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Showing posts from 2018

- December 08, 2018

KEDARNATH {2018} Director: Abhishek Kapoor So we are revisiting the tragic cyclonic storms that claimed so many innocent lives in Uttarakhand in June 2013. To give the maverick director his due credit he has certainly done a fantastic job of recreating the horror in the last fifteen minutes of the movie. Set in Uttarakhand the tragic love story features a young passionately in love couple Mansoor (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Mandakini (Sara Ali Khan) who are but obviously by Bollywood tradition divided by class and religion. With the families at war the unexpected storms create the much needed sensation in the story. Director Abhishek Kapoor has focussed majorly on the anti climax sequences wherein the special effects are adorable and worth appreciating, when we can go ga ga over the cartoon like effects in the over hyped 2.0 (2018) why not give due credit to the effects here which are authentically conceptualised and look realistic. Kapoor nearly sleepwalks in his direction through m

Bazaar- review

- October 26, 2018

Bazaar (2018) Directed by: Gaurav Chawla This is more like watching The Wolf of “Dalal Street”, the movie has no connection with its namesake art movie released way back in 1982, this is more of an off-beat corporate drama based on stock market politics. Now just how many Bollywood films can be categorised as corporate themed? Maybe Shyam Benegal’s impressively canvassed Kalyug (1981) or Madhur Bhandarkar’s poorly etched Corporate(2006), maybe a few more. But that’s it. The movie is one dimensional and follows the journey of an Allahabad based young boy Rizwan Ahmed (Rohan Mehra) whose keen and curious interest in the stock markets lands him in the big bad world of corporate politics in a high profile stock broking establishment helmed by Wadhwa(Denzil Smith). Rizwan soon joins hands with his idol the stock market mogul Shakun Kothari (Saif Ali Khan) who’s a sharp minded aristocratic Gujarati tycoon. The collaboration soon turns into rivalry and they turn bitter foes, they are bind

Revisiting the Ramsay’s : Halloween 🎃 Month

- October 24, 2018

REVISITING THE RAMSAY’s : HALLOWEEN 🎃 MONTH With Halloween 🎃 approaching soon let’s revisit some spine chilling horror flicks from the house of the Ramsay Brothers. Undoubtedly Bollywood could never produce a horror movie that could be anywhere close to Hollywood classics like the Exorcist or Jaws but whatever technical support and limited resources were available to them, the Ramsay brothers certainly dished out some trashy B class horror stuff with the perfect Indian ingredients like songs and dances and generous dose of sex and violence. 1. Darwaza (1978) This suspense drama revolved around a city boy (Anil Dhawan) who visits his ancestral mansion in a cursed village only to face a blood thirsty monster and unveil a well guarded family secret. This crisp and sleek horror flick had good performances from supporting cast like Imtiyaz Khan and Anju Mahendru and edge of seat slasher scenes by 70’s Bollywood standards. Amit Kumar’s dreamy vocals in the song “Hosh mei Hum kahan” are m

Badhaai Ho - Review

- October 18, 2018

BADHAAI HO (2018) Director: Amit Sharma This slice of life comedy will help you revisiting the era when middle of the road cinema was championed by Basu Chatterjee and Sai Paranjpe, a simple wholesome entertainer is what this drama offers. Based in Delhi, a young corporate employee Nakul (Ayushmaan Khurana) is dating an elite high society girl Reneé(Saniya Malhotra) and lives in the government quarters of Lodhi Colony, an area where neighbours intrude in other’s homes, young and the elderly meet up at day end to share and care at the ‘nukkad’ and the housewives Meet over low budget kitty parties. All hell breaks for Nakul when his middle aged parents declare an unexpected and unplanned pregnancy ! The family has to deal with this “good news” inviting wrath of their grown up sons, inquisitive inquiries of the neighbours and curious sarcastic taunts of relatives. This situational comedy is dealt with a lot of humour and a tinge of emotions. The director Amit Sharma has done a splendi

ANDHADHUN- review

- October 06, 2018

ANDHADHUN (2018) Directed by : Shriram Raghavan ~~~~~~NO SPOILER ~~~~~~~~~ “Don’t miss the Beginning” claims the subtitle of this thrilling black comedy layered with dollops of suspense and mystery. They’re right, the “Hare” hunt in the beginning is beautifully woven in the story leading to that shocking unexpected climax ! So don’t miss the beginning. The story is based in Pune and revolves around a young blind piano player Akash (Aayushman Khurana) who despite his visual disability is a master of playing the musical instrument that attracts a lot of attention-good, bad and ugly. Akash gets inadvertently entangled in the web of crime and passion when he “witnesses” a cold blooded murder. Soon there is another murder and the witness this time is - yes you guessed it right Akash again! Now he has to run away from the chasing unfriendly cops as well as the octopus clutches of the murderer. As the story progresses the viewers get to watch how Akash outwits his detractors to solve the m

Revisiting a classic story untold : UTSAV (1984)

- September 08, 2018

REVISITING - UTSAV (1984) The story begins with Amjad Khan (playing the soothradhar and Vatsayan, the author of Kama Sutra ) introducing the characters to the viewers. He shows Vasantasena (Rekha), a prominent courtesan, running away from the lecherous and stupid Samasthanak (Shashi Kapoor), the brother-in-law of the king Paalak. She lands up in the house of a poor musician Charudutt (Shekhar Suman), who is indifferent to the bad times that have struck him. She learns that his wife has gone to visit her parents with his child. That night, Vasantsena falls for him, makes love to with him and leaves for her brothel, not before leaving her jewellery under his care. But the jewellery gets stolen by Sajjal (Shankar Nag), a thief, who wants to marry Vasantsena’s maid Madanika (Neena Gupta) by paying a price. The city, sinking to anarchy due to the waywardness of the nobility, is at the brink of a revolution being plotted by Aryak (Kunal Kapoor) and his aide (Kulbhushan Kharbanda). Vasants

SAVITA DAMODAR PARANJPE: a novel adaptation of a popular play

- August 31, 2018

Savita Damodar Paranjpe (2018) Directed by : Swapna Waghmare Joshi Bollywood star John Abraham’s first production venture in Marathi language film is an adaptation of a popular 80’s play by the same title where late actor Reema Lagoo played the protagonist. It’s a rare phenomenon to witness a psychological thriller in Marathi cinema & this one is an exception. The story revolves around an upper class elite couple The Abhyankars, Sharad (Subodh Bhave) a novelist/writer and his wife Kusum(Trupti Toradmal) an architect. Things start getting difficult when Kusum gets recurrent attacks of severe aches and start behaving abnormally, their family doctor confirms it’s a case of split personality needing psychological assistance whereas a distant relative turned palmist Ashok(Rakesh Bapat) suspects Kusum is possessed. In either case Kusum claims she is a certain “Savita Damodar Paranjpe” whenever experiencing the attack. The helpless husband tries to solve the mystery only to delve deep

STREE: a spooky comedy

- August 31, 2018

STREE (2018) Director: Amar Kaushik Welcome back to the good old Grandma stories of a witch hunting a haunted town, this time with the current trending tag of “women empowerment” only to please the multiplex audiences and gain brownie points. The town called Chanderi somewhere in northern India is haunted by the ghost of a prostitute who’s aptly nicknamed “Stree” by the local residents, now this Stree only targets young men and abducts them by leaving behind their clothes! The legend has it that the ghost was deprived of her true love and is busy hunting for the same for years. A bunch of young “educated” and “modern” men take up the Herculean task of taming the lust hungry ghost in order to free the town from her “dehshat”! The director Amar Kaushik has intelligently induced generous comedy with a tinge if horror to direct this Horror comedy which is essentially a rare genre in Bollywood , just how many such movies do you remember besides Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), now this movie has

शंकर जयकिशन की याद में

- August 30, 2018

५० और ६० के दशक के सबसे कामयाब और प्रतिभाशाली संगीतकार जोड़ी शंकर जयकिशन को माना जाता हैं। उस दौर के सबसे ज़्यादा कमानेवाले संगीतकारों में भी उनकी गणना होती हैं। सबसे बड़े बेनर की फ़िल्मे, बड़े अभिनेता (राज कपूर, राजेंद्र कुमार , शम्मी कपूर) और लगातार बिनाका गीतमाला पे सबसे ऊपर की पायदान पे ज़्यादातर शंकर जयकिशन के ही गीत होते थे। उनकी टीम में गीतकार शैलेंद्र और हसरत भी थे। गायक कलाकर मुकेश, रफ़ी और लता का भी उनके गाने हिट करने में बड़ा योगदान रहा। क़रीब २० साल तक ( १९४९-१९६९ ) ये संगीतकार जोड़ी लोकप्रियता की शिखर पे बनी रही। हर फ़िल्म निर्माता और बदा हीरो इनहिका संगीत अपनी फ़िल्मी में चाहता था। एक के बाद एक सफल गाना बनाने के कोई अद्भुत फ़ोरमूला था शंकर जयकिशन के पास। सफलता का ये सिलसिला रुका तब जब इस अनमोल जोड़ी को बुरी नज़र लग गयी। दोनो में कुछ वजहोंसे अनबन हुई और जयकिशन बीमार पड़ने लगे जिस वजह से १९७१ में उनकी मौत हो गयी।उसी दौरान गायिका शारदा को शंकर ने हर तरह से आगे बढ़ाने का प्रयास किया। अपनी फ़िल्मों में गाने गँवाये, फ़िल्मफ़ेयर का पुरस्कार दिलवाया, पोप गानों का अल्बम रीली

Satyamev Jayate: Revisiting the 80’s revenge dramas

- August 16, 2018

Satyamev Jayate (2018) Directed by : Milap Milan Jhaveri This action packed revenge drama is more like an tribute to the good ol 80’s revenge dramas that essentially dominated that decade and the early 90’s. There is a serial killer on the prowl who is literally burning to ashes all the corrupt officers on his list in Mumbai city. A vigilant earnest police officer is assigned the task to nab the killer as they are criticised for their inability to protect victims of their own tribe. A cat and mouse chase ensues and the officer is unaware that the cold blooded killer is closer home. The director is highly and totally influenced by 80’s revenge dramas what with the hero flexing his biceps and tearing open a tyre, setting ablaze police officers and fighting three men at a time single handedly, this is oh so 80’s and 90’s. They could’ve well renamed the movie Paap Ko Jalaakar Raakh Kar Doonga, now that’s another 80’s title featuring a blood thirsty Dharmendra. Agreed there are two majo

Dhadak—- Review

- July 28, 2018

DHADAK (2018) Directed by : Shashank Khaitan There has already been enough hype about this movie, one for being an official adaptation of the Marathi blockbuster Sairat (2016) and secondly for its fresh leading lady who is a star daughter. Let’s dissect this movie as a stand-alone release rather than comparing it to the already watched and critically acclaimed original. Set in the picturesque Rajasthan, a small town boy Madhukar (Ishaan) falls hopelessly in love with the upper caste heiress Parthavi (Jahnavi) whose father is politically inclined and infamous for his notorious background. As evident in most love stories, the families oppose and the star crossed lovers elope first to Mumbai then Nagpur and finally settle in Kolkata. Thereafter begins a roller coaster ride for the lovers who face the dark and hard reality of what “life” actually has to offer them. Direction by Shashank Khaitan is mediocre, he has already gained repute with his Dulhania series with Varun Dhawan & Al

SANJU - The review

- June 29, 2018

SANJU - (2018) Directed by : Rajkumar Hirani A much publicised , over hyped and overtly dramatised biopic of the official “bad boy” of Bollywood - Sanjay Dutt. An eminent film maker like Hirani chronicles the life and times of Dutt through his biased bioscope lenses ! The biopic deals with Dutt’s drug addiction, his involvement in the 1992-93 Bombay bomb blasts and his time spent in the jail. Throughout the biopic Dutt is projected as the proverbial victim, it’s unfortunate that a director of Hirani’s caliber who has directed such classics like Munnabhai MBBS (2003), Lage Raho MunnaBhai (2006) and 3 idiots (2009) has disappointed with his favourite hero’s biopic. In an desperate attempt to super glorify Dutt’s gigantic blunders Hirani fails in uplifting his film, this is undoubtedly his weakest film till date in terms of conceptualisation and story telling. Very recently we had former Indian cricket player Mohammed Azharuddin trying to prove to the world that he’s no lesser than a

VEERE DI WEDDING- review

- June 03, 2018

VEERE DI WEDDING [2018] Director- Shashanka Ghosh The queen of Indian Tele soaps Ekta Kapoor & Star Daughter Rhea Kapoor join hands to produce this “Sex and the City” inspired chick flick even though the posters scream that it is not a chick flick, it certainly is one. The story ( or the lack of it) is about an Australia based woman Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor) who has a commitment phobia and does not want to get married because of her parent’s broken marriage and a disturbed childhood, when her long time beau Rishabh (Sumeet Vyas) pops up the ring she gets into an imaginative ( over imaginative actually) frenzy and obliges only to please him. Her friends join in to attend the wedding leading it some hilarious and emotional situations. Ghosh is terribly confused about what kind of a movie he’s directing, from a female bonding concept it suddenly slips into comedy and within no time into a tear jerk family drama, maybe a case of producer’s unwanted interference. Too many cooks (nearl

VEERE DI WEDDING- review

- June 03, 2018

Bucket list - review

- May 26, 2018

BUCKET LIST (2018) Directed by : Tejas Deoskar Now this over hyped movie is being talked about for just one specific reason- the big debut of yesteryears Bollywood superstar Madhuri Dixit in Marathi cinema ! Trust me there is much more to this movie than just that. This 130 minutes roller coaster ride is about a middle aged maharashtrian housewife who takes the initiative to complete the “bucket list” of her deceased young heart donor. So far so good, the only issue with this movie is it’s weak technical department as its high on the acting and direction ground. Deoskar’s direction is first rate, he doesn’t try to unnecessarily glorify Dixit or project her in a superstar league, in his capacity he delivers good enough. Abhijit Deshpande’s editing is a major letdown, it actually appears like he was dozing off at the editing table. Arjun Sorte’s cinematography is a delight. Technically the movie is weighed down and a reputed production house like Dharma productions could’ve invested

RAAZI (2018) the review

- May 13, 2018

RAAZI (2018) Directed by : Meghana Gulzar Very rarely in Bollywood do you get to watch a sensitive yet path breaking movie like Raazi which is directed by Meghana Gulzar who had earlier impressed with the unbiased presentation of Talwar (2015). Raazi chronicles the eventful and inspiring journey of a twenty something Indian Kashmiri girl Sehmat ( Alia Bhatt) who is studying in college and is suddenly summoned by her father (Rajit Kapur) to take up the huge responsibility of turning into a spy who would transfer sensitive and confidential information from Pakistan to India (the story is set up during the 1971 war). She is married off to a Pakistani man Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal) who belongs to a highly influential family in Rawalpindi headed by his father (Shishir Sharma) who is also heading the armed forces. The director has indeed done a splendid job of holding on viewers interest in the on screen proceedings. The story which is apparently based on a true life event looks dramatic rath

Rambo Indian Style: Baaghi 2 Review

- April 01, 2018

BAAGHI 2 (2018) Directed by: Ahmed Khan Rather than following his father’s footsteps young actor Tiger Shroff is on a mission to portray roles that are s combination of Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan ! The rate at which he’s either shaking a leg or flexing his biceps is enough evidence of his Hero worship. The predictable plot here starts with an Army Man Ronnie (Tiger Shroff) summoned by his ex flame Neha (Disha Patani) to track down her missing daughter who she claims has been kidnapped. Everyone including her neighbors and husband Shekhar (Darshan Kumar) claim they never had a daughter and the existence of the missing girl is disputed. Enter the cops, a plethora of muscle flexing, drug abusing or cigar smoking villains and the plot is thickened in order to give the hero enough reason to bash down the baddies and unravel the mystery. The plot is not only confusing and misleading but the way the director has approached the story is highly questionable of his directorial abilities.

RAID ~~~~~ the review

- March 18, 2018

RAID (2018) Director- Raj Kumar Gupta This gripping thriller is inspired by the true events of income tax raids conducted by the Indian revenue service in the 1980’s which created a sensation in the political and public scenario at that time. Set in 1981 in Uttar Pradesh, an earnestly honest IT officer Amay Patnaik (Ajay Devgun) gets leads of black money being stocked at the residence of an influential minister Rameshwar Singh aka Tauji (Saurabh Shukla), he raids the big palatial mansion along with his team and fights all odds including political, violent and even emotional barriers in order to extract the ‘hidden treasure’. Ajay Devgun is sincere in his act and looks like he’s carrying forward his Singham & Gangaajal avatar. He looks mature and fits the part convincingly and thankfully does not go over the top. Saurabh Shukla complements Devgun’s Ram with his fantastic portrayal of the Kalyug Ka Ravan. His archetypal killer look and menacing dialogues delivery lends able suppo

Hate Story 4 ~~~~ The Review

- March 11, 2018

It’s raining Franchise in Bollywood. You’ve a hit movie and if there is any chance of cashing on that genre then churning out a series of franchise seems to be the latest fashion in the past ten years. ‘Hate Story’ franchise is exclusively the erotic thriller genre and it categorically targets a certain section of viewers. The fourth installment is set in the beautiful picturesque London, the movie begins itself with a shocking murder and then switches over to a hackneyed flashback, in case that gives you an headache this movie has flashback Mein flashback concept which will confuse you even more, in fat it’s like a jigsaw puzzle. The story revolves around a night club dancer (Urvashi Rautela) who is handpicked by a corporate family (Gulshan Grover and sons) to be the official model to represent their new brand of cosmetics in the UK, after a series of twists & turns( which could even put Abbas Mustan to shame), generous liplocks & body show and off course murders we are final

Death of a Superstar !

- March 02, 2018

She was “Hawa Hawai” to some and “Chandni” to many , she was worshipped like an goddess down south and applauded as the first female superstar in Bollywood. She ‘was’ SRIDEVI ! Born in an humble family background she started acting in films at the age of 4 often playing a child god in mythological movies in Tamil and Telugu. She turned a leading lady at 13 acting opposite stars like Rajinikanth and Kamal Hasan. Within no time she was the most sought after heroine in south cinema. Her first brush with Bollywood is the forgettable disaster Solva Sawan (1979), not one to be deterred by failure she marched ahead in an industry where even the language was unknown to her. With a bravura performance in Sadma (1983) and back to back hits like Himmatwala (1983) and Justice Chaudhry (1983) she cemented her position in Bollywood. At that point she had many factors against her including her poor diction and inability to speak in Hindi, strong competition from senior Heroines like Rekha and Hema

GULAB JAAM

- February 20, 2018

Gulab Jaam (2018) Director: Sachin Kundalkar Director Kundalkar is known for some notable work In Marathi cinema like Restaurant, Vazandar, Rajwade & sons, Gandh etc. “Gulab Jaam” may not be his best but it’s certainly one of the better films made in Marathi cinema. An UK based banker Aditya ( Siddharth Chandekar) wraps up an hurried engagement in Mumbai and hops into a pune train instead of his uk flight. He embarks on a self searching journey to Pune with the sole intent of learning authentic maharashtrian vegetarian cuisine as he plans to set up a Marathi gourmet restaurant back home in the UK. He comes across an reclusive and accentric middle aged tiffin supplier Radha ( Sonali Kulkarni) who after much persuasion takes him under her wings to tutor him and share her secret recipes. Kundalkar has used Pune as a backdrop for this delicious movie as the city boasts of a rich Marathi heritage and culture most of which is still relevant and kept prosperous. The story does have it

AAPLA MANUS

- February 11, 2018

AAPLA MANUS (2018) Directed by: Satish Rajwade It is quite pleasant to see Marathi cinema coming of age and invading territories which have been very rarely experimented with, “Aapla Manus” might appear like a boring tear jerker family drama because of that title but it’s actually a psychological thriller playing on the psyche of the viewers as well as the characters therein. The movie begins on a stormy night when an old man is found fallen off the balcony of his flat in a high rise apartment. A tough disciplined investigating cop Maruti Nagargoje ( Nana Patekar) is assigned the task to crack the mystery behind this fall, besides his quest to uncover the truth whether it was an accident, suicide or murder the movie also delves deep into today’s urban lifestyles adapted by sophisticated ambitious youngsters who tend to neglect older parents in a bid to flourish their own careers. Director Rajwade has attempted a novel concept based on a play titled Katkon Trikon but his direction is

Padmaavat (2018)

- January 28, 2018

Padmaavat (2018) Directed by: Sanjay Leela Bhansali Considering the infamous ruckus created around this movie we realise it’s ‘much ado about nothing’. The movie boasts of Rajput valour and pride rather than demeaning any community in particular. Set in the 13th century this period drama chronicles the life of an afghani Sultan Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh) and his lust for power and more power, how he marches on a self destructive mission in order to be the sole king of the entire nation forms the basic plot of this nearing three hours duration movie ! So basically if the movie is about Khilji then why is it titled “Padmaavat”? Simply because it’s based on an ancient poem by that name and the Queen performs Jauhar ( self immolation)in the climax which is an important sequence. Director Bhansali is obsessed with Khilji which is why the entire drama revolves around him right from his introductory scene which involves an ostrich till the over dramatic finale you get to see Singh in

Search This Blog

Movie Reviews and More ...

Posts

JAWAAN (2023) : review

Bazaar- review

Revisiting the Ramsay’s : Halloween 🎃 Month

Badhaai Ho - Review

ANDHADHUN- review

Revisiting a classic story untold : UTSAV (1984)

SAVITA DAMODAR PARANJPE: a novel adaptation of a popular play

STREE: a spooky comedy

शंकर जयकिशन की याद में

Satyamev Jayate: Revisiting the 80’s revenge dramas

Dhadak—- Review

SANJU - The review

VEERE DI WEDDING- review

VEERE DI WEDDING- review

Bucket list - review

RAAZI (2018) the review

Rambo Indian Style: Baaghi 2 Review

RAID ~~~~~ the review

Hate Story 4 ~~~~ The Review

Death of a Superstar !

GULAB JAAM

AAPLA MANUS

Padmaavat (2018)