Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota is a fanboy’s ode to the movies. Writer and director Vasan Bala goes back to his childhood and summons up the films he grew up loving - from Hong Kong martial arts movies to Manmohan Desai. And from this colourful, delightfully nutty source material, Vasan conjures up an action-comedy, which looks and feels like a comic book, about an unlikely superhero. Vasan’s rich imagination gives us a roster of memorably kooky characters. Mard ko Dard Nahin Hota is self-aware....
Mar 20, 2019•7 min
Photograph is a meditative movie on a relationship that I hesitate to call love. It took me back to Gulzar Saab’s beautiful lyrics in a song in the 1970 film Khamoshi. To savor the gossamer emotions of Photograph, you first have to buy into the scenario that a girl like Miloni would agree to participate in Rafi’s charade. It is hard to believe but if you can suspend disbelief, you will be rewarded. Photograph is Ritesh’s second film set in Mumbai and once again, the director captures the grimy b...
Mar 15, 2019•6 min
Captain Marvel is the 21st film in the Marvel universe but it’s the first female-led film in the MCU. Her alter ego, Carol Danvers, first appeared in 1968 and was a regular supporting character in the Captain Marvel series alongside a character named Mar-Vell. Carol further came into her own in 2012 when she evolved from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel.
Mar 08, 2019•6 min
Badla is an official adaptation of the 2016 Spanish movie 'The Invisible Guest'. The good thing is that director Sujoy Ghosh, who also adapted the screenplay, wastes no time in getting started. We are immediately thrust into the cat-and-mouse-game with the murder-accused Naina meeting her potential lawyer, Badal Gupta. He obviously wants nothing but the truth but Naina is an unreliable narrator. What keeps Badla going are the many turns of the screw. Nothing is what it seems. And the battle of t...
Mar 08, 2019•2 min
Sonchiriya begins with the sound of flies buzzing and then we get a close-up of the carcass they are hovering on. The close-up holds for much too long, but from the first frame, director Abhishek Chaubey establishes two things – that we are in a lawless land and that he isn’t interested in making the ride comfortable for us.
Mar 01, 2019•5 min
Luka Chuppi is a tiresome tale of a couple from Mathura, Guddu and Rashmi, who decide to experiment with a live-in relationship. They do this by pretending to be married. And all that can go wrong does.
Mar 01, 2019•5 min
Gully Boy is loosely based on the lives of real life rappers Naezy and DIVINE, who rose from slums to stardom. Hip hop, modern day protest music, which came out of the streets of New York, has inspired a flourishing music scene in Mumbai. But the beauty of Gully Boy is that even if you are entirely unfamiliar with this world, like I was, the film will still stir your soul.
Feb 14, 2019•8 min
The Wife has been adapted by Swedish director Björn Runge from Meg Wolitzer’s 2003 novel. The plot itself is a tad contrived and not always convincing but the performances power the film, giving it an emotional grip that doesn’t let up. Joan, played masterfully by Glenn Close, resembles a calm sea that has tectonic plates shifting and a tsunami brewing beneath the surface.
Feb 14, 2019•5 min
Mary Queen of Scots is a sumptuous tale of two cousins. Both are queens – one of England and one of Scotland. Elizabeth and Mary are kindred spirits but their relationship is strained by the power struggle between their two countries, between their two religions – Catholic and Protestant, and between the various ambassadors, emissaries and noblemen who flit in between their worlds.
Feb 01, 2019•6 min
Why Cheat India, the makers tell us, is a hybrid of fact and fiction. This blend – maybe we should call it faction – seems to have become Bollywood’s favourite genre. Think of Uri, Padman, Sanju, Raazi, Raid and so many others. These films want both – the authenticity and heft of fact with the dramatic possibilities of fiction. It’s tough to do and many directors topple. In Why Cheat India, Soumik Sen manages to stay standing for some time. Subtlety is not his strength but in his own, heavy-hand...
Jan 18, 2019•5 min
The Accidental Prime Minister is propaganda. Strategically, it’s a smart move. In election year, the film takes us into the corridors of power and doesn’t shy away from taking names. The Accidental Prime Minister, based on Baru’s book The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making And Unmaking of Manmohan Singh, gives us Baru’s version of events. He’s not a politician but he’s a Congress insider so the unmasking comes from within the party.
Jan 11, 2019•6 min
Uri: The Surgical Strike is an unabashed love letter to the Indian army. If you want nuance or insight into the hearts and minds of brave men and women who willingly put themselves in the line of fire, you won’t find it here. Writer-director Aditya Dhar positions soldiers as superheroes who might grieve but they never doubt or question their place in an increasingly complicated and polarized world.
Jan 11, 2019•6 min
Mary Poppins Returns doesn’t quite achieve lift-off. The sequel, which comes 54 years after the original film, is set in 1930s London. The backdrop is the Great Depression but here it is labeled the Great Slump – maybe the word depression is too depressing for Disney. It’s 25 years after the events of the original so the Banks children, Michael and Jane, who were the focus of the first film, have grown up.
Jan 04, 2019•5 min
The truth is that I’m still trying to understand Zero. The story begins in Meerut and somehow moves to Mars. It’s so bizarre and implausible and incoherent that I kept wondering if pages in the script went missing or too many scenes were slashed or if I’m just missing the point. Zero strains for sweep and scale. The visual language suggests a glamorous fairy tale. The VFX is convincing and I loved the Ajay-Atul ballad Mere Naam Tu. But the rest of this film left me stumped and eventually, sad....
Dec 21, 2018•6 min
Kedarnath is a film about the power of faith – faith in God, in love, in the goodness of human beings. The lead characters demanded commitment – physical and emotional – and both actors step up to the plate. Their romance reminded me of all those films in which rich girls fall hard for boys who are beneath their status. It’s old school and so is this film, which eventually becomes a hurdle. Kedarnath feels like it belongs to an earlier decade.
Dec 08, 2018•5 min
Creed II also firmly establishes Michael B. Jordan as a major movie star. He combines charisma with formidable acting chops. His body resembles granite but the narrative is about Adonis’ vulnerabilities and when Jordan cries, you feel his pain. Of course, Creed II is familiar ground. But it honours the genre and still has enough vitality to make us feel the thrill again.
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se, the third film in the franchise, is an ode to Ayurveda. Yes, you heard that right. Sunny Deol plays vaid Puran Singh who can cure any ailment with an ancient herbal concoction called the 'Vajra Kavach'. Among the three of them, the Deols have over 100 years of making movies. I think it's time to reinvent.
Dec 01, 2018•4 min
A girl in a village with a guitar – that one image captures the spirit and originality of this charming and audacious Assamese film. Village Rockstars has been directed, produced, written, shot and edited by Rima Das. The film went on to do a stellar run at international film festivals including Toronto and Mumbai. It is India’s official entry to the Oscars. I’m telling you this because the film’s journey is one of those impossible showbiz fairy tales. And this unlikely success comes from Rima’s...
Dec 01, 2018•4 min
Tumbbad is a mysterious and magical movie. The story spans generations and decades - we begin in 1918 and end a little after Independence. The overarching theme is greed but we also witness corruption and betrayal, decadence and death. And what is it? There is horror and fantasy. But the film also works as a grim morality tale. You know how marketing folks entice you with the promise – you’ve never seen anything like this before. Well, you’ve truly never seen anything like this before – at least...
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
Sui Dhaaga: Made In India is earnest, simplistic and not entirely convincing. Writer and director Sharat Katariya immerses us into a beautifully detailed world with flesh and blood characters but halfway through, he goes into Bollywood fairy tale mode. Some scenes made me teary and others made me tear my hair out in frustration.
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
Stree is a Trojan horse. Director Amar Kaushik and writers Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru create a horror-comedy, which turns out to be subversive commentary on the position and treatment of women in India. It’s clever and very funny. With laughs and scares, Stree delivers an important message.
Dec 01, 2018•6 min
Through the film, John Abraham inflicts various types of punishment on corrupt cops. His biceps do the emoting for him. His towering physicality is impressively showcased – there are even close-ups of his bulging muscles as he metes out justice. Which might be why Manoj decides to act for both of them – he grimaces and glowers and works hard to make this ludicrous material convincing. It’s impossible. Satyameva Jayate is the sort of film that bludgeons you and leaves you drained and entirely che...
Dec 01, 2018•6 min
Pataakha is based on a short story called Do Behnein by Charan Singh Pathik. Vishal, aided well by his actors and crew, creates a colorful, textured world. Sanya Malhotra and Radhika Madan, who makes her film debut, work ferociously hard to become Badki and Chhutki. Both are fine actors who nail the difficult dialect but this is also a physically demanding role – the sisters are constantly punching each other, rolling in mud or screaming. With blackened teeth and strong body language, they becom...
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
For more than two decades, J. P. Dutta has served as Hindi cinema’s lone poet of war. He finds a profound passion and pride in stories of men in combat. In Dutta’s worldview, the battleground is where real heroes are forged. It is the ultimate showcase for pride, patriotism and an overarching masculinity. With Paltan, Dutta completes his war trilogy, which started with Border in 1997 and was followed by the interminable LOC Kargil in 2003. Paltan is leaden and one-dimensional. Incidentally, the ...
Dec 01, 2018•6 min
Love, it is often said, is a many splendored thing. In Manmarziyaan, director Anurag Kashyap and writer and creative producer Kanika Dhillon offer us a deep-dive into this splendor. For years, I’ve exited Anurag’s films raging with frustration and wondering why he inevitably becomes indulgent. Manmarizyaan is no different. He’s so damn talented but he doesn’t know when to stop.
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
Loveyatri is a 1990s film being released in 2018\. Twenty years ago, Hindi cinema specialized in NRIs, Hindu festivals, Indian values, large families and strict fathers who would invariably let go of their daughter’s hand and say, "Ja beta, jee le apni zindagi." Loveyatri is all about Aayush. He gets the traditional Bollywood hero entry. And debutant director Abhiraj Minawala ensures that Aayush gets to do it all – dance, romance, shed a tear, face-off with the father and of course drop the shir...
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
Imprisonment is a recurring motif in Love Sonia – a film about sex trafficking. Women live and work in cage-like rooms. Films like this are a tightrope act. The material is inherently ugly. And the narrative needs to convey the horror and tragedy without making the viewer turn away. Thankfully Tabrez conceals as much has he reveals. He has spent more than a decade nurturing the project and working with NGOs. Which gives Love Sonia an authenticity – the brothel is a labyrinth of corridors, rooms ...
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
Pihu is Trapped meets Home Alone without the anguish or the humour. A toddler, Pihu, wakes up next to her inert mother. Her father is not at home. Pihu shoves and calls and cries but her mom won’t open her eyes. It is now up to the two-year-old to survive the horrors of a modern high-rise apartment.
Dec 01, 2018•4 min
Green Book is inspired by a true story. The title refers to a travel book for African-Americans – it advised them on places where they could stay and eat in the Southern States. The Green Book is an awful artefact of a not-so-distant past but the film barely touches upon it. The film plays like a feel-good, lightweight treatise on racism and healing, which also makes it a crowd-pleaser.
Dec 01, 2018•4 min
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a frantic movie – visually and narratively. So much happens to so many characters and the film is stuffed with so many marvels that by the end, I was both confused and exhausted. But I will admit that the sight of Hogwarts made me jump with delight. I love the Harry Potter universe and I wish I could recommend this film with greater enthusiasm. It’s competent but not enchanting enough.
Dec 01, 2018•6 min
