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Reviews
Aranyak (2021)
An Indian Thriller that Ticks All the Boxes
With its atmosphere inspired by European thrillers such as Black Spot and The Forest, Aranyak does well to match and even exceed them, at times.
The two leads are great, have good chemistry, and the rest of the cast do a fairly decent job.
The sub plots are rich in intrigue of politics, drugs and even the environment, with a serial killer and a forest spirit thrown in to complete the mix! The series makers have taken some potshots at Himachal politics, those who know, will realize what I'm talking about when they're done with the series!
The suspense is nice and will last to nearly the end, but if you're observant, you might pick it up earlier, I didn't but I was bingewatching it, and missed some very obvious hints.
All in all, a very commendable effort. Not in the league of Paatal Lok or Family Man, but one of the best series to have come out in the past year!
Ankahi Ansuni (2021)
Punches Above Its Weight
I had very less expectations when I watched one episode, but this series is pretty good!
Short, quick episodes, great atmosphere of the mysterious rural areas of the Indian hinterland, and excellent acting. The only jarring note is the romance angle of the sub-inspector with the mysterious woman, I felt it doesn't add a lot to the show.
Quite excited for the next season, if it does come out!
Angrezi Medium (2020)
Lost the plot in the middle
The film was excellent for the first 40-45 mins.
After that, the action moved to England, and the film became slow and cliched. The main actress Radhika Madan was not upto the mark, which is surprising as she had done well in Pataakha and Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota.
Kareena Kapoor was not at all needed in this film.
The positives were the crackling chemistry between Irffan. Deepak Dobriyal, and Kiku Sharda; you wish there was so much more of this!
All in all, a film that leaves you with a feeling of what might have been!
The Family Man (2019)
Sets the bar high for the next season
For an Indian series, this rocks!.
Manoj Bajpayee and the 'good guys' are all very very good, but the villains are also sketched out really well, and where the series really scores is the shades of grey that each character has!
Bajpayee's family is an interesting sidetrack and gives an overall depth to the character, though more focus on the issues at hand and less on his family would be better, a bit similar to what happened to Harden in Mindhunter in Season 2.
Now to the content, without taking sides, the writers manage to capture what is happening in India and correlate it nicely with world events.
That is why both the Hindu and Islamic extremists are having a problem with it, a sign that the makers got the content just right!
Zero (2018)
What could have been!
The first thing about the movie I'd like to talk about is about the importance of watching it in a theatre where the audience is of a massy type.
I watched it in Delite cinemas, New Delhi, where the more than 500 audience was giving a splendid reaction to everything which was worth reacting to!
So, my first advice is watch it in a single screen; not in a prim and proper multiplex, half the fun is lost!
One thing I will never forget is that after the film; there was a fellow who was throwing Rs 500 notes in the air for the public to collect! He was emulating a scene in the film where SRK does the same. Such is the passion for movies in India!
The first half is entertaining; Anand L Rai excels in creating the UP atmosphere and here he has SRK and Zeeshan Ashraf in full flow.
SRK as the wicked yet endearing dwarf is excellent; and the first half passes by in a breeze! It is a typical Bollywood potboiler and I quite enjoyed it!
Anushka as the disabled but intelligent scientist, plays his love interest ,and is adequate.
The second half begins with the Issaqbaazi song; which is one of the more entertaining songs that you will see this year!
After that, everything goes rapidly downhill!
Anushka assumes a Stephen Hawking-like character; but it requires a leap of imagination which the film maker is not able to execute with conviction.
Katrina as the spoilt movie star plays her small role well; so not much to comment on here!
The main issue in the second half is both with the script and the acting; neither is the transition from Meerut to America convincing; nor is the acting.
SRK flags and none of the others rises to save the film. This is common to that other Anand L Rai film, Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
The impact of the second half on the audience was that they almost went to sleep; the film picks up in the last 10 mins with a spaceflight and a tearjerker scene in which SRK excels in!
The man sitting next to me was in tears, so that means that it affected at least some of the audience!
For me, the last 30-45 mins was spent in shaking my head as to how this script would have passed muster.
Hollywood gave us Interstellar; and we replied with this!
Most of you reading must be unable to comprehend how a dwarf who lives in Meerut has anything to do with a spaceflight? I'm still wondering about it!
Aligarh (2015)
A story that humanity needs to listen to
Reviewing this after the Supreme Court's historic judgement of decriminalizing homosexuality- September 2018
I was waiting for an opportune time to watch this film and could find none better than the day after this historic judgement.
This film is based on the real life story of Dr Siras, a professor of Aligarh Muslim University. He was hounded out of his job, due to being 'caught' with another man in the privacy of his home! He fought this injustice in court and his job was restored by the judiciary, but he was forced to commit suicide or even murdered.
The way the film captures his story is beautiful. It will force any thinking human being to introspect on his or her prejudices against anyone.
Manoj Bajpayee as Prof Siras is immense; he carries the film on his shoulders and shows just how beautiful a person the professor was. He was a simple man, content in doing his job, and really good at his work. The way Bajpayee manages to flesh the character out is what the essence of good acting is. The dignity of his character and his vulnerability will make you cry as to how our heartless society treated such a person.
Rajkumar Rao as the reporter who manages to strike a rapport with the professor, has done his job. There could have been a little less focus on his backstory as it does not add a lot to the film.
So all in all, this is a film to experience and hopefully to introspect on where we as a society have been going wrong. People such as Siras are meant to be respected and treasured; and not hounded; and the day that happens will mean that we as a society have arrived.