THIS is a SPOILER FREE Review.

Rarely have I seen such Hype for a film… For Indian audiences, we do have Baahubali 2 The conclusion to compare to… but that was hype after ONE film. Endgame promises to be the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, meaning it is the final chapter for all the previous MCU films till date.

I seriously doubt we will get to see such an event film in our generation again. It’s almost impossible to make a film to follow 21 other films and make it impactful and satisfying.

That is not to say there will be no sequels to past MCU films, heck Spider-man already has its trailer out for Far from Home… but after seeing the film I can confirm, this film is a bookend to the entire MCU.

To prepare for this film, I started watching all 21 of the MCU films since March. Boy did it pay off… there are references to most of the past films.
The film is more or less neatly divided into the classic three-act structure. Introduction, conflict and then resolution.

The first act is a bit slow. It’s not boring or anything but it is not as well paced or as breathless as Infinity War was… the film calls for that. The heroes just lost the Infinity War, they have lost moral and need time to get back on their feet.
Then we have the second act, without spoiling ANYTHING all I can say is the characters we see in the trailer, have really good individual scenes in this part of the film. I was expecting this act to be a lot more entertaining than it really was. Again, it’s not bad but the film doesn’t really get into full steam till its last act.

The THIRD ACT is a KILLER.

I cannot wait to write a full spoiler article analyzing this film, but for now, all I can say is that this ending will make you laugh and cry and it made the theater audience scream and shout till they were hoarse and then some more. Let’s just say there was a full 10 mins of people just whooping and shouting.
The acting in this film is stellar. None of the actors feel like they are playing a superhero film. This is literally Oscar worthy performances here. ZERO cheesiness, nothing cringe worthy or over heroic. They feel like real people facing real issues.
There is no point telling how good the action and the music is… these films always get it just about right. However, the third act action scene is a bit more incoherent than Infinity War but it’s again not as random as the last battle scene in Aquaman.

This film along with Infinity War is a worthy two-film story about the Infinity Stones and the war for them.
The conclusion is pretty solid and in a way it’s a bit like return of the king. Multiple times, it feels like the film has ended but then there is another scene after it…

I will write a much longer article about this film… it deserves a long form discussion. Stay tuned for that. For now, the rating…

Rating : 9/10. Though it’s a GREAT film. An amazing companion piece to Infinity War, the film is not the most fast paced or exciting film. That feat still goes to Infinity War. Its pace was relentless and it flowed extremely smoothly.

This is like how Kill Bill was… Part 1 of that film was mostly action, Part 2 had a lot of talking and then some solid action sequences.
Endgame is going to be remembered as the film that was the end of an Era of the MCU.

Clank… that’s the sound a metal object makes when it falls down hard and hits the ground. This movie should have been called that instead of Kalank.
It sinks so hard and so fast, it makes SRK’s ‘Zero’ look like a masterpiece. Heck, I would even take Himmatwala over it…

ok… maybe not…

Coming to the film itself, this movie is made by someone who has been given 1 single instruction by the producer the great Mr. Karan Johar...

MAKE IT GRAND.

Regardless of what the story, the plot or the characters are… MAKE IT LOOK GRAND. Doesn’t matter how the chemistry of the leads is doing, never mind the clunky dialogs, just MAKE IT LOOK AS GRAND AS POSSIBLE.

Having a great Art department is not the best formula to make a good film. It worked for Baahubali because the story called for it. Joharji was so affected by that film that he has decided to make all of his film look fake grand just for the heck of. Bring on the blue/green screens, fake CGI bulls and CGI landscapes.
In this film we see some town in pre-partition India. This town is entirely made of illogical architecture and it has exactly 5 locations in total. At least that’s what the film makes it look like. All the scenes have been set in these 5 locations. No variety at all. This makes the film drag a lot. The same sort of locale and shot is repeated innumerous times and by the end of it I was glad to see it all burn down to the ground… Spoilers? Not really.

The story is far too convoluted and idiotic to even bother with, so let me spare you the headache of going through it. Instead let’s talk about the acting.
Alia Bhatt is a good actor. She shines in every scene she is in, which is most of them. But her shine cannot hide just how bad the direction is or just how slow the pace of the film is.
Varun Dhawan plays Iron man, i.e a lohar. This is the type of film, which thinks that adding a racial stereotype of kohl below the eyes is the only way to define a character.
Aditya Roy Kapoor is brooding and does nothing much.
Among the veteran cast, Sanjay Dutt is wasted in an extended cameo and Madhuri is reduced to looking sad at times.

Nothing much happens for the first 45 mintues. I guess the producer Mr Johar went to sleep and woke up shouting, “MAKE IT GRAND… Do anything… just add done random action to it…”
Therefore, the director got inspired by Baahubali and added a bullfight sequence. Randomly, just like that. This fight doesn’t even take place in town, it takes place in some mountainside which looks like it’s located in Ladakh.

Post the so-called action sequence the film again falls hard and fast and snoozes its way to the intermission.

Maybe it was not edited properly, but the intermission sort of glitches out… there is scene of alia snuffing out a lamp. Black screen then suddenly she lights up a bulb in a different saree. Then the words Intermission comes…

Or maybe we all live inside the Matrix and its glitching out due to how bad this film is…
Post interval we again get some random shots from towards the end of the film…
Eh? What? Then the movie resumes.

There is a subplot of Iron workers who want to do something… at this point who cares. They are in the plot to kill one of the male leads and solve the love triangle.
The whole film is mostly slow motion shots, meaningless dialogs. Wasted cameos by veterans.
I am now tired of writing about this film! Just sit at home and watch your wall… That’s a better use of your time.

In the end of the film Alia’s character asks, what did you see in this film? Our love or the Kalank it’s said to be… I mentally replied, ‘I saw my watch to check the time… multiple times.’

Rating : 3.5/10. Avoid. Just AVOID. There is nothing good in the film.

I was looking forward to this film ever since its first off beat sort of teaser-trailer. The last trailer was fantastic and I had high hopes for the film. The good thing is that the actions scenes don’t disappoint, but the film is… pretty ok for the rest of it. Lets dig in…

This film is an homage to the Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan sort of films. Chinese Kung Fu classics. For someone who loves Hong Kong actioners, Hollywood action movies this film is simply just made for them. There are so many references to the aforementioned Genres of cinema. From Star Wars to Spiderman’s colors in some henchman’s shoes the pop culture references never stop.
Most would compare this film to Kick-Ass and it would be justified as it’s in the same sort of tongue-in-cheek actioners. However, this is not a copy nor inspired from Kiss-Ass. The story and setting is fully original and very Mumbaiyaa.

Direction :
As already mentioned the action scenes are pretty good but they do feel a bit disjointed at times, as if they ran out of budget to shoot a full fight sequence and kept only the small parts in a montage. But the choreography of the fights is top notch and feels as real as the kung-fu films it’s referencing.
The let down in the film is its pace and editing. There are lots of scenes which are not edited tightly and go on for way too long even after they have established the point. This drags the film down and brings down the overall enjoyment of the whole thing. It takes way too long to come to the point and introduce the most entertaining character in the film… which brings us to acting.

Acting :
The film’s best character(s) is played by the very under rated Gulshan Devaiah. He plays twin brothers in the film, the hero’s mentor as well as the villain and properly introduced only POST interval. He plays the villain ‘Jimmy’ as a cliché psychotic villain, not my words, that’s how the film describes him! The film is fully self aware of all the typical action film tropes and uses them to put across a point quickly with some quirkiness.
Gulshan Devaiah is very good in both his roles and has the best lines in the film. Once he appears on screen he steals the show entirely from the film’s lead.
Which brings us to the film’s title character aka Surya played by Abhimanyu Dasani. He is a star son whose mother is Bhagyashree. Nepotism aside he is pretty good in his role of an off beat action movie loving nerd who just also happens to have an abnormal condition because of which he cant feel any pain.
His facial expressions and quirks are prefect for the character and overall he doesn’t disappoint in his debut.
But the female lead on the other hand is a different matter. She is good looking enough but is sort of bland in her acting and lacks any sort of on screen presence. Her role is not there just for eye candy, the writer has given her some good scenes to work with but her limitation as an actress makes those scenes a pain to watch and get through.
Last but not the least, Mahesh Manjrekar is simply superb as the hero’s old guardian grandfather. He has some good lines and his acting is very good. Totally believable in his role but he doesn’t come across as hammy or clichéd. He is a cool sort of grandfather who serves as an inspiration to his grandson.
The film is worth watching based on these performances by Mahesh Manjrekar and Gulshan Devaiah alone.

Overall :
The movie has some good songs, decent action scenes and the climax is well done. For people who like an off beat non mainstream actioner with quirky dialogs and lots of pop culture references, this is a good film to see in the cinemas. Despite some pacing issues the film is well made and worth a watch.

Rating :
7.5 / 10. Would have rated it higher if it was more tightly edited and better paced.

Captain Marvel is the lead up to Avengers: Endgame. Only the biggest film to be ever made… in terms of hype and Fan expectation. So no pressure!

I go with ZERO expectations to any comic book film, some of them surpass expectations like Glass (Sequel to Unbreakable and Split) and some are just totally meh (in my opinion) such as Venom and Aquaman. Therefore, I had zero baggage with me for this film. I only hoped it would be as good as Ant-man and not totally suck like Thor the Dark World.
I was pleasantly surprised; the movie is Decent to say the least. Let’s break it down…

Direction:
This movie is made by a pair of directors I have never heard of! However, that’s not a bad thing. Most of the world had not heard of Chris Nolan before he made Batman Begins. Same goes for Joe and Anthony Russo before they made Winter Soldier.
So being unknown directors is not a problem for Marvel films. The direction is solid, crisp and very in tone with Marvel offerings, which has a joke right before a deadly conflict.

Acting:
The film has Brie Larson and Sam Jackson as its main characters. Brie Larson’s acting is a bit iffy and unlike most Marvel Superheroes her casting seems a bit questionable. She isn’t terrible in the role, but the typical marvel spunk, comedy and one liners / attitude doesn’t suit her at all and it comes across as cheesy. While she isn’t an eye sore as the film’s lead they could definitely have done better.
Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury on the other hand has been transformed into a comedy sidekick. There are specific things here, which are ‘spoilery’ so will only discuss them in the last paragraph BELOW the rating. It’s nice to see Nick Fury in the formative years but he doesn’t really have much to do expect be the butt of most of the films jokes.
The rest of the side characters are well handled and no one sticks out as either too good or bad. Annette Bening fulfills the role of the senior actor who has Oscar worthy talent and is underutilized, same as Glenn Close in Guardians and Micheal Douglas in Ant-man (Also Marisa Tomei in Homecoming, though that’s a Sony Marvel films)
Jude Law is there for more or less a guest appearance and the movie has nothing to offer such a veteran and expect actor.

Story:
This film is set in the 1990’s. Right from the trailers it looked like they have covered that time period pretty well. But the film sort of lacks the making of the 1990s as a character. Somehow, Guardians set it up better as the 80s even though it was set in contemporary times. The plot is a bit weak but they can’t make too many changes or the rest of the films in continuity will get affected.
The ending climax scene is a straight rip-off from the Guardians of the Galaxy / Thor Ragnarok type of film making.

Overall:
This film is fine and enjoyable. It’s not as good as the First ‘Iron man’ nor is it too bad as Iron man 2/3. It’s definitely worth a watch for all Marvel fans. If you have never seen a Marvel film, then this film is NOT for you!

Rating:
7/10. Solid in most parts. Some strange moments, but overall pretty watchable.

P.S: (Spoilers)
My main issue with the film is how much a comic relief they have made Nick Fury. Sure, he could have been less serious and more jokey as a younger person, but he is not at the beginning of his career! He is already a decorated ex-soldier and Spy! He is shown as a LOW threat level as a joke but the CAT is highly dangerous. Also the way he does lose his eye is a throwaway joke! Come on! Fury’s losing an eye should have been epic while doing something heroic. In a way they try to justify it as things Fury did, he was a silly fellow and lost an eye because he was careless. But does that sound like the Nicholas J. Fury we have seen in Avengers? They sort of portray him as a fake legend whose heroics are all hear say.
Why did they feel that if Nick Fury was strong it would devalue the main lead? This method of raising her value by making the legendary Fury a joke is just sad.
Other than this, the film is fine. They also under used Coulson. He barely had a role but that’s fine. It’s the director and writers call.
Ronan the Accuser from Guardians makes an appearance here and even he his stature of someone who talks back to Thanos is severely reduced here to make Captain Marvel look powerful… these are some things which hard core marvel fans might take an issue with.

I am personally not a very big fan of Raveer singh. I felt like his best acting was in Dil dhadak Ne Do. Now the same team has come out with Gully Boy and although I know exactly ZERO about Hip-Hop, rap and such things, I decided to see this film first day first show.
For me Zoya Akhtar as a film maker has never disappointed and the same is true for this film. She has a way of making films, which at the time don’t seem too long but are actually over 2 and half hours easily.
Direction & Story:
As already mentioned Zoya Akhtar is a fantastic director. In most of her films the theme is ‘aspiration to be better than your surroundings’. Right from Luck by chance to Gully Boy all her films share this theme. Rich or poor, characters in her film are stuck in life and bogged down by the limitations set up by their surroundings. So this is a theme she is a master at and Gully boy is her most underdog story yet. Until now most of her stories had financially rich but emotionally handicapped characters. However, in this film, Ranveer singh plays a character who lives in Dharavi and is poor. He believes, ‘apna time ayega’ he sits and writes down in frustration.
The transition from portraying upper class rich folk to really poor folk is often botched up by Bollywood. It just doesn’t look or feel real. It’s often not gritty enough. Zoya and writer Reema Kagti manage to side step this pitfall and create some VERY realistic and believable people inhabiting the slums of Dharavi. Not a single person breaks this illusion of how it is to lead that life.
This is the biggest win for this film. It seems, rather it portrays the subject very authentically. There is a sincerity behind the effort to get to the heart of this story.

Acting :
Ranveer Singh gives his career best performance in the film. He is extremely believable as Murad. He is not over the top like his other films and keeps himself grounded for the whole film. Alia bhatt is probably the best actress of her generation, she manages to portray all the nuances of her character without it becoming unbelievable. She is not shown as likable but still she is perfect for Ranveer’s Murad.
The breakout mention here is for newcomer Siddhant Chaturvedi. It’s his first film and he manages to upstage Ranveer at times. It’s not an accident. He is playing a sort of mentor to Ranveer and his upstaging of Murad is a plot requirement. No Bollywood egos to be seen where Ranveer would ask for less scenes of Siddhant or to cut the scene where he upstages him.
Rest of the cast including Vijay Raaz as the stern father are played perfectly by the actors.

Cinematography:
‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ had some of the best cinematography I had seen till that point in a Bollywood film. Gully boy doesn’t exceed that, but it keeps the track record of rather well done camera moves and excellent blocking.
While this is not something normal audience notice, it does affect them on how they are seeing a scene and its mood. The beginning of the film is shot in primarily close ups to show how suffocating life is for the characters. Slowly the frames start to expand and you get to see far shots of locales and characters. Portraying their sense of freedom.
Film making is not a based on one thing alone, everything has to come together. Films can have great story but can also be shot badly. This film works on every level. The story is adequate, the visuals very effective and the music… how can we NOT talk about the music?

Music & Soundtrack :
I have already admitted that Rap & hip Hop is not my genre and I do not understand this type of music at all. Having said that, the soundtrack of Gully Boy was awesome. Right from the first song, the music, the lyrics the rap all worked for me. The way the first song is picturized is very international and kudos to the film makers for making a music video which lives up to high standards without being all Bollywood and dance numbers.
The best musical films make a certain way of going about with their songs. They start with the most average song first and the graph picks up from there. Think for a minute about Taal. That film had a lot of good songs, but the graph keeps going up. (Talking about Taal)The first 2 songs are decent, then the Mumbai based songs are even better and finally the song for the finale is epic.
The same applies for Gully Boy. In a properly done film, the end track should leave you on your feet cheering. If they had not managed that, to make the final song the best one yet, then this film would have fallen flat (Example ABCD).
But the last song ‘Apna Time Ayega’ is a huge crowd pleaser without being over the top.

Overall :
On the topic of over the top, this film never leaves its boundaries of its setting and never goes ballistic trying to show the Gully Boy becoming world famous. Maybe they are planning on a sequel, but for this story, things are kept grounded in a way that is believable without being boring.
The movie is sort of predictable and nothing happens which is super surprising, but that is not the type of film this is going for. This is not a thriller, it’s a simple aspirational film, done perfectly.

Rating :
8/10. For me this is a must watch for its amazing music, great cinematography, good direction and overall just a very well made film.

P.S : I recently saw 8 mile as a comparison before seeing Gully boy. For once Bollywood out does Hollywood by miles (pun intended). Gully Boy is the film 8 miles wishes it were. There is nothing similar in the two films whatsoever. People speculating that this is just a bad copy of 8 mile, eat your heart out… this film far surpasses 8 mile and is probably one of the best musical aspirational underdog films ever made.

2.0 was promised as a semi sequel to 2010’s Endhiran (Robot). It’s good to see that it’s not just a spiritual sequel as it was marketed as but a direct and proper sequel. It just discards Robot’s very last scene set in 2030.
2.0’s plot line / premise is totally irrelevant to its real genius. The film is a technical marvel right from the very first scene with copious use of 3D to make the audience feel like the film is projecting somewhere between the screen and the viewer’s eyes.

The main character in this film is of course Chitti the Robot. He is treated like a superhero here. His entry is matter of fact and now he can pretty much do anything with the only real challenge to Chitti being the rapid way his battery seems to keep discharging. Infact Chitti has no emotional challenges in the film at all. He doesn’t have to give up anything major or improve himself in anyway. His 2.0 avatar (the films title character) is just him with the red chip from the last film. The films plot and message is lost in Chitti 2.0's robot antics.

Direction :
The film is made by S.Shankar, one of India’s most innovative filmmakers. This time around, he has kept the film very tight and has not used any of the typical south overacting, humor or songs. In fact this is the most NON masala film Shankar has ever made. This is all in the pursuit of making this film truly international in look and feel.
Having said that, the film is a bit one note and the intensity doesn’t jump up or down, its evenly quite intense throughout. This lack of highs and lows can be an issue with the audience who wants to see a complete entertainer. SS Rajamouli avoided this same issue in 2012’s Eega (Makkhi).

Acting :
With time Rajnikanth is getting more and more tepid in his acting. This film had a lot more for his scientist character to do, who is an intellectual and doesn’t have any of the typical Rajni traits. That’s not to say his acting is bad, its just gotten a lot more sober and serious. Even the 2.0 chitti who is almost a villain character refrains from truly going overboard. He is always at the edge of madness and never crosses it.

Akshay Kumar is really good in this film. He totally does justice to his casting in the film and in his backstory he plays an ornithologist (someone working on birds) modelled on india’s most well known person in this profession ‘Salim ali’ who is a Padma bhusan winner. His acting both as an ornithologist and as a villain is on point. He is menacing as the birdman character and sympathetic in his backstory. He keeps up with Rajni Sir’s acting and performance so that the clash is between equals.

Amy Jackson’s turn as a humanoid Robot is perfect casting. Amy’s acting is extremely wooden normally, so now that she is playing a robot, she seems adequately robotic. Her character has in place asimov’s 3 laws and therefore she is not a killer robot like Chitti. So she has a supporting role of protecting Rajni’s scientist character and at times even Chitti. So she isn’t there just for eye candy. But speaking of eye candy, Amy looks really good running around in a form fitted robot suit.

This brings us to the sets and art design.

Art Design :
The suits and costumes used in the film work great and do not look cheap at the least. Chitti’s normal look and his 2.0 look both work well and seem high tech and robotic enough. The art direction is top notch and nothing in the film looks less than any international film. Akshay’s different looks and his prosthetics are thoroughly convincing and work well purely on a technical level. Amy’s Neela as mentioned earlier looks cute in her robot avatar and is a welcome visual contrast in the mostly male dominated cast.

The labs, sets etc all look very good. A lot of the budget has gone into getting the look right for this film.

Lastly we come to the most talked about and innovative thing about this film.

The visual FX :
People on youtube and twitter have both appreciated and made fun of the VFX of this film. Some have said it looks worse than a ps2 video game. This is not true at all. I felt that in 3d the VFX of the film looked very good. There are numerous scenes which have 1000s of cell phones doing impossible things and its animated so well. I have not seen such an idea or execution of such proportions in a Indian or International film till date. The villain is made up of cell phones and that god damn difficult to achieve. Every part of him is an individual mobile phone. The phone is rigid and cannot bend, so I can imagine how difficult animating this must have been.

The VFX is really top notch as far as the budget is concerned.
Shankar has an habit of these huge set piece songs in all his films, such as Indian, Nayak, Aparichit, Sivaji and Robot. But this time he refrains from songs in the film at all. the only song in the film is at the very end. I guess this makes the film more tight, less masala and more international. the only song Tu Hi re plays over the end credits.

Now we come to the negatives of the film.
As mentioned before, the film is very one note and all emotional parts have been excised in pursuit of technical achievement. Which is fine, but it doesn’t give the right stakes to things. The villain’s point of view is explained but then made fun of in the end by Chitti 2.0. Therefore, despite this film being technically an achievement not just in Indian cinema, but world cinema, the emotional overtones are missing. Making this a less complete film than its 2010 predecessor. Personally, I still prefer the original over this sequel. Which is not to say that this film is not good.

Rating :
This movie could have been a nine for me, but it messes up some key moments. So for Rajni sir's and akshay's acting, the action and awesome vfx and innovative ideas, this movie is an easy 7.5/10 for me.

Fans of the Original Halloween (1978) will be glad to know that despite there being a number of sequels over the years this is the first true and proper part 2 of the first film.
Picking up after 40 years this film is all about how Michael Myers and Laurie Strode have affected each other during the events of the first film and how they finally once again go head to head towards a fatal conclusion.
This movie is an apt follow up of the original. It is a bit on a slow burner. It’s not very fast paced but throughout there is a very uneasy sort of feeling even when people are doing mundane things or joking about. This movie isn’t made for this generation entirely. Its not too flashy or over stylized.
This film is crafted the same way Michael Myers kills. It’s brutal and methodical in its execution and depiction of violence. The camera doesn’t shy away from some truly bloody and awful murders. It doesn’t flinch when a man’s head is smashed to bits… same as how Michael has no emotional reaction to his killings. He just is… evil. Pure Evil.
So this movie is also Pure, it’s a pure sort of horror thriller which is sort of missing these days. Last year’s ‘IT’ was along these lines though that was an over the top out and out horror.

Direction & Cinematography :
The director follows cues from the original film and scenes look like its being seen from the viewpoint of someone lurking in the shadows. It makes the audience feel like they are witnessing something they shouldn’t be seeing. A creepy felling of being a spy looking into the lives of these peoples. Sort of how Michael sees them. This is a great use of cinematography and direction at the same time. It’s sort of a documentary feel, but much more sinister. Some shots lingers to show the effect of the violence. Some shots just barely glance over a gruesome killing and deals with that as a matter of fact way… of course Michael killed a person and hung him up on the walls!

The Music :
The famous Halloween theme is what makes this film amazing. It’s a simple theme, nothing complex but it is used in ways that will send chills down the viewers spine. Its fast paced and somehow slow at the same time. Giving rise to a desperation in the audience. They want to see what’s next but dread the outcome also… that’s brilliant. Some sequels, remakes / reboots often chuck the famous music of the originals, but this time they have used it a lot and used it rather well!

Overall :
The best scene in the film is when Michael puts on the iconic mask. It’s like seeing batman in the cowl but so much more perverse and scary. The film amazing as it was, it not without some loose ends, characters like someone’s boyfriend disappear from the scene and is never seen again, their story is ignored in the mix for terror and thrill. Some characters suddenly change behavior and don’t get a good resolution… but these are minor gripes in an otherwise tight narrative.
This is a solid horror/thriller. Harking back to the 70s. Its narrative is tight, focused, and is a definite must watch for fans of this genre.
Rating : 7.5 / 10. A solid entry into the horror genre.

P.S : I went to see this film at the local Inox which is on Palm Beach Road Vashi. By god the management there is atrocious. The manager has a holier than thou attitude and would not allow even a tiffin inside for fear of their OVER priced popcorn on losing out. Twice I have been to this theater and have seen most shows of all the films are empty. No clue why, but I sincerely hope they go out of business for their rudeness and lack of customer service. I don’t go to this theater unless it’s the only one showing the movie. Now I never will go there again.

2007’s Johnny Gadaar Was a pretty good crime thriller, but since then Sriram Raghavan has given use agent Vinod and badlapur. Both were sort of duds… So I hesitated to go spend my money on this film…
But during the second weekend (when I went to see First man – empty theater) this film was running house full! This piqued my curiosity and I went to see this film on Sunday morning (A rarity for me!)
So this review is a week too late, but it doesn’t matter… this film is here to stay and you can catch it next week as well !

So now for the review itself…
Andhadhun is about a blind piano player and the hijinks he gets up while leading a life of lies…

Plot :
The film is a slow burn thriller but it is brilliantly crafted! The plot is somewhat slow, but never boring. The characters interesting and not too mundane. This reminds me of the 70s thrillers which had realistic people in them but who went to crazy lengths to get their goals. Finding the balance between real people and their over the top actions is difficult and it’s something this film has managed beautifully.

Acting :
Everyone is natural in their roles. I personally cannot stand Radhika Apte, but she is fine in this film and quite tolerable. Part of the reason is that she is an important plot device but her character doesn’t have much to do… Tabu is excellent in the film, she looks her role. Beautiful, yet tired and old. She portrays an ex-actress with perfection! Aayushman is seamless in his role, you forget he is acting after a while its so natural! Rest of the cast is excellent too. Most of them have one or two memorable lines and scenes. No one is really wasted by the director.

Direction :
This is the type of film this director excels at and he really should stick to this genre of 70ish thrillers with a sound plot. The film making style is comparable to Guy ritchie’s and Scorcese minus the quick cuts and more of a steady build up rather than typical gangsters crap story. The pace of the film is more or less even and doesn’t let down or speed up much. But there in lies the brilliance… gruesome events are shown in a nonchalant way to shock the audience without cheap tricks! That’s a master at work!

Overall :
This film is pure gold for the lovers of this director’s first and second film and of thrillers in general. The acting, the plot and everything really comes together. Comparable to this year’s blackmail, but much more shocking and crackling than that film too… this movie is a must watch!

Rating : 8/10.

The Nun is the latest horror movie in the conjuring universe, previous entries other the main conjuring films have been Annabelle and Annabelle creation.

These spin off films have been mediocre at best and the nun is no exception, although better than Annabelle, the nun is a showy horror film full of Christian references and at times begs the question,
what if the demon in question is hindu?

Jokes apart, this film is somewhat lacking in genuinely good jump scares and the decent ones mostly pop up pre interval. The monster has already been revealed in the conjuring 2 hence the filmmakers decided to go all out and the teeth bared demon is screaming and screeching pretty soon into the film, which sort of spoils any build up to a genuinely good scares.

The Nun is a genuinely scary character, just seeing her image on screen as a wallpaper can give someone sleepless nights… but somehow this character is misused and comes across as screechy and zombie-ish… losing everything that was scary about her in conjuring 2…

The acting by the lead performers is adequate as it is in most such horror films, but having seen Stree just last week, this film seems to pale in comparison. Which is rare but it’s a welcome change to have Bollywood outdo Hollywood for once.

If you LOVE the conjuring films, do go see this film once, but this is not the best of horror films out in theaters right now. For that, catch Stree if you haven’t yet…


Rating : 5/10.
Conclusion : This film could have been genuinely scary, it had a great setting and premise, but somehow it didn’t become greater than the sum of all its parts. In addition, the praying to god while the demon is literally dancing around is such an old cliché… Hollywood needs to get out of its Vatican love and make some demons who do not adhere to Christ…

This is a movie I went to see on a whim… I like the writers of this film who have previous made Go goa gone and A Gentleman (among others). So I decided to just give this VERY mediocre looking film a chance.
The plot revolves around A Spirit which supposedly kidnaps men and leaves only their clothes behind. The film’s hero Vicky is modern and doesn’t believe this at all… from here on starts the film.

Direction & Plot:
Horror comedy is a VERY difficult genre… how can someone make people scared shitless and then bring out copious amounts of laughter from them in the next scene or maybe in the very same scene. There are very few movie in Hollywood or Bollywood which can successfully do horror comedy. I am very happy to say, Stree succeeds in almost every aspect. It’s one of the best horror comedies of this decade if not the entire span of indian cinema.
Hollywood has very recently figured out how to do horror just about right. From the conjuring, insidious to IT, they are making pretty good horror films. But what if a film can be as scary as IT but also make you laugh madly in the very next moment ? Stree as mentioned before totally does that. All the credit goes to the film makers. The writing is sheer brilliance, the editing is sharp and the scares got some genuine shouts of terror from the audience. But then comes the funny dialogs, the great acting and comedic timing of the entire cast without going overboard or losing the thread of the narrative.
I cannot stress enough how hard this is to pull off. However, not only do they pull it off, the filmmakers have made an instant classic. This is a film that is not just good and entertaining, but REALLY re-watchable. Not just due to the comedy, but due to its plot as well. I cannot explain this further without going into spoilers.

Writing:
The writers (Raj and Krishna in this case) are the king of cinema. Few know this, especially in Bollywood, where a writer is a distant afterthought behind the items songs and the star power. But this film has first and foremost amazing writing. Not just in the comedy dialogs, but in the way the hero and his friend’s comradery gets established with very few lines.
The plot would seem sort of lackluster or insufficient, but somehow it works rather well. A film based on just a thin premise usually leads to a dragging second half, but this film is just as sharp post interval as it is in the first half.
There is a scene of a human possession by a ghost, which is normally shown as scary and terrifying, but here the writers treat is as a comedy scene, which shouldn’t work, how can a comedy scene establish how serious the ghost is? But somehow it not just works, but had the audience rolling with laughter even as the possessed person goes full zombie on his family!

Acting :

Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee are the main cast members. Miss Kapoor being the weakest link in the acting chain. Rajkummar is ridiculously good in his character. He is an everyman hero who is nervous around pretty girls. But is a prince among his friends, flawed, scared and unwittingly hilarious at times. He does wonders with an already well-written material.
The rest of the above-mentioned cast are a natural fit into the film. They seem like small town people, with interesting characters, but nothing so overboard as to make it seem unbelievable. Some from such a village or town would be able to identify with them, but they are also main stream enough for the city audience to find them interesting and funny. Again, this is something most films struggle with a lot.
Overall the acting is pretty damn good by everyone on screen. Miss Kapoor weak as she is in acting, still manages to do her role properly and convincingly.

Overall :
This film is highly recommended for people who like horror and comedy. It’s smart, it’s very middle India, but somehow still relevant and funny.
(NO SPOILERS)
The film ending is slightly ambiguous, maybe to setup a sequel OR to give credence to two different theories about the Stree (Ghost) in this film. It does not take anything away from the film, but the writers have purposely written it in a way that there can be two possible explanations of the ending of the film. Another thing, which is extremely hard to do… convince the audience that they have seen something that they really haven’t… or have they?

Rating :
For one of India’s (if not the only) best horror comedies. I rate this quite high. 8.5 / 10. A MUST watch for all audiences who enjoy a good film with some scares and a lot of laughter.

p.s :
Maybe the producers didn’t have much confidence on this film as I saw hardly any marketing of this film and the trailer of the film is just about ok. I wish this excellent film gets a lot more recognition for how awesome it is…