HAPPY ENDING (2014)

BollySitter Recommended Age:         12+ (For adult language and sexuality)

BollySitter Family GO Factor:           2.0/5.0

The Review Monk TRM Score:          5.3/10.0

 

Directed by:    Raj Nidimoru & Krishna D.K.

Starring:          Saif Ali Khan Ileana D’Cruz Govinda, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey

Written By:     Raj Nidimoru, Krishna D.K. Sita Menon

Language:       Hindi

Music by:        Sachin-Jigar

Produced by:   Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh Vijan, Sunil Lulla

Lyrics by:        Amitabh Bhattacharya

Running time: 137 mins

Genre(s):         Comedy, Romance

 

BollySitter says

HAPPY ENDING is a romantic comedy set in Los Angeles that tells the story of a philandering author who has only written one book in his entire career and who falls in love with another author. The film is NOT recommended for kids under 12 years of age due to inappropriate and adult language, sexual situations and innuendos throughout.

Content

HAPPY ENDING tells the story of a “commitment-shy one-hit wonder” author struggling to make his ends meet. Much against his wishes, he falls for a fellow female author, only to realize that her views on love and commitment are the same as what they used to be for him before he fell in love. Despite being a rom-com overall, the film comes off more as a series of well-shot sequences, with a few laughs, some witty dialogues and plenty of frank and sexual conversations and situations.

Violence 

There is no violence in the film.

Intense & Frightening scenes

There are no intense or frightening scenes in the film.

Sexuality

A couple is shown having sex multiple times. Although there is no explicit nudity, the lead-ups to the scenes involve sexual conversations. A couple is shown playing cards and taking turns to strip, depending upon who wins each round. A couple is shown stripping on the highway in order to hitchhike a ride. A married couple is shown arguing about how infrequently they have sex and how the wife could have gotten pregnant. Two guys break into a girl’s apartment and have a lewd discussion around her undergarments. Two guys have frank conversations about their sex lives. A song features scantily clad girls dancing in the background. A boy forcibly attempts to check out a hidden tattoo by pulling one of his former girlfriends’ shorts. Two guys are shown having drinks at a strip club with scantily dressed women in the background.

Language 

There is a liberal usage of inappropriate words and adult language throughout the film, including words like “f***”, “a**hole” “b**ch”, “screwed”, “shit”, “behanc***d” and “bastard”. A popular party song has risqué and double meaning lyrics. It is hard to overlook the usage of such language in a mainstream Bollywood film, thereby making it unsuitable for younger kids.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

There are multiple drinking scenes in the movie. Couples are shown drinking wine on regular basis. Two guys are shown drinking heavily in bars and eventually passing out, throwing up or waking up with a hangover. Smoking is shown intermittently in the background although none of the lead characters are shown smoking themselves.

Attitude/Behavior

The movie is about an author who does not wish to work despite his bleak financial situation and is afraid of getting into any serious relationship with a woman. Women are discussed as being harsh, non-understanding and difficult to deal with, throughout the film. Drinking excessively, lying and having relationships with multiple partners is also assumed to be an acceptable behavior.

Discussion points

This is a romantic comedy meant for adults, with no positive takeaways that can be discussed with kids.

Bechdel Test = 0/3

There are plenty of female characters in the film but none of them have any conversation with each other.

For the quality of the film, check out the reviews @ http://thereviewmonk.com/movie/happy-ending/

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THE SHAUKEENS (2014)

BollySitter Recommended Age:         15+

BollySitter Family GO Factor:           1.5/5.0

The Review Monk TRM Score:          4.9/10.0

Directed by:    Abhishek Sharma

Starring:          Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Piyush Mishra, Lisa Haydon, Akshay Kumar, Rati Agnihotri

Written By:     Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sai Kabir

Language:       Hindi

Music by:        Yo Yo Honey Singh, Hard Kaur, Vikram Nagi, Arko Mukherjee

Produced by:   Akshay Kumar, Ashvin Varde

Running time: 124 mins.

Genre(s):         Comedy

 

BollySitter says

THE SHAUKEENS is a loose adaptation of the 1982 Bollywood film, “Shaukeen” and is not recommended for children under 15 years of age due to sexuality, adult language and sexual innuendos. The film tells the story of three elderly men who take a vacation to Mauritius in an effort to fulfill their sexual fantasies.

Content

THE SHAUKEENS depicts the story of three lecherous old friends who go to Mauritius in search of a sexual rendezvous. How the lustful three come to terms with reality, with the help of their beautiful host and the female lead of the film, forms the crux of the story. The film is filled with double-meaning dialogues, sexual situations and embarrassing incidents about elder guys trying to make out with younger girls, in the name of entertainment. The only entertaining parts of the film, however, are provided by a character who plays a superstar himself in the film and whose plot is not directly related to the one of the three main protagonists anyway.

 

For the quality of the film, check out the reviews @ http://thereviewmonk.com/movie/the-shaukeens/

DAAWAT-E-ISHQ (2014)

BollySitter Recommended Age:                7+

BollySitter Family GO Factor:       3.0/5.0

The Review Monk TRM Score:   5.1/10.0

Directed by:    Habib Faisal

Starring:          Parineeti Chopra, Aditya Roy Kapur, Anupam Kher, KaranWahi

Written By:     Habib Faisal, Jyoti Kapoor

Language:       Hindi

Music by:        Sajid-Wajid

Produced by:   Aditya Chopra

Lyrics by:        Kausar Munir

Running time: 123 mins

Genre(s):         Social Drama, Romantic Comedy

BollySitter says

An overall clean film that is appropriate for viewing with kids in the 7+ age group. The name (and the previews) of the film are a misnomer as the film is more about the evils of the dowry system prevalent in India than it is about food. Due to the complex underlying social theme of dowry, younger kids may find the film boring.

Content

This is a film with a social message, depicted in a light-hearted fashion and garnished with a half-baked love story. It revolves around a girl who joins forces with her father and decides to con a rich boy and his greedy dowry-demanding parents. Little does she realize that, on the way, she will actually fall in love with the boy himself – a large-hearted, lovable owner and chief chef of a small-town Indian restaurant.

Violence 

There is a sequence of mild violence in the climax of the film. A character threatens to shoot a girl with a gun. There are no menacing undertones in the threat and the overall impact of the scene is rather amusing in nature.

Intense & Frightening scenes

There are no intense or scary scenes except a mild one in the climax where a character threatens a girl with a gun.

Sexuality 

There is no sexuality in the film, except for the end credits song where the lead pair is shown dancing amidst various couples hugging or kissing each other. There is nothing objectionable in the song overall and no close-ups are shown either.

Language 

The language remains mild throughout the film and nothing that would be objectionable for the kids, except in one sequence where a male character refers to a female character as “Chudail” (witch) There are a few sequences where people are insulted and unceremoniously thrown out of the house.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

No drinking, drugs or smoking is depicted in the film.

Attitude/Behavior

The female lead is depicted as a strong character, who shares an extremely warm relationship with her lovable father. She stands up to injustice and never shies away from fighting for a cause. The male lead, although equally respectful towards his parents, is also shown as someone who understands the plight of the poor. He is shown as someone who believes that the foundation of marriage should be laid on trust and love and not on dowry money. Everyone in the film believes that one of the guaranteed ways to a person’s heart is through his/her stomach.

Discussion points

Families can discuss the evils of the dowry system in India. They can tell kids how they need to stand up against people who believe in this ill-tradition. Parents can also talk to kids how defrauding people out of their hard-earned money by lying is not a good thing. At the end of the day, life is always about being honest, caring and understanding towards the people around you and especially towards the ones you love.

Bechdel Test 1/3

There is only primary female character in the film and all conversations she has with other female characters revolve around men and dowry demands. Her character, though, is shown to have an independent and progressive thinking. She has an understanding of complexities of the old traditions and is not afraid to strive towards making a positive change.

For the quality of the film, check out the reviews @ http://thereviewmonk.com/movie/daawat-e-ishq/

 

 

KHOOBSURAT (2014)

BollySitter Recommended Age: 10+ (For Family theme, Low Sexuality and No Violence)

BollySitter Family GO Factor: 3.0/5.0

The Review Monk TRM Score: 5.4/10.0

Directed by:     Shashanka Ghosh

Starring:           Sonam Kapoor, Fawad Khan , Kirron Kher as Manju Chakravarty, Ratna Pathak, Aamir Raza Hussain. Aditi Rao Hydari , Cyrus Sahukar

Written By:     Indira Bisht

Language:       Hindi

Music by:        Sneha Khanwalkar

Produced by:   Rhea Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Lyrics by:        Badshah, Ikram Rajasthani, Sunil Choudhary, Amitabh Verma and Sneha Khanwalkar

Running time: 127 mins

Genre(s):          Romantic comedy, Family Drama

BollySitter says

The film is appropriate for 10+ age group – it has a typical Disney feel to it with usual updating of certain archetype characters. However, there are a few scenes involving mild sexuality and flirting and a couple of the songs are out of line with their risqué lyrics and dance moves.

Content

This film, a loose remake of classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee film of the same name starring Rekha in one of her most memorable roles, is about Dr. Mrinalini Chakravarty aka Mili (Sonam) who is a physiotherapist, hired to help Rajasthan royal Shekhar Rathore (Aamir Raza).  Made by Disney, it carries its stamp in terms of production values, theme and character archetypes and their expected graph, however, the acting and writing ultimately betrays the film especially in comparison to the original classic it attempts to pay tribute to.  The story is about how Mili transforms the royal and strict family and frees them of their strict and narrow existence.

Violence 

There is no violence is this film. Only one past incident of a death in the royal family by accident is merely mentioned in a scene.

Intense & Frightening scenes

The film is clean of any scary scenes except a mild one when a character is shown kidnapped by a bunch of comical characters.

Sexuality 

There is one scene of kissing on the lips, however, not shown explicitly. There are plenty of scenes discussing the aforementioned kissing scene and flirting is shown at many places. Once, the lead couple is shown in a lengthy bedroom scene brimming with sexual tension.

A couple of musical scenes/songs have risqué lyrics and suggestive dance movies. Words like “Bum dole” “Bhak bhak engine bol raha hai” among others

 

Language 

The language is mild though some words make a fleeting appearance such as Chudial & Rakhail.

The lead characters refer to each other by mostly harmless Khadoos and Aafat respectively.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

There are a number of drinking scenes in the film. The lead female character is shown to enjoy drinking with his patient, the lead couple get drunk while visiting another royal family. The lead male character is shown drinking in a restaurant with his friend in Mumbai. The kidnappers mix something in a drink in order to kidnap their target.

Attitude/Behavior

Dr. Mili is a positive influence while Royal Rani Sa is very strict and lives by rules. There is talk about poor girl “trapping” a rich prince as well as lots of talk about breakups/boyfriends/girlfriends. The interaction between Dr. Mili and Royal family’s daughter are shown in a very positive light where the young girl trapped in a strict regimen is encouraged to have her independence. It strikes as odd though that in a Punjabi family a girl would refer to her mother by name. There is also a scene of a girl running away from home.

Discussion points

Families can discuss how strictly the parents govern the lives of their kids. Why a kid might decide to run away from home to gain independence or merely to show revolt?

Bechdel test 3/3

The lad female character interacts often with two older female characters with most of their talk is about men barring a couple of conversations regarding how the treatment of Royal Raja Sahib is  progressing. However, the royal daughter’s character has many deeper interactions with Dr. Mili about how to stand up for herself and being independent and taking charge of her life.

 

For the quality of the film, check out the reviews @ http://thereviewmonk.com/movie/khoobsurat/

 

 

FINDING FANNY (2014)

BollySitter Recommended Age: 15+ (For Mature theme, Mild Sexuality and Mild Violence)

BollySitter Family GO Factor: 2.0/5.0

The Review Monk TRM Score: 6.9/10.0

Directed by:     Homi Adajania

Starring:           Naseeruddin Shah, Arjun Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Pankaj Kapur, Dimple Kapadia

Written By:      Homi Adajania, Kersi Khambatta

Language:        English, Konkani

Music by:         Mathias Duplessy, Sachin-Jigar

Produced by:   Dinesh Vijan

Lyrics by:        Alan Mercer, Dinoo, Jigar Saraiya, Sachin Gupta

Running time:  93 minutes

Content

The opening line of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book “Love in the time of Cholera” states – “It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love”.

Finding Fanny is an idyllic & whimsical road movie set in Goa that’s short and breezy at 93 minutes long. The film is centered around five oddball & dysfunctional characters that live in a Goan village. Ferdie (played by Naseeruddin Shah), the melancholic and moping old postman of the village, receives back an undelivered letter, 46 years after he had written it to a girl named Fanny, professing his love to her. All that he wants now  is to find Fanny and proclaim her love.The movie is much more about the journey than the destination it is set out for.

Violence 

The film has a only a few mild violent scenes. There is an accidental death by a gunshot and blood is shown. Additionally, there is accidental murder of a cat which gets thrown out of a car. The film begins with a scene of chicken slaughter and finally there is another accidental death shown of a groom on his wedding day. In one scene, a man is hit by a car door leaving him down on the road in slithering pain and in another, a small fist fight is shown.

Intense & Frightening scenes

The pace of the movie is slow and relaxed. There is a scene where the Car with failed brakes and comes to a stop after a rather a long and scary ride. There is a dream sequence of an attempted suicide.

Sexuality 

There are a few scenes of kissing on lips. One of the characters (Pankaj Kapur) has a fetish for big women and Dimple Kapadia’s character is shown to have a big posterior (prosthetics are used). Pankaj Kapur’s character uses sexual innuendos and advances many times in the film. The young main leads are shown making out and sex is implied but not shown. There are few conversations referring to intimacy and sexual relationship between a man and a woman. Woman is shown climbing on top of the male character in order to seduce him. There is no frontal nudity but one scene shows bare back of a woman .

Language 

Language is mostly clean but there are mild cuss words used rarely such as :Idiot, balls, pussy, bloody, shit, bullshit, hell, screw, smack your  face, bastard etc. The movie is released in both English and Hindi. It is set in a small village in Goa and language is simple.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Drinking is shown in a few scenes and one of the scene features prominently in a long drawn out fashion and characters talking in an inebriated condition. No drugs or smoking is shown.

Attitude/Behavior

Each of the five lead characters have their own quirks and they showcase fluctuating behavior. The painter Don Pedro has a fetish for big bottomed women and has an ulterior motive to be on the road trip with the other four. There is plenty of contempt for each other apparent among a main characters amidst the camaraderie.

Discussion points

The movie is satirical and depicts many internal struggles that each grown up goes through during various stages of life. The young children will not be able to comprehend the theme and storyline of the movie but parents can talk to teenage children about the concept of love as a relationship of trust and companionship between two consenting adults. They can also tell children the importance of helping out friends unconditionally in their moment of need while not losing their own perspective and outlook to life.

Since teenage is also the time when children experiment with love and relationships, parents can consul children about not losing heart if one relationship fails but to move ahead as life can throw up many surprises if they keep a positive outlook towards life. Parents can also discuss topics regarding finding love in old age and widows seeking companionship.

Bechdel test 3/3

Roselina is portrayed as a sharp and domineering woman who likes to have her say in the society, yet, she bestows unconditional love and affection on her daughter-in-law Angie who was raised in an orphanage. Despite of short lived marriage between Angie and Roselina’s late son Gabo, they both live in the same house while giving space and respect to each other. The bonding between Roselina and Angie has shades of love, warmth, affection and co-dependence which is depicted throughout the movie.

Bottom line

Finding Fanny belongs to the offbeat stream and does not have any of the masala of a Mainstream Bollywood movie. Treatment of the movie is humorous, tone satirical and pace, easy. Even though the movie is not meant for family viewing or younger children, teenagers can watch this movie and learn about some of the sweet and not-to-sweet surprises that await them in a not too idealistic world. BollySitter recommend’s the film for 15+ years-old who can handle some mature theme.

For the quality of the film, check out the reviews @ http://thereviewmonk.com/movie/finding-fanny/

 

BOBBY JASOOS (2014)

Directed by:       Samar Shaikh

Starring:               Vidya Balan, Ali Fazal, Arjan Bajwa, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, Rajendra Gupta, Zarina Wahab, Kiran Kumar

Music by:            Shantanu Moitra

Running time:   122 minutes

BollySitter Recommended Age: 12+

BollySitter Family GO Factor: 3.0/5.0

Content

Bobby Jasoos is yet another star vehicle to showcase the acting talent of Vidya Balan and meant to entertain both kids and adults. Vidya Balan plays a wannabe detective in the film who solves a somewhat complex (and eventually loopholes-laden and mildly amusing) case with the help of her friends. Due to somewhat mature themes within the film, Bollysitter recommends this film for kids aged 12+.

Violence 

There is no violence in the film. However, the film has a few scenes where certain characters hold or exchanges guns, with the intent of threatening other characters in the film. This may create a sense of peril for younger kids. A character talks about how he lost members of his family during communal riots and how he stabbed and killed a person who had killed his wife.

Intense and Frightening Scenes

A girl attempts to kill herself by drinking poison. There are no other intense or frightening scenes in the film that would disturb the younger kids.

Sexuality 

There is no sexuality or nudity.

The very first scene of the film has a few seconds of mild intimacy between a boy and a girl. There is regular flirtation shown between the lead characters at various points of the film. In another scene, a character blurts a saying that has the words “Porn Star” in it. Younger kids may pick those words up and attempt to get more information around its meaning and usage.

Language 

No curse words are used.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

There are no objectionable scenes of drinking, drugs or smoking in the film.

Attitude/Behavior

The film has a positive outlook throughout its duration. There are scenes where the lead character does not get the necessary support from her family, especially her father, to pursue a career in detective work. But she perseveres and ultimately succeeds in winning their faith and trust.

Kids may question the rationale under which the father remains estranged from the lead character throughout a major duration of the film.

The theme of the primary detective case within the film is also positive in nature, with family values and social obligations at its core. Kids can see how parents go to extremes to protect their loved ones and to ensure that their sons/daughters get a better life than theirs.

Bechdel Test 2.5/3

This is a film that targets women as its prime audience. The movie has quite a few female characters, a lot of whom talk about men during their conversations. However, there is also a certain level of interaction between the females (friends, sisters, mother-daughter and aunts) that relate to topics other than men (e.g. women making it big in the world of detectives).

Bottom Line

Overall, the film is suitable for 12+ year-old kids who can understand mature topics like communal riots, kidnapping and estrangement from parents.

For the quality of the film, check out the reviews on

http://thereviewmonk.com/movie/bobby-jasoos/

LEKAR HUM DIWANA DIL (2014)

Directed by:     Arif Ali

Starring:           Armaan Jain, Deeksha Seth, Kumud Mishra, Rohini Hattangadi

Written By:      Arif Ali

Language:        Hindi  

Music by:         AR Rahman

Produced by:   Dinesh Vijan, Saif Ali Khan

Running time:  140 minutes

BollySitter Recommended Age: 15+

BollySitter Family GO Factor: 1.0/5.0

Content

Debutante director Arif Ali who is the younger brother of celebrated director Imtiaz Ali, adopts a very Imtiaz-esque theme of elopement & displacement of young lovers in Lekar Hum Diwana Dil. However, the screenplay isn’t well thought out & the lead actors (both debutantes themselves) don’t make any impact.  The film is made for and set in Gen X milieu and hence might have a minor appeal to some youngsters.

Violence 

A mother is shown getting into a slapping spree on her son. A Dad is also show hitting his son. A couple is also shown getting into a physical fight and throwing punches on each other. A violent underground separatist group features in some of the key sequences in the background without much violence shown.

Sexuality 

There is a scene showing kissing on lips and a scene that leads to search for a condom. The word “sexy” is used by a character and in one particular scene a girl does a mock sexy behavior towards a male character.

Language 

A few cuss words are used, e.g. Holy shit, bloody, kameena, Bastard, screwed, ass, bloody hell, however, usage shown is not too excessive.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Mild Drinking is shown in a couple of scenes.

Attitude/Behavior

There is family discord and loud arguments shown between family members. There are quite a few scenes with a angry word exchanges.

Bechdel test 0/3

Movie doesn’t have any female character of note besides the leading lady.

Bottom line

Overall, the target film audience is 15+ year-olds that can handle young romance & some heavy family emotional drama.

For the quality of the film, check out the reviews on

http://thereviewmonk.com/movie/lekar-hum-deewana-dil/