The Bollywood Elephant

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 f

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 fa

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, Juh

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 em

'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 syn

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 wo

'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!