Article 15: A Relevant Film that Will Spark Conversation
BY SREEPARNA SENGUPTA STORY: A young IPS officer’s new posting in rural India has him confronting caste disparities and uncomfortable truths in the face of a gruesome crime. When three girls go missing in the fictional village of Lalgaon, two of them are found dead and there is no trace of the third one. Where […]
“Kabir Singh” Movie Review: In the Mood for Misogyny
BY SHUBHRA GUPTA Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Soham Majumdar, Arjan Bajwa, Kamini Kaushal, Suresh Oberoi Director: Sandeep Vanga Reddy Rating: One and a half stars To watch a character like Kabir Singh do this thing for nearly three hours plonks the viewer squarely in a place of conflict. Here’s a fellow who thinks that […]
Multi-talented Actor, Artist Bud Patel has Many Projects Underway
By Dr. Sarita Mehta HOUSTON: Bud Patel, renowned film Producer of “A Curry on an American Plate” which is streaming on Amazon Prime, an official selection at the 2018 Hoboken International Film Festival and also in 2018 NIFF International Film Festival in Houston, is coming with live stage show an epic Hindi drama based on […]
‘Kalank’: Visually Stunning, Great Performances
BY RACHIT GUPTA Story: A complex love story set during India’s Partition era, where the young Roop (Alia Bhatt) is torn between respect for husband Dev (Aditya Roy Kapur) and her newfound love for Zafar (Varun Dhawan). While their back stories and heart-breaking love saga unfolds, the history of India takes an epic turn, from […]
Super Deluxe: Gutsy, Strikingly Different and Devoid of Cliches
Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil, Samantha, Ramya Krishnan, Mysskin Director: Thiagarajan Kumararaja Rating: 4 stars I can’t say enough about how glad I am to have caught Super Deluxe because I missed Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s award-winning film when it was in cinemas. Aaranya Kaandam was a cult classic. But why was it not celebrated then? It’s […]
‘Hotel Mumbai’ Re-creates Terrorist Attack with Echoes of Today
The most chilling thing about the events depicted in “Hotel Mumbai” is not that they actually happened, not even that they could happen again, but that they are happening even as we speak. A somber, unsettling drama about the 2008 attack on India’s largest city by jihadi terrorists from Pakistan cuts so close to the […]
Kesari: Inspiring Story of Human Valor Shown with Technical Brilliance
Story: A retelling of the Battle of Saragarhi where 21 Sikh soldiers fought against an Afghan army of 10000 men in the year 1897. Review: The Battle of Saragarhi is considered to be one of the most inspiring stories of human valour and bravery, not just in India, but the world over. Director Anurag Singh’s […]
‘Badla’: Solid Thrills and Genuine Twists in True Revenge Story
Story: Naina (Taapsee Pannu) is accused for the murder of Arjun (Tony Luke). Her lawyer Jimmy (Manav Kaul) hires the senior advocate Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) to help crack the case and defend Naina, but her confessions to Badal add twists and turns to the murder mystery. Review: Since revenge stories are literally done-to-death in […]
‘To Let’ Movie Review: Authentic Bittersweet Family Drama of Mundane Survival
Cast: Santhosh Sreeram, Sheela Rajkumar, Dharun Bala Director: Chezhiyan Rating: 4 stars Mildly-lit rooms. Crayon scribbles on the walls. A nightie-clad woman tuning into a radio station. A lungi-clad man trying to unclog the toilet. We get a glimpse into the lives of an aspiring filmmaker Ilango (Santhosh Sreeram), his wife Amudha (Sheela) and their […]
‘Total Dhamaal’: Comic Misadventure Due to Poor Writing
Story: Total Dhamaal is the third instalment in the Dhamaal franchise. A hidden booty of 50 crore leads to a mad chase amongst a bunch of greedy and eccentric characters. In them, are a bickering couple on the verge of a divorce, greedy siblings, local goons, a police commissioner and the mastermind of the loot. […]
Ranveer Singh: Born to Play Gully Boy
Story: Murad (Ranveer Singh) must fight off his poverty and social disadvantage to realise his dream of being a rapper. His friends and family rally together to help an ordinary boy in becoming an extraordinary rapper. Review: There’s a line in the film where the character MC Sher (Siddhant Chaturvedi) says, “Agar duniya mein sab […]
Manikarnika: Kangana Ranaut Owns the Period Drama
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Jisshu Sengupta, Atul Kulkarni, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Ankita Lokhande, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Danny Denzongpa, Richard Keep Directors: Kangana Ranaut, Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi Rating: Two and a half stars Kangana Ranaut in and as Manikarnika, the Queen of Jhansi, delivers exactly what was promised: a high-decibel, high-on-rhetoric hagiography of a queen who fought for […]
Loveyatri movie review: The Aayush Sharma film is smothered in silliness
Loveyatri movie cast: Aayush Sharma, Warina Hussain, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor Loveyatri movie director: Abhiraj Minawala Loveyatri movie casting: One star ‘Susu? That’s a cool name.’ A character addresses the leading man thus in Loveyatri. No, it’s not. It’s a word which makes people, even those who’ve got past kindergarten level humour, snigger. Click here to read more… Credit: indianexpress.com
Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi movie review: The writing in this Sonakshi Sinha film is determinedly juvenile
By Shubhra Gupta Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diany Penty, Denzil Smith, Jason Tham, Aparshakti Khurana Director: Mudassar Aziz Rating: One and a half stars A winsome Punjabi ‘kudi’ on the run, with a rag-tag bunch chasing her: this was the premise of Happy Bhag Jayegi, which was some amount of fun. Part two […]
Satyameva Jayate movie review: The John Abraham film revives forgotten horrors of 80s B-grade cinema
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, John Abraham, Aisha Sharma, Amruta Khanvilkar Director: Milap Milan Zaveri Movie rating: One and a half stars A hooded vigilante is roaming about in Mumbai, setting fire to corrupt cops, easily evading capture, and notching up the gruesome numbers: you close your eyes, and another one goes up in flames. The film takes its objective very seriously […]
Gold review: This Akshay Kumar film is an emotion-laden drama
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Amit Sadh, Vineet Kumar Singh, Sunny Kaushal, Kunal Kapoor, Mouni Roy Director: Reema Kagti Gold movie ratings: Two and a half stars Given Bollywood’s feeble record at making films based on real events, it is no surprise that Gold is more fiction than fact. Fact: India, the newly freed nation from ‘do sau saal ki ghulami’, […]
SAHEB, BIWI AUR GANGSTER 3 MOVIE REVIEW
By Ronak Kotecha Synopsis: With a screenplay that surprises and performances to match, the movie successfully takes the legacy forward with minor bumps on the way. Critic’s Rating: 3.5/5 Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 is royally unpredictable Story: It’s the third edition of Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster series where it’s survival of the wittiest and the wealthiest. Will the […]
Dhadak movie review: There is no ‘dhak dhak’ in this Janhvi Kapoor starrer
Dhadak movie cast: Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Kharaj Mukherjee, Aditya Kumar Dhadak movie director: Shashank Khaitan Dhadak movie rating: One and a half stars Remaking Sairat was always going to be a tough ask for mainstream Bollywood. The edges of that searing 2016 tale of love-in-the-time-of-caste were necessarily going to have to be blunted and softened, […]
Race 3 movie review: The Salman Khan starrer is scattershot snoozefest
Race 3 movie cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah, Saqib Saleem, Freddy Daruwala Race 3 movie director: Remo D’Souza Race 3 movie rating: One and a half stars At some point well down the road in Race 3, as I slumped low in my chair, passing the time, a character said, ‘I’ve got a […]
