The Bollywood Elephant

10 years and 21 movies later, the most anticipated  Marvel movie "Avengers: EndGame" has finally hit the screens. There is a going to be a lot of tears, denials as a few major characters finally bid goodbye to the characters we have seen as we grew up.                                                What's Good:   Acting:  Needless to say, all these heroes are played by the actors over a decade now, so yes all is done to perfection. Story: Could not have been presented in a better way. Action, Dialogues, and Cinematography: Does not hit a false note anywhere.                                               What's Bad:   Captain Marvel: U have to see the movie to understand. Can't give out spoilers. Thorough Revision of...

After so many delays, Dharma Productions magnum opus 'Kalank'  starring Aditya Roy Kapur, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Kunal Kemmu, Kiara Advani, Anchint Kaur etc. etc. It is scripted and directed by a 1-filmed old director Abhishek Varman.                                           What's Good:   Acting:  Credit is given where it is due. Acting performances are top notch. Aditya and Sonakshi are hands down the best! They are ably supported by the rest of the ensemble cast but these rightfully deserve every accolade. Costume and Set Design:  The costume and set design are absolutely spectacular and Bhansali level. Costumes are well depicted by Manish Malhotra. Music:  Surprisingly, Pritam's music is one of the better things of this magnum opus.                  ...

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.                               ...

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.  ...

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.               ...

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.                                   ...

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 t...