Over the past month, there were quite a few movies that I had watched on the OTT platform & was left pondering as to whether Bollywood was deprived of sense and sensibility. This year has already seen many movies from the South plant their winning flag at the box office. Well the movies mentioned below featured some of the biggest names in the industry be it in terms of cast, crew or production house. I certainly don't believe that all these movies were bad but yeah, they definitely need to pull up their socks.
Shamshera
This movie was helmed by Karan Malhotra who had impressed many with his take on "Agneepath". In his latest project, he opted for the services of Neelesh Misra who set the story in the 18th century with the focus being on the oppressed community, Khameran which was led by Shamshera (Ranbir Kapoor). His efforts to gain freedom for his people resulted in his death & this movement was taken forward by his son, Balli. The story as such sounded interesting but when it appeared on screen it was damn mediocre. The CGI & the makeup was pedestrian and the whole movie as such felt way too artificial. Apart from Sanjay Dutt, Ranbir's performance as Balli & Saurabh Shukla, there was nothing much worth mentioning.
Rating: 1/5
Jayeshbhai Jordaar
The first time I saw the trailer of this flick which was the directorial debut of Divyang Thakkar, I would have to admit that I was certainly motivated to check it out as it seemed like a hilarious social satire. This is a genre that Ayushmann Khurana has made a niche for himself & hence it was interesting to see Ranveer Singh in such a role. To be fair, he has done a fine job be it with regard to body language and expressions. Divyang's focus was on a host of various issues such as female infanticide, gender equality etc. & to a certain extent, it did work for me. Most of the technical aspects were fine such as art & Siddharth Diwan's cinematography. The rest of the cast such as Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak, Jia Vaidya (as Jayesh's daughter) have done their parts well while Shalini Pandey was ok, though I felt her part ought to have been more meatier & given to someone else. This was a movie that was ideal for the OTT platform as it didn't quite have the substance to work in the theatres as the audience would have naturally expected something more flashier or intense coz of Ranveer's presence.
Rating: 2.5/5
Cutputtli
One of the banes of Bollywood is its obsession for remakes & do they know to do it properly? The truth is more often than not, they don't as they fail to capture the essence of the original. Rajiv Tewari's "Cuttputtli" is the remake of the much appreciated "Ratsasan" & since it is a thriller that many would have watched, I dont think there is any need to give a gist of it. The primary reason why Ram's movie was engaging was the manner in which the mystery & the fear factor was kept intact until the very end which culminated in a rather chilling reveal of the villain. This aspect was completely diluted in the remake & though Akshay has done a decent job, he didn't fit the bill of a 41 year old. However, on the whole it was still ok & was indeed a right decision to release it on Disney Hotstar.
Rating: 2.25/5
Babli Bouncer
About a fortnight back, as I was flipping through Disney Hotstar; I came across this flick & decided to give it a try. It is about a female named Babli (Tamanaah) who aspired to go to Delhi & decides to do so by becoming a bouncer. Her main reason for moving to the Capital was due to her crush & how she deals with the challenges that comes up forms the crux. Interestingly, I came to realize that it was Madhur Bhandarkar only when the end credits were rolling & to be frank, it as quite unlike his previous impressive movies like "Fashion". It felt more like a TV serial with nothing interesting that would make us to sit up and take notice. There is no doubt that Tamannah had done a decent job and she was ably supported by Saurabh Shukla, Sahil Vaid etc., but she was definitely not the right choice.
Rating: 2/5
In effect, the fault lies with the makers rather than the audience as they need to wake up and come up with original content or atleast present it in a refreshing manner. From the above mentioned movies, it is evident that gone are the days when a superstar or a blockbuster production house guaranteed a bumper opening. Anyway everything is still not lost but without a proper introspection with regard to the content & the budget they are splurging, tough times are likely to persist for much longer!!!
Regards..Ben
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