Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
Stoutor
It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Whitech
It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.
Yazmin
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Hysteria28
This movie was in the making for 4 years however the end result turned out a little below my expectations. I was impressed by Sujoy Ghosh's earlier two movies; 'Jhankar Beats' and 'Home Delivery'. His understanding of comedy was different and unique. But it is not the case with 'aladin'. In my opinion I do not think he gave much input towards the project. There is neither much comedy are even a plot.It is obvious from the outset that this movie was aimed at the young generation of movie goers, particularly under 15 year olds. I was impressed to see that at last a modern take was approached on the classic tale. The computer graphic and special effects were of a high standard. But as I mentioned earlier there was a total disregard for a plot. The movie progressed at a good pace, unfortunately too much time was was wasted on Ritesh and Amitabh. Newcomer Jaquline Fernandes left no positive impression. Mr Bachan played his part sincerely and Sanjay Dutt's character of the ring master was a highlight in the movie. If his plot was given more depth maybe the end outcome would have enhanced the movies overall appeal.
Avinash Patalay
Post "Jhankaar Beats" Sujoy Ghosh was the new whiz-kid on the block. One should give due credit to Mr. Ghosh for his product which was innovative ( a la "Dil Chahta Hain" in its own right). When he announced Aladin the expectations were riding sky-high on deliverables. Hailing from the land of "Harry Potter" one was expecting Alladin nothing short of Bollywood's answer to Harry Potter/ LOTR. And with due respect, Alladin does deserve brownie points for the look and feel of the fairy-tale neatly complimented with the CGI. And then... there ends the bag of goodies.The plot/ storyline is lame and wafer-thin. Taking a classic and attempting to set it in the contemporary times, it takes a maverick to pull off the feat. Should have waited for Anurag's "Dev D" before kick-starting this project. Having said that, have you heard of Baz Lurhmann? Fiction/ non-fiction or fantasy/ reality, by either benchmarks the use-up of first two wishes was a plain day-light robbery. The ragging of Alladin is sooooo "Oh nooooo". The song in the climax was so very 1970/80's. Even the name of the town "Khwahish" gives away how ill-conceived the whole project was.Mr. Ghosh, now I am pretty sure "Jhankaar Beats" was a fluke and goes to show the results of big decisions over a cuppa in a coffee shop!Big B:: Brandish is perhaps the only word that comes to my mind. Well the stature Big B has reached, only he can afford to experiment with the roles. And in all honesty, at the cost of fulfilling the dream to work with their childhood matinée idol these newbies cannot justify/ utilise the opportunity of the goldmine.Ritiesh:: Would not say perfect for role but unwise to say miscast too. So safe to comment that he was just OK. His blind-love for Jasmine was not fleshed out well.Jacqualine Fernandes:: She was gorgeous and must improve on her acting skills to stay afloat in the industry.Sanjay Dutt:: Well I was expecting a "Joker" performance and sad to say, he was a letdown. Kay Kay in Drona was much better. The background to his character was insufficient and there was no justification about the "Ring Master" miffing with the "Genie". And btw- his sidies were robbed from X-Men.Ratna Pathak Shah:: Completely wasted.Victor Banerjee: Again completely wasted.Nonethleless, it is a golden opportunity gone amiss and why? Because my 5-year old dozed off to sleep mid-way and that speaks volumes, so least to speak.
Vishal Nair
Aladin : Sujoy Ghosh Budget: INR 50 Cr This movie produced, directed and written by Sujoy Ghosh comes as a welcome change from the regular run around the trees. Yes its a love story as well but isn't almost every movie made in bollywood a love story? Now Sujoy Ghosh has had a impressive stint with Jhankaar beats and Home Delivery. The former being something very down to earth for a movie freak to relate to and the latter, although an outright copy from a french movie still made a good impression. In Aladin the story was completely revamped to suit the Indian movie enthusiasts. Somehow I have a feeling that Sujoy very well knew that this movie will not be exactly appreciated by majority of the crowd. But as you know he went ahead and took the risk anyway. The result? - Surprisingly impressive.Let me justify why I was impressed. We had 2 huge names playing strong characters. Amitabh Bachchan playing The Genie - Genius and our very own Sanjay Dutt plays The Ringmaster - An Ex-Genie. Now some of us may question why would a guy like Big B of such high caliber be in a kiddie movie prancing around playing magical pranks. The answer is playing a genie required screen presence. The audience need to feel the Aura he normally emits in any movie. The same logic was applied to Sanjay Dutt playing The Ring Master. He had this evil aura around him every time he came on the screen that was very impressive.Now I believe that is not the only reason these two extraordinary people where requested to grace the characters with their names. I think it was the chemistry they shared in Kaante long back ago.As I mentioned the story is completely revamped to suit the Indian audience as in the original cartoon movie Jaffer dupes Aladin into looking for the lamp whereas here Aladin was destined to have it.The movie starts off normally in a city called Khwaish (fictional city of course) showing Aladin (Ritiesh Deshmukh) a loser orphan being bullied by kids in school just because his name is Aladin. He is asked to rub fake lamps by the bullies every time he is spotted. His miserable life continues to be the same when he enters college as well. Enter lady love Jasmine (Jacqueline Fernandez - OMG she is soo cute) a friendly US return. Of course our protagonist falls in love with her on first sight. Aladin keeps making a fool of himself whenever she is around but somehow she finds it cute I guess.At Alladin bday bash, held by Qasim (Sahil Khan - Lead bully) to impress Jasmine, Aladin is gifted yet another lamp this time by Jasmine from an antiques shop. Only this time its the real thing.Enter Genius (Amitabh Bachchan) a cheerful lively genie who is eager to grant Aladin's 3 wishes and go on a vacation.The rock-star Genius finds out its too late as our baddie The Ring Master (Sanjay Dutt an ex genie) is in town looking for the lamp as well.We find out that The Ringmaster wants the lamp for himself to get back his powers from which he was exiled due to selfish reasons. The Ringmaster uses a mirror, he claims to be the Google in the magical world, and finds out that Aladin is destined to protect the lamp. And then we have the 2 genies display excellent martial art and war of words to defeat one another. Both the characters were played wonderfully by Big B and Sanju baba taking coolness and awesomeness to a new level.The comedy/cheesy dialogues were well timed in the movie so yes there are a few good laughs for the audience as well.Specially in the scene where The Ringmaster displays his joy rubbing the lamp and singing "Main dardi rub rub (rab rab) kardi" had us rolling on the floor laughing even though the whole darn movie theater didn't find it funny.Sometimes I wonder if the Indian audience will ever grow out of KJo movies.The special effects for good specially where Genius breaks the edge of a cliff diving down to save baby Aladin. When it comes to acting except the 2 genies none of them where impressive at all. Ritiesh needs to look for a new career soon if he doesn't do something about his pathetic acting skills. Jacqueline Fernandez, the Srilankan beauty, is just one film old and did a decent job. I fail to understand what actors like Ratna Patak, Victor Banerjee and Mita vahisht were doing or thinking.All in all I can easily rate it 8/10
manjodude
I am a Sujoy Ghosh fan, ever since I saw Jhankaar Beats and Home Delivery. I especially loved the whacky comedy in Home Delivery. Now, having seen Aladin, I feel this has been his weakest movie comparatively. I am not saying he was bad. In fact I enjoyed the movie till it reached the final moments where it simply fell. The end seemed to have been made in a hurry as lot of questions remain unanswered - What exactly happens to Sanjay Dutt in the end? What happens to his gang? The climax failed to impress us unlike the previous scenes or situations namely good songs, lovely, fairy tale locales, good cinematography, gorgeous costumes, exciting fight sequences, nice performances, and lot of funny scenes had movie-going kids in splits. I think Aladin works for children but for adults, it fell short of our satisfaction. And I also feel Ritesh was a wrong choice for the lead. Maybe if he had built a good physique or changed his boring hairstyle, things could have been different...Amitabh Bachchan was great and so lively for his age. Jaqueline Fernandes has lovely looks & figure and did pretty well too. Sanjay Dutt's baddie act was also very good. Rest of the cast has ably supported the lead people.My verdict - A nice choice for young kids. A poor choice if you're watching it alone or with friends.