Reviews

On the occasion of Buddha Purnima , if anyone wants to watch a well-made feature film then the multi lingual-Tathagatha Buddha: The Life & Times of Gautama Buddha is the ideal one. Though the tale of Gautam Buddha has been shown in serials, animation films and films, yet I will say that this 2007 mega budget film really impresses in capturing the life and times of one of the most respected human being the world has ever seen.

The cast includes Hindi film, Telegu and popular tv artists and all do justice to their parts. Special mention for Sunil Sharma as Gautam Buddha, Surendra Pal as Suddhodana , Suman as Bindusara and Punit Issar as Angulimal . The sets, directions, and setting is apt. The film is available on YouTube.

The 1970s saw a lot of political changes in the world and it reflected in novels, films and other forms of media. Frederick Forsyth wrote a best seller thriller novel The Day Of Jackal taking inspiration from the real life France situation at that time and blended fiction so well that it remains a cult novel till date. In 1973 Fred Zinnemann directed a classic British-France production film based on the novel. The movie starts with the real life assassination attempt on French president Charles De Gaulle by extremists due to their anger on Algerian independence. The president escapes it narrowly an d guilty are punished. Now starts the fiction part of an extremist organization hiring an international killer "Jackal" to complete the task. The killer JACKAL is a cold blooded murderer who handles hi-profile international murders and is very meticulously planned. A cat and mouse chase starts between French Action service and the Jackal and spreads across England, Italy and of course France. The film remains a fav of all assassination genre films till date. Though it is not a hardcore Hollywood style action thriller, this British-French film takes time to grow and is very much into details. The treatment of course does justice to the real socio-political situation of the time and also remains true to novel with minor changes. The term "jackal" was further used in real on international killer Carlos, and this adds to vintage vale of the film. Of the cast, Edward Fox as the villain Jackal stands tall-literally. The film is shot very well in Europe and captures Paris like never before. The impact of this film was all over cinema including Indian cinema. Almost all Indian films with an assassination plot including Mani Rathnam's Dil se, Manoj Kumar's disaster Clerk and even Mahesh Bhatt's action film- Lahu Ke Do Rang had clear inspiration of the film. The film is not that easily available online and I got to see through a collection but will definitely recommend it to political and thriller film fans!!

As the latest Planet of Apes saga- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes- is all set to release I went ahead in retro time to watch the original sci-fi classic -Planet of Apes-1968 (online on DailyMotion), which started all this cinematic luv of apes vs man! The first installment of the original series is based on the French novel- La Planète des singes French author Pierre Boulle. The writers and makers of the film made substantial changes from the original novel to give it a more Hollywood touch and the result is absolute magic on screen!

The movie is about a group of astronauts led by Taylor (Charlton Heston), whose spacecraft crashes and they land in a remote and in totally different time zones. As they move around the area, they realise that this is a totally different planet where humans are looked down as animals and apes are the real rulers. The ape society is self-competent and divided in classes amongst the Orangutans, Gorillas and chimpanzees. This result in a man-ape conflict and a lot of events leading to a brilliant climax!

Over the decades this film has become one of the most popular science fiction film ever leading to several sequels, remake, tv series and finally reboot series. The film directed by Franklin Schaffner and written by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, is what an ideal mind bending yet entertaining science fiction should be. It combines the fundamentals of time travel, life on different planets, evolution and yet has emotional impact. Charlton Heston, who has been part of so many cult films again proves his mettle as a fine actor here. The remaining cast also does justice. The dialogues, situations are thought invoking and really impactful even 56 years after its release. The film has excellent production values, the locales of North Arizona are captured so well that you are really transported in different era and planet. The prosthetics make-up of actors playing apes is so great that it won honorary Oscar award for the same. There is lesser physical action in the film as compared to the reboot series, but whatever action is there is first rate. All in all, a brilliant(and for many arguably the best one) sci-fi part 1 of one of the most popular Hollywood movie franchise ever!!

Let's go back in time to app 29 years ago-1994 July precisely!

While in school days the soccer world cup 1994 was reaching it's final and like most viewers we too were glued on tv sets catching football mania. While watching TV I was surprised to see Doordarshan showing a movie starring my school time idol Sylvester Stallone and which was based on football. I was surprised to see few scenes of this ESCAPE TO VICTORY,as till then I had never heard about it.

Finally watched it now as it was available online on Dailymotion.

The film is a prisoner of war cum sports drama and loosely inspired by a true story of "Death Match". The film is set in POW camps and then things move in a manner that a challenge football match happens between the Allied team vs Germans. Adding to the drama is the attempt by prisoners to ESCAPE from prison.

The film is very well shot in Hungary and tries to do justice to both WW2 era as well as soccer. There are few hiccups as proceedings become slow after the great build up,but the film picks up pace again in the last 45 minutes. In Bollywood one can see it's inspiration in Lagaan,and recent sports drama Maidaan as well.

This 1981 film has Michael Caine in great form. The film also stars many real life soccer legends and the iconic Black Pearl-Pele is a treat to watch. The film in 1980s means peak of Stallone and he looks so young and smart in it. He carries the role with so much comfort that it becomes effortless. Though his action film fans will miss the fights he did on screen,yet Sylvester charms you throughout the film. Overall an enjoyable sports drama cum war film from Hollywood!!

In the 1980s, several Big-budget Hollywood action films had an Indian connection. Though Octopussy and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom are well known, few people will know about the big-budget adventure wartime movie THE SEA WOLVES-1980. The grand movie, directed by Andrew V McLaglen and produced by Euan Lloyd was the second big multi-starrer by them after the big actioner THE WILD GEESE and has many common cast and crew.

The film is based on a rather unknown/ forgotten chapter during World War 2 set in India-Operation Creek by Calcutta Light House. The basic plot involves a German ship in the Portuguese colony Goa, which gives information about Allied ships to U-Boat. To find the ship and destroy it we have a great team led by Gregory Pack, and Roger Moore and support from David Niven and his semi-retired men from the Calcutta Lighthouse unit.

Though the film is set in India, surprisingly most Indians might not be aware of this big event. The film is shot very well in India and captures Goa, Cochin, Delhi and Calcutta aptly. The production values are great and the film has small roles by Indian actors like Marc Zuber, Keith Stevenson and Mohan Agashe. Roger Moore at the peak of his James Bond mania again fits a non-Bond role here just as he did in Andrew's previous The Wild Geese. It was his first big film shot in India followed by the more popular Octopussy and he manages the charm, and humour of his Bond image here as well. David Niven is also first-rate. The film though set in the war era has less of action if we compare it with The Wild Geese. In fact the first half is a slow burner and takes time to set in and the real action explodes in the last 40 minutes.

For me though apart from the interesting real-life event, and India connection the film is immensely watchable for the legend Gregory Peck. The charming actor just nails every scene with his tall personality, amazing voice and great screen presence. Inspite of the more popular Roger Moore at that era, Peck really owns the screen. No wonder that Indian legend Dev Anand also was in awe of him and used his style in several films.

If one loves wartime sagas, Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and big Hollywood films with India connection, you will like this. It was available on YouTube but not present on any OTT.

Some stories need to be told, some stories need to be watched and some characters need to be remembered.

Maidaan is such a story which celebrates the golden age of Indian football and remembers the life of the great Indian football team coach Syed Abdul Rahim.

Amit Ravindernath Sharma's sports drama works both as a sports film as well as a biopic of the forgotten hero of Indian football-Rahim Saab.

This is a tale which most of us were kind of unaware of and I am glad that someone brought up this story on the big screen.

The film stands strong on the brave shoulders of Ajay Devgan, who again shows his class in such intense roles.

Though he looks very different from the real Rahim Saab and doesn't get the right Hyderabadi lingo, yet Devgan gels so well in the character that the physical difference hardly matters.

Gajraj Rao as the negative sports journalist again gets a plum assignment after Sharma's Badhai Ho. Priyamani, after The Family man and Jawaan is totally comfortable in another big Hindi film.

The rest of the actors are rather not well known in Bollywood but all do a good job. Hats off to the casting team and makers as the actors match the real-life characters very well(this one realizes when we see the original pics of the football legends in the end credits).

The film along with Rahim does justice to the legendary players- P. K. Banerjee, Peter Thangaraj, Jarnail Singh, Chuni Goswami and Tulsidas Balram apart from Rahim's son Syed Hakim ji. The film has production values are great, decent music by A. R. Rahman and great camera work. The film brings lot of Deja vu moments with other great sports films like Hip Hip Hurray and Chak De India in Bollywood and Escape to Victory in Hollywood. Maidaan unlike Chak de and others is rather a slow burner and takes time to build up and it is towards the climax where the film reaches a thrilling high. No wonder after a slow opening, the film is getting family audience due to good reviews.

The makers have done a lot of research on the film and have also given hints about the socio-political events of those years. The film however stands tall for its story, direction, Ajay Devgan and amazing soccer scenes choreography. Maidaan was stuck for release for years after completion and the makers-Zee Studio, Boney Kapoor had to wait a lot till it was finally released. The climax shows a couple of the legends who were alive till a few years ago but passed away before the film could be released. I am sure after watching the film, audience will remember them along with the real Syed Abdul Rahim Saab!

Finally watched the most talked about film of current month,the blockbuster ANIMAL. The film has placed "Superstar" Ranbir Kapoors film career right on top at Bollywood after few not so great years. The film inspite of being huge success has got extreme reactions and ignited debates from critics and film buffs alike due to exaggerated depiction. I will try to pen down my honest unbiased though lengthy opinion on this violent film by Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

The film is about an extremely aggressive young guy Ran Vijay Singh ( Ranbir Kapoor) who is overtly possessive about his extremely rich and busy father (Anil Kapoor). Ranvijay gets into one trouble after other and his relationships with wife,sisters and everyone is always on extremes.

When the father is attacked, the son becomes literally an "ANIMAL" to revenge.

The topic of father and son relationship and issues has been integral to Hindi cinema from the time of Mughal E Azam. The genre reached peak with Amitabh bachchan and Salim Javed combination films most noticeably Trishul and Shakti. However,Animal doesn't have any of that as core issue. Its the story of a neglected son by his super busy father and has overtones to Bobby(where son was Ranbeers great dad Rishi) and Sharaabi(Amitabh and Pran). The film has shades of Copolas classic Godfather and it's Desi remake Dharmatma as well. Ranbirs character has madness like SRK(Darr,Anjaam), trouble maker hero Salmans (Tere Naam) and Vanga adds his Kabir Singh male toxicity in full thrust here. There are also shades of Ranbirs earlier big hits like Raajneeti and Rockstar, yet overall the character is totally different from all these.

Of the performances I found Anil Kapoors character and performance both very weak. Inspite of long length of role, he somehow didn't get enough lines to emote well and whatever he did was average. The golden old time baddies Prem Chopra and Shakti Kapoor have small but effective positive roles. Suresh Oberoi, after Vangas' Kabir Singh is again good here. Bobby Deol as the violent villain surprisingly gets very less screen time and it's more of a glorified cameo. Though the role's duration disappoints, yet Bobby Deol doesn't and has got a resurrection of sorts. Tripti Domra has more skin show than dialogues ,which added to her popularity. The female lead Rashmika disappoints a lot and her performance is not at all effective.

Sandeep Vangas pack a punch in the emotional scenes ,but also shows over male toxity with too much uneccesary emphasis on "Alpha" male. Some sequences seems forced in for the heck of making the film disturbing and bold. They could have easily been edited out reducing the longgg length of film. The screenplay also has many lose ends. The first half is gripping but in second half pace drops at several places. The action is brutal ,very well shot but the violence is on extreme. The music and songs are great and the track "Arjun Vailly" is excellent and it's reference to Sikh History battle makes it haunting!!! The background score is killer!!

The film belongs to one person -Ranbirrrrr and the Kapoor Khandaan's son nails it. Though post "SANJU" his mannerisms here reminds one of Sanjay Dutt of 1990s-Yalgaar,Khalnayak and Vaastav lot,yet he shows his own class. From a school student till an old man,he is great in all shades. He plays both the Rebel with a cause and also Rebel WITHOUT a Cause effectively! The film gives a hint for it's sequel as well!!

Overall I liked the film basically for Ranbir Kapoor,strong songs and powerful fights. However,owing to a lot of forced scenes which makes film toxic as well,and longg length, I can't say that I Loved it!!

The armed forces have always fascinated the common man and filmmakers across the world. In India also number of remarkable films have been made on army/war but no biopic as such has been made keeping a legendary armed force man,and so Meghna Gulzar takes the plunge on arguably the biggest name of Indian armed force post independence- the great Sam ManekShaw!

The film is a tribute to the great man(played effortlessly by Vikki Kaushal)and shows various chapters of his life from pre-independence till his retirement. The film covers various chapters in the form of several wars - World War 2,India Pakistan 1947 war,Indo Sino 1962 saga,North East India army- separatist conflict, India Pakistan 1971 war and creation of Bangladesh. The film also showcases various modern history and important political incidents of India. In this process Meghana Gulzar and her team also shows real characters Pandit Nehru,Sardar Patel,Lord Mountbatten,Indira Gandhi,VK Menon,Yashwant Chavan,US diplomat Henry Kissinger(who passed away last week) and Pakistani generals Yayaha Khan,Tikka Khan and more.

Meghana Gulzar has made remarkable films like Talwar and Raazi in past and SamBahadur is her grandest film,produced very well by Ronnie Screwala. She handles the life of Manekshaw ably and captures all important armed and political incidents related to him in episodic form. The research of the team is impeccable and even many dialogues are straight from what Sam said at couple of places. Though the film takes cinematic liberties yet stays true to the lead man's life. The screenplay is good but what many fans found missing was a solid emotional punch at many important instances. They have used real life archive footages to give the film an authentic touch. However, as some critics have rightly pointed out rightly,due to various wars shown ,the movie looks more of a war-political history docudrama of modern India like ABP political series PradhanMantri and Aaj Tak war series Vande Mataram. So a major chunk of audience who are unaware of the events will find it kinda jumping from one event to other without pausing much on each. Also the personal life of Sam is not covered much except his conversations with his wife and his domestic help. Having said that,there is no doubt that Meghna and Vikki with their team have brought alive the legend for the rightly deserving big screen and surely audience who like war,army,politics,modern history will definitely like it. This is where I feel Meghana succeeds in SamBahadur,where Shyam Benegal had failed in the grand but disappointing Bose. The cinematography, action and production values are first rate. Music and lyrics by Daddy Gulzar are apt for the few songs. Of the cast both Dangal girls get major footage after the title character. Though Sanya Malhotra as Mrs Manekshaw is fine but Fatima Sheikh looks misfit as Indira Gandhi. Meghana's Talwar fame Neeraj Kabi ,after playing Gandhi in Shyam Benegal's tv series Samvidhaan is good as Pandit Nehru. However Zeeshan Ayub with really bad make up and over prosthetics look fully forced and ineffective as Yayaha Khan.

The film however fully belongs to Vikki Kaushal who as Sam Bahadur himself gives an excellent performance. Vikki already played armed officer successfully in Meghana's Raazi and in Aditya Dhar's Uri. Here,the Udham Singh fame Vikki, has taken care of mannerisms of the real life Manekshaw, added a bit of style of moustached army Dev Anand in Hum Dono, yet given a performance which is his own. It makes up for all the minor flaws of this heavily mounted film. And "Sweetie" he is the main reason why "Josh is high sir". The release clash decision of SamBahadur with the hugely popular Animal by the makers seems wrong placed and will definitely effect its box office prospects ,just as YRF released Tiger 3 on Diwali day instead of 2 days earlier killing a major chunk of extended Diwali business.

However,all in all SamBahadur is a good film with great lead performance and celebrating the life of an Indian legend,and even with few flaws will find its own audience!!!

Finally watched Tiger 3 in theatres, though a bit later than planned. Though I had read some mixed reviews I wasn't sure about how it is, but I am glad that I watched it on the big screen as I enjoyed it fully.

Yash Raj has made the SpyUniverse a huge Desi-born high-action-oriented franchise which has gained a big fan base in the last decade. Though Tiger 3 hasn't done as well as Pathaan, in the final collections still it's a plus-profit earning film.

The film carries forward the story of RAW agent Tiger (Salman) from Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai and his partner and ex-ISI agent Zoya (Katrina). This time they have to fight the evil plans of a cruel ISI cruel agent (Emraan Hashmi). This ensures non-stop action, travel across continents, twists and turns and finally happy ending.

Spy films right from Hollywood to India have always had grand fantasy action, outlandish plots, having some facts yet totally unrealistic stories, and YRF SpyUniverse is no exception. The story of Tiger 3 of a RAW agent trying to foil an ISI and Pakistan army general-designed plan in Pakistan itself is unrealistic surely but then so were the plots of all previous Tiger, Pathan and Kabir films of SpyUniverse. The film plot has strong echoes from old Bollywood flops-Hindustan Ki Kasam (Ajay Devgan), Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon and popular films Mission Kashmir and Main Hoon Naa (Emraan Hashmi angle) and also on Bond and Mission Impossible films. There is deja vu of still fresh in mind Pathaan as well. Despite all this, the third instalment of Tiger works especially for action fans. The action like all previous Tiger films is excellent and though unrealistic, yet very well shot and with great VFX. Salman Khan who started the entire SPY thing for YRF looks a bit bulky and old but is fully in form as TIGER. He rises to his role and shows that despite some bad previous films, still has a lot of fire, especially in an action role like this. Katrina also looks a bit aged in flashback scenes but gets into the skin of Zoya and is great in action scenes. Emran Hashmi as the bad guy is good and is back in a big film after long. The supporting cast of Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda also are gelled in Tiger 3 to make a full connection with all 3 Tiger films. Girish Karnad is missed and Revathy fills the part. The cameo connection with Pathaan and War gets maximum interest. The film music however is not up to the mark and "Leke Prabhu Ka Naam" is shot well but not a great song. Maneesh Sharma has kept the pace fast and it's interesting that Aditya Chopra used 3 separate directors for all Tiger films- Ek Tha Tiger (Kabir Khan), Tiger Zinda Hai (Ali Abbas Zafar) and Tiger 3 (Maneesh Sharma). The production values by Yash Raj are excellent and the film is shot in great international locales.

I agree though that the film like previous films has an overdose of non-stop action which can look tiring, especially for non-action buffs. That's why I feel some people felt kind of Spy Fatigue with it. But with the overall TIMEPASS masala action, I feel it should have done even better at the box office.

Overall, I will say that Tiger 3 is a fast-paced, pop-patriotic action dhamaka that Salman and Tiger fans like me will find Pisa Vasool!!

Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru-Tamil-with English subtitles -YouTube. The Hindi dubbed version is also available on DisneyHostar and YouTube. Of late the Hindi movies channel has had a huge overdose of South Indian dubbed action films, many of which don't look appealing. However, some of them are so slick that they deserve PAN India viewers. A couple of years ago I had watched a few scenes of Theeran on Zee Cinema and since then this thriller has been on my wish list. I was not interested in the Hindi dubbed version and finally found a good original Tamil version with subtitles which added to the regional flavour. This 2017 action thriller by H. Vinoth is based on a real-life Operation Bawaria case led by former Tamil Nadu DGP S. R. Jangid (who interestingly hails from Rajasthan, where this gang was based). The film stars Karthi in the lead and has Rakul Preet Singh adding glamour quotient and Abhimanyu Singh as the dreaded villain. The plot involves nomadic looters and killer gangs who reach South till Tamil Nadu and commit heinous crimes and the leading man Karthi forms a team and nabbing them. The film-maker H Vinoth and team did extensive research on the case and have added commercial elements making Theeran a great action thriller film. The initial romantic tracks between Karthi and Rakul Preet are kind of boring and the film has an overdose of violence surely. Apart from these, the film is a gripping tale of law vs. Crime and keeps one glued to the last scene. The direction, screenplay, editing, and background is great and makes it an edge of thriller. Karthi as the leading man is simply excellent and I will rate his performance even higher than his other blockbuster Kaithi(which was remade by Ajay Devgan as Bholaa). Rakul Preet doesn't have much to do but Abhimanyu Singh as the sinister baddie is spine-chilling and terrifying. The action sequences are mind-blowing and the film is shot so well across Tamil Nadu, the desert of Rajasthan and most strikingly Aravallis of Haryana. A must-watch film for all action lovers!!

Finally watched the most talked about Bollywood film of recent times JAWAN and it is full on entertaining with ignorable glitches!

2023 has been the year of Shahrukh Khan and after the blockbuster PATHAAN he is again back with more action packed version here.

Atlees grand actioner is a full on masala Hindi film with dollops of spices taken liberally from Tamil cinema as well.

The film is about Shahrukh Khan(s) in the title role and also stars Nayanthara, Vijay Setupathy in important roles. The film has strong social and political statement as well which are shown well within the commercial larger than life cinema limits. Shahrukh Khan owns the film like he did in Pathaan. Though I have never been a fan of his die hard romantic image,I must say he is terrific in action avtar. In some close ups he looks aged but his energy and his swag in post interval is unmatchable. Nayanthara holds her own opp SRK and shines in the film. Vijay is menacing as villain but I loved him more in Vikram Vedha and Farzi. Of the remaining cast, Deepika makes an impact with her strong cameo. Film fans will find some connect from Hindi films like Desh Premee,Aakhree Raasta,Sarfarosh(Jeetendra),),A Wednesday and Shankars vigilante based Tamil films like Indian(Hindustani),Gentleman,Aparachit and even Shivaji. Traces of earlier SRK films like Main Hoon Naa and Swades also can be seen. Atlee ofcourse mixes all these in his films Bigil, Marsal and presents King Khan in a full massy avtar. The songs are disappointing but Anirudhs Background score is awesummm. Some of the scenes are heavy and taxing but overall the film has great pace. The action scenes are excellent and many sequences are thrilling. I remember seeing SRK first time as a JAWAN in my childhood in serial Fauji,and now after Pathaan he shows with Jawan that his action avtar is to stay here!!

Jai Jawan Jai Pathan!!!

Mumbai underworld has always been a fascinating topic in Indian films, novels and discussions. Now with the current trend in web series, the Bombay Mafia as it was known is showing its presence on OTT as well. Along with Hanslal Mehta's Scoop, Netflix has created an international crew documentary titled "Mumbai Mafia: Police vs The Underworld". This well-shot documentary has been made by British film-maker- Morgan Matthews. It covers the journey and important incidents of the underworld from 1991 to 2022! It covers interviews of major police officers, journalists and ex-D-company person and also shows the impact of shootouts, gang wars, and encounters and also opens old wounds of the Mumbai 1993 riots and the blasts. Although Bollywood has covered almost all of these issues in popular films like Shootout at Lokhandwala, Black Friday,Bombay,Ab tak Chappan etc ,still the documentary with a running time of app 1.5 hours is an interesting watch. A slickly made docu for people interested in real-life underworld and encounter specialists!!

Kohrra is a dark unsettling murder mystery set in Punjab and available on Netflix. The series is about the murder of a young NRI guy and how the police try to solve the case and connect many disturbing dots as well. Nowadays, in this ocean of web series on various platforms, we have been observing 2 points. First is that many makers dare to touch bold uncomfortable topics to show what's happening in society, the other is that in many series you feel there is unnecessary showing of certain issues and explicit usage of violence and foul language. Sudip Sharma's Kohrra is a well-made dark murder mystery but I felt uncomfortable at parts and felt certain aspects could have been avoided. The series takes time to build due to its pace and also I felt has an overdose of issues. Having said that, there is no doubt that it is very well shot in Punjab, shows the modern issues of the state and is technically superb. What makes the otherwise heavy series appreciative is the great performances by Barun Sobti, Rachel Shelley(after Lagaan), Varun Badola, and Arjuna Bhalla(after decades of comedy series-Flop Show). The makers and team have managed to stay true to the title Kohrra and the murder mystery thickens and gets mistier after every episode till it's finally solved. The show however belongs to Suvinder Vicky who gives an amazing controlled performance and is the highlight of the show. A class act in a well-made grim intense murder mystery!

Sunday afternoon regional film show!!!

Mumbai Underworld has been the inspiration for many Hindi crime-based films. However, with the super success and acclaim of Mani Ratnam's cult Tamil hit Nayakan starring Kamal Hassan, many South Indian films were also set in Bombay crime land. One such popular film is PriyaDarshan's 1991 Malayalam hit -Abhimanyu starring his fav superstar Mohanlal in the lead. The film is set to be loosely inspired by the life of now-forgotten criminal Bada Rajan, who was a kinda mentor to underworld don Chota Rajan. This of course is added by loads of fiction and cinematic liberty, though using some real references. Having watched so many films on the Mumbai underworld, the film now looks predictable and has some avoidable side tracks.

However, the team of Priyadarshan-Mohanlal again rises above the basic story and makes it an entertaining crime saga. Priyadarshan and his team capture the spirit of Bombay of the early 1990s and the action scenes are done very well. To add authenticity to the film, a huge chunk of dialogues are in Bambaiya Hindi despite Abhimanyu being a big Malayalam film. The title refers parallel to Mahabharat where Abhimanyu gets stuck once he enters the Chakravyuha. Mohanlal is first rate and later on, also did films like Company and even Lucifer which had Mumbai underworld angle as well. Rami Reddy as the scary henchman again manages to look menacing. The Hindi film actor Mahesh Anand plays the main villain here and is very stylish.

The film's impact can be seen later on in Hindi crime capers like Vaastav and the sequel Hathyaar.

A decent crime film lifted by Mohanlal's performance and Priyadarshan's treatment!

Karan Johar has been on the Bollywood power list for almost a quarter of a century. His dad's banner Dharma production remains one of the biggest banners of the Hindi Film industry, but for a while, there was some negativity getting attached and he was not exactly at his peak. Today after watching the romantic family drama-Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, I am convinced he is back with a bang. The film has a familiar love story of two opposites Ranveer and Alia, whose families-the Punjabis and Bengalis are even more opposite. How they end differences and succeed in their love story is what this hit film is all about. The film borrows heavily from plots and subplots of Saudagar, 2 States, Bhansali's vision, Beta, Mohabbatein, Barjatya's family sagas, Yash Raj locales, Vikki Donor and Karan Johars own K3G. However, it is KJO's stamped treatment which makes the film loveable. Performances wise Ranveer and Alia are in the top slot and so are veterans Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi. The other star cast of Ranveer and Alia's parents are perfectly cast. Only, I somehow didn't like Jaya Bahaduri's strict mom's rather negative role which had traces of Dina Pathak's old Khubsurat, Aruna Irani's Beta and Amitabh's Mohabbatein and K3G. The music could have been better. Apart from that the film is all that we love about big Bollywood films-romance, family scenes, comedy, emotional scenes and everything larger than life. The usage of old Hindi film songs and backgrounds is something everyone will love. I have not been a KJO fan as such but personally, this is the second film of his after Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which I liked so much. Overall, in his 25th year, Karan Johar made a really good film which is doing great business as well!

Finally caught the biggest film of the year-Oppenheimer, at the big screen. Christopher Nolan grand biographical, as we all know is about the genius of the same name, and who was instrumental in creating the first nuclear weapons. The film is all about Oppenheimer leading the Manhattan Project under General Groves and in collaboration with a number of great scientists, physicists and others. We might have read/ watched a lot about the bombing of Hiroshima/ Nagasaki, but not many are aware about Oppenheimer's credit and what followed aftermath. Christopher Nolan is a legend of modern-day cinema, and this film only cements his reputation further. He took the basic story of a genius, but layered it with his humane side, his weaknesses, his inner voice in backdrop of world at war, communism, and modern history. The film has parallel tracks of the past and present and they create magic on screen. The enquiry scenes are intriguing and the actual testing scenes are thrilling. The film has great performances, and Cillian Murphy walks tall in the title role. It also has great cameos of other great scientists/physicists/professors of that era-Niels Bohr, Edward teller but it is the scenes featuring Albert Einstein which leaves maximum impact. An awesome film in all departments of storytelling and technicalities, this one is one of the best films to come out of Hollywood in recent years, wherein more focus had been on Marvel kind cinema. The film is heavy on dialogues and uses lot of technical and political terms so is a serious watch without light scenes. Inspite of that and the complex topic if people from all over are loving the film, then it is triumph of Nolan, the team and Oppenheimer himself!

Finally watched this grand action English film "Lion of The Desert-Omar Mukhtar ",which was in my bucket list since long. This Moustapha Akkad film is based on the great Libyan freedom fighter- Omar Mukhtar who formed a formidable Arab force against the powerful Italian army. The film was funded by Libyan government led by Gaddafi wayback in 1981 so that the world gets to know about the revolt in 🇱🇾 Libya. The film shows real many historical facts Mussolini's fascism,Italian army attrocities,battle of Kufra and the final execution of Omar. Anthony Quinn is just excellent as Omar and gets into skin of the character. The film has amazing battle scenes,huge canvas and is quite an engaging watch. This was the second big collaboration of Akkad and Quinn after the awesum historical The Message.

Back home in Bollywood, when Samantas made Jackie Shroff actioner Palay Khan based on the Pashtun freedom fighter, they took huge inspiration and infact even shot several scenes similar to this grand film.

The film is available on YouTube and a compelling watch for action lovers!!!!

Karl Marx is one of the most discussed names in the modern world. However, not much cinema of his early years is available. The Young Karl Marx ( original German title Der junge Karl Marx) is a 2017 German film which focusses on the early years of his life.

I happened to watch a subtitled version through a film society and I am not sure where the subtitled version is online, yet I would like to mention that people interested in world events,economy,humanities should watch this film. The film covers the early years of Marx, his views on workers exploitation, his views against "property" and "rights". The film also covers his personal life and is shot very well across Germany,U. K.,France and Belgium. The film also shows importance of his partnership with-Friedrich Engels and culminates in both writing the landmark "Communist manifesto".

The film is well directed and abled by good performances. The pace however is tad slow and takes time to build. For someone keen to know what happened post the "documentation" of the Manifesto,it might be underwhelming the film doesn't cover that tinmeline, and stays true to its title 'The Young Karl Marx". Overall, an effective film with minor flaws in pace, yet totally worth watching!

After a few spy games, NETFLIX enters the hardcore Hindi belt with the crime series KHAKEE-The Bihar Chapter, based on IPS officer Amit Lodha's experiences and his novel. Films in India have always been fascinated by KHAKEE (the colour of the uniform) and now the fascination enters the world of web series. This series is a slice of life as it's based on real incidents which happened in Bihar in the early 2000s. The series is created by Neeraj Pandey who is an ace at making spy/action films/series. His crew makes sure that the audience gets transported to the crime nexus of Bihar. The cast is competent with Karan Tacker as IPS Amit and Avinash Tiwari as Chandanwa ace it. They are ably supported by veterans like Ashutosh Rana, Abhimanyu Singh and Ravi Kisen. The other supporting cast is also adequate. The series is a gripping tale of crime, police, and politics and is very well shot as well. The last episode becomes a bit too long and tiresome making the series just short of being brilliant. Other than that, the series delivers all the punches right to make it a riveting crime docu-drama!

With the release of Vikram Vedha-after a long time, a big Hindi action film has hit the screens. Though an official remake of the great Tamil film (which I guess most of us have already enjoyed on OTT as well) of the same title, yet there was anticipation for its release. Like the Tamil version, the Hindi remake has also been directed by the husband-wife pair of Pushkar-Gayathri. The characters of Madhavan and Vijay are replayed by Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan. The film takes its inspiration from the stories that the ghost Vetaal(Betaal Pachisi based) tells King Vikram(Vikramaditya) when Vikram tries to catch and carry Vetaal to his place. The Tamil flick was set in Chenna and the Hindi one is nicely set up in Lucknow. While the plot and almost scene by scene remain the same the novelty is the setting in the heartland of U. P. and the star cast of Saif and Hrithik. It's a tough job to remake a cult crime noir thriller, especially when the cast is perfect, yet I feel the makers along with the cast have done justice to the remake. Saif Ali Khan plays Vikram quite well, though in the initial parts he looks trying hard in the second half gets into the skin and carries the character well on his broad shoulders. Hrithik plays the stylised baddie Vedha(Vetaal) with panache and is a treat to watch. He makes the character very different from the stylised anti-hero he played in Dhoom 2. I agree that those who have watched Madhavan and Vijay in the Tamil flick will take time to see the Bollywood actors playing their parts, but trust me they have done a good job. The setting of Lucknow aided by dialogues is done rather perfectly. Instead of forcing things, the conversation, the locales and even the references are straight out of Lucknow of 2022! A lot of references are thrown for Lucknow food and so the Mutton Chops of Chenna become The Nihari Kulcha of Lucknow in the Hindi version. The film maintains its grip and the film is good technically too. The supporting star cast including Sharib Hashmi and others have done a fine form. So all in all I will say while the original is original yet, the Hindi remake is well made!!

After a few months of its release watched Ajay Devgan's Runway 34 on Amazon Prime. The plot as evident from the promos is about a MAY DAY while flying and the investigation thereafter. The film is inspired by a few real-life incidents and is also based on Tom Hanks Sully. However, credit goes to Ajay Devgan and the team for adapting it well to the Indian scenario with suitable changes. Ajay Devgan directs the film quite well and the technical aspects of the film are also first-rate. The performances by Ajay Devgan, Rakul Preet and Boman are fine. Amitabh too delivers in moments but I felt yet again that he was a bit theatrical(personally I feel he is theatrical in most of his films post AKS-2001). In Hindi cinema, we have seen jury/investigation earlier in Ek Ruka Hua Faisal, Shootout at Lokhandwala, and Talwar amongst others and here also the scenes are very interesting. I am not very sure why the film didn't do well but I found it quite well made and enacted!

Delhi Crime 2 on Netflix was one of the most awaited sequels of OTT. The reason was that the first season of Delhi Crime got international acclaim and huge popularity in India as well. The second season takes the characters of the first season on a new crime saga in the capital city of Delhi. This time the crime is linked with the gory Kachcha Banian gang who created havoc in Delhi and parts of U. P. in the 1990s! The makers take the familiar tone of Delhi Crime and set it in another spine-chilling crime. The toil, the inner turmoil, the hard work and the "domestic issues" of the DCP Vartika and her team are very well exploited in season 2 as well. The gory murders, the hardened criminals and their nefarious planning are scary. The familiarity of the scenario and the well-known localities where crime is committed in Delhi, send shivers down the spine. The entire team deserves kudos for matching the magic of season 1. On the acting from Shefali again throws an ace and is ably supported by the entire team(literally). Though personally, I felt the climax was rather hurried and underwhelming compared to season 1, yet season 2 has enough punch to make for a gritty viewing!!!