Jitendra Sharma

So what its a straight rip-off (cited one) from a Spanish flick. Sujoy helms it well and unleashes brain whacking twists and turns. Screen time is majorly gobbled up by its two main leads, and the best part you never notice it - till you think back post-end credits. AB is just so natural, he lives as pure and unadulterated AB - Adv. Badal (AB) and he never even once falters. Taapsee has come of age and this role will catapult her into the super A league of leading ladies. She emotes as a veteran - may be AB has that effect. Supporting cast also stands up and more than just support, they move and push in right direction. Camera becomes your eyes but dialogues would have been crisper. Some of them just makes you cringe, at times silence would have been a better option. Background score compliments the tension and stress the characters are going through. After ‘Andhadhun’ another mysterious offering that Indian Cinema could be proud off. Dont miss.

A topical movie for the times we live in. Good in parts and floors you with its lead character’s energy, army strike sequences and stupendous camera work. But at the same time hit the floor with a thud in catering to Bollywood kistch. The project aims to achieve its objective surgically but in the end bludgeons it. A good attempt which could have hit the intended target but fails to - not way off, but surely don’t hit the bull eyes. Less class, more mass.

It’s a season of true life story and here is one with a twist in the ‘tail’. Once in a while there comes a biopic which is not on mankind but on a being whose life history has been being kind to man. Its 1925, and there is ‘veja-du’ as the Tundra region where the movie is located is undergoing an outbreak of Diptheria - its taking its toll on the kids around. But unlike 2020, the days we are living in, there is a serum available but is far away from the place of outbreak. It’s a logistical nightmare to go to and fro and the sufferers are running out of time as resource. Enter our human protagonist, Leonhard Seppala (Willem Dafoe), a dog trainer and a sled runner. He lives with his family which comprises of his wife, a demure but strong - Constance Seppala (Julianne Nicholson) - and a host of quadruped members. After much discussion and deliberation the icy town decides to send Mr. Seppala and a few others as serum-relay team to fetch the elusive panacea for their current ills. Togo, the all-out protagonist, is an admirable sled dog who not only is blue-eyed dog of the Seppala Family but is a proven go-getting kind of leader in his own regard. The saga moves back and forth in time, and it helps us to unravel the mystery and enigma that Togo is. Right from day one, he is onto something or other. He always seems to have a trick or two up his non-existent sleeve. He beats the master in his own game - time and again. He is an infant-terrible of that perennial story that we had grown up listening to. He is Dennis - the menace and Hagar - the horrible rolled into one. He loves to be in forefront and he is ready to sacrifice his right arm to be at helm of affairs. Eventually, he does. The movie is a ride from town to serum location and back, their trials and tribulations along the way. How Togo and his ilk fights it out - the treacherous terrain and the perilous path; how Mr. Seppala keeps his flock together and the gargantuan efforts to collectively-live to see another day. The relay teams of sleds to bring the serum and end credit reveals the whole story. While 20 teams participate in serum relay: 19 covers on average 31 miles each while one team (Togo’s) cover 264 miles. The movie does justice to the journey and task undertaken. It hit high notes with ‘dogged’ spirit and sustains interest for two full hours. It’s a marvel as to how the team behind Togo could get things so nuanced and perfect with the four legged ones, kudos to the team. It’s replete with amazing imagery and captures the gloom and doom of icy plains without fail. Forget about human actors even dogs do not seem to miss an emotion expected of them on screen. If there was any Oscar to be given for best actor in non-human category - Togo, the dog will win it ‘paws’ down. The other two main leads - Mrs. and Mr. Seppala are treat to watch, she has a soft corner for Togo and the Mister is a hard task master but Togo is also not a one trick pony. Togo proves to his master that he just can’t keep a good dog down for too long. A moving saga of emotions, love, attachment, bravery and bonding which has few parallels. Go and watch. (4/5)

An unapologetically Bollywood caper from a not-so-celebrated but a competent director. A movie with its heart in the right place, and for major portion even the script and screenplay too. A super-hero movie which is not, it lays out the countours right and trammels well within the earmarked boundaries. Our hero is born with a disability or should we say the politically correct term - differently-abled, which suits our protagonist to a Tee. He is another of the star kid from Bollywood stable - son of Bhagyashree (Maine Pyaar Kiya), but he holds onto what is assigned to him and matches the strides with character assigned. Emotes well but fights better and is not camera shy. The love interest is played by Radhika Madan and boy is she spunky and sprighty. She gets introduced through one of the best set pieces of fighting sequence with attendant slo-mos and an amazing background hindi song to boot. Its a treat to see the creativity and sheer irreverence with which our lady gets into the act - every action, every facial expression, every camera angle, every bit of background score just gels well with the intensity without loosing the mirth and comic angle to the spectacle. She turns out to be a killer in more ways than one. Then there is Gulshan Dahiya - a double whammy for the viewers, he plays two roles and if you ve to decide who is better than the other - you simply cannot decide, thats how good he is. They are brothers and are at opposite end of continuum but performance wise they stand together. He gets the south indian accented hindi so right and never misses a beat in his fights. A must watch for bollywood fans as this fanfare is a tribute to the kistch in a very respectable way and if you know and can recognise the subtle hints that the director Vasan Bala keeps dropping.

When you have directed one of the top grossers of Hindi Cinema, you fill your cine goers with expectations and ironically in the end - its you, the director (Danggal - Nitesh Tiwari), who has to deliver. And man, does he delivers? To a great extent he does, if one give the leeway as to how the movie pans out in the end. A movie which gives a roller coaster ride of your emotions, part Jo Jita Woh Sikander and part 3 Idiots. It brings in the nostalgic whiff with former and a fresh breath of air through the later. It tugs your heart strings and keeps you engaged till it goes skelter in the over-the-top school championship. It tries to build the tension and does manage to, but it loses it daisy fresh charm as it skittles to finis without an H. The writing is worthy and brings in a lot of heft and there are double-entendres in garb of euphemisms, if you get your eyes off the ball you may miss the rank long hops. Its a new age writing and follows in the footsteps of Bareli ki Barfi, Subhmangal Savdhan, et al. This genre of writing do not talk at us but they do converse with us. And thereby connects. The director is in complete control of his art and it shows, albeit it does not over shadow his maiden venture (Danggal). But he soars and still lands on his feet. I think the movie goers will wait for his next with lots of anticipation, and thats saying a lot in this Friday to Friday world of Hindi Cinema. Sushant lives his character when he plays the college goer but struggles with the senior one. Same goes with Shraddha Kapoor who charms in her early avtaar and barely scrapes through the aged one, gets fossiled. Sharma, though purportedly supporting cast, does both he supports the movie with his skills and latent talent and in turn manages to cast a spell. Others from group do give their best and fits in both whether playing junior or senior. A word of appreciation for the under-achiever of the industry, Prateik Babbar, he brings in screen presence with a subtle menace and he fleshes the character so well that you start hating to love him. Minor characters plays a major part and swings it well for the director and the movie, no one almost no one looks out of sort or wrongly slotted in, they just fit. All in all, a nice entertaining vehicle with hints of life lessons for ambitious parents and wayward pupils. Tiwari middles this one quite well. Applause.

What to say about a movie which choose to deal with a very serious topic and goes about it - in the most asinine way possible. Our film makers must watch Gravity, Interstellar, Mars, etc. before they embark on such a hare brained mission. But then it is like the team which propels the metallic contraption (in movie) to Mars, totally inexperienced and without a clue. The only difference is the end result, in movie the team pulls it off but in real life the movie-team can’t even manage to take it off the ground. It screeches, it sputters, it makes all kind of noises and goes phutt every now and then. At times, the dials and monitors looks like working but some age old hindi cinema’s spirit takes over and we are back to the base station. It tries to juggle too many lives with too much going on in their life, and it tests your credulity and also one’s ability to survive in suspended disbelief. Though we are forced to give ourselves up and we gleefully give in. There is this God fearing wife of her husband and mother of her off track kids (aptly designated as a Project Manager), then there is a divorcee with a minority surname which do not allow her to find an abode (cliched), another one is a newly wed space management (with different connotations) expert lady whose personal space is regularly encroached upon by her ma-in-law with cheesiest of comments, another is a young vivacious NASA bound girl whose liberal take on life resembles as if she is already in US of A, there is another woman married to a defence personnel (injured) who wants to serve the nation through her spouse, and to balance the total dominance of women power we have two male in the team - one a geriatric who would rather be in Tirupati then handling giant torpedoes and the last but not the least a zodiac-driven simpleton whose life is totally ‘marred’ by Mars. The lead is none other than Rakesh (Akshay Kumar) and he hams his way throughout the movie - spouting the most cringiest of dialogues, most inane analogies ever uttered, fools around with songs and sweets. He usually is the pivot around which movies are built but in this he is the weak link but then he has been given a role with no heft and no thoughts. All other tries to keep it earnest and they do it with all seriousness but then its difficult not to laugh out loud in situations and circumstances which unfolds on screen. A movie without a soul and at times even the body looks scraggy and scrawny which puts a question mark over the social sci-fi genre which the makers were attempting. An effort marred by shoddy screenplay, lousy set pieces, inane dialogues, unbelievable situations and scratchy character sketches. A caper which rattles with loads of ear shattering noise but does not take off the ground. Avoidable.

Dream Girl Hindi cinema goes through phases and it seems we are looking at times where the hinterland of UP is order of the day. UP all said and done has always interested our filmmakers but with a tinge of negativeness be it lawlessness, corruption, hooliganism, rowdiness or consciencelessness of its underbelly, but now UP gets a different profile and is coming of its shilloute which is more humane and much loved. Its time for Mathura, Banaras, Bareily, Kanpur to shine. Dream Girl is set in the bustling town of Mathura. And if a movie has to do with anything below the belt (sex/gender) it has to have Ayushymaan Khurana in it, and rightly so. So here he plays a woman’s role in a man’s world, literally and figuratively. He is Sita of Ramayan, Radha of Krishna Leela, Draupdi of Mahabharat (on stage and as he later discovers to his own dismay - off stage too) and he voices himself/herself as Pooja on not-so-hot radio channel. Inadvertantly, he cooes in his girl friend’s brother’s ear, he seduces his own father, he charms a shayar-cum-policeman, he sweeps a Great Jatt of his feet and he wins an unlikely heart of a man-hating virago. First half is breezy and the second half tries to be stormy but its a storm in the proverbial tea cup. Threatening to blow over but ends up in a fizzle. Typical bane of Hindi Cinema, wrap it up maan, we need to finish it up. The movie is replete with at times smart and most of the time not-so-smart one liners, the dialogues are goofy and tries very hard to be. But some blows lands very right. Actors are cast right and most do justice to the job on hand, Ayushyymaan is once again takes up all load on her feminine shoulders, ably supported by Vijayraj, Anu Kapoor, Sharma (the boss) and other suitors. Nusrat Barucha is the lady lead, and no one knows what she is upto. Her part is sketchy and is not at all fleshed well. She is a non existing show-piece on a bare mantle. So how you sum up an attempt which is three quarters good while rest is passable, however one thing is sure you dont feel like you ve been cheated of your hard earned money. Its paisa vasool and then some more.

Hats of to the movie makers - its not always easy to touch such sensitive topics. Judgementall Hai Kya is not your run-of-mill Hindi movie. It is an audacious attempt to deal with a topic which most of our film makers would not touch with a ten-feet barge pole, even in their wildest dream. It is about mental illness and one’s psychological well-being or otherwise. But on that later. It is a story with two fantastic actors of our times. A narrative set in any Tier One city with Kangana Ranaut playing landlady for the recently shifted young couple - Rajkumar Rao and Ameya Dastur. The couple can’t keep their hands of each other and the land lady is unapologetically vouyerestic about it. But the film is not about that, it is about murder of the better-half of the couple in mysterious circumstances. Two prime suspects both with a shady and dark past, first the land lady who unwittingly pushes her parents lietrally over the edge, which she keeps figuratively doing to everyone else around her. Second is the male tenant who is a typical middle class guy with myriad hoodwinking ways, his character slips in from charming and chivalrious to crooked and cunning in no time. Kangana plays a lady whose hightened sensory perceptions are way too overworked and every now and then leads her astray. She not only hear voices in her head but also sees creatures and things where none exists. She is a disturbed but not-demented soul, she is wired wieredly and anyone who bumps into her gets an intuition about it. Rajkumar Rao is another of her ilk but he acts steady-stable or insane-unhinged when it suits him. He is a smooth operator with a modus-operandi of a professional. He is another of the suspect, more in the eye of landlady than the sleuths assigned the case, in his partner’s murder. The story moves from Delhi to London and our lady protagonist along with it. And lo and behold, she bumps into his tenant with a new partner, her distant cousin. She tries to cry foul and she raises an alarm, but as she keeps crying wolf every now and then - so no one believes her. Its one hell of a ride post her London landing, the end is shot well and uses lot of scriptural references before culminating into a grotesque but fitting end. The cast of characters in fray beyond the two protagonist fares well and do justice to the task assigned. Be it landlady’s sex-starved self-declared boyfriend, the lead investigating snacks-munching officer and the side kick to the sleuth - they slip very well in the roles and also provides a bit of muted comic relief in this otherwise tensed slow-burn thriller. Then there is Jimmy Shergill as easy as he usually is. Even in such a small role he don’t forget to make an impact. The deep end of the film has been done well but what it lacks is the edge of the seat thrill which the filmmaker is attempting to create. The atmosphrerics and ambience needs a special mention and not to forget the costume designer especially for Kangana - its suits her to a Tee. The cast is fantastic but same cannot be said of screenplay and dialogues, I think the writers missed a trick or two to make it more taut and tense for the masses. However, the topic of mental well being is dealt with sensitivity and does not go into an overdrive to buttress its point. Its not judgemental at all about being mentally challenged and treats the topic as any other physical ailment, acceptable and hence curable. Barring few episodes, it seems very rationale and logical which in itself is a compliment. Watch it, if you do not mind a bit of mindlessness. Rating: 3.5/5.

Not as dull and dreary as it title, this is a docu-drama with its heart not only in right place, but beating with right pace. Its an ode to a system steeped in tradition but had been embellished with modern symphony and orchestra around it. The attempt is more sweeter and melodier. A film which captures the ethos and essence of papacy avoids orthodoxy and shuns preachiness which usually is the bane of such efforts. The movie stands up on its own and conveys what it intends to. It begins with a spectacle of choosing a Pope, the filmmaker cans it with the soulfulness and the sacredness of the process. The grandeur of Vatican is captured along with the trappings with which the papacy cannot do without. The sombreness and the eclecticism gets reflected in every frame. This sets up the aesthete tone of the movie and surprisingly it never ever wavers. The movie is a staid and griding friction between two school of thoughts. A shackled and constrained incumbent Pope who wants to fly free and soar but is not aware of his wings. On the other hand, you have a man-of-world with feet of clay, he is people’s person and he may not have all the right answers but he always asks the right questions. The former is played by Anthony Hopkins (Benedict), he just nails it like a veteran that he is. Be it body language, expressions, inflections, and to top it of the meloncholic brooding he emits is for everyone to see, sense and savour. The later is Jonathan Pryce (Francis), he meets the veteran in the eye and gives performance of his lifetime: if Hopkins is all dignity, this one is all humility. Hopkins belongs to Vatican and Pryce belongs everywhere. There exchanges are very well done, they just liven up each scene with their heft and might. Not many movies can boast of two old men, jostling and sparring - the verbal duels are a treat and they just hook you right in. Expectation from the movie title makes it dull, boring and serious; however the movie is replete with dry humor and has much lighter a tone though seem highly unlikely but pleasantly surprising. Its very intelligent and intellectual, and at the same time meant for masses too. It represents the cusp of orthodoxy and modernity in a very subtle way and do not let one overpower the other. The Papacy is always shown in its grace and grandeur, treated with reverence without putting up any lid on the faultlines associated with the Catholic Church or the protagonists so associated. Do not miss the beginning and end where our future Pope is trying to book an air ticket, the scene epitomises the sassiness and ease with which the director handles such an earnest subject. A movie which touches your soul and stays spirited throughout. Don’t miss. 4/5.