Sanyukta Thakare

Jewel Thief directed by Kookie Gulati, Robbie Grewal explores the story of a heist with both partners trying to one up each other. However, the thief best known for his skills ends up winning the loot and the girl. Led by Jaideep as the bad boy and Saif Ali Khan as the good hearted thief, the film doesn’t have anything new to offer, in terms of comedy, music, direction or story line. The story takes itself too seriously, border lining Dhoom, Sikander and Race franchises. The film beings with Rajan Aulakh’s introduction as the bad boy who is rich, acquires art, paintings and occasionally likes to dabble into painting himself, with the blood of his enemies. We never find out much about what he does, but his illegal accounts are ceased by Interpol and to get the money back to his clients he needs to find a new way. His way is none other then getting in touch with a well known Jewel Thief, Rehan Roy played by Saif Ali Khan. By blackmailing his family, Rajan finds a way to get in touch with Rehan in Budapest.

Directed and co-written by Karan Singh Tyagi, the film is based on a book titled The Case That Shook The Empire by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat. Led by Akshay Kumar, Ananya Pandey and R Madhavan, the makers ultimately finally find a rightful place and intensity for all the actors on screen. Even the supporting cast has a command on the audience like never before. The makers do not have to force an emotional reaction out the audience, as the story and its characters do it for them. Not only do we get a real glimpse of the massacre but also understand the sheer magnitude of it with the post credits rolling the names of the martyrs in tiny font because the space isn’t enough to fill them all in.

Directed and co-written by Gopichand Malineni, the film is a mass entertainer that caters to certain audiences. It isn’t for the everyday cinema fans, but it is enjoyable to the masses. Sunny Deol is pretty much himself in a film that is entirely set in the south, with major tones and vibes from the regional cinema. The writing and direction aren’t anything new or different from other Tamil or Telugu superstar-based films in recent years. The only difference is Sunny Deol and his war cry. The film begins with a bloodied letter reaching the president of India asking for help after their village has been raided by a terrorist who runs an organised crime syndicate in and around 30 villages. The letter by a young girl as the president in tears, as it arrives with 10 thumbs of her brothers from the village. The letter promises that if they can’t find help, the next time a box of severed heads will reach the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The film begins with a quick narration by Steve, his motivation and reason for being the lead in the Minecraft movie. Steve was also interested in mining, but as a kid, he wasn’t allowed to go near mines. After being chased away, he the a terrible thing that he shouldn’t have, he grew up. Like it often happens with adulting, though his clothes and hair remained the same, he was left soulless. But one day he rediscovered his passion for the mines, and as an adult, he was no longer chased away from the mines. He finally decides to fulfill his wishes and goes to the town’s mine and mines to his heart’s content until he finds two glowing cubes. The cubes then lead him to the Overworld, a place filled with creativity. Steve spends a year with his wolf, Dennis, in the Overworld building new places, mining and gathering things. When he finds another Orb, it leads him to the Netherworld ruled by a dark lord who only wants gold and mines to take over the Overworld as well. In an attempt to his the Orb from her, Steve sends Dennis to the real world to hide the Orb. It eventually lands in the hands of a teenager and a failing arcade owner.

Directed by co-written by S. Sashikanth, the Netflix film is about love, passion and determination. It brings together inherently different people who are fueled by different emotions. Led by R. Madhavan, Nayanthara, and Siddharth, the film follows all three as their stories entangle the most important days of their lives. Their decisions at that moment will define who they are and who they are willing to be. While the performances are good in several moments, the story does not bring a complete journey for either of the characters. The film begins with Arjun, a celebrated cricketer who is about to be kicked off the national team. But his passion for the game has him twisted enough to manipulate the team management, even if it includes the media harassing his wife and his kid. It also leads to his father’s poor health, social media trolling. Things work out for him as he is confirmed to play in the next tournament with Pakistan.

Sikandar, directed by A.R. Murugadoss, known for films like Ghajini, makes an honest effort with the story, but the execution doesn’t match up to its potential. The film essentially follows a good-natured man who aims to live up to his dead wife’s expectations and keep what is left of her safe. The makers take an emotional, very Bollywood masala approach with its story, but it still could have been enjoyable without the flimsy editing and screenplay. The film begins with Raja Sahab’s aka Sanjay aka Sikandar introduction through the film’s minor villain. When a politician’s son is blackmailing and harassing a girl on a flight, Snjay takes it upon himself to teach the kid a lesson. However, when a complaint is filed against him, the politician and his corrupt officer, Sanjay’s beloved praja, saves him from arrest. Rashmika Mandana is his fairly young and devoted wife. Indebted by his selfless act to marry her, he takes it upon herself to always be the one between him and any danger. After some goons are sent behind Sanjay, in an accident, Saisri passes away.

The mystery thriller is directed by Mimi Cave, who is best known for Flesh, a film focused on body horror. A glimpse of the same can be seen in Holland, but this is more focused on being a mystery thriller for its own characters. The trailer zeros in on the story, and the same narrative is explored during the almost two-hour-long film. Led by Nicole Kidman and Matthew Macfadyen, the film explores the dynamics of a family that looks perfect on the outside but something sinister is going on underneath. The film also stars a young actor Jude Hill and Gael García Bernal as the second love interest for Nicole. It begins with Nicole’s narration as Nancy Vandergroot, a teacher at the local high school where he kid also goes. She is respected around the town as the wife of Fred Vandergroot, a good church going man who is a life-saving doctor. Their kid, Harry, follows every word of his father, who ends up mediating their fights. Their life is perfect and good, but something remains off about Nancy as she gets obsessive and paranoid about little things. First, it is a missing earning which leads to her firing a babysitter and later, it is a receipt she finds in Fred’s pants.

Snow White is the new live-action version of Disney’s classic princess story. Unlike the previous versions the film does stick to some of its traditional roots. It is hard to ignore all the controversy that came before and after the film’s release but even with its overwhelming shadow, Rachel Zegler’s performance is commendable. Snow White is not the first time Rachel has been part of a musical and it shows, but the film does take some extra effort to present her as a princess. Most of the weight is carried forward by the young actress who played young Snow in the opening song. The film begins with the introduction to a happy Kingdom where the King and Queen are kind and loving people who believe in thriving along with the people of the village they rule over. The opening song talks about the royals teaching their young daughter Snow the right way to live and the kind of person she should grow up to be — Fearless, Fair, Brave and True.