Ameet Vijay Sonavane

One of the most well made court room dramas I have seen in Bollywood EVER. An absolutely unmissable one. Watch it for the SHEER BRILLIANCE of Manoj Bajpayee!! Very well scripted, based on real life events of the case of the convicted rapist Asaram. The events have been very well depicted, keeping the narrative to the point. The powerful people and lawyers that lobbied for the self styled God man, the plight of the first complainant and the sheer perseverance of her attorney in the case has been portrayed with style and how!! The closing argument is a 3 minute monologue by Manoj in the courtroom ... inspirational to say the least. The man has single handedly carried the movie on his shoulders and brilliantly so!! Do not miss *Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai*.

Creature Features are not a Forte of Bollywood for sure. Icchadhari Naagin flicks are passè. Rahul Roy's Junoon and Jaani Dushman (which are referenced in this movie) are too low a bar. Bhediya is refreshing to say the least. While I am not a Varun Dhavan or Kriti Sanon fan at all, the supporting cast of Abhishek Banerjee, Deepak Dobriyal and Paalin Kabak are terrific compensation and an absolute laugh riot. The story is edgy, hovers on the border of Hor-Com and Creature Feature. It talks about Nature Conservation, Discrimination of North East Indian people, National Integration and such very subtly!! The director Amar Kaushik actually comes from Arunachal Pradesh and knows not only the local terrains, making it beautiful to watch, but also the folklore and the people, which he has used very nicely. The CGI is not the best but on point for sure. Very aptly placed Bollywood and popular meme references, the songs especially, *Jungle Jungle Baat Chali Hai* and *Aayega Aanewaala* (Sachin Jigars music) are well placed and suit the narrative. Watch it and I guarantee a good lol or two, though you may agree or not with the convenience with which they have concluded the film, its extremely predictable. Very few flicks these days have the entertainment value without being too preachy or just slapstick funny. This one definitely will rank in my mind as one of Varun Dhawan's best films. The most hilarious scene of the movie is an absolutely funny tribute to HIMESH RESHAMMAIYAs music, comes at a very significant plot point, don't miss it.

Karan Johar has confessed several times that he has been associated with the movie business since he was two and this is redemption time. A wiser and edgier 50 year old KJo brings to screens a 100% Bollywood Revival, guaranteed to strike a chord with Indian family audience. The movie's storyline is an enjoyable and delightful concoction of simplicity, humor, romance, and heartfelt emotions with max relatability to character traits in all the characters. We all seem to know or have seen these charcters or shades of these in our family and friends. It strikes the right chords and keeps you invested throughout. I would go so far as to call it his best Directorial Venture. Supported by an impeccable casting, the performances are a absolutely on point, with the leading pair at their best as always, Jaya Bachchan in her *perpetually scowling at Paparazzi mode*, Dharamji and Shabana bringing old school vibes. Kudos to the all of the supporting cast including Tota Roychaudhury and Chruni Ganguly as Ranis parents and Kshitee Jog and Amir Bashir as Rocky's. Even smaller roles like Rocky's Sister played by Anjali Anand and Ranis colleague played by Namit Das, are very very well executed. At almost 3 hours the movie is a tad bit long and in the latter half does a lot of preaching and social commentary in my opinion but the narrative isn't disturbed and like old school movies, there is intermittent laughter for easy consumption. Music is so-so as there is a barrage of old nostalgic songs used very intelligently. The newly created music is Basic Arijit sings for Pritamda stuff All and all, a great watch. Dharma has probably put everything they had on this one. If this does not work in Bollywood, we could officially declare that the Hindi film industry as we knew it, the home of love in the time of emotional family dramas is dead. If this movie doesn't work likes of Karan Johar and his contemporaries can just retire and make way for the *South Indian Abbreviated Movie Names* gang. Lol.

This is exactly what is wrong with this generation ... Instagram cannot replace a court. There cannot be scamsters and fraudsters idolized for their fashion sense in place of hard working individuals that have a real hustle like you and me to make ends meet and still succeed in their own terms without embezzling someone. This series really pained my conscience.