DD 5.1

New York is an extremely taut and highly emotive piece of political drama which begins with a bang. Indian immigrant Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) is arrested by the FBI and grilled for his terrorist links by officer Irrfan Khan. Pleading his innocence, he is forced to flashback to his college days and his friendship with Sameer (John Abraham), the campus hero and Maya (Katrina Kaif), the campus hottie who stole his heart but loved Sameer. The breezy campus days give way to a more turbulent present when Omar is sent back into Sameer and Maya's life as an undercover agent for the FBI.

Love Aaj Kal is a romantic comedy that segues into a drama, taking a more sophisticated approach and allowing for real emotional development, something we don't get too much of from the generic Bollywood product, what with Indian cinema so hooked on sweeping over-the-top romances.

Vivah unabashedly hearkens back to India's more traditional conventions, and specifically that of the arranged marriage. Released in 2006, Vivah tells the story of two young people, Prem and Poonam, strangers to one another yet destined to be wedded. So it'd be nice if they like each other. Poonam (Amrita Rao) is an orphaned girl from the small town of Madhupur, who was raised in her uncle's household. She is beautiful and demure and brought up to be obedient and traditional.

Jodhaa Akbar is a sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Political success knew no bounds for Emperor Akbar (Hrithik Roshan). After having secured the Hindu Kush, he furthered his realm by conquest until his empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Godavari River. Through a shrewd blend of tolerance, generosity, and force, Akbar won the allegiance of the Rajputs, the most belligerent Hindus.

It has been a while since I sat through a film that made me smile, and at times even break into a hearty laughter. Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na did both. The film, by Aamir Khan Productions and directed by Abbas Tyrewala, is about love. Jaane Tu, in fact, is a very bare bones film that you know the story of: young people growing up, growing apart and growing in love. So we have Jai (Imran Khan) and Aditi (Genelia D Souza), who love each other, but lack the insight and maturity to accept it.

This is what happened to Surinder Sahni (Shahrukh Khan) - a simple, clean hearted, honest man working for Punjab Power, leading a humdrum life, when he meets his total opposite and finds love in the flamboyant, fun-loving, vivacious - Taani (Anushka Sharma) for whom the whole world is her canvas and she paints her own life with the colours of rainbow all until unforeseen circumstances changes it all and brings them together. What follows is a journey filled with laughter, tears, joy, pain, music, dance and a lot of love.

Helen Mirren reigns supreme in The Queen, a witty and ingenious look at a moment that rocked the house of Windsor: the week that followed the sudden death of Princess Diana in 1997. Diana's death came at just the same time that Prime Minister Tony Blair (played by the bright Michael Sheen) was settling into his new government--and trying to figure out the delicate relationship between 10 Downing Street and Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren).

In this high-kicking martial arts thriller, a young man (Bruce Lee) is called to Rome to help a family friend whose restaurant is being targeted by local gangsters. Used to getting their own way, these ruthless men make the mistake of underestimating the young man's ingenuity. When they are unable to get rid of him, they call in an international martial arts champion (Chuck Norris), creating the ultimate clash of kung fu masters in the ancient city's majestic coliseum. Also known as "Return of the Dragon".

An exercise in moral complexity, 21 is based on Ben Mezrich's book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) plays brilliant, blue-collar scholar Ben Campbell, whose doubts that he'll win a scholarship to Harvard Medical School compel him to join a secret, M.I.T. gang of math whiz kids. Under the silky but chilling command of a math professor (Kevin Spacey), Jim and the others master card counting, i.e., the statistical analysis of cards dealt in blackjack games.

Zohan's star and SNL alumnus Adam Sandler is joined by several fellow cast members (in uncredited cameo roles) from his years on the NBC show. But Sandler also co-wrote the film's absurdist script with SNL veteran writer and sometime-performer Robert Smigel. Echoes of a few of their classic skits on the show--built around high-strung Israeli characters obsessed with disco and selling junk electronics out of a New York shop--are in revisited in Zohan and are a lot of fun to see again.