Reviews

This movie typifies the malaise within the Indian mainstream film industry. To think that if you can cram together all the elements that might go into making an entertaining film will ensure a successful film is not stupidity or ignorance, but hubris (thus demonstrating that hubris is stupidity and ignorance). Apoorva Lakhia must take all the blame for this film. But special mention must be made of Ram Charan as well. To think that an artist of his stature doesn't do enough of a quality check - it's a betrayal of the people spending time and money on this film. Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Prakash Raj and Atul Kulkarni do their bit of course and can't be faulted - except that maybe they shouldn't trust Lakhia again. Mahie Gill makes you wonder. Such a promising career and such talent. Choices likes these have the potential to ring the death knell for wonderful actors like her, and it is the corruption of the Indian film industry that forces actors to make terrible choices that ultimately backfire.

And why remake a movie if you're not going to elevate the original? This is tantamount to abuse and exploitation, and quite simply unforgivable. Karan Malhotra's reboot of Agneepath, on the other hand, was tribute to the original metamorphosing into truly surpassing the original (which, despite being a "cult classic", is shockingly poor in several bits).

The lesson to take away from this is that such a waste of resources is an insult to the audiences, and must have longer-standing consequences. The question is: the next time Lakhia gets a chance to put together an excellent cast and crew, will you forget that he was the one who demeaned you and belittled your intelligence with a 2013 film called Zanjeer?

A great show created by one of the true emerging masters of the horror genre, this is Patrick Graham's second outing after the delectably suspenseful 'Ghoul'. Like in that show, Graham understands the innate principle of the horror genre in using it to discuss larger themes that afflict our society. The buildup of suspense through this show is extremely well done, and so are the mini twists that keep things unpredictable until the very end. And with some excellent nods to classic horror films and campy humour, it would be easy to claim that horror outings do not get better than this. A must watch.