Reviews

Boy and girl meet. Like. Misunderstanding. Separate. Dislike., Really dislike. Pretend to like. Like. Really like. Misunderstanding. Really Dislike. Really like. Get together.

That is the plot of every rom com ever. And it's the plot of this one. The actors look good. The scenery is beautiful. There are some lines that can pass of as jokes. There are some digs at the new generation and the way they think. Everyone's impossibly rich and doesn't do much to get that way. But yeah. You are on a plane and this is a movie on the list. Watchable. You are stuck on the couch due to a fever and this is on Netflix. Go for it.

A free and useless advert for a college that gives you a 'MBA' that opens doors and changes lives. Except it isn't one of the IIMs but an unknown IIPM like place handing out worthless degrees for cash. That was grating in and of itself.

However - the characters. Ugh.

Monu is probably the most irritating character ever in a web series. Or any series. He mistreats his sane and smart girlfriend, insults her and even threatens violence (we know threats turn into action after marriage) but she hangs on to him. She is clear in what she wants, smart and yet she wants a loser like this guy? And of course I don't know how people like Nikhil Vijay. He's the champion of overacting. He is always dialed up to the 20 and looks like he's acting in a street play than a show. And this is true across all his work.

And yes - apparently all women in this show have serious self esteem issues. The other lead just falls for this group of raggedy strangers - including the male lead who goes around bashing people. In real life they would barely talk to one another.

And yes. We all know of so many situations when people bond together to give 20 lakhs to a guy they met a month ago. And people yell when a woman turns into a fly saying that's not believable.

TVF has gotten into a self congratulatory loop. They need to step out or they will turn into Balaji telefilms with it's regressive characters and unbelievable situations.

First the pros. Great visuals. Actress playing thea did a good job.

Cons.

What a piece of garbage for a story. And I speak as part of an inter culture marriage. Being of Indian heritage married to a middle eastern woman. This is not how you behave when cultures mix.

Jashan is obnoxious, rude and in some cases downright stupid. You are meeting her family for the first time. You meet them on their terms and not yours. You don't criticize their traditions from the get go. Especially as the family is navigating the loss of the patriarch. You don't take over someone's kitchen - someone you just met - and cook whatever you want.

Note here that Jashan is the guy who has moved away from him home and is living in a foreign land. He is already adjusting to the traditions and ways of another country (in the USA). He has more global exposure. Thea's mom has probably never left her village in her life. And we expect her to be the one to accommodate this culture mix?

And while Thea has some flaws - she does defend him. All she's trying is to not upset her mom during a sensitive time. And Jashan, as her partner, should be able to help her do that.

Kanan gill also sounds like he's doing a standup routine while delivering his dialogue.

Watch for the visuals of Norway. Maybe on mute.

What a load of tripe. I know these thrillers don't have to make complete sense but to make no sense at all? Who. Why. What? People strutting around and saying spy ish stuff. The Indian actor of course had to turn the way she did.

The pros are some of the locations which are nice to visit virtually - especially if you've been there in real life. Gal Gadot does have the panache to pull off a role like this. Not much required from an acting standpoint. Just have some action skills and an exotic accent.

Boring, stereotypical and quite the drag. I would give it a miss. Unless of course you have really nothing else to do.

Ridiculous plot. Sunny can't act (tries to be a Rajkumar Yadav copycat with his befuddled expression). Yami Gautam has the SAME expression for anger, surprise, bewilderment, sadness. And the plot - I mean - who came up with this inanity? This is the kind of plot that 8-10 year olds would come up with for their make believe play on a slow afternoon. Cliched characters - the RAW chief with the southie accent, that one scene with the RAW guys on screen split in 3 - the guy in the middle was clearly out of place. The hunky RAW guy does his best to appear smart, know it all but mostly comes across as an idiot. And of course a hundred different things had to go right for the plot to succeed - and they all do.

Don't waste your time.

It is amazing to see what passes for a 'movie' in Bollywood now. Take a somewhat bankable star (Ayushmann, Rajkumar Rao) throw in some other good looking people, have someone die, add a few songs on the Hero's predicament, a caricature of a villain and you have a movie (Action Hero, Monica O my darling). What's missing is a story. The why. The logic. Yes - this is a movie - but when characters make clearly illogical decisions just to move the plot forward - it just points to lazy writing.

This movie is a total mess. Characters pop out of the woodwork- do their bit and are never seen again. One trope after another (hoodlum local politician and his brother - Mirzapur anyone? Corrupt/hapless drunk cop, fixer agent, all knowing hero, the 'midia'). This progresses like one of those 80s video games where sword bearing gangsters would pop out just so the main character could fight them. And then defeat the boss. And go home.

Save some time and skip this garbage.

Loved season 1. Season 2 was well matched. Light and breezy till about the last 20 minutes. Leaving it where they did, a season 3 should be on the cards.

I'll rate it as a 7 for the performances. Especially Surya Kasibhatla who as a debutant holds his own against two seasoned actors. His chemistry with all the other cast members is fantastic and it is clear this kid will go far!

The plot is a bit far fetched. Really - which city in India is THAT empty - even at 3 AM? And of all the places the cops had to pee and accept bribes they chose that one spot? The hospital is totally empty when Vidya Balan walks out after meeting Alia. It works to heighten the sense of loneliness her character feels but gives an implausible feel to the plot.

Finally the character of Rohini. The actor could really have used some accent training. Her accent sounds so fake, its almost like mockery. Really - starting your sentence with 'Ungle' (Uncle) does not a Malayali accent make. I don't even know why they needed to make her character Malayali. She could have very well been Rohini Mhatre and the story would have not taken a hit in any way (and we would be spared the fake accent maybe) Overall - watch for the performances of Shefali Shah, Vidya Balan, Surya K and Rohini Hattangadi.