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.