Commando 2 Movie Review: The trail leads nowhere

What’s Good: Vidyut Jammwal’s knack to perform stunts.

What’s Bad: Almost everything other than the action. The melodramatic dialogues and a tedious plot.

Watch or Not?: You can watch this when it airs on television. There’s nothing great about the action or acting in this film.

Commando 2 stars Vidyut Jammwal (Karan) as a commando, Freddy Daruwala (Bhaktawar), Adah Sharma (Bhavna Reddy) as cops assigned to arrest Vicky Chadda, a money launderer in Thailand.

The movie opens with Vidyut Jammwal, single-handedly beating thugs on a mission, which leads him to Vicky Chadda. He teams up with Freddy and Adah Sharma to put Vicky Chadda behind bars. Freddy and Vidyut cannot see eye to eye for no reason and Adah is just stupid with her Hyderabadi accent, who apparently is an encounter specialist and runs around her target foolishly, just to kill him from point blank distance.

Direction & Writing:

A good name in the industry such as Deven Bhojani, conjuring such a bland comes as a shock. An action movie needs to be adroit with crisp dialogues. This movie lacks the pace to be an action flick. It seems anyone can write an action movie these days. You just have to follow Bollywood movies and think that an archetypal story will suffice.

With dialogues like, “Mere haath pair toh toh khud mere orders nahi mante”, “Zinda rekhke konsa swach bharat ka zhanda uthane wala tha yeh?” or “Next time tum aisa kuch karenga na, toh mein bol rahi mereko jabardasta pyaar ho jayenga tumharese aur mein hoton pe chapka dungi ek do”, a film can only look so crass.

Star Performances:

When it comes to action, there’s no one better than Vidyut Jammwal. But with his countenance, he only comes off as a person with no emotions.

Adah Sharma is a peculiar encounter specialist with a Hyderabadi accent. if her character was to evoke fun, then she has succumbed to do so.

Esha Gupta, Shefali Shah, Suhail Nayyar form an average cast. There was a lot of anticipation from Thakur Anoop Singh and as a debutant, he does well.

The Last Word:

You feel lucky when you realize there’s no song in the movie, but then you hear “Commando” every time Vidyut moves. Commando 2 is a very formulaic film, with bad acting and dialogues. If you want to endure 2 long hours then watch it for yourself.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Te3n Movie Review:

Can you relate yourself when I tell you someone is playing bang-bang and then, at first, all the blood rushing through their body, all that effort being rewarded for and all of a sudden they realise exuding less force within? Well, that’s exactly how this movie was, but get out of the earlier context.

A case of kidnapping, a troubled grandfather with the determination of finding the kidnapper follows a trail till he meets the convicted.

 

The movie starts off in the present and the scenes from the past are revealed with great directorial care. The likes of Bijesh Jayarajan of ‘Yudh’ fame and Suresh Nair meant a complete package of thrill and mystery. Following Kahaani’s huge success in screenplay, this film too had the same enigma following around.

Directing was of the top notch, may be a par better than the writing considering the figment of imagination put forth by the story writers. The first half was the epitome of graceful and refined conglomeration of directing and cinematography.

When I think of Amitabh Bachchan, all I can perceive is simplicity; elegant simplicity. Age is no bar for this great actor. He makes each expression his own feeling.

Talking about simplicity and great acting, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vidya Balan are not far behind. Nawaz’s acute and sharp performance coupled with Balan’s captivating act take away any second thoughts you’re having about watching this film.

Suffice it to say that this movie has all it’s bearings in place. But an archetypal trend in the last four years of Bollywood films makes it all, a little déjà vu. I was constantly thinking of Jazbaa, which is, on so many levels, an alike movie. Another movie would be Wazir, which was released earlier this year, exhibited a very similar framework of the story and the twists in this movie were almost as if pried off from Wazir.

The Last Word:

Inspite of all of the above going on, I’m pleased with the film, not so with the climax. Having said that, strong and compelling performances of the three musketeers, a great host of background music, along with nail biting mystery makes this film a good finish.

My Rating: 3.5/5

If you haven’t watched the trailer, here’s the link:

Sarbjit Movie Review: A cry for help

Omung Kumar, the director of much appreciated Mary Kom, comes a movie about an ordinary farmer from Bhikiwind, Punjab who under the influence of alcohol crosses the Indo-Pak border and is incarcerated in Pakistan for 23 years, being mistaken for an Indian spy. The film emphasizes on the plight of Sarabjit Singh and the hardships faced by his family, especially his sister, Dalbir Kaur.

The tone of the movie is a notch higher in terms of the intensity as compared to Mary Kom. Randeep Hooda starring as Sarabjit, brings out the predicaments of the man who is wrongly convicted for bombings in Lahore and Faisalabad. As the movie is narrated from the perspective of his sister, it rules out the possibility of him being a spy which the unconfirmed sources from RAW agree to disagree.

Apart from the various controversies the story (real life story) has faced, the screenplay, dialogues and acting uplift the movie to a great extent. The screenplay goes in detail exploring the life of Sarabjit’s struggle to maintain sanity, Dalbir’s fight to bring her brother back and his wife’s and daughters’ disturbance at keeping Sarabjit’s memory alive.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s zealous and invigorating performance will surely dwell in your mind and remind you of your elder protective sister. Randeep Hooda as Sarabjit was captivating, profound and gave a stellar performance. His camaraderie with Aishwarya Rai was terrific in spite of her being his sister in the film. Richa Chadha has always been one of the best actors of Bollywood. Even the performance by Ankita Shrivastav and Shiwani Saini as Sarabjit’s daughters conveyed the intended effect.

The Last Word:

Omung Kumar in his dirctorial has immensly outplayed the boundary of Sarbjit being a boring and a tedious movie. He gives a great message through this film. Currently 403 Indians and 278 Pakistanis are in imprisonment between the countries, many of them mistaken for being a spy. Our responsibility is to not let anyone mislead us and to trust our conscience.

My Rating: 4/5.

 

Baaghi Movie Review: Action packed, no brainer and unimpactful

With the stock of a trailer with so much action, stunts and the scenery captured in a way gratifying the viewer, it seems the movie was quite surreal when it extended from two minutes to a little over two hours. With a chiseling body Tiger Shroff exuded some moves in Heropanti. But when it came to acting he just couldn’t capitalize.

We talk a lot about how Bollywood is entertaining, but no one sees past the naive and cheesy acts in the movies. For starters, even the name of the movie was a borrowed one. The premise is picked up from the Indonesian hit Raid, and if that wasn’t enough, the screenplay and dialogues were terrible.

Tiger Shroff just couldn’t move past the words, “Abhi toh maine start kia hai”. Shraddha Kapoor kept the same demeanour as from the movie Ek Villain. With Sanjeev Datta’s debut writing experience, which is conjured from the diverse releases from Bollywood movies and Sabir Khan’s consistant work of directing muddled movies continues.

Though the action looks quite captivating, the same cannot be said about other aspects. Tiger Shroff’s and Shraddha Kapoor’s acting succumbs to keep the film entertaining. The film falls flat with the humdrum nature of the screenplay and the lack of originality.

The Last Word:

Though an interesting choice of playgarism has yielded the movie a bit of attention, the film has only a tidbit to offer besides the hand-to-hand fights and the kicks of Tiger. The film is tacky and it lacks a strong plot, but the cinematography and the scenic beauty somewhat pleases the eye.

My Rating: 2/5.

Bajirao Mastani Movie Review: An impeccable turret of moviemaking with a twisted storyline

Though an elucidated disclaimer says that the story depicts the life of Bajirao Peshva and his love story revolving around Mastani, and that the real events have been changed as per the need, for the purpose of storytelling; it doesn’t make up for wrong idealizing of what Peshva stood for. It’s like saying, “I’m writing a story based on your life and showing you as a man who brought shame on your family.” Now, isn’t that fiction? Technically, yes it is. But, since I’ve used your name and portrayed your character through my writing, the whole story points out one name and it’s yours, and in it you’re a bad person. So yeah, by doing that, I am throwing mud at you. To make myself clear, by altering the real events the writer has in fact done an offense.

I don’t know how many people from India have known about Bajirao Peshva, but its distressing to know that people have resorted to believing the story of the film and have painted an image, that’s by far, isn’t anything like Bajirao. So, other than the manipulation of the story and exploiting the whole Peshva house, the storyline for the film has been neat. The most salient and virtuous aspect on paper are the dialogues. They are the backbone of how the Maratha’s used to live, communicate and rule. They are the embodiment and the structure of the Maratha’s. Prakash Kapadia, who also assisted in writing the screenplay of the film Katyar Kaljat Ghusli, has also penned down few poetic lines, which increase the magnificence beyond praise.

When it comes to directing a historical film, a great responsibility is on the shoulders of the director. More than actors, he needs to be prepared for the guiding the actors, the etiquettes and the manner in which they are supposed to maneuver and act. Personally, I’ve never seen a director so blended in directing a historical love story. His direction cannot be criticized.

And when it comes to acting, Ranveer Singh has left an impact so sturdy, as if it has been engraved on my heart. A fabulous piece of acting from him and it shows. The scene of the last battle, when he walks alone into the army of the opposition and decapitates and destroys a major part of it, is when you’ll realize, you’ve seen something magnificent which cannot be forgotten.

Portraying Mastani, Deepika Padukone has given the performance of her lifetime. She is the dandiest in the film and gives the best judgement to her role. Priyanka Chopra, after her recent success in American T.V. series, Quantico, is captivating beyond measure. Saying that this character played by her is tough, is an understatement. She is a treat to watch.

The Final Word:

With picturesque cinematography and mesmerizing acting, the film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali touches the heart, though manipulating the story does not do any good. Gathering all the resources and conjuring a movie, which only focuses on the love story of a man, is not a biography but only an aspect of one’s life and I invite the youth (of at least our country) to think before believing some apocryphal stories. Showing Peshva dancing, or Kashibai and Mastani dancing together with their sarees wore below the belly button cannot be fathomed or forgotten. There are many flaws in respect of the story and the references made, but the worst thing is, they’ve created a fiction on the life of Bajirao Peshva; the Savior of Sanatan dharma.

So for this particular movie I’m going to implement a different rating system.

My Rating:

Acting: 5/5.

Directing: 4.5/5.

Materials or references used: 1.5/5.

Story: 0.5/5.

Overall rating: 0.5/5.

Shaandaar Movie Review: A witty take on the women empowerment issue

A leap from Chillar Party to the elegant & thought provoking Queen, comes a movie directed by Vikas Bahl with another message. With his reputation and knack for producing films showing a different perspective to the ubiquitous issues, the hopes were too high for this new Rom-Com. Bringing a new romantic story to Bollywood is as difficult as making money from a Sci-Fi film (In Bollywood). Vikas always comes with a new crisp and he has outperformed himself every time. His Chillar Party was one of the few movies for children, which was actually suitable for the child’s eye. A spark of zest could be seen in every child actor. Then came the delirious Queen, who was equally funny, curious and inspirational. But with Shaandaar, the story cannot commensurate the novelty of his previous work. Nevertheless, it is “Shaandaar”.

The trio of Pankaj Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and the debutant Sanah, together conjure magic. And then there’s “Aila,” I mean, Alia Bhat. She’ll blend in with any actor and protrude everyone. Since her first film, she has burst into with quite the talent. Vikas has kept the screenplay overwhelmed with the entertainment quotient. A few dialogues between Pankaj and Shahid immerse you into the film. Over all, the writing unit impresses the brain.

With the duties of arranging the marriage of Isha (Sanah); the head of the family Mummiji (Sushma Seth), the lady Hitler, sets a business deal with a rich family. JJ- Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor), the wedding planner falls in love with Aila Alia (Alia Bhat). The story moves around till the day of wedding. What happens during those 2 hours is humor and brain. But the key to the whole script was, it did not digress from the actual message, keeping in check with the comedy.

The Final Word:

It is implied from this point of time, that when Vikas directs a film, it is going to be a good one. But keeping that in mind, Shaandaar is average when compared to his earlier films. If you’re looking for good actors, dialogues, a story with a subtle message, go buy yourself a ticket of Shaandaar. And another mention goes to the spellbinding narration. Digs on that, like totally (Watch the movie to understand this).

My rating: – 3.5/5.

Rudrama Devi Movie Review: Other than Anushka Shetty’s galvanizing performance, the film fails to cheer up.

Have you seen Tees Maar Khan? If you have, then you must remember the things Akshay Kumar pulled off in it. My point is, as was Akshay Kumar unaware of predicting the story of the movie he was shooting in the movie Tees Maar Khar, so was Gunasekhar, the director and writer of this movie. With so much pre-production, effort worth appreciating and the story of Rudrama Devi, which is borrowed from the actual ruler of Kakatiya, it’s a shame that this film didn’t put forth the best of the content.

As much as I could read about Rudhrama Devi, the story of this film has bits and pieces of her life in it. A female child is born to Ganapatideva, the ruler of Kakatiya. But considering the precarious condition of the dynasty and consistent attacks from other empires, King Ganapatideva announces the child as a male prodigy to the eyes of his citizens. The people know her as Rudradeva, who defies all limitations thought to bring down a galloping woman. She manages the empire and overcomes many hassles. There are a few side characters and sub-plots appended to the film. As a result of which, the story and the screenplay lengthens. The story as it goes, is above average, but the dialogues were the one’s which really sucked the ambience out of the film.

Director Gunasekhar must have thought, a film with abundant war scenes could not fail. The last segment when the war breaks, there are a few army formations having a resemblance to this year’s war themed film Baahubali. But the major difference between these films was Rudrama Devi didn’t exude any realistic or logical formation. They are the most ludicrous formations I’ve ever seen and 3D made it worse. Of course, I didn’t go for a 3D show, but I can see what went wrong there. The thing is, apparentely you cannot produce a better film with hokum. It tried very hard to protrude the ubiquitous level fround in films in India. Another setback was, over a couple of times, a cartoon clip just slipped right in front of the screen, which was very irritating and ratified the limitations of showing those scenes through actual humans. And if there was no other flaw, this movie had songs. I don’t get the idea of showing those dances if they are not going to choreograph it coherently.This was such an experience, when we go for the gathering of a school and children of 10 dance and we laugh seeing them do cute little things.

Rudrama Devi is portrayed by Anushka Shetty and she is very dazzling with a prince’s armour. She is fierce and exhuberant when Rudradeva & beautiful, coquetry and ravishing when Rudrama Devi. Her acting is very soothing and is the only reason why this film should be seen. With So much focus on Rudrama Devi, the other actors like Allu Arjun, Rana Daggubati,Nithya Menen, Vikramjeet Virk and Prakash Raj. Though most of them perform well, Rana Daggubati, Nithya Menen and Prakash Raj stand out.

The Final Word:

With this film going on floors four months before Baahubali, the storyline taken from the life of an empress, with a colossal budget and a sturdy starcast, Rudrama Devi as a film is really crappy. Right from dialogues to action scenes, it all looks like there was a rope tied to the person.The war and the cheap level of animation will seem like you’re playing kochadaiyaan on your mobile phone. This is an ingenuine impromptu effort despite the surprising performance from Anushka Shetty and couple others. If you have to, watch it for Anushka Shetty.

My rating: 2/5. 

Rudrama Devi Trailer

Everest (2015) Review: Gripping true tale of the 1996 disaster

Everest is the tallest mountain of the world, but as exciting as that sounds, it also houses more than 250 dead bodies. Since 1922, Everest has seen missions and deaths happening on its own chest and most infamous of all was the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster. It claimed lives of eight people, making it the worst day and year in the history of Everest Expeditions.

The movie does not try to dramatize the chronicles at all in any other way. But the dance of the death is sure to make you stick your eyes towards the screen. The film puts before you the harsh realities when nature goes furious; nipping away human bodies like buds of flower in its icy cold fists.

The visuals are a treat to watch, especially in 3D. Vast white expanses of the Himalaya are always pleasure to eyes.
No aspect of the movie seems over-emphasized. Emotional content, thrill, harsh realities, acting, music, everything is in perfect balance. Thus the movie, by my opinion, is exactly what it should have been: the golden center-point between a
commercial film and a documentary.

While many are saying that Everest is a disappointment, as a common man I disagree with them.
If you are looking for entertainment, I advise you to avoid this. This is a serious, biopic type of movie. However if you do happen to go for it, I’m sure it will be a movie to remember.
If you are an adventure enthusiast, you will love this movie. But no matter who you are what you cannot forget is how much it shakes you by the time you get out of the theater.

I rate it 3.5 from 5. Totally worth one watch.

Start by watching the trailer right now:

Talvar Movie Review: The story will leave you devastated.

It’s been little more than seven years, that the twin murder of Aarushi and Hemraj have drifted from the CBI getting one lead to another and then to being bogged down on several dead ends. With absolutely no evidence, the parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar being convicted of these murders under the tags of ‘honour killings’, stay in detention since 2013. The case would’ve been solved long ago, but the skillful work of the Delhi police, in garnering and containing the evidence, along with various labs storing them, managed to let the case run only on the hypothesis of CBI. Not that CBI was very dutiful in its task, but they successfully landed the charges on the parents rather than finding the murder on the loose.

I have been following the events of the Aarushi murder, also with the help of a book (not completed reading) with the name of the girl who was murdered in her sleep. Written by the reporter, Avirook Sen, the book mainly shows how the parents were innocent of committing the crime but it also had the mindset of a person, who would likely write something biased. After all, had spent two and half years covering the investigation. As much as I was convinced that Rajesh and Nupur couldn’t imagine doing it, the book also hinted Avirook Sen pressing on how the police and CBI personnel wanted to close off the case rather than finding the killer.

If you’re just checking it out for the first time click here for trailer:

Talking about the movie, Meghna Gulzar had to deliver a notable film for one of the uncanny case/sensation of India, with Vishal Bhardwaj’s retelling to its effect. To begin with, a whole lot of characters were altered/deleted and a case was designed such a way so as to show Ashwin Kumar (Irrfan Khan) as the savior. Needless to say, Ashwin, with his orthodox manner of getting the information out of suspects couldn’t save them from going to prison. The intention of the story was not to show a happy ending, but to get the audience to think about what’s going to happen next? Particularly, if the system doesn’t change. It was kind of like Prakash Jha’s movies. The screenplay did get a little messy, with many intricacies. For a typical Bollywood viewer, some of it might go over his head.

Konkana Sen Sharma was outstanding as the mother of Shruti (name changed from Aarushi). She was at her best while the scenes cut when Shruti’s body was taken into the vehicle for post mortem. Again, while the CBI worked out many theories of how the parents were the murders, in one of the hypothesis, she said, “Chal ab acting karni hai”(Let’s go, now we have to put on an act). The manner in which she exuded the characters of a loving mother and on the other hand a psychopath was frenetic and intimidating at times.

Irrfan Khan wasn’t the best as Ashwin Kumar, but was one of the attractions.  Among others, there were Neeraj Kabi, who was convincing enough as a doting father, Shishir Sharma, Gajraj Rao, Prakash Belawadi, Sumit Gulati, Tabu & Atul Kumar, who maintained the flow and kept the level in sync with what they had been expected.

The Final Word:

This film is not only a take on the most enigmatic case in the history of India but also acts as a  reminder to us that even with the best of resources available in hand, anything could go wrong with the current caliber of system. A need for better system, always craves in our minds. If you’re free this week and want to follow up to “what happened to Aarushi”, watch this movie. Otherwise, a man is awaiting a probe to pick him off the martian lands, in other screens.

My Rating: 3.5/5.

The Martian Movie Review: A graceful battle of survival, with Mars and eventually with the movie’s runtime

“Duct tape is magic and should be worshipped”, said Mark Watney in Andy Weir’s novel. I’ve only completed as far as 64% of the novel, but that didn’t matter much as the movie just waded through what was left of it.  The Martian being one of the most admired and anticipated movie of the year is in fact a fast forward of the novel. There are a host of YA, Dystopian, Sci-fi books out there, being converted into movies. Some of those deserve a watch, but when it comes to writing the screenplay, the job is easier said than done. A novel, probably of 300-400 pages being curbed to 2 hours of runtime is like hampering the growth and development of the film. Though it does not weave the intricacy and share the details, The Martian is a ‘go’.

If you havn’t watched the trailer, click Matt Damon’s face below:

I’m going to indulge in spoiling the story a bit for you. So, Ares 3 team land safely on Mars, as a part of NASA’s initiative. And the team receives a warning of an upcoming storm on Mars. Now, the Hab, where the team officially lives in, would tilt at 12.3 degrees and with limited available time they’d have to seek refuge in the Hab. But on the way back to it, Mark Watney gets hit by the antenna of one of the comms. He wakes up to see that his crew now, has long gone to return to planet Earth, along with Hermes gone and no communication to Earth. He ruminates about his viable options and draws out that he has to survive another 4 years on Mars alone till Ares 4 program team picks him up. With about 300 days food and a limited supply of water and Oxygen, he starts building up the resources. He works his way to get water: Use Hydrazine, a fuel, separate Hydrogen from it by lighting it on fire, convert Carbon dioxide to Oxygen through the Oxygenator, blow Oxygen and Hydrogen in a confined space and give birth to water, all with the chance of getting killed. Mark also becomes the first person to grow potatoes on Mars using his own shit. I know, isn’t science fun? So, now to communicate with NASA he gets the pathfinder, learns ASCII code language and using the imager on the pathfinder, he communicates with NASA. Mark survives through all the persistent and ‘Mars planning to kill him’ times and gets home safely. To reveal more about the movie, watch it for yourself.

Though the story is the dandiest, it majorly depends on the director, on how he wants to festoon the pomp. Ridley Scott needs no introduction, his films having run a good number on the box office. But that doesn’t make up for the shallowness of this movie in terms of details. They should have given more emphasis on succinctly elucidating how Watney did what he did. It just falls flat on the screenplay. But with a more elaborate runtime it could have crept into the minds who have tasted the blood of the novel. With such movies; 3D, cinematography and CGI have to be of top notch, and in this case, The Martian delivers it.

Mark Watney in the novel, was very real, pragmatic, convenient and quick with a joke. On the other hand Matt Damon’s zeal kind of keeps you committed to the big screen. As for seeing him in the skin of Watney is a little unconvincing, less empirical. Not that it’s the deficiency in his acting, but a pinned down runtime doesn’t give him the opportunity of being compatible with the character. A whole lot of stars of high caliber like Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor have starred in the movie, but their presence is very minimal, again the problem of having an average playtime.

The Final Word:

If you love Sci-fi movies, where the protagonist gets stranded on a planet for a shitload of 3 years, you’ll like The Martian. For those, who ranted about how bad the novel was because it had all kinds of calculations and was boring, watch the movie, you might end up liking it more than me. Apart from that, Matt Damon with all the above crew, and an adroit director Ridley Scott, it’s a must watch. But if you want to scavenge more about Mark’s bitter and lonely odyssey, then read the book.

It’s rare that, books-turned-movies work out with such elegance, but as short (that’s the flaw) as The Martian is, it deserves a 4/5.

“In your face, Neil Armstrong!”