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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Choked (2020) review

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Choked (2020)/ Netflix 

Directed by: Anurag Kashyap 

Cast: Saiyami Kher, Roshan Mathew, Upendra Limaye, Tushar Dalvi, Amruta Subhash, Milind Pathak, Rajashree Deshpande and others. 

Movies on the OTT platform are definitely making waves in the lockdown phase, while some make you cringe,there are others that make you get up and applaud the efforts! “Choked” is so relevant, gripping and interesting that you can’t help but empathise with the lead player. 

The story has its roots firmly gripped into the lower middle class family of a bank teller (Kher) who is burdened by her responsibility as the sole bread earner feeding her jobless husband, his debts and their kid. She suddenly discovers a source of unlimited cash in her small one room kitchen flat. The happiness is cut short when “demonetisation” is introduced immediately, what next? 

Kashyap very skilfully delivers a brilliantly directed and conceptualised drama, difficult to categorise it into any genre but considering Kashyap’s offbeat inclinations this could well be defined as a new wave parallel cinema of 2020! The aftermath of demonetisation on bank employees, general public and mostly the middle class population is well documented. Though it’s widely known that Kashyap is anti Modi, he refrains from any biased propaganda here. 

Kher is a delight to watch, hardly two films and one webseries old she performs like a veteran, excellent command over dialogues, expressive face, minutest detailing to characterisation, she’s got fire in those sexy eyes. Her personality is like an delightful concoction of vintage Kajol, Winnie Paranjpe and Rani Mukherji. Mathew lends able support, watch out for the bravura performer Amruta Subhash as the neighbourhood “Tai”. 

This time Kashyap has invested in a “note” worthy combination of realism with fantasy, and he doesn’t disappoint. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

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