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Reviews
Late Night (2019)
A funny, lighthearted watch
Excellent cast, great performances, subtle script, some good laughs... What's not to like? The climax could have come together better, but overall a lovely, entertaining film. Mindy, Ms Thompson & Mr Lithgow are my absolute favourites so it was a pleasure watching them come together on screen.
All I See Is You (2016)
Stylishly filmed & edited, Decent & Quiet Thriller
It's not a fast-paced, gripping thriller that will have you glued to the edge of your seat. It is a decent enough unraveling of a suspenseful story involving the slow deterioration of a marriage, which keeps you guessing until the very end. Because there are several ways this can go down, and you keep wondering which way it will be until the last few minutes before the credits roll.
It is also shot and edited in a highly stylized manner, trying to make you feel as if you are the blind person undergoing the changes in your vision. I admit those visual moments are far too many in the film, but they do make you feel the suffocation and frustration of Blake Lively's character. I have always loved Blake, no doubt beautiful to watch but also a fabulous, subtle artist.
A one time watch that will provide you with reasonable entertainment.
India's Most Wanted (2019)
Realistic spy thriller. Don't expect James Bond!
I'm not a huge fan of Arjun Kapoor, the actor per se (though I do think he's decently talented enough), I am however more biased towards Arjun Kapoor the individual who comes across as a witty, humble, warm and intelligent man, someone who has been through some unexpected ups and downs in life. So even though I do like him, I'm not prejudiced towards his films (I may have only seen 2 or 3 of his movies, including this one). My opinion about India's Most Wanted is that it's a one-time watch that presents a real-life spy thriller in a simple, non-commercial format.
There are no fancy cars, expensive suits, hi-tech gadgets and sleek weaponry, no suave dialogues nor any sexy bombshells for our Bond to sleep with. Nope, nothing of the sort at all. In fact, it's almost morosely funny when you see our Indian "agents" bickering to pool their personal savings together in order to fund a top secret, undercover mission. It's a bit sad when they're catching the bus to reach the location, or sharing rooms to sleep in seedy 1-star motels, or when they aren't even authorised to carry guns and have to make do with slaps and manhandling.
But this is reality! If you want to understand how our Indian government pursues cryptic leads and catches the bad guys in real life, then in my opinion this is as real as a Bollywood movie can get! The beginning may seem a little slow at parts, and at times it might feel like you're watching a glorified episode from the CID TV show (LOL)... But I think all of that is part of the experience of watching such kind of movies. We need to give this low-key, unglamorous brand of cinema and terrorist-nabbing spy movies a chance!! Thanks to the makers for giving a platform to this untold story... And a salute to all those honourable guardians of the nation who never get a chance to come in the spotlight!!!
Mardaani 2 (2019)
A gripping, fast-paced thriller with ace performances
For those constantly comparing this genre of film-making to European, American or South East Asian movies, please go and watch those movies then. By its own standards, Mardaani 2 is highly worth a watch and tries to draw attention to the hotbed of pilling rape cases in India, especially because they are increasingly being committed by minors and young men in their early twenties. And it packages everything in a way that is watchable, engrossing and soul-stirring. The performances by the protaganist and antagonist are exceptional no doubt; nothing less is expected of Rani, but the young man playing the psychotic rapist and murderer really does get your skin crawling.
I have removed 1 star and giving it a 9 for two reasons:
1) I was really hoping there wouldn't be a feminist speech by Rani, because these kinds of movies typically will always have one, and they are almost always the same dialogues and don't really share anything new. Maybe if they were more informative instead of emotional, and brought to light new information that shocked us, or that the majority of people weren't aware of, then it certainly justifies the monologue. Instead, we get a predictable rant on how women have always been oppressed, one that I think was striving to make us emotional at the injustice. The whole movie itself is a strong symbolism of feminism so this was highly unnecessary in my opinion, and especially because it came at the peak of the cat-and-mouse-chase, slugging down the brilliant pace of the narrative.
2) The vigilante mob justice, which if I remeber correctly was the same end to the first Mardaani movie, is a bit tawdy now. I agree that the culmination of unfairness had built up to such a point that when the women are beating up the rapist/murderer at the end, it feels just and almost as if you yourself are wielding that belt on him in a fit of rage. But it should have ended at some point and he should have been arrested for his crimes. Instead, we are left with the notion that he was probably beaten to death by the women he had been torturing. Aren't we faced with enough mob lynching cases on the rampant rise in our country, without the need for Bollywood to glorify them further? Our criminal justice system leaves much to be desired, but mob justice is really the worst way to go and turns the accused into yet another victim. As per me, the best ending would have been Rani cuffing him and the man behind sentenced to capital punishment.
Other than these 2 points, a great movie and with its short-run time, a pleasure to indulge in.
Chhapaak (2020)
Anything less than 10 is injustice
Let us firstly not talk about boycotting this movie for political reasons. Let us look at this film from an unbiased perspective and see it for what it really is: a quiet, but brilliant work of art that deserves your time and attention.
Poignant, honest, brutally moving, it leaves you speechless by the end. Perhaps it is too serious a subject and doesn't contain all the masala ingredients that appeals to the Indian masses. Sadly, a touching, well-made movie is not being appreciated like it should be. Why exactly that is, not sure. But go watch it and you'll see for yourself how it's deserving of so much more praise than the hate it is receiving from all ends.
Love to the team of Chhapaak for being brave enough to make such a film. They have my utmost respect.