Secret Superstar

Secret Superstar - 2017

Watched Hindi movie over the week end.

Story of nobody, a talent, a sensation!
Lucky that the girl finds all good people.

An off beat role by Amir khan.
A bit too dramatic end.

A good movie.

Tumhari Sulu

Watched 'Tumhari Sulu" - 2017

It's a story of a housewife who has aspirations, aspirations to bee more than just being a housewife. A chance encounter provides her the opportunity.

Vidya Balan and Manav Kaul carry the movie on their shoulders. Neha Dhupia plays the supporting role very well. She gets a chance to do real acting.

A couple of things are not convincing and the very end is too fast. Other than that it's a good movie.

In short, good but not great.

Padmavat

Padmavat - 2017

Watched movie Padmavat this weekend. 

I did not find anything objectionable.

Sets and cinematography is excellent.
Music, except song Ghoomer, is forgettable.

Three lead actors present a solid performance.

Delhi and Chittod appear to be only a few miles apart in the movie.

Story is very slow. There was a chance to add side stories, but director chose not to.

A one time watch.

Gulabjaam

"Gulabjaam", a Marathi movie - 2017

Watched "Gulabjaam", a Marathi movie on 15th Feb 2018 directed by Sachin Kundalkar, starring Sonali Kulkarni and Siddharth Chandekar. I watched it with Aditi, Jayant, Sucheeta, Sameer, Pooja, Rucha and Mihika.

A young man having a very good job in London, is passionate about cooking and wants to learn to cook authentic Marathi cuisine. Here he meets a whimsical lady whose food has amazing taste. Initially she rejects him but relents eventually and agrees to be his guru. As their friendship develops, an unexpected story comes to the fore.

Why is she so difficult? What is behind the facade? Can the young man fulfil his dream?

The movie has two assets. One is the powerful acting by the protagonists. Sonali is amazing as usual. She carries the transformations with ease. Siddharth plays the Indian foreigner with passion for cooking perfectly.

Other is direction and directors attention to details. His touch is evident in some noteworthy scenes like the beggar choosing only one note from the purse or the old man getting up from chair for the first time in the movie when the rain comes. He handles the story with utmost care and subtlety. The story is on slower side, but director ensures that audience remains interested.

It must be a low budget movie. However, audience gets to see numerous authentic Marathi dishes that are not only very eye pleasing but also mouth watering. Here director does not spare any expense.

Finally why name it Gulabjaam?  Well it's the dish that introduces the protagonists. That's all. It could have been Amti, Alu wadi or any such name.

A good movie. Recommend watching.

Aiyaary

"Aiyaary" - 2017

Watched "Aiyaary", a Hindi movie on 16th Feb 2018 written and directed by Neeraj Pandey, starring Siddharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpai, Vikram Gokhale, Anupam Kher and Nasiruddin Shah. I watched it with Jayant, Sucheeta, Sameer & Pooja.

Manoj is head of a covert unit of army that is used to eliminate country's enemies. Arms lobby inevitably comes into the picture. Siddharth defects. A chase ensues.

What is the big plot? Why did Siddharth defect? Who is Aiyaar? What is Aiyaary?

The word Aiyaary can be loosely translated as shape shifting / magic. True to its name the movie has excellent transformations of characters. Full marks to make up and equal marks to the bearing adored by the actors in transforming the personality.

Manoj and Siddharth justify their selection.  Acting by all the cast is good. The two new female faces have also done well. Anupam and Vikram are good, as always. Nasiruddin also makes a guest appearance and hogs the lime light. Manoj's lip movements seem constricted.

Direction is good, but the story lacks the flow and the speed is uneven, slowing the tempo at times. Aadarsh scam is also part of the story.

It was a good movie, but not what you would expect of a Neeraj Pandey film.

Hichki

"Hichki" - 2017

Watched "Hichki", a Hindi movie with Jayant, Sucheeta, Prakash, Swati, Gauri, Gargi, Mihika & Aditi.

It's a movie directed by Sidharth P Malhotra and produced by Maneesh Sharma and Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The main cast included Rani Mukherjee, Supriya & Sachin Pilgaonkar, Harsh Mayar and Neeraj Kabi.

The film is an adaptation of the book, Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had by Brad Cohen. Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics.

Rani plays a teacher with TS. She is assigned to a class of poor kids from slum who study in a posh convent school as part of 'Right to education'. The kids are ignored and not integrated into the mainstream. Eventually they rebel. Then Rani joins the school. She has an uphill task of reforming the hopeless. Her TS makes the masters worse.

The movie is gripping. The main story is not TS,  it's reforming the talented but hopeless  kids. The scene where the kids come to convince their teacher is epitome of the movie.

Although the story is good, reforming such  kids in 4 months is not practical. It is definitely possible but within a longer duration. Some cinematization (don't know if it is an English word) or cinematic liberty is allowed to the director.

Making Rani old  towards the end was unnecessary. Director had made his point before that. They have chosen excellent likeness while showing the students grown up. Full marks to casting team.

Special mention is due to Rani, Harsh Mayar and Neeraj Kabi for their acting.

Although content, I left the cinema with a question that if Rani did not have TS,  would it make any difference to the story? The answer is NO.

Recommend watching this movie.

The sentinel

The sentinel

Watched English movie 'The sentinel', directed by Clark Johnson, starring Michael Douglas as Pete Garrison, Eva Longoria as Jill Marin, Kiefer Suderland as David Breckinrid and Martin Donovan as William Montrose. 

Michael is a secret service agent on Presidential protection duty. He is also having an affair with first lady. There is a mole in secret service and Michael fails lie detector test. He is suspected and hunted.

Is Michael the traitor? Did his affair make him vulnerable for black mail? What is the ultimate aim? Do they succeed?

Unthinkable has happened. In 141 years there had been no traitor in US secret service.  But now there is one. 

All the actors are well known and good actors. Story is fluid and maintains pace. Actions are good. 

The way Michael is absolved is very anticlimactic. Identification of the real traitor is also spontaneous rather than methodical. Writer and Director are overly reliable on the foolproof ness of polygraph test. Trained agents can beat the test, but that possibility is never considered in the movie. Till the end audience does not know who the assassins are working for. 

Watch if you don't have a better movie to watch.