Despite a really solid and not-bad Tiger Shroff, “Baaghi-3” directed by Ahmed Khan is a silly bore and a mess with no potencial after all, and a squandered mess which provides even the minimally entertaining bita with a cliched spin.

There have been a lot of years, and Ram Gopal Varma has directed a lot more films now,l to pile up, but for me ‘Satya’ remains his most iconic piece. A gritty and surrealistically dark portraiture of Mumbai Underworld, this film is an authentic representation of the gangsters, there lives and the cultural insights which revolve around them. In a way, this is an international cinema masterstroke, with a screenplay so exceptional that it’s ultimately torturous (in a great sense of word). I think at the time of it’s release it was so difficult viewing that it was ultimately ahead of its time, but one thing was clear: it echoed brave narrative sound, which no one would repeat, not even it’s thrilling writer Anurag Kashyap, and not it’s director RGV, who then resorted to making trashy low-budget cinema.

The performances are the greatest thing about this compelling film: no two questions that the cinematography by Mazhar Kamran and Gerard Hooper, who did the best work in their career in this film, was made of discomfortingly effective shots, but the terse identities of the people in the scene is what stages this drama even more frequently. Manoj Bajpayee gave one of his most memorable performances as ‘Bambai Ka Raaja’ Bhiku Mhatre, and his emotional dynamics with Shefali Shah’s Mrs. Mhatre were quiet interesting. But the quiet dignity which JD Chakravarthy brought as Satya, the underdog who fell into the trap of gangsterism made him the best character and the best actor of this film. Urmila Matondkar as the ambitious singer Vidya was powerful, and the sequence in which she is killed, was solidly shot and gut-wrenching.

Makarand Deshpande as the lawyer in the house of gangsters brings in some thought, and Govind Namdev as the politician-with-underworld-roots Bhau Thakurdas shall make you ponder about the world we are living in. The last shot especially, where the message of peace is delivered finally, makes me quiet till date. Vishal Bharadwaj’s music: oh! It’s genuine and genius both.

But this isn’t flawless cinema. The love story between Satya and Vidya looks like a mismatch even when the couple is married: it’s awfully banal and does a misstep to the film because the director handles it with great measures of irresponsibility. Although all the action sequences in there own way are competent, not all of them work. But despite these bad decisions, “Satya” still remains a class in the uncomfortable. Although ‘Parinda’ came nine years ago with more solidity, it’s just unmistakable that this RGV film remains a work of originality made with passion. Don’t skip it.
4/5.

“Lamhe”, hears after its release in 1991, remains my favourite Yash Raj film ever- year later, it’s not rustic enough, but the romance is still there, and so are the fresh memories of an incredible actress as Sridevi. What excellence she represents as she is clad in those colourful Rajasthani attire, and what brand of romance she excellently dons as she embraces Anil Kapoor in those lush western hills!

Sure there’s nothing particularly wild about Yash Chopra’s “Lamhe”, apart from the fact that you’re very happy you visited it’s world. But considering the unabashed wildness of the central premise, nothing needs to be more realistic. Honestly I can’t recall a film which is emotionally as intriguing and complex. The idea isn’t to offer a path breaking tale of love in the form of a crowd-pleasing weepie, but to tell the story as it is and as it should be, without the trappings. Years ahead, it’s still feeling normal that audience didn’t accept this film. Even today, many would refuse to embrace it, giving it a liberal political angle.

But they can’t refuse the refreshing honesty it’s humour and organic passion interweaves seamlessly. I can’t remember a YRF film about enduring and unconditional love which affected me as much as this one, and it’s my favourite as well, not just for it’s craft, but for the ambitious story it has chosen to tell. In 1991, it was ahead of it’s time. And in 2020, the film still feels the same- way progressive than even our times can digest. Maybe I’m wrong, but considering the picture of India the film tends to paint, perhaps I’m not. Maybe Pallavi and Viren’s love story has ended, maybe they have separated there ways, or probably Viren has died. But what they offered still remains.
4.5/5.

As of now, I don’t think Aditya Chopra’s magnificent directorial debut “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge” has been as remarkable as the lovable nineties. What it still remains, though, is a lush, beautifully escapist but dazzlingly compelling romantic-comedy, which serves froth, cheekiness, cheesiness and cutesy charms with such palatable and palpable diligence, and with so masterful the craft, that you are absolutely glad you were there for this incredibly romantic and stirringly joyous, fun ride.

Yes, you might think now that there are parts which carry little resonance today, and yes you are absolutely right in there. But I don’t recall a film with as terrific romantic pairing as Kajol and Shahrukh as the demure Simran and the cutely heroic Raj. There’s always a freshness imbued with this film which consistently draws you towards it’s storytelling, and it’s consistency. It’s a film so sharply Bollywood, it’s irresistible.

From whichever walk of life you might be, please watch ‘DDLJ’. It’s an iconic romance to cherish for the ages, and it is never less than enjoyable- it’s perfectly amazing, and of course, to just state the facts once again, what cheery and iconic classic!
4/5

There’s something about the understared simplicity but frequently organic Bollywood charm of Yash Chopra’s ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ that always draws me for it. Amitabh Bachchan and Rakhi Gulzar was a freshly unusual pairing, and together they were as magical as Sahir Ludhinavi’s intricately moving poetry that adores much of this beautifully made film, scripted uniquely and charmingly by Sarhadi and Pamela.

In his career, Yashji has also made some gritty, starkly grim dramas such as the Dhanbad-set Kaala Patthar, the dynamic Trishul and the courtroom drama of Waqt, but none of these supposedly powerful films could match the ‘essential viewing’ entertainment provided by his frothier, ‘unconditional-love’ brand of cinema, the progressiveness of the world in ‘Silsila’, the uniquely attractive ‘Lamhe’, or the soul-stirring ‘Chaandni’. And among that lot, the one that still stands tall is ‘Kabhi Kabhie’. It’s a little more dark than most of the films of its times and it’s not afraid to be, but as it plays safe, it’s more entertaining and fun than most dramas even today.

All the performances are charming- all the chemistries are charming. Rishi Kapoor and Nitu Singh aren’t any less together even as they are the secondary, the lesser couple here. Waheeda Rehman is also astounding in her own small way. But stealing the show even from the interesting Amitabh Bachchan is Shashi Kapoor, who breathes life into the character of Rakhi’s husband with prompt grace and intricacy.

Ahead of it’s time, even today this soulful romantic stands as one of the most eloquently made romantics ever made. It’s not the best Yash Chopra film for me (‘Lamhe’ is at another level), but it’s still one of his best crafted ones.
4/5.

Even if you dont like “Udta Punjab”, you have to agree that it’s a very brave on the part of Bollywood- there is nothing more bold than mainstream Bollywood, which has staged frothy romantic-comedy classics like ‘DDLJ’ and ‘Jab We Met’, tackling a Punjab that survives on heroin, drug use and faces the problem of youths suffering drug addiction. Abhishek Chaubey obviously doesn’t deliver the issue with heavy hand: he has already proved his distinctive storytelling style in his ‘Ishqiya’ and ‘Dedh Ishqiya’. But this is easily his biggest film: with a mainstream star cast, uncanny romantic trappings and many screens, and hence his most ambitious piece of filmmaking.

The performances are truly what elevates the experience: Shahid Kapoor as the drug-propagating rap star is a hoot, but the actor still feels short of the character because sometimes it feels a repetition of ‘Haider’ and ‘Kaminey’. But that’s more than made up by a spectacular Alia Bhatt, who easily delivers this film’s most arresting performance. It was hard not to be moved when she described her struggles and her story to Shahid’s Tommy. Kareena Kapoor as the anti-drug activist doctor is wonderfully vulnerable, and it’s easy to be impressed by her conviction. But the film’s driving force is the debut actor Diljeet Dosanjh, who absolutely lives up to his name. His sweet police officer won my heart too too easily.

The writing is also solid: the dialogue is rightly in more Punjabi, more than you’d expect. It’s way more… passé than you’d think it is. Like it’s a Punjabi film. But truly it’s the heart invested in the premise, and the flair to make it a fairly complex study of people and places, that makes it a Bollywood film in an absolutely truest sense of word. Abhishek Chaubey crafts his most deliciously effortless film here: as he crafts the first film which is beyond a familiar atmosphere he had created, he does an excellent job. So terrific, you’d not easily spot a flaw. But the film is ultimately affected by the curse of characterization: because the truth is that the film isn’t as technically astounding as you’d think such a film to be, take the characters out and what you’ll be left with is the message, and the characters aren’t fleshed out enough.

But despite these flaws there’s too much to particularly enjoy. It is never less than entertaining. It’s unnnerving how the film, despite making biting conversations about the political panorama in Punjab- doesn’t quiet make a political comment. It presents you the hard reality of the drug addiction of the youths in the state and haunts you with it’s viscerally uncomfortable visuals. It’s actually a relatable film, so you could easily forgive that.
3.5/5.

I love conventional romances because I am an eternal lover of beautiful dramas about love and longing. But there’s a certain fatigue which I feel throughout if the love story is not told with a touch of delicate nuance- that’s just why a beautifully romantic film like Imtiaz Ali’s “Rockstar” cannot win when we compare it to his another film, the 2015 drama “Tamasha” (which in my opinion is his best work). The secret for finest romances lie in soothing background music, nice performances, warming chemistry and a heartfelt connection with the audience. Spike Jonze’s “Her” doesn’t just compellingly tick all the boxes, but it also deliciously entertains us, and just catches you by the collar and drives you into it’s seductive charm.

The film calculatingly benefits from the bounteous technical brilliance, opulent visual artwork and the effective next-generation relationship details. The film also has a terrific, proficiently written screenplay by Spike: I love the fact that he has written the film’s script all alone, for her delivers some punchy freshness. I was especially drawn by the sexy hot sequences: but not because they were unapologetically pornographic, but because they work as yet another solid expressions of love, and some moments have been delivered with terrific humor. The wonderful cameos are lovely: Rooney Mara’s Catherine does not have one false note, and there needs to be a special word for Spike’s Alien Child. The directorial details are real best: the wonderful scene where Chris Pratt and his girlfriend go on an outing with Theodore and his Operating System girlfriend Samantha wonderfully observes the two as soulmates, and if not, soulful couples. The youthfully well-written letters recited by Joaquin’s excellently performed Theodore are exceptionally filmed. Scarlett Johansson is my crush now as she lends a distinctive voice into Twombley’s girl.

One bit that didn’t work so well was the subplot of Theodore being set up on a date and ending up talking stupid. Except that, there are subtle readings to the narrative that follows: take the moving scene where Samantha employs a living and talking human being, a woman, to be there medium for love and sex: is it the sound of the resonant future? Or the beautifully undone sequence of the messy climax, where all the operating systems shall be gone: that scene takes place in total chaos, and made me wonder: do the makers want to talk about Armageddon? The subtext here is consistently terrific, and the screenplay is the clear winner, because the finest writing makes you think, and this is a really beautiful narration, playing out like a sci-fi epic. I suggest that you watch Joaquin Phoenix’s “Her”. It’s a disarming film that deserves every bit of what it shall earn in the award season. Don’t miss it.
4.5/5.

I think Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” is the yer’s most confident directorial debut, which is second only to Konkona SenSharma’s “A Death in The Gunj”. Searing, lovely and beautifully made, this story is compellingly fashioned, without the excesses and hits the sweetest spots of every part of your body: the brains, the eyes, the privates, the lips… the everything. It promptly leaves you without emotions, which is the perfect climax you could have: and I think this impactlessness does no harm: it serves great to an entertainment-soaked joyride of a film, which is a beautifully coming-of-age, confused and perspective-precise, delightfully feminist tale as well, which is wonderfully objective.

Sam Levy has to be mentioned for his lovely camerawork: the cinematography is diligent and proficient. I think this is the subtlest close it has really come to designing a film’s film-making process at it’s overall. I think this fucker has captured all the messiness, the humorous sex scenes, the taut and terse tension between the mother and the daughter, and the headstrong personalities of all of it’s female characters is what mostly stays with you. I think the parts involving Lucas Hedges’ Danny O’Neill are pretentiously made, because they don’t work well, because the discovery that he is gay is something which I felt was totally out of context. Right from the start I thought that there is inherent simplistic-ness to there romance. Infact, I also had tonne of problems with Kyle and her chemistry as well, till there sexual encounter happened which I thought was an amazing scene.

It truly belongs to Saoirse Ronan’s Christine who is so terrific and fiercely perfect that you can’t flaw anything that she does. Beanie Feldstein was also really very good, I enjoyed her because she had more to her character than a standard best friend woman. Had this been a Bollywood film, it was going to be loads of fat-shaming. But this case is perfect. There is solid affection to the brand of cinema this film brandishes and truly unleashes, because maybe it’s not the finest, but it’s the most restrained close teenage films can come to be great crowd-pleasers. I think it’s diligent enough to be given shot. It’s a clever film that shall be earning most of your whole pleasure button and body language, despite the only one hours and thirty minutes running time it has. I loved it and I think you will, too.
4/5.

I don’t like to overstate the films which I find the most menacing, the most close to my heart. And yet, there’s something about cinema about cinema which keeps me talking about it, keeps me writing frequently about it. That’s the beauty and confidence of the film “Luck By Chance” which makes me keeping recommending it. It’s not a classic like the other film of this decade, the wonderful “Lagaan” is, but it definitely comes across to me, for it’s awesome writing and frankly complex, nuanced and layered characters, that it soars so much as a slow-burning, yet suprisingly old-fashioned film about shooting struggles at the film capital of Bollywood. It also benefits from it’s extremely languid, leisurely unfolding, smart dialogue, biting emotions and heartfelt acting by Farhan Akhter and especially the memorable Konkona Sensharma.

I’ve rarely been appreciating and falling so much for a beautified, extremely propelling and uplifting film, which I’ve found to be a perfect one despite being so compellingly melodramatic. It’s fascinating how only in her directorial debut itself, Zoya Akhter has established herself as the finest storyteller in her family. She has made an enchanting Bollywood movie to savor for ages.
5/5.

“Om Shanti Om” is wonderfully executed popcorn entertainment. There has to be a word for it’s snappy jokes, crowd-pleasing movie references, fun performances delivered by Shah Rukh Khan, Shreyas Talpade and eapecially the silly melodramatic mother inside Kirron Kher. But there must be a word also for the assured debutant Deepika Padukone: you might argue that she doesn’t deliver half the original and silly thrills which compliment a great spunkily modern and unusually retro affair as her love interest SRK, but she must be complimented for making out something from both of her avatars. There’s the underlying sense of spikey affection that you’ll develop for these characters.

Farah Khan achieves a colourful palette: quiet surprisingly, she delivers her work with skilled hand, something we never came to expect from a “Main Hoon Na” level, ‘entertainment director’ as her. Her craft is skilled, and not one choreographed dance move, not one operatic tone of it’s music, not one melody of the cinematography is out of place. It’s sure to be one of the most technically brilliant films so far in Bollywood, and also this year. The corny jokes, the crackling chemistry of Om and Shanti, the villainous head rush provided by Arjun Rampal- performative and technically, it’s a brilliantly nostalgic film which may put the biggest Hollywood star-cast films to shame with it’s unapologetic, raw cameos delivered by almost every Bollywood A-Lister who is breathing and living right now.

Sadly, it’s flaws are more than you think there are- the plot of the film is nonexistent. If there are stretches of a promising prom-tom narrative, it’s promptly slim. The first half especially is staggeringly silly. There is almost not one moving note with this film, not something which I noticed. The dialogues are all forgettable. This is then a film that works purely on the visual level. Consider it to be a film-about-films what films like “Dunkirk” and “1917” were to the war cinema genre: the films were devastatingly moving ones which made the skin crawl, but the history triumphs the writing. The screenplay is haywire here.

And still, I find it a better achievement ahead of it’s time, because the entertainment and gloss is stupendous. It has also come to be a greatly intriguing introduction to someone who craves to watch Bollywood, and has achieved that more than the actual classics like “Sholay” or “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge” or “Lagaan”. It’s definitely one of the best films of it’s decade in spite of being so thin actually. It’s proved impactful and tactfully crisp.
4/5.

“Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice” is so cringe-worthy, yawn-inducing a superhero film that to say that it’s a bad film would be over-honouring it: it’s such an assault on the senses! The visual effects and some humour aside, there’s just no soul in this grim film of sloppy visual effects. None of the star-cast is in there top form here, and there’s cheapest and the most predictable heart to the premise you can think of.

It’s above anything, a boring film and a testimony that there’s nothing quiet like ‘Marvel’. Skip it.
0.5/5.

Looking at ‘Parinda’ as a classic or a cult classic is pleasing because it was a trendsetter for the gangster dramas in Bollywood of unsettling gore, inspiring another film ‘Satya’ of Ram Gopal Varma nine years later. And it carries embellished performances especially by the diligent Anil Kapoor, followed by Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff and the young Madhuri Dikshit.

But it is also a beautiful motif of taking a flight which powers it’s pertinent story-telling and enjoyable plot which mines into it’s peace-at-the-gunpoint nature. It’s exceptional make by Vidhu Vinod Chopra also benefits it. This is a recommended watch, and an essential viewing, if only to understand how well has the skilled, un-mainstream Bollywood aged. Yes it’s unwieldy and romantically fragile, but it stays with you and mostly that is enough. ‘Parinda’ is the most fun gangster film Bollywood has ever had. Sure there have been better films, but it’s touch of lightness and lovely music makes it a realm of cinematic beauty.
3.5/5.

How can a first film be the best film? Ram Reddy is so much a product of a distinctive voice, I think it will take a lot of sweat for his mainstream film to match the splendour of this heartfelt, deep comedy which is an original.

To use death as an accessory for a comedy has been common to all the cinema in India. But the Kannadiga film ‘Thithi’ is a young, mature film of skill and sweat which uses the acting skills of non-actors with beauty, and the word ‘death’ with so much beauty of ridicule, it hardly feels an exercise to mine out humour. This is an interestingly metaphorical film about man and meat, spirited characters and their real, relatable situations. It’s fascinating how the camera moves from the inside to the outside. The writing is not perfect, with sluggishness occurring frequently. It especially feels crude in the first hour.

But it’s an unforgettable and inherently sweet comic with its heart and intentions in the right place. Other than the screenwriting, which too is too interesting to be dismissed, everything is perfect in this film, if the word ‘perfect’ exists. Century Gowda shall stay with you, so will Thithi, so will Abhi. It won’t let go.
4/5.

Gary Oldman-starrer ‘The Darkest Hour’, a conspicuously made Winston Churchill biographical, is technically stupendous an achievement. As many critics have agreed, it’d be nice to watch it with ‘Dunkirk’ for a simultaneous pleasure. But then, despite being so beautifully made these films, and finely acted here by Oldman, it just remains a Dunkirk- well a thing to look at, but not essential viewing. I’d pick the Claire-Foy starrer “The Crown Season 1” and recommend it if you want to watch Oldman’s Churchill in a better filmmaking-set piece.

It’s a flawed film, but it’s still worth a watch if only to look at the shining assault it’ll do to your eyes, sprinkling nothing but simplistic narrative arcs here and there. But I’d suggest to skip it if you are a fan of period drama. It’s more politics, even boring at times.
2.5/5.

Tanuja Chandra’s ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ is an effective film, if not a particularly great one. It’s a romantic comedy starring Irfan Khan and Parvathi Tiruvothu, and it is certainly well-acted because both the actors are marvellous. Irfan is obviously good here, but I particularly fell for the Malayalam actress Parvathi. Despite the bland dubbing, she is lovely and lively in equal measure.

The film is hilariously comic: light-hearted, delightfully hilarious and interestingly funny. But as a romantic, it’s bland and close to profoundly uncinematic. It’s an unrealistic and unrelatable chemistry of the leads that lets down an otherwise enjoyable attempt. Tanuja Chandra crafts the film with skill and charm, but the screenplay is repetitively sloppy.

All I can say is that this is a very funny comedy, but not an affecting romantic. It’s hard to feel anything in it’s final acts. It’s worth a watch, but it feels hard to say that it’s worth repeat viewing- because maybe that might be overstating it.
2.5/5.

‘Lion’ is one of the most heartfelt and loveliest of the films I have seen in recent times. Quietly disarming yet so fascinating, this beautifully made film is delicious as it is brave- it is an unflinchingly made, and yet compellingly mainstream portraiture of the true story of Sheru, a five-year-old not separated from hai family by a train, adopted by an Australian couple, and re-united with his mother Kamla and sister Shakila after a period of twenty-five years.

This is a consistently watchable film, but it has certainly more than that to it, given its prestigious Best Picture nomination. It’s a lovingly etched out screenplay that does best wonders to the film. Yes, you might argue you weren’t affected so much in the bits where Saroo is in Australia with hai warmed-up parents, but then it’s hard to resist Dev Patel and Rooney Mara in their intimate sex scenes or the street sway scene they do, especially in the sweeping ‘Urvasi’ number. And then, there might arise the problem of Indianization of the colloquial dialogue in staunch Hindi- but it hardly matters when it’s an American gaze.

I was so moved by this film and it’s inherent simplicity that by its end, I was in tears, wholly consumed by its power of love and emotions. It’s a super competent film and you have to get the time and watch it.
4/5.

Christopher Nolan is so explorative, always keen of telling stories out of his comfort zone, he could well have been named Christopher Columbus. And thankfully, his explorative storytelling stretches it’s distances towards his latest ‘Dunkirk’ as well- from the startling first scene where armies walk with papers coasting across an unsettling breeze, or the wonderstriking last scene where an army man looks upon a newspaper sheet, his face covered in dust- it’s the most riveting set-pieces combination in recent times.

But fine story-telling as it is, you cannot help but just notice the lack of cohesive, concrete and coherent screenplay, which falls flat towards the first half and merely sags around the second half. It’s a well-made film that’s thoroughly fun as it lasts, but “gems”, as they say, need more than that. A dark knight maybe (😉).

Still, watch ‘Dunkirk’ for experiencing a fine technical experience. You even may not notice it’s flaws- I didn’t, I found it faultlessly made, infact. It is a film as devastating as it is moving. From another lens though, you read those dialogue in your head, and just decide to not get settled or recommend it.
3/5.

‘Hamid’ is a politically precise film. It’s intentions are all ought there. And the film is helmed with responsible beauty by it’s director Aijaz Khan, who tells the story with honesty and command. He stages entire scenes sans any melodrama, which makes this film a worthy, competent one.

A special word for the cinematographer John Wilmore. His beautiful Kashmir is filmed with so much detail and an attention to aesthetic, it’s practically one of the best things about this film. But the weak spots of this Netflix film, unfortunately, are more than just a few: it has a sluggish screenplay with bland use of Urdu verse- the Dogri language has a way more diverse use. The performance by Rasika Dugal and the cameo of Sumit Kaul are beautiful. I loved the unnerving way there narratives unfold. But the same cannot be said about Talha Arshad and Vikas Kumar. The phone correspondence with Allah is heartfelt but crude.

Despite so many bumps, I have to say that as I hit the back button on Netflix, my heart was heavy and still, I had a big smile on my face. ‘Hamid’ is an earnest tale told effectively. It only needed some good writing and a handful of more polished actors to be awesome. It’s not perfect, but it’s very watchable.
3/5.

Karan Johar’s early Dharma baby, ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ directed by Nikkhil Advani, has real emotions, beautiful performances delivered by Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and especially the excellently vulnerable Shahrukh Khan. It also has a script that’s beautifully stitched.

But the directorial craft is laboured and the story-telling is too glossy and incompetent. It’s passable, forgettable entertainment at best, with good songs and good performances, and little else.
2.5/5.

‘Kabir Singh’s is the official remake of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s blockbuster ‘Arjun Reddy’. But right from the trailer, you go in ready for the thing that this is a film that’s nothing but a frame-to-frame reworking in the North Indian context. This film is so simplistic and universal that if Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani, and Sohum had dubbed for Arjun, Preethy and Shiva, it would have looked the same.

This is a problematic celebration of tight misogyny of its protagonist- a deplorable, bland jerk, disruptive but frightening. He might be real, but so was ‘Arjun Reddy’, which was original and way more compelling than this piece of poop.

What worked for me however, and the reason why the film is perfectly watchable inspite of it’s toxic masculinity is the romance: Kiara and Shahid have lovely chemistry, tuned in with Jubin Nautiyal and Arjit Singh’s lovely songs: ‘Bekhayali’ might have the best lyrics of a film this year. I also liked the carefree number ‘Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage’. Added to that is the skilled performance of Shahid Kapoor: he is super competent. He doesn’t match the youthful beauty of Vijay Deverakonda which uplifted the film to near-perfection, but he is so good, he is ultimately transformed. Also a word for Sohum Majumdar’s Shiva, who adds necessary humour to the film.

Don’t mistake the film’s directorial conviction. It’s nothing more than a faithful remake, sans the strong screenplay or passion of the original. Infact it’s so forgettable and deplorable, it’s not worth more than a shot. And you can also skip it.
2/5.