Latest Bollywood Movie Reviews

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

Simmba

Story: Simmba is based on the Telugu film Temper. It tells the story of a corrupt police officer who undergoes a transformation in his way of life after tragedy strikes his loved one.

Review: What do you get when Rohit Shetty and Ranveer Singh join hands? Well, you get the explosion that is Simmba. Staying true to signature Rohit Shetty style the first half of Simmba is a crazy, sometimes crass, sometimes hysterical but all the while an energy driven roller coaster film, obviously courtesy the dynamic Ranveer Singh. Conscience takes a back seat and people are squashed, Glasses are smashed and dialogues are delivered in one breath. While our hero and heroine are dancing like a dream the director is also building up to a more serious second half on the side. It is as important as it was surprising that a ‘masala’ film like Simmba will talk about a vital issue like rape in society. Whenever a film about rape is made in India it does not get the wide audience that it deserves. It is commendable that Rohit Shetty decided to make a film like this by putting his influence and reach as a director to good use. This film will finally get the large audience appeal that so many others of it’s kind could not. Though the second half does have doses of melodrama it can be overlooked given the touching subject of the film. Simmba puts forth an idea about how to treat rapists, which I’m sure many of the audiences wish could be made into a reality. Thankfully, the film does not drag into an endless courtroom drama, as is what happens with many other films of this genre.

Ranveer Singh is absolutely sensational as the corrupt turned earnest cop who will do all in his power to make the perpetrators of the horrific crime pay. Sara Ali Khan has a small role but is confident and looks gorgeous. Ajay Devgn has a smashing entry followed by a crowd pleasing cameo. There is even a surprise in the end announcing the next film of this cop drama franchise where the leads make appearances in each other’s films, much like the format of the MCU films.

Simmba is not just your usual masala film but has other ingredients in it as well! Watch this one and start your new year with tons of “seeti bajaoing”! less

ZERO is not a movie for movie lovers..it is just a waste of time and have no sense..the characters do play their role but have nothing unusual and no story makes.it even more worse.. ZERO is what you give as a rating.. less

An absolute laugh riot! This film is sure to make you hysterical with laughter. Filled with absolute chaos and confusion Anees Bazmee’s latest has won our hearts. Arjun Kapoor has a double role in the film and is paired with Athiya Shetty and Ileana D’souza. He does an okay job as Charanveer and Karanveer Singh, while his co-star Ileana shines as Sweety. She plays the role of an unabashed girl who speaks what’s in her heart. Athiya does not at all do justice to her role and seems to justify why nepotism is said to be wrong.

The star of the show is undoubtedly Anil Kapoor, because of whom the film is worth watching. He plays the role of a Kartar Singh, quintessential dumb paternal uncle of Charanveer and Karanveer, someone who is always by their side. Kartar’s charm and simplicity will win you over. Mubarakaan is a feel good film and will definitely bring a smile on your face with it’s hilarious characters!

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Kedarnath by Abhishek Kapoor is exactly what is shown in the trailer of the movie. The revolves around Mandakini played by Sara Ali Khan and Mansoor played by Sushant Singh Rajput.

Mandakini is the rebellious daughter of priest. While Mansoor is a human porter that helps pilgrims cover the journey from Gauri Kund to Kedarnath. Theirs is a love story that looks doomed in the beginning itself. The film explores the tragedy that struck the valley in 2013.

The film is a classic love story with the free spirited Mukku and Mansoor exploring and facing the test of their love as they are up against the society and nature. This is Sara Ali Kha’s debut and she does a wonderful job in too. She plays the character with so much zest that she does indeed comes across as believable and looks one with the character.

The fact that this is an unexplored event, and to correlate it to someone’s life and how it was affected with the tragedy; is something that plays in favor of the movie. With spectacular sceneries, a sweet and simple love story, and melodious songs, I give this movie 3 out 5 stars. less

Deeply misogynistic, Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety is yet another film focusing on men and demeaning millennial women from the house of Luv Ranjan.
Sonu (Kartik Aryan) and Titu(Sunny Singh) are childhood buddies. They are inseparable and Sonu makes sure Titu stays single until hopelessly romantic Titu falls for Sweety (Nushrat Bharucha) whom he meets in an arranged marriage setting. But Sonu is Skeptical of Sweety for according to him there’s more to Sweety than what meets the eye.
Luv Ranjan’s film has one cliché plot of depicting male bonds or say urban slang calls it Bro-code over anything even if it means degrading millennial women and judging them to no extent. Seen the same in the Pyaar ka Punchnama series, Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety is no different in its misogynistic approach towards females.
Sonu is apprehensive of Sweety. Everyone wonders why, including him and the audience. Sweety, despite having showed absolutely no flaws in the first half is the female villain who has got between the friendship of Sonu and Titu.
Talking about their friendship, it’s quite natural to wonder if the director wanted more to show but was afraid. Well, let’s not dive deep into this.
Painfully keeping the stereotypes aside, let’s discuss the narration. As his earlier directorials, this film too is a laugh riot with cheeky dialogues.
The cast did great with their respective roles. Kartik Aryan was no different from his earlier roles and is the one you’d completely swoon over. Blame his charm for that. Nushrat Bharucha as a cunning and deceptive girl was a refreshing change and did well too. Titu was more of a side actor but did well with his part.
As much as well love the actors, the director needs some serious revamp in his cast and storylines.
Film has done quite well with music and background score giving us one of the best songs of the season, tera yaar hoon mai!
Audience hoping for something refreshing will be thoroughly disappointed with this film but it’s good enough to watch with your pals on a lazy Sunday afternoon for some light mood. less

Based on the real life story of Arunachalam Muruganatham, this R. Balki ticks all boxes right in delivery a much needed menstrual awareness through an inspiring real story.
Seeing his wife struggling during her menstrual cycle who uses cloth and concerned over the same, Lakshmikant Chauhan (Akshay Kumar) urges to replace cloth with disposable sanitary napkins. But his wife and family annoyed over his obsession with female hygiene abandon him and she leaves him. He then sets out on a mission to make cheap sanitary napkins to help the women all over. Will he be able to realize this “unrealistic” dream of his?
Given the amount of taboo and awkwardness which surround over menstruation, this film is a one which was needed to be made and most importantly, is needed to be watched.
The film had awareness, education and entertainment going hand in hand. And they almost go well except in some parts where the audience may find it too preachy. But well according to me, the teachings of the film are what makes it very important. The entertainment quotient though with Akshay Kumar’s convincing performance almost never goes down.
Akshay Kumar with a long list of content driven films behind doesn’t disappoint and gives a noteworthy performance. Radhika Apte in her small town conservative avatar does exceedingly well and reflects the turmoils and emotions of a woman quite aptly. Sonam Kapoor has though short but quite a significant role which she does complete justice to.
We need to give special mention to the writers who did quite well. Especially, the speech delivered by Akshay at the UN made the audience in the theatre stand up and applause.
All in all, this R Balki’s directorial brings up a social issue which will surely help shed at least some inhibitions. less