Sevens Review  |

Rating:  Mostly, 'Sevenes' is old wine that has been corked into an older looking bottle. Not the kind that you would savor on a festive occasion.  - Abhi Joshi's new film 'Sevenes' has an important point to make, and it does so convincingly with about two and a half hours of its running time. But soon involved in the proceedings we come across this depressing news, that this point has been made; a million times before. So the Sevenes Team consists of Shyam (Kunchacko Boban), Sooraj (Asif Ali), Shoukath (Nivin Pauly), Sarath (Renjith Menon), Arun (Aju), Satheesh (Vijish) and Linto (Amir), a bunch of youngsters whose love for football has bonded them together. They are all engaged in a struggle to survive, and each has a story to tell of his own. Haven't there been enough and more films that have portrayed the plight of a young generation that treads the path of blood and violence, in their quest to make some quick money? Sevens has nothing new to say on that account, and everything in it has been said and seen before. The big question is who would be really interested to see an action thriller that is quite uninventive? Sevens is the kind of film that isn't difficult to sit through, and yet you have this nagging feeling in your mind that you had something better to do. No wonder it flits out of your orbit almost as soon as the final credits start rolling. There is nothing wrong in misspelling one's name if one believes that luck would lie in wait around the corner after the change, but how could one possibly justify adding an extra 'e' to a word as 'Sevens'? I don't see anything achieved at least visibly, except for the gross disfiguring that has occurred. And it all proceeds from bad to worse towards the climax, where the story runs out of ideas, and looks around frantically for a new villain. There is an attempt to thrown in a surprise towards the end, but by then, nothing works in the film. The seven boys along with Vineeth Kumar and Mithun, have done a decent job of what they have been offered. Their performances are extremely believable, and they prove that there is no dearth of talent when it comes to acting in the industry. What we need perhaps then, is some real solid writing to back them up. It was good to see Nadia Moithu back in action, and as the stringent cop Amala Vishnunath, she does manage to perk up the affairs a bit in the latter half. Not that she has much to do in the film, but she does leave a mark, especially when you consider the other female leads in the film - Bhama, who has been paired with Kunchacko Boban, and Rima Kallingal who strikes up a rapport with Asif Ali. Mostly, 'Sevenes' is old wine that has been corked into an older looking bottle. Not the kind that you would savor on a festive occasion

Speedy Singhs Review  |

Other Critic Reviews 'Speedy Singh' - A cliche-loaded NRI tale By Subhash K. Jha

Rating:  Despite the clichéd plot and predictable storyline, Speedy Singhs works for its humour and acting.  - Abhi Actors tagging their names to films just because their content is good are a very common thing in Film industry now. Salman Khan did it with Chillar Party and so did Akshay Kumar with Speedy Singhs. This crossover cinema would've gone unnoticed completely had it not been for Akshay driving it all by himself. Despite the name attached to it whether this film works for the masses or not remains to be seen. Set in Toronto, Speedy Singhs is about Rajveer Singh (VinayVarmani) a 21 year old deviant youngster who prefers playing ice hockey than work drive trucks for his father Darvesh Singh's (Anupam Kher) transport business. Raised as a traditional Sikh, Rajveer was forbidden to cut his hair but he does so, his father never wanted him to take to a sport that was patented by the firangis but he does so again. How Rajveer eventually lives his dream of becoming a professional hockey players, forms his team Speedy Singhs going much against his father is what follows through the rest of the plot. There have been zillion films about rising from ashes or about sports or even about the conflict of Black and White skin. There have also been many films using sports as a medium to show this conflict like Chak De India, Bend It Like Beckham, Goal etc. However, despite the done to death plot, what makes Speedy Singhs stand apart is the wit, humour and the celebration of one's being. Each and every character revels in being a Sikh Punjabi and that's what makes it appeasing. The dialogues are extremely witty and intelligently written making you laugh every minute. Filmmaker Robert Lieberman delightfully brings out a crisp, smart and brilliantly executed film. The film doesn't stray even for once and sticks to the plot throughout. Even the love track between Camilla Belle and Vinay Virmani is shown subtly without wasting film's run time. The sequence of Ice Hockey matches are handled well too. The dialogues are intelligently written and do not come across as slapstick even for once. But it's not just the dialogues that do the trick. They work more only due to the brilliance of the actors and their near perfect comic timing. Debutant actor Vinay Varmani makes an impressive start. Russell Peters is humorous at best while other actors like Anupam Kher, Guggi, Naureen Dewulf are perfect as NRIs. The way they revel in their Punjabiness is very pleasing. Rob Lowe and Camilla Belle act well too. Music of Speedy Singhs deserves a special mention too. Composers Meet Brothers and RDB along with international artistes like Ludacris and Drake too have contributed well to the album. Despite the clichéd plot and predictable storyline, Speedy Singhs works for its humour and acting.