Antakshari: "Interesting despite a couple of loose ends!!!"

With "KGF2" running amok at the box office, most of the producers decided to keep a low profile for the time being. However, Jeethu Joseph decided to take the OTT route & released Vipin Das's "Antakshari" on Sony Liv this weekend. The trailer indicated that it was an investigative thriller & the question that remained was whether it would be able to satiate the expectation of the audience or was it just another flick, that builds up in an intriguing manner and gradually fizzles out. Well it doesn't create an 'edge of the seat' type of mood though it certainly keeps us engaged.

A series of events unfolds in quick succession before the focus is on CI Das (Saiju Kurup) who dealt with cases that came to his station by involving them in a game of antakshari. Life moved along in a calm and peaceful manner until Das lock horns with Vasudevan (Vijay Babu), a local politician with considerable influence. Soon enough his family gets traumatized over an attack on his daughter, but he didnt have the leads to nab the culprit who also seemed to have a penchant for antakshari. 

Just as in his debut venture "Mudhugauv", Vipin has penned the script for this one as well & comes up with an engaging thriller that is shown in a non linear manner with quite a few tracks shown. All of them manage to capture our attention but closure is not given for some for reasons best known to make the maker. The core theme is basically childhood trauma & the kind of impact it can have on an individual's life. Rather than the whodunnit scenario, the emphasis placed on as to why the individual indulged in such crimes is what made this flick stand out for me. Another interesting aspect was the name of the characters each of whom were named after some prominent singer. 

Apart from the script, kudos to Bablu Aju for the visuals and the sound department handled by Arun Mani & Vishnu Sujathan. Similarly, all the artists have done their justice to their roles be it Saiju, the kid shown in the flashback, Sudhi Koppa, Kottayam Ramesh, Vijay Babu, Boban Samuel etc. 

Verdict: An interesting thriller where the reason for the actions is given as much relevance as the culprit itself. It surely has a couple of loose ends, though overall it delivers what it promised. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

KGF Chapter 2: "Double the goosebumps in this battle of testosterone!!!"

500C & counting!!! Oh yes, you heard it right, Prashanth Neel's "KGF Chapter 2" have taken an insane opening at the box office & these mind boggling figures are from just 4 days. After an enforced delay of close to 1.5 years due to COVID, the much awaited sequel hit the screens last Thursday. It was proclaimed to be the clash of the titans as it locked horns with "Beast", but the latter turned out to be a damp squid. At the same time, "KGF2" had the masses thrilled with the wholesome entertainment that it provided & essentially made the goosebumps go into overdrive mode.

After Anand Ingalagi (Anant Nag) had narrated the events shown in the prequel, he suffers a stroke & his estranged son, Vijayendra (Prakash Raj) takes on the mantle of the narrator. Rocky (Yash) was the undisputed king of KGF much to the chagrin of the other partners & they device plans to plot his downfall. This included the return of Adheera (Sanjay Dutt), the dreaded warlord who guarded the gates of KGF in the past. To add onto the challenges, the PM Ramika Sen (Raveena Tandon) was determined to put an end to Rocky's reign. 

With just three movies old, Prashanth is already hailed as one of the most talented directors in the nation & it would be hard to brush aside that fact. After enthralling the audience with the prequel, he pulls off the sequel with such flair that we are left gobsmacked with what he has created on screen. It isn't as if he had penned a script that was novel & one of a kind, but rather his vision and the the stylised execution made sure that it palatable to most despite the fact that it is loud, outlandish and exaggerated.  The protagonist is shown as a flawed character who goes all out to meet his plans & with a run time of close to 3 h, we are left asking for more.

Apart from Prasanth's brilliance, he had a solid crew who pretty much excelled in all the department be it Bhuwan Gowda's sensational visuals & colour grading used, Ujwal Kulkarni's impressive editing (damn..he is a teenager!!!), Ravi Basrur's rocking BGM, the art department, costumes etc. Each one of them deserves an applause. On the performance front, Yash, Raveena & Sanjay Dutt  gave riveting performances & they were ably supported by Prakash Raj, Archana Jois (as Rocky's mother) & the others. 

Verdict:  Undoubtedly a must watch flick that gives a wholesome theatrical experience. So make sure to watch it in a good theatre without fail. With regard to the script, it isn't something unique but the manner in which it has to be mounted on the silver screen is just cool. In short, do check it out & dont forgot to watch the end credits!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben

Beast: "Mediocrity in beastly proportions!!!"

The week of festivals is here & that essentially means harvest time for big banner movies to kick up a frenzy at the box office. This time around we have two movies vying for the top spot & I seriously doubt whether it can get any bigger than "Beast" & "KGF-Chapter 2". Nelson's "Beast" hit the screens on Wednesday which understandably had a great deal of expectations riding on it with Anirudh's music already being the talk of the town for quite a while now. The trailer certainly showcased an expected stylised mass entertainer, but did it deliver what it promised???

Veera Raghavan (Vijay) was one of the premier RAW agents who decided to call it quits when his action led to the death of a civilian kid. After a year or so, his girlfriend Preethi (Pooja Hegde) enrolls him into a security service company. Incidentally, the mall that they were in charge of gets hijacked by terrorists with their demand being the release of their leader. Yet again the Government seeks the help of Veera & how he saves the day forms the crux of the movie.

When Nelson threw his hat into the directorial ring with "Kolamavu Kokila", he was the cynosure of all eyes for the quirky sense of humour that he executed effortlessly on celluloid. Even "Doctor" made sure that his graph was on the rise; however it's likely to nosedive in all probability with his latest outing. The basic theme of the movie is the typical mass masala but the problem here for which he himself is to be blamed for is the manner in which he has penned the script. The aura of a hero is elevated depending on how well the villain is etched & that aspect was completely neglected as the terrorists makes such hare brained plans that was pedestrian to say the least (at times, I even wondered whether it was a spoof). To add to the woes, it had a run time of close to 162 minutes which surely tests our patience. On the positive side, Anirudh's music was fine with the Arabic Kuthu being the pick among the lot, Manoj Paramahamsa's visuals was good while some of the action choreography was cool. 

Well Vijay has a done a decent job but the script does not offer much scope for him to try something different with brawn taking centre stage over brain which in itself reduces the excitement significantly. As for the rest of the cast, VTV Ganesh's one liners does evoke laughs at times while the others such as Pooja Hegde, Yogi Babu were merely there for the numbers. 

Verdict: It will have a bombastic initial but seems unlikely to sustain that for more than this weekend. Without a doubt, largely disappointing from a promising director who seemed like got lost as to how to marry the stardom of Thalapathy with his style of film making!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Naaradan: "Interesting premise that failed to cash in!!!"

About a month back when "Bheeshma Parvam" hits the screens amidst much hype and fanfare. Well the movie was a rage & went on to cash in more than 120 C at the box office as per reports. Interestingly, on the same day another movie with a credible cast & crew also decided to showcase its content. That particular flick happened to be Aashiq Abu's "Naaradan" which had Tovino in the lead with the subject being the fight for TRPs by the media houses & the extent to which they are willing to stoop down to. Since I had missed to watch it in the theatres, I happened to watch it only last night on Amazon Prime.

Chandraprakash/CP (Tovino) was the star anchor of News Malayalam who enjoyed the approval of the public. This naturally irked his Chief Editor, Kurup (Joy Mathew) who believed that the dynamic reporter was gunning for his position. At this juncture, a fellow journalist Pradeep John (Sharafudeen) from a rival channel does a Naxalite story that captures eyeballs & Kurup brings him on board with the intention of cutting CP down to size. But little did he realize that his decision would have a totally opposite impact. 

The last time around, Aashiq did a full length movie; it resulted in "Virus" which is one of my favorite movies over the past many years. So when it was announced that he was joining hands with Unni R on the subject of media houses, the expectations were nigh high. With the experience of having worked with Asianet for close to two decades coupled with Unni's ability to weave an engaging script, it was surely a recipe for success. Well it certainly didnt quite pan out in that manner (at least for me). The manner in which the story takes off with a glimpse of the competition was engaging but when the protagonist decides to embrace unethical journalism to remain on top; it lacked the punch that was expected despite the undeniable inspirations from real life events like the Mangalam channel launch, Kunal Kamra-Arnab heckling issue or the protagonist  anchoring style as such reflective of Arnab's. On the technical side, it was fine be it Jaffer Zadique's visuals or Gary Pereira's BGM. 

On the performance front, pretty much everyone did their parts aptly though the lack of a well written character arc did affect quite a few of them. It was most evident in Tovino's case especially when he takes on the Naaradan mantle as it felt more like a caricature rather than a realistic feel to it. Sharafudeen, Anna Ben & Indrans all impressed in the opportunities allotted to them. 

Verdict: It certainly had the content and the talent on board, but the execution left a lot to be desired. It kind of vaguely reminded me of Anwar Rasheed's "Trance" in the manner it was staged. In short, could have been far better!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Dasvi: "Certainly brings a smile though the content wont pass with flying colours!!!"

It's been a pretty hectic week & what better way to unwind than with some light hearted movie which led me to Tushar Jalota's "Dasvi" on the recommendation of a colleague. Apparently, it was released on Netflix & JioCinema on Thursday and I decided to check it out last night after my professional commitments were completed for the week. Since I havent watched the trailer earlier, I wasnt quite sure what to expect after all it was Tushar's debut directorial venture. 

Ganga Ram Chaudhary (Jr AB) is the corrupt and arrogant CM of the fictional state, Harit Pradesh who gets jailed for the scam in the recruitment of teachers. However, he ensured that the power remained in his hands as his wife Bimla Devi (Nimrat Kaur) was made the CM for the interim period. As expected, he enjoyed privileges in jail as well until Jyoti Deswal IPS (Yami Gautam) took over charge as the jailor & he was forced to take up tasks assigned to each convict. This is when he realizes that an option to escape from such stuff was to spent time with books & utilize it to clear his 10th standard.  

There is no doubt that the thread as such was interesting & it keeps the audience in good spirits in the first half. However, the combined efforts of Ritesh Shah, Suresh Nair & Sandeep Layzell failed to add more content to the primary thought. Eventually it concludes as a flick that could have achieved much more & did have the scope for it. When equipped with a weak script, there isn't nothing much Tushar could have done; but despite that I feel that he has done a reasonable job as it was certainly enjoyable. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention though Sachin-Jigar's music was fine.

Jr AB deserves praise for a job that was reasonably well done as he captured the nuances and Haryanvi dialect pretty well. Yami was in the news recently where apparently she has gone hard on some reviewer who slammed her performance. To be fair, I certainly felt she did what was possible with the character offered to her while Nimrat was wasted in a role that did have screen space but barely used her talent. As for the rest, Manu Rishi (as Satnam Tomar), Danish Hussain (as Rae Bareli) & Arun Kushwah (as Ghanti) did their parts aptly. 

Verdict: A light hearted comedy that brings a smile but restricts itself into being stereotypic!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Sharmaji Namkeen: "A befitting swan song!!!"

A couple of years have passed since Rishi Kapoor succumbed to leukaemia & incidentally at that point of time he was involved in Hitesh Bhatia's "Sharmaji Namkeen".  Unfortunately, there were significant portions of the movie still left to be canned & various options were considered as stated by Ranbir in the trailer. Eventually Paresh Rawal stepped in & what we eventually get is an endearing flick that gives us a smile on our face even after it concludes. 

Sharmaji (Rishi/Paresh) was the Assistant Manager in a private appliance manufacturer company & due to financial constraints, he was forced to take up voluntary retirement. Being a widower, he tried to keep himself engaged taking care of his sons & the household chores. But he wished for more in life & that's when his friend suggested to make use of his expertise in culinary skills to good effect. 

This is Hitesh's directorial debut on the big screen & he has penned the script as well along with Supratik Sen. The basic theme was about the need to understand our elders & the insecurities/hollowness that they feel when retirement sets in & also the necessity for such elders to realize that if they so desire there is always scope to explore new passion. I'm sure that it sounds like a subject that we have come across in the past like the Rishi starrer "Do Dooni Char" to cite one. But Hitesh infuses it with a sense of realism in the manner in which the characters were created & keeping the mood light (thanks to a fantastic cast) without resorting to any type of melodrama. However, personally I felt that the latter half lacked the zing with which the movie started and ended in rather tame terms. On the technical side, pretty much everything was neatly done. 

It was a role that was tailor made for Rishi & the veteran nailed it with ease with his vibrant energy and naturalism. Kudos to Paresh, who despite being a brilliant actor himself didn't try to stamp his style but tried to keep it as true as possible to the way Rishi portrayed that character. The rest of the cast have all done their parts aptly be it Suhail Nayyar (as Sandeep), Juhi Chawla, Taruk Raina (as Vincy), Sheeba Chaddha, Ayesha Raza etc.

Verdict: After having his share of the limelight in his younger years, Rishi made a successful transition to character roles over the past decade and a half from "Hum Tum" onwards. Since then he had rediscovered himself with many eye catching performances which culminated with "Sharmaji Namkeen" which was indeed a befitting swan song. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben