Shree Hari H

Raees2017

Shah Rukh Khan is, in many ways, an embodiment of quintessential anti-heroism, his magnetic screen presence invariably lending heft even to half-baked roles like that of Don whom he played six years ago. In Raees, however, Khan ups the ante considerably, playing a kohl-eyed, bespectacled liquor peddler with consummate flair – ostentation has seldom felt more fun. Director Rahul Dholakia won universal acclaim for his National Award winning feature Parzania that focussed on the disastrous Gujarat riots of 2002 and their aftermath. He returns to familiar territory with Raees, spinning a blood-spattered yarn of treachery, gumption and chicanery. The film is reportedly based on the real-life story of the Gujarati gangster Abdul Latif – as a result, it never fails to feel frighteningly authentic. However, a film of this nature is, more often than not, forced to cater to demands indirectly stipulated by popular mainstream cinema, and it shows. Poor Sunny Leone is relegated to gyrating in front of hundreds of lecherous salivating men while Raees, conveniently enough, chooses the aforementioned moment to take down his nemesis for good. Mahira Khan is strangely insipid in her performance as the titular hero's wife – this makes for a vapid romance that lacks both substance and bite. Nitpicking aside, Raees is a compelling character study of a deeply flawed man who refused to comply with various restrictions imposed by the place of his upbringing – and ended up paying the price for it. Raees managed to get an entire state – dry, as it self-righteously reiterates to this very day – high on alcohol. A few decades down the line, the actor who portrayed him continues to get an entire nation high on cinema.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil2016

With Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, it is evident that director Karan Johar aspired to make a film that stands testament to the power of love – especially that of the gut-wrenching, unrequited kind. What he does end up making, however, is a mushy, maudlin mess of a film that grates on the nerves – one that will probably be remembered as his most amateurish, imbecile production to date. Ranbir Kapoor plays Ayan, a guy who's helplessly smitten with Alizeh (Anushka Sharma in a stellar turn) but whose love remains mostly unreciprocated for reasons that vary over the course of the film. One of the biggest problems plaguing Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is that the film feels tonally inconsistent throughout its running time, constantly vacillating between juvenile comedy and melodramatic excess. The humour in this film is mostly meta and of the self-referential type, and this would not have been an issue if it didn't appear so forced and out of place. The film feels derivative more often then not – many portions are largely reminiscent of Imtiaz Ali's terrific Rockstar and the Shailene Woodley-starrer The Fault In Our Stars. This is a shame, considering the wealth of talent that Johar has at his disposal here. Ranbir Kapoor has the acting chops to pull off any role – any decently written one, that is. Ayan, however, remains a woefully sketched-out character, and one whose obsessive behaviour borders on the creepy. Johar's latest will inevitably go down as one of the most disappointing Hindi films of 2016 – a cracker that fizzles out without so much as a spark. Ae Dil, This Buzzkill.

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story2016

When I first heard that director Neeraj Pandey was making a biopic on a man who's widely regarded as the greatest ever captain to have served Indian cricket, I couldn't help but wonder if he had got his timing disastrously wrong. Dhoni, after all, continues to serve the national team in all limited overs formats, and a film of this nature would probably have been better served if it delayed its production until the point when he, as is inevitable, walks into a glorious sunset – one that's destined to remain unparalleled in its magisterial beauty. This skepticism, however, was dispelled when I watched MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. Pandey, after all, is the man who made the wonderful A Wednesday, and his magic touch remains intact. The film remains effective for the most part, thanks in large measure to the incredible life story that it addresses with an almost reverential eye for detail. The best parts of the film are those that underline Dhoni's struggles as a young man, and the many difficult decisions that he had to make over the course of his rather dramatic life. Sushant Singh Rajput is excellent as Dhoni – he brings a much-needed touch of vulnerability to a man whose aura, to this day, remains one of calmness and detachment. If there's one major grouse I had with the film though, it's the fact that the treatment of its source material remains largely soap-operatic in nature. Indeed, the film is replete with caricatures- ones that are painted in the broadest of strokes. MS Dhoni: The Untold Story is a solid, watchable film that deserves to be celebrated for the perennially uplifting theme that it highlights: the classical rise of the underdog. There's no denying this fact though: Captain Cool deserved a little better.

Pink2016

Does the wearing of a short skirt by a woman serve as a natural indictment of her character, a rather visible emblem of promiscuity? Do we, as members of a society overwhelmingly plagued with male chauvinism, even have the right to impugn a woman's motives based on her past relationships? These are just some of the rather uncomfortable themes that Pink – arguably the smartest, finest film you'll see this year – chooses to grapple with. Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury has managed to outdo himself with a modern masterpiece – a film so wonderfully made that everything else pretty much fades into oblivion. A young Delhi girl (Taapsee Pannu, in a riveting performance) gets into a fracas with a politician's son, a rather entitled snob who chooses to molest her when she refuses to succumb to his advances. The fallout of this is expectedly grim, and one that feels even scarier than usual because of how relatable it feels. Amitabh Bachchan is exceedingly good as Deepak Sehgal, a lawyer who chooses to come out of retirement and fight for a cause that he is able to genuinely empathise with. As for the screenplay and the writing, both brim with a sharp, sardonic wit that, rather incisively, cuts too close to the bone. Pink is truly a film for the ages – one that is timely, relevant and gut-wrenching all at once. Like the finest of champagnes, it leaves you with a wonderful aftertaste.

Mohenjo Daro2016

How much you end up liking Mohenjo Daro will invariably be a function of what your threshold for historical inaccuracy is. For this is a film in which a chieftain wears bull horns (even in 2016 BC, that must have ranked as a serious fashion faux-pas), a farmer sports six-pack abs even as he rushes to rescue a city in distress (Snap Fitness must have inaugurated their Mohenjo Daro outlet by then), and probably most outrageously, horses remain suspended in mid-air even as they politely wait for our hero to rescue his damsel in distress. Needless to say, there is a plethora of things this film gets wrong. But here's the deal – I found myself in a willing mood to forgive all this theatrical lunacy, and for one simple reason: I never got bored. Say what you will about Ashutosh Gowariker – the man has got a penchant for telling a story with ostentatious flair. It's inarguably the reason why both Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar have come to be regarded by many as two of the greatest films to have been churned out by Bollywood since the turn of the millenium – a view I incidentally subscribe to. Gowariker directs the film with a slow-burning intensity that reaches its peak in a memorable climax that left me gasping on the edge of my seat. Hrithik Roshan is an abundantly gifted actor blessed with undeniable screen presence and oodles of charisma – he is a major reason why this film works. The same, tragically, cannot be said of newbie Pooja Hegde – I couldn't help being reminded of Nargis Fakhri's painfully wooden performance in Rockstar and the way it affected the film as a whole. Mohenjo Daro is sure to have its fair share of detractors – but I found myself succumbing to the seductive power of Gowariker's storytelling for the umpteenth time. Unlike its moniker that quite literally translates to "Mound of the Dead", this film manages to stay alive with a unique beating pulse of its own- even if it probably deserved to be buried in a grave itself.

Sultan2016

One thing that's instantly noticeable about Sultan is the fact that Salman Khan – that most enigmatic of Bollywood thespians – doesn't play himself. Here, finally, is a fully fleshed-out role that he gets to sink his teeth into – and one that's a far cry from the grossly caricatured versions of himself that he's grown so accustomed to playing in the recent past. In Sultan, director Ali Abbas Zafar draws an enchanting portrait of a Haryanvi wrestler who, in his rather arduous quest for infinite glory, loses a piece of his soul somewhere along the way. In doing so, Zafar also tackles some very interesting themes: the gaping chasm that is the gender divide in modern rural India, the thin line that separates confidence from egotism, and the double-edged sword that love continues to represent in any courtship. As Sultan, Salman is clearly in riveting form, giving us a faulty, layered person whom we can all empathise with and relate to. The scenes in which he grapples with various opponents over the course of the film are exquisitely well-shot and pulsate with a certain raw energy that is hard to describe. The biggest strength of Sultan, however, lies in the tender, beautiful romance that its lead couple shares – it's awkward, heart wrenching and exhilarating all at the same time. Both Salman and Anushka share an electrifying chemistry – the latter does some of her best work here – and this helps elevate their on-screen relationship to unprecedented levels of loveliness. At its heart, Sultan is a very simple tale – much of it is indeed mired in the oldest of storytelling cliches – albeit one that's told with a lot of heart. For the die-hard romantic that lurks somewhere deep inside each one of us, there is beauty to be found in banality. Not unlike its muscular protagonist, this film packs quite a punch.