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Reviews
Gulmohar (2023)
An emotional journey embellished by some memorable performances
Gulmohar on Disney+ Hotstar is a heartwarming saga of a dysfunctional family embellished by a jaw-dropping performance by Manoj Bajpayee supported by an ensemble cast consisting of stalwarts like Sharmila Tagore and Amol Palekar. An emotional rollercoaster journey that keeps you glued to your seats despite being slow courtesy of its wonderfully etched out characters and layered screenplay. Since Kapoor and Sons, this is unquestionably the best family drama I've watched. Even the most unimportant characters have been given equal importance like the other characters. That is why the film is special. Don't miss the film guys.
Sardar Udham (2021)
Sardar Udham - A gut-wrenching character study of a revolutionary whom we don't celebrate much
Shoojit Sircar is a film director who has always attempted to make different films on a variety of subjects from the very first film of his career. He has tried to explore not so much talked about the topic of sperm donation in the film Vicky Donor. Piku is a heartwarming film about the problem of constipation - it is a film that explored different nuances of a father-daughter relationship. Madras Cafe is an intriguing political thriller. October shows a man's obsession towards a dying woman. Gulabo Sitabo is a social satire. Sardar Udham is his first endeavour to make a patriotic film. He could have easily chosen the loud, melodramatic template followed by other Bollywood nationalistic films. But he has chosen a toned-down approach to tell the story of Sardar Udham Singh in a much humane and pragmatic way. After seeing this film, I do not doubt saying Shoojit Sircar is one of the best directors of the country. I would like to congratulate the director for putting out a strong statement through his nuanced and subtle filmmaking.
The movie starts on a captivating note with multiple time jumps in the first half an hour only. You may feel a little disconnected at the beginning. But the screenplay slowly sucks you into the world. It has all the ingredients to keep you engaged throughout the 2 hours 40 minutes stint of the film. The last 45 minutes hits you hard in the gut. It is really difficult to sit through the entire massacre chapter. People may complain that this chapter is unnecessarily long. In my opinion, it was required to establish the haunting impact the tragedy had on Udham's soul which he had to carry till the end of his life.
Vicky Kaushal has improved his acting to a great extent. This role was originally written for Irrfan Khan. To get into the shoes of Irrfan Khan is not easy job. Vicky Kaushal's clinical performance pays a heartfelt tribute to Irrfan Khan - his facial expressions, expressive eyes, body language are incredible in the movie.
Technically the film is nearly flawless. Abhik Mukhopadhyay, the national award-winning cinematographer, does an invigorating job recreating 1919 Punjab and England of the 1930s and 40s. Each frame has been designed with absolute precision. Background score by Shantanu Moitra adds a different dimension to the narrative. Editing is slightly out of the place. The film could have been trimmed a bit.
The supporting actors have done a decent job. Amol Parashar plays the role of Bhagat Singh - he has broken all the stereotypical portrayals of the character. He has approached the role with a different point of view and brings out much-needed freshness. Banita Sandhu plays a small role with conviction as well.
The last five minutes of the film will leave you speechless. I watched the film on a Saturday night. I was struggling to sleep on that day. Even the film kept coming to my mind next few days as well. I think you have already watched the film, if not do watch it at the earliest.
Tenet (2020)
High on concept, lacks humane touch
Yet another Christopher Nolan movie with too much complications, but this times he fails to add humane touch to the narrative.
Ratsasan (2018)
Finest thriller of recent times
Brilliant thriller which keeps you at the edge of your seat. Superb performances, brilliant background score and impeccable direction.