Gunjan Saxena-The Kargil Girl: "Doesnt soar as much as expected!!!"

As our nation celebrates its 74th Independence day, let's bow our heads in gratitude and humility to pay respects to the numerous faceless people who made this day possible. Though we gained freedom from the British Raj, we still faced challenges over the years in the form of conflict from our neighbors. However, our brave & selfless soldiers have constantly negated all those threats allowing us to live in peace. One such event happened to be the 1999 Kargil War where many of our brave warriors laid down their lives. Among them was IAF Pilot, Gunjan Saxena who was the first female pilot to be part of the war. On the lead up to this Independence Day, Sharan Sharma decided to pay homage to this brave officer in the form of a biography. But will Janhvi Kapoor be able to pull off the titular role with conviction???

Based in Lucknow, Gunjan Saxena (Janhvi Kapoor) harboured dreams of becoming a pilot right from her childhood dreams. Being a bright student, her mother Kriti (Ayesha Raza) & brother, Anshuman (Angad Bedi) were keen on her taking up a different profession as they firmly believed that her place wasn't meant to be in the cockpit. However, her father Anup (Pankaj Tripathi) who was an Army Officer supported his daughter's wishes & encouraged her to strive for her dreams. With the fees that is meant for a commercial pilot course beyond their capabilities, it seemed like Gunjan's dreams were over. But destiny had other plans.

After having plied his trade as an assistant director in "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani", Sharan Sharma is making his directorial debut with this biography. He has scripted the story in the company of Nikhil Mehrotra who had credible movies to his credit such as "Dangal", "Chhichhore"etc. The movie works for most parts, however it fails to impart the desired impact after Gunjan makes it to the training academy. Interestingly, some of the scenes there reminded me of "Hidden Figures". It's a good thing that they chose to focus on the sexism and the gender based discrimination rather than an over dosage of nationalism. Though only a small portion of the Kargil War was picturised, it looked rather amateurish as a whole. Manush Nandan has done a reasonable job with the visuals while Marc Wolff's co-ordination in the helicopter sequences were pretty good. 

So it's time for the inevitable question, was Janhvi convincing as the protagonist? There is no doubt that she has done a good job for large parts as she was able to convey the vulnerability & nervousness of the character perfectly. However, the transformation that we expected to happen after she defied the odds was nowhere to be seen. In short, as the flight officer she definitely missed the mark according to me. The best performance belonged to Pankaj Tripathi who captures our attention with his expressions that spoke volumes without having to mouth dialogues. As for the rest, Angad Bedi started off well but was rather wooden later on, Vineet Kumar had a one dimensional role, Ayesh Raza was wasted while Manav Vij was good.

Verdict: On this Independence Day, it's surely an engaging watch though it definitely didn't soar as much as expected. With just a couple of movies under her belt, it would be unfair to slam Janhvi but the fact remains that she didnt quite have the caliber to pull off the IAF part. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Pareeksha review: "Adil's classy performance makes it an endearing watch!!!"

A couple of days back, we had the Government roll out the National Educational Policy 2020 in an attempt to bring a holistic change to the educational system in our country. However, whether they will be achieve it depends on the will and the manner in which it will be implemented. The Right to Education came into effect in our nation about ten years back & it's a work still in progress, though not quite to the level that we would have liked. One of it's major obstacle is the impact that the  economic strata that a person belongs to has on the opportunities to quality education. This is the premise of Prakash Jha's "Pareeksha" which was released on ZEE5 last week. So did Jha remain true to the ground reality or was it an over dosage of filmy melodrama???

Just like many others who resiliently faced the challenges that life threw at them on a daily basis, Bucchi (Adil Hussain) also harboured hopes of a better future for his son, Bulbul (Shubham Jha), who was an excellent student & performed admirably in Govt school. Bucchi was a rickshaw puller while his wife, Radhika (Priyanka Bose) shared the responsibilities by working in a factory nearby. He regularly ferried children from affluent households in the locality to the upscale CBSE school, where he was keen to get Bulbul admitted as he believed that was the gateway to a better life. But for a family that struggled to make ends meet, it seemed like a distant dream. So will their meager means be able to handle the hefty educational fees???

It's been quite a while since we had an interesting movie from Prakash Jha as the last few were high on star value but lacked content. With his latest venture, it would be fair to say that he has reclaimed some of his vintage form. He has scripted a hard hitting realistic tale that shows that people belonging to the lower economic strata cant afford to think of acquiring equal opportunities even in the educational sector though it is a right that is enshrined in the Constitution. The equation that the close knit family share with each other is an absolute delight & the hardships that the parents endure for their son's education does tug at our heart cords. Even when the father resorts to wrong doings, it would still be hard for the audience not to root for him. However, the sequences that involves the happenings at school was rather average. On the technical side, there is nothing that deserves special mention.

Adil was brilliant as Bucchi as his expressions and apologetic body language was spot on. We are left to ponder as to how grossly we have utilized this talent actor. Let's hope that he gets roles worth his caliber & keeping him adequate support was an equally praise act from Priyanka. Sanjay Suri has done a fine job as he played a small yet crucial role as SP Kailash Anand which was modeled after IPS Officer Abhyanand, who taught children from poor financial backgrounds. Shubham also did his part aptly. 

Verdict: It's a typ's  of movie that is unlikely to capture eyeballs unless people are told about it as it had a rather low keel release even by OTT standards. It's definitely worth a watch & with a running time of just 1 h 42 mins, it doesn't test our patience  with unnecessary melodrama. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Raat Akeli Hai review: "Desi version of Knives Out but much more gripping!!!"

With the cinema theatres still shut down, OTT platforms have been the primary source of entertainment for movie aficionados. Apart from the numerous web series that all of us have been gorging on, some movies have also been released on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar etc. The previous weekend saw the release of "Raat Akeli Hai" on Netflix & yet again Radhika Apte features in it. This has already spawned trolls, however the trailer promised it to be a gritty murder mystery.

Thakur Raghubeer Singh (Khalid Tyabji), an influential patriarch from an affluent background was found murdered on the night of his wedding to his mistress, Radha (Radhika Apte). Incidentally, his wife was also murdered along with their driver five years earlier. The case was entrusted to Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) & it soon dawned upon him that each and every member of the khandan was not beyond suspicion as they had more than ample shades of grey to their character. So who had eliminated Thakur in such a ghastly manner & were both the murders interconnected???

This is the debut venture of Honey Trehan & he has opted to create a dark movie which isnt exactly unfamiliar territory for him as he has worked extensively with Vishal Bharadwaj. Along with Smita Singh, who had scripted this slow burning engaging whodunnit they give us a full blown picture of a dysfunctional family where the males reigns supreme while the females are relegated to meek onlookers who remains helpless on the face of injustice meted out to them, Even the protagonist harbors a superiority attitude against the women & is opinionated on the basis of their attire as well. Honey tries to infuse humour into the proceedings through the interaction between Ila Arun & Nawazuddhin and does tickle the funny bone at times in an otherwise sober movie. Most of the scenes happen in the dark & Pankaj Kumar captures those visuals impressively while Sneha Khanwalkar's music was average and Sreekar Prasad could have made it crisper. 

Nawazuddin nails his role & though it wasn't challenging by his standards, he manages to capture the swag and stubbornness of the character aptly. There is hardly any Indian production on Netflix that does not feature Radhika Apte and we can't blame them for that since she effectively conveyed the frustration & anger that Radha had for her circumstances without having to mouth dialogues. Being a casting director, Honey has a keen eye for talent & it was evident in his choice of artists be it Aditya Srivastva, Ila Arun, Tigmanshu Dhulia etc, all of whom have done their parts well. 

Verdict: Though not the remake of "Knives Out", the manner in which the story is constructed with each character being a possible suspect gives us that impression. It is gripping and manages to capture our attention, though I felt that it had the potential to be much more damdaar. Anywaz do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

Shakuntala Devi review: "Rushed screenplay leaves out significant aspects!!!"

What is the expansion for (a+b)^2? I presume most of us would be able to answer that, thanks to our fantastic teachers & ofcourse, Chacko maash from "Spadikam". Over the years, our nation has been blessed with some of the finest mathematicians that this world has seen such as Aryabhata, Ramanujan, Bose, Rao etc. Another name that also gets mentioned is Shakuntala Devi popularly known as 'Human Computer' & holder of the Guinness World Record for the 'fastest human computation'. Interestingly, an official certification was given to her daughter only a couple of days back, after the feat was achieved in 1980 as the Guinness authority had no such norm in those days.  Bollywood decided to pay tribute to the math wizard in the form of a biopic directed by Anu Menon with Vidya Balan playing the titular role. So were they able to do justice to this iconic legend???

The film opens with Anupama Banerji (Sanya Malhotra) slapping a criminal case on her famous mother, Shakuntala Devi (Vidya Balan). So how did the two of them end up in a tumultuous relationship? But to understand that, the director takes us back to the latter's childhood (or rather the lack of it) where we are witness to Shakuntala's gift to solve complicated mathematical problems in a jiffy. Her father (Prakash Belawadi) saw that as a money spinning opportunity & arranged shows where she showcased her arithmetic skills. However, her relationship with her parents got strained after her sister passed away. Armed with an exceptional brain & supreme confidence, she moved to England & made a career out of her awe inspiring talent. In due time, she got married to Paritosh Banerji (Jisshu Sengupta), an IAS officer & soon after, Anupama was born. Though Paritosh was a supportive husband, differences crept in & with time, it took a toll on their daughter as well. So was this the price that Shakuntala had to pay for her fame & legacy???

Apart from helming the project, Anu Menon has also worked on the screenplay along with Nayanika Mahtani & Ishita Moitra based on the conversation that they had with Anupama. This can be said to be the first mainstream movie by Anu, though she had showcased her talent in the past with "Waiting". There is no doubt that this biopic is enjoyable and focuses adequately on the relationship between the mother & daughter. But I felt the screenplay in the first half was rather average, since we are made to feel that she achieved the highs without breaking much sweat. It is as if she just showed up in England & everyone was floored by her talent. Considering the fact that it was pre-Independence, it is inevitable that there would have been challenges like racism and even in our nation, sexism would have been another hurdle. None of these are shown & they try to squeeze in everything be it her take on astrology, homosexuality or taking part in elections. They should have focused on how she overcame these challenges as it would have made the audience value the brilliance, talent & resilience of this incredible lady in a much more meaningful manner. 

On the technical side, Karan Kulkarni's score & Keiko Nakahara's visuals were fine and does contribute adequately to gloss over the flaws. Whenever Vidya Balan takes up a role, we can rest assured that she would nail it & it's no different this time as well as she was absolutely fantastic as the protagonist. Showcasing a myriad of emotions, Vidya yet again proved that she is indeed on top of her game even with such sporadic appearances. Giving her ample support was Sanya, Jisshu & Amit Sadh, all of whom have done their parts aptly. Kudos to Spandan Chaturvedi & Araina Nand who essayed the younger versions of Shakuntala. 

Verdict: It's surely an entertaining movie that would endear to the family audience. There is no doubt that it has its flaws but Vidya has given a fantastic performance and the mother-daughter relationship which is the crux of the movie has been picturised well. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Dil Bechara review: "Seri...surely the perfect swansong for Sushant!!!"

Sushant Singh Rajput...a name that we have been hearing in media regularly in recent times with some of them seeing it as an opportunity to get themselves back in the spotlight while others with a greedy eye on the TRPs. The sad reality is that he left his family & fans much before anyone could have fathomed & though the truth ought to be found out, let's give him the dignity he deserves rather than through crappy prime time debates. His last movie "Dil Bechara" released last night & to be frank, it was hard to hold back tears as the story & at times, some of the dialogues made it hard to distinguish between real and reel. Ever since the music & trailer released, I was totally hooked onto it; but did the movie provide us the catharsis that we hoped for???

The film unfolds in Jamshedpur, where Kizie Basu (Sanjana Sanghi), a thyroid cancer patient finds it hard to enjoy life thinking of the inevitable that the future holds for her. It is into this pall of gloom that Immanuel Rajkumar Junior aka Manny (Sushant Singh) enters like a breath of fresh air. His arrogant, nosy & insistent nature irritates Kizie, but both of them soon warm up to each other which even includes her supportive parents. Incidentally, he also had a brush with Osteosarcoma & was keen in making sure that all of Kizie's wishes were fulfilled which even included meeting her favourite musician in Paris. So does destiny smile on these love birds???

Based on John Green's novel "The Fault in our Stars", this is the directorial debut of Mukesh Chhabra who has been in the industry for quite a while both as a casting director and actor. Shashank Khaitan and Suprotim Sengupta has worked on the screenplay & I certainly felt that they could have done a much better job. There is no doubt that the romance between the protagonists makes us completely engrossed and the character arc created for them is fine. However, Manny's parents or the trip to Paris (which actually was supposed to be an important portion) barely had any significance. It tugs at the heart cords and many portions does make our eyes welled up especially the church sequences, but it could have been much better. 

On the technical side, AR Rahman's music was just brilliant with the title track which I had kept in loop rendered by the maestro himself being my personal favourite. There are other impressive tracks as well like 'Taare Ginn', "Khulke Jeene Ka' etc. However, at the same time I kinda felt that it had a nostalgic touch to it as the music arrangements seemed to have faint resemblances to his yester year hits. Kudos to Amitabh Bhattacharya for the soulful lyrics & to Satyajit Pande for capturing the visuals aesthetically.

It's hard not to sound biased when speaking about Sushant coz of the tragic end  to his life, but in all fairness he has undoubtedly done a fantastic job. You just cant help feel sorry for him & wish things could have been a whole different. The exuberance and melancholy that Manny possessed was perfectly captured by him and giving him competent company was Sanjana Sanghi. Some of you might remember her from "Rockstar" or "Hindi Medium". She has done a fine job as Kizie and seemed the perfect fit for the role. As for the rest, one cant help wish that Saswata Chatterjee (Killer Bob Biswas from "Kahaani") & Swastika Mukherjee had more screen space, Sahil Vaid did his part aptly while Saif was wasted in a cameo that barely had the impact that was expected.

Verdict: Though it is hard to dismiss the reality in the present situation, I would still say as frankly as possible that this movie ought to be watched. It certainly has its flaws but the romance, music, the chemistry between the lead pairs and most importantly Sushant makes the viewing experience worthwhile. So dont miss it!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Kappela review: "Well intentioned and crafted though it might give mixed signals!!!"

When will the cinema theatres reopen? Hmm...tough question to answer especially with the number of active COVID cases surging like crazy. One of the last Malayalam movies to hit the screens just before the lockdown was Muhammad Musthafa's "Kappela". Since I dont recollect seeing it release in Bangalore, I had given it a miss & was reminded about it when my friend, Ranjith asked me to check it out when it released on Netflix close to three weeks back. Hence I had watched it but due to paucity of time never got to pen down my opinion about it. Well most of the people have praised the movie, so am I also part of that team???

Rains lashed heavily on the beautiful valleys of Poovaranmala as Jessy (Anna Ben) boarded the bus to Kozhikode to visit her lover, whom she had never met in person. So how exactly did they get acquainted in the first place? It all began coz of a wrong number that she had accidentally dialed, which happened to belong to Vishnu (Roshan Mathew), an auto driver. With time, through repeated interaction, they eventually fall for each other. At around the same time, she received an alliance from an affluent family in the locality & that spurs her to meet Vishnu hoping that she could lead a life that she dreamt of with him. 

Directed & penned by Muhammad Musthafa, this is the directorial debut of the experienced National Award winning actor. He has chosen a topic that isn't out of the ordinary after all we have come across such news numerous times. However, the manner in which he builds up curiosity in the audience and the character arc that he has created for the lead characters (Vishnu & Roy) is commendable. His efforts was complimented by the excellent cinematography of Jimshi Khalid and Sushin Shyam's melodious tracks. But there are a couple of aspects likely to raise eyebrows in atleast a few & that is with regard to the message that it conveys. These include possible 'stalking' of Vishnu shown as rather normal, kind of 'moral policing' by Roy (though I feel that gets negated by the climax', 'patriachal' family where the girls are shown to have not much of a voice & when they do decide to take a decision independently, it could turn out to be wrong. Well I'm not going to harp about it, as it didn't affect my viewing experience at all. 

Before talking about the individual performances, kudos to Mushtafa for his choice of artists as each one of them have done justice to their roles. It's not so often that an actress especially a beginner manage to do meaningful roles in a row & Anna Ben has been lucky with that. As in her previous movies, she was a perfect fit as Jessy whose innocence and twinkle in the eyes makes it endearing to us. Roshan has slowly and steadily made people to take notice of him with earnest performances while Sreenath Bhasi deserves praise for his fine act that has been coming at a consistent frequency in recent times. As for the rest, Nilja Baby was really good while Sudhi Koppa, Nisha Sarang, Navas Vallikunnu did their parts aptly. 

Verdict: Musthafa has created a well intentioned and honest movie that captures a slice of life which isn't unknown to any of us. It is unfortunate that he couldn't showcase it on the 70mm screen but to be frank, how often do such movies manage to run without being held over for some other big banner movies. So in that respect, it's great that it was released in Netflix & garnered predominantly positive responses from most quarters. As for me, both the performances and the story appealed to me and if you haven't watched it, don't miss it!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Sufiyum Sujatayum review: "Script fails to realize its full roohi!!!"

With quite a few movies from the other film industries having already released on the OTT platform due to the COVID crisis, it was just a matter of time before the Malayalam industry also joined the bandwagon. So last weekend, we had Friday House Productions release “Sufiyum Sujatayum” on Amazon Prime to the delight of the movie aficionados. I was particularly keen to watch it as my buddy; Gopesh was also part of the team as an assistant director. The trailer had a mystic aura about it with soulful music that would endear to anyone. So was the movie as captivating???

The film unfolds in a rustic village where Sufi (Dev Mohan) returns after a decade to visit his Ustaad’s (Swamy Shoonya) tomb. However, he dies soon after & the news is conveyed to Rajeev (Jayasurya). Incidentally, Rajeev was in an unhappy relationship as his wife,  Sujata (Aditi Rao Hydari) wasn’t still able to detach herself from the memories of her pre-marital affair with Sufi. In the hope that the mortal remains of Sufi would bring a sense of closure for her, Rajeev decides to take Sujata to the funeral.

This is the second venture of Naranipuzha Shanavas, who garnered considerable critical acclaim for his directorial debut in “Kari”. Apart from calling the shots, he has penned the script as well which I felt was rather underwhelming. His choice of artists for the titular role made sense with Dev Mohan & Aditi, matching their parts. But their love story which is the main foundation on which this movie is built upon is on shaky ground as the depth of their relationship isn’t explored which would have thrown light as to why Sujata couldn’t move on in life with Rajeev. Shanavas nailed it when it came to imparting a mystical feel to the Sufi, but he fails to add substance to the character. The last half an hour is gripping and provides a distinct closure to the tale. On the technical side, it is really impressive especially the music by M. Jayachandran. His soulful tracks be it ‘Vathikal Vellaripravu’ (sung by Nitya Mammen , Arjun Krishna etc), ‘Alhamdullilah’ (by Amrita Suresh & Sudeep Palaad) and the brilliant ‘Azaan’ rendered by Zia-ul-Haq  (best I have ever heard), just  elevates the overall experience. Anu Moothedath has done a fine job with the cinematography while one cant the say about Deepu Joseph when it comes to editing as it lags at numerous sequences.

Though packaged as a Jayasurya movie for obvious reasons, he had more of a supporting role with limited screen space. However, he was impressive as the irritated and helpless husband who tries to salvage his marriage. Aditi Rao is making a return back to Malayalam after she made her debut in Prajapathi in 2006. She has done her part reasonably well as she suited the role in terms of appearance & dance, though she failed to convey the sorrowful emotions adequately. The same also applies to the debutant Dev Mohan but I would put the blame for that on an underwritten role rather than the lack of his abilities. As for the rest, Siddique and Manikandan Pattambi deserve praise for a job well done.

Verdict: It was certainly a movie that showed a lot of potential, but falters primarily because of a half baked script. Shanavas gives glimpses at various instances where the story could have been impactful as the chemistry between the lead pairs were palpable, though it fizzles out without going the distance. Even then it is still worth a watch primarily coz of its endearing sound tracks, mystic aura & the manner in which it ends!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards…Ben