PODCAST THIS YEAR - A-TO-ZED BOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW
- Vicky Aur Vidya ka wo wala Video AND Vedaa - Comedy and Action in their purest form
- Singham Again - Religious Cringefest with great Ranveer
- Bhul Bhulaiyaa-3 - Bahaar aate hi bhul jaoge
- CTRL - makes Ananya Pandey Great
- Buckingham Murders > Call me Bae > Yudhra
- Stree 2 - Not Streetu
- Bad Newz - Not Bad Not Good
- KalKill (Kali and Kill)
- Mr and Mrs Mahi / Munjya
- Heeramandi
- Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya
- Top 10 Movies of 2023
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOLLYWOOD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SINGHAM AGAIN - 2.0 Stars. G.
Directed by - Rohit Shetty
Starring - Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor
Kaash Singham Na hota again? But it was. Same Ajay Devgan trying to act cool in glasses, bunch of stars all asked to do cool stuff in slow mo. People like Rohit Shetty will always remain in the world because world has volume, and volume is the least common denominator of entertainment. They will get it right once in a while and continue serving trash. This is a perfect example of why every human endeavor is about making money. The movie has no other secondary tertiary meaning except to make money.
It has cringe level Ramayan references in it. Hindus! we have a problem. When you were a kid and you believed in super man Hanuman it's fine. If you grew up and all you did was learn science and still believe all the magic and jaadu tona in name of god. You did not develop at all. A kinder garten kid saying abc sounds cute, when an adult still keeps chanting abc... it looks bad. The movie has references like 'paawan bhumi there is no gravity because Hanuman came here.' O please... don't insult your religion. Think about it, if you find a Christian grown up man believing in Santa and looking up in the sky every christmas? That's what you are.
Anyway the movie is not a Zero star it is a 2 star. AND all 2 stars go to the great man Ranveer Singh. He can make anything better. His all time comedy is LOL like laugh out loud comedy. Mr Ranveer you made my day even in that movie.
SIRF EK BANDA KAAFI HAI - 3.75 Stars. PG.
Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai - Trailer
Directed by - Apoorv Singh Karki
Starring - Manoj Bajpayee
Based on sex predator baba asaram bapu's case. It was blood boiling ridiculousness when the news came out some time back. The film does a great job of showing how an average lawyer went through the system and got one of the biggest baba in jail. This does take some guts. I don't know how many people can do that and how many could have tried but killed in the process. This is a success story so worth a watch.
Directed by - Atul Sabharwal
Starring - Rahul Bose, Aparshakti Khurana, Ishwak Singh, Anupriya Goenka, Kabir Bedi
VICKY AUR VIDYA KA WO WALA VIDEO - 4.0 Stars. G.
Vicky Vidya ka wo wala Video - Trailer
Directed by - Raaj Shaandilyaa
Starring - Rajkummar Rao, Triptii Dimri
Talked enough in my Podcast. A good regular small town comedy that comes out of Bollywood. we need to be thankful they make these light hearted formulaic small town comic movies. If you listen to the pundits, all they should make is 'South Indian' style one man army superstar movies. I have more respect for these movies now. Funny and simple good for a watch. Rajkummar can't do anything wrong in such movies, Tripti is okay and Vijay Raaz is in full form as a cop investigating the case.
SIKANDAR KA MUQADDAR - 4.0 Stars.
Sikandar Ka Muqaddar - Trailer
Directed by - Neeraj Pandey
Starring - Avinash Tiwary, Jimmy Sheirgill, Tamannaah Bhatia, Rajeev Mehta, Divya Dutta
JIGRA - 2.5 Stars. PG.
Directed by - Vasan Bala
Starring - Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina
Good try but ultimately confused to the core. We will make a movie about a sister who dotes on his brother and wants to get him out of the Jail at all cost. Then, we will put so much masala into it that it becomes great... right? WRONG. The movie is confused that's what it is. Is it about Super Action gal? Is it about emotions between bro and sis? Is it about careful Jail break? Is it a thriller? A drama? Are we focusing on making people cry? or keep their jaws clenched due to anger and retribution? or are we just giving them a great feel good thriller?
VEDAA - 3.5 Stars. PG.
Directed by - Nikkhil Advani
Starring - John Abraham, Sharvari, Abhishek Banerjee, Ashish Vidyarthi
Ahh.. my beloved John Ibraham. He has found a niche. An angry brooding old man! I love him for this non-acting acting role he does. Find a brooding mad face and keep it like that for the entire movie. It always helps to be fired from the armed forces for defying orders, that sets a good tone of seething anger. He ends up in his wife's village where he finds a Dalit woman (Sharvari) ready to fight the upper caste oppression. He finds a cause post his army and love life stint and Sharvari finds a He-Man Ally. Let's go and fight!
RAUTU KA RAAZ - 4.5 Stars. PG.
Directed by - Anand Surapur
Starring - Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Narayani Shastri, Rajesh Kumar, Atul Tiwari
SARFIRA - 3.5 Stars. G.
Directed by - Sudha Kongara
Starring - Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Radhika Madan
PHIR AAYE HASEEN DILRUBA - 3.0 Stars.
Directed by - Jayprad Desai
Starring - Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Sunny Kaushal
There was a Haseen Dilruba few years ago, now this is 'fir aayi'. If you have forgotten the original one you are not alone, everyone has. It was a great one. Basic premise is that the 2 lovers con a third one to get away with murder, now they are on the run and have settled in another town. Both of them still want to unite but their are challenges, including another lover of the 'Haseena'. An out and out mindless illogical thriller. It has so many twists and turns that you may feel dizzy by the end but who cares it is a movie that needs to be enjoyed. Too many references from the old one makes it difficult to follow but don't worry you got through School and College without understanding a lot of subjects you will be fine in this one too. Watch it, and do not compare to the original.
DO PATTI - 3.0 Stars.
I think I have said this before, Kajol used to be the greatest actor ever produced when I was young. Her squeals' used to be natural and her high pitch voice and over the top acting was complimenting the hamming of SRK perfectly. When you come out of that bubble and rewatch it, you know it cannot be called acting, whatever that was going on in those 90s romantic movies. Kajol returns as a cop, and she single handedly brings down the entire movie by her fake accent and uncomfortable role of a cop. Thankfully this is not a Kajol movie but a Kriti movie and ohh.. she pulls it through. Kriti is at her best, there are 2 Kritis and the cop has to solve a murder involving the 2 Kritis. Another murder whodunnit thriller. 2 sisters are rivals as they go after the same guy, the guy is not lucky as he doesn't know what is coming. Watch it.
CTRL - 5.0 Stars. PG13.
Directed by - Vikramaditya Motwane
Starring - Ananya Panday, Vihaan Samat
Ms Ananya Panday is a story that this blog will always remember. She probably was ridiculed to be the worst example of nepotism. Easily one of the worst bollywood had to offer. NOW Ms Panday has turned it around to become one of the best Actors we know. CTRL is story telling at it's best. Told from Ananya's screen. Entire movie is on a screen as AI App on her phone takes over her life decisions. She plays a social media influencer who has a public meltdown and she loses her BF and her followers. She goes on a vengeful path of depression. Vikramaditya Motwane who is involved in some of the great productions with Anuraag Kashyap like Sacred games and AK Vs AK comes with this masterpiece. Hats off to Vikramaditya and Ms Panday to give us this screen age AI movie. Also, please do yourself a favor and check out the songs.
VIJAY 69 - 3.5 Stars. G.
Director - Akshay Roy
Starring - Anupam Kher, Chunky Pandey, Vrajesh Hirjee
Another big surprise, Anupam Kher who has become the poster boy for hateful rhetoric for right wing crazies had went into propaganda movies. He finally found a good movie which on surface looks like a simple boring story about an old guy trying to complete a triathlon. Instead the movie is a nice cute, interesting movie of a about an old guy trying to complete a triathlon.
BHAIYYA JI - 3.0 Stars. PG13
KAAGAZ 2 - 3.5 Stars. PG13.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEB SERIES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BANDISH BANDITS Season 2 - 3.0 Stars. G.
Genre - Romance, Drama, Musical
Directed by - Anand Tiwari
Starring - Ritwik Bhowmik, Shreya Chaudhry, Atul Kulkarni, Sheeba Chaddha
Season 2 as is the norm falls flat as compared to the season 1. Season one was simple and straightforward about the classical music scene being obnoxious, dirty and filled with egotistical idiots. This one they start getting creative and has pushed too many characters, too many stories, too many different style of music and none of the songs make you pause and listen. Now I am no music buff and I may not have an ear for great music so you can still check it out. Just don't keep your hopes high.
CITADEL HONEY BUNNY - 3.75 Stars. PG.
Genre - Action, Drama, Spy thriller
Directed by - Raj & DK
Starring - Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kay Kay Menon, Simran Bagga, Sikandar Kher, Saqib Saleem, Thalaivaasal Vijay
Remember this name - Raj and DK. Whatever they make just watch it. You will never go wrong. This one starts slow but catches on pretty well. A spy thriller with love story and family drama all wrapped into one. I don't go with a 4 Stars but I can. Bus aaj mood nahi bana... Varun Dhawan kind of did not gel in the character but Samantha is awesome and more than makes up for anyone's folly. Kay Kay is kay kay... but not KAY KAY. The story is tight and thrilling but a little over the top. Watch it you won't regret it, and if you do... o well.. this advice is free. So you don't get your money back.
No comments:
Post a Comment