Q4 2018 - Tansformation of Bollywood is complete, No more Formula Movies.

POPULAR BOLLYWOOD

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Andhadhun - 4.0 Stars. PG13. (Mystery / Thriller)
खेल है ... खेल में कुछ भी हो सकता है


Andhadhun - trailer

Director - Sriram Raghavan
Actors - Ayushman Khurrana, Radhika Apte, Tabu

Sriram Raghavan rarely disappoints, this taut suspense thriller keeps a brisk Raghavan pace with enough twists to keep you entertained. The plot revolves around a blind man who 'witnesses' a murder or 2. He runs into situations and problems and the plot thickens and characters get added by a dozen. Actors go through the motions and even the great Tabu does not really leave an impact on the powerful character she plays. In trying to get the pace up and twists going the characters take a back seat and twists are at the forefront. But still it's a enjoyable ride with no time to relax.

Bhadhai Ho - 4.0 Stars. PG. (Comedy / Drama)
बच्चा ना हुआ बवाल हो गया


Badhai Ho - Trailer

Director - Amit Sharma
Actors - Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta

This is probably rated as one of the best movie of the year. So obviously the movie is a good movie. Why is it not rated higher here? - The answer is trailers. I don't watch them, but I heard the trailer due to others watching them. The trailer was the entire movie. Some movies have a great concept but they never move from there. So obviously the movie is in the moments and not in the story. They do a great job of putting together some great emotional moments in the movie. Parents (in their 40s) are having a kid and this does not sit well with anyone, not with grown kids nor with society. The movie is all about  how the tide turns for them. I would give this movie a 3.5 if it was not for the Daadi (grand mom) - she is hilarious and later she puts in a great emotional scene to pack it all in.

Manmarziyaan - 4.5 Stars. R. (Romance)
मेरी मर्ज़ी तेरी मर्ज़ी और उसकी मर्ज़ी


Manmarziyaan - Trailer

Director - Anurag Kashyap
Actors - Vicky Kaushal, Tapsee Pannu, Abhishek Bachchan.

When you hear that Anurag Kashyap has directed a Love Story.... you are like Whaaaa.... Anurag is Anurag and he does what he does. Thanks Mr Kashyap for being. 

The love story is not your regular Love Story to say the least, it destroys all codes and rules of a love story. Girl is irresponsible, stupid, silly, in fact does not fit anything 'good' we have known for so long. The boy has nothing to be loved for. They won't change the way they are, nothing will change 'for love'. So what do we do? We have a film at our hands. Then there is someone called Mr Bachchan Jr who knows a thing or 2 about underplaying a character with intensity. He has his own manmarziyaan who is stuck on marrying the 'bad'. No one is a good personality, none of them make much sense just like humans... you know humans are all too human. Every character has their own way of living their own manmarzi they will live with, along the way all the societal norms fall, who made these rules about love anyway? You can love and not take it all the way to some kind of fruition! You can love and take it to an ending too. It's all yours to decide.

Then there is something called direction - the twins pop in and out of each song the moment any of the 3 protagonists are in 2 minds, Abhishek drops his pug whenever he is plotting. And then the reason this movie is still in my head - the songs. Take a bow Mr Amit Trivedi. I don't like Punjabi music, the party sharty, daaru shaaru songs filled in every movie because they have to be put in. Amit trivedi shows us what Punjabi music can do! lilting melodies to creative rap. All in one album. As eros entertainment aptly puts it - From Punjabi vibes to electric, from club songs to sangeet music, and from love songs to an ode to heartbreak.

Do yourself a favor and listen to it one more time - Here

Dhadak - 3.5 Stars. PG. (Romance)
मराठी फिलम की बढ़िया कॉपी


Dhadak - Trailer

Director - Shashank Khaitaan
Actors - Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana.

Old school love story done with a lot of sincerity. A very typical desi love story. Poor Boy meets rich girl. A typical desi boy who just runs around the girl but won't face her, I thought that era was over in the 90s in my adolescence,well I guess somewhere it continues. The girl is the stronger and braver of the 2 and hence the love story forms. A good one, not much happens and it is perfectly ok because the story remains true to the love.

Sui Dhaaga - 4.5 Stars. G. (Drama)
आम से ख़ास तक का सफर


Sui Dhaga - Trailer

Director - Sharat Katariya
Actors - Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghuvir Yadav.

Many people may not give it a high rating but for some reason something did connect with me. The perfect presentation of North and Ghaziabad, the ordinary lifestyle and the way small things and small successes are supposed to be very big in individual's life. The story is typical rags to riches story with struggles and triumphs, but there is something about Aditya Chopra's presentation that works. Again the side actors who are now a days the life of these movies are A-1. The Mom is awesome and at one point I fell down from my seat laughing. The movie got me thinking of all the struggles my Mom used to go through and the character of Anushka is very close to her, the iron lady who wants to do something of her own but has to get it done in various different ways including giving his doting husband enough courage to do it. Go watch it if not done yet.

Anushka as usual gets into the character and you can't tell she is not that lower middle class girl with ambitions. I was disappointed with Varun Dhawan, because I rate him as pretty good actor and a few scenes where he could have amped it, he decided to underplay it.

Fanney Khan - 2.0 Stars. G. (Comedy / Drama)
सपने हो गए आउट ऑफ़ कण्ट्रोल


Fanney Khan - Trailer

Director - Atul Manjrekar
Actors - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao

Anil Kapoor plays a wannabe musician who is a worker by profession, his daughter inherits the passion of music too. Fanney Khan decides to make sure his daughter got what he did not. Aishwarya plays a celeb singer the daughter wants to emulate and Rajkummar Rao plays a friend of Fanney Khan. The movie has it's moments but falls flat on the script and weird to weirder twists the movie takes. The movie gets confused between becoming a out and out senseless comedy to a serious emotional drama between Father and Daughter. You can miss this one.

Gold - 2.5 Stars. G. (Sports Drama)
एक ज़माने में हॉकी महान थी


Gold - Trailer

Director - Reema Kagti
Actors - Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Kunal Kapoor.

In the era of independence Hockey was THE sport India played. Story of one man who wanted Hockey glory of a free India. Many things changed in the team, half the team became pakistani team and then typical sports corruption etc. I think we have seen many Hockey movies and many sports movies recently. This one is a little bit like a biopic of a man who is Hockey manager. Akshay does a good job acting like a Bengali, but I loved Mouni Roy as her wife, she is so cute and perfect for that role. You can watch it if you like patriotic hockey movies :)

Batti Gul Meter Chalu - 3.5 Stars. PG. (Social Drama)
बिजली की चोरी की आड़ में थ्रिलर


Batti Gul Meter Chalu - Trailer

Director - Shree Narayan Singh
Actors - Shahid Kapoor, Shradha Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma

There is a love triangle, there is major depression, there are 3 friends, there is 'wake up Sid' kind of moments in everyone's life. All this forms the story of this social drama about how local electricity boards cheats people and how it affects their lives. It is probably a semi-fiction story of a social revolution that brought the electric companies to book.

Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir se - 0 Stars. G. (Comedy)
भाई लोग हमें माफ़ करो


Yamla Pagla Deewana - Trailer

Director - Navaniat Singh
Actors - Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol

Who is going to bell the cat? Who is going to tell the deols that they are not funny? First time it was a fluke guys.... can you guys stop? If you say anything to Bobby and Sunny they will start crying and tell you how much they love their dad. Yes, we get it. But please keep it within the family.

One of the movie's hilite is - Dharmendra sees fairies around him all the time and talks to them. Go figure. This is supposed to be funny.

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ARTSY

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Manto  - 4.5 Stars. PG13. (Biographic)
दुनिया बुरी है तो में क्या करू?


Directors - Nandita Das
Actors - Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rasika Duggal, Tahir Raj Bhasin.

Manto - Trailer

Manto (Saadat Hassan Manto) was a poet / bollywood writer and a social activist and more during independence era. The guy had guts and was made out of the same stuff as Ghalib. Similar disdain for society and similar failures in life. Drunk failure in life is a charm of a poet and Manto had it all. 

After  a long time Nawazuddin figured he has stopped being an actor and took over a role that challenges him. After disappointing with his type cast roles like Sacred Games, he comes out and gives a great performance. 

Manto lived in Bombay and then partition happens and he left to Pakistan. Beautifully done by Nandita Das (a great director) showing the era with Ashok Kumar era of bollywood and how people's lives and friendships were changed due to independence. The guy has some great lines - ज़माना ही नाकाबिले बर्दाश्त है. And इतना मुसलमान तो हु की मारा जा सकू. The stories that Manto wrote are intermingled beautifully in the narration  and we can't tell what is reality and what is his writing. uff.. as I type I feel I need to watch it again.

Mulk - 5 Stars. PG13. (Drama)
गाए मुल्क नहीं बनाती


Mulk - Trailer

Director - Anubhav Sinha
Actors - Tapsee Pannu, Rishi Kapoor, Prateik Babbar.

Wah! Anubhav Sinha Wah! What a movie, you make me depressed. I watch the movie and feel all the emotions you pack into it. But why am I depressed is... the right wing friends and family will watch the movie, turn around and say it was a good movie and then go about their hateful business as usual! I don't get it! 

This movie is in the cult genre of 'Dev' few years back Pahlaj Nihlani did a powerful Dev with Amitabh and now this. I need to warn you - this is strictly in artsy category, if you like socio-political drama go watch it, else skip it. 

A Muslim family is asked to prove their innocence in a typical right wing way. If you are innocent prove it! Not the other way round. They don't want to fight but then they have to fight. If nothing else it clarifies the definition of Terrorism. Contrary to belief (Muslim guy killing anyone) it is actually different watch the movie. Tapsee and Rishi do an awesome job. Again I think Rishi himself is a right wing guy, so what my belief is - if you ask UP CM if he is a hardliner probably he will say he is the most liberal guy around!! They don't know!! They don't even know!! huh. Anyway go watch it.

Halkaa - 3.0 Stars. G. (Social Drama)
भारत का टॉयलेट प्रॉब्लम ठीक करो नहीं तो फिल्म बनती रहेंगी


Halkaa - Trailer

Director - Nila Madhab Panda
Actors - Paoli Dam, Vipin Katyal, Ranvir Shorey.

The kid in slums has a dream and also has an attitude about it. He cant do it in the open, he is laughed at for his obsession for privacy. But he wants his privacy while doing the daily ritual. The movie takes a twist when he finds like minded people who want a simple thing. A place where they can go do potty in privacy! is it too much to ask? The movie is not at all melodramatic or sad, in fact it is light and fun, that is definitely good thing about this movie with this kind of a subject.

Love and Shukla - 3.5 Stars. PG13. (Romance)
रिक्शा चलता हूँ और प्यार करता हूँ


Love And Shukla - Trailer

Director - Jatla Siddhartha
Actors - Saharsh Kumar Shukla, Taneea Rajawat

Shukla Ji is in love .... in love with his wife! Is that too much to ask? Love in Indian culture is not allowed, further if it is in chawl it is a sin. Shukla has to fight 1000s of years of culture, or at least his Mom and Sister. Very well done, though a tad bit too slow, but hey! this is artsy movie so its ok.

Hope Aur Hum - 4.0 Stars. G. (Drama)
हम सब एक जैसे हैं


Hope Aur Hum - Trailer 

Director - Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Actors - Aamir Bashir, Naseerudin Shah.

Everyone has same issues ... everyone. From 6 to 60 everyone. Kids has to conquer their seemingly stupid fears and so do old people and everyone in the middle. This movie brings this reality to life in a beautiful tale of a Kid and his grand Dad. Very well done by Naseer and Aamir.

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SMALL BUDGET POPULAR MOVIES

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Satyameva Jayate - 1.5 Stars. PG. (Thriller / Action)
मार पिटाई के एक सौ एक बहाने


Satyameva Jayate - Trailer

Director - Milap Zaveri.
Actors - John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee, Aisha Sharma

I remember last year I anointed Mr John Abraham as an actor. A miracle I never thought will happen. Well..... John has taken his action movie acting to a limit now. All he does now is that acting - low tone dialogues and flexing muscles. Another actor turned non-actor is Manoj Bajpayee, he over plays things and lost his touch. The movie is a typical revenge pot boiler with lot of action. It has pretty good twists but somehow this looks jaded and old school and you just go through the motions. It looks like a copy of a south Indian movie for sure. It has all the formula in it. 

Karwaan - 3.75 Stars. G. (Drama)
सब कुछ होता है और कुछ नहीं होता


Karwaan - trailer

Director - Akarsh Khurana
Actors - Irrfan Khan, Dulqueer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar.

Simple story about nothing. Well done and beautifully done. Irrfan is the side kick to the couple and couple are side kicks to the plot. It's story of the journey a boy takes to figure out how to cremate his dad's body which is mixed up with another dead body. Things happen and he takes an across the state journey with his friend. At times its a comedy and at times it is not much but simply life playing itself out. Also the journey presents beautiful country locales of south India. Good movie.


Happy phir Bhaag Jaayegi - 2.0 Stars. G. (Comedy)
यह हैप्पी वो हैप्पी नहीं है.


Happy Phir Bhaag Jayegi - Trailer

Director - Mudassar Aziz
Actors - Sonakshi Sinha, Diana Penty, Jimmy Sheirgill

Last time they went to Pakistan and made it hilarious with Pakistani likable cop making it refreshing and comic. This time they stick to the same formula but in China. They go to china with some racist Chinese jokes and chinese characters. For good measure they still hang on to the pakistani cop because he was a hit last time. This time they wanted to up it and so they decide to make a shakespearean confusion with 2 Happy characters one Diana and other Sonakshi. Somehow trying to do everything, took the fun out of it. New jokes did not stick and old jokes were already old. hmm.. sometimes it is difficult to make a sequel of a semi hit movie.

Loveyatri - 2.0 Stars. G. (Romance)
वही घिसा पिता फार्मूला


LoveYatri - Trailer

Director - Abhiraj Minawala
Actors - Aayush Sharma, Warina Hussain, Caroline Wilde.

Take new actors (preferably some industry relationship kins) make a love story. Don't budge from anything that we already know works from earlier movies. A supportive uncle, and unsupportive others in the family. Rich NRI girl, Poor Kid. Poor kid should be happy go lucky, Rich girl is sad and trying to find herself. They meet and they fall in love, but then misunderstandings need to happen and some tears need to be shed. You know the drill.

Mitron - 3.25 Stars. G. (Romance)
कुछ नहीं करना तो प्यार भी नहीं करो


Mitron - Trailer

Director - Nitin Kakkar
Actors - Jackky Bhagnani, Kritika Kamra, Prateik

Jackky Bhagnani I think is a producer's son, and he had earlier tried to become an actor and failed. This is his second coming in a small budget movie so not much of a pressure. He does a pretty good job. He plays a loser gujrati guy who doesn't want to do much in life but then love makes you do everything you don't want to do. The guy meets girl in some funny circumstances they relate to each other and the flashback works through the movie. A typical love story which has its moments. Again a tad bit slow going but overall an ok watch.
You will see a glut of 3 to 3.75 starrers now because the general standard of hindi movies have gone up so I have become picky to push anything to 4. I guess good problem to have. This one is a lower end of 3.


Soorma - 3.25 Stars. G. (Drama)
गोली खा हॉकी खेल


Soorma - Trailer

Director - Shaad Ali
Actors - Diljit Dosanjh, Tapsee Pannu, Angad Bedi

It is good to know there was this star who fought against all odds. A great sports comeback story. There are a lot of hockey movies now a days. Diljit Dosanjh does a good job as Sandeep Singh and Tapsee Pannu is obviously awesome. I have noticed if there is a role for a punjaban playing Hockey the role by default goes to Tapsee. The movie takes you through ups and downs of life of a hockey star with quite a few cliches that come with sports movies. A good watch, then why is it not more than 3 stars? Good question, I don't know, it seems like I have seen enough of these.

Helicopter Eela - 3.0 Stars. G. (Drama)
माँ है या पूंछ


Helicopter Eela - Trailer

Director - Pradeep Sarkar
Actors - Kajol, Ridhhi Sen, Tota Roy Chowdhary

There are some Dev Anand kind of actors. Actors like Raj Kumar, Dev Anand, parts of SRK - these are actors adored for their acting during their days.... but if you see their movies removed from the era they were in, you are like... what the heck this actor is doing?? Add to that list - Kajol, she used to be my favorite actor during KKHH days.... now she comes off as screechy, loud, over the top bad actor nothing has changed except in that time it all looked good.

Anyway ... another problem is Kajol does not want to look a Mom either, she is dressed and made up like she is going to give a tabloid interview with a photo-shoot. She wants people to say - Look at Kajol she still looks so good, instead of fitting the character. Anyway the movie is about a Mom who is possessive over her son that she even joins his college. To get to that point the plot has some ridiculous logic to it. Anyway it's an ok attempt and the movie has its moments.

Tigers - 3.0 Stars. PG. (Drama)
गन्दा पानी या गन्दा दूध


Tigers - Trailer

Director - Danis Tanovic
Actors - Emraan Hashmi, Geetanjali Thapa

A nice whistle blower movie, I think it is based on true story of a whistle blower in Pakistan who found out that milk powder companies are pushing their products in countries that dont have safe water to drink and hence milk powders for infants are fatal. Indirectly corporations were killing infants. Emraan Hashmi breaks away from his traditional role and does a good job with his new challenge. As can be said about every hindi movie, please make it shorter and edit it better.

Rajma Chawal - 3.75 Stars. G. (Drama)
बाप बेटे का फॅमिली ड्रामा


Rajma Chawal - Trailer

Director - Aparshakti Khurana
Actors - Amyra Dastur, Rishi Kapoor

A Son loses his mom and husband loses his wife and the drama starts. Dad wants to get into relationship with his son that never existed before. The son is trying to work himself out of depression of losing his mom. So the drama starts, Dad does some uncalled for tricks to get close to his Son. The girl Amyra Dastur is pretty good, she is the modern girl with cool hairstyle who is life of the movie. Rishi Kapoor does a Rishi Kapoor the boy is pretty good too. All in all not a bad try from Netflix.

Jalebi - 1.5 Stars. (Romance)
घुमा फिरा के वही सब कुछ


Jalebi - Trailer

Director: Pushpdeep Bhardwaj
Actors - Rhea Chakraborty, Varun Mitra & Digangana Suryavanshi

It's a Mukesh Bhatt Movie.Yes the guy is still at it. He uses a line in his love story and tries to make a story around it.Pretty cool eh? Not so much this time. He does attempt a few different ways of presentation, a complete flashback of a love story with story coming back in present on a train ride. 2 women talking about their love. There is a suspense of a broken heart. Why a perfect love story did not turn into a happy ending?

Well...after watching the movie I still am confused why things happened the way they happened. There are no compelling reasons for the breakup!!Anyway... watch the movie if you are really really doing nothing. Its not that boring if you forward it along.

Jaane kyu de Yaaron - 0 Stars. PG13 (Drama)
जाने दिया होता तो अच्छा था


Jaane Kyu De Yaaron - trailer

Director - Akshay Anandd
Actors - Raghu Raja, Daya Pandey, Kabir Bedi

When you try to take the title of one of the greatest dark comedies you better have something to say and something similar to present. This movie is a regular movie about scandals and scams and how common people are caught in it and then rise over everything to fight! OK big deal, its all very low cost low production value stuff. The director has seen many movies and knows what all previous movies did. But you know that ain't cutting it today. And yes .... Please please Kabir Bedi uncle please stop acting, you don't look presentable on screen, I don't know what you have done to the face but it's not working.

Phamous - 2.5 Stars. R. (Thriller / Drama)
गुंडागर्दी का बखान


Phamous - Trailer

Director - Karan Bhutani
Actors - Jimmy Sheirgill, Shriya Saran, Kay Kay Menon. 

Since the time Gangs of Wasseypur was released it has started these north Indian underworld / politician movies. This movie is in the same genre, nothing wrong with this movie. It has a kamina politician, a nice guy who turns into badmaash. An old school daaku who will kill for honor. A gunda who changes allegiance etc etc. But we have seen all this before. Shriya Saran looks pretty, Jimmy looks so young that I think this movie was made a decade ago. Watch it if you like this genre, won't disappoint.

Q3 2018 - Small is Big, Big is Small.

MAINSTREAM BOLLYWOOD

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Stree - 4.5 Stars. PG. (Horror Comedy)

स्त्री तू बार बार आना

Stree - Trailer

Director - Amar Kaushik

Actors - Rajkummar Rao, Shradhha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi.

Writers - Raj Nidimoru, Krishna DK.

What a concept and well executed. For decades we see this genre relegated to B-grade movies, because of same limited concept of a 'bhoot'. Someone decided to flip the script and make 'horror' into a 'comedy'. Great writers can do anything! The movie has couple of winners - writers and then there is Mr Pankaj Tripathi. The rule has been written - if there is a movie with UP backdrop - you need to have Pankaj in it. The guy is on a purple patch, you can tell his confidence in his comic timing - when he says in the movie - हम सब जानते हैं.

The movie is about 'stree' a ghost who is taking away men during 4 day festival season. Rajkummar Rao is excellent as usual (it is his genre) Shradha Kapoor does very well to underplay the character to keep the mystery alive. Lots of laughs and hugely entertaining. Go watch it.

Parmanu - 3.5 Stars. G. (Thriller)

बम का खेल

Parmanu - Trailer

Director - Abhishek Sharma

Actors - John Ibraham, Boman Irani, Diana Penty.

A low key thriller with backdrop of India's foray into becoming a 'nuclear state'. It checks all the boxes for being a great thriller, to make a simple story into a thriller is pure art. Great direction and keeps you on the edge, even though you know the outcome. Well done Abhishek Sharma. I can't believe how John has re-invented himself, #anythingispossible.

Nawabzaade - 0 Stars. PG. (Comedy?)

नाचनेवालों की घर की पिक्चर

Nawabzaade - Trailer

Director - Jayesh Pradhan.

Actors - Raghav Juyal, Punit Pathak and Dharmesh Yelande

If you have seen ABCD or the Dance-Plus show on TV, you know these 3 judges/MC. So now sitting idle inbetween the filming of the show they say - we should make a movie, same way everyone in their free time wants to make a youtube video. But somehow these people also act on that thought and waste someone's money. Why would you do that? huh. The entire thing is cheesy and cringe worthy. I am sorry, I should not write the review because I did not finish the movie. It was supposed to be comedy with jokes that people think they are funny but when you put it in a movie they are not. In case you want to know the storyline - 3 friends fall in love with one girl and then it goes on and on. Good Luck.

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3 - 3.0 Stars. R.

एक चाय को कितनी बार उबालोगे?

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster - 3 - Trailer

Director - Tigmanshu Dhulia

Actors - Jimmy Shergill, Sanjay Dutt, Mahie Gill

This is the third installment of a great first episode. After that this has really gone down hill. Jimmy Shergill in a movie that is going nowhere. This is a first, Jimmy ... we are disappointed in you. The movie starts as if everyone remembers and watched the first 2, in fact they behave as if we just watched a rerun of first 2 and have entered the theater giddy with excitement for the third one. A note to the director - NO ONE remembers the first 2, they were ages ago! Anyway, there is Saheb (Jimmy), there is Biwi (Mahie Gill) and this time the gangster is Sanjay Dutt, who has completely lost any motivation to work in a movie. He sleep walks through the entire role, no not the sleep walk that is his trade mark walk, which he used to do instead of dancing because he did not know how to dance. He really does sleep walk through the movie.

The movie is about How Saheb and Biwi play games and use a gangster to get back at each other. The movie does keep you guessing, who is going to win in their games? Is gangster being used? Or will he pull a fast one on them? etc etc... its a pretty ok thriller but the pace is slow, if you have the fast forward button and know how to use it, it can be a good movie to finish in an hour.

 

 

Race 3 - 0 Stars. G. (Thriller??)

यह क्या बकवास है

Race 3 - Trailer

Director - Remo D Souza.

Actors - Salman, Jaqueline, Daisy Shah, Anil Kapoor, and Bobby Deol.

Though it is a 0 star but it is a must watch. Sallu has lost it and so has everyone else in the movie. Over the top hamming from Anil Kapoor and the most disinterested Sallu (competing with Sanju baba) are leading this disastrous Race, which has no Race in it. For the interval scene which was just shot for the interval they for no reason stood in a Race Coarse mouthing stuff like - wo nahi jaante is race ka badshah kaun hai. Does not make any sense. Well that should be the movie tag line. Daisy Shah is the best part of the movie, yes Daisy is. She looks good, acts with purpose and fights well. Everyone else.... OK... If you are going to give a movie to Remo to direct you know you are going to create crap. I think around 1/5th of the movie Salma is either flying in a flying suit or fighting topless with Bobby Deol! Yes .. Bobby is now joining the act of drug filled bodies bloated stars. You better watch the last scene which goes on for ever. Then there is this thing of breaking into Haryanvi / western Hindi / Bhojpuri... or whatever they thought should be the language between Anil and Salman's hometown. O boi... there is a lot in this 5 Starrer.

Veere Di Wedding - 2.5 Stars. R. (Drama)

सिर्फ लड़के ही नीचे नहीं गिर सकते

 

Veere Di Wedding - Trailer

Director - Shashanka Ghosh

Actors - Kareena, Sonam, Swara Bhaskar, Ekavali Khan.

I have to admit, I never liked the new age bromance movie like - ZNMD, so how can I like the inferior version of it? Well this one is a sis-mance, I dont think that is a word. Story is about 3 friends who are going through their various relationship problems in life, one can't find a guy, one is having a white Boy Friend (Seems like a new trend in India), one is marrying but don't know why etc etc. Its all good but somehow all that does not jel well. The movie overdoes it's USP of making sure to prove the point that girls can also use cuss words and talk dirty and do gross stuff. It looks more forced than natural. Maybe it is the fact that it's a first or the fact that the girl's couldn't keep a straight face while doing it. Whatever it was, it didn't work for me. But I have heard it has worked for girls, so more power to such movies if that makes people happy.

 

102 Not Out - 4.0 Stars. PG. (Drama)

बच्चे का बचपन याद रखो

102 Not Out - Trailer

Director - Umesh Shukla

Actors - Amitabh, Rishi.

On the surface the movie seems to be pretty dumb but that works in favor of the movie. It is not a stupid comedy where a super old Dad is making fun of his Son and trying to send him to 'Old Age Home'. Sometimes movies just have that premise and then they show this one Joke they conjured up for the entire movie. Not the case, the movie after it's initial jokes of Older Dad being cool and Son being Old School, does move on and forms into a beautiful story of Dad-Son and Son-Dad and Son-Like Person and Dad. It goes on a roller coaster ride of fun times, and Sad times and happy times all mixed into one. The old hands at histrionics Amitabh and Rishi, again create magic when it's needed in some crucial scenes, that makes you realize why they were such a hit pair few decades ago.

Raazi - 3.5 Stars. PG13. (Thriller)

घर का भेदी बहार का होता है 

 

Raazi - Trailer

Director - Meghna Gulzar

Actors - Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal.

Moment of another confession - I don't like India - Pakistan type movies. Another confession - this is not your typical Sunny papaji style India - Pakistan Movie, obviously it is way more mature and subtle and layered because the Director's name is Meghna Gulzar. The movie is a spy story. A spy puts his responsibilities on his spy daughter. He ships her to Pakistan and asks her to work as a spy by getting married in Pakistan. Pretty darn difficult position to be in. The movie revolves around the Spy being torn between her Spy duties Vs being a wife.

I could not get any sympathy for the spy, which probably the movie was trying to get at. I could not feel the pain of her the way the movie unravels, I found her 'out and out' villain rather than any kind of hero. But I am sure most people don't see her that way. It's definitely a good movie that did not work for me.

NEW AGE HINDI MOVIES

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Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz - 3.0 Stars. PG. (Drama)

शायरी और whatsapp के बीच एक प्रेम कथा

Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz - Trailer

Director - Onir

Actors - Zain Khan Durani, Geetanjali Thapa.

Mausaki, aashiqui etc etc.... the movie starts with some poetry which is kind of different in today's movie. The movie has it's own different slowish pace which you don't mind. On the other hand it disturbs you with the lead female actor having some skin problems, which is another unique thing to see in a movie. Finally it shows WhatsApp and who makes these forwarded memes. So the movie has lot of different things to see. At the crux of it, it is society and a person dealing with societal problems. It is not a great entertainer but it is a good unique one.

Tikli and Laxmi Bomb - 3.0 Stars. R.(Thriller / Drama)

धंदे का भी तरीका होता है 

 

Tikli and Laxmi Bomb - Trailer

Director - Aditya Kriplani.

Actors - Chitrangada Chakraborty, Vibhavari Deshpande.

Sex workers go on strike and want to start their own 'sex worker corporation'. Tikli is the new kid who wants to revolutionize the business and Laxmi bomb is the older one who has been carrying the burden for some time. Both get together to do something special. But remember there is something called reality of life.

PS - Actors - can you make these name a little easy to type?

For Here or to Go - 2.0 Star. PG. (Drama)

जाओ तो मरो, न जाओ तो मरो

For Here or to Go - Trailer

Director - Rucha Humnabadkar.

Actors - Ali Fazal, Melania Chandra.

Some movies are made to satisfy the 'movie making itch'. That is the reason this movie was made. Someone had enough money to throw some to make a movie. One known actor was pulled in and then the girl who probably lives in US was given a chance to make this movie. I am not against it, but obviously the movie did not work.

It is about the struggles of immigrants who come to US as software coolies and keep jumping hoops of visa status. In that backdrop is weaved a love story. I liked the actor's north Indian friend who was pretty hilarious.

Brij Mohan Amar Rahe - 3.5 Stars. PG13. (Comedy/ Thriller)

भाग कुत्ते भाग 

Brij Mohan Amar Rahe - Trailer

Director - Nikhil Bhat.

Actors - Arjun Mathur, Nidhi Singh.

A Netflix original movie, this unknown actor is pretty ok at his craft. The entire movie revolves around him. The guy jumps from one problem to next and keeps digging bigger and bigger hole for himself. Can he ever get out of it? This is kind of a comedy thriller. In the backdrop of Delhi the guy keeps dodging his death. Good part of the movie is - no one is good, I think all characters in the movie are villain-ish which makes the movie a different experience. It has a good ending too.

 

Bhavesh Joshi SuperHero - 4.0 Stars. R. (Thriller / Drama)

जो अन्ना न ख़तम कर पाए वो भावेश ख़तम करेगा?

Bhavesh Joshi - Trailer

Director - Vikramaditya Motwane.

Actors - Harshvardhan Kapoor, Priyanshu Painyul.

A serious movie about a boy and his friends who are fed of corruption want to do something about it. They do somethings, but then they keep at it. Obviously corruption is in the society in the system and everywhere. There effort take serious turns and they decide not to back down. Bhavesh Joshi becomes a thought and not a person. A good but disturbing movie to watch.

 

Harshvardhan Kapoor does a good job in the movie. He is son of Anil Kapoor, and has been panned before, I think he does a pretty decent job. Sometimes people are hard on star kids, hey! they are kids! Obviously they won't be here if they were not star kids. But think about this - you won't be where you are if you were not your parents kids. So? Get over it! That's my take on nepotism debate.

Once Again - 4.0 Stars. PG13. (Love Story)

प्यार किया नहीं जाता हो जाता है

Once Again - Trailer

Director - Kanwal Sethi

Actors - Neeraj Kabi, Shefali Shah.

Shefali Shah is an actor par excellence. She takes an ordinary reular love story and heightens it to a high level. Beautifully portraying a mom of adult kids who are themselves looking to get married, but she her self is getting involved with someone. She makes it look so natural as she plays a lover with twinkle in her eye, and at a moment's notice becomes a old tired mom who is carrying the entire burden of family.

Angrezi Mein Kehte Hein - 3.75 Stars. PG. (Drama)

प्यार  अंग्रेजी वाला वार्ना...

Angrezi Mein Kehte Hein - Trailer

Director - Harish Vyas.

Actors - Shivani Raghuvanshi, Anshuman Jha. 

The movie has a very simple goal, which it beautifully explains in the title. As the song goes - Angrezi mein kehte hein ke - I Love You. It explains how the 'I love you' love is better than the traditional old school Indian love mentality. There is a distinction between Responsibility, Duties and Love. Love is above and beyond the structure of Duties. Very well done.

Black Mail - 4.0 Stars. R. (Thriller)

कौन किसके साथ क्या कर रहा है?

 

Blackmail - Trailer

Director - Abhinay Deo

Actors - Irrfan Khan, Kirti Kulhari, Divya Dutta, Arunoday Singh.

 

This is a cat and mouse game, which has its moments. The crazy guy (Arunoday Singh) really really plays the character 'crazy' he is good, he is the life of the movie, in fact him and Divya Dutta that this movie to whole another level. Arunodaya jumps from hot pan into the fire!

 

The story is a winner, it is fast and it changes and it is original. It is entertaining, it if thrilling but it has it's awkward moments too. The story is about a husband who wants to black mail his cheating wife or wife's BF or both. Other people also have ideas about black mailing, lot of blackmailing starts happening that makes black mailing not a rare thing. Then things go crazy and crazier. One downer is the lead actor has a gross obsession of stealing other people's wife's pictures and go to restroom.... Why would you gross us out when you have a great story to tell!!

 

Vodka Diaries - 2.0 Stars. PG 13. (Psychological Thriller)

Diary कहीं से तो मारी है. 

Vodka Diaries - Trailer

 

Director - Kushal Shrivastava.

Actors - Kay Kay Menon, Raima Sen.

 

The psychological thriller is a Genre that is not very Hindi movie thing to do. So I am guessing they lifted the story from somewhere and tried to fit it in to hindi movie scene. Actually they don't do a bad job, and Kay Kay Menon has always been a good actor to lift anything to a level of intensity. These movies always keep you in the dark and you keep guessing what is going on and sometimes you get bored too. All that will happen, the movie won't move but it is not a bad watch. If you know how to use the forward button efficiently you can do it.

 

Again ... a request to all Hindi movies, you are not serving buffet, the more you show the more audience you get. People I hope don't look at the length of a movie and say - wow I get to see TV on pirated site for 2 hours!! so i will watch this movie. Reduce the length of your movies please!

 

 

Post Graduate - 0 Stars. (Drama)

फिल्म चैलेंज - पूरी देख के बताओ  

The Indian Post Graduate - Trailer

 

Don't watch it. Some one on their handycam decided to make a movie. Sorry did not complete it.

 

 

ARTSY

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My Birthday Song - 0 Stars. PG13. (Psychological Thriller)

कोई समझा दो क्या हुआ!

 

My Birthday Song - Trailer

 

Director - Samir Soni.

Actors - Samir Soni, Nora Fatehi,

 

Sometimes you come across movies that make no sense and you love the magical ethereal sense that you could not put together but you understand. AND then you come across a movie like this one. Which in the end you get up and slam your remote and say - what the ..... yeh kya bakwaas hai, saara time waste ho gaya. Maybe it was beyond me, I don't know what happened. Some psychological stuff that stays in the mind and some is reality some is not. some goofy stuff like that.

 

Beyond the Clouds - 4.5 Stars. R. (Drama)

ज्यादातर लोगों की ज़िन्दगी ऐसी है 

Beyond The Clouds - Trailer

 

Director - Majid Majidi

Actors - Ishaan Khattar, Malavika Mohanan.

 

Theory is the actor got famous because of the movie 'Dhadak' and this movie could be released, which was made before Dhadak. The dude is a stud, what an actor. The kid has screen presence and has a cool confidence about him. Good actor.

 

The movie is one depress fest which all who are reading this blog should see to get used to the idea of what life is for most of the world. The story is of Brother and Sister who are trying there best to kick the life they were born in. Living in slums, drugs, prostitution, society, cops and hope. Audacity of Hope is it still tries to pull you into living. Living for something good to happen. The movie has some beautiful moments when our hero becomes the savior and best friend of the villain. Ahh... what a beauty of a plot.

Q2 2018 - Something for every One! Hindi Movies - No more 1 Dimensional

MAINSTREAM BOLLYWOOD

Sanju - 3.75 Stars - PG13 (Biopic)
आधी कहानी पर सेंटी कहानी

 

Director - Rajkumar Hirani.

Actors - Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal.

 

Trailer

 

It is not a Sanjay Dutt story it is more of a Ranbir Kapoor story. As told by an accomplished reviewer in my facebook feed (Poonam didi) - it is a disappointment to see the real Sanjay Dutt at the end in the credits song. Ranbir is such a cute Sanju that you forget that he is not the real Sanju!

 

Another well made movie from Rajkumar Hirani. Story is made very simplistic and focusses on acquitting Sanju of the criminal label on him. Some fans who are into life of celebs may not find it fulfilling because only few things have been shown in the movie and much has been left out. It is not a documentary of all juicy gossip you want to find. It is a typical Hirani movie focusing on Son-Dad and Friendship. scenes are well done and Ranbir and Vicky are great as usual. I thought the drug episode of his life dragged a tad bit too long otherwise the movie had its moments. Length is always a problem for Hirani. Struggles of a Star Kid and his missteps are captured well though they did not want to blame it on a strict and busy Dad. It is a fine line and Hirani did a good Job.

Baaghi 2 - 3.75 Stars. PG. (Action)
देसी रेम्बो



Director - Ahmed Khan
Actors - Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani, Randeep Hooda.

Trailer

Action and out and out Action. Tiger Shroff has a niche for himself. It is commercial masala at it's best. It is inspired by Rambo but obviously Desi Rambo ain't gonna take down the system without having something to do with a 'broken heart'. Ex-Girl Friend needs him, he can't say No! Obviously he is indestructible, and the war is on. In some what hilarious ending, for no reason the villain who is living in city suddenly decides to have a home in the jungle so that we can have some Rambo style war in jungle setting. But all is good, when are going all out to make a Action thriller. Disha has not much to do in this one, except to give that 'damsel in distress' look. Tiger is good, he can pull it off. But the cake goes to this blogger's favorite - Mr Style Bhai - Randeep Hooda. The guy is out of this world awesome, he plays an eccentric cop who has is own way of doing cop-giri. The guy is hilarious and has got some good lines as a - hippie-cop. perfect fit to a perfect masala filum...

Hate Story 4 - 2.0 Stars. R. (Thriller)
न हेट बची न स्टोरी



Director - Vishal Pandya
Actors - Urvashi Rautela, Ihana Dhillon.

Trailer

Honestly I don't remember what happens, all I remember I was disappointed. I liked this series, they had this low budget sleazy thrillers which had pretty good story lines with lot of twists and one liners. This one just was one too much this time. 2 brothers falling for the same girl and there are bunch of secrets as things open one after the other. But this time it did not make much sense.

Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweetie - 3.5 Stars. G. (Comedy / Drama)
दोस्त बनाम प्यार



Director - Luv Ranjan
Actors - Nushrat Bharucha, Kartik Aryan, Sunny Nijar.

Trailer

A movie that generally should have big stars like Ranbir and Ranvirs of the world. Somehow this has  similar upscale feel to the movie, even though it is not a Karan Johan movie. Kudos to movie makers for that. The movie is pretty good and has a good young and new age feel to it. Sonu and Titu are friends and then Titu falls for Sweetie. Sonu does not like it, Sweetie does not like it. Titu is smitten and he has no clue these both are on war for him. The movie does what it does to an extent but misses the final punch to it. It does support this stupid notion in our society that women are some how source of all trouble though all trouble makers are men, but then I don't like to pass judgements of film's intent because in the end it was made for entertainment. Watch it.

Fukrey Returns - 4.0 Stars. G. (Comedy)
चूचे  से दिल नहीं भरता

 

Director - Mrighdeep Lamba.
Actors - Varun Sharma, Pulkit Samrat, Pankaj Tripathi, Richa Chadha.

Trailer

I am sure all of you won't put it at 4 stars, but I can't help it. I am not done with Chuchha. I have lived with many chuchhas in my life and it is hilarious to watch. Fukrey returns doubles down on Chuchha, but it still does not make an overdose. As is the want with all second comings the Fukreys are back in trouble, this time bigger trouble with politicians and cities running after them. Obviously messing up stuff because chuccha is dreaming stuff and the interpretations of what he dreams in not straight forward. It is complete non sense and it works, this time Mr Pankaj Tripathi has a extended role too and it works. Watch it, and don' think too much.  

MukkaBaaz - 4.5 Stars. PG13 (Action / Drama)
मुक्का मार, दिल हार

Director - Anurag Kashyap
Actors - Vineet Kumar Singh, Jimmy Shergill, Ravi Kishan, Sadhna Singh.

Trailer

Anurag Kashyap directing a rugged UP lifestyle Love story, you cant go wrong here. This blogger has bias towards Kashyap and UP based movies, this one tops with awesome regional folksy songs. the product is ugly, sad and beautiful love story. A regular guy wants to become a boxer if that is not tough in a corrupt system, that's not all, he is an eccentric and falls in love with a girl who as eccentric as him. Troubles mount on them, Jimmy Shergill proves he is perfect in any role, but when it comes to villainy he has made a name for himself. Jerk, corrupt and typical UP politician all in one, you loath him and more. You root for the Boxer and the lover in protagonist 'shravan' but it is too much of a stretch to think he will win it all. Ending is something straight out of Anurag Kashyap's eccentric mind. Watch it!

Aiyaari - 2.5 Stars. PG. (Thriller)
वतन से आशिकी का ओवरडोज़


Director - Neeraj Pandey
Actors - Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee.

Trailer

Neeraj Pandey has made patriotic spy thrillers his own. He has had some good success and has got the blue print down on these movies. This one checks all the boxes, if you like this genre then go for it. This blogger does not particularly enjoy international espionage patriotic thrillers unless they surprise me. There is a secret force doing illegal stuff internationally for Indian intelligence. It kind of feels over the top the stuff they are doing, but o well... it is a movie! Guru Manoj Bajpayee is a patriot but chela Sidharth has other things on mind. The game starts, what happened to Sidharth what is going to happen? Will international arms trafficker win? etc etc... I think problem to an extent is Manoj Bajpayee, he is not fit for the role. Lately he looks jaded, old and tired. He has this fake hair that don't look good and his acting has come down a level. Second problem is the movie is a little too jingoistic at times. Again, not a bad one. Its good time pass.

NEW AGE HINDI MOVIES

Pad Man - 3.5 Stars. PG13. (Social Drama)
आदमी हो तो ऐसा



Director - R Balki
Actors - Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte.

Trailer

The man is crazy, this guy can go to any extent to alleviate the troubles women go through making for some hilarious situation. A social reformer who created menstrual pads out of nothing but pure will and passion. The film has a documentary feel to it and hence does not rise beyond a certain level. A good and entertaining movie and always shocking to see where rural India is at.


Lust Stories - 4.0 Stars. R. (Mature Adults Drama) - NETFLIX
लस्ट के सामने प्यार क्या चीज़ है?



Director - Dibaker Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar.
Actors - Kiara Advani, Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Kaushal.

Trailer

4 directors try there hand at Lust story, not Love but Lust and what a varied, vivid, different pictures they paint. All 4 of them have their moments and are master pieces in their own right.

Karan Johar's is the most entertaining with a great message, girls have desires! he directs a funny and smart movie about a girl who is married to a guy who loves her but does not understand that she can also have needs. Their hilarious journey of love and lust ends with some lessons. This is the last one so you can jump to it in case you don't want to sit through more darker, artsy ones before it.

First one is Anurag Kashyap's expectedly whacky movie of a teacher (Radhika Apte) stalking a student after a one night stand.

Second one is Zoya Akhtar's section showing a slice of lust life with not much of beginning and the end. But life it what it is, it does not really begin and end crisply.

Third one is interesting one from Dibaker Banerjee, and probably the most interesting of the lot with Manisha Koirala getting what she wants after she has an affair with her hubby's best friend, she plays her game well! Watch it, but be patient with this movie.

Ajji - 3.5 Stars. R. (Revenge Drama)
सुपर गर्ल, वंडर गर्ल अब देखो आजि गर्ल


Director - Devashish Makhija
Actors - Sushama Deshpande

Trailer

A disturbing tale of real life. A slice of real life that plays itself every day in streets. A poor 8 year old girl is raped by local thug. Life is such a burden on the family without the 'incident' that now with it, no one has time to care for the girl, except for Ajji. Old and struggling to help family meet ends something breaks in her. She wants to do something about it. Sadly that's when reality shifts to Film and Ajji goes about trying to plot revenge. Gory and disturbing the movie is definitely made with a revulsion towards what we have come to know as society. Still it is worth a watch, because some times you can be shook out of your comforts and face reality.

Missing - 3.0 Stars. G. (NETFLIX) - Thriller
सस्ती जुगाड़ू थ्रिलर


Director - Mukul Abhyankar
Actors - Manoj Bajpayee, Tabu, Anu Kapoor

Trailer

What's up with Netflix, they are taking movies that are made on dirt cheap budget! Come on guys keep some standard. More on Netflix choice later in the blog. A couple come to a resort and their toddler daughter goes missing. Search starts and everything starts looking shady. Are they married? is there a daughter? is the neighbor weird? is the cop crazy? This is the good part of the movie. The bad? once the producer decided to sign Tabu and Manoj he said to director - No more money for you. The resort is empty, the staff is like 5 people. I think the entire movie has 15 people total. No music nothing. Tabu can't carry the entire movie!! especially when Manoj Bajpayee has become a huge liability for all his movies. He has forgotten how to act. Don't know what's wrong with him. The guy who once mesmerized us with a out of whack performance in 'Aks' has dropped down to being a non-actor. Anyway if you are doing nothing and you have a Netflix account you can fast forward half of it and watch the rest. It has good twists in the end.

Raid - 3.75 Stars. G. (Drama / Thriller)
एक रेड ने रेड मार दी


Director - Raj Kumar Gupta
Actors - Ajay Devgan, Saurabh Shukla, Illeana D Souza

Trailer

This is a perfect movie for Ajay Devgan, made for him. Finally a good selection Ajay! North India in 80s, an honest IAS officer in a corrupt system and some dialogue baaji. The movie is well made straight out of 80s. I was surprised to see an entire movie made on one income tax raid! The movie though slow.. keeps your interest and I finished in one sitting - a definite sign of a good engaging movie. How many crores can you find in one raid? go watch it.

Kaalakandi - 4.0 Stars. PG13. (Drama)



Director - Akshat Verma
Actors - Saif Ali Khan, Neil, Amyra, Sobhita, Deepak Dobriyal, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Vijay Raaz.

Trailer

I like Saif in these movies, his big budget spy movies flopped, it was a boon in disguise. He did some good cinema. I am in awe of the new writers and directors on hindi movies, Akshat Verma has written and directed this one, and he is good at his craft. Now you have seen enough of these movies, this genre got popular with 'life in a metro'. Movie is about 4 stories intertwined together in one night. A lot happens in one night, Saif is just one of the stories there is an engaging one going on between great duo of Vijay Raaz and Deepak Dobriyal. It is entertaining and fast paced and a lot happens to keep you engaged all the way to a cracker of an ending.

Hichki - 2.5 Stars. PG. (Social)
आइये सीखिए कुछ


Director - Siddarth Malhotra
Actors - Rani Mukerjee, Neeraj Kabi.

Trailer

Now you have seen many of these kind of movies too. Underdog fighting against all odds. Problem is we have seen too many of these and now we need them to be really good to make an impact. Rani plays a girls who has Tourette syndrome (which I found out what it is during this movie) and she wants to be a teacher. Her passion and her handicap are not on the same page. She gets to make a change to lives of kids who also are fighting a battle where they are handicapped by society. You get the gist. It is a feel good story but you know what is happening, and once you know what is happening that's what is happening. So.... it happens.

Pari - 3.5 Stars. R. (Thriller / Horror)
ऐसी परी से डायन अच्छी



Director - Prosit Roy
Actors - Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chatterjee.

Trailer

Kudos for even trying this. Anushka is great, the girl is not ok with what she has. As is the problem with most hindi movies ... they lose you in first few minutes. You need to work through this movie's first half. It was probably trending towards a 1.0 stars until halftime, then it takes off. Don't watch it as a horror movie but more like a thriller. Horror aspect of movie is not that good.

The movie is about a girl who is found chained at her Mom's jungle home. Mom dies in a car crash. The girl has no one left and the guy who's car was involved .... gets involved. As you have often heard, if a movie has Rajat Kapoor it can't be bad. Rajat Kapoor is the twist in the tale, he is the crazy guy searching for the girl... or is he the only sane one? Watch it!

B.A. Pass 2 - 1.0 Stars. R. NETFLIX (Drama)
बी ए पास और एक्टिंग फेल



Director - Shadab Khan, Shabaad Khan.
Actors - Kritika Sachdeva, Sanghmitra Hitaishi, Sasho

Trailer

One of the worst Netflix has bought. They need some quality control now that they have started a heavy influx of hindi movies. The movie had some terrible actors. Generally a movie has a unifying theme to it, this one just went on and on and I could not find why the movie is made? What's the point of it all? A girls fights with her parents and runs away from home to come settle in Mumbai. She has no plan and hence becomes an actor. Then the weirdness starts .... I have no clue what was going on after that, and in case you reach the end. If you had any hope from the movie, that hope will be sucked out of you. If anyone figures why the movie is called BA pass .. please call me.

ARTSY
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Rukh - 4.0 Stars. PG13. (Drama.)
ऐसे कैसे जाने दू?


Director - Atanu Mukherjee
Actors - Adarsh Gaurav, Smita Tambe, Manoj Bajpayee.

Trailer

His Dad dies in a car accident. Just like that one fine day his life goes for a toss. There are times when you can't let things go or things won't let you go. He keeps obsessing and things keep getting complicated. Truth sometimes let's you make it go away. In one day things can go back to normal and you can start breathing, but you have to go through a grieving period and some more. Slow paced and a little haunting but the movie does a good job.

October - 4.5 Stars. R. (Drama.)
दर्द की कीमत चुकानी पड़ती है


Director - Shoojit Sircar
Actors - Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu

Trailer

Some movies get over and you sit there and don't move. You sit there and you can't shut off the TV. You move and go to bed but the movie is with you, not because it was exciting or entertaining but because it just made you feel something which you lose in day to day life.

Varun Dhawan does a Judwa2 and then he does an 'October'. He plays a regular person you can so identify with. He is not good at most things in life, but his human is alive in him. He is not successful in any way but he has something good about him. Then an incident happens on a new year. A co worker girl is critical in the hospital, something breaks in him. He can't let it go (similar to Rukh), he gets stuck with one thing. The regular stupid life which people live he can no longer live. He is stuck in his head and heart. No he is not in love, he just has love in his heart! O.. so beautiful. Watch it if you got loads of time and you still have something alive in you besides running around in your mechanical life.

Gurgaon - 3.0 Stars. R. (Drama)
पागल फॅमिली की पगली दास्तान


Director - Shanker Raman
Actors - Akshay Oberoi, Ragini Khanna, Pankaj Tripathi.

Trailer

 Though the movie has it's moments, but the movie just doesn't move after few initial reels. A rich crazy family has issues like all other but this one has too many issues going. If you think the start is weird wait till the end and things get more and more weird with a weird ending. Not badly made but somehow the depressing nature of the movie got to me. It was very weirdly depressing movie. fast forward and watch is my recommendation on this one.