Daya Mukherjee

The WORST EVER Salman movie. Please don't waste your money or time in theatres. They are anyways running half-empty. It's a mindless masala film, the kind that tortured movie goers during the 1990s. No story, no plot just a silly sequence of tuneless songs, pathetic dialogues and violence Salman is one of my fav but he really disappointed this time. That Salman magic was just missing overall.

Massive disappointment for all true-blue Agatha Christie fans. Complete change of plot. The cinematic depiction of a novel calls for some creative liberties, but a total, bewildering alteration of the entire story, even the identity of the real murderer.....that was just too much. Dr Arthur Calgary has descended into some sort of an unbalanced caricature, Jacko has become Jack, and Kirsten (the real killer) is shown as an injured innocent. The palpable tension that Dr Calgary's startling announcement had created is completely missing in the series. This is not what Christie had written, or what made the novel so gripping. So please don't call it the novel's adaptation, much less credit it to the Queen of Crime.

Finally watched Gangubai last night.....I had mixed feelings before I started watching it, expecting it to be yet another expletive-filled masala movie so typical of such themes. However, Alia Bhatt and Bhansali proved me wrong. It was sheer poetry in motion. Clearly, this is Alia's career-best performance till date (many more to come). Her eyes, her mobile facial features, her voice - she was Gangubai. She has literally carried this film on her slim shoulders and how. Bhansali's signature mesmerising cinematography, the dialogues and Alia's powerhouse performance have you riveted to the movie from the beginning till the end. The small but significant cameos by Ajay Devgan, Seema Pahwa and not-to-be missed VIjay Raaz are equally strongly enacted. It was a movie about the sleazy underbelly of society and, yet, strangely, there was none of the soiled, dirty feel about it. There was a haunting dignity that Gangubai lent to the role that fate had thrust upon her, her heartbreaking telephonic conversation with a hard voice that once had been her mother, her stifling of the only love she would ever give or receive.....and her final victory that led to the elevation of the lives of the women of Kamatipura. Not to miss the no holds barred speech she gave in Azaad Maidan....the ugly harsh truth that no one ever talks about, and in a verbal masterstroke dignifying the oldest profession in the world. Watch it, with an open mind, if only to see Alia deliver the best performance of her career.

Another Mrinal Sen classic. Reminded me of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. The entire movie is all about waiting for the missing professor to turn up one day. It is about a bewildered family trying to come to terms with the fact that the head of the family has indeed done the disappearing act. For reasons unknown. Through subtle use of apparently unrelated flashbacks, articles, memories, Sen weaves together a masterpiece in emotional suspense. Pretending the catastrophe never happened, the daughters try going back to their lives while the quietly devastated wife tries to piece together evidence to shed some light, however faint, on a man who has left her high and dry with no explanation whatsoever. Sen does not pander to his audiences but tantalisingly leaves them fumbling for answers right till the end. Brilliant as always!

Superb depiction of what has been kept hidden from the public for years. At least someone has paid tribute, even if obliquely, to one of the true greats of Indian history, who has been in the shadows for too long. Ditch the so-called reviews by the so-called movie critics. Trust the unsullied views of the public instead. I was bowled over by the brilliant acting of Shweta Basu Prasad. A very under-rated actress, she deserves to get her due in Bollywood. Without going over the top, her expressive face and eyes convey so much. Move aside Bollywood star brats with zero talent, give way to real talent. All the actors in the film, be it Mithun or Pankaj Tripathi, were brilliant. Worth a watch!

Marvellous recreation of the post-crucifixion times in ancient Jerusalem , brought out in stunning and lifelike attention to details. Superb acting by the cast, fantastic sets and costumes and some great visuals. Wish AD hadn't got cancelled and comes back with Season 2.If you want to know how the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth grew in faith and spread His message, then this is a must-watch. Makes you feel as though you were really living in that era and watching the events unfold as they happened..

A Mrinal Sen classic. The images of the desolate, derelict mansion, the play of light and shadows, the melancholic music, the realistic sounds of nature and dialogues....its a movie that'll haunt your mind long after you've left the movie hall. You can't get the thought of Jamini out of your head...a daily life of unimaginable monotony and now left all alone amidst those desolate ruins as the 3 city friends leave.....reminding her even more starkly of her unbearably lonely, silent life