Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews - Part 3Amodini's Movie Reviews | Movie Reviews by Year, Genre and Rating

Movie Review : Kathal (2023)

Posted on May 31, 2024 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Comedy
Year: 2023
Running time: 2 hours 23 minutes
Director: Yashowardhan Mishra
Cast: Sanya Malhotra, Anant Joshi, Vijay Raaz
Kid rating: G

Movies like Jawan and Pathaan might become big hits but true salvation lies only with small budget, interesting cinema. And salvation is within easy reach – by watching this movie, Kathal.

In it Inspector Mahima Basur (Sanya Malhotra) is tasked with finding two missing kathal or jackfruit that have disappeared from a tree in the garden of the local MLA. Apparently they were much prized and will soon be overripe – and useless to the MLA. So, there is a deadline for finding the fruit.

It is a silly and inane case, but political power being what it is, the entire police thana is engaged in it. While on the case Inspector Basur comes across the case of a missing girl, the daughter of the MLA’s former gardener. But of course, no one pays that case much attention. All the attention is on the missing fruit.

Inspector Basur really wants to go find the missing girl. But she must tread carefully. She dare not annoy the political bigwigs or her kow-towing-to-thepolitical-bigwigs boss. Will she find a way to investigate both cases to satisfaction?

The story is situated in a small town of the Hindi belt, and it has the requisite quirks. The characters are mostly endearing. Even the silly plot points have a comedic twist. Take for example, the jackfruits the MLA was cultivating. These were prized and were being grown as a gift to the Chief Minister. The MLA is in a tizzy when he realizes his chance of ingratiating himself with the CM, by offering him the prized jackfruit, is in real danger.

Mahima for her part is a smart able officer. She is by turns bemused and outraged, when her senior puts her on jackfruit duty. She also must try to walk a fine line between seeming two bossy to her juniors (her boyfriend among them) and also being a good leader leading her team through a successful investigation.

All the acting is fantastic! The film stars Sanya Malhotra as Inspector Mahima Basur. Anand Joshi plays her beau and her junior at work. Then there is the absolutely marvelous Vijay Raaz As MLA Munanal Pateria who throws his political weight around and creates a hue and cry about the missing Jackfruit.

This is an interesting and fun film Well paced, eventful, with lots of sprinkled humor. Highly recommended.

Kidwise : Clean

Posted in 2023, bollywood, comedy, drama, family-friendly, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, Hindi movies on Netflix, humor, Netflix Recommendations, quirky, rating-G, recommended, WhaTWON | Comments Off

Movie Review : Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024)

Posted on May 17, 2024 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Comedy
Year: 2024
Running time: 2 hours 23 minutes
Director: Amit Joshi, Aradhana Sah
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Dimple Kapadia, Dharmendra, Rakesh Bedi
Kid rating: PG

Teri Baaton Mein Asia Uljha Jiya was actually better than I’d expected it to be. It’s light and frothy. There’s quite a few funny bits and a very untraditional storyline – a good Friday night entertainer.

Aryan Agnihotri (played by Shahid Kapoor) is a robotics engineer based in Mumbai. He goes to visit his aunt Urmila Shukla (played by Dimple Kapadia) who has her own robotics company in California. Aryan is quite impressed at seeing the technology she has developed, and aunt and nephew enjoying digging into the tech details of all her company has achieved.

When Urmila has to go on a work trip, she leaves him in the capable hands of her secretary Sifra (Kriti Sanon). Sifra is a beautiful, efficient young woman. She strives to look after Aryan and keep him busy and entertained in his aunt’s absence.

Aryan finds her a pleasant, accommodating and knowledgable companion. She can converse in many languages, and speak articulately about art and the many topics Aryan is enthused about. Aryan cannot help falling in love with the stunning Sifra.

Now Aryan’s family in India are after him to get married. So Aryan decides to bring Sifra to India, to meet his family, as his fiancee. Sifra’s introduction to the family leads to many comedic situations. But it is unclear whether the family will actually accept her as their bahu.

I enjoyed this film because of the unusual storyline. Rather than the same old-same old romance you’d expect from a Shahid Kapoor – Kriti Salon starrer, Teri Baaton Mein spins a modern, techno-savvy tale with humor, twists and turns and fast-paced events. It is a bright, colorful film with good-looking leads, nice locales, and a shiny patina of the moneyed lifestyle. We’ll take it.

The actors do well. Shahid brings it home in the comedic bits. Kriti Sanon fit the role to a T. Dimple Kapadia is a bit of a misfit in the robotics techno geek role, but she will do. The supporting cast – Aryan’s family – is a hoot. Rather fun to watch!

The film’s premise is, of course, a little hard to believe, but this is not a movie where firm logic abides (inspite of the scientific side-angle). And then post-interval this devolves into the most dreary family melodrama, all overdone emotions and weighty dialogs. Was there not a light-weight resolution to the mess?

But this is Bollywood and this is a movie. To be enjoyed without much ado. Or overthinking. If you do that, you will enjoy this light-hearted watch.

Kidwise: Pretty clean. There is some innuendo-laden dialog, but shouldn’t be too soul-scarring.

Posted in 2024, Amazon Prime, bollywood, comedy, drama, rating-PG, romance, sci-fi | Comments Off

Movie Review : Mast Mein Rehne Ka (2023)

Posted on May 9, 2024 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Drama
Year: 2023
Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Director: Vijay Maurya
Cast: Neena Gupta, Jackie Shroff, Abhishek Chauhan, Monica Panwar
Kid rating: G

This was an unexpected film. I didn’t really start it expecting much but it turned out to be such a great movie – pleasant, feel good and entertaining.

Mast Mein Reine Ka is about two elderly people, both single in their old age. There is V. S. Kamath (Jackie Shroff). He is a widower, retired and a grade A introvert. Lives in his first floor flat in Mumbai. And he’s very, very lonely. He’s trapped in his routines, in the mundane of the everyday – same old, same old. Rinse and repeat. Doesn’t talk much to other people. And just goes about just living one day after another. Until the burglary.

That lands him at the police station where he sees another victim. A woman, Prakash Handa (Neena Gupta). Elderly. Also single. There might be a pattern to the burglaries the police think. Meanwhile Prakash and Kamath get to talking. Or Parkash talks and Kamath listens.

Now Prakash is very different person than Kamath. She lives in Mumbai by herself with occasional visits to her son in Canada. We gather that she doesn’t quite get along with his family so she returns home to Mumbai in a huff, swearing never to go back to Canada again. Prakash is loquacious. She loves to talk and she talks to everyone. Speaks her mind too. When Kamath meets Prakash she’s like a breath of fresh air in his hitherto friendless world.

There’s a also a third main character in this film, the thief who’s been burgling all these apartments. He’s a poor tailor, Nanhe, who has come to Mumbai to find work and run into a spot of bad luck. To make ends meet, he takes to burgling apartments of older people.

Kamat and Parkash join forces to track down the thief. Together they keep an eye of comings and goings in the neighborhood, but Nanhe is swift and nimble on his feet. Will Kamat and Prakash be able to catch him?

Kamath and Parkash, and even Nanhe are likable, sympathetic characters. And you root for them. Neena Gupta is a great actress. So I was expecting the world from her. What I was not expecting was to have the fantastic performance by Jackie Shroff. I didn’t actually know that he could act like that! Abhishek Chauhan as the pitiful Nanhe is also very, very good. There is also the girl he likes, a lady of the street called Rani. Monica Panwar (who you might have seen in the excellent series Jamtara), plays Rani with aplomb.

Mast Mein Rehne Ka is a heartwarming film, and tugs at your heartstrings. It’s about loneliness and despair and overcoming them to find the happiness that should rightfully be yours.

The film is directed by Vijay Maurya, who is an actor and now a director. This is his third film as director. And it is such a great film that I do hope he makes many many more.

Highly recommended.

Kidwise: Clean.

Posted in 2023, Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, bollywood, comedy, directors, drama, family-friendly, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, Hindi movies on Amazon Prime, humor, Must-see, rating-G, recommended | Comments Off

Movie Review : Laapataa Ladies (2024)

Posted on May 1, 2024 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Drama
Year: 2024
Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Director: Kiran Rao
Cast: Nitanshi Goel, Sparsh Srivastav, Pratibha Ranta, Abhay Dubey, Chhaya Kadam, Ravi Kishan
Kid rating: G

Laapataa Ladies doesn’t have much start power or even anyone that you would recognize (except maybe Ram Kishen). The actors are lesser known, and mostly from low budget films/series. But it has an interesting premise and an unpredictable storyline. Laapataa Ladies is a well-executed comedy of errors.

There is Deepak (Sparsh Srivastav, who’m you might remember from Jamtara). And his new bride Phool (Nitanshi Goel).

And then there is Pradeep (Bhaskar Jha). And his new bride Jaya (Pratibha Ranta).

Both couples happen to be traveling in the same train compartment, with their wives dressed in almost identical bridal finery, long ghoonghats (veils) hiding their faces.

When Deepak wakes up in the middle of the night and realizes that the train has halted at the station, he quickly jolts Phool awake. She follows him off the station. However it is Jaya, not Phool who mistakenly accompanies Deepak.

Meanwhile Phool who has been left on the train wakes up to find her husband nowhere in sight. She’s scared and finds herself helpless not knowing where she took the train from or the address of the place she has to go to.

Jaya who has followed Deepak to his home, is in a much better command of the situation and quite happily decides to wait until her husband comes in search of her.

Will this mixup ever get untangled?

So that’s the premise. And the film continues on in a pretty unpredictable fashion. The actors do a really good job of portraying the simple characters. Ram Kishen, is a real treat to watch here as Inspector Shyam Manohar, the wily, small time daroga of the village, who’s investigating the mixup.

Laapata Ladies takes a feminist tack, exploring the helplessness of the women, married off as they are to relative strangers without much thought to their free will. Director Kiran Rao ties up the story nicely and delivers her social message without being too obvious about it.

Laapata Ladies is a pleasant watch. Highly recommended.

Kidwise: Clean.

Posted in 2024, All Netflix, bollywood, comedy, directors, drama, family-friendly, feel-good, feminism, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, Hindi movies on Netflix, humor, Must-see, Netflix Recommendations, passes Bechdel Test, rating-G, recommended, social issues, WhaTWON, women | 1 Comment

Movie Review : The Archies (2023)

Posted on December 8, 2023 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️
Genre: Drama
Year: 2023
Running time: 2 hours 21 minutes
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Agastya Nanda, Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, Mihir Ahuja, Vedang Raina
Kid rating: PG

I’m not sure how to put this any other way: The Archies was a snooze fest.

Quite surprising really given that Zoya Akhtar’s reputation precedes her. With solid hits (not to mention cult favorites) like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadkne Do and GullyBoy, we were anticipating a zinger. Plus this was a nostalgic favorite – who didn’t want to see Archie, Betty and Veronica in their Indian avatars?

The film starts off well, with a little back-story on how Archie (Agastya Nanda) and his friends came to be in India. Archie, Betty (Khushi Kapoor), Veronica (Suhana Khan) lead happy lives gamboling around Green Park, their lush green, centrally located town park, until there is a threat to Green Park itself. City officials have approved a commercial development smack dab in the middle of the green space, and while Archie & Co. are outraged, their parents (and other adults) are blasé and cynical about it. The Archies decide to take action to protect their lovely park, but it is going to be a tough fight.

The story is something we’ve seen before – small town kids decide to fight back against evil etc. (Footloose anyone?) – very been there, done that. Throw in lots of singing, dancing, some rhapsodizing, a dash of feminism, a pinch of preaching – and you have the movie.

So yes, there’s the predictability. Then there’s the passivity. The film is a long series of balls, picnics, dances, parties – yes, it’s a musical – so the characters sing and dance. But then, dancing done, they lapse into semi-comatose states, speaking in muted tones, like auditioning for “A Quiet Place”. There is literally nothing happening!

Akhtar does do the milieu well. The time is the 1960s and the set, clothes, paraphernalia are well-suited to that time. The characters live in their insulated little microcosm of a town, curiously untouched by the tumult or problems of a newly independent India. There is no poverty, crime, dirt or grime. The townspeople are mostly good (except the villains), speak in respectful, dulcet tones and apparently lead relaxed lives (half of them appear to be in Green Park in most scenes). While I kinda expected this – this is fictional Riverdale after all – it is annoying and makes the film appear trivial, silly and un-worldly.

Archie and his friends are played by star sons/daughters, and they do a decent job. Suhana Khan has the pep and the attitude. Agastya Nanda is quite a dancer. Khushi Kapoor, with her wistful sighing and self-deprecation, impressed as the goody-two-shoes Betty Cooper. But the one person who outshone the others was Vedang Raina, portraying Reggie Mantle with energy and charm.

The music is good, especially the short, heartfelt ditties the characters lapse into to express their feelings. Still, it is too little to save this weak, waffly film.

The Archies is no “Student of the year”. I’m really bummed that this could-have-been-firecracker of a film, is such a tepid washout.

It pains me (oh, so much) to say this but I am de-recommending this film.

Kidwise: Clean.

Posted in 2023, bollywood, directors, drama, family-friendly, Hindi movies on Netflix, musical, rating-G, romance | Comments Off

Movie Review : Animal (2023)

Posted on December 3, 2023 by amodini

Rating : 🍅 (0/5)
Genre: Action
Year: 2023
Running time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Director: Sandeep Reddy Venga
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Manadana
Kid rating: A

Animal gives me Kabir Singh vibes, but in comparison to Animal, Kabir Singh is a pleasant walk in the park. In comparison to Animal’s Vijay, Kabir Singh’s Kabir seems like a normal, sane person. Animal is a crazy of another level.

RannVijay Balbir Singh (Ranbir Kapoor), son of Indian’s richest tycoon Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor), hero-worships his father. The adulation is toxic; RannVijay can sacrifice anything to win Dad’s approval. Meanwhile the father has no time for him, so per Bollywood rules, Vijay morphs into a entitled, violent criminal pining away for Daddy’s love.

At the first sign of violent crime, he’s packed away to boarding school, and then later the US. He returns 8 years later, when there’s an attempt on his father’s life. Convinced that there will be more attacks, he musters an armed task force and engages in a full-out bloody war.

That’s the gist of it. While the story holds for the first hour or so (of this overlong gore-fest) the film soon devolves into a mish-mash of fight sequences without a coherent plot.

Animal exists in a man-verse (like Kabir Singh, Jersey etc.) where poor little boys traumatized by neglectful parents, cruel society etc. grow up to be entitled brats with guns, money and machismo, and they take, pillage and kill, while families, police and governments look on.

RannVijay is a feral animal, and so is his arch nemesis (Bobby Deol). While technically RannVijay is the hero, you can’t think actually think of him as one, because he so clearly needs psychiatric help. It’s like watching The Joker where you know the guy is out of his mind and you follow his antics clinically, uninvested and uncaring.

The film is Ranbir’s and he gives it his all. Everyone else drifts in and out of his frames. The women in the film are there to provide food, housekeeping services, sex and to be put down, slapped around, raped and degraded. It is aggressive misogyny; while Bollywood is not quite the gold standard in it’s depiction of women, I haven’t seen any other Hindi film treat its female characters with such casual disregard, like they weren’t even human.

Animal has got to be the most violent Hindi film I’ve ever seen. It is also one of the vulgarest. One is sadly used to the David-Dhawan-esque brand of vulgarity and double entendres, and cuss words, but Animal takes it up (or down) a few notches, with extremely distasteful and degrading dialogs.

On the pro side, the film did have good music and the fight sequences were choreographed well – almost like music videos. And of course the acting was pretty good – Ranbir was stellar, Anil Kapoor and Rashmika Mandana (who was so very inconsequential in Mission Majnu) were great.

That’s still not enough to spend 3 hours on this film though. Highly de-recommend.

Kidwise: Extremely unsuitable for kids; graphic, bloody violence, vulgarity and abuse towards women.

Posted in 2023, bollywood, dark, drama, New Films, rating-A, rating-R | Comments Off

Goldfish (2023): Delicate mother-daughter relationship!

Posted on September 29, 2023 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Action
Year: 2023
Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes
Director: Pushan Kripalani
Cast: Deepti Naval, Kalki Koechlin, Rajit Kapoor
Kid rating: PG

Goldfish is about a mother and daughter. The daughter is an independent adult who comes back home to London when her mother’s condition (dementia) worsens and she cannot take care of herself anymore. Suppressed emotion and guilt is dredged up, leading to a predictable end.

The film starts from the point when Anamika (Kalki) comes home. Although the mom, Sadhana (Deepti Naval) and daughter are courteous it is obvious that there are unfriendly undercurrents. The women are at odds; one is unwell and resistant, and the other duty-bound to take care of her. Between them, anger simmers.

Bollywood films swim with emotional melodrama, thick, treacly globs of anger, betrayal and guilt. Normally I could do with less, but with this film, I’d rather have had a little more. The emotional drama is obvious but understated.

I did feel for both the mother and daughter – so there the film succeeds. Director Pushan Kripalani manages to make us empathize with each of the women. They have different viewpoints, each valid in their own right. As they stay together while Anamika figures out the lay of the land, they skirmish, voicing out their anger in fits and bursts. Anamika can’t forget the painful memories of childhood. And Sadhana might have never wanted motherhood in the first place.

It is a pleasure to see Deepti Naval on screen again, doing what she does best. Kalki Koechlin too is good as Anamika. Rajit Kapoor play the neighborhood grocer and the Sadhana’s reclusive admirer.

But even with these fine actors, the film had a stilted quality about it, halting, awkward silences and music-less passages of time. A background score might have helped.

This was a good film. Not quite the wondrous, luminous movie I was expecting with that star cast, but still pretty watchable.

Kidwise: Adult themes.

Posted in 2023, bollywood, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, passes Bechdel Test, rating-PG, recommended, touchy-feely, women | Comments Off

Jawan (2023): Bad, Worse, Worst!

Posted on September 9, 2023 by amodini

Rating : 0/5
Genre: Action
Year: 2023
Running time: 2 hour 45 minutes
Director: Atlee
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Nayanthaara, Vijay Sethupati, Deepika Padukone, Varun Grover, Sanya Malhotra, Aijaz Khan
Kid rating: PG

I walked out of Jawan midway. Couldn’t take the nonsense anymore. This is a massy entertainer, with no logic, lots of over-the-top (and I mean really OTT, even by Bollywood standards) emotion and hyped up drama. It is all show with very little substance but if you are going in with those expectations you might very well be able to sit through the entire film. Unlike me.

I would tell you of the plot, but I might as well build castles on the moon. Because they are both figments of the imagination. Jawan centers around Azad Rathore (Shah Rukh) a prison warden moonlighting as a disguised do-gooder. To make the corrupt pay, he and his gang of women take some aggressive measures (like hijacking a Mumbai Metro for ransom) and run into National Security Guards officer Narmada Rai (Nayathara).

I walked out some time after that, but as you might guess it’s Azad’s alter ego against Nayathara. There’s also Vijay Sethupati as Kaliee Gaikwad the OG villain, Varun Gover as Irani – Narmada’s right hand man, Sanya Malhotra as part of Azar’s gang of do-gooders. Deepika Padukone has a special appearance. Apparently Sanjay Dutt has a small role later in the film, but I was spared that.

Jawan was in Hindi, but I felt like I was watching a Tamil movie. Even the dialogs felt like they were translated from the Tamil/Telugu originals. The acting is extremely overdone and hammy, so SRK must feel right at home. Each scene is a showcase for the actor and their clothes and their “look” – Nayanthara is dressed to the nines even when reporting for duty – knee high boots, cool jacket, full-on makeup, sunglasses – the works. There is not a shred of realism anywhere in the film.

This film is being compared to Pathaan, but Pathan was a much better film, even though that also was on the OTT side. Pathan at least had a semblance of sanity; Jawan is all-out chaos. Besides that, Jawan brings a 80s-like crudity and crassness we’d almost gotten rid of in Hindi movies. Cringey scenes abound – like the one where Narmada’s little daughter, Suji, in interviewing potential husbands for her. Smart-talking, mouthy kids in Hindi movies are annoying, but Suji’s character takes the cake. And if that were not enough, we had to watch a fine actor like Sanya Malhotra ham it up big time for her role as Dr. Eeram. Quite torturous.

Jawan is probably the worst movie I’ve seen in quite a while. Be prepared for this film; this is trademark Atlee, I learn post-walkout. Making mental note to avoid his work, for the future.

Kidwise: Gory violence; sharp pointed weapons being thrust through bodies, lots of dripping blood.

Posted in 2023, action, bollywood, cringe-worthy, drama, masala, New Bollywood Movies, New Films, rating-PG13, stinker, thriller | 1 Comment

Guns and Gulaabs: Quirky, fast-paced and action-filled!

Posted on September 4, 2023 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre : Drama
Year : 2023
Season: 1, Episodes: 7
Directors : Raj & DK
Cast : Rajkummar Rao, Dulquer Salman, Adarsh Gourav, Gulshan Devaiah, Satish Kaushik, Vipin Sharma, T.J. Bhanu
Kid rating : PG-15

Tipu (Rajkumar Rao) is a mechanic in the small town of GulaabGunj. The town is special because farmers of the area grow poppy, and the opium is sold to the government for medicinal uses. However a lot of it is also bought up by two local mafia gangs – one led by the ruthless Ganchi (Satish Kaushik) and the other headed by Nabeed (Nilesh Divekar).

Tipu’s father, Babu Tiger works for Ganchi. He is killed in one the many skirmishes between the gangs. Soon after, Tipu’s best friend Suneel (Goutam Sharma) is also murdered in cold blood, almost in front of Tipu’s eyes. Tipu vows revenge and joins the Ganchi gang. But the Ganchi gang is in upheaval with its leader out of commission. Plus the new honest Narcotics officer who’s been posted to GulaabGanj promises to make life difficult for the opium mafia.

Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. direct Guns and Gulabs. They’ve also directed the fabulous series Family Man, the very recent Farzi and one of my favorite movies – Shor in the City. Their work is always innovative and often unconventional. And Guns and Gulabs is no different. It is a fast-paced, quirky drama with lots of interesting characters, a great plot, and some dark humor to boot.

What’s great about G&G is that despite the numerous characters and the many-threaded plot-line, there is coherence and a beauty to the way the directors bring everything to a climax. The characters are well-defined, often with amusing details added into their characteristics. Like how the killer Chaar-Cut Atmaram always calls from a pay phone where he does not talk for more than a minute. Ever. We see him reply in monosyllables and keep an eye on the pay-phone clock, itching to shut down the conversation. Any time we see him walk into a phone booth, we know what’s coming.

I really like that the plot-points have a side of dark humor to them. We don’t for example, get the importance of the woodwork being done at the Ganchi home until later. When the miserly Ganchi carps at the carpenter about the cost of the wood, we think nothing of it – just Ganchi being himself. Little do we know!

Similarly, the affection Jugnu Ganchi has for his friend’s wife seems odd, until things click into place. Then, as the layers are peeled back, one joins the dots, and smirks a little. A-ha moments! Many of them. Sprinkled throughout the 7 episodes.

Of course, a lot of the credit does go to the excellent star cast. Rajkummar Rao as Tipu is a marvel. He exudes haplessness as a stuck-in-the-mud mechanic, and goofiness when faced with his reluctant lady-love. No one pays poor Tipu much mind, until they need him. Poor schmuck, you think. He will never get what he wants. You feel for the guy.

And then there is Adarsh Gaurav who plays Jugnu “Chotu” Ganchi, who must run the business in his father’s absence. We saw him in The White Tiger as the simple Balram, but here he plays the wily Jugnu with ease and insouciance. Dulquer Salman is Arjun Verma, the narcotics officer with secrets of his own. Gulshan Devaiah, another actor who makes everything better by just being in it, plays the eccentric killer-for-hire Atmaram. T.J. Bhanu as the schoolteacher Chandralekha also makes an impression.

Guns and Gulabs starts off with an introduction to GulaabGunj and it’s inhabitants (and this could very well have been the town of Chaman Bahar). It trots along nicely feeding us lots of red herrings, and finally culminates in a fabulous climax.

Really quite lovely, and a pleasure to watch.

Kidwise: Violence, often bloody. Colorful language.

Posted in 2023, All Netflix, directors, drama, Good Shows to Watch On Netflix, humor, Must-see, Netflix Recommendations, outstanding, quirky, rating-PG15, recommended, series | Comments Off

Made In Heaven (Season 2): Complications in life and love!

Posted on August 21, 2023 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre : Drama
Year : 2023
Season: 2, Episodes: 7
Directors : Nitya Mehra, Zoya Akhtar Reema Kagti , Prashant Nair, Alankrita Shrivastava, Neeraj Ghaywan
Cast : Arjun Mathur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi
Kid rating : PG-17

We’ve waited what seemed like aeons for Season 2 of Made In Heaven. And was it worth the wait? Oh, yes! (Although let’s not wait another 4 for Season 3 please!)

Season 2 is much shorter than Season 1 (and by much, I mean 2 episodes) but follows almost the same pattern – every new episode brings 1 or 2 new marriage “situations” where Tara, Karan and gang are doing everything and more to host successful events. Then there are the stories that continue throughout the episodes – Tara’s messy divorce proceedings with husband Adil, Karan’s unhappiness at his mom’s overt rejection of him, Jazz (Shivani Raghuvanshi) and Kabir’s (Shashank Arora) off-again, on-again not-quite-a-thing, new Production designer Meher’s (Trinetra Haldar) life as a trans-woman, and the introduction of a new team member – auditor Bulbul Jauhari (Mona Singh).

Made In Heaven is a compendium of personal stories, with a bunch of issues built into them. Through the marriage events Karan (Arjun Mathur) and Tara (Sobhita Dhulipala) plan, and through their own lives, we are introduced to a myriad of social issues. Every “ism” in the book is here. There’s classism, sexism, racism, colorism, casteism, ageism. Then there is sexuality – gay, lesbian, trans. And then there is drug abuse, domestic violence, polygamy, same-sex marriages, gender inequality, and the patriarchal “boys-will-be-boys” mindset.

Made In Heaven and it’s makers fearlessly go where no tv show piped into our homes has dared to go before. And they do it with panache, given that they have tried to fit everything into these 7 episodes. Zoya Akhtar and her team have hit upon a super-sound formula, achieving just the right balance between aesthetic beauty and meaty issues to keep us engrossed and entertained.

The characters of Season 2 are flawed, and they lose their minds and their logic, from time to time, just like the rest of us. But each and every one them is drawn with nuance and care, depth and detail, and with the help of some very good actors manage to make us believe in their reasoning to do what they do and still have us sympathize with them in their choices!

The one flaw I see, is that unlike Season 1, Season 2 feels almost too crammed with issues. Each episode deals with on average 5-6 separate issues – there’s one or two weddings each highlighting a different problem, Tara and Karan have various battles they are fighting on personal fronts – and these come with their own moral-science-y lessons, and there’s often another story arc where one of their team members is facing a situation.

There’s no downtime. Tara goes from a stressful divorce meeting to fire-fighting issues at the wedding venue, to dealing with her disapproving mother right after. Karan gets to the hospital, follows that up with an issue at work, and then runs into a tumultuous situation in his love life. How do these characters not get overwhelmed? I am anxious just watching them deal with the incessant influx of turmoil in their fictional lives!

All that said, Made In Heaven is a heady mix of fantastic production values, skilled direction, great acting, and the right emotional notes – be they happy or sad. We’re invested in Tara and Karan’s lives, at least a little concerned for impetuous Jazz, and a little afraid for the hurt we know is coming Meher’s way – to name just a few story arcs. At the end of it all, we listen to Kabir’s pithy take-aways, watch our characters pick themselves up from their latest misstep, and smile a little at the wondrous way life goes on.

Kidwise: Adult themes, sexual situations and scenes.