NEWTON: Movie review

"The problem is not your honesty, it is the pride that you take in your honesty", vocals Sanjay Mishra to Rajkumar's character NEWTON.
Quite a statement. He further adds, "Doing you job honestly is always expected". And therein lies the crux of NEWTON.

NEWTON hence, is all about doing your job. Not bringing about a change, not causing a revolution, not being a rebel: just doing your job sincerely.

NEWTON is no hero, and the film isn't heroic. But it is penetrating enough. Perspective enough. Intriguing enough.

Hope in our country is not an option, it is a compulsion. And hence we aspire for greater endeavours. It questions our pride in our nation, in our democracy and many a times provide insights into our Modus operandi.

The beauty of NEWTON is that it doesn't pretend. It only portrays. And portrays subtly and splendidly.  It doesn't want to impress anyone( we all haven't forgotten the self-propaganda laden TOILET: Ek PREM KATHA), nor pretends to find a solution. It just wants you to know.

NEWTON is beautifully written, emaculately characterised and wonderfully enacted. Almost every character is flesh and blood and belongs to the movie. You just can't imagine anyone else playing these characters.

NEWTON doesn't have answers nor it dwells in finding them. All it wants is to make you understand your responsibilities and work towards it. Don't be remembered a hero, but be remembered the Man who did his job.

NEWTON is one of the finest films made in Bollywood.
Don't just watch it, recommend it.

Movie review: JAB HARRY MET SEJAL

'Today's cinema is today's literature', is a school of thought that Imtiaz Ali believes in.Over the years, his execution of that thought have intrigued us and entertained us.

Given his celebrated past, his films have carved a reputation of their own.
A reputation that says, 'Good is not good enough. Better is expected'.
And hence, we don't expect just good films from him, we want great films.

Sadly, JAB HARRY MET SEJAL is an Imtiaz Ali film that doesn't behave like an Imtiaz Ali film. Doesn't behave nor feel because it stays stagnated and dwells long into shallowness.
The man who made me fall in love with his earlier films now breaks my heart with his current one.

It breaks my heart to see Imtiaz Ali falling prey to bollywood clichés. It disappoints me that the man who wanted to experiment tells a 'Been there, done that' story. It hurts to see that the characters we always seemed to connect, cause no turbulence in our blood.

It is quite acceptable that a filmmaker fails to translate a novel concept, an idea or an experiment into a decent expression. Trying and failing is anyday better than failing to try.
The sad part is that with JHMS, Imtiaz Ali doesn't try anything different. His Harry met Sejal long time back.He basically  replicates the same approach of his earlier films(even dilutes them), throws in  newer, beautiful European landscapes and tells a story. A story where the European landscapes overpower the central protagonists.
The filmmaker known for his characters and their journeys being limited to showcase just exotic locations.

We loved Imtiaz's work for a reason. We were invested in his soul-searching, travel laden explorations, were intrigued in his take on contemporary love, feelings and character journeys. But in JHMS, all he does is repeat himself. And he not just repeats his work ,dilutes it and displays a half-baked, stale and boring tale of love and longing.

This was one film I wanted to enjoy. And j didn't. Sadly i wanted Harry to meet Sejal differently.

Movie review: LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKA

In many of the scenes, LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKA does to men what many bollywood films have done to women -  treat them as objects, make them look silly and mark them as one-dimensional. But if we didn't complain then, no reason why we should now.

The good thing is, LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKA wants to talk Women empowerment, not shout, scream or yell. Prime-time debated and discussed, echoed in ever metro city, this term has made the most noise but has hardly found a solid footing.
The film then, has a serious undertone but expresses it with genuine fun and humor.

To be honest, India is more of a Man's world. Most of India dwells in small towns and Small towns have their own bizarre modus operandi. They want their women to have varied roles but be submissive in all of them. They want them to be the 'Buajis' , 'biwis' , 'bahus and betis' with their terms and conditions. Every role with a tag, every behaviour with a restraint, and every move meant to be judged.

LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKA resides in these small cities, shows their taboos  and in turn, reflects a larger image.
An image which might not hold a universal appeal, but a reality that exists.
A reality which we are apprehensive to accept, but most of us inherently want.

Men in India are a scared species. Scared and insecure. They are scared of women, are insecure of them. They fear when a  woman responds, reacts and retaliates.
They are used to the tamed ones and hence lose it the moment a stronger one is face to face.

LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKA is not a penetrating perspective nor a wholesome justification. But it works because it dares and still stays breezy. It is terrific at places and has some genuinely funny moments. The good thing is that even when it is not, it doesn't drag or gets too indulgent. Repetitive maybe yes, but never boring.

A small film about small cities reflecting smaller mentalities. But raises a question? Is the mentality limited only to the smaller cities?
Watch it.

Movie review: DUNKIRK

"All we did was Survive", voices an embarrassed, rescued soldier.
"Well, that's good enough", is the response he gets.
DUNKIRK then, is a WAR film not about WAR. It is after all, a Christopher Nolan film, the Christopher Nolan way.

DUNKIRK was history to us when we read about it. But Nolan makes it an experience. He grasps us by the neck, drops us amidst that dreaded period and forces us to feel. And not just feel, imbibe.

Nolan does not allow DUNKIRK to celebrate much. Infact, what should it celebrate? He traps us, scares us, chokes us. But not unlike other war films showing corpses, mutilated bodies and intestine protruding bellies. He doesn't want you to look away, he wants you to get invested.
Invested in the grim and hopelessness of the soldiers? Why and what for?
And pretty soon you realise Why. With DUNKIRK, Nolan wants to give you, infact give us a sense of purpose.

Yes, he gives us a sense of purpose. A purpose beyond our limitations. A purpose beyond our self-centered, self-catererd and self-driven walk of life.
He uses DUNKIRK to address 'US', to give away the 'I'.
If a cluster of civilians could evacuate an army, it is purely because they wanted to.
Likewise, We could make the world a better place, only if we want to.

We all have the grit, the mettle, the resilience and the strength. It is just that when pushed to the walls, only then we realise it. Nolan gives you that Wall.

Should you watch it or not? It's a Christopher Nolan film, you will regret it if you don't.

Movie review: JAGGA JASOOS

First things first: JAGGA JASOOS is a mess. But a mess oozing out of something experimental, something original. An experiment far from success, but yet a try that didn't fall on its face.

JAGGA JASOOS is as messy as a kid's room.A room that is all tangled up and untidy on the surface. But look closer, and you will be invested in the kid's processes that lead to the mess. His intelligence, his ideas, his usage of resources at hand, his clumsiness, his unorthodox methods all contributing to the mess.
Ideas, intelligence leading to a mess, you would question? Of course yes, if they go out of control. Of course yes, if one becomes obsessed with them. Then they become the mess.

But a mess is not all bad, though its not all good either. But I am not an 'All needs to be good' waala person. For me 'Something great' is always a better alternative.'Glimpses of genius' is stimulating enough, 'Everything needs to be in order' is very textbookish.

An experiment might be based on a textbook, but it generally doesn't end that way. And that is the beauty of it.
JAGGA JASOOS is that experiment that didn't go by the book. And hence, faltered.
But amidst, showed great promise.
It gave me melody, it gave me freshness and most importantly instilled my faith in the medium.

If everything was to be judged by the end product, the journey everytime would feel miserable. Anurag Basu had a great time making the movie, I had a decent time watching it. Exhaustive yes, laboured yes, silly yes but still I had a decent time.

I won't recommend this to everyone. Only for those, who understood what I wrote.

Movie review: HINDI MEDIUM

Reviewing HINDI MEDIUM in English is quite an irony in itself. Nonetheless, I write in case it saves you the time and the money.

I had decent expectations from HINDI MEDIUM. The subject at hand felt not only interesting, but relevant too. It had so much potential to work with.
But as we have seen on most occasions, great potential not always transform into great result. HINDI MEDIUM is then, again a lost opportunity.

HINDI MEDIUM begins promisingly. It gives you a feeling that you just might get what you came in expecting -a satire on topical issues, humour stemming out from the protagonist's muddle, an insight on social vices and eventually leading to probably a penetrating perspective. But nothing of the sorts happen. Your expectations take a beating, your grey matter remains unaltered and your emotions run pretty much dry.

Barring a few genuinely funny and moving scenes, nothing much stirs or shakes you. The chemicals in your blood never gets their escalation, the neurons fail their stimulation.

The film though, means well. It is well-intended and brilliantly enacted. It even wants to. It wants to address issues and even wants to send home a message, it just doesn't know how to.
Hence, no matter how relevant the predicaments are, their presentation comes across as forced and contrived. On most occasions, scenes are merely constructed to make them funny. Would have been so much better had humour trickled down naturally from the scenes. It all feels laboured, uneasy and incomplete.

"English is not a language, it is a class", vocals Irrfan's wife.Quite a statement, but the film never establishes the theme. It scratches social taboos aplenty, hints on the prevalent malices,but doesn't penetrate deep enough. All shallow and dealt superficially and lacking the much needed weight or depth.

What the film does manage,(and that usually works for Bollywood)is that it plays to the populist gallery. What it does have are two splendid actors in Irrfan Khan and Deepak dobriyal. It is these two actors who save the day and make the film watchable.

Watch only if you have nothing else to do.

Movie review: MERI PYAARI BINDU

We have all been a witness atleast, if not a participant, to a One-sided love affair.
The 90's we grew up in saw us dwell and succumb to its feeling.
Remember the tape-recorders with the cassettes? The varied songs with their "apni-waali-haalat"lyrics? Truly Nostalgic.

Yes. MERI PYAARI BINDU makes you nostalgic. Not only this, it charms you, moves you and gets you smiling all the way through.

Surely, it offers nothing new. "Pyaar ke baare mein naya kya likhoge", voices Parineeti to Aayushmann. But the mere warmth that PYAAR exudes is enough for us. And the film has a lot of it. Genuine warmth and touching scenes.

The film celebrates the feeling of being in love. The feeling of helplessness, the feeling of being and acting stupid, the charm of innocence, the joy of seeing your loved one happy.
But most importantly, it celebrates holding onto the long-gone love, not letting it go and being comfortable with it. Staying with it even if it is not yours.

I liked it. Chances are that you might like it as well.

LOGAN: Movie Review

Yes, The WOLVERINE can bleed to death. And yes, the fitting send-off will make you misty eyed. As ironically it may seem, the mutant franchise LOGAN feels amazingly humane.

We have always liked Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine. Here in, we fall in love with his Logan.

His Logan gets beaten and we get hurt, he runs scared and we want him to be safe, he cries and we get the lumps, he feels vulnerable and helpless and we want his redemption. And we he does run wild and smashes the bad guys, we shout and clap with aplomb.

He always had the style with his admantium, this time we feel his bleeding heart.
His every second on screen stirs the chemicals in our blood.

Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine and as Logan fittingly deserved and eventually gets one of the finest last scenes.
Yes, you will get nostalgic.

Go watch it.

feels vulnerable. 

Rangoon: Movie review

Rangoon feels like schizophrenia or maybe a split personality disorder. It is beyond saving for most parts but every now and then shows promise and glimpses of Bhardwaj's brilliance.

It is either horribly wrong with Rangoon(predominantly) or flashes of excellence from the filmmaker.
Inconsistent is what the treatment is and incomplete is what the product feels.

Vishal Bhardwaj is a man of many talents but his film making craft always feel incomplete. Almost all his films have brilliant moments but moments alone do not make a brilliant film. On several occasions he seems to loose grip, inevitably succumbs to self-indulgence and falls bait to the abstract.

He picks up difficult subjects, adapts and blends them into our style and manages to create a 'seldom treaded ambience'. It is not that bad though, the problem is that it ain't as good either.

Bhardwaj is never shy to try. He tries because he can, not sure now whether he should. He needs to command his territory and not get lost in the transition.
He need to be ultra sure and keep a leash on his subject and not get scattered.
More condensed and more compact.

Indulge us as an audience, but do not force you self-indulgence. Stay abstract but let us interpret in a better way.
Stay unorthodox but engage us.

We will wait for one more Mr. Bhardwaj.

Movie review: RAEES

Invariably every Salman khan film does it,  Ajay devgn tried doing it (SHIVVAY) and now Shahrukh khan is falling into it with RAEES. Such established superstars and yet their films manufactured to suit their stardom. Always wanting to be important  than the script, more significant than the plot and much bigger than the film.

To begin with, it didn't matter. Then, it began to disappoint. But now, we feel cheated. Cheated and Insulted.
Cheated because we don't get our money worth. Insulted because the filmmakers  take us for granted.

RAEES could have been(and infact should have been) a complete entertainer. A complete paisa-vasool. But it didn't. The sad part is, it seemed that it didn't wanted to.
It had everything laid out well: an Able director, a charming superstar and a brilliant Nawazuddin Siddique.
It also began well. It entertained and entertained good in the first half. We loved the ambience, the dialogues and we loved the Shahrukh-Nawazuddin duo.

And then it happened. All the promise evaporated. The second half turned into a "Let us show what Shahrukh is capable of".  And it began to overstretch and drag. The superstar feeling comfortable at the cost of our inconvenience.

They took us for granted yet again.(The fans would love it anyway, they thought).
We were taken for a ride yet again.( The fans would understand, they believed).