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Reviews
Nazar Andaaz (2022)
Good acting - predictable story - acting could have been better
Kumud Mishra is an absolute chameleon. (where was he for 11 years after Sardari Begum?) I first noticed him as soulless terrorist with a massive inferiority complex and playing a perfect contrast to the the two lead goof-balls of Filmistan.
Since then, I have want him any of his movie I can just for his turn. He delivers here with one of the most authentic portrayal of a blind person I have ever seen. Prospect Kumud, Abhishek and Divya Dutta carrying an entire movie together is exciting.
Sadly we. Meet with some lazy writing and just a tad bit tired and a rare "going through the motions" performance by Divya - and some very cheap production.
The very opening scene establishes that the protagonist is dead. Then in the story told in flashback there are way too many references to will and predictable reaction of the two other characters that end up making their characters too shallow, too simple. Divya and Abhishek are capable of much more layered performance. The first half limps barring a few brilliant moments (Ali emulates touching feet of an Alexa-like device Sudhir refers to as Mummy). In how many movies can we possibly find the "Sholay" dialogues of 'Itna sannata kyun hai bhai?" uttered by a blind man amusing?
Then with a not-subtle-at-all plot-turn of a "bucket list road-trip" - which was pulled off much more skillfully in Piku, we are sent to Manadvi (Note to Bollywood: there are other beautiful cities in Gujarat - even in Kutch itself) after a ridiculous 3-4 minute sequence of a blind man driving a scooter with a side-car on a highway. Not funny.
The movies ends in Kutch desert where even for desert, there are way too many stars and an arial shot fails to hide white plastic being passed off as salt-desert. Why that in 2022?
So Mishra great as always. Benerji at par. Dutta not her usi sal great self. Decent concept. Poor and lazy writing. A a rare movie these days when one wants to watch with family of several generations.
Dharavi Bank (2022)
Stale goriness; crisp performances and ambience
As Thalaivan, Sunil Shetty turns up Bollywood's Nth iteration of Don Vito Corleone. Character is nearly lifted from the Mario Puzo book down to how his sons behave and how he overcomes a near mortal assassination attempt. Sunil matches the lift with copying Brando's mannerisms and voice modulations.
There are the obligatory cast members: a prototypical honest policeman looking to avenge a loved one's loss; a couple staying separate but not letting go of each other after losing a child; politicians - some more corrupt than others but none trustworthy; their rotten offsprings; a prostitute looking for a way out of a dirty world; a pan-Indian assortment of underworld underlings; an infiltrator...none of that new.
Then there is totally unnecessary and way excessive gore. They must show a lot of blood +/- body-parts with each violent death to make sure the audience gets how violent the gang is, the cops are. In the end, all that gore takes away from the experience, does not add to it.
The scenes of Thalaivan on life support and then recovering and how family members act around him takes the web series back to the days of daily-soaps and their mindless melodrama.
...and of course, a web series must predictably keep enough threads lose at the end to open doors for the next season.
What is good is the performances of the three lead and many secondary actors that is impressive beyond what they have offered in past decades.
Dharavi itself is its most visceral version (even more so than Slumdog Millionaire and Gully-Boy) accentuated by gripping background score.
Bestseller (2022)
Disappointing first half - better after the secrets are revealed
I was disappointed in the first half. By the fifth episode the "whodonit" is all revealed.
Characters get a chance to come to life only after the big reveal in Neermana. Actors get to pack the punch after that.
Last four episodes are truly engrossing - even though by then there is no suspense.
Best moment - and many may have missed - is when Mithun starts rattling off the menu-monologue (while in a restaurant) from "Ludo" that Rajkumar Rao did in Mithun's style - then stops - other characters are puzzled but it is an inside joke between Mithun and and his audience. That was truly a brilliant moment. Reminded me of another Mithun tribute from "What's your Rashee" when the Priyanka with the "Mithun" sun-sign says "Koi Shaq?"
Jalsa (2022)
Slow burn but addictive. Vidya and Shefali just are terrific together
An auto accident that devastates the family - and the driver goes through a moral crisis.
Versions of the story have been told for half a century: Dushman, Kinara, Tum bin. This version of the story requires considerable suspension of disbelief considering how closely the victim's family and driver are connected to each other.
The flimsy side-plot they used to justify the name "Jalsa" - a word that has absolutely nothing to do with the movie is about
Once you get past that, it is a truly addictive ride with a fantastic ensemble cast - all the way down to kids - lead superbly by contrasting but equally strong performances by Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah. Just for that dueling performances, it is a worth watch.
Pieces of Her (2022)
Less silly than most leftist garbage on Netflix
...but that is the best that can be said about this.
First two episodes were promising but then it is a long drag and yes, the Andy character does everything opposite of what a sane and rational adult would do.
Plot progresses through absolutely random twists and we are supposed to follow it through glimpses of what characters are reading in books, web browser and and newspapers.
Of course, what can ever make on Netflix without the typical leftist propaganda, some sort of homage to Obamas, sledging of capitalism and some Republican president or other? They have gone through Trump and Bushes. Now they are on to Reagan. They will make it to Lincoln some day.
Last two episodes make up some ground but it is too late by then.
Hit and Run (2021)
Well made but if they dubbed, they should have fully dubbed
It is a taut story with great acting and well
Maintained intrigue but for a series in "English", more than half dialogues are in Hebrew with subtitles. They should have done it like Money Heist and left an English's and a Hebrew versions.
Going back and forth in subtitles so often makes it difficult to maintain suspension of disbelief.
In from the Cold (2022)
Nothing new - in plot or undercurrents
Opening with a series of inexplicably violent event - check.
Protagonist is a retired spy living a normal life with a new identity who is suddenly pulled back into dangerous spy-games - when she least expects it. Nothing new.
She has a surprise ability as a result of highly secret biological experiment designed for secret operations. Has been seen before in series like Hanna.
A small group of undercover team works outside any official agency to thwart an international plot terrorist plot. Been there - seen that: from the MI movies to countless series.
Villain is a far-right nationalist with political goals driven by hatred toward immigrants. What else is new in far-left entertainment industrial complex? Wouldn't expect anything different from Netflix.
Last minute of the series - a pointless cliff-hanger designed solely to leave a possibility of a second season.
Yes. Production is OK. Madrid is captured well. Once you start, you complete the series but you end with undeniable guilt of having consumed a whole lot of empty violent moments - an entertainment equivalent of eating a bag of chips in a sitting with all those empty calories.
Looop Lapeta (2022)
I regret the moment I pressed "play"
When a movie is obviously bad, I complete it to learn what makes a movie bad. I could not even do that for this one. 2/3 of the way, I gave up. I don't care how it ended.
With each successive movie Tapasee confirms how limited she is in her range and that she peaked with Pink. She cannot carry a movie without a formidable male co-star.
What is this odd quest to look edgy without actually being edgy? If you don't have "G men D" to actually say what it stands for, simply repeating "G men D" 10 times in a script does not make you edgy.
The movie is confused about what it wants to be - a dark comedy, crime thriller or a character study - and in the end, it fails to be any thing.
Paharganj (2019)
Requires suspension of disbelief at the next level
A Spanish woman comes to suburb of Delhi to look for her lover and keeps ambling aimlessly into shady places and situations (which no sane woman will do in her own town) not worrying about getting raped or killed. She manages to get herself raped by walking into back-room of a drug-den run by a creepy yogi - after witnessing drugged out women dancing in front of him.
After a local cop dismisses her, she stands on streets wearing a sign that she was raped and the immediately make her a part of their detective team. They take her along to all their interrogations of shady characters as they are investigating murder of a politician's son - just add glamor to their work.
A number of other pointless story-lines to portray everything Indian in bad-light: college and school sports, politics, spirituality, public life, health tourism, law and order and education.
Watching this on Netflix, one would think that there is no one in India who is sane, competent, happy and ethical.
Besides not knowing what character is trying to do what, even the time line does not make sense.
One star for couple of songs sung half way decently.
Gulabo Sitabo (2020)
4 out of 10 stars - give or take.
Three stars for Amitabh Bacchan who after half a century still finds the motivation, energy and spare talent to keep re-inventing himself. No one else could have pulled this off.
One star for Srishti Shrivastava who punches above her weight in a much more experienced cast very even in a couple of scenes opposite Mr. Bacchan himself.
Half a star each for Ayushyan Khurana and Vijay Raaz - they could have done these roles in sleep but did put a nominal effort.
One star for whoever played clarinet in the background score - sometimes the background score was more engaging than the story.
One star for a very nicely done art direction. Pulling off 'Fatima Mahal' must have been a challenge.
One star deduction each for a virtually non-existent story and a tepid, repetitive screen play and (Amitabh Bacchan faints or gets dizzy a total of 5 times. Twice would have been enough. After three verbal confrontations between the two leading men, it is just pointless). 'Piku' somehow worked without much of a story; 'Gulabo Sitabo'does not.
Raat Akeli Hai (2020)
Perhaps the most satisfying Hindi suspense movie ever
Non-gimmicky story-telling, a complex world rich of sub-contexts, Nawaz and Radhika leading a cast brilliant down to the secondary, tertiary and even non-speaking characters, an absolutely flawless technical crew and an examination of society in penetrating but no-preachy way: all under the umbrella of a "whodunit'! Wow...just wow!
And characters evolve as the story progresses - subtly: a woman that silently listens to her husband's drunk-tirade and watches him in disgust as he vomits out of drunkenness, grabs his drink from his hand and hurls it across the room at the end -just because she cannot stand the clank of ice-cubes in the cup; the protagonist is holding out to meet a traditional and well-behaved bride who in his mother's words 'munh khole to bhajan tapke', ends up being with a woman exactly the opposite. The most conniving and manipulative character ends up committing suicide. 'Crazy lady' executes the most dramatic justice. Almost every character has an arc.
As others have mentioned, the movie would have been 5 minutes shorter- internal politics of the police department is played out a bit too much. Also there are songs that either should not have been there or could have been more engaging. Beyond those two flaw, I could not find any. Two less stars for that. I would definitely watch it again.
Doordarshan (2020)
Flimsy concept, poor screenplay
'Door Ke Darshan' follows the unfortunate phenomenon of now increasingly mundane 'slice of life' genre of Hindi movies.
There are the usual ingredients: North Indian middle class setting, 'everyday' characters, an improbable yet funny sounding premise, an able and unassuming ensemble cast and a dialect other than 'Bambaiiya Hindi'.
Unfortunately, this style of movie-making is now so mechanical, it loses all engagement. Some of these movies have concept so bizarre, they are offensive. Remember a town full of grown men lusting after an underage school girl in 'Chaman-Bahar'?
What lacks in this movie is an imaginative story telling and - for the most part - humor.
Entire story is predictable and jokes which are not funny to begin with, become repetitive. It is as if they went through the second draft of the script and decided that that is good enough. Cast is able and go through the routine.
P Se PM Tak (2015)
Cannot believe this was made by the same Kundan Shah that made Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Started to watch on Netflix for the sole reason that it was made by Kundan Shah - creator of an all time great comedy-satire 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro'.
In fifteen minutes I had to stop watching. Story, set-up, screenplay, dialogues, acting, editing - everything was so nauseatingly pathetic and often vulgar without being funny that it was beyond belief that the same Kundan shah that helmed the classic with the best possible cast in mid-1980s with scenes and dialogues still in everyone's heart (who can forget the Mahabharat climax?) actually stood behind the camera and said 'OK' when this mindless banter was being shot.
Not curious about what happens in the rest of the movie.
Enough said!
Mulk (2018)
Well made movie and superb ensemble acting spoiled by a two-dimensional view-point
When even the minor characters are played by masters of the craft like Kumud Misra and Rajat Kapoor, not to mention a cast lead by a veteran like Rishi Kapoor (who not only gives his best performance to date but the best performance in entire Kapoor dynasty to the date) and Tapsee Pannu matching him toe to toe; when every department in a no is is handled with utmost finesse, one expects a movie to have a much better impact than this.
The basic premise of movie - individuals are terrorist, not religions; do not judge all because of actions of a few - just falls flat because ot its two-dimensional narrative viewpoint.
We have been asked to believe in movies like 'Fiza' and 'Fanaa' that the family of a terrorist can be completely in the dark and totally law-abiding patriots, but that has already been done.
Also bothersome is an perverse, cynical motives nailed to the antithetical characters. Narcissistic public prosecutor Santosh Anand is in there only because of publicity and urge to propagate a stereotype; Danish Javed is a mindless umpteenth iteration of Les Miserables' Inspector Javert. )Gulzar and Danny Dangzoppa were able to humanize this character in Devta more than 40 years ago, why can't Anubhav Sinha and Rajat Kapoor?) Anubhav makes it absolutely clear to the viewer: "Don't you dare identifying with these two. I plan to debunk and humiliate them in the end."
Nothing makes the dogmatic approach more obvious like the last 10 minutes of courtroom drama that has two back to back platitude-leaden speeches: closing argument of the defense and then, a long rhetorical judgement by the judge when the 'not guilty' verdict is a foregone conclusion. Even the definition of terrorism is broadened to guilt-trip all of us who live on this planet.
This movie could have been more complex, textured and thought-provoking. It could have stayed with the viewer a lot longer after the end credits rolled. Sad part is, there was talent to spare in all departments. The narrator just chose the easy way out.
Shimla Mirchi (2020)
Cannot believe this is made by the person that made Sholey and Shakti
Hemamalini and Ramesh Sippy have worked together for almost 50 years - since Andaz and Seeta aur Geeta. It is sad to see that they used their half a century of working relationship to crank out a bungled execution of a fairly novel and very interesting idea - in spite of a a great cast. In most scenes, it seemed that they were just in a hurry to pack up and they settled for a fair shot without even bothering to get a decent one.
Rukul was used only to add glamour and show skin as Hema of course would not to it - and Rukul decided that showing skin is enough, she is not going to put effort or sincerity into her role.
Ramesh Is only interested in standing on a pedestal - he lets movie happen on its own, or hopes that it will. He inserts his wife, himself and countless tangential reference to his 'glory days' of movie making - out of context.
Of course it could not be complete without, out of blue, Dharmendra showing up and threatening Hema to climb on a water tank if he did not accept his romantic overtures.
Sad but this movie could have been much better. May be, someone like Madhuri Dixit or Juhi Chavla would have pulled 'Rukmini' better.
Motichoor Chaknachoor (2019)
A perfect mismatch
Nawaz and Atiya are mismatch in every way - physique, age, body of work - but the story leverages that exact thing.
A few draft one jokes aside, the movie truly clicks on all levels.
Yes, it gets a bit tedious on the final third but it ends mercifully fast.
Surprise package is Atiya - for a star kid, she puts a lot of sincere effort in her role that quite obviously not anything like herself. To be able to be in the same frame as Nawaz itself is a big challenge but she infuses every frame with her charm, humor and honesty.
The movie is worth watching for its witty dialogues, genuinely funny situations and how Atiya punches above her weight.
Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana (2017)
Mediocre story pulled through by good lead and support actors
What works for the movie is the lead pair and ensemble cast.
The story fumbles quite a bit and the 'investigation for corruption charges' segment could have been cut in half.
Raj Kumar and Kriti pull it off though with the support of a number of veteran character actors.
Kriti Kharbanda may be the second most underrated actress in Bollywood after Tamannah. I wish both or these women would get roles that do justice to their potential.
Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013)
A sad case of "Whatever so-and-so makes is good" regardless of how bad it is
First, all movies that glorify mass murderers like Mao and Che should come with a disclaimer just like the movies that show smoking do. Beyond that, this is a movie that operates on simplistic axioms of "Rich Bad, Poor good" and "Industry bad, Farming Good". An absurd plot line that hobbles along with equally unbelievable and sometimes stolen characters and totally SMH situations (a rich man that is kind when drunk and mean when sober is as old as Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights'). An Oxford educated woman who jumps in a pond full of buffalos to retrieve a cricket ball, a politician's son who buys an entire tribe of zulu dancers and brings them to India, a man jumping off a crashing plane and parachuting himself directly to a scheduled town meeting- The list goes on. Unfortunately, over last decade, uppity movie-goers in India have sheepishly accepted that whatever Vishal Bharadwaj Makes Has got to be good — even when it is bad. There are some brilliant Moments - "Howzzat?", "Dekho magar pyar se" and "Gulabi Bhens" — but that is about it.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
What exactly was the point?
OK! So there are great characters, good atmosphere, good hook to a story but then what? The movie by its end leaves you like you had a big sneeze coming that just didn't. The underdog, the quasi-good guy dies at the hands of the psychopath about 90% into the movie. Then the psychopath visits the dead man's wife, presumably kills her, then has an accident fractures his arm and walks away. Nothing is explained. WHy does the guy survive for almost entire movie just to die near the end? What happened to the money? WHy did the sheriff give up on catching the killer? Why is an air gun the killer's weapon of choice? WHy does the sheriff visit the cat person out of the blue for a totally tangential plot line when most of the movie is done? Most importantly what was the point of the whole darn movie?
Aar Ya Paar (1997)
Not what you expect from Ketan Mehta
The director that made "Bhav Ni Bhavai", "Mirch Masala" or even "Mangal Panday" is not even close to being his best in "Aar ya Paar". It looks like a cheap and easy movie he was arm-twisted into making so he sleep-walked through it. Th story of "The Sucker Punch" has been made into a Gujarati Drama: Shrugal. Paresh Rawal who played the inspector in the movie actually played the crook husband in the Drama - a much more entertaining performance than Jackie Shroff. Ketan Mehta also once more used his then Girlfriend, now wife Deepa Sahi in the movie. She is not particularly talented and when she tries to be sexy, she becomes laughable. Ketan should have learned from V. Shantaram and Chetan Anand's disastrous pampering of their spouses/lovers. The other girl who plays Meena is not even able to read her lines convincingly.
Avatar (2009)
Technically out of this world, lame attempt at 'Massage'
I would give 10/10 for the technical aspect. It is a must see of course. So many others have written about the imaginary world created -the landscapes, the aliens, the trees, the animals birds and even the insects - that I do not need to repeat. Worth seeing many times over just to experience the wonderful world created. Now, the soppy 'massage' bit. The movie might as well end with the caption "America Bad, Iraq victim". Just in case, we are too dumb to get the 'subtle' hints that there is and invasion and the invasion is in order to get minerals in the land, and the it is funded by a capitalist conglomerate and carried out by the military; just in case you missed the 'Shock and Awe' and 'Martyrdom' references; just in case you missed the Pentagon ring on the war room table, Cameron makes sure you did not miss out on hearing the phrase, 'fight terror with terror'. All that because the audiences are soooooooo....dumb, they won't get Hollywood 'nuances'! You are not supposed to ask why in the middle of the 22nd century entire crew of "Earth's" space mission speaks English in American accent, dressed in 20th century American military and 'hillbilly' garb and is almost homogeneously Caucasian. You know the answer, it is not about Pandora, and it is about Iraq. James Cameron, the smart one, is just being subtle! BTW, this is the same James Cameron that made "True Lies" and portrayed the Arabs in worst possible light - dumb, blood thirsty and incompetent at best. Now doing a 180, he does the same to the Americans.