Ananya (अनन्या)

​"Ananya (अनन्या)"

Watched Marathi movie "Ananya (अनन्या)".

This movie is directed by Pratap Phad. Written by Pratap Phad. Produced by Sanjay Chhabria and others. It stars Hruta Durgule, Chetan Chitnis, Suvrat Joshi, Yogesh Soman, Renuka Daftardar, Ameya Wagh, Sunil Abhyankar, Rucha Apte. Music by Samir Saptiskar. Cinematography by Arjun Sorte. Film runs for about 2 hour and 5 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Amazon Prime with Aditi on 26th Aug 2022.  

Ananya Deshmukh, M Com gold medalist is daughter of a government employee from lower middle class background. She is engaged to the son of an industrialist. She is very happy. Marriage is after she gives her CA exam. What more can one want? Fate doesn’t concur. She is in an accident and loses both her hands from elbow down. She is helpless. The engagement is broken. She is blamed for the misfortune. 

Can Ananya overcome the helplessness? Can she become self sufficient? Does she find a purpose in her life?

It’s an interesting story. Offbeat. Director and Producer deserve compliments for choosing this subject. Director handles it well. Director shows flashes of brilliance in scenes like one where Hruta stands in front of the photo of Devi or when there are pyrotechnics in the background at the time of her Eureka moment, or the ball dance scene etc. However he isn’t consistently brilliant. The scene where her father and brother blame her and her accident for their plight is melodramatic. He even tries to turn movie  into comedy towards the end unnecessarily and also stretches the end of the movie. It’s unpardonable. Had he trimmed it by another 15 minutes it would have become better. 

Hruta plays the protagonist Ananya. She has an expressive face, looks beautiful and acts exceptionally well. This movie gives her the latitude every actor desires. I watched her in a play recently. She has put on weight. Yogesh plays her father. He acts really well except for the drunk scenes. Suvrat also acts well but looks older than the character’s age. Renuka, Sunil and Rucha support them well. Chetan needs to improve his acting. Ameya plays the knight in shining armor. 

Make up artist Vinod Sarode deserves special mention. He creates the severed limbs of Ananya very well. Very good prosthetics. They look real. 

Music is good. When you watch the movie you don’t fast forward the songs. The song that starts the movie is good one. 

There are continuity errors. In the front camera the brother holds cake in right hand, in back camera he holds in left hand. Such things are avoidable.

Positives: Flashes of directorial brilliance, acting. 

Negatives: Length, some not so brilliant scenes, comedy. 

The movie is good. It could have been better. Nevertheless, recommend watching. 

Nikamma (निकम्मा)

​"Nikamma (निकम्मा)"

Watched Hindi movie "Nikamma (निकम्मा)". 

This film is directed by Sabbir Khan. Screenplay by Venu Sriram. Produced by Sony Pictures, Sabbir Khan. Cinematography Hari K. Vedantam. The film stars Abhimanyu Dasani, Shirley Setia, Shilpa Shetty, Samir Soni, Abhimanyu Singh, Naren Kumar, Sachin Khedekar, Vikram Gokhale. Music by Amal Malik, Javed-Mohsin, Vipin Patwa, Gourav Dasgupta. The film runs for about 2 hour 27 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Netflix on 21st Aug 2022 with Dada and Aditi. 

Adi is likable young man, has photographic memory but is lazy and is good for nothing. Marriage of his brother and arrival of sister-in-law endangers his exalted position in the house. Transfer of his sister-in-law to Dhaamli RTO and a long business trip of his brother means that he and his sister-in-law have to go to a new town. The sister-in-law turns him into a servant. Here a sweet girl directly proposes him. There is a local leader and aspiring MLA, the villain. 

The story is ok. But it’s not neat and tidy. Direction is gaudy. Director resorts to overused lines like’Bhabhi maa saman hoti hai’.  Adi is the young hero who trashes 10-15 musclemen many times. So many things happen but the sister-in-law is none the wiser. His brother is so stupid that he thinks that the local gunda is virtuous. Adi doesn’t know where his sister-in-law works even after being married to his brother for 2 years. Why bhabhi doesn’t rein in the hot headed dewar?

This movie features Abhimanyu, son of Bhagyashri Patwardhan. He tries very hard to act but can hardly act. His acting is pathetic. Shilpa plays bhabhi. While trying to act stoic she forgets to act. She looks stunning in saris that accentuate her beauty. Abhimanyu Singh plays the villain. His acting sways between brilliant and shallow from scene to scene. Vikram Gokhale plays a cameo. Samir Soni plays the poor husband of Shilpa. Shirley plays Adi’s love interest. She looks cute but that’s about it. 

There are continuity issues. Yellow motorbike is burned by villains but later Adi is shown riding the yellow bike. Entire workshop is burned but the mobile survives in pristine condition. Etc. 

In short it’s a weak story, bad acting, gaudy direction and unconvincing presentation. The time you spend watching is not worth it. 

Positives: Umm…. 

Negatives: Almost everything.. 

Give it a miss. 

RRR (आर आर आर)

Watched Hindi version of movie "RRR  (आर आर आर)". 

This film is directed by S. S. Rajamouli. Written by V. Vijendar Prasad and S. S. Rajamouli. Produced by D. V. V. Danayya. Music by M. M. Keeravani. Cinematography K. K. Senthil Kumar. The film features Ram Charan, Jr. NTR, Alia Bhat, Ajay Devgan, Olivia Morris, Ray Stevenson, Alison Doody, Shriya Saran, Mark Bennington and Twinkle Sharma. The film runs for about 3 hour 5 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Netflix on 4th Jun 2022.

British ruled India. Wife of Delhi’s Governor takes away a talented little tribal girl forcefully as a showpiece in her house. The protector of the tribals Bheem (Jr. NTR) comes in her search to Delhi disguised as Ashraf, the mechanic. Ram is a police officer in Delhi. He is staunch supporter of British and will do please his masters coming to become Special Officer who’s allowed to carry gun. They meet, without knowing their real identities, and strike a friendship, a deep bond. Eventually truth is revealed. 

How good is their friendship? Will they remain friends or become foes? Can the little girl be rescued? Why is Ram supporting British?

The movie starts with two impactful scenes. One scene is where the girl is taken forcefully. Second scene is where Bheem captures a Tiger. The wolf and the tiger are not real. They are created using special effects. But they are very good, look almost real. The movie remains interesting till Bheem and Ram meet. Then it slows down. Bheem’s love affair was not really called for and slows the story down further. 

The fight scenes are very good. They are unreal but look authentic. So are the special effects. Credit to the technical expertise. Old Delhi is very carefully created and looks alluring. 

Jr. NTR plays Bheem well. He has good physique and portrays the humble tribal. Ram Charan plays Ram. His bearded look is better than clean shaven one. Some times he tends to freeze. Ajay Devgan plays Ram’s dead father and does very well in the cameo. Alia Bhat is wasted as Ram’s love interest. What a waste of talent! Twinkle plays the little Malli. She is very sweet. 

Although the direction is good, Rajamouli isn’t able to create the magic of Bahubali. The story doesn’t capture audience’s imagination. It’s the action and special effects that take the movie through rather than story. 

You have to keep the rational thinker inside you away to watch this movie. How can a tribal and police officer dance so well? Why do British accept them in the party? How does a tribal get help in Delhi? How can they do impossible action? How can arrows overpower bullets? How can a motorcycle fly up the fort? These are the questions you shouldn’t ask. 

This movie has grossed more than twice its production Cost in less than 3 months. It’s a commercial hit. It’s enjoyable but paddles in comparison with Bahubali

How to sum up the movie in one sentence?

Spectacular fight scenes, fantastic special effects, unbelievable plot, weak story, good acting. 

Positives: Special effects, Jr. NTR, Ram Charan. 

Negatives: Impossible things. Not as good as Bahubali. Wasted Alia. 

Watch if you like what’s written above otherwise give it a miss.

Sher Shivraj (शेर शिवराज)

​"Sher Shivraj (शेर शिवराज)"

Watched Marathi movie "Sher Shivraj (शेर शिवराज)". 

Direction: Digpal Lanjekar. Written: Digpal Lanjekar. Produced by Chinmay Mandlekar, Digpal Lanjekar and others. Cinematography Reshmi Sarkar. Music by Devdutta Manisha Baji. It features Chinmay Mandlekar, Mukesh Rishi, Ajay Parkar, Varsha Usgaonkar, Mrunmayi Deshpande, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Mrinal Kulkarni, Astad Kale, Vaibhav Mangle, Akshay Waghmare and Digpal Lanjekar. The movie was released in Nov 2022 and runs for about 2 hour 40 minutes. I watched it on Amazon Prime on 11th May 2022.

This movie is about the story of Afzal Khan. His attack. Destruction of temples and idols. Agreement to meet for treaty. Afzal Khan’s treachery. Shivaji killing Afzal Khan. The story is well known to every Maharashtrian.

Movie starts with Shivaji Maharaj visiting Raje Sawant in Tal Kokan. Director smartly uses this scene to introduce most of the main characters intelligently. 

Chinmay Mandlekar plays Shivaji with ease. He is a skilled actor and he is accepted as Shivaji naturally. He plays an active role in this movie as compared to previous three movies. Murunal plays Jijabai and she too is more active as compared to previous three movies. Mukesh Rishi plays Afzal Khan and he does exceedingly well as usual. Astad Kale plays important role of Vishwas. Ravindra Mankani plays Shahaji raje, he looks tired, very tired. Mrunmayi plays a cameo in this long movie. Alka Kubal plays cameo of Bhavani. She looks सोज्वळ rather than रणचंडी. 

Digpal (the writer and director) plays Bahirji Naik. In previous movies Prasad Oak and Harish Dudhade played Bahirji Naik. Digpal (the actor) can’t be compared with Prasad and Harish. He falls awfully short. It’s inexplicable why the actors playing Bahirji keep changing. Since the all powerful director plays this role, Bahirji Naik gets to kill Adilshahi soldiers while singing a song. You should not exploit footage just because you are director. It’s abuse of power!

This movie uses animated animals, especially animated elephants are very easily recognizable. Special effects need some more work. Comparing with this movie, special effects of recent movie RRR were way superior. 

Now the story. The story on which this movie is based is relatively short. It’s about one encounter between Afzal and Shivaji. Grant some time to the director to build the background, establish the characters and set the tone. Considering all above you have to keep the story fast and movie crisp, it shouldn’t have been more than about two hours long. It’s at least half an hour too long. Length shortening would have made the story “happening”, movie crisp and watching enjoyable. 

Positives: Chinmay, Mukesh, Vaibhav

Negatives: Digpal, length

Watch if you have watched first three movies in this series of eight.  

Runway 34

​"Runway 34".

Watched Hindi movie "Runway 34". 

This movie is directed by Ajay Devgan. Produced by Ajay Devgan. Written by Sandeep Kewlani, Aamil Keeyan Khan. Music by Jasleen Royal. Cinematography by Aseem Bajaj. It features Ajay Devgan, Rakul Preet Singh, Akanksha Singh, Angira Dhar, Hrishikesh Pandey, Flora Jacob, Avantika Akerkar, Boman Irani & Amitabh Bachhan. Film runs for about 2 hour and 27 minutes and was released in Apr 2022. I watched it on 14th Aug 2022 on Amazon Prime with Aditi, Mihika and Dada .

Ajay Devgan is pilot. His Dubai Cochin flight is diverted to Trivandrum due to storm. Trivandrum has equally severe storm and flight landing is suspended but somehow the message never reaches the plane. The plane is running out of fuel and they must land. Pilot calls mayday and lands blind.  Post incident, AAIB launches investigation led by Amitabh. 

Ajay Devgan plays supremely confident, brilliant, stoic, gifted pilot. He acts well. Rakul plays shaky, impressionable, inexperienced copilot. Amitabh plays the investigator and judge. Amitabh gets a lot of latitude in the tribunal. Boman plays the owner of the airline who’s only objective is to merge his airline with another at a good price.

The story is based on true events, so can’t really credit the author for it. Script is written very well. Despite it being a courtroom drama for second half, audience is riveted. Cinematography is ok. 

The movie is melodramatic. Rather than going with realistic movie with correct amount of drama, director opts to make it melodramatic. As a result it becomes shallow rather than profound. This is Ajay’s directorial debut, so we can only expect improvement going forward. 

Actor and director promote smoking shamelessly. Smoking was not the need of this story. It was by choice. The very end is with Ajay lighting cigarette in no smoking area. Disregard for rules. It actually turns out to be counterproductive. 

This movie is a commercial dud. 

Positives: Drama

Negatives: Melodrama

Recommend watching at home. Don’t go to the  theater. 

Darlings (डार्लिंग्ज)

​"Darlings (डार्लिंग्ज)"

Watched Hindi movie "Darlings (डार्लिंग्ज)".

This movie is directed by Jasmeet K. Reen. Written by Parveez Sheikh, Jasmeet K. Reen. Produced by Gauri Khan, Alia Bhatt, Gaurav Verma. It stars Alia Bhat, Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma, Roshan Mathew, Rajesh Sharma, Kiran Karmarkar. Music by Vishal Bharadwaj, Mellow D. Cinematography by Anil Mehta. Film runs for about 2 hour and 14 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Netflix with Aditi and Dada on 8th Aug 2022.  

Alia and Vijay are married. Vijay has drinking problem that always results in domestic violence. Shefali is Alia’s widow mother who advises her to leave Vijay. 

It’s a movie with Muslim background. The language, the culture, lower middle class background, chawl atmosphere; all of it feeds into the story. 

Alia plays bubbly, gullible, lovelorn, optimistic young Badru who can’t see reason. Shefali plays strong, wise, worried mother; Shamsu. Vijay plays the drunkard, violent, sleek, devious Hamza. Roshan plays helpful, good, innocent Zulfi. 

Movie starts in interesting ways. Once the story is established, the movie slows down. Audience wonders how this is going to end. Eventually the movie ends well but not before torturing you. Handling of the movie after realization is messy at best. It disappoints. It’s the acting that takes the boat to the shore, otherwise ….

So what’s in the title? No, it’s not plural of darling. It’s just bad English singular. 

Positives: Acting. 

Negatives: Story, Handling of story in second half. 

Dimag ka dahi. 

Lamha: The untold story of Kashmir (लम्हा)

​"Lamha: The untold story of Kashmir (लम्हा)"

Watched Hindi movie "Lamha: The untold story of Kashmir (लम्हा)". 

This film is directed by Rahul Dholakiya. Screenplay by Rahul Dholakiya. Produced by Bunty Walia, Jaspreet Singh Walia. Music by Mithoon . Cinematography Jamie Fowlds. The film stars Anupam Kher, Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Kunal Kapoor, Murli Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Asif Basra. The film runs for about 2 hour and was released in 2010. I watched it on Zee5 on 23rd April 2022.

Kashmir 18 years ago. Maulavi, proponent of freedom for Kashmir is killed. His protege Haji Sayyad Shah becomes leader. Haji adopts Maulavi’s daughter Aziza. Present day. There are reports of something big cooking. Indian government sends an undercover operative, Vikram. Vikram tries to find what’s being planned. 

Anupam Kher plays Haji, the politician supported by Pakistan. Kunal Kapoor plays Aateef, an idealist and a good politician. Bipasha plays Aziza, the girl torn between what’s right and what’s her allegiance. Sanjay Dutt plays Vikram, the undercover agent. Mahesh Manjrekar plays Peer, Vikram’s friend. 

Well, the undercover agent is really above cover. He doesn’t try to conceal his identity. He doesn’t try to be congruous. He walks everywhere and neither terrorists nor military notices him. Bipasha starts as a daring firebrand but suddenly becomes docile girl next door. Bipasha’s age shows, doesn’t fit the role. 

Why the character of Mahesh is in the film is baffling. The character has no significance. 

The story can at best be called shallow and so is direction. Doesn’t try to address the real issue. Doesn’t try to indicate way towards solution. Doesn’t even make it a good masala movie. 

Positives: Umm…. 

Negatives: Read the review above. 

Not a must watch.