There is an innate calmness and simplicity about Airlift. No matter how big the scale or how herculean the task at hand is, Airlift goes about its business with an extraordinary easiness. There is no patriotic chest thumping (may be a little bit towards the end), no heart wrenching portrayal of war and its associated grief, no screeching or shouting. Most of the frames in Airlift are fittingly raw (sometimes eerily ‘still’) and heartwarmingly subtle. And, this is the biggest win for director Raja Krishna Menon and his team. They manage to tell an extraordinary story of courage and survival with an authentic, real-life ordinariness.Continue reading “Airlift Movie Review: The Film Leaves an Impact Without Much Fuss”
Tag Archives: Ankit Tiwari
Wazir: A Quick Review
Amitabh Bachchan doesn’t need to do any roles in Hollywood. Being in Bollywood, the Big B has already superseded the Big H. Most of the action heroes in Hollywood (read Stallone, Arnold, Costner) still rely on their brawn to showcase their ‘angry young men’ image. While AB has smoothly transitioned from a ‘ Deewar’ and ‘Agneepath’ to a ‘Piku’ and ‘Paa’. His metamorphosis from a superstar to a super-actor seems to be complete with ‘Vazir’. Moreover, one more song in his baritone voice is a treat.Continue reading “Wazir: A Quick Review”
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Wazir Movie Review: Quite Watchable Despite a Very Predictable Plot
Wazir gets its atmospherics spot on. The chessboard metaphor for real-life shenanigans of loss, longing and revenge is beaming with promise and purpose, the players in the game are up to the task, and the editor on the editing table respects your time for once. But alas, all of this wonderful premise is bogged down by a curiously unidimensional and predictable plot. More on that later. But to begin with, it’s a relief to see a Hindi film with visible signs of a plot after a considerably long time. No, I am not being sarcastic – just look up the list of major releases that you have had in the last couple of months. So, being an eternal optimist that I am, I straightaway declare Wazir to be a decently good omen to begin the New Year. *Touchwood*.Continue reading “Wazir Movie Review: Quite Watchable Despite a Very Predictable Plot”
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Wazir Movie Review: A Failed Gambit.
One thing that is undeniable about Bejoy Nambiar is the fact that he is talented. But, a common complaint about his works so far is that they have been visually appealing, but lacking meat. Shaitan for example, started off with a bang, but ran out of steam halfway and fizzled out rather meekly. David was an interesting experiment in storytelling, but fell apart due to the poor writing, especially in the case of Vikram’s plotline. But that being said, both movies had the stamp of a maker, who wasn’t afraid to acknowledge that he possessed his own style. And there is a method to his flashiness, unlike that of a Sanjay Gupta or a Rohit Shetty. So when he decided to combine his visual flair, with the solid writing talents of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi in Wazir, it created a lot of anticipation for the project, but does it live up to the expectations of a discerning audience?Continue reading “Wazir Movie Review: A Failed Gambit.”
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Mr. X (2015) Movie Review: Invisible Script
Emraan Hashmi is one actor who can do both an A grade film and a B grade film with ease, very few actors can do that. Emraan has been experimenting with his roles over the last two years, but the results have not been favourable. Hi last two films despite being what you’d call as typical commercial films, failed to garner moolah at the box office.
Most of us are familiar with H.G.Wells novel (The Invisible Man), it remains a perennial favourite among generations, and Bollywood has already made a few as far as I know in which the leading man turns invisible. Of these my personal favourite is Gayab, I prefer it over the much loved Mr. India.Continue reading “Mr. X (2015) Movie Review: Invisible Script”
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Roy Movie Review : Ambitious, Faulty and Not For Everyone
A lot is being said and written about this weekend’s big release, Roy. If only it did not feature the leader of Bollywood’s ‘actor who can act’ brigade, Ranbir Kapoor, we could have easily written it off as another tank by Arjun Rampal or Jacqueline Fernandez. But then to inject star value into it, T-Series decided to cast Kapoor, and that too in ‘a dynamic role’ meekly imitating the ‘modest’ credit given to him as the film begins. The trailer looked a sure misfire, but the songs worked wonders, much like any other T-Series film. But is that enough? Well, as we see around now, almost every one out there is appealing to debutante writer-director Vikramjit Singh to stand with a boombox and apologize. Sigh, so much thwart for a mere film. Not so advisable to proclaim but in all honesty, I must admit that I fairly liked Roy. Not because it is brilliant or great, only because it is ambitious, and even when it fails, it doesnt make an almighty mess. Continue reading “Roy Movie Review : Ambitious, Faulty and Not For Everyone”
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Singham Returns Movie Review: Once A Cheer, Twice Too Much
Who am I to write about a film that just had the biggest opening day Box Office collections of the year yesterday?
Rohit Shetty’s Singham Returns is the latest offering from the franchise, and it is completely different from Suriya’s Singam 2, which came out last year. Yes, Ajay Devgn is back with arguably the most deliciously macho character of his career. I had thoroughly enjoyed Singham (2011), the confrontational dialoguebaazi, the loud action and the performances. Somewhere in my reserves, I expected Singham Returns to give a similar or a better high. But this one just seems a mere high of decibels with not much to root for. Alas, while I was cursing myself for missing an early morning show, and then cursing the theaters for being housefull later in the day, waiting patiently for the next show, Singham Returns had only so much to offer. Though the audience around me was on their feet, applauding and cheering, at the end of the film. I will try and explain later why. Continue reading “Singham Returns Movie Review: Once A Cheer, Twice Too Much”
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Ek Villain Movie Review: Bad Story About Bad People
Now I haven’t “Seen the Devil” so it is not possible for me to compare Ek Villain with the original it rips off blatantly. From what I have read online, the original is a brilliantly made thriller that is gory but still riveting. With Ek Villain, we have a watered down (read Indianised) version sans the gore and overt sexuality. Should work, like some rip offs have in the past one would say.
Unfortunately as a stand-alone story being told to first timers in the audiences (which there are many since the Korean original is not known beyond the connoisseurs of world cinema, or pyscho gore, or both; you get the point) Mohit Suri’s love story of a Villain is a train wreck of a script that is marginally redeemed by passable performances and a memorable musical score.Continue reading “Ek Villain Movie Review: Bad Story About Bad People”
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Nominations For the Best of Bollywood 2013!
Like most other years, 2013 too has been an eventful year for the Hindi film industry. And unlike other years, 2013 was also the 100th year for the Hindi film industry. However, the centenary wasn’t really a landmark in terms of quality; we didn’t have a watershed of extraordinary films. Yes, we had a few brilliant pieces of cinema but we also had a truckload of terrible movies. What has been most encouraging in this entire melee is the gradual acceptance and support rendered to smaller films. While we had Kiran Rao helping a “Ship of Theseus” to get a release, we had a Karan Johar taking “The Lunchbox” out to the masses. In this post, I enumerate my (completely) personal list of favourite films of 2013 and their different aspects. These are my nominations for the best of Bollywood in the year 2013. While I have considered six nominees for every category (most of which are non-technical), I have added one more as “Almost There”, whom / what I feel is good but not enough to be on the list. Would love to get your vote from the nominees or any additional candidate you feel like.Continue reading “Nominations For the Best of Bollywood 2013!”
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