All Reviews

Thackeray2019

Thackeray, by Abhijit Panse, is a biopic on Bal Keshav Thackeray, popularly known as Balasaheb, the founder of Shiv Sena. The challenge in reviewing such a biopic film is that how to articulate and write about a film where the titular character's many acts are not in the interest of the mankind. It turns out to be so difficult to appreciate the rabble-rousing politician portrayed on screen. How to appreciate the character who had a controversial life ? He had no qualms in choosing violence, indulging in hate-speech, fighting for the rights of Marathis but demonization of other communities etc. One of the strange parts of the film is that Nawazuddin is chosen for the lead character, who ends up promoting Hindutva and talking against certain communities especially Muslims. One is certainly able to see the transformation of a cartoonist to a ferocious leader through the film and there is every probability of its sequel too. The film is disturbing due to many dialogues and the way Thackeray's life and decisions are justified. There are many instances where the leader is looking at mass turning violent and still not apologetic about the same. So, one is forced to think, how to support a leader who promoted communalism and just rationalized every act. He projects that he believes in the unity of the nation first and then Maharashtra by saying : Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra. This is the inner conflict as a critic how to even rate and review the film which is not in favour of the mankind. But then, the film has to be taken as a piece of art. Now, looking at the film as simply a piece of art, Nawazuddin breathes life so effortlessly into the lead character Thackeray. Nawazuddin does not imitate every mannerism / voice of Balasaheb, but he projects the very essence of the character so brilliantly on screen. The film begins with Thackeray being interrogated in court for the charges against him in being instrumental for Babri Masjid demolition and his hate speech. The flash back scenes are interspersed along with the interrogation process and Thackeray's rational statements for every situation. Thackeray's sense of humour is also captured well. Thackeray is shown to be working on his own terms even when he is employed as a cartoonist with Free Press Journal. He chooses to resign his job than to succumb to the political pressures. Then he decides to start up his own weekly newspaper – Marmik. His father's goodwill in the market ensures him the loan to begin with this journey. Thackeray is shown to be very shrewd and blunt from the very beginning. Thackeray grows from there to a very influential position where he was able to win people over on his sides. He first worked for the rights of Marathis. He was adamant about calling Bombay as Mumbai even before 1995. He went to extremes to achieve the power. He neither bothers about his people picking up weapons against other people nor digging up and ruining the cricket pitch ahead of an India-Pakistan match.

Zero2018

Zero, a film by Aanand L Rai, was certainly one of the awaited films of the year. This film has attracted negative feedback from most of the critics, whereas, I felt the film deserved a better viewership and feedback. Any film, especially our Indian film, has its major ingredients in terms of theme, plot, screenplay, dialogues, emotions, music, visuals, direction, mode of story-telling, character sketching of the lead protagonists as well as other characters and most importantly the actors associated with the film and their portrayal of characters. Let me speak first about what does not work in the favour of the film – it is probably the fact that certain aspects of story seem unreal, not so logical and practical. Barring this, there are so many other factors which actually work in favour of the film. First of all, Shahrukh's energy, magic and charm are incredible. He infuses life into his character Bauvva Singh. Anushka projects her character with utmost sincerity. Katrina's screen space is less but one cannot deny her character's contribution to the plot. Zero has its heart in place, emotions play in its real flavour. There is love, betrayal, ambition, heartbreaks, sacrifice, repentance etc. Music and humour in the film also have enough power to engage the audience. So, the film deserves a better viewership and rating. Bauvva Singh (Shahrukh Khan) is a dwarf – 4.6 feet, who lives his life in Meerut with style. Bauvva is a movie buff and has a crush on the actress Babita (Katrina Kaif). He does not shy away from showering money on his friends Guddu (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub) and gang when they read out the news of Babita's breakup. The banter between father Ashok (Tigmanshu) and son generate add lot of humour. He looks up at the sky, counts from 10 to zero to turn stationery stars into shooting ones. Bauvva is now 38 year old bachelor looking for an alliance. Through his matchmaker, he does come across Aafia (Anushka), a NSAR scientist suffering from cerebral palsy. Bauvva is absolutely unsympathetic in his approach towards Aafia, right from the beginning. What happens, when two individuals fall in love, who are not normal as per the norms existing in and around our world? A space scientist falling in love with hardly a 10th grade Buavva and then the triangle with Babita, an alcoholic actress, in the scene – the story unravels beyond this. The film wins here, since the plot does not succumb to any sympathy, the characters don't fall prey to the victim trap even though they all are misfits in the world as per the norms. How does the love between Bauvva and Aafia evolve? When and how does Babita's character get weaved into the plot ? Yes, Bauvva chooses to come back to his love Aafia and then how the story evolves further ? The film has special appearances by Madhavan and Bobby Deol too and how they become part of the story? Watch the film to know all these. The dialogues have the underlying tone of humour most of the time, yet breaking many set no

Manto2018

Manto, a film by Nandita Das, is a biopic on the Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto. Manto lived during 1912-1955. This film depicts his life especially during pre and post-independence days and partition time seamlessly interspersed with five of his most famous and poignant short stories: Dus Rupay, 100-Watt Bulb, Khol Do, Thanda Gosht and Toba Tek Singh. The film narrates his life through these stories. Manto was known to write unpleasant truths of our society, which people generally did not prefer to write or talk about. And his writings made him a controversial writer too. Manto is best known for his stories of partition days which very genuinely covers what people went through those days. Nandita's attempts need applause for the way she has depicted the various events, its contexts in Manto's life through his works. Manto was an unapologetic writer and he used to pour his experiences, views in his writings. He had to even face court trials in lieu of the obscenity in his literary works, was accused of writing materials not worth of set benchmark of literature. But Manto believed in what he wrote since his writings mirrored the society. He even wrote about prostitutes, pimps, subversive sexual slavery of women etc. The film Manto begins in Bombay pre-independence and continues to his life in Lahore when he and his family shifted to Pakistan post-independence. The film recreates the old Bombay and Lahore. Kartik Vijay's cinematography justifies the feel and era of the film. It is painful to watch the film since it covers the reality. The tragedy is that things have not changed much even after seven decades of freedom. Manto's stories reflect lot of happenings of our today's society too. Certainly, the feel after watching Manto is that it could have had more depth and coverage of his life, but one would feel the pain, turmoil, the transformations of Manto and his growing sense of isolation during the most definitive period of his life. When Manto in the film feels the pain of leaving Bombay and misses everything he had in India, viewers are bound to feel the same pain and agony. The film not only narrates about Manto in his biopic but through Manto and his stories, it shows the glimpse of the trauma India and Pakistan went through post partition. Even though this biopic leaves one with the feeling of wanting more, but it certainly needs to be watched.

Batti Gul Meter Chalu2018

Batti Gul Meter Chalu, a film by Narayan Singh, is the story of inflated electricity bills and corruption in the system. The film certainly has a very relevant message to convey but the melodrama dominates. The melodramatic depictions as well as the running time of almost 3 hours make the film weak, but one can not ignore the issue raised in the film. Love triangle between the three lead protagonists of the film in the context of the issue raised is not too strong to hold the audience engaged. The film does convey that corrupt energy suppliers don't allow small scale industries to prosper since most of the time these businesses are plagues with load shedding and power cuts but still getting inflated electricity bills. The premise of the story is that a young entrepreneur Sundar (Divyendu Sharma) who starts a packaging company, gets mentally tortured with the inflated electricity bills. His childhood friend Sushil Kumar Pant aka SK (Shahid Kapoor), who does not generally have any ethical stand as far as his profession is concerned, acts as per his conscience and fights the court battle against the mighty Power Company. Shraddha who plays the role of their friend cum designer Lalita 'Nauti' Nautiyal joins SK in his fight against the corrupt system. The film does show that when the whole set of consumers join hand together even the mightiest corporation can become weak and end up yielding to the justice. Set in Tehri in Uttarakhand, the film begins with two of the travellers in Bus – Vikas and Kalyan unraveling the story of three friends SK, Sundar and Lalita. The names Vikas and Kalyan are purposefully chosen to take a dig at the development and welfare activities of our country. Certain dialogues do project that how development and welfare activities are just on papers whereas not happening in reality in the afflicted areas. Sk is an advocate who makes money with out of court settlements. Sundar dreams of making it big through his entrepreneurial venture. And Lalita is a designer who thinks of herself as one of the best and superior designer. The first half of the film builds up the plot of how the friendship between the three gets converted into a love triangle. The second half is spent mostly in the court scenes where SK confronts with the defense lawyer Gulnaar (Yami Gautam).

Karwaan2018

Karwaan, a film by Akarsh Khurana, is a road trip with difference. Here, three individuals, who are different from one another, happen to travel together with a purpose. How the journey helps them to undergo the process of self-discovery and acceptance forms the story. The plus point of the film is the combination of two most effortless actors - Irrfan Khan and South Indian heartthrob Dulquer Salman. In fact the concept of the film is also nice that how one's life itself is an ongoing process of constant self-discovery, exploration, acceptance, change etc. The film also focuses on how important it is to be tolerant towards others' perceptions too. The minus point of the film is that in an effort to treat the concept unconventionally, the film takes a very subtle tone throughout, the screenplay has tremendous scope of improvement. It is a likeable film. Dulquer makes his debut in Hindi films through Karwaan. He plays the character of Avinash representing those people, who left their passion behind by succumbing to the authority figures of their lives. He always wanted to be a photographer, but yielded to his father's command to be employed with IT Company in Bengaluru. Avinash is dispassionately living his job and life. He feels that his father is responsible for this unhappy choice which he had to make in his life. One day, he gets the news of his father's death in an accident. He contacts Shaukat (brilliantly played by Irrfan Khan) to help him with a vehicle to fetch his father's body. Shaukat decides to join Avinash to fetch his father's body. Shaukat's van has Majrooh Sultanpuri's shayri written on it: मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिब-ए-मंज़िल मगर लोग साथ आते गए और कारवाँ बनता गया I Wrong corpse is given to Avinash. On enquiry, he comes to know that his father's body has got exchanged with Tahira (Amla)'s mother (Cochin). Tanya (Mithila Palkar), the grand-daughter joins Avinash and Shaukat and that is how Karwaan begins. Tanya represents the youth who does not believe in any rights and wrongs, and not at all apologetic for her relationship. She lives her life like a free spirit who chooses to live life on her own terms and conditions. All the three characters are different from one another but the commonality between them is that all of them are emotional and sensitive in their own manners. What do Shaukat, Avinash and Tanya discover about self during this journey, and which aspects of their personality get exposed to the viewers? This Karwaan turns out to be functional for them or not? Do they realize, how they want to handle their lives ? Do they learn the art of forgiveness and tolerance? About the cast, Irrfan is superb. He is an acting school by himself who carries the role with so much ease. His spontaneity in delivering the dialogues is very nice. Wish him speedy recovery from the dreaded disease. Dulquer who is known for his screen presence and effortless acting in the south is absolutely comfortable in the skin of Avinash.

Fanney Khan2018

Fanney Khan, a film by debutant Atul Manjrekar, generates mixed emotions. Similar to the distorted spelling in the title, the screenplay seems distorted at places due to not-so-believable plots with less of logic in place; but one can certainly connect with the film. One can give the benefit of doubt to the film for its genre being comedy. The film Fanney Khan represents lot of such people, who dare to see dreams but find them unfulfilled as well. Then they see the same dream through their children. There is nothing wrong in this, but the desperation to achieve the same may prompt them to cause some blunders. There are also scenes of body shaming. One vital question which is raised in the film is whether it is necessary to be star? In spite of having a great cast, the film fails to create the impact it could have made. The film begins with the narration by Rajkummar Rao who explains about Fanney Khan, a person with whom everybody enjoys. The Titular character is played by Anil Kapoor, who is Prashant Sharma aka Fanney Khan. He is an artist by passion but had to join a factory for his job. Divya Dutta enacts the role of Kavita Sharma, Fanney Khan's wife. She is shown to be a simple lady. Adhir, a younger colleague of Fanney Khan, is played by Rajkummar Rao. Fanney Khan is determined to make her daughter Lata (Pihu Sand) a known singer just like the celebrity singer Baby Singh aka Sumitra (Aishwarya Rai). The challenge with Lata is that she is obese which did result in humiliating comments from the audience, whenever she went on stage to sing and perform. Fanney Khan and Kavita act as strong support systems for their daughter. Fanney khan chooses a short cut to earn money so as to be able to get Lata's dream come true. But things go awry. Certain scenes are absolutely unexplainable. Daughter Lata's irritation with her father Fanney Khan is not at all justified. A celebrity is being kidnapped, but with occasional news clippings, no other actions are taken in this regard. Screenplay does not focus much on Lata's character. Kavita is always shown to be very understanding and tolerant, in fact, this character is also not well explored. Aishwarya and Rajkummar are looking good on screen together but their chemistry was explored very little in the film. Pihu does justice to her role as Lata. Girish Kulkarni as Baby Singh's manager excels, but again he had not much to do. The film is supposed to be based on music, but except the climax song 'Tere Jaisa Tu Hai…….' the other songs don't leave much impact. There is another song with the names of a few of the famous films, it seemed interesting. Fanney Khan generates mixed emotions. Similar to the distorted spelling in the title, the screenplay seems distorted at places due to not-so-believable plots with less of logic in place; but one can certainly connect with the film. One can give the benefit of doubt to the film for its genre being comedy.

Mulk2018

Mulk, a film by Anubhav Sinha, strikes the right chord of humanity. It does convey in the very beginning that the film is inspired from the true events. Mulk is an attempt to raise the voice against the prejudices existing in our country (as well as at a global level too). The word Terrorism is connected instantly and spontaneously to the community Muslims. But the film very strongly tries to put across the dictionary meaning of the word 'Terrorism' which is "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims". So, as per the definition, many other activities could also fall under terrorism. Terrorism is actually criminal not communal. Terrorism does not have anything to do with the religion. But the frame of reference is in such a manner that we label a community synonym to terrorism. The film also projects a very sensitive topic in the most sensible manner. The film highlights that the Mulk is divided between 'Us' and 'Them'. This very differentiation makes the whole problem even more challenging to be solved. The film did attract controversies in the social media for the statistics mentioned in the poster. This review does not focus on any statistics or data or facts or figures but this review definitely highlights that how relevant it is to have such a film even in 2018, post 71 years of independence. The film is indeed very close to the reality. Some might compare the film with Garam Hawa (a masterpiece film released in 1973). Garam Hawa dealt with the plight of those people as well as the adverse situations faced by them who chose to stay back in India itself and decided not to migrate to Pakistan. Even after so many years, the wound of partition has not healed. Mulk not only focuses on the plight of a North Indian Muslim family who chose India post-independence, but also it emphasizes on the poisoned mindset which needs to be changed, the frames of references which need reality checks. It is not that the film does not get preachy at times, it is not that at times drama gets a bit exaggerated, but these can be very well ignored since the intention of the film is too good and needs to be applauded. Not only every Indian but every human being all across the globe must watch Mulk, since it is the necessity of the mankind to have peace all across the ecosystem especially when we are living in a nation of religious, social, cultural, linguistic diversities.

Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 32018

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3, is a thriller – the third one in the series of Saheb Biwi aur Gangster by Tigmanshu Dhulia. The film fails to rise beyond mediocrity. It is the same old story of restlessness of ex-royal families, love, sex, treachery, power snatching, revenge, manipulations etc. The film gets very much predictable, since it has nothing new to offer than its previous two installments – 'Saheb Biwi aur Gangster' and 'Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Returns'. The film has so many characters but most of them are shortchanged – be it the characters of Nafisa Ali, Soha Ali Khan, Deepraj Rana, Kabir Bedi, Deepak Tijori or the gorgeous Chitrangada Singh. Sanjay Dutt has very dispassionately acted, in fact, many of his dialogue deliveries also look very superficial. The only highlights of the film are Jimmy Shergill and Mahi Gill and their scenes together with ongoing banter, manipulations, hide and seek game of revenge etc. The plot certainly had tremendous scope, but it seems that the plot is not explored to the depth, dealt at a very shallow level. Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3 suffers from poor screenplay and shortchanged characters. The film begins from where the second film in its series 'Saheb Biwi aur Ganhster returns' ends. Saheb – Aditya (Jimmy Shergill), is imprisoned on a murder charge. Biwi – Madhavi (Mahi Gill), who is now a Member of Parliament as well, does lot of manipulations so as to ensure that Aditya does not get bail. But ultimately Aditya also through crooked manners manages to get bail. Gangster – Uday (Sanjay Dutt) also belongs to a royal family, who is notorious for his bad temperament. He had to go on exile for 20 years. On his return to India, not only conspiracy within his family begins but also the drama begins amongst Saheb, Biwi and the Gangster. Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3's plot certainly had tremendous scope, but it seems that the plot is not explored to the depth, dealt at a very shallow level. It suffers from poor screenplay and shortchanged characters. The only highlights of the film are Jimmy Shergill and Mahi Gill and their scenes together with ongoing banter, manipulations, hide and seek game of revenge etc.

Veere Di Wedding2018

Veere Di Wedding, an all-girl ensemble comedy, by Shashanka Ghosh, had all the potential for being another wonderful film on friendship like that of Dil Chahta Hai, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, but it turns out to be a disappointing take on friendship, life, love, relationships etc. It could have been really a beautiful film, if the focus was on how females bond with one another as well as with the male fraternity, their relationship issues, challenges in lives, their sense of insecurities and of course the girlie-chill-out moments. But Shashanka focused on marriage of one of the protagonists, and touched upon others' marital / single status. The world is changing, girls' lives are no longer revolving around just marriage, there is more to their lives, I wish, these moments were also captured. Even the girls' friendships are showcased at a very shallow level; the depth of female bonding is absolutely missing. Shashanka did try to showcase marital conflicts, gay relationships, parents / elders' conflicts with children, breaking of relationships due to ego hassles, losing trust in relationships due to witnessing failed relationship of parents or in and around. But none of these were handled with depth. The characters certainly seem real with them being dysfunctional, not so perfect; but shallowness in the screenplay did not do justice to the characters. Occasionally it did appear that the film is picking up, but it did not sustain for long. Even the conflicts introduced in the film were not given much attention. Veere Di Wedding misses a great opportunity to be a masala entertainer and a blockbuster. The four protagonists' lives, all four have distinct characters and their own struggles: Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor) is being proposed by Rishabh (Sumeet Vyas) and Kalindi accepting the same after much of reluctance. She is unable to believe in the institution of marriage in spite of saying yes to Rishabh. Shikha (Meera Sood), mother of a child, is still struggling to accept the changes in life, when a baby is born and also struggling to come to terms with the fact that her marriage was not accepted by her family. Avni (Sonal Kapoor), a divorce lawyer, who desperately wants to get married, but finds it overbearing to deal with her mother (Neena Gupta) who keeps on pestering her to look into Bharat Matrimony profiles and to get married. And Sakshi (Swara Bhaskar), who had a lavish wedding but now heading towards divorce. Sakshi finds it difficult to handle the gossipmonger aunties and also discuss with her parents, although non-interfering, regarding failure of her marriage. All four of them get together when Kalindi (fondly known as Kalu) declares her marriage with Rishabh. What happens thereafter, how they stand for one another, how they question one another's belief system, how they hang out together etc. take the story ahead. It misses a great opportunity to be a masala entertainer and a blockbuster.

October2018

Shoojit Sircar's October has the combination of Juhi Chaturvedi's empathetic writing and Varun Dhawan's superlative restrained performance. The film may not have many elements of laughter, joy, celebration, music etc. but it shares a story which is full of human values. The emotions which are tapped in the film are that of sadness, grief, loss etc. The best part about the film is that Shoojit and Juhi never lose the track and insert any amount of exaggeration in the film. The tone of the film stays consistent. Yes, the pace may seem to be slow, but then, that is how life also moves when stuck in tragedy. The film takes an emotional leap towards the end. Another good part of the film is that the screenplay very clearly talks about certain human values viz. how important it is to be selfless when somebody is going through tough phase in his or her life; deeds devoid of any concrete results in sight or expectations are also important. The film can be summed up in one-liner, but the beauty of the film lies in how Juhi has captured the complexities of life, love, grief, death in a soulful manner. October may not appeal to you if your entertainment is linked to moments of laughter, but it would certainly touch your heart. Danish aka Dan (Varun Dhawan) and Shiuli (Banita Sandhu) are colleagues as management trainee in a five star hospital. Dan does not enjoy being trapped in mundane tasks. He keeps sharing with his colleagues and friends that he wants to own a restaurant. Shuili meets with an accident. Though she survives the accident, she slips into coma and she lies on bed simply like a vegetable. Dan and Shiuli were mere colleagues, their relationship was not at all explored prior to the accident. Shiuli's last dialogue of her enquiry about Dan with her friend makes Dan wonder, why she was asking about him. This initially pulls him to hospital to Shiuli, but later on, he unconditionally visits her and evolves as a strong pillar of support for Shiuli's family. Dan's character is interesting, he is stubborn, persistent, consistent in nature who doggedly keeps visiting Shuili in hospital, whereas all others even his family questions him. Romance in not the underlying intention behind his visits to the hospital, which itself makes the scenes interesting. He is raw at places, innocence, cuteness also reflect. Varun has really tapped the character of Dan. A beautiful dialogue in the film, when Dan confronts Shuili's uncle when he says that she might not recover and what if she wakes up and doesn't remember who they are. Dan responds: So what, if she doesn't remember who you are, at least all of you remember who she is. Banita Sandhu beautifully projects the character of Shiuli. The role might not have been an easy one for her. But she has certainly enacted very well and also captured the gloom of Shiuli. Another character, who gave goosebumps in certain shots, was that of Shiuli's mother by Geetanjali Rao. A great performance by her too.

Blackmail2018

Abhinay Deo's Blackmail, a black comedy film, does not turn out to be a promising film. Abhinav Deo's Delhi Belly had become a box-office hit. He has tried the same genre in this film as well, but the film picks up only at certain shots. Irrfan Khan is a great actor and he generally brings his punches to the characters he plays on screen. But in blackmail, even his punches were missing in most of the places, could be due to the screenplay. The premise of the film is interesting that when a husband accidentally discovers his wife having an affair, how he deals with the same? Instead of confronting with his wife, he chooses to blackmail her. How does this blackmail impact his wife, wife's boyfriend and how do they respond back is shown in rest of the film. Rather the trailer revealed the flow of the film. The film suffers from repetition syndrome. The initial parts of the film seemed interesting. Dev (Irrfan Khan) is trapped in his mundane routine. He prefers to play games on computer in office till late evenings rather than going back home to his loveless marriage. His wife Reena (Kriti Kulhari) is shown to be very detached towards Dev and she is just bothered to know whether Dev paid the TV bill or not. Dev has a list of his expenses written viz. loan emi, bills etc. Dev wished sincerely that his relationship with Reena improves. So, one day, he decided to surprise his wife by reaching home early and that is when he finds his wife in bed with her lover Ranjeet (Arunodaya Singh). Dev decides to blackmail Ranjeet. Rest of the film is all about how the events unfold when Dev starts the blackmailing. Dev's blackmailing leads to a series of blackmails. It gets very repetitive and the film starts suffering as far as the content, pace, dialogues etc. are concerned. The subplots seemed forced. Irrfan Khan and Arunodya Singh rescue the film from being a boring one. Divya Dutt has done justice to her role, but her role itself seemed absolutely out of place in the film. Kriti is ok. The subplots involving Dev's boss Omi Vaidya's plans to capture the .market for toilet rolls did not add magic to the film. It is sad that Urmila Matondkar's item song is absolutely forgettable. Abhinav Deo's Blackmail suffers from repetition syndrome. Irrfan and Arunodaya do add value to the film with their presence. The premise of the film is interesting but it does not pick up.

Pari2018

Pari, a film by Prosit Roy, is a latest addition to the horror genre. Generally, Indian horror films have regular set patterns of execution with some creepy / spooky sound effects, revenge seeking saga, murder, extortionist bringing some remedies etc. A few of the Indian horror films which did well in the recent past are Raat, Bhoot, 1920, Raaz etc. Many times, what happens with the horror films is that it turns out to be a comedy, or it just turns out to be a screenplay with some forced logical plots. But, we have Pari, a supernatural horror film, which is with an exception of not using creepy / spooky sound effects and illogical plots, although, the screenplay gets incoherent at times. The film has reference of a supernatural creature 'Ifrit' of Arabic and Islamic culture. Ifrit means the most powerful and dangerous jinn. It also showcases devil-worshiping cult and women in chains. The film also addresses human issues that of romance, drama etc. Pari is certainly a different film, but it does not establish itself as one of the best engaging horror film. Pari starts slowly, it takes almost first half to build up the plot. The strength of this film is the performance of Anushka, who is horrifying, vulnerable, scary etc. Anushka is also one of the producer of this film (this is her third production attempt after NH 10 and Phillauri). Should Anushka try making a happy film next? The backdrop of the film is Kolkatta. Major incidents in the film are clubbed with rain too. Arnab (Parambrata Chatterjee) along with his parents is on his way back home after meeting Piyali (Ritabhari Chakraborty) as part of matchmaking process. His vehicle hits an old lady who is declared to be dead at hospital. Search for her relatives end up in Arnab's finding Rukhsana (Anushka Sharma) in shackles in an isolated house in the forest. The external world is new for me. Circumstances shape up in such a manner that Rukhsana starts staying in Arnab's house. Arnab's empathy goes with Rukhsana, but as expected, story takes a different turn, where Arnab gets to know another side of timid Rukhsana. Qasim Ali (Rajat Kapoor) is a Bangladeshi professor, who was once heading Qayamat Andolan. His motives seem ambiguous to the viewers in the beginning. But later on, it becomes clear. Watch the film to seek answers to these questions. Why Rukhsana was kept in shackles? What was the intention of Qasim Ali ? What was this Qayamat Andolan all about? How does Arnab's relationship with Piyali move ahead? How the climax shapes up? Pari, a supernatural horror film, certainly is different with an exception of not using creepy / spooky sound effects and illogical plots. It clubs the supernatural and human aspects. It had the potential to be a great engaging film. But it fails to be so due to slow pace, clichéd climax and incoherence in certain scenes. Watch it, if you want to watch a different film in the horror genre.

Padman2018

It is certainly appreciable that Indian films are choosing topics of social taboo and Pad Man is the latest one which talks about women's menstrual hygiene and their need to use sanitary pads. In our country, menstruating women are treated as outcast on these days and barred from entering temples and kitchens, it is a matter of debate, since it deals with belief system of many. So, it is a welcome change, when efforts are being made to talk about such topics of societal taboo and what best media other than a film to deal with such paradigm shift needed. Pad Man is a film which is inspired from the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social entrepreneur from Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu). He is the inventor of low-cost sanitary pad-making machine. His innovative grassroot mechanisms for generating awareness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation has done wonders for women in rural India. He has not commercialized his mini machines which can manufacture sanitary pads for less than a third of the cost of commercial pads, rather he has chosen to sell it to self-help groups run by women. As per Wikipedia, these mini machines have been installed in 23 of 29 states of India, and he is planning to expand the production of these machines to 106 nations. Along with many awards conferred on him, he was included in Time Magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014 and also Padma Shri in 2016 by Government of India. One thing which is to be noted is that Pad Man, as it is claimed by the makers, is not the first film on Arunachalam. Amit Virmani has made a documentary 'Menstrual Man', Abhishek Saxena made Phullu (2017) and there is another unreleased film "I-Pad" made in 2015 by Amit Rai. Twinkle Khanna had come out with 'The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad" – a collection of four stories in 2016, out of which one story is "The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land" on which Pad Man is supposed to be based on. Of course, more the films on these subjects, it is good so as to create more and more awareness amongst people and get rid of taboo. So, Pad Man by R. Balki with Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte in the lead is successful in creating the right buzz. R Balki has chosen to give fictional names to his protagonists Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte and also he has picked up the backdrop of Bhopal rather than Coimbatore. R Balki and Swanand Kirkire as writers does mention the statistics as well in the film that only 12% of women in India use sanitary pads. They have kept the tone of the film very light without making it preachy. Sensibilities of the audience is taken into consideration. The emotions of the females, the belief system of considering oneself unsacred during menstruating days, not entering Kitchen / temples, the celebration (almost like mini-wedding) when a girl matures and the confusion of male fraternity are very well captured in the screenplay.

Secret Superstar2017

Secret Superstar, a film by Advait Chandan, is a perfect treat to movie lovers in this festive season of Diwali. Diwali is a festival of not only lighting lamps outside but it is all about how we deal with the darkness inside. This festival is also about the inner triumph and winning over one's fears, insecurities, compulsion to succumb to situations and accepting defeat. In this film, we see a 15 year old girl who dares to fulfill her dream of becoming a singing superstar. It is about her journey to be the singing sensation through her you tube videos and finally becoming the playback singer. A very simple film but it showcases serious issues underlying in our patriarchic society. The story has lot of heartwarming moments, rather some heartbreaking moments as well. Secret Superstar is about how a teenager achieves her dreams in spite of all odds. She is not ready to play victim card but she takes up the charge of the situation and chooses the best possible option. The film has some beautiful mother-daughter moments. One gets amazed at the kind of maturity a 15 year old girl has in understanding her mother's ordeal who constantly suffers due to domestic violence. The film prompts us to question our own existence, do we die even when we are breathing and is there any life left within us when we don't dare to dream, don't stand up for our rights. The film does take certain cinematic liberties, certain conflicts getting resolved in not-so-realistic manner, and ofcourse making certain scenes a bit melodramatic. But, these minor flaws don't snatch away the potential of Secret Superstar to be a superhit. Secret Superstar showcases domestic violence, female infanticide, hypocrite patriarch society, indiscrimination between a girl and a boy child, imposing marriage on teenage girls etc. On the other hand, it also projects the spirit to live life on one's own terms and conditions, with the feeling of power of liberation from inside, set oneself free from all negativities and toxicities around and pursue passion in a focused manner etc. Watch Secret Superstar. The film begins with a few students singing Antakshari in train. Insiya's (Zaira Wasim, Dangal fame – young Geeta Phogat) entry happens with her singing a beautiful song 'Sapna re…'. Chintan (Tirth Sharma), her classmate, seems to be smitten with her. Insiya's mother Najma Malik (Meher Vij) waits at Vadodara railway station to receive Insiya. Insiya gets troubled to see the scar of domestic violence on Najma's face. The initial scenes make it very clear that Insiya belongs to a conservative family. Her Father Farookh Malik (Raj Arjun) does not give a damn to his wife, humiliates her, physically abuses her for even small things. He is against Insiya playing guitar and following music. He does create hurdle for Insiya. But Najma is a big support system for Insiya. She finds out her own ways to support Insiya without Farookh's knowledge. Still, both of them are unable to stand up in front of Farookh who just can't tolerate Insiya's musical interests. Insiya has her paternal grandmother Farrukh Jaffar and a younger brother Guddu (Kabir Sajjid) at home. Guddu brings his innocence to the story. Shakti (Aamir Khan) is an arrogant Music Director who has lost his credibility. His personal as well as professional lives are under the media scrutiny. He picks up fight with other artists as well. As per one of the dialogue of the film, he creates remix of those songs which never got released. What paths Insiya choose to fulfill her dream? How does Shakti become instrumental in facilitating her journey and giving a boost to her dream? How does Najma support Insiya in fulfilling her dream? How does Najma manage to fight her humiliations by husband? What role Chintan play and how he manages to grow to be a good friend of Insiya? Farrukh Jaffar plays the role of paternal grandmother of Insiya. Initially her character seems to be that of a mere spectator but her one dialogue towards the end makes her presence and character clear. I think, it is intentionally chosen to keep the characters not –so - perfect. For example, Insiya is not shown as a perfect daughter, sister or granddaughter. This makes the character look realistic. What appeared unrealistic in the film is certain aspects viz. Insiya becoming overnight you-tube singing sensation, and how she gets the support of an otherwise arrogant and flamboyant Shakti. The plot is certainly predictable, but yes, the film does keep the audience intrigued. Also, music could have been more soulful. Certainly some of the songs 'Main Kaun hoon', 'Meri Pyari Ammi' and 'Nachdi Fira' are good. There were many moments in the film where I had to fight my tears of joy as well as gloom. Every time, Insiya took charge and moved one step ahead towards her dream, it gave me goosebumps. The warmth of mother-daughter relationship brought tears of joy in my eyes. The abusive father's screaming did generate anger within me. The best performance comes from Mehar Vij as mother Najma. She is so expressive. Zaira Wasim also gives a great performance. She brings lot of maturity to the character of Insiya. Zaira is good in projecting her vulnerabilities, her excitement, irritation, impatience and passion etc. Raj Arjun is good as father, one tempts to hate him for his typical dominating behaviour. What to talk about Aamir Khan? He is one actor in our country, whose preparation and transformation for every role is absolutely incredible. In Secret Superstar also, he has very few scenes, but his presence is felt throughout the film. He has so convincingly projected the brat, arrogant, flirt, short-tempered as well as compassionate Shakti. He loves real talents. He has his grievances of not getting his due from the industry since he has not received any awards. Tirth Sharma as Chintan is also very good and noticeable as a teenage friend, admirer and supporter of Insiya. Secret Superstar is the story of triumph over inner and outer toxicities which keep us away from following our dreams and passion and henceforth not living life at all. Secret Superstar is certainly superhit in terms of its content and superlative performances. Secret Superstar is about how a teenager achieves her dreams in spite of all odds. She is not ready to play victim card but she takes up the charge of the situation and chooses the best possible option. The film belongs to Zaira and Meher. A wonderful gift on Diwali, the festival of lights.

Chef2017

Chef, a film by Raja Krishna Menon (Airlift fame), is a great refreshment. It is a remake of 2014 American film by the same name Chef. Raja Krishna Menon has this uncanny knack of handling the complex emotions in a very simplified manner which touches one's heart. This is what he did with Airlift too, which was a tribute to the human spirits that find path even amidst turbulence, gathers courage in spite of losing everything. In Chef also, Raja Krishna Menon is able to strike the right chord of emotions. His film lets us know that it is not important to be loud, melodramatic to express the emotions and make it reach people. The most complicated emotions of differences in relationships, separations, claiming ownership in relationships, sense of envy, possessiveness, the difference between 'the need' and 'the want' etc. are so beautifully conveyed in the film. There is not a single scene in the film which is negatively treated. No over the top characters. All characters are so beautifully sketched, one can see 'self' in them. Rather, there is so much to learn from every character. Saif's character lets us understand that relationships are integral part of life, these need to be preserved and not to be taken for granted and be complacent. Saif's character also facilitates us to understand that how important it is to have work-life balance, align professional success with personal success as well. Padmapriya's character teaches us resilience and also how high emotional quotient can help us achieve balance in life. The child actor Svar Kamble's character makes us want to restore the innocence in our lives and at the same time be sharply observant of everything happening in and around us. And the whole theme of the film uses cooking as a metaphor, as cooking food is an art, similarly, living life is also an art. One needs to have the right mix of all the required ingredients to make every moment of life awesome and be alive while living this life. Chef cooks delicious food which would certainly suit one's taste buds. A beautiful, delightful and tasty film on cuisine of life, which has all ethos, pathos and logos in place. The film begins with the streets of Chandni Chowk with Saif Ali Khan's narration in the background. His character is named Roshan Kalra, who even as a 10 year old is instinctively drawn towards food. His nose is one of the strongest sensory organ. He is shown enjoying food as well as having an interest towards cooking food. And like other parents, his father also wanted him to focus on studies and grow up to be either an engineer or a doctor, but Roshan was meant for an altogether different and unconventional profession as a Chef. He chooses to run away from home at the age of 15, and after spending a few years at Amritsar and learning cooking, he reaches America and settles there. The grown up Roshan makes entry in the film as an arrogant, narcissistic but creative Chef. He smashes a customer's nose on getting a negative feedback about food. This turns out to be very costly for him, the post goes viral on twitter, he first lands up in lock-up and then gets fired at work. Struggling to pick up the jagged pieces of his shattered career, he decides to join his son Arman aka Arry (Svar Kamble) and ex-wife Radha Menon (Padmapriya) at Cochin in Kerala. Although all these while, he genuinely cared about Armaan and Radha, the love of his life is food and his work as Chef. Though not explicitly shown, this is why probably he is divorced and why his spending time with Armaan is just an on and off proposition. This is explained visually through a song that how Roshan and Padmapriya start experiencing emotional absence in their relationship. . It is beautiful to see the ice-breaking happening between father and the son. Radha is a wonderful dancer who is shown training students. Biju (Milind Suman) is Radha's friend who is very much pally with Arman too. Situations prompt Roshan to start Raasta Café (A mobile food truck). The journey of Rassta Café, right from its inception to execution, become instrumental in Roshan's undergoing a self-evolution journey. How Roshan's relationship with Armaan and Priya evolves, how he becomes more tolerant in his life, and how he is finally able to mix the right ingredients to make life beautiful forms the story later. Saif Ali Khan as Roshan Kalra has really done the role beautifully. His mannerisms and overall screen persona makes the character look so credible and affable. Beautiful Padmapriya brings so much stability to her character through her subtle performance. Her eyes speak a lot, and she has a great expressive face. She brings so much poise and confidence to Radha's character. Svar Kamble is very good as Armaan. Presence of Chandan Roy Sanyal as Roshan's colleague and friend 'Ji raha hoon bas' infuses his comic sense wonderfully, although one feels like having more of him in the film. Milind Suman brings maturity to his character Biju. Sobhita Dhulipala as Vinnie is also convincing as Roshan's good friend who does pose questions which finally turn out the reasons for Roshan to think about a different perspective. Rest of the cast also have given good performances. The film does take a dig at Kerala Trade Union's interference. In another scene, a policeman's attempt to pose problems to street vendors and in the process earn is also shown. Chef's screenplay packs many powerful moments which is all about how to live this beautiful life. The dance sequence of Saif and Padmapriya is simply awesome. Music is another highlight of the film. Every song is very meaningful and linked to the screenplay well. Raghu Dixit and Amaal Malik have done great jobs. Raghu does make a special appearance in the film with his power-packed performance. The film integrates the scenic beauty of God's own country Kerala, the life of Goa and the hustle-bustle of Chandni Chowk street and Connaught Place in Delhi. Raja Krishna Menon's Chef is a great refreshment. The whole theme of the film uses cooking as a metaphor, as cooking food is an art, similarly, living life is also an art. Chef cooks delicious food which would certainly suit one's taste buds. A beautiful, delightful and tasty film on cuisine of life, which has all ethos, pathos and logos in place.

Judwaa 22017

Judwaa 2, a film by David Dhawan, is the remake of Salman Khan's Judwaa (1997). David Dhawan is known for his comedy films. David Dhawan's combination with his stars viz. Govinda, Salman Khan etc. had certainly done wonders in the past at box office and also as far as entertainment values were concerned (in nineties). Judwaa with Salman Khan was no exception to this. Judwaa 2 is just a copy of the original Judwaa, with certain changes to the dialogues so as to incorporate the contemporary what's app jokes. In fact, 1997 Judwaa is remake of Nagarjuna's Telugu film Hello Bother (1994), which was in turn inspired from Jackie Chan's Twin Dragons (1992). Years went by, obviously the world has changed. The sensibilities of the audience towards a film or the plot have already changed in last twenty years. Many jokes, or situations of the earlier version shown in Judwaa 2 seemed absolutely out of context, misfit and irrelevant. So, one of the pertinent questions which arise is whether this remake of Judwaa 2 was required at all or not. One thing is for sure that Varun Dhawan is the ideal choice to pull off the double role. Varun Dhawan is one of the contemporary actor who really puts his heart and soul into the characters, which we saw in his few films especially Badlapur. In Judwaa 2 as well, although Varun Dhawan is in terrific form, but not in his original form, he imitates Salman's style at many points. Varun Dhawan has certainly made the two lead twin characters look different through his mannerisms, but comparisons are bound to happen between the original Judwaa Salman Khan and Varun Dhawan. Judwaa 2 is not a great entertainer, although, there are certain moments, where one bursts out into laughter. The film begins with a businessman Rajiv Malhotra's (Sachin) presence of mind to help the police to catch hold of a criminal Charles (Zakir Hussain). Parallelly, Rajiv's wife (Prachi) delivers twin boys at the hospital. Charles runs away with one of the boys as a revenge, he gets caught but the child gets separated from parents. So, that is how Prem and Raja (Varun Dhawan) are introduced. Prem is brought up at London and Raja at Mumbai Versova. Prem is sophisticated music loving student and Raja is tapori. Raja also reached London along with his friend Nandu (Rajpal Yadav) with the help of Pappu Passport (Johny Lever). And that is when, challenges for Prem and Raja begin as they were born as conjoined twins, which means when they are in the same geographical location, their reflexes are same. Alishka (Jacqueline Fernandez) and Samaira (Taapsee Pannu) are the girls in Raja and Prem's lives respectively. Confusion becomes the conflict in the script. Alishka and Samaira keep getting confused signals when Prem and Raja happens to come in front of them at different points of time. Kissing becomes an integral part of the screenplay whenever the leading girls meet the boys. The film also takes a dig at various actors by using their dialogue delivery style viz. Shahrukh Khan, Ranveer Singh etc. What happens in the film and how the story moves further is known to us. But yes, please do watch the full film for the climax scene, which has a surprise in store for the viewers. Varun as Prem and Raja does get maximum screen time. Tapasee certainly tries her hand in comedy after Pink, Naam Shabana, and she is good as well as far s her comic timing is concerned, but she had nothing much to do. Jacqueline does that in which she is good at i.e. giggling. Anupam Kher as Samara's father Bakshi, Rajpal Yadav as Raja's friend Nandu, Pavan Malhotra as Officer Dhillon, Ali Asgar as Doctor, Vivan Bhatena as Alex, one of the villain, are all underutilized in the film. Johnny Lever just appears for a scene. One of the weakest link is Samaira's mother's character portrayed by Upasana Singh on screen. Her character is so poorly sketched, who is shown to be flirting with her daughter's boyfriend. Judwaa 2 is not a great entertainer in spite of Varun Dhawan's terrific performance. The sensibilities of the audience towards a film or the plot have already changed in last twenty years. Many jokes, or situations of the earlier version seemed absolutely out of context, misfit and irrelevant. So, one of the pertinent questions which arise is whether this remake of Judwaa 2 was required at all or not.

Newton2017

Newton, a film by Amit Masurkar, has already created the news headlines by being nominated for the Oscars. Newton had its World Premier at 67th Berlin International Film Festival's Forum Section. Newton is a satire on our country's democracy and voting system. The manipulations are ingrained in the system. There is no space for an officer who wants to get the voting done as per the rule books. He has to bear the consequences for his honesty and sincerity. The best part of the film Newton is that its screenplay is full of humour, and to top it all, terrific actors Pankaj Tripathi, Rajkummar Rao, Raghbir Yadav, Anjali Patil and Sanjay Mishra (special appearance) are there. It is a visual treat to watch Pankaj, Rajkummar and Raghubir in the same frame on screen. The film is titled very thoughtfully, rather this is used as a metaphor. As per one of the dialogue delivered by Sanjay Mishra's character, Newton was the one who nullified the difference between the sky and the earth. And explaining it further he conveys that be it Ambani or anyone poor also, if somebody falls from the top, they have to go down only. Newton did remind me of Peepli Live which was another beautiful satire on the irresponsible and sensitizing journalism prevalent in our country. It is challenging to maintain the humour even when the scenes revolve around one of the most serious and relevant topic of voting system. As citizens of this country, many times, we are not even aware how voting system is manipulated. Especially in a democratic country like ours, it is claimed that people elect leaders. Amit Masurkar shows us 'what is unseen' or 'what goes ignored' by us. The very procedure of voting becomes questionable. The film says that the system is in place, but the authenticity and credibility is missing. Newton explores it beautifully. The film begins with a politician doing his election campaign, asking for votes and promising mobile phones / laptops. He is shot dead on his way back after the campaign. Another frame, where, Newton (Rajkummar Rao) is there with parents to see a girl. He is astonished to find that the girl is a minor, and not even 10th pass. He puts his foot down and walks out of the girl's house in spite of offered dowry. And ultimately he ends up in a confrontational mode with his father (Bachan Pachehra) over his denying to marry that girl. Then, we get to see Sanjay Mishra training the officials who are selected for election duty. He explains the usage of voting machines. He also adds that it is important to have integrity and loyalty. He also asks the officials not to resist and give away everything to the attackers as per their demand, in case, any polling booth is attacked. Sanjay Mishra explains to the officials that re-election can be done and if even that is being hindered by people, re-re-election can be done. Newton is one amongst the officials who are attending this session. During a casual chat with Sanjay Mishra, Newton explains that how he rechristened his name from Nutan to Newton in 10th standard by changing 'Nu' to 'New' and 'tan' to 'Ton'. When an official denies going for election duty to the forest area of Chattisgarh, which is supposedly under Naxal influence / control, Newton agrees to go there without any reluctance to gather the votes by 70 odd people as voters. Newton and his team Loknath (Raghubir Yadav) and Shambo0 (Mukesh Prajapati) are airdropped in Dandakaranya region. Newton meets Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi), an Army Officer, who has served and looked over many elections in war-torn parts of the country. Aatma tries to dissuade them from going ahead to seek voting from the voters, but Newton does not pay heed to that. Aatma was left with no option than to accompany these officers. By that time Malko (Anjali Patil), a teacher and local booth officer, also joins them. They all reach the election venue. For Loknath, it is another polling day, so he is very casual about the whole thing. Malko, excited in the beginning, but later she gives up. Shamboo just sleeps and does not do anything unless and until asked to. What happens afterwards ? Do the voters turn out ? Are the voters able to cast votes? Does any Naxal attack happen? Do the Adivasis, who lived in those areas for centuries, understand the whole concept of voting? What do they want in return? How does the concept of democracy exercised? What happenes to the conflict between Aatma and Newton, since Aatma is keen to get out of the place with his men before darkness descends whereas Netwon is determined to ensure polling under any circumstances. Amit Masurkar and Mayank Tewari's screenplay is successful in keeping this dark comedy consistent in its humour. They have not tried to find answers or solutions to the problems pertinent in our country, but have realistically portrayed the situations. Without showing any violence or fights, the reality is felt through dialogues. One of the dialogue is: "We want to break free from both the government forces and the Maoists". Another dialogue, when Malko is asked about her being a Nirashavadi (pessimistic), she responds – "I am Adivasi". Malko's character reiterates the hard fact that nothing changes on the ground no matter how many elections are conducted. Newton is a satire on India's electoral system, democracy, bureaucracy, law and order machinery etc. and it hits the bull's eye. It raises many serious questions about the manipulations and distortions that have crept into the democratic processes in our country. The film does not really seek answers, but does make its point clear. Newton makes us experience various emotions simultaneously. Powerful Screenplay packed with Powerful Performances by Pankaj Tripathi, Rajkummar Rao, Raghubir Yadav, Anjali Patil and Sanjai Mishra makes Newton a delightful and thought-provoking watch.

Haseena Parkar2017

Haseena Parker, a film by Apoorva Lakhia, is a biopic on Mumbai's Lady Don, the Godmother of Nagapada – Haseena Aapa, younger sister of Dawood Ibrahim. It was believed that Haseena took up the control of operations of Dawood's business in India. She was notorious for running an extortion racket in Mumbai and also allegedly involved in hawala rackets in sending money from India to Middle East and vice versa. It is said that Arun Gawli Gang murdered her husband Ismail Parkar in 1991. Soon after that she entered into the crime world. Dawood had retaliated to his brother-in-law's death by a shootout at JJ Hospital and killing innocents as well in the process. Haseena shifted to the Gordon Hall Apartments in Nagpada from where she headed the crime syndicate. She dies of heart attack in 2014. The film takes us through the journey of Haseena from a meek, 7th standard pass out daughter of an honest police constable Ibrahim Kaskar to wife of an hotel owner / actor Ismail Parker to the Lady Don's status. But the challenge with the film is it does not really let us know who Haseena is, it is just a chronological journey of Haseena's life. But what sort of person she was, what did she feel, and how that inner transformation from a powerless girl to powerful don happened – all these are superficially dealt with, rather what we have read in newspapers. But, the film will definitely is intriguing as far as one needs to understand the flow of events in her life. The film begins with the dramatic entry of Haseena Parker and a few other ladied in Burqa. . Journalists and people outside the court are having doubt whether Haseena Aapa would come for the court proceedings. And finally when she comes, people were not able to figure out who the original Haseena Parker was. Further the film unravels through court proceedings where Haseena Parker (Shraddha Kapoor) is questioned in an extortion case against a builder. Haseena, who was one amongst the 12 children (probably 7th) of Ibrahim Kaskar and Amina Bi. They used to live in a very small house. The questions by the lady Public Prosecutor (Priyanka Sethia) is arranged by the director in such a manner that its answers takes us to the flask back to Haseena's life. Haseena was extremely attached to her brother Dawood Ibrahim (Siddhant Kapoor, Shraddha's real brother). Her father Ibrahim Kaskar was an honest constable, who did not even shy away from making his sons Dawood and Sabir surrender before the police for their robberies. But Dawood was unstoppable, he grew to be the king of underworld very soon. Haseena is shown to have shared a special bond with Dawood. She gets married to Ismail Parker (Ankur Bhatia), owner of a small restaurant as well as an actor. When asked by Dawood that how she was after the marriage, she expressed that she could experience freedom of choice, freedom of living life after marriage. This is beautifully captured, where one gets to understand the real pain of Haseena, wherein the male fraternity have always decided for her but she was happy after marriage since she could breathe freely. Stories move further to the instances where Dawood had to flee abroad, Mumbai bomb blasts, JJ Hospital Shootouts, Haseena being mentally tortured by the police officials for her fault of being Dawood's brother, murder of her husband Ismail Parker and then how she grew to be the Haseena Aapa. Shraddha looks good till she transforms into Haseena Aapa. Probably her make-up is not good, especially her cheeks look strange and also her frame looks different than the original Haseena Aapa. She does deglamorize herself for the role, but looks did not appear convincing. If we ignore her looks, she has certainly given her best possible shot to the role. Siddhant Kapoor has portrayed the role of Dawood Ibrahim well, although in the second half, his character is reduced to be the one living in posh White House in Dubai. Post intermission, he either appears in TV as a terrorist in news or else talking to Haseena over phone. One gets to miss the Ajay Devgan's touch to Sultan Mirza and Imraan Hashmi's Shoaib Khan in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. Ankur Bhatia as Ismail Parker is good. Priyanka Sethia is a surprise package in the film, she is good while provoking, questioning Haseena Parker in the court and also in her verbal spats with the defense lawyer. Haseena Parker aka Haseena Aapa's story unravels during courtroom drama. It is about her transformation from an innocent and meek sibling of Dawood Ibrahim to powerful lady don – Godmother of Nagapada. Apoorva Lakhia takes us through her journey chronologically but it turns out to be a collection of reports which we already have read in newspapers. The 'real Haseena' does not come out on screen except in one or two instances.

Bhoomi2017

Bhoomi, a film by Omung Kumar and come-back film of Sanjay Dutt is one more film on a very disturbing topic of rape. The plot of the film is sensitive – a girl, who is brought up by her father, when grows up and is about to get married, a day prior to that she is being raped by a guy who was rejected by her. Offlate, we saw two Hindi films – Raveena Tandon's Maatr and Sridevi's Mom, where mothers rose heroically and at times in an unrealistic manner to take revenge against their daughters' rapists. And in Kaabil also, same theme is used where a husband tries to take revenge for his wife's ordeal. Here, we see Sanjay Dutt taking revenge for his daughter's rape. The very word rape is scary, sensitive, disturbing and so whenever a film revolves around rape and revenge, it becomes difficult to review the film. But, as a piece of art, the film needs to be reviewed and on that front Bhoomi absolutely fails. It turns out to be a very tedious watch. It is sad that the victim girl is raped again and again by the society, neighbourhood. And, if the girl chooses to go to the court then she is subjected to another series of gang rapes by the advocates, witnesses etc. through the grilling processes during court proceedings. It is an irony that the men who are the culprits move freely in the society and they don't even shy away from threatening the girl and her family / well-wishers. The film had potential, but it is beyond my understanding why Sanjay Dutt chose this one as his come-back film. We have seen him giving powerful performances in the past be it Agnipath or Vastava or Zinda… But here, a mediocre Sanjay is trapped in a mediocre film. The film begins with a girl being kidnapped and her juttis falling on the street. Then the frame moves back a month earlier where the titular character Bhoomi (Aditi) is shown performing in a marriage along with her fiancée Neeraj (Sidhant Gupta). The very first song 'Jugni, will you marry me' does not connect with the hearts. In another frame, Arun Sachdeva (Sanjay Dutt) and his brother (or friend, not clear) Shekhar Suman are shown to be drinking at home. Their conversation was intended to generate humour but unfortunately it does not happen. Bhoomi gets angry when she enters home and sees her dad and uncle drinking. She is then pampered by Arun and he persuades her to have food. These scenes could have been more powerful where the strong bond between father-daughter was to be established. Arun runs a footwear shop. Bhoomi is single-handed brought up by Arun, she stutters. Arun is very excited (though his expressions tell a different story altogether) for Bhoomi's marriage. Vishal enters into the scene when Arun goes to his shop to distribute Bhoomi's wedding card. Here audience got to see a very soft-spoken guy Vishal who loves Bhoomi. But later this very guy, when rejected in love by Bhoomi, becomes obsessed and joins hands with his cousin brothers (friends) for committing the crime. Dhauli (Sharad Kelkar) loves to play a game Hide and Cheekh (Shout) wherein men run behind girls and catch them to spend the nights. Oh, absolutely a b-grade film. To top it all, Sunny Leone appears in mud-clad-body in an item number. One keeps wondering that what happened to Omung Kumar, who gave us Mary Kom and Sarabjeet. Omung has not done justice to Bhoomi. The name Bhoomi might have been chosen metaphorically to show the patience of earth, but in many scenes, the characters have become mere spectators. Editing also seems weird. What happens to Bhoomi? What happens to her marriage with Neeraj (Sidhant Gupta)? How does she handle the turmoil of her life? How are the characters of Dhauli, Vishal, Jithu (Riddhi Sen) weaved in the story ? Certain questions which are there in my mind: Why Sanjay Dutt's character had to be a drunkard? How did Aditi's stuttering add to the script? Why Sanjay kept the same emotion on his face and maintained dopey monotone? What happened to Shekhar Suman? He has given a very dispassionate performance. Even, where the audience is supposed to laugh, his dialogues and mannerisms don't generate any humour. And post –interval, his character vanishes for a pretty long time, whereas that was a crucial time, when he was supposed to be shown to be with Bhoomi and Arun; is it editing problem or the screenplay did not have it? Why the hell Arun had to eat lice while making Bhoomi's hair? Initial proceedings in the court were focusing more on the love angle of Neeraj and Bhoomi rather than focusing on rape, why so ? Why did the villain characters lost their power every now and then? The film does highlight that minors can commit rape but not punished since he is not 18. It also shows a different kind of response towards the tragedy. But that is it!!! Bhoomi turns out to be a tedious watch. Mediocre actings trapped in mediocre script. The film does not pick up at all, be it in terms of story, screenplay, dialogues, acting, performances. Such a sensitive topic handled in an absolutely insensitive manner. Skip the film !!!

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan2017

Shubh Mangal Savdhan, a film by RS Prasanna, is a remake of his own Tamil film Kalyana Samayal Saadham. It is a light film on a serious personal issue. Unfortunately this 'very personal' issue cannot be dealt in isolation. Prasanna chooses to highlight the issue of Erectile Dysfunction through this film. Especially in India, where sex and sexual problems are not discussed very openly or people feel embarrassed to discuss their sexual issues and take medical help, such a taboo topic is discussed in the film which certainly is a welcome change. Survey figures say that more than 152 million men world-wide suffer from erectile dysfunction. Latest studies report that earlier it was more prevalent in older men, but these days, it is even very common in youngsters as well. Causes of erectile dysfunction can be due to nerve pathology or at times due to psychological and interpersonal issues. The film does focus on this issue that erectile dysfunction can have severe psychological consequences as it can be tied to relationship difficulties and masculine self-image. Prasanna's effort to explore sense of humour even amidst situations of gravity is good. The tone of the film is kept light and funny throughout. Humour in the script is brought in by using lot of cues, metaphorical references, double meaning jokes, although fall flat at times, but mostly it works in the favour of the film. Still, let me warn, some of you may not like the jokes and feel they are not appropriate. But, if taken in the good spirit, the dialogues are not vulgar. Mudit (Ayushman Khurrana) gets attracted to Sugandha (Bhoomi) and looking forward to express his love. But he somehow does not gather confidence to go to her and voice out his love for her. Sugandha certainly enjoys the attention showered on her by Mudit. She also expects Mudit to express himself directly, but Mudit and his family choose to send the proposal online. Sugandha finds it a very strange act since she wanted to fall in love and enjoy the whole process. She chooses to confront Mudit and their relationship kickstarts from there. Prior to engagement, during a private moment, when Mudit and Sugandha come closer, that is when Mudit confessed to Sugandha that he has 'gents problem' and it is illustrated visually on screen by a limp biscuit. What happens thereafter? Does Sugandha agree to get engaged to Mudit ? How do people in their lives react or respond, when Mudit's personal issue no more remains 'personal'? What happens when the family members and relatives also come to know of Mudit's plight and 'gents problem'? The premise of the film is simple. In fact the first half is developed nicely, where more focus is on the relationship between Mudit and Sugandha. But the second half nosedives and struggles to keep the humour quotient high. Fight between fathers of Mudit and Sugandha, ex-girlfriend of Mudit imposing her love upon him and the pre-climax scenes somewhere get overboard. But certainly Prasanna and his team must be applauded for choosing such a taboo subject and giving a hilarious treatment to the film. The best thing about Shubh Mangal Savdhan is that the setup, characters and dialogues all are believable. The film is shot in Delhi and Haridwar. The film does highlight the story of middle class families. The characters shown seem to be familiar. The characterization of Sugandha as an assertive yet sensitive girl is done well. Mudit's awkwardness and frustration is also very much relatable. The cast also blends beautifully with their respective characters. Ayushman's experimentation with unusual subjects is appreciable, be it his Vicky Donor, Dum Lagake Haisha, Bareilly ki Barfi or now the latest one Shubh Mangal Savdhan. Bhoomi is spontaneous in her performance. The pairing of Ayushman and Bhoomi is good. Seema Pahwa is excellent as Sugandha's mother. Brijendra Kala and rest of the cast Anshul Chauhan, Neeraj Sood and Chittaranjan Tripathy are also very good. An unconventional and funny take on erectile dysfunction in Shubh Mangal Savdhan evokes laughter. Humour in the script is brought in by using a lot of cues, metaphorical references, double meaning jokes, although fall flat at times, but mostly it works in the favour of the film. The premise of the film is simple. In fact, the first half is developed nicely, where more focus is on the relationship between Mudit and Sugandha. But the second half nosedives and struggles to keep the humour quotient high and consistent.

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz2017

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a dark film by Kushan Nandy. This film covers love, lust, violence, sex, gunshots, politics, and its power fights, betrayals, manipulations, vengeance, killings etc. The challenge with films of this genre is to keep the audience glued to the screen and make the film intriguing. This challenge is met by the cast of the film, be it Nawazuddin Siddique, Jatin Goswami, Bidita Bag, Divya Dutta, Bhagwan Tiwari, Murli Sharma. Their acts have certainly given new dimensions to the film. But sadly we have seen Nawazuddin Siddique in films of this genre – Gangs of Wasseypur, Badlapur, Raman Raghav 2.2 etc. Although he seems a bit repetitive in this film, one cannot deny the effortlessness with which he essays these roles and also how he adds his own exclusive flavour to various scenes. The backdrop of the story is set in the hinterlands of UP. Babumoshai Bandookbaaj, as the title suggests, is about a sharp shooter Babu Bihari (Nawazuddin Siddique), who works for Sumitra Jiji (Diya Dutta) and kills people. But a fall out between Babu Bihari and Jiji happens when Babu decides to pick up high-paying contract killings offered by her rival Dubey (Anil George). When he was on this mission, that is where his encounter happens with Banke Bihari (Jatin Goswami). Banke considers Babu as his role model. Babu is known in the criminal underworld for his effective and efficient shooting and killing. Banke is also on the same mission of killing three people for whom Babu has got the contract. Banke is ambitious and believes that he would one day be more 'famous' than Babu. Regarding the three contract killings which they both have got, they enter into a deal that whoever kills more would be a winner. Whenever Banke and Babu are on screen together, it is interesting to watch their banter. Babu and Banke have a kind of mentor-protégé relationship as well. Some predictable twists and turns lead to certain happenings which take a different course of the path for both Banke and Babu. And in this twists and turns Sumitra Jiji, her rival Dubey, Babu's lady love Phulwa (Bidita Bag), a cobbler and Banke's work-manager cum girl friend Yasmin, a young aspiring actress (Shraddha Das) are also involved. Phulwa's character has learnt it hard way how to survive in this world and Babu falls for her due to her rough and blunt mannerisms. One cannot expect any specific message attached with such dark thrillers. But yes, in this film, it is certainly conveyed that 'What goes around, come around'. Surprisingly, here is a film, in which one character Tarashankar (Bhagwan Tiwari), a policeman, fathers more and more boys expecting the next one to be a girl. Generally, we see this to be the other way round, a welcome change in the script. This dark film has its few moments of laughter. When Babu sees Phulwa for the first time, she was repairing some shoes, he tries to forcefully damage his footwear. Certain moments, though generate laughter, are very disturbing as well. A moment, where Babu and Banke both are arguing in front of their target that who can take the credit of the target's killing shows how these murders are so routine for them. Banke's assigning celebrity status to Babu is also funny. It is strange to see both Babu and Banke taking their contract killing job as any other profession. Tarashankar receiving call from his wife reminding him of some household chores when he is in midst of shoot-outs probably shows that how these manipulations and killings have become a mundane thing. Phulwa, a rape victim, offers to be Babu's mistress if he is able to kill the men who raped her, is very much disturbing. Dead body after the killing is brought to butchers' shop is another disturbing scene. It is difficult to believe that how one after getting a shot at forehead survives the death. If we talk about the cast, Nawazuddin, as mentioned earlier, we have seen him in such roles, but as always, he does add his own flavours. Jatin Goswami as Banke does give superlative performance. Bidita Bag is very natural in her performance and she gives an bsolutely uninhibited sensuous performance. Divya Dutta plays the local politician's role very nicely, who is hungry for power and she also displays her lust effortlessly. Rest of the cast Bhagwan Tiwari, Anil George, Shraddha Das, Murli Sharma have less of screen time but have given noticeable performances. Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a dark crime-thriller film about love, lust, violence, sex, gunshots, politics and its power fights, betrayals, manipulations, vengeance, killings etc. This film is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. But as far as the specific genre of the film is concerned, we have seen films, even more, darker than Babumoshai Bandookbaazi in the past. What works in the favour of the film is Nawazuddin and Jatin's pairing on the screen which hits the target. Please watch this film only if you can enjoy dark films and also a fan of Nawazuddin's acting.

Jab Harry Met Sejal2017

Jab Harry Met Sejal is a romantic comedy film written and directed by Imtiaz Ali. When the name of the film was declared, lots of criticisms were there since it sounded similar to Hollywood film title 'When Harry met Sally'. There is always a certain level of expectation from Imtiaz Ali. His directorial journey started with Socha na Tha which was not a great success but his further films Jab we met, Love Aaj Kal, Rockstar, Highway, Tamasha brought him in the league of critically acclaimed young filmmakers. Jab Harry Met Sejal's plot is very much familiar, we have seen it in previous films of Imtiaz Ali as well as that of Shahrukh Khan's films. These days, it is very common in films that two Indian souls meet abroad, do engage in relationships without expecting to have any commitments. But slowly physical as well as emotional entanglement happens. And if one of them is already in a relationship, the confusion part also sets in. After the introduction of a few conflicts, finally these two souls meet. The plot of Jab Harry Met Sejal is so much similar. In fact Imtiaz himself has tried the same plot earlier. So, somewhere, Jab Harry Met Sejal does not click at all, soul is missing from the film. Imtiaz Ali is a brilliant director and the way he interprets his story, does character sketching is appreciable and we have seen some of his best works in the past. But Jab Harry Met Sejal is one of his weakest works. Somewhere, he has absolutely gone wrong in keeping the tone of the film very casual even while the characters are undergoing a process of self-discovery, trying to develop the power of discretion, distinguish between what their hearts and heads want, and finally the power of reunion is also diminished due to inconsistent and shallow screenplay. The film begins with Harry (Shahrukh Khan), a Punabi tour guide in Europe, taking a bunch of travellers around and seeing them off finally. Although Harry explains passionately to the travellers in regard to the places, he takes a deep breath, a sigh of relief, when he finally sees them off. One of his client is Sejal (Anushka) who decides to give a miss to her flight when she loses her engagement ring. Her fiancée and family members leave whereas she seeks Harry's help in looking out for the lost ring. Sejal speaks with typical Gujarati accent. Initial instances, where Sejal gives no option to Harry than to accompany her in ring-search, does generate some laughter. Then the whole film revolves around their journey of ring-search all through Amsterdam, Vienna, Lisbon, Budapest, Prague etc. And as it is quite predictable, during this journey both Harry and Sejal end up exploring their inner self as well as their need for one another. Harry is a loner, who has not visited his home in Punjab since last many years. He seeks solace by indulging in casual sex and a few pegs of alcohol. Sejal belongs to a business family in Mumbai and she feels that she has to finally settle down there itself with Rupan, her fiancée. During this journey, both Harry and Sejal realize that in spite of their lives apparently in a happy state, something is still missing. That is where Harry and Sejal understand that they complete one another. I really don't want to say that the film is absolutely bad. But the combination of Imtiaz Ali, Shahrukh Khan, Anushka and music of Pritam should have all together created a magical piece which did not happen ultimately. Instead of stamping the film in a particular category, let me list down "What Works" and "What does not work" in the film for your to decide whether you want to watch the film or not. What does not work in the film: Both Shahrukh and Anushka are actors who generally bring lot of charm to the screen by their presence. Their pairing in 'Rab ne Bana Di Jodi' and 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' did add value to these films, but sadly in this film their pairing does not do any wonders. And, this is indeed a sad thing that two actors and good friends off-screen as well are not able to put their chemistry into optimum level on screen (But I would certainly mention about them individually in "What works in the film" below). Anushka is good in experimenting with her characters (still somehow she is not at her best in this film). The back story of Harry's character is not explored properly. A few characters are not sketched at all like that of Evelyn Sharma and Chandan Roy Sanyal. The overall tone of the film is casual, so dialogues lack depth and soul. The screenplay is a big let down. What works in the film: The message (as in the previous films of Imtiaz) is profound that one must explore inner-self and undergo the process of self-discovery. Also, one must follow heart. Also, one must strive to find out what is missing in life. "What you seek is seeking you" – the main message of the film is very good. Shahrukh certainly has charm, which keeps up the spirit of the film at certain low points (Although at places, he even appeared lousy). The conflict induced by the presence of Gas (Chandan Roy Sanyal) seemed forced one, but somehow Chandan excelled even in his 5 minutes of screen time. He leaves impact. Aru Krishansh Verma as Mayank is good. Of course cinematography does justice to the foreign locale. Beautifully captured. Pritam has certainly done wonders with the music in the film (although some numbers are absolutely forgettable). Songs are used contextually. Certain wonderful moments: When Harry and Sejal sit and listen to a concert, both of them have moist eyes. A beautifully captured scene. Another scene, where Harry enacts as Sejal's fiancée proposing her. One more scene is very soothing when Sejal finds comfort in Harry's arms, the love between them seems serene. The combination of Imtiaz Ali, Shahrukh Khan, Anushka and music of Pritam should have all together created a magical piece which did not happen ultimately. Imtiaz Ali is a brilliant director and the way interprets his story, does character sketching is appreciable and we have seen some of his best works in the past. But Jab Harry Met Sejal does not click at all, a soul is missing from the film. Unfortunately, this is Imtiaz' one of the weakest works so far. Somewhere, he has absolutely gone wrong in keeping the tone of the film very casual even while the characters are undergoing a process of self-discovery, trying to develop the power of discretion, distinguish between what their heart and head want, and finally the power of reunion is also diminished due to an inconsistent and shallow screenplay. Still, I would ask you to watch this film and decide yourself.

Lipstick Under My Burkha2017

Lipstick under my burkha, a film by Alankrita Shrivastava, was in the headlines due to its release being banned in India. It is a film which focuses on women, their sexuality, their desires, their frustrations and their need to break the shackles of society in which they feel suffocated. Alankrita has made a very unapologetic film. And yes, as the media reports were there, the film is bold in terms of its theme, subject, screenplay as well as its treatment. If we compare it with the films of the west, certainly one could notice the scope of improvement. But if we take this as an Indian film, indeed, it is a first of its kind, where the film tries to depict the females and their vulnerabilities without actually defending the same. But what the film does not try to do is to show the change in any context or the situation for the female characters. The situation remains the same. As a result, the film appears neither taking any stand as such nor bringing any transformation to the characters. It just seems like the lady characters are fulfilling their desires or living in their dreams/fantasies. The end feels a little abrupt. But yes, the film is successful in making its point clear that hypocrisy exists in our society even in 21st Century, norms of our society being gender specific, and how every woman has the right to live her life and make her choices too, but she is deprived of her basic rights. The film is not taking any moral stance but taking us through the journey of women as they are. It just highlights what is prevalent in the society without trying to find any answers to many pertinent questions raised in the film. It also appears as one sided story from females' perspectives. The backdrop is set in Bhopal and Alankrita chooses to have four female protagonists who all stay in the same mohalla nearby – Usha (Ratna Pathak Shah), Shirin (Konkana Sen Sharma), Leela (Ahana Kumra) and Rihana (Plabita Borthakur). Alankrita has also selected another character Rosy from a novel to share the expressions what is not shown on the screen but certainly important for the audience to understand these four characters and their feelings in a much better and explicit manner. Burkha is used here more as a metaphor since within this burkha, there is a woman who wants to just fly free, sing at the top of her voice, use make up, conscious of one's looks, wants to look good, wants to enjoy sex, wants to talk sex over phone, wants to do everything which is taboo as per societal norms. Usha is 55-year-old widow who is known as Buaji. She even has forgotten her real identity of Usha, tells her name as Buaji when asked. She loves to read pulp novels and she meets her sexual urge through these characters' portrayals. The interesting thing is that Usha hides these novels in between some other book and then reads. This is how she hides her own embarrassment of having the desire for sex and wanting to be sexually active. She herself feels that is it appropriate for her to think of sex or reading pulp novels. Another important character is that of Shirin portrayed by Konkana Sen Sharma. Shirin has 3 children. Her husband Aslam (Sushant) is now back to India, earlier he was working in Saudi. This is a typical case of marital rape. Sushant is hardly having any love for Shirin and children but every night he wants to have intercourse with Shirin. Shirin surrenders to Aslam in spite of not enjoying. Besides most of the times, she ends up reaching clinics to get abortions done. She is working as a Sales Executive but hides this from Aslam knowing that he would not allow her to work. Many females would be able to relate to Shirin's marital rapes, sighs, tears, and longingness to have her man's love instead of lust. Leela (Ahana) is a character who is gregarious, declares her love to her photographer boyfriend (Vikrant Massey), very expressive. She loves to click photos with him and even loves to record videos while Leela makes love with him. She runs her own beauty parlour. She wants to just move out of the colony where she stays and run away to Delhi with her boyfriend. She rebels against the proposal brought in by her mother. Rihana (Plabita Borthakur) is a college student, who belongs to a family which is into tailoring. She loves to sing and dance and just wants to get rid of the burkha. She is so submissive in front of her parents, obeys them apparently but the moment she steps out of her house, she removes the burkha and reaches college in modern outfits. She represents many girls of our society, who just want to break free of every restriction at home. And when they enter into an environment which they want, they fall into parties, boys, drugs, drinks etc. To project her lifestyle better, she even goes to the extent of stealing branded things from shops in malls. The story of all these four women clubbed with Rosy's story from the novel moves in non-linear format. Ratna, Konkana, Ahana, Plabita are all good in the film. Their uninhibited ways have made the film not cross the line of vulgarity. Although this is a women-centric film, male characters support to take their stories ahead. Usha's story moves ahead through Jagat Singh Solanki who portrays a Swimming Coach. Jagat has done many films in the past and he brings a lot of credibility to his characters. Here, in this film, he projects very well that how he gets attracted to a female and her phone talks. And as his role of swimming coach demands, he has maintained a very well-toned physique. Sushant as Aslam - Shirin's husband is certainly wonderful. He maintains the expressions of an abusive husband. Vikrant Massey is another character who does comedy as well as serious roles quite effortlessly. And here in this film as well, Vikrant as a lover boy and boyfriend of Leela is very good. Vaibbhav Tatwawdi as Leela's fiancée has also given a good performance. Shashank as a college mate of Rihana plays a typical boy who is an opportunist and does not shy away from breaking his commitment to a girl. There are many dialogues in the film which are very explicit. What happens to Usha, how she meets her sexual urge? How does she meet Jagat's character? What happens to their relationship? Does Shirin ever oppose Aslam and confess that she is not in a mood to have sex without love in the relationship? What happens to Leela, she marries her fiancée or runs away with her boyfriend ? What happens to Rihana? How does she handle the peer pressure of 'being cool', going to parties etc. What happens to her relationship with Shashank's character? How Rihana's parents handle her truth? Being an adult film, this film can not be watched with kids. But I do suggest couples or singles to watch this film. Lipstick Under My Burkha without taking any moral stance is successful in making its point clear that hypocrisy exists in our society even in 21st Century, norms of our society being gender specific, and how every woman has the right to live her life and make her choices too, but she is deprived of her basic rights. It just highlights what is prevalent in the society without trying to find any answers to many pertinent questions raised in the film. The end could have certainly been better.

Raabta2017

Raabta, a film by producer turned director Dinesh Vijan, attempts the same old formulae of reincarnation. But films with reincarnation concept are very much made in the past as well viz. Mehbooba, Om Shanti Om, Karan Arjun, Karz, Ek Paheli Leela etc., a few of them being successful films and a few others did not do so well. According to Dr. Brian Weiss, a Past-Life Regression Therapist and author of many books, the souls move in families. Certain inputs from him convey that destiny will place us in a particular circumstance, which will encounter with a particular person at appointed time and place. This will happen with every person we have chosen to bring into this lifetime. The film Raabta has such protagonists, coincidences bring them together, but somehow the treatment given to the idea is not at all new and not different. The whole concept of reincarnation is dealt in a very lousy manner. The very meaning of Raabta is 'Connection' and unfortunately audience may hardly be able to connect with the film. Shiv (Sushant Singh Rajput) travels (or moves) to Budapest along with his best friend Varun. Shiv is supposed to be a banker, but one hardly sees him beyond chasing / flirting with girls, partying etc. He meets Saira (Kriti Sanon) who runs a Chocolate store. Both of them feel instant connect with one another. Saira does get nightmare of getting drowned. She often wonders why she gets these dreams. Saira's character is developed as the one who is confused, although apparently cool. Zakir (Jim Sarbh) , a liquor baron, enters into the scene and events take a different turn altogether. And as it is predictable, the lives of Shiv, Saira and Zakir are intertwined from the past life itself. A love comet is also scheduled to fly across the skies for the first time in 800 years. The film takes us to their past lives. And there we get to see Rajkummar Rao in a very much unrecognizable get up. In fact, certain elements in the past life story is not very well developed. The story weaving is very poor. How Shiv, Saira and Zakir were connected in the past life? What purpose was left behind that the paths of three of them cross ? Sushant has certainly evolved a great actor but in Raabta he goes overboard at times, his acting looks a bit superficial. Kriti Sanon is beautiful and her character is almost consistent in her nature, be it in past life or present life. But could not find her character getting developed. The on-screen chemistry between Sushant and Kriti might have looked great, but this is not explored appropriately. Jim Sarbh (Neerja fame) is ok. Overall the actors are trapped in a confused plot. The cameo by Deepika Padukone shaking her legs on the title song Raabta does not do any good to the film. Raabta means 'Connection', but ironically the film fails to connect with the audience. The same old concept of reincarnation is dealt in a very lousy manner. The actors are trapped in a confused lot.

Sachin: A Billion Dreams2017

Sachin: A Billion Dreams, a biographical documentary film by James Erskine, celebrates the life of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, his highs as well as lows, philosophy of life, value system, humility, assertiveness etc. mostly narrated in his own words. His very presence in the film makes it very special and real. It was like reliving those moments, which we have watched on television, along with the legend himself. This film shall not be reviewed keeping the box office numbers or commercial value attached to it, since the film is all about the number of centuries earned by Sachin on field, number of records created by him during his 24 years of professional cricketing career and how he and cricket became synonyms. This film certainly can't be compared to MS Dhoni or even Azhar since the format of this film is entirely different. Audience was not happy with the superficial touch given to Azhar whereas MS Dhoni became a huge hit commercially, people loved this film. Both the real and reel Dhoni were appreciated for an honest and entertaining treatment given to the film. And here is a documentary film on one of the greatest cricket player which our country and the world has seen- Sachin Tendulkar. It is about Sachin's life in his own words and also in words of people associated with him during his journey. The narratives by him and others add a lot of credibility to the whole film. Indeed his insurmountable achievements are very well documented, and it may appear as a replay on screen, but Sachin's narratives do let us know what was actually going on in his mind during every victory or loss. Another unique phenomenon which is used in the film is linking the journey of Sachin with India's positioning in the global map. Glimpses from India's partition days to India of today's date are shown interspersed with the film which talked about the transformation of India in parallel to Sachin's incredible journey. The title of the film is absolutely justified, since it is not only about Sachin but about India, all those billion dreams and expectations when Sachin stepped on to the field and how Sachin aligned his dreams with the Nation's dreams. So, for me, this is not a film, rather beyond that, depicting the very life of a living legend, a genius, who will always remain the pride of our country. If you are a cricket fan, you would certainly not like to miss this one. It is adorable to watch the little Sachin as a very naughty child. One can hardly believe that there was this naughty side as well to Sachin. He had tremendous energy as a child, and his brother Ajit Tendulkar introduced him to the game of cricket when he got a cricket bat as gift from his sister. Ajit, who could see a spark in his brother, took Sachin to Ramakant Vithal Achrekar so as to get coaching from him. And Sachin's journey began at Shivaji Park. The film does talk of his strong bond with family members and friends. His father instilled a great value system in him to be a great human being first. Family videos shown in the film did show lovely moments of his life with Anjali and kids Sara and Arjun. His wedding video, moments of Sara and Arjun's birth, he playing with kids, his time with friends etc. brings forth his personal side as well. Sacrifice by his family members, his wife all are also shown in the While watching the film, I did experience his highs, lows, his pain of losing a match, his excitement after winning a match etc. It is also great to see certain aspects of his playing various roles in life other than a cricketer viz. that of a son, brother, father, husband and friend. I did get goosebumps with the thundering applause Sachin received everytime he entered the ground to play, the kind of euphoria the very name Sachin created. His farewell speech of 2013 did move me. It could be possible that people who are not cricket lovers might find the tone of the film to be very plain and not very entertaining. Sachin's journey does reiterate the fact that one has to be committed, honest, consistent, persistent and hard working in life. Complacency is the enemy of excellence. Especially when one plays for the country, when huge expectations are there from the player, one certainly feels tremendous pressure to perform, at the same time, it is a great responsibility. Mistakes can't be afforded. And Sachin's life does go through lows, be it his non-performance during captaincy, his getting removed as Indian Cricket Team's captain overnight, match-fixing controversies of team members, people getting wild with the failures etc. Sachin believed in the value system instilled by his father that a player can't be bigger than the team, got back in form with much harder practice. Injuries and failures used to hurt him, but then he focused on his dream of holding the world cup in his hand. What an incredible 24 years of journey from 1989 to 2013. Sachin: A Billion Dreams celebrates the life of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, his highs as well as lows, philosophy of life, value system, humility, assertiveness etc. Indeed his insurmountable achievements are very well documented, and it may appear as a replay on screen, but Sachin's narratives do let us know what was actually going on in his mind during every victory or loss. If you are a cricket fan, you would certainly not like to miss this one. Sachin is indeed not a name, it is an emotion. A tribute to the living legend.

Half Girlfriend2017

Half Girlfriend, a film by Mohit Suri, is based on the novel by the same name written by Chetan Bhagat. Chetan had not received great reviews for his novel, he was criticized for bringing forced twists and turns. This review of the film is not done on the basis of Chetan's book versus its adaptation by Mohit into the film. The review is done purely on the basis of what is shown on screen. Certainly, some minor changes have been done in the screenplay but overall it remains the same. The concept of half girlfriend was to focus on non-committal relationships, where the boy and the girl have the chemistry of being in a relationship but not clear about the same. They might love to hang-out even during odd hours, they need one another in their lives, but not ready to accept that they have a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. They are not ready to take their relationship to the next level. This film also showcases the story of a boy who is in love with a girl and wants to move ahead with her in life, but the girl feels that she could be more than a friend to him, but less than a girlfriend. So, the terminology used by her to define such a relationship is that of Half Girlfriend. They are not clear about their relationship status with each other. It is true that such relationships do exist, but somehow, the treatment of the subject is done in a very average manner. The film also deals with the linguistic challenges faced by Bhojpuri-laced Hindi speaking boy from Bihar who finds himself misfit amongst people speaking fluent English. Many would be able to relate with it, but somehow, it is not very convincing. It is true that our pronunciation does have regional influences. People from eastern, western, southern and northern parts of our country might pronounce the same word differently. Similarly Bihar is no exception, but what is so big deal about it. It is natural, we all have our own pronunciation, enunciation and diction. But what has been observed is that students from Bihar are the most hardworking lot in campus, be it their focus towards establishing their identity, be it their focus in civil services or be it their focus in creative areas. They are quick learners too, could be due to their persistence towards achieving excellence and prove to themselves that they are not lesser beings in comparison to anyone in this world. So, here is a film, where the lead protagonist is from Bihar, gets into one of the most prestigious college of Delhi University, still unable to get over his challenges of speaking English even after spending three years in the campus is beyond comprehension. He does not find it difficult to adjust to the cosmopolitan culture of the campus, but finds it difficult to pick up English. It is also not understandable that why the names of the place Dumrao and the college St. Stephen's college were changed to Simrao and St. Steven's College respectively. The very plot has loopholes, and so is the film. The film begins with Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) rushing to a house to find that Riya Somani (Shraddha Kapoor) has left the house writing a letter to him. He travels to Delhi to hand over the letter to her mom and the story unveils as flashback during this train journey of Madhav. He is the prince of Simrao, whose mother Seema Biswas runs a school there for the underprivileged boys. He comes to Delhi to take admission in St. Steven's College in Delhi University under sports quota (a basketball player) for BA Sociology. Riya also gets admission in sports quota. It is love at first sight for Madhav. He starts becoming friendly with Riya. Riya does take tips from Madhav in regard to the game, and also practices with him. They started hanging out together apart from game too. Madhav's bunch of friends, especially Shailesh (Vikrant Massey) warns Madhav that he may not be a proper match to Riya who is from an affluent business family. Madhav does try to know Riya's mind, for which her response was that she is his half girlfriend, more than a friend but less than a girlfriend. Madhav gets confused with her response. On his friends' insisting, he does try to test her love which results in the fall out. Later the situations happen so that she chooses a different path in her life and moves away geographically. Madhav, unable to get over Riya, comes back to village after completing graduation. As it is quite predictable, Madhav and Riya's paths cross once again. What happens to their relationship? How the story moves further? Does she become more than a half girlfriend to him ? Does their relationship status evolve? If yes, how? The film does try to connect with the social mission of sanitation facilities and also 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' etc. This is a good effort, but does not blend naturally with the screenplay. One of the most unconvincing scenes is when Riya chooses to unwind at the top of India Gate. It is simply impossible to get away from the eyes of the security guards and climb to the top of this monument. Arjun and Shraddha are both mediocre in the film. In his previous films viz. Ishaqzaade, Gunday, 2 States, Finding Fanny, Tevar, Ki and Ka etc. he could bring many elements into his characters which made his screen presence very much noticeable and he did gather many positive feedbacks. But in this film, Arjun has not come out completely. It appeared as if he was not excited for this role. Shraddha looked pretty in some outfits and that is all about her. She needs to evolve a lot as far as acting is concerned. Vikrant Massey as Shailesh is good. He did deliver dialogues well. His expressions are also very good. Seema Biswas has very less of screen time and so does not have much to do. Rhea Chakraborty as Anshika (Shailesh' wife) has a small role, but good. Half Girlfriend is actually half-cooked, be it its romance, passion, friendship, acting, dialogues, screenplay. The very plot has loopholes, and so is the film. The songs 'Baarish', 'Thodi Der', 'Phir bhi Tumko Chaahunga' are certainly a great relief in the film.

Hindi Medium2017

Hindi Medium, a satire on our education system by Saket Chaudhary, is a very relevant film. This is his third film after Pyaar ke Side Effects and Shaadi ke Side Effect. It seems that humour is his forte. In Hindi Medium, he takes a dig at our current Education System. These days education has become a business. Children's education has become costlier than many of the professional or vocational courses in our country. Schools have the trend of charging exorbitant fees in lieu of tuition fee, capitation fee, donation, extra-curricular activities' fund etc. 'The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act' or 'Right to Education Act (RTE)' was enforced on 1st April, 2010. When this act came into force, India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right to every child between the ages of 6 and 14. This act does require all private schools to reserve 25% of seats for the children from families of low economical status. But what actually happens with this quota is still under question. This act has many other relevant clauses too in favour of students. It also makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. Saket has come up with a brilliant film on this. The film showcases the stress of parents in getting their children admitted into elite schools, and their efforts to manipulate things to get the admission, school management falling prey to bribe, the admission scam, the conditions of the government schools etc. This fact can not be ignored that many of the government schools in our country are underperforming due to lack of facilities, infrastructure support and resources. There is a clear cut demarcation between the English Medium Schools and Hindi Medium Schools. And also, there is a special affinity for English Language in our country i.e. whoever speaks English are supposed to have a 'class'. A person might be very good in his / her mother tongue or Hindi, but being affluent in English only makes that person sophisticated. There is Social Divide between English speaking and Hindi speaking people. This is a mindset, which one needs to ponder upon. Saket certainly is successful in throwing light upon all these issues in a very light-hearted manner. The film begins with a girl - young Mita - coming to a tailor's shop to get a designer dress stitched and young Raj (Delzad Hiwale, Chittagong & Chauranga fame) assures the girl that her dress will be stitched exactly similar to the design she wanted. There starts the love story of Raj and Mita in the backdrop of a beautiful song 'Lafzon ke haseen dhagoon me kahin piro raha hum main huzur…' After a period of fifteen years, we get to see that Raj Batra (Irrfan Khan) has grown into 'the Business Tycoon' of Chandani Chowk (Delhi) with a fashion studio. He understands the pulse of the customers. His wife Mita (Saba Qamar) does speak English well whereas Raj doesn't. Raj calls her Mitthu fondly. She is very particular that their daughter Piya (Dishita Sehgal) studies in any one of the top five English Medium Schools of Delhi. They do apply in top five schools. And for this they do shift their base from Chandni Chowk to the posh colony of Vasant Vihar, undergo specialized training for attending interviews, handling questions and speaking English. But unable to find admission through General Quota, when Raj comes to know regarding 25% quota for the students from poor families, he decides to go to slum area along with Mita and Piya so as to clear the inspection. That is where they get good Samaritan neighbours Shyam Prakash (Deepak Dobriyal) and wife Tulsi (Swati Das). What happens thereafter is to be seen. Although there is a drag in certain areas in the second half with certain scenes of the slum, but consistent humour in the screenplay keeps the mood of the film very bright. Also, certain issues raised in the film do not see a closure. The highlight of the film is effortless acting by Irrfan Khan. He is an actor to reckon with. He blends with every character he plays on screen and he adds lot of value to the same. Even after one leaves the theater, his acting remains in heart and mind. Saba Qamar, originally a Pakistani Actress, is also very good, natural and convincing as Mita. Deepak Dobriyal as Shyam Prakash gives a wonderful performance. His expressions are very impressive. Tillotama Shome as career counsellor is very good. Swati Das as Tulsi is also very much noticeable. Rest of the characters Dishita Sehgal, Amrita Singh (as Head Mistress of a School), Sanjay Suri and Neha Dhupia are all good. There are lot of scenes with which one could relate to – be it the parental pressure of getting their children's admissions in good schools, the struggle of the middle class or lower class to be able to provide good education to their children, the social divide etc. There is a scene where Tillotama conveys a dialogue – "People book me when they are in their first trimester." Unfortunately, this is a Reality too. Hindi Medium, a satire on our education system, is a very relevant film. It showcases various issues viz. Social Divide between English and Hindi speaking people, the demarcation between government schools and private schools facilities, the school admission scams etc. in a very light-hearted manner. Irrfan Khan, Saba Qaram and Deepak Dobriyal shine in the film through their effortless acting.

Sarkar 32017

Sarkar 3, a political crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the latest one in the Sarkar series absolutely falls flat. Sarkar 3 has nothing new to offer, rather none of the scenes are exciting enough to make one watch the film. The palace politics, as it is defined and shown in the film, is inexplicable. Ram Gopal Varma does not showcase any new perspective or any new aspect through Sarkar 3. The screenplay and editing are not at all deft. As a viewer, I kept wondering what is the overall idea behind making this film. The film has the same old story of a leader who with his power of influence has earned many enemies as well as supporters. It also has the story of deceit, manipulations, betrayal, playing double games etc. The mood in every frame of the film is grim. There is not a single moment in the film which is light. As far as the character sketching is concerned, even the most powerful character has been portrayed in a very weak manner. Sarkar 3 is the third in the series. Sarkar aka Subash Nagre (Amitabh Bachchan) is still powerful. He is a loner. His trademark hand-wave can still mesmerize thousands of people. The first half of the film sees Amit Sadh's entry as Shivaji, the grandson of Sarkar. Shivaji chooses to address his grandfather as Sarkar only. Ronit Roy as Gokul and Parag Tyagi as Raman are Sarkar's credible aids. But once Shivaji comes, troubles begin in this camp. Shivaji is in love with Anu (Yami Gautam) who is the daughter of Sreeram who was killed by Sarkar. The film moves further without any twists and turns, any major conflicts, without any unpredictability of the plot. The tempo of the film is very slow. We have seen Amitabh Bachchan in Sarkar and Sarkar Raj earlier. Nothing new is added, no new dimension is added to his role. He slurps tea, offers tea to his friends as well as foes when they visit him. Abhishek Bachchan's photograph with garland is almost there in every frame. Amit Sadh is a wonderful actor. We have seen him creating magic in Kai Po Che, Sultan etc. but here his role is sketched out very poorly. Whereas, his role was supposed to be at par with Sarkar, but it does not happen so. Manoj Bajpayee has the knack of getting into any character he plays, but he did not have much to do as Govind Deshpande in the film. His character had very less of screen space. A very talented actress Rohini Hattangadi as Govind's mother also has a very small role. Jackie Shroff's role as businessman Michael Vallya is perhaps the most unexplained character in the film, though he plays the mastermind behind many conflicts but the scenes given to him are absolutely absurd. Rest of the actors Supriya Pathak, Ronit Roy, Parag Tyagi, Yami Gautam and others are wasted in this pointless dark film. Sarkar 3 has nothing new to offer, rather none of the scenes are exciting enough to make one watch the film. The palace politics, as it is defined and shown in the film, is inexplicable. Ram Gopal Varma does not showcase any new perspective or any new aspect through Sarkar 3.

Baahubali 22017

Baahubali 2– The Conclusion: The much-awaited sequel to Bahubali – The beginning is finally released and it indeed deserved all the attention it gathered prior to its release itself. Part 1 was certainly grand and spectacular, and Part 2 is even grander and visually spectacular. Since Baahubali – The beginning was immensely successful, it was very natural for the audience to have huge expectations from its sequel. Generally, when the prequel is very successful, it becomes very difficult for the sequel to set new benchmarking standards, but with Baahubali-2, it is entirely different, it has enhanced its own standard, creating new records as far as the box office success is concerned, and also superior in the craft. Filmmaker SS Rajamouli might have definitely experienced the stress to make the sequel much better than the prequel and now he can relax after making this magnificent film. This epic is certainly going to be registered in the Indian Cinema's history for the kind of huge canvas it has used to share the story, the efforts were taken by the cast and crew to make it a visual extravaganza. A must-watch, a sure shot blockbuster, etched in Indian Cinema's history forever. This is originally filmed in Telugu and Tamil and also dubbed in Hindi and Malayalam. In Baahubali : The beginning, the story was of Shiva Alias Mahendra Baahubali (Prabhas) falling in love with Avantika (Tamannaah). Shiva takes up the responsibility to fulfill Avantika's mission of rescuing Devasena (Anushka Shetty) from the imprisonment of Bhallala Deva (Rana Daggubati), King of Mahishmathi kingdom without knowing how he is related to Devasena as well as this kingdom. While rescuing Devasena, he gets surprised when he is being identified as Baahubali. Later on, when he comes face to face with Kattappa (Sathyaraj), the truth unfolds before him in regard to his identity of being the son of Amarendra Baahubali (Prabhas in a double role) and Devasena. The first part ends up with the confession of Kattappa that it was he who killed Amarendra Baahubali. Kattappa's confession raised a very pertinent question and the whole set of the audience kept wondering why a loyal person like Kattappa killed Amarendra Baahubali. (Invite you to read my review of Bahubali – The beginning here: lenzscope.com/review-of-baahubali-beginning) Now about Baahubali 2 : The Conclusion, without trying to review this epic film, let me just express that this film takes us through the answers to all those questions which we had after watching the first part: What sort of power play happens in the kingdom which resulted in the initial scene of injured Sivagami (Ramya Krishnan) trying to save the child. Who was Sivagami ? What is the story of two brothers Amarendra Baahubali and Bhallala Deva (Rana Daggubati)? How does the character of Kattappa (warrior slave of the kingdom) shape up in the film? What made Kattappa kill Amarendra Baahubali ? How did Amarendra and Devasena meet ? Was power the only reason for the rivalry between Amarendra Baahubali and Bhallala Deva ? What happens when the characters suffer from the inner conflict of making a choice between Dharma and Karma, what do they choose? It is not that the plot is unpredictable, we can assume many happenings of the sequel, but what makes this sequel so special is that how Rajamouli has done the storytelling, making even the most obvious so intriguing in the film. This is one of the best aspects of the film which needs to be highlighted. The film begins on a very lighter note with Amarendra Baahubali and Kattappa's friendly banters, Amarendra's falling in love with Devasena. As the film progresses, the plot gets into the rivalry of Bhallala with Amarendra, Bhallala and Bijjala Deva's crooked ways, conspiracies, power snatching, Amarendra's righteousness, Mahendra fighting back etc. Some breathtaking visuals are: Amarendra leaping into the air and shooting off three arrows in one go, the battlefield's projection, the Mahishmathi Kingdom itself, the climax etc. The musical scores are integrated and in sync with the screenplay. If the first part saw some great performances of Prabhas, Rana and Tamannah, the second part showcased even better performances from Prabhas, Rana, Ramya Krishnan and Anushka Shetty. Prabhas has great screen presence. He is good as both Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali, plays both the characters effortlessly and with much ease. He is indeed a superstar to look out for in the coming days. Rana Daggubati looks huge on screen and his physical transformation to adapt to Bhallala Deva's role is absolutely commendable. Even his body language expressed his character so well. Both Prabhas and Rana have made their on-screen rivalry look very much credible through their performances. Anushka Shetty as Devasena and Ramya Krishnan as Sivagami have given stupendous performances. Both of them are very good as headstrong, feisty and powerful women. Sathyaraj as Kattappa has done so much justice to his role, he is there in almost all the frames in the film. Nassar as Bijjala Deva does generate disliking for his character through his wonderful acting. Subbaraju as Kumara Varma is also very good. What was missing in part 2 was that of Tamannah's character Avantika. She played a very strong and a prominent character in the first part which was not further developed in Baahubali 2 : The Conclusion. One could get to see her glimpses only in 2 hours 47 minutes of the film. This was really sad. Another character which was not given importance in the sequel is that of Sanga (Rohini). Rajamouli's magnum opus Baahubali 2: The Conclusion has been designed on a huge canvas, be it its production design, visual appeal, awesome performances, background score or narration. It is indeed a visual extravaganza and a treat to watch the film on big screen. A must-watch, a sure shot blockbuster, etched in Indian Cinema's history forever.

The Zookeeper's Wife2017

The Zookeeper's Wife, a film by Niki Caro, is the visual adaptation of non-fiction book of the same name by Diane Ackerman. This film depicts the plight of Jews in Poland in 1939 during Nazi invasion (World War II). But the film is not about the war crisis, but it is more about how good elements of the society choose to give hope, share love and compassion with the victims. It is about how a few people grew beyond their self-interest to help the needy. The film does make one believe in the humanity and reinstate one's faith in the goodness. War is just the backdrop, not the main focus. The film focuses on the aftermath of the violence, and how the protagonists risk their own lives to help the people who are suffering. This is the real-life story of Antonina Zabinska and her husband Dr. Jan Zabinski, who are the keepers of Warsaw Zoo. Their lives are thrown into turmoil when Germany invades and occupies Poland. The film is about how the couple decided not to succumb to the odds and do their best possible so as to save Jews from being killed by Germans. A film with soul. The film begins in Warsaw in 1939. Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) and her husband Dr. Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldnberg) run Warsaw Zoo. The initial frames itself are very compassionate ones, where Antonina rides her bicycle through the main paths of the zoo. Antonina and Dr. Jan's lives turn upside down when Germans invade and occupy Poland. They felt so helpless to see their animals being slaughtered or moved to Berlin Zoo by Dr. Heck (Daniel Bruhl), a zoologist and head of Berlin Zoo. Antonina and Jan were not ready to be mere spectators of the ordeal their people and country were facing. They gathered themselves and started working in a covert manner to save as many people as possible. The Zoo which was home to many animals now becomes the shelter for many Jews. Dr. Heck keeps a sharp vigil over them. How the couple extends help towards the needy and fights the danger of hiding over 300 Jewish people over the course of the entire war, keeping it a secret etc. form rest of the film. Actors are terrific, be it Jessica Chastian, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Bruhl. The Zookeeper's Wife is a film depicting real-life story, where war is just the backdrop, not the main focus. The film focuses on the aftermath of the violence, and how the protagonists risk their own lives to help the people who are suffering. A film with soul.

Maatr2017

Maatr, a film by Ashtar Sayed, focuses on one of the most sensitive topic i.e. rape and revenge. This is also Raveena Tandon's comeback film. Certainly Maatr as a women-centric film had tremendous potential but the whole effort falters. A lot of films in the past have handled this subject and that is why it becomes all the more important that how the subject is being differently handled in Maatr. The film certainly begins on a high note but 15 minutes into the film, the whole screenplay goes for a toss. It becomes very much predictable, clichéd. The whole revenge saga looks very superficial. It is appreciable that the intention of the film is to highlight and raise voice against the heinous crimes prevalent in our society, atrocities against women, but execution falters badly. The film has nothing new to offer. Vidya Chauhan (Raveena Tandon) is a school teacher. It is a function in the school where her daughter Tia (Alisha Khan) is performing. After the programme, on their way back home, they get trapped in traffic and take different route to get rid of traffic. But a wrong turn brings their lives up and down. Apurva Malik (Madhur Mittal, Slumdog Millionaire fame) and his group of boys gang-rape Vidya and Ritu. Both of them are dumped on the road. Vidya survives but Tia gives up. Vidya's friend Ritu (Divya Jagdale) stand with Vidya during this crisis. Ravi, Vidya's husband (Rushad Rana), is unable to deal with Ritu's death. The story proceeds further to show the revenge saga, the fights against the powerful and evil elements of the society, but things are handled very superficially. Everything turns out to be in favour of Vidya when she single handedly puts up her fight against the powerful. She seems to be at the right place at right time, which is so unreal. Besides, Vidya is shown to effortlessly use revolver overnight. As far as the cast is concerned, we have seen much better performance from Raveena Tandon. Anurag Arora as Inspector Jayant Shroff is good. Rest of the actors Rishad Rana and Divya Jagdale have given average performances. Probably the screenplay needs to be blamed. Maatr is a film with the right intention to highlight and raise voice against the heinous crimes prevalent in our society, atrocities against women; but the execution falters badly. The film has nothing new to offer. It becomes very much predictable, clichéd. The whole revenge saga looks very superficial.

Begum Jaan2017

Begum Jaan is a film by Srijit Mukherji, which is a remake of his own Bengali film Rajkahini (2015). The film delves into one of the darkest phase of partition of our country. The film does mention the tragedies which happened on either sides of the border. Radcliffe Line is to be erected as the boundary between the newly formed nations of India and Pakistan. The officials face a challenge when they find a brothel which needs to be demolished to draw this boundary. Begum Jaan takes us through the journey of those 11 women and 2 men, the inhabitants of the brothel and the fights they put up for their rights to live in their house. Rajkahini is certainly more intense in comparison to Begum Jaan, but this film can't be just ignored or written off. The film begins with the narrative of Amitabh Bachchan. The opening scene in this Hindi version is different in comparison to that of Bengali version. When a scene from Manto's book of gang rape of a girl during partition times form the opening scene of Rajkahini, eve teasing and efforts to molest a girl in a bus in the year 2016, decades after independence, becomes the opening scene of Begum Jaan. Is this to tell the audience that years have gone by, certain things still remain the same - women becoming the victim of men's lust. Begum Jaan does focus on women's fight against many elements of our society: patriarchal system, the social stigma attached with sex workers, the hypocritical men and their double standards, the right to live, concepts of secularism etc. With the opening and closing scene of Begum Jaan, Srijit does talk about hard-hitting reality that even after decades of partition and independence, the fight against social injustice is not over. Begum Jaan does force us to question and rethink about our past as well as present. Begum Jaan (Vidya Balan) is the owner of brothel, which has 13 inhabitants – 11 women and 2 men. Salim (Sumit Nijhawan) and Sujit (Pitobash Tripathy) are the two men in the brothel, Begum's bodyguard and caretaker respectively. Amma (Ila Arun) is the senior most person in the brothel, who keeps sharing stories of empowered females to Laadli (Gracy Goswai) who created history and left their mark in the world viz. Rani Lakhsmibai, Meera, Raziya Sultan, Rani Padmavati etc. It does become part of plot development. Rest of the inhabitants are Rubina (Gauhar Khan), Gulabo (Pallavi Sharda), Jameela (Priyanka Setia), Amba (Ridheema Tiwary), Maina (Flora Saini), Lata (Raviza Chauahan), Rani (Poonam Rajput), Mishti aka Indrani Chakraborty (Shabnam). Master and Party worker (Vivek Mushran) is a regular visitor to brothel and keeps showering them with gifts. These women are all victims of abuse, violence, rape and these trauma become the connecting thread amongst them. All they have is their togetherness. Freedom means nothing for Begum Jaan. The officials chosen for execution of border construction from either sides are Iliyas (Rajit Kapoor) and Harshvardhan (Ashish Vidyarthy). Through their characters, many intricate facts are conveyed, be it the relationship getting sour between childhood friends, plight / ordeal of people on either sides of the border etc. There are shots where only half of their faces are shown on screen – a metaphor of aftermath of partition, how incomplete people might have felt losing their possessions, family in spite of freedom being restored. Other characters Raja Ji (Naseerudin Shah), Inspector Shyam (Rajesh Sharma) and Kabir (Chunky Pandey) become important part of the film. Feisty Begum Jaan and other inhabitants of the brothel are not ready to pay heed to notices issued to her to vacate 'Kotha'. They are very loud and clear that it is their house. How they all put up brave fight forms the rest of the story. There are many dialogues in the film which hits one hard. Srijit through his film Begum Jaan does talk about hard-hitting reality that even after decades of partition and independence, the fight against social injustice is not over. Rajkahini, the original version, is certainly more intense in comparison to Begum Jaan, but this film can't be just ignored or written off.

Noor2017

Noor is a film by Sunhil Sippy. This film is based on the book "Karachi – You are Killing Me" by Saba Imtiaz. The film's plot had tremendous potential but the movie does get lost in the midway. It starts as if it is focused on Noor's journey, but later, it shifts to focus on many issues viz. the shallowness attached with today' journalism, organ trafficking, how ethics and humanity are dying in the world, environmental issues, how unsafe the cities have become etc. This is where the film also becomes shallow, lacks depth. In spite of Sonakshi portraying the titular character very well, the film is unable to adopt a focused approach to storytelling. But certainly, it is a feel-good film. The eponymous character Noor is played by Sonakshi. As her name implies (Noor means 'Light') she is seeking light/brightness in her professional as well as personal life. She starts her day with the statement 'I hate my Life'. She keeps whining about everything in her life: a faulty geyser, her domestic help Malti's (Smita Tambe) frequent leave, priority given to her cat Dimpy by her father, her weight gain, her twitter followers less in number than her weight, not excited in doing regular stuff, irritation on being asked to interview celebrities like Sunny Leone etc. She is a topper in Journalism and interested in doing issue-based Journalism, but her boss Shekhar (Manish Chaudhary) keeps drifting her attention to the topics which attract TRPs. Noor is not too happy with her personal life too. She does miss love in her life. Her friends Zaara (Shibani Dandekar) and Saad (Kanan Gill) do pep up her life. She has support system at home in her father (played my MK Raina) and her housemaid Malti. Noor meets Ayan Banerjee (Purab Kohli), a journalist cum photographer and falls in love with him. Situations so happen that Noor gets 'the story' which she was looking for. She does cover the story, but that changes her life forever. It becomes a learning point for her that as a journalist, she just can't get carried away but she needs to be responsible too. What happens thereafter? What story does Noor get to handle? What events transpire after that? How does Malti become an important thread of the story? What shape does Noor's relationship with Ayan take? How Zaara, Saad and Noor's father support her during a crisis? Does Shekhar ever agree with Noor's desire of doing issue-based journalism and what support he extends? Sonakshi enacts Noor very well and she is very much likeable in the film. Her style statement is also appropriate as per the character. Kanan Gill who makes his film debut with Noor is natural and spontaneous. MK Raina does play his role of an empathetic, supportive father very well. Shibani Dandekar as Zaara has small role, but she is also good. Smita Tambe is very much noticeable and good as Malti. The film Noor begins as her transformational journey of how she changes her statement from 'I hate my life' to 'I love my life'. But the screenplay which later gets deviated by focusing on multiple issues, lacks the initial quirkiness, becomes shallow, lacks depth. A one-time watch.

Ok Jaanu2017

OK Jaanu, a romantic film directed by Shaad Ali, is the remake of Mani Ratnam's Tamil film O Kathal Kanmani. The screenplay and story is by legendary filmmaker Mani Ratnam. The original version was a box office hit. Mani Ratnam had returned to romance genre after almost a decade with OK Kanmani. He drew a parallel in his movie through his protagonists – an old couple and modern-age couple. Two different perceptions were shown in the movie, without an effort to get preachy or judgmental. At one side, age-old concept of marriage and romance is shown – commitment for the whole life. On the other hand, contemporary romance and live-in relationship was shown, where the couple felt very much in love but did lack the confidence / trust to commit to each other. Mani Ratnam did not try to convey that one is superior to the other, but he very subtly conveyed that one has to be certain about his or her relationship, commitment definitely strengthens the relationship. O Kadhal Kanmani was a very light-hearted movie. It made one feel like falling in love. As far as remakes are concerned, it is bound to draw comparison to the original version in every aspect. Those who have seen the original may feel that the Hindi version is not at par with the same, but for those who have not seen the original, may find OK Jaanu enjoyable. When a remake is made, the filmmaker does face challenges – either it has to be at par with the original or atleast a bit superior to the original. And, that is where, Ok Jaanu falters. It has nothing new to offer, it is exactly similar to the original, which is still ok, but it fails to have the depth as that of the original. Aditya/ Adi (Aditya Roy Kapur) lands at Mumbai Railway Station and that is where his first eye contact with Tara (Sharddha Kapur) happens who was standing on a different platform and appears to be troubled. Adi is a videogame developer, who is in the process of making a breakthrough game. Coincidence brings Adi and Tara together in front of each other and both of them get amazed to explore that they are almost similar to each other, both of them happy-go-lucky people, both not believing in marriage, both not wanting to commit in relationship etc. Their friendship blossom, but a spark of a special relationship is silently handled and definitely felt right from the very beginning. Both of them are focused as far as their career is concerned, Tara wants to go to Paris to pursue her architect course whereas Adi dreams to be a rich man like Mark Zuckerberg and settle in USA. As is the trend in the films offlate, both want to just enjoy the togetherness, love, laughter minus any commitments, possessiveness, drama. Both have similar opinion about marriage that they don't want to fall in the trap of marriage. They decide to enter into live-in relationship before heading to pursue their careers abroad separately. They chose to stay with a old couple Gopi and Charu played by Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Samson (Leela played the same role in Tamil too). They happen to witness this couple enjoying 50 years of togetherness in marriage. What happens next is very much predictable. Aditya-Shraddha are likeable, look good together, but that is not sufficient. They are unable to regenerate the chemistry of Dulquer-Nithya. The movie picks up when Naseeruddin Shah – Leela Samson come on screen, they do add depth to the film. As the lead pair wanted no drama in their relationship, the film also lacks drama, twists and turns. Music by AR Rahman is disappointing. Songs are not synchronized with the script appropriately. Even the energy of Humma Humma song is missing. Dialogues are very much ordinary. OK Jaanu lacks the flow, passion and magic of its original version O Kathal Kanmani but certainly has to offer one-time watch simple story for those who haven't watched the original. Contradictory to one of the punchline used in its posters – 'Love can surprise you', it does not surprise you. A one-time watch.

Dangal2016

Dangal (means a Wrestling Competition), a biopic on Phogat Sisters Geeta and Babita and their father Mahavir Singh Phogat, by Nitesh Tiwari is a triumph over odds. Geeta made history by being the first Indian female wrestler to win the Gold medal (55kg) and Babita won Silver medal (51 Kg) in 2010 Commonwealth games. Offlate, Bollywood has certainly made a few very good sports biopics viz. Chake de, Bhag Milkha Bhag, Mary Kom, M.S. Dhoni etc. Most of them have done justice to the players and their lives. It is true that films about real heroes can become predictable. The story telling needs to be authentic too without misconstruing the essence. And that is where Dangal scores like anything. It is unadulterated, and remains true to the core. Dangal focuses on a father and his perseverance, persistence and eccentricities to fulfill his dream of fetching gold for the country through daughters. Under the umbrella of this main plot, the film tries to create awareness about so many pertinent issues. The film not only talks about the fight which one has to do in the real Dangal but also about the fight which one has to do against the mindset of people viz. certain games and sports defined as a taboo for girls by the society, the thought that girls are born just to get married, raise children and do household chores etc. The fight is also against the scarcity of resources, the lack of infrastructure support for the sports people especially sports like wrestling. One can instantly connect with the father who has deleted 'impossible' from his dictionary. One can also very well connect with the girls who just want to enjoy the bliss of being children and dressing up like girls, find their father to be overbearing, and their transformation to achieve what their father dreamt for them. The end is indeed predictable since we all know about Phogat sisters and their achievement but Dangal brings to us their journey which is simply incredible, inspiring and awesome. The best part of the film is its tone which is kept very much real, authentic and light. There are moments of humour too. Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) is a National Level Wrestling Champion who had to make a choice in his life and leave wrestling. But his passion and love for the sport never died. He used to enjoy all the fights in the local Dangal and always felt nostalgic of his wrestling days looking at the medals and certificates he had won. He is hopeful of living his dream through his to-be-born son. He gets disappointed every time when his wife Daya Shobha Kaur (Sakshi Tanwar) delivers a baby girl instead of a boy. He is definitely unlike those fathers who disown their girl children. Mahavir loved his girls but was just disillusioned about how to fulfill his dream of fetching gold for the country without having a son. But the day he realizes that his girls Geeta (Zaira Wasim -young Geeta), and Babita (Suhani Bhatnagar -Young Babita), have the potential to be wrestlers, he decides to go against the societal norms, fights all odds to train his girls. This is where the incredible journey of Phogat sisters begins. Aamir Khan as Mahavir Singh Phogat is terrific. It is one of his best performances, which would be remembered for ever, be it in terms of his physical transformation, his dictatorial approach with girls, his determination, never-to-quit attitude, being a possibilist as a path finder; he excels in every frame. Sakshi as Mahavir's wife Daya Shobha Kaur has given such a powerful and natural performance. She has fewer dialogues, but she speaks through her eyes and facial expressions. She plays perfect bridge between her unyielding husband and daughters. Phogat sisters are real discoveries be it the younger versions of Geeta and Babita (Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar) or their grown up versions (Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra). They are so much convincing. Zaira and Suhani are adorable. Fatima and Sanya are also very good. They have played their roles with so much of conviction. Another character which needs special mention is that of Omkar, nephew of Mahavir Singh Phogat. Ritwik Sahore (Ferrari Ki Sawari fame) has played his role very well. Aparshakti Khurrana (brother of Ayushman Khurana) plays the role of grown up nephew, he has less screen time, but he has made his presence felt. He narrates the story in typical Haryanvi accent. His scenes generate humour. Girish Kulkarni as coach in National Sports Academy has done justice to his role. The songs go with the flow of the film. Pritam's music clubbed with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya is great. The lyrics are in absolute sync with the story. Dangal would certainly touch your hearts. I failed miserably in letting the tears come out of my eyes at many occasions, be it father-daughter relationship, their triumph over all odds, attitude to remain positive even amidst challenges. Felt like jumping out of chair and cheer their every victory on and off Dangal. Got goosebumps when the National Anthem is played along with the tricolor in the air. Many scenes have stayed with me. Dangal, a sports biopic, is a powerful, inspirational and incredible story of women empowerment. It not only talks about the fight Mahavir Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita had to do in the real Dangal but also about the fight which they had to do against the mindset of the people, patriarchic society, scarcity of resources etc. A must watch film.

Befikre2016

Befikre, by Aditya Chopra, is a romantic comedy. Befikre is one side of Indian Cinema which actually wants to convey that gone are those days of love and romance which had commitment from either parties, and used to be intense. Befikre wants us to believe that in today's world, relationships are absolutely loveless, devoid of soul, driven by lust and fear of commitment. Carefree irresponsible approach is the way to live relationships. But is it actually true? Why should we as an audience even believe this when there are enough stories around us which convey beautiful sides of love, commitment and passion. I was even wondering while watching the film that does Befikre even care about love, life and relationships. Every emotion has been handled at such a superficial level. The strange part of the screenplay is that every major action by the protagonists of the film is driven by 'I dare you' phrase. And when this 'dare' is given, the person can go to any extent to accept the challenge, be it slapping a traffic cop, walking into a party hall in just an underwear, dancing on a library table along with skin show, romancing in car by roadside, just jumping to bed etc. And to add to my dismay, they were able to get away from everything. Falling in and out of love seemed so 'befikre' and easy. The first one of this type of film of befikre love in Yash Raj Films' banner was with Neal and Nikki. We have seen these again and again after that. What was the effort of Aditya Chopra through this film? Was he targeting today's youth? Hasn't he misunderstood the youths ? The two protagonists of the film are Dharam (Ranveer Singh) and Shyra (Vaani Kapoor). Dharam is a Delhi boy, who reaches Paris for his work as stand-up comedian in an Indian Club. Shyra is a French girl of Indian origin, who is a travel guide and takes tourists around to show them Paris. Dharam and Shyra meet and there begins a reckless and irresponsible journey of lust, weirdly funny activities, singing, dancing, kissing, break-up, reconnecting as friend, going on double-dates etc. None of these scenes have emotions in the right place, doesn't touch the hearts. I could not connect with the film. Ranveer has lot of energy in him and his character Dharam displays it too, rather overplays it. Vaani Kapoor as Shyra is confident, walks with her head straight, but her body language is stiff, except during an impromptu dance sequence. Paris has been beautifully captured. Soundtracks by Vishal-Shekhar are peppy, especially 'Ude dil Befikre…' sung by Benny Dayal. Befikre adopts a complete carefree approach towards love, life and relationships. It doesn't care about lust, smooches, weirdness dominating the relationships.

Kahaani 22016

Kahaani 2, by Sujoy Ghosh, was one of the most anticipated films of the year. Sujoy Ghosh's film making clubbed with the acting brilliance of Vidya Balan and a gripping thriller plot had made Kahaani (2012 release) a big hit. So only the expectations from the film Kahaani 2 was very high. It certainly is not a sequel to Kahaani, just belongs to this franchise. The story is entirely different. Suspense, unpredictability, and thriller elements are missing from Kahaani 2. It certainly begins on a high note, initial few minutes keep you engaging, but then the plot loosens up. Post-intermission, the film falls into the trap of average screenplay, predictable twists / climax. What is most admirable in the film is that Vidya excels and proves her brilliance and spontaneity in acting once again. Vidya Sinha (vidya Balan) is a doting single working parent of Mini, a paralysed teenage girl (waist-down), confined to wheel chair. The film's beginning shows their beautiful relationship and also the ordinary lives they are leading manner very convincingly. Vidya is saving every penny possible so as to be able to take Mini to New York for her treatment. Vidya is optimistic that Mini would be able to walk on her own after the treatment. But destiny was different. Mini gets kidnapped and Vidya gets a call to meet the kidnappers. She madly rushes to the said address but she meets with an accident and goes into coma. That is when Inspector Inderjeet (Arjun Rampal) enters into the scene and gets surprised to see Vidya, who looked like a lady called Durga Rani whom Inder knew. Inder starts going into the depth and that is when he finds a diary by Vidya. Rest of the film unravels as a flashback as Inder reads Vidya's diary. What is the connection between Vidya and Durga Rani? How does Inder know Durga Rani ? How is Vidya able to save her daughter? What was the motive of the kidnappers? What is the story of Vidya which gets unraveled through the diary ? How the mystery gets solved? Vidya certainly excels in the film, her deglamorised look suits the plot. Vidya Balan's characters keep you engaged wondering whether she is a victim or a perpetrator. Arjun Rampal is also very good, but his character is not properly developed in the film, the screenplay does not do full justice to his character. Especially in the second half, Arjun's character Inder's moves are very much predictable. Jugal Hansraj as Mohit and Amba Sanyal as Mini's grandmother have distinct roles to play, but they get lost in the screenplay. Tota Roy Choudhary and Manini Chadha are noticeable. The locations Kolkatta, Chandan Nagar and Kalimpong are well captured. Kharaj Mukherjee as cop Halder is very good. Kahaani 2 begins on a high note as an edge of the seat thriller but later the plot loosens up and gets predictable. Post-intermission, the film falls into the trap of average screenplay, predictable twists / climax. What is most admirable in the film is that Vidya excels and proves her brilliance and spontaneity in acting once again. A one-time watch.

Dear Zindagi2016

Dear Zindagi, a brilliant film by Gauri Shinde (English Vinglish fame), conveys philosophies of life very beautifully. Although the film depicts the story of a girl who is single, emotionally vulnerable, rebellious; who falls prey to non-committal relationships; who loves imperfections around, I feel this must be watched by every individual. All of us might have our own fears and insecurities. It is very important to face one's own insecurities and fears. It is aptly conveyed through one of the dialogue that if we are not able to cry out loudly, how can we laugh out loudly. The film also addresses one of the taboo subject i.e. mental illness / depression and removes the stigma attached with it effortlessly. One needs to learn the art of 'let go', fight with one's own insecurities, stop being tough on oneself. Basically, one needs to fall in love with life. It is very much clear from the beginning of the film that 'Dear Zindagi' is all about how the protagonist falls in love with life when she is able to overcome her own fears and insecurities. Gauri's simplicity in presenting great philosophies of life is absolutely commendable. Kaira (Alia) is a cinematographer. She is eccentric, complicated and impulsive. She hates to show her vulnerabilities to the world. She is happy to be in the company of her friends Fatima (Ira Dubey), Jackie (Yashaswini Dayama) and her house help Alka. Her sensitivities vanish while interacting with parents. She is rude with parents and she does not like to be pampered by her mother. At times, it appears that she dreads perfection too, since deep down in her heart, she feels that she is too imperfect for any perfect thing or person. Although she projects herself as a bold girl, dares to even tell her boy friend that she slept with another man, deep inside she has this whole volcano of vulnerabilities. As a viewer, one can easily make out that Kaira does have lot of inner conflicts. One often looks at self from the perspective of society and its norms. Forget about the judgment by the world, one tends to judge self. One dimension of the protagonist is that she tries to live life on her own terms, but another dimension of hers is that she herself feels that she is not so good human being due to her non-conformities to the societal rules and norms. One dimension of hers is that she puts up a brave front even while she faces rejections or any sort of failure in relationships, at the same time, another dimension is that she suffers from inside, she suppresses her emotional vulnerabilities. Doesn't she represent us? The film also explains that the formative years of a child are very important. Kaira's outlook towards life and her people changes, she undergoes an inner transformation, when she happens to meet Dr. Jehangir Khan aka Jug (Shah Rukh Khan), a DD (Dimag ka Doctor). Jug as her therapist helps her to change her outlook towards life, people and events in a different manner altogether. Jug's unconventional non-judgmental approach works in Kaira's favour. This film undoubtedly belongs to Alia Bhatt. She has portrayed Kaira so convincingly, be it Kaira's confusions, inner conflicts, vulnerabilities, impulsiveness, aggressiveness, commitment-phobia etc. Alia makes Kaira so much believable. Another important character in the film is Dr. Jehangir Khan Aka Jug portrayed by Shahrukh Khan. It did not appear at all that Shahrukh is acting, he appeared so real, spontaneous, intelligent, witty and full of wisdom. The screenplay gave him enough room to share philosophies of life. Angad Bedi, Kunal Kapoor and Ali Zafar who become part of Kaira's lives have less screen time, but are very pivotal in sketching Kaira's character. Kaira's friends Ira Dubey, Yashaswini and her brother Rohit Saraf are also very much noticeable. Watch out to know how and when Aditya Roy Kapoor becomes part of the screenplay. The film does have some beautiful dialogues. Not highlighting them so as to avoid spoilers. But I would certainly like to mention one of the dialogue: "Don't let your past blackmail the present and ruin the future." Metaphors used in the film are also very nice. The songs Love you Zindagi and Ae Zindagi Gale Lag Ja are indeed very nice. This film certainly made me fall in love with Zindagi once again. I came face to face with my innermost fears of losing people in life. I challenged my own need to snap-off the relationships before it is broken from the other end. I reiterated and acknowledged the presence of 5 most important people in my life (must-haves of my life). I pledged not to be too hard on self, and also not to judge self/brand self as good /bad as per societal norms. I am in love with 'Dear Zindagi'. Dear Zindagi, a brilliant film by Gauri Shinde, depicts philosophies of life beautifully. This film is all about how one falls in love with life by overcoming inner fears and insecurities. Gauri's simplicity in presenting great philosophies of life is absolutely commendable. A must watch.

Force 22016

Force 2 seems forced and raw. The reckless and tough cop Yash (Joh Abraham) teams up with RAW agent KK (Sonakshi Sinha) for investigating the traitor who reveals the names of RAW agents to the enemies. They head to Budapest where hide and seek between them and the villain Shiv (Tahir) begins. The screenplay is underwhelming and the cast fails to impress.

Tum Bin 22016

Tum Bin 2 certainly is packed with visuals of great locale and songs, but the story fails to impress. The same old story of love triangle, sacrifices and inner conflicts are shown with preachy dialogues. It does not strike the right chord of emotions.

Rock On 22016

Rock On 2, a musical drama film, by Shujaat Saudagar connects Music to Life. Although the backdrop of the film is music and the comraderies amongst the Magik band members / friends, the film does spread its wings to much larger horizons. The film does reiterate the fact that music has tremendous power – the power to connect hearts, the power to heal the wounded souls, the power to deal with inner conflicts, the power to break the barriers across genres, the power to unite people across various regions / demographics, and the power to grow beyond one's self-interest / personal gains to think of the broader social context / cause etc. Rock on 2 is a sequel to 2008 film 'Rock on' and it certainly has its own moments. The film is narrated by KD (Purab Kohli), who explains what happens to the three key members / friends of 'Magik' Band and where they are now after a period of almost eight years. Adi (Farhan Akhtar) is away from the hustle-bustle of Mumbai City and settled in Meghalaya. Adi is involved in tea plantation there, as well as he helps the villagers in making their own livelihood, runs a farmers' cooperative and a school for the children. Adi is very much loved by the villagers. Joe (Arjun Rampal) is a Judge for Music based Reality Show and he also is a partner of a posh club. KD earns his livelihood from music compositions and is hopeful of Magik getting together again. Although all three chose separate paths and designed their own course of lives, they shared a wonderful comradery amongst them. One does get clue that 'Magik' no longer perform together. It seems, some unpleasant event made them chart their own lives away from Magik. They all get together for Adi's birthday along with Sakhsi (Prachi Desai) and Debbie (Shahana). The geographical distance has certainly affected Adi and Sakshi's (couple) marriage. Adi does not succumb to his friends' and Sakshi's plea to return to Mumbai, Music and Magik, he really is very much skeptical. Jiah (Shraddha Kapoor), Udai (Shashank Arora, Titli fame), and Pandit Bibuthi (Kumud Mishra) form an integral part of the story. Although Jiah herself is facing inner conflicts, she becomes instrumental in bringing Magik together to perform and recreating the magic of music. What makes Adi move to distant lands of Meghalaya from Mumbai, Music and Magik? What challenges are faced by Adi in his social work? Which aspect of the past troubles him and apparently keeps him away from Magik and Music ? How Jiah and Udai become part of the thread of Rock On 2? When and how do the Magik band get together and perform ? How does the magic of music heal the wounded souls? Farhan as Adi is certainly able to depict Adi's gloom, pain, frustrations, need for redemption etc. in an intense manner. Arjun as Joe is able to bring out his practical approach towards life in a much matured manner. Purab as KD makes the narrative flow and also brings out very well his priority to be a bridge in friendship. Prachi as Sakshi and Shahana as Debbie have less screen time but they certainly facilitate the story to move ahead. Shraddha as Jiah, a musician and bohemian traveller is very good. Her face does depict the pain and anger. Shashank Arora as Udai does make his presence felt. Kumud Mishra as Pandit Bibhuti is a man of less words in the film and one can feel the pain of his character - a veteran musician's frustrations, pain of loss and as a purist his denying the fusion music. In spite of using the music as the backdrop of the film, what rules the film is the concept that music needs to be set free for it to flow freely. Music can create wonders by uniting people. The film does talk about how a veteran who has mastered and worshipped Classical music may feel that contemporary music is absolutely out of place and just full of noise. This mismatch between Frames of Reference and Territory can give births to tragedies in life. There is a beautiful scene where Usha Uthup along with Kit Shangpliang and Pynsuklin Syiemiong from Summersalt Band come together to sing "Hoi Kie /Chalo Chalo" which depicts the tremendous power of music and the magic it can create. The film also talks about how one needs to move on and make 'self' free from the shackles of past / self-blame and look within for powers. Another powerful scene where Shdraddha Kapoor steals the show is Jiah's conversation with her father. The cinematography by Marc Koninckx is excellent, mMeghalayan landscapes are beautifully captured. Rock On 2 rocks. The music is certainly the backdrop of the film, but what rules the film is the concept that music needs to be set free for it to flow freely. The film does spread its wings to much broader horizons using the tremendous power attached to music. Indeed, every generation finds its own voice. Watch the film for its intense performances.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil2016

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, a much-awaited film by Karan Johar, falls in the genre of Romance. Similar to a dialogue in this film, it is about "Tedha Love" i.e. crooked love. The film is trying to project the imperfect love, one-sided love, unrequited love, people's different perceptions towards love, the pain and passion involved in love / heartbreaks, but somehow, the film succumbs more to the lust and the need, the screenplay is also shallow. The film contradicts its one of the dialogue: "Main kisi ki jarurat nahi, balki khwaish banna chahti hoon"; the protagonists are driven more by the need rather than love. Certainly, it is bound to have expectations out of a film when the ensemble cast viz. Ranbir, Anushka and Aishwarya are involved. Besides, the very concept of love is a delight to watch, but the shallowness of the film and the superficial handling of the plot makes the film soulless and heartless. The film is all about being superficial in love, filling one's void with casual relationships, quickly moving from one relationship to another, handling heartbreaks / failure in so-called love relationship with getting entangled in another relationship etc. The opening scene of the film is Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor) being interviewed after his success as a singer. When Ayan is asked about his songs' lyrics pointing towards broken love, incomplete love, he quickly conveys that his love is complete (मेरा प्यार कामिल है) and his love can never die. The frames further move to the flash back. Ayan meets Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) in a disco floor in London, where both of them have come to get over the bad mood of fights with their respective lovers. Their meeting ends up in casual flirting to non-committal, guilt-free physical proximities. Both Ayan and Alizeh belong to rich families. Ayan is pursuing MBA, but wanting to be a singer, and Alizeh has registered herself in various courses like Yoga, Bollywood dance etc. She describes herself as Raita, who spreads everywhere. Both Ayan and Alizeh hit it off as friends. During a double date, their respective lovers Lisa (Lisa Haydon) and Dr. Faisal (Imraan Abbas) get caught up in a compromising position. Ayan and Alizeh go for Heart Break Holidays to Paris. Both Ayan and Alizeh's perception towards their relationship is different. For one, if it is love, for another, it is friendship. To add to this conflict, DJ Ali (Fawad Khan) enters into the scene. The first half is dull, starts picking up in the last 10 minutes of the film. Post-interval, the film gets some depth with poetess Saba's (Aishwarya) entry. But the film never tries to grow beyond the superficiality and the emotional vulnerability of the leads. Is that the only truth of the relationships in modern world? Certain scenes leave the audience confused. One such scene is that of the lead protagonist's claims of not being in love but just being a great friend, still, in a scene, the facial expressions conveyed that the person is in love, and this confusion is not cleared in the film. It is also strange that a serious situation is diluted with silly laughter scenes. By the time, one gets to absorb the depth of the scenes, it is diffused with laughter. What happens to Ayan and Alizeh's relationship? How does Ali and Saba become part of this plot ? Trailer shows that Ayan is romancing Saba, so how and when do they fall in love? How the special appearances by Alia and Shahrukh Khan become pivotal to the script? Was Ayan in love with Saba or with Alizeh or with both ? What about Alizeh, was she in love with Ayan ? As far as the cast and acting are concerned, they are good. Ranbir does bring out the vulnerable & restless Ayan very well. Anushka has projected the unapologetic and mad energy of Alizeh well. The character which brought depth to the film partially is Saba of Aishwarya, and she is looking absolutely gorgeous and stunning. She conveys a lot through her words and expressions. Fawad has a very brief role as DJ Ali, and he did not have much to do, but indeed very good. Lisa and Imraan are in brief roles, they are ok. The film does have references of Karan's previous films, Amitabh Bachchan's name, Yash Chopra's Chiffon Saree clad heroines, tributes to 80's songs. Probably Karan's vision was to make a film about unrequited love on a very lighter note, he did not want any of his characters to take themselves seriously, did not want to be preachy. To this extent, he is successful. High point of the film is its music by Pritam and songs Bulleya and the title track stand apart. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is shallow and superficial while conveying the story of unrequited love, one-sided love. The very important ingredient and crux of the film is 'Dil', which is absolutely missing from the film. "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" turns out to be 'Ye hai Mushkil' for a spectator.

Shivaay2016

Shivaay is an Action film by Ajay Devgn and it also marks his directorial debut. The film is an out and out action film with more of fight sequences/trekking and less of words. It operates on a simple plot, though very powerful relationship that of a father-daughter, and wider issues like child trafficking at international level. It does have some breathtaking visuals of mountains and action sequences. But certainly the film has its own loopholes. The film begins with Shivaay being knocked out to the ground and his breathing sound. The camera focuses on the hand-knitted doll lying there. Then the story is conveyed in flash back, to be precise 9 years back. Shivaay (Ajay Devgn) is a guide, who is an expert in trekking. He does help the people during catastrophic landslides and also helps Indian Army in covert operations. He falls in love with a Bulgarian girl Olga (Erika Kaar) who came for trekking to India. Olga gets uncomfortable when she comes to know regarding her unexpected pregnancy. She wanted to go back to Bulgaria and had her own life to live. She did not want the child, but Shivaay was very adamant on having the baby. He asks Olga to stay back till her delivery, give him the child and then go back. Olga goes back to Bulgaria giving the girl child to Shivaay. Then, one gets to see 8 year old mute Gaura (Abigail Eames) trekking along with Shivaay. When she discovers that her mother is in Bulgaria contrary to what had been conveyed to her about Olga not alive, she forces Shivaay to take her to Bulgaria to meet Olga. The moment they land in Bulgaria, the trouble starts. Very soon we see Shivaay chasing his enemies, running away from police authorities, getting trapped in a foreign land etc. Anushka (Sayesha Saigal), an embassy employee and Vir Das, a technical geek in a hacker's role come to the rescue of Shivaay. Parallels are drawn between Gaura-Shivaay's and Anushka-Girish Karnad's father-daughter relationships. Shivaay lands into what sort of troubles? Who become his enemies and why? How does Shivaay fight back ? Is he able to explore the nexus of child trafficking ? Regarding the cast, Ajay Devgn definitely stands out as Action Hero. Rest of the cast have less screen time and are ok. Girish Karnad, a great actor, is underutilized in the film. Cinematographer Aseem Bajaj has indeed given some great visuals, it is top-notch. What lacks in the film is that it is very quick in jumping from father-daughter bond/emotional connect to the issues of child trafficking followed by chasing sequences between Shivaay and the culprits and at times between Shivaay and police authorities too. Shivaay is an out and out Ajay Devgn's Action film, which has some breathtaking visuals by Aseem Bajaj. Watch it, if you like action films.

Queen of Katwe2016

Queen of Katwe is an inspirational sports biopic of Phiona Mutesi by Mira Nair. Mira has beautifully captured and presented the story of how Phiona Mutesi, born and raised in Katwe (a slum) went on to become a Chess Champion creating history for Uganda. Her life story is recorded in a book "The Queen of Katwe: A story of Life, Chess and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster". Mira has kept the storytelling pattern very realistic and authentic. While the film focuses on Phiona's journey of evolution from a poor girl born and raised in a slum to a self-confident chess champion, the game of chess is used as a metaphor to convey great philosophies of life. This film is also the journey of a selfless coach Robert Katende who not only taught Phiona how to play chess but also how to conduct herself in life. Overall, Mira Nair's film Queen of Katwe is an uplifting film which has the celebration of making of a chess champion, the journey from 'not-having any hope' to 'dare to dream and achieve the same', the journey from 'nowhere' to 'the top position', the art of handling success etc. Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) is a 10-year old, who lives in the slum of Katwe along with her mother and siblings. The family is very poor and has to really struggle hard to make both ends meet. Selling maize in the Katwe Street Market is the source for earning money for them. Phiona coincidentally meets Robert Katende (David Oyelow) at a missionary programme. Robert is a soccer player turned missionary who sets up a chess club for underprivileged children. When Phiona sees Robert teaching children to play games, she is also curious to learn the same. This is where Phiona's journey begins. When Roberts starts coaching Phiona, he notices Phiona's immense talent, cognitive thinking, and her ability to see eight moves in advance. He grooms her for international tournaments. The film moves ahead answering many queries. How does Phiona's mother Nakku Harriet (Lupita Nyong) react to, when she comes to know regarding Phiona's interest in the game and her staying away from selling maize ? How Phiona grows to becomes a top player under Robert Katende's guidance? How Robert balances his own life's commitments with his passion to coach these underprivileged children to play chess? What all challenges are faced by Robert to atleast manage to get opportunities for these children to showcase their talent to the world in the game of chess? What happens when Phiona tastes success initially, does arrogance engulf her ? Is Phiona able to resume her school once again? How does Robert respond when he realizes that Phiona is atleast 8 moves ahead of him ? A few inspirational dialogues: 'You belong where you believe you belong', 'I may be down, but not out'. Robert Katende's story of cat and dog chasing meal is really inspiring, which says, the one who chases for life wins. Even after the film finishes, the credits are inspiring since these bridge the reel with real. Each actor and actress is shown along with the real individuals whom they enacted on screen. Madina Nalwanga is excellent as Phiona Mutesi, she has very well projected various emotions of Phiona, be it her initial amusement about the game, her realization about her own potential, her sense of urgency to be a master, her frustrations of falling back into old routine in spite of creating history in the world of chess, her disillusionment etc. David Oyelowo has infused so much warmth, kindness, determination, empathy, go-getter's attitude into the role of selfless coach Robert Katende. Lupita Nyong as Nakku Harriet is also very good, who has handled complex emotions effortlessly, be it her protective attitude, or her being suspicious and dismissive initially of Phiona's dream to be a chess champion. A special mention of all the child artists, who are also coached by Robert Katande. There is so much humour in their interactions, their astonishment in experiencing lives beyond Katwe. The film also inspires us to explore such prodigies in and around us and facilitate their growth. In India also, we have so many stories of people who fought the hardships of poverty, poor playing conditions, lack of basic amenities viz. food, shelter etc. to be a champion in life. Queen of Katwe is an inspirational sports biopic of Phiona Mutesi by Mira Nair. It is an uplifting film which beautifully captures the evolution of Phiona to be a Chess Champion, when this child prodigy is identified and coached by a selfless coach Robert Katande. The film has so many positive ingredients - the celebration of 'Making of a chess champion', the journey from 'not-having any hope' to 'dare to dream and achieve the same', the journey from 'nowhere' to 'the top position', the art of handling success etc.

Mirzya2016

Mirzya, a much-awaited film by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, is inspired from the famous Punjabi folklore of a tragic love story of Mirza-Sahiban. It comes in the league of other tragic love stories of Punjab – Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal etc. This film is also the launchpad for Harshvardhan Kapoor (Anil Kapoor's son) and Saiyami Kher (Niece of Shabana and Tanvi Azmi). Expectations roar high, when the film is written by a living legend Gulzar and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash. Mirzya is poetic, painted beautifully on a huge canvas, visually spectacular, but the screenplay falters. Mirzya is not able to evoke the pathos of such a powerful love story, not soul-stirring. The film shows the much famous folklore in two eras, visuals interspersed with Daler Mehndi's powerful voice in the background. When the story of Mohnish / Adil Mirza (Harshvardhan Kapoor) and Suchitra (Saiyami Kher) is conveyed, parallels are drawn with the scenes of Mirza-Sahiban story too. Om Puri, a blacksmith, is shown working and saying that there would always be some fire in the streets of blacksmiths. Clubbed with this is that of Sahiban (Saiyami Kher of the old era) watching a group of horse riders galloping and her eyes full of appreciation for Mirza (Harshvardhan with the get up of an old era), a scruffy warrior winning archery competition against others. Throughout the film, relevant scenes from either of the timelines are blended and shown parallelly. Mohnish and Suchitra are great friends as children, and both go to school together. Suchitra, a disciplined child, and Mohnish, a naughty child, are almost inseparables. One day, Suchitra gives Mohnish her homework book so as to save him from teacher's punishment, but ultimately ends up getting punished herself. Mohnish, unable to bear Suchitra getting punished, takes a much undesired drastic step. That ill-fateful incident separates Mohnish from Suchitra. Later on Suchitra is sent abroad by her father who is in Police department. Years fly by. The backdrop changes to Udaipur from Jodhpur, where prince Karan (Anuj Choudhary) is eagerly waiting for Suchitra to return from abroad so that he can propose her and announce his marriage plans to her. Mohnish, who is now known as Adil Mirza is the one who is taking care of horses in the stable. Unaware of Adil's actual identity, Suchitra's and Adil's paths cross. Although the folklore is familiar to us, it is interesting to watch, how the parallels are drawn between Adil-Suchitra and Mirza-Sahiban's stories. How does Suchitra come to know regarding Adil's actual identity ? How Adil reacts when he sees Suchitra along with Karan ? What happens when Suchitra's father, Prince Karan's father, and in fact Karan react when they come to know regarding Adil and Suchitra ? Is the fate of Adil and Suchitra the same as that of Mirza-Sahiban ? The film had tremendous potential. In fact, the lyrical way of storytelling by blending two timelines that of Mirza-Sahiban and Mohnish/Adil –Suchitra's stories with songs also is brilliant. But, efforts are not taken to show / justify the love story or strong bond between Adil-Suchitra. Strong ties of love in a relationship, where the protagonists separated decades back, is not developed. It doesn't touch one's heart. Harshvardhan, Saiyami and Anuj are very good, but the lack of intensity in the script brings their intensity quotient down. Anjali Patil as Zeenat is also noticeable. Om Puri's presence is left incomplete on screen. Art Malik (A British Actor) and KK Raina who essayed Suchitra and Karan's father respectively are also good. The dialogues are less in the film, rather the story is intertwined with the dance sequences. Songs are having meaningful lyrics. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Daler have given good folk songs. Cinematography needs special mention, kudos to Polish cinematographer Pawel Dyllus. Mirzya is poetic, painted beautifully on a huge canvas, visually spectacular. Expectations roar high, when the film is written by Gulzar and directed by Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, but the arrow misses the target. The screenplay falters. The film is not able to evoke the pathos of such a powerful love story, not soul-stirring. It lacks passion, intensity. But, one must watch it for the way this lyrical art is presented.

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story2016

M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story is a biopic by Neeraj Pandey on M.S. Dhoni, one of the successful cricket captain which our country has seen. The film hits a smashing Sixer. Neeraj Pandey has a sure shot blockbuster in his kitty after his much critically acclaimed films A Wednesday, Special 26, and Baby. Neeraj Pandey has certainly made a very spectacular film on M. S. Dhoni's life, right from his birth to India winning World Cup in 2011. As the punch line of the film in the official posters is mentioned, this is a film about 'The man you know… the journey you don't). In spite of its 190 minutes long duration, the film keeps one glued to the screen with its fast-paced 1st half. The second half does become a bit slow, but overall the film is well-paced. Every frame makes you feel wanting to get M. S. Dhoni's journey to be unraveled on screen. The film does show almost all the major matches of M. S. Dhoni's life, which were decisive in shaping his career. One of the beautiful aspect of the film is that technically the real footages of these matches are very well merged with Sushant's shots. It appears as if, one is reliving all those moments of victories and pride once again through the film. Sushant Singh Rajput is incredibly convincing and excellent in his role as M. S. Dhoni. It is a film which will be loved by cricket lovers as well as cricket non-lovers. The film begins with the footages of 2011 World Cup. The audience gets to see the back side of the captain Dhoni (Sushant Singh Rajput) watching the live match on TV monitor in the dressing room. While he watches a wicket fall, he decides to promote himself up in the batting order to bat next, wears his Number 7 jersy and walks into the field amidst huge cheering from the spectators in the stadium. Yes, it was the final match of the World Cup between India and Sri Lanka, where Dhoni finished the match in style with a sixer and led Indian team to win World Cup after a period of 28 years. Dhoni's story unfolds on screen, right from his birth in Ranchi. He used to love football as a child, especially as a goalkeeper and even when he was asked whether he would prefer to learn and play cricket, he shrugged the idea itself since he felt that what good sport it would be with small balls. His father Pan Singh Dhoni (Anupam Kher) is a pump operator, who as usual parents is very protective about his children's studies. Dhoni has an elder sister Jayanti (Bhumika Chawla). His mother is a simple housewife, mostly plays the role of a mediator between children and husband. Rajesh Sharma essays the role of KR Banerjee, who sees the talent in Dhoni, when he watches Dhoni goalkeeping. He does persuade Dhoni to be a wicketkeeper and try cricket. That is where Banerjee's journey as a coach to master-striker Dhoni started. Although initially he gave Dhoni more opportunities to be a wicket keeper, later he recognizes Dhoni's potential in striking the ball. The film takes us through Dhoni's journey from playing for clubs to his matches as part of Junior Cricket Team in Bihar, Bihar Cricket Team, Jharkhand Cricket Team to ultimately playing for India. Both his ODI and Test Career are also part of this film. His journey also included his job stint as Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur Railway Station. The film also shares how his friends Santosh (Kranti Prakash Jha), Chittu (Alok Pandey), Sandip Nahar and Jitin Gulati are there as great pillars of support. The second half of the film moves to Dhoni's personal life, love, marriage. That is where, Disha Patani as Priyanka Jha and Kiara Advani as Sakshi enters the scene. Of course, the love story of Dhoni and Sakshi is known, but who is Priyanka, and how she is part of Dhoni's untold story is to be seen. There are many moments in the film, which would give you goosebumps, be it Dhoni's smashing performances on-field, or his resilience off-field. He is shown to be very focused towards his sport and he also gets frustrated from within, but very much restrained in expressing the same, when he feels that he is neither able to do justice to his job nor to his sport. His mental strength at many occasions are shown in the film. Small details about him is also shown in the film, be it his requesting mother to buy him Sachin Tendulkar's poster, asking his friend Santosh not to drink and waste life, his humility in meeting an old colleague after getting the success, family and friends watching his matches etc. Dhoni's confidence reflects in one of his conversation with his school team's captain Shabbir Hussain (Ashrut Jain). Dhoni, while walking to the field and looking at the score board with a huge target to achieve, asks Shabbir, whether he can do it if he gives him the strike. Shabbir says that he would try. Dhoni says: If it has to be tried, I might as well try it myself. There are lot of moments in the film, which talks about Dhoni's persistence, focus, decisiveness etc. Sushant Singh Rajput marvels in his role as M. S. Dhoni. He has done complete justice to the role. His mannerisms, his strokes, his attitude, his body language, trademark shots etc. clubbed with real footages would make you feel and believe that you are actually watching the real Dhoni on screen. Anupam Kher is good as his father. Most of the parents would be able to relate with his character where the percentage in the report card matters more than anything else, and he was no different. But then, he also becomes a support system for Dhoni. Bhumika as Dhoni's sister is also good. Four friends Kranti Prakash Jha, Alok Pandey, Sandip Nahar and Jitin Gulati would certainly win your hearts, as they extend unconditional support to Dhoni. The film does have other actors viz. Kumud Mishra, Rajesh Sharma, Ashrut Jain, Herry Tangri and a few others who have also given very much noticeable performances. Girls Kiara Advani and Disha Patani have small roles, but they are looking pretty on screen and have given good performances. Music is good. The songs 'Besabriyaan….' 'Kaun tujhe yoon pyar karega….', 'Jab tak tujhe beintehaan pyar se…', 'Fir Kabhi ….' are melodious. Certain aspects which has been conveniently skipped without detailing are the controversies attached with Dhoni during his journey, his tiff with some of the senior players, his shrewd decisions to give importance to fitness of the players than their seniority etc. M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story hits a smashing Sixer. Sushant Singh Rajput is incredibly convincing and excellent in his role as M. S. Dhoni. Neeraj Pandey has a sure shot blockbuster in his kitty. Sushant's mannerisms, his strokes, his attitude, his body language, trademark shots etc. clubbed with real footages would make you feel and believe that you are actually watching the real Dhoni on screen. Go and watch this film and relive all those moments of victories and pride which Dhoni has given us.

Parched2016

Parched is a brilliant, unconventional and powerful film by Leena Yadav. It is Leena's third directorial film after Shabd and Teen Patti. The film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. It has been very much appreciated in various International Film Festivals and bagged many awards too. Academy award winning cinematographer Russel Carpenter and Academy Award nominated editor Kevin Tent have collaborated with Leena Yadav for Parched. Although Leena has used Rural India and its women as the premise, the story is somewhere related to all of us irrespective of which part of the country we live in. The rural society and women in the film are mere representations of the larger whole. It tells us the stories of women deciding to put an end to the oppressions faced and change the course of their lives for better. The best thing about the film is that although the subject of the film has covered many serious issues which are prevalent in our Country (be it child marriage, abusive husbands, women looked at as commodities, women getting ostracized if opinionated and educated etc.) which need to be eliminated completely, the tone of the film is not at all depressing. Rather, the protagonists in the film are not shown to be sad or crying in despair, but they chose to outgrow their sufferings, take bold steps, be rebellious, smiling even while suffering. The film shows frank conversations about sex and sexuality amongst females which are very candid. Frontal nudity of the actresses are also shown, blended so well with the plot and shot so gracefully. The film showcases how intolerant we as a society are towards women without even being apologetic about how they are treated (or mistreated). But the best part is that the film is not preachy at all, rather it talks about the incredible spirit of women even when they are at low phase in their lives. It is the story of three women Rani (Tannishtha Chatterjee), Lajjo (Radhika Apte), Bijli (Surveen Chawla). Rani is a widow, who lost her husband 15 years ago and lives with mother-in-law and son Gulab (Ridhi Sen). Lajjo is married to Manoj (Mahesh Balraj), but often get physically abused by him for being childless. Bijli is a dancer and a good friend of Rani. Bijli has a reputation of being a seductress. Her clients are managed by Rajesh (Chandan K Anand). Rajesh seems to be completely in love with Bijli. Initial scenes show Rani and Lajjo going to fix Rani's young son Gulab's marriage to 15-year old Janki (Lehar Khan). Although Gulab gets married, he does not find Janki as per his expectations. Gulab is a spoilt brat. Meanwhile, it is shown Panchayat taking decision to send Champa (Sayani Gupta) to her abusive husband and in-laws who also force themselves on her. The village also has good souls like Kishan (Sumeet Vyas) and Naobi, his wife (Nancy Nisa Beso) working for the betterment of the village. Kishan runs a boutique for village women to work there and earn as well. What happens when Rani, Lajjo, Bijli start questioning the oppressive rules prevailing in in traditional society? How Rani deals with her son's irresponsible and abusive behaviour? Did Rani miss a man in her life since she had early marriage and lost husband also too early? Was she in isolation? How Lajjo deals with her physically abusive husband ? How does Lajjo handle her being childless? What unconventional /rebellious mode Lajjo try? How Bijli handles the love of Rajesh towards her? Was Rajesh actually in love with her? The various characters of the film are etched out so thoughtfully and the cast is awesome. Tannishtha as Rani represents a woman who is living in isolation since years, hasn't been touched or loved by a man. Radhika as Lajjo represents an ambivert woman, who gets succumbed to abuses from her husband and bears it all thinking that it is her fault that she is childless. Surveen as Bijli represents an unconventional, free spirited woman, who is bold in front of the world but very soft from inside, at the same time not ready to yield to the men who take her to be an object of desire, passion, sex etc. Lehar as Janki is the representation of young girls, who dreams of studying and be independent, but forced to marry at an early age due to family / societal pressure. Nancy as Naobi represents an educated, balanced woman who intends to extend her help for the upliftment of society. All the female characters have given great moving performances with special mention to Tannishtha, Radhika and Surveen for their outstanding performances. Chandan as Rajesh, Mahesh as Manoj have also given very much credible performances. Chandan represents a man, who is spite of loving a woman, might never be able to see her beyond her professions, might not be able to see the real beautiful person who is within that woman. Manoj is a representation of male dominated society. Gulab represents typical young arrogant teenager, who wants to explore in his life, also inherits patriarchic attitude. Summet as Kishan represents a man who respects women for what they are and also believes in being a change catatlyst himself. I don't want to spill the beans by talking about these two actors Adil Hussain and Chetan Sharma and their respective roles in the film, since that is to be watched in the film. Adil Hussain is a mystic lover, a short but very powerful representation of men, who have regard for women and their beauty and also believes that lovemaking is an art. Chetan has less screen time as Heera, but a very significant role and representation of young, educated men respecting the very word love. He is balanced in love and does not go overboard even when he lost his love, did not turn out to be an obsessive lover, but kept his love alive in spite of losing his girl. Both Adil and Chetan have given short but very much remarkable performances. There are many scenes which need special mention, but I don't want to do so since that may hamper your experience of watching the film. Many moments are representation of our societal norms, rules etc. One thing which I felt was that the very last dialogue of Bijli could have been avoided, since it came across to me that we women ourselves want to brand us in a particular manner and even while planning to chart out altogether different trajectory, the residue of the past remains. Parched is a brilliant, unconventional, non-preachy and powerful film by Leena Yadav. Every character in the film is etched out so thoughtfully. It showcases the incredible spirits of lead female protagonists even amidst personal loss / sorrows. Irrespective of its characters and the plot set up in the rural India, the film is all about humanity, with which universally people can connect and relate to. The key message of Parched is emancipation, to free from the shackles of so-called unhealthy societal norms. A must-watch.

The Shallows2016

The Shallows, a film by Jaume Collet-Serra, is the gripping tale of an adventurous surfing going wrong. This 86 minutes long film makes you witness the survival thriller of a female getting trapped in the sea. Attacked by a shark and injured severely, and many challenges in front of her, be it high tide, and stranded there with no one for her rescue, how she survives and fights back and saves herself in spite of not even knowing the name of the beach forms the story. It is indeed a treat to watch Blake Lively essaying the role of the protagonist. Although, we have witnessed such types of survival thrillers in the past, some inspired from real life incidents and some fictional. The themes and situations might have been different and intensity also might have varied, be it The Edge, The Grey, 127 hours, Alive, Frozen, Gravity, The snow walker, Rescue Dawn, The Revenant, Sanctum etc. We have seen our very own Suraj Sharma giving excellent performance in Life of Pi. The Shallows is not very intense like previously mentioned films, but it would keep you hooked on to the screen. The Shallows captures the life-or-death experience of the protagonist, pitted against seemingly insurmountable odds, her efforts to find the feasible resources to survive against an implacable enemy – shark. The film begins with a young boy playing with a soccer ball in a beach. He finds an action camera attached to a helmet, he gets astonished to see the video of a man struggling to come out of water but ultimately getting killed by a shark. Frames move further to tell us the story behind the video captured in the action camera. A medical student Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) travels to an isolated beach in Mexico to surf. She wanted to go there, since her mother (who is no more) had surfed there many years ago and this is where she had discovered that she was pregnant with Nancy. Carlos (Oscar Jaenada), a local guy, drives her down to the beach. Carlos refuses to divulge the name of the beach to Nancy in spite of her frequently asking him. He just says that it is a paradise. Once Nancy reaches there, she just loves the beach and gets ready to surf. She finds two men also surfing. After a quick break and video chat with her sister Chloe (Sedona Legge) and father (Brett Cullen), she dives back to surf. While heading back to the shore, a shark hits her surf board, making her fall. As she tries to get back on the surfing board, the shark bites her leg very badly. Then begins her fight for survival. How does she handle her injuries? What resources she use to stop the bleeding from her leg? Who comes for her rescue ? How does she handle the high tide ? What all challenges come in front of Nancy ? Surfing scenes are breathtaking. Also, certain fights which Nancy puts up for her survival will keep you glued to the screen. Blake Lively as the protagonist has indeed given a great performance. 'The Shallows' captures the life-or-death experience of the protagonist Nancy Adams portrayed by Blake Lively, pitted against seemingly insurmountable odds, her efforts to find the feasible resources to survive against an implacable enemy – shark. Although we have seen many intense survival thrillers than this in the past, watch this crisp and tight piece as well.

Raaz Reboot2016

Raaz Reboot, a film written and directed by Vikram Bhatt, is the fourth one in the horror film series Raaz. This film is actually a reboot, since it just refreshes our memories of previous Raaz series. It does not bring any novelty in the horror genre from Bhatt Camp. As in all the Bhatt films, the music in this film is really great, which is the only solace. But the songs are not interspersed properly in the screenplay. This horror flick is very much clichéd. The beginning appeared to be promising, but just 15 minutes into the film, the plot seemed very much familiar. It is very easy to predict that who is the antagonist playing the evil spirit. And then the mantras and tantras to drive away the spirits begin, entry of extortionist to kick out the spirit, all looked so much familiar. The film begins with Rehaan (Gaurav Arora) and Shaina (Kriti Kharbanda) relocating to Romania from Mumbai. It was Kriti's insistence that Rehaan should take the new job offer in Romania. Rehaan was not at all keen to take up this offer and shift to Romania, but he finally decides to relocate. This is where he had first met Kriti five years ago, fallen in love, proposed her and decided to get married. The initial shots itself make it clear that there were some strong reasons for Rehaan's uncomfortability in relocating back to Romania. There is some secret behind this. Though they shift, the difference of opinion between Rehaan and Shaina does strain their relationship (this was so illogically portrayed). Then the story unfolds further and gets into predictive mode. Shaina gets to see somebody in the house, she starts feeling the presence of someone in and around her. She is sure that the house is haunted. Various regular patterns of evil spirit's appearance along with special background music follows. Shaina finds it difficult to make Rehaan believe. But Aditya, her ex-boyfriend (Emraan Hashmi) believes Shaina. Together they try to find out answers to their queries. How the identity of the evil spirit is explored? Who is the evil spirit and what is its motive? What could be the secret of Rehaan ? What is the role of Aditya in this film ? How does Rehaan ultimately believe Shaina ? There is no second opinion that one would not find any challenge in finding responses to these queries, since the plot itself is very much predictable. You might have seen all these in previous films of Raaz series – Raaz, Raaz-The Mystery Continues and Raaz 3D. The performance by Kriti is average. Gaurav and Emraan have comparatively lesser screen time but they are good, although nothing much to do. Raaz Reboot is actually a reboot, since it just refreshes our memories of previous Raaz series – Raaz, Raaz-The Mystery Continues and Raaz 3D. It does not bring any novelty in the horror genre from Bhatt Camp. Watch it only if horror intrigues you, but beware of not getting scared at all.

Pink2016

Pink, a brilliant film by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury is going to shake you to the core. It is not a film from a feminist perspective, but it does talk about the shackles in which girls of our country are tied even in this century. The newspapers everyday talks of atleast one incident where a girl is either molested or raped. Recently, we found two acid attack survivors Reshma Quereshi and Laxmi making headlines by walking the ramps in New York Fashion Week and London. They conveyed a very strong message that acid can destroy their face / bodies but their will and spirits cannot be destroyed. Thinking of such ordeal itself gives us goosebumps, difficult to even imagine the trauma of the victims. What is the mentality of the people, who do so in the rage of not able to accept rejections? And as far as Reshma and Laxmi are concerned, they have displayed extraordinary grit and strength by fighting all the sorrow, grief, vulnerabilities and leading a life with their heads held high. They generate a great sense of respect and regard for them. If I talk regarding the film Pink, it does not talk of such intense incidents, but it does raise many pertinent questions, talks of double standards, gender discrimination etc. In spite of females excelling in almost every field, there are many unsaid rules in our society which decides whether a female is of good character or not. The beauty of the film is that this is not at all a loud film in spite of conveying a very loud message. It talks of the attitudes prevalent all around us which stamps a female of 'questionable character' on the basis of the length of the her skirt, the time when she returns home after work, how much she smiles at men, whether she drinks / parties or not, and her virginity status etc. There are enough moral policing for girls. It also talks about the corrupt system in our country, the cops who actually need to protect people, end up in framing people in false cases. Pink through its highly engaging plot and courtroom drama turns out to be so powerful that it is bound to make you think. Three single independent working women Minal Arora (Taapsee Pannu), Falak Ali (Kirti Kulhari) and Andrea (Andrea Tariang) are friends and they share an apartment in Delhi. Minal is from Delhi itself, but due to her odd working hours, she stays with friends. Falak is from Lucknow and Andrea from Meghalaya. Their lives take a turn when they go for a rock concert with a friend Vishwa (Tushar Pandey) and befriend Rajveer (Angad Bedi) and Dumpy (Raashul Tandon). They accept a dinner invitation from Rajveer and go for the same in a resort in Surajkund, Haryana. After some light talks, jokes, drinks, Minal is inappropriately touched by Rajveer. In an effort for self-defense, Minal picks up a bottle and smashes it on Rajveer. The girls manage to escape from the resort. Till the credits roll, the incident is not shown which led to the whole plot. But the screenplay is so strong that one gets to have vivid visualization of what could have gone wrong. Girls do not approach the police initially out of fear. They even get more scared when they come to know that Rajveer is the nephew of very influential politician. Later, when all three are harassed by the boys gang (actor Vijay Varma also joins the gang) by different means, they decide to approach police department and file a case. But Rajveer files a case in turn against Minal mainly and accusing other two too. Minal is accused for 'Attempt to murder', for extorting money etc. All three of them are labeled in the FIR as prostitutes. Minal is arrested, and the case is handled by none other than Deepak Sehgal (Amitabh Bachchan), who lives in the neighbourhood of Minal, Falak and Andrea. The initial shots itself show Deepak doing morning exercises in the park, where he often ends up looking at Minal jogging with blank expressions. Deepak Sehgal had called it quits to his profession as a lawyer due to his bipolar disorder, but comes to the rescue of the girls. The second half is highly engaging with courtroom sequence. Piyush Mishra as Prashant is the prosecution lawyer. There we get to see some fine and smart moves during the debate. Deepak had answers to every accusation which Prashant was bringing up. Who wins in the end – Girls or the boys? How efficiently does Deepak suffering from bipolar disorder fight the case ? What defense statements were made by Prashant to protect the boys ? What was the motive of girls behind accepting dinner invitations from acquaintances, was it to extort money from the rich (as accused)? How were the girls Minal, Falak and Andrea treated in the society, workplace and in court after this incident ? How did they handle their character assassination? There are certain moments in the films which certainly would bring tears to your eyes. There is a scene, where after the incident, Minal is commented upon as the girl involved in 'Surajkund Kand', she just puts the hood of her sweatshirt on her head instead of retaliating, Amitabh Bachchan removes the hood. There are many more such moments. There is no lecture in the film; rather it talks about what is happening in and around us. There are some parts of the plot which were not very much justified: Amitabh Bachchan's Bipolar disorder, his ailing wife confined to a hospital bed. The boys appeared very influential and egoistic in the beginning, wanted to punish girls at any cost, but once when the courtroom drama started unfolding, there was not a single moment of encounter / threatening from these boys to girls, which seemed unlikely. But these are very much unnoticeable in midst of powerful scenes. Amitabh Bachchan blends with the character of Deepak Sehgal so well. He is outstanding. Taapsee, Kirti, Andrea are also extremely good, have projected their vulnerabilities, pain, sadness, confusions, anger with so much finesse. Angad Bedi as Rajveer stands out, rest of the boys Vijay Varma, Raashul Tandon, Tushar Pandey are also very nice. Piyush Mishra with his exclusive style of dialogue delivery excels as the prosecution lawyer. Vinod Nagpal as the landlord and Sudhanva Deshpande as Haryanvi cop are superb. Dhritiman Chatterjee as judge has done so much justice to his character, he projects his uneasiness when girls are interrogated with uncomfortable questions. Pink, a very powerful and outstanding film, conveys a message very loudly that when a woman (be it friend, acquaintance, wife) says 'No', it actually means 'No'. It also prompts society to stop judging a girl on the basis of length of her skirt, time of her returning home, her single status, her attempts to enjoy life in parties etc. The poem by Tanvir Ghazi recited by Amitabh Bachchan when the credits roll, clearly conveys that it is high time to end the patriarchal rules which shackles the women in stereotypes. Pink through its highly engaging plot and courtroom drama turns out to be so powerful that it is bound to shake you to the core.

Baar Baar Dekho2016

Baar Baar Dekho is a romantic drama by Nitya Mehra. Although this is her debut as a Director in Hindi Film Industry, she was assistant director to films viz. Life of Pi and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Baar Baar Dekho reiterates one of the biggest philosophies of life i.e. to learn to live in present. We, human beings, have a tendency to either cling to past or future; either we find ourselves stuck in the past or we get worried about the uncertainties of the future. And amidst all these, we forget the most basic thing, i.e. to appreciate the present, not to take our present for granted. We also ignore to value what we have in our present, be it our relationships / family, be it small moments of joy, laughter etc. And by the time, we realize that we have left our people, our happiness far behind, we long for another opportunity to undo certain actions of ours of the past. But the truth is, life does not give one a second chance to rewind in the past and change the actions and choices made. Then, what remains with us is a sense of regret and loss. The film also showcases how important it is to balance personal and professional lives. Baar Baar Dekho begins with the birth scenes of Jai and Diya in two different continents followed by a song showing the growing up of these two children. They meet at eight and become great friends thereafter. Jai and Diya grow into adults (Sidharth and Katrina) and their friendship turns into love. Diya is vivacious and a great artist. Jai is a Maths professor, who is very much passionate about Vedic Maths. He has also done research on Vedic Maths and submitted his theses to Cambridge University. His life is driven by calculations and logics and he aspires to go to Cambridge University for building his career. Diya, half British, is in love with India and family. She loves Jai and wants to settle down with him in India itself. Diya ends up proposing Sidharth. Though Sidharth loved Diya, he is uncertain about the fate of their relationship. He is afraid thinking that marriage might change their equation. But finally decides to marry Diya. Ram Kapoor, who essays the role of Diya's father, Sarika (Jai's mother), Taaha Shah Badusha (Tarun, Jai's brother) and all others are excited about Jai and Diya's marriage. Jai finds himself absolutely lost amidst all preparations. He takes out his frustrations at Diya. Diya gets disillusioned with Jai's dilemma. The film moves further through various events. Time clock moves ahead by days, months, years. What happens to Jai and Diya with the passing timeline and time leap? How do their lives change ? What all choices Jai make in his life and how his choices impact his relationship with Diya and also with his and her families ? Whether Jai gets a second chance in his life to choose a different set of actions than his previous ones ? Is Jai able to fix things ? How Jai goes through self-actualization process ? There is no doubt that the film is based on a great concept and philosophy of life, but it suffers in the execution. The film lacks passion, brightness, humour. The film could have also shown the beauty as well as complexities of relationships in a much better manner. Sidharth as Jai is good, Katrina is cold in her performance, lacked her passion of Newyork and Dhoom 3. The chemistry between Sidharth and Katrina is not established properly in the film. Sarika's prosthetics looked bad in some scenes. Rajit had a small role but is good. Ram Kapoor is also ok. As far as the music is concerned, although 'Kala Chashma' is ruling as a blockbuster song, the songs 'Sau Aasman', 'Dariya' sound very good. Dialogues which are good: Badi baton pe nahi, choti baton pe dhyan do (Focus on small things and not on big things); Balance ke bagair koi equation perfect nahi hoti (No equation is perfect without balance). Baar Baar Dekho is indeed based on great philosophies of life i.e. to live in present, to enjoy the small moments of life, and to have work-life balance. It also reiterates that one cannot afford to live life only on the basis of logics and calculations, but emotions and sensitivities have to be kept alive. With such a beautiful concept, the film should not have faltered in execution, the storytelling could have been more passionate.

Mohenjo Daro2016

Mohenjo Daro, a spectacular film by Ashutosh Gowarikar, is a fictional take. I did not view this film as the one conveying the facts about Indus Valley Civilization, Mohenjo Daro or Harappa. Throughout the film, I felt that Ashutosh is conveying a story of love, power battles, treachery keeping one of the greatest city of Indus Valley Civilization, Mohenjo Daro, as the pretext. In one of the earlier interviews, Ashutosh had mentioned that his biggest challenge was recreating an era about which very little is known. Very little information is available on how people lived, what they ate, how they felt during those times. He has weaved a love story set in this Ancient India. It may be unfair to judge this film on the basis of historical accuracy or inaccuracy, but it has to be treated as a piece of art depicting the director's imagination and school of thought. Set in 2016 BC, the film begins with Sarman's (Hrithik Roshan) overpowering dangerous crocodile, and killing it. Sarman stays with his Kaka-Kaki (uncle-aunty played) in Amri and they are into indigo farming. He frequently dreams of Unicorn, a beast with a large pointed spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. Whenever he listens to his Kaki humming a particular song, though it sounds familiar to him, he is unable to figure out how and why. He also feels the strong urge to travel to Mohenjo Daro for business. But Kaka-Kaki are always afraid to send him there. Ultimately they pay heed to Sarman's request. Kaka permits him to go with a warning that Mohenjo Daro is full of fake people, treachery, challenges. While doing business there, he must take care of not undervaluing his brand. Kaka also gives him a coin which has the emblem of Unicorn and Sindhu Goddess. Sarman is excited to go to Mohenjo Daro, his friend also accompanies him. Sarman gets fascinated to see Mohenjo Daro, the buildings over there. He also was astonished to see a world other than his, where he found people from different parts of the world coming there for trade, different animals like horse etc. Sarman also feels that he is able to identify with the city, he feels a sense of ownership towards it. He feels as if he knows this city. Very soon he learns that what his Kaka conveyed regarding the land about the bad elements was absolutely true. He wanted to go back, but that is when he encounters a beautiful girl Channi (Pooja Hegde), daughter of the priest (Manish Choudhary). It was instant attraction at the first sight itself. Channi is supposed to be showered with special blessings of Goddess Sindhu. Sarman decides to stay back and continue with the business there. Mohenjo Daro is ruled by Maham (Kabir Bedi). People at Mohenjo Daro are terrified with Maham as well as his son Moonja (Arunoday Singh). Maham does not forgive people who raise their voice against him. The film does share the story of this ruler who is power hungry, gives false hopes of development of the city. His vested interests to rule the city, his greed for gold etc. are also shown. Sarman steals opportunities to meet Channi and love blossoms between them. But yes, challenges begin for Sarman and Channi. Moonja who wants to get married to Channi, can not let Sarman connect to Channi. Sarman has to earn and win Channi's love, for which challenges are thrown in front of him by Maham and Moonja. Maham's wife Laashi (Suhasini Mulay) does warn both father and the son, but they don't even give any ears to her. How the story moves further? What is the connection of Sarman with the City Mohenjo Daro ? What is the secret of his dreams of Unicorn ? Why does the tune hummed by his Kaki seems familiar to him? What all challenges are thrown in front of Sarman by Maham and Moonja ? Does the city accept their newly emerging hero Sarman ? In History, it is written that this city of Mohenjo Daro is believed to have been destroyed by the raging Indus river flooded over. So, in this film, what fate awaits Mohenjo Daro ? Watch the film to know all these. Hrithik Roshan as Sarman has given extremely good performance. Pooja Hegde is looking good on screen. Nitish Bhardwaj as Sarman's Kaka has small screen time. Kabir Bedi and Arunodaya Singh as the antagonist father-son are good. Digant Hazarika as Lothar and Manish Choudhary as Priest have also give good performances. Rest of the cast are also good. Music by AR Rahman is good and fresh to ears. Choreography is kept very simple. Cinematography is awesome. The climax scene is breathtaking. Mohenjo Daro is visually spectacular, packed with Hrithik's powerful performance. This love story set in the pretext of Mohenjo Daro may seem familiar, but kudos to Ashutosh Gowarikar for painting the story on a large canvas.

Rustom2016

Rustom, a much awaited film by Tinu Suresh Desai, has received mixed reviews from various corners. The background of this film is based on a naval officer's life - Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati. Previously also, two films Yeh Rishte Hain Pyar ke (1963) and Achanak (1973) were made with the same plot. KM Nanavati, naval officer, was happily married to Sylvia, British by birth and settled with three kids. His keeping away from home for long duration due to work made his wife feel lonely and engage herself in an extramarital love affair with Prem Ahuja. She herself confesses about her affair with Prem. Nanavati ends up killing Prem and surrenders himself. Then starts the legal battle. It is said that this case, which happened in 1959, changed the course of legal operation in India. Nanavati's case was the last one where case was heard by Jury. Nanavati was proven not guilty in the court, although this verdict was later challenged in higher courts. He was even sentenced for life imprisonment, but later on, political connections helped him to come out of jail within 3 years. After getting the release, he went to Canada along with Sylvia and kids. He died in 2003 whereas Sylvia is alive and in Canada. The film Rustom brings a few parts of Nanavati's story on celluloid. It keeps one engaged and glued to the screen. It is Akshay Kumar's another best film. The story covers love, passion, adultery, murder, forgiveness, patriotism etc. The film begins with the actor Manoj Bajpayee's narration. The titular character Rustom is played by Akshay Kumar. Commander Rustom Parvi, a naval officer, is in love with his beautiful wife Cynthia (Ileana D'Cruz). Their meeting, falling in love, and getting married etc. are beautifully conveyed through the song 'Tere Sang Yaara…'. Rustom used to travel due to work. Once, his ship is rescheduled to reach prior to the planned date / schedule. Rustom gets astonished not to find Cynthia at home. He explores and finds out about Cynthia's extramarital affair with his acquaintance and a businessman Vikram Makhija (Arjan Bajwa). Vikram had the image of a playboy too. Rustom confronts Cynthia, but did not give her a chance to explain herself. He then goes in search of Vikarm to his office, later to his residence. Three bullets straight into his heart, Vikram is dead. Rustom goes to the Police Station and surrenders himself. Naval officials wanted his custody but that doesn't happen. Rustom who chose to surrender himself for the murder of Vikram, decided to represent himself in the court for his defense. Public prosecutor Lakshman Khangani (Sachin Khedekar) gave Rustom a tough fight in the court. Preeti Makhija, Vikram's sister (Esha Gupta) wants Rustom to be punished. Legal battle continues unveiling the motive of Rustom behind the murder of Vikram Makhija. It is said that in Nanavati's case, a tabloid 'Blitz' through its opinionated statements were able to create a sympathy wave for Rustom in the minds of common people. In this film, Erach Billimoria (kumud Mishra) heads a tabloid, which largely influenced the course of the case. He was able to influence the thoughts of common man as well as Jury through his articles. Police Commissioner Vincent Lobo keeps his investigation going parallel to the hearings in the court. How did Rustom plan Vikram's murder? How Cynthia handle all these turbulence ? Does Rustom forgive Cynthia ? Was Rustom's motive behind Vikram's murder purely a personal one ? Was Cynthia a victim of a conspiracy ? When Rustom surrendered and admitted his crime, what logics he brought up during the trial in his defense? Was there any layer of patriotism to the whole story? Why were the naval officers keen on taking Rustom under their custody ? How the trial moves further ? Who all were cross examined and what story it could bring out? How does Rustom fights back for proving his not being guilty ? Does it turn out to be Parsi versus Sindhi revenge too? Akshay looks absolutely dashing in Naval Officer's uniform. He has once again proved that he is one of top notch actor in the Bollywood, who could do complete justice to Rustom's character. Illena looks beautiful on screen. Arjan Bajwa as Vikram Makhija is very much convincing in his role. Sachin as the Public Prosecutor is very good. The only character I felt weakly developed is that of Preeti Makhija of Esha Gupta. Jamnabai, the house-help's role by Usha Nadarni is also good. Kumud Mishra as Erach Billimoria brought humour to the plot. Pawan Malhotra as Police Commissioner Vincent Lobo has less screen time, but he is good. Parmeet Sethi is also seen as one of the naval officer. Other cast is also good. Certain scenes are worth watching. When Rustom comes home prior to the scheduled date and his pain on exploring Cynthia's extramarital affair. His confrontation scene with Cynthia. The scene where Rustom agrees to meet Cynthia for the first time in jail, the body language adopted by Rustom generates lots of emotions. Court scenes were dealt lightly. It appeared at times as attempts to make fun of the legal system. This could have been dealt in a better manner. Also, the voice of audience supporting Rustom was justified but their standing with weird placards viz. Marry Me Rustom diluted the scene. Also, I felt that the dynamics of Rustom-Cynthia's relationship before and after tragedy could have been given a little more screen time. Rustom, inspired from the real incidents of KM Nanavati case which ended the Jury system in India, is definitely a very well crafted film. It is packed with good performances, special mention to Akshay's performance, clubbed with good music, suspense, love, betrayal, adultery, murder, forgiveness, patriotism etc.

Budhia Singh – Born to Run2016

Budhiya- Born to Run, another masterpiece sports biopic on the wonder boy marathon runner, is a film by Soumendra Padhi. Offlate we have seen a few very good biopics on screen viz. Neerja, Airlift, Aligarh etc. Even the forthcoming film Rustam is based on true life events. As far as sports biopics are concerned, we had Mary Kom and Bhag Milkha Bhag (and Azhar too) in the past. We are aware that in the coming months we are going to witness biopics on cricketers MS Dhoni and Sachin too. So, one might wonder, how does this biopic on Budhiya stand apart? Yes, it is different from the rest, since it is about a 5-year old Odhisha boy Budhiya, and stories like this certainly raise the bar of our films. This film was earlier titled as Duronto, and it has already won National Award of Best Children's Film. Budhiya, a child prodigy, who indeed was born to run, created a world record, by running 48 marathons in a year's time, when he was just 5 years old. It included his running 65 Kms in 7 hours 2 minutes from Puri to Bhubaneswar in 50 degree temperature in 2006. This milestone earned him Limca Book of Records. The film focuses on this wonder boy, the Youngest Marathon runner, his wonderful relationship with Coach Biranchi Das, shallowness of our system, politics, power play, hypocrisy of the officials etc. How beautifully the story of Biranchi and Bidhiya is projected on screen is to be seen and experienced. Biranchi Das (played by exceptionally great actor Manoj Bajpai), who runs a Judo Training School for orphan children and forbidden / poor children at his home. He is also shown to be inclined towards social reforms. His source of income is shown from a restaurant and a salon. His wife Gita (Shruti Marathe) is his great support system in his endeavours. Budhia, the titular character played by Mayur Patole, was born in a slum in a very poor family, extremely impoverished upbringing. His mother Sukanti (Tilotama Shome) sells him to a vendor for Rs. 800. Biranchi Das spots Budhiya and brings him home, rather buys him back. Budhiya starts staying along with 22 other children at Biranchi's place. Biranchi was astonished to explore that this 5 year Budhiya had the potential to run non-stop. Biranchi decides to coach Budhiya for marathons. It is interesting to see the bond between Biranchi and Budhiya. Biranchi and Geeta adopt Budhiya. It is incredible to see Budhiya breaking all the barriers of being a child and running marathons like an expert at such a tender age, where he does not even know to tie his shoe lace. Biranchi and Budhiya were all over the headlines in Print and Electronic Media which covered Budhiya's marathon running spree. But these accolades and the limelight later on created hurdles for Budhiya. Child Welfare Department intervened to question such a small child's capacity to run such marathons. Budhiya was not given permission to run Delhi based Marathon at the last moment. Biranchi, a non-conformist in his own manner, was not ready to pay heed, and took head-on challenge with the Child Welfare Department. He further trains Budhiya to run one of the record-making marathon, i.e. a distance of 65 Kms from Puri to Bhubaneswar. He covers the distance in 7 hours 2 minutes. The film does convey Biranchi's methods of strict training for Budhiya, it also shows the other side to it by displaying footage of leading sports / technology personalities voicing their concern over such strenuous training and runs for Budhiya. Many questions were raised by the system. But Biranchi had answers to all of them quoting the example of golfer Tiger Woods and footballer Carlos Chera. Obviously Biranchi could not fight the power play. Ultimately Budhiya was banned from running till he is 18 (now he is 14 years old) and he is in a Kalinga Sports Academy in Odisha. What all events transpired which led to Budhiya's ban? Though this coach-coachee's relationship and fate is known by the world, let me not reveal, what happens to Biranchi? How did the authorities succeed in taking Budhiya away from Biranchi and put him in hostel ? It forces one to ponder, if a child can be allowed to play different sports viz. cricket, badminton, football etc, do swimming and compete in these areas as well, why can't a child like Budhiya, whose potential lie in marathon running, be allowed to run? Why this bias towards Budhiya? Biranchi dreamt of making Budhiya participate in 2016 Olympics (Rio), which coincidently started today a day after this film's release. If Budhiya was not banned, India could have had an Olympic medal surely to its credit. The film showcases the shallowness of the existing system and also the power tussle. An athlete usually faces hurdles and challenges during a race, but the hurdles before Budhiya was like putting an end to a brilliant runner's innings. What to talk about the performances! It is amazing to see Manoj Bajpayee effortlessly slip into every character which he plays on screen. He brings various facets of his character Biranchi live on screen: the enthusiasm of Biranchi on exploring Budhiya, his passion to take care of orphan kids treating them as his own, his drive in running Judo Training School, his frustrations / fighting with the system, his daring attitude to take head-on with the authorities / politicians. Mayur as Budhiya is awesome. He brings so much credibility to the character. He is a natural performer. Rest of the kids at Biranchi's place are also such wonderful natural performers, bring so much freshness with their simplicity. Tilotama Shome as Sukanti – Budhiya's mother and Shruti Marathe as Gita – Biranchi's wife are also very good. Gajraj Rao is also very nice. Rest of the characters are also good. Born to run anthem is very motivating and inspiring. It will give you goosebumbps for sure. Certain moments are so wonderfully captured: Biranchi coaching Budhiya Biranchi's interactions with his wife Gita Interactions between kids in Biranchi's home Biranchi's passion and conviction as a coach on Budhiya's competency Budhiya's never-getting-tired attitude to listen to and follow Biranchi Das Biranchi's meeting with Budhiya for the last time It is sad to understand that Budhiya still does not have the right to run. He says that he still can run, it is just that he needs a coach like Biranchi. Budhiya – Born to win is a must watch film. Although, this story was supposed to be told earlier, the sincerity with which this film is made, probably may inspire the system to lift the ban on this wonder boy Budhiya, bring him back to tracks, facilitate him to fulfill the dreams of his selfless coach Biranchi Das and also to make a mark for India at Global level.

Madaari2016

Madaari, a Social-Thriller film by Nishikant Kamath, is one more attempt by a filmmaker to take head-on with the corrupt systems existing in our country. It is very much inevitable to draw parrallels with Neeraj Pandey's 2008 film 'A Wednesday'. A Wednesday was an engaging thriller with an unimaginable and unpredictable dramatic twist, which was set on the premise of terrorism. The underlying concept of Madaari is also the same, i.e. when a common man decides to raise his voice against the powerful, it does make a difference. I would admit that Madaari might lack the action-packed thrilling sequences as that of Wednesday, but Madaari has its own strengths and it also very successfully conveys the message. Although as a viewer, I did feel disillusioned. Not because the film is not good, but because, the subject of the film is so relevant. We are aware of these shortcomings of our society, system, government, hardly doing anything to change the system, still unable to bring any changes. But atleast an effort to convey a pertinent point through such films generate hopes of changes in the outlook towards world and also making world a better place to live. Madaari begins with Irrfan's voiceover, which in fact is the essence of the whole film: बाज (hawk) चूजे (chick) पर झपटा, उठा ले गया, कहानी सच्ची लगती है लेकिन अच्छी नहीं लगती, बाज (hawk) पे पलटवार हुआ, कहानी सच्ची नहीं लगती है, खुदा कसम बहुत अच्छी लगती है I Yes, it means that when the powerful crashes the weaker segment, the story does sound true but does not sound good. But when the weaker segment attacks the powerful one, the story does not sound true but does sound good. That is what happens in Madaari. Soon after the voiceover, we see the back profile of Irrfan Khan with a child at a railway station. Simultaneously various news flashes in regard to the various contemporary incidents happening in various corners of the country, right from the collapse of a bridge to increase in the vegetable prices to farmers' suicides, inflation, unemployment, water crisis etc. The frames move to the breaking news of kidnapping of Home Minister Prashant Goswami's (Tushar Dalvi) son Rohan Goswami (Vishesh Bansal). Then we get to see bearded Irrfan Khan in a moving train. Frames move to the flashback of how Irrfan manages to kidnap Rohan from a school hostel in Dehradoon. In Delhi, Rohan's parents Prashant and Jaya are worried due to Rohan's kidnapping. Prashant and the Chief Minister Nimbadkar deputes Nachiket Varma (Jimi Shergill), a cop, to find out the what, why and how of Rohan's kidnapping and also to rescue him. The biggest challenge before Nachiket is that the face / whereabouts of the kidnapper are unknown. Meanwhile Irrfan continues his journey along with Rohan in different hideouts with different makeovers. Slowly a bond develops between Rohan and Irrfan. Irrfan's story slowly unveils through various scenes. The film does evoke strong emotions. Irrfan, who is a distraught father, describes himself as an ideal voter, who is just busy bringing up his son as a single parent. His whole world is his 7-year old son Apoorva. What happens to him, when his whole world itself crashes and he loses the very meaning of life ? How the story develops further? How Irrfan handles the high profile kidnapping? How does Nachiket gather various clues, and interconnects various leads ? Is Nachiket able to crack the kidnapping case and rescue Rohan? How does Irrfan save himself from the world's eyes? How and when does his identity from a Anam Kumar (a person who does not have any name) to Nirmal Kumar is revealed ? What was Nirmal's motive behind Rohan's kidnap ? How the movie ends? Who wins in this hide and seek game? I could not stop myself from comparing this film with A Wednesday. Certain commonalities between both the films: The very underlying concept of the common man rising against the system. The technical set up preparations done by Irrfan Khan gives the same feel as that of Naseeruddin Shah's set up in Wednesday. Jimmy as an actor is another common factor in both the films. Irrfan Khan as Nirmal Kumar is just fabulous. He brings so much depth to his character. His role as a happy father to a distraught father, an ordinary voter to be a man to challenge the system / powerful etc is so nicely projected by him. His eyes speak a lot. Jimmy Shergill does his cop act with finesse. It is just that, we have seen him in such roles / mannerisms earlier too. Vishesh Bansal as Rohan also has given a very heart-felt performance. Rest of the cast are also nice. Rajeev Gupta as Cheeku's father does generate humour through his act. Nitesh Pandey as Sanjay Jagtap, a loud news anchor of Swantatra TV, is also very nice. Music is also good and lyrics are thought-provoking. The song Masoom Sa is very nice. Certain dialogues are very much thought provoking. Pros and cons of social media are also shown, how people's perception changes in minutes under the influence of social media. The dialogues in regard to the rivalry of ruling party – opposition party fights being just political gimmicks, and either parties having win-win scenario whether they have the chair with them or not. My only concern with the screenplay is that it is a very much predictable film and could it have ended in a different manner? The film's credits in the end are shown with voiceover of Irrfan Khan reciting the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Do stay back to listen to this. Madaari is a thought-provoking film, and it does evoke strong emotions. Irrfan is brilliant as a distraught father who dares to fight the system. On one side, the film hits the bull-eye by exposing the powerful, on the other hand, it also conveys an underlying fact that we are responsible for the mess we are in. Madaari prompts us to enhance our power of discretion and be change agents.

Kabali2016

Kabali is the much awaited film of the superstar of our country Rajnikanth, directed by PA. Ranjith. It is even a futile attempt on my part to review films of living legend like Rajnikanth. Everytime, when Rajnikanth aka Talaivaar's film releases, it is a celebration time for the viewers. And this time, Rajnikanth-Kabali-mania went up to the extent of states declaring holiday on its 1st day of release, scheduling early morning shows like 4.30AM also in the list. As per a joke circulating in the social media, it is true that when Rajnikanth's film is released, holiday is declared. I really don't want to review this film which is going to be recorded in the history of Indian Cinema for the kind of hype and hysteria it created much before its release. Having said all these, I would like to convey through this piece of writing that Kabali is a very mediocre film. Many of you might feel that I am not doing justice to a film of Rajnikanth by calling it a mediocre film. How a film with an artist of such caliber can be a mediocre film? But as I have always maintained, my film reviews are absolutely my personal opinion about how a particular film came across to me. The plot had the potential, but it actually didn't work at all. It is also said that Rajnikanth's character Kabali is inspired from a real time don of Chennai. I strongly feel that Kabali lacks Rajnikanth elements. The film begins with high profile police officers of Malaysia discussing the pros and cons of releasing Kabali. Ultimately, decision is taken to release Kabali. After 25 years of imprisonment in Malaysian jail, Kabali (Rajnikanth) is released who was convicted for being an initiator of a massacre that killed many including his pregnant wife Rupa (Radhika Apte). Ameer (John Vijay) is the right hand of Kabali, who arranges a grand welcome for Kabali. Once released from the jail, Kabali goes to visit his charitable school Free Life foundation, which is basically a rehabilitation center for kids, teens, youth who got involved in some criminal activities. Kabali has no qualms in accepting that he is a Gunda, although an educated one. Jeeva (Dinesh Ravi) joins Kabali as his aide. Tony Lee (Winston Chao) and Veera (Kishore) are constantly in look out for Kabali, and they do damage lot of business of Kabali. Tony Lee, a Chinese person, runs lot of rackets that of drug trafficking, prostitution, gambling etc. When the story move to the flashback, one gets to understand that how Kabali, grandson of a poor migrant labourer, grows to be the leader of a gang by fighting for the rights of Indian workers working in Malaysia. The demand was to get equal rights for the marginalized Indian workers with the locals and Chinese people working there. Kabali was always well-dressed in suits, he took pride of the same, and it was all about creating an impact. He even conveys a dialogue that there was a reason Babasaheb Ambedkar always wore a suit and Mahatma Gandhi never did. As he grew to the leadership position, he developed many enemies also in and around him and became victim to one such conspiracy, where mass killings happened and he was jailed for being accountable for the same. And now, released after a period of 25 years, he does intend to take revenge. But his enemies Tony Lee and Kishore plant Yogi (Dhansika) to kill Kabali. Film moves ahead with a very much predictable and clichéd plot. Rather the film is in fragments, and does not generate any pathos at all. What happens to the revenge saga of Kabali? What all challenges Tony Lee and Kishore throw in front of Kabali? What shape does the inter-gang rivalry take? Does the film is dominated with just the gun shots? Does Yogi become successful in killing Kabali? Kabali film as such has lot of challenges, it never picks up, be it its story, screenplay, dialogues, music, logical sequencing of events, editing etc. I watched Hindi version, so, I have no idea, whether the dialogues lost its essence while translating from Tamil to Hindi. Very poorly written dialogues. Somehow, Kabali is not a Rajanikanth film at all. Radhika Apte's presence is indeed noticeable. Rest of the cast are loud, weird at times. Kabali just falls flat. As a fan of Rajnikanth, I never wanted Kabali to fail, but with great pain and disappointment, I have to ignore the incredible screen presence of Rajnikanth and the beautiful frame of Radhika Apte. I choose to rate Kabali as an average film.

Star Trek Beyond2016

Star Trek Beyond, a film by Justin Lin, is the thirteenth film in the Star Trek Film series. This journey of very famous Star Trek film series began in 1966 as a weekly television series. The first film of this franchise was in 1979 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture). Thirteen films have been categorized into 3 phases: 'The Original Series films' having six films, 'The Next Generation films' having four films and 'Reboot Series' having 3 films, including the latest one 'Star Trek Beyond'. Star Trek Franchise also has games, novels, toys, comics, magazines etc. This series is also cited as inspiration for many technological inventions including the cell phones and computers. Their films, technologies were almost always ahead of time. The franchise has chosen to celebrate 50th anniversary with 'Star Trek Beyond'. This is also dedicated to two departed souls of the Star Trek Family – Leonard Nimov (original Spock) and Anton Yelchin. This one is full of action, rather breathless action. Star Trek has tried to promote the film in India in unique ways. Mumbai skyline has a poster of a giant Starship Enterprise. Promoters also decided to do a 'Spaceship Activation' in a Mumbai suburban mall with a huge remote-controlled 'spaceship'. The film begins with Captain Kirk's efforts to trying to bring peace between the Federation and extra-terrestrial planet. Initial frames also show the bond between Spock and Kirk. Whereabouts of a ship and the instructions of rescuing the same make Captain Kirk and crew of the enterprise travel to the alien planet for one of the most dangerous mission. Rest of the story revolves around, what all challenges they face during their journey. The major challenge comes in the form of antagonist Krall, whose real identity is revealed towards the end of the film. Even the reasons / logic of Krall to destroy the Enterprise are shown in the last frames.Although action dominates in the film, it has its own moments of romance, humour etc. 'Star Trek Beyond' turns out to be brilliant with its visual appeal, technological brilliance displayed and also the message conveyed to have a vision of humanity that is undivided due to caste, creed, sexuality. Watch the film.

Sultan2016

Sultan, a film by Ali Abbas Zafar, is an awesome gift to Salman Khan fans on the occasion of Eid. Last year Eid, it was Bajrangi Bhaijan which won people's hearts with the backdrop of Indo-Pak relationship. After doing many not so good films like Ready, Kick, Jai Ho, it was a welcome break to have Salman in Bajrangi Bhaijan. And this year on Eid, Sultan releases, which is indeed an entertainer. Salman Khan's efforts to portray the character of Sultan are remarkable. There are four shades to Salman's character in this film, and Salman does complete justice, be it the innocence, arrogance, self-pity due to guilt or never-to-quit attitude. Sultan, a love story set up in the backdrop of wrestling, prompts you to win over self and also conveys that there is only person who can defeat us in the game of life and that is one's own self. Ali Abbas Zafar certainly knows the pulse of the audience, and he has ingrained the film with the right mix of emotions, action, music, fun, drama (a bit of melodrama too), and of course the star power of Salman Khan as the titular character. Although, one cannot expect any unpredictable twists and turns in the plot, Sultan is a clear-cut winner at box-office as well as in people's hearts. Akash Oberoi (Amit Sadh), a young businessman, is requesting other board members and investors of his venture Pro-Take Down to give him one more chance to revive the same. His idea of bringing mixed Martial Arts contests to India through Pro-Take Down is not working out. Two seasons of Pro-Take Down was a loss and investors and the market writes it off, but Akash is determined to move ahead for the third season. Pro-Take Down brings wrestlers, boxers to the ring. He needs investors to trust him and put the money. His father (Parikshit Sahni) asks him to get Sultan (Salman Khan) in the ring. Akash travels to a village Baroli in Rewari to get Sultan. Frames move to Rewari, where Sultan is shown to be leading a very monotonous life. He works in Water Authority. He collects donations from his colleagues on Salary-day. Akash meets him and asks him to enter into wrestling ring. Sultan turns down Akash's offer saying that he has left wrestling. Akash was also determined to have Sultan as one of his wrestler, he gets in touch with Sultan's friend Govind (Anant Sharma). It is Govind, who narrates the much-talked about love story of Sultan and Aarfa (Anushka Sharma), and their fall-out. Sultan, a fun-loving guy in 30s, runs a Mehbooba-Mehbooba cable company, loves to take up challenges to be a kite-runner. During one of such kite-running exercise, he encounters Aarfa (Anusha Sharma) with whom, it was love-at-first-sight for Sultan. Aarfa herself is a wrestler, state level winner, has done her education in Delhi, and runs a wrestling training school along with her father Barkat (Kumud Mishra) in the village. Barkat and Aarfa are very passionate of wrestling and their dream is of Aarfa winning Olympic Gold Medal. To win over Aarfa, Sultan decides to be a wrestler and reaches Barkat with the request to train him. It was not easy for Sultan to win Aarfa's heart. Sultan ends up challenging himself and ultimately does win over Aarfa. How does a non-wrestler train himself to be a world-class wrestler? How does Sultan persuade Aarfa to marry him? What happens to Aarfa's dream of winning Olympic Gold Medal? What actually transpires between Sultan and Aarfa that they are no more together? What made Sultan leave wrestling ? Once an ordinary lad, is Sultan able to handle adulations, success? Yes, it is predictable that Sultan would accept Akash's offer of Pro-Take Down so as to earn money too, but what was the real objective of Sultan ? Why he is collecting donations from his colleagues on the salary day? How does Sultan, who is now 40, able to survive the physical challenges of stamina, strength, form etc. ? What happens when Sultan is pitched against all international wrestlers, boxers in the contest ? Does Aarfa come back in Sultan's life ? How does Randeep Hooda's character Fateh Singh fit the screenplay? Watch the film to unravel the answers yourself. Salman Khan as Sultan is indeed very good. He is able to win people's hearts with his performance. Anushka as Aarfa has given a very convincing performance. Both Salman and Anushka have picked up Haryanvi accent well. Anant Sharma as Govind is very good, he is effortless in portraying his very much affable character. Kumud Mishra as Barkat and Amit Sadh as Akash Oberoi are also very good. Randeep Hooda as Fateh Singh enters the film as a coach for athletes, and his cameo is a significant part of the film. Randeep, as always, has given a great performance as a tough coach. Farrukh Jaffar as Sultan's grandmother has a small but very amiable role. Parikshit as Akash's father is also good. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is very good. The song 'Jag Ghoomeya' by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is excellent. Background score is also very nice. One scene, I would like to specially mention, which probably missed editor's precision (although mentioning this point is a spoiler). Soon after pregnancy confirmation of Aarfa, in a dialogue with her father Barkat, she says that they would train Sultan to win Olympic Gold Medal. But immediately after that, she is shown to be training with Sultan, rather running with him. A pregnant lady doing running exercise? A scene, where Sultan breaks down looking at his out of shape physique, fights with his guilt, pain, is very beautifully portrayed. There are many scenes in Sultan, which would inspire us, evoke the fighter's attitude in our mind. Sultan inspires us to fight with our inner demons and emerge victorious, since nobody on this earth can defeat us, unless and until, we surrender, yield and accept our defeat. It also tells us that it is not necessary to always win, but it is also important to fail, since failures will lead us to appreciate success and winning. Sultan conveys that it is important to be humiliated at times to understand the importance of self-respect, prestige. It also tells us that in order to fulfill dreams, we must not move ahead so much that our people are left behind; relationships are equally important. Sultan, a love story set up in the backdrop of wrestling, inspires us to fight with our inner demons and emerge victorious. "Winners don't quit and Quitters don't win", that is what Sultan believes and makes us believe too. Although, devoid of any unpredictable twists and turns in the plot, Sultan is a clear-cut winner at box-office as well as in people's hearts.

Junooniyat2016

Junooniyat, a romantic flick by Vivek Agnihotri, explores a few of the favourite theme of films i.e. love, romance, passion, relationship. Although, the plot of Junooniyat has no novelty, music, cinematography, and Pulkit-Yami pairing (their chemistry is definitely better in this film in comparison to 'Sanam Re') gives a fresh look and feel to the film. Junooniyat means passion, madness, insanity, obsession etc. I felt that the film could not do the justice towards its title, since the story / screenplay did not incorporate the protagonists' junooniyat in the film. The love happened easily, interim separation also happened easily and then the 'getting-back together' also happened without much of a hassle. So, somehow, there was no scope for the junooniyat to be displayed. If I need to mention, Junooniyat was there in films like Veer-Zara, Silsila, Qayamat se Qayamat Tak or even the most recently released Marathi film Sairaat. I did find junooniyat missing from this film. But if I keep this point aside, the film is indeed watchable and it also keeps the audience very much engaged. Jahan Bakshi (Pulkit Samrat), an Indian Army Captain, believes that everything in life is a choice and there is nothing called destiny. He does write Shayaris and expresses with much confidence that there is no such riddle which he cannot solve. Jahan rescues Suhani Kapoor (Yami Gautam) swimming in a restricted area in Sonmarg (this scene of Jahan rescuing Suhani reminded me of Veer-Zara, where Pretty Zinta was lifted by Shah Rukh Khan). Suhani who is originally from Amritsar has come along with her friends for a camp. Jahan brings Suhani to his army camp for interrogation in regard to her intruding the restricted area. Suhani manages to get away due to her gregariousness. She accuses Jahan of manhandling her during the rescue operations. She demands an apology letter from Jahan. There follows a series of banters between Suhani and Jahan and also songs. Their paths cross a few times, and ultimately the inevitable happens i.e. the love between Suhani and Jahan. Suhani is brought up in a very protective family environment, where she is being loved a lot by her parents, grandparents and sister-in-law. In her family, two uncles and brother are martyrs. Suhani and Jahan's love catches the attention of her family. Her father is dead against their marriage. What is the reason of Suhani's father resisting her marriage to Jahan ? What happens when Suhani is restricted from meeting Jahan? What are the various sequence of events ? What happens to the love of Suhani and Jahan? Are they able to overcome family's resistance ? What happens, when life itself becomes a riddle for Jahan? What happens, when destiny plays its game in Jahan and Suhani's lives ? The second half sees the entry of Yash (Gulshan Devaiah), what role does he play? Mishti (Hrishitaa Bhatt plays the role of Suhani's sister-in-law; is she in support of Suhani-Jahan's love? How the climax of the film is set up? The film is more of a musical melody. In the first half, there are songs every 10 minutes. Most of the songs are indeed very nice. As far as the performances are concerned, Pulkit and Yami does inject freshness into this usual plot. Gulshan has a very brief role, but he does mark his presence. Taran Bajaj as Tullu, neighbour of Suhani, who openly claims to her about his love, does make one smile. Rest of the cast are also good. Indeed, there are some flaws with the screenplay. Vivek could have taken some amount of risk in telling the story without following a safe story-telling path and the cliché. Junooniyat, although with a clichéd plot and not devoid of flaws in the screenplay, has a fresh feel due to good pairing of Yami-Pulkit, the breath-taking visuals of the snow-capped Kashmir mountains, and enticing music. Watch the film.

7 Hours to Go2016

7 Hours to Go, is another thriller released this week, which is directed by Saurabh Varma. Though the plot had great potential to be an investigative thriller, but the effort fails. Although all the characters are introduced with their name and specific role in the film, this appeared a bit lengthy. The screenplay has lot of loopholes. The film begins with a shootout effort by Ramesh Dhadke's (Varun Badola) and his team in Khemka Towers, when intruders entered the premises. After an odd 6 months, the frames move to Arjun (Shiv Pandit), who comes to Mumbai City to support his girl friend Maya in Mumbai High Court, who is a witness in a high profile case. Arjun takes 7 passersby as hostages at Mumbai High court itself, when Maya is shot dead in front of his eyes. Within few minutes, Arjun is able to set up the hostage site in high profile technical manner. Ramesh tries to have a conversation with him, but Arjun wants ACP Shuklaji within an hour and he is adamant that he would have conversation only with Shuklaji. Shuklaji is basically ACP Nandini Shukla (Sandeepa Dhar), whose entry in the film is by chasing criminals. She comes to strike a conversation with Arjun. Arjun feels that only ACP Shukla can give him justice. He gives her 7 hours to arrest Kabir Khemka (Rohit Vir), a rich businessman, whom Arjun considers to be responsible for Maya's slain. Otherwise, he threatens to kill one hostage every hour. The clock starts ticking, but the film moves forward in a forced speed. How ACP Shukla handles the case? How Ramesh becomes a part of the investigation? How other characters viz. childlike psychopath serial killer becomes part of the story? What happens to the hostages ? How does Arjun yield? Does he kill any of the hostages? What is the real enmity between Arjun and Kabir ? Is ACP Shukla able to gather evidence against Kabir and arrest him ? The film tries to weave the answers to these questions very loosely. There are many scenes in the film which makes it absolutely unbelievable. Usage of high-tech gadgets and security vaults are unjustified. There are two scenes in the film where the female characters ACP Shukla and Maya change their tops in front of a male colleague. What was the intention behind these scenes? What happens to the character of ACP Shukla, whose energy falls in the second half of the film? As far as the performances are concerned, Varun Badola and Shiv Pandit are good, but poor screenplay makes their performances falter. Sandeepa looks good. Vipin Sharma as one of the hostage has a brief role. Music is loud. 7 Hours to Go, although had potential to be a good investigative thriller, falters due to poor screenplay, loud music and forgettable performances.