Reviews

An Odia movie just before 3 years meant the usual boy meets girl or vice versa, romance, songs, opposition from families, the boy is a goon, the girl opposes then marries another boy etc etc. Lots of melodrama, forced laughter, unnecessary songs and action sequences or even take off from another famous regional language movie. What these last 3 years has given the audience is a variety of out of the box thought provoking movies like Pushkara, Pratikshya, Daman and the recent Trikanya. And now Jajabara 2.0 arrived.

Being a tribute to yesteryear's Odia movie superstar Sriram Panda, the story is about a cab driver who happens to be a cold blooded contract killer and who is a die hard fan of Sriram Panda and his passenger who is seeking some redemption after killing his lover. This duo go on a night spree of drinking, smoking and sharing their sentiments. This much. Nothing drama. Pure thriller. This type of set-up with some fine BGM and the night shots of city is perfect for a bone chilling thriller movie in the likes of Tarantino, Korean movie or some Anurag Kashyap's hardcore Thriller/Drama. In fact Mr. Kashyap has himself praised the movie after watching it.

Talking about the acting, the two lead actors Devesh Ranjan (Jagat) & Prasanjit Mohapatra (Satya) have both given their career best performances. The direction of Abhishek Swain has some major plot holes. The background story of Satya isn't shown as is a brief narration of Jagat's story. The mainstream Odia movie audience may not like this movie as they are accustomed by the contemporary Odia movies or more to say the rip-offs & spin offs of some south Indian movies, which was evident by the empty seats in the PVR Utkal Kanika Galleria, BBSR. We were hardly only 15-20 audiences present there. Had it been the usual Odia movie, then the theatre would have been houseful for the entire 2 weeks. After the show the lead actor Devesh Ranjan discussed with us about the absence of contemporary Odia audiences.

But still the story, set-ups & the Director's daring attempt to foray into this genre and with such style is definitely welcomed by the more serious movie lovers and by people like me who were desperate to see some changes in Odia movie Industry. This movie is going to be a cult classic of its genre.

My Rating 6/10.

What's interesting about the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer other than he had conceived and created one of the world's deadliest weapon? NOTHING. Actually it's a tragedy. But how Christopher Nolan have executed that story for a 3 hour movie is spellbinding. It's like going into a trance and suddenly coming to your senses after 3 long hours. And believe me, you will be exhausted. I didn't watched this (or Barbie) in theatre as I don't want to support this in box office collection in oppose to 'MI:7', as I really wanted 'MI:7' to be a box office success, which it failed. Thanks to 'Barbenheimer'. But after the release of Blu-ray I watched this on my TV pausing and playing, rewinding, pausing and playing again to catch the essence and directing prowess of Mr. Christopher Nolan.

When we watch a Biopic, we have the overall knowledge of a person from all the basic sources. The Director and the scriptwriter uses some extra resources. But it's the vision of the former and narrative expertise of the later which makes the Biopic an interesting one. After that, the selection of the actors and all the other departments hard work and dedication produce an epic movie like it happened in this case.

It took me 4 &1/2 hours in a single sitting to finish this. And I came to the conclusion that this movie may be nominated in the Academy Awards in...Best:-Editing, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Effects and Mixing, Supporting Actor (Matt Damon/Robert Downey Jr.), Actor (Cillian Murphy), Director (Christopher Nolan) and Best Picture.

My Rating 9/10.

Katak is famous for many reasons but infamous for a single one. VIOLENCE. Violence related to gang wars being the most common. The Director Sudhanshu Mohan Sahoo in my POV haven't lived in Katak or hasn't done research about the gangsters or the communal violence which happens frequently in Katak.

In this movie it is shown that already a gangster named Tiger Bagderia has established his empire in Katak and Guru (Siddhanta Mahapatra) was a simple guy who accidentally enters into this web of crime. So far it was an average affair. But there is a time leap of at least 12-15 years, and now we are shown that Guru has made himself equally capable to be the new Don of Katak. How he achieved that only the Director and storywriter knows. And by a sudden snap he is now the King of Katak. In between this drama there is the formulaic romance (and of course songs), gangsters being held back (of what they do best) by their spouses or lovers, the cat-mouse game of cop and gangsters, the jealousness of who will be the right hand of the Don and finally the political scenario. It has all been done before, but to recreate the same story with one's own vision is what the Director and storywriter lacks.

Anyone who knows the culture of Katak is aware of the communal violence which always happens there. But in the movie a character shoots another gang member of the minority community and roam freely in the streets of Katak, which is really absurd. The character Abhi looks much older to the actress opposite him. Of all the characters, apart from Siddhant & Anu Choudhury (who, though are matured and experienced actors, didn't get much scope here to show their talent) it's the character 'Chhotu' played by Prasanjeet Mohapatra who really shines. Sadly the scriptwriter showed little interest in developing this character and focused mainly on Abhi & Lagna.

It seems a second part is inevitable. I was there in the cinema hall with this movie's lead characters. After the movie many congratulated them. I just wanted to say "If they are thinking to make a sequel, make it from their own research, what happens in Katak and if possible for God sake NO ROMANCE IN THE SEQUEL and more realistic violence."

My Rating 3/10.

This is my first foray into Odia Web-series. Normally I don't watch Web-Series as they don't go into count in my total no of watched movies. But some persons who knew my ability of keen observation recommended this to me and suggested to give a review here. So, I'm writing this after binge watching the entire Season 1 of 'Gangs Of Puri'.

I can say confidently that 'GoP' is one of the best Odia Web-Series of its kind out there. The credit of the success goes to 9 departments which I'm referring here as 'Nine Jewels/Navaratnas' of Odia entertainment industry. Let's discuss that in detail here.

1- The Research Team- The overall credit goes to the research team. As this is a 90's era set-up they've researched about the costumes, the movies released on that period, the Cricket matches and the mentality of peoples of that time, the popular songs, the car, scooter & the bike models, the popular video game (bricks), the T. V serials Etc. Heck, they've also researched about the cold drinks & Beers of those time. Characters are seen drinking 'Gold Spot' and 'Godfather' Beer. And we all know why 'Delanga' is Infamous for... 2- The Set/Art Department- You'll travel to the 90's era from the first episode itself. Nowhere in the frame you can find a clue about the contemporary world. The credit goes to Sudhansu Bhusan Mohanty and all the art department. The Film posters on the walls, the automobile registration nos, the automobiles itself, the furniture's, the roads, the old TV models...everything is carefully set according to that period. The one scene which they have carefully and intelligently masked is the 'Rath Yatra' scene, where they've shown the Live telecast of that on TV rather than not shot it, as it would've created an impossible task for VFX team to mask the entire crowd of today's time.

3- The Linguistic Team- Well, the peoples of Odisha are well aware of the dialect from different zones of the state. Here, the linguistic department has exactly written the script according to the characters and to the region they belong to. You can easily distinguish that from the characters played by the Bengali businessman, Tirupati, SP. The meeting between the characters Tirupati and MLA in Ep 6 and how they greet each other as 'Jai Jagannath' and 'Jai Maa Tara Tarini' is superb. Lastly, the slangs...Oho...the heavily use of 'P**** P**' is well researched as Puri natives use that word as frequently as slangs as we know what Ganjam natives use... 4- Cinematography- Mr. Deepak Kumar and the camera team has captured some of the exceptional shots in the lens. Be it the sunsets at Puri Sea beach, the aerial shots, the close-ups Etc. The narrow Puri lanes, the vintage colour grading treatment given to the shots are superb.

5- Costume Department- The costume designing by Barsha Patnaik who also happens to be the Executive producer and Production Designer of this Web-series is well researched and simply top-notch.

6- BGM & Sound Editing- The BGM by Ashish Pradhan and sound Editing and mixing Dept has done a great job by capturing the surrounding sounds of birds and cricket chirping the bomb blast Etc. But it's the BGM which really elevates the tense, thrill and vibe in this series.

7- Cast- The main characters played by Aman(Shiva), Krishna Kar(Babu Jena), Hara Rath(Nilu) and Rabi Narayan Mishra(Loka) were all great but the best credit goes to Choudhury Jayprakash Das(MLA) and Bhakti Ranjan Das(Geda Bablu). These two have really done a stand-out acting in their respective roles as a crooked MLA and a ridiculous gangster who is eager to rise to fame.

8- Director Duo- The directors Anupam Patnaik & Jagdish Mishra really have brought the very best from each actors and from the storyline. I don't normally watch the contemporary Odia movies (with very few exceptions) as they are heavily plagiarised and the direction are laughable. But here it's the original idea, though in some areas it could've been improved.

9- Production Team- And lastly kudos to 'Kanccha Lannka' for giving us one of the Best Gangster Web-Series.

What Could've been improved- i)- As this is a gangster story, the violence should be more and there should be more brutal action scenes. Ii) The one deficiency which was lacking was dealt very successfully in the last episode before the opening credits. Guessing? It's the S** scene between Shiva and another character. The directors have shown their prowess there also, as can be seen from a frustrated lover. Reminded me of a scene from 'The Sacred Games' of Nawazuddin Siddiqui'. The scenes between Nilu and his mistress could've been more steamier. Iii) The hair style remains same of the characters from start to finish. This could've been changed a little. Iv) As another reviewer has pointed out, the screen time of female characters could've been improved.

I hope the second season will be more violent and excels the first. All the Best to the team.

My Rating 8/10.

Okay the wait is finally over.Got a chance to see this highly awaited movie of the year. What did I get? A patch of X-men, A name (KAAL) from "Man of steel", VFX similar to Avengers, X-men, Man of steel, Terminator series, All this blended with Songs and Dance numbers, comedy etc etc essential ingredients for a typical Indian Movie. Talent wasted, hair line plot, brand and merchandise promotion, OMG what was Rakesh Roshan thinking when he remarked that this movie will earn " Rs 1000 crore" business in BO? Well the only remarkable thing this movie showed to whole world is that India can now produce Movies like Hollywood. That's it...

Let's see If "DHOOM-3" can make a real DHOOMMMMMM....

............. And what did I get??? After seeing his "Andaz apna apna", "Ghayal", "Ghatak", "Damini", "Barsaat", "The legend of Bhagat Singh", "Khakee", "Ajab prem ki ghazab kahani" what should one expect from him? Definitely not this kind of movie. Of the 13 movies which he has directed only 2 are romantic comedies and "Andaz apna apna" was one of them, which was superb. So when I heard of "Phata poster..." I thought this must be an Action comedy, which it was but not to the standard of Mr Santoshi's. Yes, if one wants to ignore the Unnatural fight scenes (which have become a tradition now in every movie, thanks to our south cinemas)then he/she may enjoy it. But what about the direction? I've seen some over the top comedy (all nonsense no brains) movies from Mr David Dhawan. And he is a perfectionist in those type of movies. But Mr Santoshi is a Director of the serious cinema. If he wanted to do a comedy then why these fantastic unnatural action scenes? If this movie has followed two of the great movies in Indian history (Munna bhai M.B.B.S & Don) then neither of those two have these type of ludicrous scenes. So Mr Santoshi make some serious movies like Ghayal or Damini, or action comedy which have some genuine action scenes. We are waiting eagerly when such types of movies will return to screen.

About the acting- Shahid kapoor is a completely waste in this (After he showed his talent in "Jab we met")So is Tinnu Anand and Padmini Kolhapuri. Ileana should change her acting style otherwise she will be forgotten(like Antara Mali,Neha Dhupia, Rimi sen, Esha Deol etc etc).Over all this movie is intended only for those who wants to do some time pass or for guys who take their Girlfriends and do chitting-chatting inside the cinema halls (B'coz I found the hall to be completely empty) save for some like me.

"JAAGO DARSHAK JAAGO"

I normally don't go to cinema halls to watch Hindi movies because leaving the very few ones I think they are heavily plagiarized either from other regional languages or from movies all over the world. Well, today me and my friend went to see "kai po che" because Chetan Bhagat is one of my favorite author and this movie is adapted from his novel. But we didn't get a ticket so we went to see "ZILA GHAZIABAD". After watching 5 mins of the movie I realized why Indian movies don't get nominated for Oscars. This movie has a cast which any director may dream of.. I mean Vivek Oberoi, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Asutosh Rana,etc etc.. either the Director is a new one and has simply followed the styles of other movies or the actors are desperately in need for some money. It lacked acting, direction, editing everything.

What hurts me is that the audiences was cheering the Ludicrously odd action scenes which can only be possible if the hero is "Superman". Same cliché, songs, dance, dialogues. Sitting there I can tell what will come next after a particular scene!!!

So when will Indian movies be ready for Oscars? Movies like Barfi (I haven't seen it yet) failed to even nominated for Oscars. So what is the meaning if we produce more than 1000 movies each year and not even a single movie get nominated for Oscars!!.

When will this change? It's the Indian audiences who can change this thing. If they are not ready to change their thoughts, ideas or perspectives, India don't stand any chance at Oscars.

My rating 2/10.