Andhranews

Lage raho munnabhai
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani and others
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Rating: ****

It happens very rarely that the sequel is better than the original. Lage Raho Munnabhai makes you laugh while it preaches, and without bludgeoning you on the head, makes you think. If, in the earlier film there were some misgivings about a criminal bullying his way into medical college; in the sequel, the level of disbelief is much lower. Both Munna and Circuit are far nicer and funnier in this film — the most ‘criminal’ thing they do is pick up a corrupt municipal officer, and later, some history professors, so that Munna can win a radio quiz about Gandhi.

Munna (Sanjay Dutt) is in love with the voice of a radio jockey Janhvi (Vidya Balan) — Circuit already refers to her as bhabhi — and he has to win the quiz to be able to meet her at the radio station. Once there, in his nervousness, he claims to be a history professor and is invited to talk to a group of abandoned old men Janhvi shelters in her large bungalow.

There is no choice for Munna, but to go to the Gandhi Library and read up on him, and he is hooked (minor quibble: if he was educated enough to read, how come he didn’t know who Mahatma Gandhi was?). Then the Mahatma himself (Dilip Prabhavalkar — superb actor, but why the muddy make-up?) appears before him and starts guiding him, not just in the matter of winning over Janhvi, but in dealing with a matter of her bungalow that builder Lucky Singh (Boman Irani) has usurped.

They launch a satyagraha against Lucky, and through Janhvi’s radio show, also tell people how to use Gandhigiri to solve their problems. The second half of the film does get a bit heavy, and the way problems are tackled is too simple; plus the greedy builder ousting helpless people from their homes is a clichéd character now. You also can’t help thinking that Munna and Circuit are not up against any real evil — just a relatively harmless Lucky Singh.

Anyway, setting queries aside, it is possible to just sit back and enjoy the film. The performances are fantastic — Sanjay Dutt as the soft-hearted goon, Arshad Warsi as his loyal sidekick and Boman Irani as the Sardar are flawless. Vidya Balan hasn’t much to do except look cute, but even the minor characters come up with spirited performances. The script and dialogue (Rajkumar Hirani — Abhijit Joshi) can’t be praised enough — it is really tough to balance the comedy so well with the message. Hirani’s direction is marvellous — he blends humour and emotions with the mastery of an alchemist. If he can come up with good storylines, Munna-Circuit can become a team for a series of films in the style of Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers. Lage Raho Rajubhai!

My super ex-girlfriend

Cast: Uma Thurman (Jenny Johnson/G-Girl), Luke Wilson (Matt Saunders), Anna Faris (Hannah Lewis), Eddie Izzard (Professor Bedlam/Barry), Rainn Wilson (Vaughn Haige) and Wanda Sykes (Carla Dunkirk).
Director: Ivan Reitman
Rating: ***

The shaky comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend must have been a dream to pitch: Fatal Attraction meets Wonder Woman, but funny. The casting seems as if it should have been equally breezy, with Uma Thurman doing double duty as a New York neurotic, Jenny Johnson, and a secret superhero, G-Girl, who flies through the air putting out fires, though only when her drab brown hair turns a costly shade of Hamptons blond.

Toss in Luke Wilson as the nice guy who says and does all the right things and Rainn Wilson as the second banana who says and does all the wrong ones. Stir, or, in the case of the director Ivan Reitman, of Ghostbusters fame, hope for the best. Why G-Girl and not G-Woman? For the same reason that this particular superhero can access her powers only after she slips on something tighter and a whole lot less comfortable-looking: she’s a joke. Whether you laugh at this joke will depend on whether you think the film says more about men than women and whether you find its characterisation of the spurned she-devil a sexist cliché or an amusing sexist cliché.

A pasty Luke Wilson plays Matt Saunders, a single guy who has one of those dream jobs and Manhattan pads that seem to exist only in the minds of Hollywood filmmakers. One day on the subway Matt, spurred on by his pal Vaughn (Rainn Wilson), strikes up a conversation with a woman. Before long, he and the stranger he first knows as an art dealer, then as a crusader, are tussling in a raunchy scene which leaves her dazed partner rather unbelievably intact.

Matt’s postcoital smile and a wobbly walk suggest that, however physically demanding, Jenny is a keeper. Alas, as if by clockwork or the professional lout’s handbook, she turns out to be wildly insecure, the whole crazy-woman nine yards, which means that as far as the filmmakers are concerned, she’s both a drag and a threat. It also means that before too long she’s history, soon replaced in Matt’s affections by the nice, naturally blond Hannah (Anna Faris). Those who rooted for Glenn Close, may enjoy the sight of G-Girl punching a skylight into her ex’s ceiling.

RV

Cast: Robin Williams (Bob Munro), Jeff Daniels (Travis Gornicke), Cheryl Hines (Jamie Munro), Kristin Chenoweth (Mary Jo Gornicke),
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Rating:**

It’s barely spring, and the family-vacation movies are already upon us. First out of the driveway is RV, a comedy as broad as a double-wide and as contrived as the metaphors I’m struggling to resist. Playing Bob Munro, an overworked soda-company executive, Robin Williams tricks us into believing he can control his inner maniac beyond the film’s first 15 minutes; when he fails, any hopes of RV going off-formula are dashed.

Nowadays no family movie is complete without a values-oriented agenda and a bountiful supply of fecal matter, and RV supplies both. Ordered to Colorado by his boss to seal a critical deal, Bob sees an opportunity to reconnect with his family by pretending the trip is a vacation. But after loading his horrified brood onto a rickety motor home, Bob must face more challenging problems than a neglected wife (Cheryl Hines), moody son (Josh Hutcherson) and thoroughly unpleasant teenage daughter (Joanna Levesque). You were probably wondering when that fecal matter would show up.

As Bob grapples with power hookups, raccoons and a pathologically cheery family of road-loving weirdos, Barry Sonnenfeld directs with one eye on the production and the other on the clock. And despite a manic end sequence that leaves Mr. Williams looking alarmingly close to suffering a coronary event, RV feels as clapped-out as the titular vehicle itself.

Robbie Williams has threatened to quit singing for good. The Angels singer says he no longer wants to be part of the “pop machine” because he feels it has turned him into a “monster”. Robbie, who is about to release new single Rudebox, admits he longs to live a normal, quiet life and claims he will only continue singing for another 18 months.

The 32-year-old, who is believed to be worth around £100 million, said, “I’ve got to take the view over the next 18 months and see if I want to be part of the machine any more, because I don’t see me singing again. It’s a question of what I want and where I want to be. Can I live without the radio picking my song and putting it on the playlist? Or is this fame thing something I’m addicted to?”

This shock announcement comes as Robbie’s “Close Encounters” tour continues to fill stadiums around the world. The Rock DJ singer, who has overcome addictions to alcohol and drugs in the past, also revealed he is still battling his inner demons which have tormented him throughout his career. He said, “I don’t know where I stand with it at the moment. Do I take things into my own hands and dismantle this monster and have a nice life?”

Robbie went on to carve out a successful solo career after quitting boyband Take That in 1995. In 2002, he signed a record-breaking £80 million contract with EMI and his single Angels was voted the best song of the last 25 years by BBC Radio 2 listeners last year.

Beyoncé Knowles thinks every woman should own a “freakum dress” to spice up their sex life. The ‘Déjà Vu’ star sings about putting on a special sexy garment, “freakum dress”, to put the spark back into a flagging relationship on the track. Beyoncé, who is preparing to release new album B’Day, insists a sex-inducing dress is a necessity for every woman’s wardrobe. She told the USA Today newspaper, “I think every woman should have one. If she doesn’t, she should get one, because they’re necessary sometimes. I have a couple of really sexy black dresses, you know?”

The lucky man who gets to see Beyoncé in her racy dresses is rapper Jay-Z. The pair are rumoured to be getting married in a lavish £3 million ceremony in November. Beyoncé admits that she is very much in love, but has denied reports she will be wearing a bridal gown modelled on Princess Diana’s wedding dress and is spending $300,000 on caviar for the nuptials. She explained, “I wish I could talk to whoever wrote that, because it’s fabulous. Somebody is so creative that they should start planning weddings, because they have a great one planned for me and Jay. It even has a menu with caviar. I don’t even like caviar.”

Lindsay Lohan is getting engaged, according to reports. The Mean Girls star’s boyfriend, Harry Morton, who has only been dating Lindsay for a month, was spotted buying a diamond ring from Cartier, in Beverly Hills, earlier this week. An insider revealed to the New York Post newspaper, “Harry is ready to take the relationship to another level.”

The lavish purchase came just days before socialite-and-heir Harry whisked 20-year-old Lindsay off for a romantic getaway, where he is expected to pop the question. Since starting his relationship with Lindsay, Harry has helped the Mean Girls actress tone down her wild behaviour because he felt it was having a negative effect on her career.

A source said, “Harry has told her not to drink so much and is trying to calm her down.” Lindsay was due to attend the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, however, she decided to shun the event and stay at home in Los Angeles instead.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s actress mother Blythe Danner is paranoid about her wrinkles. The 63-year-old star, best known for her parts in Meet The Parents and comedy series Will and Grace, was never worried about her skin, until she saw herself on a high definition TV while shooting the new comedy Huff.

She is quoted on the Dark Horizons website as saying, “I am 63, I don’t care. The thing is I wasn’t terribly conscious of my age until we did Huff and they used this dreadful high-definition which makes anybody over fifty look as if they are eighty. It shows up all your wrinkles. So, I got very self-conscious about that.”

Despite her concerns, Blythe wouldn’t consider having plastic surgery to improve her looks. She said, “We all get a little help, a little bit of this or that, not tremendous amounts. But I hate the idea of doing real invasive stuff, and I am not trying to look 40. “I don’t think I am terribly narcissistic, but you don’t want to look your worst.”