MIC Review: Souper-Douper Amazing! Entertaining and Relevant.

So, after a lot of speculation Rajkummar Rao-Mouni Roy starrer 'Made in China' released and perhaps you wouldn't find a better Diwali release since 2010 in Bollywood. The movie is directed by national award winner Mikhil Musale and co-stars Boman Irani, Paresh Rawal, Sumeet Vyas, Gajraj Rao.

  

                                             

What's Good: Acting: A spectacular cast can never go wrong. RR gets the Gujarati character absolutely spot on. Though, Mouni Roy is very nominal in her role as a housewife. Boman Irani as Dr.Vardhan as sexologist easily deserves an award nomination! Story: Excellent Story with a relevant message is brought to life by the director. Technical Aspects: The screenplay, the DOP does a fantastic job in keeping the story intact.

                                              

What's Bad: Incoherent: The movie's coherency is certainly questionable: like it is there but still not there. That is what the movie falters a bit at. Just like TSIP, MIC does not completely submerge you into the movie. Music: Sachin-Jigar's music is supremely underwhelming. Odhani, Valam, Sanedo all of them underwhelming.

                                                

Final Words: 'Made in China' is a MUST WATCH. It tries to talk about a very taboo topic in a funny and entertaining way and it is really doubtful whether we get a better movie. It also plays a bit with your psychology as it approaches the climax and efforts are to be lauded for bringing a taboo topic for a dining table discussion. Though its incoherency lessens the impact, I am going with 3.5 stars for this RR-BI extravaganza.

                                                

PS. Never knew that the That would give us Best Diwali release this decade will also give us the Worst Diwali Release this decade in the form of 'Housefull 4'. A crass, cringy and horrific cinema.

                          

The Age Debate of Bollywood featuring "The Real Reason"!

With Tushar Hiranandani's 'Saand ki Aankh' trailer came out featuring Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Padnekar there has been a lot of debate as to why were these 2 casts for the role of 60-year-old ladies. For the uninitiated, 'Saand ki Aankh' is based on the true story of Tomar sisters who became sharpshooters at the age of 60. Hence, the debate revolves around the fact that why weren't age-appropriate actresses like Neena Gupta, Seema Pahwa, Ratna Pathak, Supriya Pathak etc not cast and rather these young blood were cast.

                                             

The kind of filth and the controversy surrounding and blaming the hard work of these actresses is being questioned, it can easily and simply be said that had it been any actor, any actor like Alia, Vidya, Shraddha shall never say NO to these stories and in fact shall will pay to play these roles as these roles are affirmative, inspiring and whatnot. So belittling them is absolutely wrong. In fact, no one question's Aamir for playing a college kid in 3 idiots or Nargis playing Sunil Dutt's mother in Mother India or Anupam Kher in Saaransh and just targetting these capable women. 

                                               

What I believe to be the real reason behind this fiasco is that all the producers care about is the Box office collection. Considering the fact, the movie is releasing alongside biggies like Housefull4, Made in China, perhaps the makers would have thought about making some noise by hiring some young blood which would "attract" the audience to the theatres! And since Mone makes the world go round and the youth's unawareness about yesteryear's actresses can be a reason for the producers to NOT cast them as they won't set the cash registers ringing. But all said and done, unless and until money shall continue to rule the roost in Bollywood, actresses will always be snubbed, the content will be neglected (of recent 'The Sky is Pink') as they won't earn revenue! The same reason as to why we did have Akshay Kumar in 'Mission Mangal', take him out, and slash the collections by half!

                                                 

P.S. We hope Saand ki Aankh does some great business.

TSIP Review: Sky is the limit!

To begin with, I really had a tough time to gather myself and write a review for this Farhan-Priyanka starrer. Director Shonali Bose presents this real-life story of Aisha Chaudhary with her personal touch ( she has gone through a similar thing with her son) making this movie so balanced, positive, beautiful and deals with the subject that 'death is the ultimate truth' so well that it is hard to encapsulate it in words!

                                           

What's Good: Performances: PC, Zaira, Rohit perform so exponentially well but it is Farhan who makes the maximum impact. The vulnerability, the emotions, the longing couldn't be played any better. The movie is pitch-perfect here. Music: Pritam's music is just like the cherry on the cake. Message: What it takes about is something very relevant about life. Direction, Writing, Dialogues, Editing: The excellent voice-overs by Aisha (played by Zaira), bose's sensitive handling of the subject, Juhi's writing is top-notch. Theme: Something apart from talking about life, TSIP addresses the issue from the parent's side as well (just as they say what to do with Aisha's clothes, books etc and break down in tears) is something new and refreshing to see.

                                              

What's Bad: Duration: In its 135 minutes of runtime, the movie keeps one invested but patience varies from person to person. Messy Timelines: The movie jumps back and forth a lot in the 30 years which might be hard to follow!

                                                  

                                        The real-life inspiration for TSIP: The Chaudharys

Final Word: The Sky is Pink is an unforgettable saga of the celebration of life until death attempted in a never before style. The movie does not want you to Cry but will surely end up making u teary-eyed or even weep. It's a highly polarizing movie like October from the previous year so either you will absolutely hate it or you will love it and since I belong to the latter, I am going with a solid 4 stars! Though, viewers discretion is highly advised!

                                           

P.S. Instead of spending money on War, watch this!

Is Gully Boy actually worth an Oscar entry?

To begin with, it is not always about selecting the 'Best Film' at the Oscars. If India were to send the Best Movie to the Oscars, the Tamil movie, 'Super Deluxe' should have been a sure shot choice to send to the Oscars. But Oscars is not about sending the best of what India has, but the movie that can bring home an Oscar.

                                    

•  To begin with, this year at the Oscars, India shall have the advantage of its visibility among the 6000+ jury  members because of the movie's director Zoya Akhtar and costume designer Arjun Bhasin are among the members of the jury which also gives them a chance of networking and trying to juice in maximum votes from the jury for their film. Thus, increasing nomination chances (if not winning!) 

                                             

• History is proof that the Academy prefers movies based on the underdog stories set in rural India/slums backed by actors who bring to life the super-strong emotions. Emotion in world cinema is something which is not as openly expressed as in Indian cinema. Hence, when people see something emotional, they tend to incline in that direction as it gives them the sheer joy of something being expressed.

                                             

• To people criticizing that the Malyali Movie ' Kumbalangi Nights', not considered even in the list of movies that could potentially be selected for Oscars is basically because the movie was not even submitted to the film federation of India for consideration by the producers and only the movies that are submitted to the board are considered and a theatrical release is a must for movies to be considered for Oscars which was unlike the case for the Rima Das movie, "Bulbul Can Sing".

                                                      

• And finally, the most talked-about contender for the Oscars, 'Andhadhun' failed to make it as the official entry mainly because 'Andhadhun' lacked novelty or to put it in other words, the western audiences have seen true blue thrillers like Andhadhun which mess with your mind with open endings. Hence, Gully Boy made it through. 

                                             

Finally, to conclude India's chances of winning are fairly decent considering the previous releases and something that needs to be majorly and thoroughly checked is the Right Subtitling. If the subtitling strikes a chord and keeps the essence of emotions intact, Zoya might just bring an Oscar home!

P.S. To anyone saying that 'Gully Boy' is a copy or similar to '8  miles', kindly watch 8 miles and then we can chat!

TGIE Review: Worth an escape to the cinema!

'The Great Indian Escape' is a movie directed by Taranjiet Singh Namdhari and stars Asheesh Kapur, Raj Singh Arora and Raghav Rishi in the lead roles. It is a true story based on the aftermath of the 1971 Indo-Pak war and an escape made by 3 Indian Air Force officers after they were held as Prisoners of War. it is a story of motivation, bravery, courage, valour and love for our motherland.

                                               

What's Good: Story: Needless to say, the story is one of the strongest points of the TGIE. Performances: The performances by Asheesh Kapur and Raj Singh are absolutely amazing which are ably supported by the rest of the cast. Direction and Editing: Director and Editor Taranjiet Nambi masterfully edits and directs the movie. Dialogues: The dialogues are well-written and do not go to the 'hyper-nationalism' way. Art Direction and Set Design: The art direction and set design are absolutely spot on. They seem to be in sync with the times the story is set in. Chemistry: The chemistry among the leads is absolutely amazing and delightful.

                                            

What's Bad: Raghav Rishi's Debut: The narrator of the entire incident Dilip Parulkar aka Raghav Rishi is a bit unconvincing in his debut. His dialogue delivery is outright flat which hampers the impact the well-written dialogues could have had. The VFX and Superimposed imagery: Another aspect that refrained the movie from having an amazing impact was the superimposed imagery and the VFX which was done in such a way that it was obvious that it is superimposed.

                                             

All in all, The Great Indian Escape deserves your time because it talks about a true story that should have graced the silver screen earlier but could not. Moreover, the movie leaves you with immense motivates you, makes you realise and feel proud of those who are at the border protecting us. I am going with 3.5 stars for 'The Great Indian Escape'. It is a 1 Time Must Watch.

                                     

Crowdfunded Cinema.

There have been various kinds of movies that have to be told but face problems when they have to do not find any producers willing to invest money. Such stories with a desire to be a feature film turn to crowdfund for raising capital for production.

                                        

As evident from its name, crowdfunding is a practice adopted by a lot of indie filmmakers to gather fund for their films. Not only provide funds, but crowdfunding also permits the public to be familiar with the film and its cast (one of the biggest positives when the box office is concerned). Not only that, as per an investor, "Many independent film producers view crowdfunding as an excellent way to raise funds to cover production costs. Film producers are able to start to accumulate an interesting audience for their movie while raising money to make it."  

A few examples of crowd-funded movies is Rajat Kapoor's national award-winning movie 'Raghu Romeo', which won critical acclaim but failed to generate much of the numbers at the box office.

This led to a crisis for him to find investors for his next movie, "Mixed Doubles". It shall not be wrong to say that crowdfunding a successful method of raising capital for content and meaningful cinema around the world which has failed to gather momentum in India simply due to the risks of loss associated with it. 

                                                        

With another crowdfunded movie, "The Great Indian Escape" up for release this 24th of June, deals with real life incidence of a prison break of 3 officers of the Indian Air Force, one of the most outrageous prison breaks ever to happen in the history of defence services. An interesting and honest tale that deserves our attention. A real-life story which otherwise shall have not made it to the big screen if not for crowdfunding. 

                                                     

Therefore, to know the real life incidence of the real heroes of the country, it is our turn as the audience to support this movie and also inspire filmmakers to go the crowdfunding route if they have a story like "The Great Indian Escape" to be told.

                                                       

Cake (Netflix) Review: A cake one shall love to order again and again.

'Cake' is a Pakistani movie that released on Netflix recently stars Sanam Saeed, Amaina Sheikh and Adnan Malik in the lead roles. It is directed by debutante director Asim Abbasi. The film deals with a dysfunctional family where the illnesses of their ageing parents amidst their personal turbulence as the kids gather together for their parents.

                                                       

What's Good: Acting: Some fabulous acting is done by the exceptional leads and supporting cast. Story: Absolutely not on the same as Kapoor and Sons, there is a difference about this Pakistani drama. Chemistry: The chemistry where expected is sparkling and crackling. Message: A message common to all Pakistani movies, is the importance of staying together is depicted with absolute subtility here. Ode to 90s Music: The amazing background score reminisces us about old Bollywood music. 

The Best thing about Cake: They are the family next door!

                                           

What's Bad: Sub Stories: The sub-stories in the main story might be tough to follow. Length: The movie ends in just 125 minutes. 

                                           

If you are on Netflix and do not watch 'Cake', then I can confidently say that THIS SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT WATCH. Pure raw emotions, minimal melodrama, intriguing storyline, top-notch performances. I am going with 4 stars for this beautiful piece from Neighbouring Cinema!!

                                           

P.S. Do watch it. Might just turn out to be your 'movie of the year'!