Rajesh Pandey

Maharaja's mystery oozes from within it's seemingly mundane storyline and floods your senses in the closing 15 minutes. You need an acquired taste to relish on it... sipping the frames slowly and patiently, as if enjoying a well matured wine . Vijay Sethupathy's brilliance and effortless acting prowess is felt and palpable throughout the flick. Unlike other South Indian action packed show , this one is a sheer contrast in it's taught plot and brilliant editing. For me Anurag Kashyap was another surprise in it . And he rally did justice to his role as a villain . Theory of Karma was the most powerful message this movie could successfully convey to it's audience. # Raj

"Bad Newz" was not that bad in the first half , atleast not boring at all. But perhaps the makers had to justify the *title* , more specifically the adjective "bad" in it. So the director did whatever he could by forcibly stuffing melodramatic masala into the oft repetitive screenplay post interval. Any way Tripti Dimri was a treat to watch apart from her surprisingly noticable performance. # Rajesh Pandey

Pretty riveting and entertaining.

Are we really mature enough to deal with such a common routine household affair with it's soul crushing subtle nuances ? Do we really really need to reboot ourselves as a proper social being to read aloud the unspoken , muffled silences in relations. The way we have been nurtured , the way we have been tutored and on the platform we have been raised , it will be hard to soak in the real disturbing socio-psychological mindset at play behind so called trivial transgressions in human affairs. A slap....Just a slap.....Wait...Wait.... not so trivial.... a patriarchal attitude....a deep rooted socio-cultural malaise . I carried the real echo of this *Thappad* on my dormant conscience long enough to skip my meal and write this note on the thought provoking flick by Anubhav Sinha. The director did real justice to the plot by not hurrying and deliberately stretching the sharp silence as an aftermath of the mean act not intended as such. The storyline was prudent enough not to portray the husband as villainous but very normal like you and me or atleast like our neighbours. And here lies the real message...A hidden arrogance , a condescending "it happens" mentality , a male chauvinistic approach , and a double standard family norms. The message not to be missed was simple...A missing sorry by heart....a real realization of the wrong... a sympathetic healing touch to the lady in case. And that's how we are....Just blind to emotions at play when it comes to the things feminine. Taapsee was a perfect choice for the character in case and so were the other ones in the main or side plots. But not interested to write on the thing other than the subject , message and the way it was dealt with. And on that count it scores perfect ten. # Rajesh Pandey

He became my favourite when Ayushmann Khurrana first chose to shatter the common conscience while playing the lead in social taboo subject like being high on sperm count in *Vicky Donor*. Then he surprised again with the greater risk to his image while being the protagonist in *Shubh Mangal Savdhan* : scripting a hush-hush commodity like erectile dysfunction in a world obsessed with overly assertive masculinity. Then perhaps he deliberately chose to go girlish in *Dream Girl* . And now this one *Bala* ; dealing with pre mature baldness in men . I am not talking about his much acclaimed flicks like Bareilly ki Barfi , Andhadhun and Article 15. But his comfort and confidence in taking calculated risks involved in such off the track subjects is laudable. What impresses me more is the absolute ease with which he sinks in the contrasting characters. Regarding the latest *Bala* ; any review will not do justice if we miss the real message it tries to convey. I always used to say in my friend circles . If you don't love yourself , you fail to love others . This movie is a real justification of my own philosophy of life . Our comfort zone shouldn't be paralysed by off the cuff remarks of others and biased notions of our own society. We are a world in ourselves. If we chose to be easy about who we are , nobody else can look down on us. Apart from Ayushmann and Bhoomi Pednekar , Saurabh Shukla as hero's father and Seema Pahwa as a moustached aunt of Bhoomi were particularly noticeable in their respective roles. Yami Gautam did justice to her stint as an add star obsessed with looks .The good thing of the plot is that it doesn't end in a dramatic note . The climax is smooth and realistic . After *Stree* the director Amar Kaushik succeeded in conveying a strong message while titillating the audience in the entire run time of the show. The narrative is loaded with witty dialogues and comic overtones. Don't miss to laugh your heart out before you yourself get bald. Guffawed 🤣🤣 # Rajesh Pandey

After a long long lull , I have watched something substantial to recommend with panache . Don't get distracted by the superficial title it carries , *Chhichhore* is way more deeper in conveying the strong underlying message than most of the audience come out taking from it . It's a life lesson conveyed through light hearted humour . It's about dear Zindagi we all lead without realizing it's very purpose . Ya.... It's all about leading our life to the fullest.... It's all about enjoying our journey called life . Which we very often mistake by parameters of career , prosperity and heartless winnings . Though the plot is woven delicately around fledgeling aspirations of the younger lots but the very subtle tactics by the parents and peer group pressure was dealt with at sufficient length. All the characters in the flick do justice to their assigned roles . But the leads in it excell obviously . Sushant Singh Rajput might have injected some more genuine doses in his role as an ageing parent . But otherwise he was quite good . Shraddha Kapoor was a softer side in the soothing quotient and looked quite charming. Prateik Babbar was impactful . Varun Sharma was at his best . #Rajesh Pandey

Watching *Kabir Singh* is like going through a high intensity , high pitched ride on raw emotions. Once started , you can't budge an inch from your seat , till the curtains are down. I bet you can't come out of the theater without wet eyes and changed facial expressions. Shahid Kapoor has pulled off his all time best performance. As a manic lover and a psychotic and aggressive medical practitioner he is in his elements . The narrative centers around Kabir Singh's uncompromising , intense love for Preeti. Here Shahid emotes with careless abandon and is so much infused in his portrayal of Kabir ,that you can't imagine any other actor playing that part. In the first half , I was suspicious of the flick being an adrenaline pumping tale against the established social norms . Was a bit apprehensive about it's being stereotypical . But the narrative in the second half spins and the deep emotional connect between the lead casts rocks you to the core of your heart. Though certain scenes , character portrayal of the lead role , dialogues and excessive alcoholism may shock your social conscious , but all these oddities are so finely blended with the off the track storyline , that in the end you realise that you could ill afford to miss such a flick. Kiara Advani is a complete contrast to Shahid in looks and raw handling of the power packed performance. But she does enough justice to her role. Go for Shahid and his not to miss performance even if you find the narrative not rooted in the real world . Even if you fail to connect with the character building in the actual doing. # Rajesh Pandey

*De De Pyaar De* is fundamentally a comic take on Love with abnormal age-gap and embarrassing twists arising out of it. Though the story writers have utilized well all the uncomfortable turns with such plots to make fun out of them. But they have subtly handled serious social concerns like live-ins , single parenthood and age-inappropriate romance as well. The protagonists Ashish (Ajay Devgn ) and Ayesha (Rakul Preet Singh) have terrific chemistry on screen . Ajay Devgn playing his real age role acts pretty cool despite so much innuendo and taunt aimed at him as being referred to as " Uncle & Buddha" again and again . Though he lacks the comic timing and several times expressions in confused scenario fall flat on his poker-face . But otherwise he handled all the scenes with emotional issues and tense situations effortlessly . Rakul Preet Singh justifies the role assigned to her as vivacious , chirpy and full spirited girl . What surprised me particularly was her confidence in scenes with seasoned actor like Ajay Devgn . Both of them had given roles with stark differences. One stable and balanced other vivacious and carefree . He is 50 , she is 26 . In terms of affluence , generation gap and approach towards life : they have no match . But what connects them both are compatibility and ease in relationship. Tabu (as Manju) as an estranged wife belittles every other character in the frame she appears. Her controlled expression & subtle nuances is a treat to watch. She overshadows even the gifted leads in situations they appear together . Scenes featuring her and Ayesha make you laugh your heart out . Javed Jeffrey has small but warm presence on screen but character played by Jimmy Shergill made no sense . Don't miss this light and fluffy flick . It's not a must-watch rom-com but it guarantees pure entertainment throughout it's two odd hour run-time . # Rajesh Pandey (Aged 50 😜 )

*Kalank* requires review in two parts , pre and post interval . Pre interval , it was nothing but grandeur with unrealistic big sets , heavy costume and unworldly situations . I doubted if the makers deliberately chose the larger than life canvas to fill the loop holes and flaws in the storyline and character building. I texted a friend of mine during the interval " Till now I fail to connect myself with either the plot or characters in it . You won't repent if you watch it for it's big dreamy sets and impressive costume.....But will miss nothing if you skip. " But then the movie gains momentum in the second half . It's grip over both the storyline and characters are quite obvious and you don't repent your time in the late night show . Alia Bhatt as Roop was most impressive among the protagonists but this time Varun Dhawan as Zafar exhibits enough fire in his intensive character . Aditya Roy Kapur was quite balanced as Dev . But above them all Madhuri Dixit was a sweet surprise . As Bahaar Begum she wins your heart with her feline grace and subtle nuances in expressions . Do watch " क्यूँकि एक बार देखने से कौन सा कलंक लग जाएगा " # Rajesh Pandey