Laxmii review: "Irrespective of the change in title, it would have still bombed!!!"

Over the years, we have been witness to news of movie's title being changed either due to superstitions or pressure from external sources. The latest to join this bandwagon is Raghava Lawrence's "Laxmii" when certain religious outfits took offence over it's original title. Well it was released prior to Diwali & there were certainly high hopes riding on this movie after all it had Akshay back in his comic avatar or atleast that is what the trailer seemed like. Alas, it wasnt to be as it seemed like a competition for mediocrity for large parts of the movie.

Asif (Akshay Kumar) does not believe in ghosts & exposes fake gurus who tries to swindle money on the pretext of supernatural occurrences. On the wedding anniversary of his in-laws with whom he shared a strained relationship as his father in law, Sachin (Rajesh Sharma) didnt approve him of being married to their daughter, Rashmi (Kiara Advani), they invite him over in the hope of breaking the ice. Apparently, there was a haunted ground in the vicinity & after Asif had visited it, strange events start unfolding in his in laws home. Will Asif eventually be forced to believe in ghosts???

So Lawrence makes his Bollywood directorial debut with the remake of his own Tamil movie "Kanchana" (2011). I dont know about others but I certainly didnt find the original interesting & was perplexed as to why would anyone want such an average movie being remade. Anywaz since Akshay was in the mix, I certainly had hopes but it turned out to be an absolute torture for large parts. However, the portions that featured Sharad Kelkar as Laxmii was impressive & even Akshay in the transgender avatar (especially in the Bam Bam Bhole song sequence). But that was solely for their performance & not for the mediocrity that unfolds on the screen. 

Apart from Sharad Kelkar's performance, none of the rest deserves a mention as all of their performances were so damn pathetic & artificial. Even Akshay who usually revels in comedy sequences failed to tickle the funny bone. Ashwini Kalsekar seemed like she was vying for the worst performer award with stiff competition from Ayesha Raza. 

Verdict: Damn...this was undoubtedly the worst movie that I have seen of Akshay in the past few years. It belies my logic as to why Fox Studios decided to even invest money for such a lame script. In short, definitely AVOID IT!!!

Rating: 1/5

Regards...Ben

Chhalaang review: "A leap that doesnt quite match upto Hansal Mehta's credentials!!!"

The US Presidential Elections has come to a close with Biden chosen as the next President but Trump has chosen not to concede defeat for reasons that seemed absolutely absurd. Well even as many leapt in joy at his defeat, back home the Union Health Ministry announced that the COVID recovery rate leaped 92% of the cumulative cases. Hmm...seems like 'leap' is the oft used word in recent times as one of the the Diwali releases was "Chhalaang" which featured the hit duo of Hansal Mehta-Rajkummar Rao who have given us some excellent movies in the past. Apart from that, it also seemed like a sports drama which is one of my favorite genres. So is it yet another winner from the hit pair???

Mahender aka Montu (Rajkummar) is the PT Master in the same school that he spent his formative years. However, he lacked the professionalism, credentials or even the passion that was needed for his job as he took it for granted. But he was in for a rude shock when the Principal (Ila Arun) recruits Inder Mohan Singh (Mohammed Zeeshan) as the senior coach. Though he initially agrees to be the latter's subordinate, it didnt last for long & the duo decide to settle their differences with the teams that they coached across three disciplines. So will this motivation make Montu shake off his lackadaisical attitude for good???

A couple of weeks back, Mehta came out with "Scam 1992" a cracker of a web series & if you guys havent watched it, dont miss it. But the same cant be said about his latest celluloid creation which frankly speaking just didnt have anything that captured our attention as the script by Luv Ranjan, Aseem Arora & Zeishan Quadri lacked imagination. Even the sports drama that is being created in the latter half was predictable & lacked the thrill that we would normally associate with such genres. On the technical side, the music by a host of individuals was good while Eeshit Narain's visuals were fine.

All the artists have done their parts aptly be it Rajkummar, Zeeshan or Saurabh Shukla but with the script not offering much scope; there isn't much that they can add onto it except that they made it a decent watchable experience. Nushrat Bharucha did justice to her role but I felt she was miscast for the part.

Verdict: Well it is certainly one of the weakest movie of the Hansal-Rajkummar duo as it is pretty predictable stuff & doesnt offer anything different that we would naturally expect from them. In short, just an average feel good flick at best!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Ludo review: "An interesting fun take on karma & dharma!!!"

How often have we played the game of Ludo? Interestingly, it was derived from Pachisi (I presume you would remember it as the game in which Pandavas were cunningly slam dunked by Shakuni that led to the Kurukshetra War). Anywaz as has been the norm in the past, England modified the dice into a cube & patented it as 'Ludo'. In Anurag Basu's "Ludo", just as in the game; it's an anthology of four set of characters whose lives converge at various junctures with the ultimate aim being to settle down in peace. There were a few segments in the trailer which indicated that it was a fun movie & with an interesting mix of characters including our Pearle Maaney, it seemed like a perfect choice for Diwali.

Sattu Bhai (Pankaj Tripathi) was the much feared don in the area & his latest victim was a builder. However, that sets off a chain of reactions one of which included Rahul Awasti (Rahul Suresh), a sales boy who happened to be the witness to the crime & Pinky Jain (Fatima Sana Shaikh), whose husband was the friend of the builder and had used the latter as an alibi to hide his extramarital affair. At around the same time, Bittu (Abhishek Bachchan) who was once the trusted lieutenant of Sattu Bhai; came over to meet him to settle some financial disputes. Another character that was linked to the don was Akash (Aditya Roy Kapur), a ventriloquist & dubbing artist who sought the former's help to remove a sex tape of him & his girl friend, Shruti (Sanya Malhotra) that had found its way into the internet. How each of these set of characters try to get out of the mess that they found themselves in forms the crux of the movie.

It's been quite while back since we had been treated to Basu's celluloid creations with the last one being "Jagga Jasoos" that released in 2017. Even though his movies might have missed the mark at times, there is no denying the fact that he always tries to bring in something unique & different in every project that he works on. His latest release which he had scripted along with Samrat Chakraborty belongs to the crime comedy genre & it undoubtedly keeps our spirits high. Actually Basu has juggled with quite a few hats here as he has shared the credit with Rajesh Shukla for the cinematography & was also the production designer and he has handled all of it impressively. The choice of colours that has given for each set of characters was interesting with Pankaj Tripathi being the dice. 

Another major positive was the choice of artists & each of them have done their parts aptly be it Pankaj who has risen to one of the finest actors in Bollywood or Abhishek whose careful choice of movies is slowly but steadily resurrecting his career. To be frank, apart from Basu; the other two people coz of whiom I was eager to watch this movie were Rajkummar Rao who nails it as the quintessential Mithun da fan & Pearle who as expected handled her part with ease. Kudos to Pritam as well for some melodious tracks rendered by Arijit Singh.

Verdict: Despite a running time of 150 minutes, it isn't the type of a movie that takes a toll on your patience. There are surely certain sequences that could have been trimmed but once the stories unfold then it's unadulterated humour. In short, you can rest assured of being entertained!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Soorarai Pottru review: "Both the cast & crew deserves pottru!!!"

Just a month more for Xmas & I hope to spent it with my family after all COVID had spoiled my earlier plans to visit home during Easter & Onam. Anywaz I have been looking at airline tickets & realized as to how much the charges have changed over the years thanks to the no frills airlines which became a reality in our country at the turn of the millennium. This was the result of the hard work & determination of Captain G R Gopinath who founded Air Deccan. So this Diwali, Sudha Kongara gave a tribute to this incredible personality in the form of a biopic titled "Soorarai Pottru". The trailer was impressive & it certainly seemed liked a winner.

Nedumaaran (Suriya), an ex-air force officer harboured hopes of launching a low cost airline that will even allow the financially challenged to make use of this conveyance without having to worry about its exorbitant costs. He drew inspiration from Paresh Goswami (Paresh Rawal) who also came up from humble beginnings to become the biggest airline tycoon in the country. However, Maaran's efforts failed to bear fruit as none of the investors saw it as a viable business proposition & to make matters worse, Paresh made sure that the former was beset with bureaucratic obstacles. But Maaran had his eyes set to the skies & how he eventually manages to achieve that despite all odds forms the crux of the movie.

Based on Captain Gopinath's 'Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey', Sudha Kongara created a dramatized version of it taking cinematic liberties but made sure that the struggle, pain & emotions of the protagonist was captured aptly. Though it does get a tad lethargic in certain sequences, it certainly kept me engaged until the very end. Sudha deserves praise for the apt choice of artists & for making sure that apart from Suriya, others like Aparna, Urvashi etc also had the opportunity to make their presence felt . Most of the emotional scenes were picturized well especially the one between Suriya & Urvashi after his father passes away which was undoubtedly one of the best that I have seen in recent times. On the technical side, the colours that Niketh Bommireddy had opted for the visuals were in sync with the mood of the movie & the terrain. GV Prakash's music gelled well while Sathish Suriya could have done a better job on the editing table. 

This is undoubtedly one of Suriya's career best performances & I would be surprised if he doesnt carries home a bunch of awards for his fantastic portrayal of the character. Giving him excellent support was Aparna Balamurali & though I didnt quite feel a cracking chemistry between them, she was spot on as the independent & strong Bommi. There isnt much that needs to be said about Urvashi after all she is one of the finest artists that our nation has seen & she continues to mesmerize us with strong performances. Paresh Rawal had done his part well though I felt it was kinda one dimensional, Mohan Babu could have been given a meatier role while the rest of the cast like Karunas, Krishnakumar (as Che) etc did justice to their roles.

Verdict: It's really unfortunate that this couldn't have a theatrical release as it certainly deserved one seeing the effort that has been invested in by the cast & crew. Both Sudha & Suriya deserves cheers for a wonderful job as they have created a movie which though not of the mass masala genre does have the ingredients to keep the audience hooked onto it. In short, the length of the movie might be a downer for some but you definitely got to check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

 

Putham Pudhu Kaalai: "Interesting anthology that works in parts!!!"

With the COVID pandemic still very much prevalent, the world has woken up to the fact that we will have to find ways to live within especially since the vaccines isn't still around. Even if it does, it would still take significant amount of time before it would be made available to each one of us. One of the things that has taken center stage during this COVID time was the use of social network for both professional & personal interests. The film industry has also realized its potential & joined hands with OTT platforms to showcase their celluloid creations. Seeing the talent on offer, Amazon Prime roped in five maverick Tamil directors for an anthology titled "Putham Pudhu Kaalai". The trailer surely looked interesting & everyone would be curious to know whether it is indeed the dawn of a new beginning.

As mentioned earlier, it is an anthology of five stories whereby the characters in most of the segments are holed up at home due to the lockdown. None of the five directors needs introduction as they have all done impressive work in the past & has done more of the same here as well. 

The first segment 'Ilamai Idho Idho' was about love between two senior citizens, Rajeev (Jayaram/ Kalidas) & Lakshmi (Urvashi/Kalyani). This was helmed by Sudha Kongara while it was penned by Francis Thomas & Shruti Ramachandran. Both Jayaram & Urvashi was impressive as ever & the idea to have Kalidas & Kalyani (who did have a good chemistry) showcase as to how they felt young at heart despite their actual ages was good. However, I really wished there was more of the seniors on screen. 

This was followed by 'Avarum Naanum-Avalum Nannum' where a grandfather, a retired scientist (M S Bhaskar) & granddaughter, an IT professional Kanna (Ritu Verma) try to iron out their strained relationship. With all due respect to Gautham Menon, I was pleasantly surprised to see him in this avatar as we usually relate him with romance. But he has treated this subject penned by Reshma Ghatala in a matured & subtle manner and his eye for nuances of the characters was fantastic. MS Bhaskar was brilliant as we make us empathize with his feelings & he was given credible support by Ritu as well. 

The third segment, 'Coffee, Anyone?' is about three daughters with varying problems of their own meeting up with their comatose mother. Directed by Suhasini, this felt like a family reunion as almost all the artists were related to each other in real life. She has addressed quite a few topics in her section be it familial discord, late pregnancy, dyslexia etc. Though it was relatable & taken aptly, I felt there was something about the performances (especially Suhasini) which didnt seem as authentic.

'Reunion' is about two school friends, Sadhana (Andrea Jeremiah) & Vikram (Gurucharan) who accidentally meet & catch up on the old times. This was the segment that I wasnt impressed at all as Rajiv Menon's creation just failed to make any sense. He wanted to convey that music can be a healer which as such seemed fine, but did not gel as much with the story that was put together.  The choice of artists were really good be it Gurucharan, Andrea & Leela Samson, as it felt they were tailor made for the characters and they have done reasonably well. 

The final part 'Miracle' has two thieves, Devan (Bobby Simha) & Michael (K Muthukumar) who is looking for a huge payday. Karthik Subbaraj made sure that we had a good laugh before the movie ended as I thoroughly enjoyed this comic caper. Both Bobby & Muthu has done a fine job & kudos to Karthik for a segment that had a story & kept us entertained. 

Verdict: The anthology definitely had a couple of ups & downs, but on the whole I felt that it was a reasonable effort that does manage to keep us engaged. There is another Tamil anthology also in the making "Paava Kadhaigal" that also has an amazing array of directors & would be releasing in the near future on Netflix. As for this flick, some of the segments might not be to your liking but it is still worth a try!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Halal Love Story review: "Simplistic storyline dampens an interesting theme!!!"

Even as COVID numbers still hovered around the 70k mark per day, the Centre released the guidelines for Unlock 5.0. One of the key points was the permission to reopen the theatres after close to 7 months from the 15th of October with 50% capacity. Whether that would allow the theatres to recover their operational costs & whether it would allay the fears of the general public to flock inside a confined space remains to be seen. However, we certainly had one last Thursday as Zakariya Mohammed's "Halal Love Story" was released on Amazon Prime. I certainly loved the trailer & looked forward to some fun moments after all his "Sudani from Nigeria" was impressive.

The movie unfolds with the news of the 9/11 attack on the WTC on TV & a talk about how the world was affected by the neo-imperialism of US. Within the first few minutes, the audience is introduced to the political & religious inclinations of the area. The Islamic cultural branch of the locality decides to make a crowdfunded telefilm that would abide by the rules of their faith & entrusts the task to Taufeeq (Sharafudeen) to come up with a suitable script. Once that gets approved by the committee, they start their search for a suitable cast & crew. So will they be able to craft a movie that would give them creative freedom but yet adhere to the sensibilities of their religious group???

Zakariya is an individual who needs no introduction after all his debut venture "Sudani from Nigeria" was loved by both the critics & the masses. In his latest release, he has come up with an interesting subject but fails to nail it effectively. It was way too simplistic with hardly any substantial events happening though the satire keeps us engaged with the situational humour & a reliable cast. On the technical side, pretty much everything was on the money be it Bijibal & Shahbaz Amin's music which was soothing to the ears or Ajay Menon's visuals. 

Quite a few reliable artists were lined up for the project among which Grace Antony was the one who took centre with a solid performance. Equally impressive was Joju George, who seems to get better with each movie. As for the rest, Indrajith & Sharafudeen did their parts aptly along Nazar Karutheni. There were a couple of cameos as well among which Soubin brings the roof down with a hilarious act while Parvathy was natural as ever.

Verdict: There is no doubt that the movie has failed to match expectations considering the quality of the cast & crew and most importantly a novel theme. Even then , it would certainly keep majority of us engaged as most are unlikely to fret about the time spent watching it. In short, do check it out if interested in a feel good flick!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Serious Men review: "Satirical take on the serious subject of class & caste!!!"

Almost 70 years has passed since we have adopted our Constitution which was drawn up by the visionary Dr.B.R Ambedkar. One of the key points mentioned in it is the need for equality & fraternity, and though we have progressed by leaps & bounds as a nation; discrimination based on social hierarchy still continues to be a significant bane. Ironically, both Andhra & Telangana where caste based killings are a routine affair, recently announced about their plan to build statues of Ambedkar. Will it make any change to the life of discriminated individuals? Of course not, after all it is merely vote bank politics. This is the subject that Sudhir Mishra has tackled in his satirical celluloid creation “Serious Men” that released on Netflix last weekend.

Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is the PA to Dr. Arvind Acharya (Nassar), one of the prominent astronomers in the nation who was working on ‘alien/space microbes’ & barely displayed an iota of respect to his subordinate. This attitude from his boss ate on Ayyan’s mind as he felt that it was primarily because he wasn’t as educated & also coz he was a Dalit. He believed that the only way that his son could rise up the social strata was to provide him with the best educational opportunities possible. With time, things started to pan out much better than Ayyan had anticipated as his son, Adi (Aakshath Das) was a genius & the cynosure of all eyes. But will Adi be able to cope up with the mounting media attention & the pressure from his father???

It’s been quite a while since I have watched Sudhir Mishra’s movies though most of us would have definitely watched Season 1 of the Hotstar web series “Hostages” which was damn impressive. Based on Manu Joseph’s novel, it is humorous, engaging & yet makes us think at the same time regarding the plight of those people discriminated on the basis of their caste. The extent to which Ayyan plans his moves so that his son is held in high regard by the society was interesting but the manner in which the story concluded was definitely not what I had expected. This does not imply that everything has to be rosy at the end but the message it conveyed surely send out the wrong signals when the whole perspective of the subject is concerned. All the technical aspects, be it Karel Antonin’s music or Alexander Sukala’s visuals were executed aptly.

As expected, Nawazuddin was fantastic as the protagonist who is aware about his situation but still had the belief and the shrewdness as to how he can take his family up the social ladder. Apart from him, both Aakshath & Indira Tiwari essayed their roles really well while Nassar & the rest of the cast did their parts aptly.

Verdict: Caste discrimination is a topic that has been discussed earlier but even then this flick manages to engage us due to the satirical manner in which it is presented. There are many sequences that make us laugh and think, though I felt that the climax was rather underwhelming. However, it is a movie that still deserves to be watched!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards…Ben