FAN (2016) - Movie Review

SRK has marketed himself so well all these years that one cannot get enough of him.  He has branded himself which has ultimately brought positive influence towards his movies. Despite his movies having an average storyline, his charm, reputation and presence both off screen and on screen helps people to come to cinemas.

Fan(2016) is directed by Maneesh Sharma. He is the same director that made the movie band Baja and Baraat (2010) starring Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh in leading roles.

The movie, Fan(2016) falls into a Drama/Thriller Genre which revolves around a wild fan of a superstar who wants to meet him by all means. The fan in the movie is so obsessed by the movie star that when his feelings and obsession are not reciprocated by the star, he gets out of control and hits another extreme of his feelings for the movie star which is hatred.

I am trying to control myself and not give out any kind of spoilers but there were moments in which the whole cinema used to be really quiet to see what would happen next. The whole movie shows the fan played by SRK as Gaurav, where we are made to disgust and loathe him.  He is a creepy guy, disconnected from reality and just knows one thing which is to love his god, “ Aryan Khanna", The movie star!

The movie star is also played by SRK and I must say not once you get confused between the characters played by the same person. While playing Gaurav, SRK used to get a lot of makeup done on his face which in the starting scenes is quite obvious :P However, SRK has outdone himself by playing two characters and clearly defining their separate styles of talking and behaving.  The movie makes everyone think from the perspective of a movie star and then makes you think from the perspective of a fan. It also brings in focus that movie stars are actually humans off screen and may not be what they show themselves on the screen.

People who watched the movie were either supporting Gaurav or the self-absorbed movie star. The movie is a great watch because it reminds you of Bazigar and Darr where SRK used to play the role of a villain. It reminds people that SRK can play characters other than romantic ones as well.
This movie has no distractions like songs and actresses; honestly one doesn’t even miss them during the 2hr 22 min movie.

I agree that there are some holes in the movie but one can never ever hate SRK. Is it because of his marketing over the years? I don’t know. Trust me  SRK is awesome being Gaurav and I think if you want to enjoy watching a movie with deep and dark undertones, fan’s  obsession that results in a killer chase then definitely go ahead and buy the ticket.

We at spotlight rate it 4/5.

Please tell us what did you  like about FAN?  We are dying to hear your side of the story too!

Digital Marketing at Bramerz

Bramzer's is the leading advertising agency in Pakistan and also a Google Certified company. It was amazing to meet Mr.Badar who along with his team members, brought to us some insights regarding Web 2.0 and digital marketing.

Internet has changed everything and it has impacted marketing in huge ways too. Traditional marketing has been revolutionized or say completely changed after the advent of digital marketing.
Everything that we do today is based on a two way communcaition. Intitally, Marketer's were focusing on Print media, Radio, TV, billboards etc but now social networks, blogs and wikis are like the 'In" things.

Basically, this business creates content which allows the real potential market of users to come automatically to the business. This is more like a Pull Strategy. we all know that previously, companies were focusing on finding consumers and loading them with advertisements. However, things have changed.

Bramerz has basically entered into an untapped market in Pakistan. Its going great and one of its success story is of Domino, Pakistan. Things changed for Domino Pizza when they hired Bramerz. It's true that marketing brings sales. It did for domino's and it will for your company as well. Give it a try!

They help you with your brands activation and also for developing a proper strategy to go about it. Moreover, they build Mobile apps, analysis your numerical data, set your existence on Facebook, twitter etc and set a pathway for you to go about your brands.

Consumers hardly watch TV or read newspapers. Everything is now digital. The only way marketers can prosper is by understanding that the needs of consumers are changing and they need to adapt.
They have recently won three major accounts such as Line, The Entertainer & Orient Group of Companies.
However, if you check their website, they have a huge list of their clients which proves their credibility and also how successful they can be for your business in Pakistan.

www.bramerz.pk/

I am back! :)

I know it has been really long but I guess I am here to stay! A lot of things have changed, I am almost done with my MBA and this requires me to change few things about my blog. I am going to be changing few things about how I am going to write my blogs from now on. Hope it is useful and fun for everyone.

Love,
Aich

Aashique 2 (2013) - Movie Review

Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor,

Director: Mohit Suri

Aashique 2 is a movie about Passion and drama that one would love to cherish for years to come.

When aashique2 was released, I was almost done with movies. I was sick of comedy and horror movies. I was tired of looking at actors doing stupid things in the movie without any substance.

Aashique was a surprise!

The music got us before the movie released.  Songs such as  

“ Ab tum he ho” ,  “Sunn raha hai tu” , “Bhula dena mujhe” was everything the couples in love or going through any phase wanted to hear.Hats off to Mithoon, Jeet ganguly, ankit tiwari and Arijit singh!

If this movie was an attempt to re-establish Aditya roy kapoor after his failed movies such as Action replay, Guzarish and London dreams. It truly has produced the result. I think he is a great actor. Look at him in each scene expressing his love and pain together. Shraddha kappor is alright but she doesn’t do much in the movie except being someone between a caretaker and a singer.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that the story revolves around Aditiya ( Rahul Jaykar) struggling with alcoholism and suddenly finds Shraddha Kapoor(Aarohi) a talented singer. It was hard for me to beleive that she was a singer. Her body languagae didn't make her look like one.

so This Rahul Jaykar guy decides to mentor and thus giving a chance for love to blossom. With time we see Aarohi’s stardom escalating and Rahul’s envy increasing. Ego comes in between and it’s a struggle within aditya that whether he is good enough for aarohi or not.

I think it was the guilt that led aaditiya to take his life at the end. If only he had guts to take her hand and publicaly declare who she was for him.

Great story, Great songs and is a box office success. It targets the youth audience properly and gives us drama in each scene.

The best part about this movie is that it is to the point. Does not lengthen romantic scenes and brings love, passion and drama as soon as the movie starts.

Watch it  4/5 stars! :D

Jab Tak hai Jaan(2012) - The undying Love

Jab tak Hai Jaan (2012) holds a special place in my heart for many reasons :P but mainly because I was dying to see a romantic movie and not some romantic comedy stuff.

Most importantly, it is the last film directed by Yash Chopra who died days before the movie released.  I admire Yash Chopra for giving us great romantic movies like veer zara, DDLJ etc.  Nobody can match his sense of filming and how he portrays love on screen by his actors. This is the final product by Yash chopra and never again cinema will see his kind of magic on screens again.

This movie revolves around three characters, SRK ( Samar Anand) , Katrina(Meera) and Anuska (Akira). Each scene is full of drama which intrigues the audience. The first half of the movie is beautiful, its hip and it doesn’t bore you at all. After interval things get a little stretchy but even then one can find an undercurrent of emotions in each dialogue and length and breadth of the movie.

SRK outshines in the movie as usual. He is a treat to watch. He plays a character of a person with an emotional baggage who loses his true love. His character regards love as something that cannot die. Something that can never let him down. So there is a sense of arrogance but at the same time confidence that fate won’t let him down if he stays consistent to what he wants.

Katrina has finally learned how to dance and her dance in the song ( ishq shawa) takes your breath away. She is a typical Yash Chopra heroine, who is torn between love and promises. Her expressions in several shots do all the talking in the movie and she acts her part out rather elegantly.

Music is outstanding. A.R.Rahman and Gulzar deserve brownie points for great melodious numbers such as “ Saans” , “ challa’ and “ jiya rey”.

I found Anushka slightly irritating considering her happy go lucky style in the movie but my friend apparently thought she had a very important character in the film (Now that depends on you how u see her :P) She is a complete contrast to what Katrina is but this has be anushka’s best performance so far.

Beautiful landscapes and simply magnificent cinematography is a trademark of yash chopra films. If you are planning to watch it on the big screen, trust me you will be amazed by how beautiful the locations ( London and Kashmir) look especially during the song sequences.

Special cameos from Anupum Kher, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor are lovable!

Romantic Movies will come and go but never again you will see Yash chopra's style. This is a heart warming movie which you should watch with your loved ones. Jab tak hai jaan is a present day DDLJ and it reminds us that romantic pathway is crammed up with thorns but it is then on us if we want want to walk this path or let go.

Jab tak hai jaan will be remembered.  Cheers for the undying love.

Tera haath se haath chorhna
Tera saayon se rukh morna
Tera palat ke phir na dekhna

Nahin maaf karunga main

Jab tak hai jaan, jab tak hai jaan :)

4/5

Khel Jari hai - Theatre Hub

This July Lahore saw some finest male actors come together and perform a theatrical masterpiece, “ Khel jari hai” for five consecutive days at Alhamra, hall2 under the banner of Theatre Hub.

The script was a translation of Rick abbot’s, “ Play on” which revolved around the chaos that happens during rehearsals  and how every time the actors progressed, the writer of the script came up and spoiled everything. 

I was lucky enough to see the script beforehand and I am glad the script was edited to suit the needs of the cast and audience. A lot of things that were missing in the script were brought to the audience in a beautiful way.

The whole idea of the play was to perform something within a performance. So every character was acting out two different characters.  It was a gamble when the director, Talal ali jan  agreed on this script. It would have been quite a flop if the actors wouldn’t have met the expectations to justify the script.

Amazingly, Lahore saw the Great Shah Fahad,  Spectacular Faheem muzaffar, Eice Khattana, Dawar Lashari ,Abuzar Farrukh Bilal Syed and Zain Qazi performing on one stage. If you follow the theatrical scene in Lahore I am sure when you would have come to know about the cast of Khel jari hai, you wouldn’t have thought twice before buying the ticket.

Theatre hub brought forward some new faces on the stage this year, Alee Hassan Shah and Daniyal Nasir who had an amazing stage presence and were able to create their own mark even though they were surrounded by well-established theatrical actors. Alee Hassan Shah was such a favorite of the crowd and is now working on his new project.

Alina Hamid ( Mona) , Minhail Zaman( Naveen) and Aniqa Mumtaz(Sana) were overshadowed by energetic male actors but they did know how to gracefully justify their characters to the audience. Each girl was wonderful and they have so much talent that am sure we would see them on the stage again.

I was wondering while watching the play that most probably the audience won’t be able to understand what’s going on because it was a play within a play but the actors kept the audience glued to the seats even though there were some parts that were a drag and could have been omitted.

The director knew about all these things and thus I am glad he added a live band that consisted of Ahsan Sohail, Muneeb, Hassan and Nauman. They were Outstanding! Eice khattana glamorous that he usually is in reality, did not fail to impress the audience with his drumming and acting. He surely knows how to make the audience go wild. Azeem Hamid choreographed dances in the play that were not only neat but also well performed by the actors. Dawar lashari was a blast of energy and with those curly hairs he knew how to set the stage on fire.

People who have seen the play would not fail to agree that the cast of Khel jari hai was superB in acting. I  am so glad that the play didn’t talk about political issues or revolutions but gave the audience a good entertainment in exchange for Rs.150.

They really need to put some money on the Play programs otherwise the stage looked fine. I wouldn’t have mind if they had more props around.  The set design was beautiful and very creative. Hats off to the creative head behind it. Lights were really good and so were the costumes. Ahmer zaman khan who was heading the production and also the marketing of the play. He looked pretty calm while walking on the steps of the hall. Theatre hub has managed to maintain a strong fan base now. There is nothing stopping them now. The play managed to have a house-full for three days and the rest days were  less crowded . However, The response of the audience has been favorable and not many have criticized it.
Moreover, I had seen Some untoward incident happening to  Aniqa Mumtaz ( sana) during her performance but hats off when she gave her best even though there she was hit by a fake pistol while performing.

Amazing work Theatre hub!

3.75/5

Brain Masala - The Play

Brain Masala, Shah Fahad’s direction and assisted by a man of many talents, Faheem muzaffar. When both F’s come together they make a masala, that keeps you glued to your seats for 2 hours.

The play was wonderful, I could watch it over and over again. Its perfect if you have a cup of tea or coffee to sip as you see Shah fahad ( shah wali) walking on the basement of his house, a heaven for  any writer. Beautiful set that showed how life of a writer is. Secluded from everything. A radio and a type writer on his desk, some papers and books scattered around. Comfortable sofa to just feel at home!

It was so hot in the hall but watching the play gave me a winterish feel. I felt good watching the play and so did everyone.

This play is about a playwright whose imagination is full of thoughts about women who has shaped his life through out his 50 years of life. He gives us a peek into his mind where women are nothing but his thoughts and how his mind which is tottaly crazy shapes up everything and confuses him to differentiate between reality and his imagination. 

The theme is tragicomedy and thus you see love, tragedy, hopes, unfulfilled wishes, failed expectations, age, excitement and so much more that for once you don’t complain about the loadshading that is destroying the cultural scene in Lahore!

As I munched my peanut cookies, I was happy that they managed to get their hall full but what was with the crowd. The crowd was pathetic, Most probably because passes are freely distributed without knowing either the person is a driver or a student from university.

I have to appreciate the cast. They were wonderful. Starting from Shah fahad to the little Hiba Jafri.

Meherbano stole the show from the female category. Playing various characters but at the same time pulling it off. I love your legs Meherbano! She danced so gracefully that I wasn’t sure whether to appreciate her beauty or her steps. Lol! .

Sana jafri is beautiful and she knows how to grace the stage.  Loved her acting and how she looked amazing standing close to shah fahad. Both complement each other so well. Who can forget the pathani girl, Amna Rana! Oh those dancing steps were amazing. She acted so well that even the rowdy crowd knew they had to keep quiet to see her act. 

Risham fiaz played the psychiatrist, but that lady had her own importance on the stage, she acted so well and her character did stand out. Simoun Tariq, You were wonderful with that accent!

I am so amazed by the girls! WOMEN POWER! YEAH!

Shah fahad is a talented person and considering this was the first time I saw him act, I cannot tell you how much I respect his love for theatre. It shows. He is so passionate and relaxed on the stage. Not a single moment where you feel he is over reacting or tired or whatsoever.. So calm and composed. Bravo!

I wasn’t very pleased with the fight scene of girls during the last scenes of the play. It was unnecessary and ladies, next time be careful.. its pretty awkward when u are on the floor and well.. Anyway. The jazz was good to the ears and so were some sound tracks! Good job! But maybe a little more sounds in the play would have been good?

The characters who were on the stage through out, Ali ahmed khan, Ashush Zahid and Zeeshan durrani were hilarious and so crazy! They knew how to pull the audience attention when the play seemed to have its low bits.

The play gets 3/5 stars.

Come and watch the last show tomorrow (sunday) at ALHAMRA, HALL2
3pm sharp :)  link to the event

https://www.facebook.com/events/283899855041322/

Till then, Brain masla! :)

Hijab tarique

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