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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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Flashback# भूली बिसरी एक कहानी अनुराधा की...

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आज भी शिरडी, बनारस, तिरूपथि जैसे अनेक धार्मिक स्थानों मे प्रातःकाल एक सुरीली आवाज़ मे भजन सुनायी देते हैं। बल्कि ये कहना मुनासिब होगा के ज़्यादातर इसी एक मधुर आवाज़ मे भजन सुनाई देते हैं। ये आवाज़ हैं गुज़रे ज़माने की मशहूर पाश्वगायिका अनुराधा पौदवाल की। पद्मश्री से सम्मानित यह ज्येष्ठ गायिका आज गुमनामी का जीवन व्यतीत कर रही हैं। जीवनसाथी तीस साल पहले गुज़र गए थे और जवान बेटा पिछले साल २०२० मे गुज़र गया। अपने आलीशान बंगले मे मुम्बई में अनुराधा अकेले ही रेहती हैं।  १९५२ में जन्मी अल्का नाडकरणी को बचपन से ही संगीत से लगाव था। रेडियो पे वो लता मंगेशकर के फ़िल्मी गीत सुनती थी और उन्ही की तरह गाने की कोशिश किया करती थी। ये बडे अचरज की बात हैं के उन्होंने कभी संगीत की शीक्षा प्राप्त नहीं की। १८ साल की उमर मे संगीत सहायक अरुण पौदवाल से विवाह रचाके अल्का का नाम अनुराधा हो गया। अरुण उन दिनों एस डी बरमन के सहायक थे। अनुराधा की मीठी आवाज़ सुनकर बरमन दा ने उन्से अभिमान (१९७३) फ़िल्म के लिए एक श्लोक रिकोर्ड करवाया। बस यहीं से अनुराधा का संगीत सफ़र शुरू हुआ।  १९७३ मे शुरू किया सफ़र अनुराधा...
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Flashback# WHERE IS NEETA MEHTA?

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A tall, benign sophisticated woman clad in gerua robes, a picture of peace, epitome of spirituality, soft spoken and mature, nobody would guess this spiritually awakened yogini was once a glamorous Bollywood star! That’s 70s and 80s glamour girl Neeta Mehta who’s metamorphosed into a spiritual guru Maa with a new name Swami Nityanand Giri.  Neeta during a modelling shoot (1976)  Neeta Mehta was born in 1956 in an academically effluent Gujarati family. Not inclined towards academics she enrolled at FTII Pune acting course when she was only 16 and soon entered the glamorous Make belief world of Hindi cinema. Her debut Ponga Pandit(1975) opposite Randhir Kapoor was a runaway hit but success didn’t come knocking at Neeta’s door that easily. While her contemporaries were flooded with a dozen offers at one go, Neeta wasn’t exactly PR savvy and lagged behind in the rat race.  In a still from Ponga Pandit(1975) with Danny Dengzongpa and Prema Narayan.  She moved at a snail’...
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE 2(2020): review

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Directed by- Rohan Sippy  Cast- Pankaj Tripathy, Kirti Kulhari, Ashish Vidyarthi, Deepti Naval, Mita Vasishtha, Anupriya Goenka, Pankaj Saraswat, Shilpa Shukla, Vibhawari Deshpande, Kalyani Mulay, & others  Currently streaming on Disney hotstar, the second season of criminal justice just about manages to pass muster, comparatively season one was a little more thrilling.  The premise is that of an alleged cold blooded murder. A high profile lawyer is found brutally stabbed in his bedroom, the prime suspect being his psychologically depressed wife. A courtroom drama ensues revealing dirty, dark secrets of the window dressed posh lifestyles of the wealthy and famous. Is the accused acting depressed? What exactly happened that fateful night? Defense lawyers (Tripathy and Goenka) try their sincere best to expose the bitter truth.  Sippy is in fine form in his direction, if this was meant to be only a courtroom drama then he gets brownie points but considering it’s an...
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COOLIE NO.1(2020): review

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Director: David Dhawan  Cast: Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal, Jaaved Jaffri, Johnny Lever, Anil Dhawan, Sahil Vaid, Bharti Achrekar, Shikha Talsania, Rajpal Yadav, Hemant Panday, Manoj Joshi, Vikas Verma.  Yet another remake! That’s going to be the standard expression no? David Dhawan remakes his own 90s hit, frame by frame, no room for improvisation, includes comic formulae that is so 90s that it’s outdated now, sigh! And as an audience you are expected to lap it up.  The story which has its basic plot exactly the same as the original goes like this, a Panditji (Javed Jaffri) is humiliated during a matchmaking  by an eccentric wealthy man(Paresh Rawal) who’s a Goan Christian. Now what a hindu pandit was doing at a Christian matchmaking ahem, it’s communal harmony you see. Anyways the pandit vows revenge and plans to get the wealthy man’s daughter married off to a roadside , err railway side coolie(Varun Dhawan). To complicate matters the coolie has to ro...
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Flashback# The Bad Girls of Retro Bollywood

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Stranger than fiction, the so called bad babes of vintage Bollywood would appear piously sweet and simple as compared to today’s item girls. Considering leading ladies themselves perform item songs one can’t expect specialised dancers in the golden girl of cabaret category today. Here’s a revisit to seven wonders of Bollywood who danced their way into viewer’s Heart.  Helen   You think of Bollywood cabaret and the name that flashes instantly is the irreplaceable Helen Richardson, a Burmese refugee who ruled the dance numbers in Bollywood for three decades. Her famous songs include “Chin Chin Choo” “Piya Tu Ab To Aaja” “Mungda” “Aaj Ki Raat” “Mehbooba” and so many more. Undoubtedly the most successful golden girl of Bollywood.  Bindu   Popular for her stereotyped vampish roles she’s had a long innings in Bollywood playing roles ranging from a cabaret dancer to the evil mother-in-law. In the 70s she stole hearts with her sensational cabarets like “Mera Naam Hai Shabna...
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Flashback# Retro Bollywood Suspense Dramas

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Some retro Bollywood classics deserve a revisit/ rewatch specially on a lonesome afternoon, revisiting five suspense drama films from the bygone era with that classic Bollywood touché  Bees saal baad(1962 ) by Biren Nag  Biswajeet Chatterji, Waheeda Rehman, Madan Puri and Manmohan Krishna.  When you watch it you’ll realise it’s inspired from the west, no points for guessing the original but the Hindi remake has its plus points. A series of murders take place during chilling nights in a village, the beautiful Biswajeet Chatterji visits the crime scene only to be pursued murderously by the killer. The Lata  Mangeshkar haunting melody ‘Kahin Deep Jale’ only added more intrigue to the mystery factor. This thriller turned out to be the highest grossing blockbuster of that year.  Woh kaun thi(1964) by Raj Khosla  Manoj Kumar, Sadhana, Praveen Choudhary and Prem Chopra.  A young man driving through a rainy stormy night attends to a lady in white who asks for...
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ONE HIT WONDERS# 2

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Why should boys have all the fun huh? In the one hit wonders girls ain’t lagging behind, there are quite a lot of heroines who hit the bullseye with one big hit and could never repeat the success formulae ever again. Do you even remember a Meera Jogalekar from Ek Kali Muskayee(1967)? Or Naina Sahu from Hare Kaanch Ki Chooriyaan(1967)? In the second segment revisiting five leading ladies who hit bigtime and collapsed thereafter.  Vimi Aggarwal Petite, soft and beautiful almost like a Barbie doll, infact even expressionless like the doll that’s how Vimi could be described. Her debut Humraaz(1967) was a sensational musical blockbuster, but her subsequent releases in Bollywood ducked at box office, a tumultuous personal life and terrible choice of movies like Vachan(1974) and others ended her once promising career.  Kaajal Kiran Her debut Hum Kisise Kum Nahin(1977) was a box office mega hit replete with melodious music. She could’ve easily filled in for the retiring Neetu Singh, ...
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UNPAUSED(2020) review

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Directed by: Raj/DK, Nikhil Advani, Tanishta Chatterjee, Avinash Arun and Nitya Mehra.  Cast: Gulshan Devaiah, Saiyami Kher, Richa Chadda, Sumit Vyas, Ishwak Singh, Lilette Dubey, Rinku Rajguru, Abhishek Banerji, Geetika Ohlyan, Master Pallas, Ratna Pathak Shah, Shardul Bharadwaj.  The dreaded corona virus and the unexpected lockdown! Nobody escaped it this year, nobody really saw it coming, and the human race is still discovering the nectar vaccine. ‘Unpaused’ is an anthology series comprising five shorts based on the pandemic lockdown theme, the characters therein are battling the dilemma and insecurities erupted during the lockdown.  Glitch - set in a futuristic set up in 2032 when scientists are still struggling to find the vaccine, though technologically the world has advanced and we see an “hypo” and a covid warrior warming up to each other on a virtual date! Things take an U-turn once tragedy strikes and their relationship needs an reinvention. Worth watching for D...
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