Reviews

This is a result when top minds and performances of indian cinema comes together to create a magic on screen

Now India has been among the best in producing web/tv series. Unlike games of thrones , they are doing it with some meaningful drama. An art with some message which in these times we need badly. Such an sensitive topic like terrorism has been dealt so brilliantly, that it is just incredible to see how the writers and director have managed to keep their point of view so balanced. They have shown both the perspectives so well that sometimes you will start questioning your own perspective and sometimes you will start applauding their efforts in writing such a tense drama so cleverly . kudos to the team for delivering such a masterpiece

Can you make a movie with stunning visuals and eyeballs grabbing sequences without VFX and expensive budget, yes you can. The crew of Tumbbad has shown that creativity and craft is not a slave of technology and high budget, all you need is a passion towards the art. The movie has been made across a period of 10 years which speaks the amount of determination and hard work that has been put by the makers of this movie.

Story and screenplay

We all have watched Amar Chitra Katha on Television if you are 90's kid; Tumbbad is like revisiting those olden days of tales that teach us important life morals. The morals in question here is greed. The story has nothing special to offer apart from a little suspense and twist in the climax. But the screenplay, cinematography, larger than life sets and background score transformed a simple story into a brilliant cinematic experience. The screenplay by Rahi Anil Barve and team is gripping and tense. The screenplay does get slow midway but Rahi Anil Barve and his team regained the form in the latter half of the movie.

Direction

The first time director Rahi Anil Barve who is also one of the writers of Tumbbad did a commendable job. He knows exactly what he is trying to show and achieve. The best thing about Rahi Barve is that he showed full confidence in the concept and he was mindful of the tiniest details of the movie. His compassionate work is visible in the ancient locks, retro bus of pre independence era used in the movie. Even the smallest detail is well taken care of which makes sure that the audiences keep on believing this unbelievable tale of greed.

Cinematography, Costume and Sets

Let's talk about the main hero of the movie, the cinematography and the setting used in the movie. The crew of Tumbbad in order to add credibility shot the entire movie in monsoon at original locations in villages of Satara districts. According to the director, VFX is minimally used and natural light was the main source of lightening to bring in the visual effects. The product that has come out in the form of Tumbbad is nothing but a miracle in such a low budget. Such kind of Cinematography and setting is never seen in Bollywood. The movie will set a precedence of its own for years to come. The costume and makeup also deserves a special mention here. The makeup of Haster and one who gets cursed by Haster is spooky and quite disgusting but adds a lot of credibility to the story and the characters. The prosthetics used for the makeover of the grandmother of Vinayak(Sohum Shah) played by Piyush Kaushik will make audiences turn their faces away in disgust and will keep some family audiences away from the theatre. The makers has to be lauded for taking this risk in a Bollywood movie as these kind of makeup makes the characters vivid and real. The prosthetics team has done a splendid job to create believable characters out of an unbelievable story.

Dialogues

In the movie the story of Tumbbad has been told with very minimal dialogues but very effective ones. One of the dialogues "so ja warna Haster aa jayega" gives a feeling of those old Alif Laila dialogues.

Performances

Every actor has done their part well especially the child artistes used in the movie for the role of Soham Shah's younger self and Soham's son. Soham Shah carried the hard and strong look of a well built man very effortlessly. The actors in the movie have done well enough with their face expressions to keep the mystery and the suspense alive till the end of the movie. Background score The background score in the movie is not very loud like most other horror and mystery movies. Most of the movie is shot by using the natural sound of rain and surroundings. Some of the scenes do have those spooky sound effects to increase the horror factor but there are far in between. The movie relies heavily on silence of the natural settings to add authenticity to the proceedings.

What is good?

1. The cinematography 2. The original locations and setting 3. The Makeup , costume and prosthetics 4. The direction

What is not so good? 1. Unnecessary use of scenes with sexual gestures which serves no purpose and could have been best avoided

Originally posted at http://moviemusings.in/tumbbad-review Follow for latest movie reviews and analysis

Sometimes you watch a movie, and tell to yourself that there is no dearth of talent in Bollywood. Sriram Raghavan has been one such a talent and has proven it with Andhadhun. Andhadhun is the story of a blind piano player who gets involved in a murder. The story deals with how the piano player gets out of the hands of the perpetrators of the crime. Mostly a crime thriller is as strong as the suspense it can keep. But this time Director and writers relies mostly on the unexpected twists and turns. The biggest suspense whether Ayushman is blind or not is given off in the beginning of the movie itself.s Performances The strength of Andhadhun lies in the very intelligently used characters in the movie. The unexpected twists and turns could have never looked convincing without the over the top performances of the supporting cast. The movie stands on the outstanding performance of two of its lead cast Ayushman Khurana and Tabu. Tabu as Simi has been brilliant in the scenes where she tries to cover up her crimes. Ayushman has done an excellent job and portrayal of blind man is carried out by him with full conviction. After a long time, audience will watch Honeymoon (1973) fame Anil Dhawan on big screen and he proved to be a very good surprise package in Andhadhun. Direction and screenplay The writers have done a wonderful job. The pace of the movie keeps on escalating with time and the tension build by the taut screenplay doesn't allow the audience to relax even for a minute especially after the first 30 minutes. The writing will surprise you every now and then, mostly so many subplots tend to confuse the audiences and here the craft of the director comes in handy. For director Sriram Raghvan, Andhadhun is not the first time, long back he has made a similar movie called Johnny Gaddar. This time with Andhadhun, Sriram has got better of his previous crime thriller outing. Even with subplots keeps on changing every 15 minutes or so, director Sriram Ragvan kept it non-confusing by dealing with subplots one at a time. Cinematography The cinematographer K.U. Mohanan didn't use much effects and kept it very simple. The camera movements are limited and are used beautifully to capture the details of the expressions of the characters. The Ayushman Khurana has to be applauded to give the cinematographers the much needed blind man expressions. Music Time and again Amit Trivedi has proved that he is master of background score. The background score of Amit Trivedi is not loud this time but very well supports the tense sequences in the movie. The movie does not have many songs but one "naina da kya kassor" is a good number. What is good 1. Awesome performance by Tabu and Ayushman Khurana 2. Unexpected twists and turns 3. Edge of the seat thriller 4. Crisp writing

What is not so good (hard to spot one) 1. Absence of suspense (audience will not complain though)

Final Verdict Go grab your popcorn because you will not watch a better crime thriller than this for a long time.

We already have a lot of Hollywood movie in this genre. A struggle for survival against all odds have been already captured in some Hollywood flicks such as 127 hours, Survival Island among others. This is the first any one has made a movie in this genre in Bollywood and believe me it is an awesome start for Bollywood. Trapped is a story of young man who gets trapped in newly made apartment with no food, electricity and water. it is very necessary to keep movies like Trapped short and crisp otherwise the sequence and scenes will give a feeling of repeatedness and the chance of audience getting bored will increase. 105 mins of run time is apt for the movie and all the struggle for survival sequences captured by the director seems quite legit and natural.

This movie has not been possible without Rajkumar Rao. He has given his blood and soul to this character. All the efforts put by his character to get out of the apartment looked believable and it is a big win for Rajkumar Rao as an actor. May be Vikramaditya Motwane has taken the inspiration of this movie fron the west but the character and setting he has used are very Indian. Rajkumar Rao as Shaurya has played the character of a middle class boy with middle class aspirations. The struggle for survival are quite original and looks genuine.

But the only problem is that Indian audience are still not ready for this kind of movie. Made on a very small budget of 5 crore, the movie didn't even manage to cover its cost through theatrical revenue

Go and watch this movie and celebrate effort and courage of Vikramaditya Motwane

Ghazi attack is a beautiful example of what you can achieve in a very limited budget. Made on a paltry budget of just 15 crores, Ghazi Attack can be considered as a superlative outcome. The film makers also didnt do much promotions of the movie and so the awareness of the movie was also limited.

To my surprise the vfx of the movie is pretty decent considering its budget. Apart from the underwater scenes of submarine, the set used for showing the interior is also decent if not great. Having good actors makes the director not to worry about the performances, kay kay Menon and and Atul Kulkarni are on the money as always. Rana Duggbatti as Lt. Commander Arjun is also decent. The writers and directors has done quite a lot of improvisations to increase the cinematic effect of the movie. Even some of the scenes such as the scene in which the submarine soldier sang the National Anthem feels a little over melodramatic. Apart from that movie has also been able to generate some very intelligently placed humor during the fight between submarines.

Overall if you like a good dose of some melodramatic patriotism grab this one.

A revenge saga is as good as the motive and driving force behind the revenge. The more convincing the reason for revenge, the more is the effectiveness of a revenge story. Yes, Kaabil has got a good plot for a revenge story and the reason for revenge has been properly captured in the first half. The Director has made sure that the audience feels for the loss of the protagonist, the bilnd Rohan Bhatnagar played by Hrithik Roshan. A blind man taking revenge, the plot is interesting but writing an intelligent revenge plot is that much difficult. Writer Vijay Kumar Mishra has written some good revenge sequences and very well captured by cinematographers Ayananka Bose and Sudeep Chaterjee. The scene in which Rohit Roy has been killed is one of the highlights of the movie. Director has given some meaty roles to others apart from the main protagonists and antagonists. Notable is the role Inspector Chaubey played by Narendra Chaubey. His presence gave a new dimension to the revenge plot where the audience watches the saga folding through the eyes of Inspector Chaubey. The biggest limitation of a revenge saga is that there is hardly a chance to experiment and that has also been a impending stone for Kaabil. The movie in the second half also got a little predictable due to the overuse of mimicry talent of Rohan Bhatnagar. Overall the movie is a good one time watch.

There are bad movies and then there are ones where people leave the theatres in interval. Golmaal Again is best left alone and rather not try going through excruciating pain of watching these mindless piece. A comedy movie is as good as the amount of laughter it generates and this is the biggest problem of the movie. It has not got a single scene where any your funny bones will get tickle. The amount of fun and laughter has followed a decreasing trend with every movie of Golmaal franchise and this time Golmaal again has touched a new low. The dialogues and scenes looked very childish and none of the jokes worked. Even the ghostly comedy plot didn't work being it very predictable and childish. The writing and pathetic dialogues have made some good actors look bad especially Sanjay Mishra. It is best to have some sleep in your home rather than going through horror of watching Golmaal again.

A social satire can't be more entertaining than Hindi Medium. It is hard to find any flaw in this well written film. There are two heroes in Hindi Medium which makes it a great watch, well written dialogues and performances. Apart from the lead actors Deepak Dobriyal as Shayam Prakash has been a show stealer. His comical timing with Irfan Khan is just too good to be true. The director has made good use of Deepak's sarcasm on poverty which is also the best part of his act. The movie also has some surprise package in the form of flashback at the beginning of the movie. The song "koi Hoor" has been very beautifully picturized along the teenage romance in this flashback sequence Overall this movie is for all ages and a must watch for all cinemagoers

Sometimes a movie gets bigger than its filmmakers and its characters, Mukkabaaz is one of them. The film Mukkabaaz has scored full marks in almost every department be it Direction, writing, performances. Mukkabaaz will do more for Vineet Kumar Singh than anyone else. After notable brilliant small roles in Gangas of Wasseypur and Ugly, Vineet kumar Singh has shown his full range in Mukkabaaz. The rest of the actors have also done a splendid job, notable is the character of Sunaina played by Zoya Hussain. She has won hearts even without dialogues as a dumb girl. Her intensity in the role is just praiseworthy. Anurag Kashyap like always got us to rave about his directorial capability. He is able to crave out some scenes which will move the audience to the core especially the traffic scene where Vineet singh is trying to stop the car of Jimmy Shergill. The director also made hard commentary through this movie on prevalent caste system and mob lynching. The movie has got some great songs that is beautifully woven in the flow of the movie. This movie is a real treat to all the Anurag fans and a must watch

Make no mistake; although Omerta is a full feature film, Hansal Mehta has filmed the movie in documentary style. The movie doesn't have any drama and is straight to the point. With a run time of 98 minutes the movie is compact and hard hitting. The highlight of this film is the performance of Rajkumar Rao. His preparation and research for playing terrorist Omar Saeed can be easily seen. He played the calm and violent scenes equally well. Rajkumar Rao took the murder scene of Daniel Pearl to the next level and it is one of the most terrific murder scenes ever filmed in Bollywood. The problem of Omerta is that the movie never looked like taking off and the pace of the movie was very linear just like in a documentary. The strength of the movie is its authentic setting, hard hitting performances and the good background research by its filmmakers.

Finally the story of Pokhran is told to the Indians through a feature film. Any movie which is about a significant historical event has to be very accurate and original in its treatment. This is the second time duo of John Abraham (as Producer and Actor) and Abhishek Sharma(as director) has made a movie on a significant historical event. The last time it was, brilliantly made Madras café based upon killing of ex Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Parmanu is different from Madras Café in many ways as Parmanu has got less no of fictional characters than Madras Café but at the same time the amount of improvisation is more in Parmanu. This time Abhishek Sharma in effort to keep this movie light hearted has used some comical elements in the movie. DRDO scientist played by talented Yogendra Tikku has given this task to induce comic instances in the movie. However this movie didn't need the cheap laughter at least from a character that is playing a DRDO scientist. Many time film makers do this to cater to a larger audience but in turn loose the essence of the plot. The climax has been very beautifully captured by the cinematographer Zubin Mistry and he has done really well to make the climax more effective. The climax has been quite successful to evoke the much needed patriotic feeling inside the audiences. Overall the movie is an entertaining watch but could have been better if it would have stick to more serious writing and less melodrama.

How many times this has happened that you have liked both the characters as well as the message, the movie wants to deliver. Amitabh and Rishi both will make you fall in love with them in Umesh Shukla's 102 not out. A simple story of a 102 old man trying to change the life of his 75 year old son is quite experimental and fresh. The movie covers three generations and tried to showcase the complex and troubled relation between father and son across three generations. The run time of the movie is quite short and kept at 102 minutes and this has made sure that the movie will never make you feel bore. The screenplay is taut and does full justice to the plot. The director has not given the whole plot of the movie in the beginning and has passed it to the audience in bits and pieces. This has made the audience to be interested in the proceedings till the end of the movie. Watch 102 not out for a fun filled ride and some emotional dose

Human behavior and his nature is complex and Shoojit Sircar has successfully showcased this in October. This time in October, Shoojit Sircar wants the audience to be in pursuit for eternity and true meaning of life. Shoojit Sircar has worked diligently on its characters especially Varun Dhawan. He has tried to go very deep with the character of Danish played by Varun. The character of Danish is very unconventional and it is hard to justify his actions and behavior. But the audience will still believe in this character and this is the real beauty of this movie. Banita Sandhu as Shiuli impressed everyone without having any dialogues in the movie. The atmosphere in the movie is quite tense and the director kept it that way to make his audience to seriously reflect on them during the movie. Shoojit has done well to keep the movie short as screenplay is quite slow and a long movie would have tested the patience level of audiences. Overall October is a fine piece of art that successful speaks about timelessness.

Raid has been one of those movies where the script and the plot demand it to be kept short. Raj kumar Gupta knew it very well and with a run time of 122 mins he decided not to be over ambitious. The entire movie is based upon a single raid and 80% of the movie is shot in a single house. Therefore it was a herculean task to keep the movie interesting. Raj kumar Gupta has been able to keep the audience hooked through the earnest performances of his lead and supporting actors. The dialogues seemed real and were not over filmy. Despite being an entertaining watch there are some noteworthy flaws in the writing and it is not easy to ignore them. For instance, in the first half Ajay Devgan and his team could not find any of the black money but as soon they found the first lot, they started finding the money from very part of the house. These are some of the glitches but overall it is a nice watch if you can ignore them

With Sonu Ki Titu ki Sweety, Luv Ranjan has now made a hat-trick of movies that are centered on Misogyny. Luv Ranjan has mastered the art of making movies that are targeted at contemporary youth. This one is a little different from his last two movies, this time he has gone the daily soap path The movie's story is very similar to Daily soaps but with a different treatment to target youths. He chose to keep only the theme and left those over-melodramatic background scores, faces and visual effects of daily soaps. Like a daily soap, Sonu ki titu ki sweety has got a female antagonist, the main conspirator and a protagonist who is trying to counter her. So, why such an old story has worked here and is entertaining as well. The writing is taut and there is never a dull moment. The performances are again up to the mark especially by Nusrat Barucha. The dialogues are crisp and timings have been excellent. The music is catchy and very well used in the movie. The song "Mera Yaar Hain Tu" has been written beautifully and has been very effective in the climax to connect the audience with the bromance of the lead actors which is supposedly the central theme of the movie. Luv Ranjan's movie works because the youth are able to connect themselves with the characters and in this movie also he has been able to do the same. If you want some light hearted entertainment, Sonu ki titu ki sweety can be given a chance.

Tikli and Laxmi Bomb is about an issue which we all are aware of but no one wants to talk about. Director and writer Aditya Kriplani has been brave on choosing this topic. While watching this movie you will feel that there is a lot of research done by the director. Aditya Kripalani has tried to deev dive into social issue of prostitution and the continuous struggle of prostitutes. It is because of his attempt to capture each and every aspect of this issue the movie feels a bit stretched especially the revolt of prostitutes against the system designed and ruled by men. The best thing about the writing and direction of Aditya Kriplani is that he is able to establish a connection between the characters and audience especially the lead cast Putul played by very talented Chitrangada Chakraborty . In scenes where Putul is being tortured and harassed by Police and goons the audience will start feeling for her. The audience will also feel happy where Putul is able to win over her rivals. The credit for these has to be given to both the actors and the filmmakers. The director has played very smart in the climax. The director choose to leave the ending very open to tell that the struggle of this section of society (Prostitutes) against the Patriarchy is an ongoing struggle and if there is any solution to this, then that is still to be found. So, all the moviegoers who would be hoping for a conclusive ending has to remain disappointed. The movie has got some violence but that has to be there as it was the need of the story. The director has managed to shoot the movie without any nude and sex scenes. Most of the sex and nude scenes are captured through gestures of hand and faces. This decision by filmmakers and director has to be applauded as shooting a movie based on prostitution without explicit sex and nude scenes is always going to be difficult. This saved the movie from any kind of vulgarity. The impression of movie will remain in audiences mind for some time after they left the theatre mostly because of the hard hitting approach the director has taken to deal with subject.

It is always said that film making is all about details, once you miss something you are out of the game as audience will not miss it in the theatre. Sui Dhaaga is a perfect example of this. With some splendid acting, authentic sets, costume and makeup, this movie feels very real and has got its heart at the right place. But it is also true that whatever you do, you should not throw the logic out of the movie. That is what the director and writer Sharat Katariya should have been mindful of in the second half of the movie. The first half of Sui Dhaaga will win you all over with the emotions and chemistry between Mauji and Mamta, whereas the second half became victim of trying to be over melodramatic. Sharat made fatal screenplay mistakes in the second half which will erode away the emotional connect the audience has established with Mauji and Mamta. The best thing about the movie is that the performances of the cast have never been compromised. Varun Dhawan has given his life's best performances and hasn't given any hint of his glamorous image which he has got among his fans. Anushka Sharma like always lived the role of Mamta as it was designed for her only. The credit for making this movie watchable despite its flaws has to be also given to its supporting cast. Raghuvir Yadav is again in form after Newton. After Varun Dhawan and Anushka, the performance that made the movie look so real and close to the heart is the performance of Yamini Das as Mauji's mother. Overall the movie would have been a very satisfying watch but unfortunately loses its track in the second half.

Newton review

Newton isn't a great movie, but yes it does excel in many parts. It is the India's official entry for Oscar. It is a great choice by the selection committee as it does tell something which is unique about India through some simple and honest storytelling. This movie has the best chance among others as Oscar jury mostly prefers something new, fresh and unique. This movie indirectly celebrates Indian democracy by showing its flaws. This movie takes a satirical route to show the flaws in current election system. Kudos to Amit Masurkar and its team to travel deep into jungles of Chattisgarh to add to the genuineness of the plot and the set up. The biggest strength of the film lies in its authenticity whether it is the characters, the set, the plot or the performances. The flaws in the Indian democracy is told to the audiences as it is being confronted by the idealist and honest protagonist of the movie. The highlights of the movie is the altercations between the election officer played by Rajkumar Rao and the military officer who is in charge of security played by brilliant Pankaj Tripathi. But it is Pankaj Tripathy who has stolen the show this time. His dialogues delivery in the movie seemed very spontaneous. In the movie Pankaj is always against the views and actions of Rajkumar Rao. Pankaj has to show on screen that he is very angry from inside and at the same time he also has to restrain himself from hitting Rajkumar. Pankaj Tripathi does this excellently and every time there is an altercation between Rajkumar and Pankaj in the movie, the audience will feel like that this time Pankaj will lose his cool only to discover that they have wait for the next time. Both of this character are very diligently written by director and writer Amit Masurkar. Indirectly the director also passes some morals to the audiences such as "one should not be arrogant about being honest because that is already expected from everyone". So what stopped the movie from becoming great. It is the predictability of the movie. Most of the Indian audience who is going to watch the movie already know the pathetic condition of elections in the tribals. As the movie progresses the next scenes became evident more so after the interval. It is the dialogues and the comical timing of Pankaj Tripathi keeps the audiences hooked. It was good from the director and the writer that they kept the movie short to 106 mins of run time. This helped the movie to be crisp and more effective. Before we move to other characters in the movie, it is important to talk about Rajkumar Rao the main protagonist in the movie. The strength of Rajkumar is that he is very natural and never looks like that he is acting. He mostly carries out his performance effortlessly. In Newton also he is able to showcase this ability of his. The other supporting actors also did a good job. It was nice to see Raghuvir Yadav on big screen after a long time. The director made quite a use of sarcasm in this movie and tried not to make the movie loud to deliver the message. That is where Amit Masurkar has to be credited as passing a message without explicitly asking lead actors to yell in their dialogues it is not that easy. Newton took a very fresh take on Indian democracy, election system and the Naxal problems. Most of the movie made on these topics used to be loud, violent but Amit Masurkar took a different path this time. Give it a watch.

Have you ever thought what makes a film to have a long lasting impression on its audience. It doesn't always require an unique storyline or plot, nor does it always need a big setup, sometimes simplicity does the trick. Masaan is a proof of that kind, it is as simple as it can get, got into the heart of its viewers, only to remain there forever. A well researched movie by Neeraj Ghaywan, about varanasi, the accent, the people. But sometimes we have also seen that too much research spoils the movie. The problem here is that the director needs to also decide what part of the research to show in the movie. A prime example is Batti Gul Meter Chalu. Here the director along with the location and the prevalent local attires also tried to completely use the local language. Most of the audience never heard that language and above that even the actor seemed to be speaking the language only superficially as the language was also new to them. The movie covers two parallel story set up in Varanasi, a father-daughter duo and a love story of a lower caste boy and an upper caste girl. Both the stories has tragedy as their central theme and the story leads the characters to cross each other in the climax. Director, Neeraj kept the ending quite open ended and allowed the audiences to have their own opinion about the life of the characters after the movie has ended. Sometimes this kind of open ended climax works in the negative way where the audience wants to know about the final fate of the characters because they want the writers to give them a happy ending. The director and writer Varun Grover in this movie never aimed to actually tell stories of four lives, rather they just want their audiences to feel and experience their pain. Trust me they did it brilliantly.

The love story between Vicky kausal and Shweta Tripathy was not only heartwarming but also looked very authentic. The best part is that the writers never used any catchy bollywood liners in the movie to express their romance. The cinematographer Avinash Arun very beautifully captured the nuances of Varanasi as a background to this love story. This also made the love story look more realistic. Notably the scene in which Vicky and Shweta met for the first time, scenes of durga puja fair, first date at restaurant are the ones which leaves you wanting more. The movie could have never been so good without the good performances of its lead actors especially Vicky Kausal. Director Neeraj has dug gold here with Vicky. Even when Vicky Kausal has featured in two feature films before Masaan, he for the first time has done a noteworthy role and you will keep thanking the director for this. You will rejoice with him when he is happy and will cry when he cries. Such was the effect of his act and character in the movie. Shweta Tripathy is sweet and innocent and played her character from the heart. Pankaj Tripathi shines in his short role. The casting of Richa Chaddha for the role of Devi Pathak played out to be perfect as it now seems that role of strong and bold female character is always made for Richa. She has previously played the role of a bold girl with outward personality in Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, so this was not the first time for Richa.

The song "tu kis rail si guzarti hain" is very well written and the music by Indian Ocean has quite a bit of local flavor. This song during durga puja festival very beautifully connects the audience with the unspoken romance between Vicky and Shweta. While the movie does complete justice with the story of Vicky and Shaalu, it couldn't do justice at the same level with the story of father and daughter. Not that the director failed to show the estranged relationship between Richa as daughter and Sanjay Mishra as father, they actually did able to keep the audience hooked to this story as well but the audience will not feel the same connection what they will feel with the story of Vicky and Shaalu. The missing thread here is that the writers and directors didn't tell the audience about how was the characters life before the tragedy happened. They started the movie with the tragedy itself in case of sanjay-Richa story while in case of other story they first showed how happy the characters were before the tragedy.

Overall one should watch this, as not everytime you come across such a marvelous piece of art.

How many times have you seen that the name of the movie is not explicitly mentioned in the movie but somewhere you feel that whatever happening in the movie is exactly the same as its name. This movie gets uglier by every passing minute. Double crossing, personal revenge, envy are the words which define the characters in this movie.

Performances are just exemplary particularly by Ronit roy as cop Shaumik Bose, Girish Kulkarni as inspector Jadhav and last but not the least Vineet kumar Singh as Chaitanya Mishra. All these three characters had their own share of excellence in the movie. Ronit Roy shows his best in the lockup scene where he beats Rahul Bhat. He has done what he does best, carrying out the tough, drunken and serious personality and yes he can never go wrong in that, neither does he. Girish Kulkarni, national winning actor, is a well known face in Marathi movies, has given every reason in Ugly to believe why he is considered one of the best. The fifteen minutes long scene where Rahul Bhat approaches him for reporting the missing girl is certainly the highlight of the movie. The improvisation done by him is unique and never such type of scene is shot in any bollywood movie. Vineet kumar Singh has his own share in the lockup scene where he hurled abuses on his friend. Believe me never ever one would have ever enjoyed such explicit abuses so much on screen. But the main credit for this magnificent piece of art goes to the writers. The plot is very simple but it looks like that the narrative has been improvised as the movie goes along. The writing is so taut and crisp that it keeps you on the edge of the screen throughout the movie.

Anurag Kashyap has ticked all the boxes this time with his direction, some of his previous movie became slow in the middle as in Dev D. But this time there is no problem in that department. He made sure that every nitty-gritty is looked upon in detail and he also paid special attention to characterization. The characters in this movie are deep particularly Ronit Roy as cop and his wife played by Tejashwini Kolhapure. This movie could have been less darker. We know that Anurag Kashyap excels in dark noir but this movie didn't needed to be so dark to excel. This is Anurag's darkest film after Paanch. This will keep a lot particularly family audiences away.

The movie consists of many characters concurrently trying to gain advantage of the situation to make money or satisfy their ego. Most of the time if the writing is not consistent this creates confusion but this is handled so well that one will start appreciating the direction and the writing.

In the climax this movie also gives a moral lesson that what greed and envy can do. Overall it is very satisfying watch and must watch for every moviegoer who loves Anurag kind of cinema

Ghoul is not just a supernatural thriller, it has covered a lot of other things like moral and sectarian conflicts too. For the first time in India any show has used a setup which mirrors a situation that is probable in the future. In west this concept has been used extensively in films like blade runner 2049, Matrix and many others.

Director Patric Graham has set the series in an era where the sectarian conflicts is on the rise and everone who speaks against the government is prosecuted. It takes a brave heart to make a show on such topic as you know many people will not accept this idea. Ghoul has showed a social mirror that every Indian can see himself in. Actually it has subtly captured the the cry of many in the current government. The best thing is that it has not pointed out on any political or social outfit. That is a good part on the makers as the main aim of a movie is to enlight the audience and not blame anyone.

Taking about the cast, Radhika Apte has again a fine job and the best thing about her is that the personality she has got makes it very easy for her to get in the skin of any role. Manav Kaul as the head of the military confinement played a role who is strong and vulnerable at the same moment. Time and again his character can be seen as justifying the work they do even when he knows that what they are doing is wrong. He portrayed this conflict with great conviction. But the character of Laxmi Das, played by Ratnabali Bhattacharjee steals the show. She is the one only character in this series who didn't had any moral conflict. She played a the role of a ruthless officer with no mercy at all. She is able to evoke the hatred in audiences to a great extent much needed for this character to excel.

There are not much scary scenes and the director should have worked more on this. The director relied more on mystique events and characters along with blood and violence to engage audiences. If the audience are looking for a traditional horror series, then they will be disappointed. One thing the dirrctor didn't gave in one go is the suspense but allowed it to pass to the audiences in bits and pieces. He has managed to hold on the suspense quite well.

Overall Ghoul is quite a thrilling ride if you are okay with the blood and violence and of course the concept shown in this movie

For of all it has to be made clear that this is the first time director Anubhav Sinha is making a movie on complex social issues and to my surprise he has done exceptionally well. The othet movie he has made were for the masses and full of bollywood formulas notable were Dus, Cash, Tum bin 2

The highlights of the movie are performances by the main cast. Rishi Kapoor is really getting better with his age and one more to his crown. He has just eased into the character of a troubled Muslim Father. Tapsee Pannu again gave a solid performance as the lawayer cum daughter in law of Rishi Kapoor. She managed to excellently deliver the loud dialogues in the courtroom with ease. Among the supporting cast Rajat Kapoor as Danish Khan stole the show. His hard gritty eyes which showed no mercy for the terrorist was a piece of icing on the cake.

The director was in no mood to keep his message and emotion subtle in the movie, rather he kept it as loud as possible. This will also give a reason for many people not to accept the movie with ease. The opinion on the message, the director tried to convey is divided which will reflect in the acceptance of the movie by the general public. The way Anubhav Sinha tried to deliver the message gives a resemblance of Pink where the message was "No means No". In this movie the director want to convey that the terrorism has no face and no religion.

Overall the movie is hard hitting commentary on terrorism and the prejudices that a person accused of terrorism and its family faces

This is the story of a superhero which walks, talks, fights and thinks like a common man. Basically director Vikramaditya Motwane wants to tell that every common man can be a superhero, and you don't need special powers to become one.

The biggest strength of the movie is that it will drive its audience into introspection. The commentary "that to change the country one has to change himself first, even if nobody joins you" is repeatedly given in the movie.

Apart from vikramaditya motwane, one who needs to be given the credit for this brilliant movie is Siddharth Diwan, the cinematographer. The way he has shot the streets of Mumbai in chase sequences is just extraordinary. The chase sequence where protagonist is being chased by the police is one of the main highlights of the movie. It will remind you of the chase sequence, motwane had in his previous outing "Lootera".

Call it a strength or a paradox, the superhero is not a superhero here . It is just a metaphor in this movie,. He is very believable, and is one among us. He is a superhero because of his thoughts.

Vikramaditya Motwane has done the characterization keeping in mind that the protagonist who is fighting against corruption is very much physically vulnerable. Even when Harshvardhan kapoor learns martial art to fight the corrupt, he doesn't become invincible. He just manages to face them and collapses when he fights for long.

This movie also gave a commentary on "why corruption is hard to eradicate"

Vikramaditya motwane had his own share of "The dark knight" in this movie where he subtly uses the dialogue and atmospheric nuances of the climax of the dark Knight. All dark Knight fan will feel this.

Overall "Bhavesh Joshi" will be remembered for years to come as a movie against social evils and corrupt system.

Horror comedy genre is not yet well explored in India and maybe Stree will be a beginning. Not that it hasn't been tried in Bollywood, it ihas been but with no success. The person who has tried his hands in horror comedy was no other than Ramgopal Verma with Darna Nana Hain and Darna Zaroori Hain. But they were not well received by the audience.

Rajkumar Rao has been growing leaps and bounds and he has been terrific again. But this time it is the supporting cast which has made a difference.Abhishek Banerjee as Rajkumar Rao's friend in the movie managed to earn laughter whenever he was on screen. Pankaj Tripathi who has now a go to man in Bollywood never misses a mark and nor he has in Stree. He played a very quirky role of a researcher who has researched a lot about the witch(Stree).He carried on his excellent form from where he has left in Newton. Shraddha Kapoor is decent but the meatier role has gone to the supporting cast this time

The screenplay is fast and taut and there is never a dull moment in the movie the writers Raj and D. K. ensured that.

The dialogues by Sumit Arora are quite innovative such as "o stree kal aana".

As we glance over the history, most of the movie in horror comedy genre doesn't scare the audience and here Stree scores over others. Stree has got some good over the edge scary scenes.Director Amar Kaushik did a commendable job by making sure that the horror is not lost in the comedy.

The movie also has subtle social message and commentary on patriarchal society. The focus on this social issue felt half baked and could have been given more focus.

The songs somewhat felt unnecessary especially the item numbers. The music is good but should have used more in the background.