Heerakjyoti Sarkar.

Divine

Heerakjyoti Sarkar.

As it is.. Will be forever

Forest Man of India

- Bhargaav Jyoti Thakur.

F0REST MAN OF INDIA, 

                                                                               …. One man who made a difference 

Padmashri Jadav Molai Payeng, a living example of undefined perseverance and patience, the one man who experienced nature at its closest proximity, proved the age old saying “where there is a will, there is a way”. Yes I’m speaking about the Forest Man of India, the environmental activist Payeng who alone nurtured the guts to transform a sandbar of Brahmaputra , near Aruna Chapori (situated at a distance of 5km from Kokilamukh in Jorhat district) into a massive forest, known as Molai Forest at today’s date. 

The Forest being named after this green warrior , speaks about the dedication and awareness of the man who stood against every odds just to render himself completely to do the least he could to save the biodiversity and heritage of his motherland. It encompasses an area of 550 hectares and serves as a shelter for Bengal Tigers, Indian Rhinos, over 100 deers and rabbits; besides apes and several varieties of birds , including vultures seasonally migrates to this forest. There are several varieties of trees which mainly includes Arjun (Terminalia arjuna) ,Gulmohur (Delonix regia) ,Himolu (Bombax cuba). Bamboo covers an area of over 300 hectares. A herd of 100 elephants regularly visits here every year and generally stays for around six months. 

Starting his career as a labourer who earned his living by working at different sites, probably Molai was unaware about the fact that he would be known as an asset to his motherland. In 1979, when Molai was 16, he encountered that a large number of snakes became the victim of excessive heat after floods washed the trees at the sandbar near Aruna Chapori. It was then he planted about 20 bamboo seedlings on the sandbar. It won’t be either wrong to say that it was then the young boy unknowingly put forward his first step towards his glamorous future,the one which he might not have ever dreamt of in his most pleasant sleep. It was in that very year , the social forestry division of Golaghat district launched a scheme of tree plantaion on 200 hectares of Aruna Chapori. Even Molai was among the various labourers hired for this 5 years long afforestation project. But unlike others , he made his mind to stay back there even after the completion and made efforts to not only protect the plants but also continued to plant trees on his own, a very selfless commitment to transform the entire area into a forest. 

It is believed that if your motives are strong and towards mankind , even the almighty raises you towards the zenith. This is what happened with Molai; his efforts became known to the authorities in 2008, it was when the Forest department officials went to the area in search of a herd of elephants that had retreated into the forest after severe destruction of the property in the village ,1.5 km away from the forest. The officials were highly mesmerized to see such a large and dense forest. 

Jadev Payeng, by dint of his tireless efforts to single handedly transform a sandbar into a forest gained lot of fame and honour. He was even named as ‘Forest Man Of India’ by Sudhir Kumar Sopory, Vice Chancellor of JNU,in a function arranged by School Of Environmental Sciences ,JNU. In the month of October 2013, he was honoured at Indian Institute Of Forest Management during their annual event Coalescence. And worth to mention, he was honoured wih Pdmashri in the year 2015,the fourth highest civilian award ,awarded to any Indian. In the recent years many documentaries are subjected on Payeng. Among them Jitu Kalita’s ‘The Molai Forest’(2012) and famous Indian documentary filmmaker Aarti Srivastava’s ‘Foresting Life’ are noteworthy. 

Molai was a raving revolutionary like so many Assamese of 1980’s; while the rest opted for armed revolutions of many hues , Payeng choosed to plant trees of many shades. The former is slowly escaping into ether, but Pyeng’s Forest stands tall ,defying the annual cycle of floods and constant erosion caused by mighty Brahmaputra. Thus the life story of Payeng is itself an inspiration to the present generation. ‘No matter what is one’s background, one can create a difference . what really matters is one’s devotion and realm of presentation’

The Pearly Princess

- Niyor Choudhury.

A mere twelve years to be introduced into this universe, still a newborn in momma’s eyes, 

An amateur in music and play, 

Was struck by a lightening on that cloudy day… 

Raindrops lashing against the window, 

A tall girls in plaids, vivid her appearance, dressed as a bright princess to my eyes 

Walked right up to the teacher and gave the newcomer’s speech 

Lost in a fairyland, I concentrated on her tone and not her words. 

For me it was a blur with just her mesmerising tune, 

My heart dancing like the rats to the piper's tune. 

My diligence was gifted at times by the misty vanilla perfume that she bestowed in the air 

Every time she passed by. 

And as it passed though my nasal mucosa, 

My mind automatically revised the class we had on law of diffusion. 

Couple of years together in just acute observation of that pearly angel, still 

 didn’t bring out that passionate speaker out of me. 

Each attempted time made the stammering stones go gurgling even more. 

But my systoles and diastoles never forgot to skip when she becomes apparent in my field of vision. 

Today overshadowed by senescence, on the verge of extinction 

Still that scent of misty vanilla lingers in my upper chamber again revising the class on law of 

Renunciation. 

Two persons walk by, a shadow hand in hand with me 

As I stagger down the road in the memory of that pearly princess.

Heerakjyoti Sarkar

Ropeway View_Darjeeling

Gaurav Goala.

Rays of Hope

Mitali Boro.

Earth laughs in Flowers

Nikhilesh.

 Mom is out to get worm for us

Mitali.

The beauty of earth needs no man-made jewels to heighten her loveliness

Mitali.

To be irreplaceable, you need to be different

Ban The Bans

-Naba Raj Chetri.

It’s the 13th of September and by the time I end typing this, something surely has been banned. The government seems to have taken the herculean task to transport India a century back in time to maintain the so called “cultural dignity of india”, which has allowed the countries around the world to forget their differences and sit together and have a good laugh upon India.

A list of the bans imposed in India are -:

1) Documentary INDIA’s Daughter

In March this year the government of India banned the documentary “India’s daughter by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin based on the horrifying rape followed by death of the brave heart (Nirbhaya). The statement of one of the accused (Mukesh Singh)was recorded, his lack of remorse, created an outrage and eventually led to the documentary being banned.

Reasons given- The government reasoned that the required permissions were not given for screening the film, the I&B minister further went on to say that “there is contempt of court in the context of the interview as the matter was subjudice”. BBC went on as scheduled to host the show worlwide except in India, due to the controversy surrounding the ban, the documentary which was available on Youtube went viral

2) Maggi ban

In June this year Nestle’s Maggi was banned in several states across India as the Food safety and standard authority of India(FSSAI) found it unfit for consumption after an increased lead and MSG were found in its sample. Nestle had to recall all its samples in bulk, amounting to losses in hundreds of crores, the 1st time the company incurred loss in over 17 years

Recent developments-: In August 2015, the Bombay High Court lifted the nationwide ban on Maggi and ordered fresh tests on Maggi sample in 3 centers accredited to “ National Accredition Board”, the court noted that “the law of natural justice was not followed”

Surprisingly while the ban was imposed in India, the USA, Canada gave a clean chit to Maggi manufactured in India.

3) Beef Ban

This ban brought an atmosphere of sorrow, to the beef lover across Maharastra and losses to a lot of traders and restaurant owners whose permanent source of income was selling n preparing beef.

The final nail to the coffin was put when the President gave his assent to “Maharashtra  Animal preservation Bill, 1995” . Anyone found in possesion of beef could be fined Rs 10,000 as well as can be sent to jail for 5 years.

On one hand as the shiv sainikis- bjp workers celebrated with the CM’s tweet “our dream on ban of cow slaughter become a reality” , on the other side a fraction of beef loving Maharashtrian doomed over the fact that they would have to live without their favorite meat

4) NGO’s

The government of India has supposedly taken a ire against NGO’s receiving foreign fundings. Thousands of license of NGO’s has already been cancelled, the most significant one being Greenpeace.

Reason- The Home ministry reported that the NGO had published a paper “Trouble Brewing on Indian Tea”, the Ministry alleged that Greenpeace was hurting the 35lakh worker strong tea industry. Besides it was leading a campaign against industrial projects, to destabilize the economy

Recent development- The Government of India had barred an activist “Priya Pillai” from travelling aboard, however the Delhi High Court revoked the government’s decision to ban Pillai  

5) Porn

A ban that had to be removed as surprisingly as it was placed. In what was seen as a government measure to regulate the contents of the internet, porn ban came as a shocker. The ban was imposed after a petition was filed by a lawyer “Kamlesh vaswani” in the supreme court of India who argued that watching porn incites sexual violence

The supreme court directed the central government to take action, as a result 857 sites were blocked, as directed by the telecom ministry

As the news spread unity of the people to revoke porn ban reached its zenith with #pornban and #nextbanidea trending on the social media. Tweets like “Divided by religion, united by porn ban” stated emerging on social media. A united outrage broke out across the nation. People were shocked that the land of kamasutra was banning the private seeing of porn.

Aftermath- The government had to revoke the ban partially within a week adding to the confusion of the people,  the porn ban now applies ony to those sites which host child pornography

6) Films

Bollywood the film industry of india, famed globally for producing the highest amount of film annually is also famed for keeping a fraction of films out of reach from the audience. The ban on a movie is imposed by the state or central government, and also when the Central Board of film certification(CBFC) refuses a rating

The ban on films is an unwanted legacy we have carried from the British era, when films like “Bhakta Vidur” were banned for political reasons. The ban on films continued to occur at regular interval with films like “Bandit Queen”, “Fire” , “Unfreedom”, “Fifty shades of Grey” being banned.

Recent developments- The CBFC has banned 28 swear words, besides any double meaning words. Now no one is going to hear words like gandu, haramzada on screen again. The boards motive really stays questionable.

It’s in each one our nature to ban things; all of us do believe that there are things around us which needs immediate ban. Banning things has always been part of human culture dating back to 2100BC when alcohol was banned in China. However having said that in the present scenario of ever changing socioeconomic and democratic political circle, banning things only make unwelcome situations more complicated. In the present scenario the youth cannot be cowed down by moral policing. Banning leads to increase in the number of organized crime, as well as create a black market for products, bringing a burden to the legal system. As Abraham Lincoln quoted   “Prohibition goes beyond the ground of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes crime out of things that are not crimes”.

Katti Batti

- Sidharth Sharma.

Katti Batti- This Imran-Kangy starrer deserves a ‘katti’ 

Cast- Kangana Ranaut, Imran Khan, Manasvi Mamgai, Sasha Chhetri 

Direction- Nikhil Advani

Verdict- 2.5/5 

After delivering an action-packed entertainer last week (Hero), Nikhil Advani is back with a rom-com, Katti Batti. While its trailer has created quite a buzz, it would be interesting to see whether the movie lives up to our expectations. Lets find out. 

Katti Batti is the story of two live-in partners, Payal (Kangana), who believes in ‘timepass’ relationships and Maddy (Imran), who is madly in love with our heroine. Then one day, without any warning, Payal leaves Maddy. He is heartbroken and thus sets on a journey to find Payal and confront her. 

Katti Batti has a weak storyline. It has nothing new to offer. The story fails to hold our interest from the very beginning. It is not really a romcom- there is very little of romance or comedy in the movie. The screenplay is dull and some of the scenes are very stretched. The characterization is not properly done. However, the climax is a bit different. But inspite of a good climax, the film couldn’t connect much with the audience. The dialogues are over the top and quite ‘filmy’. Overall, the writing department doesn’t score well. 

Katti Batti is Imran Khan’s comeback movie after a gap of almost two years. The film is centered on him and he delivers a decent performance. Emotional scenes are his weak point. He performs well in some of the scenes but is let down by a weak storyline. Kangana, on the other hand, doesn’t get much scope to perform. Her screen time is quite less and it seems that she has been roped in just to add glamour. It is quite disappointing to see that an actor like Kangana has been left unused by the director. Other supporting actors do not perform well- maybe they were not given proper directions by Advani. Among the supporting cast, our Airtel 4G girl (Sasha) is a surprise element. Although she has nothing to perform, yet she generates some amount of curiosity with her screen presence. 

The music department is the only saving grace of the movie. Advani’s association with Shankar Mahadevan is known to create some good melody and this time too, they deliver some good numbers. I would rate ‘Sarfira’ as the best track. It is a foot-tapping party number which has also been choreographed quite well. 

Editing is the major drawback of the film. Certain scenes are so stretched that they fail to leave any impact. The editing department could have been more sincere with their work. Cinematography and other technical aspects are good. 

Advani’s direction is mediocre. He has tried to make the movie ‘youth-centric’ but fails miserably. Signing an actress, who is known to deliver power-packed performances, is simply not enough, Mr. Advani. You should know how to extract the best out of her!! Better luck next time!! 

Final Verdict- Don’t waste your time and money in this film. Rather, go and watch ‘500 days of summer’ and ‘Kal ho na ho’.

The Chair

 - Mahbub.

The day started a little early than as usual, the morning clearance, breakfast, everything, but even after being a non-morning fellow, I was happy about this early morning. Today is the day we visit my ancestral village. For us it was to verify my SCIENCE BOOK Teachings, i.e. ‘VILLAGES HAVE KUTCHHA HOUSES’ and many others for my parents. It was a break from their chained life & rejoice & celebrate the memories they have away. Those trees, river banks, their primary school, everything they could relate. 

But one thing always fascinated me, the mystery which I could not solve, the stature I could not define, the sanctity which I could not understand, the price and value I could not measure, ‘THE CHAIR’. 

Placed in the veranda, the wooden material is the centre of attraction for discussing issues related to the people of the village, whether to solve a family fued or elope cases, it was an ultimate solace for judgements. The chair belonged to my grandpa, fondly called ‘Dadu’. Dadu was the village headmen. I always see them discussing and solving issues of people under his command. He was nearly glued 24x7 into the chair, I used to get jealous of the chair. In the war between me & the chair to get Dadu’s time & attention, the chair always won. When I complained to Dadu about it, the only reply I got was, the ‘CHAIR IS MORE IMPORTANT’. I humbly accepted my defeat and decided to leave Dadu’s time with the chair, getting up and becoming tall became my hobby, by this I was able to stay near Dadu. Along with Dadu & the chair I too became the talk of the village, every one called Baba or babu, the Head Guardian, I enjoyed each attention I got, along with Doi, chira and mithais, which they brought for me (may be to bribe Dadu, to get favours in conflicts, who cares). As the days passed, I become more close to the chair, I used to clean it, washed it and sprayed rose water for 

fragrance and made Dadu attain his royal Shinghasan. It became my tool of amusement, when the meetings were over, I used to act as Dadu, giving orders and resolving feuds of imaginary people around me and they accepted without any questions. 

Years later… 

Days have been hectic, the same routine of pleasing boss, projects, tours, clients, I need a little break. As I was zeroing on how to utilize my break, my eyes fell on the office’s plastic chair. It has been years and didn’t visit my dadu’s place, the fragrance of rose water, the green fields, the Shinghasan, my Dadu’s chair. 

As I travelled through the village, I saw the same fields, I used to play, the ‘imli ka ped’ I used to climb, the roadside marble game , addas, the village pond, where I used to fish, everything seemed same. All my memories came back as a flashback, then I reached Dadu’s house, everything was same. The old fragrance, the paints. But I found the chair dusty, the rose water scent was gone. No more people around it with their feuds, it became too fragile to let me climb it, nor could I sit on it. 

My Dadu was no more, he passed away, few years back. His ill and fragile health couldn’t take him go long. He wanted me to be with him in his last days, but I couldn’t be there, thanks to my chained life. With dadu, the chair lost its value. Now it is no more a Shinghasan, but a mere chair, ‘THE EMPTY CHAIR’. Fragile and weak, a host of termites. 

---------------dedicated to my grandfather Late Majibor Rahman Biswas

The Boy from Nepal

- Naba Raj Chetri.

Across the hills he climbed
The sturdy mountains wasted his time.
The boy with blue eyes knew it was going to be difficult all the time
Chances of the new land was getting better with each passing time

Four days sleeping in natures lap
Four days eating d forest grapes
He reached a place unheard by him
He reached a place strange to him

A strange mix of people
Some of them looked like him, some seemed too white to be true
The whites he assumed to be the Gods
He had reached the abode of the Gods

The Gods spoke a language unheard by him
They travelled inside a farty animal unseen by him
The brown people spoke a language familiar to him
The Gods would beat them and were very mean

The brown folks were kind to him all along
They let him stay with them a month long.
New facts he learnt from them
It was no Gods abode, but the place he was searching for "Hindustan"

The Gods he met were evil humans
They captured all over the nation of these brown folks
Shockingly the strange animals who farted were not animals
The brown folks knew this as cars

This people had lost all grace
Not a sign of hope was visible in their face
Tortured, they bore it all along
Their soul was leaving their body like a sad song

The boy with blue eyes, had come with a ray of hope
To live in the land his ancestors always told
Where he knew wise man lived
Living by the principle of scriptures is all they did

The ground reality shook him
Labour was valueless
Hard work went regardless
No, this land had no aura of its bygone times

Disgruntled he turned for home
To return to the place he had vowed never to return
No his village, didn't had good roads or cars
But happy he was, after all here he was his own LORD

Missing Mom

- Mahadyuti Dutta Choudhury.

Mom, why did you leave me?
All alone, in this selfish world?
I miss being stroked on the cheek by your fingers;
The taste of your fish curry still lingers;
I fondly remember those days

When we crossed the busy road
hand in hand,
When you used to laugh aloud
at all the silly jokes I cracked;
When you used to scold me
for not studying enough;

But now, those days are no more;
Mom! Wont you talk to me once more?
Wont you hug me once again?
And for one last time, share my pain?
I have no one left to share my deepest secrets with;
I am strong on the surface, but completely broken beneath.

Fatigued by all the hypocrisy around me
I finally fall asleep at night;
Only to find you
Standing right by my side;
I become delirious with joy
As I jump from the bed
To touch your feet and apologize;
For never thanking you well enough;
And to tell you
How much I love you

But then I realize it was all a dream
And I am shattered;
For then I know I can never meet you;
Ever Again.

Rhea

- Jupitora.

Two big drops of tear ran through her chubby cheeks, as if the frozen eyes of all time insisted to swell. It was always at the edge of her eyes but failed to take a journey down.Fagged by her churlish and weird ways her mom yelled her anger out today and banged the door hardly on her.

The situation was so very messed up that a girl who was proud to be an asset of her family was now with a drooping attitude. Every thing in her vicinity was so vibrantly colored yet too dreary. It wasn't that recent , this frustration haunted her since a month. Ask a person with the same grip of fear as in Rhea, they will explain you a whole month or let it be exaggerated to 25,92,000 seconds is far more than what it mean to us.

Rhea, glared at the sharp edge of the knife and almost decided to split her vein that ran with full gusto unaware of her sufferings. Unknowingly she was taken aback to the lane of memories years back,as if the chronicle of her life came as a flashback to her moistened eyes.

........' Among all its contemporary mates that sums up to 200-300 million , the sperm swam and swam to reach the ova and win it over' That's life indeed, since then competition starts!! Well that was a predicted scenario inside her mother's womb and outside...' everybody was eagerly waiting for the most celebrated moment of their life. Her grandma panicked as the pink lace didn't compliment the red sweater that she knitted skipping her meals . Tired of her regular check-up and the strict meals Rhea’s mom literally begged the conclusion of of the 9th month . Down the stairs faintly could be heard the voice of the house keeper dealing with the new furniture meant for the baby. And finally after a couple of days she was born to the hubris of the well known ‘Arora family ’.indeed it was the day she was stamped as an earth-link in her forehead!! Her mom gazed at her genially while rocking the cradle and with the blink of eyes , Rhea grew up to a girl chasing the butterflies of her life from a child habituated of dandling in her father’s sky touching arms, tuning the lullaby. All such pre and postnatal events were her grandma’s oratory blessings that she always fantasied of during her bed-time being a toddler.

By now the so-called “Bonfire” of her anger mellowed down and she loosened the grip of that deadly knife. She stole a glimpse of the dim lit room and caught a sight of the poster hung leisurely stating “I love myself”…..‘Oh, what an irony she thought’ . Tangled in the web of life she can’t take it for granted such plain ideas of any god-forsaken doctor to hang a bill board in your room that you love yourself, even if you don’t! You all can well imagine the insecurities of a 19th old who have got the iffiest career ahead . Her life twisted to its best when the results were out for an entrance examination to a medical college. Though bit obnoxious to mention here but quite obvious by all of your’s thought, she didn’t cracked in through, yes so does a number of aspirants every year…and hence now solitude tempts her more, being in the bosom of mass she was all alone.

The air was clear today, wasn’t that gloomy and she was also in a normal temperament… she was musing, then a guffaw disturbed her and she went downstairs to complete some of her daily chores and to her surprise she encountered the pot-belly, next door woman Mrs. Mehta sipping leisurely the lemon tea offered to her. Before Rhea could afford to avoid her , the high nosed woman questioned- ‘ So girl what are you up to now?” Rhea pretended to be as normal as possible and replied ‘‘Let’s see what luck is upto aunty” and retired from the living room gently. The woman was soured by Rhea’s reply, it seemed as if she framed an answer in her mind itself and expected Rhea to answer so.” Our ill fate “ ,Rhea’s mom explained however Rhea didn’t bother to lend an ear. She thought” How can mom entertain such woman who scrounge fun in other’s pain” Nothing got into her nerves until her exhortative father rang over and the maid in a single breathe or so came running to Rhea and a hoarse voice flowed in “ Look Rhea I’m well informed of your sick behavior, Buck up!! Why don’t you accept the truth and move on, go on with your admissions in other colleges or come over here...u’ll surely get in with such a brilliant boards marks………and he carried so on, while in the meantime Rhea doodled with the pen in her notebook and dourly stared at the frills of the curtain. She was almost at the verge of losing a tear of no cause…however back from the black velvety frills she was somehow drawn to the conversation and her dad concluded “ Don’t dare to spoil the fame of my family, It’s my pride or else I won’t spare you” .His last words echoed in her ears , she thought how can Dad speak such harsh words, he is least bothered about my career all that matter to him is his ‘fame’

The last noted scene was that, the most treasured antique piece of kettle smashed in the floor and Rhea literally bawled,  "I’m a felon, I must die" By now her mom came running to that site, Mrs. Mehta followed her and the maid who was a silent observer all this time explained her the incident with much of her own spice. Mrs Mehta quoted “ A prophet you know, Mrs Arora in sector 26, he can handle her” Rhea’s mom was all drenched with shame and she nimbly followed Rhea to her room and discovered Rhea meditating in the crimsom painted wall and continued “ He was your Dad, you’ve lost it” and slapped the door with all her strength.

The girl flowed all her frustrations that day, the gale of failure that approached her sagged and her inner self rekindled. She realized, that wasn’t her. She owe her parent’s more than her life . Her feisty eyes sparkled behind the tears, and she made her mind to do her bachelor’s from Delhi and enshrine the fame of her family at any cost . Her fist loosened and the sharp knife appeared too “blunt’’ and fell of her hand. The amiable doctor gaited the stairs up being informed of her gaffe, assuming that Rhea must have terminated her medications and found Rhea lying in the nook of her room .Before he could start his sermonize she spoke “ I’m fine uncle, mom just panics a lot” The girl worn out by this stormy phase of life now had a glint of determination . The doctor sensed the change in her and announced ‘‘There is no need for worry , because the prospect of trouble seems light” and he punctuated with a gentle smile. Rhea briefed “ Uncle please do cancel all my following appointments with you as by now I love myself!!”

‘‘Life may seem a terrifying cliff, with unfulfilled dreams… appealing a mighty jump from its edge but trust me there’s a world behind one’s dream, promising joy and success by the time it unfolds …so medics its your time to chase the bliss. Be the next Rhea!!’’ Dr.Sharma punctuated again with a gentle smile and closed his diary after narrating Rhea’s episode from the podium, he tried hard to fight the lump in his throat and it was so tough though in that counseling seminar meant for students seeking medication in his clinic, as in Rhea did 7 Years back…..a big round of applause echoed in the hall. The curtains fell down, yes the same velvety ones with frills all over but the air prevailing now is poles apart as in it was years back, at Rhea’s place.

Phantom

- Sidharth Sharma.

Good intention, poor execution!! 

Cast- Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub 

Direction- Kabir Khan 

Rating- 3/5 

After delivering a blockbuster, 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', Kabir Khan is back with an edge of the seat political thriller, 'Phantom'. But does he live up to our expectations this time? Lets find out. 

Based on the 26/11 Mumbai Terror attacks, Phantom is the story of an ex-army officer, Daniyal Khan (Saif), who is hired by RAW for a mission to wipe out the terrorists involved in the terror attacks. He is made to meet, Nawaz Mistry (Katrina), an ex-RAW agent, who now works as an arms supplier and security counsellor in refugee camps. But do they succeed in their mission? 

Talking about the story, Phantom boasts of a powerful story and it is quite impressive. However, a good script is let down by a horrible screenplay. The plot establishment is very poor and the proceedings are quite haphazard in the first half of the film. As a result, the first half doesn't hold our interest and the movie loses its grip. It is only towards the second half that the movie builds up some pace. Certain scenes lack logic and the climax is over dramatised but that is how our Bollywood movies are meant to be!! Overall, the film has a very weak screenplay. 

Talking about the performances, Saif and Katrina simply fail to impress. Saif, as Daniyal, tries hard to act but is not so convincing. His performance is just average. Katrina proves it again that she is quite overrated. Her performance is below average and her dialogue delivery seems to be forced. The supporting actors, however, perform much better than the lead actors. 

Direction by Kabir Khan is above average. Action sequences are average- some scenes are intense and thrilling, while others are boring. Cinematography is good. Editing is good, but could have been a bit sharper. Other technical aspects are good. 

Final Verdict- Overall, the movie fails to impress!! Watch it if you have nothing else to do this weekend.