Take this scene from Anaarkali of Aarah that is oft-repeated in underdog artist films. A defeated (Swara Bhaskar) is taken to a dingy recording studio by a well-wisher. The spirited village songstress erupts upon seeing the ‘saand’ proof ambiance. With her accomplice Anwar offering percussion, she belts out the rapturous ‘Mora […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
“Phillauri”… A watchable fantasy tale minus a vital aftertaste!
Anshai Lal‘s Phillauri abounds in shimmer. VFX and otherwise, the frames glitter like those from Sonpari in early 2000s. One that cruises back and forth between 2017 and 1919, the film is essentially a romantic comedy with one of the protagonists being a ghost from the yore. A ghost with a […]
Read Time : 13 Minutes
Sachin Kundalkar’s “Aiyyaa” and myriad faces of Rani Mukerji
Meenakshi is eloquent as she describes the world of her dreams: “Akeli rehti hoon main apne sapnon mein… Meri jo sapnon ki duniya haina… Bikul saaf hai Waha pe khushboo hai Jahan pe sunehri dhoop aati hai…” A nonchalant Maina interrupts,“Matlab foreign location rehta hai ya Indian?” Meenakshi is quick to […]
Read Time : 6 Minutes
‘C/O Saira Banu’ review – Manju Warrier lends gravitas to a powerful tale of love
Debutant director Antony Sony‘s C/O Saira Banu is one of the few mainstream films of our times to get its insight right. Its screenplay (credited to RJ Shaan and Bipin Chandran) is knotted – not for the sake of it. There are issues addressed and a bevy of subtexts throughout. Picture the most obvious […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
“Mantra” wastes an original concept with futile melodrama…
What is fascinating about debutant filmmaker Nicholas Kharkongor’s Mantra is the time frame it choose to be in. From late 90s to mid-2000s, the film traverses the transforming phase of traditional business running more on acquired loyalists than clever sustenance strategies. Set in this post-liberalization phase of India, the film […]
Read Time : 6 Minutes
‘Trapped’ review – opens a raw, new genre for Hindi cinema
No, this isn’t a familiar cinema space for a regular Hindi film viewer. Our protagonist is a clumsy executive called Shaurya (meaning valour). He dreams of a blissful married life with the girl he loves. One with staunch faith in God, it is near symbolic when Shaurya gets trapped in an […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
“Badrinath Ki Dulhania” is plain embarrassing for the times we live in…
An hour into Badrinath Ki Dulhania, we observe a familiar pattern – of other misled social commentary films from Dharma Productions’ factory. In Karan Johar’ shoddiest directorial till date (My Name Is Khan), we could spot tonnes of soppy melodrama executed in an unmistakably dishonest Muslim backdrop. Tarun Mansukhani’s Dostana […]
Read Time : 3 Minutes
‘Logan’ review – Bids Wolverine a resounding good-bye
Marvel’s swansong to X-men series often forgets it’s a superhero film – which is exactly what makes director James Mangold’s Logan a fine piece of cinema. With a voluminous amount of hoopla on how fitting a closure will Marvel’s most accurate (arguable!) comic book embodiment gets, we tend to be […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
‘Ezra’ review – a neat attempt to reimagine horror genre in Malayalam
The history of Jews in Kerala. This has been a subject of scrutiny and fascination to a good number of historians in the state, let alone commoners. Especially for the ones in around Kochi, the famous Mattanchery Synagogue is a monument of intrigue. Director Jay K’s Ezra starring Prithviraj Sukumaran […]