POPULAR BOLLYWOOD
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SAAHO - 0 STARS. PG. (THRILLER)
Director: Sujeeth
Stars: Prabhas, Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff
After Bahubali they thought now we gotta go big and bigger. You can't keep going bigger! So they create Saaho. Out of the world thriller, suspense, action, drama. Out of the world is the key, just outdo everything. Whenever a movie is made with that intention, it is going to not have a soul or story or anything that makes it a movie. So this is some 5 hour (that's how it felt) of continuous climax. Every scene looked like a climax. You can watch any scene and wonder if the movie is going to end in 15 minutes because there is so much drama and action going on!
Actually story is too complicated and very simple. Is he a cop or not, is he a underworld or not, is he good or bad. Big heist was it done by him or someone else? Did he die or not? Suspense and twist every minute just another Race 3 on drugs. In the end you know this got to be the climax when Prabhas actually starts flying. Yea... Sallu also was flying in Race 3 and Prabhas did a one up by flying and catching people on the way.
THE SKY IS PINK - 3.5 STARS. PG13. (DRAMA)
Director: Shonali Bose
Stars: Zaira Wasim, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar
The movie is real life story of a girl who lived a short life. The struggles of a family as a unit when a member is dying young. Obviously the subject itself makes you cry and you get a lump in your throat all movie long. Add to it some accomplished actors like Priyanka, Farhan and Zaira. Well directed and well executed. I give it a lower rating because I felt the entire subject is pretty easy to make you involved in it. Also I watch it and I feel wow... we the rich people. Only rich and lucky of the world can keep someone alive for long, if it was a dalit the story would never have started in the first place.
THE ZOYA FACTOR - 3.0 STARS. G. (DRAMA)
Director: Abhishek Sharma
Stars: Sonam Kapoor, Dulquer Salmaan, Sanjay Kapoor
At first I got so irritated with the concept of 'Luck' being revered by the entire country. I am like what kind of person makes this movie!! then it struck me, well actually this could happen in a country like India. They can get obsessed with anything, actually they do this every day in name of culture. Actually the entire world does that. So I resisted myself from giving it a zero and irritated as I was watched the movie and tried to see how it is.
Zoya is supposed to be lucky charm for Indian Cricket team and so she is hired for that role. The Captain of the team is played by this accomplished actor Dalqueer Salmaan. He is the life of the movie, he has done some good roles previously. He is the pragmatic cricketer who hates 'luck factor' but falls in love with 'the Zoya' of the The Zoya factor. Unfortunately the protagonist of the movie 'Zoya' is played by Sonam, who can't act to save her life. I don't want to be rude, so I will just state it. Many people are non actors, but she acts in a way that annoys, she needs diction lessons, she needs to understand how not to talk like you are 8 year old. My guess is no one is giving her feedback she is a star before she was an actor and no one can tell her what to fix. She goes on and on in her ways of so called 'acting' and people around her praise her to be the 'fashion queen' and 'great talent'. Sad.
PRANAAM - 1.0 STAR. PG. (ACTION / DRAMA)
Director: Sanjiv Jaiswal
Stars: Rajeev Khandelwal, Atul Kulkarni, Abhimanyu Singh
80s movies, used to be about the common man wronged played by Bachchan. This Rajeev Khandelwal movie is exactly the same. He does his best impersonation of Bachchanesque swag as a simpleton turned bad man. Kallu turned Kalia in the Movie Kalia (if you are that old to remember it). The problem is even Bachchan can't carry those movies anymore, so Rajeev these are not anymore interesting. We know the plot, the emotions and the end.
WAR - 4.0 STARS. PG. (THRILLER)
Director: Siddharth Anand
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Vaani Kapoor
This is a roller coaster that movies like - Race, Saaho tried to do. Even Hritik has tried and failed in - Bang Bang. War is out and out unapologetic thriller and good one at that. 2 handsome hunks friends turned enemies. They kind of hijack the Dhoom platform a little bit. Dhooms are also on same premise. Hritik is in form, he has his swag going, he is aging and doing it well. He has his confidence up and mouths stupid dialogues with conviction. First scene he gets beaten and laughs saying - 'saare transmitter dhund liye? and takes one out of his teeth, spits it out and laughs.' I was sold. Director Siddarth Anand has the right mix of twists and turns with story. Ebb and flow of the movie is perfect. Tiger plays the unsure cop which at the start I felt was too submissive, but the end makes the perfect contrast. There were few 80s old school tracks they could have avoided like - Girl friend wronged, and boarding school kid in a catholic school with 'sister teacher'. ugh. But anyway.... can't complain too much. Tiger is the next Hritik and he got all the moves.
PRASSTHANAM - 2.5 STARS. PG-13. (THRILLER / DRAMA)
Director: Deva Katta
Stars: Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Ali Fazal
Another movie from the 80s era..... by the stars of the 80s/90s. Sanjay Dutt and Jackie decide, भिड़ु एक और मूवी पुराने स्टाइल की बना डालते हैं. Bring in Manisha Koirala and you got the 90s covered. The movie gives you nothing new but it also is not stale. It has a element of 'Sarkar' with gangster Dad has a good son and a bad one. At the end movie makes some nice little twists that makes it interesting movie and not a stale one. I can see how Jackie loves to play this silent character who is right hand man and righteous strong man. Sanju baba is ok and Ali Fazal does a good job. My only regret is - who gave Chunkie Pandey a break? Now he is back in every other movie. He is as annoying as ever. Hindi movies were OK without him, Why he had to come back??
SECTION 375 - 3.5 STARS. R. (DRAMA)
Director: Ajay Bahl
Stars: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra
The movie is about a law - section 375, which is a huge win for women rights. If a person is in position of power has sexual relations with a subordinate, the burden of proof is on him for any wrongdoing. I did not know that. So Bill Clinton could have been sued on present day in India? My knowledge is not that deep. But hey! great law!
I was not sure if the movie makers were trying to advertise the law or defame it. The movie is about a case when a subordinate accuses a celebrity of wrongdoing and two sides fight. Akshaye Khanna comes out of nowhere and is perfect for the annoying portrayal he is needed to do in the role, Richa Chaddha is an accomplished actor and can give you what you want. Actually what bothers me is the Male dominated Indian culture which may not be totally supported by this movie, but I know people support it. They are so worried about an innocent male being punished but are OK with accusing the victim when it comes to women. You know as the saying goes - 1000 लड़कियों की बलि चढ़ जाय लेकिन एक मर्द कहीं गलती से गिरफ्तार न हो जाय.
CHHICHHORE - 4.0 STARS. PG. (DRAMA)
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Stars: Sushant Singh Rajput, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma
This is basically a college movie which is common theme for movies. This one with it's unique way of story telling keeps some freshness to that idea. The characters are not new - friends are typical college friends and all have these weird stories, the freshness is - that all characters have equal footing and there is no trappings of a hero and the rest are idiotic sidekicks (many other movies fall into that trap). This movie has little bit of a '3 idiots' kind of treatment and flair, then needlessly they put 'Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar' into the movie. Varun Sharma is still doing is chhuchha thing and I am still not bored. Sushant and Shraddha are pretty good. When they all are in their 'old' avatar they all look a little weird and too made up. One of the college stories were exactly same as what happened in my hostel, so I guess it is relatable.
The movie is about a son who tries to hurt himself after he can't make the cut in entrance exam. The parents ask all their college friends to gather and they tell the kid their college story.
DRIVE - 2.0 STARS. G. (THRILLER)
Director: Tarun Mansukhani
Stars: Sushant Singh Rajput, Jacqueline Fernandez, Boman Irani
Greatest high Adrenalin edge of the seat heist movie ever made in India - That is what the movie maker was thinking while making it. Fast cars, car chases, twist after twist, everyone acting cool and great ooomph factor in every move. Jacqueline doing her thing of over doing every sexy move possible. Sushant trying to make faces like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. The movie is a Netflix movie! I thought Netflix movie should not be big Bank robbery movie! Anyway the movie falls flat on its face.
MISSION MANGAL - 2.5 STARS. G. (DRAMA)
Director: Jagan Shakti
Stars: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Nithya Menon
Akshay Kumar has become the Manoj 'Bharat' Kumar of our generation. Every movie he has to be an Indian Soldier or someone upholding the great Indian state. In this one he comes in as a Great Indian Scientist. It is story of Indian space program and how it sent a satellite to Mars. I have no interest in space so I am not sure what actually happened.
The movie's treatment is very conservative geared towards old school crowd. The movie is not about Space program's greatness instead greatness of Indian culture, if they are superstitious they are great, women are great because they can think in traditional Indian women's ways and still make an impact. Message is pretty clear if women stay in their lane of Indian traditions - saree, bindi, kitchen, mother ... then they are also allowed to do great things in field of science. Obviously there is a bad guy talking bad about Indian traditions and exalting America and we can't wait for him to lose. Not my kind of presentation.
KHANDAANI SHAFAKHANA - 2.0 STARS. R. (DRAMA)
Director: Shilpi Dasgupta
Stars: Sonakshi Sinha, Badshah, Varun Sharma
Sex clinic is handed to Sonakshi from her Uncle. It is not actually a comedy or a serious movie. It is kind of nothing. I think they should have gone towards a genre. It was just part comedy, part social. Well there is Varun Sharma doing his thing.... wow he is doing it in almost every movie. The guy is still funny though. Sonakshi Sinha is pretty good in her role and carries the film effortlessly.
JUDGEMENTAL HAI KYA - 5.0 STARS. PG13. (QUIRKY)
Director: Prakash Kovelamudi
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Amyra Dastur
I know when you see this movie, you are not going to put it at 5 stars. It is my bias towards quirky, crazy, whacky movies that I can't help myself. What a director, Mr Prakash Koelamudi where are your feet sir? How can you make every scene into crazy, funny, tense and dramatic all at the same time? Rajkummar Rao needed this movie after he was getting typecast. But the movie belongs to Kangana. What an artist and when you have to play a crazy out of whack character ...... you can't beat Kangana. Actually if Kangana meets me on the street and does not do anything quirky I will be shocked.
Kangana has lot of problems including obsessing over characters and people. She also has a good heart but she is also certified crazy. Add to this a normal looking Rajkummar who starts looking weird as the movie goes on. Add to this a murder, cross that it could be series of murders.... or maybe not. huh. Just go along with the ride. It is not your typical movie in any sense, don't expect twist every minute or characters behaving out of character to shock you. None of those 'trapping the audience' thing. Now add to it the Music, all RD Burman tracks and then some great lyrics. I love each and every song, but the 2 favorites are - kis raste hai jana, and the title song. Also the Ramayan with the seeta part is out of whack. We have done endless Ramayan adaptations - but still no one did this.
OK I guess you know I loved the movie. I guarantee you won't like it as much as I like it. But then this is free blog, I can once in a while let my bias go wild.
DREAM GIRL - 3.75 STARS. G. (COMEDY)
Director: Raaj Shaandilyaa
Stars: Ayushmann Khurrana, Nushrat Bharucha, Annu Kapoor
If there is a trend for last few years, it is these medium budget North Indian middle class movies. Middle class UP type house hold with funny characters running around. I like these maybe because I am a product of that. Ayushman has taken some strides as an actor. I never thought he could do Article 15 and now I can see less of Ayushman and more of the character in this movie too. He plays a middle class guy who has a talent of Voice modulation to sound like a girl. It becomes his trademark and it actually gets him a job and solves lot of his problems. Then... it starts creating a lot of problems for him too. Annu Kapoor is funny as his Dad.
BATLA HOUSE - 1.5 STARS. PG. (DRAMA)
Director: Nikkhil Advani
Stars: John Abraham, Nora Fatehi, Mrunal Thakur
I don't remember much of this, it is about the cop who is right about muslims being wrong. He is being prosecuted for being a patriot. Very typical BJP funded movie it seems, these have skyrocketed since BJPs rise. Anyway the movie had very few interesting moments, John has started sleep walking these tough cop roles.
HOUSEFULL 4 - 2.5 STARS. G. (COMEDY)
Director: Farhad Samji
Stars: Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol
This maybe the only Houseful that did not garner a 0. The movie runs in parallel between 1600s and present day. They are all reincarnation of past and stupidity continues. It is sometimes funny and sometimes idiotic but none of it grates on your nerves and that is a huge positive for this movie. They still are making fun of gays but I think this was much better effort. I just cringed to see Kriti in this movie, Kriti you are an actor, why are you in this crap?
BUDGET MOVIES
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CALL FOR FUN - 0 STARS. R. (COMEDY?)
Director: Janak Toprani
Stars: Priyanka Arya, Charu Asopa, Bharat Dabholkar
I don't want to waste my time reviewing this, one of those movies which were made by couple of people who thought they know how to make a movie and had some cash sitting around. The cast is very bad, they talk and you cringe. The movie is about a kid who inherits his dad's business of call center and kills it in a few months and needs to start another call center before Dad comes back.
HOUSE ARREST - 2.5 STARS. PG. (DRAMA)
Directors: Samit Basu, Shashanka Ghosh
Stars: Ali Fazal, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Jim Sarbh
Another Netflix movie that is an average affair. Netflix is now into volume. Ali Fazal lives in his house and is in a self inflicted House Arrest. He works from home and never leaves. He has a girl friend that is rather an underworld problem. He gets a visitor who is journalist trying to get an interview with him. It is just an ok affair of a low budget movie, it never got to the level where you really want to know what will happen next. It is one of those movies which you can put in the background and do your dishes.
S P CHAUHAN - 1.5 STARS. G. (BIO)
Director: Manoj K. Jha (as Jha Manoj)
Stars: Jimmy Sheirgill, Yuvika Chaudhry, Yashpal Sharma
One of the realizations I had in this decade is that a generation senior than us are just very egoistic and proud. They think their opinions are truth and they all think they did something very special in life. So Donald Trump is not an aberration he is the norm. Anyway this movie is also funded by one of those uncles, who think he has done so much in life, he is great and hence a film needs to be made on his life. Poor Jimmy Sheirgill - he needs roti too. He has to play this random haryanvi millionaire. The movie tracks the entire life from kid to Adult of this uncle. Mid way in movie I called it. I am like this movie is going nowhere it is not about a SP (Police) is it not about one theme, what the heck is this? And it dawned on me that someone has paid people to make a movie on himself. At the end credits they tell you all about him.
DOSTI KE SIDE EFFECT - 2.0 STARS. PG. (DRAMA)
Director: Hadi ali Abar
Stars: Vikrant Anand, Sai Ballal, Sapna Choudhary
Watch the trailer and get done with it. The trailer looks pretty professional, can't say the same about the movie. When the main cast have a diction problem you can tell things are not right. The punjabi puttar uncle who is playing a college kid with weird hair style, is probably behind this movie and his dream of making a movie came to fruition with this one. The guy is hilarious (unintentionally) in many scenes, the way he conducts himself. Sad to see people do this to themselves but hey! now that they did it we can enjoy the product.
4 friends have 4 different chips on their shoulder (can i say that?) and they want revenge with someone. It all happens with college elections, local goons and politicians etc. I don't think you will watch it unless you want to watch it for the fun of watching a bad product.
GONE KESH - 4.5 STARS. PG13. (DRAMA)
Director: Qasim Khallow
Stars: Shweta Tripathi,
We avoided it for a long time, the name was such a let down. With so many hair movies out this year I did not want another one, also this is with a girl so must be something about a disease. I was right about that, it is about a girl losing hair but I was wrong about dragging my feet on watching it. It was a great movie, loved it from start to end. What a director can do - thanks Mr Qasim for concocting this recipe with right amount of inspiration, comedy, drama and things in-between.
The movie is about this middle class girl losing hair along with other problems that come with being an adult middle class girl. One thing she has is a beautiful family, parents and specially the Dad, played perfectly by this guy we see so much but I could not find his name. She has a typical desi boy friend with a heart of gold. She has all the support she needs. I had tears in my eyes seeing the daughter - dad relation. Maybe I could be that good of a Dad. I loved the movie.
MALAAL - 2.5 STARS. PG. (LOVE STORY)
Director: Mangesh Hadawale
Stars: Meezaan Jafri, Sharmin Segal, Badri Chavan
Don't recall too much from this movie, except for we were bothered by the girl in the movie. She does not fit the role, she has different look to her and stands out which does not help. Same can be said for Meezaan, he looks too buffed and decorated for the chawl he lives in. Old school movies got away with that, but you need to be more authentic now. Anyway he is Javed Jaffri's son so he got the moves and both of them act well enough. The movie is a typical old school love story with nothing new to offer.
SHARMAJI KI LAG GAYI - 1.5 STARS. PG. (COMEDY)
Director: Manoj Sharma
Stars: Mugdha Godse, Brijendra Kala, Krishna Abhishek
Brijendra kala is a great side actor but as the main protagonist he does not deliver. He keeps same expression through out the movie and has no emotions. He is a big let down in this one. Krishna Abhishek does his same old stuff. Mugdha Godse is pretty good. The movie is about middle aged guy insecure about his wife being beautiful and young. He keeps cooking scenarios that people are trying to get to his wife. He is a writer about sex life in a local publication and that complicates his life more because his job and his personality don't match. Actually pretty decent plot, but when it came together it did not make me laugh.
MARUDHAR EXPRESS - 2.5 STARS. PG13. (COMEDY / DRAMA)
Director: Vishal Mishra
Stars: Tara-Alisha Berry, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Rajesh Sharma
Kunal Roy Kapoor is another actor who has one trick up his sleeve and that's it. He keeps the same face, same dialogue delivery nothing changes from movie to movie. He does take roles where he has to look confused and down on confidence. Actually when I looked up the trailer I think I never finished the movie... oops. Sorry.
ARTSY
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A SUITABLE GIRL - 5.0 STARS. PG. (DOCUMENTARY)
Directors: Sarita Khurana, Smriti Mundhra
I don't watch documentaries but I watched this one because of Antara being part of it and I think we have met Smriti sometime ... I think. Anyway I watched it thinking .. at least let's watch it as we know the makers.
It turned out to be one of the best things I have seen. I was hooked and could not move. All these movies that try to make you 'hooked' and 'edge of the seat thrillers' fail to do so and this unassuming 'suitable girl' does it to you. I had lump in my throat throughout the movie. What beautiful way of putting it together. Each story was riveting and obviously 'real' was so real, because it was real! But to bring it on screen and keep it real is a skill Smriti and Sarita have! I hoped for happy endings, and I wanted to cry. How bad it is for girls sometimes. I think I was uplifted and depressed at the same time.
