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Doga

Audiance is the King and Boxoffice the Prophet, what they say needs to be and will be accepted – Success or otherwise.



Roll out the red carpet.
Blow the conch shells.
Beat the drums.
It’s time to pop champagne…

BLUE, the most awaited movie of the year, with its canvas as huge as the ocean, comes alive on the Hindi screen this Friday. Like every biggie, this one also comes with the baggage of monumental expectations. With tremendous hype surrounding it, the inescapable question that crosses your mind is, will BLUE live up to those colossal expectations?

Write your own movie review of Blue Let me keep it concise and to the point. You haven’t watched something like this on the Hindi screen before. Never ever!

It requires courage, willpower, fortitude, vision and of course, the financial backing to accomplish a project of this magnitude. And debutante director Anthony D’Souza puts his skills and the financial resources to best use. BLUE is not merely a stunning looking film, it’s also a well structured film. Most importantly, it’s a solid entertainer that packs in so much in those 1.58 hours.

Final word? Go, grab a ticket, if you haven’t booked one yet. This under-sea treasure hunt is a kickass film. A must-see for all those who love adventure flicks.

BLUE is set in the sun-soaked white sand beaches of Bahamas. Sagar [Sanjay Dutt] is a simpleton, while his friend Aarav [Akshay Kumar] is a rich, ambitious businessman.

Sagar’s brother Sameer aka Sam [Zayed Khan] has inadvertently managed to rankle the mafia in Bangkok [Rahul Dev]. He flees Bangkok and arrives in Bahamas. But the dangerous men reach Bahamas too. Sagar is the sole person who can bail him out from this crisis, but to save his brother, Sagar has to wrestle with the ghost of his dead father.

If you’re a die-hard moviegoer, you’d draw parallels with a lot of international projects [especially THE DEEP] that were set in the ocean. In Bollywood, flashes of the Dharmendra – Jeetendra starrer SAMRAAT cross your mind instantaneously, but comparing the two is akin to comparing chalk and cheese.

BLUE grabs your attention from its opening titles itself. The marine life, which you may’ve watched on National Geographic Channel or Animal Planet, comes alive in all splendour at the start itself.

The story is uncomplicated and Anthony D’Souza garnishes it beautifully. If the aquatic life keeps your eyes wide open, the action sequences are sure to make your jaws drop to your knees. The bike chase at the start, yet another chase subsequently, the chase soon after the interval [atop a running train] is simply astounding.

Anthony’s expertise comes to the fore in several sequences. One sequence that needs to be singled out is when Sanju narrates the tragic past, how he was responsible for his father’s death. It’s simply incredible!

Major portions of the film have been filmed in the ocean and you can’t stop admiring and appreciating the enormous contribution of the underwater cinematographer [Pete Zuccarini]. The lighting in those sequences deserves special mention. Also, the underwater sequences, which feature aquatic life like puffer fish, stingrays and sharks, hold tremendous appeal. Cinematography [Laxman Utekar] is gorgeous.

On the flip side, the climax could’ve been more impactful. The villain’s track looks clichéd, but you tend to overlook the minor aberration since the film never falls prey to mediocrity.

Anthony D’Souza is a director to watch. This film has style as well as substance. Also, it requires courage and conviction to think out of the box and most importantly, execute the material with panache. There’s not much scope for music in an action thriller, yet A.R. Rahman’s score suits the requirements. The Kylie Minogue track – ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ – is already popular. Sanju and Lara’s romantic track – ‘Aaj Dil’ – is sensuous. The song at the end credits – ‘Fiqrana’ – has a lot of energy.

Sound design [Resul Pookutty] is fantastic. Action scenes [James D. Bomalick and R.P. Yadav] are a treat and, in fact, one of the mainstays of the film. Dialogues [Mayur Puri] are effective, while the screenplay [Anthony D'Souza and Jasmine D'Souza] is well thought-out, especially towards the second hour.

Sanjay Dutt carries his part well, although he looks very well-fed in some scenes. Akshay Kumar steals the show with a sterling performance. This would easily classify amongst his best works. Zayed Khan is highly competent. This, despite the fact that he’s sharing the screen space with two hugely experienced actors.

Lara Dutta has never looked so good before. Though the story revolves around the guys, you can’t overlook Lara’s small but significant contribution to the film. Katrina Kaif [sp. app.] looks gorgeous and performs exceedingly well. The feminine charm [at the start specifically] would send the youth in a frenzy. Rahul Dev is first-rate. Kabir Bedi is hardly there.

On the whole, BLUE has style as well as substance. The film has everything going in its favour, right from its incredible star cast to the superb action scenes to the hitherto unseen marine life to the tremendous hype and hoopla. At the box-office, BLUE will strike like a hurricane in the festive week. It should set new benchmarks in days to come. In short, the business will be

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There Are 15 Responses So Far. »

  1. Doga 13 October 2009
    08:37:45 pm

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    Good news for Gorilla and SV.

    Lets see how the other reviews and general feedback is from the audiance as that will determine the final outcome.

  2. Angels and Belds 13 October 2009
    08:44:39 pm

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    if its just 1.58 hours(typo?) – then this movie will chiggy wiggy all the way to the bank….

    I daresay if directors keep their movies to less than 2 hrs – it will lead to larger proportion of hits!

  3. Doga 13 October 2009
    08:51:16 pm

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    Yes Beld sir,

    Blue is 1:58

    and MAMK is 1:57

    Things are improving in bollywood, lol.

  4. Angels and Belds 13 October 2009
    08:54:16 pm

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    btw the key to all akshay movies have been week 2. Other than welcome – i cant think of any akshay movie in the last few years that has not crashed after week 1

  5. Doga 13 October 2009
    08:58:45 pm

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    Also Beld, i think its more important especially for action movies to have a taut, straight forward, no nonsense script and dialogue writing(as seen in most HW action movies).

    If that is taken care of, then i think the risk of the movie lacking the entertainment quotient is very less and thus results in a better outcome.

  6. Doga 13 October 2009
    09:10:23 pm

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    Contrary to Popular belief Beld,

    Heyy Baby Opening = 24.60 , second week = 13.83 (43.8 % fall)

    Bhool Bhulaiya Opening = 23.59 , second week = 14.42 (38.9% fall)

    The above two movies around doubled their totals Heyy Babby(47.7 cr) and Bhool Bhulaiya(49.75 cr) and so did Namaste London(more than doubled the opening),Welcome you know trended quite well.

    Bhagham Bhag opened at 21 cr and did 41 cr total.

    Phir Hera Pheri did extremely Good Trending, almost tripling its opening.

    Only Bad trending movie of Akki is SIK.

    Except for this flops, CCTC, Tashan, Tasveer and of course KI.

    Thats the real picture infront of you, i will say it depends on the movie itself than the star, if it was about the star, Public will not come to watch the movie in the first place.

    PS: All data from BOI.

  7. Doga 13 October 2009
    09:21:34 pm

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    Now yes, choosing a script is ofcourse responsibility of the star and yes even Akki will lose it if he keeps on doing bad scripts.

    One shining example is Salman khan, bad scripts and people lost faith in him, so even a Wanted takes just a Good opening and only after Good reviews and Better WOM do people think about paying and seeing him onscreen(that too only partially in plexes i mean).
    So its all in their own hands.

    Lets see where Blue heads.

  8. akshay shah 13 October 2009
    09:24:14 pm

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    I dont see why a “short” movie is necessarily considered a better one… it all depends on the subject at hand (e.g a J-A at 1:58 would be tragic!)

  9. Gorilla 14 October 2009
    12:37:29 am

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    Thanks Doga.
    Blue’s review and the other post on Geeta Dutta made my day.
    I think no matter what, technically this film looks like a milestone for hindi films.
    Now, i can’t wait to see this film in a theatre with best facility. If the story is even half as gripping as what Taran is mentioning, Blue will be a treat.

  10. sandhya 14 October 2009
    06:52:53 am

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    I don’t trust Taran that much, remember he gave four stars to Kambakkth Ishq as well and there are indeed many such examples. But with BLUE, I have more hope. Anthony D’souza has a decent sense of humour (at least judging from his interviews) if nothing else.

    About the film being under two hours, I have mixed feelings about this. With Acid Factory, I distinctly felt like I had seen an incredibly short film. The characters were very under-developed, the plot was half-baked and unconvincing…so a shorter film sometimes means a less satisfying experience also. I think Hollywood films are the same length (under 2 hrs) without the songs, so I think our films can go upto 2 hr 20 mins or so. And when a film is as grandly set up as Blue, with so many stars, it shouldn’t be too short IMO.

  11. sayrahul 14 October 2009
    01:56:20 pm

  12. Doga 14 October 2009
    03:44:38 pm

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    Jogi Bhai , 4 stars too, WOW.

    Jogi Bhai rarely gets this excited(he gave 4 stars to Wanted too though).

  13. Doga 14 October 2009
    03:49:42 pm

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    The action, as am hearing if done right could be great.

    Never heard to bike chases in hindi movies i think.

  14. sputnik 14 October 2009
    04:57:21 pm

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    Taran did not give 4 stars to KI but gave it 3.5 stars.
    http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/13766/index.html

    Taran gave 2 stars to Dil Chahta Hai and 1.5 stars to Swades.
    Taran gave Ghajini 4.5 stars and 4 stars to Karzzzz which was a horrible movie.
    http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/13690/index.html

    Its pretty obvious that any time a movie is promoted all over his web site or he is invited to a premiere he gives the movie great ratings.

    Doga,
    Jogi Bhai also gave Jashnn 4 stars too which again was a horrible movie with horrible performances.
    http://www.bollywoodhungama.co.....index.html

  15. Doga 14 October 2009
    05:27:32 pm

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    Sputnik, i take my words back on Jogi bhai, lol.

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