It's been quite a while since I have penned my opinion about the Bollywood flicks that I had watched over the past 2 months. To be frank, contrary to popular belief there were quite a few interesting mix of movies & it has also resulted in footfalls to the theatre. Quite a few of them impressed me while there was a colossal debacle as well which I presume you would have guessed even without me mentioning its name. Anywaz without further ado, let me get into the details.
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke: "Neither hatke nor does the audience have to stay bachke!!!"
This is Laxmi Utekar's third directorial venture & he has stuck on the rom-com genre with Vicky Kaushal & Sara Ali Khan in the lead. The movie unfolds in Indore where the duo (Kapil & Saumya) is a happily married couple with diverse familial backgrounds who has been together for two years. Due to lack of space & privacy in Kapil's ancestral home, they decide to move out with the dream of having their own pad. But they soon realize that it was beyond their financial capabilities. This is when they get to know about the Govt's housing scheme for low income families & try to see whether they could put in their names in the list. But it was easier said than done.
Both Maitrey Bajpai & Ramiz Khan had worked on the script and have come up with an enjoyable screenplay. In terms of the story as such there isn't anything that comes across as unique or make us sit up and take notice. But it certainly had quite a few hilarious sequences such as the court scene that would make us chuckle. On the technical side, most of the tracks created by Sachi-Jagir were good with 'Tere Vaaste' track rendered by Varun Jain, Shadaab Faridi & Altamash Faridi being one of my favourite track of the year. When it came to performances, both Vicky & Sara did their parts well with the supporting cast though cringe at times were also up to the task.
Verdict: Laxmi certainly knew how to package the movie since it does have the elements to keep the audience entertained. In short, you may give it a try!!!
Rating: 2.25/5
Adipurush: "Mockery of a classic epic!!!"
Unlike Laxmi, Om Raut had a wonderful epic in his hand that had inspired many across the globe to make their versions of it either as live action or animated movies. But I can confidently say without batting my eyelid, that this was undoubtedly the most pathetic celluloid creation of Ramayana.
First & foremost, Raut came up with a screenplay which was preposterous to say the least. It seems like as if he wanted to combine elements from various flicks like Planet of the Apes, Marvel's Asgard, DC's Flash, Dementors from Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones etc. & ended up making a mess of it without an iota of originality. The VFX which was said to be the USP turned out to be its bane as it was absolute crap with complete lack of finesse. I fail to understand as to where exactly had they invested all the money. It also shows Raut's lack of visualization coz there were many sequences where they could have opted for natural locations & that would have made the visual language much more digestible to the audience. None of the other technical elements deserves mention as it barely had any effect in making the movie engaging.
After the highs of 'Baahubali', Prabhas has been going through a rough patch & it's primarily because of his poor movie choices. He was not the right choice for this role & there was hardly any chemistry with Kriti Sanon, who was pretty mediocre while Sunny Singh (as Laxman) was even worser than that. Though comical & bizarre at times, I still felt Saif (as Raavan, despite his character written so horribly) & Devdatta Nage (as Hanuman) did their part reasonably well.
Verdict: As the Allahabad High Court had stated, it was indeed a test of our tolerance!!!
Rating: 0.5/5
Satyaprem Ki Katha: "A katha that had potential in its core theme only to be messed up in the build up to it!!!"
A couple of weeks back, the Marathi audience had one of their respectable director, Sameer Vidwans make his directorial debut in Bollywood with "Satyaprem Ki Katha". Since I haven't seen any of his Marathi films, it would be hard for me to comment on his craft though his "Anandi Gopal" had earned him the National award for Social issues.. Hence it wasn't surprising that he opted for a romantic drama that was penned by Karan Shrikant Sharma.
The protagonist as you would have guessed is Satyaprem (Karthik Aryan), an unemployed Gujarati lad who loafed around after having discontinued his law course. At the same time, he was head over heels for Katha (Kiara Advani),who belonged to an affluent family & was in a relationship. But as fate would have it, Satya saves Katha's life at a crucial juncture & that eventually led to their wedding. However, despite Satya's best efforts Katha refused to warm up to him & the reason for that was something that would test his love for her.
Spoiler alert..the subject that Sameer & Karan talks about is indeed relevant & we did have Shoojit Sircar's "Pink" that also spoke about it but from a different perspective. The issue over here is that Sameer seems to be unsure as to how to balance the Bollywood elements (music, song & dance) and in the process the core subject gets relegated to the sidelines and is not given the screen time it deserved. Another aspect that I felt could have worked upon in a better manner was the way Satya's character was written as it lacked the depth it required which is also the case in the roles given to the supporting cast (especially Satya's parents). On the technical side, the art department ought to have done a better job as the sets were quite artificial, Hitesh-Sonik's music was average while Ayanaka Bose's cinematography was fine.
Coming to performances, Karthik Aryan fits the bill of a goofy guy but when the latter half of the movie touches upon the core subject, it needed someone who had the capability to handle the emotional scenes authentically which he clearly lacked. At the same time, Kiara was impressive & effectively conveys the trauma of her character. As for the rest of the cast, it's quite unfortunate that artists like Gajraj Rao & Supriya Pathak were wasted in poorly etched roles.
Verdict: In the urge to pack everything into the movie, Sameer failed to do complete justice to the subject that he wanted to convey!!!
Rating: 1.75/5
Neeyat: "The makers should have invested on the script with more neeyat!!!"
When Anu Menon's "Neeyat" was announced with Vidya Balan yet again as the lead, I was certainly eager to check it out after all the duo's "Shakuntala Devi" was reasonably well made. Incidentally, the presence of numerous collaborators such as Girvani Dhyani, Advaita Kala, Priya Venkataraman apart from Anu in the drafting of the script made me wonder as to whether it would be a situation where many cooks spoiled the broth. Well it almost felt like in the first half until it kind of redeemed itself to a certain extent.
AK (Ram Kapoor) is a multi-billionaire who had exiled himself in the UK as he was wanted by the Indian authorities for financial irregularities. After much thought, he decided to surrender himself & planned to convey his decision to his close friends and family at his grand birthday party that he threw in his mansion. However, even before the night had ended he was found dead at a cliff nearby & the question was whether it was a suicide or a murder. Incidentally, he had also invited CBI officer Mira Rao (Vidya Balan) to the party & she decided to unravel the mystery.
A few minutes into the movie & it becomes evident that the inspiration for it is Vijay Mallya & Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" series. The primary flaw that pulls back Anu Menon's effort is the predictability & the lack of authenticity in terms of the investigation pattern. We are already aware what happens & Kausir Munir's dialogues fails to provide the punch that would keep us engaged. However, the screenplay was better in the latter segment & it does provide some twists in the end. In terms of its making, Andrea Neo's visuals was in sync with what the genre demanded while Mickey McCleary's score was average.
Vidya Balan as a performer needs no introduction though her character in this came across as rather odd which she has still done reasonably ok. Ram Kapoor had the swag & the body language that his role demanded while the rest of the cast were ok. But to fair to them, they would have performed much better after all most of them are talented artists; if they were provided with much better written character arcs.
Verdict: Falls well short of expectations as the predictability & lack of genuine originality plagues this wannabe "Knives Out"!!!
Rating: 2/5
Tarla: "Didn't quite match upto the flavour of Tarla's dishes!!!
How many of you have watched Surabhi on Doordarshan? Well I used to follow it keenly & if you also have, then you might recollect having watched Tarla Dalal appear as a guest on that show. For the uninitiated, Tarla was the first woman chef to appear on television & became a household name for many through her popular recipe books & cookery shows. It was a life that deserved to have a biopic & that is what Piyush Gupta had attempted with his debut directorial venture.
As a writer, Piyush already have some credible movies in his resume such as "Dangal", "Chhichhore" etc. Over here, along with Gautam Ved; he has captured all the major aspects of Tarla's life and gives us a gist of how she became the icon that we all know. Tarla (Huma Qureshi) always aspired to do something worthwhile with her life & she realized that her calling was in food when she tried her hand in giving vegetarian dishes a non veg twist. However, the path onward wasn't easy but she had the unwavering support of her husband, Nalin (Sharib Hashmi).
The screenplay as such didnt quite have the flavour that was expected but that doesnt mean that it was a test of our patience. But the credit for that goes to the impressive performances of Huma & Sharib, both of whom have done utmost justice to their roles. Their chemistry & the endearing nature of their characters keeps us entertained. There were not much supporting artists as such but whoever did appear such as Bharati Achrekar, Rajeev Pandey etc did their parts aptly.
Verdict: It's a feel good movie & worth a watch which is beamed on Zee5!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Regards...Ben
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