Andhadhun – Review

October 7, 2018

Today I watched Andhadhun. I was little late to the theatre so I missed first five minutes and there were calls and messages in between so I missed a little in the middle of the movie too, but from what I have watched, it is a decent movie.

Every actor has done a fine job, especial Ayushmann and Tabu. There is a lot of suspense in the movie and it took a few turns I had not expected.

The story is about a blind pianist who is present at a murder scene. Played by Ayushmann Khurrana, the pianist keeps us guessing if he is really blind or not. Radhika Apte doesn’t have much to do in this movie, but she holds her ground well. Tabu is veteran and this time too she has proved that she is one of the finest actors of Bollywood. The character actors are chosen very well and their performances are top notch.

This movie is a one time watch, but that one time watch is highly recommended.

Venom – Review

October 5,2018

Today I went to watch the movie Venom. I was excited but then half an hour later I started getting bored and by the end of the movie I was nothing but disappointed.

It could have been such a great movie but it wasn’t. Tom Hardy’s performance was good but where this film actually loses is the story. There is nothing new to the story and the pace seems too slow for a superhero movie.

I am not going to reveal the plot here but I will just suggest you that if you haven’t watched it yet you can wait for it to appear on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Stree - Review

September 27, 2018

This would be a short review because I personally did not like Stree as much. I went in with hopes as it was very hyped and had to buy the most expensive tickets as the cheaper tickets were sold out but it turned out to be just an okay watch.

The film is not so bad though, it’s just that I’m not very much into these type of films. Horror comedy is a sort of new genre in Bollywood and the depiction of an Indian small town in the movie was on point. Acting performances were convincingly good.

It was not a bad movie but I am not very much into such movies and thus for me it was an average watch. Though I could see how there are so many people who liked it.

Ghoul – Review

August 31, 2018

I watched the much awaited Netflix mini-series Ghoul recently and I have to say that I am not disappointed. The horror show stars Radhika Apte and Manav Kaul.

Set in a dystopian near future, Ghoul shows an authoritarian government cracking down on what it perceives anti-national. Radhika Apte plays the role of an Army officer who is called to interrogate a terrorist called Ali Saeed. Radhika is patriotic to the point that she gets her own father arrested because he as a professor was teaching out of the syllabus things to his students.

When Radhika reaches the detention centre she meets the officers there headed by Colonel Dacunha. Things start going bizzare when Ali Saeed is brought to the detention centre and this is how the Ghoul comes in the picture.

The series is well acted, with good sound-design, background score and special effects. The depiction of a dystopian world is satisfying.

The only downside of the series is that there is too much political undertone involved, so much that it becomes subversive. We could have done with more horror and less of politics. Other than this, the series is great overall. It’s different from other Indian shows and the director should be given his due credit for bringing something new to the table. Worth a watch.

Sacred Games – Review

July 7, 2018

I watched Sacred Games yesterday. It was a compelling series and I couldn’t stop till I completely finished all eight episodes. It is a gritty and fascinating tale about Ganesh Gaitonde an underworld boss and an honest cop Sartaj Singh in the city of Mumbai. It shows the rise of Ganesh Gaitonde, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the 80s Mumbai and the struggle of an honest cop Sartaj Singh, played by Saif Ali Khan, in the Mumbai police force in the present time.

The city plays an important role in the series and is beautifully captured by the lens. The direction is tight and the acting by all the cast members is top notch. Nawazuddin deserves a special mention for his stellar performance.

The plot is about return of a crime boss to Mumbai and him contacting Police officer to warn him about an a danger that looms on the city of Mumbai. The cop and a RAW agent, played by Radhika Apte try to find out what the danger is, and how to stop it. The story unfolds both in past where story of Gaitonde’s rise as a crime lord is shown and in present where Sartaj dealing with corruption in his own department tries to uncover the secrets about Gaitonde’s prophecy.

Series is fast paced and well done. The cinematography is great and the score fits perfectly.

A must watch.

Bhavesh Joshi Superhero

June 2, 2018

I had gone into the theatre with much expectations from this movie but the film couldn’t match up to my expectation. It is a story of three friends, two of them trying to fight corruption in their own way in the city of Mumbai. Bhavesh Joshi and Sikku start a YouTube channel called Insaaf TV and stop things like cutting of trees, bunking schools, public urination and poor internet service etc. They were part of a larger anti-corruption movement which fails. Sikku joins a corporate job as a coder but Bhavesh still runs the channel and uncovers corruption in the system where water mafia are stealing water from the city and then selling them in tankers at a high cost. Something happens and Bhavesh is killed by the water mafia. Sikku, who was being sent to America by his company stays back and vows to fight the mafia which is headed by a corrupt politician. He learns martial arts and goes all out against the mafia. Sadly, that wasn’t enough and our hero ends up getting wounded and then thrown in a river to die. The third friend Rajat then saves him and he gets better again to start the fight again.

The movie is a drag. Only female character is Sikku’s girlfriend Sneha who has not much to do in the movie.

The movie takes a long time to build up but the buildup leads to nowhere. Chase sequences are interesting but the movie is so boring that they don’t help.

I doubt they will make a sequel for this movie because I am not sure if the film will do well on the box office.

Even if the film had to have a gritty and realistic tone, a lot could have been done, take Netflix’s Daredevil for example. Film disappoints at many levels and the saving graces are very few, like the cinematography and the chase sequence. You can pass it and watch it when it is available on Netflix or TV.

Avengers Infinity War – The experience

April 29, 2018

I went to watch Avengers Infinity War yesterday. It was a 12:30 show at PDR Carnival cinemas in Varanasi. The seats were full but we had booked our tickets in advance so there was no problem. We reached 45 minutes early at the mall and decided to go to Dominos outlet situated in the mall. After all we had to pass our time and our tummies were also a little empty. We had Chicken at Dominos which I personally won’t recommend. It was lemon and peri peri and four pieces each was too much for two persons. Thankfully we had coke so that we could gulp it down.

We then proceeded toward the theatre which was jam packed, mostly with people in their teens and early twenties. The movie had already started when we got inside the theatre. We were given 3D glasses and then we got comfortable on our seats. When we started watching the movie the scene with Thanos, Thor and Loki was being played.

I had expected much more from the movie but nonetheless the movie was good enough, except the ending part which I think would be resolved in the next part of the franchise. The movie had funny dialogues and banters among the superheroes which was a fun thing to watch.

When the movie finished I was still unsure of the of the ending and it took me a little time and a few google searches to completely understand it.

I read Captain Marvel is going to be released in 2019 and I hope they shed some light on this ending.

The visual effects were good, except for some places but as in Black Panther, something was missing. I enjoyed the movie but was left unsatisfied in the end. May be things will be better in the next Avengers movie.

Dedh Ishqiya - Ishqiya + 1 and 1/2

Dedh Ishqiya is a nice movie. Humorous, technically sound, great background score, funny characters (not all), and lot of forgotten Nawabi things. I think people who are old enough (at least in their head if not age), would like it. The music is nice with a lot of Hindustani music, and thumri. Also there is the Begum (Madhuri Dixit) dancing(choreographed by Birju Maharaj). I can't say much because i have failed to classify this movie in to a genre.

No harm in watching it once.

Yaariyan - A feature length music video

It's quite sometime since i have watched this movie and i am writing this review now because all this time i was recovering from the damage it did to my brain.

This movie, if you haven't guessed it yet, is not to be taken seriously. Also, in future it could be held responsible for ruining lives of youngsters (teenagers at present) who if by any chance believed that this kind of college really exists (it's more like a punk Hogwarts, SOTY style).

The acting is naive and the direction even more so. None of the actors except the two mothers of the movie have acted in accord with the drama of the story, with a little exception of the lead actress of the movie.

Visually the movie is lavish, both in terms of scenery and stunts. A better screenplay and mature direction could've totally transformed it into an extravaganza, which it already is,  though totally damp and silly.

The lead actor is okay, and his looks compliment his chocolaty image in the movie. Some moments in the movie are funny but most of them are forced, same is the case with plot twists.

The real strength of the movie is it's music, all songs have the capacity to become hits, and sound good to ears. The music videos for the songs are tasteful and shot beautifully, giving fantastical elements to it and complementing the songs. As far as my recommendation goes i would suggest you to go for this movie only if you wish to watch it's pretty decent music videos on big screen.

Dhoom 3 - Money grows on trees

I watched dhoom 3 few days ago and did not like it. My taste in movies i guess, has changed and even if hadn't i would have found dhoom 3 a total waste of time and money.

Some people are calling dhoom 3 an escapist romp, well I don't know. I feel Krrish is an escapist romp, most of the Mahesh Bhatt movies are escapist romps. Dhoom 3 on the other hand is just a way to show how you can effectively burn 150 crore rupees without achieving anything and still mint money out of that nothing.

Personally i really liked the earlier movies in the series. Dhoom, because i was a teen then and i had seen superbikes and that kind of hollywoodesque action first time in bollywood and Dhoom 2 becuase of Hrithik Roshan and it's potential to surprise me at that time. Dhoom 3 on the other hand is a failure, both in terms of surprise, and action. Nothing new or exciting in terms of action could be seen.

I have stopped expecting any thing even close to good acting from Abhishek Bachchan but Amir Khan was a disappointment, that after watching his strong performance in Talaash. The director Vijay Krishna Acharya i think is fit for the tag of the next Anubhav Sinha of Bollywood, only thing is that Anubhav Sinha is decently original in his showoff business.

Anyhow this movie is a success, and this fact, i think must have made Satyajit Ray twist in his grave uncomfortably.

Fast Five... buckle your seatbelt...... just go for it

Dom's back and with a bang. With him again the familia O'connor, Mia and the playas from the TFTF series and what more? We got some rock cookin in here too.

 Dom has been rescued by Bryan and Mia and now they are in Brazil doing the job they do so well, stealing cars. In the process they get entangled with Brazilian underworld kingpin, but who gives a shit to that. We are all for fast cars, crazy action and some sizzling beauty.

Like they said, it is the biggest and hell it is. They plan taking down the mafioso and they do that. After Letty in TFTF 4 here one more in the familia Vince is killed but that's fine, the ending pays for that loss.

Action?? Its crazy. Tried jumping on a running car from a train. whew! It is really cool man. I almost got my popcorn stuck in my throat.

It's action and pure action. The cars, the babes all of 'em are pure beauty. Who needs story in a world like this.

No much talking. This one is a MUST. If you love TFTF, this one's a God for you. If you don't you will start liking from now on.

You just don't wanna miss it!

Jal the band..

So I am talking about music and I am talking about one of my most favourite bands, Jal. They create magic, all the way from pakistan. Farhan, Gauhar and Shaji they spell bound us with their music and the effect is more because we don't have good Indian hindi rock bands and even if they exist they don't come up at national level.

In my school days. Jal was a rage. I mean obviously you have to be a rock lover but I believe that Jal has a wide approch because of their beautiful hindi-urdu lyrics they are not limited only to rock lovers.

I still remember the time when after my tutions I and my friends used to roam along the foggy roads with Jal playing loudly on our mobile phones. We loved it. We were obsessed about it. Many of the teenagers and college guys are because Jal was cool. Jal was rock. Jal was rock in our language, with our feel, though it was from pakistan. And now when I have passed school Jal still is cool. Jal still is rock and Jal still does rocks.

Music sometimes makes you weak, sometimes it gives you strength, sometimes it lets you vent your emotions and sometimes its just for fun, leisure. Jal does all that to you. You hear it in different ways, roaming with your friends, lying alone, lying with your friends in a ball of smoke. You hear it in and at different times when you are in love, when you fail in love when you are in not in love at all.

Aadat and lamhey have been the most famous tracks but there are other so beautiful tracks, that will leave you wanting for more...., If you are a rock lover then it is a must and if you are not still you should give it a try..

Top Jal recommendations from me:

Dil haare
Main mast hoon
Moray piya
Humein itna pyar
Panchi
Teri yaad
Bikhra hoon main
You can't leave the others too, can you?

Check out their official website: Click here to go to Jal's official website