F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b

This friday its Ringa Ringa at the movies. In both the films, its too much confusion over one phone call. Karthik Calling Karthik is directed by debutant Vijay Lalwani, stars Farhan Akhtar & Deepika Padukone and produced by Excel Entertainment. Lets see if actor Farhan manages to score a hattrick.

Anupama Chopra (NDTV) – Karthik Calling Karthik is inconsistent with its own internal logic. When you backtrack and see how the pieces fit, it doesn’t hang together. Eventually then, Karthik Calling Karthik feels like a vanity project for Farhan Akhtar, who is in every frame of the film. He’s compelling, especially in vulnerable loser mode, but he can’t add flesh to this sliver of a story. KCK isn’t a bad film but it isn’t very good either.  – 2.5/5

Shubhra Gupta (Indian Express) – ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’ is actually two films. One, an office romance between a colourless drone and a beautiful colleague who notices him only when the boss lashes out at him in public. And the other about a guy who hears voices in his head and gets strange phonecalls from someone who claims to be him. Karthik calling Karthik, geddit? – 1/5

Sukanya Verma (Rediff) – Films like Karthik Calling Karthik are all about winding up right. This one fails to make a connect. Pity, it could have been that all important call you’ve always been waiting for – 2.5/5

Taran Adarsh (Indiafm) – KCK a decent product with an unconvincing conclusion. Watch it for the wonderful performances of Farhan and Deepika, if you have to. Caters to the youth in metros mainly – 2.5/5

Nikhat Kazmi (TOI) – One does wish there was a bit more of the bubbly Ms Padukone, though. Where it doesn’t work is the entertainment factor. The screenplay does tend to get a bit clunky and the drama somewhat heavy as the director looks for text book resolutions of the teasing problem. But, by and large, there is a thrill factor that keeps the momentum on. In the mood for serious cinema? Watch Karthik Calling Karthik – 3.5 /5

Mayank Shekhar (HT) – The genre of course has its limitations. And someone who’s seen the film before, will inevitable blurt out, what the film’s deal was, or, ‘Who’s the caller’. As an audience, you’re not always two steps behind the script either. But that doesn’t take away from how the film holds you, almost all the way. This isn’t easy. I suspect you’re not going to love the sound of a ringing landline for a while. I hope you don’t question the workings of your brain as much – 3/5

Rajeev Masand (CNN IBN) – In the end, Karthik Calling Karthik appears confused and half-baked, and it commits that deadly unforgivable cinematic sin – it bores you! – 2/5

Aniruddha Guha (DNA) – Farhan may have put in a good act – it’s his best, certainly, among just three films so far – and Deepika looks smoldering and performs well too. But that’s hardly reason enough to sit through this one. Unless you don’t mind thinking to yourself in the end, “THIS is what it was all about?!” – 2/5

Minty Tejpal (Mumbai Mirror) – KCK is low on entertainment and remains a bit dark and dreary, so it’s entirely your call – 2/5

Teen Patti is directed by Leena Yadav (Shabd), Produced by Ambika Hinduja and stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley, R Madhavan, Raima Sen and a bunch of newcomers. Click here to our Twittereview review of the film.

Anupama Chopra (NDTV) – Teen Patti is a train-wreck of a movie. It’s incoherent, lengthy and worst of all, agonisingly pretentious. Director Leena Yadav takes the kernel of the story from the 2008 Hollywood film 21, about an MIT professor and his students who figure out how to count cards and make millions at casinos in Las Vegas – 1.5/5

Shubhra Gupta (Indian Express) – The trouble with `Teen Patti’ is not that we’re all too familiar with its central idea. It lies in the patchy way the plot is laid out, and in the characters who do not, at any point, feel completely filled out. In too many places, the design is allowed to scream for attention, overwhelming the people, and the action, such as there is – 2/5

Rajeev Masand (CNN IBN) – Directed by Leena Yadav, Teen Patti is an incoherent mess of logic-defying scenes that never come together as a fluid script. It’s got snazzy camerawork and occasionally hip production design, but none of that matters in the end. What you take with you as you leave the cinema is shock. Shock that nobody associated with this film had the intelligence or the courage to turn around and say, “This sucks.” – 1/5

Preeti Arora (Rediff) – Three decades after Gandhi, Ben Kingsley still weaves magic for the Indian audiences. As Kingsley and Bachchan share their life experiences, there is the sheer pleasure of watching two legends share screen space. And since there is no attempt to overshadow the other, the experience is memorable. It’s difficult to visualise other actors in these roles. Teen Patti is worth a watch just for these actors – 2.5/5

Taran Adarsh (Indiafm) – On the whole, Teen Patti is a fresh concept for Indian viewers, made well, but limits itself to the intelligentsia and big city audiences mainly – 2.5/5

Mayank Shekhar (HT) – No kidding. This is the most elegantly lit (cinematographer Aseem Bajaj) rendition of pure gibberish that I’ve seen in a while. The filmmakers profess they came up with this script before the Kevin Spacey starrer 21 came into the theatres. Given this flick, you couldn’t care less for its alleged inspiration – 1/5

Nikhat Kazmi (TOI) – The second half does get somewhat repetitive, with the film refusing to move out of the gambling dens and the climax gets somewhat hurried. But majorly, the film holds as a taut thriller that keeps you glued for most of the screen time. Watch out for Sunidhi Chauhan’s item number, Teri Neeyat Kharab Hai. It rocks – 3.5/5 

Minty Tejpal (Mumbai Mirror) – Teen Patti is a slick and stylish film with many stars, fancy styling, big budget but little substance and very convoluted logic. Part of the film is in English, part of it is in algebra and the rest seems gobbledygook – 2/5

Will update the list with more reviews as soon as its out. So, wondering what to watch this friday ? Bet its better to go for hollywood releases.