Jeet Dutta

One of the best films of the year (2024)

The movie is a rare gem in the landscape of psychological thrillers which delves the viewers into the disturbing ruins of a troubled mind. Thomasin McKensie portrays such a character flawlessly. With the use of near perfect makeups and costumes, one can't help but feel the same disturbance she feels, as she witnesses the remorseful life of Sadie (played to perfection by Anya Taylor-Joy). Set in modern London and in the London of the 60s, the story follows a girl Ellie (played by McKensie), wanting to study fashion in the said city. However, she is soon haunted by ghastly visions of prostitution and horror from the past as a girl was brutally pimped and murdered in the streets of Soho in the 60s. We follow her as her mind is tormented with the ghosts of the city's past as she uncovers the mystery of the heinous crime. The cinematography is built at its best as we juggle from scene to scene with 2 women and their respective worlds. The use of mirrors to reflect on the duality of the worlds was quite ingenious. Each ever present yet intangible to each other. The light was spectacularly used to reflect on each mood. The elements of horror were brilliantly crafted. The movie keeps the viewer glued to the screen. And the best part of it all was Wright's signature use of music to dictate the scenes.

A story the explores the philosophical conditions of what is right or wrong when the person holding a gun is a protector/disobeyer of the law. The movie follows 2 characters — Vikram a police officer who kills criminals in “encounters” and a master criminal, Vedha, he is out to get. The plot develops in a twisted gang violence plaguing the streets while Vikram has to contemplate his moral views on what is right and what is wrong. The cinematography, screenplay, editing and soundtrack harmoneously co-oerated to create a wonderful experience. Coupled with A-class acting from both the protagonists as well as the supporting roles, the movie creates an almost “badass” like atmosphere. The story is inspired by an Indian folkore tale called Vikram-Vetal where a King is tasked with bringing a mischevious spirit from the forest to a shaman who will exorcise it and bring prosperity to the kingdom. As the King is returning back to his kingdom with the spirit in his back, the it tells a story with a philosophy dilemma and asks the King for the solution. Whenever the king answers correctly, the spirit escapes and returns back to the tree it’s currently possessing leaving to king to again retrace his steps.

I liked the movie. It doesn't deserve all the hate it is getting. It remains faithful to the source material while imbuing Indian cultural aspects to the storyline. I was mostly worried about the iconic "Run Forrest Run" scene. And it did in fact fall short. Just goes to show a photocopy isn't as good as the original. That being said, the movie has its fair share of iconic moments. Instead of the listener being a single person at a time, this version of the protagonist has a consistent number of people all listening intently to the story, a beautiful expression of the Indian culture. All of us siblings, friends and everyone else would gather around the storyteller, since our childhood. It was hard to accept the character composition Amir had done with the involuntary stammering associated with the way Laal speaks. This is because the child version of the character had none. But in the end, it is acceptable, given he doesn't fall in the normal spectrum. Kareena's acting fell short amidst everything. "That's all I have to say about that". The choice of replacing the Army Captain with the terrorist seemed to be risky. I was completely against it in the beginning. But by the end, the redemption of the character actually shows how low we have fallen amidst all the conflict in the world. I was showing no compassion, no remorse, towards a man who had been trained and brainwashed to be a killer, asking for forgiveness and redemption. Evil isn't born, but created. Words of our Prime Minister resonated in my mind -- "Not an era for war", PM Narendra Modi. The Kargil Battle sequence is one of the best war sequences I have seen in Indian cinema in modern times. The cinematography of the movie is epic. The songs could've been limited and just done with some background score. This is one aspect that Bollywood refuses to let go of. Not all movies need lengthy songs. Overall, it was a good one-time watch, and a mediocre remake of Forrest Gump.

It's a tale of 2 brothers discovering each other over a road trip. Dustin Hoffman gives a staggering performance as an autistic person as he has trouble interacting with the world around him using traditional human emotions. Tom Cruise, his younger brother, struggles to accept him and the fact that his father left all his worldly possessions to his differently able elder brother he never knew he had. They learn to understand and process each other's feelings that helps them bond over their long trip. The movie does a good job in keeping the audience's emotions at bay, making them sympathize with each of the brother's emotions. The characters are well written. The name "Rain Man" has a beautiful reasoning -- something absent from modern movies, which I wish they had. Overall its a well made "feel good" movie I definitely recommend.

Just watch it. You don’t need a review. Just watch it and review it yourself.

This movie is the prime example of why you shouldn't just pour money into everything without doing some planning. Just because you have a story doesn't mean it's well thought out. In today's day and age where John Wick has redefined the "cut action" sequence and Daredevil redefined the "continuous action" sequence, it's a shame this movie went back to the old style of "barely show action" sequence. There are some good moments but it's nothing we haven't seen before. The shots are like any typical Hollywood blockbuster action movie. Nothing new here, except the drone shots. These are some unique shots which are done in bad taste. 90% of the drone shots are just plain awful. Just because you have hired a drone pilot, doesn't mean you have to use all the shots they take!! The only mind-blowing shot in my opinion is the sequence during the hospital fight when The Lone Wolf steals a bike. The dialogues are another "poison dart in the bottom" (movie reference). They take "corny and cliche" to a new level. Just like the frequent location change. Basically nothing is held on for long enough to have a significant impact. They do deliver on some spectacular action towards the end, but again it's very cliche. The usual stuff. The acting was done flawlessly based on the material the cast was given. I wouldn't recommend this movie, not even for passing the time. Because if you try to make sense of anything in the middle without paying attention, even for 2 min, you'll be completely confused. And sadly it's 2 hours. I end this review with the following thought "Just because you have an idea, doesn't mean it's good".

This is how you make a movie about science. Takes some cues Bollywood. Rocket Boys completely missed the mark with this and Mission Mangal was a joke. The Nambi Effect explores the life of a brilliant ISRO scientist Dr. Nambi Narayanan who gave India it's liquid fuel Vikas Engines and was later falsely accused of espionage and betrayal by the government. The movie manages to humanize his entire life and struggle. R. Madhavan was spot on with his directorial brilliance by making the movie surprisingly simplistic and without the addition of too many scientific jargons. It's a must watch for anyone.

A meticulously crafted, technically sound, and overall, a very simplistic depiction of the making of the movie Pather Pachali by one of the greatest directors of all time, Satyajit Ray. Anik Datta presents, in impressive details and with the help of clever and known cinematics (like the ones we often see in Chaplin by Richard Attenborough) Satyajit Ray's journey of making of an unusual Indian film for the time. Ray's journey from taking an interest to movies, to finding his story from a place he was least bothered about, to scouring for funds to finally making his dream come true is the motivation for any artist to pick up their brush and start doodling their imaginations. His ideas, his caveats and most of all, his patience and humanism in bringing his imagination to the screen with the help of his small band of dreamers and innovators to create and compose an Indian cinematic language for the world to experience is nothing short of bliss. The most delightful aspect of this movie, other than all the techniques used by Ray as presented in the movie, was the subtle addition of an iconic Film director, hailed as one of the greatest living directors of all time, Martin Scorsese. He was not physically present but just his voice, as a student in NYU showing his gratitude for Ray for his Apu trilogy. Jeetu Kamal brings Ray to the screen in striking 1:1 similarity, through the power of incredible make-up and mannerisms. I was sometimes easily fooled into believing that it was not Ray himself but someone else dressed as him. The monochromatic style of presentation works well using impressive lighting techniques. Especially this one shot of Ray's silhouette drinking water from a jug portraying the legend to be. This is analogous to Subrata Mitra's innovative lighting use in the original movie to portray naturally lit scenes.

A well crafted horror movie that blends the psychological elements well but in essense remains a low budget production. The surprising thing about the movie is its incredible storyline which is phenomenally executed, something that 99% of horror movies fail to do. The only thing that could've made the horror movie better is better execution of the horror elements. The way the movie holds the scary elements is good, but the real scare never actually instill fear in you. But the winning troupe is that the movie shows a beautiful story constructed in the superstitious practices of the backward societies. I suggest people should base their entire judgement after watching the entire movie.