Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews - Part 16Amodini's Movie Reviews | Movie Reviews by Year, Genre and Rating

Movie Review : Mulk (2018)

Posted on June 6, 2020 by amodini

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2018
Running time : 2 hours 20 minutes
Director : Anubhav Sinha
Cast : Rishi Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa, Neena Gupta, Rajat Kapoor, Prateik Babbar, Kumud Mishra, Prachi Desai
Kid rating : PG-13

Retired lawyer Murad Ali Muhammed (Kapoor) lives in a joint household with his and his brother’s families. He is well-liked and respected in his Varanasi neighborhood but all that changes when his nephew Shahid (Babbar) is accused of terrorism and the entire family is suspected of aiding and abetting him.

Mulk quickly transforms into a courtroom battle where Murad comes out of retirement to defend his brother Bilal who is the main accused. However when the public prosecutor names Murad as accused too, his Hindu daughter-in-law Aarti (Pannu) must take on the onerous task of proving his innocence.

Mulk is a moving tale and raise important questions. It questions religious prejudice, and the “Us vs Them” mentality. When the public prosecutor frames his argument to blame the entire Muslim community in lieu of tangible evidence, Murad and Aarti must come up with ways to counteract his assertions and prove Murad’s love for his Hindu-majority country.

Rishi Kapoor portrays real anguish in some of his scenes as he underscores Murad’s right to live in his secular country and practice his religion as a peace-loving citizen. Pannu shoulders the bulk of the film’s seconds-half as the lone Hindu family member, aghast to see her peace-loving family accused of heinous intentions. Manoj Pahwa, often relegated to comedy in films is very good in his serious role as Murad’s younger brother Bilaal, and like always it is a treat to watch Neena Gupta on screen. Kumud Mishra, even his his small, understated role as Judge Harish Madhok, shines delivering wry remarks and witticisms.

Director Sinha tackles hard subjects in his films (Article 15, Thappad) and Mulk is no different, although it is not his finest work by any measure. It is a little disappointing to see the ham-handedness of the courtroom scenes, where Ashutosh Rana, an accomplished actor, plays a perpetually smirking zealot who trots out over-the-top theatrics with his (dumb) arguments. Still Mulk is an important film, and a must-watch.

Kidwise: Some depictions of violence.

Posted in 2018, bollywood, directors, drama, rating-PG13, recommended | Comments Off

What To Watch On Netflix and Prime Video – Edition #36

Posted on May 30, 2020 by amodini

– Safe (Netflix, Series)

A British TV series created by author Harlan Coben, Safe is about widower Dr. Tom Delaney who’s 16 year old daughter Jenny suddenly goes missing. While searching for her Tom uncovers many surprising secrets of so-called friends. Caught up in a web of lives, he isn’t quite sure whom to trust.

This 8 episode series (approx 45 minutes each) is fast paced, suspenseful and keeps you hooked.

– Unorthodox (Netflix, Series)

Esther Shapiro, a young woman of the orthodox Hasidic Jewish community, in New York, flees to Berlin, hoping to leave her past behind. The Hasidic community is distraught and appalled at Esther’s willful disappearance, and dispatches Yanky, her husband of 1 year, and his street-smart cousin Moishe to find and bring her back. Esther, though, has other ideas.

This poignant, 4 episode series is based on author Deborah Feldman’s book about leaving the Hasidic sect.

– Ladies Up (Netflix, Comedy Special)

This hour long special features 4 female comics: Prashasti Singh (whom you might remember from Comicstan), Kaneez Surka (who was a judge on Comicstaan), Nivedita Prakasam and Supriya Joshi. All bring their unique perspectives on comedy from the female point of view. I like Prashasti’s set the most (thought she was pretty promising even on Comicstaan), then Nivedita’s, Kaneez and Supriya.

We should have more of these!

Posted in 2020, All Netflix, drama, english, humor, mini-reviews, Netflix Recommendations, recommended, suspense, WhaTWON, women | Comments Off

Series Review : Paatal Lok (Season 1)

Posted on May 24, 2020 by amodini

Rating : 4.2/5
Genre : Mystery/Suspense
Year : 2020
Episodes : 9
Running time : 45 minutes (per episode)
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime
Directors : Prosit Roy, Avinash Arun
Cast : Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Gul Panag, Neeraj Kabi, Abhishek Banerjee, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Swastika Mukherjee, Rajesh Sharma, Anup Jalota
Kid rating : R, A

Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary (Ahlawat) lands a big case – a rare thing for him, since his career has stagnated at the Outer Jamuna Par police station, forever mired in the petty crimes of what he calls “Paatal Lok” (Hell/The Underworld), while his sycophantic juniors rise to higher positions. You feel for the poor sod.

Determined to make this the case that will garner him the promotions, Hathi Ram leaves no stone unturned in the investigation. Even as he is making headway, the case is yanked from him and handed over to the CBI, and he is suspended over a minor incident. It all looks pretty suspicious and Hathi Ram, inspite of dire warnings and threats, can’t let go.

Paatal Lok is a first-class mystery, red-herrings everywhere. It’s well-made, features an underdog as the hero, a great cast and some fantastic story-telling. Although there are many characters and many different threads which come together to make this story, kudos to the directors for keeping everything clear and coherent. Paatal Lok is very well-layered, new facts come to light as the layers unravel. I especially liked how various bits and pieces fit together in an almost flashback like fashion – we might see a fragment of a scene before and it seems innocuous then, but the narrative winds back to it later giving it a whole new significance. The series is beautifully paced; the suspense is constant and keeps you hooked.

Paatal Lok has it’s milieu down pat – it feels realistic and authentic. Via Hathi Ram’s investigations and his deep dives into criminal pasts, it weaves into its story the various ills of Indian society – the caste system, religious violence and bias, classism, corruption, sexism and the poor treatment of women. It doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable depictions either – there is gory violence (think hammers), rape, and paedophilia; the portrayal is brutal and often, very sudden.

The series is what it is because of it’s two main characters – Chaudhry and Ansari – very different people, but both striving to rise above their upbringing and social environment to do the right thing. Jaideep Ahlawat is fabulous as Chaudhry. It is wonderful to see actors like Ahlawat finally get prime-time roles – and we probably have the advent of Netflix and Amazon Prime to thank for that. I remember Ahlawat ‘s good work in Gangs of Wasseypur and Raazi but he truly comes into his own as the harried, put-upon, under-appreciated cop who won’t give up. Ishwak Singh is another find. As Imran Ansari,the well-educated English-speaking junior Inspector he is the perfect foil to Ahlawat’s gruff-mannered Haryanvi Chaudhry.

The husband and I breezed through the addictive first season of Paatal Lok in one sitting, breaking only for food and the bathroom. A very well-spent Saturday. May there be many more!

Kidwise: Depictions of bloody violence, rape, sexual situations and nudity.

Posted in 2020, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, crime, directors, drama, outstanding, rating-A, rating-R, recommended, social issues, suspense, thriller, underdog angle | Comments Off

Rishi Kapoor: Films to remember him by

Posted on May 10, 2020 by amodini

Two great film actors are no more. One was Irrfan Khan, whom I talked about in my last blog post, and the second was Rishi Kapoor. Even though Rishi had acted as a child artiste in some films, he debuted as a hero with Dimple Kapadia in “Bobby”. He was 21, she was 16. Bobby was iconic, I still remember that scene where a really, really young Dimple (she pays the titular character Bobby Braganza) opens the door to Raja (Rishi’s character) hand innocently going to push back hair from her face, smearing it with food.

Rishi was 67, had a career spanning 50 years in which he acted in more than 150 films. Here a few of my favorite Rishi Kapoor films:

– Kabhie Kabhie (1976)

Even though Rishi acted with most of the actresses of his heyday, his most successful pairing was with the peppy Neetu Singh who later became his wife. The two played romantic couples in Kabhie Kabhie, Khel Khel Main, Doosara Aadmi, Rafoo Chakkar and many others. Most of their films featured outstanding, evergreen music.

– Prem Rog (1982)

Prem Rog starred Rishi Kapoor and Padmini Kolhapure (who was then 17). Rishi played a poor man who falls in love with the rich Thakur’s daughter. She gets married off to another man but soon become a widow and suffers much ill-treatment because of the traditional stigma attached to widowhood.

– Chandni (1989)

Chandni stars Sridevi, Rishi and Vinod Khanna in a love triangle that only Bollywood can cook up and do so well. There was angsty love (class differences), twists and turns and this being a Yash Raj production – Switzerland, gorgeous locales and fields of flowers.

– Kapoor & Sons (2016)

In Kapoor & Sons, Rishi played an aging patriarch who wants to see his fractured family come together before he dies. Rishi transformed into a wrinkly old man with some makeup magic, and played the feisty, young-at-heart geriatric with panache. This feel-good film also starred Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra and Fawad Khan.

– Mulk (2018)

Directed by Anubhav Sinha (of Article 15 fame), Mulk featured Rishi Kapoor as Murad Ali Mohammed a Varanasi-based lawyer. When Murad’s nephew Shahid (Prateik Babbar) gets involved with terrorists, the police come knocking at the joint family’s door. As the police attempt to implicate Murad and his family for Shahid’s doing, Murad must prove his love for his mulk (country).

Posted in 2020, bollywood, lists, RIP | Comments Off

Irrfan Khan: 5 Great Films

Posted on May 3, 2020 by amodini

Irrfan Khan passed away this week at the young age of 53. There are few actors who grace the screen quite as he did. It is an immense loss. He starred in a number of movies both Indian and international, but here are a few of my favorite Irrfan Khan films:

The Lunchbox

Ritesh Batra’s Lunchbox is in a class by itself. The film has very few main characters and they are ordinary people busy in their humdrum lives, but convey so much with their understated actions, the sighs and the glances, the thinking before the doing. Little tragedies sprung upon when doing the mundane work of one’s life, the washing of laundry, the cooking of food.

The story made the heart-strings twang, and the film conveyed the emotions so beautifully. Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur played the unlikely friends in this hopeful, engrossing, immersive tale.

Maqbool

This is of the time long long ago when we actually looked forward to director Vishal Bharadwaj’s movies, confident in our knowledge that his brilliant storytelling would blow us away. For this particular retelling of Macbeth, Bharadwaj chose Irrfan Khan to play the titular role of Maqbool.

Pankaj Kapoor played crime boss Abbaji (Lord Duncan), and Tabu played his mistress, Nimmi. Nimmi and Maqbool are secretly in love, and Nimmi convinces Maqbool to follow her diabolical plan to make her his. Bloodshed and mayhem follow.

Dday

DDay featured Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor, both of whom passed away this past week – Kapoor as notorious criminal Iqbal Seth aka Goldman and Khan as undercover RAW agent Wali Khan trying to nab him.

The film was beautifully wrought, and stunningly paced. The music was fabulous. But then it was the acting – there was Huma Qureshi, Arjun Rampal, Aakash Dahiya and above all Irrfan Khan – which made the film what it is.

Haasil

Boy meets girl but then there’s the villain who will have none of it – he wants the girl all to himself. Irrfan Khan played the bad guy Rannvijay Singh with such understated malevolence, that you were afraid for the hero. Tigmanshu Dhulia directed Haasil and Jimmy Shergill and Hrishita Bhatt featured in it. Khan starred.

Piku

This is another tale of unlikely romance. There’s Bhashkor (the father), Piku (the daughter) and Rana (the local taxi-driver/business owner).

The father is cantankerous, the daughter sharp with words and the golden-hearted taxi-driver the patient voice of reason. Irrfan Khan is magnificent here – dealing with this hard-to-handle father-daughter pair in his wry, winsome way. Pike was lovely, and Khan was lovelier.

Posted in 2020, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, Best hindi movies, bollywood, drama, Hindi movies on Amazon Prime, lists, mini-reviews, recommended, RIP, road movie, romance, suspense, thriller | Comments Off

Movie Review : Bangalore Days

Posted on April 25, 2020 by amodini

Rating : 3.9/5
Genre : All-In-One
Year : 2014
Running time : 2 hour 52 minutes
Director : Anjali Menon
Cast : Dulquer Salman, Nazriya Nazim, Nivin Pauly, Fahadh, Faazil, Isha Talwar, Nithya Menon, Parvathy
Kid rating : G

Honestly, I decided to see this Malayalam movie because of a familiar face : Dulquer Salman – who starred in Karwaan. The trailer looked promising and Bangalore Days was so highly rated on IMDB that it couldn’t be too bad now, could it? It wasn’t 🙂 . It was good. A few problems here and there but it was very enjoyable.

In the genre category this falls somewhere on the Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Chahta Hai scale, and kinda in the same vein as the lovely French film “Little White Lies” – so basically about a gaggle of friends and their lives and the challenges in those lives. And not to get your hopes up too high, if I rated all these films together, Bangalore Days would rate at the bottom, but as films go it is a pretty good film, even if not as well done as ZNMD. But then ZNMD is the bomb. And a high bar.

Bangalore Days is about Divya (Nazim), Arjun (Salman) and Kuttan (Pauly), three friends who are also cousins. They all get a chance to be together as adults when all three happen to be in Bangalore – Divya because she is newly married and settling into her husband Das’s (Faazil) apartment, cerebral engineer Kuttan because his job brings him there, and fancy-free and footloose Aju because he just wants to be with his friends. Divya’s new marriage has problems right off the bat, Kuttan misses his hometown too much and Aju has past demons to conquer.

Bangalore Days is a little slow to get going, and initially came across as a little too hammy. It improved though and the characters got better delineated, and more sympathetic. Each of the cousins had their own interesting story to tell and you get pretty invested in each one since they are such a likeable lot. The film offers up moments of humor, romance, anger and strife – and depicts them well, so it feels realistic and you feel for each of the characters as they struggle through their specific predicaments.

Problems with Bangalore Days – I had issues with the rosy lens through which Divya’s marital situation was depicted, but won’t give too much away. And then, there one or two plot-points which went off the deep end, and seemed so off and uncharacteristically flashy/pandering to the masses, that it detracted from this serene, self-sufficient film.

I thought the casting was pretty darn perfect, and the actors did very well. For those of you seeking more familiar figures in this film : Isha Talwar (she played Aditi in Article 15) has a minor role here, Nithya Menon (of Mission Mangal fame) is on-screen fleetingly, and Parvathy (starred in Qarib Qarib Single) has a decent sized role as RJ Sarah.

Bangalore Days is a lovely coming-of-age/finding-yourself-and-the-love-of-your-life kind of film and does a sweet job of it. Recommended.

Kidwise: Clean and family-friendly.

Posted in 2014, 2020, Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, directors, drama, family-friendly, feel-good, malayalam, rating-G, recommended, romance | Comments Off

What To Watch on Netflix and Prime Video – Edition # 35

Posted on April 19, 2020 by amodini

– Collateral (Netflix)

Carey Mulligan stars as Detective Inspector Kim Gillespie investigating the murder of a pizza delivery man. No motives. No apparent reason. So it’s probably a case of mistaken identity, or is it?

Involved in the murder as witnesses are a gay vicar and her girlfriend, and a Member of Parliament and his ex-wife. There’s also human traffickers, illegal immigrants, and the some members of the British military – so it’s quite a mess.

Mulligan impresses as calm, cool-headed DI Gillespie. She’s firm and sprinkles dimpled smirks in lieu of intimidation. It was nice to see that her 6 month pregnancy doesn’t come in the way of her job, whether it be pursuing a possible suspect or a making a trip to the morgue. Some nice acting and quick pace make this 4 episode BBC series a very entertaining and addictive watch.

– Waco (Netflix)

This day, 27 years ago, the 51 day Waco siege came to an end. Several people died, ATF officers and Davidians. The 6 episode series, based upon two different books – one from the hostage negotiator Gary Noesner, and another from a cult member David Thibodeau – chronicles how it all came about.

An excellent cast, and a well-paced script make this series very watchable. Taylor Kitch bears a striking resemblance to cult leader David Koresh, and Rory Culkin who plays David Thobodeau in the series is the brother of Macaulay Culkin , the little boy who starred in the Home Alone movies.

– Laakhon Mein Ek – Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video)

In the last edition, I also mentioned Laakhon Mein Ek – Season 1. Season 2 deserves its own mention though because it is a different storyline – the seasons might as well have been two completely different series! This season is about earnest, young doctor Shreya Pathare (Shweta Tripathi), who, against her wishes, gets assigned a task that nobody wants – the task of organizing cataract removal eye-camps in a remote village.

Dr Shreya bravely takes on the task, but not only does she have to win the trust of the villagers, she also has to combat the bureaucracy, corruption and sheer incompetence of the government and its agencies. Does no good task ever go unpunished?

I like everything Shweta Tripathi does (like Mirzapur) and LME-S2 is no different. Well-made, this is a bit of a sad tale, but kudos to Biswa Kalyan Rath for creating the important stories that need to be told!

Posted in 2020, All Netflix, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, drama, lists, mini-reviews, Netflix Recommendations, series, WhaTWON | Comments Off

Movie Review : Tumbbad

Posted on April 12, 2020 by amodini

Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Horror
Year : 2018
Running time : 1 hour 44 minutes
Director : Rahi Anil Barve
Cast : Sohum Shah, Jyoti Maishe, Anita Date, Deepak Damle, Mohammad Samad
Kid rating : PG-15

Hindi films suck at the horror genre. From the “Jaani Dushman”-style films, to the films produced by the Ramsay brothers, the quality has veered between poor and poorer. It is a pleasant surprise then that Tumbbad succeeds and hopefully is the first of many well-done Hindi horror movies.

Tumbbad is a horror film with a storyline that is part fantasy and part mythology. The story is of Tumbbad village where Vinayak Rao lives with his impoverished widow mother and younger brother Sadashiv. After certain unfortunate events he is forced to leave Tumbbad and his mother makes him promise to never return. But, after many years, and in need of money, Vinayak Rao returns to search for the treasure he knows is buried in Tumbbad . . .

Tumbbad is very atmospheric. From looming mansions to ominous forests and creaky doors, Tumbbad is full of foreboding. The story is well anchored in folklore and hearsay – which makes it creepy. While director Barve does a nice job of developing the scary bits – the protagonist working his way through several locks, overgrown forests and monstrous grandmothers – the film really shines in the scenes where greedy Vinayak faces off against the demon-God Hastar to get at the treasure.

I really like the fact that Tumbbad is authentic home-grown Indian horror, and doesn’t simply ape Hollywood’s idea of horror (zombies etc.). Unlike other Indian horror films, it’s story-line isn’t stupid – which is nice – and seems to stem from the locale, the period and the folklore of the area. Director Barve paces Tumbbad well, and the fabulous attention to detail and the great special effects/cgi pays off.

I’m not a fan of horror, but Tumbbad is too original and interesting and well-done to miss. Do watch!

Kidwise: Scary for the young ones – snarling, rasping monsters etc.

Posted in 2018, Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, bollywood, drama, Hindi movies on Amazon Prime, horror, rating-PG15, recommended | Comments Off

Series Review : Panchayat (Season 1)

Posted on April 6, 2020 by amodini

Rating : 4.2/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2020
Episodes : 8
Running time : 30 minutes (per episode)
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime
Director : Deepak Kumar Mishra
Cast : Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghuvir Yadav, Chandan Roy, Faisal Malik
Kid rating : G

I’ve been waiting for Panchayat to release ever since I saw the trailer featuring this great cast, and I’m glad to say it was not for nothing. Panchayat is a pleasant, wholesome show and makes for an entertaining family watch.

Jitendra Kumar (remember him from Shubh Managal Zyada Saavdhan?) is Abhishek Tripathi, a fresh grad who, unlike his peers, has managed to secure an undesirable job – that of Panchayat Sachiv (secretary) in Phulera village. The remuneration is low, compared to that of his friend’s and Abhishek must leave his city environs for rural ones. Out of better prospects, Abhishek makes the trek to the hinterland, and thence begins the adventure.

The first episode begins with Abhishek’s arrival in Phulera, and his introduction to the local cast of characters. There is the Pradhan Manju Devi (Gupta), her husband Brij Bhushan Dubey (Yadav) who acts as Pradhan in her place, Prahlad Pandey (Malik) – the vice-Pradhan, and Vikas (Roy), the secretary’s office-sahayak or assistant. Each subsequent episode deals with its own little problem – sometimes it is a bhutiya ped, and others it is the theft of a monitor.

The problems are never too serious, and are generally resolved in the episode. City-bred Abhishek sees the small-scale corruption but doesn’t protest too much, his focus being on finding a better job and hotfooting it out of village life. I was a little disappointed at Abhishek’s chalta-hai attitude, but I suspect that that attitude might change in future seasons.

What I like about this series is its simple, clean wholesomeness. There are problems, yes, but they are generally resolved in a feel-good, humorous fashion. There is a smattering of women’ issues/empowerment throughout and the tone is forward-thinking and earnest. The characters are well fleshed out – flaws and all, and it will be interesting to see Abhishek’s personal growth from season to season.

I breezed through Panchayat in one day – and ’twas a pleasant Saturday. Panchayat is a must-watch!

Posted in 2020, Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, drama, family-friendly, feel-good, humor, passes Bechdel Test, quirky, rating-G, recommended, series, women | Comments Off

Movie Review : Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota

Posted on March 28, 2020 by amodini

Rating : 2.8/5
Genre : Action
Year : 2019
Running time : 2 hours 18 minutes
Director : Vasan Bala
Cast : Abhimanyu Dassani, Radhika Madan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Gulshan Devaiah
Kid rating : PG-13

You might think it’s a crazy title but the film actually is about a man who doesn’t feel any pain. Surya (Dassani) has a rare congenital disorder where he has complete insensitivity to pain. His father and his grand-father try very hard to protect him as a boy, because Surya will walk head-on into danger and very great injury since he feels no pain. Surya learns to feign pain and act “normal” in public. With age and increasing martial art skills, he decides to turn into a vigilante crime fighter. Only he never thought he’d meet a nemesis like Jimmy.

This was an interesting movie. And by interesting I mean weird 🙂 . Its got an intriguing premise and charismatic leads. Abhimanyu Dassani (son of Maine Pyar Kiya heroine Bhagyashree) debuts here and does well; I look forward to seeing more of him. Radhika Madan (you might remember her from Pataakha) is her usual impressive self. Then there is Gulshan Devaiah who really makes the film as evil criminal Jimmy.

Now while the film starts off well, the going isn’t smooth. There are scripting issues, and the film seems to jump forward hither-thither without adequate backstories. I get the film’s progression but the director isn’t able to keep the film nice and cohesive. The first half, which deals with the Surya’s childhood and his coming to terms with his novel condition, drags quite a bit.

The highlight of the film are the fight scenes. Both the hero and heroine get to throw punches, which is nice. The fights are pretty well-done and gory with bone-crunching (literally!) sound effects. There are joints being dislocated and knife wounds etc, and it gets mildly Kill Bill-ish.

While I’m glad that Bollywood is attempting novel concepts in film – thanks to Ronnie Screwala and his RSVP films – Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota didn’t pass muster. It needed better scripting, direction and character delineation; I felt a little for Surya, but poor Supri (Radhika’s character) got the short end of the stick when it came to characterization. Still, and in spite of several faults, there was something earnest about this film – it is a one-time watch, if you want stuff out of the ordinary.

Kidwise: Gory violence.