Romero Akbar Walker (रोमिओ अकबर वाॅल्टर)

"Romero Akbar Walker (रोमिओ अकबर वाॅल्टर)"

Watched Hindi movie "Romeo Akbar Walker (रोमिओ अकबर वाॅल्टर)". Direction Robby Grewal. Screenplay Robby Grewal, Shreyansh Pandey, Ishraq Shah. Production Gary Grewal and others. The film features John Abraham, Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy, Sikandar Kher, Anil George and Raghubir Yadav. The movie runs for about 2 hours 20 min. I watched it on 20th Jan 2020.

RAW recruits a Muslim actor, John Abraham, to go deep undercover in Pakistan during the Bangladesh mukti Sangram. He enters Pakistan and starts providing Intel, until his cover is blown. 

How does he succeed in Pakistan? Does his Intel change outcome of war? What is Romeo, Akbar, Walter?

The concept of the story is good. A spy story is always enticing. Things go well, more or less, for a while. Then the story goes into tailspin. 

A number of factors are not convincing. Starting from the name. Romeo and Walter are not common names in a Muslim family. They are brought into movie just to achieve the acronym RAW, India's external intelligence agency. Why would RAW recruit an amateur actor rather than sending in a trained agent? How does Akbar's rise in Pakistan happen so fast? How does Pakistanis believe Walter? Why use a lighter with Joker?

So many unanswered questions. It appears as if the director had brought together things forcibly to forge a story with a definite end in mind. So although the story converges, it does not converge naturally. As a result things appear artificial. 

John is good. His make up is very good. Jackie appears unwashed. Others play sporting roles.

All in all the movie disappoints. 

Give it a miss. 

Bharat (भारत)

"Bharat (भारत)"

Watched Hindi movie Bharat (भारत). This film is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. He had also written story and screenplay.  Produced by Atul Agnihotri & others. Music by Vishal-Shekhar. The film stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Disha Patani , Sunil Grover, Jackie Shroff, Sonali Kulkarni. Jackie Shroff and Tabbu have a first appearance. The film runs for about 2 and half hours. I watched it on Amazon Prime on 18th Jan 2020.

Bharat loses his father and sister in 1947 partition but has his other siblings and mother. The movie is about what he does in his life. 

The director basically considers the audience to be idiots. He thinks he can show anything and people will lap at it like hungry dogs. There is no story to this movie. Movie happens in patches. Each patch has nothing to do with other. Is it a movie about finding lost ones or is it about a shop or is it about Bharat or is it about a promise or is it about a watch or is it about live-in relationship or is it about something about everything.

Oil field looks more like mine. Although all workers use helmet in oilfield only Katrina (the supervisor) doesn't. Pirates don't rob the ship because they love Hindi movies. Salman becomes stuntman in circus. One day he decides to go to gulf as oil field labour. Then he decides to join merchant navy. Katrina is a recruitment officer. Suddenly she becomes oilfield supervisor. Then she becomes a news reader at Doordarshan. Then she becomes creative director of Zee TV.

70 years old Bharat doesn't look that old and similar aged Katrina looks fortyish. 70 year old Salman fights like a 24 year old while he has never fought earlier in the movie. 

There is no logic, no message and hardly any entertainment. I watched the movie because I wanted to write this review. 

Katrina looks beautiful with curly hair and spectacles but now it is time she starts acting and starts speaking proper Hindi, not influenced by English. Salman looks more like her dad than lover. Sunil Grover does well as Salman's sidekick. Other play sporting roles diligently. 

Music can be categorized as good because songs 'Slow motion' and 'Chashni' are good. 

Not a must watch. 

Vicky Welingkar (विक्की वेलिंगकर)

"Vicky Welingkar (विक्की वेलिंगकर)".

Watched Hindi movie "Vicky Welingkar (विक्की वेलिंगकर)". 

This movie is directed by Saurabh Varma, he is also credited with story and screenplay. Dialogues Swapnil Warke. Produced by GSEAMS. It stars Sonalee Kulkarni, Spruha Joshi, Sangram Samel, Kettan Singh, Gaurav More,  Jui Pawar. Music is by Omkar Patil, Mannan Munjal.  Film runs for 2 hours 5 minutes. I watched it with Aditi on 12 Jan 2020 on Netflix.

Vicky is a struggling cartoon artist and had numerous clicks in her house. One day she gets an unmarked packet with a watch in it. She wears it and dozes off in a chair. When she wakes up a series of events happen that lead to her murder. As soon as she is murdered, she wakes up in the chair. The same loop repeats again and again with some difference but same result. 

What is it? A nightmare? A reality? Is she hallucinating? How many times will this continue? Will she ever come out of it?

Movie starts with a thrill sequence that is childish at worst and amateurish at best. Saurabh Varma thinks that audience is either stupid or retarded. He presents the movie assuming that audience is not intelligent enough to make their own deductions and whatever he tells or shows will be accepted verbatim as sacrosanct. He takes audience for granted. There lies failure if the movie. 

He assumes that audience will accept that wearing a watch will create a time loop for the wearer, that audience will accept that watch us a time machine, that a time machine can be created by a person without anyone's help, that a girl will wear a watch without knowing who sent it, that villain is stupid, that having the watch one can win the world. How?

Sonalee is selling cartoonist but lives in a huge house. Sangram, who looks at least 5-10 years younger, is her classmate. Her age is evident and she does not suit the role of a youngster. Sangram does well and his screen presence is pleasing. Spruha also does well in the limited opportunity she gets. Other actors have limited scope. 

Cinematography is ok, except where childish means are utilized to create semblance of thrill. Music is nothing to write about. No idea why the movie has this title? Probably director could not come up with any good one and decide to name it after the lead character.

It's produced as a thriller but becomes irritant. You really require a lot of patience to watch complete movie. 

AVOID!

The Net

"The Net"

Watched English movie 'The Net'. Directed by Irwin Winkler. Produced by Columbia Pictures. Writing credits John Brancato, Michael Ferris. Cinematography Jack N. Green. Music Mark Isham. It stars Sandra Bullock, Dennis Miller and Jeremy Northam in lead roles. I watched this movie with Aditi on Amazon Prime. The movie is about 1 hour 54 min long and was released in 1995.

Sandra, a reclusive computer system analyst, works freelance for a company called Cathedral. Her point of contact at Cathedral sends her a computer disk. There is something in the disk that bothers him. He is killed. Sandra goes on vacation and an attempt on hee life is made. When she returns, she discovers that her house is up for sale and her identity, her existence is wiped out.

What will she do? How can she prove her identity? Why is she targeted? What's in the disk?

It's a movie in the time period where small floppy disks were used and computers had CRT's. So the way computers work would seem funny to today's younger generation. 

The story is fluid. Although movie slows down in a couple of places, it generally keeps pace. Apart from a couple of convenient coincidences, director doesn't have to conjure tricks. 

Sandra and Jeremy act well. Their cat and mouse game is entertaining. The end is a little convenient. Cinematography is good. 

It's a good entertainment. Doesn't bother you. Doesn't make you think. Doesn't trouble you. Doesn't bring wow either. Watch it,  enjoy it,  forget it. 

Recommend watching. 

Good newwz (गुड न्यूज)

"Good newwz (गुड न्यूज)"

Watched Hindi movie Good newwz (गुड न्यूज). This film is directed by Raj Mehta. Story Jyoti Kapoor. Produced by Dharma Productions and Cape of Good Films. Music by John Stewart Eduri. Cinematography Vishnu Rao. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Daljit Dosanjh, Kiara Advani, Adil Hussein and Tisca Chopra. The film runs for about 2 hours 10 minutes and was released in 2019. I watched it on Amazon Prime with Siddhant and Aditi on 25th December 2019.

 

Akshay and Kareena (Mrs and Mr Batra) can't conceive. They decide to go for In-vitro fertilization (IVF). Dr. Joshi (by mistake) exchanges Akshay's sperm with another Mr Batra (Daljit) and vice-versa. Kareena and Kiara both get pregnant with sperm of another man.

What next? Will they abort? Will they be able to accept? How would it end?

First half of the movie is hilarious. It's full of situational comedy and 'Double entendre' jokes. At interval the ladies get pregnant. I think story does not progress enough by the interval. Interval should have happened when Daljit and Kiara move to Mumbai. 

Second half is supposed to be serious and emotional. Director needed more time here. The timing of interval puts pressure on second half and hurries the director. This results in second half being shallow when the director had an opportunity to make it really profound. He misses it. Add a result the film does not make intended impact. I think the director did not manage the speed correctly. 

Kareena looks beautiful, absolutely gorgeous. On the other hand, age shows on Akshay in some scenes. Kiara does well in unglamorous role and makes a space for herself. Daljit with his loud cloths and joker character shows potential of an actor. 

Music is nothing write about except "Sauda khara khara". Cinematography is good. 

Some more attention and some more focus by director and writer could have made this movie more watchable. 

Not a must watch. 

Tanhaji (तान्हाजी)

"Tanhaji (तान्हाजी)"

Watched Hindi movie "Tanhaji (तान्हाजी)". Direction Om Raut, Screenplay Prakash Kapadia & Om Raut. Production Ajay Devgan, Bhushan Kumar & Krishna Kumar. Music Ajay-Atul, Sachet-Parampara, Mehul Vyas. The film features Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Saif Ali Khan, Ajinkya Deo, Luke Kenny, Neha Sharma, Shashank Shende, Sharad Kelkar, Nissar Khan, Padmavati Rao and Devdatta Nage. The movie runs for about 2 hours 15 min. I watched it with Aditi and Mihika on 17th Jan 2020.

Is the story of Tanhaji, brave subhedar of Shivaji maharaj, who goes on a mission to win back fort Kondhana by postponing marriage of his son. Movie is about house this mission succeeds and how Tanaji lays down his life for the larger good of Swarajya.

Director has done a good job, in general. He maintains grip on the story. Ensures that the viewers remain interested. There is measured blend of emotions, action, love for country, romance and history. I liked the scene where Tanhaji, disguised as Sadhu, obtains permission for the mission from Shivaji and Jijabai. However, all's not well. Director forgets to close all open ends and let's some remain loose e.g. What happens to Kamal? What happens to Chandraji Pisal? The climax is the fight between Udaybhan and Tanhaji. I expected the fight to be fierce, intense and long. But the fight is neither fierce nor does it last long. Actually, it disappoints. In his effort to make a villain out of Udaybhan director goes overboard and Udaybhan appears disgusting (abducting a girl, watching her bathe, barbecuing and eating a crocodile etc.)

Ajay does justice to the role of Tanhaji. He plays the character well. Even at this age, Kajol looks very beautiful, simply beautiful. She has a limited role, but makes her mark. Sharad plays role of Shivaji Maharaj with restraint and poise. Saif, as Udaybhan, rather than looking menacing and villianish bad man, acts comic. Although he is intense in patches, he lacks sustained intensity. His character does not bring the chilling sensation. Comparison with Ranveer (Khilji of Padmavat), who played a character of similar shades, is inevitable and Ranveer wins hands down. Padmavati Rao does not suit as Jijabai. She looks like an old granny rather than determined mother and inspiration of Shivaji.

Fight scenes are very good. The scaling of vertical wall, ziplining & scaling the mountain is flawlessly executed. It appears very real. However, some things defy all laws of physics. Tanhaji pushes a running horse from side and horse falls down. The fierce gun Nagin requires 2 elephants to pull it, but in climax injured and dying Tanhaji pushes it off the cliff. 

Some special effects are not good. I say this because one can make out mechanical animals and model structures. They don't look real. Had it been managed properly, it would have made the day. 

There are the songs that you like while in theater but you forget them once you are out of the theater. 

Recommend watching. 

War (वाॅर)

Watched Hindi movie War (वाॅर). This film is directed by Siddharth Anand. Story Aditya Chopra & Siddharth Anand. Produced by Yash Raj Films. Music by Vishal - Shekhar. The film stars Hritik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Vaani Kapoor, Anupriya Goenka, Ashutosh Rana & Soni Razdan. The film runs for about 2 and half hours and was released in 2019. I watched it on Amazon Prime with Siddhant and Aditi on 25th December 2019.

Tiger Shroff, agent of RAW, is tasked to assassinate his mentor and trainer, Hritik Roshan, who has gone rogue. Tiger can't understand how a patriotic person like Hritik, who puts his country above everything else, can turn? But he vows to catch him. The game of cat and mouse begins.

Why did Hritik go rogue? Can Tiger anticipate his moves? Can the Protege win? How will this war end?

Hritik is fantastic. His acting, his intensity, dance and fighting is flawless. He is made to look rugged. Probably, he looks better than he has looked so far. Tiger has impressive physic. He matches Hritik in dancing step-to-step. He also acts decently. But needs to improve his dialogue delivery. All other actors play their part well, though, they have marginal roles. 

The story is ok. It mostly runs on the expected lines, except for one surprise at the end,  audience knows what would happen next. It's not what but how that keeps the audience bonded. There was a film of Neeraj Pandey called 'Aiyaary' that had a similar story line. 

Direction is good. Director keeps the story pacy. He does not let the story slack except soon after interval but picks up quickly. Director keeps tight leash on the movie and ensures that the audience remains interested. 

The strong points of this movie, apart from acting, are the action sequences and special effects. They are as good as Hollywood. Can't find fault in them. They look very real. The acting, dancing and fighting duel between Hritik and Tiger is a treat to watch. 

Two songs are good. 'Mood hai bhayankar' and 'Ghongroo tut gaye' have become very famous. Watching Hritik and Tiger dance together is a feast for eyes. Don't miss it. 

Locations are very carefully chosen. They are scenic. Cinematographer has done a very good job. Audience love the lovely locations and cinematography. 

War has all the ingredients for a hit movie. Even Moon has blots, so why not the movie? They are:

-Predictable storyline.

-Naive over-dependence on plastic surgery

-How does Villain know truth about Vaani?

It's a good entertainment. 

Recommend watching.