Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews - Part 28Amodini's Movie Reviews | Movie Reviews by Year, Genre and Rating

Movie Review : Tiger Zinda Hai (2017)

Posted on December 30, 2017 by amodini

Rating : 2/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 12 minutes
Director : Ali Abbas Zafar
Cast : Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Girish Karnad, Paresh Rawal, Kumud Mishra, Angad Bedi, Sajjad Delafrooz
Kid ratingfollow : PG-13

This film turned out pretty much as expected. Mindless violence, check. Blustery action, check. Inane dialogbaazi, check. Salman Khan at his chunkiest best (there is a shirtless scene, to our detriment), check. Tiger Zinda Hai is truly a movie for Salman fans.

Lest you have forgotten, like I did (and then I was forced to jog my memory – ah! The pain, the mind-numbing pain of it all), let me remind you that this is a sequel and there was a “Ek Tha Tiger”, in which we were introduced to intrepid RAW Agent Avinash Singh Rathod, aka Tiger. In that not-so-lovely film (you can read the review here), brave Tiger falls in love with arch enemy Pakistani Agent Zoya (Kaif). In Tiger Zinda Hai, Tiger has set up house with Zoya in scenic, snow-covered Innsbruck, Austria. While Tiger goes camping, snow-sledding and chasing wolves, and even takes smug, Bollywood dialog spouting son Junior to accompany him, Zoya has domesticated herself, but retains the ability to kick and body-slam the unwary shop-thief that dares to be stealing while she does her produce-shopping.

An emergency situation requiring the services of Tiger himself arises. When he is located (apparently being the smart guy that he says he is, he was sending coded location messages all the time, and all RAW had to do was to read them – duh!) the RAW head honcho (Girish Karnad) and his right-hand man land up to taste Tiger ki haath ki lajawaab kaali dal. Repast all done, the subject is broached but Tiger begs of the mission, citing lovely family etc. When Zoya exhorts him to stand up for what he believes, he goes off to help those in need.

Mayhem ensues. Just when we think Tiger has met his match, the Missus lands up to help (Junior has been conveniently shipped to the motherland with touristy Austrian friends). More mayhem, car chases, incessant action, well-choreographed hand-to-hand battle scenes. If you like that sort of stuff, you are in for a good time. Also, Tiger goes one step ahead of films like “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” in preaching the hum-sab-bhai-bhai message and having RAW agents team up with ISI agents in defeating the common enemy. True bravura that!

Long story short (and don’t tell me you didn’t know this already), Tiger and the Missus return to sublime anonymity once job has finished successfully. Rest assured that there will be part Trois; old adage about milking a cash cow comes to mind here.

To summarize: TZH is exactly what it seems – a fantastical tale about a one-of-a kind Indian Agent. It makes no attempt at realism; the screenplay is redolent with drama, and the scenes are just setups to show the machismo of the lead character. The movie makes no attempt at eliciting emotions. The characters are flat and card-board-ish; I do not imagine them anything more than the fiction they purport to be. The film is a sequence of scenes placed after one another – very methodical, very mechanical, very perfunctory; there are no appeals to our finer sensibilities. I imagine that the makers of this film succeeded fantastically in what they attempted to do; they will laugh all the way to the bank.

Kidwise: This film is almost 100% violence – lots of flying bullets, guns etc. There isn’t much else, so am not quite recommending it for younger audiences.

Posted in 2017, action, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13 | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Vodka Diaries (releases 19th Jan 2018)

Posted on December 24, 2017 by amodini

A who-dun-it for the new year. Me thinks Kaykay Menon, whom we haven’t seen for a while will make a fine desi detective:

Posted in 2018, bollywood, detective-film, drama, New Films, Previews, suspense | Comments Off

Movie Review : Dhanak (2016)

Posted on December 2, 2017 by amodini

Rating : Good (3.5/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2014
Running time : 1 hour 46 minutes
Director : Nagesh Kukunoor
Cast : Hetal Gada, Kkrish Chhabria, Vipin Sharma, Rajiv Laxman
Kid rating : G

Dhanak (Rainbow) is about Chhotu (Chhabria) and Pari (Gada), a brother-sister pair, who journey across Rajasthan to help Chotu regain back his sight. The two live with their aunt and uncle in a village. When Pari, the protective older sister, sees a poster in which film-star Shahrukh Khan promotes eye-donation, and giving sight to the sightless, she’s determined to get Chotu the ability to see again.

This film is carefully wrought. Pari and Chhotu are an endearing pair, and we are with them every step of the way. The characters seem real and are nicely built up. Yes, at some points you do have to throw cynicism out of the window and believe in the milk of human kindness, but you are happy to do so. Like a lot of other films by director Nagesh Kukunoor (Dor, Iqbal), Dhanak is strong on storyline and low on the star power. Most of the actors are unknowns (I only recognized Vipin Sharma), but the believable portrayals and the charm of the lead child actors carries this film through.

The music, like the music of many other Kukunoor films, is nothing to write home about, but does the job. It’s peppy and calm and fits the film – very of the ranbhoomi. The most interesting of them all was the fusion-y rendition of Dum-a-dum Mast Qalandar.

Dhanak is a simple tale pleasantly and engagingly told. Kukunoor definitely is a worthy addition to the Hindi film landscape – may he live long and prosper and continue to bring us more of such heart-warming tales 🙂 !

P.S. : Rajiv Laxman (of Roadies fame) makes an appearance here – and as a country bumpkin, no less!

Kidwise: Clean and made for kids. Family-friendly.

Posted in 2016, 2017, bollywood, directors, drama, family-friendly, rating-G | Comments Off

What To Watch On Netflix Instant – Edition #31

Posted on November 18, 2017 by amodini

Caramel (Lebanon, 2007)

This graceful Cannes-nominated film is about five women in Beirut, Lebanon, who work in or around a beauty parlor.

There is Layale(Nadine Labaki), a single woman, who is having an affair with a married-with-children man. We never see this man, we only hear his car horn honking as he comes to pick up Layale for their assignations. Another character Nisrine is to be married soon to her ultra-traditionalist beau, who has no idea that Nisrine isn’t a virgin.

Rima, quiet, stolid and tomboyish (we rarely see her in dresses) has feelings for a salon customer, a woman who comes often to get her long black hair washed and styled. Jamale, an aging actress, is a frequent visitor to the beauty salon, coming in to get made-up as she goes to her auditions, where she competes with younger beauties for roles. The fifth character Rose, is an elderly seamstress with a shop in the neighborhood. She also takes care of her senile sister Lily, and her care-taking duties somewhat impede her late-blooming love-life.

Caramel is a woman’s point of view; the director is the beautiful Nadine Labaki, who also essays the main role in the film. Each woman’s story gives us a little look-see into the trials and tribulations brought about by societal or gendered expectation of women and their “roles” in traditional society.

Sand Storm (“Sufat Chol”, Israel, 2016)

Set amid a Bedoin community in Israel, this Sundance-Award-winner starts with what appears to be a happy occasion. A glowering Jalila is hosting the wedding celebration for her husband Suliman’s second marriage to a younger woman. Jalila and Suliman’s college-going daughter Layla is pulled willy-nilly into the wedding preparations. Besides the simmering tensions, and angry accusations that fly between Jalila and Suliman during and after the wedding, there is also a new wrinkle – Layla’s affair with college-mate Anwar comes to light. Her mother is outraged and attempts to quash it. Vivacious Layla, quite a darling of her dad’s, thinks he will at least see her point of view, but what he offers her is anathema to her.

Sand Storm was quite moving; it showed the cruelty built-into social fabric, where the very customs and “traditions” are designed to pit woman-against-woman, fighting each other for power. Men like Suliman, indulge in the laxities that such customs allow men, and declare themselves powerless when it comes to perturbing the social order in a woman’s favor. We see Jalila struggle – should she stick to the safe and the known and threaten impetuous Layla into submission, even as she realizes that the deck is stacked against a female, ardent rule-follower though she may be? Educated Layla too is caught between concern for her mother and following her heart.

This film is not a fairytale, but the ending still surprised me.

Posted in 2017, All Netflix, drama, feminism, film festival, Israeli, Lebanese, Netflix Recommendations, social issues, WhaTWON, women | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Padmavati (releases 1st December, 2017)

Posted on November 11, 2017 by amodini

Another historical from Sanjay Leela Bhansali. We are assured lavish sets, lush locales, and larger than life characters. Deepika Padukone plays Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor is her husband Raja Ratan Sen, and Aladdin Khiji’s character is played by Ranveer Singh.

Posted in 2017, bollywood, directors, historical, New Films, Previews | Comments Off

Movie Review : Simran (2017)

Posted on November 4, 2017 by amodini

Rating : 3.7/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2017
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Hansal Mehta
Cast : Kangana Ranaut, Sohum Shah, Kishori Shahane, Hiten Kumar, Rupinder Nagra
Kid rating: PG-15

Kangana Ranaut is “Simran” – an alias she gives herself after watching Amrish Puri’s dialog “Jaa Simran Jaa, jeele apni zindgai” (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge). Really, she is Praful Patel, a Gujarati woman in the US. She is a divorcee, lives with her parents, and works in hotel housekeeping. Her days are humdrum, but Praful herself is a vivacious spitfire, looking forward to buying her dream home and getting away from her forever carping father. She even has an apartment and mortgage papers all lined up, but a self-made catastrophe takes it all away. Her problems grow from there even as she tries to find creative “solutions”.

From the above description you might think that this is a downer of a film, but it’s not really. Kangana is quite marvelous as peculiar Praful; her eccentricities mingle with what we might kindly call “character flaws” to make Praful an interesting protagonist. Good-hearted Praful is always full of bright ideas, harebrained schemes, and acts impulsively. This film then is a compendium of her journey, her bumbling antics, so it unfolds like a tv sitcom (I could see it as a series) rather than a full-fledged Hindi movie.

The film’s point of view is unique, for when have we had a single divorced US woman as a lead, all by herself in a mainstream Bollywood movie? Simran’s parents want to see her married and “settled” into respectability, while all Simran wants to do is live her life – respectability be damned! She speaks her mind, and disregards all the “good Indian girl” rules. She has had multiple boyfriends, and approaches men in bars with the sole idea of sleeping with them. There is a scene in the film, where Simran having had access to a little spare cash, goes about buying $400 dresses and eating out in a fancy restaurant. The sight of her happily relishing her food all by herself, surrounded by various dishes brought a lump to my throat – such is the character’s likability; you feel for her despite her numerous missteps.

The film’s supporting cast also does a good job. Hiten Kumar is especially effective as her severely critical father. Kishori Shahne as Simran’s pacifist mom is lovely too. Sohum Shah plays Sameer, Simran’s golden-hearted fiance, and manages to tug at your heartstrings in the limited screen time he has. The film has good music – my favorite was the lovely romantic ballad “Meet”. And the tongue-in-cheek “Single Rehne De” (plays during end credits) made me smile .

Simran has its moments of comedy, although the storyline goes down some very dire paths. Lead actress Kangana manages to keep this film interesting, despite being the sole big name here. Director Hansal Mehta, who’s also directed gems like Aligarh and Shahid, deserves praise for walking the fine line between humor and poignancy so well.

Kidwise: Nothing too scary/vulgar. Some scenes have guns, one scene with talk about safe/unsafe sex.

Posted in 2017, bollywood, dark, directors, drama, humor, passes Bechdel Test, rating-PG15, women | 1 Comment

Movie Preview : Tumhari Sulu (releases 1st December, 2017)

Posted on October 28, 2017 by amodini

Vidya Balan is Sulu or Sulochana, a jolly looking, middle class housewife, whose life changes when she becomes a radio jockey in Mumbai.

In the trailer, we see Sulu doing husky voiceovers and bursting into paroxysms of mirth. So, Sulu is having fun, but will we? Remains to be seen. For all her acting chops, Vidya’s films haven’t done that well, low in the entertainment factor etc. Here’s hoping “Tumhari Sulu” will right those wrongs.

P.S. : While reading the Wikipedia page on this film I came across this sentence:

The team started the shoot by performing a ‘puja’ which was attended and blessed by the mothers of the producers and director on 21 April 2017.

Desi people, I see you nodding.

Posted in 2017, bollywood, comedy, humor, New Films, Previews | Comments Off

Movie Review : Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017)

Posted on October 21, 2017 by amodini

Rating : 3.8/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2017
Running time : 2 hours
Director : R. S. Prasanna
Cast : Ayushmann Khurana, Bhumi Pednekar, Seema Bhargava-Pahwa, Brijendra Kala
Kid rating: PG-15

It’s raining movies. It always has. But this time there’s a deluge of the small-town-storyline film which more often than not features the very same actors in similar sounding roles. It all started with “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, which was a fantastic movie by the way. Then this year we’ve just gotten through “Toilet, Ek Prem Katha”, “Bareilly ki Barfi” and now there’s Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, which isn’t technically small-town. 2 of the three films have the same leading actors : Ayushmann Khurana and Bhumi Pednekar.

This time they’re Mudit and Sugandha of Gurgaon, about to get hitched via the arranged-cum-love route. Calamity strikes in an unexpected fashion :), but Sugandha will have none of it. Tempers flare, the groom wants to call off the wedding, but Sugu is steadfast. Will the matter come to a satisfactory conclusion (bad pun notwithstanding)?

Director Prasanna, who put together the Tamil original of this film, is also at the helm of “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan”. And while he does a fine job – gorgeous attention to detail, real thinking-feeling characters whom we can root for, and pleasant music – the real heroes are the actors. Khurana and Pednekar need no introduction – they can probably play middle-class young folk in love in their sleep by now. So too Seema Pahwa, who’s still fabulous, regardless. Her role as Sugu’s mother is an almost exact reprise of Kriti Sanon’s mother in “Bareilly ki Barfi”.

There’s this scene in the film where Sugandha’s concerned mom attempts to teach her not-so-virginal daughter about the birds and the bees. In true Indian maa-wala fashion, she names no names but does the explaining by analogy – the Ali Baba and 40 Thieves analogy – the whole scene had me in splits. There are other metaphors and analogies in this film (some involving tea and biscuits) but “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan” keeps it at that – there is no vulgarity; with the subject matter it could have easily gone in another direction.

I’d even say that “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan” is semi-feminist because it takes up for women where many films just bow down and succumb in the name of “traditional values”. The film questions the practice of assigning various “dosh” (faults) to the woman by default. Both the bride and groom have strong opinions and personalities; Sugu is no shrinking violet. Also her dad is pretty concerned about her happiness in the in-law home, even in the face of great family “dishonor”.

Shubh Mangal has heart. And it’s cute. I liked it – not a bad way to spend your time. Go see!

Posted in 2017, bollywood, drama, humor, quirky, rating-PG15, romance | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Qarib Qarib Single (releases 10th November, 2017)

Posted on October 14, 2017 by amodini

Who would’ve thunk it? Irrfan Khan as mainstream hero? In a romance?

Well, it has happened not once but twice. You have doubtlessly watched the lovely Piku in which he romances the lively architect portrayed by Deepika Padukone. In “Qarib Qarib Single” he plays a similarly quirky character. Starring opposite him is Malayalam-film actress Parvathy.

The film looks like fun. Fingers crossed.