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Movie Review : Tevar (2015)

Posted on January 20, 2015 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B00QPSMMTS” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]
Rating : Poor (1/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2015
Running time : 2 hours 37 minutes
Director : Amit Sharma
Cast : Arjun Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Manoj Bajpayee, Raj Babbar, Rajesh Sharma

Tevar’s trailer lured me into believing that the movie would be acceptably decent, if not good, but alas! It was not to be.

Tevar lands firmly into Bollywood’s time-honored genre of “damsel-in-distress” films. It harks back to the terrible films of the 1980s, the insufferable Himmatwalas where the female was only a helpless plot point, unable to defend herself again the evil gunda/don who wanted her for one reason or another. Enter the macho hero, unwittingly drawn into the battle, and once in, resolving to defend the fair maiden’s honor till his last breath.

Arjun Kapoor as kabaddi player Ghanshyam “Pintu” Shukla, from the lovely city of Agra (Agre ka launda, he calls himself), saunters in like the producer’s son. Strong on the brawn, he hits first and thinks later – a perfect fit for a Hindi film hero. Radhika Joshi (Sinha) is the pretty, pert sister of an investigative journalist. When said journalist targets politician Mahender Singh’s (Rajesh Sharma) loose-cannon brother Gajender Singh (Manoj Bajpayi), Gajender is out for blood. Ergo, the film.

Tevar is excessive – excessively violent and excessively stupid. The lead characters are not very likable, and probably last in line when the good Lord was handing out common-sense. I wasn’t really invested in seeing their happy dreams come true. Sonakshi does yet another simpering, save-me act, after the blustery face-off with the bad guy. Arjun’s role here reminds me of his role in Gunday, as in speak-with-your-fists and things will take care of themselves. His projected persona is of a devilish imp, who gets into scrabbles because of his good heart. i.e.; innocent, brawny, boy-man about to save the love of his life. Excuse me while I gag.

Manoj Bajpayee is one of the reasons I wanted to see the film, and he makes a good job of it as Gajender singh. Unfortunately, his performance, even though stellar, couldn’t save a film where everyone else pretty much sleep-walked through their roles.

The music is quite forgettable, although the song “Joganiyan” was picturized quite well. You don’t need to watch the movie, just watch this song (and I’ll make that easy for you – see below) and be done with it. So basically, Tevar ends up being a cliched pot-boiler of little romance and lots of violence. Instead of going forward to elegant, innovative story-telling Tevar takes 10 steps back into hackneyed, over-done, cringe-worthy film-making. I hope it crashes and burns.

Kidwise: The film’s violence took me by surprise. Quite a lot of time is spent in detailing out scenes where extreme violence is carried out and where the villain gloats on the act, while his quarry suffers. There are guns, knives, swords used with swift, slashing violence. Shruthi Hassan appears in an “item number”, where our “innocent” hero joins her in a couple of suggestive moves.

Posted in 2015, bollywood, drama, masala, rating-PG13, romance, stinker | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Roy (releases 13th February 2015)

Posted on January 12, 2015 by amodini

This stars Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Jacqueline Fernandez, and is directed by newbie director Vikramjit Singh. Looks interesting and mysterious, but could go either way.

Posted in 2015, bollywood, Previews | Comments Off

What To Watch On Netflix Instant – Edition #23

Posted on January 9, 2015 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B0069IZHTQ” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- The Heir Apparent : Largo Winch (“Largo Winch”, France, 2008)

If this were not in French, I could almost mistake it for a Bollywood movie, so masala-packed is this film.

Billionaire Nerio Winch is murdered and his secret adoptive son must fight to prevent a hostile takeover of his father’s legacy. Tomer Sisley (also seen in the excellent French thriller “Sleepless Night”) is swashbuckling, street-smart Largo. Kristin Scott Thomas also stars.

Largo Winch is an entertaining, action-packed watch.

[amazon_link id=”B00EKR61EI” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Girl Most Likely (USA, 2013)

If you have seen Bridesmaids, or any of Kristen Wiig’s other ventures, you know that she is quite fantastic. Here she plays wishy-washy Imogene, a writerly sort, who’s forced to move back in to her mother’s (Annette Bening) New Jersey home after her career and life go down the tubes.

The parental unit is fairly eccentric, and her abode bursts at the seams with some similarly quirky characters, like Imogene’s adult arachnid-loving brother, and her mother’s much younger, semi-delusional boyfriend (Matt Dillon).

Humorous and poignant.

[amazon_link id=”B0013URS2E” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Live-in Maid (“Cama Adentro”, Argentina, 2005)

Beba, a well-off divorcee is finding it hard to make ends meet. She hasn’t paid Dora, her maid of 30 years, her wages for months, and now Dora, a mostly silent, hard-worker can take it no more. She quits and moves back to the country on the pretext of completing some work on her home, and tethering wayward mate Miguel to the homestead.

Beba is depressed and lonely, and find life hard without Dora’s silent companionship. Dora staunchly refuses to come back to her, so Beba must find other ways.

This is a slow paced film about companionship, sisterhood, and social classes. Very well done.

[amazon_link id=”B001KQFAO4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Jab We Met (India, 2007)

Flighty Geet (Kareena Kapoor) is making the train journey to persuade her hesitant boyfriend into matrimony. En route she meets depressed looking Aditya (Shahid Kapoor), who is fed up of his familial and business issues. They both influence each other’s lives in different ways.

A light, peppy romance, Jab We Met is helmed by acclaimed director Imtiaz Ali and is a feel-good, family-friendly watch, with melodious music and lots of energetic Bollywood style dancing .

Full review here.

[amazon_link id=”B00IXD2N4C” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Two Lives (“Zwei Leben”, Norway, 2012)

Katrine finds her lovely Norwegian life crumbling when past secrets about East Germany come to light. She must find a way to fix this, but there are traitors everywhere, and even then, her efforts to save her family and herself may not be enough …

This is quite an unpredictable film, which languorously reveals its shocking secrets. Very atmospheric, slow-paced and dark at times, Two Lives is a remarkable film. I quite enjoyed it.

Posted in 2015, action, All Netflix, bollywood, drama, english, french, goofy, Hindi movies on Netflix, hollywood, humor, lists, mini-reviews, Netflix Recommendations, norwegian, recommended, spanish, thriller, women | Comments Off

Best Hindi Films of 2014

Posted on December 28, 2014 by amodini

Yes, I know you have been waiting for this post all year (with bated breath etc.) so I will get to it. But instead of doing the mini-review thingy like I usually do, I’ll tell you why the film made it on this list, and maybe embed a song. Clicking on the movie name will take you to the full review.

10. Happy Ending : The charming Ileana D’Cruz made this quirky film work.

9. Highway : I expected to be floored by this movie. I really did. I was not. Still, a decent film.

8. 2 States : This was an entertaining film. Cute. Young. Peppy. Fun. Lots of drama. Lots of gana-bajana. Romance. Nice music.

7. Haider : Shahid was so good in this film, Tabu was magnificent, and it was nice seeing Shraddha play a female with a brain (have you seen Ek Villain?). It is a tragedy though, and there is sadness and snow. The music was gorgeous, so gorgeous that I’m just grateful to be able to listen to one great man’s poetry put to such delicate music by another genius.

6. Dedh Ishqiya : An intricately plotted film with zany, peculiar characters. Quite entertaining despite having to wade through chaste Urdu dialogues.

5. Mardaani : Rani Mukherjee playing a fearless, intelligent, dhishum-dhishum cop, a niche mostly reserved for heroes. And she does it well.

4. Bobby Jasoos : Vidya Balan. Also good to see floppy-haired, lazy-eyed Ali Fazal actually show some energy.

3. P.K. : Humorous, wholesome and pretty clean entertainment.

2. Aankhon Dekhi : A gorgeous film. By a film-maker who knows what he is doing.

1. Queen : Many Bollywood movies pretend to show female empowerment or have their characters mouth off on respecting women, but they have nary a clue. This film does. And how. Besides all that, Kangana is marvelous.

Posted in 2014, annual roundup, Best hindi movies, bollywood, lists, mini-reviews, recommended | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Dolly ki Doli (releases 23rd January 2015)

Posted on December 24, 2014 by amodini

This looks fairly entertaining. It even stars Rajkumar Rao! And Sonam and Pulkit Samrat, who was the one bright spot in Fukrey. The only problem here is that this is an Arbaz Khan production – he’s got a tendency to turn his projects into commercial, masala pot-boilers. Let’s hope he doesn’t do that to this one.

Posted in 2014, 2015, bollywood, Previews | 1 Comment

Movie Review : PK (2014)

Posted on December 21, 2014 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B00PUBD66O” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]
Rating : Good (4.3/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2014
Running time : 2 hours 33 minutes
Director : Rajkumar Hirani
Cast : Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh, Boman Irani, Parikshit Sahni

Rajkumar Hirani generally makes good films, but one is always beset with misgivings going to see one of his earthy productions, fearing he might tip over to the wholly commercial side. Well, that hasn’t happened yet, much to my relief, and PK is one of the best films of the year.

Lovable urchin PK (Khan) cannot go home, until he retrieves lost valuables. He roots around trying to find the thief who has made off with the loot, and wanders from place to place, chewing paan, and conversing in Bhojpuri. PK has a curious mind, coupled with almost no sense of tact or diplomacy and that lands him in peculiar situations. His woes seem to have come to an end when he meets nosy news reporter Jagat Janini aka Jaggu (Sharma).

This was a fun film with quite a few laugh-out-loud hilarious scenes. PK does have a strong message but director Hirani couches it in a light-hearted manner, and asks very valid questions through PK’s childlike simplicity. PK starts off well and milks all the funny situations to the hilt. It slackens in the middle where I was wanting it to pick up a bit, which it does soon enough.

Amir Khan is superb as the lead character, skillfully portraying PK’s innocence and charm. Anushka as Jaggu does a good job, only I kept being distracted by her face – or precisely, what she’s done to it. I’d remiss if I didn’t mention how fabulous Saurabh Shukla was as a holy baba. Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani and Parikshit Sahni have minor roles.

PK has decent music, although it’s nothing you’ll hum around the house. This is a typical Hirani product – earthy, wholesome and well-meaning. It is a little hammy; Hirani doesn’t believe in subtlety or allowing the viewer to make up his/her mind, but for this kind of product, I’ll overlook that. PK does not have the sophistication of say, a Barfi, but it is still a pleasure to watch a film with a story and a goal, and none of the sleazy crap that passes for entertainment these days.

PK is well worth your time. Go see it.

Kidwise : This is a fairly clean film. Precisely 2 scenes might give you pause. One is when PK is taken to a brothel, and the other is where the use of condoms is discussed. Note that nothing adult-ish is ever shown on screen, it’s mostly all talk and some posturing. You should be OK if your kids are too young (they don’t have a clue) or too old (the cup of knowledge already overfloweth). However if they are at the curious-minded stage :-), you might want to be prepared to impart a few grains of wisdom.

Posted in 2014, bollywood, comedy, directors, humor, rating-PG, romance, social issues | 6 Comments

What To Watch On Netflix Instant – Edition #22

Posted on December 19, 2014 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B00IIUATDM” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)

Based (loosely, I assume) on Wall Street conman Jordan Belfort, this is a 3 hour long ride, featuring lots of over-the-top sexual situations and Leonardo DiCaprio in his most in-your-face role ever, in that order. This is a highly dramatized version of events, and I imagine director Scorsese threw in the uncalled for graphic nudity gratis.

Even with all the “diversions”, and the length of the film, this is a fast-paced, witty entertainer; I did not notice the hours go by. Leo DiCaprio is magnificent. As is the rest of the cast.

[amazon_link id=”B00005NTN4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- With a Friend Like Harry (“Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien”, France, 2000)

Michel and Harry apparently went to school together, although Michel doesn’t remember Harry quite as well as Harry does him. When they meet quite by accident, Harry wangles an invitation to family-man Michel’s home.

When there, Harry encourages Michel to take up his school-time hobby of writing, assuring him that he had real talent. Then Harry proceeds to be the best friend he possibly can.

This was creepy, suspenseful and unpredictable.

[amazon_link id=”B000NVIM4M” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (India, 2007)

Six newly married couple do the touristy thing, choosing to be cooped up in a bus en route to lovely Goa. On the journey they get to know each other, and we get to know them. They are a quirky lot, each with a different backstory, all quite interestingly told and richly detailed. I loved the subtle humor and the quirk.

Reema Kagti, who also directed the recent Talaash, guides the talented star cast with a firm hand. Full review here.

[amazon_link id=”B007RFDPIU” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- A Simple Plan (USA, 1999)

Brothers Hank and Jacob, and Jacob’s friend Lou come across a crashed plane in the snowy wilderness. The plane contains about 4 million in cash.

The strait-laced Hank wants to turn in the money to the authorities, but greed sways them soon enough. As they strategize and plan on how to keep the money and the plane a secret, they involve Hank’s pregnant wife Sarah. Things start to go haywire pretty soon, as the not-too-bright Jacob, and loudmouth Lou can’t keep it together.

This was a superb, suspenseful watch.

[amazon_link id=”B00GD5405C” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]- It’s a girl (Documentary, USA, 2012)

This hour long documentary focusses on gendercide, specifically the killing of baby girls and fetuses in India and China, due to the culture of son preference. The film looks at the causes of this socially sanctioned practice, and there are many – dowry, financial drain, laxly enforced laws and “traditional” culture.

Millions of girls are now “missing” because they were simply aborted, were killed after birth, or just died due to neglect and poor care. This is a hard to watch film at times, but an important one, because it tells of the problem. And that is a first, important step.

Posted in All Netflix, bollywood, crime, documentary, drama, english, french, Hindi movies on Netflix, hollywood, humor, lists, mini-reviews, Netflix Recommendations, quirky, social issues, suspense, women | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Tevar (January 9th, 2015)

Posted on December 15, 2014 by amodini

Manoj Bajpayee graces the screen again as a “gunda” in Tevar. Arjun Kapoor stars as the macho young hero, and Sonakshi Sinha is a woman on the run.

Posted in 2014, action, bollywood, Previews | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Daawat-e-Ishq (2014)

Posted on December 11, 2014 by amodini

Rating : Good (3.5/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2014
Running time : 2 hours 15 minutes
Director : Habib Faisal
Cast : Parineeti Chopra, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Anupam Kher

Gulrez Qadir aka Gullu (Chopra) is tired of the marriage market, and of the outrageous dowries demanded by the parents of eligible grooms, while the grooms sit spinelessly by. She decides to take matters into her own hands and comes up with a harebrained scheme to cuckold these dowry demanders. It is a pity then that the first person to walk into her neatly set trap might be the man of her dreams.

Frankly I wasn’t expecting much from this movie, because it didn’t do too well on release. And it seemed kinda wishy-washy, and suffered from low wattage star power. So I am pleasantly surprised to report that this is a decent film. Habib Faisal, who gave us the lovely Do Dooni Char, directs this too. Parineeti has proved that she is here for the long haul, but I am always surprised to see Aditya in lead roles delivering hits; I kind of see him as another Kunal Kapoor, interesting, yet not charismatic enough to anchor a film.

Here Chopra is her effervescent self. Kapoor is in his scruffiest avatar yet as Tariq Haider, all surma-eyed and tradesman-like, quite different from his suave city boy roles. Anupam Kher plays Gullu’s hapless dad. The film is set in the lovely city of Hyderabad, and Gullu and her dad have long conversations in Hyderabadi Hindi.

The film starts off with a good anti-dowry message, and we see the smart Gullu sending prospective greedy in-laws packing. And it seems like Faisal knows what he is doing because the characters are well-drawn, there is humor and everything’s kinda good-natured. However somewhere along the way, this film gets a little too contrived, and the plot-line a little too shaky. Some songs appear forced in.

The romance angle works because Parineeti and Aditya share good chemistry and make a charming pair. And since this is basically a romance, the film turns out all right, although this is a bit of downer coming from Habib Faisal. Faisal’s film’s stories are about everyday people and seem natural. One has come to expect organically growing story lines from him, but DEI throws us for a loop with it’s outlandish plot twist. With this film it appears that Faisal is underscoring the “commercial” aspect, to the film’s detriment.

To sum up, this is a pleasant watch. I only hope Faisal ups his game with his next venture.

Kidwise : Clean. As family-friendly as Bollywood gets these days.