Mon, August 5 2024

Across eight slow-moving episodes—which had their share of awe-inducing sights, lacklustre character arcs, and heartfelt conversations—season 2 showed wars can be won and lost in more ways than one.

Towards the end of the third episode of the second season of House of the Dragon, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) decided to act on the pacifist advice of her cousin once removed. What followed was some of the most thrilling stuff all season. Despite the massive threat posed to her life and Team Black, Rhaenyra disguised as a septa and sneaked into King’s Landing—the home of all her enemies—to meet with Queen Dowager Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). As they dug into the murderous things that had happened on their behalf, Rhaenyra discovered Alicent’s big misunderstanding. In his hazy last moments, King Viserys wasn’t talking about his son Aegon but Aegon the Conqueror. What we knew all along was now dawning on her. Regardless, Alicent refused to budge and find a peaceful resolution because the gears of war were already turning.

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Sun, August 4 2024

This film about an imperiled IFS officer in London suffers from convoluted writing and misguided ambitions

What sort of a spy movie is Sudhanshu Saria’s Ulajh? It begins as a Raazi (2018) in pantsuits: patriotic female protagonist, driven by loyalty and legacy, enlists to serve her country on foreign turf. Indo-Pak diplomatic relations, as fraught and fragile as they were in 1971, inform the narrative stakes. Both films hail from Junglee Pictures, and the editor, in each case, is Nitin Baid. If that weren’t enough, the new film even has a song with ‘watan’ in its title — plastered, ineffectually, over the opening credits and thereby fast forgotten.

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Fri, August 2 2024

Sat, August 3 2024

औरों में कहां दम था जो आज के दौर में भागती-दौड़ती, चटकीली-चमकीली फिल्में परोस रहे बॉलीवुड में ऐसी ठहराव ली हुई, सिंपल-सी प्रेम-कहानी बना सके। सो, यह ज़िम्मा उठाया नीरज पांडेय ने। उन्हीं नीरज पांडेय ने जो ‘ए वैडनसडे’, ‘स्पेशल 26’, ‘बेबी’, ‘अय्यारी’ जैसी फिल्में और ‘स्पेशल ऑप्स’ जैसी वेब-सीरिज़ दे चुके हैं। लेकिन हुआ क्या? कड़ाही पनीर बनाने वाले हाथों को खिचड़ी बनाने का शौक चर्राए तो ज़रूरी नहीं कि उनसे स्वादिष्ट खिचड़ी बन ही जाए। कृष्णा पिछले 22-23 साल से जेल में है। बरसों पहले वह और वसु एक-दूसरे से प्यार करते थे। एक हादसा हुआ और कृष्णा को जेल जाना पड़ा। इधर वह जेल से निकलना नहीं चाहता और उधर वसु उस पल का इंतज़ार कर रही है जब वह जेल से निकलेगा। वसु के पति को भी कृष्णा का इंतज़ार है। वह उस हादसे की रात का सच जानना चाहता है। कृष्णा आता है, वसु से मिलता है, उसके पति से भी मिलता है और उसी रात उन दोनों से दूर भी चला जाता है। कहानी बुरी नहीं है। लेकिन कागज़ पर लिखी अच्छी कहानी भी पर्दे पर तभी अच्छी लगती है जब उसे दमदार तरीके से फैलाया और फिल्माया गया हो। यह फिल्म ‘औरों में कहां दम था’ इसी हादसे का शिकार हुई है। दो लाइनों में सोची गई कहानी को दो पन्नों में फैलाते-फैलाते ही नीरज पांडेय ने न जाने कितने समझौते कर लिए होंगे। फिर यह फिल्म तो सवा दो घंटे से भी ऊपर है जिसे बनाते हुए निर्देशक नीरज पांडेय ने जो समझौते किए, वे भी इसे देखते हुए साफ महसूस होते हैं।

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Fri, August 2 2024

Fri, August 2 2024

Director Surya Manoj Vangala's Telugu web series 'Brinda', starring Trisha, Ravindra Vijay and Indrajith Sukumaran, tackles people's blind faith and superstitious. The show is streaming on SonyLIV.

‘South Queen’ Trisha Krishnan forayed into OTT with the Telugu web series, ‘Brinda’, directed by Surya Manoj Vangala. While the web series started premiering on SonyLIV on August 2, there have been low-key promotions for whatever reason. At a time when there are many web series on multiple platforms, ‘Brinda’ stands apart. This is truly one of the web shows that deserves more promotion. Brinda (Trisha Krishnan) is a newly appointed sub-inspector, who is moody and hardly gets treated as equals at the police station. She goes to work, struggles to sleep and is quite smart. When her superiors, including Sarathi (Ravindra Vijay), want to close a murder case as suicide, she smartly points out that it’s a murder. This smart work lands her in trouble as her boss always tries to put her in place because she’s a woman. But Brinda is someone who will not take it with a pinch of salt. She teaches him a lesson.

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Mon, July 29 2024

IPL 2024 is over, but here’s a chance for you to watch how the Australian cricket team went about tackling the WTC final against India and The Ashes against England

Around halfway of the second episode of the latest season of The Test, drama erupts. English batter Jonny Bairstow ducks a bouncer, the ball goes to the keeper and the batter walks out of the crease. Pretty much a normal thing that happens during a Test match, you’d think. But there’s tense music in the background, almost like you know something is going to happen.

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Fri, July 26 2024

Dhanush donned the hat of director, actor and writer for his 50th film. The revenge thriller is riveting, but not without flaws.

‘Raayan’ is a special milestone in Dhanush’s career. It marks his 50th film as an actor and his second film as a director (after ‘Pa Paandi’). For his 50th film, he donned the hat of a director, actor and writer. Has he exceeded the second time as a filmmaker with ‘Raayan’? Let’s find out! Kathavarayan aka Raayan is forced to take care of his two brothers and toddler sister after their parents vanish for two days. This marks the beginning of Raayan’s struggle. His motto is to survive in this cruel world. He fears no one, not even death. Raayan, along with his siblings, escape grave danger from their village and land in North Madras, where they find a home.

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Fri, July 26 2024

The bond of love unfolds through the Gharat family’s Ganeshotsav celebrations in Konkan as they are joined by a surprise visitor this time.

Where there’s a family there are bound to be differences of opinion. Some get resolved right away, others take time. But the bond of a family reigns supreme. If Gharat Ganpati was to be explained in brief, this would largely be what the film is about. However, this film is much more than a family drama. It’s like a chocolate croissant – layered, buttery, salty, with just the perfect hit of sweet chocolate. The story revolves around the Gharat family and their Ganeshotsav celebrations. The seven-day celebrations bring all family members together at their ancestral house in Konkan. It’s a full house with Mai and Appa (Sushama Deshpande and Dr Sharad Bhutadia), the matriarch and patriarch of the family, their two sons Bhau and Sharad (Sanjay Mone and Ajinkkya Deo), daughter Kusum (Shubhangi Gokhale), daughter-in-laws Ahilya and Sunanda (Ashvini Bhave and Shubhangi Latkar), Ahilya and Sharad’s son and daughter Ketan and Neha (Bhushan Pradhan and Rajasi Bhave) Sunanda and Bhau’s son and daughter Jeetu and Deepali (Ashish Pathode and Pari Telang), Deepali’s husband Ashok (Sameer Khandekar) and Kusum’s son Ninaad (Rupesh Bane). And joining this big family for the Ganeshotsav is a surprise visitor, Ketan’s girlfriend Kriti (Nikita Dutta). Now the family doesn’t know that Kriti is Ketan’s girlfriend but suspect it. Does the couple’s plan succeed? What about Ketan’s mother – will she accept this relation? And what about the family’s internal differences? Do they come forth and get resolved? Each question presents in due time through the film’s plot.

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Wed, July 24 2024

Director Shankar's sequel to the 1996 hit film is an uninteresting commentary on worldly issues that are addressed in countless other films. Underneath the mess lies a promising idea, which is barely explored.

28 years ago, director Shankar and Kamal Haasan gifted ‘Indian’ to the Tamil audience, who still celebrate it like it’s their own. Almost three decades later, the film (read: corruption) still remains relevant. But, Kamal Haasan and Shankar wanted to bring back Indian thatha (grandfather) aka Senapathy to brush up on all the corrupt activities that we’ve seen so far in umpteen movies, not just in Tamil cinema but across other languages. Chitra Aravindan (Siddharth) and his three friends run a YouTube channel called ‘Barking Dogs,’ which focuses on parodies and political satire. They end their calls with ‘Let’s bark!’ (If you think this is absurd, hold your horses). After realising that their videos, despite receiving lakhs of views, had little impact on the audience, the team starts a campaign called ‘Come Back Indian.’ According to them, only Indian Thatha, aka Senapathy, could put an end to corruption.

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Sat, July 13 2024

आदरणीय हिन्दुस्तानी जी, 1996 की मई में जब आप पहली बार सिनेमा के पर्दे पर तमिल में ‘इंडियन’ और हिन्दी में ‘हिन्दुस्तानी’ बन कर आए थे तो हम दर्शकों ने आपका तहेदिल से स्वागत किया था। उस फिल्म में आप नेता जी की सेना में सिपाही थे लेकिन जब आपने आज़ाद भारत में भ्रष्टाचार का बोलबाला देखा तो आप खुद भ्रष्टाचारियों को सज़ा देने में जुट गए। आपके तरीके गैरकानूनी थे लेकिन हम लोग आपके पक्ष में थे क्योंकि आप वह काम कर रहे थे जो दरअसल सरकार को करना चाहिए था। ‘अपरिचित’ तब तक आई नहीं थी और ‘प्रहार’ के मेजर चव्हाण हमें बता गए थे कि सिपाही का काम है लड़ना, लड़ाई के मैदान भले ही बदल जाएं। उस फिल्म के अंत में अपने भ्रष्ट बेटे को मार कर आप हिन्दुस्तान से गायब होकर सिंगापुर चले गए थे। आखिरी सीन में आप हमें उम्मीद दे गए थे कि आप जल्द लौटेंगे और एक बार फिर से भ्रष्टाचारियों का विनाश करेंगे। लेकिन आपने लौटने में 28 बरस लगा दिए, क्यों…?

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Wed, July 24 2024

Taika Waititi co-created Apple TV+ series gets off to a great start, before rapidly descending into a padded mess.

In early 2019, when Apple signed Taika Waititi as creator, writer, and director on its television series adaptation of the beloved eighties kids’ movie Time Bandits, his star was on the rise. The Kiwi filmmaker had successfully transitioned from a tiny indie comedy-drama set in New Zealand to a mega-budget superhero romp part of a massive, shared world. Better yet, Waititi had reinvigorated the God of Thunder’s forgettable trilogy with Thor: Ragnarok. All the gates of Hollywood were swinging open for the writer-director. But since then, Waititi has struggled. The Hitler satire Jojo Rabbit lacked bite and was showered with more praise than it deserved. Thor: Love and Thunder and Next Goal Wins were both disasters of epic proportions.

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Wed, July 24 2024

Puneet Krishna’s series boasts of an inventive premise and standout performances but fails to make the grade, succumbing to verbose narratives and a lack of stylistic commitment

If there was an award for turning inventive premises into a drag-fest, I’m certain Indian storytellers would be contending for it. In the last decade of Indian streaming, there has been nothing more frustrating than witnessing filmmakers self-sabotage projects that could have otherwise become definitive storytelling. It’s worse than having to sit through shows that resemble a template and underwhelm in their lack of ambition and finesse. Such shows are easy to churn and easier to forget, their existence devoid of any purpose beyond existing for the sake of populating a catalogue.

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Fri, July 19 2024

Fri, July 19 2024

एक लड़की है सयानी-सी। एक दिन एक लड़के से वो मिलती है-बिस्तर में। कुछ देर बाद उसका एक्स-पति आता है। वह उससे भी मिल लेती है-बिस्तर में। अगले महीने आती है यह बैड न्यूज़ कि वह मां बनने वाली है और बच्चे का बाप उन दोनों में से कोई एक नहीं बल्कि दोनों ही हैं। मेडिकल साईंस का यह करिश्मा करोड़ों में एक बार होता है, लेकिन असंभव नहीं है। अब दोनों बापों में ठन जाती है कि बच्चा असल में किसके पास रहेगा। इस ठनाठनी में दोनों बार-बार भिड़ते हैं और उनकी हरकतें देख कर दर्शक हंसते हैं। इस फिल्म की लगभग पूरी कहानी इसके ट्रेलर में खोली जा चुकी है। वैसे भी यह कोई सस्पैंस फिल्म तो है नहीं। सो, ऐसी फिल्मों में कहानी से ज़्यादा कहानी का ट्रीटमैंट देखा जाता है। और चूंकि यह एक अलग किस्म का सब्जैक्ट है-थोड़ा टैबू सा, थोड़ा हटके वाला, तो हमारे फिल्मकार अक्सर ऐसे विषयों पर कॉमेडी का आवरण चढ़ा कर उन्हें परोसते हैं। फिर चाहे वह ‘बधाई हो’ जैसी फिल्म हो या फिर लगभग ऐसी ही ‘गुड न्यूज़’ जिसमें दिखाया गया था कि कृत्रिम गर्भाधान कराने पहुंचे दो जोड़ों में से क्लिनिक वालों की गलती से एक के स्पर्म दूसरे की बीवी को और दूसरे के स्पर्म पहले की बीवी को दे दिए जाते हैं। वह फिल्म हंसते-गुदगुदाते और अंत में इमोशनल करते हुए अपनी बात कह रही थी और इस फिल्म में भी वही तरीका इस्तेमाल किया गया है।

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Sun, July 14 2024

The latest series by Rajkumar Gupta of ‘No One Killed Jessica’ fame, starring Riteish Deshmukh, seems more intent on exaggerating an underdog story than developing an intelligent thriller

In this post-Covid world, the timing of Pill – an eight-episode examination of the malpractices of Big Indian Pharma that end up endangering human lives — could not be more timely. Just a few months ago, AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, admitted that Covishield, its Covid vaccine, can cause side-effects such as blood clots, low platelet counts, and neurological deficits. If that’s not worrying enough, AstraZeneca is already facing a class action lawsuit in the UK that accuses its vaccine of causing deaths. So far, 51 cases have been filed against the multinational giant. That is to say, for a country that has survived the pandemic and come out on the other side only to discover the long-term side-effects of the vaccines on our bodies, such a show exists as cinematic retribution.

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