Mee Raqsam review: "Captures the bond between father & daughter effectively!!!"

We as citizens of this great nation have always prided in our unity in diversity, be it for the languages, customs, cuisines etc. There have indeed been voices of discord over the centuries & history has been witness to numerous events that threatened to disintegrate this nation into oblivion. But time & again we prevailed & that was due to the ability of majority of people to look at each other as one of their own. However, there is still a significant number who rigorously adhere to their religious norms to the extent that they believe that even embracing art forms or customs of other religions is deemed an unpardonable sin. This is exactly what Baba Azmi has portrayed in his debut venture “Mee Raqsam”. Since the theme was interesting & the cast had Naseeruddhin Shah, I decided to check it out when it premiered on Zee5.

Set in Azamgarh’s Mijwan village, Salim (Danish Husain) is a tailor who had recently lost his wife. As expected, it created a void in his family but the impact was much more profound on their daughter, Mariyam (Aditi Subedi). However, she found solace in Bharatanatyam & seeing her enthusiasm for the art form, Salim enrolled her into the dance school in the neighborhood. But neither of them would have fathomed the turmoil that was going to befall on them from their community.

After a successful career as a cinematographer, Baba Azmi decided to try his hand in direction & that’s how “Mee Raqsam” was created. The movie is presented by his sister, Shabana Azmi and is a tribute to his father & renowned poet Kaifi Azmi and is shot in Mijwan which was the hometown of his father. Baba had penned the script as well & it focuses on the bond that a father & daughter share even on the face of adversity from all quarters. The screenplay by Safdar Mir & Husain Mir brings out the relationship between the father and daughter beautifully, but the enormity of the resistance that the father had to face from the community to give wings to his daughter’s wishes is not conveyed adequately to the audience. The other technical aspects were average at best.

Danish Husain has performed really well as he makes us empathize with his character. I really look forward to seeing his in more movies. Aditi Subedi has given an earnest performance & endears to the audience, though her dance skills weren’t exactly a strong suit. Naseeruddin Shah might have been there only for a few scenes but a veteran more than made his presence felt as the staunch guardian of his religion’s principles. As for the rest of the cast, Sharda Kaul (as her aunt) was effective while the others also did their parts aptly.

Verdict:  The movie did not garnered much attention for its rather low keel publicity & lack of major stars (though the credentials of the cast that lined up here was solid). It deals with a topic that has & will have relevance in her society for years to come. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards…Ben

Class of 83 review: "Would have been classier if the characters had more depth!!!"

Whenever we talk about 1983, the first image that comes into the mind of most Indians would be Kapil Dev lifting the World Cup at the balcony in Lords. As a matter of fact that has inspired quite a few film makers like Abrid Shine "1983" & Kabir Khan "83" to weave stories with cricket being the main central theme. Hence, when I heard about Atul Sabarwal's "Class of 83"; I presumed it must be about the game as well. However, it was a pleasant surprise that it was about the underworld & from the looks of it, it seemed pretty impressive. So will King Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment strike gold with Netflix the third time around after "Bard of Blood" & "Betaal" failed to rise up to the expectations???

Set in the early 1980s, the Cotton Mill Industry was barely managing to keep itself afloat as the nexus between the underworld and the politicians saw it as an opportunity to establish their real estate aspirations. Such an unholy relationship also existed between Maharashtra CM Manohar Patkar (Anup Soni) & the underworld don Kalsekar. However, Inspector Vijay Singh (Bobby Deol) was a constant thorn in their flesh, due to which he was removed from the field & asked to take up the position of Dean in the Police Training Academy at Nashik. Among his training cadets, there were quite a few who caught his eye & makde him wonder whether they could complete the job that he couldn't.

It's been quite a while since we had seen Atul Sabarwal don the director's cap with his previous venture being "Aurangzeb" in 2013 which featured our very own Prithviraj. His latest project is based on Abhijit Deshpande's script which was inspired from Hussain Zaidi's book 'The Class of 83: The Punishers of Mumbai Police'. Zaidi is a rather familiar name in the world of investigative journalism & quite a few of his books have already been made into movies like "Black Friday", "Shootout at Wadala", "Phantom" etc. So the combination of these individuals were expected to be a cracker as they are well versed with the topic of underworld. However, that wasn't how it panned out as it seemed like the makers were more concerned about having a short running time rather than properly flesh out the characters. The manner in which it is taken engages the audience be it the camaraderie, ego and even distrust between the friends; however as I said earlier, even though the subject seems engrossing we dont completely invest in it as it fleets by quickly. 

On the technical side, it is top notch as the attention to detail & the palette chosen throughout is in sync with the period and the mood of the movie. Kudos to Mario Poljac for the exquisite frames &Viju Shah for the apt soundtrack. It's been quite a while since we have seen Bobby Deol in a meaningful role and he has done justice to it, though I felt the brooding was way too monotonous and it required someone bit more skillful to effectively emote. If you ask me, Kay Kay would have been an ideal choice as we already saw how natural he was in the Hotstar webseries " Special Ops". As for the rest of the cast, all the new comers has done a fine job along with Anup Soni, Joy Sengupta & Vishwajeet Pradhan.

Verdict: Technically it's made pretty well & even the subject has the content to engage the audience. But the over eagerness to wrap up the story, meant they didnt bother to give space for any of the characters to develop. In short, surely a one time watch but for the makers it was a missed opportunity as it had the potential for much more!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben 

Khuda Hafiz review: "Earnest effort let down by an average story!!!"

It's been an eventful last couple of days whereby we celebrated the Independence Day, reminiscenced the career of Captain Cool & bid adieu to the music maestro Pandit Jasraj. In between, we also had a couple of movies releases among which Faruk Kabir’s “Khuda Hafiz” happened to be one of them. Inspired by true events, the story is set against the backdrop of the financial recession in 2008. It garnered quite a bit of attention when Vidyut Jammwal (apart from Kunal Khemu for “Lootcase”) wasn’t included among the actors for the virtual press meet about their movies that were lined up for release on Disney+Hotstar. With nepotism & influential bigwigs being a hotly debated topic in recent times, it would surely evoke a sense of satisfaction in Faruk & Vidyut if their movie can prove its worth. So did it manage to do that???

The Indian Embassy swung into action as it was informed that one of its citizen was detained by the authorities of the fictional Middle Eastern nation, Noman.  The detainee was Sameer (Vidyut Jammwal), a software engineer by profession who had married Nargis (Shivaleeka Oberoi) about a year back. It was around this time that the recession of 2008 had set in & just like many others they also lost their jobs. With none of their efforts to find a suitable job bearing fruit, they decide to apply to openings in the Middle East which eventually clicks. However, little realize that this chapter of their life could very well be their last together.

Faruk Kabir isn't a name that I am familiar with as I haven't watched his earlier creations such as "The Awakening" or "Allah Ke Banday". From the trailer, it was evident that it's about the search for a lost wife in a foreign land. He has also penned the script & it seemed like one that had potential (pretty much like "Taken") if it was executed properly with a credible screenplay. However, the scenes that unfolds in Noman just didnt quite have the impact apart from the action sequences. There is nothing engaging in the latter half that keeps us invested in this story as it doesn't offer anything new. On the technical side, Amar Mohile & Mithoon has given some soothing tracks while Jitan Harmeet Singh's visuals were fine.

There is no need to even discuss as to how brilliant Vidyut is when it comes to executing action scenes & over here as well, he was on song. However, it was refreshing to see him make an earnest effort to play a restrained character & though he struggled to make it convincing, kudos for trying something different. Sivaleeka was mediocre while Annu Kapoor did his part aptly. As for the rest of the cast, they were average at best.

Verdict: It does not belong the "Commando" series type of movie, though there is still adequate amount of actin sequences some of which like the one in the narrow alley are top notch. There was surely scope for this to be much more engaging but it stops well short of it coz of a pretty average screenplay. In short, commend the effort of Vidyut but the movie didnt work for me!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Gunjan Saxena-The Kargil Girl: "Doesnt soar as much as expected!!!"

As our nation celebrates its 74th Independence day, let's bow our heads in gratitude and humility to pay respects to the numerous faceless people who made this day possible. Though we gained freedom from the British Raj, we still faced challenges over the years in the form of conflict from our neighbors. However, our brave & selfless soldiers have constantly negated all those threats allowing us to live in peace. One such event happened to be the 1999 Kargil War where many of our brave warriors laid down their lives. Among them was IAF Pilot, Gunjan Saxena who was the first female pilot to be part of the war. On the lead up to this Independence Day, Sharan Sharma decided to pay homage to this brave officer in the form of a biography. But will Janhvi Kapoor be able to pull off the titular role with conviction???

Based in Lucknow, Gunjan Saxena (Janhvi Kapoor) harboured dreams of becoming a pilot right from her childhood dreams. Being a bright student, her mother Kriti (Ayesha Raza) & brother, Anshuman (Angad Bedi) were keen on her taking up a different profession as they firmly believed that her place wasn't meant to be in the cockpit. However, her father Anup (Pankaj Tripathi) who was an Army Officer supported his daughter's wishes & encouraged her to strive for her dreams. With the fees that is meant for a commercial pilot course beyond their capabilities, it seemed like Gunjan's dreams were over. But destiny had other plans.

After having plied his trade as an assistant director in "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani", Sharan Sharma is making his directorial debut with this biography. He has scripted the story in the company of Nikhil Mehrotra who had credible movies to his credit such as "Dangal", "Chhichhore"etc. The movie works for most parts, however it fails to impart the desired impact after Gunjan makes it to the training academy. Interestingly, some of the scenes there reminded me of "Hidden Figures". It's a good thing that they chose to focus on the sexism and the gender based discrimination rather than an over dosage of nationalism. Though only a small portion of the Kargil War was picturised, it looked rather amateurish as a whole. Manush Nandan has done a reasonable job with the visuals while Marc Wolff's co-ordination in the helicopter sequences were pretty good. 

So it's time for the inevitable question, was Janhvi convincing as the protagonist? There is no doubt that she has done a good job for large parts as she was able to convey the vulnerability & nervousness of the character perfectly. However, the transformation that we expected to happen after she defied the odds was nowhere to be seen. In short, as the flight officer she definitely missed the mark according to me. The best performance belonged to Pankaj Tripathi who captures our attention with his expressions that spoke volumes without having to mouth dialogues. As for the rest, Angad Bedi started off well but was rather wooden later on, Vineet Kumar had a one dimensional role, Ayesh Raza was wasted while Manav Vij was good.

Verdict: On this Independence Day, it's surely an engaging watch though it definitely didn't soar as much as expected. With just a couple of movies under her belt, it would be unfair to slam Janhvi but the fact remains that she didnt quite have the caliber to pull off the IAF part. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Pareeksha review: "Adil's classy performance makes it an endearing watch!!!"

A couple of days back, we had the Government roll out the National Educational Policy 2020 in an attempt to bring a holistic change to the educational system in our country. However, whether they will be achieve it depends on the will and the manner in which it will be implemented. The Right to Education came into effect in our nation about ten years back & it's a work still in progress, though not quite to the level that we would have liked. One of it's major obstacle is the impact that the  economic strata that a person belongs to has on the opportunities to quality education. This is the premise of Prakash Jha's "Pareeksha" which was released on ZEE5 last week. So did Jha remain true to the ground reality or was it an over dosage of filmy melodrama???

Just like many others who resiliently faced the challenges that life threw at them on a daily basis, Bucchi (Adil Hussain) also harboured hopes of a better future for his son, Bulbul (Shubham Jha), who was an excellent student & performed admirably in Govt school. Bucchi was a rickshaw puller while his wife, Radhika (Priyanka Bose) shared the responsibilities by working in a factory nearby. He regularly ferried children from affluent households in the locality to the upscale CBSE school, where he was keen to get Bulbul admitted as he believed that was the gateway to a better life. But for a family that struggled to make ends meet, it seemed like a distant dream. So will their meager means be able to handle the hefty educational fees???

It's been quite a while since we had an interesting movie from Prakash Jha as the last few were high on star value but lacked content. With his latest venture, it would be fair to say that he has reclaimed some of his vintage form. He has scripted a hard hitting realistic tale that shows that people belonging to the lower economic strata cant afford to think of acquiring equal opportunities even in the educational sector though it is a right that is enshrined in the Constitution. The equation that the close knit family share with each other is an absolute delight & the hardships that the parents endure for their son's education does tug at our heart cords. Even when the father resorts to wrong doings, it would still be hard for the audience not to root for him. However, the sequences that involves the happenings at school was rather average. On the technical side, there is nothing that deserves special mention.

Adil was brilliant as Bucchi as his expressions and apologetic body language was spot on. We are left to ponder as to how grossly we have utilized this talent actor. Let's hope that he gets roles worth his caliber & keeping him adequate support was an equally praise act from Priyanka. Sanjay Suri has done a fine job as he played a small yet crucial role as SP Kailash Anand which was modeled after IPS Officer Abhyanand, who taught children from poor financial backgrounds. Shubham also did his part aptly. 

Verdict: It's a typ's  of movie that is unlikely to capture eyeballs unless people are told about it as it had a rather low keel release even by OTT standards. It's definitely worth a watch & with a running time of just 1 h 42 mins, it doesn't test our patience  with unnecessary melodrama. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Raat Akeli Hai review: "Desi version of Knives Out but much more gripping!!!"

With the cinema theatres still shut down, OTT platforms have been the primary source of entertainment for movie aficionados. Apart from the numerous web series that all of us have been gorging on, some movies have also been released on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar etc. The previous weekend saw the release of "Raat Akeli Hai" on Netflix & yet again Radhika Apte features in it. This has already spawned trolls, however the trailer promised it to be a gritty murder mystery.

Thakur Raghubeer Singh (Khalid Tyabji), an influential patriarch from an affluent background was found murdered on the night of his wedding to his mistress, Radha (Radhika Apte). Incidentally, his wife was also murdered along with their driver five years earlier. The case was entrusted to Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) & it soon dawned upon him that each and every member of the khandan was not beyond suspicion as they had more than ample shades of grey to their character. So who had eliminated Thakur in such a ghastly manner & were both the murders interconnected???

This is the debut venture of Honey Trehan & he has opted to create a dark movie which isnt exactly unfamiliar territory for him as he has worked extensively with Vishal Bharadwaj. Along with Smita Singh, who had scripted this slow burning engaging whodunnit they give us a full blown picture of a dysfunctional family where the males reigns supreme while the females are relegated to meek onlookers who remains helpless on the face of injustice meted out to them, Even the protagonist harbors a superiority attitude against the women & is opinionated on the basis of their attire as well. Honey tries to infuse humour into the proceedings through the interaction between Ila Arun & Nawazuddhin and does tickle the funny bone at times in an otherwise sober movie. Most of the scenes happen in the dark & Pankaj Kumar captures those visuals impressively while Sneha Khanwalkar's music was average and Sreekar Prasad could have made it crisper. 

Nawazuddin nails his role & though it wasn't challenging by his standards, he manages to capture the swag and stubbornness of the character aptly. There is hardly any Indian production on Netflix that does not feature Radhika Apte and we can't blame them for that since she effectively conveyed the frustration & anger that Radha had for her circumstances without having to mouth dialogues. Being a casting director, Honey has a keen eye for talent & it was evident in his choice of artists be it Aditya Srivastva, Ila Arun, Tigmanshu Dhulia etc, all of whom have done their parts well. 

Verdict: Though not the remake of "Knives Out", the manner in which the story is constructed with each character being a possible suspect gives us that impression. It is gripping and manages to capture our attention, though I felt that it had the potential to be much more damdaar. Anywaz do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

Shakuntala Devi review: "Rushed screenplay leaves out significant aspects!!!"

What is the expansion for (a+b)^2? I presume most of us would be able to answer that, thanks to our fantastic teachers & ofcourse, Chacko maash from "Spadikam". Over the years, our nation has been blessed with some of the finest mathematicians that this world has seen such as Aryabhata, Ramanujan, Bose, Rao etc. Another name that also gets mentioned is Shakuntala Devi popularly known as 'Human Computer' & holder of the Guinness World Record for the 'fastest human computation'. Interestingly, an official certification was given to her daughter only a couple of days back, after the feat was achieved in 1980 as the Guinness authority had no such norm in those days.  Bollywood decided to pay tribute to the math wizard in the form of a biopic directed by Anu Menon with Vidya Balan playing the titular role. So were they able to do justice to this iconic legend???

The film opens with Anupama Banerji (Sanya Malhotra) slapping a criminal case on her famous mother, Shakuntala Devi (Vidya Balan). So how did the two of them end up in a tumultuous relationship? But to understand that, the director takes us back to the latter's childhood (or rather the lack of it) where we are witness to Shakuntala's gift to solve complicated mathematical problems in a jiffy. Her father (Prakash Belawadi) saw that as a money spinning opportunity & arranged shows where she showcased her arithmetic skills. However, her relationship with her parents got strained after her sister passed away. Armed with an exceptional brain & supreme confidence, she moved to England & made a career out of her awe inspiring talent. In due time, she got married to Paritosh Banerji (Jisshu Sengupta), an IAS officer & soon after, Anupama was born. Though Paritosh was a supportive husband, differences crept in & with time, it took a toll on their daughter as well. So was this the price that Shakuntala had to pay for her fame & legacy???

Apart from helming the project, Anu Menon has also worked on the screenplay along with Nayanika Mahtani & Ishita Moitra based on the conversation that they had with Anupama. This can be said to be the first mainstream movie by Anu, though she had showcased her talent in the past with "Waiting". There is no doubt that this biopic is enjoyable and focuses adequately on the relationship between the mother & daughter. But I felt the screenplay in the first half was rather average, since we are made to feel that she achieved the highs without breaking much sweat. It is as if she just showed up in England & everyone was floored by her talent. Considering the fact that it was pre-Independence, it is inevitable that there would have been challenges like racism and even in our nation, sexism would have been another hurdle. None of these are shown & they try to squeeze in everything be it her take on astrology, homosexuality or taking part in elections. They should have focused on how she overcame these challenges as it would have made the audience value the brilliance, talent & resilience of this incredible lady in a much more meaningful manner. 

On the technical side, Karan Kulkarni's score & Keiko Nakahara's visuals were fine and does contribute adequately to gloss over the flaws. Whenever Vidya Balan takes up a role, we can rest assured that she would nail it & it's no different this time as well as she was absolutely fantastic as the protagonist. Showcasing a myriad of emotions, Vidya yet again proved that she is indeed on top of her game even with such sporadic appearances. Giving her ample support was Sanya, Jisshu & Amit Sadh, all of whom have done their parts aptly. Kudos to Spandan Chaturvedi & Araina Nand who essayed the younger versions of Shakuntala. 

Verdict: It's surely an entertaining movie that would endear to the family audience. There is no doubt that it has its flaws but Vidya has given a fantastic performance and the mother-daughter relationship which is the crux of the movie has been picturised well. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben