Super Deluxe Review: Funny, Delicious and Pure Triumph!

Finally, exploring my boundaries to the Tamil Cinema with Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha Akkineni, Ramya Krishna starrer 'Super Deluxe' directed by Thiagarajan Kumararajan.  It deals with 3 parallel lives of these leads with an underlying social message that comes together at the end.

                                 

What's Good: Acting: The 3 leads are amazing with Vijay Sethupathi holding the baton as transgender Shilpa and is ably supported by each and every actor. Story: The story by Thiagarajan Kumararajan is an absolute delight engulfing social ideas as well. Direction and Cinematography: Kumararajan deserves applause for bringing such a story to the table. Humor and Situation: The humor and situation are so well done and scripted that just makes things funny.

                                          

What's Bad: Length: The length of Super Deluxe is 176 minutes, which is a tad bit long for a movie of such a subject. 

                                            

Final  Word: Super Deluxe is a Tamil film which will have a language barrier but can be watched and equally enjoyed with subtitles. Do NOT miss it especially if you like content and humorous cinema together. I am going with 4 stars for this movie!

                                      

Mom and Co Review: Zaaykedaar aur Swaadbhara.

Very often we end up surfing youtube to kill the time we have. And it is in these random moments that we come across some hidden gems, one such being Neelima Azeem's show, Mom and Co. which is directed by Ashish Ranglani and presented by The Zoom Studios.

                               

What's Good: Acting: The cast is pitch perfect for their roles. Neelima Azeem shines in her web debut as Aai and Ayush Joshi as Aditya is nearly perfect for his role. They are ably supported by Shreya, played by an effervescent Shreya Gupto. Story: A simple and a mature story should have been told by now and finally this happens. Direction: Ashish Ranglani's direction is amazing and is exactly how the story should have been told. Dialogues, Locations, Groundedness: The characters, locations, and the overall believability of the show is something, where it's the essence which is captured.

                                           

What's Bad: Season Finale: The season finale, however, seems that it was actually not needed and the show could have ended at episode 9. Predictability: The show is predictable yet charms you with it's simplicity.

                                           

Final Word: Mom and Co. is one of those series where a mother-son relationship is explored through food and how they deal with their mid-life crisis among other challenges. One of the best parts about this series is that It Is Freely available on youtube. I am going with 3.5 stars for this warm tale about a mother's love with subtle hints of gender equality. Do not miss it!

                                          

Avg. duration per episode: 20 minutes.
Available: Youtube.
Favorite Episode: 9.
Favorite Character: Aai.

P.S. It is one of those light breezy series that can be watched even as you work.

RAW Review: A Raw thriller.

This week Sushant Singh Rajput's John Abraham's Romeo Akbar Walter aka RAW hit the theatres, another thriller that was based in the year 1971 and is based on the true story of a spy. It stars John Abraham, Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy, Sikander Kher and Alka  Amin in pivotal roles.

                                                  

What's Good: Acting: Credit is given where it's due, John needed to be expressionless as a RAW agent and he does a great job. Jackie Shroff, Sikander Kher are amazing in their roles and others are good as well except Mouni Roy who has no significant role. DOP: The cinematography and photography are pretty decent and captures exactly what is needed. Dialect and Costumes: All the characters, their costume, and their dialect are absolutely spot on.

                                             

What's Bad: PACING: The first is absolutely sluggish and fails to get you invested. Incoherent Direction: Very incoherent direction to a story that deserved better. Cliches: Director Robby Grewal apart from his incoherency, has thrown in a cliche story where a taut thriller has given way to love the angle and over the top melodrama. Editing: The editing was so problematic that it ultimately led to difficulties in viewing. 

                                            

Final Word: On the whole, Romeo Akbar Walter is a story that had so much potential to be one of the best thrillers but the cliche writing and incoherent direction fails the movie. I am going with 2.5 stars.

                                            

P.S. It is better to watch the DC superheero movie Shazam! over this movie. Avoid even if this movie is so informative.

Shazam Review: Wham, Bam and Shazam!

After a long hiatus, DC is  finally here with their Superhero movie, 'Shazam', directed by David Sandberg and stars Asher Angel, Zachary Levi in the lead roles who are ably supported by Jack Grazer, Mark Strong and Djimon Hounsou among the rest. Of lately, DC seems to have got back on track. Has it really got back on track, let's find that out.

                                                

Whats's Good: Performances: Levi and Strong's performances are amazing and one of the major regions to watch this movie. Humor: One of the best aspects of Shazam is its subtle humor and the actors' comic timing. CGI and VFX: The CGI and VFX are far better than what they offered us in Justice League and Aquaman. 

                                                    

What's Bad: Story: The origin story of Shazam is pretty interesting but then logic goes a bit out of the window. Screenplay: The movie is pretty stretched and what could have been done in 100 minutes is stretched to 132 minutes.

                                        

Shazam! is surely one of DC's better movies in spite of loopholes in the story and screenplay but certainly Shazam! does fulfill the purpose for which movies were made: Entertainment and it has bundles of it! I am going with 3.5 stars for DC's latest offering. It's a good movie if you are looking for entertainment.

                                       

P.S. Just say the word at the ticket windows!

MKDNH Review: A Love Letter to Bollywood!

A smaller budget movie 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota' released alongside the magnum opus 'Kesari' and stars Bhagshree's son Abhimanyu Dassani making his Bollywood debut alongside Radhika Madan and Gulshan Devaiah. It is directed by Vasan Bala and has even won the 'People's Choice Award 2018' at the Toronto International Film Festival.

                                               

What's Good:  (This section is going to be super huge) Story: Vasan Bala keeps the story fresh, original, grounded and pitch perfect. Performances: Abhimanyu's Surya is outstanding, Radhika Madan's Supri is even better but it's Gulshan Devaiah's Jimmy which steals the show! An Ode to Bollywood: The use of various songs, movie references is absolute nostalgia and yes, will bring tears of joy as the movie progresses.Dialogues: The dialogues bring back the memories of the Salim-Javed duo. Opening and Closing Credits: Even better than what Deadpool had! Music: One is sure to walk of the theatre singing 'Rappan Rappi Rap' definitely. Editing and Screenplay: The editing and the screenplay are perfect and it is pure magic as the 132 minutes of the movie pass. Humour: The movie has a nice blend of dark and normal humor.

                                                       

What's Bad: It is just 132 minutes long! 

                                      

MKDNH is an absolute delight and cannot be missed by anyone alike. It has everything going for it and perhaps is the best movie of 2019 along with Gully Boy! Go for it. You won't regret it! 4 stars!

                                    

P.S. A movie that deserves your attention more than Kesari.

Kesari Review: A story that deserved better!

The Battle of  Saragarhi was a battle that took place in the British era of 1879 in India where 21 Sikh soldiers fought against 10,000 afghans to protect the Saragarhi fort. It was a story that was begging to be brought to celluloid and finally the master of patriotic acts Akshay Kumar brings this story to life with the help of Dharma Productions and director Anurag Singh.

                               

What's Good: Story: The Battle of Saragarhi is a reason alone you should watch Kesari. Performances: Performances are outstanding. Right from Akshay Kumar to Parineeti's special appearance, everything is outstanding. Action: Most of the action sequences are well choreographed. Dialogues: The dialogues are rousing and patriotic. Music: The song 'Teri Mitti' will echo long after you leave the theatre.

                                        

What's Bad: Editing: The editing is shabby and incoherent. First Half: The first half takes wayyyyyyyy to long to build up. Screenplay: The screenplay is pretty lazy. Exhausting: By the time the movie ends, the viewer is exhausted because of all of those fighting sequences that even the movie ending on an emotional note, fails to connect.

                                        

Kesari is a story that deserved better treatment. A shabby and slow first half is very average but is uplifted by a terrific and pacy second half but n0t enough to make you connect emotionally to the story but does rouse the patriotism a bit. I am going with 2.5 stars.

                                         

P.S. Do yourself a favor and watch 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota'.

Character Biopsies: Mrs. Priyamvada Kaushik from Badhaai Ho!

To begin with, it was an absolute delight to have Neena Gupta back on-screen after a long hiatus. She portrays the role of Mrs. Priyamvada Kaushik, a normal housewife with care and perfection. Not only is she a housewife, but also a wife, a mother and a daughter in law. 

Playing a normal middle-class woman can be tricky but Mrs.Priyamvada Kaushik is a bit different. She is soft and mellow most of the times but strong and opinionated when it comes to dealing with her unborn child. She is patient, honest and constantly bears with her nagging mother in law who never misses an opportunity to belittle her in front of his son especially in the sequences where they have mango and she refers her to Mandodari (Ravana's wife). 
She has her own small kitty party, where she prefers playing tambola the way it should be (fancy articulation of numbers) and keeping the regular normal gifts and surely treats her neighbors, her son's girlfriend and every visitor the way Indian culture wants them to be treated keeping aside all the differences she has with people.  

She stands by her decision of keeping her unborn child irrespective of what the society thinks of it. Not only that, unlike today's fast forward mother, Mrs. Kaushik prefers to stick to the old norms of stopping her son by giving him her 'Kasam' and never forgets her role as a wife who yearns for the company and love of her husband who has an outstation job. 
Throughout the movie, Mrs.Kaushik has a subtle agony which she tries not to let come to the table knowing there is nothing wrong in having a baby. Even knowing that her son is visibly upset with the news of her pregnancy, Mrs. Kaushik prefers to maintain a normal, healthy relationship with him as evident when she asks "Khana Khaa Liya Beta?", and thereafter Mrs. Kaushik's smile returns. On her son's break up, she instead of consoling him sits down with him on the terrace and they discuss everything; speaking about the bond she shares with her son no matter what happens. 

                                

Finally, Mrs. Priyamvada Kaushik is the mother next door, a daughter in law but most importantly she is a wife who stands tall by her husband, has her opinions and is someone an average Indian woman can look up to. Priyamvada does not want herself to be portrayed as a Goddess, she wants herself to be portrayed as a normal Indian woman who has her own needs.  
 Had it not been for Neena Gupta's evolved and matured performance, Badhaai Ho would not have been the riot and important movie it is! Kudos, Mrs. Priyamvada Kaushik, you are an inspiration for a normal housewife.