Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena

Hi Everyone, Some commentators have written that the movie is a copy of two Hollywood movies, most Bollywood movies are inspired by Hollywood and the songs are also often inspired without giving due credit.

The plot is is quiet original for Bollywood, a Con man (Arjun) played by Fardeen has to steal money for a gangster (sikander) from another big shot banker/money launderer/business man (Jehangir Khan). I found the songs to be great as well.

I enjoyed the movie because I had not seen the Hollywood movies the plot was inspired from. There is a lot of action and suspense. A very entertaining movie. Fardeen Khan plays his role really well and is well supported by the other cast. I found the main actress to be less glamorous, used to seeing the likes of Preity Zinta, BiPasha Basu and Ashwariya Rai. I guess I did not find her to be outstandingly "haseena" beautiful for the role.

If you have not seen the Hollywood movies its allegedly inspired from and you like thrillers à la Bollywood with some good songs then I recommend you watch it or rent it. A good movie to watch on a rainy weekend.

Bye, Jawad

What really is the problem with Bollywood? Easy money, too many movies. Since Bollywood became recognized as an Industry, it has become a lot more easier for people to produce movies. This brings a lot more people to the director's chair. This could and should have been a good thing. But unfortunately, the equation stayed: only 2 out of every 10 mainstream movies is actually worth spending almost 3hrs on. With a lot more quantity, we see a lot more crap (mostly easy rip-offs) and a lot more wannabes. Do I sound deluded by Bollywood again? It's because Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena is a rip-off of Confidence *ing Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman & Paul Giamatti.

Fardeen Khan as Arjun Verma is a con-artist (how many have we seen lately? Is it really that easy to make money? But that's a debate for another day/time). He gets hood-winked into pulling an heist to save his own life after his friend loses his (i.e. the friend's own) life after they (Hero+friend) successfully pull off a cheap heist. This is followed by another heist, and then a clinically-insane (as per Dr. Shariq)psychiatrist (Koena Mitra) turns up in one of those heists and then he (Fardeen Khan) has to double-cross someone and add a little coriander. Now cook for 27 minutes at 220C before garnishing with his friends & enemies & dhobiwallas - Mukul Dev, Kay Kay Menon, Gulshan Grover, and some *always friends* types. Serve with a hint of Feroz Khan for an after taste.

Yes, the movie is a badly cooked dinner. A Single dish that comprises the starter, the neutralizer, the main-course & the dessert. Actually, the coffee too. Suparn Verma, the director & writer of this movie tries hard, and fails spectacularly. (Actually, when it is a copy, what do *writers* actually write?). But no - he does do well in very few scenes scattered through out, a little denser in the beginning portions, and scarce onwards. But they hardly make up for the entirely passable movie that he has made. Fardeen Khan talks to the almost non-existent audience throughout the movie. His commitment to the narration meant he forgot to act. But I won't be naive enough to blame him - coz Kay Kay Menon, the actor of actors, is also lost. He's looking to play a character that's so two-dimensional, he might just have played a water-bottle better instead. For those interested, Feroz Khan shows his style in a walk-through role.

The point of this review is to tell you that if you have seen the original, save yourself - unless you like torture. If you haven't seen the original, you just may like it: If you don't realize that while Arjun Verma pulls off a fast one on his victims, YOU are the victim.

Rated: 1.5/5

Suparn Verma is at it again after Qayamat, Janasheen, Zameen and Karam. This time he's done the screenplay as well as the direction and the results aren't too bad.

Arjun, a conman, messes with the wrong guy, Sikandar, on one of his jobs and in return has to face the death of his best friend as well as having to pay back the duped money, with interest (Rs. 400,000 in total). The problem: He's spent all the money. So he gangs up with 2 other friends, Jack and Rohit, along with Kaif (who is Sikandar's watch-dog, played by the brilliant Kay Kay Menon) and they have to pull a heist where they can recover the money in 10 days. Enter Natasha, a behavioral psychiatrist who wants to do a research study on the everyday life of Arjun. She joins forces with him and unfortunately gets deeply involved with the crime. The result: the heist is a success, but not how you would expect it.

Anyways, Sikandar is a little too impressed and blackmails them into another job, a bigger one this time, and it involves stealing from the regional underworld kingpin, Jahangir Khan (Feroz Khan, who else??). So a plan has to be schemed up to steal Rs. 25 Crores from Jahangir Khan. Now it gets a bit complicated, because a few characters are suddenly put into play together, as well as the introduction of Sharad Kapoor who plays a CBI officer on the hunt for Arjun.

From then on, the film becomes a little hard to keep up with because the characters become interspersed within the multiple stories and it all boils down to a not-so-explosive end.

A little about the cast: Fardeen has done a decent job, not having been given too much dramatics. He's had to just look cool and deliver straight-faced dialog. Koena Mitra does nothing much except confuse us with her personality and wear lingerie-like clothes in public. The by now infamous steamy song is a bit too steamy for family viewing. Gulshan Grover: nice and evil, the usual fare. Feroz Khan: ha ha.. u know Feroz Khan... he's still looking lecherously at woman and guessing the brand of perfume they're wearing while he runs his many business ventures. Mukul Dev, Kay Kay Menon and Rohit Roy are good in their roles. Being TV artists they have learnt to be patient and do justice to whatever roles come their way.

The film packs too many songs which sometimes break the flow, and I think almost every song is a remake of a popular Hip-Hop/R&B number from recent times. As far as the story goes, be prepared to see "inspiration" from Hollywood flicks like "Matchstick Men" and Confidence". Still, "Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina" is one of the better attempts at the currently popular crime thriller genre.

Although it could be stripped down "Matchstick Men", Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena adds few twists & turns of its own and director Suparn Varma debuts as a promising new director on bollywood horizon. I was following this 'Matchstick Men' and thought that the movie was going to end, but actually had intermission & then I realized that it was Hindi version! The 'new' plot started after that!!! I question the acting skills of lead actors Fardeen & Koena whereas all the other characters have done real efforts to make the movie more engaging. Kay Kay is simply the best of bunch. Feroz Khan as Jehangir is having some split moments of acting, doesn't exactly fit in the movie but can do as a cameo. It felt like stretched in the end & I almost had given up before I saw the ending which might recover some of the lost sense and saves the film on story front. All in all a nice effort. It definitely rises above the mass of bollywood love stories.

I was simply blown by the opening scene itself, which starts in reverse. Each frame was simply poetry and also an indicator that the director Suparn Verma is setting up the audiences for a ride. I'm a fan of film noir something missing in Indian cinema for a long long time. But Suparn Verma's debut film is a landmark in its style and plotting. In fact this film was recommended to me by a group of filmmakers and its already become a cult film. Much ahead of its times in the execution and knowing that was it was made for a ridiculously low budget, hats off. The story has been inspired by a few con films, but this film is about the execution. A must see in my book. This is one of those films that will garner appreciation over time as new and younger viewers keep watching it and the word of mouth keeps growing