There were around nine releases this week including the English Movies and out of them the most notable being ‘Mickey Virus’ directed by debutante Saurabh Varma. Mickey Virus is an almost-perfect comic-thriller starring VJ turned actor Manish Paul and Bigg Boss inmate Elli Avram. 

Now coming to the comparisons to ‘Vickey Donor’ I must tell you that they end with the similar sounding names along with the Delhi setting and lingo. Mickey Arora is a lazy, street smart Delhi boy who along with his set of friends Pancho, Floppy and Chutney are a group of harmless hackers. The motley group is guided by a Professor ably played by Nitesh Pandey.

Mickey finds his dream girl in a vegetable market Kamayani George (Elli Avram) who is a replica of his own created animated virus ‘Kung Fu Chameli’. Delhi police hot on the heals of a dangerous hackers gang – Bhram Gang sought the help of Mickey to track them down.

Soon our hero’s simple, happy-go-lucky life takes a sudden U turn and he gets entangled in a net of multiple murders and a 100 Crore bank theft. How Mickey tries to come out clean is the entire story all about.

Manish Paul manages to stand tall even in his debut film. He’s a natural on camera and nowhere does the anchor overshadow the actor. Manish makes you believe that he is Mickey Arora – an aloof guy who is quite capable of hiding a trick or two up his T-shirt sleeve. If his spontaneous hosting is impressive on the small screen, the actor’s spontaneity on the silver screen cannot be missed. 

Elli Avram’s looks glamorous and she’s far better than the other foreign imports like Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandes  or even Katrina Kaif. Elli emotes well and looks sexy, with good roles and notable directors she will shine out BIG in the coming years.

Varun Badola is the lifeline of Mickey Virus like Annu Kapoor was for Vickey Donor. Superb acting with some wonderful perfectly timed dialogues with a punch in true Dilli-andaaz. HopeMickey Virus does the same to Varun’s career that Vicky Donor did to the talented Anu Kapoor’s. 

Manish Choudhary as ACP Siddhant leaves his mark. Saurabh Varma for his debut chooses a movie that is different and he ably leaves his mark as a director. The writing is good. The cinematography and action is wonderful. Music is below average as there is not even one notable track you will take home. The first half is dull compared to the gripping second half, a little editing in the first half would have made it more taut. 

On the whole Mickey Virus will definitely grab some good appreciation and if the word of mouth is good then it should garner some profits for its makers.

My Verdict: *** 

<span caption="Review this sentence for commas after introductory phrases." category="Punctuation" class="modif" critical="true" description="

The introductory phrase “After a long hiatus” may require a comma after it.

An introductory phrase is like a clause, but it does not have its own subject and verb; it relies on the subject and verb in the main clause. It usually requires a comma after it. Sometimes the comma can be omitted if the introductory element is short and does not seem to require a pause after it. However, you will seldom be wrong if you use a comma after an introductory element.

Incorrect: Fighting against reason Martha decided to pull an all-nighter in hopes of passing the exam.
The introductory phrase “fighting against reason” requires a comma after “reason”.

Incorrect: However Pam decided to attend Harvard.
The introductory element “however” requires a comma after it.

” grammarpoint=”Comma-mark missing where expected.” patterndate=”1380618160000″ pid=”1384682″ replacements=”After a long hiatus\, ” sentence=”After a long hiatus I am back reviewing movies.” shortdescription=”

The introductory phrase “After a long hiatus” may require a comma after it.

Incorrect: Fighting against reason Martha decided to pull an all-nighter in hopes of passing the exam.
Correct: Fighting against reason, Martha decided to pull an all-nighter in hopes of passing the exam.
“>After a long hiatus, I am back reviewing movies. So this week opened big with Ranbir Kapoor starer Besharam directed by Abhinav Kashyap. However on the onset let me clarify that if <span caption="Review this sentence for personal pronouns" class="Style alert" critical="true" description="

The personal pronoun, “you”, may not be appropriate for formal writing. Consider removing this pronoun, and rephrasing your sentence.

Formal writing should be impersonal, so personal pronouns – possessive or otherwise- are generally not used. Personal pronouns (i.e. I, you, we, my, mine, your, yours, our, ours) assume the information in your writing applies only to specific readers. By using impersonal pronouns (he, she, one, they, his, him, her, one’s, their), any reader may make their own personal connections to the information being discussed.

Hint: replace you, I and we with one, and replace my, mine, yours and ours with one’s.

Incorrect: When you add 3 and 4, you should get 7.
The personal pronoun, “you”, should not be used in formal writing.

The sentence may be rephrased so it remains impersonal:
Correct: When 3 and 4 are added, the result should be 7.

Alternatively, “you” may be replaced with “one”:
Correct: When one adds 3 and 4, one should get 7.

Incorrect: I believe this point of view is correct.
When one is permitted to express and opinion (only in personal or opinion essays), the use of “I” is still considered too informal; it may be replaced with “this writer” or “this author”.

Correct: This writer believes this point of view is correct.

” grammarpoint=”Personal pronoun may not be appropriate for formal or academic writing.” patterndate=”1380618160000″ pid=”1708336″ sentence=”However on the onset let me clarify that if you are expecting another DABANGG then BESHARAM is nowhere in the league of the Abhinav’s debut movie.”>you are expecting another DABANGG then BESHARAM is nowhere in the league of the Abhinav’s debut movie. Therefore, I would like to review BESHARAM keeping DABANGG aside because both the movie belong to two different genre and audience in mind.

Besharam is the story of Babli (Ranbir Kapoor) who is a small-time car thief with that X factor- through which he manages to charm everyone in his sight. His mantra is “Na sammaan ka moh, na apmaan ka bhay” (No yearning for respect, no fear of humiliation). Babli falls head over heels for Tara (Pallavi Sharda), but he is clearly not her type. Eventually, she in turn, falls for him. Babli <span caption="Review this sentence for use of the passive voice" class="PassiveVoice alert span91" critical="true" description="

Ensure you have not overused the passive voice in your work.

This sentence is written in the passive voice; consider changing it to the active voice. The passive voice refers to the subject receiving the action; the active voice refers to the subject doing the action. While the passive voice is perfectly acceptable in formal writing, it may not effectively persuade the reader. In modern society, people are often convinced by facts; the active voice sounds more like a fact, or a certainty.

Incorrect: Rules are often broken by rebellious teenagers.
Grammatically, this sentence is correct; however, it is more forceful to use the active voice: Rebellious teenagers often break rules.

Incorrect: It has been demonstrated by scientists that smoking causes cancer.
This sentence is more convincing if written in the active voice: Scientists have demonstrated that smoking causes cancer.

N.B. The passive voice should be used in cases where the information is unknown, irrelevant, or should not be mentioned (i.e. when being subtle). It is also used when writing in an impersonal manner to avoid use of pronouns.

Correct: The bowl was broken in the scuffle.
This sentence could replace an accusative sentence, such as “She broke the bowl!”. Use of the passive voice may also put the emphasis where it is most needed:

Correct: It is thought that Shakespeare may have been a group of writers rather than a single author.

” grammarpoint=”Passive voice used where active is more appropriate” pid=”319010″ sentence=”Babli is being chased by Inspector Chulbul Chautala (Rishi Kapoor) and his wife, head Constable Bulbul Chautala (Neetu Kapoor).”>is being chased by Inspector Chulbul Chautala (Rishi Kapoor) and his wife, head Constable Bulbul Chautala (Neetu Kapoor). Tara wishes for Babli to change and be a good guy, but that clearly doesn’t come easy in Babli’s life.

The first half is quite entertaining, but the second half lags a bit with continuous songs one after another. The movie <span caption="Review this sentence for use of the passive voice" class="PassiveVoice alert span127" critical="true" description="

Ensure you have not overused the passive voice in your work.

This sentence is written in the passive voice; consider changing it to the active voice. The passive voice refers to the subject receiving the action; the active voice refers to the subject doing the action. While the passive voice is perfectly acceptable in formal writing, it may not effectively persuade the reader. In modern society, people are often convinced by facts; the active voice sounds more like a fact, or a certainty.

Incorrect: Rules are often broken by rebellious teenagers.
Grammatically, this sentence is correct; however, it is more forceful to use the active voice: Rebellious teenagers often break rules.

Incorrect: It has been demonstrated by scientists that smoking causes cancer.
This sentence is more convincing if written in the active voice: Scientists have demonstrated that smoking causes cancer.

N.B. The passive voice should be used in cases where the information is unknown, irrelevant, or should not be mentioned (i.e. when being subtle). It is also used when writing in an impersonal manner to avoid use of pronouns.

Correct: The bowl was broken in the scuffle.
This sentence could replace an accusative sentence, such as “She broke the bowl!”. Use of the passive voice may also put the emphasis where it is most needed:

Correct: It is thought that Shakespeare may have been a group of writers rather than a single author.

” grammarpoint=”Passive voice used where active is more appropriate” pid=”319010″ sentence=”The movie is ladden with toilet humor and is nothing beyond the expectations set by the promos.”>is ladden with toilet humor and is nothing beyond the expectations set by the promos. The acting is good especially the Kapoor troika Rishi, Neetu and Ranbir. Pallavi Sharda is a total miscast for the role of Tara someone like Anushka Sharma or Parineeti Chopra would have fit the bill. The supporting cast played by Amitosh Nagpal as Titu and Javed Jaffri are commendable.

The music is average barring ‘Love Ki Ghanti‘ and ‘Lut Gaye’. The cinematography and action are good. However again if I have to compare the technical expertise of DABANGG then it is less impressive. On the whole BESHARAM is one time watch for hardcore Ranbir fans as he does not let them down. <span caption="Review this sentence for commas after introductory phrases." category="Punctuation" class="modif" critical="true" description="

The introductory phrase “At the box office” may require a comma after it.

An introductory phrase is like a clause, but it does not have its own subject and verb; it relies on the subject and verb in the main clause. It usually requires a comma after it. Sometimes the comma can be omitted if the introductory element is short and does not seem to require a pause after it. However, you will seldom be wrong if you use a comma after an introductory element.

Incorrect: Fighting against reason Martha decided to pull an all-nighter in hopes of passing the exam.
The introductory phrase “fighting against reason” requires a comma after “reason”.

Incorrect: However Pam decided to attend Harvard.
The introductory element “however” requires a comma after it.

” grammarpoint=”Comma-mark missing where expected.” patterndate=”1380618160000″ pid=”1384682″ replacements=”At the box office\, ” sentence=”At the box office it will be a miracle that can save the movie.” shortdescription=”

The introductory phrase “At the box office” may require a comma after it.

Incorrect: Fighting against reason Martha decided to pull an all-nighter in hopes of passing the exam.
Correct: Fighting against reason, Martha decided to pull an all-nighter in hopes of passing the exam.
“>At the box office, it will be a miracle that can save the movie.

My Verdict: **