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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BANDISH BANDITS (2020) a review

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Bandish Bandits(2020/Prime Video) 

Directed by Anand Tiwari 

Cast- Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Ritwik Bhowmick, Shreya Chaudhry, Rajesh Tailang, Amit Mistry, Sheeba Chaddha, Kunal Roy Kapur, Rahul Kumar, Rituraj Singh, Meghana Mallik, Tridha Chaudhry, & others. 

I maybe wrong but this looks like the first musical web-series on the Indian ott platform. Melodiously infused with hummable and pleasant music (by Shankar Ehsaan Loy), this classic tale is a candy floss love story between two diversely different individuals bonded by a common love for music. 

Set in the picturesque beautiful Jodhpur, Rajasthan the tender romance between a pop diva and an exponent of Hindustani classical music is beautifully captured with their contrasting personalities, ideologies & differing backgrounds as the backdrop. 

Director Tiwari also known for his comic acting in movies and tv does a brilliant job here, certainly not an easy task to tame an actor of Shah’s calibre. Even though the series drags to ten extended long episodes Tiwari keeps the proceedings interesting with its usp that is music. Shankar Ehsaan Loy are the backbone of this series considering music plays an vital part in the entire story, playback singers Jaaved Ali(for Bhowmick), Shankar Mahadevan(for Kulkarni) & Pt Ajoy Chakraborty(for Shah) turn the on screen songs into a musical treat for us listeners. 

The performer of the series is without a doubt veteran Shah, playing his role with grey shades gracefully & that archetype glare that can melt an hard rock. The ensemble cast play their parts well making the series more performance driven. If you love Indian classical music this is a rare treat on the web circuit. It’s like after an overdose of non vegetarian feast we are being served an authentic Rajasthani vegetarian Thali. ⭐️⭐️⭐️


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