'The Accidental Prime Minister': Nothing accidental about it (Movie Review)

Film: "The Accidental Prime Minister"; Director: Vijay Ratnakar Gutte; Cast: Anupam Kher, Akshaye Khanna, Aahana Kumra, Suzanne Bernert and Arjun Mathur.

Entertainment News: If you enjoy political satires, "The Accidental Prime Minister" may not be the film that its makers would recommend for you. Outwardly, the intent and purpose of this fiercely political parable is to give us the "real" picture of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's parent party and how it manipulated him into fronting their dynastic designs.

And how much more real can it get than Anupam Kher as Mr. Singh? The beard, the turban, the soft hushed barely audible voice (make sure you get your seats in a Dolby equipped theater)... Anupam gets the externals so right that we scarcely care about what lies beneath.

And what lies! If we are to believe this film, then Manmohan Singh was a 'baba' in the woods, an angel in disguise, a scholar and academician thrown into the cesspit of politics, manipulated into supporting the Congress monarchy by a scheming mother-son pair. And we all know who they are, giggle giggle.

There is nothing accidental about "The Accidental Prime Minister". The not-so-hidden agenda is to show Sonia Gandhi and her two children in the worst light possible. And it can't get any worse than Suzanne Bernert as Sonia Gandhi. Suzanne arches her eyebrows so sharply, I feared for her facial well-being.

Read my full review here → The Accidental Prime Minister Movie Review

'Uri' is that war film we've been waiting for (Movie Review)

Film: "Uri"; Director: Aditya Dhar; Starring: Vicky Kaushal, Mohit Raina, Paresh Rawal, Yami Gautam.

Entertainment News:  Wars often rage within the soldiers' hearts, specially when they belong to army families. In one of this significant war film's highpoints, Major Vihaan Singh Shergill, played by the self-effacing Vicky Kaushal, gathers his troop together somewhere in Kashmir before striking surgically in the country next door (okay, Pakistan. There. I said it).

These are soldiers who have lost loved ones in terror attacks, and their blood boils.

"URI - The Surgical strike" brings the blood of cross-border tension to a boil but avoids a spillover. There is a rush of patriotic pride in the product -- and why should there not be? -- but it is reined-in, curbed and never allowed to spill over in a gush of irrepressible jingoism. If you want to see soldiers dancing around a bonfire singing about how much they love their country and how much miss their loved ones, then you've got the wrong war film.

Yes, these soldiers love their country. But family comes first. And when Vihaan's brother-in-law (Mohit Raina, making a striking big-screen debut) is killed in a vivid recreation of that real-life murderous attack at the Uri army base, Vihaan channels his personal loss to seek revenge on behalf of the country. It may not be the most patriotic of purposes. But it gives a certain disingenuous believability to the mission.

Read my full review here → URI - The Surgical strike Movie Review

'Cabaret': Comedy masquerading as drama of doomed damsel (Movie Review)

Film: "Cabaret" (ZEE5); Director: Kaustav Narayan Niyogi; Cast: Richa Chadha, Gulshan Devaiah and S. Sreesanth

Entertainment News: Do you recall those ravishing, sizzling cabaret numbers by Helen in the movies of the 1970s? Indeed? What's more, do you recall the 1972 Liza Minnelli exemplary titled "Cabaret" for which the on-screen actress won an Oscar?

Okay. Now erase the memories of Helen and Minnelli. Chances are, after seeing "Cabaret", you would never want look at another cabaret number. On second thought, it would be hard for you to go to the following Richa Chadha film without a shiver of worry.
This one drags you down to the dungeons of despair. Windowless and dingy.

"Cabaret" opens with brutish policeman in Jharkhand gunning down a husband and after that approaching her gruffly for sexual favors. Vipin Sachdeva, who plays the policeman, doesn't keep it unpretentious. For what reason should he, while everything around him shouts for consideration. He simply unzips his trousers and tells the woman to get on with it. This is a man in yoni-form.

Read my full review here → Cabaret Movie Review

'Petta': Vintage Rajinikanth in his element in this old school revenge saga (Movie Review)

Film: "Petta"; Language: Tamil; Cast: Rajinikanth, Simran, Trisha, Sasikumar, Vijay Sethupathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui; Director: Karthik Subbaraj.

Entertainment News: If there's one thing Karthik Subbaraj's "Petta" really succeeds in achieving, it is that it lets superstar Rajinikanth be himself and have fun on-screen. From a happy hop to an impromptu dance step and slow-motion walk to the flip of his hair with his own hands with panache; we see Rajinikanth in his element after a long time and boy, it's a joy to watch him do what he is best at. There's even the famous Rajinikanth cigarette flip but it comes with a surprise and it is best enjoyed when watched on the big screen.

The story revolves around a hostel warden named Kaali (Rajinikanth) who comes to set things right. After being introduced without much hullabaloo in his last three films, Subbaraj gives us a bang for a buck Rajinikanth introduction scene.

The prelude to the introduction shot is just what every Rajinikanth fan wants to see. As we hear some men talking about how one guy has thrashed most of them, we see Rajinikanth in the dark, we see his shadow, we see him from the back and even before we see his face, we see half of it while he's standing right behind the guy who has just knocked him down.

If you're not a Rajinikanth fanboy, you can't write a better introduction scene and Subbaraj makes a solid impression right at the beginning. Everything that follows in the first half is a show-reel for Rajinikanth to showcase his machismo, and as the story gets into the second half the film gets into the Subbaraj zone.


Read my full review here → Petta Movie Review

'The Predator': Muddled sci-fi action extravaganza (Movie Review)

The narrative begins with an alien spaceship crash landing in the jungle, right in the middle of a narcotic bust, headed by US military sniper, McKenna (Holbrook).

Entertainment News: Unlike its predecessors, the 1987 release "Predator" which was a laser-focused, sci-fi action extravaganza or the 2010 released entertaining and underrated "Predators" not exactly a classic, this Director and Co-writer Shane Black's film, "The Predator" is a mediocre, gory sci-fi film, which has its moments of good and bad, but overall comes across as a muddled video game.

McKenna survives the alien attack and while the predator seems to have disappeared, the sniper manages to lay his hands on some state-of-the-art alien technology which he promptly mails to his P.O. Box back home, as evidence, in case he is silenced.

The Predator Review

The Predator itself is captured and transported to a secret laboratory by Traeger (Sterling K. Brown), a dubious government agent who ropes in Casey Brackett (Olivia Munn) a biologist to understand why the Predator landed on Earth.

Meanwhile, the dispatched consignment lands in the hands of McKenna's son Rory (Jacob Tremblay), who unknowingly activates the device, which in turn, revives the captured Predator and attracts the attention of another super-sized alien who seems to be the Predator's opponent.

On the other hand, after the military covers up the drug-bust operation and discredits McKenna, he is sent away to prison with other "loony" soldiers suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. En route to the jail, the group witness the Predator attack and soon realise that the Predator is going after McKenna's son.

Read my full review → The Predator

'Love Sonia': A familiar tale brutally told (Movie Review)

With some shocking moments based on true incidents, "Love Sonia" is a slick and dramatic, fictionalised film about human (especially women) trafficking in India.

Entertainment News: For a tale about women being exploited for sex, what makes "Love Sonia" stands out is that it treats its women as relatively unimportant. The narrative takes off in a place 1,400 km north of Mumbai, where Shiva (Adil Hussain), a farmer of a barren land is forced to sell one of his two daughters to "Dada Thakur" (Anupam Kher), a zamindar.

Seventeen year old Sonia (Mrunal Thakur), the daughter who witnessed the sale of her older sister Preeti (Riya Sisodia), is distraught. She learns that her sister is taken to Mumbai. So, with the hope of reuniting with her sister, Sonia runs away from home. And soon, she lands in a brothel in Mumbai, and from thence her ordeal begins. The film is her journey.

Love Sonia Movie Review

Mrunal Thakur is a brilliant actress and as Sonia, she slips into her character with natural ease. With naivety written large on her visage and innocence in her demeanour, you empathise with her and feel her pain. She is aptly supported by a retinue of power-packed actors.

Manoj Bajpayee in an extremely new avatar shines as the brothel owner Faisal. You watch him with awe as he manipulates from being a soft-spoken concerned person to a ruthless man who conducts his operations as a "business".

Adil Hussain as the desperately helpless farmer who drinks in frustration and Anupam Kher as the detestable landlord, are equally convincing. Richa Chadha and Freida Pinto as prostitutes -- Madhuri and Rashmi -- are stereotyped, but they do add some fine nuances to their character which makes them memorable.

Read my full review → Love Sonia Review

'Manmarziyaan': Performances elevate this predictable love-triangle (Movie Review)

The only thing that makes this film unique are Director Anurag Kashyap's sensibilities.

Entertainment News: "Manmarziyaan" seems like a derivative of the 1999 released Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", or the numerous love triangles that one witnesses in Hindi cinema where the girl falls for a loving but irresponsible, commitment-phobic and then settles for a sober, "husband material". The only thing that makes this film unique are Director Anurag Kashyap's sensibilities.

Set in Amritsar, Rumi (Taapsee) an orphan living with her Grandfather and uncle's family is a bold girl who is unabashedly in love with Vicky also known as DJ Sandz (Vicky), who is a total narcissist, self-absorbed and a loser of sorts. Despite this, he is likeable. He is in his own world of music, where he literally mixes leading songs of every musician he finds. But when it comes to love, he professes to love her intensely and passionately.

Manmarziyaan Movie Review

One never quite understands what Rumi sees in him besides the physical. She, an ex-hockey player lives life on her terms, and is effervescent and raw. They have a bohemian affair, having so much fun with each other. In fact he sneaks into her bedroom and the fun becomes almost a tangible thing; you can witness on the screen that they like each other, and so cross boundaries brazenly.

When they get caught, Rumi's aunt insists that they marry her off. Rumi is nonchalant, not realising that Vicky is commitment phobic, she confidently proclaims that Vicky would come the next day with his parents to ask for her hand in marriage. From thence their relationship vacillates till Robbie (Abhishek) a London returned banker in search of a bride, lays his eyes on Rumi and they marry.

Infatuation, lust and love are emotions that are handled with equal fervour. There is a lot happening and it happens so charmingly and with such quick spirit and wit, that it's enough to keep you hooked.

But here, in a predictable story with one easily anticipated development after another, it is the strong cast in the lead, including great chemistry between the trio that keeps "Manmarziyaan" from totally derailing.

Read my full review → Manmarziyaan Review

'Chef': Saif's careers best in heartwarming culinary drama (Movie Review, Rating ****1/2)

There is a lot of teasing between the father and son ,played with endearing casualness by Saif Ali Khan and Svar Kamble. Aptly , "Chef" teases our appetite for cinema. It's a culinary delight-warm tender, inviting and appetizing-- served up in a dainty dish with a dash of debonair but played-down posturing, like a masterchef who is shy to show off his skills but can't help it. He's so adept at what he does.

 "Chef" conveys the kind of sagacious skill born not out of arrogance but wisdom sometimes misplaced.Like the protagonist Roshan Kalra's traditionalist father who believes the kitchen is for women.

Speaking of which -- arrogance more than wisdom -- Saif Ali Khan's Roshan Kalra (from Chandni Chowk Delhi married to and divorced from the lovely Malayali danseuse Radha Menon) is portrayed as an epitome of prideful arrogance waiting to fall.

The fall comes sooner than we expect. Director Menon wastes no time in taking on his protagonist's burnished ego and cutting it down to size, piece by piece.

Come to think of it, Roshan's downsizing needs no push. Saif Ali Khan's inbuilt nawabi pride and an urbane humour that often hurts others in ways that are more permanent than permissible,seize the character to make it so imminently relatable ,I felt someone had stolen parts of my life.

Saif's Roshan says things to earn points as a clever conversationalist. Much like the prestigious Michelin star rating for food which determines quality to the point of rendering the pleasure of food into an exercize in technical grading.

Much in the same way that music binds human relationships, food is great unifier .

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