Dharmaveer: Mukkam post Thane (धर्मवीरः मुक्काम पोस्ट ठाणे)

​"Dharmaveer: Mukkam post Thane (धर्मवीरः मुक्काम पोस्ट ठाणे)".

Watched Marathi movie "Dharmaveer: Mukkam post Thane (धर्मवीरः मुक्काम पोस्ट ठाणे)". 

This movie is directed by Pravin Tarde. Written by Pravin Tarde. Produced by Mangesh Desai. It stars Prasad Oak, Shruti Marathe, Kshitish Date, Gaseer Mahajani, Dadaji Bhuse, Sushant Shelar, Vignesh Joshi, Yogesh Shirsat, Snehal Tarde, Vijay Nikam and guest appearance Mohan Joshi. Music by Chinar-Mahesh, Avinash-Vishwajeet. Cinematography by Kedar Gaikwad. Film runs for about 2 hour and 47 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Zee5 with Aditi on 25th Jun 2022. 

This is a biopic of Dharmaveer Anand Dighe, a very powerful Shivsainik and Thane Jilha Pramukh of Shivsena. 

The movie starts with a reporter taken by a Rikshawala to a place where Dighe’s death anniversary is being celebrated. The reporter doesn’t even know who Anand Dighe is. Rikshawala introduces her and the audience to the great personality through flashbacks. 

Anand Dighe was a hard core Shivsainik who never fought any election and never held any public office . He was a firebrand hindutvavadi and a muscle man. He used his power to protect the Hindus, not to attack other faiths. He used to conduct daily darbar where he meted out Justice legally and extra legally. He was very sensitive about protection of common women and did everything in his power for them. He had a very peculiar relation with Balasaheb Thakre. His word was final in Thane.

Director does a good job. He recreates Thane of 1990s very well. Although you get to see various things in flashback, you don’t think that the movie is in bits and pieces. The continuity of story is maintained. Credit to director. At times, the movie slows down but the Overall effect is good. 

Prasad Oak plays Anand Dighe to perfection. He plays good of heart, angry, proud, adamant, man on mission. He has ominous presence in the movie and you remember him a long time after. Snehal Tarde plays Birje bai and does exceedingly well. Kshitish plays Eknath Shinde. Vignesh plays Prakash Paranjpe. Abhijit is wasted as Dada Bhuse. Vijay plays Mo Da Joshi. 

Cinematography is good. You can remember one song after the movie. 

Current political drama in Maharashtra has given a boost to the movie and must have increased the viewership. 

Director doesn’t show why Dighe’s area of influence never exceeded Thane district. Was it part politics? Movie ends with a hint of conspiracy about his death and a possible sequel. 

Positives: Almost everything. 

Negatives: Occasional slowdown. 

Recommend watching. 

The Adam project

​"The Adam project"

Watched English movie "The Adam project". 

This film is directed by Shawn Levy. Written by Jonathan Tropper. Produced by David Ellison and others. Music by Rob Simonsen. Cinematography by Tobias Schliessler. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobel, Zoe Saldana, Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Catherine Keener. The film runs for about1 1 hour and 45 minutes and was released in Mar 2022. I watched it with Aditi on Netflix on 1st April 2022. 

It’s 2050. Adam steals a jet and jumps (time travels) to 2018, but reaches 2022 instead. He is injured. He goes to his home and meets his 12 year old self. He wants to go to 2018 to find his missing wife and to investigate a time anomaly. He can’t do it without 12 year old himself due to his injury. 

It’s a time travel movie. So there’s time travel, there are killer bots from future, there is the complex timeline and the possibilities of altering the timeline, there’s meeting dead person by going back and other complexities. 

Ryan Reynolds plays future Adam. His performance is ok. Walker Scobel plays 12 year old Adam and he excels is in the role. He portrays the mature 12 year old convincingly. Jennifer plays and looks the loving mother. 

The pace is decent. The directions is decent. There are flaws. How does the bullet turn after traveling the right amount? Why is it necessary to do hand to hand combat with future bots when ultra modern weaponry is at disposal? How does the father die? But you don’t ask such questions in an action movie. 

The movie is shallow. Director could have made it more meaningful. 

Positives: Walker. Some sets. 

Negatives: Shallowness. 

Watch if you like time travel movies.

Legend

​"Legend".

Watched English movie "Legend". 

This movie is directed by Ridley Scott. Produced by Arnon Milchan. Written by William Hjortsberg. Music by Jerry Goldsmith & Tangerine Dream. Cinematography by Alex Thomson. It features Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry,  David Bennent, Alice Playton, Annabelle Lanyon, Billy Barty. Film runs for about 1 hour and 30 minutes and was released in 1985. I watched it on 30th Jan 2022 on Amazon Prime.

In a magical kingdom, there is Princess Lilli. She loves Jack, a commoner. Dark lord sends his Goblins to kill last of Unicorns and start iternal night and Dark Lord's reign. 

Can Jack and Lillie save the last unicorn and save the world?

The story is inadequate. The action is not exciting enough. The make up of goblins and elves is so amateurish, as if it's done by a kid. The special effects are nothing to write about. The acting is average. In short there is nothing to write about. 

I decided to watch the movie because I saw Tom Cruise's name in actors. It was a waste of time. 

Tom Cruise looks very young. Mia doesn't look like a Princess. Non human beings look repulsive. 

This movie couldn't recover its production cost at box office. It was a commercial failure. Rightly so!

Positives: Umm....

Negatives: Everything.

AVOID

Bhool bhulaiya 2 ( भूल भुलैया २)

​"Bhool bhulaiya 2 ( भूल भुलैया २)"

Watched Hindi movie "Bhool bhulaiya 2 ( भूल भुलैया २)".

Directed by Anees Bazmee. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and others. Written by Akash Kaushik, Farhad Samji. Music by Pritam, Tanishq Bagchi. Cinematography by Manu Anand. It stars Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani, Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, Angad Bedi, Vyoma Nandi, Amar Upadhyay, Sanjay Mishra, Milind Gunaji, Rajesh Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Kali Prasad Mukherjee, Govind Namdev. I watched this movie on Netflix on 20th Jun 2022. The movie is 2 hour 21 min long and was released in 20122. I watched it with Aditi and Mihika. 

The purani haweli is closed down after confining the ghost of Manjulika to a room and sealing the room with mantra and trident. Anju and her family move to new Haweli. 18 years on, Kiara (Anju’s sister in law) fakes her death to allow her sister and her fiancé to marry as they love each other. Her partner in crime is Kartik. They decide to live in purani haweli. Circumstances conspire to release Manjulika’s ghost. 

This movie is a sequel of original Akshay Kumar starrer. But apart from haweli and Manjulika’s ghost, there is nothing in common. Not even the actors. 

Director does a decent job to keep the audience engaged. There are some failed attempts of comedy, some successful ones, some continuity issues (example - the door is open in one scene and closed in other), some good horror and right amount of emotions. Anees also gives a surprise at the end. This surprise gives a twist to the story and the end becomes appealing. 

Kiara starts well but her character suddenly becomes an ‘extra’ after interval. Kartik does well. Apart from some  failed attempts at comedy, he holds himself well. Amar Upadhyay is wasted. Milind Gunaji speaks in a strange shallow voice rather than his deep baritone. Sanjay and Rajpal are the designated comedians. But the one who steals the show is Tabu. She portrays the characters of Anju and Manjulika (twins) very well and carries the movie on her able shoulders. 

Cinematography is good. The purani haweli doesn’t look spooky most of the time. Music is OK. 

We watched the movie on Mihika’s demand. Being a sequel and with no one from original featuring in it, I was expecting a flop and was ready for it. However, I was pleasantly surprised to watch a decent commercial movie. 

Positives: Overall effect. Twist. 

Negatives: Inconsistencies. Amar. 

Recommend watching. 

Pawan Khind (पावन खिंड)

​"Pawan Khind (पावन खिंड)".

Watched Marathi movie "Pawan Khind (पावन खिंड)". 

This movie is directed by Digpal Lanjekar. Written by Digpal Lanjekar. Produced by Ajay Arekar, Aniruddha Arekar, Bhausaheb Arekar. It stars Ajay Parkar, Chinmay Mandlekar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Ankit Mohan, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Ruchi Savarn, Prajakta Mali, Assad Kale, Harish Dudhade, Vaibhav Mangle. Music by Devdutta Manisha Baji. Cinematography by Amol Gole. Film runs for about 2 hour and 33 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched in theater with Aditi on 27th Mar 2022. This movie was organized by Maharashtra Mandal Abu Dhabi (MMAD). 

MMAD arranged entry of real characters dressed as Shivaji and his entourage. This had a positive impact and helped in marketing a conducive atmosphere. 

Ajay Purkar plays Bajiprabhu Deshpande. His real role starts in last 45 minutes of the film. Chinmay plays Shivaji maharaj. Unlike previous two movies he plays active rather than contemplative Shivaji. Mrinal plays Jijabai and doesn’t look like one. Sameer plays Siddi Johar. He has taken a lisp for this role. But the makeup artist fumbles. His face is made black but hands remain fair. Astad Kale plays Siddi Masud. His makeup is excellent. You don’t recognize him easily. Ankit plays Rayajirao Bandal. He gives a good performance and shows off his physique. Prajakta is wasted as Bhavanibai Bandal. Don’t know why she accepted the role. Kshiti Jog impresses with the cameo of Badi Begum

Story happens in flashback, narrated by Shivaji to Sambhaji. To make an entire film about the battle of Pavan Khind is a  challenge. Director takes entire first half to create background and to come to the moment of Shivaji Maharaj, Bajiprabhu Deshpande and the entourage’s departure for Vishalgad. The real battle of Pawankhind happens in last three quarters of the hour. That is the real movie. In short the movie doesn’t have balance. It’s skewed. 

Direction is disappointing. It’s shoddy at best. Why director resorts to melodrama about niranjan and bhakri? War scenes are sparsely populated like previous movie. The battle of Pawankhid appears more like a skirmish than battle. However night scenes are very well shot. They have also found a very good look alike of Chinmay. 

Length of the movie should have been an hour shorter, that would have given more weightage to the battle of Pavankhind and Bajiprabhu Deshpande’s last stand. 

Bajiprabhu is not called Deshpande even once. I really don’t understand this obsession. 

Positives: History

Negatives: Direction

Not a must watch. 

Bareilly ki burfi (बरेली की बर्फ़ी)

​"Bareilly ki burfi (बरेली की बर्फ़ी)"

Watched Hindi movie 'Bareilly ki burfi (बरेली की बर्फ़ी)'. 

This film is directed by Ashwini Iyer Tiwari. Produced by Vineet Jain, Renu Ravi Chopra. Written by Nitesh Tiwari, Shreyas Jain. Music by Tanisha Bagchi, Arko, Samira Koppikar, Vayu, Samir Uddin. Cinematography Gavemic U Ary . The film stars Ayushman Khurana, Kriti Sanon, Rajkumar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Seema Pahawa, Rohit Chaudhary. The film runs for almost 2 hours and was released in 2017. I watched it on Zee5 with Aditi on 17th Feb 2022. 

Ayushman writes a book about his ex-lover, who betrayed him and married someone else. He writes the book, but fearing exposure, publishes it under Rajkumar’s name. Nobody reads it anyway. Until Kriti does. The description of book’s heroine fits her perfectly. She approaches Ayushman to meet Rajkumar. 

The story has similarities with Madhuri-Sanjay Dutt-Salman starter Sajan. But then the story diverges. For this story, length of the film has to be not more than 1.5 hour. Anything more waters it down. Do you get a diluted version. This results in slowness, drag and stagnation of the movie. 

Ayushman and Rajkumar do well. Kriti is ok. Pankaj and Seema are versatile actors and do Justice to any character. ‘Sweetie Tera drama’ is the only song you remember after the movie. 

The movie recovered almost 3 times its production Cost, at box office. So it was decent commercial success. 

Positives: Acting

Negatives: Watered down story. 

Give it a miss. 

Windfall

​"Windfall".

Watched English movie "Windfall". 

This movie is directed by Macdowell. Written by Jason Segel, Charlie Macdowell, Justin Lader. Produced by Lilly Collins and others. It stars Lilly Collins, Jason Segel, Jesse Plemons, Omar Leywa. Music by Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans. Cinematography by Isiah Donté Lee. Film runs for  1 hour and 31 minute and was released in 2022. I watched it on 20th Mar 2022 on Netflix .

A man breaks into a tech billionaire's empty vacation home, but things go sideways when the arrogant mogul and his wife arrive for a last-minute getaway.

The idea is interesting, but the story is slow, very slow, very very slow. It literally crawls. This idea has unlimited possibilities. But audience don’t know where this story is going almost till the very end. Director manages to give a surprise twist at the end. But I had guessed this end. 

There are basic flaws like Continuity issues. Example: The thief has one hand behind his back going from one room to other but when he reaches there he has another hand behind him. There are others too. 

Jason Segel plays the thief, although he doesn’t look one. He has also co-authored the story. Lily plays the wife, looks good, acts well and is also the coproducer. Jesse plays the arrogant billionaire and looks like one. The movie has only 4 characters. 

Positives: The end.

Negatives: Everything before that. 

Insipid movie. Give it a miss.

Daawat-e-Biryani (दावत ए बिर्यानी)

"Daawat-e-Biryani (दावत ए बिर्यानी)"

Watched Hindi movie "Daawat-e-Biryani (दावत ए बिर्यानी)".

Directed by Aditi Roy. Produced by Zafar Khan.  It stars Jayant Kriplani, Suhasini Mulay, Sauraseni Maitra, Chiranjit, Ananda S. Choudhuri. I watched this movie on Zee5 on 19th Jan 2022. The movie is 1 hour 25 min long and was released in 2019.

1960s Lucknow. Afreen and Ronojit fall in love. Ronojit gifts a book of recipes from Wajid Ali Shah's kitchen, which had been in their family, to Afreen. Family of Afreen is against marriage. They elope but the recipe book is lost in the melee. Present day. Their grand daughter Paanchali, goes back to Lucknow in search of the recipe. 

Suhasini plays Afreen. Jayant, her anglified brother.  Sauraseni plays young Panchali. They are the main characters. Others play supporting roles. 

Story is straight forward. No action, no twists, little drama. Easy handling of story. Decent acting. Good music. Chupke chupke pyaar hota hai... is a dhun that you remember some time after the end of movie. A recipe that won't fail. 

One wonders if it's possible that the peculiar taste is lost just because the written recipe is lost. Generally one remembers what one regularly cooks. The concept of the loss of recipe isn't palatable. No pun intended. 

Sauraseni's makeup is not good. In some scenes she looks fair, in some dark, in some beautiful, in some average. 

Positives: Easy handling. Lucknow. 

Negatives: Idea that someone who has cooked the recipe many times can't cook it any more because written recipe is lost. 

A feel good movie. Watch if you liked the review. 

Nail Polish (नेल पॅालीश)

​Mandar's movie review

"Nail Polish (नेल पॅालीश)"

Watched Hindi movie "Nail Polish (नेल पॅालीश)". 

This movie is directed by Bugs Bhargava. Produced by Pradeep Uppoor, Seema Mohaptra, Jahanara Bhargava, Dhirajj Vinodd Kapoor. Writers Bugs Bhargava, Krishna. Music by Sanjay Wandrekar. Cinematography by Deep Metkar. This movie stars Arjun Rampal, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Manav Kaul, Madhoo, Anand Tiwari, Rajat Kapoor. This movie was released in 2021 and runs for about 2 hour 8 min. I watched the movie on Zee5 on 16th Jan 2022.

Veer Singh, ex armed forces spy and a sports coach, is arrested for a series of abductions of migrant children, sexual assault and subsequent murder. He is beaten in jail and loses memory. One day memory resurfaces, but the memories are not of Veer but of Ritu Raina, a female. 

Arjun Rampal plays defense lawyer Siddharth Jaising. He is good. Rajat Kapoor is the judge. Madhoo plays his drunkard wife. Sameer plays DCP. Anand Tiwari plays Public Prosecutor. His reactions appear over the top. Manav plays Veer. In the first half he plays a respected and wrongly accused citizen in second he plays a lady. This movie gives his acting some latitude. 

The question is if Veer has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or is he faking. How to determine it? Judge has to make most important decision that ensures justice in either case. But how?

The judgement that comes towards the end of movie satisfies all. But the director can't remain impartial. He chooses one side over other. He can't resist the temptation to shock the audience. 

What is the significance of drunkard wife of the judge? It has nothing to do with the story. 

Why is the movie titled Nail Polish? The title isn't integral to the story.

Positives: The judgement.

Negatives: Significance of title. 

A good movie. Recommend watching.