and Sukriti complements him well. Lyrics on the other hand are strictly okay but other than that it is quite a nice track.

Gallan Goodiyaan is an up beat track of the Punjabi persuasion and Sukwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan and Yashmita Singh definitely bring their special brand of enthusiasm to make it all the more enjoyable.

In Conversation with : Photoinked

Lots of activity is happening on the Blog ! ...The BUNNYMAN is working to the best of his abilities to bring you guys almost of everything that's happening....(yeah I create a build up...hehehe )... ;-) 

 Photoinked

Here is my 1st ever conversation / interview / creative audit ..etc.. Of Photoinked .... This generation shows a lot of promise , I haven't said anything new here I'm aware but facts should be sighted as many times as 1 can...kicked with this thought I met the team @ Photoinked  and got into a conversation which was fun , informative and full of positivity ... 

Fantastic four is what I call these young minds, who've started their journey of dreams and also firmly believe in achieving them. Aditya Chavan, Manas Dhuru, Rohan Raj Sinha & Riya Shah are the founding members of Photoinked  - which is your one stop shop for photo shoots , product shoots , wedding shoots, fashion shoots , mid size event shoots.. 

Music Review: Bombay Velvet

Hello Folks !...Like I said...The Chronicles of the BUNNYMAN will not restrict itself to movie reviews only...it'll go ahead... so here is my 1st Music Review...

The Music of the film is by Amit Trivedi and Mikey McCleary... Back in the ’60s, Mumbai, or Bombay as it was known then, had a swinging jazz scene – or so director Anurag Kashyap or composer Amit Trivedi would have us believe. The film reportedly revolves around a nightclub and hence we are treated to a bouquet of 14 compositions, 15, actually, if you count Fifi, composed by Mikey McCleary. 

Amit allegedly worked for six years on the score and utilised the services of Prague based musicians and programmers to bring in the authentic jazz sounds. So the celli, trombones, violins, accordion, clarinet, saxophones, trumpets, not to mention the thumping brass section and the drums and percussion were played by master musicians and not put together on a synthesiser.  The result is a glorious amalgamation of sound that rolls over you, song after song, like waves and makes you hit that repeat button time and again. Kudos to Amitabh Bhattacharya too, who has tried to write about loss and suffering and life’s little tragedies in a style reminiscent of the jazz and blues lyrics.

It’s a coming-of-age album for Neeti Mohan, what with six songs to her credit. One can see that she grows more confident with each offering, her hesitance leading to joy as she opens up both her lungs and her soul to come alive as a fully throated jazz singer. Her first outing in the album is the monologue Mohabbat buri bimari. This conversation piece has the singer waxing on the fickle nature of love. Neeti’s version is a flirty little piece; she keeps to the tune mostly and does an improv towards the end. Shefali Alvarez’s version is a more vibrant rendition. It reminds one of smoke -filled speakeasies, where crooners belted out their sorrows, as the regulars drank to the rhythm. Shalmali Kholgade also has given her take, in a version remixed by Mikey McCleary. Though it’s pleasant to hear, one questions the need for it, as Amit Trivedi’s two versions are better than Mikey’s. 

PIKU - MOTION SE HI EMOTION ( LITERALLY !! )

What goes in one end, comes out the other. Any mention of human excretion usually elicits an ewwwu !! of disgust. Polite society demands euphemisms, especially when it is about adults and their digestive tract functions.

Shoojit Sircar had gone full frontal in ‘Vicky Donor’, using wiggly sperm to tell a heart-warming tale. Here he switches his attention to, as they say, the backside. In other words, shit, which usually gets shovelled out of view, never to be mentioned again. Not in ‘Piku’. Emphatically, vocally not. Shoojit Sircar’s lead character lets you know loudly and clearly where he is at, before flushing the evidence noisily down the Delhi-Kolkata toilets he inhabits: the crusty Bhashkor (Amitabh Bachchan) will remind you of your dyspeptic uncle whose life revolves around his `motions’, and his `peti’ of homoeopathic pills which is lugged wherever he goes.

Piku gives the go-by to the usual trappings of Hindi cinema and offers a fresh and deliciously quirky take on a deeply layered father-daughter relationship, which despite all the odds stands "Unshaken" !