sonia dhonde

Awesomely made series. No-nonsense story telling. The aspects of pre-independence which are never told, the history books in schools don't carry this level of in-depth information about how the Partition happened. The story entails a lines of facts which can be easily cross-checked on internet. The massacres, the senseless inciting of riots, the virtually inexistent capability of Nehru to take Swift decisions, internal conflicts in INC, Gandhi using his veto power to make Nehru the first PM of the interim govt of India... Everything is well documented. Commedable job done. Sardar Patel was actually the first one to agree with partition, if he was heard he could have been responsible for saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs who were killed in senseless, religiously motivated riots. Before that, Jinnah should have been taken care of, the illiterate English-speaking idiot, not even a practicing Muslim becomes the face of Muslim League, whatta joke!! He didn't even play proper politics, all he did was created unrest through riots. All in all, this peice of art is worth watching... Kudos to the makers!!

More than the technicalities of film making, I wanted to talk about how the nincompoops in the Indian political scenario has never allowed the story of Veer Savarkar to surface. There have been umpteen movies about the struggle of independence of India but not a single one on VD Savarkar and his family, this is mind boggling. Now, since the movies or the course books do not talk much about the great man who was Veer Savarkar, I had to get into research to "fact-check" certain points which came across as creative liberty to me, but surprisingly they were real and have been documented by several authors and other people in their biographies. Randeep Hooda has been an incredible Savarkar. His commitment to his project was very evident. Great acting, great execution. I only wish the lights were a little bright, at some occassions I had to rewind and replay to understand what happened because it was really too dark!! All in all, the movie is an eye-opener. The facts shown are real and VD Savarkar was indeed a veer person!!

3 stars for the makers to bring forward the story of an unsung warrior of the freedom fight of Bharat, Miss Usha Mehta. Apart from that, nothing that stands out... Sara Ali Khan played the character with zero conviction. Alia Bhatt's work in Raazi was a far better portrayal of a person fighting for India, secretly.. The story is intriguing, a 22 year girl, who managed to draw life into a dying struggle, but unfortunately the same was not portrayed convincingly through the film. The usage of English by the 3 youngsters was very casual, more like the way teens would talk in today's time... The lead should have been played by an actor of solid acting background to breathe life into the character who would have been an outgoing, daredevil, patriot girl of just 22 yrs (as I imagine her to be). All in all, not convinced... Ok for 1 time watch just so that we know the story of Ms. Usha Mehta. For the art, not much to be hyped!!

Sam Bahadur: Review First of all, hats off to Vicky Kaushal for pulling this off with such finesse, truly amazing!! Sam Manekshaw himself was a man of honour, admired and respected by many, and to try to "imitate" him, with his quirks and mannerisms, is not easy by any measure. Vicky Kaushal did 100% justice to the role awarded to him. About the story- The life of Sam Bahadur has been a heroic journey in many aspects which include bravery, conviction, determination, strategizing, leadership, to count a few. And the story manages to capture these various facets from Sam's illustrious life. Although it seemed a little rushed at certain points, but overall a decently paced story. No added spice, no item songs, nothing of the sorts and yet something close to a masterpiece came into existence. About the casts and characters- 1. Of course, Vicky Kaushal... Take a bow, man!! Job done well... He managed to come as close as possible to Sam Bahadur's persona. The walk, the expressions, the quirkiness, speech/accent... First Udham Singh and now Sam Bahadur!! Way to go... 2. The ladies, Fatima Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra, showcased exactly the strong women their characters were, the Iron Lady of India- Mrs. Indira Gandhi and wife of Sam Manekshaw ,Mrs. Siloo, a strong woman who held everything together while her husband was busy serving the nation. No complaints here. 3. Zeeshan played Yahya Khan, although for a short time period on screen (before partition part), but did his work convincingly. About direction:- The direction is to the point mostly. Although at some places there seemed to be a slight disconnect, which may have been better if there was some sort of a voice-over narration. But it's understandable, getting a lifetime of stories compiled and showcased in 140 odd minutes is no easy task to direct.. Meghna Gulzar has done a commendable job with this one... At the end: Watch Sam Bahadur if you really want to know what's the meaning of Leading From Front!! A story of a true leader!! Give it a watch, learn about the life of a stellar personality and have some fun time "sweety" ❤️❤️

2 stars for RK and AK, 0 stars for Vanga!!! Watched Animal, a Sandeep Vanga Reddy movie... Colossal waste of 3 hours and 22 minutes... A spoiled rich brat, good grades, daddy issues, in love with someone from a humble background, proposed the girl on her engagement day by belittling her, disrespectful towards her parents.. distasteful comments on human anatomy, sexually charged scenes, medical issues with the lead actor... All this seems a little too much like a deja vu!! Arjun Reddy aka Kabir Singh, in a new packaging... I am really worried about how does actually Sandeep Vanga views women, because in his movies women are generally extremely ill treated, disrespected. In this movie also, the protagonist's wife, sisters, mother, villain's wives, they were just ridiculed!! Vanga needs to do something about this and stop being so casual with how he showcases women in his work. He needs to stop objectifying women or else atleast I am going to stop watching his movies... Talking about the cast: 1. The only good thing about the movie is Ranbir Kapoor, a class actor!! He has done 100% justice to the role handed to him. He looked similar to Sanju at some instances but will give him a pass on this.. 2. Anil Kapoor did well as the father... No complaints here... 3. Support cast : Tripti after doing Qala, settling for this kinda of a role, #careerchoices!! Shakti Kapoor, extremely side role.. Prem Chopra and Suresh Oberoi, common.. they definitely deserved better!! Rashmika Mandana was the leading lady, but for me she is too the supporting actor and a really bad one at that... And most of all, the main antagonist, Bobby Deol... What happened here is beyond my scope of understanding... After all that hype, the teasers, the promotions etc... the screentime Bobby Deol had was maybe 15 minutes.. this was a major turn off. Talking about the story, script, screenplay: Now, coming on to the story, too long. 3 hours and 22 minutes, Aisa kyun Kiya pata nahin... Started off nicely, suddenly the hero kills 300++ people in a hotel with a freaking machine gun... Law and order is absent, it seems like people are casually just walking around killing people.. I really can't put down my thoughts about the story, because it is damn boring!! Lost track of events in the middle somewhere.. The script is vague, illogical, and misogynistic, and many more things but far away from being sensible. The screenplay is as poor as the script, unnecessary punches, melodramatic dialogues... Just unnecessary!! A much celebrated cast wasted away because of the poorly written script, extremely poor direction and story telling... Watch at your own risk...