Mama

Cast: Jessica Chastain(Annabel), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau(Lucas), Megan Charpentier(Victoria),Isabelle Nélisse( Lilly),Daniel Kash(Dr.Dreyfuss)
Director: Andrés Muschietti
Genre: Horror

Not a bad watch. Usually most of the horror movies otherwise suck, this one aint bad if not great

Pluses:

• The kids namely, Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nélisse were brilliant. If not for them, the movie would be nothing. You choke many times as you see them crawling, specially the little one. Re defining horror, which makes you realise that in a spooky movie, is not necessarily the super naturals always that can scare but even human beings as sweet as kids can scare you :)
• Otherwise, Jessica Chastain was the lead character among the adults and the saviour of the children. I like her looks :)
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Daniel Kash, had their brief standings in the movie, which aint bad. They do well in what they were supposed to do :)
• The script is different and is appreciable. We would have seen many times before horror elements which are motherly but ghostly, but never seen before the innocence within a child which can accept a ghostly figure unabatedly and lovingly as a mother in itself. The maturity level between the two kids with age gap give the exposure to normal humans and culture clearly defines the climax of the movie

Minuses:

Now the supernatural character finally, 'Mama' frightens you until she makes a clear show. And disappointing although, it doesnt scare you at all when visible. Its hide and seek mode was more scary in the first half for that matter.She most of the times later looks more of a 2D image :P The ugliness of the character wasnt very convincing nor feels real, they should have worked more on her

  

My Rating: 2.5/5

Silver Linings Playbook

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Anupam Kher
Director: David O. Russell
Genres: Drama, Romance

 

A quality romantic drama. May not be a choice for a mass audience, but definitely enjoyable.:)

 

Pluses:

• It is Bradley Cooper, undoubtedly. Love to see him psychopathed :D Madness personalified :) You will love him anytime and everytime he makes an appearance on the screen. Exploring deeper realms in the ocean of insanity, and thats what defines the character and Bradley in sync :)
• Jennifer Lawrence, and now the Oscar Winner. Need we say more.:) Walking hand in hand with Bradley Cooper minus the competition :) She has definitely come a long way. There is some indisputable charm in her that even after not being the most beautiful lady around, you cant just ignore her. And 'Tiffany' is the only one who makes you believe that she is the only another insane character who can get 'Pat' back to track
• Robert De Niro, we pay homage to this man. Though he had a rather simple role to play but he is always a charm
• Anupam Kher, is the only senior actor whom i find so so adorable. i am proud of his role in the movie. He is a serious doc at one instance and on the other he is a fun loving funny man at the backdrop. I accept the non doc part of the role given to him was not really apt to his proffession written towards a patient, but yet he was visible almost in the entire length of the movie. And that is no less to have shared a screen space with such big actors of our time :)
• The story is simple, not complicated. The subtleness in the sentiments or the sheer whackiness in the urge for love is worth deciphering from the roles

 

 

Minuses:

 

The duo sucked at the dance...cant leave my background behind and appreciate for somethin which is real bad :D They didnt deserve a 5/10 either at dance :D

 

 

 

 

My Rating: 3.5/5

Kai po che

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar Yadav, Amit Sadh, Digvijay Deshmukh, Amrita Puri
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
Genre: Drama

 

Good luck strikes, that Chetan Bhagat's stories always finds the right directors. Without much of any critcism and loosing yourself in the book to movie translation, its a declared success. You shouldnt miss this one

 

Pluses:

• The story is not ditto copied from the book as it is, missing some relevant situations here and there and adding some more, written more from an angle to suit the needs of a movie maker. Very much acceptable
• This was a Debut for Sushant Singh Rajput, foraying to big screens from small screens. However, all the three characters were equally important, but he was a given some special screening always as the lead. Congratulation to Sushant for the big leap and very convincing as 'Ishaan'...impulsive, over expressive and a die hard friend
• We have seen Raj Kumar Yadav quite a few times before in uncontemporary movies. He always is given roles which has a lot of dirty spat on his characters, this one on the other hand was very different. He very well does justice to the role of a money minded businessman. However, his role from the beginning to end has the same shade, less opportunity to perform as compared to the others, but nevetheless worth appreciable
• Amit Sadh, does a good job as well, expressions perfect everywhere..right from the time he was nothing to someone who became a political pivot. Well played 'Omi'
• Digvijay Deshmukh, as 'Ali', needs a mention as well as he was one of the major driving characters of the movie. Very beautifully played though he never changed much of his expression throughout :D One grumpy kid
• Tale of three friends inspired from the writings of Chetan Bhagat comes alive on the big screens, when you identify each one of them and the situations and realise, that the way you would have imgained the characters the environment and ambience of Gujrat while reading the story are not very different from how Abhishekh Kapoor has put it across. And that makes the experience complete
• Second half is particularly good. When there are a lot of events happening one following the other and tests the bad times of each fren to one another
• Amrita Puri, is the only female character in the story. And she was pretty and good at the roleplay for 'Vidya'
• I cannot miss a most well deserved applaud to Amit Trivedi for the music of the film. Beautiful and resonating sountracks. Gujrati flavor with melodies and very good implementation of bass.
• And so were the videos of the songs, beautiful light and well shot in wide angles

  

Minuses:

 

Now since you already know the reviews for the movie, you may not find the first half any exciting. It just goes on and on at a monotonous pace, They didnt loose much time in introducing the characters but yet there was so no punch in the first half

 

 

My rating: 3.5/5

Lincoln

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: History, Biography, War

Could be a long tedious make but what makes it a winner is its execution. Beautiful portrayal of Mr. Lincoln. A must watch!

Pluses:

• Daniel Day-Lewis is the man to look out for. Composed across the chaos. Humorous. Responsible. His character tells you how a President ought to be. He is no celebrity but a people's man. What dignifies him is his honor and his reluctance to make things happen
• For the first time ever i see Lincoln having a comic aspect as well, though on a much subtle note. But nevetheless, it makes him a very interesting person. Thanks to Mr. Steven Spielberg to have surfaced that facet of the Hero on screen
• Steven Spielberg, needs no word for his marvel in work. You pay him respect by hitting the big screens instead of downlaoding and watching at home
• After watching this one, now i believe i have a better understanding of the former flick on Mr Lincoln namely 'Abraham Lincoln: The Vampire Hunter'
• There is no need to dig into pluses and minuses, but only one bottomline...Go and grab a piece of the most important historical event of mankind in theaters playing near you :)

Minuses:

• Sally Field is one irritating character. If the role is played well from the history, then god bless the soul of Mr. Lincoln to have withstood a woman like that and yet have caressed her :)
• For those who may expect some war drama and action, could be a big let down. Its only about politics and no action folks
• Yes, the movie is slow paced for the very above mentioned reason, and is a lengthy one too

My rating: 3.5/5

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Cast: Jeremy Renner,Gemma Arterton,Famke Janssen(Bad witch),Pihla Viitala(Good Witch)
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Genre: Fantasy,Action, Horror

 

Time pass entertainment.

 

Pluses:

• I cant help but adore Jeremy Renner. His fan since the 'Hurt Locker' days.Though the screenplay is nothing outstanding to his level, but yet...he is quite a man :)
• Gemma Arterton, stands at equal footing with Jeremy. Makes them look like a nice bro-sis duo working hand in hand and never sub juidicing or jeopardizing each others situations
• Famke Janssen, is convincing as the witch woman, heading the entire drama
• Pihla Viitala, is a good support and a lucky one to have romanced Jeremy ;)
• The folktale twisted to suit the action drama, rendered just about fine. You wont mind watching it at least and not get bored. Thanks to the entire execution keeping it low on dialogues

 

 

Minuses:

• Jeremy is capable of much better action sequences, the crew should have cashed upon it and make it a real action thriller. Alas!
• Audience would love to watch some more nasty and horrifying witchcrafting. A lot of time wasted in hunting multiple witches, one witch instead with better content would have worked for the flick

 

 

My rating: 2.5/5

 

  

Zero Dark Thirty

Cast:Jessica Chastain,Jason Clarke
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Genre: History, Crime,Thriller

Meticulously made. A proud watch for a nation and for women :)

Pluses:

• Jessica Chastain, goes without saying. One priviledged woman to have played a historical role.She is the star of the movie. Not many knows that Bin Laden was bogged down by a woman technically. Thanks to the movie, now at least people are aware of what happened and how it happened
• I havent really done a lot of reading and googling over the Osama's hunt, but this flick gives quite a bit of everything in every possible detail
• The last half and hour of the movie will set your heart pounding cos that is what you have been waiting to watch since long. And they dont disappoint you. Life is humorous in one or the other certain way. They dont really try to wrap everything in an all serious note. You will enjoy every bit of it :)
• Jason Clarke, played a role from the history very well
• The length of the movie or the pace of the movie didnt hurt me since i was expecting it to go that way. Everything else depends a lot on the execution. Kudos to Kathryn Bigelow, you never feel below your expectations..it only goes better :)

  

Minuses:

A few instances even if beyond my understanding cant be questioned much since they say its history. I still wonder why did Osama stay put in one place for so so long, even when the Americans actually took a quarter of a year to attack after spotting the mansion.Also, their invasion didnt go without any noise, the charge wasnt all that secretive, and the S.E.A.L team took its own time barging the fortress, how and why did Osama not have a escape route out of the house. Nevertheless, some question goes unanswered :)

My rating: 4/5

Murder 3

Cast: Randeep Hooda,Aditi Rao Hydari,Sara Loren
Director: Vishesh Bhatt
Genre: Romance, Thriller

A very average flick, rather disappointment.

Pluses:

• Music is the only plus point
• South Africa tourism, best seen only a bit in the beginning
• Randeep Hooda did his job well, but he has done much better jobs before
• Sara Loren looked hot through out, watching her could be counted as one of the pluses :) She had a better role than the other

Minuses:

• Very poor script, rather idiotic. Best way to put it forward is, its a story of a simpleton women on her idiocies
• The pace of the movie is slow, boring..on the top of that you will hate the entire reiteration in detail in the second half
• Aditi Rao Hydari is a horrible choice. I am desperate to know where were the rest of the cute faced woman, why was she chosen at the end for this project!! Cant speak, cant deliver...can look cute only from a distance. And the cherry on the icing being her stupid role
• Poor direction straight away. Worst in the Murder series to put it in the right way
• Stupid and forced humor. You will laugh but at despair instead of pleasure
• Story lacked connect and lacked explanations everywhere. Instances like 'Vikram' never gets an answer from either of the girls for whats happening in his life till the end.Sudddenly someone appears and disappears and then the other also goes missing. Insane!! 'Roshni' never tries to find out why after all Vikram was so distressed when she went missing if he never was a loyal man. Further, few instances where they try to show some creepy actions of 'Vikram', more like false alarms :P My question is why why why???!!!!

My rating: 2/5

ABCD(Any Body Can Dance)

Cast: Prabhu Deva,Ganesh Acharya,Kay Kay Menon,Dharmesh Yelande,Salman Yusuff Khan,Lauren Gottlieb
Director:Remo D'Souza
Genre: Dance, Drama

Quite above my expectations, an enjoyable watch overall

Pluses:

• Crown for dance prowess needless to say will go to Prabhu Deva. He is the master after all.But thats about it
• All the other lead dancers and the entire troup did particularly good in the second half. They are brilliant dancers, no doubt and can also act better than Prabhu Deva :)
• Ganesh Acharya was a very good support and a free flow actor, too fat now to dance however :)
• Kay Kay Menon's role reminds you the one from 'Black Swan'. But he has always been good in negative roles :)
• Second half rips the movie, else it could potentially be a major let down. You get to see some actual dance sequences and some seriousness in the second half
• We have seen Remo at work even before in the movie 'Faltoo', this guy knows how to make the stage dazzle, his formations and crew is at its best. Concepts are innovative and brilliant to look at
• Freestyle hip hop music is good but the regular songs are nothing great barring one of them
• 3D effects were notably good in a few areas but overall you dont get to enjoy a lot of visual 3D renderings

Minuses:

• Unimpressive promotion of the movie is a big drawback. I almost chose to skip this flick due to that
• Majorly copied from the 'Step Up' series and some part from 'Black Swan' notably and could also be inspired from many others
• Direction by Remo D'Souza is a mixed bag, is good in bits and parts. If not for the dance in the second half, would be a sure thumbs down
• First half is pretty lame and lousy and below standards, i hated it barring one segement just before the interval which pushed me to sit past interval
• Prabhu Deva just cant act, expressionless for most of the time;even worse, no good in Hindi... may work in other languages a bit better i hope
• Dialogues could be written with better punch lines, wasnt very impressive either

My rating: 2/5(Overall Movie rating)
                 3.5/5(Dance alone on Indian standards)

David

Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vikram, Vinay Virmani, Tabu, Isha Sharvani, Monica Dogra(From the Dhobi ghat fame), Lara Dutta
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Genre: Crime,Drama, Romance

 

A stint on experimental cinema, drags at places but you may not mind watching it

 

Pluses:

• The disconnected lives of three people over different time zones, and the final connect knitting them to each or on the same time zone, works well even if not very thrilling. Its a different take diverting from the regular path of Indian Cinema and at least didnt end up in a rot,thankfully :)
• Best performance till date by Neil Nitin Mukesh, he looked handsome, dressed dotingly well and good platform for him to perform. His was the only role which you can cherish from start to end
• I havent seen many movies of Vikram, my first. Cant comment much on his acting skills. However, he was very much convincing in his drunken lazy arse role, suits Goa, suits him :) You start liking him by the end :)
• Vinay Varmani was also my first. I didnt appreciate the role written for him, but nevertheless he played it well
• All the other actress were good as support specially Tabu.
• Music was good to the ears with the visuals. Enjoyable
• First half is particularly good and then jump to the end. Not much happening in the mid section

 

Minuses:

• The story at Goa, felt a lot dragging and non interesting. You start wondering, if such stories can be written and pictured, then practically every person has a story to tell, we can make endless movies forever. This particular story lacked a lot of substance and you wonder why was it even made. Vikram is the only saving grace
• Same is the story based in Mumbai, though few things still made sense but David's role made no sense at all. A rather naive idiot getting beaten up every now and then asking for stupid answers. Irritating to watch him in the second half
• If not for Neil Nitin Mukeshs's character, you cannot sustain the movie post interval
• The final climax doesnt seem very complete or appealing. Not all the David's relate to each other. Its either the time zone of one person, or one David to just another, not all the three ever come together or share any common motive. Could have been written and executed much better

 

 

My rating: 2.5/5

Special 26

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Kajal Aggarwal
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Genre: Crime, Drama

A successful make by Neeraj Pandey. If you are not aware of the story yet, you will enjoy :)

Pluses:

• So here should we mount pressure on Akshay Kumar declaring he is back with a bang :D But i am certainly glad everytime i watch him on the big screen. Its a pleasure watching you act Akki. :)
• Anupam Kher is an outstanding actor for his time. We want more of him, dont retire. Dont miss his expressions in this one, be it fear, or sarcasm, humor, content..anything, he delivers it without any flaw
• The USP of the movie is the script, such scripts if written well cannot go wrong with a bit of guidance from the Director. And of course it works as an added benefit if the story is inspired from a true incident. Not much of creativity you require except for some homework on background study and history
• Manoj Bajpayee gives himself the best at serious roles, and doesnt disappoint here either
• Wanted to see more of Jimmy Shergill. Love his roles personally
• Music is average, but doesnt hurt

Minuses:

• First half may not excite you so much, all thanks to the hype created around it after its release. But second half surely rips it :)
• Kajal Aggarwal is always placed in movies where she doesnt have anything to do apart from appearing in a few songs

My rating: 3/5

Midnight's Children

Cast: Satya Bhabha, Ronit Roy, Shahana Goswami, Siddharth, Seema Biswas , Shriya Saran, Darsheel Safary, Rahul Bose and others
Director: Deepa Mehta
Genre: Drama

 

Hype hopes and low on delivery. You may not however mind watching it with low expectations as the lead of the movie and his role is worth watching for

 

Pluses:

• The lead anyhow needs a distinctive credit, and that is very well deserved as well, to Satya Bhabha. Not many would have heard of him, but a multi talented persona. And a complete justice to the role he played of a character who in the end belongs to neither nation but yet keeps fighting. Tumbles all over, but faces life as it comes, never rosy but yet always strong and conjure people up as he keeps struggling to make a family of his own. A person who is beyond any caste and creed and religions. Loved his character to the core, and i guess the only USP of the flick is his role
• Plethora of other artists, none of whom can go wrong with their acting skills. However, i mentioned only a few of them

 

Minuses:

• The movie is slow, too very descriptive. I havent read the book, but for even a non reader, it may not appeal, and people who have read it are already criticizing
• The fictional part of the movie where they try to show the mystery behind the "Midnight's Children" and the super powers bestowed to each, and never ever properly exposed, barring two known actors, Shreya and Siddharth, everyone else is lost in mist. This is one important portion of the movie, given its length you will not appreciate much to go with the context
• And the very major root of the movie of child swap is beyond my understanding, as to why would a rich mother and roadside lady be admitted in the same hospital, and what filthy reason however will trigger a woman to make a serious mistake. To a movie which is rather serious and dark, fictional stuffs do not add much to any benefit
• Too many characters, and none were given enough light to portray anything significant. They are all as if lost in the crowd

 

My rating: 2.5/5

Vishwaroopam

Cast: Kamal Hassan, Pooja Kumar,Rahul Bose,Andrea Jeremiah,Jaideep Ahlawat
Director: Kamal Hassan
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

A fine movie for all Kamal Hassan fans. You wont be disappointed

Pluses:

• Undoubtedly Kamal Hassan himself. At his age quite an active and dignified personality, also a charming actor, convincing in the many avtars to have personified for this role.
• Written and directed well, smaller loop holes here and there you will choose to ignore
• Rahul Bose is one another lead actor standing side by side Kamal Hassan, though is a bad man here, but plays brilliantly good. This man has some talent in acting even surpassing his looks and height :D
• Andrea Jeremiah was particularly good amongst the female actresses
• I loved the heavy but a beautiful backdrop of scenes shot in Afghanistaan. They not only try to capture the grievous and heinous truth of the life of the people there, but also the natural beauty of the country along with some soul searching amongst those who are Jihadis. The viscous circle that entraps these never ending war
• The story works fine shuffling between the present and the past, and unveiling the secrets slowly
• Action is good. You dont see too much of flying around but technically well shot fight sequences
• There are no unwanted romantic songs here and there, apt for the movie
• Last but not the least, the length of the movie being two and a half hours long, doesnt disturb you much

Minuses:

• Rumours about derogatory remarks against the Muslim regligion, i would say is partially correct though a lot exagerrated. Not just the Muslims but there were a few mockeries which wont go well with Hindus or even Christians. Many references to Arabic language on a lighter note, or be it on reading Namaaz just before an action sequence again on a light hearted fashion may not go well with the religious people. At the same time, i wonder why no one objected on a rather light statement over drowning of the Hindu gods or that of nailing a Christian god, all met with derision. When dealing with matters as sensitive as religion, one should not leave any strings loose and excercise extra caution. Not every subject is a matter of humor. And this coming from me who myself do not believe in religious things
• Kamal Hassan looks very convincing as a dance teacher, but for an Agent, may be not physically convincing enough. He doesnt look physically fit for action sequences that he performed for the role
• Pooja Kumar, irritating and low on acting skills

My rating: 3/5

Akaash Vani

Cast: Kartik Tiwari,Nushrat Bharucha
Director: Luv Ranjan
Genre: Romance

 

A practical also a beautiful romantic flick. Those who dont mind experimenting can surely enjoy it. Scored more than i expected

 

Pluses:

• Am sure the expectations are nil on this flick, so need not stress on it. But low hope works beneficial for this movie. You watch it from the scratch and as the story keeps running, you will either walk out or end up loving it from the bottom :) The later happened to me :)
• This director knows how to make a movie. He may not have gotten a lot of applauds for making this one but i surely give him the entire credit. Both the lead characters were nurtured with a lot of care, the slow pace of the movie helps you feel the love and the pain of the characters as the story progresses
• Kartik Tiwari and Nushrat Bharucha gave their best to this flick, undoubtedly. Appreciable work
• The story is written very well, being the most simplest of the love stories, you still cant predict wat will happen next, so much happens just by the interval, you surely cant walk out without seeing wat is in store post interval. Written on a practical note, that things are not so rosy in real life nor are they so dramatically worse like regular SRK/Karan Johar movies, but on a more subtle way which almost every other intercaste couples go through in more or less every other family
• Music is cute, romantic with touching lyrics barring one song
• More than anything else, this is truly a beautiful romantic movie i have seen in a long long time. I wonder what made the critics rate it so low, where on one end movies with great star casts are appreciated out of all odds and this one neglected. I didnt appreciate "Jab tak hai jaan", but i surely do this one. You will fall in love with the characters :)

 

Minuses:

 

The length of the movie, the second half is terribly long and slow. Though i agree it helped building up the characters but yet could have been cut short

 

My rating: 3.5/5