Sardar ka Grandson review: "Interesting premise let down by a nonsensical screenplay!!!"

With the lockdown in all major cities extended by a week or so, it's pretty much evident that OTT platforms will continue to remain the main release portal atleast for the next few months. This week saw the release of Kaashvi Nair's "Sardar ka Grandson" on Netflix which seemed like another flick that was about Indo-Pak brotherhood with a mention of the pain of Partition. Well we have heard Celine Dion sing 'love can move mountains' & this light hearted comedy/emotional flick is about a grandson literally move a house from across the border. Perplexed??? actually, I'm not joking.

Amreek (Arjun Kapoor) resides in LA & runs a movers and packers company along with his girlfriend, Radha (Rakul Preet Singh). The couple hits a rough patch in their relationship & Radha decide to call it quits. It was at this juncture that Amreek had to head back home as his grandmother, Sardar (Neena Gupta) had a tumour that could prove fatal. As her last wish, she wanted Amreek to take her to Lahore to visit the house that she had built with her husband, late Gursher Singh (John Abraham) prior to Partition. It certainly seemed like a practical wish until Amreek realized that his grandmother was blacklisted by the Pakistani embassy for an altercation that she had with one of their high ranking officials during a cricket match. 

This is Kaashvi's debut directorial venture & she has penned the script along with Anuja Chauhan. The basic idea of the movie was interesting & kinda reminded me of Pete Doctor's animation movie "Up" as well as shades of Imtiaz Ali's "Love Aaj Kal" (2009). Anywaz according to Kaashvi, she was inspired by the 2017 Al Jazeera documentary "Going back to Pakistan: 70 Years After Partition". This idea was however royally messed up with an absolutely pathetic hare brained screenplay that didn't seem to be bothered about the thought process or finesse that ought to have gone into the protagonist's plan. As for the technical aspects, they are fine though it doesn't deserve special mention.

In recent times, Neena Gupta has come up with some praise worthy performances & as Sardar, she was fine though the role & the prosthetics didn't offer her much scope. As for the rest of the cast, they are average at best be it Arjun, Rakul, Aditi & John; while the romantic track between the latter two was barely explored and would have added more emotional impact.

Verdict: This is a classic example of an interesting thread muddled up coz of a crappy screenplay and lack of directorial vision. Even in it's present form, it still give us moments of emotional connect & it's a shame that they messed it up!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Aarkkariyam review: "Seems like the director did not know that the movie had potential for much more!!!"

Even as the theatres wear a deserted look since the lockdown was announced, there were a plethora of flicks that hit the screens in the narrow window prior to that. This essentially meant most of them struggled to get a proper theatrical run to add onto the challenge that the public was also skeptical about going to confined places due to the pandemic. One such movie that got caught in this midst was Sanu John Varghese's "Aarkkariyam" which was initially released on the big screen on April 1st & finally on quite a few OTT platforms last Wednesday. 

COVID had just started to spread its tentacles & the people were getting to feel the effects that it had on their lives. This included Shirley (Parvathy) & Roy (Sharafudeen) based in Mumbai as the couple were in a financial crisis as the latter's business consignment was stuck in red tape coz of the shipping restrictions imposed. They decided to head back to Shirley's home back in Kerala where her widowed father, Ittyavira Abraham (Biju Menon) was staying alone in a sprawling estate. How the three of them spent their time together during the lockdown while making efforts to bring back Shirley's daughter from hostel & arranging financial resources to repay Roy's friend Vysakh (Saiju Kurup) forms the crux of the movie. 

Sanu John as a cinematographer needs no introduction as his body of work which includes "Viswaroopam 1 & 2", "Thoonga Vanam", "Take Off" etc speaks for itself. This time around he has decided to try his hand in direction with "Aarkkariyam" that he has penned along with Arun Janardanan & Rajesh Ravi. He takes his own sweet time to set the tone before he eventually lands a cracker but the manner that was subsequently built upon felt like a missed opportunity. It's not necessary that everything has to be mystery thriller, however Sanu had the chance to make it much more engaging rather than merely give philosophical statements. There might be questions raised about the pace of the movie, but I certainly felt that it was fine especially since most of us know how slow the time moves at times when we are at home during this period. Most of the technical aspects were fine be it the manner in which Srinivas Reddy captured the locale or Sanjay Divecha's BGM (which I saw was slammed by quite a few though for me it felt fine and not intruding).

With just a few characters roped in for the movie, it was imperative that Sanu made the apt choices & it would be fair to say that he has done just that. Biju Menon was fantastic as the septuagenarian capturing the body language & expressions perfectly while Parvathy as always gave a solid performance, though I felt her character wasnt given as much scope as the other two characters. Sharafudeen was a pleasant surprise & he did justice to his role though Sanu's decision to make him mouth English & Hindi dialogues just didnt appear natural. It stuck out like a sore thumb more often than not but Saiju was spot on in that aspect. A special word of mention to Pramod Veliyanad who continues to impress with his naturality be it in "Kala" & now over here, while Arya Salim has also done a fine job. 

Verdict: Biju Menon's fantastic performance along with impressive support from Parvathy & Sharafudeen makes it a decent one time watch. There is no doubt that the movie had the potential to be much more engaging but even in its present form, it still deserves to be watched.

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Radhe review: "Most wanted bhai gives a least engaging flick!!!"

Even as our nation is caught up in the Covid crisis, Eid brought along with it messages of peace & harmony which is absolutely essential if we want to harbor hopes of a brighter tomorrow. As has been the trend in the last many years, Eid would essentially mean the release of Salman's bindaas entertainers & this time too we had one in the form of Prabhu Deva's "Radhe". With restrictions in place, the makers released it in theatres overseas while they beamed it on Zee Plex over here. So will it be 2 h of unadulterated no holds barred entertainment???

Mumbai was in the grip of the new drug lord, Rana (Randeep Hooda) & the mission to clean up the city was entrusted upon Officer Radhe (Salman Khan). What subsequently happens next is known to everyone with the only exception being as to how exactly does Radhe go about his task? Salman's movies has a fixed template with comedy, foot tapping music & large than life action sequences which invariably whets the appetite of the audience. In a way, it could be said that Prabhu Deva is the one who started this trend for Salman  with "Wanted" in 2009 & this is the third collaboration between the duo with "Dabaang 3" being the previous one. 

There is no doubt that Prabhu Deva is a brilliant choreographer but as a film maker he is pretty damn mediocre except for maybe "Wanted" & "Rowdy Rathore" that I enjoyed. Most of his flicks are South Indian remakes & in that sense, this time around it is a bit different as it is based on the Korean movie "The Outlaws".  It is absolutely pathetic to say the least, as none of the elements manages to lift our spirits. It felt like some B grade movie which was shot in the 1990s with an uninspired star cast who barely does anything (or rather wasn't told what to do), the CGI was horrendous, the production value seemed like it was shots on the set of some drama. If at all there is some positive, then it is in the sound tracks which was rather decent. None of the other aspects deserves a mention. 

As always, this is an out & out Salman show; but unlike his previous flicks; this was cringe worthy with none of his antics failing to evoke any kind of thrills. Randeep does a decent job while the others were there for the numbers.

Verdict: Well there isnt much to honey coat here except that it was an insult to our senses!!!

Rating: 0.5/5

Regards...Ben