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. BLOCKBUSTER : Taapsee & Bhumi’s HILARIOUS Rapid Fire on Akshay, clash with Housefull 4, women crush SAAND KI AANKH belongs to Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar undoubtedly. It’s important to note that they don’t really look that old but both compensate for it through their performances. Taapsee is at ease and the way she breaks into a sheepish smile when her plan of fooling the men succeeds is damn good. She gives her best however in the last portion of the film. Bhumi too gives in her best and her body language is spot-on. Also her attempts to pick up English will elicit laughs in theatres. In a few scenes though, she gets overpowered by Taapsee. Viineet Kumar is endearing and would be loved in the role of the person who serves as catalyst in the journey of the ‘Revolver Daadis’. From his dialogue delivery to his expressions, he gets his act just right. Prakash Jha is very convincing in what can be called a negative role and one can’t help but hate him from start to finish! Shaad Randhawa makes his presence felt in the second half of the film. Nikhat Khan is lovely as the Maharani and she is a part of some of the most important scenes of the film. Sara Arjun has a great screen presence and does well. Yogendra Singh (young Rattan Singh) is apt. S K Batra (I G Jaidev), Pawan Chopra (Jai Singh Tomar), Kuldeep Sareen (Bhanwar Singh Tomar), Pritha Bakshi (Seema) and Himanshu Sharma (Sachin) also put their best foot forward. Vishal Mishra's music is situational and works well, but only as a part of this film. 'Udta Teetar' is exhilarating. 'Womaniya' appears in the end and is memorable as the real Chandro and Prakashi Tomar also feature in the track. 'Aasmaa' is touching and sung well by Asha Bhosle. 'Baby Gold' and 'Jhunna Jhunna' have catchy tunes and shot appropriately. Advait Nemlekar's background score has the commercial feel. Suddhakar Reddy Yakanti's cinematography is spectacular, especially in the shooting scenes. The camera moves in such a way that it adds to the drama. Also watch out for a scene where all the important movements of characters are captured in that rear-view mirror of a motorbike. Ravi Srivastava's production design is authentic. The fact that it was shot in the village of the Tomar sisters also adds to the authenticity. Rohit Chaturvedi's costumes are straight out of life. Sunil Rodrigues's action gels well with the film. Rajeev K Rastogi's VFX is rich. Devendra Murdeshwar's editing is neat but could have been tighter in the second half. On the whole, SAAND KI AANKH rests on an inspiring story and bravura performances by Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar. At the box office, however, it will need a strong word of mouth to survive competition in the form of HOUSEFULL 4 and MADE IN CHINA.from BollywoodHungama.com Movie Reviews https://ift.tt/2P2khGe
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.