POPULAR BOLLYWOOD
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GASLIGHT - 3.0 Stars. (PG)
Gaslight
Directed by Pavan Kirpalani
Starring Sara Ali Khan, Vikrant Massey, Chitrangada Singh
The Story - Gaslight the name is weird for a Hindi movie. I hope it's not a copy. Here is google definition of Gaslighting - Psychologists use the term “gaslighting” to refer to a specific type of manipulation where the manipulator is trying to get someone else to question their own reality, memory or perceptions. And it's always a serious problem, according to psychologists.
Sara comes to meet her estranged dad and she can't find him. सब लोग शक के दायरे में है. क्या बाप जिन्दा है. क्या सारा पागल है. क्या सब मिले हुए हैं?
The Characters - अपनी अमृता सिंह की लड़की की फिल्म है यार देख लो. Sara actually tries to get different and challenging roles. She doesn't do your run of the mill movies. Good job beti! Vikrant is a good actor and has been utilized well in this movie.
The Verdict - Good thriller, good climax. Unnecessarily made into a horror movie. Probably copied script. Slow start. Can easily fast forward the first hour.
CHOR NIKAL KE BHAGA - 4.0 Stars. (G)
Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga
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Directed by Ajay Singh
Starring Yami Gautam, Sunny Kaushal
The Story - A love story turns into a thriller. The couple need to get out of the mess and need to steal a lot of money. Underworld and terrorist are involved as the couple try to escape from everyone including the cops.
The Characters - Yami is the King. Yami delivers another great performance. Sunny is as good as someone's brother can be. He does his job.
The Verdict - Surprisingly it was a pretty good taut thriller. Edge of the seat and a good story and a awesome climax makes it a 4 starer. Out and out entertaining thriller.
PATHAAN - 2.0 Stars. (G)
Pathaan
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Directed by Siddharth Anand
Starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia, Ashutosh Rana
The Story - It is not easy to think what the story was. It is 3 hours of climax. Director watched every Hollywood thriller including 'The fast and the furious' then mugged up all the climax scenes and threw into a script mixed it well and out comes Pathaan. And then they get offended when they are called Bollywood. Sadly even the dialogues are not good. Pathaan is now one of the super stars in a spy universe of Yash Raj films is creating as the realize easy way to make money is to make these characters that can be used again and again.
The Characters - SRK gives you a tired performance, he doesn't even care to put in an effort to look hurt. He fixes himself a La 'Terminator'. Wants to look cool with long hair and CGI created 16 packs while walking around in resorts. There is a Sallu sighting as bad as SRKs. The best part of the movie is John Cute Abraham even as a villain, Dimple tough Kapadia as a desi version of Madam M (Bond) and Deepika who fights and looks nice but her dialogue delivery is so 'marathi' that even eyes closed you know it is our Padukone talking.
The Verdict - You already saw it and wasted your time and money. So no point. Classic example of how something either goes Viral or becomes an untouchable (Laal Singh Chaddha). Both are for the same reason - No reason. The society has become so much followers that either you run to see or you run to 'not see'. Has nothing to do with anything except millions of people wanting to be on the 'right' side of looking like they did the right thing.
TU JHOOTHI MAIN MAKKAAR - 3.5 Stars. (G)
Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar
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Directed by Luv Ranjan
Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Anubhav Singh Bassi
The Story - Ranbir falls for Shraddha but runs a side business where he takes money to break relationships. Very creative story line (pun intended). This is a modern family entertainer because there is a love story with an annoying family dynamics to the story.
The Characters - Ranbir does the same thing again and again. His dances are exactly the same, with the same plastered smily face and same moves and similar sounding songs for last decade. Stop it. Shraddha and Ranbir's wardrobe is cringe, don't know what it was but it was screaming for help. Shraddha can't act and needs a change of scenery.
The Verdict - Outside of hugely misogynistic message of the movie, everything is awesome. It's fun and dance all the way. The movie starts as a 0 star with the worst love story sequence but climax is actually very funny with Dimple and Neetu Singh coming to the rescue. Luv Ranjan - सुधर जा.
KUTTEY - 2.0 Stars. (R)
Kuttey
Directed by Aasmaan Bhardwaj
Starring Tabu, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Radhika Madan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kumud Mishra, Shardul Bhardwaj
The Story - Another thriller but with Zero story.
The Characters - The biggest dud is the director Aasmaan Bhardwaj, son of talented Dad who makes similar movies, but they work. The copy cat movie does not work at all. Tabu, Naseer, Arjun, Konkana all come to the party of Vishal Bhardwaj's son but none of them make any impact.
The Verdict - The movie is pretentious, trying to be cool and edgy. But none of it works.
DRISHYAM 2 - 3.5 Stars. (PG)
Drishyam 2
Directed by Abhishek Pathak
Starring Ajay Devgn, Akshaye Khanna, Tabu, Shriya Saran
The Story - This actually continues from the first Drishyam. You have to watch the first one to understand the second one. The dad is still trying to save his daughter from the murder of Cop's son. He had disposed the body off but now the case is being reopened and they are going to be caught again. The addition of a investigator adds to the drama.
The Characters - Ajay Devgn remains the same, I don't know if he has stopped moving or he was always like this. Akshaye actually works, makes a difference otherwise you won't be able to tell the difference between the first and the second movie. Tabu is good but Shriya Saran probably again wins the award for the best actor in this movie.
The Verdict - All the ingredients are there. Another good thriller, the only downside is - nothing happens for most of the movie. They have written a good climax but rest of the movie is all about passing time. But nevertheless a good movie.
CIRKUS - 3.0 Stars. (G)
Cirkus
Directed by Rohit Shetty
Starring Ranveer Singh, Pooja Hegde, Jacqueline Fernandez, Varun Sharma
The Story - Exactly the same as 'Angoor'. The old classic has been remade. Why did they make it in the backdrop of some cartoonish fantasy land from 1960s. Only Mr Rohit Shety can tell.
The Characters - Ranveer is awesome. The more flops he gives the more I like him. He is unafraid to do random out there whacky stuff. Anyone else in his place will play safe like all other super stars (SRK, Ranbir, Hrithik etc). This guy doesn't care he goes and does what he wants to. Pooja Hegde is bad, sorry can't sugar coat it. Jaqueline is Jaqueline I don't think we are hoping for her to become an actor. I only know she is very hard working celeb when it comes to gym work. Varun Sharma is ok, though no matter what he does I like him.
The Verdict - The movie does not work, for the reason that Angoor was just too good. But most people must not have watched that movie so this might work. If you are looking for a very silly stupid smile inducing time pass this will work.
CODE NAME TIRANGA - 3.5 Stars. (PG13)
Code Name Tiranga
Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta
Starring Parineeti Chopra, Harrdy Sandhu, Sharad Kelkar
The Story - The times are for dime a dozen patriotic super agent movies. Mostly filled with minority hating Pakistan bashing story lines. But wait a minute, this one was not that bad. This one actually was a pretty decent story and done with some creativity. In case you like patriotic Spy thrillers you will enjoy it. If not, you will still not cringe.
The Characters - Parineeti has now done some solo movies, that is some accomplishment! No one puts her at the level of great actors like Tapsee and Deepika but she has achieved a lot. Obviously long time readers of this blog know our team of one likes Parineeti. She does a good job acting all Bachchanesque and cool mouthing cool dialogues and fighting the bad guys. Sharad Kelkar is another good actor who can effortlessly add something good to a movie.
The Verdict - Not a bad spy thriller. Watch it as a nice time pass. Use fast forward in the first half I promise you won't lose much. My problem with these spy people is - I can't empathize with them. You are breaking hearts destroying lives and cheating people because you are a spy and I should feel bad for you?
MILI - 4.0 Stars. (PG13)
Mili
Directed by Mathukutty Xavier
Starring Janhvi Kapoor, Sunny Kaushal, Manoj Pahwa
The Story - It's a remake of a south Indian movie. I guess I stand corrected, they do make movies with female as the lead??? A girl with regular life in a mall gets stuck in a refrigerator. That's the beginning, the middle and the end.
The Characters - Janhvi Kapoor and many of these new female leads take movies that are not your typical bollywood movies. They are the leads and male actors are supporting. I am sure they know these movies won't have a mass audience or will make money. They still chose to work on these. Kudos to them! Janhvi doesn't care too much about being branded as glamorous poster girl, she gives her honest effort to the job at hand. Good work Janhvi!
The Verdict - The movie drags in bits and pieces. It is also not a very pleasant movie, when you have half the movie in a refrigerator. Not your feel good entertainer, but it does keep you engaged.
AN ACTION HERO - 4.0 Stars. (PG13)
An Action Hero
Directed by Anirudh Iyer
Starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Jaideep Ahlawat
The Story - What a great piece of creativity fell in our lap! An Action Hero is about a typical Action Super Star who is enjoying his celebrity life when a freak incidence changes his life. Now he is on the run and also on the mend! He has woken up from his stupid rich life and actually started to become an Action Hero of real life and more importantly he is discovering what it is all about! What a poetic under current to otherwise a platitude of a regular thriller.
The Characters - Ayushmann always takes good movies and roles. I don't think he is a great actor but he never chooses a bad movie. This one he specially gives you the performance this movie needed. You can tell he starts liking the kick that life gives him as he starts understanding what life is all about and how he wants to live it. Jaideep Ahlawat is such a great foil to Ayushmann, these two produce the jugalbandi of the year. They should be in nomination for the 'Best Couple'. They are funny, serious, crazy, loving all at the same time! No, they are not in a relationship. One is a Hero and the other is a villain, but they both understand the assignment given to them and they are enjoying it as they play it. The side actors are awesome too, think of the Cops who are sitting naked at their home through out the movie because the gangster told them to!
The Verdict - It takes 2 to tango, and Jaideep and Ayushman do a great one. The side actors are just great with awesome one liners. If you watch it as a regular comic thriller then it is an average movie. If you understand the whacky nature of presentation and the underlying message how an action hero was a joke but when he understood life he actually became The Action Hero for himself. The action sequences sometimes merge into dream sequence even though they are going on real life! what a beautiful presentation.
RAM SETU - 1.5 Stars. (G)
Ram Setu
Directed by Abhishek Sharma
Starring Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Satya Dev
The Story - Our patriotic religious modern day Manoj Kumar Mr Akshay Kumar goes on a adventure hunt a la Indiana Jones trying to prove that Hanuman was a man? Or Ram was a man? The plot is simple - a stupid little scientist did not believe in Ramji and then he finds proof of their existence in pre-historic times. हे राम आप चले थे इनको सिखाने ईगो को ख़तम करो. और इन लोगों ने आप ही को ईगो बना दिया. लो कर लो बात.
The Characters - Akshay bhaiya has long hair and is trying to play a archaeologist / scientist. Very tacky portrayal of the entire process. But come on Akshay Bhaiyya se koi aur umeed thi? Jacqueline is playing a scientist too! No no I am not kidding she is playing an engineer / scientist. At least I think so. YES Jazqueline with all her typical Jacqueline things she does, yes she played an engineer / scientist.
The Verdict - The movie is very very predictable. The Indiana Joneseque adventure will only be liked by people who don't care about being religious but want to always prove something to someone about religion. Watch it if you are that kinda religious, OR watch it to see Jacqueline as scientist.
PHONE BHOOT - 4.0 Stars. (PG)
Phone Bhoot
Directed by Gurmmeet Singh
Starring Katrina Kaif, Ishaan Khatter, Siddhant Chaturvedi
The Story - A hilarious (in bits) horror / comedy movie, similar to Stree. Two guys are good for nothing and they start seeing ghosts . So they decide to become Ghost Busters. The bumbling idiots are in the way of Jackie Shroff who is the villain bhoot who has a on going corruption racket of Aatmas.
The Characters - Katrina is enjoying her role, Sidhant and Ishaan are loving this downright stupid comedy. They all combine into a great team. The bengalan chudail is hilarious! Jackie is a disappointment even though he has a very well defined role.
The Verdict - Some of the scenes are laugh out loud funny. The bengalan Chudail is worth watching. Ishaan and Sidhant's dads are so disappointed by their idiot kids it is hilarious. But the movie tapers down to a damp squib.
BUDGET MOVIES
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ALMOST PYAAR WITH DJ MOHABBAT - 4.5 Stars. (PG)
Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat
Directed by Anurag Kashyap
Starring Karan Mehta, Alaya F, Amber Arya, Vicky Kaushal
The Story - This is an Anurag Kashyap love story. It is not your run of the mill love story. It is an Anurag Kashyap love story. That should be enough for you to watch it. This is bout two Love stories in different parts of the world played by the same couple. Their is a lover who can't see anything outside of love, there is a person who receives love due to innocence in their heart. The person who is hopelessly in Love has no 'hope' in this world. Humans in a society are zombies, with no brains left to think for themselves. They do what they think society wants them to do.
The Characters - Anurag again delivers a great movie. He is my favorite director along with Anubhav Sinha so I am biased. The breaking news is - Alaya and Karan. Great, great actors, what a performance in their double roles. Alaya specially is awesome, I have not seen a person so confident in her crying. Generally actors don't cry the way an actual person cries, because it contorts their face and they may not look good. Alaya cries like she means it. Well done Alaya.
The Verdict - Did you watch Manmarziyan? go watch that along with this one. 2 best love stories of last few years. If you only want standard Bollywood stuff, like a Karan Johar romance, then stay away from this one.
BOB BISWAS - 5.0 Stars (R)
Bob Biswas
Directed by Diya Annapurna Ghosh
Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Chitrangada Singh
The Story - There was a great movie named 'Kahaani' and there was a character in that movie called Bob Biswas. That character is developed in this movie. This is purely indigenous 'made in India' character. Bob is out of hospital with zero memory of his past. People pop up around him convincing him of various things including that he was a hit man in past forgotten life. He has no clue if wife and his kids are real, his friends are real, his employer is real. His appearance is of a bank clerk, what is the truth? Does it matter?
The Characters - Abhishek Bachchan who is pretty under rated actor puts on a look of Bob Biswas and plays it with honesty. Chitrangada Singh looks good for her role and adds to the mystery. Bob's kids are great as Bob gets attached to them. But the best are the side characters, the police the criminals the annoying neighbor and the best one is the Bengali babu shop keeper who keeps hinting Bob on what they do and how it is guiding principle of his life. Actually I can watch movie again just because of that bengali uncle.
The Verdict - I gave it a 5 stars because it was so different and so under the radar. It was an awesome thriller and suspense which I had to find on internet to watch. This definitely keeps you engaged.
TARA Vs BILAL - 4.0 Stars. (G)
Tara Vs Bilal
Directed by Samar Iqbal
Starring Harshvardhan Rane, Sonia Rathee
The Story - A cute little love story in London. It has a lot of typical love story stuff and still it is very fresh. Girl is stranded in London, Guy is stuck with his annoying mom and aunts. They want him to get married he has his own demons. The boy meets the girl.
The Characters - Both the protagonists are pretty decent actors and do a good job. Direction is good, it's your typical low budget love story you were waiting for.
The Verdict - Watch it. If you can't even watch this without judging it go get yourself checked.
DOUBLE XL - 2.5 Stars. (G)
Double XL
Directed by Satramm Ramani
Starring Sonakshi Sinha, Huma Qureshi, Zaheer Iqbal, Mahat Raghavendra
The Story - Two over weight girls struggle with society's stereotypes. They challenge what they can and cannot do due to their weight. One wants to become a designer and the other wants to be a Cricket analyst and commentator.
The Characters - Sonakshi was never a good actor, and she still has the same skills. Huma is an awesome actor but in this one she plays it down to the level of people around her. Others are caricatured fillers.
The Verdict - Both the lead girls were not as over weight as they thought they were. The narration was very basic and shallow. You can skip it.
MISTER MUMMY - 2.0 Stars. (PG)
Mister Mummy
Directed By - Shaad Ali
Starring - Ritesh Deshmukh, Genelia D Souza
The Story - A couple are estranged but for some odd reason the husband becomes pregnant. The comedy revolves around how he deals with it.
The Characters - Ritesh has limited skills but mostly he does an ok job, in this one he was overboard with his cheap bad jokes. Genelia is and was cute. But unlike their tik toks the movie is not cute.
The Verdict - Cringy male pregnancy jokes, a cringy gay character and cringefest of over acting side actors trying to be funny makes this a bad movie. I watched it, so you could skip.
VADH - 4.5 Stars. (R)
Vadh
Directed by Jaspal Singh Sandhu
Starring Sanjay Mishra, Neena Gupta, Manav Vij, Saurabh Sachdeva
The Story - From the looks of it, we were dreading it to be a Baghban 2.0. We dragged our feet to get to this one. AND o boi... how wrong we were. Probably the best desi thriller I have seen in a while. Seeped in Indian ethos this bone chilling thriller makes you tight in the jaw, as you go through the ups and downs with the old couple who are living an unassuming life. Their kid has left them with debt, the only bright spot is the neighbor's daughter. They kind of have adopted her and then there is this problem of a small time loan shark who they have to deal with.
The Characters - Sanjay Mishra's swag is at a different level. He is this regular uncle who can turn into 70s Bachchan in no time. Neena Gupta is a collossal great they both do something special in this great movie. But the credit needs to be given to Jaspal Sandhu the director. I will definitely look out for this name in future.
The Verdict - Get ready to be shocked. This is not an old couple's sob story. It is a taut thriller.
MISSION MAJNU - 2.5 Stars. (PG)
Mission Majnu
Directed by: Shantanu Bagchi
Starring: Sidharth Malhotra, Rashmika Mandanna, Parmeet Sethi, Sharib Hashmi, Kumud Mishra, Rajit Kapur
The Story - Another one? Come on man... Another one! Seriously man is Indian film industry forced to make 10 spy thrillers a year that has some cringy Pakistan bashing? It is possible if they don't make them they will all be accused of all deaths that happens in the industry.
The Characters - Sidharth Malhotra is cute, no doubt about that. I would also tell him any nuclear secrets if he asked and I had. Rashmika is also cute and they both look good together. But you can't expect much more than that.
The Verdict - Again a spy breaking hearts, double crossing loved ones AND I should be supporting the spy? An average spy thriller, probably still better than Pathaan but that's not saying much.
QALA - 3.0 Stars. (R)
Qala
Directed by Anvita Dutt
Starring Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan
The Story - Artists are the most competitive and can show the worst traits in a human. Many movies and real life incidences show that to us. Qala is about this girl who wants to impress her mom by becoming a great singer. She has to fight her Mom's patriarchal views, society's misogyny and more skilled people than her. But she will do anything to get where her Mom likes her. A great lesson for all desi parents. Look what you are making your kids into, with your expectations.
The Characters - Tripti is completely immersed into her role, she does look completely delusional and psycho. Babil Khan does a good job in the short role he has. There are many characters competing to be worse human than the other.
The Verdict - This is easily one of the most depressing movie I have ever seen. We could not sleep or do anything after this one. It completely took the life out of us. But sure go ahead and watch it, make sure you don't have a gun around you to shoot yourself with.
THAI MASSAGE - 4.0 Stars. (PG13)
Thai Massage
Directed by Mangesh Hadawale
Starring Gajraj Rao, Divyendu Sharma, Alina Zasobina
The Story - Another movie about an old man which we dragged our feet to watch because it looked like a cringy sex comedy. Again I was pleasantly surprised! It turned out to be an awesome entertainer. Movie about a retired man who has been type casted and side tracked by society to live in his small role of a retired grandpa. He wants more from life and decides to go Thailand to get a "Massage".
The Characters - Gajraj Rao is mostly dependent as a side character but this time he carries the movie on his own. Divyendu does a good job. He gets Gajraj into doing stuff that will make him a pariah in his small town of Ujjain.
The Verdict - It is not what it looks like. It could have been what it looks but the Director's treatment makes the movie a great watch.
GULMOHAR - 4.5 Stars. (G)
Gulmohar
Directed by Rahul V. Chittella
Starring Sharmila Tagore, Manoj Bajpayee, Simran, Suraj Sharma, Amol Palekar, Kaveri Seth
The Story - Did I tell you about a movie which looked like it will be a Bhaghban 2.0 but it turned out to be an awesome movie? Yea i think I said that twice. No you are not in a time warp. This is the third such movie that I dragged my feet to watch thinking it will be a boring social drama instead it turned out to be a great one. The story is around Manoj Bajpayee, who is engaged in this movie to give it a good effort. A family is leaving their ancestral home in heart of delhi to a suburb. In that backdrop their are love stories that are being affected or blooming, there are revelations and a lot more dirty secrets coming out in the open. A very well written family drama. This is not your soap opera this is a good progressive family drama you want to engage yourself with.
The Characters - Manoj is great in this one. Sometimes I am critical of him and I remember few years ago I was critical of his face lift and his fake hair he grew. Maybe it was my jealousy that he got hair transplant when I did not. Not to bring my own drama into this family drama. Manoj is a good actor and he keeps the movie engaging. Sharmila Tagore does great as a cool Grandma. Amol Palekar does a great character in negative shades, that was something he would have never done before. The kids are really good too, they don't come across as caricatures and each character has depth to them. Awesome work by the Director Rahul. I need to remember his name too now.
The Verdict - Overall this encompasses entire 5 season of 'This is Us' kind of drama (My favorite drama ever) into a movie. Only negative I can think of is - they pushed LGBTQ angle a little too much, but who cares.
WEB SERIES
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SIXER - 3.5 Stars. (G)
Sixer
Directed by - Chaitanya Kumbhakonam
The Story - Movie about a local tennis ball cricket team who is competing in local competition. The super star of the team craves for a lot but does not care much about the team. The team comes together and they go for the championship. A very regular sports story done well.
The Characters - The superstar (Shivankit) is a good actor, essentially it his story of redemption and he does good. The friendship between him and Aussie (Badri) is cute, but my favorite was Brij Bhushan Shukla as Rajesh Bhaiya it reminded me of someone who also plays cricket. ME.
The Verdict - If you play cricket in a league, no brainer you got to watch it. If not it's still a pretty good time pass.
POP KAUN - 4.0 Stars. (G)
Pop Kaun?
Directed by Farhad Samji
Starring Kunal Khemu, Saurabh Shukla, Johny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Ashwini Kalsekar, Farhad Samji
The Story - Kunal finds out his dad is not his dad. Starts the hilarious search for his 'Pop'. It probably was a movie that was divided into 5 episodes to make it a TV series. All the yesteryear comedians make an appearance and mostly all of them are funny except Chunky Pandey (what a surprise!)
The Characters - Kunal Khemu is our new Jimmy Shergill in the sense that all his films are good. He is center of all the fun going on. Saurabh Shukla, Johny Lever, and Rajpal Yadav all have their typical Quirks like responding to everything 10 seconds late or interpreting stuff that is similar sounding. Making it all stupid and hilarious. The best of the lot is Johny Lever's daughter who has a great comic timing and also mimics Johny Lever pretty well.
The Verdict - If you ever wanted to watch dumb stupid hilarious comedy this is for you. There is no underlying message it is completely stupid fun.
RANA NAIDU - 1.0 Stars. (PG13)
Rana Naidu
Directed by Suparn Verma, Karan Anshuman
Starring Rana Daggubati, Venkatesh Daggubati, Suchitra Pillai, Rajni Basumatary, Gaurav Chopra, Surveen Chawla
The Story - Rana has a family and he hates his father for his childhood faults. Father returns from jail and Rana is not cool with it.
The Characters - Are you a die hard fan of Rana Daggubati? If not then skip it. This guy has one facial expression which probably worked in Bahubali. Surveen Chawla is trying her best but I don't think anyone can live with Rana much less a screen wife. Venkatesh (Karishma Kapoor's debut movie hero) is annoying as the dad.
The Verdict - This horror show banks a lot on crude sexual scenes and even cruder fights. Skip it.
THE ROMANTICS - 3.5 Stars. (G)
The Romantics
Based on The legacy of Yash Chopra and Yash Raj Films.
Written / Directed by Smriti Mundhra
The Story - Are you still enamored by DDLJ? Can't get over the Yash Chopra movies? Are you a fan of the great Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra? Then this is for you. It is a series of interviews of people praising Yash Raj banner.
The Characters - Everyone lines up to say good things about Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra, from Karan Johar to Abhishek Bachchan. My favorite was the Much maligned son of Yash - Mr Uday Chopra. He was pretty authentic and was kind of a loser child who turned out to be a blessing for his aging dad. Life! It has a purpose for everyone if you can recognize it.
The Verdict - This is named as Romantics and you feel they are going to talk a lot of about what goes into romantic film making with various anecdotes. They do that very little and instead it is a long advertisement of Yash Raj Banner and how great they are. Come on man.. they are just a successful banner. Like all rich people, Aditya wants to be praised for taking risks to make more money. It's all fine and I am not against it but it was the longest ad I ever saw. Them talking about how outside banners came to India and they are fighting it... doesn't sound ok. Come on Indian films are not your personal fiefdom.
FARZI - 3.5 Stars. (PG13)
Farzi
Directed by Raj & DK
Starring Shahid Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi, Kay Kay Menon, Raashii Khanna, Bhuvan Arora
The Story - Couple of friends are artists and can make a perfect fake note. That makes them hot property as they attract attention of underworld and the cops.
The Characters - Shahid has done these 'make money from a fraud' many times now. Kay Kay can turn anything into a must watch. Vijay Sethupathi has played this character of law breaking agent with a different twist, his cool south Indian uncle-ish look is fresh for Hindi web series. Raashi is just beautiful and is the pivot to the entire story. Shahid tries to put in a good performance. Shahid's friend (Bhuvan Arora) is easily the best side character seen for a long time.
The Verdict - A slow start and never picks up to a great ending. But if you get past first episode it becomes better. All the ingredients of a nice drama-thriller with a pretty good ending is all in place. Nice time pas y'all.
HAPPY FAMILY - 1.0 Stars. (G)
Happy Family
Directed by Jamnadas Majethia, Aatish Kapadia
Starring Ratna Pathak Shah, Raj Babbar, Atul Kulkarni, Ayesha Jhulka
The Story - A happy wholesome family with troubles.
The Characters - Raj Babbar doesn't look Gujrati in any way. Great actors like Ratna Pathak and Atul Kulkarni look out of place and lost. Any Ayesha Jhulka fans? I am talking about 'Usne baat ki kuchh aise dhang se', She is back.
The Verdict - Cheesy and over the top. Trying too hard. They looked at all the 'wholesome family entertainers' scripts and copied everything. Somehow can't get anything to gel.
