Latest Bollywood Movie Reviews

Kesari matches its hype. In fact it delivers more than that. It has a screenplay which is written with a maturity that will surprise you. Nationalist cinema is no longer jingoistic , it delivers patriotism with a big sense of pragmatism. The biggest indicator of this is in the opening scene of Kesari when Akshay’s Hawaldar Ishar Singh explains the geo political scenario of the then Saragarhi to his fellow soldier with a real brilliant miyan,biwi and kazi parallels.
Kesari has everything which big canvas should have. Super action which gets underlined by Akshay’s solid command of action which refuses to wane. Mesmerising visuals of the geography of Saragarhi and dialogues which are rich,deep and drive the mood of this movie. My favourite was “kisan hoon mitti se rishta bana hi loonga”
The inter character chemistry particularly the one between Akshay Kumar and the bigoted Kazi is pure cinematic wowness and then there are subplots of tension particularly the cat and mouse battle between Akshay and the enemy sniper who has a very feminine way of dressing up.
The biggest victory that Anurag Singh scores is that despite being a debutant director and the whole story being known to all of us beforehand he keeps us interested in the proceedings with the twist and turns .My favourite stand out scene was the way Hawaldar Ishar Singh gets the nemesis of that unnamed victim afghan woman.
Kesari also has some brilliant comic moments particularly the one when a frustrated soldier walks in to rant with his fellow musically inclined soldier room mate who always plays sad tunes all the time on his instrument.
Slowly you develop a liking for all the 21 sikh soldiers too who are different and have their own personal demons too. At least some of them.
Kesari is what a big drama film means. Go for it just for the way Akshay keeps evolving as an actor with every movie.

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Who says powerful roles are not written for women of all ages .Photograph negates this statement.
The story is unusual( to some it may sound unrealistic and ' filmy').It draws the point that differences in faith,socio- economic conditions,levels of literacy and parental choices can be ignored when the choice maker herself is the girl whose in a relationship.Her choice is empowerment.She need not make a noise to prove her point( like many feminists do).Her silence itself says a lot.
As a mere coincidence this unknown,shy,simple ,aloof girl ( Sanya Malhotra as Miloni Shah) is captured in his camera by a street photographer ( Nawaazuddin Siddiqui as Rafi) ..A photo is delivered to her only for the girl to disappear.
The photographer's widowed grand mother ( Farrukh Jaffer) is nagging her grand son ( Rafi) to get married at the earliest.How does Rafi 'manage'to satisfy her grandma?
At the nick of time Rafi has located the disappeared girl and requested her to ' pretend' to be her fiancee as Noori,lest his grandma get ' suspicious' about the girl's faith.
So far so good.Within heart the grandma is prepared to accept the ' presented' girl to be her daughter-in-law il.What's the hitch? Soon the grandma has come to know the antecedents of the girl .She's unsure as to what could happen?
As time unfolds it's revealed that the girl belongs to a high income family,that she's persuing her CA Foundation course at a coaching institute and that she belongs to the majority faith.And that her parents are looking for a match for their daughter.
Despite knowing all this ,the photographer and the girl are ' silently' in a ' relationship' not known to others.
Meanwhile two more suitors( the girl's teacher Jim Sarbh and a much NRI) woo the girl.
Does she take the traditional route( parental choice) or her own to make the final choice? Go see for yourself.
Photograph would be remembered for three outstanding performances of Sanya Malhotra,Nawaazuddin Siddiqui and Farrukh Jaffar.
Not to be missed by the discerning viewers.
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There are movie that are pitched to us as suspense movies but they have more sleep value than suspense value. To explain they have far better capability to put you to sleep than intrigue you with suspense.
Badla has a few pluses going for it. Well composed background score. Great cinemtaography and perfect actors. The director just could not brush up on the most important element of film making and that is a perfect script. In its effort to repeatedly stump, shock and awe us the plot of Naina Saithee’s murdered boyfriend is played about thrice to us from different perspectives and circumstantial evidence but by the time the movie ends,you could not care less and as an audience you would want to run out of the theater.
In fact the climax twist in the end is Badla’s most weakest part and the whole plot looks so unreal. Revealing it will be a spoiler.
In fact in some scenes you could make out that even Amitabh was not really sure how he needs to play out his character. Taapsee did well again partly because the plot moves around her. Amrita Singh got something worthwhile in this movie on screen and she has made the most of it.
One star for the performances , give it a shot on TV save your money, time would be wasted even if you watch it on TV.

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What does the guy do when the gal prefers a 'live in relationship' to a ritualistic marriage?.We are Informed that even Radha and Krishna never got married,yet their love was never ever commented upon nor stigmatised as in Luka Chuppi.
A visual media intern( Kriti Sanon) is in a relationship with a staff reporter ( Kartik Aaryan) in Mathura. Internship makes them move to Gwalior.None is prepared to offer the lovers boarding and lodging,until one broker advices them to behave like a married couple.So far so good.
A stage comes one a few 'suspect' their 'marital relationship'.Self guilt and the the fear of being ' ostrasized' drives them to get married,in any- which ever way.As luck would have it,all their attempts get aborted.
When the upper caste father( Vinay Pathak) of the girl is sounded about the relationship about her daughter and the reporter guy,the father agrees them to undergo a ' sham marriage'.Why? Because elections are round the corner.Barring the ' couple's none else knows that they have not as yet been married,despite pretensions to the contrary.
it's only at a mass community marriage mandap that girl's father gets an inkling that the the already ' married' damaad is going for a ' second marriage'.
What's the reality? How does the confusion gets resolved? Go see for your self.
To me the concept of ' live in relationship' doesn't gell in a small town locale.The presentation is too crude.The upper caste attitude of the girl's father is revolting and disgusting.The open abuse towards a minority friend( Appar Shakti) of the girl's lover is too one sided.The performances never rise above mediocrity .
Nothing much to rave about.The BO report could be a thumbs down. less

After a surfit of content driven films,comes this insane film. Thinnest of a 'plot'. Some one( Manoj Pahwa) has uttered some incoherent ' dying declaration' of a treasure of R50 cr,hidden some where in a zoo.Lo and behold every one,but in pairs,aimlessly move around to be the first to unearth the treasure..Do they succeed?
The director ( Inder Kumar) wants us to go ' full blast' ha ha and enjoy this adventure comedy.Does he succeed?
Look at the screen play- A cop ( Boman Irani) demands a 50 percent cut to get 100 cr worth demonetised notes,into legal one's.A Gujju ( Anil Kapoor) begs a tiger to be away from him or else he would be taken care of another Gujju,who had been denied a visa by a foreign country a decade back.A devilish character( Mahesh Manjrekar) contaminates the feed of all animals in the zoo,to get rid of them and instead convert the space into real estate.Think of many more insanities and you'll find them all.
All the item numbers ( including one by Sonakshi Sinha) are nth repeat of yester year hits.
None of the character shones.All seem to be in roles of ' extra's'.What purpose had MD ( Madhuri Dixit) to make a comeback with this crap?
The only silver lining this reviewer could gather is that be kind to animals and they would be your best friends.
Highly recommended for Kela awards. less

To be fair Zoya Akhtar has tried something different. For that she deserves some points. The other stand out point is brilliant performances by half a dozen actors including the flavor of the season Ranvir Singh. These actors give this movie some flashes of brilliance. Overall it remains a inconsistent going nowhere drag.
When you attempt a movie on a certain specific genre the screenplay and visual presentation should be of the kind that those who know nothing about that genre should get attached to it. That is what Hitchcock did with his suspense movies. That is what Manmohan Desai did to the make believe formula films. Gullyboy is a movie where the director thought that since it is a great attempt therefore there is no need to look at the screenplay. From a very weakly written climax to an abrupt ending, Gullyboy completely loses its focus barely half an hour of start.
The movie is made barely watchable by the passion that Ranvir Singh brings to the screen with his Murad and then his love story with Safeena is the bright point of the movie.
Gullyboy suffers from contradictions too besides the movie moving in circles at times. A movie that wants to focus on positivity of life also justifies young kids getting into drug peddling through a scene where Murad’s elder brother pushes this logic that at least they can survive by drug peddling. Really ? that is the only way out for an orphan in Mumbai? While Rap is shown as the new hope the Rap wars are all about youngsters ripping each other’s dignity and even bringing each others parents and families into it. New positivity? Calling out each other’s legitimacy of birth in public is the way for the young generation?
There are questions which Gully Boy does not answer, because I repeat the director knew she was attempting a classic and in Bollywood there is an arrogant assumption – classics don’t need screenplays.
This one might work in multiplexes with the Rap obsessed, the other majority will just walk out wondering what was the point?

One star for Ranvir and half for trying something different.

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Love cannot be Found Where It Doesn’t Exist, Nor Can it be Hidden where It Truly Does. – William Shakespeare.

We are a country obsessed with Love and its shenanigans, so many careers and businesses have flourished on the story telling about Love. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisha Laga is one of those love stories with what they call in the movie containing the element of “ Syappa.” It in a way also elevates the present level of syappa being traditionally shown in Romantic movies. Two lovers trying to win hearts of the world and family against them, with a twist of inter-cast love-shove and finally they woe the audience with a message of undying eternal love between two individuals.  This time it is about the Family and world’s real acceptance of Love regardless of the gender mix.  

The movie opens like a typical romantic Bollywood movie with the fun and frolic of a wedding incomplete without Love sprouting out of first sight. All the incognito hormones raging and screaming for more of the intimacy with light touches and brushes of body make a fun mix tadka, with finally a watch full hot-headed brother with heightened senses of vision, hearing and morality, deciphers the love mystery and catches the culprit to hold captive with all means possible. So begins the same old merry-go-round of characters with escapes, chases, rage, tears and fears on the part of audience.  The escapee is Sonal K Ahuja who portrays ( Sweety Chaudhary ) Daughter of  (Balbir Chaudhary ) played by Anil Kapoor who is a forced business tycoon by his mother, nurturing the childhood ambition of being India’s best chef residing in a small town called Moga in Punjab. Finally, Sweety in one of her escapes meets (Sahil Mirza) Rajkumar Rao a struggling play writer in Delhi son of a famous film producer who is set to create his own niche without family’s help or involvement. She seeks friendship while he interprets it as a sign of true love. This is pretty much the first half of the movie. But as the famous writer once wrote…

The course of True Love never did Run Smooth. – William Shakespeare.

The second half begins the journey of Sahil with help of (Chatro) played by the ever so talented Juhi Chawla who travel to Moga to win the Love of Sweety and her family. That’s when all the Shenanigans actually begin. The best scenes of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha toh Aisa Laga are between Balbir and Chatro who is a divorcee. They are the best bits of the film with marvelous set of comic and romance timing.  These are ever lasting actors with brilliance in their craft, that it is nearly impossible to associate them outside of the characters they play in the film.  The movie proceeds towards relaying its core civic message about the importance of family showing empathy and understanding towards a growing child confused by it's own internal mixed messages about the choices and attraction towards the same gender, and to let them live with the same amount of normalcy and affection as any and every child deserves. The romance between Sweety and her love interest Kuhu is shown beautifully without any awkward scene to avoid controversies and backlash. I particularly enjoyed this bit of love chemistry between two romantically involved individuals like in any good romantic film. The struggle however, in the movie is about the comedy which in most cases is average except between Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. The story telling of the director Shelly Chopra Dhar doesn’t grip you to the movie, all the while easy predictability can give the boredom that even comedy fillers may not be able to lift. Overall it’s a good film to watch for some light time-pass and to watch if one has not yet grasped fully the message it portrays for the society at large. I end this review with this little quote I like.

 Trust your Intuition and be Guided by Love - Charles Eirsenstein

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Biopics seem to be the new genre in vogue.The pre- Independence period is full of bravery,sacrifices and off course treachery as well. All this is retold with reference to a woman warior- Manikarnika aka Laxmibai aka Jhansi Ki Rani.
The East India Company( the Invaders in the guise of traders) had captured many a princely states with gun power,tyranny and deceit. They we're faced with a stiff opponent in the princely state of Jhansi.Why? All because of her self less devotion to her motherland.Though her kingdom got completely ravaged,yet she regrouped herself ,until she became a martyr.
Look at the characterisation of the protagonist.She was brave since her child hood.An ace Archer and fearless sword fighter.Despite being a queen,she had compassion and a sense of belonging with the masses.She led from the front.She was a great strategist.Was fortunate to have many a fathfull on her side,but rebels as well.Though the Mutiny of 1857 got crushed,she never gave up.She was a devout Hindu( the war cry of Har Har Mahadev resonates during the battle scenes).She lost her only son and her husband in her early coronation days.Despite being widowed,she did stand for dignity for all widows.She stood for women empowerment even in orthodox male dominated society.She was much ahead of her times.Since she preceeds,many freedom fighters she was of the firm belief that freedom has to be gained by force.Later on Subhash Chandra Bose,Bhagat Singh et Al also follow the same path .Gandhianism was the other route.
Where are the fact lines then? To me the film seems to be dated.The impression one gets is that it has taken a long time to make it.The background score seems to be week.The desh bhakti songs come in spaces ,not as a whole.The lyrics of the freedom movement of yore we're more powerful.The battle scenes are assembled and presented through VFX technology.
Had this movie been under the supervision of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali,it could have been more powerful .
Not withstanding the flaws,the movie at least has high production values,forceful acting by Kangana,and the well deserved patriotic' fervour a la Uri.
The younger generation must be made aware of the past to always be enthused by the sacrifices of all their ancestors.
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Till interval Thackeray is actually and extremely engaging movie. It holds you with the director’s innovative ability to tell a story. Thackeray’s flashback story runs in black and white and establishes a clear mood of the grim reality of Mumbai and Maharashtra at that time when the local felt shortchanged. The movie drives on epic acting capability of Nawazuddin in those scenes . The movie is in fact brilliant when it unabashedly shows the confrontations between Thackeray and Morarji Desai and also his stand on standing up for hindutva. It in fact ends up competing quiet brilliantly with any dark gangster saga that even Hollywood would have to offer.
The movie starts nose diving post interval and the curse of the interval ends up biting this movie to dust by the time it ends. It is like post interval the director developed some kind of a cold feet or was driven by some other forces and the movie loses its capability to hold you almost half an hour post interval and then you are looking at your watch repeatedly on when this one well end.
The end of the movie is also its major weakness, the movie stops at the period of 1994 and thereabouts when Shiv Sena formed its first state government in Maharashtra and in one of its last scenes of creative flash we see Thackeray using a remote to control the TV reminding us of that famous statement he made in 1990s. Fact of the matter is Thackeray’s political career and engaging events continued way beyond 1994.
However you can still give this movie a try for the pure joy acting of Nawaazuddin and the movies complete naked honesty till its last scene. Two stars for these two solid attributes, my only grudge is why could they not hire a better screenplay writer ?
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Rarely does one view a ' patriotic' film which is devoid of rhetoric and jingoism.More saw episodes of the bravery of our soldiers on both sides of the border- eastern and the western- in a single movie.
The ' classic' under review is told in five chapters.The period sliced is of recent times-2015-16 and etched in our memories.
Chapter 1 depicts an ambush attack on an army petrol in the vicinity of Myanmar .The petrol is just taken by surprise by the ' terrorist fire'.In a ' quickie response' under the command of Major Vihaan Singh( Vicky Kaushal),the terrorists are liquidated .And how?
Hardly an year has passed by now ,the Western front adversary has surprised the sleeping army unit in Uri.The army suffers a higher number of casualities.
Must we continue to suffer? No.The top man( the PM,who else but Narendra Modi) takes upon himself to avenge.How?
The fifth chapter in the series is all about the crossing the LOC ,all secrecy,pitfalls,risks,planning till the last and off course a lightening and swift mid- night strike .The adversary is taught a lesson.
The chosen squad under the same Major vanquishes the terrorists in their own den.
What's so special about Uri? It may not be a Border,but no less than it.Both were war episodes.Both are deserving.Both we're well merited and had high on all aspects if film making.Uri edges Border on the leadership quality of the decision makers at the political level,the performances of the entire crew,the realism and the crispness with which the operations get completed.
Certainly Uri would rank as a ' classic'.Vicky Kaushal is an A Lister by now.The sceptics gave been given a befiting reply,who were ever questioning Uri through out.
My salute to the women characters ( Yami Gautam and Kirti Kulhari) who have shown that they are not less then their men folk in planning and execution in military operations.
Off course,a big salute and shardhanjali to the families of those whose sons got martyred.
A must see. less

Emraan Hashmi has smartly made a career out of playing eccentric and slightly greyish characters who are crooked, street-smart, and colorful, and this reflects in his filmography as he is much more interested in shoeing up the dark stuff that happens behind the curtains which the innocent common man stays aloof of throughout his life. He has played a bookie, lout, piracy expert, jilted lover, gun supplier, pimp, underworld killer, and many more similar roles. He adds another position in this list of characters by playing a modern-age Robinhood who first gives money to the talented students to write papers for the academically weak but rich kids for helping them clear the engineering entrance exams, and then he jumps into the MBA scene with his own backdrop story of a failed medical aspirant. Occasionally, he delivers a few good dialogues like “ Naukri, paisa, EMI, ye sab chote logon ka kaam h, bade logon ka kaam h scam karna.”
Now, this Soumik Sen directorial throws a fresh and novel concept on your plate, with a plot that showcases all the shortcomings of the Indian education system and tries to create a web in which he shows how the teachers, students, government, parent, and people in business are affected. The disorganized and untidy state of our education system has been demonstrated by going deep down to the roots in which corruption and lack of awareness has caught hold of the situation, and this is evident from the trailers.
The film is impressively quite relevant to today's existential crisis that India is facing in its engineering and management sectors, and it has been documented in the news as well several times. Yes, all this is admirable and surely is an attempt to capture all the dimensions ranging from tales of student hardships, the mental pressure, suicides, drugs, the conservative North-Indian mentality, cynicism, parental influence, and the massive burden of responsibilities on the weak shoulders of the young kids in cities like Kota, and states like UP,Bihar , and Rajasthan.
The film inevitably whips up curiosity, has a fair degree of relatability, and engages the viewers as the makers shed light in the frustrated mindsets of the middle-class people which not only occupies their professional life but is also evident in their personal life. But, the problem is that the makers overdo it and throw almost everything to the social issue with a flawed narrative, lack of character building, uncooked scenes, an overly twisted storyline, misleading and weak performances from supportive actors, along with the lack of comic punches.
The approach to these pressing issues could have been shown in a much more lighthearted manner as after a point the film diverts to be cynical and in-your-face. Further, the scenes unfold in a very disorganized way due to the lazy screenplay. Co-produced by Emraan Hashmi, the actor tries to make the scenes interesting in his trademark style, but the problem here is that the entertainment value that his previously successful films have in lacking in Why Cheat India. Although, the movie resonates with the audience and keeps them hooked till the end, the confusing courtroom climax that could have been a last ball six also tampers, and sadly, in the period, the audience is left with a question mark on their faces. Like most of Emraan’s films, this movie also ends on a negative note, but this time even the makers don't seem to have the answers to the burning issue of the Indian education system.
Now, with a knack of devising out innovative ways to mint out money by pushing the laws, Hashmi yet again proves that he can be a dependable actor in real and dramatic movies like these, but this time he also leaves you craving for more. A thumbs up for the brave effort, but a thumbs down for the mediocre execution. Instead of stuffing in facts and stories of failures in almost every scene, the movie could have adopted the tried and tested but challenging to implement Rajkumar Hirani’s style of filmmaking!! Nevertheless, it’s a one-time watch that will soothe the wounds of our poor engineering & management aspirants to a certain degree. less

A 2004 victory of UPA in general election is perfectly elaborated. Anupam Kher is justifying his role perfectly where his acting is showing the real life of PM. He is getting support from Akshay Khanna perfectly he tries to save the public image of Prime Minister which was destroyed by the public. The role of Sonia Gandhi is playing by a German actress named Suzanne Bernert, she is equally justifying her role by showing the seriousness of the character. But the character of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi is not that equally justifying. The film bravely names real characters and shows them in the light they are perceived in. We wish the writing had more depth with more focus on defining the individual characters. There are no songs in the movie. less