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Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue (2023)
Amazing story very poor execution.
Extremely poor execution. Confused direction with distracting camera work Poor lighting. Terrible vfx/cgi-cartoonish. Great talent like Kumud Mishra, Pawan Malhotra and Dibyendu Bhattacharya all appear caricatures of their true potential because of poor direction.
The timing of release was perfect with the tunnel incident at Uttrakhand just a week ago.
Jingoist as well vis-a-vis Railway men released recently.
Also as an afterthought, 'Rayban' was officially launched in India in 1992 - a goof.
Parineeta who??? The film could have well done without her and that one song.
Better screenplay and dialogues would have helped.
Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (2022)
Watch it in 3D with plenty of popcorn and cola... :)
Amazing effort from the Hindi Film Industry. Kudos to Ayan Mukherjee and team. The acting is good, the scale of the movie is enormous. The CGI, in parts, is stunning as is the background score and cinematography.
What's wrong with it then???
1- Mouni Roy's red eyes and black garb - too cliche.
2- People have stated in other reviews that the love story is too long or chemistry is bad. I believe it's not convincing enough. It's a few short meetings and she's off to Varanasi with a stranger.???? The characterization and attraction between the protagonists should have been more intense.
3- The final battle was silly and all over the place. One couldn't really fathom what's going on. There was a lot of disconnect. It seemed a rushed finish with poor editing in the finale. Amitabh's character was in and out of the battle- why? The little soldiers of the Ashram were not introduced properly and you end up wondering why the youngest member of the clan was killed? When they say Rani is kidnapped, I wondered to myself who on earth was Rani.
4- Dimple Kapadia had a much bigger role in Tenet. Why is she even there in the movie?
5- If love was the most important aspect or 'Astra' then that should have been depicted well.
6- Plenty of loose ends- hopefully some of them will get tied in the next part.
We should encourage such movies - finally Hindi movies are getting bold and taking some risks. Good job overall.
HIT: The First Case (2022)
Rajkumar's worst. Watch Delhi Crime 2 instead
What the hell was that? I still haven't finished watching it, so can't comment on the climax. The acting is sloppy, the direction is bad and editing is terrible. Some of the locales are nice- that and the fact that you are (supposedly) watching a crime thriller are the only haven you can bank on take you through the movie. I binged watched Delhi Crime 2, but 40 minutes of this was a tiring process. You feel physically exhausted watching this movie. Rajkumar Rao was better in Ludo than this :). Just because it's on OTT and it's about a crime doesn't it make it a 'hit' (pun intended). Please don't do to OTT what Bollywood did to the 'Hindi movie industry'.
Old (2021)
:) Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando sure weren't in this one.
So much potential....
Loved the concept and the trailer.
The direction was hurried, the acting was below par and the editing not up to the mark.
:) Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando sure weren't in this one. :)
Sardar Udham (2021)
Brilliant! Bollywood has finally come of age.
Soojit Sircar and Vicky Kaushal's best so far.
Incredible movie.
We all know what India's official entry to the Oscar's next should be. And it should win 'Best Movie'
A special mention for the Cinematography, Avik Mukhopadhyay is amazing as is the background score of Shantanu Moitra.
Keep up the great work. Making Indian cinema proud. Fabulous.
Awake (2021)
Lost opportunity. Terrible science...
The premise is wonderful. It's like a poor man's 'M. Night Shyamalan' movie.
It starts of well but really rushes through the opening scenes like the director was anxious to get to the main plot. The stage was not really set.
Bad Science: Sleep isn't a positive, it's the absence of activity that induces sleep. It isn't something that can be lost. That's why people can't sleep when they really want to.
The kid, Matilda, and the old lady who can sleep are normal. Why would you want to take their blood samples to see what's wrong. On the other hand they should experiment on the guys who can't sleep. They're the abnormal ones. The whole scene of the ape with his brain left open is laughable. He would die of meningitis in hours :) The director should have done more research before shooting the film.
Ether? Really? Who uses ether today? Not even in animal labs. They're drugging the child with Ether. There's Propofol. A little expensive but I'm sure Hollywood
can afford it :)
Who does CPR like that :) 3 CPR scenes shot badly.
Soldiers going berserk and shooting each other is believable. That's what they do, right? :)
It really could have been an amazing Apocalyptic movie with a lot more work.
Still, ok to watch once.
Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi (2019)
A true masterpiece by Seema Pahwa.
Truly great cinema. Is this a directorial debut? Unbelievable. I hope she makes many more movies to bring back true value to Bollywood.
A true satire on the human condition. And what a stellar star cast! The movie leaves one speechless. Loved the background score and editing. Brilliant!
The White Tiger (2021)
The movie tries hard to have a 'Heart' but really ends up losing its 'Soul'...
It's a strange movie. On the one hand it seems well made on the other it seems to be wrapping a façade over the modern India society which it attempts to actually expose.
What's good: 1-The direction and editing are pretty powerful.
2- The good belong to Adarsh Gourav entirely. He did for White Tiger what
Pritesh Gandhi did for Scam 92. Phenomenal acting. Rajkumar Rao was
average in comparison (which is rare)
What should have been better
1- Little nuances in the movie: i) A driver from the village speaking English with
perfect diction and accent. Did he need to know English to be a White Tiger? A
very forced aspect of the film. ii) A street light signal which is on at 2 am on a
street which is not at an intersection? In India? and a local driver stops for a
red light at 2 am ???? iii) Everyone speaks to the driver in English- Really? The Stork and the mongoose travelling in a 3rd class of the railways. Really? Even the average middle class Indian opts for a 3 tier A/C. Air travel is much cheaper nowadays. Little details like this would irk the average Indian because it goes to show that a Billionaire in India stepping into an ordinary looking train and you talk about the great divide. I guess the Indian railways is the great equalizer. :)
The climax was very predictable.
The Western audience will love it as will the NRI audience who know India only through Bollywood.
The movie tries hard to have a 'heart' but really ends up losing its soul. I haven't read the book so I can't comment on the adaptation.
Could certainly have been better.
Aashram (2020)
Average. Watch it if you have nothing else to do...
Where was Prakash Jha's direction? Why was the whole series so 'under whelming'? Acting was average and disconnected. some of the subplots were a waste of time. Bobby Deol was surprisingly good. No real saving grace.
The background score was jarring.
A blend of religion, sex and violence and anyone can make a web series or so it seems.
Gulabo Sitabo (2020)
Missed opportunity...
What a waste. Three brilliant people like Bachchan, Ayushman and Shoojit Sircar coming together to make a movie that's soooo boring. The first 10 minutes are interesting and you're waiting for the movie to take off, unfortunately it falls flat on it's face. Vijay Raaz and Brijendra Kala, two brilliant actors have also been wasted. It was a very anticipated film because of the brilliant ensemble but there's nothing more than good prosthesis, half-baked acting, poor story telling and a non-humorous story-telling. The background score is a desperate attempt to garner some laughs. 3 stars for the cast and directors. It actually deserves 1 out of 10. The editing is very average as well. Give this a miss and you won't regret it.
Zero (2018)
Bollywood proves NASA wrong - There is a multiverse and the twain shall never meet.
A mishmash of several movies: DDLJ meets the Martian + Stephan Hawking's the theory of Everything. and it falls flat on its face.
The only thing to watch was the special effects of Shahrukh's height, the first 10 minutes of the movie and (for a change) Katrina's acting.
It defies logic, its ridiculous and a waste of time and money.
SRKs Fan was much better.
I would prefer to watch movies of Rajkumar Rao and Ayushman Khurana. The Khan's is a lost genre...
2.0 (2018)
You can't make a story around VFX...
Pretty lame. I can see why some people are going gaga over the VFX but you just have to take a look at any one of the dozen hollywood movies coming out any year to see that 2.0 has a long way to go.
The best part of the movie was Akshay's acting and the birds.
The story was a dud. The screenplay was boring and the VFX was just average.
Why oh why spend 500 crore on this wasteful attempt?
The worst part is that they hint to a 3.0 !!!
Andhadhun (2018)
great buildup and then falls flat on its face at the climax
I went to watch this movie because of Sriram Raghavan only. After Badlapur, I thought this director cannot do any wrong.
The movie starts at a high note and keeps you guessing well into the second half of the film. It peaks and then falls flat on its face. The last quarter of the film was boring, uninspired and disconnected. The loose ends are cut short suddenly and then there's the 'big' anti-climax.
Most of the actors have done a great job including Tabu, Ayushman and Radhika.
The plot should have been a bit more convoluted and the ending a little more surprising.
I got off my seat wondering "That's it?" .
The piano music and background score are good. The songs and lyrics average. The direction and editing are above average.
What does not work is the climax.
Can we have a 'Director's cut' with a different ending please?
The Ashram (2018)
New Age stuff + The Osho movement = The Ashram
An attempt to make an exceptional film falls flat on its face. This isn't about spirituality but 'New Age' mumbo jumbo. And yes there's a lot of that going around the world and especially India.
The good stuff: 1. The movie starts well and begins to get lame and predictable as you go on. 2. The location was fabulous. There are ashrams in such places in India so that was believable but the mountain where the guruji stayed was terrible.
The problems: 1. The script was poorly written. The plot was strange and unexpected in a bad way. There was little characterization. 2.The acting: was quite average. Sam Keeley does a dumbed-down Keanu Reeves. Hera Hilmar was average and you just can't understand her existential crisis. At times it feels shes the one with the brain tumor. The guruji acted the part though strangely he doesn't appear in the cast list on IMDB- A miracle? go figure. 3. CGI effects could have been much better.
In summary a potential A-lister becomes a movie you can watch on a weekend when you have nothing else to do.
Mukti Bhawan (2016)
Simply Brilliant!
An amazing movie. So simple, yet so complex. It contrast life with death. There's reconciliation of relationships and coming to terms with the finality of life which is the jubilation of death. Brilliant. It speaks volumes without preaching or philosophizing.
Kudos to the team. Wonderful acting.
We need more of this from Bollywood.
Padmaavat (2018)
India's 'Troy' - A visual treat, but falls short on script.
It was a real visual treat. Kudos to Bhansali for his larger than life vision. Beautiful sets and cinematography. A real visual treat. Ranveer Singh steals the show and both Deepika and Shahid fade in comparison.
The movie reminded me of 'Troy', specially the premise of a 'face that launched a 1000 ships' and a war. But unlike Troy, bollywood has to make it about love and songs. The 'obsessive love' in Bhansali movies reminds me of teenage fascination, because I have never seen adults behave like this. Doesn't the definition of love change as one grows older?
The songs were ridiculous and should have been relegated to the background. it was quite amusing watching Khilji shaking a leg. :)
The first half of the movie drags as do many of the other scenes.
A shorter version with no songs would have hit the spot.
still not bad for a 'one time dekho'
Dear Zindagi (2016)
Cliché, Cliché, Cliché. Alia Bhat is the only saving grace.
Every cliché about a single working woman in a metro and every possible cliché about psychotherapy has been used in this movie. The 3 stars are for Alia Bhat alone.
Come on guys, 10 stars, really. You don't have to score high just because its not a run of the mill bollywood movie.
Shahrukh Khan as a shrink, come on. Where's your imagination Gauri.
There is such a deliberate attempt to make a good movie, it tries tooooo hard and therefore falls flat on its face. 1.Like the counselling shots of Shahrukh with a million books in the background. What??? 2. All psychotherapy dramas of young individuals always blaming the parents. 3. All patients fall in love with their shrinks.
And if all that wasn't enough, every loose end had to be tied up in the end. Why?? The movie should've ended with the song "love you zindagi", but it goes on to find her complete her dream project, make peace with all her beaus and even hint at a final beau. You can leave a little for the audiences imagination.
It was like watching 10 episodes of the sitcom 'Friends' rolled into one loooonnng movie. It just doesn't go anywhere.
Alia Bhat is brilliant though. Final verdict: One watch for Alia's acting.
Ra.One (2011)
A poor mix of terminator2 + Superman+ Spy kids
I'm glad the sci-fi genre has finally come to India. But can't we do better than this? How about a plot? characterization? The story is a poor adaptation of Terminator2 with a mix of superman (or any other superhero movie if you only look at the special effects, maybe Hancock)and spy kids. Special effects is not all thats required for a good sci-fi, look at movies like GATTACA or 13th floor- They are amazing examples of the sci-fi genre with minimal special effects. This ones really for kids. My daughter (9 years old) really liked it, but its completely avoidable. A waste of 3 hours. I give a generous 3 for effort.
Housefull (2010)
Poor copy of Heartbreak Kid
Hey! what does the director think of the Indian people. This movie is not just ridiculous,its a waste of money and time. Half the movie is a ripped Desi version of Heartbreak kid but not even half as humorous. The other half swings between slapstick comedy and senseless banter. The character who was most believable was Arjun Rampal- good job in a seriously bad movie. Boman Irani and Lillette Dubey have been underplayed (Director please explain???) Their little affair could have been made hilarious.
All in all a very average movie, not really a comedy - made me smile a couple of times in the entire movie. You come out of the multiplex with a feeling of a poor blend of funny scenes from a dozen movies put together in no particular sequence and a bit of a heavy head.
Sajid khan must learn direction from his much more talented sister Farah Khan :).