I wasn’t particularly interested in this film, there has been a overload of wrestling films this year from Sultan to Salla khadoos to this one. I knew it would be a good film, Aamir Khan doesn’t disappoint usually… But I wasn’t expecting this…

Dangal works on every level. From social commentary to a father daughter(s) story to a sports film to being an inspiration to all Indians (women or men). It’s nearly impossible to make a film work on so many levels and yet not come across as preachy or melodramatic.

This movie gets it all, right. From the way its shot to the way its scored. Acting wise aamir isn’t the only shining part as is the case in a SRK or a Salman film. Every small role is played out flawlessly and authentically. The child actors portraying geeta and babita as well as their cousin, steal a lot of scenes. They also get some of the best lines in the movie. Aamir doesn’t hog the limelight but also displays a father story, his contribution and struggle.

I had only seen one trailer (maybe there is only one?) So I had no clue where it was all headed. There is nothing too surprising in the story and plot as it is based on a real life person(s). The first half is much faster and better flowing, things DO slow down at the start of the second half, but what the film loses in pace it gains in intensity and by the end it manages to pull it off without resorting to drama and theatrics.

As I mentioned before the score is also amazing. The songs go so well with the film and don’t feel forced at all.

Rating: This film is a perfect 10/10. The slowdown in the film post interval notwithstanding, this movie knocked it out of the ball park. A MUST see for everyone.

P.s: (Mild Spoilers) There is a scene in the end which has the national anthem playing over it. it lead to a comical event in real life where the theater, not sure if people aught to stand up or not (they dont need to) switched on the lights so that everyone could be shamed into standing up. 90% of the people did, 10% didn't. No words were exchanged, no heated argument, the movie continued, the lights went off and everyone sat down. Nation is happy, people are not so inconvenienced, except for the poor bloke who had a tub of popcorn between his legs !

Back in 2011 when Disney acquired Lucas Films, they announced they would be doing stand alone star wars films. For us jaded fans, we had expected something which was a quick money grab with light on content movies.

I myself went in with low expectations of a movie about a rag tag group a heist to get the death star plans.

But somehow, the film makers managed to turn this small premise into a full blown star wars film. I am not going to give any spoilers in this review. But this movie went from a small and UN-interesting premise to something awesome.

Set 30 years BEFORE last years Force Awakens and moments before the 1977 original film, this is a prequel to the originals and a sequel to episode 1-2-3.

As far as characters go, K-2so the droid and Donnie yens characters were the standout ones. The lead Jyn erso was there to drive the story forward but she wasn’t the most compelling character among the group, even though she was definitely supposed to be.

Coming back to the plot, the tie in novel catalyst sets up the story of the Erso’s pretty well and the movie follows it with Galen erso working on the death star program. Jyn his daughter is his only hope at redemption. Saying anything more IS definitely a spoiler for this film.

All I can say is that, after empire strikes back, this is the darkest and most action packed film set in the Darth Vader era. Who makes an appearance in this film and is something to look forward to in his small but effective cameo.

The music is a mixture of old and some new star wars themes. It doesn’t stand out, but for fans its familiar enough.

Lastly this film doesn’t have the familiar fan fare and opening crawl of the normal films, setting it apart as a stand alone story.

I REALLY enjoyed the second half of the film, which elevated the premise and added SO much depth and nuance to the original 1977 star wars. This movie is an absolute must watch for fans of the original.

Rating : I will have to rate this very high of 9/10. I wanted to give it a perfect 10, but the Jyn erso character is not compelling enough to make this movie a perfect 10.

I HATE musicals. I have a real dislike for them from Chicago to ma ma mia to hairspray. I wasn’t even going to see this one, but somehow I ended in this movie.
And…
I am GLAD that I did! From the very first moment, this film captures your eyes and presents what it is all about. The story is typical but presented VERY strongly with the musical numbers and very moody dialogs. I haven’t seen ANY musical other than sound of music before this, so I can’t say how this rates as a musical, but I can say, as a film it rates VERY high.
Coming to the performances, Ryan Gosling and Emma stone are flawless in their roles of frustrated musician and struggling actress. Their delivery, looks, singing, everything is perfect. Their chemistry is alright though, nothing out of the ball park, but not fully unbelievable like Emma stone in Spiderman.

Now coming to the most important part of a musical. The songs.
They start big and keep the momentum going, the movie does slow down a bit in the second half with fewer songs, but the ending makes up for it. The jazz based songs were pretty good and even the modernized bastardized version of jazz presented is also foot tappingly good. Every song has its own distinctive flavor and the main theme song and its music will play in your head long after the movie has ended.
The direction, cinematography, editing, everything is flawless in this film.
I predict an Oscar win for best picture and cinematography. Best original song / Score is also likely.

Rating: this is a SOLID 9/10. I enjoyed it just as much as I liked Rogue one which also came out this week. That is saying something on how good this film is. So musical and romance aficionados will love this one… give it a try!

Written and produced by J.K Rowling herself and directed by franchise regular David yates, Fantastic beasts and where to find them is the story of newt Scamander before he became the famous author whose books on magical creatures is a staple of Hogwarts.
On the outset, this movie seems rather needless. It’s a prequel to Harry Potter and is set in New York City in 1926. Interesting as the premise is, the plot from the trailers seemed boring. So I was apprehensive about this film. It seems my fears were not founded. This movie is pretty good and a solid entry into the magical world of Potter.
Since its written by the original author, this film has all the hall marks of a Harry Potter film,
A Young and misunderstood wizard – Check
His rather useless but funny sidekick – Check
A strong, smart and serious young lady who quotes rules all the time – Check
A Dark and powerful wizard hell bent on taking over the wizarding world – Double Check!
In some ways, in lots of ways, this feel like a sequel to harry potter if you imagine harry as newt and Hermione as the Tina, everything else falls into place. Miss Rowling hasn’t strayed too far from the formula of a dynamic trio vs magical forces.
For Potter fans this film has a lot of magic, new places, new concept… lots to occupy the eye and mind both. I am not discussing the plot as its more of a spoiler, but I felt the first half of the film was a bit meandering and took its time to come to the topic and I was a bit bored for the first 45 mins or so, despite the charm of old New York and all the new magical items and people.
But the second half speeds up and is crackling and pretty much makes up for the slower start.

As an actor, I really can’t stand Eddie Redmayne and I liked the movie despite him. I found myself missing Daniel Radcliffe at times. Dan fogler is pretty decent as Jacob the no-mag (muggles as they are called in America).
The effects in this film range from hokey to amazing and wonderful, the climax looks very CGI fest, but then the resolution to the climax was simply magical.

So in short, Potter fans won’t be disappointed. This film sets up its own 1920’s world, with lots of things kept for the sequel, yet the film itself doesn’t feel incomplete. In that J.K Rowling succeeds exceedingly well.

Rating 7.5/10. It’s well-crafted, quite magical, if a bit slow at times.

This is the story of a youth caught between friendship and love and who cannot abandon either.

This movie could have been a classic. A masterpiece. It starts out that way. Strong, witty, charming. But some of the way through this movie falters. Then it keeps on dragging till the movie finally and blissfully ends.

Karan Johar hasn’t given us a good film as a director in nearly a decade and this movie doesn’t break that record. The script borrows elements from every recent romantic film, from Rockstar, to Yeh Jawani hai deewani to Johar’s own (produced) Kal ho na hoo. The characters mimic lines from kuch kuch hota hai… its slightly tacky for a director to refer to his own films. It shows how old and out of touch everyone has gotten.

Acting wise, Anushka shines though, she is pretty consistent and amazing throughout. Ranbir does his usual combining parts of his rockstar performance with the happy go lucky guy from tamaasha and yeh jawaani.
There are barely any side characters and the story stays focused on these two characters, until Ash enters the scene. She is as usual wooden and un-charming. She really tires very hard to do a good job, but her acting talent is very limited at best. But she isn’t a disaster to watch, its not cringe worthy, gets the job done of a VERY hot female, sexy character. Which is her role. Fawad khan, whose presence created such a ruckus, is barely in for 5 mins (as expected, he is listed as a cameo) and his acting is ok, nothing good or bad, just he is there for a story purpose. It could have been any other person or actor.

Moving on the music. It’s the only saving grace of the film, but the songs are not used to their full potential. But the tracks are good.

Final thoughts: Overall this film is rather uneven, it starts out strong, it gets stuck post second half and falters completely in the end.

Rating: PRE ending (last 20mins or so), I would rate this a 7. But the ending is really bad. Full movie rating is 5/10. Barely a onetime watch. Just barely…

This movie came out sometime back in theatres and for some reasons of time, I never did see in the theatres.
But now that it’s out on demand and Blu-ray, I caught up with this film and it’s such a great thriller!

I had heard good things about this film, but I wasn’t expecting such a gripping and tightly wound suspense thriller about a group of thieves who entered the home of a blind ex-soldier.
The movie is so suspenseful at times that the title of don’t breathe is very appropriate. The audience and the characters hold their breaths at times.
It could have gotten clichéd and convoluted, but the film bypasses those pitfalls and delivers a genuinely solid thriller which keeps you guessing on the outcome.

This is a must watch of home video. Especially with the lights on dim or completely out.
Rating: 8/10. Very tightly wound thriller with amazingly done suspenseful sequences.

Mirzya Movie Review :

Can a movie have an interesting premise, breathtaking visuals, amazing cinematography, well composed music and yet be a complete disaster?

Mirzya just proved its possible…
This movie follows the legend of Mirzya Sahiban and the tale of their doomed love story.

The original love story might be doomed, but this film is a certified box office disaster!

This has got to be one of the worst films I have ever seen. This includes humshakals in that list…
Right from the start, this movie falters, it doesn’t feel real, or impactful or genuine. Something is off about it. It doesn’t have a soul. Just well shot scenes and great camera work.
I generally start with the positives, so here they are, it has a good polished look and scenes are shot well. Other than that…
The negatives… mostly the whole film…
Acting, Anil Kapoor son seems a lame duck in his debut film, he neither has the anger, the anguish or the fire of a lover. He seems confused on what’s going on throughout the whole film. His future may or may not be bright, this film doesn’t help his cause at all.
The other debutante, saiyami kher is terrible to look at and her acting is beyond atrocious. Physical beauty isn’t everything, but as a heroine she needs to look the part. This actress just doesn’t. As her character falls for the wrong man, her acting shows no passion, no emotion, nothing.
The smaller roles are better acted, but who cares by now!

Now we come to the stupidity of this film. The direction.
This would have been better directed by Sajid Khan! I am not sure if I really mean that or not. But the director dropped the ball completely.
50% of the film is in slow motion, it gets repetitive and comic after a while. In-between randomly people in in some strange village start dancing for no reason, nothing related to the plot, we don’t know who the heck these people are, but they dance like ballerinas…
The film (if it can be called that) looks like a series of ads/ music videos stuck together incoherently. With Daler mehendi randomly screaming 'mirrzayyaaaaannn' at the top of his voice... In between I was like, scream 'mirzya' one more time asshole... I dare you! will throw a shoe at the damn screen!
Not to mention they completely threw away a great song and didnt use it properly!

Long story short, The hero is a waste, heroine is atrocious. Film is so bad that it is not just skip able, but we should bury it under the earth, then build a mall over. Demolish the mall and then NUKE the whole pile.

Rating : 0/10. For Imdb sake I have to rate it 1/10. AVOID, RUN the away. Never talk about this train wreck EVER. I only know how I sat through it, and didn’t fall asleep.

P.S: I saw this movie with a film maker friend of mine, who at the end said, “what a waste lover! No fuel for bike, ladki bhagaya, with no plan! Not even a bottle of water!”

This movie is, as they say in cricket, a sixer! It hits it right out of the stadium and keeps going!
M.S.Dhoni follows the story of India’s most successful cricket captain, right from his birth to his victory at the 2011 world cup.

First off, let me say, I am not a big fan of cricket, or follow the sports closely. But despite this, the movie works on a very human level. Even non cricket fans who have a basic idea of how the game works, will be able to enjoy this film.
Having said that, this film is an ABSOLUTE treat for cricket fans, they have shown all of dhoni’s real matches with the lead actor’s face morphed on the real person. So we get shots of the hero being hugged by Tendulkar, Yuvraj singh etc. its quite amazing to watch and it reminds me of similar accomplishment in 1994’s Forrest Gump, though this movie is far more extensive in that regards.

As for the film itself, they managed to get most of it right. The Story and plot is based on the real life and hence there is drama but no melodrama or over the top scenes.
Lets talk about the acting, Sushant Singh blends into the role of M.S Dhoni perfectly, it feels like we are watching the real person, his attitude, his smile, the way he speaks. The actor gets it perfect.

The rest of the entourage is perfectly casted and acted, the Bengalis in the story LOOK, talk and behave like bongs (I am one, so I can tell if its fake or real). The parents and relatives of Dhoni is done competently and believably.

The art direction in this film is amazing, it feels like a documentary, the sets or locations are SO authentic. Small houses are actually small and claustrophobic. The props are era appropriate. Kudos to the art team.

Now we come to the direction of the film. Neeraj Pandey is one of indias best and often under-rated director. He has the eye for detail, but he doesn’t sacrifice the moments for details sake. His direction has subtle humor without any huge laugh out loud moments. One particular scene, when the lead is sitting in pouring rain in the train station, watching his destiny pass him by, it’s amazing in cinematography, art and direction wise. Right before this scene, we see the lead actor pass a WORK in Progress sign, thereby explaining why in the middle of the day on a huge junction an entire platform will be empty. That is a director’s talent right there. Details and emotions both!

Lastly the music. Right from the trailer, the music was amazing, they use it rather well in the film and the score really sells the film. There are no songs per se, they mostly just accompany the scenes. But this movie wouldn’t seem half as good if the music wasn’t done SO well.

Cricket fans will obviously go and see this film, but this one manages to reach all audiences, from the smart multiplex audience to the single theaters, there is something for everyone. Make no mistake, this film is already a hit because of the real person’s super sports star status. But the film being good will contribute to its sustainability and reaching the non-cricket fan masses too.
I personally really like biopics, especially sports ones, which are more uplifting than usual and in doing so, Neeraj Pandey has made a masterpiece.

Rating : 9/10. A masterpiece and rather well made, genuine and uplifting film with an amazing score.

P.S: Something unrelated to the movie itself, I understand that cricket has its fans, but the kind of hooligans who were in the theaters to see their favorite idol Dhoni. They kept shouting throughout the movie! Its ok to shout at the exciting match scenes, but even in the romantic scenes, or the drama moments, they kept making cat calls, screaming and going bonkers for 2.5 hours straight! Such people are the reason why India sort of screwed up! Absolutely no respect for others or themselves or their own idol. If they really respected dhoni and his amazing story, they would have watched it with respect, not screaming their heads off every time the scene had even one female on screen, shouting obscene words at the onscreen portrayal of his real wife sakshi!
The only reason I didn’t get into an all-out fight with that 2 rows of assholes is coz I really wanted to see the film and I felt it would be disrespectful towards the film makers and the subject of the film M.S Dhoni.

This is a movie about 3 girls, living in delhi who have some sort of encounter with 3 boy and then things spiral out of control. Their neighbor is a lawyer played by mr Bachchan.

As far as story and plot goes, this film is light on both, but somehow it doesn’t suffer much from the lack of a deep plot. The story is simple enough yet shocking enough to pack a punch.
The film itself is quite uneven, though shot decently, the pacing is totally off. The first half of the film is rather slow and dragging and not enough happens to justify so much of screen time.
But the second half is crackling and very satisfying and rather provocative too. It almost feels like two different films in the first and second half.

Performances wise, Mr Bachchan is expectedly, amazing. His deep piercing look, unflinching gaze and baritone are utilized to the full in the second half. He carries this film to the finish line. His character of a mentally unstable and subdued lawyer is well suited to his capabilities and age.
The women in the film are all well-acted and very natural and believable. They are brazen at first but slowly shrink away in fear and can barely mumble in the court room scenes.
On the other side, the guys are shown as patriarchal and primitive despite a London education. Displaying that chauvinism is deep rooted.
The movie’s highlight is courtroom scenes. They are really brilliantly done and worth the price of the tickets. They are mostly realistic, except for a few liberties. The way the false witnesses and neighbors misconstrued the events and their speculation over the character of the girls, is a statement on society and how the old perceive the actions of the young.

Overall this film is a must watch for aficionados of court room dramas. This film also has a strong message for the women and men of the country and how mindsets can’t define a person.
Rating: The second half of the film would get a 10 rating from me, but the first half is too long, dragging and boring for such a high rating. The first half was a 6/10 movie for me.

Final Rating: 3.5/5. Very good, if a bit uneven.

This is a movie based on the real life incident in 2009 of a plane with both engines down, which had to land in the Hudson river (New York).

This movie is meticulously made. The details are there and the simple story is told in flashbacks and very refreshing editing style.
The director is The clint Eastwood and he directs with the energy of a 20something man. That in itself is amazing.
Tom Hanks is cast pretty well as Sully, the title character who is the pilot of the ill fated plane.
After this incident he became world famous despite him not asking for that fame.

Imagine a normal pilot, flying for 42 years without any big incident and suddenly one day he is the worlds most talked about person, this is the main theme of the film. The story and screenplay goes into great lengths to showcase this.
Also portrayed is the NTSB’s investigation of his actions, which seem to imply that he might have been able to land the plane and NOT risk all 155 souls onboard.

Being a clint eastwood movie, the score, the editing, the cinematography is all perfect. There is not enough technical jargon to confuse the everyday audience and there is enough details to keep an aviation enthusiast interested.

If you want to know further details of this miraculous real life incident, the documentary ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ and the Air-Crash Investigation episode Season 10 Episode 5 called flight 1549. (Easily available on youtube.)

Rating : 8.5/10.