BANJO - Movie Review

Banjo is directed by Ravi Jadhav, starring Riteish Deshmukh and Nargis Fakhri in the lead roles. A film about Chris (played by Nargis Fakhri) goes for a search for Banjo band, she comes across Tarrat (played by Riteish Deshmukh) who at first is hesitant of giving his identity away as a banjo player. Eventually he does by helping Chris as she struggles. But playing the Banjo is just another part of his life, whilst his real lifestyle is in the dirty of the small streets in the village and dealing with activities such as extortions and fighting with others. Will this unity help create a Banjo band on an international scale?

POSITIVES

• The on screen chemistry between Riteish Deshmukh and Nargis Fakhri was great to see, they looked good together although it is Riteish Deshmukh who takes control on screen by being the better performer in comparison. His efforts of trying to hit on her as well as maintaining his dignity status helps keep this an interesting movie.
• Dialogues are likeable, especially the ones for Riteish Deshmukh’s character. It helps to bring the comedy moments in to the scene. The script had a good concept but was not executed with another new, quite cliché. But what stood out the most along with the dialogues was the climax. The climax was the most powerful part in the film as the rest deemed fairly slow. The unity was great to see and once again that falls to the persona of Riteish who manages to add a spark to this movie. 
• Scenery choices and cinematography was enjoyable showing the streets, small and dirty environment and showcasing the citizens struggle in daily life. How these band members adjusted to such living and how it has affected their mentality and be the way they are. They do struggle to adjust to the westernised attitude of Chris. But I felt this was very informative to help justify why their attitudes were the way they had been presented on screen. 

NEGATIVES

• The beginning voice over narration that gives the information about the characters and their lifestyle was a real bore. The voice needed to help attract but it really did not entice and kept distracting the attention.
• I felt the film was slow paced, it did not create a high intensity with the buzz of the band rise with shows. I felt that was lacking and it was missing for such film. It needed to be bit faster paced with action slamming on screen to help build the importance. I also felt that there were so many things going on in the film, it seemed a bit scattered all over. It needed consistency which was lacking and that disrupted the viewing experience too.

CAST

• RITEISH DESHMUKH - He is impressive with his role, you like to see him in the movie more often. Riteish excels with managing the hard-hitting gangster type character with a bit of a softer romantic type person on screen. This makes the film more appealing and adds more emotion to the scenes. Riteish is strong in his role and implicates a spark in the film when it needed it the most as majority of the pace is slow and needed a push forward. He manages to do that with his co-stars in the band as they shadowed Riteish.
• NARGIS FAKHRI - She is given just as big of a role as her co-star, tries to push the film forward but it just does not come out strongly for her. Her poor Hindi accent does no justice to the film, her acting seems lacklustre at times and it is evident on screen. But she does add the glamour to the film as well as helping Riteish’s character in playing out of his lifestyle persona. Nargis does attempt to boss the team, sometimes it works but sometimes it does not and that does not do justice to her character.

RATING

Overall I would rate Banjo 2/5 purely on the basis of Riteish Deshmukh’s acting performance and the concept and the music. The rest of the film struggled but what keeps you tagging along is the decent and likeable dialogues that also livens up Riteish’s acting performance on screen. The storyline was good but did not get executed really well, the writing department lacked execution and that falters for the film. Dialogues are the only positive aspects of the script whilst the climax powers the film to a strong finish. Performance wise Nargis struggles with her Hindi, she is not convincing enough. She actually holds the film back; her westernised Indian character does not seem believable. She brightens up some scenes with her on screen chemistry with Riteish but it is not enough, only for Riteish to save the film from a complete fall.

HOUSEFULL 3 - Movie Review

Housefull 3 is directed by Sajid-Farhad, starring Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nagis Fakhri and Lisa Haydon.

POSITIVES

• To a certain degree, the slapstick comedy genre has been showcased well in leaving the stupidity seem amusing. There were times in the film where the action speaks more than the dialogues. These on-screen scenes entertained as a visual where as the dialogues failed in parts. The slapstick will be the highlight from the movie as it will be the strength to this weak film.
• The story concept was average but the concept was pictured enough in leaving the audience in wanting to know what transpires although the screenplay not being the biggest highlight. It does enough to allow the film to come to a closure and that was praise-able because it seemed at one point that I would struggle to complete it all. 
• What I really liked from the creative aspects of filmmaking, the way the stories of the leads interlinked when they were not together on screen. For example, the introduction scene each love pair’s story was inputted in to the other pair to allow the story vocally to carry on whilst the visuals changed with different actor coming on screen. This was very creative and produced nicely.

NEGATIVES

• The story idea is mediocre but what fails with the screenplay is the acting. I did not feel the actors were utilized to their best, leaving a less imposing mark in comparison to their acting capabilities. Akshay Kumar manages to be the leading man in carrying this film to the finish. Each cast member acted average but not to an amazing level and that disappoints. 
• The dialogues were lackluster, despite a few likeable dialogues, the rest were below par and that tarnished the screen acting in a slapstick form. Only several moments would be picked out as the highlight from the movie, those particular scenes would be the reason in wanting to continue watching, but it does get missed in the latter stages. 
• Performance level, I felt that with such a huge star cast and a disappointing script, the cast were struggling to keep pace with Akshay Kumar who is given majority of the screen dominance out of the rest leads. Hence why he is the savior to the film. The leading ladies are given little dialogue and that tainted their potential, as there was not much of a character development with their presence.

CAST

• AKSHAY KUMAR - Carries the franchise once again on his shoulders. Akshay performed well with his split personality character and it seemed believable and the comic-timings were to the point where it needed to be. Did not seem overly exaggerated, he kept the viewing experience interesting and portrayed the slapstick genre with perfection. Credit goes to him for saving the movie.
• ABHISHEK BACHCHAN - Playing in the shadows of Akshay Kumar was always going to keep him in as the second fiddle, a guy with such presence is not being exploited well enough and for that AB had to deal with chasing behind Akshay. He has his moments with some pleasant comedy moments, but not enough, as he needed to progress further. 
• RITEISH DESHMUKH - Probably had a better role and more involvement in the second film on the franchise. Riteish is an actor who has done superbly in his previous movies especially with the comedy role, but in this film it seemed basic and for that, it is not a performance that would be a major talking point when recalling the cast as Akshay seems to have overtaken his co-stars. 
• JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ - Out of the female leads, she stands above the rest. Also given more dialogues and authority in conversations. Jacqueline was not just the beauty and the face; she also was given importance amongst the sisters. 
• NARGIS FAKHRI - Playing second fiddle to Jacqueline, she was not given enough prominence in showing a variety of her acting credentials. It was plain and that is substandard as she was wasted.
• LISA HAYDON - Not used enough, so not much can be praised or picked out as she was just there playing behind the rest of the females who took the driving seat in the film whilst Lisa remained behind. 

RATING

We give Housefull 3 a rating of 2/5 stars. The third instalment to the Housefull franchise was entertaining in parts but not enough to seal a must watch slapstick comedy. The film was only enjoyable if you watch it in your spare time and not judge it to a film critic perception, This film was a time pass and not somehting that I would watch again. The cast is way too big, but what disappoints the most is that the cast is not being utilised well enough in helping the story to become eye-catching nor does it let the characters develop in the film and letting them have an impact. Watch this film if you can leave your brains at home as you would struggle if you expect a laughing circus as that was missing. It is funny at parts, you are lucky you get to witness the odd few likeable scenes.