Saapla (सापळा)

 "Saapla (सापळा)"

Watched Marathi movie "Saapla (सापळा)". 

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

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

Murder! Whodunit?

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

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

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

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

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

Positives: Chinmay and Sameer.

Negatives: Uneven pace.

Watch if you like the genre.

A family affair

 "A family affair".

Watched English movie "A family affair". 

This movie is directed by Richard LaGravenese. Written by Carry Solomon. Produced by Joe Roth and Jeff Kerschenbaum. Cinematography by Don Burgess. Music by Siddhartha Khosla. It features Zac Effron, Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Kathy Bates, Liza Koshy. Film runs for about 1 hour and 54 minutes and was released in 2024. I watched it on Netflix with Aditi on 5th July 2024.

Zac is a movie superstar. His superhero flicks are hit. Joey works as his assistant slogging and running around to satisfy all his whims, enduring in the hope of becoming assistant producer and then producer. Nicole is her mother, a successful author and a widow. One day fed up with Zac, Joey quits her job. Zac realizes that he can’t do without Joey and comes to her house to apologize and ask her to come back. Here he meets Nicole and sparks fly.

Zac is full of himself. His world centers around himself. He is afraid of relationships, has no friends and is really alone despite being famous. He behaves like a kid in man’s body. Nicole hasn’t married or had no relationship since her husband died more than ten years ago. She is a successful author but in a way she is lonely despite having a daughter and loving mother-in-law. Joey tolerates all the whims and tantrums of Zac hoping to make assistant director and then director. She knows how shallow Zac is. She is livid about Zac and Nicole’s affair because she knows this won’t end well. For her it’s difficult to be the daughter of a successful mother but loves her mother and is protective about her.

A nice tangle, isn’t it? It’s not a fast paced movie but still you are involved. The emotions run high. Every character is well thought. There are no unnecessary scenes. Although it’s a feel good movie, audience goes through the ups and downs of the relationship. Zac’s character needed a little more elaboration to make his transition smooth.

Zac portrays the lonely man in crowd. His insecurity manifests in his childish behavior, tantrums and whims. Nicole plays a good mother who is distanced from love for too long. She loves her daughter but likes Zac too. However, Nicole’s looks are nowhere near to what she used to be. Joey plays the protective daughter, aspiring producer and a good girl. Kathy plays the pragmatic mother-in-law who considers Nicole more as her daughter than daughter-in-law.

It’s a good movie. Enjoyable. Likable.

Positives: Overall movie. 

Negatives: Limited elaboration of Zac’s character. 

Recommend watching.