POPULAR BOLLYWOOD
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BHEDIYA: 2.0 Stars. G.
Director - Amar Kaushik
Stars - Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Abhishek Banerjee
The Story - umm... about man becoming bhedia I guess.
The Characters - Varun Dhawan shows a glimpse of greatness every 5 years and then he goes back to doing the standard bollywood thing. Kriti is so beautiful and talented but since Bareilly ki Barfi she has been playing it safe. Kriti behen playing safe is the biggest risk. The movie is saved by the 2 comedians who are Varun's friends, they have some good lines.
The Verdict - Here's how it happened - Someone watched Twilight and came up with this idea to make this werewolf kind of movie with lot of special effects. The story will be - a man becomes a bhedia and thats's it. Does anything else happen? Nope. That's what we will concentrate on.
GOVINDA NAAM MERA: 4.5 Stars. PG.
Director - Shashank Khaitan
Stars - Kiara Advani, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar
DOCTOR G: 3.5 Stars. PG.
Directed by - Anubhuti Kashyap
Starring - Ayushmann Khurrana, Rakul Preet Singh, Shefali Shah, Indraneil Sengupta
The Story - A male Gynecologist is not a norm and our guy is stuck in that field. His problems and his growth is what this Doctor story is about. It's mostly a comic twist to the entire thing but with responsibility.
The Characters - This is a typical Ayushmann movie, he comes back to the genre he started with. He obviously fits it perfectly. Rakul is cute and has grown as an actor. Shefali is obviously Shefali. There is a stereotypical weird friend. There is a well developed mom character, who is looking for her own thing than just being a mom.
The Verdict - Everything works in the movie, but it still doesn't go into must watch territory. I think it gives us a feel of 'seen before'. All is good but we know what genre it is and what will happen. A good first attempt by sister of my favorite director and definitely a lot of promise shown.
THANK GOD - 3.0 Stars. G.
Directed by Indra Kumar
Starring - Ajay Devgn, Sidharth Malhotra, Rakul Preet Singh
The Story - I think I have seen similar things before but not exactly the same. By that accord it is something new. It is a story of a person who is in a limbo, goes to gates of heaven and is being asked questions before deciding whether he needs to be sent back to earth or go on into after life. A very simplistic version of it.
The Characters - Ajay Devgn has gone from dependable to someone cringy, to the point I postponed to watch this for sometime because I was like - भाई अजय को भगवन देखने का मन नहीं है आज। Sidharth Malhotra is very easy to look at and doesn't evoke much by himself. Which is probably a good thing but he has been promising for sometime but never delivered it either. Both of them together do a good job but the simplicity of the script and mundane treatment of the story does not let them do a great job.
The Verdict - I would have loved to give this concept some more philosophical weight but this one is rooted in very basic understanding of life and death. The movie is easy to see very simple to digest. Let's just say simple, nice and cute story of a guy who did not live life as it should be lived. I loved the song they reused from another movie, and it was borrowed well (Dil de diya) and the ending had a nice good twist.
FREDDY - 1.5 Stars. PG13.
Directed by - Shashanka Ghosh
Starring - Kartik Aaryan, Alaya F
The Story - A dentist is awkward in society and can't find someone as a partner. He finally falls in love. This is not a love story it is a psycho story. Love is not love and pscho-pana starts soon. Freddy is weird and has a lot going on but still the story doesn't hold it together.
The Characters - I figure Kartik Aaryan is a big star in Bollywood. He comes from long lineage of stars who can't act to save their lives, forget to save a movie. To kartik's credit last 2 movies he has signed are serious cinema that challenges him. Sadly he single handedly brings these movies down by his acting skills. I don't fault him for trying though. Alaya is pretty good in her role of a lover and more.
The Verdict - As is the norm for hindi movies, things don't move for a good hour. Freddy is weird and a loser but also a little psycho. He falls in love and wants to protect this girl. Twists happen in last half an hour to save the movie, but the damage had been done in first half. Hindi Movies need to have a mandatory class on editing and story telling. Even a good story is killed by presentation.
GOOD BYE - 2.0 Stars. G.
Directed by - Vikas Bahl
Starring - Amitabh Bachchan, Rashmika Mandanna, Neena Gupta, Elli AvrRam
The Story - Similar to genre to great movies like 'Pagglait' and 'Ramprasad ki Tehrvi' the movie is about losing your near and dear and aftermath of it. Mom dies and how the entire family deals with it. This has been done so well in last few years that you know what is coming. Husband has his own problems and kids have their own demons to tackle.
The Characters - It's an Amitabh Bachchan movie. He is still functional and still working which is great to see, but this movie doesn't give him much to work with. This project was too big and complicated for Vikas Bahl. He had all the right ideas but did not know how to put it into a story that connects. As a director he may be able to handle certain stories but not this one. Rashmika and others are doing what they are scripted to do but don't add much to the proceedings.
The Verdict - After seeing this movie I have more respect for directors who made Pagglait and Ram Prasad Ki Tehrvi. It looks easy to kill someone and create emotions around it, but it is not. In this movie mom dies, that itself is easy game for emotions to flow. But not once the movie makes you cry or get a choking feeling, thanks to choppy direction and story telling. There is not one theme, suddenly the movie goes into teaching young people about merits of religious practices around death. When there is an emotional scene developing it follows up with a silly fun song. Anyways talked enough for a 2 starrer.
MONICA O MY DARLING - 5 Stars. PG.
Directed by - Vasan Bala
Starring - Rajkummar Rao, Radhika Apte, Huma Qureshi
The Story - A warning - Do not watch the trailer. As I have been saying off and on. Don't watch trailers of any movie. Now to the story. It's what you dream for a thriller to be. Witty, funny, confusing, straight forward, simple. A guy has everything going for him, he is smart and recognized by the owner of a conglomerate, the owner's daughter loves him. He has it all and then things go south. He is trying to balance things but a murder gets the Police involved and things get more complex.
The Characters - If you are a Rajkummar Rao fan you probably already watched it. He is back. Well, he never went anywhere but this is what he excels at. This is exactly what he does the best.
There is a certain pitch that you want to see Surya Kumar Yadav to Bat
and
There is a certain movie you want Rajkummar Rao to Act.
अरे ये तो राइम हो गया. The there is the great and gorgeous Huma Qureshi, another role perfectly chosen, the secretary the entire movie revolves around. Last but not the least Ms Radhika Apte is back. We got over exposed to her. After a break she comes back with a bang. What a rendition of a cop role. The annoying intelligent scary weird Cop she is. I have not seen a better cop.
The Verdict - After a long time I am giving a movie a 5 Star. I am a little worried. I need to stop being hesitant and offer a 4.5 star when movies are entertaining me out and out. The movie has no flaws a nice taut script and awesome actors, good comic relief sputtered in. The best part is it's no gimmick movie. None of the 'we tricked the audience due to some stupid sci-fi bullshit'. Straight forward daily world getting tangled is way better than the artificial twists in the brain. Obviously you watched it, if not take off from work and watch it.
MAJA MA - 4.0 Stars. PG13.
Directed by - Anand Tiwari
Starring - Madhuri Dixit, Gajraj Rao, Ritwik Bhowmik, Barkha Singh, Srishti Shrivastava, Simone Singh
The Story - A mom has a life before her kids came and took over. She is stuck in her duties but she still has a past. A beautiful story that comes into the category of LGBTQ movie. But like any good movie it goes beyond any tag you assign to it.
The Characters - We have been waiting for a Madhuri comeback, there has been many and each was a disappointment. She tried a TV show and that was bad. So let me declare - Madhuri's comeback has happened with this beautiful tale. When a movie is well directed the actors shine bright, so do Madhuri's kids. All played by accomplished actors - Ritwik, Barkha and Srishti. The movie is about them as much as the Mom herself.
The Verdict - Hats off to Mr Anand Tiwari. I find these LGBTQ Indian movies so well done, this genre is something hindi movies do really well. I don't know why. Emotions and philosophy all are flowing well in this beautiful stream. Few scenes stand out, especially when Madhuri wins the battle with lie detector test because society's focus in on the wrong question. Watch it.
RAKSHA BANDHAN - 3.5 Stars. G.
Directed by - Aanand L. Rai
Starring - Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Smrithi Srikanth, Deepika Khanna
The Story - A Brother wants to marry off his 4 sisters before he will marry himself. This starts the entire premise of the movie. Brother tries to make his sisters into what the society needs as marriageable girls. It is a simplistic popular version of this subject and done well.
The Characters - Akshay Kumar after a very long time does something good. He has an actor in him that probably comes out once a decade. He gives a great few minutes of melodrama that is top notch. Gives you a reminder into old school great tragic scenes that are not made that dramatic in today's times. But he does take a standard movie to a good movie level. Bhumi Pednekar does a great job of the girl waiting for Akshay to get his sisters married, she has a good comic timing and has grown in comedy.
The Verdict - An old school social drama that you hardly see anymore. Just for nostalgia you should see this one. Even the social message sometimes is cringy in today's times but ignore that. Nevertheless it is all fun and games when you are sitting around doing nothing and you turn on a nice social drama that entertains.
SITA RAMAM - 3.0 Stars. PG.
Directed by - Hanu Raghavapudi
Starring - Dulquer Salmaan, Mrunal Thakur
The Story - A Veer Zaara kind of an epic story stretched from 1960s to 2020s. Ram is an army officer in 60s falling in love with a Sita who writes him letters when he is at the border. A girl in Pakistan in 2022 is asked to deliver the letter that Ram wrote in 60s to Sita. So the long saga goes from 2022 and flashbacks to 1960s.
The Characters - Dulquer Salmaan is a likeable face and this movie has Ram who can't do wrong. Obviously he is Ram. Dulquer plays that Ram so sweet that I had diabetes during the movie. I don't think there was a scene that he was not trying to charm you with a smile. Mrunal Thakur is easily one of the great actors we have and she puts in a nuanced performance, beautiful to watch and emotes at will. She was easily the best thing in the movie.
The Verdict - This is a South Indian movie dubbed in Hindi, so you have to give in to certain South Indian movie things, like a comedy track like 80s. A dumb slapstick kind of comedy that I have never understood why it still makes people laugh. The length of the movie is ridiculously long and nothing moves for a good one hour. Everything is packed in last 40 minutes of the movie. Yes, there is a lot happening and lot of surprises happen, but between the long old school Veer Zara-ish scenes and songs and Roja style scenery I was lost trying to find the end.
PLAN A PAN B - 3.5 Stars. G.
Directed by - Shashanka Ghosh
Starring - Riteish Deshmukh, Tamannaah
The Story - A pure love story. You hardly see just a simple love story. That is a pretty good reason to see the movie. A Divorce lawyer and a Match Maker have offices in the same building. They have their usual problems and you know they are the protagonists so obviously they will fall in love too. This is the most I have revealed about a movie ever! But obviously you know that. It is about the journey not the end and it's cute.
The Characters - Riteish has a niche market. He does movies that are never too bad. He acts well and he knows his shortcomings. Always dependable. Tamannaah is cute and she did act better than I thought. They have some good chemistry going on.
The Verdict - Simple cute love story. What else you need in your life. Nothing happens in the movie and you know it, just sit back and enjoy a good love story. Actually it is a good check how 'get off my lawn' old you have become. If you can enjoy this or complete it without complaining you are pretty young! Go try it.
DO BAARA - 4.0 Stars. PG13.
Directed by - Anurag Kashyap
Starring - Taapsee Pannu, Pavail Gulati
The Story - A SciFi thriller which is also spooky and scary at times. A girl is stuck in this time warp at 2:12 (Do Bara). There is a Kid talking through a TV to a person 20 years apart in age. Past talking to future. Altering the past will alter the future right? What do you do? An awesome plot and well put together.
The Characters - Taapsee is Taapsee, she is good. She is in her own league, she ain't gonna care, if she likes it she will do it. I still feel she is stuck in figuring out all the other production problems in creating a movie. She can just focus on acting and unlock another level that I am sure she has. Taapsee you team up with all the right people like the great Anurag Kashyap. Let them do everything and you focus on unlocking greatness that I know you have. This is an unlikely Anurag Kashyap movie, and the answer is because it is not his movie it is a remake and I am fine with it. Pavail Gulati is very good actor and he has a great role to showcase his talent.
The Verdict - It is too good to be a Bollywood plot and it is not. It is an official remake of 'Mirage'. I would prefer my favorite Director to make originals but sure this was not bad. Watch it especially if you have not watched the original. Very well done, you won't be disappointed. Way better than most things you see.
WEB SERIES
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KHAAKHEE - 3.5 Stars. PG13.
Created by - Neeraj Pandey
Directed by - Bhav Dhulia
Starring - Karan Tacker, Avinash Tiwary, Abhimanyu Singh, Jatin Sarna, Ravi Kishan, Ashutosh Rana, Nikita Dutta, Shraddha Das, Anup Soni
The Story - A typical Bihari gunda gardi potboiler. Police Vs Criminal saga. It has all the ingredients of underworld saga from North India. Criminal's rise. Criminal - Political nexus. Police - Criminal - Political arrangements. If you like all that, you will like this too.
The Characters - Karan Tacker is soothing on the eye, he is well shaven and built for this role. He is breath of fresh air in the world where everyone has a semi-gunda look to them. So I liked his role and the way he played it. Avinash is the villain in the movie, and sadly I thought he was not as menacing as his character was supposed to be. The acting levels were not as great as they could be. Stand outs outside of Karan were Jatin as chyawanprash and Abhimanyu as the side cop. Both were brilliant and made a great supporting cast. Ashutosh Rana also comes in a great role which is a very welcome surprise.
The Verdict - Watch it, if you like this kind of North Indian Criminal Drama. Good thing is it is short. Bad thing is it goes slow to start with. It is a good thing that it stops following the unrealistic American style drama like Mirzapur. It is not extra gory and shocking like Mirzapur which follows American web series formula. A welcome break from that.
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