Robot

Robot (2010)
Language: Hindi dub
in theaters

Synopsis: A scientist creates a first of it's kind android, named Chitti, who can do just about anything. He wants to try and sell Chitti for use with the military, but after a failed interview with the board and his mentor, he was rejected. Being told that Chitti can't be used in the military since he has no moral values (i.e. he would kill on command even if it's subject was the commanding officer), Dr. Vaseegaran gives him a moral code/philosophy which causes Chitti to fall in love with Dr. Vaseegaran's girlfriend Sana. Things begin to get complicated after that...

The Good
+ graphics... this was the most expensive Indian film to date made with a budget of $35 million. C'mon USA, if India can make something this well done with half the budgets we use? Very well done CGI, and the action scenes were fantastic.
+ action! It's been a while since I've seen action this well done/creative.
+ Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was SMOKING HOT. Seriously, she was so gorgeous! Flawless make up, amazing outfits... she's seriously becoming a favorite actress of mine.
+ Song picturizations... this movie probably has some of the best song cuts ever, just for the costumes and filming style alone. Did I mention Aishwarya was smoking hot?
+ the dubbing. I pretty much forgot this was a Hindi dub of a Tamil film. I could tell Aishwarya dubbed her own voice, is that the case for the other actors too?


The Bad
+ length. At least 30-45 minutes of the film could've been cut out. As I joked with a friend, I don't think Indian film believe in deleted scenes.
+ The biggest pet peeve I have with Indian cinema, I hate how they pair quite older male stars with female leads that are half their age, or in this case, old enough to be her father. At least it didn't feel too bad since make up helped him look younger.
+ The clear message that rich upper class is superior to the lower class. I can see this film not being popular everywhere in India for that. This was a friend of mine's first time seeing an Indian film, and even he noticed this.

Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? A million times yes! Amazing action, costumes, graphics. It was just an awesome experience and excellent movie to show friends that were unfamiliar with Bollywood and the like. The only complaint I had was the theater I was in had their sound way too high, so I had to cover my ears occasionally.

Rating 4.5/5

Favorite Song: Naina Miley... this is the Tamil version of the song in the video

Raavan

Film: Raavan (2010)
Language: Hindi
in movie theater

This film was directed by Mani Ratnam, who was the director of the last film I saw (A Peck on the Cheek). No doubt he is an amazing director. I can't imagine Aishwarya and Vikram doing all this twice. They had to have some pretty serious bruises/cuts.

Synopsis: Based off Ramayana. Dev is a police inspector out on the hunt for Beera, a well known outlaw said to have "10 heads" who steals Dev's wife, Ragini. It's a wild goose chase that lasts 14 days, all the while Ragini stays fiercely loyal to Dev, she does witness the more human side of Beera.

The Good:
+ The cinematography! O.M.G. This director is known to travel all over the world to get the 'perfect shot' and rightly so! Next to Devdas, I'd have to say this was probably one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've seen in Bollywood.
+ The music! Again, A.R. Rahman doesn't let us down, but even the score was amazing. I really wish I could get the score... The music really fit the location and added to atmosphere. The songs never really seemed out of place or completely random (there were a couple moments in the score that did seem out of place, however)
+ Aishwarya was the best actor in this film. Again, I've never been crazy about her, but in nearly every movie I see her in, the more I like her (especially Devdas and now this one).
+ Abhishek was freaking CRAZY in this film. It's so different from anything he's done before. Despite alot of criticism he's been getting, I thought his performance was excellent. Unfortunately, it seems I'm in the minority here.

The Bad:
+ some of the camera work was a little crazy. They abused the whole 360 spinning around effect. At one point, I thought I was going to get motion sickness, because it was at least 2 minutes of spinning around and around Abhishek (granted at that time it did make sense), but there were times where I think the same power/emotions would've been felt if they DIDN'T spin around the characters.
+ Vikram's Dev. First of all, I think Vikran is a scary looking guy so he did work as the police inspector. But there were far too many frustrated/guttural war cries from him for my taste. I wonder what his interpretation of Beera is like. I heard him and Abhishek's performance are quite different.

Final Thoughts: Was it worth watching? Yes! Bollywood is looking more and more like Hollywood if they keep up at the rate they're going. I loved my friend's comment of "I'm amazed. I mean, it doesn't look like they shot it outside their garage or anything". I must admit, the first half I was kinda "ehhh" about the film, but by the end (esp the climatic Beera vs. Dev scene) I was like "Oh.My.God!"

Rating: I really debated whether it's 3.5 or 4, but I'm going to give it a 4/5 really to the beautiful scenery, music, and seeing Abhishek like you've never seen him before.

I really want to see the Tamil version, since I heard it's better.

Favorite Song: Behene de