Mast mein rehne ka (मस्त में रहने का)

​"Mast mein rehne ka (मस्त में रहने का)"

Watched Hindi film "Mast mein rehne ka (मस्त में रहने का)". 

This film is directed by Vijay Maurya. Produced by Vijay Maurya and Payal Arora. Written by Vijay Maurya and Payal Arora. Cinematography by Nagraj Rathinam. Music by Anurag Saikia, Shailendra Barve, Kaam Bhaari. The film stars Jackie Shroff, Nina Gupta, Abhishek Chauhan, Monika Panwar, Rakhi Sawant. This film was released in 2023. It runs for abou 2 hours 7 min. I watched in on Amazon Prime on 10th Dec 2023 with Aditi.

Jackie is a retired lonely soul. Nina has returned from Canada where her son and his family resides. Both are lonely. Abhishek is a tailor who has come to Mumbai to make a fortune but loses his job. He becomes a part time thief. He steals from both. He also strikes friendship with Monika who begs at the signal.

Things begin to improve and then start to go haywire in the lives of these four protagonists. It comes to the point of breaking to eventually end well.

Jackie plays a role that is out of his character. He does well. Nina is a breath of fresh air. Monika shows a lot of potential. She shows large variations of her character effortlessly. I expect her to establish herself as good actress. Abhishek, while trying to show his goofiness looks like an idiot.

This movie is basically about humans, trust in humans and the basic good nature of humans. A lot of movie happens in dark. The pace is slow. A little more pace would have improved the experience.

Positives: Protagonists. 

Negatives: Pace.

Watch if you have time.

The lost city

​"The lost city"

Watched English movie "The lost city". 

Direction: Adam Née, Aron Née. Story: Seth Gordon. Produced by Sandra Bullock and others. Cinematography Jonathan Sela. Music by Pinar Toprak. It features Sandra Bullock, Daniel Radcliff, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nũnez, Patti Harrison, Hector Anibal, Thomas Forbes. The movie was released in 2022 and runs for about 1 hour 52 minutes. I watched it on Netflix with Aditi on 5th Dec 2023.

Sandra is a novelist who lost interest in everything after her husband dies. Protagonists of her novel are a female doctor and her macho friend. A real life macho model (Dash) is used on book cover. One day after her new book launch, she is kidnapped by Daniel because she is the only one who can decipher an ancient language that will reveal the location of the lost city and lead him to fire crown, a crown that is expected to be priceless. Dash ropes in Brad to rescue her.

It’s an action movie. Action choreography is good but the actions are short on imagination. Most of the movie is shot on an island. It’s stunning, beautiful and cinematography is good. 

Sandra appears ill and still can’t act. Brad has a cameo and is wasted unnecessarily. Channing is good. Daniel plays a comic villain but doesn’t look like a villain. Others play supporting roles.

The protagonists of her novel appear to be lifted from Andy McDermott’s characters (Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase).

This movie earned 3 times the production cost. So it can be called a success.

Positives: Locations and cinematography. 

Negatives: Story, weak characters.  

Not a must watch.

Operation Mayfair

​"Operation Mayfair"

Watched Hindi movie "Operation Mayfair". 

This movie is directed by Sudipto Sarkar. Produced by Sushanto Sarkar, Sarbari Sikdar. Written by: Anthony Khatchaturian and Sudipto Sarkar. Cinematography: Santonio Terzio. Music: Savvy Gupta. The film stars Jimmy Shergill, Hritiqa Chheber, Anjali Sharma, Vedika Dutt, Antara Banerjee, Brain Lawrence & Ankur Bhatia . The movie runs for 1 hours 47 minutes and was released in April 2023. I watched the movie on Zee5 with Aditi on 28th Jul 2023.

Jimmy was a police officer in London but left the force to become professor and lives a sedentary life. A murder is committed. The modus operandi is similar to the case Jimmy was investigating before he left. He is called back as a consultant. The investigation starts. 

Although this is a serial killer movie the identity of the killer is not a mystery. Audience knows who the killer is. Movie is about how investigators find it.

Rather than focusing on investigation, director unnecessarily veers into side plots of Jimmy’s equation with his wife, his ex girlfriend, his strange relationship with his boss who was once his protege. It looks like the identity of murder is discovered by fluke and not by meticulous investigation and deduction.

At the end you remain unsatisfied. Neither mystery quota, nor masala quota, nor emotional quota and not acting quota is fulfilled. Jimmy is stiff and looks tired. Ankur Bhatia impresses but his character lacks depth. Others are ok.

Positives: Umm….

Negatives: As stated above.

Give it a miss.

A deadly invitation

​"A deadly invitation"

Watched English version of Mexican movie "A deadly invitation". 

This film is directed by J.M. Cravioto. Written by Javier Durán Pérez, Anton Goenechea, Carmen Posadas. Produced by Erik Barmac and others . Music by Esperanza de Valesco. Cinematography Diego Tenorio. The film stars  Stephanie Cayo, Regina Blandon, Maribel Verdu, Aaron Diaz, Manolo Cardona, Jose Maria de Tavera, Helena Rojo, Juan Pablo de Santiago. The film runs for about 1 hours 32 minutes and was released in May 20xx. I watched it on Netflix on 13th Oct 2023.

Eccentric millionaire Olivia sends her half sister Agatha, and a group of old acquaintances, a mysterious invitation for a weekend on her yacht, where they will discover the true motive behind this invitation. There is an unexpected death. Agatha and a rookie policeman investigate.

The invites are Don Carlos - recent ex husband of Olivia, a doctor and businessman. Sonia - ex business partner. Sonia’s boyfriend Naram - the Yoga teacher. Olivia’s ex boyfriend Cary - the actor. Figue - a Doctor who works for Carlos. Gustavo - the caretaker, servant and friend who has one eye. Ms. Christina, head of the house. Agatha - the step sister. Everyone has a reason to love or hate Olivia.

It’s a whodunit mystery. Everyone seems to have a motive and opportunity. The murder happens in between the jurisdiction of two police stations. Agatha is not a professional investigator but she perseveres and solves the mystery.

Positives: Suspense retained.

Negatives: A bit constrained on yacht.

Good one time watch. 

The Killer

​"The Killer"

Watched English movie "The Killer". 

This film is directed by David Fincher. Screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker . Produced by William Doyal. Cinematography by Eric Messerschmidt. The film stars Michael Fassbender, Tulsa Swinton, Charles Parnell, Sala Baker, Kerry O’Malley, Arliss Howard. The film runs for about 2 hours and was released in 2023. I watched it on Netflix on 18th Nov 2023. 

A killer misses his target and fails to kill the target. There is no excuse for such a mistake. There’s an attack on his girlfriend. He survives because he is delayed. He decided to hit back. 

It’s a revenge movie but he doesn’t go through till the end. Why? It’s about a killer, an assassin, guns, weapons and killings. With all this paraphernalia, the story is expected to have a break neck speed. If not, at least fast pace. Alas! That’s not to be. The movie is slow, very slow.

What was the director trying to convey? A pure revenge movie? It’s not. Because revenge is not complete. If it was about being professional and not taking things personally, it’s not that either.

Positives: None.

Negatives: Confused director and audience.

AVOID.

Jawan (जवान)

​"Jawan (जवान)"

Watched Hindi movie "Jawan (जवान)". 

This film is directed by Atlee. Story by Atlee. Produced by Gauri Khan and Gaurav Verma. Music by Anirudh Ravichander. Cinematography G. K. Vishnu. The film features Shahrukh Khan, Nayantara, Sanya Malhotra, Ashlesha Thakur, Leher Khan, Girija Oak, Sanjeeda Bhattacharya, Aliyah Kureshi, Vijay Sethupathi, Sanjay Dutt and Deepika Padukone play cameos. The film runs for about 2 hour 50 minutes and was released in 2023. I watched it on Netflix on 3rd Nov 2023. 

North east India. Villagers find Shahrukh floating in river, grievously injured. Villagers cure him. Village is attacked, the man saves them. 30 years later, young Shahrukh is a Jailer. He and six of his female inmates make daredevil attacks, get money from government through negotiator Nayantara and distribute to poor.  Nobody’s knows who they are.

Shahrukh plays Jawan. Nayanatara plays the negotiator. Sanya Malhotra, Ashlesha Thakur, Leher Khan, Girija Oak, Sanjeeda Bhattacharya, Aliyah Kureshi play his inmate accomplices. Vijay Sethupathi plays the villain and Sanjay Dutt and Deepika Padukone play cameos.

Shahrukh acts like Shahrukh, not the jailer or Jawan. Deepika impresses.  Vijay is OK. The female accomplices are good. Sanjay’s acting is ok, character is bad. 

The story is flimsy. It lacks substance. Things just happen. It traverses a very predictable line. No surprises there. Nayanatara is a negotiator but she also participated in action, raids criminals, basically does everything. The idea of committing daredevil Robin Hood type crimes from the protection of jail is a good idea. But the semi crazy character of Vijay, Character of Shahrukh who has lost memory and his friends send the story into a tail spin. Having an Arsenal in jail is simply incredulous. Character of Sanjay is also caricature like.

This movie recovered four times its production cost. It was a super hit. But I didn’t find it worth being a super hit.

Positives: Deepika. 

Negatives: Story. 

Dimag ka dahi. Give it a miss.

Jaane Jaan (जाने जान)

​"Jaane Jaan (जाने जान)"

Watched Hindi movie 'Jaane Jaan (जाने जान)'. 

This film is directed by Sujoy Ghosh. Produced by Jay Shewakramani and others. Written by Sujoy Ghosh. Music by Sachin-Jigar. Cinematography by Avik Mukhopadhyay. The film stars Kareena Kapoor, Jaideep Ahalawat, Vijay Varma, Naisha Khanna, Saurabh Sachdeva, Lin Laishram, Uditi Singh, Karma Takapa, Shyam Gopal. The film runs for almost 2 hours 19 minutes and was released in 2023. I watched it on Netflix on 14th Nov 2023. 

Kareena, a single mom, lives in Kalimpong. Jaydeep, a maths teacher, likes her but can’t say to her. He is also unattractive. One day a man comes to Kareena’s eatery. She is terrified. The man is her ex husband. He comes to her home, things happen, Kareena kills him. Jaydeep offers to help. Vijay, a police officer, comes to Kalimpong looking for the dead man. He also happens to be Vijay’s classmate from college days.

Although the story is slow, it keeps the audience interested. Thanks to Jaydeep and Vijay. Backdrop of Kalimpong is a welcome change. It makes things a little exotic. Kalimpong is beautiful.

Kareena acts ok and looks good only in one scene. Jaydeep is good. He has underplayed the character very well. Vijay plays the nosy police officer well.

I was left with a couple of questions. What jurisdiction does a police officer from Mumbai have in Kalimpong? At least he should have shown as CBI officer. What happened to the body? Why sacrifice when it was possible to do without?

This movie is based on a book called ‘The devotion of suspect X’ by Keigo Higashino. I haven’t read the book, so can’t say how true it is to the book.

Positives: Jaydeep. Direction.

Negatives: Slow pace.

Recommend watching.

OMG2

​"OMG2"

Watched Hindi movie "OMG2". 

Directed by Amit Rai. Written by Amit Rai. Produced by Aruna Bhatiya and others. Cinematography Amalendu Chaudhary. Music by Vikram Montrose, Hansraj Raghuvanshi, DjStrings, Pranaay, Sandesh Shandilya. The film stars Pankaj Tripathi, Govind Namdev, Akshay Kumar, Yami Gautami, Arun Govil, Birendra Kala, Pavan Malhotra, Aarush Varma. The film runs for about 2 hour 35 minutes and was released in 2023. I watched it on Netflix on 20th Oct 2023.

Pankaj Tripathi is a true Shivbhakt and works in a shop at Mahakal Mandir. One day his son’s video, masterbating in school toilet, goes viral and he is kicked out of the school. Overnight, the family becomes a pariah. Pankaj prays to Lord Shiv for salvation. The God sends Akshay Kumar as his emissary. Akshay’s ramblings give Pankaj directions to proceed and he files a case against the school for not giving sex education to the children.

What compensation does he ask? What role does Akshay play? Will he win? What about the Shame?

The idea of this film is good. The concept of an average father rising to the occasion when pushed to the corner is good. Being a good human being, he is not bitter, he just wants to get Justice for his son. Another good thing is Akshay’s role. It’s an advisory role, not an active role. Director must have resisted strong temptation to give more active role to Akshay. If he had, then the human aspect would have been lost.

Pankaj Tripathi delivers a scintillating performance. He has no special abilities or skills, but he has the drive. He is fighting for his family, their self respect, their existence. Akshay Kumar doesn’t look God’s emissary. He still looks Akshay Kumar. Yami Gautami looks beautiful and performs well, but her character is not properly developed and she is shown making absurd arguments. Arun Govil makes an appearance after a long time. Pavan Malhotra plays the judge who gets unexpected publicity and unprecedented audience due to this trial that generates public interest.

School’s reaction of kicking the boy out is over the top. There is no action taken on those who made the video. Isn’t it violation of privacy? Is the school responsible for setting the curriculum or is the board? Then should the school be sued or the board? School lawyer’s argument that it’s sin to masterbate is laughable.

Nevertheless, the movie touches an important aspect. India that was the originator of Kamasutra, has turned sex and sex education into a tabu. The education system imposed by British, to make India psychologically inferior, needs an overhaul.

Positives: Pankaj. 

Negatives: As mentioned above.

A one time watch!

Infinite

​"Infinite".

Watched English movie "Infinite". 

This movie is directed by Antoine Fuqua. Screenplay by Ian Shorr. Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Cinematography by Mauro Fiore. Music by Harry Gregson-Williams . It features Mark Wahlberg, Sophie Cookson, Liz Carr, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Wallis Day, Dylan O’Brein, Johannes Haukur, Joana Ribero, Jason Mantzoukas, Kae Alexander, Toby Jones, Lili Rich. Film runs for about 1 hour and 47 minutes and was released in 2021. I watched it on Netflix with Aditi on 7th Oct 2023 .

Evan McCauley is diagnosed as a schizophrenic when he was a teenager. He sees dreams as if they were real and he loves it. He is arrested and two people try to take him away separately, Bathurst and Nora. The lady succeeds. She tells him that he is an Infinite. People who can remember all their births. There around 500 of them divided into two groups. Believers, the Good ones, and Nihilists, the bad ones. Evan is reincarnation of Treadway, who hid a potent weapon developed by Bathurst that will wipe the humanity in previous life before dying. Now everyone wants the egg.

Mark plays Evan. Sophie plays Nora. Both do decently. Chiwetel is better as Bathurst but the characterization makes him unconvincing.

This movie appears to be a mix of Matrix, Star Wars, Jason Bourne and what not. The story is very weak. Not enough thought in it. Or was it that one movie is too less for the story? If the Nihilists have perfected a method that can capture the souls on a chip, thus preventing rebirth, why Bathurst doesn’t use it on himself rather than trying to annihilate the world to prevent rebirth?

The chases are beautifully shot. The chase at the start is exhilarating. It heightens the expectations from the movie but the rest of the movie doesn’t live up to the expectation. 

Positives: Initial chase. 

Negatives: Rest of the movie. 

Not a must watch. 

Matchmaker mysteries: The art of the kill

​"Matchmaker mysteries: The art of the kill"

Watched English movie 'Matchmaker mysteries: The art of the kill'. 

This film is directed by Catherine Cyran. Written by Marcy Holland, Dave Thomas. Produced by Lance H. Robbins. Music by Steffan Andrews. The film stars Danica McKeller, Victor Webster, Bruce Boxleitner, Aliyah O’Brien, Andrew Dunbar, Cory Lee, Alisha Ahamed, Jane McGregor. The film runs for 1 hour 30 minutes and was released in 2021. I watched it on Qatar air on 6th Jun 2023. 

There is a death in a museum. Angie Dove, a matchmaker happens to visit the museum with her retired detective dad, who is investigating a series of thefts of personal items in the museum. Angie, being her inquisitive and intelligent self and a daughter of detective can’t help but investigate. The Detective assigned to the case is her friend and doesn’t mind her help/meddling. 

It’s a whodunit. However the reason for the murder is not very well hidden and the audience can guess why things happened. Otherwise the story has flow. It doesn’t slow down. The identity of murderer is well guarded. The matchmaker finds what neither the police nor the detective Dad can.

Danica McKeller plays Angie. She is good looking and acts well. Victor Webster plays the Detective.  He is handsome and pairs well with Danica. Bruce Boxleitner plays her father. He has limited scope. Alisha Ahamed plays assistant of the victim. She’s good. 

Apparently this is not the first movie in Matchmaker mysteries series. I hadn’t watched earlier ones, but that didn’t affect this movie.

Positives: Short length. 

Negatives: Matchmaker is better than police.

You may give it a try or miss it. Doesn’t matter.

Hunter Killer

​"Hunter Killer".

Watched English movie "Hunter Killer". 

This movie is directed by Donovan Marsh. Written by Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss. Produced by Gerard Butler and others. Cinematography by Tom Marais. Music by Trevor Morris. It features Great Butler, Gary Oldman, Michael Nyqvist, Linda Cardinelli, Toby Stephens, Common, Gabriel Chavarria, David Gyasi, Ryan McPartlin, Michael Trucco, Ether Baird, Zane Holtz, Alexander Dyachenko, Michael Gor, Carter McIntyre. Film runs for about 1 hour and 56 minutes and was released in 2018. I watched it on 10th Jun 2023 on Netflix with Aditi.

An American submarine is following a Russian submarine. Explosion. Torpedo. Both submarines sink. Rear Admiral decides to send another submarine under unorthodox Commander Joe Glass who has worked his way up.  In parallel a seal team is sent to gather Intel from Russian naval base. There is a coup and Russian President is captured. America can extricate itself from the situation, without taking blame for the fall out, only if they can rescue the Russian President.

It’s a plot that’s not entirely convincing. Seal team of four and a submarine that can’t reach naval base is all that stands between WW III. The irony of America rescuing Russian President is not lost. There are several security issues that are not addressed in the movie. It focuses more on humans than on strategy and geopolitics. 

Gerard is the protagonist. He does well. Common plays his boss and does Justice to the role. Michael Nyqvist Plays the captured Russian captain. He has very few dialogues but is very impressive. This movie was released after his death. So, it was one of his very last roles. 

A lot of movie happens on the submarine. For an action thriller, it has limited action. Gerard Butler, who is known for action films, has no action in this movie. The end of the movie is also a little too easy and abrupt. Something more was needed. 

This movie couldn’t recover its production cost at the box office. It was a flop.

Positives: Pace, Submarine world. 

Negatives: The retaliation. The concept.

Watch if you have time.

Satyaprem ki Katha (सत्यप्रेम की कथा)

​"Satyaprem ki Katha (सत्यप्रेम की कथा)"

Watched Hindi movie "Satyaprem ki Katha (सत्यप्रेम की कथा)". 

This movie is directed by Sameer Vidwans. Written by Karan Shrikant Sharma. Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and others. Music by Multiple. Cinematography by Ayananka Bose. This movie features Kiara Advani, Kartik Aryan, Supriya Pathak, Gajraj Rao, Nirmiti Sawant, Shikha Talsania. This movie was released in 2023 and runs for about 2 hour 24 min. I watched the movie on Amazon Prime on 23rd Sep 2023.

Satyaprem (Sattu) is a good natured, good for nothing, LLB fail youth. He loves Katha, a beautiful, intelligent girl, way above him and with a steady boyfriend. One incident brings them close.

What incident? What happens to Katha’s boyfriend? What does Sattu do? Why is Katha aloof?

This movie addresses an important issue that is hush hush in the society. However the handling is more like a commercial movie and less like an issue based movie. 

Direction leaves a lot to be desired. There are numerous contradictions and inconsistencies. How is it possible that you don’t know the name of ex boyfriend of your sister-in-law? Who names their daughters Diwali and Christmas? Does Sattu complete his LLB? Does Katha get Justice? Do Sattu and Katha really become husband and wife?

Kiara plays Katha. She looks beautiful and acts decently. Kartik Aryan plays Sattu. He is his usual goofy, hilarious, innocent self. But now it has become repetitive. Gajraj and Supriya play Sattu’s parents and ably support. Nirmiti plays Supriya’s sister.

Positives: Kiara, Subject.

Negatives: Gaps. 

Not a must watch.

The Pale Blue Eye

​"The Pale Blue Eye".

Watched English movie "The Pale Blue Eye". 

This movie is directed by Scott Cooper. Produced by Scott Cooper and others. Screenplay by Scott Cooper. Cinematography by Masanobu Takanayagi. Music by Howard Shore. It features Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton, Gillian Anderson, Timothy Spall, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Harry Lawtey. Film runs for about 2 hour and 10 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on 23rd Sep 2023 on Netflix. 

Landor is a retired constable, a detective. He is summoned by the Captain and Colonel of military school to investigate gruesome murder of a cadet and violation of his body. A young cadet called Edgar Allen Poe becomes his assistant. One murder turns to two.

Landor has a painful past. His wife is dead and his daughter has run off, never to return. He lives in solitude until he starts investigating the murder. Poe is a physically unattractive but intelligent cadet who is bullied by pretty much everyone. Lea is a beautiful daughter of the local doctor who has epilepsy that no medicine can cure.

Landor is getting closer but not close enough. That’s testing the patience of the Colonel. To complicate the matters further, Edgar has fallen for Lea.

It’s a good story. Intelligent viewers can recognize the culprit. However there is a twist that many wouldn’t see coming. It takes the end of the movie to a new high.

For an English movie, it’s a long movie. It’s old times. So things move slowly. But the audience remains with the story. Credit to the director.

This movie is based on book by same name by Louis Bayard. I haven’t read the book, so can’t say how true the movie is to the book.

Positives: The twist.

Negatives:  Why wait till the end?

Recommend watching.

Love at first sight

​"Love at first sight".

Watched English movie "Love at first sight". 

This movie is directed by Vanessa Caswill. Screenplay by Katie Lovejoy. Produced by Matt Kaplan. It stars Haley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy, Jameela Jamil, Rob Delaney, Sally Phillips, Dexter Fletcher. Cinematography by Luke Bryant. Music by  Paul Saunderson. Film runs for 1 hour and 30 minutes and was released in 2023. I watched with Aditi on Netflix on 20th Sept 2023.

Hadley is going for her fathers marriage. Hadley misses her flight to London. At the airport she meets Oliver. They connect. However, she manages to lose his contact number. How can they meet?

It’s a simple movie. Not too many twists and turns? Only the bare minimum required for a love story. This love story is short on emotions and doesn’t touch your heart. 

Haley plays Hadley. She’s good looking and acts well. Ben plays Oliver and he is good. Jameela plays multiple roles in addition to being the narrator. 

Positives: Haley.

Negatives: Short on emotions. 

Not a must watch.

Jailer (जेलर)

​"Jailer (जेलर)"

Watched Hindi version of film "Jailer (जेलर)". 

This film is directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. Produced by Kalanithi Maran. Written by Nelson Dilipkumar. Cinematography by Vijay Kartik Kannan. Music by Anirudh Chander. The film stars Rajinikanth, Shiva Rajkumar, Vinayakan, Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff, Ramya Krishnan, Mirna Menon, Sunil, Yogi Babu, Vasanth Ravi, VTV Ganesh, Makarand Deshpande, Redin Kingsley. This film was released in 2023. It runs for abou 2 hour 48 min. I watched in on Amazon Prime on 10th Jun 2023.

Rajinikanth is a retired man living with his wife, son who is an ACP, daughter-in-law and grandson. Life is good and quiet. His son is investigating a smuggling ring. One day he disappears, presumed dead. His wife blames him for making their son an honest officer. Rajini needs to do something. 

It’s a typical Rajini movie. Larger than life, action packed and entertaining with little regard for story.  The actions, however, seem to be a little less extravagant. Rajini has to pull all the favors, that he could, to succeed. That’s how the big guns Shiva Rajkumar, Makarand Deshpande, Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff make an appearance. Vinayakan plays villain. His ability to redden his eyes is amazing. 

Action scenes are good. A bit gory, especially the beheadings and amputations. Realistic. 

There is a twist towards the end of the story. That makes the movie suddenly interesting. 

Within a month of release the film has grossed 3 times its production cost. So it’s a box office hit. What else can one expect of a Rajinikanth film?

Positives: Entertainment. 

Negatives: Story. 

If you like Rajini flicks, watch it. 

Khufiya (खुफिया)

​"Khufiya (खुफिया)"

Watched Hindi movie "Khufiya (खुफिया)". 

This movie is directed by Vishal Bharadwaj. Produced by Rekha and Vishal Bharadwaj. Written by Rohan Narula, Vishal Bharadwaj. Music by Vishal Bharadwaj. Cinematography by Farhad Ahmed Dehalvi. This movie features Tabbu, Ashish Vidyarthi, Wamiqa Gabbi, Azmeri Haque Badhon, Ali Fazal, Atul Kulkarni, Shataf Figar, Alex O’Nell. This movie was released in 2023 and runs for about 2 hour 38 min. I watched the movie on Netflix on 5th Oct 2023.

Tabbu is a divorced intelligence officer who can’t tell her teenage son why she misses so many occasions and celebrations. She has lost an asset in Bangladesh years ago and it still haunts her. She is assigned a case to investigate another intelligence officer suspected of espionage for enemy. She sets up the surveillance but can’t find the mode of transfer of information. When she does, the suspect escapes.

This movie is based on a book by Amar Bhushan titled Escape to nowhere. However it’s really very very loosely based on the book. Director tries to make the movie spicy by adding a lot of things to the story. So the jilted wife, revenge, intelligence following the suspect to America and bringing back etc. is added. Thus, the movie diverges completely from the book.

Tabu looks good and acts well. Atul Kulkarni is his pleasant self. Bangladeshi actress Azmeri makes her Bollywood debut with a cameo. Wamiqa impressed with her performance. She displays range of emotions and’s gives a commanding performance. Ali Fazal is disappointing. Doesn’t suit the role. He is a much better actor than this.

Direction is brilliant and mediocre in patches. Wamiqa’s silent screme when she is in bed with Ali is the best shot of the movie. Credit to director for the idea and execution and to Wamiqa for the performance.

Positives: Wamiqa, Tabbu

Negatives: Naive ending, stretched story, divergence from book.

OK as one time watch. If you have read the book, forget it’s based on it.

Heart of Stone

​"Heart of Stone"

Watched English movie "Heart of Stone". 

Direction: Tom Harper. Story: Greg Ruchka. Produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and others. Cinematography George Steel. Music by Steven Price . It features Gal Godot, Alia Bhatt, Jamie Dornan, Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Shweighöfer. The movie was released in 2023 and runs for about 2 hour 2 minutes. I watched it on Netflix with Aditi on 15th Aug 2023.

Rachel Stone works for MI6. But she is working there undercover for an organization called Charter. Charter works for the good of the world and is not answerable to any country. Charter’s main star is a mysterious artificial intelligence system called The Heart. Someone, supported by an Indian hacker, is trying to hack Heart and Rachel Stone is the only one standing between them and Heart. 

The movie is an action movie. It’s so true to the genre that you have action from start to finish. Story is weak, but that’s not so important, action is. Nevertheless, it keeps you interested despite its length. The movie ends with start of a new mission confirming that a sequel is in the offing. 

Gal Godot plays Rachel. She’s beautiful. Her actions are convincing and she’s a pleasure to watch. She also acts decently. Alia Bhatt makes her international debut with the role of hacker Keya. She doesn’t act bad, but she is much better than how she presents herself in this movie. Jamie plays the villain. His character is also underdeveloped. Matthias plays Stone’s technical support. Sophie plays King of Hearts. 

Fight scenes are very good. The acting director and cinematographer have a lot of latitude and they capitalize on it. Weak characters and weak story are the draw backs of this movie. 

Positives: Gal, Action. 

Negatives: Story, weak characters.  

Watch if you are action movies fan.

Mrs. Undercover

​"Mrs. Undercover"

Watched Hindi movie "Mrs. Undercover". 

This movie is directed by Anushree Mehta. Produced by Abir Sengupta, Anushree Mehta and others. Written by: Abir Sengupta, Anushree Mehta. Cinematography: Abhimanyu Sengupta. Music: Amit Sawant, Ankit Shah, Abhinav Shekhar. The film stars Radhika Apte, Sumit Vyas, Amrita Chattopadhyay, Saheb Chatterjee, Angana Roy, Rajesh Sharma, Roshni Bhattacharya, Rudrashish Majumdar, Varun Nag, Laboni Sarkar, Indrashish Roy, Biswajit Chakraborty. The movie runs for 1 hours 47 minutes and was released in April 2023. I watched the movie on Zee5 with Aditi on 28th Jul 2023.

A serial killer is on the loose. 17 murders of young women. Latest in Kolkata. Doesn’t molest or rape but the murder is posted on social media from victim’s mobile. India’s secret agency wants to investigate but all its agents are killed by the killer. However, they find one agent whose handler died and agent was forgotten. They decided to find the agent. It turns out it’s a house wife.

Well, the plot seed is good but execution is pathetic. Director isn’t able to decide if he wants to make a suspense movie or a comedy and ends up messing both. The movie is full of bad jokes, strange faces, backwards body movements, lack of flow. The end is also amateurish.

The head of secret agency played by Rajesh Sharma is more of a joker than spook. Radhika plays the housewife and her’s is the only good performance. Sumeet Vyas plays antagonist well. Others are ‘also ran’.

Positives: Seed.

Negatives: Direction.

AVOID.

Rocky aur Raani kii Prem Kahani

​"Rocky aur Raani kii Prem Kahani (रॅाकी और रानी की प्रेम कहानी)"

Watched Hindi movie "Rocky aur Raani kii Prem Kahani (रॅाकी और रानी की प्रेम कहानी)". 

This film is directed by Karan Johar. Written by Ishita Moitra and others. Produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and others. Cinematography by Manush Nandan. Music by Pritam. The film stars Alia Bhat, Ranveer Singh, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, Jaya Bacchan, Aamir Bashir, Kshiti Jog, Anjali Anand, Tota Roy Chowdhuri, Churni Ganguly. The film runs for about 2 hour 48 minutes and was released in 2023. I watched it on Amazon Prime on 1st Oct 2023 with Aditi. 

Jaya is a successful business woman, owner of Dhanlakshmi laddus. Her husband, Dharmendra, was a poet but has lost his memory and is wheelchair bound. Jaya doesn’t pay attention to him and teaches her son the same. Her daughter-in-law and grand daughter have no importance in the house. Ranveer is her grandson, loud, not much educated but good at heart. Ranveer uncovers that Alia’s grandmother and his grandfather were once sweethearts. He and Alia set to reunite them and in the course hook-up.

The movie is about differences. Rocky’s family that doesn’t value women, except Jaya. Rani’s  family that gives equal importance to male and female. A not very educated family in business Vs educated family in literature and art. Loud happy go lucky Rocky Vs beautiful, mannered, responsible Rani. Punjabi Vs Bengali. It’s about how the differences don’t matter in love.

Alia plays Rani. She looks delicious. This movie presents her beauty in sensuous Sarees. Yes, she wears a Saree in the entire movie. She’s a good actor, so it’s the best combination. If I had to cast someone else, I would cast avidya Balan, when she was young. Ranveer plays the loud Punjabi very well. The gaudy shirts, the hairstyle and his acting make the character lively. Dharmendra plays cameo and kisses Shabana on screen first time in his life. Kshiti Jog has got a good breakthrough and delivers a notable performance. Shabana’s performance is not up to her standard. Aamir is one dimensional. Others support well. Jaya in the role of Dhanlakshmi is a casting disaster. Jaya is a good actor but she absolutely doesn’t suit in the role. Neena Gupta or Rekha would have been better choices. 

Story is not bad. The idea of staying in each other’s house and trying to win the future in-laws is not new. Direction is good but it’s not a typical Karan Johar film.

The movie paints Punjabis and Bengalis with broad brush strokes. Punjabis are painted as loud, semi educated, uncultured. Bengalis are painted as forward thinking, cultured and educated. This is quite monochromatic. As a result this movie appears shallow rather than profound.

Positives: Alia, Ranveer.

Negatives: Not profound.

OK as one time watch, but not worth a super hit that it became. 

Bimbisara

​"Bimbisara"

Watched Dubbed Hindi movie 'Bimbisara'. 

This film is directed by Mallidi Vassishta. Produced by Harikrishna Kosaraju. Written by Mallidi Vassishta. Music by M. M. Keervani. Cinematography by Chota K. Naidu. The film stars Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Samyuktha Menon, Catherine Tresa, Gayatri Bhargavi, Vivan Bhatena, Prakash Raj. The film runs for almost 2 hours 20 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Zee5 on 15th Jul 2023. 

Bimbisara is an all conquering  cruel king in 500BC. His twin brother, who Bimbisara tried to kill earlier, returns and throws him through magic mirror that brings him to present times. A present day doctor is trying to  obtain the Dhanvantari medicine, the key to which is with Bimbisara. 

Once in present, what does Bimbisara understand?  Does he realize his mistake? Who does he help? Who helps him?

The idea is good.  It’s a story of self realization. So the concept is interesting. But the presentation is crass. Rather than making it into a powerful movie, director has made it into a masala movie, pure and simple. Director shows that apples were there in 500BC in India when it is a known fact that British introduced apples to India in 19th century. Some homework! Character of Samyuktha is wasted. Why is she in the film?

The special effects are not very good. Especially first fight is very bad. The sets are of very low quality. The set of the place of treasure is so bad that the cardboard shapes can be seen even by a kid. 

Although the movie has multiple characters, the only important character is of Bimbisar and his twin brother Devdutt, both played by NKR. NKR looks impressive and dashing in ancient clothes, not so much in modern clothes. He acts decently.

This movie grossed about 1.5 times its production cost. Wasn’t a hit, wasn’t a flop. 

Positives: NKR.

Negatives: Crassness and special effects. 

Give it a miss.

Sniper: Assassin’s end

​"Sniper: Assassin’s end"

Watched English movie "Sniper: Assassin’s end". 

This film is directed by Kaare Andrews. Written by Oliver Thompson. Produced by Greg Malcolm, Vicki Sotheran. Music by Patrick Caird. Cinematography Strolling Bancroft. The film features Sayaka Akimoto, Chad Michael Collins, Tom Berenger, Lochlyn Munro, Emily Tennant, Ryan Robbins. The film runs for about 1 hour 36 minutes and was released in 2020. I watched it on Netflix on 15th July 2023. This is 8th installment of Sniper series. 

Leader of a fictitious South American country, Costa Verde, is assasinated by a long shot. Very few in world can take such a shot. Special Ops sniper Brandon Beckett’s DNA is found and he is arrested. But he is innocent and his convoy is attacked. Brandon survives and goes to his father, a retired sniper himself. 

The seed is good. Story is shallow. Father Son meet after years and father happens to tell the story of one of his worst shots. The sniper (both father and son) don’t look the part. The perpetrator is very ill  concealed. Reason for revenge is very obvious but nobody spots it. The execution is also hopeless. American federal agent asks Canadian agent to get out in Canada and he obeys. What jurisdiction does the American have? Why does the assassin give up after putting up a spectacular fight?

Acting is not much to write about. Only noteworthy performance is of Sayaka. Others are ‘also ran’. A lot of movie happens in dark. 

Positives: Hardly anything. 

Negatives: Everything. 

Avoid.

Niyat (नियत)

​"Niyat (नियत)"

Watched Hindi movie "Niyat (नियत)". 

This movie is directed by Anu Menon. Written by Anu Menon and others. Produced by Vikram Malhotra. Music by Mickey McCleary. Cinematography by Andreas Neo. This movie features Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, Niki Aneja, Naaraj Kaabi, Rahul Bose, Prajakta Koli, Amrita Puri, Shahana Goswami, Dipannita Sharma, Danesh Razvi, Ishita Mehra and guest appearance of Shefali Shah. This movie was released in 2023 and runs for about 2 hour 10 min. I watched the movie on Amazon Prime on 4th Sep 2023 with Aditi.

Ram Kapoor is a big businessman absconding from India, accused of borrowing 20,000 crores from banks, allegedly having a massive loss and not having paid employees for two years. He invites people close to him on a remote island in Scotland for his birthday. An unexpected guest in the form of Vidya, a CBI officer, arrives. She’s not uninvited. Someone dies, another death ….. Ram.

It’s an interesting collection of characters. Ram’s brother in law (Rahul), his step son and sons girlfriend, Ram’s healer, Ram’s best friend (Neeraj), his wife (Deepannita) and son, Ram’s woman Friday (Amrita), the event manager (Danesh), Ram’s girlfriend (Shahana) and his distant student relative. All of them are dependent on Ram for money. All of them have some kind of history with him. They all love him and have a reason to hate him. Do they have a reason strong enough to either make him commit suicide or kill him?

It’s a murder mystery. A whodunit! With an isolated island, the suspects are limited in number. The setting is very similar to Agatha Christie novels. Large house, isolated place, rich man, lot of dependents, everyone has a motive, detective in the mix, revelation at the end. It also has many similarities with English movie Knives out, but it’s not a remake. 

When you make a murder mystery, there are few things that need to be kept in mind. You should hide the perpetrator very well. The clues should be placed innocuously, so that when revelation happens audience should blame themselves for not realizing it earlier. The story should be watertight with no holes in it for the ship to sail and stay afloat. If there are holes the ship will take water and may even sink. 

This is where the movie falters. There are too many holes in the story and they aren’t plugged. There are a lot of unanswered questions. Why send the staff away? Why bank on briefcase when the risk could be avoided? What was the mode of gate away from island? The scissors were stolen after the use… continuity issue. Why wait 18 years for DNA test? Why kill Kay?

The acting of most of the characters is good. Ram portrays larger than life character. Rahul plays out of character. Neeraj is good. Niki makes a comeback of sorts but looks swollen. Now let’s talk about Vidya. She plays a CBI officer. But despite having a sharp mind she is shown confused most of the time. She does all the right things but doesn’t appear driven. Doesn’t appear woman on mission. I wonder why director chose to portray her like this?

Nevertheless the overall effect of the movie is not bad. You don’t get bored. Although you don’t get a satisfaction of watching a good movie, you also don’t feel it was a waste of time. 

Positives: Overall effect.

Negatives: As listed above. 

Ok to watch once. 

Scorpion King: The book of souls

​"Scorpion King: The book of souls".

Watched English movie "Scorpion King: The book of souls". 

This movie is directed by Doom Michael Paul. Produced by Mike Elliot. Written by David Alton Hedges, Frank DeJohn. Music by Frederik Wiedmann. Cinematography by Hein De Voss. It features Zach McGowan, Peter Mensah, Myling Ng, Pearl Thusi, Katy Louise Saunders, Nathan Jones, Howard Charles, Inge Beckmann. Film runs for about 1 hours 40 minutes and was released in 2008. I watched it on 14th July 2023 on Netflix with Aditi. This is the fifth movie in the series. 

In ancient Egypt King Memtep had collaborated with God of underworld Anubis to create a sword that steals the souls of those it kills and their names are written in Book of Souls. Years later, Nebserek raids Memtep’s tomb and acquires the sword. Now he is invincible, but for the Scorpion King. Scorpion king is living as Blacksmith Mathayus. Tala, Princess of Nubia and Mathayus join forces and are joined by Enkidu and Amina.

It’s a strange story. Apart from his good physique, the Scorpion King doesn’t look anything special. Even in the fights he almost dies twice and then one more time. What was the objective of the character Enkidu? He hardly does anything special. It’s just a strange story. Characters are neither well thought, nor developed. 

Movie creates more questions than answers. Why dodge Enkidu? How does he get out? Why does he jump into fire? Why is it necessary to destroy book of souls? Too many questions and not many answers. 

Very unsatisfactory.

Positives: Umm…

Negatives: Almost everything. 

AVOID.

Ghar, banduk, biryani (घर, बंदुक, बिर्याणी)

​"Ghar, banduk, biryani (घर, बंदुक, बिर्याणी)"

Watched Marathi movie "Ghar, banduk, biryani (घर, बंदुक, बिर्याणी)". 

Directed by Hemant Jangal Awtade. Written by Hemant Jangal Awtade and Nagraj Manjule. Produced by Nagraj Manjule, Bhushan Manjule. Cinematography Vikram Amladi. Music by A. V. Prafullachandra. The film stars Sayaji Shinde, Aakash Thosar, Sayli Patil, Tanaji Galgunde, Shwetambari Ghute, Kishor Kadam and Nagraj Manjule. The film runs for about 2 hour 33 minutes and was released in 2023. I watched it on Zee5 on 5th Jun 2023.

Pallam is a militant living in Jungle. His aim is to kill the local MLA who was responsible for deaths of his family and friends. Inspector Raya Patil is a hot headed honest cop transferred to this remote place. Raju Achari wants to marry but the father of his love interest wants him to own a house before agreeing for marriage. Their stories collide.

Sayaji plays Pallam. He is neither comic, nor serious, nor menacing. You don’t understand what that character is. Totally confusing! Akash plays Raju. One wonders if his character was really necessary for this movie at all? He is unimpressive. The only good point is Nagraj who plays the cop. He looks very impressive, has right physique and acts well. He’s the only shining star. 

I watched this movie, despite uninspiring title, because it was a Nagraj Manjule film. But I was greatly disappointed. The film is nowhere close to Fandry or Sairat. All sort of crazy things happen, there is action, there is comedy but there is no real story. It’s like all the ingredients are thrown together but they don’t form a recipe. One doesn’t understand who is doing what & why, and where is it leading?

Director tries to create interest at the very end by just stopping short of revealing the identity of MLA. If there is a sequel, revelation will be in that. But it is too little, too late. I doubt if I will watch the sequel. 

Positives: Nagraj, the actor. 

Negatives: Story, or the lack of it and direction.

Give it a miss!

Sirf ek Banda kaafi hai (सिर्फ एक बंदा काफी है)

​"Sirf ek Banda kaafi hai (सिर्फ एक बंदा काफी है)"

Watched Hindi movie "Sirf ek Banda kaafi hai (सिर्फ एक बंदा काफी है)". 

This film is directed by Apoorv Singh Karki. Written by Deepak Kingrani. Produced by Vinod Bhanushali and others. Music by Sangeet-Siddharth Roy. Cinematography Arjun Kukreti. The film stars Manoj Bajpai, Priyanka Setia, Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha, Nikhil Pandey, Kaustav Sinha, Vipin Sharma, Jaihind Sharma, Durga Sharma, Ajay Soni, Adrija Sinha. The film runs for about 2 hours 7 minutes and was released in May 2023. I watched it with Aditi on Zee5 on 27th Jun 2023.

A minor girl accuses a Baba of rape. The case lands in the lap of honest prosecutor PC Solanki (Manoj). It’s a high profile case. Best lawyers of India, cutting across party lines, are trying to get bail for Baba but the lightweight Manoj successfully opposes the attempts with simple facts. There is all sorts of like legal nitpicking, external pressures, violence and money inducement. Several key witnesses are murdered. There is tremendous pressure on Manoj. Public opinion is divided. But he persevers for five years and wins the case locking the Baba for life. 

Manoj plays the unassuming, lightweight lawyer who knows his subject very well and who is tough as a nut when it comes to the courtroom. He demonstrates the loving and emotional side very well. This movie is Manoj. All other actors play supporting role. 

Director resists introducing any drama or melodrama into the movie. So on one side it becomes realistic and on the other side it’s a missed opportunity to spice it up, just a little bit. 

There are too many parallels with a famous case in India. The names resemble real personalities. It’s a no brainier to recognize the real life figures.  

This film ran into controversy when the real life PC Solanki (Character played by Manoj) filed a case against it and Asarambapu ashram sent a legal notice. 

Positives: Manoj

Negatives: No twists.

Good one time watch. 

Faithfully yours

​"Faithfully yours".

Watched English version of Dutch movie "Faithfully yours". 

This movie is directed by André Van Duren. Written by André Van Duren and others. Produced by Rachel Van Bommel. Cinematography by Josje Van Erkel. Music by Lauren’s Goedhart, Fons Merkies. It features Bracha Van Doesburgh, Elise Schaap, Matteo Simoni, Hanna Hoekstra, Nasrdin Dchar, Gijs Naber. Film runs for about 1 hour and 35 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on 17th Jun 2023 with Aditi on Netflix.

Isabel and Bodil, Two friends, happily married to their husbands, go off for a weekend from Netherlands to Belgium and indulge themselves in carnal pleasures, covering for each other. The perfect plan goes haywire when Isabel goes missing. Then there is a murder.

Bracha Van Doesburgh and Elise Schaap play the protagonists Bodil and Isabel respectively. Other notable appearances are Hanna Hoekstra as Bodil’s sister, Nasrdin Dchar as Bodil’s husband.  

It’s a very different kind of movie that may not appeal to the senses of conservative audience. The story has twists that keeps audience interested until the final revelation. However, when the movie is over you think ‘did I watch a great movie?’. The answer is NO. ‘Was it bad?’. The answer is NO. 

Positives: Doesn’t drag. 

Negatives: Not great. 

Watch if you have spare time or give it a miss. Doesn’t matter. 

Bawaal

​"Bawaal"

Watched Hindi movie "Bawaal". 

This movie is directed by Nitesh Tiwari. Produced by Sajid Ndiyadwala and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari. Story by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari. Music by Mithun, Tanishq Bagchi, Akashdeep Sengupta. Cinematography by Mitesh Mirchandani. This movie features Varun Dhawan, Janhavi Kapoor, Parth Siddhapura, Gunjan Joshi, Arnob Khan, Satendra Soni, Manoj Pahawa, Mukesh Tiwari, Anjuman Saxena, Shashi Vermaa. This movie was released in 2023 and runs for about 2 hour 17 min. I watched the movie on Amazon Prime with Aditi on 22nd July 2023.

Ajju (Varun) is a self centered High School History teacher. He is all bluster and no substance. Only a show off. He has created such an image in the town that everyone is in awe. His marriage is failing because he is worried about his image rather than his wife. One day he slaps a kid that turns out to be son of local MLA. Ajju is suspended. Now he has to do something big to divert the attention from his suspension and pending inquiry outcome. 

It’s a journey of self discovery and discovery of importance of relationship and relations. It starts on a lighter note that is a bit over the top. That is until they go to Europe. Until this time I was unimpressed. It looked like an ’also ran’ film. But once they travel, things start to fall in place. From here on film starts generating interest. You start to connect with the film. The second part is actually good. It generates emotions in the audience. It connects. Director presents it with a lot of consideration and it makes sense. I actually liked it, despite it being slow. Director refrains from adding unnecessary action scenes. The response to epilepsy, though, is unconvincing. 

Varun plays the protagonist and he really acts. His efforts are visible. Does well. Janhavi plays his wife. Although she needs to learn acting, she does ok. Manoj and Anjuman plays Varun’s worried parents perfectly. 

Name of the movie is Bawaal, but there is no Bawaal. It’s a wrong title for this film. Ahsas (अहसास) would have been a perfect title. 

Positives: 2nd half. 

Negatives: Over the top first half. 

Recommend watching.

Knives out

​"Knives out"

Watched English movie "Knives out". 

This film is directed by Rain Johnson. Screenplay by Rian Johnson. Produced by Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson. Cinematography by Steve Yedlin. Music by Nathan Johnson. The film stars Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Collette, Ricky Lindhome, Christopher Plummer, Don Johnson, Katherine Langford, Michael Shannon. The film runs for about 2 hour 10 minutes and was released in 2019. I watched it on Netflix on 8th Jun 2023 with Aditi. 

Harlan Thrombie, a mystery writer, is murdered the night after a party at his home. The party guest list includes Linda, eldest daughter. Her husband Richard and her son Ransom. Walter, son who runs the publishing house. His Wife Donna and Son Jacob. Joni, wife of his dead son Neil, who owns skin care company, her daughter Meg. Marta, a Paraguayan nurse who looked after Harlan. Police investigate. They are assisted in informal capacity by Detective Benoit Blanc.

Ana plays Marta. She has a very expressive face and also looks beautiful. Daniel Craig plays Benoit Blanc. Credit should be given to the one in charge of casting to envision this role for Daniel. It goes completely against his James Bond persona. He does admirably well. Chris Evans, Don Johnson and Michael Shannon play the supporting role impeccably. 

Every member has a motive to kill. Every member was in the house. No one seems to have any gap in their whereabouts. Whodunit? Success of a mystery movie lies in hiding the identity of the killer and revealing it with a flourish at the end. Audience should regret for not thinking on those lines. This movie achieves all of it. There is a small matter of looking through semi opaque glass that is not convincing, but otherwise it’s a well thought plot. 

This movie received several nominations for academy, golden globe, Bandung, BAFTA etc. It also won a few awards. 

The movie earned almost 8 times its production cost. It was a super hit.

Few weeks ago, I had posted review of ‘Glass onion’. That is sequel of this movie. Another movie in this series is expected.

Positives: Mystery. Pace.

Negatives: As mentioned above.

Recommend watching. 

Maharashtra Shahir (महाराष्ट्र शाहीर)

​"Maharashtra Shahir (महाराष्ट्र शाहीर)"

Watched Marathi movie "Maharashtra Shahir (महाराष्ट्र शाहीर)". 

This film is directed by Kedar Shinde. Written by Vasundhara Sable, Kedar Shinde. Produced by Sanjay Chabriya, Bela Shinde. The film stars Ankush Chaudhari, Sana Shinde, Amit Dolawat, Atul Kale, Harish Baraskar, Dushyant Wagh, Nirmiti Sawant, Shubhangi Sadavarte, Ankush Prashant More. Cinematography by Vasudev Rane. Music by Ajay-Atul. The film runs for about 2 hour 28 minutes and was released in 2023. I watched it on Amazon Prime on 7th Jun 2023 with Aditi. 

This movie is biography of Maharashtra Shahir, Shahir Sable. Starts with little Krushna who can’t stay away from singing but is forbidden to sing by his mother. His introduction with Sane Guruji. Love affair with and marriage to Bhanumati. His contribution to freedom struggle. His poetry and songs to awaken the masses on various issues. Basically his life. 

Ankush plays Shahir Sable. However his acting is a little awkward. He has lost a lot of weight, so his face looks drawn. Sana plays Bhanumati, his first wife. She does well for a debutant. She speaks Marathi as if she is not Maharashtrian. More efforts needed. Ashwini plays his mother and she is impressive. Nirmiti and Amit do well in their cameos. 

It’s a biographical movie, so one doesn’t expect lot of drama. But Shahir Sable’s life has a lot of drama. Starting from marriage to a girl from different cast, the contribution to freedom struggle, fame, separation, remarriage, financial loss, final recognition based on efforts of next generation.

The director, however, doesn’t tell us anything about what happened to Bhanumati after their divorce. He also doesn’t take the movie till Shahir’s death. There is hardly anything about his relationship with the children after they are grown up or with his second wife. Kedar does well, but he is a better director than that. 

For those who don’t know Shahir Sable, it’s a good watch. For those who have seen him perform live and who know his songs, like me, it’s nostalgia. 

Positives: Shahir Sable’s story.

Negatives: A bit monotonous.

Recommend watching. 

Bhau Bali (भाऊ बळी)

​"Bhau Bali (भाऊ बळी)".

Watched Marathi movie "Bhau Bali (भाऊ बळी)". 

This movie is directed by Sameer Patil. Produced by Sandeep Kale & others. Cinematography by Suhas Gujarathi. It features Manoj Joshi, Kishor Kadam, Hrishikesh Joshi, Vijay Kenkre, Resham Tipnis, Rajan Bhise, Medha Manjrekar, Manasi Kulkarni, Priyadarshini Indalkar, Shrikar Pitre. Film runs for about 2 hour and 2 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on 6th Jun 2023 on Zee5. 

Manoj Joshi ( Bhau) is an officer in Mantralay. He lives in a society called Siddhesh Nagar. Kishor Kadam (Bali) is their doodhwala. They clash on whether the previous month bill was paid or not and this fight turns into a war between the society and the slum. 

Seed of the movie is good but the execution is poor. Objective of characters like Resham Tipnis remain unknown till the end. Character of judge appears to be the only sane one but it peters out. Character of Bali appears to be reasonable initially, suddenly it becomes unreasonable, then he changes color to logically unreasonable, then suddenly he becomes nice guy and finally gets drunk first time in his life. Character of Bhau also does something out of character suddenly. It appears like the writer and director didn’t think about the characters enough and rather developed them on the fly. They appear to be working towards creating drama rather than story. 

End of the movie is also very unsatisfactory. Director had a good opportunity to close the movie but he again takes the unreasonable path and that too is unconvincing. Did the director know what he was doing?

Audience rue the lost opportunities. With a powerful cast like this, the movie should have been better than this.

Acting is good but due to faulty characters it doesn’t appeal to the audience. 

Name of the movie draws the audience because of its similarity with the supper hit Baahubali. But the similarity ends their in every aspect.

Positives: Umm….

Negatives:  Story. Direction.

Give it a miss.