Bell bottom

"Bell bottom"

Watched Hindi film "Bell bottom". This film is directed by Ranjit Tewari. Written by Aseem Arrora, Parveez Shaikh. Produced by Vashu Bhagnani; Jackky Bhagnani; Deepshikha Deshmukh; Monisha Advani; Madhu Bhojwani; Nikkhil Advani. Music by Amaal Mallik, Tanishq Bagchi, Shantanu Dutta, Gurnazar Singh, Maninder Buttar. Cinematography Rajeev Ravi. The film stars Akshay Kumar; Lara Dutta; Vaani Kapoor; Huma Qureshi, Adil Hussain. This film was released in 2021. It runs for about 2 hour 3 minutes. I watched in theatre on 27th Aug 2021 with Aditi, Mihika, Sucheeta, Jayant, Manish, Trupti, Tanisha, Pratik, Vijay, Jyoti, Pratyush, Gargi, Gauri, Rucha, Sameer and Pooja.

This movie is inspired from a true event but the similarity ends there. This is a fictionalised story vastly divergent to the one it's inspired from. So audience should watch it, not with a pinch but with a handful of salt. Now that this is out of the way, the story is good. The time period is 1984, so you see a lot of old cars, olds style clothes, old Delhi, old London and old Dubai. 

Akshay is good as usual. Vaani is beautiful, acts decently but looks too modern for the time period. Adil Hussain delivers a good performance. Huma Qureshi is ok. However, the best performance is delivered by Lara Dutta as Indira Gandhi. She underplays the character and delivers performance of Head of State with restraint.

Vikram Gaikwad (makeup artist), the man behind Lara's transformation to Indira Gandhi deserves due credit for his work. 

Sepia + colour film gives it an authentic old look. Cinematography outdoors as well as indoors is good. Especialy the storm scene where audience can see what characters are not supposed to see. Although there are 5 music directors, music is nothing to write about.

Some things are typical Hindi movie stuff like RAW not having any agent senior than Akshay, assigning a desk analyst to head field operation just because he is Akshay Kumar, Akshay handling the operation almost singlehandedly, a sand storm coming so precisely at the designated hour that you can set your watch etc.

Direction is good. He remains true to the story. Takes us twice into flash back to create background. He handles the story well, without letting his grip loosen and retains audience interest. Although the story is not fast paced, it doesn't slow down.  Director gives a pleasant surprise in the last scene of the movie. It doesn't change or impact the story, but leaves the audience with a good feeling. A good end. 

Recommend watching

Monster in law

"Monster in law"

Watched English movie "Monster in law". This movie is directed by Robert Luketik. Produced by Chris Bender and others. Written by by Anya Kochoff. Music David Newman. Cinematography Russell Carpenter. It stars Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Wartan, Wanda Sykes, Monet Mazur, Elaine Stritch. The film runs for 1 hours 46 minutes and was released in 2005. I watched the movie on Netflix with Aditi on 8th July 2021.

Jennifer, a dreamy girl, finds a prince charming in Michael. They are in love. Enter Michael's mother, Jane, a career woman and a control freak. She doesn't think highly of Jennifer. Will she be a mother in law or monstor in law?

Jennifer acts decently but looks older than Michael. Michael has limited scope for acting. Jane Fonda grabs the limelight. She is the one you remember after the movie. Her presence is larger than life. She is an accomplished actress and she proves it again. 

With a title like that it's a no brainer to guess that this must be a tussle between mother in law and daughter in law. The story travels an expected path. Hardly any surprises. Viewers need no imagination. End is also expected, feel good. It's too predictable. 

And this predictability is the reason why I wouldn't call the movie a success. It falls short of viewer's expectations. You think what I watched was not bad, but it should have been more, much more.

Not a must watch.

Kandasamys: The wedding

"Kandasamys: The wedding".

Watched English movie "Kandasamys: The wedding". 

This movie is directed by Jayan Moodley. Screenplay Rory Booth and Jayan Moodley. Produced by Jayan Moodley, Suda Singh. It stars Mishqah Parthiephal, Madhusudan Singh, Mariam Bassa, Jailoshini Naidoo, Maeshni Naicker, Yugan Naidoo, Koobeshan Naidoo, Rushil Juglall. Music by Chris Letcher. Cinematography by Justus de Jager. Film runs for about 1 hour and 34 minutes and was released in 2019. I watched it with Aditi on 1st July 2021 on Netflix.

Naidu's and Kandasamy's are neighbours in Durban. The ladies are best friends. Gents are very good friends. Naidu's son, Prishen, and Kandasamy's daughter, Jodi, are engaged to marry. What can go wrong?

It's a film about families of Indian origin living in South Africa for generations. They have imbibed the African way of life but haven't forgotten the Indian culture. Their souls are Indian. They think like Indians. They love and hate like Indians. They fight like Indians. Although Naidus are Hindu and Kandasamys are Christians, religion has no significance in this movie. 

Mishqah is beautiful. Madhusudan is good looking. Both are decent actors. Jailoshini and Maeshni are sister-in-laws and have a love-hate relationship. Yugan and Koobeshan portray understanding husbands. Although Rushil acts well, his character is unnecessary for the story. 

Some of the locations, especially where marriage happens, is stunning. South Africa id's beautiful. Cinematographer has scope, so cinematography is good.

If this was an Indian movie, I would have given just passing marks. Since the movie is South African I was more considerate. This is second movie in Kandasamy series. A sequel "Trippin' with Kandasamys" is released last month.  

Watch it for a change. 

Shershaah (शेरशाह)

"Shershaah (शेरशाह)"

Watched Hindi movie Shershah (शेरशाह). 

This film is directed by Vishnuvardhan. Written by Sandeep Srivastava. Produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar and others. Music by Tanishq Bagchi and others. Cinematography Kamaljeet Negi. The film stars Siddharth Malhotra, Kiara Adwani, Shiv Pandit, Nikitin Dheer, Himmanshoo Malhotra, Anil Charanjeet, Shataf Figar. The film runs for 2 hour 15 minutes and was released on 12th Aug 2021. I watched it on Amazon Prime with Aditi, Sucheeta, Jayant and Siddhant on 12th Aug 2021.

This movie is based in the true story of Captain Vikram Batra, who became shaheed in Kargil war. 

Story starts from his final battle and then takes us back to Vikram's childhood, college, love affair with Dimple (Kiara), passion to join army, life in army and then back to Kargil war ending in his martyrdom. 

A happy go lucky youth who is good at heart and who isn't afraid of taking risks. One who dreamed joining army since childhood, achieved his dream, asked for more and became greatest hero of Kargil war and was awarded Param Vir Chakra (India's highest honour) posthumously.

In such a movie, the director has to walk a tight rope. While ensuring that the movie remains interesting, he has to stay with the true story and avoid the temptation of turning it into melodrama. Director Vishnuvardhan does a commendable job on this front. He displays restraint and remains true to the story. As a result it is a bit short on drama and deshbhakti.

Siddharth plays the lively character of Vikram very well. Kiara plays his love interest. Although her Punjabi doesn't sound authentic she does a good job. Others play supporting roles appropriately. 

Locations are very good and Cinematography is good. This movie has two songs and both are likeable and have a recall value. 

The movie is titled Shershaah because it was Vikram's call sign in the Kargil war. It was originally scheduled to be released in July 2020 but was delayed due to Covid pandemic. 

A good movie. Recommend to watch. 

Fatherhood

"Fatherhood"

Watched English movie Fatherhood. 

This film is directed by Paul Weitz. Story by Dana Stevens. Produced by Marty Bowen, Kevin Hart and others. Music by Rupert Gregson Williams. Cinematography Tobais Datum. The film stars Kevin Hart, Anthony Carrigan, Melody Hurd, DeWanda Wise, Alfre Woodard, Lil Rel Howrey. The film runs for 1 hour 49 minutes and was released on 18 Jun 2021. I watched it on Netflix with Aditi on 24th Jun 2021.

Kevin's wife dies in child birth. It's now upon Kevin to raise the daughter. His mother in law thinks he isn't mature enough to raise a child. 

It's a family movie, so don't expect any action. It's all about father's love for his daughter and his journey of discovery while raising a child. What issues does he face? How difficult is it to raise a child for single Male parent? Can he juggle his responsibilities? Can he achieve work life balance? What happens when Kevin gets a girlfriend?

Kevin portrays the feelings of single parent, irritated father, loving dad, man torn between daughter and girlfriend, guy conflicted by career Vs Daughter well. Melody plays the sweet little daughter. Alfre is impeccable as mother in law. Anthony, Lil and DeWanda support ably.

Director manages to avoid the trap of turning it into a melodrama by over emphasising the daughter Vs girlfriend angle. The end wasn't appealing. A crisis is created to demonstrate that father's love is supreme. Could have been handled better. 

 

I may not go and watch it in a theater but acceptable to watch from comfort of home.

Sahara

"Sahara"

Watched English movie "Sahara". 

This movie is directed by Breck Eisner. Produced by Stephanie Austin and others. Writing credits James Hart and others. Music Clint Mansell. Cinematography by Seamus McGarvey. This movie stars Matthew McConoughy, Penelope Cruz, Steve Zahn, William H. Macy, Rainn Wilson,  Lennie James, Paulin Fodouop, Lambert Wilson. This movie was released on 2005 and runs for 2 hours 4 minutes. I watched the movie on Netflix on 25th Jun 2021.

Dirk Pitt and Al Jordino of NUMA are looking for a, lost to sea, ironclad ship of civil war era in Sahara desert. Dr. Eva and her colleague is searching for the origin of a mysterious decease in Mali. If you are in Africa, a dictator has to be there. So there is an ongoing conflict between the dictator of Mali and Tuareg people. 

Matthew McConoughy plays Dirk Pitt. Although his character is more flamboyant in the movie than books, he plays the role decently. Penelope plays Dr. Eva, but needs to work on her acting. Steve Zahn plays Al Jordino. His character is also not like the book but he acts well.

Some of the situational jokes in the movie are top class. Director shows brilliance in some scenes. Locations chosen for the movie are really good. Cinematography is fabulous. It's probably the best feature of this film. Scenes of men praying and protagonists riding camels against the sunset backdrop in desert were awsome. 

This movie is based on Clive Cussler's book by same name from Dirk Pitt series. Although I have read numerous Clive Cussler books, I haven't read this, so can't say how true movie is to the book. However, it's said that Cussler was so upset after he watched the movie that he decided not to sell movie rights of his books ever again. 

This movie made a big loss on box office. All in all the movie is not bad. 

Watch if you have spare time and want to watch a light and action movie.