Pati, Patni aur Woh (पती, पत्नी और वो)

"Pati, Patni aur Woh (पती, पत्नी और वो)"

Watched Hindi movie Pati, Patni aur Woh (पती, पत्नी और वो). Directed by Mudassar Aziz, Produced by Renu Ravi Chopra, Bhushan Kumar, Kiran Kumar, Juno Chopra. Writing credits Mudassar Aziz. Cinematography Chirantan Das. Music Tanishq Bagchi, Rochak Kohli, Sachet Parampara, Tony Kakkar and others. It stars Kartik Aryan, Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Panday, Aparshakti Khurana, Sunny Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Navni Parihar, KK Raina, Manu Rishi, Neeraj Sood . I watched this movie with Aditi, Sucheeta, Jayant, Sameer and Pooja. The movie is about 2 hour 3 min long and was released in Dec 2019.

Kartik works in PWD department. Kartik and Bhumi have an arranged marriage and stay in a small city. They love each other, however over a period of 3 years, monotony sets in. Bhumi's gnawing to move to Delhi is also a factor. Enter Ananya. Kartik is attracted. Then come the usual lies and faithful friend Aparshakti to rescue everytime.

How long can the lies be sustained? Will Bhumi come to know? Will Ananya come to know? How will it end?

The story is decent in first half. You don't regret decision of watching the movie but second half spoils everything. Director seems clueless about where movie is going. He loses control. Climax is laughable. Ananya's change of heart is simply unconvincing. First of all the affair between Kartik and Ananya itself is unconvincing. Audience keep looking at the watch in second half to determine how long they have to endure. 

Kartik acts well. But his acting is no different than 'Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety'. He needs to bring in variety. Although Bhumi acts well, looks Kartik's mother, rather than wife. Ananya looks good but she has to now start acting. Aparshakti is the best actor of the movie. He handles the role gracefully and with ease. Other actors play supporting roles.

Cinematography is good. The drone shot is very good. Music does not linger in your memory. Some of the dialogues are very good but just dialogues are not enough to uplift the movie. 

Give it a miss. 

Dream girl (ड्रीम गर्ल)

"Dream girl (ड्रीम गर्ल)".

Watched Hindi movie "Dream girl (ड्रीम गर्ल)". 

This movie is directed by Raaj Shaandilya and stars Ayushman Khurana, Nushrat Bharucha, Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Manjot Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Nidhi Bisht and Raj Bhansali. This movie is produced by Shobha and Ekta Kapoor. Music is by Meet Bros. Writing credits Nirman Dsingh, Niket Pandey and Raaj Shaandilya. This film was released in Sept 2019 and runs for more than 2 hours. I watched it with Ravi on 30 Nov 2019.

Karam, a graduate, is unemployed. Since childhood, he is able to talk in voice of a female and has ended up playing Seeta in Ramleela. By chance he lands a job in a love call center where he is to love talk to the callers as Pooja. He is very successful. However, in a small town like Mathura, unintentional consequences start to manifest. 

Can he disguise his voice well enough to conceal his true identity? What are the unintentional consequences? How far will it go? Will his girl friend find out?

The seed is interesting. What starts as fun slowly takes a serious turn. Karam realizes that there are a lot of lonely people around, not only Male.

Ayushman does the role with ease. Nushrat looks as if she hasn't bathed but delivers a decent performance. Annu Kapoor and Vijay Raaz are versatile. Others do well.

Direction is ok. You don't remember the music after the movie and songs uncalled for in the story. Cinematography is ok. Locations are good. 

There are some good punches in the movie that bring smile to your face. Seeta maia's ashirvad is overdone. People not able to recognize each other's voice over phone is unconvincing. Director tries to give a philosophical touch to the movie at the end but by that time it's too little, too late. 

Movie has a promising start. It flourishes. But the director is unable to maintain the graph. It starts to decline and in his attempt to maintain the graph, director over does everything and movie goes haywire. A promising start fizzles out.

I saw complete movie so that I could write a review for you, but you don't have to.

Give it a miss!

Gully boy (गल्ली बाॅय)

"Gully boy (गल्ली बाॅय)"

Watched Hindi movie Gully boy (गल्ली बाॅय). Directed by Zoya Akhtar, Produced by Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhta & Ritesh Sidhwani. Writing credits Zoya Akhtar and others. Cinematography Jay Oza. Music Karsh Kale. It stars Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhat, Vijay Raaz, Amruta Subhash, Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Varma & Siddhant Trivedi. I watched this movie with Aditi and Mihika. The movie is about 2 hour 33 min long and was released in Feb 2019.

Murad, son of a driver, lives in Dharavi and studies in college. He is in love with Safina, who comes from an orthodox family. Murad finds release in the rap of rapper M.C.Sher. It inspires him to write rap but Sher refuses to sing. 

Why does Sher not want to sing what Murad has written? Will Murad's lyrics go waste? What inspires Murad to write and rap? Will he succeed?

It's said that the story is based on a combination of two real life figures merged into a single character of Murad. It's a success story of a poor boy from the slums of Dharavi who dreams big, had hunger for success and becomes famous rapper. However, it's not a typical raags to riches story. It's a story with a difference.

Ranveer delivers a powerful performance. He plays the college kid (tries hard to look like one) well. Alia plays a bold girl in orthodox Muslim family who wants to have fun. She plays the role easily. Siddhant gives a convincing and realistic performance as MC Sher. These three are ably supported by two Vijay's, Amruta and Kalki. Amruta looks really bad. 

A large part of the credit, however, goes to Zoya. She handles direction professionally and with finess. The handling of story is deft. She doesn't let the story drop pace and keeps the audience involved. She is assisted by Karsh Kale who had composed the music. Rap sounds good, but if the movie had nothing but rap, credit goes to music composer of the music beckons hit and not monotonous. Cinematography is good. 

Recommend watching. 

Zoya factor (झोया फॅक्टर)

"Zoya factor (झोया फॅक्टर)"

Watched Hindi movie Zoya factor (झोया फॅक्टर). Directed by Abhishek Sharma, Produced by Fox Star studios. Screen play Neha Sharma & Pradhuman Singh. Cinematography Manoj Lobo. Music Shankar-Ehsan-Loy. It stars Sonam Kapoor, Dulquer Salman, Sanjay Kapoor, Angad Bedi, Abhilash Chaudhary. I watched this movie with Aditi, Jayant, Sucheeta, Sameer, Pooja and Rucha. The movie is about 2 hour 14 min long and was released on 19 Sep 2019.

Zoya is born at the exact time India won 1983 world cup. She meets fledgling current Indian cricket team, under new captain Nikhil Khoda, for an Ad shoot and they realise that she is a lucky charm. They win matches when she takes breakfast with the team and lose when they don't. She becomes lucky mascot of the national team. She also has hots about Nikhil, who doesn't believe in luck. 

Will Zoya and Nikhil clash? Will they come close? Is Zoya lucky? Will Zoya factor work? Will India win?

This movie is based on Anuja Chauhan's debut novel by the same name. The novel was in 'Chick lit' category and became hugely popular. Shahrukh Khan's Red Chillis had the rights of this novel for movie, but it did not happen. Producers of the movie then acquired the rights and made the movie. Shahrukh has lent his voice for the movie. 

Although this movie is made on a successful book, this movie lacks the finesse. If you have read the book, you will not like the movie. If you haven't read the book, chances are that you will still not like the movie. 

Direction and continuity is elementary. Hotel in Sri Lanka and India have same elevator. Indian team is always shown with 11 or less players when they are not on ground. Team generally consists of 15-16 players. Srilanka jersey looks like KKR jersey. Zoya's brother (Major in army) is always home, never on duty. However director also shows brilliance in flashes like when rain comes Nikhil written on body of fan stats washing off. Those are exact feelings of Nikhil at the time. The cricket match scenes are realistic and shots are real. 

Casting is interesting. Salman is a revelation. Although he doesn't have typical Bollywood hero looks, he acts well and is at ease on screen. Sonam looks good and acts well. She is adorable on screen. Without taking anything away from Sonam, I feel that Alia Bhatt would have been ideal for this role. Angad Bedi is a good actor. He gets to play a cricketer again after TV show 'Inside edge'. Sanjay Kapur does not look like an army man at all. Why choose him? Character of Shivy is clearly based on Shikhar Dhawan with his signature moustaches and pat on the lap. 

The book had Zing Cola as the team sponsor. Director chose to do a blatant advertisement by changing it to Pepsi. The advertisement is not only by mention but also by playing the ad shooting scenes. 

When the book was published India had not won second world cup. However, film was shot after second world cup win. So the film liberally borrows from India's second world cup campaign. 

Since the movie is based on a book, comparisons are inevitable. Character of Nikhil is based on Dhoni in the book and movie maintains it. World cup happens in Australia in book, it's in India in movie. 

Monita is her friend in book, she becomes boss and antagonist in movie. Zoya's encounter with team India happens in Balgladesh in book, it happens in Srilanka in movie. The list goes on. 

You enjoy the book, you don't enjoy the movie. You are hooked to the book, you keep looking at watch during movie. In short the movie is a disappointment. Give it a miss.

Don't go, even if you get free tickets.

Tashkent files (ताश्कंद फाईल्स)

"Tashkent files (ताश्कंद फाईल्स)"

Watched Hindi movie Tashkent files (ताश्कंद फाईल्स)". Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, Produced by Vivek Agnihotri and others. Written by Vivek Agnihotri. Cinematography Udaysing Mohite. Music Rohit Sharma. It stars Shweta Basu Prasad, Nasiruddin Shah, Pallavi Joshi, Pankaj Tripathi, Mandira Bedi, Vinayak Pathak, Rajesh Sharma and Mithun Chakraborty. I watched this movie with Ravi and Mihika. The movie is about 2 hour 15 min long and was released in 2019.

Shweta, a journalist looking for a coup, gets a call from a mysterious anonymous caller with a lead.  She raises questions about death of India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. A committee is formed under Mithun, the opposition leader, to determine if Shastriji died of natural causes or he was killed.

This movie analyses all theories, conspiracy theories, hypotheses and facts about the events in Tashkent. It highlights discrepancies, loop holes, missing links and mismatches to raise a lot of questions. Information from Mitrokhin files lends authenticity to the questions. 

I have read the chapter about India from Mitrokhin's book, which is widely quoted in the film. It's scary. It appears like Indian politicians were in a race to sell India. KGB was  happily controlling intellectuals, politicians, academia and even Indian secret service. If that is true these traitors have caused unimaginable damage to India.

Mithun surprises with good acting. Shweta is also good. The committee members play their part well, trying to reach conclusion while ensuring that their own vested interests are protected at the same time. The committee is comprised of interesting characters. An intellectual, a historian, an ex intelligence officer, an ex judge, a political protege and a leftist socialite. 

Direction is good. Apart from the fact that Shweta travels between Delhi and Tashkent and back, between committee daily meetings, as if they are located 3-4 km apart, director has made the film realistic. 

As expected, the film ends without a conclusion. Identity of mysterious caller is not a surprise. One who benefits most is the culprit. 

The film manages to raise a lot of questions about why Shastriji was systematically erased from public memory and whether he was killed. The first question deserves answer even if second remains unanswered. 

Recommend watching. 

Mission Mangal (मिशन मंगल)

"Mission Mangal (मिशन मंगल)".

Watched Hindi movie "Mission Mangal (मिशन मंगल)". This movie is directed by Jagan Shakti and stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Tapasee Pannu, Nithya Menen, Sharman Joshi, Kriti Kulhari, H. G. Dattatreya, Sanjay Kapoor, Dilip Tahil and Vikram Gokhale. Music is by Amit Trivedi & Tanishk Bagchi. Writing credits R Balki and Riturraj Tripathii. This film was released on 15 Aug 2019. I watched it with Ravi, Akshata, Mihika and Aditi.

After failure of GSLV, Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan are given charge of Mission Mangal, a project that is never expected to take off. They are also given a team of junior scientists (mainly women).

Will Akshay and Vidya overcome the odds? Will Mission Mangal happen? Will it succeed?

All the main characters were introduced through an impact scene. But that scene had nothing to do with rest of the movie. If only director had chosen a scene that highlighted a characteristic of the character! Akshay is not shown doing any real work. Akshay is very good but Vidya is simply too good. Other scientists have done good job. Dattatreya remains in memory as loveable oldie. Tapasee looks beautiful in saree. 

Too much time is wasted for the build up that takes us to intermission thereby leaving little time for the main movie. Real story starts after intermission.

There were a number of female scientists in this mission. This movie shows the difficulties they faced in their personal lives, which they overcame and succeeded in launching Mangalyan.

All scientists worked hard for the mission. Movie shows how they were motivated but does not show any details of how exactly they worked. The movie lacks technical details. It appears like 6-7 people working in a garage did the project. There is only one mention of 17000 scientists working on the project, but you don't see any of them. It also shows scientists cleaning and painting the work area, as if ISRO doesn't have cleaning staff!

It appears that the objective of this movie is to convey the success story of Mission Mangal and what scientists did to make it successful, to common audience. Director's achievement is passable.

This movie is a simplistic dramatisation of mission Mangal. Director has taken artistic liberty for the movie but sometimes he has overdone it. For example, there is a storm at the launch site at Sriharikota. Scientists look out of their windows in Bangalore and notice that the rain has stopped and determine that it has also stopped in Sriharikota. Next minute everyone is back in office. I have read a WhatsApp post in circulation,  of an ISRO scientist, that highlights the mistakes in the movie. 

There is one pub song in the movie that is completely out of sync with the story. But it draws audience applause because Sanjay Kapoor dances on Akhiya milaoon..., his old song. 'Om Mangalam' is a good song. Special effects are ok but could have been better. Not as good as I expected.

In short, if you want a dramatized, simplistic account, watch it!

Uri (उरी)

"Uri (उरी)"

Watched Hindi movie "Uri (उरी)". This film is directed by Aditya Dhar. Written by Aditya Dhar. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala. Music by Shashwat Sachdev. It stars Vicky Kaushal, Yami Goutami, Paresh Rawal, Swaroop Sampat, Kriti Kulhari, Rajat Kapoor and Yogesh Soman. The film runs for about 2 hour 15 min and was released in 2019. I watched it with Ravi, Akshata, Mihika and Aditi.

This film is dramatisation of India's surgical  strikes in PoK, in response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Uri, launched by Pakistan sponsored terrorists. 

As far as the story goes, it's hard to tell which part was fact and which was dramatisation. However, director has done a good job of presenting a flowing story. He has added right quantities of emotions, action and drama to the recipe to create a heady concoction.

Vicky Kaushal is good. Looks like a soldier and acts like one. Yami Goutami is beautiful but has limited role. Paresh Rawal is good as usual. It was good to see Swarup Sampat after a long time. Yogesh Soman looks exactly like Parrikar. Can't imagine anyone else playing the role. Rajat Kapoor looks like Modi but doesn't portray the strong leadership vibes, he appears like an old grandpa. Unconvincing!

Action scenes are convincing but final action could have been more exciting. Vicky's speech to the selected batch of commandos is not very effective. Why an officer who is an excellent marksman is chosen as chopper pilot? Why does the strike team celebrate when they reach the caves at the border rather than after reaching at the base in India?

The surgical strikes was an important milestone in new India's muscular foreign policy and was a defining moment. Dramatisation of the surgical strikes into a movie has ensured that surgical strikes remain in public memory for a longer time and enlighten the ones who are not in the know. 

Recommend watching.