narulagaurav Reviews

Azhar (2016)

Comedy or Propaganda?

[1/10 · 29 June 2017]

Azhar the Movie, like Azhar the Kaalpanik/ Fictional Character mentioned in a disclaimer (at the beginning of the movie) - both of them lack spine.

This movie is a sad attempt to justify a character who was poor as a husband, as a person and as a father. Quite frankly, and as several of the other reviews on IMDb are mentioning, this is a clear case of propaganda that the actual Azhar is trying to indulge in.

The famous match fixing scandal of the 90s dragged in some big players, both in SA and in India. The legal cases against them were substantiated, and these individuals were subsequently banned from the game for varying periods of time. Are we questioning the calibre of the courts when we try to show these folks, several years later, as upright? Seems kind of 'easy to portray, but difficult to believe'.

Azhar was first and always a cheat. In the game, in his marriage, in his relationships with his children (the famous affair with Jwala Gutta, who was his son's friend), and otherwise. Following the debacle in cricket, he went where most goons go - to politics. No guesses into the affiliation he sought and achieved.

Now coming to the movie. The acting is unconvincing. The plot is poor. Great actors wasted. Dialogues are juvenile, at the best. Melodrama misplaced. The characters are shallow. The direction a guffaw.

As a final statement, I'd like to say that there was no research. This is just the case of a cheat who is trying to show the world he was victimized, when it was actually the reverse. The scenes seem purported from La La Land.

1 star out of 10 is what this deserves.

Roy (2015)

MSG is better!!

[1/10 · 4 April 2015]

One thing that stands out with this effort from Divya Khosla is how hard she would've worked to make this trash. It is extremely difficult to churn out such troll, and then to be successful in duplicating efforts (remember Yaariyan (2014)) is really something else!

Cliché statement - watch it at your own peril. No story, slow script, waste of good actors, poor acting by others, misplaced situations, illogical songs and an overall expectation that the viewer is also a moron.

If Khosla and the rest of the Bhushan family have so much money to spend, they should put it in the bank, give it away to charity, or just burn the lot. That would be a better way to spend it!

The Villain (2014)

Just trash

[1/10 · 15 July 2014]

To start, there are some basics that need to be stated: 1. Shradhha Kapoor is a terrible actress as yet 2. Just because an actor does a negative role wearing different coloured contacts doesn't make that character's rendering 'OOH LA LA' or the actor great 3. Keeping deadpan expressions throughout a movie DOES NOT show intensity 4. A rickshaw-wallah from the streets of UP/ Bihar would've done better acting than Kamaal Khan - and probably for free - Suri could've saved money right there for Ekta Kapoor 5. Making a statement like "I wasn't born with dialogues in my head and I have been inspired by the films I have watched and the books I have read" DOES NOT mean that Mohit Suri did not copy the movie. It still means he's a thief.

That's that. Other than the points above, the movie was horrendously bad. Remo's parts were pathetic. Deshmukh never fit into the role. Malhotra barely lived through it. S Kapoor tried to whiz through her parts, and is good only from a eye candy perspective. Shaad Randhawa was spectacularly unconvincing. Aamna Sharif was kinda stupid.

But Suri included waterboarding :) Atta boy, that's keeping with the times. Didja watch a film on that or read The Annals of Gitmo?

One last observation: might be a good idea to let people give actual reviews, rather than make your Indian friend create Polish sounding IMDb profiles to write rave reviews...

Yaariyan (2014)

Blah blah blah blah blah blah

[1/10 · 13 March 2014]

Hindi movies are, after all, Hindi movies - there are some, and then there are some. Yaariyan is neither. Its a mix of something here and something there, and then its a mix of everything. There's the coming of age theme, love, villains, action, rock music settings, family, psycho bullshit, Chetan Bhagat- esque hate for the father, patriotic fervour, naughty pranks, hot bods, not so hot bods, ribald attempts at humour (please note - not 'attempts at ribald humour'), middle age love themes, trauma, tear jerking, Mother India, the college culture fest setting, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.

All of the above are accompanied by poor acting, poor looking cast, multiple weak story lines.

Redeemers? Excellent music, some sets, Evelyn Sharma, Serah Sharma's sucker actions (till she reached the lollipop stage - go look up the difference). Those are about it.

Divya Khosla Kumar wanted to get a movie under the belt for her kitty party discussions. She should leave it here. The term 'regression' only looks good when coupled with analysis. Bollywood has moved a little ahead.

Another Earth (2011)

Commendable

[7/10 · 13 March 2014]

Had this movie in the collection for a very long while. Wanted to see it a few times, but picked up something else every time. And then they ran it on TV yesterday. Abandoned the laptop after 5 minutes.

Put shortly - good acting, disturbing themes, interesting story line, gripping situations. Yes, there are things that would make it better - but that's the reason I ranked it a 7 and not a 9.

Mathoper, Marling are both excellent. You almost get to identify with Marling's mental strife. Almost.

There's some pseudo-intellectual stuff in there, like the sub-lot around Pallana. But Cahill/ Marling can be excused for that - they'll improve ahead.

Watch it...you'll appreciate the effort many times over.

The Purge (I) (2013)

Thumbs down

[1/10 · 5 March 2014]

Poor premise, worse execution - waste of talent and time. Was so taken aback by the entire story and the purported logic, that I keenly searched for the writer's name - just one statement to Mr. DeMonaco: the 'supposed reason' is to keep population in check; however, such 12 hours would either leave no humans in America or the repair costs for the 12-hour session would be enough to drive America bankrupt in just one year. Grow up, James: there might be something further to just your fantastical imaginings. And don't waste talent either.

Ahead of the totally ridiculous plot, the scenes have gaps that make Houdini's tricks resemble cakewalks.

Chaar Din Ki Chandni (2012)

Nice, nice watch

[8/10 · 4 May 2013]

There are two types of movie watches - serious ones where you focus on everything throughout, and fun flicks where you sit back and enjoy. That's the way I classify my experiences and likes.

Char Din ki Chandni fell into the second category, and my hopes weren't too high. The past few years have seen the same lot of jokes being rehashed over and over again, the same trashy sequences, non-existent story lines, and the run of the mill Priyadarshan movies - Golmaals, Dhol, Dhamaals, what have you.

But as the movie progressed, the watch wasn't really laborious. Yes, some rehashed jokes, but the quantity of 'cheap' jokes a lot lesser than the non-stop farting, 'bajana' statements usually encountered.

The acting was EXCELLENT, whether from Mukul Dev, Kher, Puri, Tushar or Randhawa. Nowhere was it overdone. And the satire on Rajasthani royals very actual.

Watch this; you don't need to leave you brain behind like for the other trash these days. Come out and forget it.

For the sheer pleasure of enjoying the time, I rank this movie an 8 on 10 - yes, a lot higher than for other Bolywood comedy trash.

Threesome (1994)

Below average

[3/10 · 3 May 2013]

All in all, a below average watch. There is no touch with reality - whether from a relationship perspective, college life, friendships, or anything else.

The acting is atrocious, as far as Baldwin and Boyle go. Charles redeems it a bit - but only a BIT. The situations are simply ridiculous. Statements are made, and then left hanging without culmination. Friendships are portrayed with an emptiness around them that is difficult to understand.

Considering the writer is the director (Fleming), not much more could've been expected since the story itself is so awful.

I saw the movie 'coz the actors are from my era, and I thought it would be nostalgic. Hardly - avoid it if you can.

Saved! (2004)

Great watch!

[9/10 · 18 April 2013]

Ratings: Comedy: 09 Acting: 10 Satire: 09 Relevance: 09

Having watched Juno and agreed to its rating on IMDb (about an 8.00 at the time), I was sceptical on what this movie would have to offer. Boy, was I surprised!

The plot is well crafted and the humour very biting. The acting is flawless, whether it be Malone, Moore, Martino or Culkin. Malone does deserve special mention though, as she shines throughout.

Juno made the topic of teen pregnancy heavy. Saved! treats it in a lighthearted manner and still gets a lot of messages across.

Watch it - it's cute and great at the same time.

Love Story (1970)

Very average movie, with some poor acting

[5/10 · 5 January 2011]

This is supposed to be one of the classics in Hollywood cinema. Unfortunately, the first watch itself is jarring.

I do like love stories done well, or love stories which might even have tragic endings. The story fitted in well there. With that came excellent acting from Ryan O'Neal. What doesn't settle in is the EXTREMELY poor, wooden and unconvincing acting from Ali McGraw. Agreed, the script demands the quips and the 'smart alec' behaviour, but the acting is still very poor.

Further to that, there are a lot of other great, tragic love stories out there, including City of Angels.

Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

What ABSOLUTE Trash!!

[1/10 · 15 October 2010]

I watched this movie because of the title - 'Six Degrees of Separation' does sound interesting.

Well, to put it shortly, it's just a bag of pseudo-intellectual trash. A waste of time, money and effort on everyone's part.

The characters are fatuous, the storyline ridiculous. The plot starts nowhere, goes nowhere and ends nowhere. I kept waiting for something, anything, to happen. Nothing did. Frankly, I demand 1.5 hours of precious time back, even if for sitting on a park bench staring into space!

My rating for it is 1 on 10 - just because you can't do a zero rating.

Splice (2009)

Absolute trash!

[1/10 · 14 August 2010]

An extremely poorly conceived storyline. The logical gaps are abominable, and the moralistic gaps appalling.

From a basic standpoint, human emotions change at the drop of a hat. The father wants to kill the 'child', and then becomes protective towards it. The father then feels sexually attracted towards the child. WOW!

The parents are high IQ individuals, and yet do not see the reason to do away with a dangerous experiment - to the extent that the mother decides to bring the species into the world again!

Thoroughly avoidable. I wish the writers and producers of such trash could be penalized for offending our sensibilities.

Kites (I) (2010)

Sad

[3/10 · 22 May 2010]

Except for the locale shoots, a sad attempt. Lacks a concrete story, has poor acting, preposterous logic (like any Hindi movie) - what you get dished out to you is ABSOLUTE BULLS**T.

The car chases are ridiculous, the action hilarious, the stitching stupid (guess Rambo inspired the Roshans a lot), the story patchy, the audience shocked (there was a lot of hype for this movie), the crying too much, the romance soppy, the balloon escape amazing, police corruption too much Keystone cop-ish (come on, things became largely better in the US only about 25-30 years ago), gangland sequences deplorable...

Sorry, but everything could've been better.

House of Wax (2005)

Absolute manure for the garden

[1/10 · 9 March 2006]

I like Elisha Cuthbert - enough to buy anything featuring her. And find Paris Hilton sexy enough to support the first call. However, this movie really did me in - the gore was there, the chills somewhat there, but the rest of it just nowhere to be found. Ridiculous as a storyline, sad as a commentary, the improbability factor ruled throughout the length of the movie. Come on dudes, we are in 2005, not in 1905 - we know how Saimese Twin separations are done, how wax can be used, and how it cannot be. The suspense was sad too - all the wrong music at the wrong times, and clichéd. When 2 people can run an entire town is when I think the global problem of power distribution is gonna be over. The town not on the map is funny too. Miss the movie, 'coz seeing it will mean you rue the 1.5 hours you would have spent there.

The Woman in Red (1984)

A very good comedy with real-life situations

[10/10 · 13 February 2006]

The "Woman In Red" documents the travails of a married, settled man, and talks about 'reality'-type events that can happen in your life or in mine.

The woman is GORGEOUS, and the situations presented therewith just the way things happen in real-life - confusions at the workplace, trepidations at the house, a dissatisfied cheating wife (a Greco Roman peacock with paws!!), things not happening the way they are supposed to, and then the ultimate opportunity presenting itself when you least imagine it. Funny friends, divorces, heartbreaks and the boys' room fun...

However, as Wilder puts it while on the ledge "All just for a piece of ass?"