Latest Bollywood Movie Reviews

Punjab and London seem to be 'Siami twins' in many a film.So is the case with the movie under review.
Punjab has big landlords,acres of cropping space and off course the munda ( Param,played by Arjun Kapoor) and the kudi( Jasmeet,played by Parineeti Chopra).They fall in love .Why? No soothsayer has ever answered this .No issue.After dating all the seasons of the year,they decide to marry.But what's the hitch?
The kudi wants to work post marriage as a jewellery designer.The internal reluctance ( though reconciled) comes from the munda.The external no-never comes from the Amrish Puri type orthodox grand parent of the kudi.To him the husband is the eternal bread earner and the spouse the home maker.( Many parents do hold this 'division of roles' even in well educated families.Nothing unusual).
The munde wallahas agree to the contract.Marriage yes,job no.
Now starts the problem.How do the couple get a visa for a foreign land?
The kudi enters into a ' sham marriage' with one Sam( Aditya Seal),with a British passport holder.Why? All because she's liberated and ambitious.She's advised so by an unscruplous travel agent Gurnam Singh( Satish Kaushik).All she has to do is to ' fake' as a ' couple ' a few years and by the influx of time seek a divorce and residency rights.
The original husband is left with no choice accept to see her off at the airport with the ' husband number 2'.
In London Jasmeet has to nurse the aged grand dad ( Vinod Nagpal) of Sam and learn and cope with the socio- culture environment if the new city.Soon the grand dad has passed away.Sam is inclined to exercise his right as the husband.Jasmeet continues to resist as far as she can in some pretext or the other.
The second twist occurs in the story .Param has surprisingly arrived in London himself.( Courtsey the same Gurnam Singh who like many others is an illegal immigrant).
Now we have two husbands and the same wife face to face.Alisha( Alankrita Sahai) enters as a ' vamp' in this plot and pursues Param.
What next? Better go and see for your self.
What the reviewer liked about NE?
Many a woman want to work.They seek empowerment. Misogny continues to be a hurdle.Rightly or wrongly is debatable.In the pursuit of her job parenthood gets delayed,but means to support and enjoy a higher living increase.Also,a working spouse is an ' insurance' should any untoward thing happens to the husband.Working women have God gifted inner strength to manage both - the house and the work - without a grudge.Many employers do allow maternity/ paternity leave facilities,work from home facilities and the sundry to the married.Late parenthood is avoided by some through surrogacy.( After all Karan Johar and Tushar Kapoor are single dads through this route,without even getting married).
The ' bhare bazaar' mein number was foot tapping though it had only one mukhra and one antara.Javed Akhtar has opened out to write lyrics attuned to pop culture.The ' bhasan' given by Param to the so called NRIs demeaning every thing Indian was Manoj Kumarish .Nothing wrong to be a proud Indian .The fettish of settling abroad had to go.Satish Kaushik was the best performer.Arjun's role was subdued throughout.Pari has performed the dual wive's role with restraint.
What could have been avoided? Too many bhangras.The crash course in entering a foreign country the wring way.( To me nothing was inhibiting for Param to get a tourist visa to London the legal way).Too many bed room and mooching scenes could be avoided lest the Me Too tagline looks a ruse.If everything is open on the screen,why blame real.Lot of foreign currency is being spent on foreign locations with no purpose.Lets conserve it.Look at some of the one liners- ' Stalkers stair,lovers admire';' India is a land of dirt,corruption ,pollution' as many NRIs think and many more.To me both the lead players have been miscast.They simply go through the motions.
The BO success of NE is in doubt .A one day advance opening hasn't helped.Make your choice.
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Badhai Ho had an excellent trailer now what if I told you the movie is even better - way much better. The story is simple – A simple middle class man who is a TTE by profession (Gajraj Chauhan) nearing his twilight years is suddenly hit by a news that his wife is pregnant he has two grown up sons already , one an office going Nakul (Ayyushman) and a son on the verge of college called Gular. He also has his old mother ,played with such amazing brilliance by Surekha Sikri staying with them. The whole family is initially shocked and in fact even Priyamvada, the wife blames her husband for the complication.
Slowly the family discovers that what has happened is nothing shocking or irresponsible, it was their judgemental attitude on the couple that was. Slowly the family comes together again and the movie ends on a very heart warming note.
The brilliance of this movie is as with all brilliant movies. Its flawless screenplay. When you watch the movie for the first time you will not get bored for even five seconds in a movie which is 125 minutes long. This one runs on its brilliant moments and the fact that you don’t know what the director will do in the plot now. When you are feeling sad with a grim situation there is a humour moment. The moment humour is on there is a sudden twist. The movie has unpredictability woven into a simple script. Then you add characters and their internal chemistry you just go wow at how the story was written. The old mother-in-law who is always blaming the daughter-in-law for all the trouble transforms into a ferocious lioness to the defense of her daughter-in-law when she is being unnecessarily cornered. In one fine moment at his girlfriend’s house the elder son nakul realizes how much a weak son and unforgiving son he has been.
This movie is rich in its emotional depth as much as it is a brilliant comedy. The last jibe of the grandmother will make you laugh all the way home. Trust me.
Movies like Badhai Ho are a rarity , it is entertaining, it is intelligent and it is a soft message of hope and love. How many Bollywood movies have all this in one movie?
So drop everything and walk into the theater playing this one. You and your family and your group of friends deserve this movie.

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Most of the movie like the raining village of Tumbbad is grim and gloomy and at the beginning of this observation itself let me inform you that the two biggest strengths that Tumbbad brings to the table is its background score and also its cinematography. These two together lift Tumbbad.

The movie has been promoted as a tale of horror but largely the horror is about how a man walks into his ruin and most painful death because he refuses to let go of his greed. At no point is the director trying to lecture us but the movie drives its anti-greed message very powerfully.

The movie is about the legend of Hastar who is trapped inside a womb of a goddess. He has all the wealth of the world but not a morsel of food for himself. Vinayak ( Sohum Shah) discovers this fact , he has been craving for the treasure since childhood, he slowly starts milking this weakness of Hastar and starts living a life of goodness. With age failing him he trains his son to keep bringing the wealth out of Hastar. The son imbibes his father's greed and wants all the treasure from Hastar at once. Father and son duo plan a trap for Hastar but the climax unfolds a deadly end. The movie does end on a positive note with the son realising the folly of greed and walking away from it.

The movie has a short length it is about 104 minutes long and the director duo have executed a story that never falters from its central point which is the treasure, The movie is told in three chapters - Vinayak's childhood , his youth and his final years. At so many plot points the movie keeps giving us the folly and possible scary results of uncontrolled greed. Like Vinayak's friend Raghav who falls in the same trap and meets his end at the hands of cruel Hastar.

The movie has some very good acting not just by Sohum Shah but other characters too who have short but well written roles.

Tumbbad is not your regular horror movie, there are no Ghosts jumping out of a closed door in this one. The movie still will make you feel scared and worried about so many characters walking into death driven by greed.

Watch this one if you want to see a movie which is publicised as intelligent cinema and actually turns out to be one. That is a rarity in today's Bollywood. Most Intelligent movie makers deliver boring drags actually. less

Taut, slick, hold your breath genre- all this and much more sums up Sriram Raghavan’s latest Andhandhun. Starting with the very innovative title with all puns intended, the film is a bite your nails, clench your fist thriller. With performances that leave you wondering at the sheer audacity of the existence of bland star kids like Janhvi Kapoor etc.

Ayushman Khurana is at his best as the once not blind and then blind musician. absolutely nailed his role. In the second half, when Tabu actually makes him blind, Ayushman Khurana’s acting is par excellence. He portrayed the desperation and the helplessness of his character brilliantly.

While Tabu sizzles the screen in her 40 plus avatar. Her character had just the right amount of sex appeal and mystery. For me, her acting skills were best shown in the scene where Ayushman is playing the piano at her house and she is scared as hell because she has murdered her husband. But the surprise package of the film was Manav Vij who played the role of Tabu’s lover. He was the killer as well as the police inspector who was handed the case. His expressions and his acting was spot on. There is a sweet note of nostalgia too with Anil Dhawan making a comeback of sorts.

The film is definitely a must watch and is undoubtedly the best film of the year redefining the murder mystery genre minus the cliched, gore and creeps! less

Seeing Govinda in a 90s type film after a long time.The person who ruled Hindi cinema in his hey days flirting ,dancing ,pranking with the ' other woman',is in his comfort zone in Fryday.The BO response on day one is akin to a 'Dryday'.
Yet let the review be gone through.
The only story is of ' funny situations' happening one after another on a single day in the Greater Kailash House of one Gagan Kapoor( Govinda) ,whose a theatre artist and an ' obedient husband ' of a beautiful NGO running wife Bela( Prabhleen Sandhu).But only when both are at home.When she's off on her outdoor trips ,he turns an infidel by flirting with one of his theatre woman fan Bindu( Digangana Suryavanshi).Things take a bizare turn.
One after another the door bell starts ringing .The tune itself is funny.The maid,two girl surveyors,a water purifier seller Rajiv Chhabra,a Chore(Brijendra Kala),a courier guy and others are the visitors.Except the Chorus and Water Purifier guy all else are shunned away.
Here after the 'situational relationships ' keep on changing and humour is ' created' and each is trying to bluff the other time believe what's not there.
Whose bell rings now? OMG it's the. wife who has returned back.Why?The husband is caught ' pants down'.How each riggles out of the embarrassing situation is well handled by the director ( Abhishek Dogra) and his duo of writers( Manu Rishi Chada and Rajeev Kaul).
But is it the end? No.
Whose the last bell ringer in the climax? How is he related to the characters assembled in the house?
Who else appears on the screen? One Manchanda( Sanjay Mishra) as a motivator and Rampal( Rajesh Sharma) as the cop.
All have played their roles as required and keep the proceedings in the laugh mode.Digangana Suryavanshi( also seen in Jalebi) is the ' oomp factor',marks her presence to be noted in a confident debut.She'll go far.
Govinda's trade mark dance movements are forced upon the viewers in the opening and closing stage.Ahmed Khan being the dance master.
Varun Sharma is also funny.His role shows how hard pressed are sales men to achieve targets.
The Apex court has opened the doors for consenting infidels .The CBFC can't edit it out.
Fryday could have been better as an hour they're show than a movie.
Watch if you are fond of ' comedy'.

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A movie focusing on mother- son relationship and the struggles of a single mother, Helicopter Eela doesn’t quite live up to the expectations.
Eela is the budding singer of 90s and aspires to do well in this domain. But she puts her dream to a halt as she decides to settle with her love first. After marriage, she again decides to resume her career but pregnancy and the sudden disappearance of her husband from her life makes her leave her career. She now focuses all her energies on bringing up her 20 year old son Vivaan (Riddhi Sen). She hovers over him like a helicopter. It gets much more intense when she decides to complete her graduation from the same course and college as Vivaan.
An over-invasive mother and an irritated teenager seeking privacy and space- a story of every Indian household. A story we’ve watched umpteen number of times in T.V. serial and pictures. The film focuses on this aspect of the mother and son relationship. Eela respects no boundaries of privacy and wants to be contantly in touch with his son, around whom her life entirely revolves.
Along with this relationship, the film has a significant focus on the life and struggle of a single parent who has left her dreams behind for her child. This is another cliché in the depiction of Indian parents.
There’s nothing new and exciting to expect from the film aprt from the acting marvels of the lead characters. Kajol, as usual brings her effortless charm on the film and does well in her character. National- award winning actor Riddhi Sen, too fits quite well in his character of Vivaan.
But despite such acting performances, the weak storyline and screenplay couldn’t save the film from being a huge letdown. The movie soon turns boring and cliché and audience wait for it pace up.
Based on a Gujarati play titled Beta, Kaagdo written by Anand Gandhi, this Pradeep Sarkar has nothing extraordinary and interesting to watch.
Despite being built on great and well- meaning ideas, it falls short of fine depiction and script.
It could only be watched to witness the fine acting performances of Kajol and Riddhi Sen and fun banter between the two. less

Sui Dhaaga: Made In India starring Varun Dhawan as Mauji and Anushka Sharma as Mamta his spouse. Mauji lives in a small house with his parents. The lead couple does not have any direct interaction except for the time when they have relatives as intermediaries.

Mauji is constantly humiliated by his employer and his son at work while his father never leaves any stone upturned to use harsh words on him. After his wife’s motivation he leaves his job at the exploitative employers and decides to put his skills of sewing to use.

They face a lot of hurdles in their way and people take advantage of them for their simple nature. The movie is the story of simple man’s quest to self employ himself in a respectable job. During their journey they end up finding themselves and each other. They grow together as a couple.

Sui-Dhaaga has some really good song and Mauji’s optimism makes you wishing you were as optimistic as Mauji. The movie is much more entertaining in the first half but becomes a bit of a drag in the second. Mamta in the garb of a docile housewife is the strongest character of the movie.

It is after her motivation that Mauji is able to quit his employer and self employ himself. It is because of her support that despite all the odds they don’t stop and continue on their journey.

This movie is about following your heart and inspiring people to take up risk if you believe in yourself. But most of all it is about finding companionship in your partner when everyone else is mocking you. less

Dear Zindagi, a coming of age film helmed by Gauri Shinde is a one that every millennial needs.
Kaira (Alia Bhatt) is a young and promising cinematographer who wants to make it big in her field. Kaira’s life takes a turn after Raghuvendra (Kunal Kapoor) for whom she breaks up with her Childhood sweetheart essayed by Angad Bedi gets engaged to someone else. Her landlord shows her the door because she doesn’t want to keep singles anymore. All this along with dissatisfaction at work leads her to Goa where her parents live. She gets to know about Dr. Jehangir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) in Goa. Their session together and Jug’s lessons to Kaira forms the rest of the movie.
The film does a remarkable job in depicting mental health which is often considered as a taboo subject. Breaking stereotypes, it depicts the female protagonist who accepts her mental turmoil and visits a psychiatrist. The second half of the film revolves around Jug’s sessions with Kaira.
Despite having Shah Rukh Khan in the film, it primarily revolves around Kaira and her tribulations. This is Shinde’s second female protagonist film after English- Vinglish.
The lessons on love, life and relationships in general which Jug went on to give to Kaira weren’t just for her. It addressed issues which every millennial faces today. Thus, this adds to the appeal that film will have on youngsters.
There’s a sense of honesty with which Kaira’s character is build up. The viewers are likely to build a sense of connection with her.
Alia Bhatt has done a great job in the portrayal of her character, Kaira. The feelings of her character are well depicted on her face. Shah Rukh Khan as usual brings his own charm to the film.
The movie has some well penned and composed songs like ‘Love you Zindagi’ and ‘Go to hell, Dil’. It accentuates the intention of the stotryline further.
The only thing that bothered me while watching the film was how love was given the primary focus in Kaira’s life. Despite projecting her as young, smart and extremely talented at her craft, she’s still tangled up in her love life. Even at the end of the film, there’s a hint of another such chapter opening.
But apart from that, there wasn’t much to complain from this film.
The daily life issues the film deals with makes it a must watch for every young individual out there.

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Dangal is one of a kind. Amir Khan as Mahavir Phogat was hard to imagine for me, but little did I know that he would pull off the role so convincingly. The film marked the debut of Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Sheikh as the Phogat sisters. Both of them have done a splendid job, be it nailing the action sequences or the expressions.

The film is much more than the sport it portrays. It brings out certain emotions in us by it’s sensitive portrayal of the characters. The scene wherein Fatima and her father end up in a fight when she visits her home during her training, her father is later seen standing at the roof watching her. The scene is indeed very touching and we all feel the pain that Mahavir must have felt. Similarly, another scene wherein the father and the daughter(Gita) battle it out in the sand is another hard hitting scene as it marks the moment when the daughter is now trying to defeat the father who in the first place, taught her the art.

The film deserved the attention that it got and much more! less

Loveyatri Movie Review by Devotee Bollywood Bang Bang (DB3) :

Story Briefed by Devotee Bollywood Bang Bang (DB3):

Movie Start from Vadodara, where Sushruta (Aayush Sharma) teaches Garba to the children. This 9-day festival of Navaratri changes their life completely. They love Mitchell (Warina Hussain) and they do everything to win their love.

Reviewed by Devotee Bollywood Bang Bang (DB3):

In this movie, Sushruta is such kind of personality who doesn’t have any ambition in his life. He only wants to dance in his life. There is pressure from his family to find a job, while he wants to open his own Garba Academy in Vadodara. At the same time, Mitchell wants to return to her homeland from England, and her father (Ronit Roy) ready for it. At the behest of her family, she stays in Vadodara to celebrate Navratri. During this festival, Sushruta falls in love with Mitchell. How this love story goes on, you should have to watch the movie.

Performance Narrated by Devotee Bollywood Bang Bang (DB3):

'LoveYatri' is just a simple love story. There is nothing more in this movie. This is the debut film of director Abhiraj Minawala and he has tried to play safe games on old spices of Bollywood. However, a screenplay of the movie is not very good. You will love the film's characters but the story will not look so attractive to you. The songs of the film are beautifully filmed and the choreography of Vaibhavi Merchant is also good.

It would be right to say that Ayush and Warina, who are making their debut, are still raw in acting. However, their chemistry looks good on the screen. Ayush looks good as a young boy. If Aayush and Warina got good script in the debut movie , it could have been a good film for them. Ram Kapoor as a Uncle of Sushruta and Ronit Roy as Mitchell's father has done a great job and both has spoken an emotional and heavy dialogue.

Overall, what Devotee Bollywood Bang Bang’s (DB3) thinks 'LoveYatri' is a good film for those who are fond of the 90s romantic films. less

The film deals with the hitherto taboo of menstruation. It is only Akshay Kumar who could pull off such an unconventional role with such ease and finesse. The scene wherein he rides a cycle to test the pad made by him, and which eventually starts leaking on his pants, is an immensely difficult scene to portray on the big screen. Akshay’s courage is commendable.

The film’s first half drags a little and it starts resembling a documentary on menstruation. It is only when Sonam enters, that the film’s plot becomes interesting. Although Sonam’s entry helped the film progress, but her falling in love with Akshay was uncalled for and looked a little out of place and forced.

Go for Akshay, stay for Sonam.

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The film is a tribute to friendship. It revolves around Sonu(Kartik Aryan) and Titu (Sunny Singh) who have been best friends since childhood. Troubles arise when Titu’s marriage is fixed with Sweety(Nusrat Barucha).

The movie is a laugh riot and is a new take on love. Instead of focusing on a cliched love triangle, the movie is all about ‘bromance’. For me, Nusrat did a great job in playing the vamp of the film who pretends to be the quintessential girl next door. This film also marked the image makeover of Aloknath, who is seen abusing and cursing quite frequently in the movie. It is good for a one time watch with your bff. And don’t forget to celebrate the spirit of your friendship with the song ‘Tera yaar hu main’. less