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Reviews
A Death in the Gunj (2016)
Such a precious gem!
A Death In The Gunj is easily one of the best movies to have released in 2016. The metaphors used in the movie take it to a completely different level. Brilliant direction by Konkona Sen Sharma and such strong performances by each actor in the movie. Especially Vikrant Massey is a revealation... I hope this movie gets its due as it ages... A Death In The Gunj is no doubt a classic made in our time...
Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020)
A good chance wasted
Caricatures for characters... Too many stereotypes... Too many liberties taken... Too many historical facts twisted... What are gravity defying stunts doing in an historical movie? The film rests on three strong points... Good graphics, Ajay Devgn's and Saif Ali Khan's strong performances as always. However I was expecting so much more from the movie, especially because finally here was a movie about an unsung hero... But alas!
Chhapaak (2020)
A must watch
In one scene, Vikrant Massey's character Amol is shooting an interview of Malti (Deepika Padukone) in an effort to gain public empathy for the cause of acid attack victims. He expects her to be serious and complains that she looks too happy. Malti replies, "Ab khush hoon, toh kya karu?" ("If I am happy, what am I supposed to do?") The simple scene speaks volumes about Meghna Gulzar's treatment of the subject at hand.
Chhapaak is an immensely important and effectively directed movie... It deserves to be watched by all genders, classes across all cities and villages throughout India... In lesser skilled hands this topic could have easily slipped into melodrama mode. However, Meghna Gulzar knows her craft well...
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019)
A good topic wasted
Picture this... In one scene Jhaansi ki Raani rides her horse over the wall of a fort and lands on the ground safely while she gallops away... That's actually a scene from this 'blockbuster' movie!
Great Performances by all actors but a badly made movie... Formula ridden, Unwanted machoism, clichéd dialogues and between all that, very less room left for complex political build-up of that time, ideological warfare (which is reduced to fight for honour), war strategies and other more important things that could have made this an interesting movie. But alas! Manikarnika turns out to be a great topic wasted... I wish the makers had learnt a thing or two from brilliant historical movies like 'The Legend Of Bhagat Singh' Or 'Jodha Akbar'
Nirbaak (2015)
A Good movie that could have been better
Nirbaak tells stories of characters that demand a lot of empathy from the audience... The characters and their situations are quite offbeat and will require a deep of understanding about human nature.
However this was a very strong opportunity which misses the bull's eye. For example, the last part where the morgue guard falls in love with a corpse could have had a better... more subtle ending...
In many scenes it wasn't necessary to spoon feed the audience... Those who didn't understand the thought behind this film are hating it anyway... So why not go full throttle with metaphors? I just wish the director hadn't thought whether the audience will be able to understand and had went on passionately with the abstractness of his craft...
PK (2014)
A good movie which could have been brilliant
PK stands tall on two fronts - The way it tackles the social issue it chooses to and the way it entertains... After having enjoyed the movie through out, there comes a point towards the end where the protagonist and the antagonist come head to head in a debate... This could have been the ultimate battle between the logical and the illogical. But Alas! Rajkumar Hirani stages the closure of a love story on this debate scene which otherwise could have been a classic if it had stuck to the social issue which is highlighted through the rest of the movie. I also couldn't understand what did the love story track between PK (Aamir Khan) and Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) serve in the bigger picture of the movie. It would have been more effective if the lead characters would have shared more of a platonic friendship. Are they supposed to fall in love just because they are lead characters? In all, a good movie which could have been brilliant...