Q3 2019 - Kabir Singh to Hamid..what else you want?

POPULAR BOLLYWOOD
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Kabir Singh - 3.75 Stars. (Romance) R.



Director: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Stars: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Soham Majumdar 

Kabir Singh - Trailer

I was told it is a very controversial film with liberals up in arms about regressive nature of the content. Actually I did not find the movie worth the controversy.The controversial moments were actually boring and the movie was cliched to start with. It shows the violent love of 80s and passes that as love. Being a gunda is cool. Making decisions for the girl is cool and a desirable girl is the one that is under confident scared and should have no opinion. She should act like damsel in distress all the time. Acting helpless and bechaari is the key. Well all these concepts were a staple of yesteryear films. We all think the society changed since then, but success of 80s style movies show that majority still supports these ideas. So you think it is movie's problem? No, movies don't make a society, it just mirrors it. So calm down. I give the movie a clean chit.

First half is boring and cliched and second one gets interesting and actually entertaining. Shahid does a great job being Kabir Singh. The love story has some great music which is a must for all Love Stories. Kabir Singh's character is very well defined, he is eccentric and crazy. Actually because of his temper he loses his love, his job and everything. So even though he slaps the girl (and Girl slaps him back many times) he is the one who suffers due to his eccentricity. So I am cool with it. Actually in some ways it is a comedy if you think about it that a Gunda, druggy, chain smoker,sex addict, Anger addict hero of ours is also genius, surgeon, doctor. I mean he is everything! Director said sir let's make him everything just everything in one, never done before. Yes! It's pretty entertaining movie. Watch it. 

Arjun Patiala - 2.5 Stars. Comedy. G.



Director: Rohit Jugraj
Stars: Diljit Dosanjh, Kriti Sanon, Varun Sharma 

Arjun Patiala - Trailer

It had some creativity about it. They did try a new concept, I will give them that. It was not a regular run of the mill movie. It is about a movie being narrated to a producer. The movie has a very comical and cartoonish take on the story which is funny and goofy. Kriti and Diljit don't add much to the movie, they don't jell well and that is a let down. Varun Sharma the great chucha is good in the movie. He does make the movie fun to watch. Watch it for him. It is a love story of a cop who goes to a small town and gets entangled with 5 villains he needs to get rid of to clean the town of crime. But the entire treatment of the movie is funny and goofy so it's not an actual serious cop drama.

SOTY 2 - 2.5 Stars. Romance / Drama. PG.



Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Panday

Student Of The Year- 2 - Trailer

The film started in negative territory, I was like this is going to be worst film I ever saw, but actually second half picks up and is quite interesting and saves this movie from being a disaster. That is if you reach second half. The frilly colorful high school of 90s continues in this movie. If High School kids watch this movie they may stop going to school just to prove they are not going to a school like Tiger is attending in this movie. The movie has Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander all in one. No, don't even thing there will be anything new. Dancing, prancing girls acting extra stupid. Rich Kids being extra mean and extra rude. Poor Kids being extra 'bechaare' and you know the rest. Still the love story is pretty interesting if you reach there. I will advice liberal use of Fast Forward button. Finish it in an hour or so.

Super 30 - 4.0 Stars. Drama / Thriller. G.



Super 30 - Trailer

Director: Vikas Bahl
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Mrunal Thakur, Nandish Singh

Mrunal Thakur is find of the movie, what an actor and she looks cute. Hritik tries hard to fit the role of a dalit. His greek god looks don't make him a natural low caste poor genius. The movie is about a real life hero who trains dalit students for IIT. Obviously with cinematic liberties taken to make the climax interesting. Great idea! who would have thought of making this story into a movie! Also the plight of half the India is now being shown in popular movies which makes this year a good year for movies.


Bharat - 2.0 Stars. Drama. G.



Bharat - Trailer

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Stars: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover

Salman was never an actor but now he has dropped all pretense of being one too. He has stopped putting in the minimum effort he used to put. You know .... what's the point when it's not actually needed. So he mouths lines the same mundane way and his body won't move and he goes on and on and on making movies. He has finally reached the stage where SRK has been for sometime. Now the movies don't work and he has to make weird kind of different movies that don't work.

The movie is about someone called Mr Bharat who has stories from Independence to present day and he tells you anecdotes of his life in each decade. Actually the story idea is pretty fresh and creative but somehow Sallu single handedly kills it. But when there is nothing to cheer and everything feels depressing life throws at you something that was unexpected! Katrina has suddenly become an actor!! Yes, second movie in a row she has been out acting a Khan! Katrina Kaif ladies and gentlemen has decided to act and oh yea she is good at it. Watch it for her.

India's Most Wanted - 1.5 Stars. Thriller. G.



India's Most Wanted - Trailer

Director: Raj Kumar Gupta
Stars: Arjun Kapoor, Sudev Nair, Rajesh Sharma

Just because India has suddenly transformed into this right wing jingoistic Israel, doesn't mean you make Arjun Kapoor into a RAW Agent. Come on guys, any actor you find on the street you just make them into a patriotic agent wanting to do anything for the country!! Arjun looks like he just came out of bed and was told to say lines and later was told that he was supposed to act like a undercover agent. He looked over sized in Nepal, how is that incognito! The movie is about a team of agents who are obviously not given any power or resources but they have a boss who believes in them and these guys are so patriotic they still carry out the mission. Man.. haven't we seen enough of these so called real life stories??

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Fastey Fasaate - NA. Drama. PG.



Director: Amit Agarwal
Stars: Bijay Anand, Vishwa Mohan Badola, Arpit Chaudhary

Faste Fasaatey - trailer

OK I think I watched this movie. But I watched the trailer again and I don't remember it at all. I guess either I have to write reviews as I watch them or shut this effort completely. Maybe I watched and dozed off? Anyway... I am in no mood to watch it again.

Hum Chaar -2.0 Stars. Romance/ Drama. PG.



Hum Chaar - Trailer

Director: Abhishek Dixit
Stars: Prit Kamani, Simran Sharma, Anshuman Malhotra 

I think this a movie from Rajshree. Yes they are still at it. I don't think anyone retires in this field. It is a story about friends who are in colleges that are only imagined in director's brain. The friends grow up and ..... I think I never finished the movie.

Game Over - 4.0 Stars.Thriller. R.



Director: Ashwin Saravanan
Stars: Taapsee Pannu, Vinodhini Vaidynathan, Parvathi T.

Game Over - Trailer

Did I tell you Taapsee is an awesome actor? Yea I think I did ... like a few times before. She makes this taut thriller a taut thriller. The movie is about a girl who has to kill her inner and some outside demons to live and survive whatever life throws at her. Past horrific incidences bog her down, she can't go out in public. Victims end up being blamed and are persecuted in this society. It is a pretty fresh movie, which has many endings at the same time. The moral of the story is ... fight fight fight, we all need to fight. When the movie got over I wanted to fight... no matter what comes.


Jaoon kahan bata e dil - (NETFLIX) - 1.5 Stars. Drama. PG.



Director - Aadish Keluskar
Starring - Khushboo Upadhyay, Rohit Kokate

Jaoon Kahan Bata e Dil - Trailer

The story of a couple who are spending an evening together. It is pretty good concept but after a while they get on your nerves as they continue in their typical manner of discussion. They fight they break up they fall in love everything in a few hours. The man is kind of gross and sometimes makes you wonder what is wrong with him. Anyway... I would have liked if it was more a movie than just 100 words per minute of talking.

Chausar Firangi - 3.0 Stars. Thriller. R.



Chausar Firangi - Trailer

Director: Sandeep Pandey
Stars: Prateek Pachori, Rekha Mishra, Anudeep Singh

Movie is about 2 friends and one night. The difference is the kids actually look like people who are from streets and not actors. It is a well made movie about friends who try to do some adventure and end up tangled in a huge political problem. It was ok, I think only I can watch and enjoy such movies.

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Article 15 - 5.0 Stars. Drama / Thriller. R.



Article 15 - Trailer

Director: Anubhav Sinha
Stars: Ayushmann Khurrana, Nassar, Manoj Pahwa

When Anurag Kashyap tweeted about this movie. I got excited about it. Even after high expectations the movie delivered. Second 5 star in a row from this special guy named Anubhav Sinha (After Mulk). What a movie! I never thought this kid Ayushman Khurrana could do what he did. He puts everything in it, what a performance.

The invisible people of hinduism which are more than half of the population are barely humans. We see them but we don't. The movie beautifully depicts them as 'in logon mein' and then our Hero booms - Kaun hein yeh log? kaun hai? ... uff beautiful. The line stuck with me for days. Another one that I still remember is - Ayushman asks about everyone's jaat and they get into details on who is what jaat how they stack up in the heirarchy and who is untouchable, who is above who, who can drink water from whom. It is hilarious and sad at the same time. Wow... this is our culture and this is 2019 and it is not in some village it is everywhere. The moment 'yeh log' try to actually become 'log' and don't stay in their lane we will become a monster,why are we as humans so cruel...

Movie is about a new Cop who comes to town to investigate dalit girl's disappearance and he finds out no one cares. I mean No one.

 Hamid - 4.5 Stars. Drama. R.



Director: Aijaz Khan
Stars: Talha Arshad Reshi, Vikas Kumar, Rasika Dugal

Hamid - Trailer

Another great movie in artsy section for this Quarter. Maybe I am becoming a artsy kind of blogger, it has been easy to tag them artsy and then talk my heart out and not worry about you guys criticizing me for making you watch a bad movie. I tried to start this movie many times and did not go past a few minutes. Sometimes you don't want to be depressed, then one day you have the mood to watch something special. 

Hamid is a story of a Kashmiri Boy and how life treats him just because he is born in a war torn region. It also depicts perspective of a sensitive soldier who's job is to crack down on innocent people to keep them in their 'lane'. The movie is also about a Mom / wife's life in most militarized region of the world where it is common place for people to go missing due to Military excesses. At the end of it all, my heart was so heavy that I felt depressed for few days and I couldn't go to sleep that night. Now do you want this out of a movie? Only if you are a liberal / feel for minority only then you have these reactions otherwise it is another boring movie about Kashmir. The kid playing Hamid has a great sweet Kashmiri accent that you cannot get enough of, his Mom played by the great Rasika Duggal just packs a punch in this awesome performance. 

Rakkosh - 0 Stars. Drama. R.



Directors: Abhijit Kokate, Srivinay Salian
Stars: Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Sanjay Mishra 

The movie is about a mental asylum. People in their are hallucinating and acting like patients used to act in 80s movies. I could not watch it and stopped it. I lasted 10 mins into it. Let me know if anyone watched it.

Q2 - 2019 - Happy 4th and you are welcome.

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Luka Chuppi - 4.0 Stars. (Comedy) G.
संस्कृति एक मज़ाक


Director - Laxman Utekar
Actors -  Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Aparshakti Khurana

Luka Chuppi Trailer

This movie comes from the genre that has been popular for sometime. It checks all the boxes that make this "middle class north indian family drama/comedy" genre needs. Kriti Sanon has excelled in this genre with Bareilly Ki Barfi, she glides through her role of a girl who is confident and knows what she wants but she has to live with middle class conservative family shell, that never fits. Kartik Aryan is perfect playing clumsy worried unsure guy who is stuck in the entire situation and has no clue how to get out of it. Obviously like all other movies of this genre the actual hero is the family characters and Pankaj Tripathi is the Mega Star of that.
I did not mind over the top treatment they gave to this movie. It was comically silly and comically almost skit-ish overacting, it was consistently done and it all worked. It is refreshing to see that in the BJP India we still have a movie that smacks the 'sanskar', 'traditions' and 'great heritage' right on it's face, probably it gets away with it because it's done in a comical way. It brings out the farce of society and everything society lives and dies by. Good Job. 

Romeo Akbar Walter - 3.0 Stars. (Thriller) PG.


Director -  Robbie Grewal 
Actors -  John Abraham, Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy

Romeo Akbar Walter - Trailer

Another spy movie, another movie about beating Pakistan. Yeah ... the new India can't get enough of it. If you are the Bhakt kind no matter what they show you are going to enjoy it, so go for it. The treatment of the movie is done very well, it does give a serious taut thriller vibe. But it also plays to the gallery by being ridiculous at times, the names themselves are ridiculously forced to make it - RAW. The movie goes on a predictably boring path of a spy movie. I have realized I have no emotions for a spy. I always feel bad for the entire community that is being robed by a spy. It is similar in that sense to Alia Bhatt's movie. The end is a little different and that made me bump the scale up a bit. 

Ek Ladki ko Dekha to Aisa laga - 2.0 Stars. (Drama) G. 
कुछ नहीं लगा


Director -Shelly Chopra Dhar
Actors -Sonam Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao 

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha to Aisa Laga - Trailer

The movie tries to fit lot of things in one. A social Drama, Love story, comedy and address inequality in society etc. But somehow it feels more like a long dragged social statement which we already have seen many times in TV series and movies before. India passed some laws recently and hence these spate of movies trying to create social awareness. I think the movie looks exactly that - a social awareness pitch and entertainment takes a back seat. You go through the motions and we know what it is about and what it is trying to say.

Notebook - 3.5 Stars. Romance (G) 

तोड़ मोड़ के जोड़

Notebook - Trailer

Director -  Nitin Kakkar

Actors -Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl, Mir Mohammed Mehroos

Set in beautiful small village of Kashmir and No it is not about terrorism! How refreshing! It is out and out Love story. I am little old to review a romance, but I think connecting through a Notebook in this era was a little over the top. But then it is a movie you gotta take what they give you. If you get over the entire premise that there is this school where the teacher reads other's diary one page a time every few weeks (Yes, he reads one line and then movie goes for another 15 mins, then he reads another line) then we can actually like the movie.

The lead pair is somebody's somebody (Salman's and Nutan's somebody). I liked them, I think the girl was cute both had some challenges in acting but that is expected. The guy looked a lot like Hritik Roshan and even dances like him in Bhumro song. In the end I have to give it - that it was not your run of the mill, it had some different things and a good try at it.

Junglee - 1.0 Stars. (Action / Drama) G. 

पोस्टर जितनी फिलम

Junglee - Trailer

Director - Chuck Russell

Actors -Vidyut Jammwal, Asha Bhat, Vishwanath Chatterjee

You see the poster and you know the entire movie. That's what this movie is about. Vidyut is the action hero so it fits him to talk to animals and save them from bad guys. But there needs to be more to the story. The movie came and went and I am like ... ok. Also the fights are not that impressive and there has to be high level dialogue-baazi before and after fights to get you in the mood. But this was a bland affair.

Kesari - 0 Stars. (Action) PG. 

इतिहास के नाम पे कुछ भी

Kesari - Trailer

Director -Anurag Singh

Actors - Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra, Suvinder Vicky

In this New great jingoistic bhakt India people are scrapping for anything to make up a story and pass it as history, because they know in name of patriotism you can show anything and reverent audience will lap it up. What an apology of a movie, few soldiers hold fort for British army, yes they are British soldiers holding forts against Muslim invaders. Well.. I guess there is the catch, at least they are Muslim invaders who cares if Indian soldiers are working for Brits? They painstakingly explain how they are somehow fighting for something more than sucking up to British but it all is too made up. I am done.

Why Cheat India - 3.5 Stars. (Thriller) PG. 

नक़ल करना हमारी संस्कृति है

Director -Soumik Sen

Actors - Emraan Hashmi, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Snighdadeep Chatterji 

Why Cheat India - Trailer

Nakal mein hi akal hai.... Long time readers of this blog know this Blogger loves Emraan Hashmi. The guy is back with a good one, he is perfect for this role, and he has some great dialogues to mouth! Emraan plays the cheating consultant in 90s, so I kind of know what the movie is about because I was in school at that time. The movie has enough meat to not make it just a movie about the cheating culture of India. It has enough emotions to keep you engaged, it has a beautiful love story and tragedy. Also Emraan is good at being evil and bechara at the same time. Good Line I remember is - अगर सिस्टम को उल्लू बनाना है तो सिस्टम के अंदर बैठे उल्लुओं की ज़रूरत पड़ती है

2.0 - 2.0 Stars. (Thriller). G. 

सब मरेंगे

Director -S. Shankar

Actors - Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson 

2.0 - Trailer

Rajni and Shankar are hopelessly outdated at this point. The movie may look ok in 1990s. It is hilarious to look at all the tech stuff they are trying to show, it is right out of a spoof, but it is not. The murders and hilarious and disturbing at the same time. You gotta watch the ridiculous scenes about how Akshay Kumar the villian (Pakshi Raja) gets born, and the scene where Chitti (the Robot from original movie) explain where the radiations are coming! Something to do with positive rays so only positive people aliens get it. These few scenes will remain imprinted in my head rest of my life. In the end when the movie is done, it mysteriously stays with you as you still feel bad for the villain who wants cell phones to die and birds to live! ahh....

Gully Boy - 4.0 Stars. (Drama) G. 

गली से संगीत तक

Director - Zoya Akhtar

Actors -Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi 

Gully Boy - Trailer

I don't like rags to riches story, I also don't believe in people making it big from nothing are some kind of super heroes. BUT I still like this movie, it is just a well made movie. This guy Ranveer Singh is in a purple patch he can't do nothing wrong! He plays a desi rapper who comes out of Dharavi and becomes big. Zoya Akhtar just knows how to pack a punch. There is some great acting with Aliya and Sidhant playing it to perfection. The movie basically riles the rebel in you and makes you happy. Actually if you compare the movie to Hollywood Rap movies, it is a little lesser of a story, but then India is not a rap country either. Also the 'apna time ayega' did not impress me as a great rap song, but the movie definitely has some good music.

Badla - 3.5 Stars. (Suspense) PG. 

में इन्तेक़ाम लूंगा

Director -Sujoy Ghosh

Actors -Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh 

Badla - Trailer

You can never go wrong with Whodunit! This is a good very low budget suspense thriller. Don't expect it will give you thrills like some great movies, but it does its job. Actually I expected less than what I got. Taapsee is stuck with a murder charge and Amitabhis the lawyer trying to get her out of it. It felt like the characters were not into the movie, both accomplished actors were not invested into the movie, and it seemed like Amitabh probably completed the shoot in a day or 2 without knowing what the movie is about. Anyway with all the disjoint and disinterest this is a good taut thriller. Just ignore the very last scene, imagine that never happened and it is a good movie. I liked it.

Total Dhamaal - 0 Stars. (Comedy) G. 

आपके IQ का इम्तेहान

Director -Indra Kumar

Actors -Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor

Total Dhamaal - Trailer

Indra Kumar is still at it. Someone stop him please! He is still making exactly same crap that he made during Raja days. I will tell you what is not a comedy - Ajay Devgan Dancing. Ajay Devgan Making comical faces. There is Arshad Warsi and Anil Kapoor who are good comedians, but come on this is a joke! Actually it does has some very stupid scenes that may make you laugh. But I can't support this garbage.

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Milan Talkies - 1.5 Stars. (Romance) G. 

खींचो तानो

Director - Tigmanshu Dhulia

Actors - Ali Fazal, Shraddha Srinath, Sanjay Mishra

Milan Talkies - Trailer

Though made with sincere dedication the movie does not impact the way Mr Dhulia wanted it to. There are 3 Phases to this movie, First it seems like it is a light comedy about nothing, then you feel maybe it is a bloody Love story and third and final phase you start getting mad at the movie as things happen in the love story that seriously makes you question IQ of the lead pair. Ali Fazal is a good looking, good actor and Shraddha the new girl is cute but needs to act better. This is not their fault though, they gave all they had. The movie does try to capture the throwback magic of loves stories, just missed the mark.

Mard ko dard nahi hota - 4.0 Stars. (Whacky) G. 

ऐसा मर्द न देखा न देखोगे

Director - Vasan Bala

Actors - Abhimanyu Dasani, Radhika Madan, Prateek Parmar

Mard ko Dard nahi Hota - Trailer

This is out of whack and awesome. The movie is weird it has no beginning and end. Each scene does not flow into another it can flow into anything. Beautifully weird movie making and great creativity.

The lead actor is Bhagyashree's son! wow... Bhagyashree's son is in movies. Ok why i freak out is because I always thought Bhagyashree and Himalay's Love Story was the greatest love story in Bollywood. Bhagyashree chose her high school sweet heart over the entire Bollywood, everyone made fun of her and the BF (who had a name like Himalay) but they survived and rode the sunset as one happy couple giving a tight slpa to society who had nothing better to do but to pooh pooh someone who does not care about them.

Anyway back tot the movie - the movie has an awesome, stupid, comedian, mean and whacky villian. Every character has some relation with another character. The hero has a weird desease that he actually can't experience pain and an awesome Radhika Madan who is cute and knows how to fight. It is one fighting weird love story with borhterly love, Son - Dad and out and out Love everything packed in One good punch of a movie.

Chopsticks - 4.0 Stars. (Drama) G.

डर से डर को काटा जाता है

Director - Sachin Yardi

Actors - Abhay Deol, Mithila Palkar, Vijay Raaz

Chopsticks - Trailer

Generally you don't go wrong with Abhay Deol. very bankable good star. Another great movie, and as is the case in many he is not the star. The female lead - Mithila Parkar is awesome. She was great in 'Little Things' a Netflix series. She plays a unsure under confident girl who runs into Abhay and lot of weird twisted moments and she starts getting confident about life. A cute beautiful story. Best part was - it was not love story, it was also not a friendship story. It was just a story. Girl is a tour guide for chinese tourists and new job so she buys a new car. A thief makes an idiot of her and then starts her journey to getting smart smarter smartest along with another thief (Abhay) he is going to fix a few things.

Lupt - 1.0 Stars. (Horror) PG.

कोशिश डरने की

Director - Prabhuraj

Actors -Javed Jaffrey, Vijay Raaz, Karan Aanand 

Lupt - Trailer

I am not sure why the producer /director thought of making this movie. I just can't figure. It can't be money because they knew it won't make any. It must be that someone has watched lot of horror movies and wants to make one he can call his own. The movie has everything a horror movie should have, but everything is seen and done before. Javed Jaffrey takes his family to a vacation and strange things happen to them, obviously there is something in the past that is going to resurface. If you have really nothing to do.... mmm... you still should have something to do than watch this. I did it, so you don't have to. 

706 - 3.0 Stars. (Suspense / Horror) PG13.

एक और कोशिश

Director - Shravan Kumar

Actors -Mohan Agashe, Raayo S. Bakhirta, Divya Dutta

706 - Trailer

This is way better movie than the one above this. It has somethings different, you may not have seen before. A kid is weird and psychic and is making people's life miserable by giving clues to them about people murdered or dissappeared etc. The movie has a pretty good pace and it has some good actors to carry it like Ms Divya Dutta, if she is in the movie the movie has to have a weird angle to it. She is slotted in Tabu kind of roles where you know something weird is coming. In case you have not much to do.... you can try this movie.

Kuldeep Patwal- 2.5 Stars. (Drama) PG13.

सिद्ध आदमी पर टेडी मूवी

Director - Remy Kohli

Actors - Deepak Dobriyal, Gulshan Devaiah, Raima Sen 

Kuldip Patwal - Trailer

Actually this movie started on a huge high. It felt like a statement movie similar to a Dev and Mulk, but then it trailed off. The movie is about a common man who allegedly kills Chief Minister and then they list reasons he could have done it, there are many pressures on common man, what if whenever he tried to get back on track another peice of legislation takes his livelihood away? Movie faltered in presentation as the court scenes did not make sense. Defense lawyer was trying to tell the court why his client could have killed the chief minister!! I thought lawyer should be defending his client. Obviously as the norm is - we have to give a twist at the very end which also made no sense but huh... we have to live in the post 'sixth sense' world where every movie has to flip the script in the end.  

Nirdosh - 2.5 Stars. (Suspense) PG13

दोषी वो है जो मूवी देखता है

Director - Subroto Paul, Pradeep Rangwani

Actors - Ashmit Patel, Manjari Fadnnis, Manisha Kelkar

Nirdosh - Trailer

The movie left no emotin on me. In fact I had to see the trailer to jog my memory. So how good could it have been? The movie was ok, but then they had to take a known face in Arbaaz Khan. He was probably hired for a day to do some interrogation scenes and mouth some dialogues. The guy is horrible, going on about it the same way he has done everytime. Rest of the movie is pretty decent whodunnit. Murder mysteries can never go too wrong. I have noticed that is a movie has names like - Shanaya and Sia... they generally are movies that are pretending to be way cooler than they are. 

ARTSY
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Teen aur Adha - 2.5 Stars. (Drama) R.

तीन कहानी और दिमाग आधा

Director -  Dar Gai

Actors -  Arya Dave, Chandani Grover, Zoya Hussain

Teen aur Adha - Trailer

There are 3 stories and I guess another half. Honestly I could understand to a point what they areshowing but after a while I was lost. What the heck is going on, it was a bouncer way beyond my comprehension. First and second stories were still palatable, then the movie lost us in the third one when it had a 5 minute long kissing slurping scene between 60+ people. I mean I have no problem that they did, I have a problem that I saw it. 

Music Teacher - 4.0 Stars. (Drama) G.

जीवन एक संघर्ष है

Director - Sarthak Dasgupta

Actors -  Divya Dutta, Neena Gupta, Manav Kaul, Amrtia Bagchi.

Music Teacher - Trailer

Beautiful old music, Teacher - Student love story, Art Vs Fame, Art for the sake of Art. Fame Vs Heart... ah... it's poetry. Just watch it with not much of a thought. Submerge in the real world in all it's glory and beauty. I have put it in Artsy category, because you gotta watch with that mindset to enjoy it. 

Sonchiriya - 4.5 Stars. (Drama / Action) PG13.

Director- Abhishek Chaubey

Actors-  Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee 

Sonchiriya - Trailer

On surface it is a dacoit movie set in 1980s when there were dacoits in MP / Rajasthan region. The language barrier is huge, the the thick accent can't be understood very well, but if you have time rewind and listen. Dialogues are beautifully done, Daciots call themselves 'baaghi' -  rebels. They are fighting against the system. Each character in the movie is so well developed that you start living with them, each one has enough time to give themselves a voice and a place in your heart. Each one of us have a guilt in our heart and a chip on our shoulder and a few things to take care of. I have not seen many movies where each character has hisown story well told. I have put this under Artsy, because if you don't get beyond the Dacoit story you don't see the artsy side to it.

Q1 2019 - Good Mix to Start the Year.

POPULAR 'BOLLYWOOD'

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Simmba - 4.0 Stars. PG-14. (Thriller)

सिंबा है तो मुमकिन है

Simmba Trailer

Director - Rohit Shetty

Actor - Ranveer Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Sonu Sood. 

By now everyone has seen this one. Rohit Shetty has enjoyed lot of success at the box office but he never has found any success in this blog (Major blot on his career). Well ...here comes Simmba. 

The movie ticks all the boxes of what a typical masala 'Bollywood' big budget movie should be. Hero Vs Villian, fighting, songs, dances, wafer thin plot, comedy and drama with bro, sis, mom, dad bonding scenes. The movie does it all. 

Obviously movie belongs to Ranveer Singh, he is in his purple patch, whatever he touches turns to gold. He plays the corrupt cop and his journey into becoming honest. His comic timing is perfect, he has seen enough, Bachchan, Anil Kapoor movies on 80s to know exactly how to do over the top comedy and how to show over the top emotion. He is all in and is loving it. Movie reminds me of at least dozen movies, including Shahenshah and Indrajeet (I know you don't know this one, sorry). 

So .... I know what you are thinking. This is how all Rohit shetty movies are but he never got a 4 before! This time he does something better, he does improve with the times in few areas. 

1. Not depicting 'rape' as some kind of a opportunity for titillation.
2. Handling court scenes with at least some difference by turning them into a message of country's culture of rape. 

Now that Mr Shetty is getting responsible, I will like to suggest him to continue his progress and next time show a Mom, and a Sis wearing western clothes, and don't need to be submissive sobbing do gooders who are clear second fiddle to everyone in the society. And the love angle of hero does not need to be westernized 'aankh maaring' girl all the time. 

Fraud Saiyyaan - 0 Stars. G. (Comedy?)

सैयां भी फ्रॉड और कॉमेडी भी

Fraud Saiyaan - Trailer

Director - Saurabh Srivastav

Actors - Arshad Warsi, Saurabh Shukla

Arshad Boss, we respect you, please do something good. Though I am proponent on not watching trailer but for this one, just watch the trailer and skip the movie. Arshad obviously is great actor and even better comedian, but this is just jaded and old school. 

Zero - 1.5 Stars. G. (Drama)

ज़बरदस्ती का जीरो नहीं बनता आज का हीरो

Zero - Trailer

Director - Aanand Rai. 

Actors - Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif. 

Shah Rukh's Ganga Jamuna Saraswati Phase is just not ending. He is refusing to understand. SRK you are what you are, and you are not what you are not. 

All I remember from this movie is Short SRK running on the streets in 'फ़ातेदार कच्छा' Why SRK? Why? You are not Kamal Hassan and you never will be. Stop trying to get sympathy and think you will someday pull off a 'Sadma'. You won't! Sorry! Do a regular movie, stop being over the top Don, or some art-ish movie where you are crippled, or some Sci Fi. Just stay away from doing something 'special'. 

The movie is a love story between 2 physically challenged people, it just does not jell. When the physically chanllenged are Anushka and SRK, you just know both are acting and they both can do magic if they are given the right project. Instead the movie belongs to a 'Non Actor' turning into an 'Actor' - please welcome Ms Katrina Kaif the actor. Nice knockout performance from her. 

Kedarnath - 3.5 Stars. G. (Love Story)

प्रेम कथा को भूकम्प

Kedarnath - Trailer

Director - Abhishek Kapoor

Actors - Sushant Singh Rajpoot, Sara Ali Khan. 

Kedarnath is a love story set in ..... yes you guessed it right.. Kedarnath and it is intertwined with the actual event that happened there.... and yes you are right again.. the earth quake. I struggle to understand why they decided to do it. But o well.. they did. Good to ok love story and has got few moments that are pretty good, does not elevate to something special though. Sushant is a good kid and puts his heart into every movie he does. Sara is the new star kid on the block. She is like a star kid is. I don't know I am getting too old to comment on these kids, they all look same to me and act similarly until they find something to blossom.  

Thugs of Hindostan - 3.5 Stars. G. (Thriller)

पुराने ज़माने की बिग बजट फिलम

Thugs of Hindostan - Trailer

Director - Vijay Krishna Acharya

Actors - Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh.

The movie that everyone loved to despise. I never thought very highly of public opinion as it is made by a handful of people and then rest en masse follow the popular opinion on twitter, instagram and A-to-Zed.blogspot.com. 

This movie probably is a ode to old 70s movies which were multistarrers wth big sets etc. It is a 'Raj Tilak' of 2000s.... mmm... what is Raj Tilak? Google it, yes I am super old. 

Aamir has always acted like he has rehearsed everything 500 times and the freshness has been lost, but he is good as a comic ' कमीना' who can change sides and can be with Brits or Indians depending on which scene we are at. Bachchan is too old to do stunts they show him do and hence the fights look weird. Overall the movie is enjoyable if you are ok looking at it like an ode to big budget multistarrers from 70s. 

Dussehra - 3.0 Stars. PG-13. (Action)

हीरो और विल्लिअन मारो और ठोको

Dussehra - Trailer

Director - Manish Vatsalya

Actors - Neil Nitin Mukesh, Tina Desai.

Cop couple are good people but being good cop doesn't help. Rest you know what happens. Thank you. 

Genius - 2.5 Stars. G.(Action)

बीस साल लेट जीनियस

Genius - Trailer

Director - Anil Sharma. 

Actors - Utkarsh Sharma, Ishita Chauhan, Mithun. 

Anil Sharma of Sunny and Dharam Papaji's mindless entertainer fame is back with a movie for his baby boy. Whenever this happens you know it's not going to work. Countless yester years directors come out of hiatus to give there kid a breakthrough. Most of them are like Papa Roshan gave to Hrithik. This one is no different, the kid is a genius Patriotic Agent who can fight anyone and everyone. There is a love interest and you know the rest. 

Dil Junglee - 2.5 Stars. G. (Love Story)

बस एक लव स्टोरी है

Dil Junglee - Trailer

Director - Aleya Sen

Actors - Tapsee Pannu, Saqib Saleem. 

Tapsee can do whatever she wants to do. I am not sure why she is doing this movie, my theory is this must be long in the making and is ready now once Tapsee became a star. Not a bad movie at all, if Tapsee is there you can't go wrong. It is a good love story, a good for nothing boy friend and Tapsee plays dumb rich girl with messed up priorities. Life happens takes the movie from India to London. Yea.. a love story. 

Bhaiaji Super Hit  - 1.5 Stars. G. (Comedy?)

अमीषा और प्रीति  की वापसी.. उफ़

Bhaiaji Superhit - Trailer

Director - Neeraj Pathak

Actors - Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Ameesha Patel. 

I don't think there is anyone who can tell Sunny papa that his time is up and he better stop it. No... I am not going to say it either. So.. Sunny stars in another movie .... he is a Don who has Gharwali Baharwali problems. It is a comedy without laughs. If you were alive and young a decade or 2 ago, you have a treat to watch! Preity Zinta and Ameesha Patel both star together in one movie. So you get to see both of them. Ameesha surprisingly has no clue she has aged nor did the director so she is acting exactly same as a decade ago. Actually I liked both of them .... at one point of time. 

BUDGET MOVIES

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Udanchhoo - 1.0 (4.5 In alternative Universe). PG (Comedy)

इतनी गन्दी की मज़ा आ गया

Udanchhoo - Trailer

Director - Vipin Parasher.

Actors - Ashutosh Rana, Prem Chopra.

If you like bad movies that are good. This one is for you. I think the actors know that they are making a garbage master piece and they do a good job with it. Prem Chopra plays a corrupt God man who's 'mantra' is - 'Ding Dong Baby Sing Song'. So when he shows up the crowd chants - Ding Dong Ding Dong. Now if you like it (I do) .... give it a shot. Also Ashutosh Rana with his garrish wardrobe and 'घटिया' acting is hilarious. 

Mohalla Assi - 1.0 Stars. G. (Don't know)

सनी संस्कृत बोलने वाला पंडित!

Mohalla Assi - Trailer

Director - Chandra Prakash Dwivedi.

Actors - Sunny Deol, Sakshi Tanwar.

Simply put - Who the heck thought of making Sunny into a Sanskrit speaking pandit! Come on dude... he is Sunny not Suresh! Sunny giving his best shot at playing a Sanskrit speaking upright Pandit. If you want to see that happen, this is your chance. 

Pattakhaa - 4.0 Stars. PG13. (Whacky)

दो बहेनो की प्रेम कथा

Pataakha - Trailer

Director - Vishal Bhardwaj

Actors - Sanya Malhotra, Radhika Madan, Sunil Grover.

When it is Vishal Bhardwaj at the helm rest assured it won't be your regular cinema. You know it is common knowledge that if there are 2 Sisters with little age gap they fight a lot. Well this is a story of 2 Sisters but their fight is not your regular fight and it takes weird out of whack twists and turns. When you think you have seen the bad it turns to worse. The entire joy ride is worth taking, the guy who enjoys the entire ride with us is the narrator and confidante of everyone in the village - Sunil Grover. He has a great role and he does complete justice to it. If you want to be surprised - this is the movie for you. 

Bombairiya - 3.5 Stars. PG. (Thriller)

जाने भी दो यारों यह बम्बई है

Bombairiya - Trailer

Actors - Radhika Apte, Akshay Oberoi.

Director - Pia Sukanya

Radhika Apte is every where and she has this peculiar personality no matter what role she plays. Sometimes it fits and sometimes it annoys. This movie is about lot of things happening around an ill timed accident on the roads of Mumbai. A film star, a secretary, under world, politicians, cops all get involved due to simple incident that happens. You have seen this before but it is a pretty good joy ride if you couple of hours to kill time. 

Nanu Ki Jaanu - 4.0 Stars. G. (Comedy)

भूत के परेशानियां भी परेशानियां होती है

Nanu Ki Jaanu - Trailer

Director - Faraz Haider

Actor -  Abhay Deol, Patralekhaa Paul, Rajesh Sharma

Bhoot movies with Abhay are always fun. This Bhoot movie has nothing scary about it, so go ahead and watch it because you don't get many that have a bhoot and not scary at all. A small time Don Abhay has a tender heart and then he gets introduced to a Bhoot. Obviously the Bhoot is a she. It is a fun movie with some side actors playing a good hand of comedy. 

Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle - 1.0 Stars. G. (Comedy?)

फिलम क्यों बनायीं है पगले

Teri Bhabhi Hai Pagle - Trailer

Director - Vinod Tiwari

Actors - Rajneesh Duggal, Krushna Abhishek.

Looking at some successful comedies people think it is easy to make a 'foolish, stupid comedy'. In fact it is hard, and it needs a lot of luck. Otherwise you make this kind of a comedy. Everyone is trying their best but I can't find a laugh. 

Ishqeriya - 1.5 Stars. G (Love Story)

लो भाई एक और लव स्टोरी

Ishqeriya - Trailer

Director - Prerna Wadhawan.

Actors - Neil Nitin Mukesh, Richa Chaddha.

I don't know what was worse - seeing Sunny as a Pandit or seeing Neal Nitin Mukesh and Richa Chaddha as college going teenagers. Both will leave you scaaared. How is Richa Chaddha a teenager? She is all smitten in love and acting o so cute and innocent! Isn't she at my age? We are called Uncle Aunties... what is going on? I don't know. 

ARTSY

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Soni  - 4.0 Stars. PG-13. (Drama)

दर्द ख़ामोशी और सोनी

Soni - Trailer

Director: Ivan Ayr

Stars: Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, Saloni Batra, Vikas Shukla

Soni is the low level cop who is brooding and has a sad demenor, a La Kala Patthar Bachchan. I love it, the girl is awesome. She broods and then broods more, she is not happy because being right and living in this life is not fun. She has a understanding boss, but women have an uphill battle with society just to survive, and if you want to do something special, you gotta take all your efforts a notch up. Next time you see a girl achieving as much as you... remember she worked twice as hard. 

Monsoon Shootout - 4.5 Stars. R. (Drama /  Thriller)

यु होता तो क्या होता। .. के यु होता तो क्या होता

Monsoon Shootout - Trailer

Director: Amit Kumar

Stars: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Neeraj Kabi

I have heard of these movies that show alternate endings, I never saw one ... until now. Our lives are formed of moments, and moments are formed of decisions. Generally we can take 2-3 routes in every given moment, whether it is speeding and crossing a yellow light, or taking a new job. As Ghalib would say - yu hota to kya hota, ke yu hota to kya hota! 

The movie gives you options during a shootout, if the cop takes any of the given option what would happen? The greatness of the movie is it steers clear of Black / White and True / False and tells you Life is messy and keep your ego in check because you can make whatever decision you want... life can still come back and smack you. There is no way out, just live it as it comes. Beautiful. 

Tumbbad - 5 Stars. R. (Drama / Horror)

हस्तर मेरे अंदर बैठा है 

Tumbbad - Trailer

Director - Ravi Barve, Anand Gandhi

Actors - Sohal Shah, Jyoti Malshe.

It has been months and I still think about the movie. It is definitely more artsy than commercial so take the rating with the tag. Tale of 'God of Greed' is a mythological story about how he is born and how he gets powerful. But the presentation is great and the philosophy behind it awesome. Generation after generation are advised not to fall for it and instead we keep going forward and keep trying to get more and more. First one coin is good, then entire bucket is not enough. It serves no one any good, I see Hastar lurking on my bathroom ceiling and sometimes in my living room wall.... He is there and if you are not careful he will get you.