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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FLESH (2020) review

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FLESH (2020) web-series 

Directed by: Danish Aslam 

Cast: Yudhishthir Urs, Swara Bhaskar, Uday Tikekar, Akshay Oberoi, Mahima Makwana, Vidya Malawade, Ishaan Khanna, Kavin Dave, Sayandeep Sengupta, Chandana Sharma, Bijou Thangjam, Natasha Stankovic(Sp.App.) & others 

If graphic violence isn’t your cup of tea kindly skip this violent ‘thriller’ dealing with human trafficking with a tinge of the lost and found formulae of 70s retro Bollywood. This is like Manmohan Desai meeting crime patrol, it could’ve well been the third instalment of Rani Mukherji’s Mardaani franchise! 

The thriller unravels a flesh trade racket ranging from the Punjab to Mumbai finally leading to a blood soaked finale at Kolkata. When a sixteen year old girl from an influential wealthy family gets abducted as a part of an international wed trading racket, the cops are summoned to bust the trade, with generous dosage of sex and violence the series makes you cringe, uncomfortable and drives you to a point of nauseating discomfort. 

The makers make sure there is filth quite literally, maybe the idea was to raise awareness or make it more realistic but haven’t they heard of suggestive violence rather than graphic images? Worse, why use little kids? There are scenes of chopped fingers, choicest expletives, women and children are battered, raped, tortured, forced into sexual activities, the graphic depiction of these acts does not justify the central subject, these are privileges of absence of censorship on the OTT platform. 

Aslam’s direction is flawed and loses steam completely in the finale. Bhasker as the feisty ACP is earnest and commendable, while Tikekar is typecast in almost all his acts nowadays. The performer is undoubtedly Oberoi as the deadly bisexual tormentor who derives intoxicated orgasm from painful sex and violence inflicted on vulnerable victims. It’s a difficult role played with great conviction. 

It’s an eight episodic crime web-series disturbingly high on sex, foul language and graphic torture scenes streaming on ErosNow App. 
⭐️⭐️ 

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