Something from Tiffany's

 "Something from Tiffany's"

Watched English movie "Something from Tiffany's". 

This film is directed by Daryl Wein. Screenplay by Tamara Chestna. Produced by Lauren Neustadter, Rees Witherspoon. Cinematography by Bryce Fortner. Music by Jay Lifton, Rayan Miller. The film stars Zoey Deutch, Kendrick Sampson, Leah Jeffries, Ray Nicholson, Shay Michelle. The film runs for about 1 hours 27 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Amazon Prime on 18th Aug 2024. 

Kendrick and his daughter Leah go to a jewelry shop too but an engagement ring for Kendrick's girlfriend Shay. Ray also visits the same shop at the same time to by a pair of earrings for his girlfriend Zoey. As they exit the shop Ray meets with an accident and Kendrick helps him. In the confusion their gifts are exchanged. Zoey thanks Kendrick for helping Ray. On Christmas Eve, both are in for a shock. Kendrick for the absence and Zoey for the presence of the ring.

It's a Christmas feel good movie. So as soon as the characters are established you know where the story will lead. It's only how the director takes you there. Here's the director keeps it simple. Rather than making melodramatic or stretching the story, he keeps it simple and matter of fact.

Zoey is not beautiful but has a pretty smile. She comes across as honest, lively girl with ambitions. Kendrick is also honest, good at heart, compassionate person. Ray's character is undercooked. His acting also needs some more work. Shay is beautiful and portrays a typical career woman. Director has thankfully resisted urge to show her as a villain. Leah plays the daughter and part time Cupid very well.

All in all, it was a short and sweet movie.

Positives: Felt good.

Negatives: Undercooked character of tray.

Recommend watching.

The Union

 "The Union"

Watched English movie "The Union". 

This movie is directed by Julian Farino. Screenplay Joe Barton, David Guggenheim. Story by David Guggenheim. Produced by Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry and Jeff Waxman. Cinematography: Alan Stewart. Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, Dana Delaney, Jessica De Gouw, JK Simmons, Mike Colter, Jackey Earl Haley, Alice Lee. The movie runs for 1 hours 47 minutes and was released in April 2024. I watched the movie on Netflix with Aditi on 17th Auh 2024.

The Union is a covert operations group working for American government. One of their mission goes wrong and all agents involved in mission in the field die, save Halle. The opposition gets hold of the hard drive that contains details and names of all covert missions of America and the identity of all its agents and assets. Now Union has to retrieve the case containing the hard drive but can't use any of their agents. Halle recruits the childhood sweetheart Mark.

Will Mark accept mission? Is he cut out for the spy stuff? What can he do? Will the case be retrieved? How will the movie end?

Well you don't ask trivial questions like how come Mark become expert spy in one week? How can his aim be better than an Olympic medalists? How can he do what no one else can do? etc.

It's an action flick with a little bit of story. With Mark being untrained spy, it's a little bit different. But the story has a good flow. Audience remain with the story.

There is a hint of a sequel at the end of this movie, so the Union franchise may continue.

Positives: Doesn't bore.

Negatives: Not credible.

One time watch.

Jigara (जिगरा)

 "Jigara (जिगरा)"

Watched Hindi movie "Jigara (जिगरा)". 

This movie is directed by Vasan Bala. Written by Debashish Irengbam, Vasan Bala. Produced by Karan Johansson and others. Music by R. D. Birman, Achint Thakkar, Manpreet Singh. Cinematography by Swapnil Sonawane. This movie features Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Aditya Nanda, Rahul Ravindran, Akanksha Ranjan, Vivek Gomber, Jason Shah, Manoj Pahwa, Harssh A. Singh. This movie was released in 2023 and runs for about 2 hour 23 min. I watched the movie on 15th Dec 2023 with Aditi on Netflix.

Satyabhama (Satya - Alia) has raised her brother single-handedly after their father committed suicide. She works for a rich family who almost treat her as one of their family, almost. Their son (the heir) and Alia's brother are best friends. Once the two boys go on business trip to Hanshi Dao. The heir is found in possession of drugs in that country where drug possession carries only death penalty, no excuse. The heir blames it on the brother and brother is sentenced to death. Now Alia decides to go to Hanshi Dao to save her brother.

The story is weak. The scheme to rescue him is hairbrained. Where is the heir stupid enough to possess drugs in country with such strict rules? Why does the rich guy give 2 crore and chartered jet to Alia? How come she meets two Indians who have someone in jail? Why is an entire island powered by a diesel generator? Why the security systems don't have a battery or UPS backup? Why does the jail in-charge doesn't understand or doesn't care for international borders? Too many questions and no good answer. The director basically thinks that audience can be taken forehand. No surprise that the movie flopped.

Story and direction are super weak points. The only thing that helps the movie is the acting of Vedang, Vivek, Rahul and Manoj. However the characterization is weak. Alia's acting doesn't meet her own standards. Why would she do such a movie.

Positives: Acting.

Negatives: Nowhere close to realistic. 

It's a waste of time. Give it a miss.

Sikander ka Mukaddar (सिकंदर का मुकद्दर)

"Sikander ka Mukaddar (सिकंदर का मुकद्दर)".

Watched Hindi movie "Sikander ka Mukaddar (सिकंदर का मुकद्दर)". 

This movie has story and direction by Neeraj Pandey. Screenplay by Neeraj Pandey, Vipul K Rawal. Produced by Shital Bhatiya. It stars Jimmy Shergil, Tamannah Bhatiya, Avinash Tiwari, Divya Dutta, Anil Pandey, Ashutosh Kushwah, Rajeev Mehta, Ashrut Jain, Amrita Kumari, Anupam K. Sinha. Cinematography by Arvind Singh. Music by Payal Dev. Film runs for 2 hour and 23 minutes and was released in 2024. I watched with Aditi on Netflix on 2nd December 2024.

An exhibition of diamonds. A tip-off about the heist from anonymous source. Four assailants gunned down by police. When the scene is cleared and everyone comes back, 5 red solitaires worth 50 crore are found stolen. Police sub inspector, Jimmy, suspects Rajeev- a man who has served the jeweler for 32 years, Tamannah - an employee of the jeweler and Avinash (Sikander Sharma) - a computer technician.

Who stole the diamonds? How were they stolen? Where are they? Is Jimmy's instinct right?

The story jumps 15 years after the theft and then plays back in flashes. Inspector Jimmy finally loses his job, loses his marriage and accepts that he made an mistake by suspecting Avinash, whereas Avinash was innocent. Imagine what would be the reaction of Avinash to feel vindicated, finally after 15 years.

Tamanna is in a very unglamorous role. She does OK, acting wise, but the age is showing now. Avinash acts well. I had never heard of him earlier, but he is nominated for and won several awards in last two years. Jimmy does well as a single minded police officer with an impeccable instinct.

Direction of Neeraj is very good. Although he chooses to narrate the story in pieces, it still comes out as a whole fabric. His attention to detail is very good. Especially the nested scenes (where several scenes happen in same place seamlessly) are awesome and so is the camera work in those scenes.

The story has several twists and turns. So even the end of movie has to be with a twist. Movie ends at a juncture where a sequel becomes imminent.

Positives: Direction.

Negatives: Umm…

Recommend watching!

Ulajh (उलझ)

 "Ulajh (उलझ)"

Watched Hindi movie "Ulajh (उलझ)". 

This film is directed by Sudhanshu Saria. Written by Parveez Shaikh, Sudhanshu Saria. Produced by Vineet Jain. The film stars Janhavi Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiah, Roshan Mathew, Rajesh Tailang, Rajendra Gupta, Adil Hussain, Jitendra Joshi, Alyy Khan. Cinematography by Shreya Dev Dube. Music by Shashwat Sachdev. The film runs for about 2 hour 14 minutes and was released in 2024. I watched it on Netflix on 1st Oct 2024 with Aditi. 

Pakistani Prime Minister has resolved to cool the tensions and promised to hand over a terrorist hiding in Pakistan. India has invited him a Independence Day guest. Despite being a relatively Junior IFS officer, Jahnavi is appointed as Deputy High Commissioner of London mission. Everyone puts this down to nepotism as she comes from illustrious family of civil servants. She goes to London and falls for a chef. However, he isn't a chef and Janhavi is honey trapped.

Well if you look at the plot, it's interesting. It has a lot of potential. There is politics, there is espionage, there is thrill and there is romance. However director's handling of the story leaves a lot on the table. There are several discrepancies and incongruities. Following are just a few:

Movie starts with her boyfriend accusing her prioritization of work as reason for failure of their relationship and then after going to London she does exactly opposite.

IFS officers are made aware of honey trap during their training. Why would she not doubt it? Why not do background check?

She comports as a college kid rather than IFS officer.

Why would embassy driver be able to trace anyone’s identity based on finger prints when he has joined the embassy 6 months ago?

Why would Minister of India talk directly to minister of Pakistan on open line?

Why run towards the sniper who is far away rather than securing the target who is close by.

Kanha I is neither good nor bad. Despite having a solid supporting cast, the handling doesn't capitalize it. Gulshan is good initially but then once it's revealed that he is the enemy, suddenly he tries to act smart rather than being professional about the job. Roshan Matthew is the lone shining star. He acts well and appears genuine. He is also very smart.

Movie ends with a clear hint of a sequel. More to come, apparently.

Positives: Roshan.

Negatives: Too many.

Give it a miss.

Fir aayi haseen dillruba (फिर आई हसीन दिलरुबा)

 "Fir aayi haseen dillruba (फिर आई हसीन दिलरुबा)"

Watched Hindi movie 'Fir aayi haseen dillruba (फिर आई हसीन दिलरुबा)'. 

This film is directed by Jayprad Desai. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and others. Written by Kanika Dhillon. Music by Sachet-Parampara, Anurag Saikia. Cinematography by Vishal Sinha. The film stars Tapasee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Sunny Kaushal, Aditya Shrivastav, Jimmy Shergil. The film runs for almost 2 hours 13 minutes and was released in 2024. I watched it on Netflix on 16th Jul 2024 with Aditi.

Tapsee and Vikrant are living anonymously hiding from police, living in Agra. Inspector Aditya tracks Tapasee down. Now the case is led by Jimmy who is the uncle of Vikrant's cousin (Neel) who was killed in first part.

Sunny, a new character enters. He is a compounder and secretly loves Tapasee. To escape Jimmy, Tapasee marries Sunny and situation complicated further. It's again Police Vs Vikrant and Tapasee with the help of novels of Panditji.

Vikrant has limited scope in this film. Sunny does very well for a new comer. Tapas we is good as always but has lost too much weight. Aaditya has prominent role in last movie, however, here he plays a minor role and Jimmy takes his place. Btw Jimmy is the only police officer who doesn't wear uniform. All his subordinates, colleagues and boys wear uniform.

Several things in this movie are unrealistic. Not consummating marriage, Vikrant finding Tapasee, the crocodile trap etc. It appears as if drunk on the success of first movie, the director takes audience for granted.

Positives: Tapasee, Sunny.

Negatives: Unrealistic things.

Not a must watch.

Saapla (सापळा)

 "Saapla (सापळा)"

Watched Marathi movie "Saapla (सापळा)". 

This film is directed by Nikhil Lanjekar. Written by Srinivas Bhanage. Produced by Digpal Lanjekar, Nikhil Lanjekar, Chinmay Mandlekar and others. Music by Devdutt Manisha Baji. Cinematography Priyanka Mayekar. The film features Nakshatra Medhekar, Chinmay Mandlekar, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Neha Joshi, Dipti Ketkar, Sunil Jadhav, Sri Hulawale, Shubham Gaikwad. The film runs for about 2 hour 5 minutes and was released in 2024. I watched it on Amazon Prime on 4th Aug 2024. 

Sameer is writer in film industry. His recent films are flop. His wife is a heart patient. They live in a lavish remote bungalow. Sameer is behaving weird. The new house help (Neha) also acts weird. Sameer appears to be trying to appropriate a script that has great potential written by a budding writer.

Murder! Whodunit?

Setting of the movie is a remote bungalow ensconced within trees and there is constant rain.

Director tries to make each character mysterious and weird. Sometimes he goes overboard. Who is doing what and why is not very difficult to understand. It should be by design. For a large part of the film you don't understand where the film is headed. Rain plays perfect backdrop for the mystery.

The situation changes from one moment to another. There are twists. There are surprises. What's conspicuously absent are the jump scares. A thriller should be fast paced. Here at times the film slows down.

This movie has six actors. 4 main and two supporting. All of them are good, though supporting actors are found a little short.

All in all, a good one time watch. There aren't many suspense movies in Marathi.

Positives: Chinmay and Sameer.

Negatives: Uneven pace.

Watch if you like the genre.