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Showing posts from August, 2018

JAWAAN (2023) : review

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And finally the much hyped, much awaited Jawaan saw light of the day ! Big stars, big budget( humongous budget actually), big music composer, everything super large. But does it meet the expectations of the average viewer? No it goes not. Read on.  A decorated jawan locks horns with a criminal called Kaali, this is in 1986 ( the year movies like Aakhri Raasta released, just for reference). Kaali gets him eliminated and send the pregnant wife to jail. The baby born in jail grows up to become the hero (look alike of the father) and decides to avenge the misdeeds done to his innocent patriotic parents. Well, isn’t it a masaaledaar full on Bollywood- Tollywood drama subject ?  And then the director Atlee also borrows ideas and references from various retro movies, some idea from Sholay (1975) as the hero assembled a gang of jailed Qaidis in order to form a team to nab the villain, then there’s an entire episode borrowed from Dhartiputra (1993), and the basic theme is copy pasted ...
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SAVITA DAMODAR PARANJPE: a novel adaptation of a popular play

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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 ...
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STREE: a spooky comedy

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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),...
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शंकर जयकिशन की याद में

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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 अ...
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Satyamev Jayate: Revisiting the 80’s revenge dramas

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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...
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