Films like DIRTY DANCING and GREASE have enthralled millions of moviegoers across the globe. There have been few attempts to make out-and-out dance-based films in Bollywood, although there's a barrage of dance-based shows on television these days. FAST FORWARD, directed by debutante Zaigham Ali Syed, has some brilliantly choreographed songs, but there's a hitch: Absence of a gripping storyline. Actually, FAST FORWARD stands on a faulty story and the patchy screenplay only worsens the situation. The sole redeeming aspect of the enterprise is the dance numbers. That's it! Write your own movie review of Fast Forward FAST FORWARD tells the story of two friends, Rehan Khan and Akshay Kapoor, who are exceptional dancers. Akshay falls in love with Rehan's sister Bhavna Pani, only to discover she was suppressing her burning desire to dance. Akshay shows Bhavna a whole new world through dance, but unknowingly they revive Rehan's painful and dark past. The story is full of contradictions. Firstly, the lead man is haunted by visions of his mother performing dances at sleazy joints and surprisingly, he aspires to be an accomplished dancer some day. But the moment his kid-sister wears her dancing shoes and starts gyrating, he actually throws a fit and gets those visions again that haunt him. Strange! Here's another gaffe. When Rehan's buddy Akshay professes love to Rehan's kid-sister Bhavna, all hell breaks lose. Rehan severs all ties with Akshay, opts out of the dance group, even bashes him and also detests his sight. Sure, Akshay has a roving eye, but even to the viewer, his intentions this time [for Bhavna] seem honest, so why this fuss? Suddenly, in the finale, there's a change of heart too! The climax fight between Vinod Khanna and Mahesh Manjrekar is ridiculous. Khanna bashes up a dozen-odd villains like a 20-year-old would, which is hard to digest. Something like this may have worked when Khanna was in his prime, not today. Zaigham seems technically adept, but he's letdown by a tacky script. The songs are okay, although the choreography is top notch. 'Taali Bajao' - towards the end credits - is the best of the lot. The youngsters pitch in decent performances. Rehan is natural. Akshay is equally at ease. Bhavna makes a sincere attempt. Siddhanth Karnick and Sabina Sheema are perfect. Each of them is exceptional in dancing. Vinod Khanna and Mahesh Manjrekar are wasted. On the whole, FAST FORWARD is a weak product.

Let's come to the point straight away. When you've films like LAGAAN, SWADES and JODHAA AKBAR to your credit, every step you take, every move you make comes under a microscopic view. Naturally then, the expectations from Ashutosh Gowariker's WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? are monumental. There's another reason why WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? is special. Casting the same actor in 12 different roles is nothing short of a challenge - for the film-maker, for the writer and also for the actor in question. Now let's analyze. WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? works in parts. There are 12 raashees, which means 12 independent stories, plus there's a story of the dulha [Harman Baweja] and his family as well, also there's a story of a family-friend [Darshan Jariwala] running concurrently. That makes it 14 stories, 13 songs, approx. 3.20 hours running time... Now to the vital question: Does WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? work? Let me answer this question by raising a vital point. Did the running time [of 3 + hours] of SHOLAY, HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN, LAGAAN, JODHAA AKBAR and GHAJINI bother you? I am sure, it didn't. The problem with WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? is not its length/running time. The problem is its content. If any film stands on a weak foundation [writing], even 1.30 hours seem never-ending. Conversely, if the writing is power-packed, even 3.30 hours of entertainment seems less. Let's not blame the length, for the biggest grosser of the world to date - TITANIC - also had a running time of 3.17 hours. WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE?, unfortunately, lacks the power to keep you hooked and that's the prime reason why its running time/length is sure to be criticised. Oh yes, WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? has some wonderful moments and award-worthy performance[s] by Priyanka Chopra, but everything pales into insignificance when the written material is weak. To cut a long story short, WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? is a king-sized disappointment from one of the finest storytellers of India. WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? is the story of Yogesh Patel [Harman Baweja], a young man who, in his heart, has always wanted a love marriage. Till suddenly he is told that he must find his dream girl within ten days to save his family from utter ruin. Finding the dream girl is tough enough. Finding her in a hurry is even tougher. His solution is simple; he will meet one girl from each raashee - sun sign, as he feels that is the best way to make sure he finds a suitable wife, while also giving himself twelve chances to fall in love. Two meetings per day gives him six days to meet them, three days to make the final decision and he can get married on the tenth day, or so he thinks. Based on the novel 'Kimball Ravenswood' by Madhu Rye, the concept of WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? is interesting, but the big screen adaptation isn't. To start with, you connect with barely a few stories, mainly the one who has a past and also the final one, of an underage girl. But several stories appear ridiculous and hence, ruin the impact generated by several wonderful moments. The jeweller's daughter, who believes in punar janam, falls flat. Ditto for the other jeweller's daughter, who pretends to be childish so as to test the intentions of the dulha. It's farcical. But the most ludicrous one is the businesswoman who has a pre-nuptial agreement in place, even before meeting the dulha. Even Darshan Jariwala's track, towards the end specifically, tests the patience of the viewer. The detective drama is also ludicrous. Besides, the climax is far from convincing. The nanaji appears suddenly with a bagful of currency and the dues of the moneylenders and goons are settled soon after the saat pheras. How convenient! Even the choice of the girl is debatable, since she has chosen him on a rebound [when she found that her lover was cheating on her]. In fact, the dulha had, rightfully, thought of the girl with the past and should've settled with her instead. That would've been a convincing finale. Ashutosh Gowariker gets it wrong this time thanks to the poor screenplay. The writing is the biggest culprit here. Sohail Sen's music is easy on the ears, but why so many songs? A few songs can easily be deleted. Piyush Shah's cinematography is perfect. WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? belongs to Priyanka Chopra. No two opinions on that. Words would fail to do justice to the remarkable portrayal of twelve different characters by this actor. This is her finest work to date. Harman is extremely likable and enacts his part with complete understanding. Darshan Jariwala is alright. Anjan Srivastava is as usual. Visshwa Badola is first-rate. Pratik Dixit does well. On the whole, WHAT'S YOUR RAASHEE? is a king-sized disappointment.

Cricket, like Bollywood, is an addiction for a wide majority of Indians. DIL BOLE HADIPPA tries to capture the spirit of the game and the aspirations of a sportsperson, who's keen to play for her pind. On paper, the concept, which bears an uncanny resemblance to SHE'S THE MAN, sounds interesting, but the problem is its writing, which is tame and mediocre. Let's elaborate. The plusses, first... It's mandatory for cricket-based films like LAGAAN and VICTORY, which conclude with a cricket match, to have a thrilling finish. DIL BOLE HADIPPA too has a awe-inspiring end. Also, the story of an ordinary girl who aspires to play cricket for the national team is motivating, with Rani Mukherji handling her part with complete understanding. But there's a flipside too. The romantic moments between Rani and Shahid Kapoor lack fizz. Even the assorted characters in the film, like Sherlyn Chopra, Vrajesh Hirjee and Rakhi Sawant, contribute nothing to the film. They're mere props. Final word? You expect DIL BOLE HADIPPA to score a century, like several films churned out by Yash Raj. But it settles down in the half-century range. Strictly average! Veera [Rani Mukherji] is a fire-cracker of a girl who lives in a small village, but chases big dreams. She works in a local theatre group, but dreams of playing cricket in the big league. Yes, believe it or not, she wants to play with Tendulkar and Dhoni for India. While Veera dreams on in India, Rohan [Shahid Kapoor] is an accomplished captain of a county cricket team in England. Rohan returns to India to captain his father's cricket team, which has been losing consecutively for the last 8 years. In a village where girls don't play cricket, Veera has to put on a turban and beard and become a man to fulfil her dreams. Her brilliance on the field earns her a place in Rohan's team and Veera Kaur becomes Veer Pratap Singh. But what happens when the secret is out? DIL BOLE HADIPPA has a patchy script. It's interesting initially, but takes the beaten path later. Rani's obsession for cricket is well established at the outset. So is the friendship between Anupam Kher and Dalip Tahil [who heads the Pakistani team]. Also, the initial scenes between Anupam and Shahid are well integrated in the story. The film shows promise when Rani transforms from Veera to Veer. All this happens in the initial 20-25 minutes, but the story comes to a screeching halt thereafter. Problem begins... Shahid loses his heart to Rani and the film suddenly turns into a love story. Sherlyn surfaces in between to spice up the proceedings, but nothing happens. The conflict during the finale - when Shahid learns the truth - doesn't make the desired impact either. Even the re-emergence of the mother [Poonam Dhillon] in the story looks like a complete compromise from the writing point of view. However, the match between the Indian and Pakistani teams in the climax is well executed and though the viewer is well aware what the ending would be, it keeps you hooked nonetheless. Unfortunately, the final speech by Rani [after the match is won] is outright predictable. The film would've benefitted with an innovative end. Anurag Singh shows sparks of brilliance at times, but how one wishes the debutante director and his writers would've come up with a solid script. Pritam's music doesn't help either. Barring the title track, the balance songs are plain average. Cinematography is nice. DIL BOLE HADIPPA belongs to Rani and as always, she delivers a sparkling performance as Veera as well as Veer, carrying both the roles effortlessly. Shahid plays second fiddle to Rani, which is very surprising. Nevertheless, he enacts his part well. Anupam Kher and Dalip Tahil lend decent support. Poonam Dhillon has nothing to do. Rakhi Sawant and Sherlyn Chopra are wasted. Vrajesh Hirjee is passable. Shri Vallabh Vyas does well. On the whole, DIL BOLE HADIPPA is an ordinary fare. At the box-office, the film has some chances in North mainly thanks to the Punjabi flavour. The holidays ahead may help its prospects at plexes essentially, but the single screens will be dull.

This is for fans and foes of Salman Khan... Fans, rejoice, Salman is back with a vengeance with WANTED. This is his deadliest performance to date. Yes, you read it right! Foes, sorry, you won't be able to lash out at him or pick on him or launch a vicious tirade this time. The spate of flops should come to a grinding halt with WANTED. Let's get this straight. WANTED rides on Salman Khan's star power. He may not be the best actor in town, but in a film like WANTED, in a role that seems like an extension of his personality, you can't think of anyone else enacting this role with flourish. A remake of POKIRI [made in Telugu and Tamil versions], WANTED is a full on masala film. Recall the successful potboilers of yore. Recall how the good guy would reduce 10 hoodlums to pulp in a fraction of seconds. Recall how heroism prevailed in the end, no matter how adverse the circumstances were or how powerful the villains would be. Recall those movies in which logic took a backseat since the focus was on entertainment... You relive those moments as reel after reel of WANTED unfolds. A departure from candyfloss movies and diabetic-sweet characters that most Hindi movies boast of, WANTED takes you back to those days when popular cinema reigned supreme, when the sole motive of the film-maker was to entertain. The daring hero and his herogiri, the naïve girlfriend, the corrupt cop, the dreaded don, the don's moll, the fist-clinching henchmen... WANTED is for those who seek unabashed entertainment and relish masala films. Damn the indomitable critics, pseudo intellectuals and connoisseurs of parallel cinema, this one's not for them. WANTED is for the aam junta. Radhe [Salman Khan] is a hardcore gangster. A sharpshooter with a sharp brain, he works for Gani Bhai [Prakash Raj], the dreaded Mafioso, but on his own terms. Totally fearless, Radhe single-handedly eliminates Gani Bhai's enemies one by one; making more enemies in the process. He's astounded when the young and pretty Jahnvi [Ayesha Takia Azmi] professes her liking for him. Inspector Talpade's [Mahesh Manjrekar] lustful eyes fall on Jahnvi. He doesn't know that Jahnvi has developed a soft corner for Radhe. Whether it's the Golden Gang or Data Pawle's Gang, everybody wants the biggest piece of the lucrative cake that is Mumbai and the only way to get it is to eliminate whoever gets in the way. As Mumbai reels under bloody gang wars, Commissioner Ashraf Khan [Govind Namdeo] vows to make the city crime free. Director Prabhu Dheva serves a hardcore masala fare that's not inventive or path-breaking by any standard, but the execution of several scenes as also of stunts takes the graph of the film Northward. In fact, if at all there's any film that competes with GHAJINI as far as raw appeal goes, it's WANTED. Every action/stunt/chase here is choreographed with aplomb. Watch out for the action sequence at the interval point or the penultimate half-an-hour. The climax is sure to send scores of action lovers in frenzy, as Salman bashes the evil forces black and blue. It wouldn't be erroneous to state that the climax is worth the price of the ticket, samosa, sandwich, popcorn, nachos and cola put together. Not that this 18 reeler abounds in mindless action. As mentioned earlier, this one's a hardcore masala film and the narrative has its share of light moments and romantic sequences. Even the bad man here makes you laugh intermittently [when he's not spewing venom], especially in the sequence when the Commissioner of Police holds him captive in the middle of the sea. Even the romance between Salman and Ayesha charms its way into your heart. It's very likable. But WANTED is not without its share of flaws. The film stands on a thin storyline and the viewer can guess what's in store next, which means that there's not much novelty in the plot. Besides, WANTED could've done without a song or two, thereby keeping its length in check. Director Prabhu Dheva has presented Salman like never before. Most actors have drifted away from roles that hold tremendous mass appeal, that cater to the desi audience, like they did in the 1980s. SRK did it in OM SHANTI OM, Aamir Khan did it in GHAJINI and Salman does it so effortlessly in WANTED. The screenplay [Shiraz Ahmed] may not be foolproof, but it has its share of shining moments. Dialogues are clapworthy, especially those delivered by Salman. Sajid-Wajid's music is of a mixed variety. 'Jalwa' is the best of the lot and the star presence of Anil Kapoor, Govinda and also Prabhu Dheva in this track will send the viewers into raptures. The remaining tracks oscillate between good and strictly okay. This review would be incomplete without the invaluable contribution by the action director. It deserves brownie points. Cinematography too is top notch. Salman is like a ferocious lion who roars with all his might. The show belongs to the actor, who scorches the screen every time he displays the manic anger. Without doubt, Salman gives the power to WANTED. It's his best work to date. Ayesha Takia Azmi is very good and the pairing with Salman looks wonderful. Vinod Khanna is sidelined. He deserved more footage. Mahesh Manjrekar is excellent. He's only getting better with every film. Prakash Raj is first-rate. The accomplished actor adds yet another feather to his cap. Govind Namdeo is perfect. Mahek Chahal radiates oomph. Aseem Merchant is alright. Raju Mavani is effective. Inder Kumar and Sajid are okay. Manoj Pahwa tries hard to make you laugh. Prateeksha Lonkar is as usual. On the whole, WANTED rides on Salman, Salman and only Salman Khan's star power. A masala film that's aimed at the masses, WANTED is backed by tremendous hype and hoopla, which will result in the film taking an earth-shattering start at the ticket window. The Idd celebrations in the coming days will only enhance the business of the film, which means that the film will have a solid Week 1. The holidays in Week 2 should also be bountiful, thereby ensuring a strong place in the 'Hit' category.

Times have changed, but certain film-makers are still stuck up in the era gone by and that reflects in their cinema. That's what you realise when you watch RUSLAAN. The film highlights a terrorist act that shook the nation a few years ago and how the life of an innocent goes topsy-turvy when he's falsely framed as a terrorist [KHUDA KAY LIYE and more recently NEW YORK also depicted this]. But the gravity of the situation doesn't come across on the screen because the writing is amateurish and the execution, childish. Ruslaan [Raajveer] lives with his parents and a younger sister. He's in love with Samaira [Meghaa Chatterjee]. One day, a series of blasts occur at various railway stations of Mumbai and the cops arrest Ruslaan for this act of terror. Director Mohan C. Sharma looks at a serious issue [train blasts in Mumbai], but there's nothing in the film that moves you or makes you think. In fact, the love story [between Raajveer and Meghaa] is also under-developed and the terrorist track is poorly written as well. Why is Ruslaan picked up by cops, is never explained. Also, Ruslaan is thrown in a lock up, but the execution is such, it gives an impression that he's a petty thief, not a terrorist. Seems like no detailing whatsoever has gone into the scripting [writers: Brahma-Dhruv]. Music [Raees Jamal Khan] is the sole saving grace. 'Maula Maula' is the pick of the lot. Raajveer tries hard to infuse life in his role, but, surprisingly, is relegated to the backseat in the second hour. Meghaa should've faced the camera after proper grooming. Asrani is as usual. Shahbaaz Khan and Ganesh Yadav are as usual. S.M. Zaheer and Smita Jaykar are okay. On the whole, RUSLAAN is a weak fare.