Director: Saahil Prem
Writer: Saahil Prem
Stars: Saahil Prem, Amrit Maghera, Salah Benlemqawanssa
Runtime: 125 minutes
Strength: Genuine funny moments, great family drama
Rating: 2.5/5

Plot: A story about a romantic journey of a culturally opposite couple.
Review: 'Dance' and 'Bollywood' are words that are often associated with each other. The way Bollywood is incomplete without dance, even dance is incomplete without Bollywood. MAD ABOUT DANCE is one of these films regarding three Asian boys, who leave their home and country to study abroad and dabble with their struggles, heartbreaks, trials and triumphs. The film is about Aarav (Saahil Prem) and his undying passion for the art of dance. The film starts with him attempting to convince a group of bank officials for a loan of Rs. 25 lakhs to train an Indian dance troupe for the world's best dance championship. In a persuasive move, Aarav narrates a (flashback) story about his love for dance and his dream to train a dance troupe for winning the coveted trophy. While Aarav sets in search of his inspiration, an ace dancer Caesar, he comes across the love of his life Akira (Amrit Maghera). As they succeed in forming an Asian group, they are constantly dragged into dance face-offs by the rival Caesar's dance troupe.
Saahil Prem, who is not just the director of the film, but also its lead actor and story writer, seems to have shot this film in a tearing hurry. Even though he makes a sincere attempt as an actor, he fails miserably as a director. Though the film has been shot in lavish foreign locales and has a blend of western and desi actors, the film fails to create an impact. In fact, choreographers Salah Benlemqawanssa and Supple Nam's dance is thoroughly disappointing. The music department of the film has nothing noteworthy. On the acting front, Saahil Prem does a fair job. But the female lead Amrit Maghera comes across as an 'Evelyn Sharma act' gone wrong. With her heavy accent in Hindi and English, the audience is left confused considering that her Indo-Brit parents in the film have a rather strong command in Hindi.
All in all, MAD ABOUT DANCE is all about amateur acting with mediocre dancing and loud music adding on to the film's woes. No harm in giving it a skip!

Reviewed by S.M. Intisab Shahriyar

***

TEENAGE MUTANT
NINJA TURTLES (2014)

Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Writers: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec
Stars: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner
Strength: Great visuals, inspirational portrayal of journalism
Weakness: Horrible take on a classic story, lousy character design, cheesy dialogues
Runtime: 101 minutes
Rating: 1/5

Plot: When a kingpin threatens New York City, a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home.
Review: When the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie was announced, millions of fans, myself included, were inundated with the prospect of an old icon reborn into modern times. With the release of the movie however, it reminds us that nostalgia is often used as an excuse for shoddy filmmaking.
In "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," a Channel Six news anchor, April O'Neil wants to be taken seriously as a journalist, so she investigates a city-wide crime wave. So April spends the first half of the movie establishing how she's related to the Ninja Turtles.
The fact that April's search for answers comprises half the film's plot suggests that the film's creative committee forgot what viewers came to see. They have also completely messed up the turtle designs and abilities. These Turtles are bullet-proof, six-foot tall mountains of biceps and quads. Likewise, Foot Clan leader Shredder looks like a samurai-themed death metal band-leader with an Edward Scissorhands fetish. And Master Splinter looks like he shaved his face and decided to keep 3 strands as a weird form of bonnet ornament.
Likewise, the film's action scenes are all so frenzied that director Jonathan didn't waste time on choreography, humor, or anything more than frantic motion. The same is true of the film's jokes and joyless attempts to acknowledge and muscle past the film's inherent ludicrousness.
To sum up; Instead of a fun and unchallenging stroll down memory lane, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is an energy-sapping exercise in futility that will leave you begging for less.

Reviewed by S.M. Intisab Shahriyar

***

Classic Review

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Director: Miloš Forman
Writer: Ken Kesey
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, Will Sampson, Louise Fletcher
Runtime: 133 minutes

Plot: Upon being admitted to a mental institution, an impatient rebel rallies the patients to take on the oppressive head nurse.
Review: With an insane asylum standing in for everyday society, Milos Forman's 1975 film adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel is an outrageously sharp condemnation of the Establishment urge to conform 'social outcasts' a topic I personally favour. Playing crazy to avoid prison work detail, overexcited free spirit Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is sentenced to the state mental hospital for evaluation. There, he encounters a motley crew of mostly voluntary inmates, including cowed mama's boy Billy (Brad Dourif) and silent Native American Chief Bromden (Will Sampson), presided over by the cold Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Ratched and McMurphy recognize that each is the other's worst enemy: an authority figure who equates sanity with proper behaviour, and a misfit who is charming enough to dismantle the system simply by living as he pleases. McMurphy proceeds to instigate group insurrections large and small, ranging from a healing basketball game to a creative afternoon boat trip and a tragic after-hours party with prostitutes and alcohol. Nurse Ratched, however, has the machinery of power on her side to ensure that McMurphy will not defeat her. Still, McMurphy's message to live free or die is ultimately not lost on one inmate, revealing that escape is still possible even from the most oppressive conditions. The film is similar to another favourite of mine, Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange in the sense that it portrays a conformist society trying to oppress people for what they deem isn't right. In Kubrick's classic the system tries to take away music, and in Cuckoo's nest, the hospital tries to take away freedom.

Reviewed By Waleed K. Rajamiya