Kajol in a transparent saree at the music launch of U, Me Aur Hum with Ajay

Here is an exclusive look at Nagesh Kukunoor’s Aashayein which stars . If industry insiders are to be believed than John has given a mind-blowing performance which will silence all his critics. Looking forward to this one.

Cast: Nikhil Dwivedi, Amrita Rao, Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Pawan Malhotra, Javed Shaikh, Lillete Dubey, Saurabh Shukla, Mukesh Tiwari, Daya Shankar Pandey, D. Santosh; Director: E. Nivas ; Music: Pritam; Rating: **1/2Meet young Anthony Gonsalves – no relation to Amar or Akbar. He is a struggler by the day and bartender by night. Anthony (Nikhil Dwivedi) has been brought up by dreaded gangster Sikander (Pawan Malhotra), but Sikander consciously keeps Anthony away from his world of crime.

Dreaming of becoming a star some day, Anthony is hopeful about someone, someday spotting his talent. Not aware of the rocky road to stardom, Anthony’s long wait finally ends when a young assistant director (Amrita Rao) gets him an audition. Anthony manages to bag a role in a film that is strikingly similar to the life of Sikander. But his world comes crumbling down when he catches Sikander committing a murder. Being the only witness to the murder, Anthony soon has the law chasing him. Torn between loyalty towards Sikander and his own ideals, Anthony is caught in a huge dilemma. To make matters worse, this incident might become the roadblock on his route to stardom.

It’s an extremely simple film with very believable characters. Anthony’s misconceptions about getting a break in the industry and how he reacts to the thankless roles being offered to him are easy to relate to.

Despite having the underworld as an important element, the film does not become grim. Almost all through the film, the two parallel tracks about the gangsters and Anthony’s struggle as an actor move smoothly.

The film has a great supporting cast Mithun Chakraborty (the priest who can pack quite a punch), Anupam Kher (the hassled mafia boss), Lillete Dubey (the intellectual filmmaker), Saurabh Shukla (the struggler-turned-cameraman), Pawan Malhotra and many others who perform their scenes with conviction. In fact, it is the supporting cast and their natural acting that actually makes the film engaging.

Amrita Rao is refreshingly spontaneous, even though she doesn’t have much of a role. As far as the much-hyped makeover goes, it is only in the song playing on TV channels.

Nikhil Dwivedi has an innocent face that suits the role of a struggler. But at the same time he lacks the presence to keep you glued for 16 long reels. His expressions remind you of both Shahid Kapur and SRK. In fact, Nikhil tends to ape Khan’s dimpled smile in many scenes, especially the songs.

The plot is like a short story and ought to have been wrapped up in under two hours. But director E Niwas falls for the regular commercial trappings such as unnecessary item songs and comedy tracks.

Towards the end, the director puts Anthony’s career on hold and concentrates Anthony’s relationship with Sikander. Also while the film moves at an easy pace throughout, the second half tends to drag.

Finally My Name… is a film that doesn’t try to show off or take itself too seriously. It’s got likeable characters, who you could visit on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Feroz Khan, Paresh Rawal, Mallika Sherawat; Director: Director: Aneez Bazmee; Rating: **

Exit from the hall at the end of the movie was the better part of watching Welcome , director Anees Bazmee’s latest comedy film. The movie falls way short of expectations.

Firstly, the film does gross injustice to an actor like Akshay Kumar , someone who has time and again proved his prowess at comedy. In the crowd of characters in the story, Akshay’s seedha saadha Rajiv gets lost somewhere. Not because Akshay is incapable of holding his own, but because the writers do not care to give more meat to him.

Secondly, the comedy in the film is so childish that I felt embarrassed watching most it. Please bear this sample: Katrina tries to make an April fool out of Akshay and pretends that she has lost her priceless necklace somewhere. Akshay spots the necklace next to a teddy dog alongside a pool. As he is about to pick the trinket, the stuffed dog lets out a bark, and scared Akshay falls into the pool while Katrina laughs at him and wins the April fool contest. Now, this was supposed to be funny. But it left me with my jaw dropped disappointedly.

There is not much to write about the film’s story. Rajiv (Akshay Kumar), a handsome, robust and eligible man has remained bachelor so long, thanks to his uncle Dr. Ghungroo ( Paresh Rawal ), who wants a bahu from a decent family in which no one has ever been to a police station.

But Rajiv falls for Sanjana ( Katrina Kaif ) without knowing that she is the younger sister of the biggest don in the city – Uday Shetty ( Nana Patekar ). And there is also Uday’s henchman Majnubhai ( Anil Kapoor ), a toughie who likes to hold people still at gunpoint and then paint their portraits. “Live Painting” is what he calls it.

While the two don bhais try to make the match between their sister Sanjana and Rajiv, there is a strong opposition from Rajiv’s uncle. So the two lovers decide to reform the dons. Following their plan, Ishika ( Mallika Sherawat ) enters the lives of Uday Shetty and Majnubhai. Expectedly, the two dons fall in love with the bimbo, and their crime business takes a backseat.

But then comes in the biggest don of them – RDX ( Feroz Khan ) to set things right.

Anees Bazmee pulls every possible string to make you laugh. But he fails to give the right strokes. He concentrates only on providing one hilarious sequence after another, but he completely ignores relating the sequences together. As a result, ‘Welcome’ ends up like a poor collage of comedy scenes, lifted shamelessly from Hollywood film ‘Mickey Blue Eyes’.

The saddest part in this purportedly humorous film is that Akshay Kumar has been denied the punchy lines and funny sequences he is best known for. The actor has been used like a prop in the huge cast ensemble. Still, he makes you grin ear-to-ear whenever his Rajiv blushes.

Rather, Nana Patekar’s role has more meat. And the actor does make you chuckle with his impulsive don who once aspired to be an actor. Anil Kapoor, too, is funny at times, playing a somewhat caricaturish Majnubhai. Paresh Rawal is just about okay.

Katrina Kaif looks terrific and hasn’t been burdened with scenes that require her to act. The same goes for Mallika Sherawat, who plays a bimbo without getting to flaunt what she is best known for. The two ladies, however, do add glamour to the film. Feroz Khan does the same for men.

The less spoken of the film’s music the better it is. With the exception of a Himesh Reshammiya track, the songs come and go like mandatory eyesores in this directionless film.

Anees Bazmee has done nothing but put several assorted funny sequences back-to-back in the name of directing this unoriginal movie. And he goes completely over the top in his attempt to make you laugh at the end of the film – in the dangling-house-on-a-cliff sequence, lifted straight from a Charlie Chaplin classic.

To see ‘the end’ of Bazmee’s film was a welcome relief for me. And when the movie’s after-effects faded away, I felt my sense of humour returning back to me.

Cast: Kunal Khemu, Tulip Joshi, Zafar Karachiwala; Director: Rohit Jugraj; Rating: **Who can’t relate to the neighbourhood kid who’s desperate to become a movie-star at any cost? In director Rohit Jugraj’s Superstar, Kunal Khemu plays that guy-next-door, who much to his father’s disappointment, chooses to spend his time struggling it out as a film extra in dusty studios, rather than take up a respectable nine-to-five job.

A dreamer who sees himself reach for the stars like the Bachchans, the Khans and the Kapoors, reality sadly has a different plan for Kunal, who at best manages to land his few seconds of fame every time the camera lingers just long enough for him to be spotted in the crowd of background dancers, behind the hero.

However, his life changes overnight when he’s hired to be the duplicate for a young actor with whom he shares an uncanny resemblance. Before he knows it, he’s up there dancing with the heroine, then beating up the bad guys, all the while the camera fixed on his close-up.

But the irony of the situation doesn’t escape him - the only reason he’s been picked out of a crowd to do this job is because he “looks” like the hero!

Dodging clichés and moving at a healthy pace, the screenplay of Superstar shifts gears and goes into predictable territory when it breaks for intermission, ultimately losing whatever ground was covered in the film’s speedy first half.

What could have easily been a dramatic story about friendships and egos turns into that mundane tale about obligation and responsibility that you’ve seen several times before.

Neatly directed by Rohit Jugraj, Superstar isn’t entirely unwatchable, in fact, by typical Hindi film standards, it’s an above average film with solid production values and a fantastic performance at its very core. Kunal Khemu anchors this film with such rare maturity, he’s a revelation.

If you leave the cinema with a heavy heart it’s not because the film sucked, no it’s because here’s a film that could have been so much more.

So there, I’m going with two out of five for director Rohit Jugraj’s Superstar, give it a chance, you might just be surprised.