Bollywood's Half Yearly Performance: 2018

2018 has been a very successful and surprising year for Bollywood. From surprising money spinners to surprising flops, the audience has finally been able to give an indication that they would like to appreciate content driven cinemas more, over Salman Khan type of cinema.

                                       

Before we begin discussing the best Bollywood offered, let's have a look at Bollywood's worst:

3.)  Welcome to New York: Still figuring out what this movie was about.

                                                       

2.) Baaghi 2: Calamity of a movie.

                                             

1.) Race 3: The grief of witnessing this movie on the silver screen is beyond words. 

                                                  

Where these movies were mind-numbing, there were quite a lot of good movies that came out of Bollywood in this half of 2018. They are(in order of preference):

5.) Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety: Consistently hilarious.

                                               

4.) Blackmail: Dark, Wicked, and well made.

                                                

3.) Raazi: Story, execution, performances and Alia Bhatt!

                                                 

2.) Sanju: A superior movie in all aspects.

                                                  

1.) October: Doesn't hit a false note anywhere. A clear winner.

                                         

Bollywood has churned out some fantastic cinema in the past 6 months along with some exceptional performances by the cast. So here are my top picks so far:

Best Actor: Ranbir Kapoor for Sanju.

                                                          

Best Actor(female): Arguably, Anushka Sharma for Pari.

                                                  

Best Supporting Actor Male: Vicky Kaushal in Sanju.

                                                   

Best Supporting Actor Female: Gitanjali Rao in October.

                                                    

Best Music Album: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for Raazi.

                                                                    

Honourable Mentions: Padmavat, Padman, Veerey Di Wedding(just because it was pure fun).

                                          

With a successful first half, all eyes are now on the second half of 2018, which has an interesting lineup of movies like Soorma, Karwaan, Fanney Khan, Mulk, Zero, Thugs of Hindustan, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga etc. Bollywood has got some real content to offer so let's hope they are all successful in delivering what we expect of them.

   

P.S. This list is totally based on my opinion. Please do share your opinion on it.

Sanju Review: Impeccable.

I'll begin by saying that it would be a lie if I said that Rajkumar Hirani directed 'Sanju' is a good movie. In fact, it is an Impeccable movie! let's review this Ranbir Kapoor starrer 'Sanju' supposedly based on the life of the yesteryear superstar Sanjay Dutt. In fact, 'Sanju' is less a story about Sanjay Dutt and more a celebration of a Mother-Son and Father-Son bond.

                                                       

Ranbir Kapoor is pitch-perfect in his portrayal of Sanjay Dutt. He adopts the mannerisms of Sanjay Dutt to utmost perfection and you don't see Ranbir Kapoor onscreen. Instead, you get the real Sanjay Dutt living in Kapoor's body. Apart from him, it is Vicky Kaushal's Kamli and Manisha Koirala's Nargis that stood out from the rest ensemble cast of Paresh Rawal, Dia Mirza, Jim Sarbh Anushka Sharma Karishma Tanna, Boman Irani who just like Ranbir Kapoor live the roles of the characters they are portraying. Needless to say that Sonam Kapoor as Ruby simply overacted her part and was the only misfit in this amazing ensemble cast.

                                          

Raju Hirani at the helm delivers a knockout punch. His direction is top-notch, editing is precise. Abhijat Joshi's writing of the events is layered and well detailed for the audience. The production design, the DOP are all pitch perfect and give you the feel of the eras they portray. 'Sanju' is an emotional roller coaster ride of 161 minutes which constantly portrays his bond with his mother, father, wife and best friend underlying his problems. The movie is sure to make you laugh, cry and smile as it ends. The music by maestro A.R.Rahman is outstanding with 'Kar Har Maidan Fateh' being the best and that beautiful background score of the flute just enabling better watch of this brilliantly made-acted movie.

                                          

Overall 'Sanju' is an outstanding movie. You simply cannot miss this. The movie has just one flaw, namely Sonam Kapoor and that is it. I am going with 4.25 stars for 'Sanju'. It ends this first half of Bollywood with a bang!!

                                     

P.S. 'Sanju' should not be missed at any cost! It is certainly one of the Top 3 movies of Bollywood so far...

VDW Review: Veeres entertain you in this fun wedding!!

Before anything, I would like to say "It is not always about the destination but the journey you take to get there." This statement holds quite true for this week's #I_am_not_a_chick_flick Veere Di Wedding. You know where the film is headed but despite this, you want to invest yourself in this journey of these 4 friends who seek out for happiness and joy.

                                

Out of the 4 Veeres, it is Swara Bhaskar's Sakshi who rocks it with her earnest performance and excellently portrays her role of an ill-mouthed rich girl. Following her is Kalindi Puri aka Kareena who makes a 'take notice' comeback to the film industry!!  Then comes our Meera played by Shikha Talsania who keeps the flow of Swara's Sakshi going and plays the role of a loud-mouthed Punjabi girl as well. Sadly but true, Mrs Ahuja's Avni, a matrimonial lawyer is the weakest link in the acting department. At times, Avni goes a little overboard in her expressions but it doesn't matter as the gags, dialogues are hilarious to overlook her follies. The bromance between our Veeres is exceedingly good but Kalindi and her fiance Rishab's chemistry fails to generate sparks. Sumeet Vyas, Ayesha Raza, Manoj Pahwa, Vishwas Kini and Neena Gupta do an excellent bit in their supporting roles.

                                    

Director Shashanka Ghosh helms the movie exceedingly well in an entertaining, engaging first half but loses the grip A BIT in the second half. The story is nothing extraordinary but has some extra attention paid to Kalindi Puri. The dialogues are cuss, double meaning yet hilarious. The cinematography is well done, the editing is a bit of a problem but the styling and music are on point with 'Aa Jao Na' and of course 'Tareefan' being my favourites. The movie is well made, well -acted and an enjoyable affair this weekend. I am not sure whether this movie is going to appeal to the middle-aged but should certainly be watched by today's youth who need to understand the difference between friendship and acquaintance!

                                     

What really impressed me the most in Veerey Di Wedding is not its Bold, unapologetic nature but the fact that it was NOT at any point trying to be a Feministic watch. Instead, it played well by not going the feminist way otherwise it would've been a bore. Initially, I was dwindling between 3.5-4 stars for this movie but I think settling for a 3.5/5 would be a sound bet. Go watch it for some pure fun but be warned of the slightly loose second half. Business should be around 55-60 crores! Hit.

NOTE: A lot of 'How u feel about this movie' depends on the people you watch it with! As for me, watching it with friends was fun.

                                      

P.S. This movie will be best if watched with your Veeres!!!!And girls, you have a lot to take away from this movie.

October Review: It's not just for the month, but this movie is for the year!

Everything needs to be done in a rush. In a hurry always. Stop! Admire things around you and realize what love is.  That is what Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu starrer October is all about.

                                                                                                        

Varun Dhawan as Dan/Danish Walia is an absolute delight. He rightly marks why he is called "Sir Varun Dhawan" (no sarcasm). It is his best performance ever. Banita Sandhu as Shiuli let's her big beautiful eyes do all the talking. She makes an impressive debut in Bollywood. Gitanjali Rao as Shiuli's mother is outstanding. Her angst,  trauma is so visible onscreen. The rest of the supporting cast right from Manjeet to the ICU nurse is amazing. The movie is perfect in the acting department. 

                                       

The 'Piku'duo, director Shoojit Sircar, and writer Juhi Chaturvedi give us something which is simply amazing. The simplicity in Juhi's story along with Avik Makhupadhyay's cinematography is beautiful. Add to this,  Sircar's direction and Shantanu Moitra's brilliant background score and soothing soundtrack. Despite no song throughout the movie, the brilliance of the background score is outstanding. This is Shoojit Sircar's best movie. 

                                       

For this movie,  there will be 2 types of audience: One who will outrightly dismiss October is waste of money with no story,  nothing. The other will understand what October is trying to convey and will tug the toughest strings of their heart. And since I belong to the latter, I am going with 4.25 stars!  October is 2018's best movie beyond doubt. I really hope people understand what it is trying to convey. The box office of the movie should be around 45-50 crores (certainly deserves more). 

                                           

P.S. October is not a movie, it's an emotion that needs to be felt! Watch it. 

Baaghi 2 Review: Rebel against this movie! A Highly Painful experience!

Bollywood loves churning out sequels every now and then. The so-called "sequels" degrade the content of the original. 'Baaghi 2' is the sequel to 2016's surprising hit 'Baaghi'.  And Baaghi 2 reaffirms my faith that Bollywood cannot come up with good sequels.

                                                  

The acting in the movie is downright atrocious. Tiger Shroff as Ranveer and a perfect typecast of an action hero. Disha Patani as Neha is the next Katrina Kaif. She tries a lot to act but fails at a lot of levels. Darshan Kumar, Prateik Babbar, Manoj Bajpayee, Deepak DDobriyal are entirely wasted. It is perhaps Randeep Hooda as LSD is the best and also gets the best lines of the movie.

                                               

The story which has been borrowed from the south-Indian movie 'Shanam'  is somewhat interesting. But the terrible execution, terrible direction led the movie to be very confusing. It seemed as if 2 parallel stories were running which intertwined after 3/4 of the movie was done. It was painful to watch anything and everything happening in the movie. The actions sequences were impressive and the music was average(compared to the movie). The pace of the movie was so painful that it started to give me a headache.

                                                   

Overall, there was no need for a Baaghi 2 and was a painful and regressive watch. The movie just had impressive action and average music going for it! I am rating this movie 1.5 stars. Strictly avoid. Watch 'Raid' or 'Sonu ki Titu ki Sweety' instead of this! The collection of this movie will be outstanding as the Indian audience ENJOYS such brainless masala watch(even the masala here is too much). Avoid.

                                                    

P.S. I'm being very lenient giving it 1.5 stars.

                                                     

Hichki Review: "Jaa Jaa Jaa" to a cinema near you!

Finally, Rani Mukherjee is back after a long break with YRF's 'Hichki'. The movie picks up the topic of Tourette Syndrome and explores the teacher-student relationship based on this rare disease. The movie has borrowed its basic premise from the book 'Front of the class'.

                           

Rani Mukherjee is back and with a bang! Her portrayal of a Ms.Naina Mathur, a Tourette syndrome victim is exemplary! Shivkumar Subramanium, Rohit Saraf, Supriya and Sachin Pilagaonkar, Neeraj Kabi are an excellent support to the supremely talented Rani. The junior artists portraying the students were amazing. 

                                         

Director Siddharth.P.Malhotra does a great job in the directing the movie. 'Hichki' suffers some hiccups majorly because of the predictable writing and the lack of character depth. Though the director keeps you engrossed in the movie with subtle dialogues, absolute school nostalgia, he fails to give us any insight into something the audience could have developed a connect with- the students of 9-F (the class Naina Mathur teaches). Shallow characterisation and a predictable story are the only hiccups. The music by Jasleen Royal and Tanishq Bagchi is amazing to hear. The editing, the dialogues, the locations are done well.

                                           

'Hichki' could've been this year's "Kapoor and Sons" but the lack of proper characterization and a somewhat predictable story proved to be a roadblock. I am going with 3.5 stars! Watch it for some class acting and finally Bollywood's fine treatment of portraying a medical condition. The business of this movie should be around 30-35 crores (in the same range of Rani's last movie Mardaani{36.78 cr}) due to the niche appeal.

                                           

Raid Review: A 'Raid' you won't mind being a part of!

Raid is the biggest release of March. It stars Saurabh Shukla, Ajay Devgn and Illeana d'Cruz. Raid arrived without a lot of promotions and is perhaps the only notable watch after the blockbuster, Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety and the dud Pari. Let's see whether it is better to rewatch SKTKS or watch Raid.

                

Ajay Devgn helms the star cast as Amay Patnaik. Though there are instances where he seems to be the Bajirao Singham's cousin from the IT department but gives a solid performance. Someone who topples Ajay is Saurabh Shukla as Rameshwar Singh 'Tauji' is beyond words to express.He is a literal show stealer. His Rameshwar's and Amay's cat and mouse game are enjoyable to watch. Illeana D'Cruz is merely reduced to a pretty damsel and has no special role. The rest of the cast do a good job in their respective role. 

                                      

Raj Kumar Gupta's narration is spot on. He tactfully engages you in the 130-minute runtime through the witty dialogues, narration and the pace. The writing by Ritesh Shah has been inspired by true incidences but has plot holes because the first half seems dragged and the songs in the movie are thrown for the sake of it. The music either is not good.  Though the editing and the cinematography nicely capture the locales of UP.

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Overall an average trailer, below average music and no initial expectations did impress me with the good treatment of the story and an interesting and intriguing watch. I rate the movie 3 stars. It can be your watch for the weekend if you are looking for something different.  The movie does try to rouse the patriot in you but fails! The lifetime of this movie should be between 65-75 crore lifetime.

                                      

P.S.  If you have still not watched SKTKS I would suggest watching it!