Film: Judwaa 2Release: 29.09.2017

Director: David Dhawan

Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala

Music: Sajid-Wajid

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Taapsee Pannu 

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director David Dhawan’s new release has a long history that needs to be recapped.

In 1992 Jackie Chan starred in a super hit film titled Twin Dragons that told the story of twins separated in childhood. In 1994 the subject was revisited as Hello Brothers in a Telegu film and in 1997 director David Dhawan combined the two plots to present Salman Khan in a double role as Judwaa.

Now 20 years later director David Dhawan has repackaged his old super hit to present son Varun Dhawan in Judwaa 2.

It is the same story with almost similar characters which means there are 2 heroes, 2 heroines, 2 police, 2 set of parents and some villains. Some sequences are identical and a popular number from the original has been replayed for nostalgia as well.

So what have changed are the actors, their circumstances, costumes, locations and attitudes!

Last time Anupam Kher played the cop, this time he plays the heroine’s father. Last time Anu Malik created the background score, this time Sajid Wajid make you dance to their tunes.

The director’s intention then and now is to entertain, the point is do you agree with his brand of de stressing?

If you relished David Dhawan’s 90s Judwaaa then you can without a worry book 9 to12 or any show and get entertained by a flawless Varun Dhawan.

If not then you aren’t a David Dhawan fan and I have just one line to sing to you: ‘Tan tana tan – tan tan tara’.

I rate 2 Varun Dhawan starrer Judwaa 2 with 2 stars.

@bhawanasomaaya

Day seven is called Saptami and is associated with Devi Kaalratrii also known as Devi Bhadrakali. The Goddess is darker than the night and is both flawless and fearless. Her throat exudes fire and her moth exhales smoke. She has three eyes and multiple arms and rides on a donkey. She is also referred to as Devi Shubbalakshami because she is auspicious and her arrival ends darkness and brings joy.  The puja associated with Devi Bhadrakali is called Maha Saptami Puja.

Day eight is called Ashtami associated with Goddess Gauri. It is said that Devi Gauri spent many decades in worshipping Mahadev and proposing marriage to him. During these years she was tanned and weather beaten but when Lord Shiva touched her she transformed into her natural colour once again and was purer than Ganga and therefore named Gauri. Devi Gauri carries damrru in one hand and Trishul in her other hand. She rides on a buffalo and is the most powerful of all the goddesses. It is said those who pray to her are wiped of all their past sins. The puja associated with Devi Gauri is called maha Ashtami Puja.

@bhawanasomaaya

In Kolkatta the celebrations begin only on the sixth day called Shasti and in Bengal Maa Duga is immersed into the water on the last day of the festival.

Day five is called Paancham and it is associated with Devi Skanda or Skanda Mat who is in fact mother of Lord Kartikey. Mother Skanda is seated on a lotus flower and carries infant Kartikey in one hand and a lotus flower in the other hand. The puja associated with her is called Ashwin Shudda Panchami.

Day six is called Shasti and is of great importance particularly in Bengal. The day is associated with Devi Khatyayni and there is a legend associated with the Goddess. It is said that Maharishi prayed to her for years for a boon and when she finally presented herself to him, he asked that she be born as his daughter and she kept her promise. The puja associated with the goddess is called Maha Shasti Puja.

In the state of Gujarat the devotees celebrate the Goddess with  garbas  because they believe that the Goddess likes to be entertained. Down South they observe what is called Gollu where they prepare nine steps to heaven and worship the deities Day three is called Teej and is associated with Goddess Chandra Ghanta who gets her name  from the image inscribed on her forehead of  a half moon. Devi Chandra Ghanta has ten arms and three eyes. She is also known by the name of Sherawali the Goddess who rides a tiger and vanquished the demons in times of war. The Teej puja associated with Devi Chandra Ghanta is called Gauri Puja.

Day four is called Chauth and is associated with Devi Kushmunda whose name signifies literally a ray of light. It is believed that the universe was a dark gloomy place till Devi Kushmunda filled it up with her light. The Chauth puja is also regarded by the worshippers as Durga Saran puja.

 @bhawanasomaaya

The festival of Navratri is to invoke the Goddess and seek her blessings to eradicate all the perils from our lives. Different states have a different way of celebrating the festival. Up North, Navratri is usually associated with fast and Jagrata in honor of the Goddess

Day one is called Ekum and is associated with Devi Shail Putri who possesses the powers of the trio – Lord Bhrama, Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahadev. She rides on a Vrisshab and carries a Trishul. The pot is brought home on Ekum.

Day two is called Dooj and is associated with Devi Bhramacharini, she is forever in meditation and therefore unusually calm. She carries the beads in one hand and the other carries a pot. The puja associated with Devi Brahmachari is called Ghatta Sthapna.

@bhawanasomaaaya

Film:Bhoomi

Date:  22 September 2017

Director: Omung Kumar

Writer: Sandeep Singh/ story, Raaj Shaandilyaa/ screenplay

Music: Sachin-Jigar/ songs, Ismail Darbar/ background

Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharad Kelkar

After Kaabil, Maatr and Mom, Bhoomi is the year 2017’s fourth film on the subject of rape and revenge.

In Kaaabil it was the husband seeking revenge for his disabled wife, in Maatr and Mom the mothers seeking justice for their daughters and now Bhoomi has a father/ Sanjay Dutt settling scores with his daughter/ Aditi Rao Hyadri’s oppressors.

In Dholpur, a small town in Agra, Amar/ Dutt is famous for his shoe shop where foreigners visiting the Taj Mahal often stop by for shopping. Amar’s friend/ Shekhar Suman works in his shop by the day and in the evening they share a drink while Amar’s daughter, Bhoomi, a wedding planner is busy organizing mehandi/ sangit and shaadi for her clients.

A night before Bhoomi’s wedding she is mysteriously kidnapped, drugged and gang raped inside an empty movie theatre where the big screen plays a violent film. The wedding is called off and a pall of gloom falls over Amar and his daughter. With time both try hard to move on but it is not easy and the father-daughter decides to jointly fight the demons.

The treatment is a replay of the 80s cinema where scenes are over dramatized and emotions unnecessarily stretched. The writing is clichéd without any surprises and the climax unforgivably regressive with reference to shraad and devi puja.

Director Omang Kumar who started as an art director over dresses his interiors which have no continuity with the exteriors. Packaging social issues, slogans and statistics don’t make a sensitive film. The court room scene where the lady lawyer advocates her case and announces the victim characterless is disgraceful and the placement of Sunny Leone’s item number soon after the interval pathetic!

Sharad Kelkar is effective as the chauvinistic villain and Aditi Rao Hyadri looks beautiful when she is happy or sad but the film finally belongs to Sanjay Dutt who returns to arc lights in a role that suits both his age and image.

Watch Bhoomi only if you are a fan of Sanjay Dutt or Aditi Rao Hyadri.

I rate Bhoomi with 2 stars reserved only for Dutt and Hyadrri.

@bhawanasomaaaya

Ajay Devgn is all ready for Diwali next year. In October 2018 he will be presenting a love comedy starring Tabu and a younger actress. After Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, this is the second of the multi-film association between Luv Films and T-Series. Producer Bhushan Kumar, T-Series is excited about the new project and says, “Our commitment is to keep entertaining the global Indian audience.”

The team is positive given Ajay’s connect with the family audience and a great track record of his movies’ Box Office performance during festive occasions or national holidays. The film will be directed by renowned editor Akiv Ali as a director.

@bhawanasomaaya

Actors do a lot to stay in character during the shooting of a film and the latest to join the passion club is Shradha Kapoor playig Haseena Parkar. To make certain she did not lose focus Shradha made certain to speak to everyone on the sets in the voice of Haseena. One day, director Apoorva Lakhia had a friend drop by on the sets and introduced him to Shraddha and to his surprise, Shradha intimidated him by speaking to him in her character voice which scared both the men. It was only after the friend had left the sets that Shradha burst into giggles much to Apoorva’s relief.

Cutting jokes of this kind seem to be in the genes of the Kolhapure family, in hey days aunt Padmini Kolhapure would have the entire unit in splits but once the camera began to roll, nothing to distract Pandi from her scene. Hope it is the same with Shraddha Kapoor.

 @bhawanasomaay