Saaho review: "Hooo...everything feels like a blur!!!"

The Men in Blue decimated the Windies & clean swept the series while our shooters did the same in the World Cup in Rio. However, back home our economy was far from encouraging as many of the sectors especially automobile have faltered in the past few months. It is at this juncture that we had a movie made at a cost of 350 C that hit the screens last weekend. It happened to be "Saaho" which marked Prabhas's return to celluloid after the "Baahubali" series which skyrocketed his popularity across the nation. To be frank, I was far from impressed from the look of the trailer as it seemed like an over dosage of action sequences. So did my opinion change after I had viewed it for close to 3 hours???

Roy (Jackie Shroff) is the leader of the crime syndicate in the fictional land of Waaji & makes arrangements to move the assets to India. However, he gets killed in an accident & there is a tussle for the throne with Devraj (Chunky Pandey) announcing himself as the next leader. But before he could savour the taste of power, Roy's son Vishwank (Arun Vijay) turns up & takes charge much to the displeasure of the former. Around this time, the Indian police were in pursuit of a brilliant thief known as Shadow who had masterminded a 2000 C theft. The task is entrusted upon undercover agent Ashok Chakravarthy (Prabhas) & his team who try to untangle the mystery behind Shadow (Neil Nitin Mukesh) & soon realizes that he was linked to Roy's crime syndicate as well.

This is the second directorial venture of Sujeeth who made his debut a few years back with "Run Raja Run". However, with an opportunity to shoot on an elaborate canvas I would have to say that he has gone absolute bonkers. There are surely a couple of twists & turns in the script that he had penned & I am not a stickler for logic in these kind of movies but there has to be a method to the madness. The action sequences at times reminded me of the video-game 'NFS' & the henchmen looked like they were from "Mad Max". In addition, there are quite a few plagiarism accusations  be it the poster from "Ready Player One", the movie from the French flick "Largo Winch" or the song poster from artist Shilo Shiv Suleman's work. With hardly any engrossing factors, the length of the movie does take a toll on our patience. R Madhi deserves praise for the visuals while the music done by a host of individuals was just about average. The action choreographers deserves praise as quite of them were impressively staged. 

What was a guy like Prabhas doing in this movie? He was like a gentle giant who just didnt seem interested in the happenings around him . With the immense popularity that he garnered from Baahubali, he could have been more proactive in choosing his role. Shraddha Kapoor has done a decent job while the rest of the cast were ok. 

Verdict: From a personal point of view, the movie didnt impress me at all & did induce yawns from me. Anywaz the makers will be more than happy as they have cashed in on Prabhas's popularity & have more or less recovered their investment. So that invariably mean majority of the people liked it isnt it? Hmm...I guess so. Anywaz I wont recommend it!!!

Rating: 1.75/5

Regards...Ben

Batla House review: "John impresses in this engaging drama!!!"

Seems like we have an action packed weekend with PV Sindhu storming into her third consecutive World Championship finals & the Ashes headed for an exciting end while our boys are driving home the advantage against the Windies. Since there wasn't nothing much to do, I thought of penning my thoughts about Nikhil Advani's "Batla House" that I had watched last week along with "Mission Mangal". Based on the Batla House encounter that took place on 19th September, 2008; it has been in the news primarily because the Delhi Police were accused of staging this stint. The trailer seemed to indicate that the makers had done a fine job in recreating the suspense & drama of the event. But does it manage to capture the attention of the audience???

The director loses no time in getting the drama underway as ACP Sanjay Kumar (John Abraham) & his team who had kept a close watch on a group of university students for a few months came to the conclusion that they were involved in the 2008 serial bombings. These students were staying in Batla House & his team had effectively ensured that there was no chance that they would manage to escape. However, despite Sanjay's orders not to initiate the operation until he was at the scene, his subordinate Inspector K K Verma (Ravi Kishan) went forward with the team. By the time the encounter gets over, they manage to gun down two of the students & catch one alive but lose K K in the process. Unfortunately for Sanjay, the media & the authorities were of the impression that it was a fake encounter & he is left with no choice but to prove that whatever he had done was in the best interest of the nation.

After a dream debut with "Kal Ho Na Ho", Nikhil Advani never quite managed to sweep the audience off their feet. He would be hoping to change that trend with his latest venture which has been penned by Ritesh Shah. There is no doubt that Nikhil has done a credible job in engaging the audience with this edgy drama. They have tried to maintain an unbiased stand though it is inevitable they would have to take sides to get the story move forward. The various aspects that an officer would have to face in the face of such events is shown pretty well be it the flak that he receives from his superiors, post traumatic stress, strained family life etc. Saumik Chatterjee deserves praise for the well executed frames & the BGM by John Stewart was also fine.

Over the last couple of years, there has been a conscious effort from John Abraham to trace a path similar to Akshay by starring in nationalistic flavoured movies. Though most of them have failed to strike a chord with the audience, his latest attempt here deserves an applause as I felt he has done utmost justice to the role. The primary reason for that is the mannerisms & expressions of the character which is pretty much just like John performs in all his movies. As for the rest of the cast, Ravi Kishan, Mridul Thakur, Manish Chaudhary & Rajesh Sharma were fine though the latter had one of the worst wigs possible.

Verdict: It's not the type of movie that would cater to many as it's kinda dull & John's previous movies doesnt inspire any expectation among the audience to watch this. Even the box office figures suggests that & grossed close to double what they had invested in it. Anywaz I certainly felt that it was decently made & had more than adequate content that engages our attention. In short, do check it out.

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Mission Mangal review: "Mission to entertain accomplished. Copy that!!!"

Just a couple of weeks more before Chandrayaan 2 will touch down on the lunar surface marking yet another significant achievement of ISRO. On the occasion of our space organisation's 50th anniversary, it would be fair to say that they have constantly amazed us with their mind boggling research & resourcefulness. One of their greatest accomplishments that made us brim with pride was Mangalyaan which was our nation's first interplanetary mission & in doing so, we became the first in the world to be successful in the maiden attempt itself. As one would have guessed Jagan Shakti's "Mission Mangal" is a fictionalized account of that incredible expedition. So is the celluloid creation as successful as the actual event???

India's attempt to launch GSLV had failed & the Mission director Rakesh Dhawan (Akshay Kumar) was put on the docks for the failure of his team. The responsibilities for the subsequent missions were handed over to Dr. Rupert Desai, an arrogant scientist who had recently joined ISRO after having served many years in NASA. To further rub it in on Rakesh, he was asked to lead the Mars mission with neither experienced personnels in his team nor adequate funds. However, with the able support of his brilliant project director Tara Shinde (Vidya Balan) they manage to come up with a credible team & plan. But the challenges were numerous & how they manage to overcome all of them forms the crux of the movie.

The project is helmed by the debutant Jagan Shakti, who had earlier worked as associate director for R. Balki. Apart from calling the shots, he had also penned the script with the support of his mentor Balki, Nidhi Singh & Saketh Kondiparthi. The thread of the story has immense potential as it is a classic case of the underdog emerging victorious. Though we have been witness to numerous Hollywood flicks that dealt with space expeditions, it’s a subject that’s not so common in our country. If you are a stickler for detail then this is not going to impress you as the manner in which the protagonists go about their task seems haphazard & too trivial. But Jagan has crafted his movie as an entertainer whereby even the common man would able to comprehend the elaborate mission without being overwhelmed with jargons & complicated theorems. Another positive is the back-story of the female protagonists which gives us a glimpse as to how women juggle with their various responsibilities as wife, mother & daughter with ease & yet manage to perform brilliantly in their profession. On the technical side, the CGI team has done a decent job while the other aspects were fine as well.

Even though the movie is marketed as an Akshay entertainer, it is the female protagonists who hog the limelight & the director needs to be applauded for this shrewd strategy. As always, the ever dependable Vidya Balan was fantastic as she effortlessly fits into the role of the mother as well as the project director. It’s not so easy to come across mainstream actors who doesn’t mind play second fiddle to his co-stars but Akshay has done exactly that. He has done justice to his part as the magnanimous leader & also blows his patriotic trumpet to good effect. The rest of the female leads have also done their parts aptly be it Nitya Menen, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu or Kirti Kulhari. As for the rest of the cast, Sanjay Kapoor was apt as the impatient husband who eventually brings the roof down with his “Raja” dance moves, while Sharman Joshi, H. G Dattatreya, Vikram Gokhale were fine.

Verdict: There is no doubt that it will cater to the audience for its entertaining nature without taking a toll on our grey cells. The latest box office reports have also shown that the movie is going great guns & should breach the 200 C mark. As I mentioned earlier, if one is to watch it with an open mind without being too touchy about the specifics of the mission, then you can rest assured to be in good spirits. In short, check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards…Ben

Nerkonda Parvaai review: "Faithful remake!!!"

It's been quite a while since I have written a review, though it doesn't mean that I didn't watch any movies in that period. Apart from "Article 15" nothing had quite caught my fancy, but since I was held up with some commitments in that weekend I couldn't find the time to write about it. Anywaz this weekend, I happened to watch "Nerkonda Paarvai" which is the remake of Big B's "Pink". Since I had loved the original, I was curious to see whether Ajith was able to do justice to Big B's brilliant performance.

As most of you would have watched "Pink", I dont think it would make sense to discuss the plot as it remained true to the original with a couple of action sequences inserted into it to satisfy the fans of Thala. However for the benefit of those who missed out on "Pink", it's about three girls who meets up with a couple of guys through a common friend on the sidelines of a music concert. Things move along fine until one of the guys, Adhik (Arjun Chidambaram) tries to molest Meera Krishnan (Shraddha Srinath) & the latter smashes a bottle on his head in self defense. With his ego hurt, he has the girls framed for murder & prostitution. This is when Adv Bharath Subramanyam offers his legal advice to the girls & eventually agrees to fight for them in court.

This is H Vinoth's third directorial venture & I do like his style of story telling as I had watched his previous movie "Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru". In his latest movie as well, he has done a pretty decent job though it would be fair to see that he didnt have much to do apart from follow a fixed template. He deserves praise for making sure that he didnt get over awed by Thala's stardom yet made sure that the latter's fans weren't disappointed. The dialogues were hard hitting & ensured that it suited the sensibilities of the Tamil audience. All the technical aspects be it Yuvan's music or Nirav Shah's cinematography, everything was in sync with the mood of the movie. 

Frankly speaking, I was a bit skeptical as to whether Thala would be able to essay Big B's role convincingly. I would have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised as he has done his part really well & it would certainly rate as one of his best career performances. Shraddha was impressive while the rest of the cast have done their parts aptly. 

Verdict: As per the latest box-office reports it has broken records in the overseas collections while the domestic circuit also seems to be doing well. After a relatively sedate July, the box office is alive & augurs well for the subsequent releases. If you havent watched "Pink", then definitely do watch this as it explores the plight of women who have to face sexual harassment & the need to change the prejudices in the society!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Luca review: "Visually beautiful but not quite gripping!!!"

Hmm...yet another Tovino movie, this guy seems to be on a signing spree as "Luca" is his fifth release of the year. But kudos to him for choosing movies that is different as it has endeared to the audience which is reflected from the fact that all of them have been box office successes. His latest movie is the debut venture of Arun Bose, the trailer of which looked both visually awesome as well as haunting. Tovino's appearance kinda reminded me of Dulquer in "Charlie" & it would be interesting to know if he has struck gold yet again???

The film unfolds with Inspector Akbar Hussein (Nithin George) being called upon to investigate the death of a prominent individual. As part of his investigation, he happens to get his hands on a diary which spoke about the romance of Luca (Tovino Thomas) & Niharika (Ahaana Krishna). Luca was a prominent name in the art world as he was a popular scrap artist as well as social activist & he gets acquainted with Niharika in the Biennale. With time, they confide in each other about their insecurities & vulnerabilities and realise that they are indeed ideal partners for each other. So why was this diary in that place & was it indeed a clue to the mystery???

A couple of days back, I watched a talk show of the cast & crew of the movie as part of their promotions in which Arun Bose had mentioned that he had approached Tovino with the thread of the film in 2014. He had subsequently worked on it multiple times & it eventually became a celluloid creation last Friday. He had written the script along with Mridul George & they have adopted a non linear pattern with three tracks. These include the death mystery, Luca-Niharika & Akbar and his wife who are headed for divorce. Apart from Luca's track, the other two just didnt have the substance that would keep us engrossed. On the technical side, the art department has done a fantastic job with the props that they had created. Nimish Ravi's visuals were mesmerising & Sooraj Kurup's music gelled with it perfectly.

Tovino was once again apt as the protagonist who is short tempered, necrophobic yet positive & empathetic. He continues to impress with each passing movie as he is steadily getting better & proving to be a bankable artist. It's been quite a while since Ahaana had appeared in a movie with the last one being "Njandukalude Naattil Oridavela". She has done a good job here & her chemistry with Tovino was pretty good. Nithin George wasnt quite upto the mark while Vinitha Koshy was wasted in an insignificant role. As for the rest of the cast, they were average at best.

Verdict: There is no doubt that the lead pair has done justice to their roles but as a whole, it's unlikely to impress the audience. All the technical aspects with a special mention of the art team has done a brilliant job. In short, it might not be palatable to everyone!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Thamasha review: Light hearted & realistic take on body-shaming!!!"

How many of us have been made fun of by our friends or even strangers for the way we look? Well I havent faced it much but I know some of my friends who had to endure it repeatedly for their extra pounds or receding hairline. Just a couple of days back Pakistan's Captain Sarfaraz who had to face the brunt for his team's loss to India, was mocked by a fan in a mall by saying that he looked fat like a pig & posted it in social media or the flak that Anant Ambani constantly faces for his weight gain. This goes to prove that no one is actually spared from this form of bullying irrespective of what your social status might be. Incidentally, this is the topic that is discussed in Ashraf Hamza's "Thamasha" & from the looks of the trailer, it seemed like a fun filled movie. 

Sreenivasan (Vinay Fort) is a lecturer in college who is constantly mocked by his students for his baldness. It became a cause of concern even more when his family started searching alliances for him. Due to constant rejections from prospective brides, his friend Raheem (Navas Vallikkunnu) advises him from his own experience that such complications wouldn't arise in a love marriage. Fuelled by Raheem's words & on the latter's insistence, Sreeni tries to woo his colleague Babitha (Divya Prabha). Everything seemed to move along as he expected until a handsome lecturer joins the college. This deflates Sreeni's confidence & he was back to his sulking self. At around this time, he gets acquainted with Safiya (Grace Antony) who seemed to take an immense interest in him. So was this girl that Sreeni was waiting for???

This is Ashraf Hamza's debut venture & he has penned the script as well though the idea of the thread came from Lijo Jose & Chemban Vinod who had produced it along with Sameer Thahir & Shyju Khalid under the banner of Happy Hours Entertainment. It's a relevant topic evident from a recent survey conducted across women in eight cities in the age group 15-45 where about 47.5% of them have said that they have faced body shaming either in school or at their workplace. Ashraf keeps the whole scenario real while at the same time ensured that it was conveyed in an enjoyable manner. Both the halves keeps the audience entertained as none of the sequences lagged. Kudos to the team for the apt casting coz apart from Vinay, pretty much everyone else were relatively green horned. Sameer Thahir was brilliant as usual with the visuals while Rex Vijayan & Shahbaz Aman's music were in sync with the mood.

In the first scene when Vinay Fort is shown writing on the board, it is inevitable that our mind takes us back to Vimal Sir in "Premam". It's an iconic role that would never be forgotten but the similarities between Sreeni Maashe & Vimal Sir ends there as the former is made in a completely different mold. He has excelled in it to such an extent that I would term this as his career best performance as he conveys his frustrations & insecurities effectively. When it comes to the female leads, Divya Prabha, Grace Antony & Chinnu Chandni Nair have done utmost justice to their roles. However, the pick of the lot was definitely Chinnu who was confident & charming. Navas deserves a special mention while Arun Kurian & the rest have done their parts well also. 

Verdict:  It's not a preachy type of movie but it gives us a glimpse as to how mean the world could be when it comes to mocking others over their appearance. All of us might either be a victim or knows someone who does face such insensitive comments & it's imperative that we take efforts not to do the same on others. As for the movie, you can rest assured to be entertained & hence dont hesitate to watch it!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

  

And the Oscar Goes to review: "Endearing tale of dreams, passion, tears & efforts!!!"

The World Cup is in the final stages of the robin league & our Men in Blue has been on a roll despite a middling middle order., thanks to our excellent bowling unit. Similarly, Tovino Thomas had also hit a purple patch with box office hits on the trot which is a result of his hard work, smart choice of movies & good fortune. In the past fortnight, two of his movies has hit the screens of which "And the Oscar Goes to" was checked out first. Since it is directed by Salim Ahamed, I had pretty high hopes about it as I have always liked his celluloid creations. So how well did Tovino blend into Salim's style of movie making???

Izhak Ebrahim (Tovino Thomas) is an aspiring film maker who had been trying for quite a while to make his mark in the film industry. After numerous failed attempts to find someone to fund his movie, he decided to take up the mantle of a producer as well. As expected, it was a tough ordeal but he manages to complete it & his efforts bore fruit when it was chosen as India's official entry for the Oscars. So will his movie achieve what Ashutosh & Aamir's "Lagaan" couldn't???

It's been quite a while since we have seen a Salim Ahamed movie with his last one being "Pathemari" in 2015. As in his previous ventures, he has adorned the hat of a director, producer & script writer yet again. With regard to the script, it's surely inspired from his own experiences as his debut movie "Adaminte Makan Abu" had won the National Award for the Best Film in 2011 & was also chosen as India's Oscar entry for that year. Salim tries to discuss quite a lot & I dont think he was as effective in conveying it in the first half though the second half was quite an eye opener as it gave us a glimpse about the influence of money & lobbying to get nominated. Kudos to his choice of actors as all of them have done a fantastic job. On the technical side, Madhu Ambat is a person who needs no introduction & he was brilliant as usual with his cinematography. Bijibal's music was soothing to the ears & Vijay Shankar has done a decent job in the editing dept. 

When I first heard that Tovino was the protagonist in Salim's movie, I was excited to see as to how he would fare in a meaty role. He has done a fantastic job as the struggling director & I certainly believe that when it comes to expression, this is his best to date. There are quite a few scenes which are perfect examples for that such as the look on his face when a kid sells the CDs of the latest movies in the train, his anguish of being forced to give an interview even as he is famished, his despair on being forced to accept the buyer's offer after the latter backtracks on his original offer etc. The rest of the cast have all done justice to their role be it Anu Sithara (her chemistry with Tovino was impressive), Salim Kumar, Siddique, Nikki Rae Hallow, Srinivasan, Lal, Appani Sarath etc.

Verdict:  Salim has once again given us that is both endearing as well as tugs at our hearts. There is definitely a freshness in the content in the latter half & gives us a fleeting view about the hardships of film makers. Tovino strikes gold yet again with a praiseworthy act & though it might not be a whooping money spinner, but it should still do well at the box office. I certainly liked the movie & I would certainly suggest all of you to check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben