Reviews

I just saw Endgame today morning and at the end, as the credits rolled, I had a small lump in my throat. It was like an end of an era to all the MCU movies I had seen in the last 11 years starting from Iron Man to Captain Marvel.

We have lived our lives with these characters. It just not about their names but also who they are, what they do and how different they are from each other and yet are together for a common cause - to fight the enemies of earth. These movies have made us know them as if they are our friends and well wishers.

So there was a sadness when the end credits rolled as I said good bye to these friends and as Captain America says in this movie "Life has to move on".

Coming back to the movie, hats off to the Russo brothers and the writers to ensure that this is not some revenge drama. This is not a part 2 of Infinity War. Revenge is a very small topic here and the message sent thru the movie is revenge serves no purpose at the end. It is what we can do to make this better again.

I don't want to tell any more details because anyone who like me has loved the MCU movies has to see this movie. It is has all the ingredients - action, drama, emotion and comedy.

The writers also spray in bits and pieces from the past movies and other MCU characters to make it interesting; it is like connecting the dots. I had fun watching those scenes because it is smart writing.

The acting is outstanding and each actor gives their best shot knowing that this is the grand finale. Special mention goes to Hemsworth, Johannson, Evans and above all the man who started it Downey Jr. They take the movie to another level.

Finally, is this the best film in MCU? I say No. This movie is a bit too long for its own good at 181 mins. I feel it could have been 15-20 mins shorter. Also, for me, the Iron Man (part 1), Captain America - The Winter Soldier and Civil War, Thor Raganrok and Black Panther are the best films of the MCU.

However, is this a fitting finale? Yes, it is and a beautiful one. Damm, I am going to miss the Avengers !!

I loved Kingsman Part 1. It was brilliant and something different from the Bond and Bourne spy movies.

Part II or the Golden Circle is a joy ride but a safe one. Mathew Vaughan and his team play it safe here. No risks taken.

So the movie starts with the all the Kingsmans killed and their centres destroyed. The only one surviving is Egsy and Merlin. They go to US to meet the Statesman, their cousins across the Atlantic and discover a drug organization called the Golden Circle headed by Poppy.

As I said earlier, Vaughan and his team are playing safe. So they get back Harry aka Colin Firth from the dead because they very well realized that without him the movie cannot work since he was the star of the 1st part.

The plot is safe and it delivers to a certain extent. But I missed that fun element of the 1st part.

The biggest disppointment is the villain. Part I had Jackson playing the eccentric the villain to the hilt. In this part, Moore is brilliant actress but cannot get that craziness on screen thanks to the poor writing. She has one beautiful scene where she explains how drugs consumption doesn't kills that many people that guns and other items do.

The next disppointment is the villian's henchman. Sofia Boutella was superb as the henchwoman with sword legs. The guy in this squel is passable.

The rest of the cast does a decent job including Bridges, Tatum and Pascal. And what is Halle Berry doing in this film? An Oscar winner a decade back, I cannot believe she is doing such small roles which do no good to her resume.

The only entertaining bits I loved was Bruce Greenwood playing the President of US and seems to be outright copy of Trump as President. And Elton John playing himself captured by Poppy. He is a delight to watch him and is hilarious.

Vaughan also maintains the same tone of the earlier film i.e. the blood and gore and some good action sequences with the crazy background score.

Overall, it is a safe joyride and I hope that Kingsman 3 is on par with 1.

I am delighted to write that finally today's film makers have found nice ways to speak on topics which are still considered taboo is our country.

It started with Sircar's Vicky Donor on Sperm donation, his Piku on constipation, Shakun Batra's Kapoor and Sons which spoke on homosexuality and Subh Mangal Savadhaan (SMS)which speaks on erecticle dysfunction.

SMS like last month's Barelily ki Barfi is set in middle class India, the location changes from Barelily to Delhi. Its starts off on a nice hilarious note of Khurana's Mudit trying to speak to Pednekar's Sughanda and a roadside bear ....yes a bear (watch it to believe it) catches him leaving everyone around him in splits and taking his MMS videos for fun.

They then meet for marriage and slowly fall in love over the next few weeks. Their love is just like any middle class love story. They don't run around trees or sing songs in park or dance in the rain. They behave like normal people and not like the love we see in Johar Chopra films.

So even when we see them trying to make love for the 1st time, they are scared and behave like amatauers. That scene is hilarious and trust me you will not feel odd seeing this with your parents. And that's when Mudit knows he just cannot perform in bed.

From there you have Mudit trying to do his best in resolving his gent's problem and Sughanda doing everything possible to keep him happy. She doesn't want to run away from the problem and face it while Mudit wants to solve his problem to express his love and keep her happy.

And this is where the beauty of the story lies. A man and woman doing their best for the other partner. In another hilarious scene, Sughanda wears some sexy lingerie and takes Mudit for a picnic and then tries to do a role play. The scene initally starts as hilarious but then becomes a emotional one as Mudit realises what she is doing and stops her.

The movies reaches another level when the parents come to know about Mudit's problem. Mudit's parents can't accept it while her father takes him to a Vetinarian for cure and is worried that his daughter will not have kids of her own.

However, the last act falls flat. One can see that the writers run out of ideas and don't know how to end the film. So we have a ridiculous scene where the couple are supposedly making love inside and everyone outside are chit chatting waiting for the result. Or an action packed climax with Jimmy Shergil making one ridiculous cameo.

The one question which always popped my mind was why didn't Mudit go to a doctor and get himself treated?

The performances are top notch. Khurana is turning out to this generation's Amol Palekar or the middle class hero. Armed with simple looks and earnest acting skills, he beautifully performs Mudit and helps us understand his problem.

On the other hand, Bhumi is top notch. It is her 3rd film and she performs like a veteran. And, Khurana and she share a wonderful chemistry.

The rest of the star cast including Bijendar Kala are fantastic. Most of them are unknown faces but rock the show. Kala is hilarious as Sugandha's uncle who always is seeking for respect from everyone younger to him including his brother.

The music is simple and there aren't many songs to spoil it and the middle class Delhi setting is perfect.

Except for the last half hour, the movie is a joy ride and a must watch.

After all the controvery and protest about Padmavat, I finally did get to see the movie and I was puzzled on what the ruckus was all about?

The movie from start to end only talks about the great Rajput pride and honour and how the maintained dignity and their promises even when their enemy was at the door unarmed. Its baffling.

I don't want to write about the story because we all know about. And if you think there is any scene between Deepika and Ranbir then there is nothing. Yes not even one scene together.

I will talk about the movie and director Bhansali (SLB). I love Bhansali's films. They have a beauty about them and I can see it in every frame and the same goes for this film. Each scene has such excellent backgrounds, design, lightning, cinematograhy and craft that it left me spell bound. SLB has an eye for details and each frame shows that.

But alas that can't cover for a weak script and this what beats Bhansali here. Bhansali's last film Bajirao mastani had a wonderful story. Well here the story is plain and worse, he streaches the film way too long that I got bored and restless towards the end.

Ideally, this film could have got over within 2 hrs but at running time of 2hrs and 40 mins, it becomes a pain.

Another major disappointment is the music. Bhansali's films are complemented with an excellent music including beautifully shot and choreographed songs.

Except for Ghoomar, the other songs are just plain and dry. And worse, the increase the length of the film and slow down the pace. Double whammy.

Coming to the performances, though the film is all about Padmavati, its Ranveer Singh who rocks and delivers one hell of a performance as Allaudin Khilji. With his long hair, kajal filled eyes and black dresses, he becomes Allaudin. He plays the totally crazy sleazy power hungry ruer the hilt. I don't know how history books remember Allaudin but Ranveer makes us believe that Allaudin must have been like this and you end up hating him till the end.

Shahid Kapoor like Ranveer Singh is another gifted actor but has nothing much to do in this film but showcase Rajput traditions. He however does get a few scenes with Ranveer and those scenes are a superb. It's a calm headed king vs. the eccentric one.

And finally to poor Deepika. Well, she also gets the raw deal like Shahid. There is nothing much for her to do in the 1st one hour of the film except wear gorgeous costumes and look like a queen which she pulls of which such ease. She gets her importance in the last one hour and she rocks. But I wanted to see more of Deepika because she is one talented actress who has come a long way from the wooden performances 5-6 years ago.

Jim Sarbh is funny as Allaudin's homosexual slave cum servant but again his role is poorly written.

Lastly, it's a one time watch. It could have been an excellent film but SLB misses the trick. And don't worry, it Is far far better than the disaster called Saawariya .

A movie on the drug menace in Punjab could easily have been a fine subject for an art film or a documentary.

But Chaubey who directed and also co written the film gives us a poem in return. The movie is poetic from the word go. The story of 4 different characters is beautifully blended with the drug problem in the state.

It captures how each one is caught in this mess and all are fighting the menace in their own way. It also shows that together they can fight it better and to the mess, add a bit of romance and some soulful music with beautiful lyrics to lighten up the mood when needed. Ek Kudi is a standout track

I don't want to reveal much of the story because I believe that one should watch the film. It doesn't become preachy at any point and the ending is shocking yet beautiful. Also, it never goes over top and it clearly tells that there is no easy and fast end to this problem.

Punjab which is normally shown as a land of beautiful lush fields and greens is shown here a dark land with the greens shown as a beautiful cover up for the drug mafia. After Maachis, Udta Punjab shows the contrasting picture of the state and no wonder the film ran into so much controversy.

The performances is another highlight of this film. Alia Bhatt is a revelation. She has very few dialogues but she compensates that with her body language and eyes. No wonder she swept all the acting awards and declares once again that she is the next superstar in making. The greed, fear, frustration, the loss and finally the will to fight is classic. Her dialogue delivery with a bihari accent was a little disappointing but he acting will leave you speechless.

Matching with her is Shahid Kapoor. As Tommy Singh, the volatile and eccentric rock star, Kapoor is equally mind blowing. He like Bhatt takes on a transformation and initially we hate him but as the film progresses, we start to pity and hope he improves.He owns Tommy SIngh .

There is one beautiful scene between Bhatt and Kapoor is poetic. Both are criticising themselves to each other...One in Punjabi and the other in Bhojpuri and that seen made laugh but also feel sad for both of them.

Dosanjh is an actor to watch out for. He is terrific as the corrupt cop who is blind to the drug problem but is ready to fight the system and himself to save his kid brother from drugs.

Supporting him is Kareena Kapoor, the doctor and the only one who is right between all the wrong people. She is a fighter and ready to go to any extent to fight the problem. Kareena is a fine actress and again proves it here. Even in the small role and like Bhatt de-glamoured, she is shows her mettle.

The rest of the supporting star cast which include Satish Kaushik are excellent and make this film a must watch.

The movie is depressing and disturbing but I would suggest you to watch it once for the 4 leads and music.

What were Warner Bros and DC comics smoking when they decided to make Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad? Or what were they smoking when they decided to release Wonder Woman (WW) before Justice League?

Whatever they were smoking, the latter was the better stuff because the only word I can think off describing this movie is fantastic !! Yup !!

The previous two releases with huge star casts and big budget action sequences were to be told in truth plain boring. WW is like the monsoon in India, refreshing and entertaining.

To be frank, there is nothing new in WW if you scratch the surface. It is the coming of age of person who has superpowers and fights a villain to protect the world, a sample template of all superhero films.

But WW is different because the superhero is a woman and that where Patty Jenkins and the writers catch our attention and surprise us. When was the last time we saw a movie completely dedicated to woman superhero??

They get most of things perfect from the word go. Amazons, the place where WW is born and belongs to is visually mind blowing and beautiful. The warrior women star cast is perfect with Nelson and Wright perfectly playing Diana's mother and aunt. Special mention to Wright who is terrific in action sequences inspite of her age.

And then comes Chris Pine who is so happy to play second fiddle to WW. He is the catalyst and the wow factor for women audience. He and WW share a fabulous chemistry on screen and have some nice comic moments too.

The movie takes time to build up and the setting of WW One is prefect. And there is that one beautiful action set piece with WW taking on the Germans on the battlefield and single handedly destroying them. Perfect.

And finally, there is Gal Gadot aka WW aka Diana. Gadot seems to have been born to play WW. She has the physique, the personality and the acting skills to play this role. I don't think any other actor would have done justice to this part. She is breath taking in the action sequences and what we saw of her in Batman vs Superman was just a trailer. She owns this role.

The action sequences are good and the technically its a pretty neat film.

However, the climax was tad disappointing and the villain was big let down. Thewlis is fine actor but not suited to play the villain. Plus the villain's role was poorly written. Even Dr. Maru's role was not well written and I hope to see more of her sometime in the future.

But its still a great film and a must watch for movie buffs. If you are a woman you will love it as its all about women empowerment. For men, watching Gadot in short skirts beating the hell out of the bad guys is fulfilling.

Can't wait for the sequel. he he he.

There was an age in Hindi Cinema where doyens like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterji made some of Hindi cinemas finest comedies featuring the middle class man. The story revolved around the man's life and the movies were clean and simple. Golmaal, Itni Si baat, Chupke Chupke were some of the finest movies that came out from this duo.

Bareilly Ki Barfi (BKB) belongs to that forgotten era and I thank Ashwiny Iyer and Nitesh Tiwari to take us back to that era and make a film that connects with today's audience.

Set in Bareilly in UP and inspired from Sajan, the movie is one hell of a romantic comedy from start to finish. The story of 20 something yr old Bitti who works for the Electricity Board who smokes, drinks, eats non veg, watches English movies and does break dance on her terrance and falls for a writer of flop book is an interesting premise. Her Dad is loving caring and supportive but her mom thinks her as a pain.

The 1st half is hilarious with some great one liners and well written scenes. Everything shown on screen is so authentic that I felt I was transported to Bareilly and I could connect with Bitti, her parents and Chirag the man loves Bitti and who also has secretly written the book Bitti loves. There are no heavy scenes and the humour never goes over the top.

The 2nd half is taken to another level thanks to the entry of Rajkummar Rao at the end of 1st half. And here I thank the writers who ensure not to stretch the story to long and wrap the movie with a predictable sweet ending. Believe me this movie is just 2 hours long which is awesome as per Hindi movie standards.

Coming to performances, Kriti Sanon as Bitti finally gets an author backed role and shines but still needs a few movies like these to showcase her acting chops. Khurana is turning out to be the Amol Palekar of our times and does is part well and with ease. Pankaj Tripathy and Seema Pahwa as Bitti's parents are hilarious as the bickering couple and have some of the best one liners in the movie. And Rohit Chaudhary as Khurana's friend is very good.

However, the star of this film is Rao. And he deserves an award of this film and if not an award, at least a nomination. The actor is brilliant from the word go. He brilliantly plays the meek and timid Vidrohi and switches to the rash hooligan Vidrohi which such ease that I was spell bound. He is a great actor and I hope he gets more films to show that he is in a league of his own. Watch out for the bike and pan scene.

The music is simple and not too many songs and I loved the way Bareilly has been captured.

This is a movie that you can watch with your family irrespective of the age groups and its great to see a clean rom com after a long time.

Born and brought up in Bangalore and exposed to all the four south Indian language movies from a young age, I had a special love for Tamil Cinema. While Malayalam was more art house type, Tamil was a blend of art and commercial and hence entertaining.

Vikram Vedha is loosely based on popular mythology stories Vikram Betaal and I loved the way director duo Gayathri and Pushkar along with the writers adapt it for the modern day audience as a cop-gangster film where Madhavan plays Vikram the cop and Vijay Sethupathi plays Vedha the gangster.

And like the Vikram Betaal stories, whenever Vikram catches Vedha, Vedha tells Vikram a story asking him what is right or wrong and then escapes after hearing Vikram's judgement.

Its a beautifully layer film where none of the protagonists are black or white. They both are grey bordering between right and wrong and each has their justification for being what they are. Both hands are soaked in blood.

There are enough twists and turns in the film including a brilliant one in the climax. This is writing at its best. Also, there aren't many songs which keeps the audience focused. The film technically is brilliant with excellent cinematography and back ground score.

The performances are top notch. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi are brilliant in their respective roles and have a great on screen chemistry. They both compliment each other. Kathir as Vedha's brother is good and the women Shraddha and Varalaxmi are fiery in their small but important roles.

A brilliant film and I hope to see a sequel to this.

Christopher Nolan is legend and Dunkirk confirms it again. He is rare film maker who knows how to blend reality and fiction and keeps us glued to our seats till the very end.

He can make commercial blockbusters like the Batman series and can also make intellectual blockbusters like Inception and Memento. This guy is a genius and my favourite film makers. Interstellar may have been a small blip but Dunkirk is the maestro at his best.

Dunkirk is based on the true story of WW II evacuation of British soldiers on the beaches on Dunkirk in France in 1940. Nolan who also has written this story tells it through the eyes on different people at different time lines spread across two days. And he beautifully stitches them together at the end.

The story has everything which a war movie has i.e. patriotism, bravery, blood, death, despair, courage, cowardice, patience and finally hope. Yet its not like any other war movie. There are no long dialogues spoken between generals or soldiers, the blood shed is limited, the strategy is not discussed and there are no over the top fight sequences showing courage and bravery.

Nolan keeps it simple and tells us how war affects the lives on many and how soldiers have no choice but to fight even if they don't want to. They also want to live and not die at their young tender age. And in the end, he also shows us how pointless a war is. And finally each of us is a hero at the time of war in our own way.

The film's strength lies in its technical brilliance. The cinematography by Hoytema is mind blowing and definitely an Oscar winning work. While watching the movie, I felt I was transported to 1940 and was part of the soldiers. The art and production designer are top notch. Zimmer's music is good but was a bit too loud at time.

The star cast is brilliant with seasoned actors like Rylance and Hardy doing fine justice to their small and important roles. The rest of cast does a neat job considering the fact that many of them are not well known actors incl Harry Styles from One Direction.

The film is shot for an IMAX audience and the experience left me speechless. It is a beautiful film and a masterpiece from Nolan again. Must watch.

Brahman Naman starts of extremely well. Set in 80s Bangalore and being a Bangalorean all my life I enjoyed the setting, its about Naman and his gang of friends who are all into quizzing but are equally sex crazy and want to lose their virginity at the earliest. This leads them into some hilarious situations and some badly failed attempts.

Its a great idea on paper and could have been the Indian geeky version of American Pie but somehow Mukerjee (the director) and Ramachandran (the writer) don't know which tone to keep the film moving.

The movie does become a serious affair in the last half hour when Naman and his friends start looking for love and sex together which made me confused. Frankly, the comedy was so good that didn't require them to take such a serious turn. The rule is simple folks - Sex comedies should never become serious, keep it simple and light.

If you are a quizzer like me you will love this film because there is so much quizzing here. I loved the idea of the director putting a question to audience between the film. There is a lot of Shakespearean English here , so don't get lost. And if you are a Kannadiga Brahmin or want to see a Brahmin way of living, this movie is decent watch.

The performances are top notch. Shashank Arora is an actor to watch out for. He is extremely good as Naman the sex crazy quizzer who objectifies women, is very selfish and thinks he is some hero but actually is coward. Its not easy to portray such a character. His partner in crime is Tamanay and they share a nice chemistry on screen. The rest of the cast does a nice job.

Overall, its a confusing film and watch it if you love sex comedies and quizzing.

After the debacle of Avengers Age of Ultron, the Marvel Studios have done a brilliant thing by pitting the Avengers vs each other. Thanks to excellent writing and in the good hands of the Russo brothers, we get an all out entertaining films and one of the best from the Marvel studios.

Civil War is not your usual superhero film where there is a bad guy and the heroes teaming up to stop him. Civil War is different because its a clash of ideologies and beliefs. And thats what makes the film work.

Its great to see Captain America being pitted against Iron Man and the fact that they become opposites of what they are known for. Captain America who is the principled one doesn't want any laws or council stopping him from preventing terror while Iron Man known always know for breaking rules wants to live by them.

The movie also captures how a simple man can bring a crack between the superheroes and instead of uniting, they fight to stop each other. Its also highlights the importance for fighting for your friends and being with them no matter what the odds are. The movie is high on emotional quotient with a lovely climax and there is no right or wrong one.

The performances are top notch and each actor gives his best. Special mention to Paul Rudd and Tom Holland for their cameos as Ant Man and Spider Man. They bring the much required comedy in otherwise a serious film.

Go watch it whether you love the superheroes or not because this film will not disappoint you a bit.

Barry simply put is the early years of Barack Obama in New York and his struggles trying to fit himself among the people there. Simply put, it his the identity crises caused because of his mixed ethnicity.

Its a beautiful story on paper but in the hands of director Vikram Gandhi, this is a story lost in translation.

The movie starts of well as the young Barack moves into New York with a serious identity crisis. It is shown that he never as such connected with his Dad in Kenya, his years in Manila have changed him and he questions the things around him. He cannot mix with either the blacks or the whites. He has a nice sweet white girlfriend but due to the crisis inside him, he starts to move away from here. And he has loving mother beautifully played by Ashley Judd who tells him that all will be fine one day.

However, the writing is inconsistent and we are never ever able to understand or feel the chaos inside Obama. At some places the story is drifting and I was wondering what is happening. However, the ending saves the film from being a total washout.

Devon Terrell is a good actor and its too early for me to judge him through this film since the writing and directing are not upto the mark. He does put up a nice performance and I hope to see more of him soon.

The rest of the cast puts a commendable performance and the movie is worth a visit on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Finally, we have a web series in India made by a top production house with great production values, good content and story and a well known star cast.

Inside Edge is inspired by the IPL and all the backroom drama behind it. So we have the Bollywood actress wonderfully played by Richa Chadda desperately trying to save her team and career, Angad Bedi plays the honest and principal Team Captain, Tanuj Virwani the swash buckling superstar, Amit Sial the devil in the team, Siddhant Chaturvedi the young inexperienced one, Sanjay Suri the nice coach with a hidden past and finally Viveik Oberoi the master villain.

And to this with a great supporting star cast consisting on Sayani Gupta and Manu Rishi Chadha and you get is an edge of the seat thriller.

What I enjoyed the most is that most of the characters are fleshed out. Most of them are grey; some forced to sell the soul to Devil while some trying to runaway from it. Each one is fighting their demon inside and some issue thats challenging them.

The show beautifully captures the money and power in cricket and how as Angad Bedi's says the game is run by politicians and filmstars who nothing about the game. How honest cricketers are forced into corruption and how money can be made by one shot or delivery. This show highlights the casteism in team with Sial being the upper caste running down Chaturvedi who is from a lower caste. Each episode ends on an interesting note and there are enough twists and turns to keep you glued. And I loved the last 5 mins of the show..brilliant!! And thanks to the show being on the internet, there is no censorship...so no beep on cuss words and good sex scenes.

However, the writing could have been more crisper, Oberoi's character is too cartoonish and sometimes it becomes a bit boring in the middle of the season. Also, the show dialogues move between Hindi and English which left me confused sometimes.

The performances are top notch. Richa Chadha is in fine form. Though her English dialogue delivery is poor and I don't blame a bit for her, she covers it with a controller performance. Angad Bedi is a revelation; he needs to do more good stuff after last year's Pink and Dear Zindagi, Suri is seasoned actor and is good in a small supporting role of a man with a troubled past, while Tanuj and Sayani are great in their roles of a heart throb - sex machine - dope smoking cricketer and his cricket analyst sister.

However, the stars of the show are Manu Rishi the rival team owner who is brilliant in a small but important role, Sial the corrupted cricketer and Chaturvedi who is inexperienced discriminated but learns to fight back.

But the biggest disappointment in this lovely series is the villain. Oberoi is a decent actor but the problem here is that he has been giving a cartoonish villain to performance and instead of being subtle, Oberoi just goes overtop. We never get to know who is he, where he is from and who is behind. Pity for Oberoi.

Overall a good product and I am waiting for season 2. Hope it remains as good as one.

I always tell a good film is like a good dish. It should be well cooked and should have a prefect blend of spices, salt and sugar.

Rustom is film spoilt by as say in Hindi, too much Masala.

Firstly, hats off to Akshay Kumar and his team to make a film on the Nanavati trial which ended India's jury trial system. Its a beautiful case which changed the legal system in India.

But the problem here is that there is too much focus put on the aesthetics and less on the story. Also, trying to put a Naval Scam angle to the story didn't make me happy because the Nanavati case is brilliant itself.

Also, the writing is a let down in many places. The courtroom scenes are a joke. After watching Pink last year where we saw some mindblowing scenes, this is pure unintentional comedy.

Coming to the performances, Akshay Kumar is in fine form and the only reason to watch this film. He plays the accused in a very dignified manner and doesn't get over the top. But this is not National Award winning stuff let me make that clear.

Illeana does no justice to her character. She only weeps and weeps and we never understand why she cheated on her loving husband. And Esha Gupta gets one meaty role but hams it up. Her lack of acting skills are visible and she can't play the vamp to perfection. I wish someone like Kareena or Priyanka could have played this role.

Other aspects of the film are fine and it is definitely worth one watch.

Its always difficult to write a movie review for an excellent film or a very bad film. There is too much content to put on paper and one has keeping on filtering.

ADHM is the latter. Frankly, this is the worst film Johar has made according to me. A lot of the people have criticised Kabhi Alvida.... stating it was a bad film. I however consider it to be Johar's best film till date. ADHM is so bad that the barely watchable SOTY deserves a reconsideration.

ADHM could have been a beautiful story of a man's craziness for the woman he loves but who doesn't love him in return. Its a story which most of us would connect with easily.

But Johar and his writing spoils this film. I could never understand through the film why Ranbir's character is so madly in love with Anushka's character. I agree he is a loner and needs love but Anushka's Aliyzeh does nothing special.

The movie is bizarre for most parts and tested my patience multiple times. There were scenes where I wanted to give one tight slap to Ranbir's Ayan because he just doesn't want to grow up and accept reality.

Towards the end of the film, my mother and me couldn't stop laughing because the film had lost its direction and Ranbir's pain had become comical.

The only good things of this film are the soulful music by Pritam, awesome lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, songs sung soulfully by Arijit Singh and last of all Aishwarya Rai.

Rai rocks once she appears in the film in the 2nd half. She demands the audience attention and she is only reason with the music that I gave this film 4/10. Her dialogue delivery is magical and at 43 she looks gorgeous. She shares a nice chemistry with Ranbir.

Coming to Ranbir. He is a brilliant actor but the writing and direction pull him down. And I don't want to see him play this man child again. He has done it in Wake up Sid, in Rockstar and again here. He needs better scripts. Also, I was curious to know Ayan's back story. He is a rich kid who moves in a private jet. But who is his Dad and why he became like this. I wish there was a scene with his Dad somewhere in the film.

Anushka is good but again loses out on poor characterization. Why does she hang around Ayan? Why she leaves her Fawad Khan? Nothing is explained.

And there is SRK is small cameo who as usual hams it. Why on earth do u ham it? Technically its a brilliantly written and directed scene but SRK doesn't do justice. I wish some like Devgn was performing the scene.

Finally, a bad film. Watch it on our own peril and my word to Karan. Please do films like SOTY. You are better off and so are we.

We Indians love musicals and each movie we make irrespective of the language, has songs and dances. Very rare we make a song less movie.

But hats off to Damien Chazelle for writing and directing a musical which beats us in our own game. After watching La La Land, I wondered why we couldn't make a movie like this with the kind of talent Bollywood and rest of the many regional language film industries India has.

I don't know where to start about La La Land. The story of young struggling actress and a Jazz musician in LA could have been a run of the mill film but Damien is fine writer. So he does include the clichés but also keeps small twists and turns in the story. He tells the story in forms of the seasons in LA and how life changes like the seasons.

And when we audience think that all is fine, he beautifully delivers the hammer blow at the end which left me speechless. When I left the theatre, I was wondering how my life is at the moment and how my life could have been if some dreams had come true. My introspection is the result of power of writing. Pity he didn't won an Oscar for writing.

Every frame in the movie looks like a painting and the movie deserves the Oscar for cinematography. And the music is outstanding.

Gosling and Stone are a fine couple on screen and their chemistry lifts this film to another level. Both of fabulous actors. Stone beautifully shows the pain of a struggler while Gosling shows the unhappiness inspite achieving success.

Whether the film should have won the Best film, well after seeing Moonlight I can tell. But its a beautiful film that the reminds us that life will always have surprises.

When Dear Zindagi was released, it got good reviews here in India and my frds were all gaga about. When I finally saw the film, a good two weeks after release, it reminded me a about Haider.

Haider based on Hamlet was a difficult film to watch because of one - the blood and gore and two - the uneven writing. But that got compensated by Shahid & Tabu's award winning performances.

I saw the same issues with Dear Zindagi. Gauri Shinde trying to capture the restlessness of a young girl who does a lot of abstract things in her life but the writing was not upto the mark making me wonder what was happening all the time. Alia tries her best like Shahid but the 1st half was I felt too much for the audience to grasp.

It the entry of SRK towards the end of 1st half that the movie rises. And the writing is brilliant from here. SRK's character not only brings peace to Alia's life but to me as audience. Its here that Alia shines and proves that she is the next big thing in Bollywood. She and SRK take grip of the movie. Her performance is fanstatic through out the film but in the 1st half at times I could not connect with her because of the writing. The 2nd half you understand her and accept her faults and weakness.

SRK is a revelation. I tell people that he is a fine actor who wasted 10 years of his career playing useless roles in Chopra and Johar productions. Finally, he plays his age and the guy with a beard looks fabulous. He so natural that it difficult to believe that SRK is playing this role.

The rest of the cast are fine and the film has lovely soulful music. And, Goa is looks mind blowing and amazing. Most movies capture the party scene of Goa. This movie shows the true beauty of the Goa.

Hindi movies are known to have poor 2nd halves. Dear Zindagi is rare film. It has I say an average 1st half and great 2nd half. A good Sunday watch.

Along with unnecessary sequels, one thing that pisses me off from the stable of Hollywood studios is reboots.

Reboots are mostly rubbish and waste of time & money according to me. And after watching this reboot, it makes my case more stronger.

The fact that Transporter worked so well was its main lead Jason Statham. Even Transporter two and three were below average movies, Statham was at his best.

Sadly, Ed Skerin is no Statham. He lacks his personality and don't start me on his poor dialogue delivery. He may have the looks but his looks can't save this poor movie.

The story which is a revenge drama has not teeth and tough the action sequences are good, they lack the edge of the seat thrill.

The only decent thing is this boring thing is Ray Stevenson who plays Sr Frank Martin aka transpoter's dad. He has some nice one liners and seems to be the fun guy in a film that takes itself too seriously.

Trust me. Miss it !!

Confession. I'm not a fan of Harry Potter nor J K Rowling works. Except for Prisoner of Azkaban, I didn't enjoy any Harry Potter film. And, I felt the Deathly Hallow films were outright boring.

So I went to watch Fantastic Beast with low expectations. And at the end, I was very happy and pleased with what I saw in those 2 hours.

Fantastic Beasts can be seen either as a fantasy film or as a mystery of incidents happening in New York leading to murders and destruction. And in all of this, we have a mysterious young man entering New York with one suitcase of secrets who becomes an unlikely hero.

Newt, a Hogwarts Alumni and known to Dumbledore is beautifully played by Redmayne. He is shy, soft spoken and always in some sort of trouble. Yet his confidence and love for his animals saves him somehow. His is the most well written bit in the movie.

He shares some nice chemistry with his other male lead i.e. Kowalski played by Dan Foger. Foger also does a lovely job of a No Mag aka Muggle who is hesitant to be with Newt but then becomes his partner and also falls in love with Newt's animals and with another magician.

The women played by Waterson and Mary Lou do commendable jobs. While Colin Farrell and Ezra Miller spice up this film with strong performance.

However, the movie belongs to the fantastic beasts. Hats off to Rowling's writing and Yates vision as a director, these beautiful creatures are unbelievable. They're lovely and in 3D you really feel like loving and touching each one of them. If you have kids, they will love these creatures. And will stay with you for a long time.

And also there is a small cameo by Johnny Depp and I'm not saying any more.

Overall, a very satisfying experience and I'm waiting for the sequel and you will also figure out why I'm waiting for it.

Kabali is not a usual Rajni film to begin with. It doesn't have any of Rajni's tricks which have made him famous. Nor it shows Rajni as a young ageless man romancing some heroine one third his age.

Rajni finally plays his age, a 60 year old gangster, out of jail in search of his missing wife and seeking revenge for those who destroyed his life. And this is good part of the film because it great to see Rajni the actor and not Rajni the star.

However, the issue I found with Kabali is writer director is not clear whether he should make a gangster or a serious drama film. There are times where Ranjith is telling us about the underworld in Malaysia run by Chinese and Indians. He also highlights the racial tension between the Indians and Malaysians. But on the other hand, he is also depicting a husband having visions about his wife and searching for her.

One of the main reasons Godfather II is considered one of the best gangster films is because it tells both the stories which such ease without losing its core - the life of Michael Corelone and the revenge story of Vito Corelone.

But unlike the Godfather series, Ranjith adds too much of emotions leaving us confused. So there are two beautiful scenes where Kabali meets his daughter for the 1st time and when he meets his wife after 25 years. Both scenes are very high on emotional quotient. Plus there is a long and meaningless climax and a twist in the end which I felt was not required.

Another problem with Kabali is the villain. Rajni's movies have strong villains. But Kabali lacks strong villains. Winston Chao and Kishore are neither menacing nor convincing and end up as any normal cartoonish villains thanks to the poor writing. Chao especially looks funny wear purple suits with funny expressions.

Apart from Rajani, the saving grace is his women co-stars. Radhika Apte is mind blowing as his long lost wife. Apte who is 30 years old gets into the skin and with ease plays the role of 50 plus year old. She and Rajani share a nice sweet old world charm and chemistry.

Other hand, Dhansika plays Kabali's long lost daughter who is also a contract killer. She also put up a nice performance.

Finally, Kabali is not the usual Rajani film. Its different. However, it had the potential to be a great Rajani film.

I have one but two confessions to make. One is that I have never watched any Star War movies before this one. And two is that this was an accidental choice since the other movies were sold out.However, within 15 mins I knew I was not going to be disappointed.

The beauty of this movie is that I could understand the plot without much knowing about the franchise. And it had everything...a smart heroine, the mystery about Luke Skywalker, the new Jedi, the romance between the Princess Leia and Hans Solo and finally a father son relationship leading to something sad.

One of the best things about this movie other than the charismatic Hans Solo is a female lead who is ready to fight and win just like Rebecca Ferguson's character in MI5. Loved Daisy Ridley's performance as Rey and looking forward to her in the coming films.

Other solid additions to the franchise are Boyega, Issac and Driver and each give fine performances. The franchise looks to be in safe hands. Overall, entertaining.

I would make a confession that I have never read the Jungle Book as a kid and the only memories of Jungle Book I had was seeing the cartoon in India in Hindi. And may be due to this, I was never attracted to the story of the man cub in the jungle. Also, the only story of Kipling I read in school was Kim which I felt was touching.

Technically, Jungle Book is a brilliant film. Amazing visuals and its hard to believe that all the animals are CGI generated. And I won't be surprised if the movies wins a few Oscars for the technical aspects.

However, when I did go to see the movie in 3D and I saw lots of kids around, I was surprised that Favreau had made a film targeting a more mature audience. Seriously, Shere Khan and Kaa are pretty scary to see on screen, menacing and dangerous and the climax is not for the faint hearted. There is a lot of blood and gore in this film.

Also, Favreau's interpretation of the story is a bit strange. He projects the movie as sort of revenge drama between Shere Khan and Mowgli. I never realised Jungle Book was a revenge story. Puzzling.

Watch it for the CGI and visuals.

The problem with sequels I see is that studios cash in on the franchise and forget that they still have to provide entertainment to the audience. And the more number of sequels, the lesser the entertainment value. The 3rd of the this series and the one film that ties all the ends, KFP3 is good but I felt could have been more entertaining. The one thing I love about this series is that there is an underlying message about finding oneself and the purpose of one's life. I loved the 1st one because it was funny and I admired the 2nd one because it was about finding inner peace. Well, the 3rd is somewhere between. There are not many funny moments and going into one's self is also not much. Add to that is Po's reunion with his Dad and his extended Panda family which has the funny part but too much on emotion. And finally we also come to know why Master Oogway chose the Po as the chosen one. Another problem is the villain. Part 1 and 2 had great villains, Kai is a weak one. He is not menacing and nor has any great reason to be bad. Overall, its good but I wish there was more on inner peace and meaning of life.

This is another classic example of never judging a movie from its trailer. The trailer was so good and showed a lot of promise but the movie turned out to be a damp squib. The Coen brothers who have written some classics in the past seem to have an off day. There is so much potential in the story about the movie business in the 50s but too many characters and side plots ruin the film. There is a small bit of history added in about Communists in US in 1950s but that twist looks lame because the story is dull. Perhaps, the Coen brothers should take some inspiration from Tarantino who specialises in making films with multiple characters and side plots. What also made me upset is the Coens waste the talent of multiple actors starting from Clooney, Johansson, Fiennes, Hill, Mcdormand & Swinton who is a double role. They have all interesting characters but never remain sort of caricatures because of the poor writing. And finally coming to Josh Brolin. Brolin is an under rated actor as per me. In the only well written role of a studio fixer Mannix, Brolin gives us performance I could easily relate to. A hard working family man who tries to keep everyone happy and run the studio yet is disturbed and looking for inner peace. A nice performance and I hope in the future Brolin gets similar well written roles in better written movies.

Elizabeth film Director Shekhar Kapur once said that story is the king irrespective of the star cast you have. Pink is that kind of movie where the story is the hero.

Its very difficult for me to write a review about Pink. Its a movie after Love Sex Aur Dhokha that shook me up. When the end credits rolled, I was left speechless, thirsty and sat on my seat for another 5 mins trying to calm myself down.

Yes, Pink is a film about 3 women and yet as a man it shook me up.

Pink beautifully hammers a simple point....what is currently wrong with our urban society and that however educated we are, we still haven't moved with time.

Ritesh Shah, the writer and Chowdhury, the director should be applauded and I will be disappointed if both don't win any award for this film. Its a delicate topic and it could all have gone wrong and it from a great film, it could have ended as a bad film.

The 1st half pans out as a thriller. Set in middle class New Delhi, the story of 3 women harassed mentally and physically by society is difficult to watch. Yet there is the edge of seat thrill as you know there is something waiting to happen next scene.

The 2nd half which becomes a court room drama is riveting and extremely difficult to watch at times. In one moment, one of the accused's father walks out of the courtroom because he cannot hear about his daughter's sex life. Or Big B asking the same women about her sex life and no. of men she slept with. Even the judge is feeling disgusted and embarrassed.

It becomes depressing but thats life and life means also there is hope. The writer and director could have made this film into another Damini which was loud and over top thanks to Sunny Deol. It was effective in the 90s and could be now also.

But subtly is the word here and Chowdhury ensures that neither Big B and Piyush Mishra go over the top and loud though they become hammy at time.

Coming to the performances, the women deserve all credit. Pannu is a revelation and she will pick up a lot of nominations for this outstanding performance. Its a difficult performance and she nails it.

Kulhari is equally brilliant and Pannu and she have some great chemistry on screen. Wish someone makes a film starring them together. Andriea and Vijay Varma are superb in the scenes there are in. Piyush Mishra is a fine actor and is superb.

And finally there is a Big B. Now if you think its going to be a Big B movie, no its not. The trailers are quiet misleading. Big B has a small but pivotal role and hardly speaks during the film. Yet his baritone voice and personality is the icing on the cake. He just adds that extra spark to the second half.

Pink is a once in a lifetime film and should be experienced. Even when we watch this film say 10 or 20 years later, we will still find it relevant and though provoking. Go with family and friends and please watch the end credits.