Movie review: STREE

Ohhhh Yes. Bollywood has finally cracked their most uncomfortable genre-horror comedy. Earlier, the horror was uninspired, shamelessly plagiarised and plain bad. The comedy too,was all about cheap laughs, dimwit and below the belt. In short, the horror gave us unintentional laughs and comedy made us look away.

STREE then, is an original and refreshing blend of horror-comedy which breathes crackling humour and infuses enough scares along the way to make our time and money worth at the theatre.

The movie entertains and entertains with aplomb delivering laugh-out-loud moments one after the other. The laughs here are not cheap or slapstick, they are well-earned and well-thought of. 

The brilliant part is the fusion of both the genres. The competence of the filmmaker in handling this narrative is commendable. Watch how smoothly and assuringly he blends a frightful scene into a laugh-out-loud moment and Vice Versa. Praiseworthy.

STREE doesn’t what you to just laugh, it wants to send home a message too. Infact, the movie does to men what society does to women. The men in STREE are unprivileged, insecure, unsafe and subdued reflecting the treatment offered to women in most cases.

This projection however,is delivered so cleverly that it is finds a perspective and yet remains thoroughly entertaining .The credit for this enormously must go to the writing which is razor-sharp, clever and astute.

“Woh Stree hai, purush nahi; anumati lekar pakadti hai”,  “Yeh naye Bharat ki churail hai”  are few of the many gems the movie vocals.It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the dialogues add the required gravitas and have the maximum impact on the proceedings.

The film also benefits largely from its tremendous actors. Their expressions, dialogue delivery and comic timing escalate almost every scene and amplify their effect on the audiences.

Go watch it. And recommend it.

Movie Review: RACE 3

Remo D’Souza, the director of RACE 3 said before the film’s release, “This is not a film for the Critics”. The arrogance in his voice hinted at the same sad story. A badly made film will again make money at the box-office.

Well, Mr. D’Souza, forget the critics, this is not a film for anyone, not even for the Salman-devotees. And I honestly wish that this time a bad film stays the way it is and not become a successful film.

The problem with RACE 3 is not just that it is a bad film.( that was a given with Remo D’Souza at the helm). The problem is that how brazen and shameless it behaves in being such a dull and insipid affair.

Still then, I went in to see how bad it was and it wasn’t disappointing on that front. The filmmaker’s incompetence was on display right from the start-Excruciating slow-mos, pedestrian dialogues, dim-wit presentations unfolded quite consistently and predictably. The Proceedings kept on going from bad to worse and the arrogance of the celebrated star left no stone unturned to mock the viewers expectations.Almost every character in the movie behaved as a star and not as an actor.Their weird accents added further insult to injury.

Every scene, it seemed was constructed only to glorify the stars, every proceeding portrayed only to showcase the lavish production values and the entire product assembled in a manner as if the makers knew that the audience would be taken for granted. 

It is sad to see such extravagant amount of money being splurged on such stale and poor film projects.There is no shame in experimenting and failing. But it’s a sham if they don’t even make the effort.

It is time the filmmaker understands that his competence matters, the stars understand that their efforts and preparations matter. It is time the film fraternity understands that the audience matter.

Don’t watch it and spread the word.

Hurt the film and its makers.

Movie review: RAAZI

A rare Bollywood film which offers no chest-thumping, no jingoism, and more so, no sight of an Indian flag being hoisted anywhere. And yet a film which portrays patriotism in its true sense.

RAAZI then,is a sensitive and a gripping tale about love, sacrifice, loyalty- all for a cause and eventually the futility of it all.

Early into the film, the protagonist Sehmat (played by a brilliant Alia Bhatt) voices,“ The country is us, We are our country”.

Quite an appealing statement, and yet an obvious one. And therein, a valid point to comprehend as to how our deeds and actions would invariably pave the way for a Nation we aspire to build and safeguard.

The film,on the other hand slowly and steadily gathers steam as Sehmat works her way into gathering intel. Surely, the ease at which she is able to infiltrate and gain access feels convenient and contrived, yet the ‘building-up to something’ narrative keeps us invested. 

The tension feels palpable and the scenes where her cover would blow up anytime are thoroughly engaging.

To the filmmaker’s credit, she deliberately steers away from any unnecessary sub-plots, slapstick humour and spoon-fed explanations. She stays true to the gripping narrative infusing and expressing just the right sensitivities on both the sides. This is no ‘My Nation is holier than thou’ film. There are no villains here. Just ordinary people in a situation where everyone would stand to lose.

“When its War, nothing else matters, not you or me, nor anyone, just the War”, remarks an Officer in the end. 

War and its preparations consumes one and all. And if anything remains,are just the casualties. 

Go watch it.

Movie review: RAID

In our country, if ever the corrupt powerful Ultra-rich feel threatened and are subject to damage, it is only and only on celluloid.

And when Bollywood showcases them feeling helpless and getting decimated, the common man, even though transiently,feels empowered.

Hence, movies like RAID are more than just welcomed and looked upon with sincere expectations. Unfortunately though, the product seldom matches the assumption.

RAID hence, is another lost opportunity. At best, it is just another average film which runs out of ideas post intermission.

Based on true events, it begins promisingly. Slowly and steadily building up the tension and throwing up genuine laughs in between. Both the protagonist and the antagonist matching up and matching well. 

But soon, predictablilty surfaces and from there on, it is all redundant and repetitive.

The problem doesn't just begin, it further amplifies after the interval. 

Post-interval it is painstakingly abyssmal. Absolutely nothing to keep us intrigued, nothing left to suprise and nothing causing an emotional orgasm. 

And when the job is finally done, it just ain't clapworthy. Never for once, giving you the high, never truly making you feel empowered.

A movie which can easily be avoided.

Movie review: SONU KE TITU KI SWEETY

Movie review: SONU KE TITU KI SWEETY

You laugh on a joke instantly, not because it made much sense but because it was funny. It is purely instinctive driven and not a thought-out event. 

And therein lies the crux of SKTKS. It’s a film like all other Luv Ranjan films: illogical, nonsensical, sexiest and stupid but like all his earlier films provide for some great instinctive laughs. Laughs that are easy and cheap, slapstick and sexiest but still, they are what they are-LAUGHS.

Good humour stays with you for long, seldom gets redundant and is thoroughly enjoyable. 

And yet, if not for these all it could manage is just a burst of laughter somewhere, the job is still pretty much done.

You know what to expect from a Luv Ranjan film. A silly plot, absurd predicaments, stupid protagonists and an implausible gender sketch. It is an unconvincing and unrealistic world he portrays, but that is exactly his recipe to garnish laugh-out-loud moments. And on that front, he delivers and delivers consistently.

He knows his audience, and he knows what makes them laugh. They will laugh from the heart and not from the mind, he must believe.

For Every dip in the scene, for every drag in the proceedings, for every redundancy and cosmetic approach on the screen, he has the ‘Belly laugh’ as his answer.

Works for many, doesn’t work for some. Probably, he understand the numbers.

So far so good. But will he evolve? The bigger question, does he need to?

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.