Mahanati review: "Engrossing biopic that makes one yearn to know more about the protagonist!!!"

With not much tempting flicks in the horizon, I havent been watching much movies in the past month or so. However, last weekend saw the release of the Telugu movie "Mahanati" which has been dubbed into Tamil & Malayalam as well. Incidentally, the reason why I decided to check it out was because it marked the debut of Dulquer Salmaan in Telugu. It also happened to be the biopic on Savithri, the first female superstar of the South Indian film industry. So was the film able to do justice to the stature of the legendary actress???

Madhuravani (Samantha Akkineni) who had completed journalism in flying colours was on the lookout for a meaty story that would boost her career. Her editor entrusted her with the task of covering the news on Savithri (Keerthy Suresh)who had been in coma for more than a year. Reluctantly she takes up the task but with time, she realizes that there was more to Savithri than being just a famous actress of her era.

The challenge of creating this biopic was taken up Nag Ashwin & without further ado, I would like to applaud him on a job well done. It was not a cakewalk by any stretch of imagination as it had to be engrossing, captivating & unbiased. Siddharth Sivasamy's screenplay was brilliant as it effectively weaved the various turmoils that Savithra went through into the plot & narrated it from a third person's perspective. The tragic love story between Gemini Ganesan & Savithri, her philanthropy, her incredible acting skills etc. all of which has been impressively captured by Ashwin. One of the main highlights of the movie for me was Mickey Meyer's fantastic music which took the celluloid creation to a whole different level. All the technical aspects were top notch be it Dani Sanchez's visuals, Kotagiri's editing, art direction etc. However, the CGI that was used to show NTR was downright pathetic.

Frankly speaking, I never believed Keerthy Suresh quite had the skills to pull off such a meaty role. But my word, she just blew my mind as she was marvelous & virtually lived as the protagonist. It would be fair to say that she looked very similar to Savithri in many sequences & she has used it to her advantage. In short, I expect her to to walk away with all the major awards next year. When it was announced that Dulquer will be essaying the role of Gemini Ganesan, I seriously had my doubts especially since he doesnt look anything like the legend. However, hats off to him for playing his part with elan & effortlessly showing the character's attitude. Samantha rocked in her role along with a host of others like Rajendra Prasad, Mohan Babu, Prakash Raj etc while Vijay Antony was average.

Verdict: As per the latest reports, it has grossed about 30 C at the box office over the past 10 days. It's definitely a brilliant movie & deserves an audience not only for Ashwin's making but for Keerthy's superlative performance as well. In short, dont miss it!!!

Rating: 4/5

Regards...Ben

Avengers: Infinity War review: "Marvel emerges victorious for the infinite time!!!"

Finally the much awaited "Avengers: Infinity War" has hit the screens & as expected, the reception that it received was thunderous. It was a journey that began a decade back with "Iron Man" & after 18 movies which saw numerous solo superhero ventures, we have them join forces to battle Thanos, the mightiest villain to date. Most of the movies have been blockbusters & laid the foundation for future projects which in turn formed the framework for the Infinity War series. But the Russo brothers had a herculean task in front of them as they needed an engaging screenplay & ensure that all the characters were weaved into it effectively. So did they accomplish that???

Since there are quite a number of spoilers, I would try to keep the plot as brief as possible. If you have been a faithful follower of the Marvel movies, you would have noticed by now that Thanos has been on a mission to acquire the six infinity stones for a while. The purpose for doing so was to restore balance in the universe which was moving steadily towards self destruction due to over-population. After having acquired the Power Stone from Xandar, Thanos & his army intercepts the ship which contained the survivors from Asgard. Since the Space Stone was within the Tesseract, Thanos unleashes his fury on the Asgardians. So will Thor & Hulk be able to slither out of the spaceship & seek help before Thanos has his hands on yet another stone???

Some of the best movies in the Marvel Universe such as "Captain America: Winter Soldier & Civil War" are directed by the Russo brothers. Hence when it was announced that the brothers was at the helm for this 2 part series, I was naturally thrilled like the rest. To their credit, they have done a brilliant job in pretty much all aspects of the movie & a significant portion of this appreciation is due to the screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely.. The highlight is undoubtedly the balance between emotional content & humour, with neither of them going overboard at any instance. However, it does have a couple of drawbacks as well. With a running time of 154 mins, the film lags quite a bit at certain portions. Similarly, quite a few of the characters especially the ones that remain on earth such as Black Panther, Black Widow etc barely had dialogues to mouth. Lastly, the manner in which the superheroes gets eliminated was rather abrupt & lacked the impact that we believed it would create.

In the performance department, a handful of them were top notch primarily coz they had the screen time to perform such as Robert Downey Fr (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange), Tom Holland (Spiderman) & all the characters from Guardians of the Galaxy. A special word of mention for Josh Brolin (Thanos) who apart from voicing for the character have also done motion capture for it. Without a shadow of doubt, Thanos was quite intimidating & physically imposing which went a long way in establishing the fact that a whole army of superheroes is indeed required to stop him. 

Verdict: The film have already made a cracking start at the box office & has registered the second best collections of all time in the first two days of its run. Another major factor that will work in its favour is the positive word of mouth from all quarters. In short, the Infinity War has lived upto expectations for most parts & paved the path for the release of Captain Marvel & Ant-Man before the second part releases in just over a year's time. So dont miss it!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben

Hichki review: "Dont hichak to check out this endearing flick!!!"

In the past decade or so, a new genre that Bollywood directors seems to be interested in are movies where the protagonists are either physically challenged or suffering from genetic and neurological disorders.  Hence we had movies on dyslexia "Taare Zameen Par", Asperger's syndrome "My Name is Khan", progeria "Paa" etc., to name a few. The latest to be added to that list is Rani Mukerji's "Hichki" where she is suffering from Tourette's syndrome. So will the movie have am engaging story that will keep us hooked???

Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji) is a well qualified charming young lady who is passionate about becoming a teacher. However, all her efforts to get a job in her preferred profession failed as she suffered from Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder which made her interviewers skeptical of her ability to teach. After numerous failed attempts, she finally landed a job at the esteemed St. Notkers which also happened to be her alma mater. But she had a daunting task in front of her as she had to tame of class of unruly students. Will she rise upto the challenge or will she forced to opt for a different profession just like her father said???

Based on the book "Front of the Class" by Brad Cohen & Lisa Wysocky, "Hichki" is the second movie of Siddharth Malhotra after "We are Family" in 2010. There is no doubt that it is endearing & keeps us engaged despite the predictability. It does reminds us of flicks like "Dead Poets Society" among others & the lack of novelty in the events that unfold might be a deterrent at times. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention though Hitesh Sonik's music was fine. The heart & soul of the movie is undoubtedly Rani Mukerji, who is back on the silver screen after a hiatus with her last performance being "Mardaani" in 2014. She has done a praise worthy job & equally impressive (or at time even better than Rani) were the bunch of super talented kids. The rest of the cast such as Vikram Gokhale, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Hussain Dalal have also done their parts aptly.

Verdict: The film will surely have word of mouth in its favour & that is reflected in the box office collections as well. As per latest reports, it has accumulated a total of 22.5 C until yday making it a viable project for Yash Raj films due to the low investment. In short, dont hichak to watch Rani & her students!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Raid review: "Riveting drama between two brilliant characters on opposite sides of the moral spectrum!!!"

It's been a while since I have written a review though I did watch a couple of mediocre movies during this period which didnt quite inspire me to put my thoughts onto the blog. With the exam season in full swing, there has hardly been any worthwhile releases in the past one month. So apart from my work it were events like the ATP Masters, All England Championship & Ind-Aus tour of South Africa that kept me occupied. However, there was one significant release this weekend which had aroused my curiosity and it happened to be Ajay Devgn's "Raid". It was said to be based on a high profile tax raid that occurred in the 1980s & the trailer more than adequately excited the audience. So will it be the elusive hit the box office had been waiting for since "Padman"???

The film unfolds in 1981 in Lucknow where Amay Patnaik (Ajay Devgn), the income tax deputy commissioner had recently taken charge. We get a sense of his honesty & uprightness within the first couple of scenes itself which has led him to be transferred 49 times in seven years. No sooner had he assumed responsibility, he is tipped off by an anonymous source about the obscene amount of ill-gotten wealth of the crooked & powerful politician, Rameshwar Singh aka Tauji (Saurabh Shukla). After being satisfactorily convinced about the validity of the accusations, Amay obtained the legal documents to conduct raid on Tauji's palatial residence. But it was easier said than done.

Raj Kumar Gupta is no novice to the art of direction as is evidenced by his previous ventures such as "Aamir", "No One Killed Jessica" & "Ghanchhakar". Based on true incidents, "Raid" is a riveting drama that has been scripted by Ritesh Shah who had also penned impressive movies like "Citylights" & "Pink". The screenplay & dialogues are pretty much top notch for large parts, though the former finds itself in a dicey situation in the latter half. The manner in which the procedures of the raid are spelt out by the protagonist was quite novel in celluloid & the decision to make Devgn essay a realistic character rather than take on a zillion guys alone in itself was refreshing to the senses. However, the romantic songs by Amit Trivedi that has been squeezed in acted as speed breakers. As for other aspects, Trivedi's BGM was excellent, Alphonse Roy's visuals were fine while Bodhaditya Banerjee's editing in the second half could have been tighter.

It's been a while since we got an opportunity to watch Ajay in a realistic role that utilized his acting skills. He was fantastic as the incorruptible officer who does everything by the book & giving him excellent company was the exceptional Saurabh Shukla. Ever since I first noticed him in "Satya", I have been an admirer of his talent though very few directors have made adequate of it & Raj Kumar can be proud of that. There were a couple of others who gave praise worthy support such as Pushpa Joshi (as Amma, who was an absolute scream) & Amit Sial (as Lallan) while the others such as Ileana D'Cruz have done their part aptly.

Verdict: Slowly and steadily, the audience have warmed upto the movie as it's on the brink of 50C in five days. Apart from an engaging script, it was also well made aided by the performance of two brilliant actors such as Ajay & Shukla. There is no doubt that the second half wasnt as engaging but still it's worth a watch. So do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Kalakalappu 2 review: "Nothing more than a migraine inducer!!!"

Just like most weekends, the last one was also spent watching movies & sporting events. To our dismay, Saturday saw the Proteas make a strong back into the ODI series with an authoritative win. However, thanks to the impressive "Padman", I was still very much in good spirits & that's when "Kalakalappu 2" caught my attention. Though I havent watched the prequel, the feedback of it being an all out slap stick comedy added fodder to my eagerness to check it out. But it turned out to be a decision I regretted.

The politician Dharmaraj (Madhusudhanan Rao) had amassed obscene amount of wealth through unlawful means but the long hand of the law caught up with him. However, before the justice system could lay hands on the evidence, Dharmaraj had it handed over to his auditor. But the latter used it as an opportunity to blackmail Dharmaraj & demands ransom to be handed over to him in Kasi in exchange for the evidence. At the same time, Raghu (Jai) also lands in Kasi to claim his ancestral property which unknown to him was in the hands of Seenu (Jiiva), a small time fraud. Though Raghu gets duped by Seenu initially, they become good mates later on. Into this mix, enters Ganesh (Shiva) a conman who happened to cheat both of them in the past. How all these sub-plots and characters are linked to each other & how it finally pans out is what this movie is all about.

Sundar C has been in the business of directing movies for more than two decades & though I havent seen most of them, there are two which actually stands out. One of them is the fantastic "Anbe Sivam" & the other being "Arunachalam", both of which I had really enjoyed. However, the same cant be said about his latest venture, which just had a handful of genuine humorous sequences. The rest was nothing more than utter nonsense that tries too hard to make us laugh but all it manages to do is give a throbbing headache. None of the technical aspects deserves mention except for Senthikumar's cinematorgraphy which captures the vibrant colours of Kasi pretty well.

There is an army of artists in the movie starting from the protagonists Jai, Jiiva & Shiva. All three of them have done their parts aptly, with Shiva being my  personal favourite. Both the lead ladies, Nikki Galrani and Catherine Tresa were just for eye candy while the rest did whatever was expected of them.

Verdict: Even slap stick comedies could be well made & keep us glued to our seats. Unfortunately, this one fails to interest me as it barely had anything worthwhile. In short, avoid it for sure!!!

Rating; 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Padman review: "Akki & Balki tackles a relevant social issue engagingly. Period!!!"

Ever since GST was rolled out on Doctor's day last year, it has received a lot of flak over the taxes imposed on various products. One such item of basic necessity happened to be the sanitary pads that was imposed a tax of 12% (marginally lower than the earlier 13.68%). In a country where only 12% of the women use pads, there needs to be more impetus on the part of every Govt in power to encourage menstrual hygiene & one such act will be to reconsider the tax on it.

At the turn of the new millennium, Arunachalam Muruganantham, the social activist from Tamil Nadu decided to come up with an alternative for the costly sanitary pads. Incidentally, his life became the inspiration for R Balki's latest movie "Padman". Lakshmikant Chauhan (Akshay Kumar) is a mechanic by profession who had recently married to Gayathri (Radhika Apte). Despite having discontinued his education, he was a master innovator & used it to good effect with interesting creations of his own. When Lakshmi realises that his wife puts herself to risk with unhygienic menstrual practices, he decides to solve the problem by making a low cost sanitary pad. However, it was much easier than done as his pad didnt have the deserved quality. In time, his obsession to perfect his creation virtually ostracizes him from his family and village. But he stuck on to his mission with unwavering determination & how he eventually manages to make people who ridiculed him sing praises about him forms the crux of the movie. 

Based on "The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land" by Twinkle Khanna, it is inspired as mentioned earlier from Arunachalam's life. R Balki's credentials as a director is well established with movies like "Cheeni Kum", "Paa" etc to his credit. There is no doubt that making a movie on a social issue is not an easy task for the simple reason that it could turn out to be rather preachy. However, Balki & Swanand Kirkire has made sure that they kept the mood light wherever necessary with interesting sequences peppered throughout. They keep us engaged with the events that unfold & it was well picturised by P C Sreeram. Even Chandan Arora's BGM & music tracks were in sync with the mood of the movie & deserves praise. 

The success of any movie lies in the hands of the audience & there is precious little that the artists can do except make sure that they always try to bring some novelty in their roles. This is exactly what Akki has been doing since the past couple of years with some wise & intelligent choice of movies. In his latest outing, he is brilliant as the protagonist as it keeps us invested in it. He has been given excellent support by Radhika Apte, who continues to impress in whatever role she appears. Even Sonam Kapoor who kinda overacts in most instances was fantastic.

Verdict: This was supposed to be on a collision course with "Padmaavat", but Akshay's magnanimity meant that it's release was postponed by a fortnight. Anywaz the decision has done both the movies a lot of good as evidenced by the box office numbers. After promotion of  "Swach Bharat Abhiyaan" through "Toilet:Ek Prem Katha", Akki has given a subtle promotion to "Make in India" through this. Kudos to both Balki & Akki for presenting the social issue both engagingly & realistically. In short, it deserves to be watched!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben 

Bhaagamathie review: "Anushka shoulders the horror/thriller with utmost ease!!!"

Horror is a difficult genre to make coz if it's not executed well, it could turn out to be unintentionally funny. Over the years, we have had numerous horror movies & one of the finest that I have come across in an Indian movie is "Arundhati".   Apart from the fact that it was well made, it had Anushka Shetty as the protagonist who was absolutely brilliant in it. Since then I have been a huge fan of her talent & when the trailer of "Baagamathie" was released, it kinda brought back memories of the aforementioned flick. So will this be yet another feather on her crown???

The film unfolds with Ishwar Prasad (Jayaram), a minister loved by the masses for his empathetic attitude & clean track record, challenging the Government to mend their ways if they wanted his continued support. This put the Government on the offensive & they entrust CBI officer Vaishnavi Reddy (Asha Sharath) to unearth skeletons from Ishwar's cupboard to malign his image. As part of her investigation, she suspected an uncanny connection between Ishwar & the disappearance of ancient idols from temples. However, she wasnt able to pinpoint the crime & decides to coax his former personal secretary IAS officer Sanchala (Anushka Shetty) to spill the beans. Incidentally, Sanchala was already in remand for the murder of her fiance & social activist, Shakthi (Unni Mukundan). In order to avoid unnecessary media scrutiny, Vaishnavi have her shifted for interrogation to a dilapidated mansion which was believed to be haunted by the evil queen, Baagamathie. So was it actually haunted & did Ishwar have an hand in any suspicious dealings as Vaishnavi believed???

G Ashok has called the shots here & since I havent watched his previous flicks such as "Pilla Zamindar" and "Sukumarudu" , I dont have much of a frame of reference. Apart from direction, he has penned the script as well which basically juggles with a couple of genres impressively. The striking feature of the movie is that it offers something quite different from what we expect in the trailer. It would also be fair to admit that a part of it is inspired by "Usual Suspects" & though the climax is predictable, it still manages to thrill us. Thaman's BGM adds to the suspense while R Madhi's visuals were impressive especially the sequences inside the mansion, however the CGI wasnt quite upto the mark.

Anushka is the heart & soul of the movie and has done utmost justice to it with a smashing performance. It made complete sense for Ashok to wait for close to 5 years for Anushka's dates as no one else could have aced the role. As for the rest, Jayaram, Asha Sharath, Murali Sharma & Unni Mukundan have done their parts aptly.

Verdict: It has all the ingredients to become a blockbuster & as per reports that has come out, it is expected to become the first south Indian female centric film to enter the 50 C club. The combination of horror and crime thriller works quite well and despite the predictable climax, it keeps us hooked until the end. In short, check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben