UJDA CHAMAN is the story of a man in search of a life partner. Chaman Kohli (Sunny Singh) is a 30-year-old lecturer in Delhi’s Hansraj College. He has faced acute hair loss in the last five years, affecting his self-esteem and also his marriage prospects. His parents, Shashi Kohli (Atul Kumar) and Sushma Kohli (Grusha Kapoor) put his five-year-old picture in his marriage bio-data and when he goes to see a prospective bride, he wears a cap. Sadly, the cap comes off and the prospective bride and her family kick the Kohli’s from their house. Their family astrologer (Saurabh Shukla) adds to their tension as he claims that if Chaman doesn’t get married before his 31st birthday, he’ll remain celibate for life. Chaman tries to find love, first at the marriage ceremony of a friend but it proves futile. Later, he tries to woo a fellow lecturer, Ekta (Aishwarya Sakhuja) but she rejects him as she is already dating someone. All of a sudden, a first-year student, Aaina Ali Khan (Karishma Sharma) shows interest in Chaman. Chaman falls for her but in no time, he realizes that she hung out with him for vested interests. With no other option, Chaman accepts his father’s suggestion and downloads Tinder. He uploads his picture, but by cropping his bald patch. In no time, he matches with Apsara (Maanvi Gagroo), who is overweight and just like Chaman, she too puts a close up picture to hide her so-called imperfection. Both decide to meet and obviously get shocked looking at each other. What happens next forms the rest of the film. UJDA CHAMAN is an official remake of the 2017 Kannada film, ONDU MOTTEYA KATHE (Writer: Raj B Shetty). Danish J Singh's adapted story has immense potential as a lot of people can relate to the goings on shown in the film. But Danish J Singh's screenplay plays spoilsport. The narrative is engaging but only in parts. Danish J Singh's dialogues are funny and matter-of-fact. Abhishek Pathak's direction is not worthy enough. The execution seems a bit amateurish and over-the-top. The manner in which Chaman is ridiculed almost on a daily basis by the students because of his receding hairline is too much. Moreover, the direction style is not consistent. The second half looks very different from the first half. Also, with nothing unique happening in the film, the narrative becomes extremely predictable. On the positive side, a few scenes work like the track of Aaina and the hospital scene. UJDA CHAMAN begins on a fun but very loud note with the initial portions being mildly engaging. The humour looks forced in the scene where Chaman attempts to assault his brother Goldy (Gagan Arora). The track of Aaina is thankfully better but still, the film doesn’t reach a high. The intermission point is interesting and the film seems promising from here on. And the initial portions of the second half are very entertaining as Chaman and Apsara get close. But after a point, nothing novel or interesting happens. The film gets dragging and predictable. The final scene is cute but comes too late in the film. Ujda Chaman EXCLUSIVE Interview with Sunny Singh & Abhishek Pathak | Remake | Trailer’s Response Sunny Singh gives his best but the desired impact is not made. The manner in which he seems so serious and lifeless throughout the film is difficult to digest. Even his narration in the beginning is needlessly done in a sombre tone. Maanvi Gagroo does quite better and is a natural. Her issues and predicaments seem very relatable and she plays the part nicely. Atul Kumar also does a genuinely good job. Grusha Kapoor is very loud. Gagan Arora is passable. Karishma Sharma plays her part as per the requirement. Aishwarya Sakhuja has a great screen presence. Sharib Hashmi (Raj) is good but sadly his track is predictable. Saurabh Shukla is strictly okay. Music is disappointing. Only 'Chand Nikla' gets registered. The rest of the songs like 'Twinkle Twinkle', 'Outfit' and 'Oh Bandeya' are forgettable. Hitesh Sonik's background score is too loud and dramatic. Sudhir K Chaudhary's cinematography is neat. Tarpan Srivastav's production design is in sync with the film’s setting. Preetisheel Singh's make up and prosthetics are flawless. Rahil Raja and Himanshi Nijhawan's costumes are realistic. Mitesh Soni's editing is sans complaint and the film’s length is appropriate at 120 minutes. On the whole, UJDA CHAMAN has a promising and relatable story but the inconsistent execution and predictable narrative spoils the show. At the box office, thanks to limited buzz and lack of popular names, the film will have a difficult time.from BollywoodHungama.com Movie Reviews https://ift.tt/2BYNXfO
HOUSEFULL is the story of three couples and how destiny helps them reunite after 600 years. The story begins in 2019. Harry (Akshay Kumar) is a barber in London who has a habit of momentarily losing his memory when he hears a loud noise. During one such time, he ends up destroying a large amount of money belonging to Michael (Sharad Kelkar) that was given to him for safekeeping by Big Bhai. Big Bhai hence gets angry at Harry, his brother Max (Bobby Deol) and their friend Roy (Riteish Deshmukh). He demands them to return the money of Bhai. Harry, Max and Roy then tell Bhai that they are in a relationship with Pooja (Pooja Hegde), Kriti (Kriti Sanon) and Neha (Kriti Kharbanda) respectively. All three are daughters of a very wealthy man, Papa Ranjeet (Ranjeet). Hence they’ll pay Big Bhai the money once they get married to them. The trio then meet Papa Ranjeet and the marriage is fixed. The venue chosen is a place called Sitamgarh, a town in India. The trio along with their girlfriends and Papa Ranjeet arrive at Sitamgarh palace, which has now been converted into a hotel. The moment they reach there, the bell boy, Aakhri Pasta (Chunky Panday) claims that all of them were a part of the kingdom of Sitamgarh. He goes overboard while making the claim, which makes the guests uncomfortable. Hence the manager Winston Churchgate (Johny Lever) fires Aakhri Pasta. However, Harry has often got flashes of his past life. He goes to Madhavgarh, where Aakhri Pasta resides, to find out more information. As soon as he reaches Madhavgarh, Harry is able to remember his past life. The story then goes on a flashback mode in the year 1419. Bala (Akshay Kumar) is a notorious Prince of Madhavgarh who is banished from the kingdom by his father (Parikshit Sahni). With the help of Pasta (Chunky Panday), he finds out that the king of Sitamgarh, Maharaja Surya Singh Rana (Ranjeet) will be celebrating his birthday and that he had three daughters, Madhu (Kriti Sanon), Meena (Kriti Kharbanda) and Mala (Pooja Hegde). Bala arrives in Sitamgarh and succeeds in wooing Madhu. Meanwhile, Bangdu Maharaj, a dancer in the royal palace, gets into a relationship with Mala while the warrior Dharam (Bobby Deol) starts an affair with Meena. The king even approves the union and their marriages are fixed. All is going well but Suryabhan (Sharad Kelkar) who wants to be king comes up with a plan. He kills brother of Gama (Rana Daggubati), a ferocious chieftain of a neighbouring kingdom. Gama is made to believe that it’s the king who ordered the killing. As a result, Gama arrives in Sitamgarh during the marriage ceremony for revenge. In the ensuing battle, they all die. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Sara Bodinar and Sajid Nadiadwala's story is very weak. Aakash Kaushik and Madhur Sharma's screenplay (with additional screenplay by Farhad Samji, Tushar Hiranandani, Sparsh Khetarpal and Tasha Bhambra) spoils the show further. It seems like the makers took audiences for granted and in the attempt to show grandeur, they missed out on the factors that made HOUSEFULL such a successful franchise. Farhad Samji's dialogues add to the fun but only at places. Farhad Samji's direction is unimpressive. Though for most parts, he is able to handle the grandeur and confusion well. The opening credits are very similar to the opening of BAAHUBALI 2: THE CONCLUSION. In fact there’s an in-your-face reference to the film later. However, several sequences are weak and the jokes fall flat. The writing is also to blame but the director should have hidden these shortcomings with his execution. Sadly that doesn’t happen. HOUSEFULL 4 begins on a very fun note. The madness that happens at Harry’s salon sets the mood. The film gets better as they all reach Sitamgarh. Once the flashback begins, one expects the film to go on a high. But the opposite happens as the humour is missing from the film. Yes there are fun moments but they aren’t funny enough to give audiences a paisa vasool time. Much of the second half is about how Harry tries to persuade Max and Roy that they are doing a mistake by getting married to their bhabhis. The humour here is strictly okay and in the Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s track, it goes out of the window. Thankfully the entry of Pappu Rangeela (Rana Daggubati) acts as a respite. The climax works only in parts. The continuity issues spoil the fun. 
MADE IN CHINA is the story of a man who beats all odds to become an expert businessman. Raghu Mehta (Rajkummar Rao) is based in Ahmedabad and is a failed businessman. He has tried his hands in various kinds of businesses but the effort has been futile each time. He then accepted his deceased father’s advice and began to run his family-owned clothes shop. Even here, he tries to experiment and stocks Nepali mattresses but nobody is interested to buy it. Raghu is married to Rukmini (Mouni Roy) who is understanding and supports him through thick and thin. But Raghu’s father-in-law Vitthal (Manoj Joshi) and Devraj (Sumeet Vyas) don’t appreciate Raghu’s attempts. They advise him to sell his shop at a good price and also to go to China and help Devraj set up his venture of providing a herbal soft drink. Raghu reluctantly takes up the China offer where sadly, the deal with Tanmay Shah (Paresh Rawal) fails to materialize. However, Raghu befriends a local colleague there, Xui Lee (Danni Wang). She introduces him to Hou Lee (Jeffrey Ho) who claims to have made an effective aphrodisiac called Magic Soup that too from the reproductive organs of tiger. Hou Lee insists Raghu to sell it in India and make millions for both. Raghu returns to India, impressed with the idea, and he decides to do ground research. He meets several sex doctors, tantric babas etc and realizes that most of them are only interested to financially exploit the desperate people struggling with sexual problems. Raghu then comes across Dr Tribhuvan Vardhi (Boman Irani) who is honest and not money-minded. Immediately, Raghu insists that Dr Vardhi should sell Magic Soup to his patients and in return, he’ll get 50% share in profit. Dr Vardhi refuses at first but after much cajoling, he accepts the offer. On the advise of Tanmay Shah, Raghu turns Dr Vardhi into an online sensation which in turn helps in the sales of Magic Soup. All is going well until one day, a high-profile Chinese national, General Zeng (Dawei Yu), consumes Magic Soup and passes away in a few minutes. Consequently, Raghu and Dr Vardhi are caught by the police. Considering the gravity of the situation, the government dispatches two CBI agents, Gupta (Chitranjan Tripathi) and Sharma (Abhishek Banerjee) to investigate. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Mikhil Musale, Karan Vyas and Parinda Joshi's story is juvenile and unconvincing. There are far too many characters and justice is not done to many of them. Mikhil Musale, Karan Vyas and Parinda Joshi's screenplay (with additional screenplay by Niren Bhatt) is a bigger culprit. The poor storyline could have been still made for a slighter better film. But that doesn’t happen as the film lacks drama, tension and even sufficient humour. Niren Bhatt and Karan Vyas's dialogues could have been much better worded and unique. For instance, the way Dr Vardhi’s speech goes viral seems difficult to digest as he didn’t say anything that’s not been said before. Mikhil Musale's direction is weak. He knows the shot taking techniques but storytelling wise, his approach is flawed. There are too many jumps in the timeline. The entire China trip episode is bewildering as viewers never get to know where Devraj disappeared and when and how did Raghu return to India. The film, moreover, begins as a murder mystery, but this bit is kept unexplained till the very end. On the positive side, a few scenes are entertaining like Raghu roaming around with Xui Lee, the scenes of Tanmay Shah and the scene in the library involving Raghu and Dr Vardhi. 
SAAND KI AANKH is the story of two women who find their calling in their 60s. The year is 1999. Chandro Tomar (Bhumi Pednekar) and Prakashi Tomar (Taapsee Pannu) are sister-in-laws living under one roof with their respective spouses, strict and orthodox brother-in-law Rattan Singh (Prakash Jha) and their children in Johri village in Uttar Pradesh. Both have crossed 60 years of age and though they had the desire to do something worthwhile in their lives, they were not allowed to because of the pressures of the patriarchal society. One day, Dr Yashpal (Viineet Kumar) returns back to Johri. He leaves his medical profession and starts his shooting range. Chandro’s daughter Shefali (Sara Arjun) expresses interest to practise shooting but Rattan obviously refuses to give permission. Yet, Chandro takes Shefali to the range. Without giving much thought, Chandro also tries her hand and surprisingly, she hits a bullseye! Yashpal tells her to try few more times and he realizes that Chandro is a pro. Later, even Prakashi joins and even she turns out to be an expert shooter! Yashpal encourages them to hone their skills at his shooting range and later, tells them to take part in a shooting competition held in Chandigarh. The daadis have never stepped outside their village in their lives. Hence, they get apprehensive at first but nevertheless, they agree. They fool their husbands and Rattan smartly and head to the competition where Prakashi emerges first and Chandro second. In no time, they win many tournaments with ease, while also cooking up various stories to tell their spouses. However soon there comes a time when the Tomar sisters are compelled to tell the truth to Rattan. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Balwinder Januja's story is very promising and inspiring. It not just enlightens viewers about the lives of Chandro and Prakashi Tomar but also gives an important comment subtly about the ills of patriarchal society and lack of awareness of population control. Balwinder Januja's screenplay is captivating for most parts but could have been better in the beginning of the flashback portion and in the pre-climax. Jagdeep Sinhu's dialogues are acidic and sharp. Tushar Hiranandani's direction is quite good for a first-timer and he’s in control of the writing material in hand. He also tries his best to make it as entertaining and mainstream as possible. Also he scores on the emotional front as the struggles of daadis and the way they get slammed by the male members of the family can leave viewers moist-eyed. On the flipside, he should have kept the duration in check. The last 15-20 minutes could have been better emotionally as the scene preceding the finale is too good. SAAND KI AANKH begins on an interesting note and Chandro and Prakashi’s entry puts a smile on one’s face. The flashback portion works in parts. In fact, the entire first half though engaging doesn’t really go on a high. There’s not enough drama or tension in this hour as the daadis are able to easily practise and even go to Chandigarh without the men getting suspicious. The best part of the first half is the Chandigarh competition and how both the women silence their detractors. Post-interval too, the tension doesn’t arise till a certain point. Yet, the second half is better as there are some very sweet moments. One of the most touching scenes here is when Chandro and Prakashi mistake the finger bowl for hot lime water and gulp it down the throats. The Maharani (Nikhat Khan) doesn’t want the daadis to be humiliated for their gesture and hence, even she does the same! Even the jugaadu disco light installed by the daadis in their house in ‘Baby Gold’ song is sweet. The confrontation sequence between the daadis and Rattan Singh is exhilarating. One expects the film to end here but it goes on for another 20 minutes as the film also focuses on the track of Shefali and Seema trying to be shooters. This track also has its moments but after the high-voltage confrontation scene, the film falls flatly in this said scene. The film ends on an emotional note. 
LAAL KAPTAAN is the story of revenge spanning a couple of decades. The year is 1789, 25 years after Battle of Buxar. Hunter (Saif Ali Khan) is a Naga Sadhu who’s looking for a man called Rehmat Khan (Manav Vij). Through Noor Bibi (Sonakshi Sinha), Hunter finds out that Rehmat is a governor of a kingdom somewhere in North India. At this time, the evil Rehmat takes away all the treasure of his kingdom and kills his servants. Along with his army, his confidant Aadham Khan (Aamir Bashir), his wife (Simone Singh), wet nurse (Eshika De) and his newborn son, he abandons the fort and is on a way to the banks of the river Yamuna. By the time Hunter reaches the fort, there’s no one except a widow (Zoya Hussain). Hunter gets injured while fighting some Pathans on the way and the widow takes care of him and treats his wounds. In return, she requests him to take her with him. Hunter refuses and yet, she follows him. After Hunter and the widow leave, a tracker (Deepak Dobriyal) who’s an expert in finding out whereabouts with the help of his smelling power and pet dogs, reaches the fort. In some time, the Marathas attack the fort and the tracker agrees to help them find Rehmat. Rehmat was to give a portion of the treasure to the Marathas but since he didn’t, they are trying to find him. Meanwhile, a few days later, the Hunter reaches the place where Rehmat and his army have camped for the night. Hunter quietly enters Rehmat’s tent but he doesn’t kill him, which has always been his sole aim since 25 years. Rehmat’s army nabs Hunter but Rehmat doesn’t want him eliminated. He wants to know who exactly is Hunter and why he wants to kill him. Rehmat is also reminded that six years ago, he had crossed paths with Hunter and the latter had told him that he’ll finish him. Even then, Hunter had spared him. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Deepak Venkatesha and Navdeep Singh's story is very poor and gives a déjà vu of certain period films of Bollywood and also Hollywood. Deepak Venkatesha and Navdeep Singh's screenplay is confusing and ineffective. The film has too many tracks and except Hunter’s track, none of them are interesting. Also, the transition between tracks is not smooth. There’s a twist in the tale revealed in the pre climax but it arrives at a time when viewers are tired with the goings on and just want the film to end. Sudip Sharma's dialogues are nothing special and quite pretentious. The philosophical one-liners fail to entice. Also, various dialects and even Marathi is used and it’ll be difficult to decipher some of the lines in the absence of subtitles. Navdeep Singh's direction is highly disappointing. He had very weak material in his hand and moreover, he further spoils the show with his execution. The film is extremely dry and slow and very few scenes arrest your attention. There’s also an attempt to add humour with the character of the tracker and by showing Pindaris, allied with the Maratha army, as buffoons. But it just doesn’t impress. Even the revenge bit looks silly as Hunter crosses paths with Rehmat Khan twice and yet doesn’t kill him. 
THE SKY IS PINK is the story of a family facing a crisis over a period of nearly two decades. Niren Chaudhary (Farhan Akhtar) from Chandni Chowk marries Aditi Chaudhary (Priyanka Chopra), a South Delhi girl and also his childhood love, in 1986. They have a son, Ishaan (Rohit Saraf) after a few years. Aditi also gives birth to a daughter, Tanya, but she passes away in 6 months. That’s because both Aditi and Niren have a rare faulty gene. They again try for a baby and on March 27, 1996, Aisha (Zaira Wasim) is born. Sadly, just like Tanya, Aisha too gets affected due to rare faulty genes of her parents and develops a condition called Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), an immune deficiency order. They move to London for her treatment and even manage to raise double the funds needed for her treatment. At the age of 6 months, Aisha gets a bone narrow transplant but as a side effect of this treatment, she develops a serious illness of the lungs called pulmonary fibrosis. This condition comes to the fore when Aisha is 13, at a time when the Chaudharys were hoping all her problems are history and she’ll lead a normal life. Moreover, the doctors make it clear that she won’t survive for more than 5 years. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Shonali Bose and Nilesh Maniyar's story is very promising and could have made for the most touching film of the year. Shonali Bose and Nilesh Maniyar's screenplay works only in parts. A few scenes are exceptional but in some sequences, the writing doesn’t have the desired impact. The film constantly goes into various flashback modes and it might be difficult to keep a track of the same. Juhi Chaturvedi and Nilesh Maniyar's dialogues are okay. A few one-liners work well and are witty. But some of the dialogues misfire, especially the narration of Aisha penned by Nilesh. The humour in the dialogues looks forced, especially the constant hammering of Aditi and Niren’s sex life. Shonali Bose's direction is strictly okay. She had a great subject in hand but she fails to do full justice. The film gets too long at 149 minutes and should have been way shorter. At the same time, a few details are skipped and ideally should have been focused, at least briefly. Aisha was inspirational speaker but this bit is touched only for a few seconds. Ishaan in a scene also exclaims that Aditi’s video has worked wonders on the internet. The audiences would have loved to see what Aisha spoke as motivational speaker, considering that she had a great sense of humour. Similarly, Niren is revealed to have a band and that surprises viewers as this part too never gets mentioned even once until the pre-climax. Shonali tries to make the situation light so that the film doesn’t get too heavy. Hence, she adds humour and in one crucial tragic scene, a funny background score is played and this decision completely fails to impress. On the positive side, she handles a few scenes with élan. One of the most beautiful aspects in the film is the bond Aisha has with her brother Ishaan. It’ll be unanimously loved. 
WAR is the story of two patriotic soldiers fighting against each other. Khalid (Tiger Shroff) is the son of an army officer, who had joined hands with the enemies. As soon as Khalid's mother (Soni Razdan) found out, she informed the army and the father got killed by fellow officer, Kabir (Hrithik Roshan). For an important mission, Khalid is assigned a part in Kabir's team. Kabir obviously is apprehensive but Khalid wins him over with his loyalty and bravery. The story then moves two years ahead. Kabir is assigned the duty of eliminating a dreaded terrorist. Instead of killing him, Kabir bumps off his commanding officer, V K Naidu (Mohit Chauhan). Khalid and others are shocked that someone like Kabir has gone rogue. Khalid is instructed to kill Kabir immediately before he causes any more harm. While Khalid is trying to find out Kabir’s whereabouts, the latter steals army equipment in a daredevil mid-air stunt. In another act of bravado, Kabir comes in front of Khalid and informs him that his next target is a certain Dr. Utpal Biswas (Arif Zakaria). What happens next forms the rest of the film. Aditya Chopra and Siddharth Anand's story is decent and loaded with twists and turns. Shridhar Raghavan and Siddharth Anand's screenplay is effective and engaging for most parts. However in the second half, a lot of dumbing down happens which could have been avoidable. A few developments are quite unconvincing and are hence, difficult to digest. Abbas Tyrewala's dialogues aren’t memorable as such but work. Siddharth Anand's direction is simple and he shows that he has the ability to handle a film of this scale. He also joins the dots in the narrative neatly. On the flipside, he could have shortened some of the action scenes for a better impact. A few moments also give one déjà vu of past YRF films like DHOOM, TIGER ZINDA HAI etc. Lastly, the way Tiger Shroff and Hrithik Roshan are pitted against each other might not seem entirely acceptable to the fans. WAR begins on a rocking note. The entry sequence of Kabir has a twist and startles viewers. If Kabir’s entry impresses, Khalid’s entry blows one away as it’s a smashing action scene shot in one take. One expects the cat and mouse chase sequence to begin immediately from hereon. But instead, the film goes on a flashback mode to explain the dynamics of Kabir and Khalid’s bond. The mid-air action scene is quite fun while the intermission comes at a decisive point. Post interval, the Hrithik vs Tiger saga begins in full force and makes for a fun watch. The film also gets a bit stretched but the twist in the tale saves the day to an extent. Ideally a film like this should have ended on a high but the finale fight is tedious and too long.