FILM: The Shaukeens
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Piyush Mishra, Annu Kapoor and Lisa Haydon
DIRECTOR: Abhishek Sharma

Basu Chatterjee would smWho says remakes can never be as good as the originals? Abhishek SharmaÂ’s new-age rendering of Basu ChatterjeeÂ’s Shaukeen is a smartened-up avatar of the original. ItÂ’s the smartphone of the current generation as compared with landline version of the comedy that Chatterjee made over 30 years ago.
Thanks to Tigmanshu Dhulia and Sai KabirÂ’s writing, the characters are spunkier and more rounded even when they appear to be as curvaceous as Haydon.
In principle, The Shaukeens hijacks only the basic idea of the original film. Three 60-plus men get lustfully attracted to a PYT (pretty young thing). Incidentally, the PYT from Basu-daÂ’s film has now metamorphosed into a sad boring housewife in The Shaukeens. A tragic bit of self-reference that makes no sense.
But we are digressing. The three over-the-hill lechers in The Shaukeens, played with dignified horniness by Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra, are as dangerous as a child with a toy gun. A tone of ironical self-mocking bravado runs throughout the two-hour comic celebration of the wrinkled libido.
Not that DhuliaÂ’s writing and SharmaÂ’s astutely tongue-in-cheek direction spare the childlike-oldies the rod. There are some scenes of embarrassing humiliation meted out to the prowling trio — for instance, the one where a girl on a deserted Delhi road reacts violently to their leching.
More power to the actorsÂ’s sporting spirit. All three actors, seen in a collective huddle of jaded horniness, give off their best performances portraying their sexually famished characters with a mix of childlike guilelessness and over-ripened curiosity.
I specially loved Piyush MishraÂ’s home life. A bland manufacturer of a masala brand, his two sons are shown to come forward one at time each evening, the first to offer him his meal and the other a choice between a blue and white pyjama.
These are lives awaiting excitement. Mauritius and Lisa Haydon provide that much-needed break from ennui in the three elderly thrill-seekers’ lives. Haydon, full of trivialised existential problems about the number of ‘likes’ on Facebook and other puerile prattle, plays her unselfconscious hottie’s role with the required amount of innocence and sauciness. She serves as an able foil to the three old men’s heightened horniness.
Rather than indulge the lechers, the narrative mocks them without letting them know. ThatÂ’s the filmÂ’s primary victory. But the main-stay of “The Shaukeens” and the reason why this film must be seen is Akshay Kumar. Playing an alcoholic bored and cranky version of himself, Akshay quite simply takes over the show, bringing into play the kind of self-deprecatory humour that we have not seen any Bollywood superstar indulge in.
There are scenes showing Akshay Kumar the star, targeting himself as a non-actor, surrounded by yes-men and minions who smirk and cheat behind his back. Look out for Cyrus Broacha as the star secretary, Mohan Joshi as the star-director and Kavin Dave as an on-location fixer. This could have been a tragic saga of a superstarÂ’s isolation from reality. Instead, Akshay turns the whole stardom game into an inhouse joke.
This is AkshayÂ’s best performance in recent years. He adds considerably to the filmÂ’s comic quotient. As do the three veteran actors with performances that go beyond the bawdy. The Shaukeens is a rib-tickling rumbustious sleaze-less comedy that Basu Chatterjee is likely to smile at. ItÂ’s bound to make you laugh out loud. (IANS)

FILM: Big Hero 6
Cast: Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Maya Rudolph, Damon Wayans Jr….
Co-DIRECTORS: Don Hall, Chris Williams

Loosely based on the defunct Marvel superheroes comic series of the same name, Big Hero 6 is the latest offering from Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is a hero’s journey that depends on teamwork.
Set in the fictionalised city of San Fransokyo, the story centers around the adventures of a 14-year-old robotics prodigy, Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) and his accomplices.
After graduating at the age of 13, the precocious little Hiro is not interested in further studies. He is busy making money off, ‘robot fighting’ in the back alleys of the city. This disgusts his older brother, Tadashi (Daniel Henney).
So, in order to divert Hiro’s energies, his over-protective brother introduces Hiro to his latest invention: the cuddly, inflatable, care-giving robot nurse called Baymax (Scott Adsit). Later, he takes Hiro to his university’s robotic lab to show him around.
Here, Hiro meets his brother’s colleagues that include: GoGo Tamago (Jamie Chung) the sharp-tongued and punky engineering genius, Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.) the well-built but overly-precious laser specialist, Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) a pretty and naturally talented chemist and Fred (T.J. Miller) the eccentric soft hearted slacker.
When Hiro sees all the cool stuff that they’re doing, he realises what he is missing, and dreams of joining the “nerd lab”.
So, he goes all out to impress the visionary principal, Professor Callaghan (James Cromwell) with his invented nanotechnology, “microbots”.
But unfortunately that very evening, the lab burns down and Tadashi, who rushes in to save Professor Callaghan is killed. In the fire, Hiro’s invention is presumed destroyed too.
While Hiro mourns, Baymax comes to life and takes care of him, leading Hiro to a strange man in a red-and-white kabuki mask and black cloak made of “microbots” which apparently is Hiro’s invention.
Now, if the microbots survived the fire, then that means someone caused the explosion and is responsible for Tadashi dying in it. So, Hiro along with Baymax and Tadashi’s four colleagues set off on an adventure to unravel this mystery.
The animated characters are brought to life by the star voices with ‘teen attitude’ that are incredibly energetic and relatable. While Ryan Potter injects fresh breath of air into Hiro, it is the featureless, inflatable robot Baymax who steals your heart with his simplicity. And Scott Adsit does full justice to Baymax.
Though there are six of them as a team, the script mainly concentrates on the relationship between Hiro and Baymax. The rest of the team is just stereotype characters helping the narration to progress. (IANS)
With ample twists and turns, the engaging plot navigates on an emotional level, fuelled with humour that is physically intense, unpretentious and well-timed.
The city San Fransokyo, presents a seamless fusion of traditional Japanese and Victorian-influenced American architecture and with the protagonists having Japanese names, directors Don Hall, who had earlier delivered “Winnie the Pooh” and Chris Williams of “Bolt” fame, have managed to churn out a culturally hybrid story that is meticulously penned and visually extravagant with flawless design.
Unfortunately, the 3D effects do not add anything to the viewing experience.
Overall, Big Hero 6 is an attractive film that can be classified as a classic animation film. (IANS)