Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005)

Wonderful character development!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Bollywood and con artists go a long way, EK KHILADI EK HASEENA was released months after CHOCOLATE. The film is a mix of CONFIDENCE and HOUSE OF GAMES. But the mix leaves a lot of loopholes in the end The film starts well, Rohit Roy and FK scenes are fun, after his demise things are well handled too but the film tries to be too smart in the end by changing the events(ala Sixth Sense) which makes no sense and leaves loopholesDirection is decent Music is good, the songs are shot like international songs and are good Jhoom, Saara Jahaan and all songs are goodFardeen Khan has the required style for the role and plays his part well Koena Mitra is awful, KK Menon is the best, Mukul Dev and Sharad Kapoor are okay,Gulshan Grover is terrific, Feroz Khan has a brief role and is as usual, Rohit Roy is fun rest are okay

What really is the problem with Bollywood? Easy money, too many movies. Since Bollywood became recognized as an Industry, it has become a lot more easier for people to produce movies. This brings a lot more people to the director's chair. This could and should have been a good thing. But unfortunately, the equation stayed: only 2 out of every 10 mainstream movies is actually worth spending almost 3hrs on. With a lot more quantity, we see a lot more crap (mostly easy rip-offs) and a lot more wannabes. Do I sound deluded by Bollywood again? It's because Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena is a rip-off of Confidence *ing Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman & Paul Giamatti.Fardeen Khan as Arjun Verma is a con-artist (how many have we seen lately? Is it really that easy to make money? But that's a debate for another day/time). He gets hood-winked into pulling an heist to save his own life after his friend loses his (i.e. the friend's own) life after they (Hero+friend) successfully pull off a cheap heist. This is followed by another heist, and then a clinically-insane (as per Dr. Shariq)psychiatrist (Koena Mitra) turns up in one of those heists and then he (Fardeen Khan) has to double-cross someone and add a little coriander. Now cook for 27 minutes at 220C before garnishing with his friends & enemies & dhobiwallas - Mukul Dev, Kay Kay Menon, Gulshan Grover, and some *always friends* types. Serve with a hint of Feroz Khan for an after taste.Yes, the movie is a badly cooked dinner. A Single dish that comprises the starter, the neutralizer, the main-course & the dessert. Actually, the coffee too. Suparn Verma, the director & writer of this movie tries hard, and fails spectacularly. (Actually, when it is a copy, what do *writers* actually write?). But no - he does do well in very few scenes scattered through out, a little denser in the beginning portions, and scarce onwards. But they hardly make up for the entirely passable movie that he has made. Fardeen Khan talks to the almost non-existent audience throughout the movie. His commitment to the narration meant he forgot to act. But I won't be naive enough to blame him - coz Kay Kay Menon, the actor of actors, is also lost. He's looking to play a character that's so two-dimensional, he might just have played a water-bottle better instead. For those interested, Feroz Khan shows his style in a walk-through role.The point of this review is to tell you that if you have seen the original, save yourself - unless you like torture. If you haven't seen the original, you just may like it: If you don't realize that while Arjun Verma pulls off a fast one on his victims, YOU are the victim.Rated: 1.5/5

Hi Everyone, Some commentators have written that the movie is a copy of two Hollywood movies, most Bollywood movies are inspired by Hollywood and the songs are also often inspired without giving due credit.The plot is is quiet original for Bollywood, a Con man (Arjun) played by Fardeen has to steal money for a gangster (sikander) from another big shot banker/money launderer/business man (Jehangir Khan). I found the songs to be great as well.I enjoyed the movie because I had not seen the Hollywood movies the plot was inspired from. There is a lot of action and suspense. A very entertaining movie. Fardeen Khan plays his role really well and is well supported by the other cast. I found the main actress to be less glamorous, used to seeing the likes of Preity Zinta, BiPasha Basu and Ashwariya Rai. I guess I did not find her to be outstandingly "haseena" beautiful for the role.If you have not seen the Hollywood movies its allegedly inspired from and you like thrillers à la Bollywood with some good songs then I recommend you watch it or rent it. A good movie to watch on a rainy weekend.Bye, Jawad

In this film, Suparn Verma shows that he is good for copying copying copying. In the first half, he chooses to use the script of "Matchstick Men". When he grows weary of this, he decides to use that of Confidence, the 2003 film written by Doug Jung.This is not to say that all the acting in the film was bad. Feroz Khan once again proves his ability to act while his son, Fardeen, shows that he is truly a chip off the old block.Beyond this, the other main characters were par at best. The plot of the movie, though copied, is good and will have you guessing until the end. Next time, hopefully Verma will write something more original.