Reviews

"Gunday" director Ali Abbas Zafar hits a six in third ball of his innings. Yes, this time he teamed up with Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma and "Sultan" likely to shatter some box-office records very soon. Throughout the film it's hard to find Salman Khan but there is the actual presence of Sultan Ali Khan. I don't want to gift all of you some spoilers as Rathyatra and Eid gift so I am not going through the entire story but it's a story of love, relationship, a journey which will definitely make your eyes wet. Kudos to cinematographer Artur Zurawski and obviously editor Rameshwar Bhagat for their extreme contribution to the film. Vishal- Sekhar done a commendable job as music director. Background score has been complemented the pace of the story.

Story of a local wrestler Sultan Ali Khan who never nurtured dream of anything to his dream journey of winning Gold Medal for India at Olympics. His love interest Aarfa, is also a village girl . Luckily they fell in love and then something drastic happens in their life and story turns.

Salman Khan gives performance of his lifetime and supporting cast is equally prominent. It's a visual treat to see Salman getting out of his stardom to fit the character and delivered stellar performance . Ali Abbas Zafar has focused on the script and clap for him that he succeeded to pull-off Salman from his safe genre and it made history itself. Salman Khan at the peak of his career is extending his appeal to masses from classes.

Finally, SULTAN is a must watch and obviously it will be a lifetime experience.

Te3n is an intense dark whodunit thriller with some sub-layers. Story revolves between three main character John Biswas (Amitabh), Martin (Nawaz) and Sarita (Vidya). John plays victim whose granddaughter Angela had been kidnapped and being murdered 8 years ago. He still is searching the man who kidnapped Angela. Investigation officer of that time Martin failed to solve the case and turned into a 'padri'. Sarita is the new investigation officer and an incident connected these three people that after 8 years of Angela's kidnap, another occurrence has taken place and of same style. The film is on searching the kidnapper. It's skilfully simple but very brilliantly rendered. It is very clear that the relation between Amitabh and director Ribhu Dasgupta is awesome that portrayed in the ease of execution of the film. Making a television series 'Yudhh' with Big B definitely made the difference. Also producer Sujoy Ghosh mastered the technique of working with Amitabh. Big B is just on the top form of his career as he is delivering master class again and again. Through the film he carried the grief of a victimized old man is just next to best and peerless. But the character more or less carried the same tone of victimized senior citizen he recently played in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Wazir and its very co-incidental that the treatment of these two characters is almost same. In both of the case after being a victim of a situation where the system failed to do the needful then it turned into a one man show but in comparison to supporting role, Wazir's Farhan Akhtar got more scope to act than Nawaz in 'Te3n'. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, probably one of the most talented actor Bollywood ever have is as usual worth watching but there were no such extra scope for any actor except Big B to excel their previous best. But Nawaz's character portrayed dual tones as he played investigation officer first then he turned to a father in a church and the slight difference of two mannerisms is present. In 'Kahaani' Nawaz was a rude police officer whereas this time he is on receiving end. Vidya Balan reminds us of 'Kahaani again through her looks and portrayal of a investigation officer. Sabyasachi Chakraborty (Mr. Sinha) plays a significant role but the trademark sharpness of his acting is nowhere and he is just a misfit for the thriller. Watching him on screen was a real shock as he remains expressionless. As the director and producer are 'Bangali' there is no big deal that some Bengali actor shown face in the film. Tota Roychowdhury, Sagnik and Arindol Bagchi grab a blink and gone role but their character never affects the film. It's really a negative sign that just because of a Bollywood film the efficient actors from Kolkata are showing their face in a random basis without any aim to be noticed. The entire film has been made in Kolkata. The feel of the tiny by lanes, trams and ancestral house of city through Tushar Kanti Roy's lens is undeniably a visual treat for Bengalis. Khidirpore, Lalbazar, Wrtiters Building, Second Hooghly Bridge, Rabindra Setu, Nimtala Ghat, Cemetry to idol immersion just like a heritage tour of Kolkata. In a chase sequence the use of Santragachhi car shed is very indicative and seems real because the presence of original car shed. Last time in Shoojit Sircar's 'Piku', where Amitabh plays a Bangali Babu was mostly shot in Kolkata but 'Te3n' is completely a Kolkata based story. Ribhu had done a commendable job but editing and background score would have been better. The set designing has fulfilled all the criteria of detailing as presence of radiogram and old fashion wooden cabinet in Amitabh's house is superb. Using a going to be a scrap scooter somehow complemented the economic class of the character. Bargaining in the fish market and thumb-pressing the fish to check freshness is typical Bengali attire and Big B is just stupendous in all the frames. Uses of song are justified but using Bengali song "Sujan Majhi Re'' is to instigate the Bengali sentiment. Director successfully leaved a conjecture game through the film for the viewer which is most important for a whodunit. Now, why Te3n? There are three main character involved in search of a criminal in three different ways and three different mindset. They reached on three different conclusions but the mastery is here that three of them are right on legal way. This unique treatment made 'TE3N' a worth watching thriller.

After a long and extreme labor pain Abhishek Chaubey finally succeeds to show his third baby the light of the world. Yes, after a roller coaster ride and censor controversy 'Udta Punjab' hit the screen with a single cut from Censor Board of Film Certification but there are serious involvement of Mumbai High Court. This Shahid-Alia film just literally stepped out and sent the ball out of the gallery. 'Udta Punjab' is going to set a landmark in Indian Film by creating the entire positive buzz true. The film has been continuously stayed on headlines for several months for many positive and negative reasons. Let's just clarify those respectively. Firstly, Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan last time acted together in 'Milenge Milenge' in 2010. In the last five year, they have been separated and married with other partners. There was a hype to see their chemistry on-screen but here comes a shock that the former love- birds have not shared a single scene together. Secondly, after a disaster like 'Shaandar', Shahid and Alia have been paired again and interestingly this time the director of 'Shaandar', Vikas Bahl is one of the producers. In 'Udta Punjab' Shahid and Alia just outperforms everyone. Thirdly, in 'Udta Punjab' there is three directors are the producers, namely Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap. It is also noteworthy that Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane also going to release their directorial venture 'Raman Raghav 2.0' and 'Bhavesh Joshi' respectively in 2016 too. Fourthly, Diljit Dosanjh who is a popular Punjabi singer debuted through the film. There was a tension about his performance and acceptance especially in Punjab. He acted well but not that he performs outstandingly. The film started with a controversial scene where a man written Pakistan in his jacket throws a packet of drugs like throwing a discuss to Punjab. Then step by step it just unwrapped like the scales of onion and made the system naked. Tommy Singh (Shahid) is a rock star rapper likely to be made by keeping Yo Yo Honey Singh on mind. As Honey Singh has been convicted for his lyric "Main Hoon Balatkari", Tommy also goes to prison for his illicit lyric "Cock-Coke-Coke-Cock". Shahid portrayed Tommy just next to the best. He mastered every details of an abusive rapper. Alia played the role of her lifetime, Mary Jane; a Bihari migrant who had a dream to play hockey in national label but her destiny betrayed her to the extreme. From a simple worker in the field her situation drags her to drug dwelling and finally she got trapped and lost her dignity again and again. Her Bhojpuri accent was awesome. Expression wise she seldom reminds us of Tabu. In a sequence where she passionately smooches Shahid and said, except that everything happened with her is like a tight slap on the male ego. Kareena Kapoor who played Dr. Preet Sahni and later supported policeman Sartaz (Diljit) to unmask the Punjab drug-chain justified her reputation. 'Udta Punjab' controversially deals with Narco-politics of Punjab, Sultanpura, Joshipura, Amritsar and surroundings and rudely unmasked the ugly face of system. D.O.P. Rajeev Ravi again created magic using his lenses after 'Bombay Velvet' and 'Gangs of Wasseypur' series. Amit Trivedi's experiment with tunes again created vibes among young generation. Background score just complemented the theme of the film as Benedict Taylor scored thus who eventually is husband of Bollywood actress Radhika Apte. Meghna Manchanda Sen's edit added a new dimension as she maintains her reputation of her previous works like 'Omkara', 'Kaminey' etc. As a whole 'Udta Punjab' obviously will fly high as it is an ultimate example of teamwork. But on Censorship controversy here raises a question, Have the problem continues for a long time because of Sameer Nair, who is one of the producer is politically from Aam Aadmi Party?