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Reviews
Laal Kaptaan (2019)
Clearly a MISSED MASTERPIECE!
Laal Kaptaan was a clear case of MISSED Masterpiece by Navdeep Singh. Definitely Laal Kaptaan isn't a bad film but due to 20-30 minutes of bad time letdown the entire 2 hr 30 min movie into drain.
It's a great attempt from Navdeep Singh to present this film, Eros and Aanand L Rai for having faith in this project of showing an Indian film in a western style. Definitely it's better than this years craps and overrated movies such as War Housefull 4 Marjaavan Bharat Kalank SOTY 2 and at least deserved to recover it's cost, instead the movie collected like some random C grade movies collections despite of having a star like Saif in his top notch form.
The film had a brilliant story, top notch cinematography with top notch camera work and powerful performances from Saif Deepak Manav Vij Zoya Hussain and powerful cameo by Neeraj Kabi. But the major problem lies in it's screenplay and edit. Yes the screenplay is slow but could've been edited due to unnecessary random scenes shown throughout or it should've got more liberty to develop the characters well by making it into a web series, it would've worked wonders. The editing was major problem where many unnecessary scenes such as Gossain's(the name given to Naga Sadhus, played by Saif) failed attempt to assassinate Rehmat Khan(Manav Vij) and adding more action sequences between Saif and Manav, clearly direction headed into wrong space due to this. There were few unnecessary characters which could've been avoided easily but the filler didn't work in the final script. The dialogues were well written and so were the characters of Saif as unnamed Gossain, Deepak Dobriyal as unnamed human tracker and Manav Vij as Rehmat Khan with their performances uplifting it even more. Zoya Hussain performed as per the requirement and that's it about it. Sonakshi Sinha in her cameo seemed powerful but no depth in her cameo as to why she wanted Rehmat Khan dead which was another letdown. The restricted time for story to come out was a dud otherside it could've been a masterpiece with little bit of changes in script.
The movie overall is a must watch for cinema lovers, a new attempt by bollywood instead of Rom Com Action Drama or Deshbhakti biopics which have been done to death 1000 times, just a better patchwork would've made this into a masterpiece. Going with 3 on 5
Saaho (2019)
Too much money to throw for this!
Thank God I awaited for it's Netflix release instead of spending my money in theatre. I was getting excited to see Prabhas after the BAAHUBALI storm he created with Saaho. The teasers and trailers looked rich and grand, but after seeing the reviews from many people I have up my hope on watching it. I thought let's give a try once it comes up on streaming platform and boy I was mightily disappointed with this. The budget was around 350 crores (mentioned by the producers and Prabhas himself) and it clearly seemed right due to creating a lavish city, a barren village and throwing in animated animals for Prabhas' entry scene, robbery of some two thousand crores and what not!
The premise wasn't much new if anyone is used to watching movies all over the world though in India it was kinda new by crossing dhoom series with race series, but it was the overly complicated screenplay and poor dialogues which letdown the film completely. The screenplay and the edit was too complicated to even save for the least, with rather stupid dialogues in Hindi(don't know about telugu and other languages though). The cinematography was the best thing about this film, showing the futuristic city of Waaji, Mumbai and the barren villages were well shown with action being second best about this film besides nothing to watch.
Performances wise Prabhas was superlative in his action sequences or in showing his serious face with terrific screen presence and that's it about him. He was clearly struggling in speaking in hindi and that was clearly evident with his heavy voice. His voice should've been dubbed by any other dubbing artist to make it look real while in his comic and romantic avatar was clearly a boredom only due to his struggle to speak in hindi. Shraddha Kapoor had hardly anything to do unlike shown in the promos. Even her expressions showed how she was rather bored in working here. Neil Nitin Mukesh put up an act how he was supposed to, but was unable to showcase his act due to poorly written role. Chunky Pandey turned out to be the best performer of the film, wish he had a better written character to back up. Mahesh Manjrekar, Jackie Shroff and Mandira Bedi were wasted. Arun Vijay was another filler only to reveal the climactic twist of Saaho being the real guy everyone looking for.
The direction was clearly a miserable attempt but it needs to be lauded for it's attempt in trying to make such a complicated stuff. Going with 4 stars for the attempt, cinematography and few action sequences. Hope Prabhas lives upto his pan India superstar in his next releases
Kalank (2019)
Despite a decent premise, horrible screenplay and direction letdown the entire film
Luckily I didn't watch the movie in theater, but awaited for it's digital release. I watched it with minimal expectations but was surprised with the plot which seemed quite decent enough except the character arcs in the movie didn't work well. Maybe Karan Johar himself should've written the script and directed the film instead of giving the vehicle to Abhishek Verman(His 2 states were damn good though) cause it was the dream Karan's father had seen 15 years ago.
Premise: Satya Chaudhary realises she has only one year to live due to terminal disease hence she brings Roop to Chaudhary household so that her husband wouldn't have to remorse for his wife's death. There in Husnabad many more characters are shown from the range of Balraj Chaudhary to Begum Jaan to Zafar, which brings you to the beautiful world of Kalank.
Direction: This had high chances of being a masterpiece of work but that's where the difference lies with Verman and Bhansali, who would take forever time to work on script then present the film. Karan Johar should've directed the film instead of producing which would've been much better. Despite of all the characters having some shades, focus was completely on Varun and Alia which was major letdown due to their irritating character arcs. The bull sequence was perhaps the worst directed sequence ever, looked like some random video game graphics were used. Sonakshi's character despite a good built up was killed off in complete haste. The best thing about Kalank was music without a doubt.
Performances: Varun Dhawan was kinda confused as to what to do in few scenes. It looked like Varun Dhawan from Judwaa was forced to act as Varun Dhawan from Badlapur and spoiled completely. Alia Bhatt was the central character and it actually revolved around her completely, but with the most irritating character I wished she was dead and at times showing all of a sudden maturity seemed quite off. She's no more a kid to make her act as one for God sake! Aditya Roy Kapur showed quite a matured performance, utilized full of his potential and even overshadowed Varun Alia and other stars in the film. Sonakshi was wasted completely in the film, even though her performance was actually better than Alia this time but killing off her character became the reason why Alia got more accolades. Madhuri Dixit, who was regarded as the Lady Amitabh Bachchan in her prime time at least she should've been respected, instead even she was sidelined due to the writing, giving her very little scope to act. At least she got scope to show her prowess, but The Sanjay Dutt didn't even get that. Despite of using his name in promotions everywhere, giving him a major billing in cast he had the weakest character in the film. Despite of being promoted as the most powerful man in Husnabad, he was shown as the most helpless man in the film, couldn't even force upon his own decisions despite being head of family. The special appearance credit did the major damage. Kunal Khemu was definitely the best performer in the cast despite of not getting any solo poster. He and Aditya were the only ones who tried to save the film from being disaster wish he was given better credit. Kiara Advani, being such a big actress was used as a sex object for Varun Dhawan WHAT AN INSULT! I thought KJo after Lust Stories would at least give her good character even if in cameo instead was horribly treated. Hope she gets her due in Good Newzz and next Netflix Dharmatic film. Kriti Sanon was great in her special appearance for the song, not being treated as sex object at least.
I know KJo has earned lot of money through the Baahubali franchise in hindi dub version that's why he could spent lavish money in his upcoming movies such as Kalank Kesari Brahmastra Ranbhoomi and Takht, hope he doesn't make a mistake like Kalank
Bard of Blood (2019)
Not too good, nor too bad. Decent story but lacks the grip.
Bard of Blood was an awaited series for a long long time ever since it was announced. I got excited when I heard SRK had decided to back the project with Emraan heading the cast. Over the time everyone almost forgot about the series till the trailer came up which was a FIRE! I got excited to see powerhouse talent like Emraan Hashmi, Sobhita Dhulipala(After Made in Heaven), Vineet Kumar Singh, Jaideep Ahlawat and Kirti Kulhari.
But as the series progressed it turned little bit into snoozefest. The first episode should've at least been a gripping and built well, unfortunately it started off slow. The Balochistan location was showed quite well, but what about the plot tension? They tried to build the tension amongst the characters but failed miserably. I haven't read the novel written by Bilal Siddiqui but I suppose it would be at least a gripping affair. Also it should've been an A rated show with some abuses but since it was an SRK bankrolled project they decided to make it into a 'Family show' unlike the Family Man(BOB could've been better rated if Family Man hadn't released before). The best moment about the series was definitely the climax which was left on cliffhanger(happy to see Sohum Shah again after Tumbbad)
Performance wise Emraan Hashmi was decent enough in a rather boring character but managed to keep us engaged. Sobhita was more or less lost in the plot, her character arc could've been better. And if she didn't know how to shoot, WTF was she doing in such a dangerous mission? The best amongst all was Vineet Kumar Singh, WHAT A CHARACTER AND WHAT ACTING! He nailed his role and even overshadowed Emraan at some moments. Jaideep was another showstopper while Kirti was wasted in her role.
Although the show wasn't a completely amazing, waiting for season 2 to improve upon especially after it's surprise climax
Drive (2019)
OUTRIGHT CRAP!
Why Tarun Mansukhani why! After such a beautiful Dostana you came up with THIS! No wonder why Kjo released this on OTT platform and not in theatres! Even the lead actor of this film SSR did not promote this. It was as crap as any hollywood level film which only has stylish cars and cast but no soul.
Where should I begin the story with, which could've been much cooler if shown on script instead made it a boredom showing en number of twists and turns, ended up showing NOTHING! The plot was about robbing money from Rashtrapathi Bhavan(As absurd it sounds, it is true). With too many twists and turns I bet even the characters forgot who they were and all of them behaved like robot where to go what to do no clue they had.
Starcast was led by Jacqueline Fernandez and NOT Sushant, who had lesser developed character than Jacqueline. JF looked hot as always and did try to impress with her act, Sushant looked too tired and disinterested in the film, seemed like he was forced to do this. No wonder why he didn't promote the film at all. Vikramjit Virk was too loud and irritating, completely unnecessary cast. Sapna Pabbi looked as hot as Jacqueline and tried to show decent act but failed due to the plot. Boman Irani was perfect in his approach and did what the plot required, to get fooled around by thieves although the twist in his character was too rubbish. Pankaj Tripathi provided the comic relief. Rest of the cast were too loud and had absolutely NOTHING to do.
The songs could've easily been avoided but no, since it's a Bollywood film the songs should be inserted which ruined the already bad narrative. Going with 2 stars for attempting to make it a hollywood level F&F type but turned out to be another wannabe.
War (2019)
HIGHLY OVERRATED! Watch out only for HR Tiger and the action!
It is sad to see a film having horrible script made only for action works this well and receives positive response from critics! Even TZH had better script compared to this thing.
The storyline was still decent enough but horrible screenplay by Siddharth Anand and Shridhar Raghavan was complete let down. The dialogues by Abbas Tyrewala sounded like some 15 year old Bollywood buff has written the dialogues. The action though deserves praise but it has been seen in many hollywood and even in Bollywood films so nothing new to expect. Siddharth Anand needs to stick to comedies like Salaam Namaste and Bachna Ae Haseeno as a director of action movies he's a complete letdown(Bang Bang being another example)
Performance wise Hrithik was in his usual form but his character got quite boring, especially with repeated GRAND ENTRY in almost each and every scene, showing his character as almost invincible God was too irritating due to the unconvincing dialogues. Tiger Shroff as Khalid had nothing to offer with a below average act and the twist in his character wasn't shocking but , but he did a great job as the villain, also overshadowed hrithik the scenes when he had to show his antagonistic performance. Tiger should act as villain in more movies instead of playing typical hero. Vaani Kapoor too had hardly anything to do, instead Anupriya Goenka who wasn't promoted well had bigger and better character arc than Vaani and Tiger's Khalid(Not the villain Saurabh). Ashutosh Rana's character was plain boring so was his act, didn't expect him to show a poor performance.
Overall the film was quite a letdown getting overrated due to hrithik and tiger fans. Going with 4/10 for Hrithik's performance, Tiger's villainous act, action choreography and Jai Shiv Shankar song(though it was completely unnecessary, the joy of seeing Hrithik Tiger dance together was a treat)
Total Dhamaal (2019)
WHAT NONSENSE!!!
This is the worst film ever that crossed 100 crores at box office, WTF! This doesn't even deserve to earn the ticket price I wasted on this trash! Story is completely ripped off from Dhamaal(pick any memorable scene from dhamaal and you'll find it much funnier than entire total dhamaal poo)
Ajay Devgan and Anil Kapoor are one of the best actors of India and can do comedy films like Golmaal and Welcome but in this they were the WORST PERFORMERS! Madhuri ma'am was great but her character was quite irritating. Ritiesh Deshmukh was wasted in his role though he gave a good performance while Arshad and Javed were the only saving grace. Johnny Lever had the least screen time but he stood out in his scenes while Sanjay Mishra was getting irritating with his 'bro'. Boman Irani and Mahesh Manjrekar were completely unnecessary. What was Esha Gupta doing in the entire film, just overacting in the climax?
Where the jokes could've been good, direction killed it horribly! Inder Kumar has lost his touch after making movies like Beta, Ishq and Dhamaal and now resented to Double Dhamaal, Grand Masti series and now Total Dhamaal! Thank God Sanjay Dutt and Ashish Chaudhary didn't take this film
Can't believe such a powerhouse of talent(except Esha Gupta of course) can work in such a horrible film with no joke and ripping off their own film franchise's first installment which paved the way for sequels. Go watch it if you're in a mood to commit suicide
Going 2 stars only for Arshad Warsi and Javed Jafferi
Gully Boy (2019)
E-P-I-C
Zoya Akhtar films have been all about urban rich lifestyle films such as Luck by chance ZNMD Dil Dhadakne Do but Gully Boy is completely different from her previous outings and she nailed it with the story(along with Reema Kagti) and captured the slums of Mumbai with almost perfection! I've been a huge fan of Divine Naezy songs like Mere Gully Mein Jungli Sher Kaam 25 etc. Zoya didn't disappoint in showcasing the underground rap battles and slums of Mumbai which marvelled me.
Story: Murad(Ranveer Singh) is an aspiring rapper who lives in the slums of Mumbai along with his abusive father(Vijay Raaz), mother, grandmother, a brother and a step mother. He's in relationship with his childhood love Safeena(Alia Bhatt) and friends with Moeen(Vijay Verma), Salman and others. His life takes a turn when he encounters with MC Sher(Siddhant Chaturvedi) who turns him into the GULLY BOY.
Performances: Ranveer Singh nails it with his performance in this film. I initially found him as an above average actor who's best comes out only from Bhansali and Deepika, but after Simmba he proved me wrong and with this film he shut everyone's mouth, especially with the climax. Alia Bhatt is natural in her approach, her performance can be felt as she lived the character of Safeena, the pain can be seen in her eyes. Vijay Raaz, Vijay Verma, Sheeba Chadha everyone performed well, though I wanted more of Kalki Koechlin who had least screen presence. But the one who steals the show from Ranveer and other actors has to be Siddhant Chaturvedi! BOY HE NAILED THE LOOK AND MANNERISMS OF A RAPPER! His entry was the best, his screen presence was amazing and overshadowing Ranveer is not everyone's cup of tea. Can't say he's the same man from Inside Edge who was shown as a weak guy, he completely transformed himself as the MIGHTY MC SHER! For this role a star was required and hats off to Zoya for making a debutant a star of the film!
The plot looses the grip in second half to some extent but nevertheless the climax makes up for everything, when Ranveer raps his heart out and promised APNA TIME AAYEGA, arey Ranveer baba aapka time toh aa gaya!
Going 9/10 especially for superlative performances and music
Zero (2018)
Second half ruins it!
Last several srk movies are facing curse of second half be it Fan, Raees, JHMS, HNY(Though last 2 movies were outright crap, still had a bearable first half) and now Zero! The same team which brought Tanu weds Manu franchise, Ranjhana and many great films under this production company(I don't think Aanand L Rai ever failed as a producer also) has brought THIS, only because they fell under SRK stardom pressure!
Zero started with a BANG due to its comedy moments between Bauua Singh(SRK) and his father Ashok(Played by Tigmanshu Dhulia) and Guddu(Played by Zeeshan). Also the cute chemistry between Bauua Singh and Aafia(Anushka Sharma) was another highlight and everything seemed fine till Kat's entry. NOT HER FAULT, her character was horribly developed and not required though.
The second half turned out to be quite a bizzare drama which was dragged to hell with Bauua neither with Babita Kumari(Kat) nor with Aafia but in MARS! I MEAN IT ACTUALLY! All the cameos of leading lady were wasted in a crap scene and Salman's cameo with Ganesh Acharya and Remo D'souza was another bizzare in which Salman was judgding the dance show with Bauua and his competitors Remo and Ganesh(NOT JOKING, SEE IT BY YOURSELF)
As far as performances are concerned, all the actors acted well, with SRK's performance being one of the best this year. He LIVED the character of Bauua Singh. Anushka looked cute in first half but got irritating in second. Kat surprised everyone with her terrific performance even though role was short. R Madhavan, Abhay Deol and other stars cameo weren't required.
Weakest of Aanand L Rai, didn't expect from him and Himanshu Sharma
Giving 4 stars only for first half
2.0 (2018)
FANTASTIC VISUAL EXPERIENCE... but still felt it could've been better
First of all a BIG SALUTE to the Director Shankar, one of my favourite Indian director who can never disappoint audience. For pulling off a herculean task of making an Indian film of this magnitude was impossible for any filmmaker in India(Rajamouli might still be capable of it).
Script: The story was quite simple and not much appealing but it was the screenplay and the message it provided which made it a gripping watch, especially in first half. The dialogues were quite stupid(Hindi version only, don't know about Tamil and Telugu) but it was forgiven due to the effort behind this film. Dr Vaseegaran, Chitti and 2.0 were same as in previous Robot(Enthrian in Tamil, Robo in Telegu) but this time I felt more for the film's villain Panchi Rajan, who's emotions were quite relatable and made the audience felt he was the actual hero especially when he fought 2.0 version of Chitti. The romantic angle between the robots seemed cringeworthy which could've been avoided.
Vfx: Just one word for this... OUTSTANDING! Every money spent on vfx was worth which makes the film even more thrilling.
Performances: Superstar Rajnikanth in not just triple role but this time in 4 roles was terrific! As Dr Vaseegaran he was perfect; as Chitti he seemed bit tired in some scenes; as 2.0 he had shorter role but his menacing anti heroic performance made everyone hate him more; as 3.0 he was quite cute(Spoiler alert!). Giving Thalaiva a competition in terms of screen presence is not easy but Akshay Kumar not only played it with ease, he even managed to overshadow the superstar in few scenes! While his screen presence was limited, the film revolved mostly on his character and the build up it had made him the film's TRUE HERO! His emotional scenes were quite relatable and dramatic that I actually felt he did the right thing of killing people. Amy Jackson was perfect cast as Nila, the humanoid robot which Dr Vaseegaran created after Chitti, though the romantic angle could've been avoided. Others were average, but I wanted more of Sudanshu Pandey, who played son of film's previous villain Dr Bohra(Danny Denzongpa). Even though Aish was mentioned several times, I really wished she was in the film, even if it meant for a cameo.
Music: BGM was terrific, while no song was required in the film.
Overall 3.5/5 from me, especially for the Scientist Shankar
Batti Gul Meter Chalu (2018)
A film with great subject and intention ruined by horrible script and direction!
BGMC had a great subject of electricity issues and in the trailer they showed it as a humorous film with social message but was reduced to a plain romantic drama in the first half, while the second half managed to pick up the pace again dragged as hell due to poor execution.
The story was about 3 childhood friends- Lalita 'Nauti' Nautiyal and her Sundar(Divyendu Sharma) and Susheel(Shahid Kapoor) friends. Both of them fall in love with Nauti hence she dates both for a week simultaneously and chooses the former, leaving Susheel Kumar 'SK' Pant heartbroken. As the friends issues happened, Sundar faced electricity bill issues with 54 lakh bill registered on his company's name. Due to the animosity, SK(being a lawer) refused to help Susheel which left him with no other alternative but to commit suicide, making SK realise his mistake and fight for his friend against the company.
While the story seems interesting, the execution waa horrible with too much bal and thehra dragging it by 10 minutes and other emotional drama adding another 30 minutes of time duration. Shree Narayn Singh handled Toilet ek prem katha perfectly, Siddharth-Garima dialogues were spot on then but in this they added more melodrama than focusing on actual issue. The courtroom drama seemed like spoof of Jolly LLB despite that being the only scene good in the entire film due to humor.
Coming to starcast- Shahid Kapoor was the reason why I gave 4 stars otherwise it wasn't even that worth. Shahid is one of the best Indian actor in today's generation but the makers wasted his talent again in this film, which can't be blamed on Shahid. Shraddha needs acting classes, she is a pretty face that's it, as an actor she needs to work on it. Divyendu had the worst characterization in the film yet he rose above the role with his decent act. Yami was there only for last 30 minutes in the film, totally wasted due to editing. This could've easily been a Jolly LLB 3 but screenplay was shabbily written making it worst. The music was good to listen but rather dragged film even more which makes one lose its interest.
I'll go 2 stars with this film, extra 2 for Shahid Kapoor. Hope in future he gets a much better film, as the great directors like Vishal Bhawadwaj(With Rangoon only), Vikas Bahl(Shaandar) and now Shree Narayan Singh ruined his talent.
Stree (2018)
Scarier than many horror movies of India yet funny at the same time
There's always a confusion amongst horror and comedy films in India in which horror films turned out to be funnier than comedy films here and vice versa. Last year Golmaal Again had released which people wrongly categorized as horror comedy but Stree was in a true sense a horror comedy film, scary yet funny experience.
Stree is set in a town called Chanderi which is haunted by a ghost(Stree) who takes away men of the town with her, leaving their clothes on the ground. Bikki(Rajkumar Rao) meets Shraddha Kapoor(Name is not revealed) in the town and falls head over heel behind her while his friends suspect her to be the Stree. When Jana(Bikki's friend) is abducted by Stree, all hell loose break as Bikki and Bittu(Aparshakti Khurrana) seeks help from Rudra(Pankaj Tripathi) to unravel the mystery about Stree.
It was a proper horror film according to story and screenplay, but it was the characters and dialogues which made the film a comedy affair as well and unsurprisingly all the actors did justice to their part. Rajkumar Rao steals the show as always, with Aparshakti Khurrana being the backbone. Pankaj Tripathi was missed in the first half but in the second half he was the one who made it more merrier. Shraddha Kapoor looked sweet as always and did what she was required to do.
Debutant director Amar Kaushik did a great job in creating eeriness yet evoking laughter. Raj and Krishna's screenplay as always has something great to offer, again they tried something new which was never seen in bollywood. Dialogues by Sumit Arora were cleverly written showcasing humor in horror film. The only negative aspect for me was the climax which didn't clear the air was Shraddha Kapoor the actual ghost (Stree) or there's a sequel in waiting to show the story of Shradda's character?
Overall 8 on 10, cutting 2 stars due to epilogue being unclear about Stree mystery
Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018)
One of the most underrated film of 2018
I happened to see this film on Star Gold as a friend of mine had recommended to see this film in theatres which was released with atrocious Veere Di Wedding. I still remember how crap that film was still it became a hit while this film's theatrical run ceased within a week's time due to negative response from critics hence I thought of awaiting its tv release. Finally I watched it today and realised how wrong I was and it was actually a great film, one of the most underrated of this year.
The story follows life of 2 friends- Bhavesh Joshi and Sikander Khanna(Harshvardhan Kapoor) who fight against corruption but one day Bhavesh was murdered by an evil politician as he had gone to expose the water crime going on in the city. Sikander took up the mantle of Bhavesh Joshi the vigilante and went on a spree to fight corruption for INSAAF.
There were many potholes in the script such as learning advanced martial arts in few days time, escaping the airport quite easily and staying in an abandoned hotel for many days without getting noticed, the police not suspecting the third friend of Siku and Bhavesh to be the vigilante, no support from social media throughout the film and Bhavesh Joshi' supporters as shown in the beginning when they launched their Insaaf video on YouTube etc. But overall the intention and performances(except Harsh) were terrific, Vikramaditya Motwane's direction was top notch while editing and screenplay could've been better.
Performancewise everyone were great but instead of Harshvardhan someone better should've enacted the part of Siku, maybe he's the reason why people didn't go and see the film. Vidyut Jamwal would've been a better option I'd say if the script had made him a born fighter. Music was pure average but it wasn't much needed in the narrative hence can be ignored.
Overall I regret not seeing this film in theaters as bollywood needs movies like these and not Baaghi 2, Veere di Wedding and worst of this year Race 3.