Tag Archives: Saurabh Shukla

Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996): Sleepless in the city of Bombay

There are some movies which get a cult following, but probably do not receive much adulation during its time of release. Though Sudhir Mishra’s Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahin is still talked about, I still feel that the film has not got the love it deserves. Even though I have watched the film in bits and parts earlier, now thanks to the lockdown I watched this film again on Amazon Prime. The noir film might seem normal now, but back in those days it was supposed to be path breaking.Continue reading “Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996): Sleepless in the city of Bombay”

Jagga Jasoos Movie Review: Arrested Development

Let’s be honest here, as a desi audience that’s grown up on Bollywood Masala, we are definitely no strangers to the musical. But in Jagga Jasoos, director Anurag Basu tries to push the envelope by presenting most of the movie in tune and verse, an attempt to bring Broadway to Bollywood, something we probably last saw in Shirish Kunder’s equally befuddling debut effort, Jaan-E-Mann. But with an experienced hand such as Basu at the realm, some stunning cinematography by Ravi Varman, as promised in the promos, a promising soundtrack by Pritam, and an extremely good-looking starcast, does this audacious experiment work?Continue reading “Jagga Jasoos Movie Review: Arrested Development”

Shivaay Movie Review: Ajay Devgn’s Directorial Venture Is Worth A Watch

In the last few years, barring a Singham or a Drishyam, Ajay Devgn has hardly done a film of consequence and one that commands a second look. His recent filmography which boasts of films such as Rascals, Son of Sardaar, Himmatwala and Action Jackson have given audiences severe grief. And therefore one approaches his latest venture Shivaay with some hesitation.

It can’t be denied that the promos of the film did surprise audiences and created an enough good pre-release buzz for it. Interestingly, Shivaay also marks Devgn’s return to direction after U Me Aur Hum (2008).Continue reading “Shivaay Movie Review: Ajay Devgn’s Directorial Venture Is Worth A Watch”

Shivaay Movie Review: Of Stunning Visuals, Adrenaline Pumping Action and…Nothing Else

Right from the time we were introduced to Ajay Devgn’s dream project Shivaay, I was intrigued. To start with there’s the title which seems to be obviously a tribute of sorts to Lord Shiva. Added to this were the reasonably eye catchy first look posters. And then of course we had the promos, again something which drew a lot of attention. In fact my gut feel told me that the film would either end up as a lovely visual spectacle that we would go on to admire or else be a complete failure. It certainly did not look like something that would fall in between these 2 extremes. And what did the promos indicate or promise?  A Himalayan action entertainer perhaps? Well that is probably what we feel while watching the first half an hour or so of the movie.  So we see the vast expanse of the mountains, the snowclad peaks in the distance and of course how can we forget Shivaay (Ajay Devgn) in the midst of it all.Continue reading “Shivaay Movie Review: Of Stunning Visuals, Adrenaline Pumping Action and…Nothing Else”

Gour Hari Dastaan-The Freedom File Movie Review: Perseverance Pays or Does It?

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet

William Shakespeare may have famously once said/written this no doubt, but ever wondered what our lives would be if we were suddenly stripped of our identity? How would it feel to wake up one day only to be told that your existence is nothing but a lie, probably just a figment of one’s imagination? That the name by which you have always responded to isn’t yours anymore? Sounds ridiculous or funny right? Well yes why not, after all why on earth would something like this happen? So let’s make it a lot simpler, what if you were known for some deed of yours in the past, only to be told one fine day that no such thing happened and that you are probably lying? Possible, quite possible and irrespective of whether you feel the same or not, I am sure Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s latest film, Gour Hari Dastaan will make you ponder on the same.
Continue reading “Gour Hari Dastaan-The Freedom File Movie Review: Perseverance Pays or Does It?”

Kaun Kitney Paani Mein: Trailer

KKPM PosterWriter-director Nila Madhab Panda who made some interesting films like I Am Kalam (2010) and Jalpari (2012) made a departure of sorts with Babloo Happy Hai (2014). But he is now back with a film which seems to be more from a zone he is comfortable with, Kaun Kitney Paani Mein. Written by his frequent collaborator, Deepak Venkateshan, the film is produced by Eleaanora Images and One Drop Foundation. The film has an interesting star cast comprising of Kunal Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Saurabh Shukla, Gulshan Grover etc. Music is by Krishna Beura, Mangesh Dhakde, Vishakh Jyoti, Bishakh Kanish and Kanish Sharma while Subhransu Das is the DOP and editing is by Deepika Kalra and Biren Jyoti Mohanty.Continue reading “Kaun Kitney Paani Mein: Trailer”

Gour Hari Dastaan: Trailer

Gour Hari Dastaan Poster 2Written by C.P.Surendran,produced by Bindiya Khanolkar and Sachin Khanolkar, Gour Hari Dastaan is a biopic directed by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan. Featuring Vinay Pathak in the main lead, the film talks about Gour Hari Das, a freedom fighter who has to all of a sudden wage a long drawn struggle to prove his existence. Also featuring Konkona Sen, Ranvie Sheorey, Rajit Kapur, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Siddharth Jadhav, Saurabh Shukla etc. Music is by L.Subramaniam while Alphonse Roy is the DOP and A.Sreekar Prasad is the editor.Continue reading “Gour Hari Dastaan: Trailer”

Kick Movie Review : Definitely Not A Kick In Your Guts

kickI took an additional day after watching Salman Khan’s Kick to consolidate my thoughts about the film before I put them down here for you. As a movie analyst, it is imperative that I do not let any predilection cloud my objective point of view about the film, nor should I project my immediate reaction of it without giving it a second thought. Having said that, we can all revel in the fact that ‘Bhai’ is back this Eid. Yes, and his latest offering is directed by his long time producer Sajid Nadiadwala who makes the jump with this film. Post the debacle of Jai Ho earlier this year, Salman went all out selling Kick to the world, shrugging complacency out of himself. Rightly so. He must not throwaway the super stardom he has worked so hard for, only due to one film. Mounted on an ominously large scale, Bhai fans (read Bhai-tards) looked forward to it with bated breath. Continue reading “Kick Movie Review : Definitely Not A Kick In Your Guts”

Kick Movie Review: A GPL for its Viewers

Director: Sajid Nadiadwala
Rating: *

Now that I think about it, this is the perfect movie for Sajid Nadiadwala to make his directorial debut. What does a Bhai’s movie need anyways? Nothing except Bhai himself. The rest can be on auto pilot and his fans still won’t notice. The entertainment quotient of Bhai’s Eid releases has consistently fallen after the highs achieved by Wanted and has now comfortably settled down between I-can’t-believe-I-paid-for-this and I-paid-for-this-so-I-have-to-enjoy-this. Yet, the box office collections do not ebb. (Jai Ho was a badly publicized aberration) By the time you read this, the film will have already recovered its cost and before negative word of mouth spreads around, you will be hearing how after a 100 crore milestone, it’s set to conquer the 200 crore peak. Still reviewers like me labour on with hope that collective public opinion will change one day and good films will trounce bad films in the end.Continue reading “Kick Movie Review: A GPL for its Viewers”