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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THE RAIKAR CASE - review

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THE RAIKAR CASE (2020) 

Director: Ajay Sarpotdar 

Cast: Atul Kulkarni, Neil Bhoopalam, Parul Gulati, Karan K Kapoor, Lalit Prabhakar, Manava Naik, Honey Kamboj, Vaishnavi Kadam, Reena Wadhwa, Prakash Ramchandani, Rushad Rana, Ajay Purkar & Ashwini Bhave. 

7 episodic mystery webseries streaming on voot select, quite edgy, thrilling, intriguing & unpredictable. 

Set in the picturesque Goa, the series begins with the mysterious death of a young boy from a politically inclined affluent family of Raikar’s. Even though the initial impression is suicide, the investigating police officer John Pereira(Bhoopalam) dismisses the assumptions & confirms its murder, therein begins an hard core interrogating search for the killer who Pereira is confident is amongst the members of the Raikar Joint family. Hidden skeletons from the cupboards are exposed as the family members deal with well guarded dark secrets involving dirty politics, incest, closeted homosexuality, extra marital affairs, voyeuristic activities etc. 

The concept is brilliant, writers Karmanya Ahuja, Anitha Nair, Bijesh Jayarajan do a fantastic job here. Editing by Kathikuloth Praveen is brilliant. Somewhere in the execution the director loses track specially when he tries gathering unnecessary distracting side plots which are in no way connected to the murder mystery. The breathtakingly beautiful aerial views of Goa add the much needed cinematic charm. Cinematography (Manoj Soni) takes your breath away. 

The very charming Bhoopalam & the pretty as a puppy Gulati make a good impression as the leading pair, Kulkarni’s restrained act & Prabhakar’s menacing antics leave a mark. But the show belongs to veteran Bhave who owns every scene she appears in, very subtly yet effectively she plays the matriarch with gusto & bravado. 

May not be the best suspense series on the OTT media platform but definitely worth a watch during “nothing better to do” quarantine phase. And yeah it ends on a cliffhanger hinting to an obvious second season. 

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