belaraja-229-415249

IMDb member since February 2015
    Lifetime Total
    10+
    IMDb Member
    9 years

Reviews

Kho Gaye Hum Kahan
(2023)

A must watch for young adults
Life captive to screens - very well portrayed. How easily one gets sucked down the virtual life hole, is shown very well.

Each character grows on you and I am sure many identify with one of them. Siddhant Chaturvedi is really good. So is Ananya Pandey and Adarsh Gourav. I liked Anya Singh too - she delivered a really important message in essaying her role!

Kudos to the writer and director Arjun Varain Singh. There are 4 other writers but I guess Arjun put it all together.

The music is nothing to write home about but the movie makes for excellent watching.

I recommend that you watch the movie yet reduce screen time. How?

Figure that out!

The Archies
(2023)

A good film for Archie fans
I have been reading Archie comics since I was a child so I am a little biased.

The movie is fairly good. It does not have the spark that I thought it would have. I feel the newcomers were very self conscious and that affected their performances. When one thinks of Dimple Kapadia at the age of 14 in her first film Bobby or Jaya Bhaduri in her first film Guddi, these performances were very subdued.

The cinematography was good and the music reasonably so.

I felt Reggie played by Vedang Raina was the best of the lot.

The parents were inconspicuous. There was nothing in their performances that singled them out. Maybe Mr Lodge was most noticeable.

Pop Tate, such an important character was terribly underplayed.

I wonder where it went wrong for the makers. This could have been such a spirited, lively film.

Anyway, I am an Archie fan. I still read his comics. So I am rating it at 7/10.

Jubilee
(2023)

Fantastic - in every sense of the word!
Hats off to Vikramaditya Motwane - the direction is screamingly super! Every scene, every nuance, the lighting, the pauses, the telephone ringing - it all contributes to a splendid scene.

The characters - Prasenajit Chatterji, Aparshakti Khurana and Siddhant Gupta along with Aditi Rao Hydari and Wamiqa Gubbi - we're all excellent. Chatterji's role suited him to a T. He reminds you, looks wise of his father but is miles ahead in acting talent. I think acting genes run in the Khurana family. Aparshakti brought his role to life as he underplayed his emotions yet you could see him simmering. Siddhant Gupta was very good - a bit raw but he can be groomed into superstar status. Each of them are in pursuit of their dreams and what they are willing to do to realise them.

The storyline was really taut, almost unputdownable.

What I really enjoyed was the unfolding of the development of the film industry. There are shenanigans now as there were, then. The storyline was very believable.

This is a Must See!

A good one after a long time!

Brahmastra Part One: Shiva
(2022)

Ridiculous!
Seems that Brahmastra is a cross between Harry Potter and some other ridiculous movie.

It has just been hard luck for Ranbir Kapoor. He is such a fine actor but keeps getting into such nonsensical projects.

Alia Bhatts talent is such that it shines anywhere....even in a comical movie like Brahmastra.

I think Mouni Roy has established herself as a villain. She does very well in her role.

People are going on about wonderful VFX but it's just a lot of streams of light floating one way or the other.

Obviously this movie was going to flop, as it has.

The story could have been treated differently with much more logic. The Indian audience are not going to take any nonsense dished out to them.

Always, the Story is King!

Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives
(2020)

Obnoxious
This is not a serial. It is a lengthy ad promoting anybody who paid Karan. Netflix, pull up your socks. Reject such content. When you have parents behaving the way they do, using such foul language, what do you expect from the children? Karan has hidden agendas and is using these people to pull these agendas off and either he is paying them or they are just unaware. The second season is like real trashy. There really was nothing else to discuss? I am supposed to fill this review with 600 characters but I really can't find anything remotely nice to say. I just wish Netflix shows heightened discerning abilities when they release content.

Manifest
(2018)

Only questions, no answers
I went through season 1 eagerly at first and then on FF, waiting for the unravelling of the plot. I am on the last episode of S 1 and there are no answers coming. I am giving up now. Anything that is so long drawn is not worth the watch - a pity because it started out very well. Maybe I will jump to the last episode of S3 to see if they've got some answers there.

Dasvi
(2022)

A Real Feel Good movie
After a long time, here is a movie that is a family entertainer. Abhishek Bachchan was really good. I feel he has always been undervalued. With the right director, the right encouragement, he is an excellent actor. Yami Gautam as the jailor was excellent too but she normally is. It was a little far fetched to assume somebody looking like a movie star could be a jailor. But I guess that is called creative license. The surprise of the package was Nimrat Kaur. This is the first time I watched her on screen and she was terrific as the downtrodden wife who rose to become the sassy CM.

The storyline may be a little convoluted but to showcase the importance of education and to support dyslexic learners, made up for so much. Abhishek's pronounced left hand hook shows up so clearly.

I was holding my breath when the protagonist went to check the results! Dasvi is a Must Watch.

Rocket Boys
(2022)

Can't wait for season 2
An excellent depiction of what probably happened in Indian history. To watch a serial that has APJ Abdul Kalam, Pandit Nehru, Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, among other historic figures, is really interesting. I forgot that It was Jim Sarah and started believing that I was actually watching Homi Bhabha on screen.

Please hurry and bring Season 2.

The Empire
(2021)

History comes alive!
What a brilliant depiction of the life of Babur and everything that surrounded it. Intricate sets, dazzling costumes, scintillating performances by Dino Morea (Shaibani Khan), Drashti Dhami ( Khanzaada) and Rahul Dev. Kunal Kapoor was a bit low key as Babur but was good. Now I understand the importance of the 1st battle of Panipat, something I could never figure out is school. I do not know why this series has received a 4/10 on IMDB. It deserves a 9/10. Watch it everybody!

Thappad
(2020)

Touches upon a very sensitive subject
This is not an average pot boiler... it is a movie that has several layers to it. It is a movie that makes you think and question your own value system. The star of the movie was Amrita's father. He embodied everything that one would want in one's own father or husband and yet he fell short. As a woman, can we actually define what we want in a parent or a spouse? The shades of human behaviour are so varied, it is difficult to define. However one message came through loud and clear, with a resounding 'slap'! Society is Patriarchal and that is the truth. The ease with which the 'Thappad' was delivered, maybe in a fit of anger ( all the more reason to question value systems) and the drama that plays out after that was the main body of the film. Juxtaposed against this scenario are several other relationships which bring the issue of patriarchy to the fore. Why is it so difficult to say sorry? In fact why does it not even occur to the perpetrator that he needs to say sorry? This comes through generations of conditioning. The mothers are questioned - how many of us are responsible for bringing up sons as 'sons should'? How many of us have taught our sons to cook and clean and taught our daughters to do mechanical repairs and such stuff? The movie is definitely slow and the screenplay could have been better. Tapasee Pannu is a good actor but I personally felt that she should have shown a little more spirit. But that is just me. There is not much cinematographic excellence but like I said, the movie makes you think...and that is what a good movie does! I recommend you go and watch the movie.

Little Things
(2016)

Heartfelt and genuine
At every point, one can relate. The travails and turmoil these two young people go through, their relationship with their parents - incredibly authentic!

Helicopter Eela
(2018)

Watch if you are a Kajol fan
Helicoper Eela is a picture where Kajol looks smashing - fit and trim, as if she hasn't aged at all after 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham'....and behaves as if she is the same age, through this movie!

Kajol was trying too hard in the early part of the movie. She seems to have lost a degree of her spontaneity and tries to make up for it with funny expressions. I was a little disappointed there - the role she played probably needed a more mature performance and less exuberance...but she looked wonderful and there are moments when her brilliant acting prowess does shine through.

The movie dealt with a very sensitive subject - 'Helicopter Parenting' but it did not come through as thoroughly as one would expect.

There is a degree of a lack of realism in the relationship between mother and son. To depict Helicopter Parenting, one needs to understand what it is. In the movie, the relationship feeds the mother's insecurities and the son is amazingly tolerant...till he feels he can't take it any more.

The music and performance towards the end of the movie seemed like something of a throwback to the famous Kuch Kuch Hota Hai guitar sequence.

The person who plays Kajol's husband ( Tota Roy Chowdhury) is rather insipid. Riddhi Sen as the son Vivaan is quite good but there is nothing scintillating about the performance.

It may appeal to Kajol fans ( I am one) but if you go for substance, you ain't getting any.

Andhadhun
(2018)

Deliciously wicked!
Andhadhun is a crime thriller, deliciously wicked and sufficiently offbeat to keep your interest through the movie alive.

Set in Pune, there is a certain starkness to the environment that only lends an edge to the plot which races and slows down, twists and turns till you really wonder how will the story end.

The cinematography ( K.U Mohanan) is really good. If anything, it raises your interest in the plot.

Of course, Sriram Raghavan the director handled his characters very deftly. There was not an expression out of place.

That brings us to the three stalwarts - Ayushmann Khurana, Tabu and Radhika Apte. ace deliveries from all three. Radhika did not have much screen time but Ayushmann Khurana delivered a stellar performance and Tabu....simply lovely....though once you watch the movie, you won't want to use that word to describe her character! Her performance was wild and wonderful.

If anything, I think it got a little stretched towards the end but after a delicious apple pie, it's okay if you get a piece of peel in your last bite.

One needs to watch with eyes wide open. There are several 'tells' along the way!

Satyameva Jayate
(2018)

Entirely Unwatchable
Unfortunately, the director exists in the 1960s where loud background scores, over the top histrionics, extended dying scenes ruled the roost. Satyamev Jayate is eminently unwatchable. John Abraham as the cop killer is really sad though he tries very hard. His best expressions come when he takes the little puppy for treatment. Even Raj Bavarialal did a better job when he played the role of a killer against injustice. The normally brilliant Manoj Bajpayee could not save the film though his acting was the best. The plot was weak, continuity was an issue, music was terrible and the background score drowned out all powers of thinking!

Karwaan
(2018)

Crisp and Neat!
Karwaan was a very crisply made movie. There were no distractions from the story line. Everything blended in so well. Irrfan was his usual best with his dead pan delivery of witty one liners and his absolute mortification at the behaviour and apparent value system of today's millenials. That in itself was a point of hilarity. Mithila Palkar was fresh and unaffected, worldly wise yet wide eyed in her role of the collegian. Dulquer Salmaan's acting was effortless and he was a real charmer. He has clearly inherited his acting skills from dad Mammootty. Certainly worth a watch!

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