Bollywood Gossip : October 2020

Thursday, 29 October 2020

Movie Review: Taish

Director Bejoy Nambiar made a smashing debut with SHAITAN [2011]. The way he helmed the film with perfection made it difficult for many to believe that it was his first outing. His later Bollywood films like DAVID [2013] and WAZIR [2016] didn’t meet expectations but all hope was not lost on him. And now he’s returned with TAISH and from the trailer, it looks like a taut action thriller. So does TAISH manage to entertain and enthral viewers? Or does it fail to impress? Let’s analyse. <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1143328" src="https://ift.tt/3oF2ILO" alt="Taish Review" width="750" height="450" /> TAISH is the story of two families who end up destroying each other. Rohan Kalra (Jim Sarbh) is a UK resident of Indian origin who works as a GP in a hospital. He is living-in with Arfa Sayeed Khan (Kriti Kharbanda), who is of Pakistani origin. Rohan takes leave from work to be with his family in the countryside and to attend the wedding of his brother Krish (Ankur Rathee) with Mahi (Zoa Morani). Rohan wants Arfa to join him but he's apprehensive how his father (Ikhlaque Khan) would react on knowing that he's dating a Muslim girl. Arfa understands and stays back. Rohan returns home and his mother (Monisha Hassen) tries to set him up with Simmi (Melissa Raju Thomas). Rohan's best friend Sunny Lalwani (Pulkit Samrat) too joins the celebrations, meanwhile. He also convinces Arfa to come for the wedding and even tells the truth about their relationship to Rohan's parents. All is going fine until one day the whole gang goes to a pub to celebrate. Here, Rohan sees Kuljinder Brar aka Kulli (Abhimanyu Singh). He goes berserk and has to be taken home. Sunny is puzzled at the turn of events. To which Rohan reveals that Kulli had sodomized Rohan when he was 10 years old. Sunny is enraged. He goes back to the pub where Kulli is still present. He assaults him in the washroom. Kulli's life is saved but he loses his voice and ability to walk. Kulli's brother is the notorious gangster Pali Brar (Harshvardhan Rane). Pali is cross with Kulli as the latter has married the love of his life Jahaan (Sanjeeda Shaikh). But when he learns about Kulli's condition, he goes out all to find out who did it. When he realizes it is Sunny, Pali decides to take revenge. On the day of the wedding, he kills Krish. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Bejoy Nambiar's story is decent. On paper, it must have sounded like a great thriller. But Anjali Nair, Kartik R Iyer, Bejoy Nambiar and Nicola Louise Taylor's screenplay don’t do justice entirely. A few scenes are very well written and thought of but then there are also scenes which are pretty average and just add to the script’s length. Gunjit Chopra and Bejoy Nambiar's dialogues are nothing great but a few of the one-liners in the first half are quite funny. However, the use of Punjabi for the scenes of Pali and the surrounding characters might compel audiences to activate subtitles. Bejoy Nambiar's direction could have been better. There’s no doubt that technically he’s quite superior and he uses his knowledge and expertise to enhance the impact in several scenes. The use of the red light especially is brilliant and makes for a visual treat. Some scenes also turn out to be exceptional. However, he fails to cover up the loopholes in the script. The way Pali and his family operate, that too in the UK, is very unconvincing. They have no fear of law and moreover, even when Pali is imprisoned, he has access to a cell phone with even the prison officials being on his payroll! In fact, the film would have been more realistic if it was set in Uttar Pradesh instead of the United Kingdom! Secondly, the first half is still fine but the film goes haywire in the second hour. Why did Rohan break off with Arfa? Couldn’t he have stayed with Arfa and grieved together? The other problem is with the love story of Pali and Jahaan. This track deserved a backstory without which it looked superficial. TAISH has a thrilling beginning which sets the mood and the conflict between Pali and Kulli. The focus then also shifts to the Kalra family and how they are gearing up for Krish and Mahi’s wedding. A few scenes stand out here like Rohan trying to dodge the marriage topic from his mother and Rohan admitting that he wants to marry Arfa. The scene where Rohan confesses to his parents about Arfa (the mirror shot here is very wittily done) and the scenes where he chides his father for being rude to Arfa are two of the best scenes of the first hour. The film goes on another level when Sunny grievously injures Kulli. The tragic sequence of the demise of Krish also adds to the impact. But from hereon, the film falls. The manner in which the narrative moves two years ahead and the way Rohan turns very aloof are quite difficult to digest. Even the scenes of the problems arising in the Brar gang pop up out of the blue. A few scenes again arrest attention like Sunny attempting to finish off Pali in the prison and the pre-climax scene in the nightclub. But these scenes are few and far between. The finale lacks the punch. Also, at 2.22 hours, the film is too lengthy. ENTERTAINING- Pulkit, Kriti, Jim, Sanjeeda & Bejoy’s HILARIOUS Rapid Fire on Ranbir, Ranveer, Taish <iframe id="jwiframe" class="playerFrame" src="https://ift.tt/31T4C1z" width="800" height="340" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> TAISH, however, is embellished with some fine performances by actors who try their best to rise above the script. Jim Sarbh arguably has the most screen time and does a great job. He has often played twisted characters and here he gets to play a sensible chap for a change. And he manages to do justice. Harshvardhan Rane looks dashing and gives a first-rate performance. He oozes fear and that proves advantageous for his character. Pulkit Samrat is the surprise of the film. Here, he plays an impulsive, stubborn man and gets totally into the skin of his character. He is especially great in the washroom action scene. Kriti Kharbanda looks stunning and gives an impressive performance. Sanjeeda Shaikh is strictly okay and her character is not well fleshed out. Zoa Morani has a fine screen presence. Ankur Rathee is decent. Abhimanyu Singh is dependable as always. Melissa Raju Thomas leaves a huge mark. Saurabh Sachdeva (Sukhi) gives a performance to watch out for. Viraf Patel (Shozi) is fine but how his character is known to Kalra’s is not established. The other actors who are decent are Ikhlaque Khan, Monisha Hassen, Armaan Khera (Jassi Brar), Saloni Batra (Sanobar Brar), Kunickaa Sadanand (Beeji), Mahavir Bhullar (Gyaan ji), Ekansh Kumar Sharma (Sattu) and Shivanshu Pandey (Ismail). Music is a disappointment. 'Shehnai Bajne Do', 'Jaago' and 'Saavan Mod Muhara' get registered a bit. The rest of the songs like 'Kol Kol', 'Roshni Si', 'Re Bawree', 'All I See Is The Light' and 'Mila Na Tu' are forgettable. Gaurav Godkhindi and Govind Vasantha's background score is a bit better. Harshvir Oberai's cinematography is appropriate. The shaky camerawork is interesting. Ian Van Temperley's action works as it’s not too gory. Gopika Gulwadi's costumes are appealing especially in the marriage sequence. Mandar D Nagaonkar's production design is rich. Priyank Prem Kumar's editing could have been crisper. The film should have been shorter by 15-20 minutes. On the whole, TAISH rests on an interesting storyline and is embellished with some fine performances. But the long length and a weak second half dilutes the impact to a great extent.

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Movie Review: Taish

Friday, 9 October 2020

Movie Review: Ginny Weds Sunny

Many moviegoers might not be familiar with producer Vinod Bachchan. But he has a major contribution to Bollywood as he was the producer of the much loved romcom, TANU WEDS MANU [2011]. He’s now back with another flick with a similar sounding title, GINNY WEDS SUNNY. TANU WEDS MANU worked big time due to the chemistry between the leads, supreme writing and chartbuster music. Does GINNY WEDS SUNNY manage to reach to the level of TANU WEDS MANU? Or does it to fail to entice viewers? Let’s analyse. <img class="aligncenter wp-image-1138341 size-full" title="Movie Review: Ginny Weds Sunny" src="https://ift.tt/2GwR5Wk" alt="Movie Review: Ginny Weds Sunny" width="720" height="450" /> GINNY WEDS SUNNY is the story of a couple amidst loads of confusion and madness. Satnam Sethi aka Sunny (Vikrant Massey) lives with his father Pappi (Rajeev Gupta), mother Rita (Menka Kurup) and sister Nimmi (Mazel Vyas) in Delhi. Sunny works with his father in their family hardware store. Sunny, however, loves cooking and wants to start a restaurant named ‘Tilak Nagar Tandoori Nights’. Pappi makes it clear that he’ll agree to finance Sunny’s dreams only after he gets married. Sunny is interested in a girl named Sanya (Venus Singh) but she backs off when she finds out that he wants to marry her only to fulfil his restaurant dream. In the same neighbourhood lives Shobha Juneja (Ayesha Raza), a matchmaker. Sadly, she is not able to find a match for her own daughter, Simran aka Ginny (Yami Gautam). Ginny is against arranged marriage and wants to fall in love before getting hitched. Sunny has had a crush on Ginny since they were in school. When Pappi asks Shobha to find a match for Sunny, she decides to hook him up with Ginny. Sunny is more than ready, obviously. Shobha then guides him on how to win her heart. Sunny gets going but one day realizes that Ginny is still friends with Nishant Rathee (Suhail Nayyar). Both had broken up 1 ½ years ago but are still quite close and confused about their status. Sunny gets disheartened but Shobha tells him to keep trying. Slowly, Ginny warms up to Sunny and even invites him to join her and her friends for a trip to Mussoorie. This trip brings Ginny and Sunny even closer. There comes a moment where they are about to get intimate, with Ginny even almost agreeing to marry Sunny. Sadly, this is when Nishant lands up. He proposes marriage to Ginny. In shock, Ginny fails to utter a word and ends up wearing the ring which Nishant offers her. Sunny gets the shock of his life. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Navjot Gulati and Sumit Arora's story is routine. But the Navjot Gulati and Sumit Arora's screenplay is very entertaining. The writers have tried their best to add some novel moments throughout the narrative to keep the interest going. This is no easy task especially when the basic plot has been beaten to death. Hence, the writers surely deserve kudos for managing to do so much with the characters and plot points so that audiences don’t get a been-there-done-that feeling. Having said that, a few sequences still turn out to be predictable. The gurudwara episode, though moving, is something that audiences would anticipate from a mile away. The same goes for some of the developments in the climax. Navjot Gulati and Sumit Arora's dialogues are hilarious, clean and very witty and add to the entertainment quotient. Puneet Khanna’s direction is simple and uncomplicated. The first-time director handles a lot of scenes with panache. The pace of the film is neither too fast nor too slow and the way Ginny and Sunny fall for each other seems very organic. Just like the writers, even he tries to incorporate novel touches to the narrative. One of the most interesting bits in this regard is how even the third wheel character of Nishant also gets footage in the sad song in the second half! On the flipside, the 125 minute long film could have been shorter by 5 or 10 minutes especially in the second half. A few cinematic liberties are hard to digest. For instance, it’s bewildering that a smart girl like Ginny never realized even for a moment that Sunny didn’t coincidentally ended up meeting her everywhere and that it was all planned. Secondly, the manner in which Sunny takes her out for one full day, a day before her wedding with Neha Gulati (Isha V Talwar), was strange, especially since we don’t see anyone from Neha’s side asking about his whereabouts at all. <img class="aligncenter wp-image-1138342 size-full" title="Movie Review: Ginny Weds Sunny" src="https://ift.tt/36NCe4c" alt="Movie Review: Ginny Weds Sunny" width="720" height="450" /> GINNY WEDS SUNNY begins on a very fine note and immediately introduces the characters with all their flaws, qualities and challenges. Ginny’s entry scene particularly is funny. What’s interesting is that not just the leads but even the supporting characters contribute to the film’s entertainment quotient. This is particularly in the case of Pappi and Shobha and the dynamic they share. The scenes of Shobha turning ‘love guru’ for Sunny make for a great watch. The Mussoorie episode is sweet. The scene where Nishant proposes Ginny is dramatic, and probably would have been the film’s interval point had it released in cinemas. Post-interval, the film drops a bit and also the humour lessens. However, a few scenes stand out like the drama at Ginny’s house where all her love interests land up, and also the gurudwara episode. The finale has some nail-biting moments and adds to the fun. Vikrant Massey gives a superb performance. The actor has mostly been a part of niche films or has been relegated to supporting parts in mainstream films. This is his first commercial film as a lead hero and he does a very good job. His comic timing and his attempts to not go overboard are very praiseworthy. Yami Gautam, after BALA [2019], gives yet another memorable performance. Here, her character is not over-the-top and she performs accordingly. She is riveting in a few scenes, especially in the pre-climax and climax. Also, special mention should be made of Vikrant and Yami’s chemistry. It’s electrifying! Ayesha Raza is in superb form and has a very crucial part in the film. Rajiv Gupta, who recently hammed a lot in VIRGIN BHANUPRIYA [2020], is on another level. His dialogues contribute to the humour. Menka Kurup doesn’t get much scope. Mazel Vyas however leaves a mark. Suhail Nayyar is decent and suits his part to the T. Venus Singh is okay in the cameo. Isha V Talwar is fair. Gurpreet Saini (Sumeet) is funny. The other actors who do well are Sanchita Puri (Prerna), V P Kalra (Piles uncle in metro), Munish Dev Mohan (Neha's father) and Deepak Chaddha (Neha's uncle). Music is decent. 'Sawan Mei Lag Gayi Aag' works big time and surprisingly, it looks like a promotional track but is actually a part of the film’s narrative. 'Lol' is foot-tapping while 'Rubaru' and 'Phir Chala' are well used in the background. 'Phoonk Phoonk Ke' is well utilized in the film’s pre-climax and finale. Prasad S's background score is in sync with the film’s narrative. Nuthain Nagaraj's cinematography is neat and captures the Delhi, Noida and the metro network well. Ashwini Shrivastav's production design is eye-catching, especially the houses of Ginny and Sunny. Mandira Shukla’s costumes are okay but Amandeep Kaur’s costumes for Yami Gautam are very glamorous and appealing. U&V Media's VFX is average and it could have been better in the hot air balloon sequence. Sandeep Sethy's editing is fine. On the whole, GINNY WEDS SUNNY rests on a routine plot but yet it’s worth watching thanks to its well-written screenplay and electrifying chemistry of Vikrant Massey and Yami Gautam. Moreover, it’s a clean entertainer, devoid of any vulgarity and abuses, and hence is an ideal family entertainer.

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Movie Review: Ginny Weds Sunny

Friday, 2 October 2020

Movie Review: Khaali Peeli

The ‘Mumbaiya’ lingo became famous thanks to films like RANGEELA, MUNNA BHAI SERIES etc. and also the various films based on the Underworld. The lingo has a charm of its own and sadly, very few films have been made of late that are based on the characters mouthing this dialect. KHAALI PEELI attempts to be an exception in this regard. It’s a special film as it marks the debut of SULTAN [2016] and TIGER ZINDA HAI [2017] director Ali Abbas Zafar as producer. The chemistry of the lead actors – Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday – has also got noticed. So does KHAALI PEELI manage to entertain? Or does it fail to entice? Let’s analyse. <img class="aligncenter wp-image-1136486 size-full" title="Movie Review: Khaali Peeli" src="https://ift.tt/2GmaOHQ" alt="Movie Review: Khaali Peeli" width="720" height="450" /> KHAALI PEELI is the story of a boy and girl on a crazy night-time adventure. Blackie (Ishaan Khatter) is a cabbie in Mumbai who drives the famous black-and-yellow taxi, also popularly known as kaali-peeli cab. One night, a strike of the taxi drivers is going on. Blackie however comes across a pregnant lady on her way to the hospital. He agrees to take her and her hubby to the hospital in return for Rs. 5,000. While he is on the way, some cabbies catch him red-handed. They inform the union leader (Ashish Varang) who along with some taxi drivers confront him. While trying to save himself from their attacks, he accidentally ends up stabbing one of them. He decides to run away from the city in his cab for a few days till the matter cools down. This is when he bumps into Pooja (Ananya Panday). She stays in a brothel run by Yousuf Chikna (Jaideep Ahlawat) since she was a child. It was at a very young age that one of Yousuf’s customers, Choksi Seth (Swanand Kirkire) had fallen for her and had decided to marry her when she grows up. She, however, is not at all interested in him. She hence steals a lot of money and jewellery from Yousuf and escapes. That’s when she comes across Blackie. Blackie decides to drop her somewhere outside the city and Pooja decides to pay him generously in return. Blackie realizes she has a lot of money in her bag. He has always desired to be rich and hence, he devises a plan to hand her over to Yusuf’s goons. In return, Yousuf’s goon Mangya (Suyash Tilak) promises that he can keep the bag that Pooja stole and he would additionally pay him the same amount as well. The plan is put in motion and Mangya manages to get hold of Pooja. But at that very moment, Blackie realizes that Pooja is the girl who was her first love. What happens next forms the rest of the film. Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani's story rests on a wafer-thin plot. Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani's screenplay saves the film to an extent from becoming a dated fare. However, the script loses steam in the second half as nothing exciting happens after a point. Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani's dialogues (additional dialogues by Suraj Gianani) are funny and laced with some smart, tapori-style one-liners. Maqbool Khan's direction is stylised and neat and he tries his best to turn the ordinary script into a watchable fare. And he succeeds to do so in the first half. But how much can the direction help when the content is just not exciting enough? Moreover, there are too many cinematic liberties in the film. Initially, one won’t mind but later, it becomes difficult to digest. And although the film is essentially a masala entertainer, it has a bit of a dark setting. This might go against the film’s target audience. KHAALI PEELI’s first half is quite entertaining, despite absence of logic. The trademark masala film stamp is visible in few scenes, especially the way Blackie turns from a kid to an adult. The flashback portions keep the interest going and also the fun conversations between Blackie and Pooja. The intermission point is dramatic. The second half is shorter but this is where the film really slips. The back-and-forth narrative gets too much after a point. The track of Inspector Bhim (Satish Kaushik), though funny, is forcefully inserted in the film. The finale is nothing special and is instead long drawn and predictable. Ananya Panday on dealing with TROLLS, her Mom’s message, Khaali Peeli, Ishaan & Karan Johar <iframe id="jwiframe" class="playerFrame" src="https://ift.tt/2HQGLso" width="800" height="340" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Talking of performances, Ishaan Khatter is pretty confident. He looks every inch a streetsmart Mumbaikar and he also adds to the film’s entertainment quotient. Ananya Panday looks stunning and does much better than her previous two films. She shows promise and looks convincing in her action scenes as well. Jaideep Ahlawat is decent and is letdown by the script. Swanand Kirkire is strictly okay and his track doesn’t reach a logical conclusion. Suyash Tilak is fair. Same goes for Zakir Hussain (Inspector Tavde). Satish Kaushik’s comic timing is spot-on but the character is added in the film just for the heck of it. Vedant Desai (young Blackie) and Deshna Duggad (young Pooja) do very well. Ashish Varang, Annup Sonii (Blackie’s father Ravi), Vaisshalee Thakkar (Khala) and Kasturi Banerjee (dancer) are decent. Vishal-Shekhar's music is very disappointing. The film ought to have a chartbuster. 'Duniya Sharma Jayegi' is okay. 'Shana Dil' is played in the background and is forgettable. 'Tehas Nehas' is forced but is well-choreographed. Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara's background score is much better. Adil Afsar's cinematography is stylish in some scenes. But the visuals should have been brighter. Parvez Shaikh's action makes for a nice watch. Natascha Charak and Nikita Mohanty's costumes are glamorous, especially the ones worn by Ananya Panday. Durgaprasad Mahapatra's production design is realistic. Rameshwar S Bhagat's editing could have been slicker, especially in the second half. On the whole, KHAALI PEELI rests on a wafer-thin plot and is riddled with a lot of cinematic liberties, thus diluting the impact. Moreover, the decision to release the film on a pay-per-view model, that too at an exorbitant price, might go against the film.

from Movie Review | Bollywood Movie Reviews | Latest Hindi Movies Reviews - Bollywood Hungama https://ift.tt/33ox4ti