Toofan

Is the story novel? No.

Are the characters novel? No.

Does this boxing saga knock you off your feet? No.

Is the movie feel good? Yes.

Toofan is entirely carried by the excellent acting skills of Farhan Akhtar, Mrunal Thakur & Paresh Rawal. Farhan Akhtar fails to convince me in his thug avatar for the first 10 minutes of the film but once he is transformed into his “Aziz Ali – the Boxer” role he shines! Mrunal Thakur, who I remember liking in Super 30, surprised me with her very natural and endearing performance. She isn’t the classic Indian model. She is the cute girl next door with life under her skin. Paresh Rawal ka kya kehna? You put him in any role and he’ll be just that – single dad, a friend, a boring coach, a grandfather.

This story of a street fighter turned boxer who later has to redeem himself has been told time and again. The characters aren’t fully developed, there’s a lot of song and dance and yet it’s a good one-time entertainer.

My favorite dialogue? “Bhai mufti mein chinggum (chewing gum) nahi fulane ka. Sala fat gaya to apne hi muh pe aake lafa padega!” <– Filed away under life lessons. 😉

6/10

Super 30

Other than giving my eyes plenty of eye candy I have very little expectations of Hritik Roshan movies. I went to see Super 30 with the same – highly superficial – expectation to marvel at this specimen of Indian male God who has forever ruined the 10/10 scale for any other Indian male in the looks department.

Hritik Roshan : Acting = Aishwarya Rai : Acting, aka stunning to look at but as soon as they open their mouth, run! I must say I was positively surprised Hritik wasn’t his nasal self this time. He acted ok-ish despite being horribly miscast in a role that just didn’t ask for him as a lead. As an aside, Pankaj Tripathi would have been excellent in Hritik’s role both as an actor and as the face of the character. They probably had to use a truckload of  dark foundation to give Hritik the “brown” tan. His light eyes and the fake skin just don’t make for a natural look. But the producer and director obviously had to “protect” their investment by casting someone with mass appeal.

Super 30 is based on Anand Kumar’s real life story of turning underdog candidates into IIT entrance exam toppers on a consistent basis. The movie has all the emotional elements an underdog story needs but at times the Bollywood masala gets a bit in its way. A little less of that and this movie had potential for more.

I did quite enjoy the brain teasers and the overall taut screenplay. Definitely worth the trip to the theatre even if this didn’t make it to my “watch again before you die” list. (6/10)