JAWAAN (2023) : review

-
Image
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 ...
Post a Comment

Ashram (2020) review

-



AASHRAM (2020) 

Directed by : Prakash Jha 

Cast: Bobby Deol, Darshan Kumar, Anupriya Goenka, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Aditi Pohankar, Rajeev Siddhartha, Tushar Pandey, Tridha Chaudhary, Vikram Kochhar, Adhyayan Suman, Sachin Shroff & others. 

It’s a known fact that Jha’s favourite topic is politics and add to that communal tension, caste system, sexual exploitation, etc and he can create an entertainment packed saga in a jiffy, maybe he has used all these elements in parts in his movies all these years, he gets to amalgamate all that into one single series here. 

The opening scene packed with a punch quite literally shows a young girl who bludgeons her transgender hostel warden to death, two hefty men who try overpowering the girl meet the same fate as the warden. This scene sets the ball rolling, you realise it’s no sweet little story you are going to watch, it’s bound to be a blood soaked thriller. 

A taur fast paced thriller, shot extensively in major parts of the culturally rich Ayodhya the story deals with a fake God man and his crime syndicate. An earnest police officer tries investigating a murder case that leads to the Aashram, helped by his subordinate, a fearless reporter and a glamorous doctor they collectively try exposing the dirty reality of the powerful God man and his team. 

Jha does a good job, this is just a part of the season one, and in the end you get glimpses of the second part which looks even more thrilling and interesting, he balances the act intelligently by showing the torturous discrimination against Dalits and in the same breath also highlights the evils of caste reservation system in the country. Probably only a film maker of Jha’s calibre could’ve balanced the two extremes so well. 

Deol gets a lifetime role but falls flat with a wooden face and a disjointed performance, such a good role and opportunity wasted. Darshan Kumar is fantastic, one must watch his breakdown scene, brilliant. Pohankar as ‘Pammi Pehelwan’ looks like a non cosmetic version of Jahnvi Kapoor, delivers a dynamic performance with aplomb. Also impressive are Pandey and Chaudhary. 

Jha’s entry in the web series world is a welcome change from the current lot of series being aired. It’s the second part that deserves an early screening. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FLASHBACK# An Affair To Remember ?

-
Image
Asha Bhosle and Dada Kondke? Seriously ? I’ll be dubbed insane to link these two veterans. But it’s one little known, never discussed, lost in clandestine Bollywood history romance (?) which was described in detail by the late actor in his controversial autobiography “Ekata Jeev” which was posthumously published.  In the biography there is a special chapter titled “Asha Nirasha” wherein Kondke has gone at length discussing about his tumultuous affair with the greatest songstress of all times. Kondke still a rising upcoming film actor at that time (1972) with only one hit to his credit was taken under her wings by the number two playback singer of Bollywood Asha Bhosle. Bhosle was at that time nursing a broken heart freshly wounded after a fourteen year long relationship with music maestro OP Nayyar had bitterly ended.  It is alleged Bhosle was depressed and found the right anchor in Kondke who in her eyes was the perfect jester to bring joy and happiness in her phase of rebou...
Read more

An uncut diamond called SARIKA

-
Image
There must surely be a really long list of artists in Bollywood who are termed underrated and under-utilised. One such actor is yesteryear’s sex symbol and more commonly known as Kamal Hasan’s ex Sarika ! It’s so unfortunate she’s labelled either of those two undeserving tags. Not that being referred to as a sex symbol is bad, but then she was much more than that.  Sarika was born in 1960 in a maharashtrian ‘Thakur’ family. Apparently the ‘father’ was conspicuous by his absence hence she was pushed into earning bread and butter at the age of six. When girls her age played with dolls, Sarika did the studio rounds as ‘Moppet Suraj’ mostly playing a little boy. From 1967-1975 through her transition from a child to a teenager she acted in notable films like Humraaz (1967), Aashirwad(1969), Khushboo(1975) and became a leading lady at 16 with Geet Gata Chal(1976) a surprise hit. Unfortunately her succeeding lead roles didn’t set the box office on fire, she was cast in a dozen disasters ...
Read more

Flashback# WHERE IS NEETA MEHTA?

-
Image
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’...
Read more