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Thedudeabides_thelaw
Reviews
Jamun (2021)
This Jamun is sweet.
The joy of discovering an unknown but well made film that's what I got when I watched this film which I discovered by accident and instinctively decided to watch. It has some very good performances - some of the best performances you would see. Shewta Basu Prasad is the best of the lot. She has a physical deformity(squint) to carry for this role and yet had to emote without ever going over the top. I haven't seen much of her work other than as child actress in Iqbal and Makdee and the brief role in Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota but going by all that I have seen I can say that she has a great future ahead. She is simply awesome. This also has Sunny Hinduja of the Family Man but his role isn't very important here though it has its own arc and he is very apt. Raghuveer Yadav is always a delight to watch. The story is good and very real. There are no frills and it touches you but just falls short of being excellent. It's simplicity is it's high point but that may have also been the reason for it being overlooked.
Island City (2015)
Island city
I had read about it long back when it released and finally I watched it. It has three stories and the common theme is discontentment and isolation. The title itself represents the theme, "locked in" being it and of course the title alludes to Mumbai. All the stories are essentially fable like and bring out satirical humor or give us food for thought. It's a darkly comic drama film. So there is a corporate employee who has to have 'fun' because that's the mandate. Then a story of a television set and how the family gets hooked to watching a parallel world which counter questions their real life existence. Then the third story about an unattractive woman who receives a letter from a stranger admirer and learns to smile and express herself but is that it or there is more to those letters? You won't get happy ending in these stories. I liked all the three stories but not all of them are fleshed out as consistently as they could have. The second story which seemed least impressive on story level in fact is the best fleshed out one. But overall it's a very good watch and a fine little gem in Hindi cinema that has been overlooked.
Dasvi (2022)
Dasvi fail
I thought the trailer was decent and Abhishek Bachan as chaudhary seemed quiet interesting to watch but the film turned out to be extremely boring. It was disjointed incoherent and for lack of a better word weird. Even scenes or dialogues which I guess were intentioned to be funny failed to even make me smile. It talks about how education can make you a better person ( ?). But even that simple message however untrue it sound doesn't land the way it should have. There seem to be a few real life references - from Lalu Prasad and Rabri devi to Chautalas from Haryana which has been named as Harit Pradesh here which by the way if you google is not entirely a fictional name. The story is definitely inspired from the ex chief minister of Haryana whose name I had read last year of having taken tenth class exam while he was in jail for ironically a teacher recruitment scam. The story had potential but has been totally wasted because of sloppy writing and direction.
Aashram (2020)
Season1 review
If you are ready to over look the melodrama and fake looking sets etc. Then you would find a layered and well crafted series by Prakash Jha. It is loosely based on the disgraced and criminal baba Ram Rahim. It takes you into the underbelly of one such ashram where a common man's vulnerabilities and faith are used by a self styled God man for his own selfish goals. The nexus between these so called God men and politicians has also been shown nicely. It's all watchable but rarely does it go beyond what we already knew through news. Yes it does a brilliant job at depicting this dark truth but sometimes it feels too long and stretched. Chandan Roy Sanyal is brilliant, I also liked Bobby Deol for whom this must be such a different experience from Gupt and Solider etc. He was fabulous in Love Hostel too though here he misses the point at a few places but he makes up for it with his charisma. The scene stealer performance for me was by Darshan Kumar. Overall it's watchable not great not bad. May be I expected a lot more.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
The Power of cinema
I don't know if i would have watched the film if there wasn't this Oscar nomination. Only about two years ago this would have been a slow film for my taste and in that sense it is somewhat of an acquired taste for me. Brilliantly shot, well crafted and captures the time period well. The film moves at a leisurely pace but such strong characters and very nice theme music keeps the momentum up. Benedict Cumberbatch is brilliant and so is Kristen Dunsten but the scene stealer for me was the performance by Kodi Smit Mcphee as peter. The mind games, the secrets keep you moving. The ideas of masculinity and gender are sometimes too overt and lacked subtlety but it is truly a cinematic experience to watch this film. I have been suggested 'there will be blood' as a similar but better film which i will watch as soon as I can.
Pati Patni and Joe (2021)
Surprisingly good!
Happened to come across this film by accident and by sheer instinct I decided to watch it. It seems to be a low budget film with very few characters. Once I stuck to it, it kept me hooked and engaged besides being fairly entertaining. It is a well crafted film. A twist was coming that I had anticipated but when it is revealed and how all the pieces fall into place plus the black comedy that happens, that I wasn't prepared for and it came as a very pleasant surprise. The ending is slightly ambiguous. All the performances are decent. Maanvi Gangroo as the wife who is holding onto a secret or two or may be not, is excellent, very natural and kept the mystery going. Gave me the gone girl vibes. Overall it is funny and relatable and a good lazy watch.
Jhund (2022)
Jhund is Jhakas!
Jhund was one of the best movies I had seen recently in theaters. I am glad that my return to theatres was with this film. I took time to write this review because I did not know how to praise this film. I also think the movie won't be to everyone's liking. It's hard to believe that the kids were basically non actors much like the leads of Sairat in Sairat. Those two actors are also cast in this movie besides Mr. Bachchan but for me the scene stealer was the boy who played Don. The actor has scenes where he has to hold his own opposite not other than Mr. Bachchan. Actually a lot of the credit also goes to Mr. Bachchan himself to let all the kids in the film act to the best of their abilities. It's a bit long but again I didn't have any problems with it but some people would find parts of the movie stretched and slow. Overall the movie is not as magical as say Sairat but it is a better movie than most Hindi movies.
Undekhi (2020)
Undekhi season1 review
I binged watch season1 and i haven't heard good things about season2. What stood out for me are the wonderful performances especially that of Harsh Chhaya as this foul mouthed arrogant punjabi without ever actually going over the top. Why don't we see more of him in OTT series. As for the series it kept me engaged but at the cost of suspension of logic .There are a few key illogical happenings. Won't speak here for they may be spoilers. The ending is a cliffhanger so one would need to watch the second season too. I would rate it 6 on 10. Don't have the appetite to watch season2 right away. Will watch it after a month may be.
Sulemani Keeda (2014)
Bollywood keeda
One of the better low budget Hindi film, not as good as it's often made out to be. I would like to see more such films though and I have seen Newton from the same director which I liked a lot. I think both the movies have the same writer as well. Sharp writing, some catchy lines and a good sweet climax made it memorable. The struggling filmmakers thing was fun to watch but I wish it had more depth, they almost seemed like caricatures. Good lazy watch if you don't expect too much.
Love Hostel (2022)
Violent overdeux
It's good that I watched Gurgaon before I watched this or I would have been unprepared for the dark stuff that this film displays. Murders happen as if they are such normal events. Honestly, I liked Gurgaon but this one I could hardly manage to watch complete. Good performance by everyone but I found the movie over the top.
Gurgaon (2017)
Dark Gurgaon
The film looks at the darker underbelly lurking underneath the high rises and the riches of Gurgaon. I think the title alludes to the real estate boom and the clash of cultures in Gurgaon. A farmer turned real estate developer Kheri singh played by Pankaj Tripathi is not the role Pankaj Tripathi has been typecast into by commercial cinema and he does a fine job. Akshay Oberoi was a revelation. The movie is extremely well shot. The plot though interestingly dark seems never the focus of the director. Elder brother kidnapping an adopted younger sister is very very dark but it is more about the characters and their relationships, so the plot moves slowly. Not that I'm complaining.
Ribbon (2017)
A good low budget gem.
A good low budget gem. Has a documentary feel to it, while intimately looking at a couple's life. You feel you are living with them and that's some achievement. Kalki is a good actress and does her part well but seemed miscast because of her ethnicity for a film that's so close to being real. I did not get why the title is Ribbon though.