nitin-blue

Animal - as expected from the eagerly awaited 2nd venture of S R Vanga - is an exceptional film. In many ways, it is too much of a muchness. It is as if Vanga had so many good ideas that he could not discard any and decided to put all of them in one film. He wrote, directed and edited the film. He should have left editing to someone else.

Animal is like watching 2 films from different genres edited together to make a 3 hours and 21 minutes long epic. It is patchy. After every 15-20 mins, there is a jaw dropping sequence which makes the long length bearable. Also, the story jumps - a character comes into focus and then is forgotten and a new arc starts. Some characters disappear for an hour and then suddenly reappear.

The movie is full of very stylised action sequences, but almost all feel like Tom & Jerry. A good director can make a single stab more impactful than killing an army of men with room size canons.

Vanga's writing is weakest when he tries to make audience laugh.

Animal is best when it deals with the core conflict of father & son's relationship. Vanga never makes it clear what makes Ranbir chose the path he did. An incident during his childhood that convinces him that violence is the way to solve problems would have been helpful.

Ranbir shows how versatile an actor he is. He gave all he has to this role, but Vanga's writing is not good enough. After Thar, Anil Kapoor again shows that he is not that caricature Jhakaas he pretends to be, but an exceptionally good actor. Rashmika - when given that great scene - sets the screen on fire. Bobby is terrifying - the real hell hound. Compared to Bobby, Ranbir is a cute little puppy. Triptii stands out.

Animal should have been 2 movies - with a bit more time given to set up the characters and slightly less to mind numbing violence.

Do you think it would be wise for Coca Cola to change the recipe for the original coke or KFC to alter whatever herbs and spices they use for their chicken? If a thing works, leave it alone. In most cases, the quest to improve something ends up in ruining it.

The best decision Anil Sharma took with the sequel of the legendry Gadar was to not to mess with the reason why the original is so adored by the public. If you did not like Gadar, you will not like Gadar 2. You can turn up your nose and criticise the original Gadar for being too jingoistic, but the fact is it was a massive hit - even at its re-release recently.

Gadar 2 is a perfect sequel. It brings back the same team. The story advances in a logical manner. Nothing feels out of place. Shaktimaan Talwar's story keeps you on your toes with unexpected surprises. Even characters with only a few lines are written well and are in the movie to serve a purpose. One can feel the care, attention and effort the makers have lavished on this project.

Sunny & Ameesha are the soul of the film. There is a reason why the original was called A Prem Katha. It is ultimately about Tara Singh & Sakeena and their eternal bond.

This is the kind of film that would be most enjoyed when seen in a packed cinema with the enthusiastic audience.

Both Utkarsh Sharma and Simrat Kaur are given enough screen time and they are both are better than expected.

It is a full Paisa Vasool family film. Anil Sharma should be very proud.

Trailer is more entertaining than the film. The excellent - Phir Dhan Te Nan - song is only in the background. Aasmaan was provided with an amazing cast and crew - thanks to Daddy. He tried to do a Tarantino with it and failed. I guess, he did not learn from his father. Arjun as usual disappoints. All the veterans try their best - but are given paper thin characters and absurd dialogues. If Kaminey was a Picasso, Kuttey is a crayon drawing by a 3 year old.

One single sequence - Moong Ki Daal - in the 109 minutes long movie is amusing. If given another chance, my advice to Aasman would be to watch his dad's movies again before saying - Action.

Just walked out of the midnight screening of this awful mess of a movie 20 minutes before the end. This movie is like when you order a sd card and you receive a huge box full of packaging with the item you ordered hiding in a corner. 80% of the scenes have no relevance to the main plot.

Scene after scene full of space wars with big explosions with characters you could not care less about - Benicio Del Toro, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern.

Too many attempts at lame humour which fell flat most of the time.

Immortal characters - surviving everything including being blasted out of the ship into space and floating around.

My appreciation for J J Abrams has increased ten fold after watching this train wreck of a movie.The Force Awakens was such a finely crafted film.

Verna is the first Pakistani movie I have seen in cinema. I made the effort because I respect Shoaib Mansoor directorial style. Bol is one of my all time favourite film and Khuda Ke Liye was great. It takes courage, flair and ingenuity to hold a mirror up to the society and make it entertaining as well.

Verna did not meet my expectations. If Bol is 10 and KKL 8, Verna is only 5. I would still recommend people to watch it, as ShoMan's 5 is a 15 as compared to other directors.

Haroon Shahid is seriously miscast as the husband. The role requires a lot more shades than he is capable of. Pitching an actor in his first role against Mahira Khan does a disservice to both of them. Zarrar Khan is perfect as Sultan. He is charming and scary in turns. Naimal Khawar is given nothing to do. Rasheed Naz and the woman vakil are a bit too over the top in their dramatics.

The main problem with Verna is that it is hard to relate to Sara and her choices. Instead of brave, she comes across as a stubborn and privileged woman, who has complete disregard for the impact her decisions has on everyone around her. The last act of Verna feels more like from a Bond movie than something that can happen in reality.

I guess Pakistan filmmakers are bound by social & political restrictions on what can be shown, but Shoaib Mansoor must be held responsible that Verna is a lot less hard hitting than his previous films.

Final - Despite the flaws, still worth watching. Some TV serials these days are more gripping.

Is Aligarh an important film? It is. Is its subject important? Very. Are the makers of Aligarh sincere about the subject? No doubt about it. Did I like the movie? No Would I recommend people to watch it? Yes

There must be a huge number of constraints on the Aligarh team to make a movie on such a recent event and on such a taboo and misunderstood subject. I absolutely commend their bravery that they managed to make and get the film released.

Other than seeing amazing Manoj Bajpai in one of his best roles, the movie is extremely unsatisfying for the audience. It is as if even the makers are not sure what they want to convey.

I understand that not everything should be handed to audience on a plate. But Siras is all over the place - full of mixed messages. I did not even care about him that much, which I blame on the writer & director.

What I really wanted was a clear and sensitive message that the human need for love & affection works in the same way, be it straight or gay.

Watch Aligarh for Manoj Bajpai - they would use his performance in film schools forever.

A good honest attempt by the director, producer and the lead actress, but the story and the characters let down the film badly. Every character is a cliché - every character behaves in a manner which is quite ridiculous. I did not feel that Anushka was in any real danger at any time. The gang chasing her was so incompetent. I did not feel any sympathy towards her or Neil. They had themselves to blame for the peril they were in. The only good scene in the entire movie is a sequence right at the end - but that is too little, too late to rescue the film. I was expecting a lot darker and serious movie - disappointed.

Even the most expensive special effects cannot match 1% of what viewers can create simply with their imagination. Very few directors have the skill to use this ability of the audience. Unseen is always a lot more scary and disturbing than seen.

There is a 5 minute scene in first half of Ugly. It has no dialogues. There is hardly any action. But it will chill your bones and you will remember it for a long time. It is worth watching Ugly, just to experience the skill of the director in this one scene.

Anurag is truly the gangsta of Hindi cinema. He drags his audience to ultra real, scary and uncomfortable places to meet and confront demons who look just like people you see every day.

Ugly's world is a dog-eat-dog world. Everyone is in it for themselves. They will sell their best friend and his kids to the highest bidder in the blink of an eye.

If you enjoyed Black Friday, Dev D, Gulaal and Gangs of W, you will enjoy Ugly. If you did not, then it is best to stick to Mega Entertainer Sal Khan's movies.

Anyone who is familiar with Shakespeare's Hamlet would be confused and quite dissatisfied with Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of it. If you have never heard of Hamlet, then it is a fairly entertaining movie. The whole movie is dominated by Tabu and she is magnificent as Ghazala or Gertrude. She is a joy to watch - such a subtle and natural actor. Shahid is wasted and it is not his fault. The director is more interested in Ghazala. His role is so badly written. Shraddha Kapoor fares slightly better in her shorter role as Ophelia. But then Vishal kills her without any rhyme or reason. Almost as if he lost interest in writing her role any further. Kay Kay Menon spends the whole movie being Kay Kay Menon. He just looks, acts and sounds the same in every role he is in.

Good - Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Kashmir, Grave Digger's song, Shraddha's Kashmiri accent, Engrossing despite its long length

Bad - Poorly written Hamlet's role, 2nd half moves well away from the original play, Director seems more interested in giving a message about Kashmir situation

Anurag has let down hard working actors and the audience. The film is too long, boring and indulgent. It is badly edited, hence confusing. The director copies from many other movies, but in an unintelligent way. Every character looks cute for about first 10 minutes, but after that you do not really care about any of them. The music is dull. The photography is excellent. The best thing about Barfi! is all the actors esp. Ranbir and Saurabh Shukla , but they are not given anything to work with. Anurag, who wrote it as well, appears to have fallen in love with his own story. Roopali Ganguly is impressive in a small role. Watch Nana Patekar in Yugpurush and compare it to Priyanka.