Author: cinemadilemma

 

To watch or not to watch: Must watch with family

Starring: Rajkumar Rao, Kriti Kharbanda, Navni Parihar, Govind Namdev

This is a story of a small town guy, Sattu (Rajkumar Rao), getting into an arranged marriage with another small towner, Aarti (Kriti Kharbanda). They liked each other instantly and fell in love during the courtship. In the background, Sattu’s family asked for dowry. On the day of the wedding, Aarti got to know she cleared state civil services exams. As she wouldn’t be allowed to work after marriage, she runs away. Fast forward 5 years, Aarti is working as a big shot government employee. She has helped her friends get jobs in her office too. Sattu comes as her senior officer, hell-bent on revenge. He gets her charged on corruption and persecutes her. It becomes a battle for Aarti, to get her reputation and love back.

It looks like an adaption of Persuasion by Jane Austen, though it is not credited anywhere. Rajkumar Rao outshines everyone. He is convincing in both the personas he has depicted in the movie. Kriti Kharbanda is a promising star who maintains the role with her simplicity.  The movie attacks a few social taboos like dowry and working married women, though there is no message explicitly given. The story in itself is very real, and executed perfectly. There are no unnecessary elements; it progresses at a fast pace. The movie set out to deliver entertainment and it doesn’t disappoint. The dialogues are well written, perfect for the overall setting. This is something that shines in its simplicity. It is a light watch that can be seen anytime, anywhere and any number of times

 

To watch or not to watch: A must watch. Doesn’t require a big screen for them feels.

Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Rajit Kapoor, Shishir Sharma, Amruta Khanvilkar, Arif Zakaria.

Director: Meghna Gulzar

The plot of the movie is 1971 India-Pakistan war, when tensions were too high between the nations and the nation which had more information on the other had the upper hand. Hidayat (Rajit Kapoor) is a normal businessman based in Srinagar, who is friends with Brigadier Parvez Syed (Shishir Sharma) of the Pakistani Army. Hidayat supplies information to Pakistan and has gained their trust, but in fact is an Indian spy. He is diagnosed with cancer, and passes on the baton to his 20 year old daughter, Sehmat (Alia Bhatt). Sehmat marries Iqbal (Vicky Kaushal), son of Brigadier, and gains entry. Over the course of time, she gathers priceless information that is passed on to Indian intelligence and helps in mitigating the Ghaazi attach on INS Vikrant. The movie ends with saluting such unsung heroes of war.

The movie is an adaptation of a book titled “Calling Sehmat” and is a fictionalised narration of true events. It is one of the good ones in Bollywood lately, and respects the intelligence of the audience. It is something not in black and white; there is no hero or villain, only different beliefs. There are moments so tense that you will be at the edge of the seats, and these moments end on no red herrings. Alia Bhatt has acted incredibly, making the audience feel her struggle. She is the anchor point, and delivers a unique role – another milestone for Bollywood, proving that a female actor can be mainstream and can lead a movie.

To watch or not to watch: A must watch for everyone, for reasons too numerous to state here.

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachael McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James, Live Schreiber, Stanley Tucci.

“Spotlight” follows the eponymous team of investigative journalists, Mike (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha (Rachel McAdams), Matt (Brian d’Arcy James) and Robby (Michael Keaton), at The Boston Globe. New editor Marty (Liev Schreiber) sees the massive potential in a story about child sex abuse by the Roman Catholic priests in the city of Boston. The plot shines a light (no pun intended) on the investigation into this story, uncovering the psychology and statistics, the sheer scale of the crime across the city, and the church’s complicity in protecting the perpetrators, in the process. It depicts the struggle of the victims, before and after the crime, the personal struggle of the journalists who uncover the truth, some of whom have personally known some of the priests as well as the glaring reality of the corruption in the Church.
This movie is a brilliant piece of cinema. The highlight remains the pull-no-punches portrayal of one of the most sensitive issues of our time. There were no heroes, no emotional speeches, just a distilled recounting of real-life events while hewing as close to the truth as possible. The film’s greatest strength is the screenplay itself, more so even than its star-studded cast, who provide very low-key, yet stellar performances. Liev Schreiber is unbelievable as the quiet, confident, outcast editor of the local newspaper, shining brightest in the minimal screen time he is afforded. The story delivers more than its fair share of shocking revelations and this is the pillar upon which this cinematic masterpiece rests.

My Rating: 3/5 stars

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Huma Qureshi, Annu Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla

It is a classic David vs Goliath story. Jagdish Mishra, alias Jolly (Akshay Kumar) is an assistant to a big shot lawyer in Lucknow. He hasn’t been given much opportunity to practice law, only earning small sums by fighting petty cases. His reality is at odds with his ambition. He wants to have his own chamber, earn a lot of money and buy Gucci dress for his wife, Pushpa Pandey (Huma Qureshi). In comes a case for the big shot lawyer, and Jolly seeing this as an opportunity to get money, cheats the applicant, who is a pregnant lady. His actions nag at his conscience and Jolly decides to fight the case.

This potentially interesting movie suffers as a result of the shifting priorities of the contemporary film industry, where the focus is on dramatization and tangential story lines, rather than telling the story the film is supposed to tell.That is what plagues this seemingly interesting movie too. The case, the crime, the timelines have a step-child status and deemed unimportant. The prime focus shifted to the non-conventional relationship Jolly has with his wife and courtroom humour, delivered by the judge. The whole burden of making this movie interesting is borne by Saurabh Shukla, who delivers the performance of a quirky judge perfectly. In fact, all the actors are cast aptly and deliver what is expected of them. But there is no compensation for a poor execution of a good plot. Annu Kapoor is a good actor, so is Akshay Kumar. There was a lot that could be squeezed into 2 hours 18 minutes movie, like debates in the court, background on the accused, which would have made for a good movie. If anyone wants to watch the movie, go expecting good humor, good acting, and a few far spaced good dialogues. The rest is meh.