Pranav Singh

A very generic sports drama. Since it comes from the director-actor duo of very high repute who have given us some superbly crafted stories (Aligarh, Shahid, Omerta), its all the more disappointing. The movie has too many things on its mind. Wants to teach us token feminism, wants to make comment about moral policing and also wants to sneak in the message about importance of sports. But it does none of these in a coherent manner. Protagonist is a quitter, leads romeo squad, doesn't appreciate his role as PTI teacher...in short, there is nothing likeable about him. But the heroine (a feminist, no less) loses her heart to him in precisely 2 scenes and after one daaru party. First half is actually a drag as the conflict is set for a sports competition (premise is cringeworthy, to say the least). Second half focuses on extremely silly training techniques to beat up the kids into a team of sorts. The final contest is quite lame and extremely predictable, including an injured athlete coming back and winning the championship. The performances, on the other hand, are quite good. Rajkumar is in good form, so is Zeeshan. Nusrat Bharucha is a big miscast. Her haryanvi act is inconsistent. Kids do a better job and are endearing. Overall, the only reason to sit through this movie was that it was the most kid friendly movie among the limited options available.

Starts off pretty well and sets up the story with lots of intrigue. However, once you get into the details, the way the investigators behave, you would wonder how would they solve any crime. The protagnist willingly plans for murders of many innocent people (to save his family) and this is conveniently glossed over while the series concludes. For an investigative thriller, there are extremely basic errors that left me frustrated. It should have been far tighter. The series has the right mood, good leads but it squanders away the opportunity completely.

A very unusual coming of age story. Was glue to the screen throughout the movie. It starts off as a mystery/thriller but transforms into something much larger. Charts the journey of a reckless, rebellious boy into someone who is strong enough to face his mistakes. Ends on a superb soundtrack by Amit Trivedi, although the song sounds very similar to Udaan's "Kahani Khatm hai". Overall, a well spend couple of hours.