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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DURGAMATI (2020): Review

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Directed by: Ashok 
Cast: Jishu Sengupta, Bhumi Pednekar, Arshad Warsi, Mahie Gill, Anant Mahadevan, Karan Kapadia, Amit Bahl and others. 

What did I just watch? Still trying to figure out what was happening in this alleged supernatural thriller. Supposed to be an amazon prime original which is remake of a South Indian hit, original remake anyone? Phew !! It’s nothing more than cinematic torture on screen. 



The so called original story is based in Madhya Pradesh (beautiful location selected) where an IAS officer who’s also a murder convict is subjected to severe interrogation in an isolated apparent haunted Haveli. Sounds weird? If you watch the on screen proceedings then calling it weird would be an understatement. Things get complex when the accused gets possessed by the ghost of a slain queen who in some bygone era ruled that kingdom. Wow so original! 



With a foolishly developed concept like that along with some idiotic political angle thrown in this is severe mental Agony caused to unsuspecting viewers. Not sure if the original south movie was so bad but then it was a blockbuster, then what liberties did the makers take in the remake that it’s turned out so trashy. The only redeeming feature is the art direction, otherwise it’s a poor movie technically, very bad background score which is ideally an usp for thriller genres. 



The director Ashok, did he direct the original? He’s tried to show far too many things in too little time, maybe he should’ve considered an eight episodic web-series, wouldn’t that have served the purpose? His direction looks amateurish and unimpressive, there are four twists in a span of just twenty minutes in the finale. Even Abbas Mustan would’ve paled in comparison. 



Pednekar is miscast, she’s a good actor but not versatile, her personality and voice do no good to the possessed act, such roles need actors with a distinguished voice and a multi layered persona, somebody like a younger Rekha maybe. Poor Warsi hams in the role of a politician, Sengupta looks out of place, no idea why they roped in such a good actor for such a badly written part. Gill is decent and can easily pass off as Tabu, the resemblance is uncanny. The star performer is undoubtedly Karan Kapadia, such a lovely combination he is of Arjun Kapoor+ Twinkle Khanna+ Varun Dhawan, scared already? 

It’s hard to believe we are in 2020 looking at the outdated special effects utilised in this movie. This is an highly avoidable torturous cinematic blunder, crass. ⭐️

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