Bollywood's Half Yearly Report Card.

Bollywood in 2017 has given us very bad movies sans a few beautiful and good movies. Many of these beautiful movies were low on promotion and small budget, hence their box office collection and worldwide recognition is far apart. This was reflected in Bollywood's stats where out of 85 releases only 12 have been average or hit at the box office which bring the success ratio to 14.16%. much lower than last year's 22.68%.

 

Bollywood needs to buck up its money game especially when the much anticipated Tubelight has failed miserably on our expectations. Though surprises like Badrinath ki Dulhania, The Ghazi Attack which restored my faith in Bollywood.

 

In this list I am going to talk about the top 5 movies that released in this half of the year as well as the worst 3 movies of the year with a short note for the reason of my choice.

*Baahubali- 2 and The Ghazi Attack will not feature in this list because they are NOT Bollywood movies.

 

THE WORST 3.

3. OK Jaanu: Poor Screenplay, Poor Performances, Below Average Music.

2.  Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai: 2 hr long lecture on female empowerment, Terrible story and execution.

1. MSG 2: The Lion heart: Everything!

 

Where these movies questioned my faith as a movie lover and critic, there were some movies that still made me love Bollywood. These include:

 

The BEST 5.

 

5. Anarkali of Aarah: Amazing Screenplay, Terrific Performances.

                                                               Source: Koimoi.com

 

4. A Death in the Gunj & Haraamkhor:

 Superb Execution, Scintillating Performances.

Source: wikepedia.org

                                                  Amazing Performances, Storyline.

                                                                                                           Source: wikepedia.org

 

3. Meri Pyaari Bindu: (A Personal Favourite but certain flaws which as a critic I can't ignore!) Superlative Performances, Unique Storytelling, Foot-Tapping Retro Music.

                                   Source:BollywoodMDB.com

 

2. Trapped: Ground breaking Performance by RR, Sleek Direction, Taut Screenplay.

                                                             Source: imdb.com

 

1.Hindi Medium: Superb Performances by Saba and Irrfan, Great Story and Direction. Satirically brilliant. Good Music. HM easily emerges as Half Yearly Topper.

                                                        Source: koimoi.com

 

Honourable Mentions: Begumjaan, Kaabil and Jolly LLB 2.

 

Bollywood's 2017 report card is disappointing both in terms of box office and content. It is high time that film-makers stopped making a joke out of the audiences and stopped delivering anything stupid.

Best Actor(Male): Irrfan Khan for Hindi Medium.

                                          Source: Maddock Films.

 

Best Actor(Female): Swara Bhaskar for Anarkali of Aarah.

                                                   

 

So that's all folk. The content game of Bollywood is going strong but box office is on a low. With Jab Harry Met Sejal, Jagga Jasoos, Toilet- Ek Prem Katha, Shubh Mangal Savdhaan, Judwaa 2, Golmaal 4 etc to hit the theatres, we just hope that the business of Bollywood increases compared to last year!

            

 

 

TubeLight Review: This Tubelight Flickers and Ultimately Fuses.

Tube Light is Salman Khan's 2017 Eid gift. In 2015 Salman Khan surprised us by offering Bajrangi Bhaijaan, a movie that struck the strings of our heart. 2016 was Sultan which otherwise was an average watch. Just as I thought Salman was getting better at his content game, Tubelight dropped.

 

                                                          

 

Salman Khan as Laxman Singh Bisht is a let down. A character where he was supposed to emote with his eyes and recreate something like BB, he somewhat fails and delivers an average performance. Sohail Khan as Bharat Singh Bisht, is surprisingly good. He essays the role with good conviction. The kid, Martin Tangu delivers the best performance. His innocence his visible through his eyes. Though he remains unmatched to Harshaali Malhotra, he does his best in his zone. Zhu Zhu, the actress makes a fair debut by all bollywood standards. The movie also features the terrific Om Puri who as usual gave a very impressive performance. SRK in his cameo, disappoints.

                  

                                                                      

 

The camera work, the cinematography, the locales, the dialogues and the lyrics have something or the other which seems to be missing. Kabir Khan, who otherwise is an impressive film maker, surprises with a dull narration, poor screenplay of otherwise a good story. The movie does have its moments but they come too late to save this faulty tubelight.

 

 

But like it has always been, no one looks for logic in a Salman Khan movie, Tubelight is no exception. Had the narration been a little better and Salman Khan would have given BB feels, Tubelight could have emerged as his best movie.  Poor entertainment levels, and some MAJOR MISSING entertainment  value and too much reliability on emotions, Tubelight flickers and ultimately fuses. I am going with 2.5 stars.

 

                                                  

 

P.S : Look out for the next article, 'Bollywood's Half Yearly Report Card' to know whether Tubelight made it to the Top 5 of my list.

 

A Death in the Gunj Review: Go Gunjing Here! Surreal, Intriguing and Brilliant.

ADITG is a movie which perhaps many of us do not know about. To begin with, it is the debut of the fantastic actress Konkana Sen Sharma and features an ensemble cast of Kalki Koechlin, Vikrant Massy, Gulshan Deviah, Om Puri sir, Tanuja, Ranvir Shorey and Tillotama Shome. With such an ensemble cast of actors and not 'stars', ADITG surprises.

                                                   

 

With such brilliant 'actors' on board, a movie can never gone wrong on the acting stage. Like I have said earlier, Vikrant Massy has to be the 'find of 2017'. He plays Shyamlal 'Shutu' with finesse and to perfection. Gulshan Deviah as Nandu, Kalki as Mimi and Ranvir Shorey as Vikram give solid performances which are ably backed by Tanuja and Om Puri sir. Jim Sarbh as Brian shines in the movie with his fine English accent and emotions.

 

                                              

 

ADITG introduces us to director, Konkana Sen Sharma. Like her acting prowess, her directorial skills are top-notch. She should rightfully walk away with "The Best Debut Director" trophy. Sharma takes proper care of the script, its setting which talk about the details she cares for. Fantastically scripted in the likes of an Agatha Christie novel, ADITG has brilliant direction, camerawork, dialogues and subtle undertones of dark humor which feel likable and at times relatable. Though the English language used in the movie maybe a hurdle for the people, but otherwise ADITG cannot be missed. The movie has some MAJOR goofups because of which ADITG becomes a slightly disappointing watch. The predictable climax, a somewhat lousy screenplay and the background score which sounds creepy. ADITG fills one with eeriness and creates an intriguing world which all of a sudden seems to disappear. And that's a drawback of the movie.

                                             

 

Anyways, with all said and done, ADITG should NOT be missed. Though, it's more of an indie film which might not suit the pallet of many a people but for those who like engaging cinema, don't give it a miss. I am going with 4/5 for A Death in the Gunj. Surreal, intriguing and Brilliantly presented.

 

                                      

 

                                    Don't miss a directorial debut so stunning and brilliant.

The movie unfortunately won't go far in the box office run as we are quite 'intolerant' towards meaningful and engaging cinema and part of which can be blamed for minimal promotions. The movie will make a maximum of 50 million (5 crores) at the box office solely in the name of Konkana.

Baywatch Review: Beaches are Ready for Splash!

'Baywatch' finally hit the theatres. Baywatch stars Zac Efron as Matt Broody, Dwayne Johnson as Mitch Buchannon, Priyanka Chopra as Victoria Leeds and Alexandra Daddario as Summer Quinn in lead roles. Baywatch could have been a funnier movie but settles for an average one. Where jokes could have risen above the basic 'gross' level to a better ones, our screenplay writer Mark Swift and Damian Shannon didn't seem to care much for the same.

                                                   

The ensemble cast of Baywatch deliver strong performances, but had there been more meat in their characters, the movie would have gone a notch higher. Nevertheless, Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron tickle your funny bone and Priyanka Chopra as Victoria Leeds is gorgeous. Alexandra and Illfenesh provide an able support to our 3 leads.

 

                                          

 

The movie is based on the popular 90s show by the same name. The movie plot had potential but is let down by execution. The wafer-thin plot seems to be dragged on for a 116 minutes. The cinematography, the action sequences, the music are bang on but the hazy camerawork, poor and choppy editing spoil an otherwise a one time watch movie. Baywatch suffers heavily in the technical department. The director Seth Gordon has to be blamed for the wreck.

                                                  

 

Baywatch can be your watch for the weekend because of its action sequences, comedy and performances but because of it's technical follies the movie settles for a 2.5 star from me.

                                         

                                 

 

P.S. 'Baywatch' can be your guilty pleasure!

HGF Review: Half Grilfriend's Full Torture!

There is not much to say about Mohit Suri directed 'Half Girlfriend.' Half Girlfriend is an ode to most of the best-friend zoned lovers. Such category people are going to love Half Girlfriend which stars Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles and super-ably supported by Vikrant Massay Rhea Chakraborty and Seema Biswas.

 

                                                         

Arjun Kapoor's portrayal of Madhav Jha is surprisingly good. His bihari accent, wretchedness are for the most time visible through his eyes! Shraddha Kapoor, who everyone thought was an upcoming actor sadly falls down to Level 0 and is unable to portray a stubborn Riya Somani. On the other hand, the supporting cast of the movie outperforms the lead cast. Vikrant Massay as Shailesh and Madhav's room mate nails his role to perfection. He makes us want a friend like him in our lives.He is literally 'the find of 2017'. Rhea Chakraborty as Anshika and Seema Biswas as Madhav's mother are fabulous. They make this movie bearable within limits.

                                         

      

What has always been the USP of Mohit Suri's movies is the music. The songs are already chartbuster and their contribution to this boredom is clearly reflecting in his box office business. The music is fabulously crooned by Mithoon. The cinematography, the camerawork is average at best. What faulters helplessly in Half Girlfriend is surprisingly Mohit Suri's direction. His depiction of Chetan Bhagat's novel is disappointing to say the least. What could have been an hour and a half hour long movie is unnecessarily stretched to 2 hours and 15 minutes drama with melodrama and more melodrama.

                                       

 

Honestly, I found myself struggling to stay woken up throughout the movie. The movie fails to absorb u completely. From me, Half Girlfriend gets 2 stars and a score of 4/10. People will surely criticize with this review but that's what I give it!

                                       

P.S. Thanks to my friends for helping me to bear this torture of a movie!

 

Cinema and Life: Take 2.

............and cut it! Cinema and Life Take 1 complete. 15 minutes and we shoot the next and final sequence- Cinema and Life: Take 2." said the director and as usual I sat down by the busy set when I saw a young guy dying to meet the director but was forcefully being thrown back and not allowed to enter the set.

                                

 

Looking at him I went into a flashback and began thinking about the sacrifices and the confidence people have on their kids. Certainly, not every child stops themselves from pushing themselves into a career which has no certainity. In my opinion there are 2 major fields where a person has to 'risk' some years of their life into Cinema or Sport- 2 fields where it is all down to one's luck and willingness to take risk and 'invest' their lives.                                                   

                                           

Though, parents are very supportive of their child's dream to be in the film or sports industry all they want is that their child should have a "Major" degree which gurantees a job and then pursue cinema or sports, which according to me is NOT wrong. A child should understand that all their parents want is a 'good life'. 

 

But the generation today is confused because there are so many factors. A few quotations like "Try until you succeed." "Success is not easy, you need to put in labor.", Inspiring quotes by celebreties, their success story inspire people to a huge extent. The recently on-going "Following your passion." is also another thing that keeps fueling the youth's mind.

                                      

 

What saddens me a lot is that that our generation has developed such a huge generation gap, that it seems so hard to bridge. They have no understanding towards what their parents want from them. Sadly, they don't realise that our parents only want us to be happy.

This from no point means that the youth should at least try once. If things go their way, great but if not, they shall at least NOT regret "NOT TRYING" which most people do!
 

Suddenly the director says, "Time to shoot. Back in Action." And suddenly my attention goes to that boy and he has vanished...Gone somewhere, trying his luck. And I stood up, unlike other people to complete what I started.

Cinema and Life: Take 1.

"Life is a journey with problems to solve, lessons to learn but most of all, experiences to enjoy." "Cinema is a journey on life with all boring things cut."

Life and Cinema are pretty much the same as defined above. It has always been said, "Do Not Mix Real and Reel Life" speaks volumes of the impact of Cinema in the daily lives of people.

                                         

                                          

Sitting down on a movie set with a cup of coffee in my hand I transported myself into a different world of cinema. As a young child, all of us fascinate to be an actor but then we get a reality check. Cinema has penetrated into our livers from a very early stage of childhood until late teens when they come to terms with reality of cinema-Nepotism, Casting Couch, Star Kids etc.
                                        

As a child being an actor is our fascination- Camera, Lights, Stage, Applauding People, Love fascinate any person. After all, Who does not like getting attention? This world of glamour and glitter does have a dark side to it which none of us talk about. If one survives this dark phase of lies, deceit, cheat and hatred, either one becomes strong and survives to a Slyvester Stallone or simply becomes one of the souls living with regression throughout their life.

                                        
                                                          

What matters more is that many souls settle without even trying and that is what defines Failure.  Failures in the film industry are not that huge because a person can at least quit the industry without the regression of not trying. By now, the cup of coffee was over and then came a voice, "Cinema and Life-Take 1 Scene 1. Action."