Sarthak Pathroliya

The Penguin, 2024 An anti-hero spin off series by HBO starring Colin Farrell as the infamous Penguin is yet another masterpiece where the audience is given the inner psych of a character. Colin Farrell proves that he is worthy of the role given to him. His acting was superb. A notable mention must be given also to Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone). Her acting was brilliant as well. Starting from the childhood to the present the transition of the character and progression of story is beautiful. Despite of the series being a smaller one , the way it has been made makes it a lot more enjoyable then the Batman released in the same year. Penguin is a well known character in Batman universe but this is the first time that his story is told in so much detail. As it is depicted, the Penguin (Oswald Cobb) is a hustler. He is a liar , a dealer and gambler. For him no body is much important than his goal of becoming rich and powerful. As a child he watched his mother to survive in a poor neighborhood. He promised to bring everything she deserves. As the story unfolds, the misdeeds of Penguin are revealed. He killed his own brothers because he wanted mother for himself and then lied to her. She suffers her entire life due to this since she got to know about the mischief of his son. Penguin does not stop at this but lied and cheated on everyone who was close to him. Sofia , Salvatore and Victor who gave up everything for him. In some scenes the real character of Penguin is shown where it can be observed that he is really ugly from inside and out. At the end, Penguin gets everything. His schemes worked and he becomes the owner of Gotham underworld but did not get to see his mother smiling at him. Karma takes it away from him. At the end we can see symbol of Batman lit up in the night connecting the story to Batman. In the end Penguin is a well thought, well written and well executed series with some powerful performances and a great watch.

“World is a mess , you must attack , attack and attack.” Donald J Trump who has become US President the second time in history. The Apprentice tells the viewers where Trump got his power from. Roy Cohn infamous lawyer helped him when he was no body and made him what he is today. The name in itself has now become a embodiment of power. The Apprentice tells us the life of a businessman, a dealer and a dreamer who wants his country to thrive. The controversies around him. His relationship with family and friends. How a shy young men became a real estate mogul. From the beginning to the very end the movie keeps you in hook. All actors performed really good especially Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. Trump's legacy is all doing of Roy Cohn who outshines Trump by miles apart. The same is portrayed in the film, the character of Roy Cohn has such depth that somehow it develops into the best. He is the master, the Godfather behind the ideology of Trump. Only thing is that when a student surpasses his teacher, he has no choice but to feel proud of him.

Joaquín Phoenix starrer Joker : Folie a Deux is a classical psychological movie which shows the inner and outer world experiences of a person suffering from mental health issues. Note: Big Spoiler alert. Arthur Flek , the one people all thought to be the real Joker had a past history which in some ways justify his acts in the later parts of the story (The Dark Knight: Trilogy). Amazing as ever , Joaquin deserves this role. His acting and the way his character develops in the movie is just amazing. Lady Gaga plays her role perfectly in the film. Her chemistry with Joaquin is amazing. Her role portrays the infamous side-kick Harley Quinn of Joker who also develops later on. People were not anticipating a sing song, La La Land like film when they see Joker in it. I am not a fan of something like that but in this movie it is amazingly blended with real story and cinematic effects. The songs , the background score and small intervals of stage performances were really nice. As the movie tells , Harley Quinn is a girl obsessed with the idea of Joker. She likes how he murdered a TV presenter in front of the camera. Arthur is in prison for killing 6 people. The movie follows the full trial where we also see Harvey Dent another character in the Batman universe. Joker has fan following in and out of the prison. People gathered around the Court to support him. In the climax Arthur reveals that he himself killed those person. There is no Joker at all , it was all his imagination. In the final climax of the film we witness the cold murder of Arthur Flek (Joaquin Phoenix) and another prisoner cutting his mouth with the same voice as Joker. Those cuts were poor impersonation efforts made by the imposter to resemble Flek. Flek was killed by the cult , the own Joker that he uses to mask his crime because people want Joker. This is the most disappointing part in the film which adds on to the boring script. Perhaps a better ending would have been nice because there seems no reason for killing Phoenix's character but that's drama. In short if someone wants to know who is Joker and Harley Quinn you can watch this movie to get some answers.

Childhood and memories has a great impact on our lives. The events of our childhood, the games we played and sweet memories makes us who we are. These memories brings smile on our face. Meiyazhagan celebrates family and relations , the bonds that have now become weak. The film revolves around a common phenomenon which can occur with anyone. Just as we love and respect those we believe are near to us their may be others who might think of us in the same way. From the beginning to the end the film develops beautifully. It is just like turning pages of a old photo album. Brilliant acting of Karthi with serious emotions portrayed by Arvind Swami makes it so natural. This is a fantastic picture to enjoy in the festive days with the entire family.

Horror with a social message Once again writers of the same film which ruled over heart of all of us proved that they can continue to create powerful stories. Stree 2 , the sequel to the first part of movie Stree continues the story from the point where the story was left. Rajkumar Rao as usual leads the show with keeping the slow starting of the movie at bay with his brilliant acting and timing. His character Vicky leads the story in good pace. The main villain of the film Sarkata is what which actually creates the horror. The character design is just awesome with the added effects which brings out the thrill and horror into front. Shraddha Kapoor as female lead also looked amazing in this movie. Her chemistry with Vicky is amazing. All other actors did their best keeping the story at bay. As against Stree 1 , the sequel seems to lag a bit in the beginning but soon as all the actors the join into the story it goes on. The climax of the movie was just amazing. It was like watching an action fantasy feature. Stree 2 continues to bring beauty of the Chanderi to the audience. All the scenes were masterfully captured using all locations of the city in a very interesting way. The movie gives a strong message about misogyny and how glorifying it won't solve the problems of gender disparity and other issues. Sarkata is the image of that old patriarchal society which is gaining it's power again doing all it could to stop women from uplifting themselves. Overall a good movie worth watching.

The Gangster. The Cop . The Devil starring the great action actor Don Lee a.k.a Ma Dong Seok and the villain featuring Kim Sung Kyu and directed by Lee Won Tai. The movie is based on real incident of a serial killer who kills just for fun. The film tells about how partnership of the cop and the gangster leads to catching the killer. The film portrays about crime , criminal investigation and the trial process and its apparent difficulties. Hailing from criminology and as a advocate in India I can confirm that these issues are observed in almost every jurisdiction where their is adversarial system of law. Psychopaths or serial killers always astonishes me since they surprise everytime the system comes across them. They know about every loophole and grey area of the law. They know about the system and thus they freely commit crime without any remorse or fear. Although the film remains silent on how the villain become likes this , it rightly portrays many issues which still are big hurdles for law enforcement agencies to punish criminals. The powerful acting of Maa Dong Seok amazes me , he very much become the character himself and till date people remember him for this role. Overall this film deserves the praises and appreciation for the hardwork done by the entire team.

Mahabharat, the sage and history of great war between evil and the good. The story continues till date with many unanswered questions and it marks the end of the age of gold. Power of writing and visualisation can create wonders and the Kalki 2898 AD is one such amazing example. The writers of the film did a lot of research before actually creating the script. The creation of character of Ashwatthama and all the lead actors of the cast are carefully picked. Background score and some glimpses of what our future might look like is just fantastic. The visual concepts , the VFX shows the true potential of our writers. This amazing masterpiece is more than a science fiction, futuristic movie it's an attempt to create a modern epic. When Mythology meets with modern world it creates superhit masterpieces and this formula is well utilised by Hollywood. Our great epics and the our history is full of such stories which tells about our country and its traditions and more than that it tells our youn generation about greatness of Bharatvarsh. Such films should be enjoyed in the full glory in cinema halls to experience the immersive experience of the sound. Overall a 10 out of 10 movie for all with a special touch to the fans of Amitabh Bachchan sir , the great angry young man fighting on the big screen again.

Apart from Julia Roberts and couple pf recognisable names in the cast I didn't know why I clicked on the button to watch something so useless and worthless. I have seen a lot of apocalypse themed movies and shows but if their would be a list of worst ever movies this one would definitely tops the chart. What I hated the most , is the character of little girl who cares for no one but herself. Her character could be starting point for a plot about a sinister and murderous psychopath in a crime thriller. VFX of the movie are good apart from this director made sure to make literal vomit of a film. At the beginning the film states that it is based on a book. Never heard of that one and probably afer watching this maybe never will. Their is a separate genre of films mind twisting thrillers but when you have nothing left than empty plot lines and a million questions you would think you have wasted your time. All thanks to Netflix ofcourse. This is probably the case of an empty nothing script written. Their are a million times better things to watch than this piece of utter nonsense and stupidity. These films gets to me think why am I paying Netflix if they cannot make good content anymore?

After Ek Villain I would rate this movie as the second best crime thriller for the context karma. Entire cast did their part well and especially the acting of Anurag Kashyap in this dark character was really enticing. Vijay Sethupathi takes the centre stage and lifts the somewhat dull story in the first - half. As the story proceeds and the layers unravel it just amazes us. Once again this movie tells us that a well written story with powerful characters can literally do wonders. The story tells the way Police works in India and rightly shows corruption involved but also hopes that whenever such a case comes before them they would investigate seriously. Rape is a serious offence in our country but we are not serious about it. It has become common and we have familiarised with it , it's like we have accepted this. We blame victims and their family but we never worry about punishing the convicts. In a system where a usual case takes 10 - 15 years the only justifiable way of giving justice would be the manner in which this film rightly portrays. At the end great movie and if you are a fan of Vijay Sethupathi you will definitely love it.

“What we are doing, men cannot do.“ Cabrini a biography of Saint Francis Cabrini, a nun , a mother and a shining hope of light for those who are subjected to cruelty, persecution and discrimination due to their nationality and their place of birth. We all heard about Mother Teresa but we don't know that actually she followed the legacy of her fellow sisters. In the world of pseudo feminism where everyone is pointing at gender biased environment, demanding more rights and privileges because of respective gender this film tells the story of how the brave women faught for it actually. They want equality but does not know it's true meaning. Feminism actually meant equal participation in decision making , in work and in society. The film shows the reality of grand and shining cities. It shows the situation of immigrants and refugees who are unlucky. The message is simple , being what we are and accepting our self we can do great things. The film shows the true strength of a woman which is to give love , to create and to reconstruct something which is broken. Cabrini institutes are still doing their job, helping those in need giving a powerful message that it is easy to break something but it is difficult to protect it and to preserve it. A strong and powerful movie and a must watch.