Maharaja (2024)

Every scene is a decoy - Brilliant!!

Brilliant screenplay. Every scene is a decoy. Just when you think you know what's going on, the director throws one twist after another twist at you, always one step ahead of the audience.

And the Emotional Quotient in the movie is on full throttle, it is heartfelt, the apology, the Karma, the guilt, various timelines, words can't do justice to this masterfully crafted story telling.

I've already seen this movie twice and every question will be answered once you see the movie in its entirety and carefully.

This makes Drishyam and Andhadhun elementary in the way this is executed.

Brilliant is an understatement!

Kill (2023)

Why KILL works

• No SloMo hero worshipping of any character. Unlike Vijay who can't do jack but fights like a super hero with zero collateral damage.

• No such thing as good or bad. The lines are blurred.

• No background score thankfully. A background score forces the audience to feel a certain way and is a way to compensate for the lack of emotion or perhaps cover up for the insecurity of the maker.

• The switch from defense to offense and that switch is implied, giving us an insight into human nature.

• Bullies being bullied and feeling sorry for the bullies. Super strange dynamic but that's how you feel.

• Fight choreography was on point. When good is more evil than evil itself, violence is inevitable.

Merry Christmas (2024)

Irony. Coincidence.

Raghavan has a signature style yet doesn't. His movies have a remarkable way of paying homage to retro cinema while keeping the story telling intact. The opening scene, in fact, is two different timelines.

Irony: Albert, who has served a 7 year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, coincidentally meets a lady, Maria who is planning to murder her husband.

Irony: For Albert to tell Maria "Sometimes, Violence is better than Sacrifice. Only sometimes." And at the end Sacrificing himself for the murder she committed, while she chose Violence.

Irony: Albert going to jail for the second time, only this time around he is trying to save his newfound girlfriend, Maria, while previously, he went to jail for murdering his girlfriend, Rosie.

Irony: Giving his ring to Maria, to protect her, also signifying he has perhaps gotten over her prior girlfriend.

Irony: Gifting the bird in a cage on a Christmas eve to Maria's daughter, Annie, and perhaps being the bird in the cage himself.

While the execution looks a bit outdated, this may be a deliberate attempt on Raghavan's part to somehow make the story telling retro. Or perhaps this was a miss due to the bilingual efforts and resources were working on a different priority, I don't know. While the twist in the movie is not a moment, the goal of the movie is not the twist, rather a tale of coincidences and irony.

We often judge people by their acts, not by their circumstances. Albert has the capacity for Violence and the capacity for Sacrifice, depending upon the circumstances and his emotions at that point in time. We do notice this in Badlapur as well, another movie by Raghavan, that shows two characters going through change over a course of time. Just like Badlapur was not about Revenge, it was about change, Merry Christmas is not about the twist, rather it's perhaps also about change.

If you like reading books, have an eye for detail and enjoy studying human behavior, you will be intrigued by the story telling of this movie.

Animal (2023)

Animal? Nope - Clown? Yep

Tarantino sits on the first bench. Vanga sits behind him and copies everything Tarantino writes in the exam. He gets similar grades but does not understand the concepts.

Few observations:

• Kill Bill whistle music inspired or copied you decide?

• Protagonist or the main character played by Ranbir Kapoor, starts the movie by giving a lady a lecture on Alpha male dynamic without giving context (Alpha in what area of expertise, which skill set have you mastered) and makes a blanket statement after watching a couple of YouTube videos and throws the term loosely, making fun of poetry, then talks to her about her pelvis. What is Poetry? Conveying a message or an emotion in a method that rhymes. Ironically, he does the same thing. He throws a sales pitch to her on how she should select him as he is the Alpha she should be with. Negotiated desire much? He enters her frame with empty words, with empty promises, not as a man of action. His version of poetry and talk is limited to discussing Alpha males due to a low IQ and the fact that was brought up in a privileged home with unlimited access to money, he can stand on his fathers shoulders and feel tall. Alpha males are made through sheer hard work and dedication, talking from a frame of privilege is not an Alpha male, in any context. Furthermore, an MMA fighter, no matter how Alpha he or she is in the boxing ring, is not an alpha in the Engineering world. And vice versa. Alpha is a byproduct of mastery of a subject, not just because you claim you are one. And if you really were an alpha, you wouldn't go about thumping your chest and calling yourself one, you would be known as a leader and the term, subconsciously, would be assigned to you by your peers and people wo look up to you. Apni gali mein to kutta bhi sher hota hai, can be pretty much summed up for this so called "Alpha".

• Equal and opposite force dynamic: Lately due to the rise in narcissism and toxic feminism, there has been an unusual imbalance favoring the women, so when a man is on screen bashing women or ridiculing them, it is seen as a win for the other side of things. This imbalance is an equal and opposite force, where toxicity is fighting another toxicity. 20-25 years ago, a hero would enter a woman's frame as the protector. I guess times have really changed.

• Vanga watched 2 videos on YouTube describing the alpha male and gives us lecture on what an alpha male. This is where the lines are distorted, is this the character or is this the director spewing his half knowledge and elementary understanding of the alpha male through the movie?

• Swastik sign and the use of German 3: He is of Indian origin and studied in the United States. There is no reason to have used the German style of number 3. No matter how hard you try, you can't be a Tarantino. Having superficial execution similar to a director, a writer who understands human behavior versus watching a YouTube video is the key difference here.

• Lack of Self-Awareness: Kill Bill was a movie that was way more brutal, violent compared with this piece of immature nonsense. While Kill Bill was meant to be goofy especially towards the end/last fight, and meant to evoke a cartoonish effect, Animal takes itself very seriously, without the seriousness in the fight scenes. People singing in the background, while one man is fighting with everyone, does come across as goofy but the director and the audience don't seem to think so. This lack of self-awareness makes it a lower than a mediocre product.

• Casting of Ranbir Kapoor: India is a country where the lines between a character and the actor themselves are very thin. Hero worship is a common thing. People copy hairstyles, smoking styles, walking styles, clothing styles since there is a huge economic and social divide. In the western part of the world, this divide is not a huge factor. Individuals have a sense of completion and dignity of labor, respect for all professions is common. Ranbir Kapoor playing the part of a disturbed spoiled brat, calling himself an alpha male, gives validation to boys and girls who were raised in a toxic abusive household are attracted to this behavior. It's called "Trauma Bonding". Remove Ranbir from the role and put anyone else, the movie does not work, and I am not saying he acted good or bad, personally I can't stand Ranbir Kapoor, however, I am pointing out blind loyalty, lack of integrity with the audiences, and overall lack of understanding of what art really is. He is backed by a rich father, who has kept him safe from the law enforcement, and no accountability for his narcissistic tendencies, and calls himself an alpha male is ironic. The lack of self-awareness to see through this is a reflection of the dumb audiences who don't seem to understand what entitlement is.

• How does the protagonist know which hand his father uses to hold his privates while peeing? The father-son relationship seems questionable.

• In earlier movies, heroes were shown to be protectors, self-sufficient. Here we have a guy who is all Bakchod, fighting with the world and hiding behind his gang, who protect him with 20 guns and 30 bodyguards. Very alpha indeed.

• Vanga's psycho crazy mindset for labeling drama abused filled relationship as love.

• He is so Alpha, he uses his own version of poetry aka dialogue to convince the girl to get into a relationship with him, meanwhile calling others weak.

• He is so Alpha, he uses 10 guns and 20 bodyguards protecting him to throw his weight around.

• He is so Alpha, he knows which hand his father uses to hold his privates while peeing.

• He is so Alpha, he goes about telling people he is Alpha. The length of his beard is inversely proportional to the size of his balls. Very Alpha indeed.

• He is so Alpha, he marries the first girl he sees. Maybe he missed the YouTube video where it is clearly stated that Alphas never marry the first person they meet or date and do not believe in the concept of a soulmate. Maybe he doesn't even understand what Alpha really is, he just walks around unaware, thumping his hairy pubes and chest.

• He is so Alpha, he pulls and fires a gun in the same room where his children are sleeping.

• He is so Alpha, he walks around naked, but the director wasn't Alpha enough to show him or the actress naked when she is on the bed covering herself and he called himself a bold director.

• He is so Alpha, he lectures other people to grow their hair, pubes, everything because it's natural. Yet, he chooses to cut his nails.

• He is so Alpha, that without his father's intervention, he would be jail running around naked and pole dancing for other men.

• There is no police in the movie, but there is media. Selective fantasy world.

• Now all the Alpha tatpunjia log will come and justify each point above, displaying their level (or lack of) self-awareness.

This movie is now a litmus test to check the self-awareness meter with your friends. Yes, I will be judging you and taking notes. With my right hand.

Ironically, Vanga is the monkey who is copying Tarantino's style of executing violence, without going deeper into the human behavior side of things and not make a story interesting or meaningful. Apni gali mein kutta bhi sher/alpha hota hai. Aur ek achi story, good writing aur propaganda mein sirf ek bandar ka hi fark hota hai. Joke's on you Vanga.

Dunki (2023)

Dunki is Munnabhai Chale America rewritten

Dunki is Munnabhai Chale America rewritten and repackaged; way obsolete in its execution, thought process and writing.

Forced emotions, forced humor, weird accents, weird storyline. A serious subject has been handled with zero research and a hodge podge writing. It's also not relevant to today's times.

Songs are also not that great. Background score will remind you of 3 Idiots. SRK looks like he is hamming himself. The use of extreme CGI on his face and his fake baritone deep voice makes it unbearable to watch this movie.

Thank you SRK for making Hirani's prior projects a huge success by not being a part of them.

Happy Ending (2014)

Romedy

Story of a writer who lives in LA, California who has written one book and is happy with the fame and money he has. He has plenty of girlfriends, but not in love with anyone. Nope, he's not going to love anyone. He likes to argue that he has girlfriends because of his personality and not because of his fame/money. His best friend (Ranveer Shorey) disagrees. He also disagrees that Yudi is not as famous as he thinks he is. Then comes along Anchal, who is exactly like Yudi. Opposites attract NOT. Apparently, that theory is for magnets, according to Yudi. In real life, similar people attract. I honestly think that makes total sense.

He gets an opportunity to work with a single-screen ka wanna-be multiplex-ka-superstar, Govinda. He convinces Yudi to make a Ghisa Pita movie with first half "Meet the Parents", second half "Meet the Fockers". The word Fockers has been very carefully stated, ki censor ki problem bhi na aaye aur message bhi pahunch jaye. He convinces Yudi hard to make a movie based on a formula that works. His best dialogue? "300 Rupees mein logo ko jeena mat sikha". Grounded. Very Grounded.

Ranveer Shorey's character has a totally tangent story going on. His wife doesn't have any friends and all she does is yell at him for everything. They didn't show much but they showed how scared he is of his wife.

Some stories are many moments stitched together. Just like Yudi looks at each day without a start or an end, the movie is the same. It's not really a story so to speak. When you integrate certain moments over the course of 2 hours or so, you get a movie. Is the ending Happy? They never really ended it. Just stopped showing the moments after 2 or so hours. The fixation is not on perception, it's on reality. The perception that a wedding picture is a happy picture. "100 likes and 75 comments to milengey hi is photo ko". The usage of VFX Technology/Photoshop in Bollywood nowadays, etc. Giving a wrong perception of body image to the audience. The dichotomy is that while they talk about using formula based scripts for successful movies, they actually end up making different cinema. The paradox of everything including the title of the Movie, where the focus on not on a Happy Ending, but continuation. Philosophical but light-hearted. Serious, yet funny and humorous.

Yudi's alter-ego is the one discussing formula based concepts with Yudi and Yudi keeps arguing with himself based on logic. It's almost a fight between "What works and gets me Success" v/s "What I really want to do". If you're looking for a RomCom, this is it, but not the usual RomCom, you could call it Romedy, hint hint.

This is my review aur free mein mai bhi duniya ko movie dekhna nahi sikhane waala hoon.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016)

Not a Love Triangle, it's a Love Hexagon

Everyone is simping for each other and connecting with each other on superficial and shallow topics. And glorifying simping is the new Bollywood trend. It's baffling how the definition of love has changed over the course of time. Is it love or is it just validation and egos getting hurt because of one particular rejection. Points to ponder.

Tahir loves Saba loves Ayan loves Alizeh loves Ali and all these people love themselves before anyone else. So yeah, love hexagon, that's correct. The molecular formula is very close to Benzene -> C6H6.

Emotionally disconnect movie. Avoid.

Music is great.

Life of Pi (2012)

Beyond the CGI

First off, looking beyond the CGI, this movie has so many things on so many levels to offer.

Which story did you "prefer". That's probably a give-away as to why we would never really know what happened in that boat. But a few things (and perhaps even more) that you cannot help but notice are: The priest saying to the young Pi "You must be Thirsty" and Pi referring to the Tiger being found when he was thirsty, the names swapped etc.

"The cook brings out the evil in me", another possible hint, depending upon how you perceive it.

The floating Island, probably resorting to Cannibalism.

The development of characters throughout the movie and being symbolized with animals. After all, we "expect" animals to kill each other but not humans.

Upbringing of Pi, always caught up in a dichotomy with his parents having different perspectives. I felt the same at the end of the movie, btw.

The tiger coming out right when the cook/hyena hits the Mother/orangutan (depending upon which story you prefer).

They show Pi eating meat, but never show what kind of meat. It's upto you now to decide what he was eating.

Irfan Khan focusing so much on eating Vegetarian in the beginning, "hunger can make you do weird things" (something on those lines) and in fact, it turns out hunger did make him do things he could never have imagined.

Constant referral of "People believe what they see", as in the Director trying to tell us, "You will believe what I show you".

It doesn't matter which story you believe, that depends upon your perception, your point of view, there can never be a right or wrong story any which way; that's not the point of the movie. Which story you choose talks about you as a person, not the movie. Did the events really take place as shown or was it a metaphor for what might have made us lose faith in humanity.

Having said that, which story did you prefer? And why?

Interstellar (2014)

Time, Space, Gravity

Nolan is obsessed with the concept of Time and the Human Mind. Be it Memento with back and forth editing, aka, non-linear movie concept, Inception, where time within a dream is relative, as in, a 30 minute sleep could translate into a long event in the dream (in other words, 2 separate timelines), and now Interstellar - the concept of using a wormhole to enter a parallel universe or find a planet in that universe. The parallel universe now has time moving at a different pace than that of the Earth. Concept wise, this is it.

Keeping time as a the constant factor, the backdrop changes with Nolan's movie. Inception had a dream within a dream, now we have a parallel Universe. What makes the movie complicated is not the Physics part of it, it's having two timelines. Most folks think it's a scientific film, which truly it is, and I won't deny that fact, but explaining science is one thing, having two separate timelines will confuse the heck out of anyone, whether it's a dream within a dream or a parallel universe. These unknowns scare us, which is why we play it safe and say it's Physics, therefore it's not understandable. In short, the logic is understandable.

I have a degree in Solid State/Condensed Matter Physics, not in Astrophysics, so I'm as new to the concept as anyone else but the concept of a wormhole was briefly discussed in college. Some of the folks who were majoring in Astrophysics talked about it and we looked at them with our jaws wide open. We were told that a wormhole is like a tunnel to enter the parallel Universe, unlike a black hole which has a huge amount of Gravitational Pull, so high that even light cannot escape it, hence the term Black Hole. I felt the same experience watching the movie, the Physics discussed in the movie was very refreshing but they kept it very simple. From a cinematic point of view, they did not dwell a lot and kept it away from becoming a documentary. But Physics was discussed elaborately and if you're new to the concept of a wormhole, you might find it extremely vague.

The movie is a cinematic experience for sure, but you already know that, so I'll keep my review focused on the concept. Physics, to be specific.

Einstein talked about the theory of relativity and referred to "Time" as the fourth dimension. (Many scientists refer to having as many and 10-11 dimensions, but that's a different subject). Einstein talked about Quantum Mechanics and Classical Mechanics (aka Newtonian Mechanics) was ruled out. Let me rephrase. Quantum Mechanics could explain phenomena at the molecular level where Classical Mechanics failed. A wormhole is a spherical shaped tunnel to enter a parallel 3D Universe. Theory suggests (we're talking about strong theoretical calculations) that wormholes do exist but the main problem about not being able to travel through the wormhole is that it collapses. Why does it collapse? Because of the energy that is created. As I understand, think of a wormhole as a bubble, which given the slightest poke (as in, energy) will burst. The only way to travel through it is to have Zero Energy or Negative Energy (I'm not referring to bad vibes here, it's E=mc^2). Cinematic liberty allowed the travelers to travel via wormhole and the whole concept of two timeless is created. This part of Physics is very hard to understand, but the movie talks about it very clearly and in a very simple way without getting into messy calculations and becoming preachy.

The key thing with the movie is not just the fact that "Time" is the fourth dimension. It's referring to a fifth dimension, which is "Gravity", hence the travel through the Black Hole to get data on "Gravity". If the fifth dimension can be studied, Gravity can be manipulated, the travel to the parallel Universe (in the movie, Plan A) can then be executed.... successfully. The "behind the book shelf" scenes towards the end is a depiction of how in the same space, parallel time (a few hours apart relative to each other), Cooper can see himself. Time is relative to Gravity, in the sense, how long will be a day, how will planets around orbit, how will the heart rate, the cells generate, regenerate, all dictated by Gravity to a large extent. Which is why perhaps, they time traveler does not age and clocks move at a different pace for the time traveler relative to the individual on Earth. Since we live on Earth, our reference is Earth. Who knows we might be moving at a slower pace than some other parallel Universe and might age differently compared with them. That's the twin paradox theory (Google it, you'll find a ton of info on it).

More interpretation from a Supernatural point of view, which is referred to in the movie in a very subtle way. Cooper's daughter talks about Ghosts. She says there's perhaps a ghost trying to talk with her. Cooper tells her parents become their children's ghost, and in a way, he is right behind the shelves from a parallel dimension trying to communicate with her. That was an awesome hint! How he uses a watch to talk through Morse Code is something I can't explain. But he did have good data on Gravity to be able to push the book and communicate in a way that showed him manipulating Gravity.

Some thoughts from my side: We sometimes think of souls/ spirits leave the body and talk to us from a parallel dimension (there are reported cases that prove this phenomena), could it be a possibility that soul has no mass, therefore no energy and can travel through a wormhole? Is it possible that a wormhole exists all around us but we can't access because E=mc^2 will never be zero for us? The only way E can be zero is if someone entering the wormhole has mass = 0. It might sound crazy but the movie does provoke these kind of thoughts.

Anyways, the movie is very well done from a CGI and Physics point of view. Is it truly entertaining? It depends how much involved you are in a subject matter. If the subject matter doesn't excite you, you will hate it and find it boring, although it would have been nicer to see a tightly edited film. It would have been nicer if Cooper's diction was clearer, I struggled to understand what he was mumbling half the time. Some cheesy lines also on saving the world and stuff, which looked comical, but without an emotional connect, no movie sells, perhaps that's why it was inserted in there. Perhaps there was more significance to it, I don't know.

Overall a thought provoking experience, a good movie to watch to learn something new and let your imagination run wild. The movie requires courage to be made and to thought of, especially for any errors where the Physicists and the Science community would tear them apart if they violate any Physics laws (which is different from "what if Cooper entered the black hole and survived"). Well, to be honest, it also took me courage (at a very quantized level) to write this review, because I know maybe some folks will come a tear me apart for having misunderstood a few concepts. Having said that, I'm open to constructive criticism.

Andhadhun (2018)

No one can Review this Film, we can only hope to Analyze it

Andhudhun means Blind Music and Andhadhund means chaos. What is life? It depends on the liver. Sounds philosophical. We don't know if it's the person being referred or the body organ. Everything in the movie has two meanings.

It's rarely I watch any movie twice - Andhadhun happens to be that movie. Apart from the story-line, there's a ton of hidden puzzles, clues and in general the director communicating with us either paying homage to certain movies or the 70s or clues in general. This movie is not just a movie, it's a dark comedy, an experience that will leave you confused, entertained and most of all questioning what exactly happened.

**If you haven't seen the movie, don't read any further. You have been warned.**

I won't dwell into the story-line, that's not analysis that reading out of a book. Hint: Most reviews tell you the story. In my opinion that's bad writing and owning a website domain doesn't make you a writer.

Moving on. Here are few questions that might pop up in your head and I'll try and analyze them.

1) Movie starts with "Ek lambi kahaan hai, Coffee?". This might imply parts of the story-line might be the protagonist's (Akash) point of view. What is true, what is not, it's up to you to believe.

2) Simi's character tries to run over Akash with the car. Another homage to "Karz" from the 70s where the actor's real name is Simi Garewal. Coincidentally Sriram Raghavan's first movie was "Ek Hasina Thi", another homage to the movie "Karz". As you can tell, the director likes to tease his audience in subtle ways.

3) The Ending- Lot of questions about the ending. The director very cleverly cut the part to where they changed the scene to Europe and then continues with A-Kash's version. The truth? We will never know but my analysis is he took the deal with the doctor. A-Kash also could imply the one with the money. Another pun, another tease indicating he has the money now. And the friend he was talking about was Daani, she was someone Akash could trust. Also, at one point in the movie she was shown to talking to someone over the phone for a few seconds. Nothing happens in a Raghavan movie without a reason.

4) Radhika Apte's characters father wearing a tee shirt with a rabbit printed on it. Hint. Clue. Tease.

5) Akash acts as Ismael the detective, right after that they click a picture and maushi says "Ismael" please. Tease. Pun.

I don't think this level of intelligent cinema can be matched up for a long time to come. Sriram Raghavan's best movie so far! Watch it only if you want to look beyond the story-line, if you grew up understanding Indian Cinema, if you like Pune, if you understand subtle dark comedy, if you speak the same language as the director. Both Hindi and Cinema language. I had two meanings there for a reason. Catch it if you can.

Dangal (2016)

Aamir does a Dhobi Pachaad!

After watching Sultan, I was repelled with any more Haryanwi style movies going forward. I don't know if its lack of entertainment availability or have people completely lost their minds to enjoy the Sultan buffoonery. I saw the trailer for Dangal and decided I'm not going to watch this movie. Just last week, I saw a 30 second trailer where Mr. Aamir Khan's character has a dialogue with his office colleague while watching a wrestling match. And that included Mr. Aamir slamming a man twice his size on the floor with perfect form. I knew I had to watch this movie and erase the negative mindset that had been created because of Sultan the clown. Nonsense.

Based on a true story, Mr. Aamir Khan has trained for 8-10 months for wrestling and went through a huge transformation from being fit to fat for 90% portion of the film and then trained for 5 months to go from fat to fit to work on the initial portion of the movie that is only for 5-7 minutes in duration. He really got into the skin of the character.

The man needs no words to describe his dedication and passion for film making. But this movie is not just about him. It's also about his two daughters. They've trained for 8-10 months with wrestling their body language is extremely professional and their Dangal scenes will blow your mind! The training they've gone through for the wrestling and the way the story has been shown will leave you speechless. Mr. Aamir Khan has put everyone on this project through hell, after all you don't create a masterpiece by rubbing your nose with your thumb at every instance and pretending a fake American nasal accent.

Dangal is a masterpiece, there is no doubt about it. The trailers give away the story, so there is nothing mysterious about it. What's amazing is the way it has been put together. It is a linear movie, no flashbacks (except the initial portion) and they keep it very short to get started with the subject of wrestling. There are a few scenes that will absolutely choke you, the phone call scene between father and daughter, no dialogue, just expressions and they understand each other's tears over the phone, freaking brilliant! Another one is the wrestling scene between father and daughter. Mr. Aamir Khan's expressions, body language, marvelous! The younger portion played by the girls is amazing and so are the actors playing the grown up portions. The bhatija character is amazingly funny and perfect comedy timing. Not loud or obnoxious, just perfect!

The movie is an experience and some jokers are comparing it to Sultan. Please don't be so over-smart, we know you saw the common factor Wrestling and just to look over-smart, compare it to another wrestling movie. Please don't show your intelligence by making such ridiculous statements, please think before you talk. The only commonality between Dangal and Sultan is the Sport Wrestling. Comparing them to each other is like saying every moochwala is Anil Kapoor. Stop looking for comparisons and save yourself a ton of embarrassment.

The movie has brilliance written all over, flawless, all heart and entertaining. The undertones and sarcasm are minimal with humor associated without digressing into any other topic.

This one is truly the best Sports Film to come from India and will definitely make it to the Oscars just like Lagaan did years back. The sincerity with Dangal from every actor in the movie brings the experience to a whole new level. Mr. Aamir Khan has raised the bar, not just for the Indian Film Industry, but also for cinemas worldwide.

This one is definitely amongst Mr. Aamir Khan's top 5 list (Jo Jeeta Wo Sikander, Rangeela, Sarfarosh, Lagaan, Dangal). Mr. Aamir Khan releases a movie towards the end of the year and sweeps every other movie off the floor, similar to a wrestling move, dhobi pachaad style. Do not miss this one!

A Flying Jatt (2016)

It all makes sense.

Toxicity is everywhere. And some folks derive their energy from a toxic environment. And who's responsible for the toxicity? All of us.

A Flying Jatt is the story of a regular guy who has flying powers but also has fear of heights. He can fight a lot of people while at the same time he pays money for buying grocery and is actually a very decent person.Serious scenes are nicely done, and the funny parts are kept funny, there are no cross-overs. Nicely balanced!

They've also talked about Sikhism to explain the concept of how people have started making fun of Sikhs (which is very unfortunate) and the 12 o'clock connection, the power of belief and faith.

A very fun story about social environment, how evil and toxic can be derived from many sources but good has very few resources. Tiger Shroff is outstanding with his sincerity and action. He is extremely sincere, hard-working and honest towards his work and you can tell by the way he delivers. Nathan Jones is awesome as the antagonist, Raka.

Kids will love this movie. You know why? Because kids know things we grown ups don't, they look for happiness in basic things that give them entertainment, some basic message and evoke their emotions. We grown ups read blogs, watch videos and go for classes on learning how to be simple and be like kids. We call it spirituality, kids call it being themselves.

The way they eliminate evil is clean up the city; the antagonist (Raka) derives his energy from dirt and pollution. Think about it, a nice way to explain this basic concept to kids - keep your home, your area, your city clean. The way kids are going to see this movie is to learn the fact that if they want to avoid future Raka's, they have to ensure that their area, their city, their place is kept clean and pollution free.

Could it have been better? Sure, it could've been, but its easier to write a review than actually executing a thought. If you believe you can make a better movie, why don't you do it.

I know many people have called it a bad movie, I guess they appreciate only similar movies that are made in Hollywood, Deadpool for instance but don't appreciate the Indian Film Industry making movies on new concepts. So as an audience, please do not complain about the Indian Film Industry not making different cinema because you are the one creating more resistance to accepting and encouraging new concepts.

Sultan (2016)

Sultan - Over hyped film with neither substance neither entertainment

The success of the new movie "Sultan" just goes to show how people believe in perception a character that's played by a superstar only supersedes the actual efforts that are needed in an MMA fight and derides the efforts of many fighters that spend years training for the fight.

Right from the badly photoshopped poster, camouflaged with obnoxious high sounding music, some with the trumpet (the winning wala funda), some parts of the music sound like band baaja waale in a shaadi, not sure if Sultan is entering a ring or about to enter the mandap for his shaadi. Dialogues from Rocky Balboa translated to Haryanwi, super slow- mo effects, ton of VFX/CGI to show Mr. Sultan Khan's transformation, Haryanwi Jaat language that comes and goes depending on the actors mood, and horrible fight sequences that are so filmy and outright funny that can give Spoofs a run for their money. About half the time, Sultan takes the mitti and claps to get ready while all other fighters watch him finish his drama and his stupid half smirk that is not as near as confident, rather much arrogant and when everyone's busy fighting, he does one move and rubs his knuckles on his mustache in the upper cut direction in pride.

Sultan, in his entire career has learned only 2 moves, one of which is described as fatal. That is Sultan's move, they say. No one gets up after that, they say. From a technical perspective, it's a rather silly,stupid, and an extremely cheesy move that WWF wrestlers have been using and has very low impact. The slams are where it hurts the most, not the rolls. But who cares about wrestling in a movie about wrestling, right? As long as it's Salman Khan with a sk4CGI/VFX body (thanks to YFX) and a 2 hour movie can stretched to 3 hours, because you know slo-mo. Not to mention, he trains in about 6 weeks for a championship that takes years to practice, frankly with a 6 week practice, you may have a hard time winning a match with a punching bag, but again, who cares about fights in an Action Movie as long as its Salman Khan with VFX/CGI body (thanks again to YFX). Also, the seriousness of the character is directly proportional to the amount of facial hair he grows. Figure of speech taken to a whole new literal level. Sultan has tried to do a Rocky, but missed the essence of Rocky.

On a very different note, a star is representative of the most common man's thought process, by that virtue the audiences deserve the star they get. Don't blame the movies, blame your choices.

Piku (2015)

Piku - An awful way to explain relationships.

Super torture movie with talks revolving around unnecessary arguments, bickering, loud arguments and matters that are totally private to individuals. Nothing heartfelt about a father who spits out his daughters private life in public. Nothing heartfelt about a father that calls his daughter when she is on a date with someone and keeps irritating her. Was actually very sad to say the least. That was being clingy, needy and nowhere close to love. People are saying that's how folks talk in real life. I'm sorry for your real life in that case. If that's the kind of people in your life that is a very sad situation and don't let anyone convince you it's care and love. It's not.

Listen, there's a difference between love and need. There's a difference between companionship and looking for attention. Being clingy, being needy. Totally two different things.

And what's with the non-stop talk about constipation? The entire movie revolved around constipation talks, are you serious? Is this what you call a good relationship between a father and a daughter. You have been tricked into believing these kind of ridiculous relationships are the right ones. I'm not surprised at the low-class movie making, I'm surprised people are calling it a great movie with a light on how relationships are. Watching the movie with the loud bickering noises and screaming made my stress levels go up quite a bit. I wonder how people choose to call it a good relationship given it only induces stress and no space for your own life.

No really, a terrible movie with a very low life message.

Fan (2016)

Fan or a Stalker - Outstanding performance by Mr. Shahrukh Khan

A "Fan" is someone who looks up to someone else, gets inspired and admires the work they've done, the status they've achieved and the way they come from point A to point B in their lives through hard-work, sincerity, effort, etc. and how they can apply in their lives to perhaps become more successful and admired. Just like someone they look up to. That could be their father, mother, friend, but more commonly fans are established for folks who have more media exposure. Such as movie-stars, sport stars, etc. Due to the sheer exposure they get, the odds for having more fan-following increases.

A "Stalker" is someone who not only looks up to someone for all the things stated above, but also looks for validation from them. Or approval. However you put it. A Stalker has low self-esteem and poor judgement, and does not like their identity and might try and act like the person they admire. Because they don't have an identity of their own, they take on someone else's personality. They might pick their hairstyle, clothing style, and a Stalker might slowly, from being an admirer, slip towards unhealthy obsession, where the sole purpose is to get approved/validated from the one they admire. When someone might compare them with the one they admire, they might feel happy, instead of awkward, regular folks might feel awkward when they're compared with a known celebrity or someone else, since everyone wants to be known as themselves, not as a second someone-else. If that makes sense.

If you're still reading this, then looks like I've held your attention for quite a bit. Congrats. We both are crazy.

Speaking of the movie "Fan" (where the Fan has become a Stalker) not only does the Stalker character (Gaurav) not get validation/approval from the Movie Star (Aryan), he gets severely rejected. At least from his point of view. Rejection can do crazy stuff to regular people, for folks with low self-esteem, it can do some severe damage. And in order to get over the damage, and to make themselves feel more superior than the person who rejected them, the rejected can enforce power onto the ones that rejected them, simply to exhibit power over them, which makes them feel superior in their own mind, since they're the ones that have control now. (Pehle Fan Star ke peeche bhaagta tha, ab Star Fan ke peeche bhaagega) this shows Gaurav's hunger to demonstrate control over Aryan. Aryan is a huge superstar, powerful, and if feels powerless in front of Gaurav, then Gaurav automatically becomes more superior than Aryan. Therefore, going by the Mathematics equation here, Gaurav > Aryan if Aryan feeling < Powerful than Gaurav. Congrats, you now have a PhD in Mathematics and Human Psychology. Humor also. Take it.

Gaurav's obsessions dictate the way he makes choices. Inability to take rejection hurts his already low self-esteem and he goes back into displaying control over the most powerful Movie Star. It's not exactly revenge as is advertised, but rather authority aka power game.

From a character point of view, as a viewer, it felt the two were totally different people. But the amateurish fight sequences and the fear element were missing overall. Gaurav's character was more childish versus being a psychopath. If Gaurav's character had done more severe damage to the superstar's reputation and career more criminally, the situation would've been more crime thrilling and more true to the genre of a "Crime Thriller". Making a video and uploading on YouTube hardly counts as scary. Or maybe that scene was handled immaturely. Or maybe they wanted to not make it extremely scary for the censor boards point of view. Either ways, that piece didn't quite work as scary. Gaurav's character confused me quite a bit even though his acting was top notch as a 25 year old. I didn't know whether to feel angry with him or to feel sorry for him. There was also emphasis on Gaurav being a Vegetarian, I don't know why.

The superstar's serious character was nicely carved out as the angry, sarcastic and sometimes a vulnerable person overall. A serious role with less dialogues for the superstar was a nice fresh performance. From a story point of view, an average viewing. You won't get bored and the movie will keep you engaged. Whether or not you stay married after the movie is a different story. (That was a joke, btw). And if you've seen the trailer (check end of the blog), then perhaps you've seen the entire movie. However, acting as a Superstar and a Fan the Superstar is a challenge and SRK did it amazingly well! We know look alikes don't look exactly like the actors and that part has been taken care of really well by utilizing make up to make the actor look like a 25 year old. Extremely well done.

A similar movie was made in 1996 starring Robert De Niro (The Fan) who also cast in Cape Fear, the idea was taken in a Movie called Darr (Darr in Hindi means Fear) with the same actor then playing a stalker. Both the times Shahrukh Khan was cast playing the stalker in both the movies. I'm not saying it's a remake, a remake is where every scene and script is taken and remade in the exact same way, hence, the term, remake. Just some basic similarities or coincidences.

Both Darr and Fan – idea of a stalker – movies Cape Fear and The Fan, both starring Robert Di Nero remade with the exact same star playing a stalker is quite a coincidence. Many people are comparing the Darr character with the Fan character, that's another huge co-incidence. Interesting trivia brought to you by Vivek Chawla.

Badlapur (2015)

Badla means Revenge, it also means Change

"The Axe forgets what the Tree Remembers" – African Proverb. That's how the tone is set when you start watching the film.

"Badlapur" is a place in Maharashtra. The protagonist lives there due to a mishap in his life. "Badla" in Hindi means Revenge. It also means Change. Clever title indeed.

With Badlapur, you're introduced to the dark side of human nature. Not a feel good movie. In fact, the scenes are horrific and will make you cringe in your seat. Really cringe. I won't dwell into the plot, that doesn't make this write-up different, what makes it different is perhaps the analysis.

The movie is probably not about revenge to be exact, its about hatred. Its about hating someone to an extent that killing doesn't feel wrong. There are no ethical dilemmas, it's very clear cut. You hurt me, I hurt you. Everything else is irrelevant. There are no good or bad people in the movie. My use of the word protagonist is, in fact, wrong. I should use the word character instead.

The movie's whole concept is based around human behavior. Everyone feels for someone, be it love, be it hate, but the emotions exist. Character Raghu (Varun D.) feels for his family. Character Laik (nice name for someone robbing a bank played by Nawazuddin S.) feels for his girlfriend. The way he threatens her husband years later is proof that he has emotions too. He has his side of feelings thereby proving he's not a psychopath or anything of that sort, he kills in a state of confusion and rage, desperation, whatever, and no I'm not justifying it, just stating what the character is outlined to be. Quite honestly, I know most folks along with me were expecting the movie to be a battle between good v/s evil, which this is not and that's exactly what makes it different and thought provoking. The style, the execution, the revenge, the hatred for someone is shown to an extent that the characters rather keep other alive and see them suffer v/s an easy kill. It's very intriguing. And very real. And that's how people usually are in that state – helpless.

If you like dark, gritty blended with realistic philosophical cinema, you'll like this one. If you don't, then you might as well avoid it altogether. See, the point is, human behavior is not as simple. It's a very complicated equation. People aren't nice, they're only nice when circumstances are in their favor. Any slight disturbance in the circumstances and you see their dark side, their evil side, their horrific side. And no one should be pushed to an extreme where their defensive, horrific, evil side comes out.

The movie ends with a very philosophical twist. A good man becomes evil and an evil man becomes good….For…. Certain…. Decisions….. Only…… Do they permanently stay that way? Perhaps not, rather, it depends. If a prequel to the movie would be made, there could be a journey of Laik going from good to becoming evil and desperate. If the sequel were to be made, it would start with showing Raghu as the negative character. What they did was what the circumstances demanded. Is it justified? No one knows. If situations change tomorrow, they will behave differently. The whole idea of the story is that circumstances are evil, and humans have a defense mechanism that doesn't dwell into right or wrong; rather survival becomes top priority. Many folks might feel the ending wasn't regular, but I honestly felt that the end was very different and philosophical v/s regular good v/s evil battle.

It's not in the "Ek Hasina Thi" league, but it makes you feel Mr. Raghavan is back. Wish he would make movies. Watch it for execution style and if you can stand crime thriller type movies. Else, avoid it.

Is the movie feel good? No.

Is the movie entertaining? Some parts yes. But this is not supposed to entertain you. It's supposed to make you wonder whether we really are humans or just animals disguised as smiling people. In "Ek Hasina Thi", there is a dialogue when Urmila retaliates and hits the other woman in the prison. The older lady tells her "Sher sab mein hota hai, Ungli karne waala chahiye". The movie is just an extension of that dialogue.

Dilwale (2015)

No Dil in this one

I loved Chennai Express and Happy New Year for the simple reason that there was the "fun" element in those movies. Suspension of disbelief, yes, but again, I'm not watching a documentary, so that's fine and when I go to the movies, I only care about entertainment and the fun quotient. And if there is a serious subject, then you look at it from that perspective and enjoy that genre also. Some of the movies in that category are Lagaan, Special 26, etc. They kept it entertaining, no matter what genre. Certain emotions are evoked.

With "Dilwale", my emotions were confused. Was this supposed to be a serious movie or a funny movie. And if someone points a gun at you, do you laugh and joke in the next scene or do you reconsider your involvement with that person. OK OK suspension of disbelief but someone please tell me what genre is this movie exactly. People hardly communicated in this movie ever and didn't even care to ask or talk about conflicts, they refuse to give up on their relationships which by the way happens to be 2-3 days new. Oh and the love between two people doesn't even seem sincere. The brothers bonding – flat emotions. SRK Kajol bonding – flat emotions. And Varun Dhawan talks like a roadside person from the street, his diction is so pathetic, he makes the Lokhandwala meatheads wearing a Rupa vest walking around look more classy, intelligent and sincere. Varun Dhawan is honestly a very insincere and an annoying actor and neither his comedy, nor his serious parts are classy or even have a basic standard. Very low class, cheap and an annoying actor, at least in this movie. He was so restrained in Badlapur but his diction has an element of being a lout that just makes it overall very annoying. Somewhat like roadside romeos talking. Dude, you're a movie actor, have a standard, have some class.

The other comic actors are loud, and have low class jokes and no comic timing. Kriti Sanon coming straight from the salon is just loafing around in the movie wandering aimlessly.

SRK Kajol relying heavily on the DDLJ chemistry quotient and try too hard to bring back old memories. In fact, the whole team turned on the camera and forgot to edit the movie thinking SRK Kajol chemistry, let people come watch them, to hell with the editing.

A disappointment. And no I'm not in Salman/SRK camp, I just love movies that entertain and talk about my opinion. You can talk about yours too.

Overall skip this one. Not worth the time.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)

Great Intent, Loose Execution

Almost 3 decades ago, Hatya was released with Govinda and mute child who witnesses a murder. And recently, Bajrangi Bhaijaan released (Director: Kabir Khan) where a mute girl from Pakistan is lost in India. Is there any correlation between the two movies? Not really. Except the protective feeling of a good human being towards a helpless child. The similarity ends there.

Kabir Khan has been on my top list of directors and given his background on documentary film-making (which was clearly evident in Kabul Express, his best work by far), makes the cinema more realistic towards how people approach in a system. Every movie of his has been directed at political relations between two countries as backdrop and another parallel process in the forefront. New York was about friendship with a political backdrop. Ek Tha Tiger was a love story with a political backdrop. Bajrangi Bhaijaan is the story of how an Indian helps a mute girl from Pakistan go back to her country and overcome the hassles that we have created because we don't get along with each other; we call them borders.

The movie is made from Pakistan's perspective. That is the biggest highlight and breath of fresh air to see that there is no bad-mouthing for either country. We need more of that. Bajrangi's missions is accomplished because people on the other side of the border are also humans and they care. But what I didn't appreciate was the fact that they allow him to enter the country without a passport, without a visa and break all rules. Humanity is one thing, being stupid is another. The scene was outright stupid. But hey, Kabir Khan has gone commercial, I'm sure he might have laughed at himself creating that scene, but at the end, he knows that selling is important too. There was another scene in particular where the journalist says that hatred sells, but no one wants to talk about love. I guess Kabir Khan went into political mode and suddenly realized, wait it's a Hindi film, including a feel good factor quickly. Cut to another scene. Audience happy. Kya feel-good movie hai. No one wants to listen to the truth.

The real problem with the movie was that everyone shown to be nice. I don't buy that. People are doing their jobs, there's lobbying all around us and I don't buy that everyone will go out of their way to help him across the border and risk themselves being thrown in jail. Also, everything came too easy for the protagonist. Crossing the border, staying illegally in another country, being risked thrown in jail, lot of things. Just very weird.

There were some scenes that were really nice but ultimately it felt like most of the niceness in the movie was forced. The child actor did a really good job and she did it really well. The scene where the protagonist takes her away from the travel agent will nearly choke you. The world is a mean place and people are mean. Really mean. Once in a while, you find someone that has a good heart like the protagonist is shown.

Honestly, not much to evaluate, except for a few scenes (described above), it's an OK time-pass movie, nothing extra-ordinary, very ordinary with a lot of extra slow motion effects. This movie was basically to pay for a second mortgage for Kabir Khan, he knew the only way to make money was to sell something larger than life, and that is what the audience wants. If you really want to see Kabir Khan's talent, watch Kabul Express. But I'm sure you won't like it because truth is something you run away from.

Again, the intent of the movie is good, the execution could have been more well-planned. I won't say realistic because cinema is not supposed to be realistic. But if there was a plan in place, the movie becomes more engaging, more thrilling and entertaining. You can't just walk into another country without a passport/visa and expect things to workout. The plan was the missing piece in the puzzle.

Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015)

Love - A by-product of Respect, Trust and Understanding.

I know this movie released this year quite some time back but I didn't get a chance to watch it. And when I did, I was astonished! Pleasantly.

The movie revolves around a woman's life (Vasudha) whose husband (Hari) disappeared for 5 years. Being a single mother, she has to go through a lot of trouble in a regressive society that India has become. She is burdened with trying to prove herself as the good perfect daughter, where she is married initially to the man against her wishes. This is the story of a woman who is treated as if she is owned by her husband like an object. In short, she is living the life others have told her to live.

It is only after she meets a business tycoon (Aarav) and they fall in love with each other. The element of admiration, respect and trust are felt and just when they are about to start a new life, Hari comes back. It's their journey about confronting with their feelings and a real situation they're faced with.

First things first, the love that is depicted in this movie is not the usual "Balam Pichkari" style. It's more on the lines of respect. The respect shown in the story is a more meaningful way of spending your life with someone. The "Balam Pichkari" love is more fragile. It's the moment they show, not a long term commitment. Just have fun, then move on. Not this movie, umm umm, nope.

The story has subtle ways of showing deep philosophical logic that frankly is hard for most people to understand. It's the story of a woman is suppressed in our society and has no say at all. She is beaten, abused and has to give into everyone's wishes, and she has absolutely no right to love anyone.

If you have any tiny bit of Emotional Quotient and appreciate subtle ways of Humanity towards each other, then you will appreciate this movie, else go for "Love Aaj Kal" or any other battameez style movie which shows newer and creative disrespectful way of loving each other where their love is limited to the style of tee-shirts the guy wears and the hairstyle the girl has. Which frankly has its own space, but shouldn't be the only thing to classify your feelings as love. Love is much more than that. But if you're busy Marofying Pichkari, you won't get it. And no, it's not isolated to a particular generation, it's the mindset and applies to preferences. Not a generation.

Brothers (2015)

Relationships - In General

First off, all the negative reviews you've been reading, ignore them. This is the first MMA based movie made in the Indian cinema. The folks writing those reviews don't even know what MMA stands for.

Second, MMA in the story is a metaphor for how things between people becomes sour and relationships are broken just because they refuse to communicate with each other and let their ego be important than the relationship.

The fights are real, the fighters are real, the techniques are real, the training is real.

Brothers is the official remake of Warrior that came out in 2011 but the treatment is so much better from an emotional view point. Especially a few scenes during the fight where the elder brother has images of his younger brother from childhood and is now supposed to fight him in the ring. The fight could be anywhere, a court fight, a misunderstanding, a glitch in the relationship, anything. Logic is that while introducing MMA to a country that is obsessed with bat and ball type tuk tuk waale games, it's important to have relationships depicted correctly. No one ever wins in a fight, no one ever comes out feeling good after a battle. But we still fight, right?m

A very good movie indeed! Ignore the haters.

Give them a bat and ball and let them enjoy.

MMA (unlike Cricket) requires a different set of balls that money can't buy. For everything else..

Ghayal Once Again (2016)

Ajay Mehra Reloaded - v2.0

You know the movie is going to be to the point when it starts from where the original left off. Glimpses of 1990 Ghayal to move the story forward brings back memories from the 90s, when the heroes used to be vulnerable, they had to struggle genuinely in a system unlike the Salman Khan of today who uses cable strings to fly in the air and has a stupid grin on his face while fighting.

Unlike Balwant Rai, we have a business tycoon Bansal, who believes in peaceful negotiation. In fact, he also yells at his son telling him I'm not Godfather here and not running a crime syndicate, we are running a business and can't go about killing people randomly. Bansal is also a family man, who realizes he failed as a parent when his son cannot take the business empire any further. He has parenting issues too. I mean, c'mon whoever you are, whatever you are, parents genuinely want their children to work with "courage" and not "rage" as he tells him – in a state of Rage of course. Bansal is a family man, in fact, when his 4 year old daughter comes towards him, he hides his glass of whiskey behind him so she can't see it. Bansal is a calm, collected and a negotiator. Bansal is a business tycoon and thrives on money, connections and symbiotic relationships, not fear. Fear becomes a by-product of a powerful man. I mean, really, I fear my father-in-law, although he never went out to scare me. At one point his wife asks him why did you give him a gun. He says it's not about the gun, tomorrow if he wants to kill someone he will run a car over him and you'll ask me why did I give him a car. It's not about the gun, he says. It looks like Bansal in India believes in the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America more than many Americans do.

Ajay Mehra is a Crime Journalist and believes you should stand with the truth. This time he has connections from jail and has brains with brawn. He knows the sada hua system will never change, so he does his little part and keeps working in what he believes in. A mature approach.

Optimum utilization of technology and somewhere along the line being a Telecom Engineer and knowing that I've played a small role in developing the communication system the way it is today makes me feel happy about it.

Everyone in the movie acted genuinely well, even the small dog, I mean everyone. There is a lot of tension with the chase scenes and the hand to hand combats are raw. The pen nib fight scene might remind you of the Bourne Identity Apartment fight scene. There is no crappy silly jokes that sideline the story-line. The story stays firm and grounded not a single moment of deviation from it. No nonsense sidekicks having a parallel stupid story- line, none of that.

Ajay Mehra is as vulnerable as anyone else. But when left with no choices, he is a Beast, an unstoppable force, Ajay Mehra v2 reloaded. Suspension of disbelief? Sure, it's a movie. Go for entertainment, go for genuineness of the story-line, and if your theater allows, jump off your seat and whistle if you can without being thrown out of the theater. What else are movies for, I wonder.

Although I must point out that the Hard Disk (I think it was shock proof by one of the brands sold at Costco), did really good surviving all those bumps and beatings. Luckily no data was lost. Point noted, invest in a shock proof hard disk to protect your data.

This is the second movie directed by Sunny Deol and one of his finest performances and an awesome sequel 26 years later. Definitely a must-watch for Sunny Deol fans, who can forget his performances in Damini, Ghatak apart from Ghayal obviously. The background music and the action sequences will make you sit at the edge of the seat, even if you've paid for the entire seat.

Baby (2015)

Baby - Sarfarosh of 2015

Movie starts off straight to the point. It looks like they started shooting the movie right after Special 26, Akshay (as Ajay) sports the exact same mustache from the previous one. Heck they didn't even change his name (or his outfit). Economic situations "Baby"! Cost cutting has penetrated Bollywood, I must say.

Anyways, so here's a little synopsis and I won't get into the story, but I will point out a few things. If you haven't seen the movie yet, some might be spoilers for you. You have been warned. Don't read any further if you haven't seen the movie. I don't want to ruin it for you. You should ruin it for yourself. LOL joking.

Synopsis The ATS team creates an organization, on a trial type basis to get over the bureaucracy and make things simple and efficient, something that was to be kept until 5 years, hence the name "Baby". Baby as in Baby Steps waala Baby, not oo Baby I love your way.

People have been telling me that the climax is breath-taking, yes, from an excitement point of, I agree, but look at it from a strategic point of view, they depended on someone else's decision to get them out of the situation. Nothing breath-taking about it. From an entertainment point of view, you won't get bored, not one second. The pace is really good. But the execution from an espionage movie perspective is not tight or thrilling. The chase scene between Ajay and Jamaal and the escape scene of Bilal are very amateurish.

Three Exceptionally Outstanding Scenes

1) The initial opening scene where Jamaal tells the location of the explosion. Ajay calling his team and asking for Jamaal's family at the exact same location for more information. It'll make you cringe. Really cringe.

2) Ajay gets up from his seat, closes the door, slaps the not-so- gentleman (who derides people who serve the country and makes fun of their sacrifices), then opens the door again, sits and continues to have tea. Not one dialogue, and creates an awesome impact. I wanted to get off my seat and clap and whistle.

3) The female agent fights like a tigress with the Chomu in the hotel and knocks him down. That scene was mind-blowing; the hand-to- hand raw combat is extremely well done. That scene depicts more than just a fight, its more philosophical if you notice since there is no gender bias. I totally loved that scene! Mind blowing! I wanted to again, jump off my seat and clap and whistle.

Like I said, the movie is fast paced, and you won't get bored for a single moment. There is very sincere effort from all the actors and the script is bold and linear. Newer characters are introduced and a viewer has to be really quick in catching up with their purpose in the movie. But the element of vulnerability from the protagonist's point of view was missing. The ending was a huge letdown for me personally, I was expecting some sort of twist/strategic exit, not the mercy of the investigating officer. An organization runs on strategy. That's the only thing I felt was missing big time. The hand-to-hand combat in many other spy movies give a very real feeling, for instance, check out Bourne Ultimatum's – Jason Bourne v/s Desh fight sequence. Bourne was so vulnerable in that fight scene, but comes out alive because he has strategy and fighting skills, even though Desh is better than him, not because all of a sudden someone else came in at the exact same time or someone else decided to protect him. That's survival.

Great changes in the way movies are made, and making such a movie requires tremendous amount of bold effort from all involved. Definitely a must watch, will remind you a Sarfarosh at times due to the way the team works with clues and goes from one informant to another, but on an International level minus the emotional quotient. Sarfarosh was all about emotion and all the officers felt for each other. The emotional quotient also was missing to a large extent. But every movie is different and the effort is appreciated. Good watch!

Taken 3 (2014)

It ends here. Good.

Taken 3 is directed by the Mr. Megaton (it sounded like Particle Physics, of course, take away the intelligent factor from it). As the name suggests, it's the third installment of the movie Taken that came out about 6 years back and was an instant hit, because Liam Neeson has a particular set of skills in the movie, that makes the audience wanting more. In the acting department, the guy has particular skills no one has. Tall structure, calm and strong voice, and a man who looks like he means no harm but will not think twice to come at you if needed.

Movie starts off with a Russian gang talking in English with a Russian accent asking for their money. Everyone has numerous tattoos for ease of recognition, because honestly, you won't remember their faces due to lack of acting skills. They don't think twice before killing anyone, just to leave a message. Message saying they need to be "Taken" (yes, pun intended) seriously. Used to be a song from the 90s, Taken Seriously. And then the movie shows how the innocent Mr. Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) with extra set of "particular" skills, is charged with his ex-wife's murder. How he comes out of the situation is what the movie is all about.

Action scenes are terribly shot! A very amateurish style of execution and the editing is heavily inspired by Mr. Paul Greengrass (Bourne Ultimatum) for the shaky cam effect and Mr. Tony Scott (Spy Game, the aerial view and Man on Fire for slick cuts and editing). In fact the action scenes make it look like shot on a regular homemade video and then edited on iMovie for special effects.

The protagonist can fall off a cliff, off the elevator, blasts vehicles and nothing ever happens to him. Not only that, he's also never accused of any other crime except the killing of his ex-wife. He took down LA for God's sake! I would want this kind of man behind bars for entirely ruining a city and putting so many lives in danger. The last action scene, with the Russian leader fighting in his underwear looked like a scene sponsored by Calvin Klein. Zero thrill, in fact, outright funny. Shaky cam can give a very good effect for movies, but once it's overly done, it takes away the thrill and adds immaturity to the scenes. That's what has happened here. Due to lack of a good script, the entire movie has not one single stable shot. Either the camera is moving from left to right, zooming in, or there's an aerial view. The background score was heavily boring, it absolutely did not go in-line with the thrill that the audience is supposed to experience.

Movie was an absolute waste of time and money, and I honestly felt the original Taken that came out in 2008 was a much better fare. Liam Neeson is the only saving grace in the entire movie. The guy has personality, no doubt about that. Hats off to him for carrying this movie, because honestly, every other person in the entire movie was dull and boring.

It's ironic how they kept saying to each other in the movie, that you're predictable. I felt the script was predictable. Watch "Ek Tha Tiger" or "Spy Game" or "Bourne Ultimatum" or "Man on Fire" for a much better thrilling experience. I recently saw "The Equalizer" and it was quite a gripping experience. Watching Bollywood will give you more acting per square feet area, since the movie is 3 hours long. So you can have more value for money. I'm joking obviously.

Or just play Tekkin 3, a video game that came out in the 90s.

PK (2014)

PK - If this were to be released before OMG, would be outstanding!

To me it seems Mr. Hirani has 4 subjects that he absolutely loves to talk about. 1) Education System. 2) Mr. Gandhi and his principles. 3) Religion. 4) Being different (aka Purple Cow).

Take any movie of his, these issues come up in various ratios. Every character has to be very different, aka Purple Cow. While 3 Idiots and Munnabhai MBBS focused on the educational system, there were subtle hints of religion being questioned in each and every movie. He took that subtle part and bifurcated in that direction. End result? PK.

In order to look at the way we do things, a character had to be like a child, or completely unaware of what goes on in India. Someone from another country? Nah! That person might have a religion associated with him/her. Conflict of interest. Chuck it. Then who could it be?

People from outer space are unknown. We have no idea who they are and they have no clue of who we are. Idea! The protagonist could be from outer space! He knows nothing, it's perfect. And anything he does or anything he questions has no conflict of interest. Sounds good? Yes it does. And so the movie shooting begins. AK is PK. RK is no idea who. But AK is PK. It is obvious from the first scene that astronauts on their planet take their fitness regime very seriously, as already stated above. And they have no issues flaunting their physiques and in fact roam around like you would at Anjuna Beach in Goa. There's also a very unhealthy drink sold in the United States by that name. Yes, Naked. :D

Think about PK. He lands in Bhojpur, India. Thankfully he did not land in Russia during December in that condition. He looks around to see people wearing different clothes and thinks it's their skin. The concept of clothes is new to him. And so his journey begins. His first introduction is with a thief. The thief steals the only thing PK is wearing. His remote. The remote that establishes communication with his spaceship. His whole logic of landing on Earth was to do "research". But right now, all PK is focusing on is "search". Search for his remote. When he searches for it again, they call it research. Poor guy couldn't focus on what he came for, instead gets trapped in a completely tangent loop. He is introduced to the diverse culture in India, only to realize that the diversity is not an issue, the non-acceptance of others way of practicing faith is an issue. Faith is not questioned, religion is.

The moments are captivating, and the song "Bhagwaan" will choke you. If it doesn't I recommend a psychiatrist to take care of your deep rooted psychological and emotional issues to make sure you haven't landed from any outer space and you are, in fact, human. Aamir's expressions are amazing. He did NOT BLINK once during the entire movie. If he did and I missed it, I'd be happy to know when. The "Sarat Manjoor Hai" will remind you of Lagaan.

RK's cameo at the end could suggest a sequel being thought of. Perhaps the alien might want to check out a few different countries, and gets introduced the word F1 visa. Perhaps, he comes to the US and is NOT surprised when they call him a Non Resident Alien. "Are you an Alien sir? Yes, but how do you know." Perhaps he is now introduced to the consulting system and the Immigration system here. Perhaps that's a story every desi could correlate with. Perhaps we are also looking for the right time for our remotes so we can go home. I went all tangent, but idea to acha hai.

Simplicity is Mr. Hirani's weapon of choice. He can explain the most complicated things with very simple lines. No lamba lamba philosophical lectures. Yes, philosophy can be explained in a fun way. And it's done nicely here.

Is this an awesome film? It depends on your choice and your philosophies. Personally, I loved 3 Idiots better, maybe because of the whole Engineering and college type jokes. The way our country is at the moment, there are huge set of issues to deal with. If not religion, people would divide themselves with something else. Say, a football team? A University they graduated from? Alumni? Sections? CrossFit? P90X? LOL. Honestly, it is human nature to belong to a sect, a tribe, a group. It gives us security to be belonged. We can't take away that fact. That's OK as long they don't look down upon other groups and they maintain unity amongst each other. The issue talked about in the movie goes beyond the segregation. It's about divide. Practice what you want, how you want, but do not divide. What we can do however, is respect every other group and know that no matter what, it all means the same thing. Peace, Progress, Unity.

The story does evoke various emotions and there will be comparisons with "Oh My God" that came out earlier. Slight resemblance due to the nature of the subject, but the treatment is different. Due to the nature of the shaking car and the band baaja baraat dialogue scenes, I recommend you watch this movie without your kids. I wish India had a rating system for age groups and theaters actually enforced it. Now that would be a nice subject Mr. Hirani. Something out of your comfort zone too.

Thanks for reading, see you in the future.

Happy New Year (2014)

There's some things movies can tell, for everything else, there's documentaries.

Research shows that when certain chemicals are released in the brain, you experience euphoria, happi(y)ness, feel elated (google more synonyms, my English has exhausted). How are the chemicals released? Certain activities such as being with good friends, laughing heartily for "no reason", being goofy, being funny, being bindaass, hugging your kids, eating chocolates, being in love. Note that all these things don't require any "logic", so to speak. But we still do it. Why? Because they make us happy.

Now, I want you to question me on providing you with evidence done on such a research. Truth is, I made it all up. Has there been any such research? I don't know. Frankly, I don't care. I just know that I feel amazing when I hug my son. I feel awesome when I meet my friends. I feel nice watching a happy film. It's to do with feel. You don't need research for everything in life to assure you of your actions.

Watching a Farah Khan film is exactly that. There's euphoria, there's excitement, there's fun, in short the movies are very high on EQ (Entertainment Quotient). Tees Maar Khan was an exception, I think Farah missed the point then, she had to have Khan in the film, not in the title. Anyways….

hny01

Pre-requisites for watching a Farah Khan flick

You have to know Bollywood and Movies.

Understanding the philosophy behind this "Being Happy is Simple…. But Being Simple is the Trick." The movie starts off with the line in the promos, "There are two kinds of people in this world, winners and losers. And every loser gets an opportunity to become a winner." Something on those lines. It's a Heist Flick. What that means is there is a robbery to be done. The protagonist "Charlie", a Boston University topper with Eight Pack Abs has been waiting for 8 years for the right timing. He has long hair with a mustache and a beard and is in desperate need of a shower and a shave. (OMG, that reminds me of my bathroom renovation where I need one too). His fights are cool and there is slow motion muscle flexing for his introduction. All the characters are introduced one by one with a lot of homage to many Bollywood flicks (Read pre-requisite #1 above).

He starts getting his team together for a huge robbery and the only way to get to Dubai and execute the plan is through a dance competition. How the team pulls this act together is what the movie is all about. But you already knew this, didn't you?

Happi(y)ness Factor #1 – The Simplicity (Charlie's line – Dad used to say, Keep It Simple), that's exactly what it is. These guys are not heroes, not machos (chord na yaar), they have regular drawbacks, shortcomings and are plain and simple humans. They have weaknesses and how their weaknesses, in fact, become their strengths and a trademark is nicely done. Next time you have a job interview, remember to talk about your weakness in a way that displays strength. OK? Aha! Now all the pseudo-intellectuals can have their logic switch lights start to go on…. a bit.

Happi(y)ness Factor #2 – The importance of having good "attitude" over "aptitude". Attitude will take you a long way, we know that, but when it comes to testing the waters, most people show bad attitude and they think their talent will be good enough. It's not. Learn to respect human relations, learn to respect your friends, families, your employer, your employees, your society and do it without expectations. It goes a reallyyyy long way. So does bad attitude. The whole idea of a healthy competition was nicely shown. Aha! Aha! Now, all the pseudo-intellectuals are jumping off their seats, as their logic switch lights start flickering.

Happi(y)ness Factor #3 – Having fun and being yourself. Not different, just yourself. If you're not having fun and if you're not being yourself, you're not doing it right. Unless you're SoDumb Kapoor, then you shouldn't be yourself. Then you are in desperate need of an upgrade. Anyways, fun brings out the enthusiasm, delivers results, and boosts team spirit. Management terms? Now me sounding intelligent? Aha! Everything sounds intelligent in English. Clap Clap! The idea is that you can convey serious messages by being funny. You can deliver results while having fun. It doesn't take away the message. In fact, it helps retain it. Go and watch this movie with your loved ones, let the happy chemicals in your brain release (wait, we agreed that was made up, or maybe not….) and just relax, loosen up and laugh a little. Don't wait for any research to assure you of your intelligence, your creativity and your idea of having fun, Kyuki, Zindagi Abhi Baaki Hai, Mere Dost. :-D