Bhediya #picksandpiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews

#picksandpiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews Film: #Bhediya #MaddockFilms #UniversalCommunications #DineshVijan #Jiocinemas Cast: #AbhishekBanerjee #VarunDhawan #PaalinKabak #DeepakDobriyal #KritiSanon #SharadKelkar #SaurabhShukla Director: #AmarKaushik Rating: * * ½ Runtime: 156 mins

This film, a #creaturecomedy may not give you a howling good time but it is fairly entertaining nevertheless. While the use of creature horror films like #JaaniDushman and #Junoon help shore up the believability of the werewolf folklore, far too many questionable set-ups squeeze chunks out of the overall enjoyment here. The human-to-creature transforms (CGI post-production work) are fairly believable. Bhaskar, begins by setting out to destroy virgin forests of #ArunachalPradesh and then (after the werewolf bites a chunk out of his butt cheek), on sight of the full moon, gets transformed into a completely contradictory werewolf - setting out to right the wrong that he himself has done. There’s no explanation why he leaves some dead while some survive and there’s also no explanation why the ones that survive don’t turn into werewolves themselves. The skittish vet Anika (Kriti Sanon) is an ill-defined role. Though Varun Dhavan has done well to be supremely assured and voice confident in his human and creature avatars but it’s #AbhishekBanerjee who steals the show by playing the quip-happy cousin whose dry sarcasm brings on the smiles in every scene he is in. #DeepakDobriyal adds weight to the humourous bits too. The toilet humor sequence here is in extremely bad taste and should have been left out altogether. The songs are decent and the cinematography makes Arunachal Pradesh look like a must-visit touristy destination. A tighter script and edit could have made this film a winner all the way. Nevertheless, this movie does have a heart. It talks about ‘othering’ of our own brethren based on geography and looks, brings to the fore the issue of wanton environment destruction in the name of development, and even sheds some light on the man-animal conflict. Watch out for the post-credit sequence… 

Drishyam 2 #Hindi #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Drishyam2 (#HindiRemake) #Tseries Cast: #AjayDevgn #ShriyaSaran #Tabu #AkshayeKhanna #RajatKapoor #IshitaDutta #KamleshSawant Director: #AbhishekPathak Rating: * * * Runtime: 145 minutes #UniversalCommunications

Like in #JeethuJoseph’s original #Malayalam sequel, this official Hindi remake also takes the story forward seven years later. Vijay Salgaocar and family have managed to stay out of the Police radar following the disappearance of top-cop Meera Deshpande’s son. Her friend/batchmate ( Akshay Khanna) is now the new cop in town and has reopened the investigation- putting the Salgoacar family back in the police crosshairs. Debutant director Abhishek Pathak tries to make this experience slightly different from the original by shuffling some scenes around and unnecessarily extending some – but the result is not as engaging and gripping as the original. It’s serviceable though. Dialogues have some paisa vasool moments, narrative has sufficient tension garnered from the manner in which the story plays out and performances are suitably gritty. Though the nuts and bolts of this thriller don’t quite fit in well enough, the central idea that the man of the house will go to any lengths to protect his family, makes this a winning one. Right or wrong, burden of guilt, living life under the canopy of fear, forgiveness in the face of unbearable loss – the audience is made an intimate party to the dilemma that the Salgoacar and Deshpande families grapple with. The escape route designed to keep Vijay out of jail is not a solid one but the audience (already invested in his travails and rooting for him) will be pleased enough that there’s a loophole to aid him.

Mukhbir The Story of A Spy, #OTTSeriesReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #picksandpiques

OTT series Review/ Zee5 Johnson Thomas Jump-happy and not so thrilling espionage story Title: Mukhbir: The Story of A Spy 8 episodes/35-45 mins each Cast: Prakash Raj, Adil Hussain, Zain Khan Durrani, Barkha Bisht, Zoya Afroz, Harsh Chhaya, Satyadeep Mishra, Dilip Shankar, Atul Kumar, Karan Oberoi, Sushil Pandey, Suneel Shanbag, Ujjwal Chopra, Nadeem Khan, Veena Mehta, Natasha Sinha, Bimal Oberoi, Karan Mehat, Sushil Dahiya, Shriram Jog, Tanushka Vishe, Ashwin Dhar, Jaya Swaminathan, Vijay Kashyap, Avantika Akerkar, Ikhlaque Khan, Elisha Mayor DOP: Dimo Popov/Jay Bhansali Screenplay: Arshad Syyed Dailogues/Lyrics: Vaibhav Modi Editor: Kunal Walve Series by : Shivam Nair Victor Tango Entertainment Original Background score: Abhishek Nailwal Story inspired by : Mission To Pakistan by Maloy Krishna Dhar Directors: Shivam Nair, Jayprad Desai Rating: * * ½ Directed by Shivam Nair and Jayprad Desai, ‘Mukhbir – The Story of a Spy’ is inspired by the book ‘Mission To Pakistan’ by Maloy Krishna Dhar - a story about an Indian secret agent in Pakistan rising to the occasion at a time when India was facing twin pronged attacks from China and Pakistan. Going by what happens on screen here, the story feels more fictional than real-reenacted. Frankly, this sort of story is well liked by those brimming with faux-patriotic fervor and the treatment basically caters to that demographic target group.

The casting choice of the lead actor Zain Khan Durrani to essay the role of a covert operative is the most ruinous here… because throughout the narrative he is busy calling attention to himself with his impressive looks, physique and overwhelming charm becoming the focus of every scene. An ordinary thief with the gift of the gab, he is speedily recruited and deployed as a spy for the Indian side with just 1 month of unsubstantial training. He enters Pakistan with the ISI, army operatives and cops always on his heels but the guy, so confident of his personality is not interested in doing anything by employing stealth or nuance. The way the character is written and performed, he is more of a bad joke and an insult to spy-craft as we know it. The rest of the casting is not bad though. Most of the other actors perform with the subtlety expected of them. Barkha Bisht lends melancholia to her role of a fading courtesan cum ghazal artist, Prakash Raj, Adil Hussain, Harsh Chhaya shore up the espionage operations with their rock solid performances. The camera adores Zain and he comes across as quite magnetic on screen. But Zain who is presented as a little too showy, doesn’t work out as a neat fit for the lead role. That’s not to say that Zain isn’t a good actor. There are moments in this series where he manages to catch you unawares with his emoting abilities. Unfortunately it’s just not presented consistently enough for believability. The scene construction is extremely sloppy. There are plenty of situations where the spy is required to blend in with the environment, move around stealthily, employ dexterity and keep a sharp eye and ear out for anything that could possibly hamper his job – but our Spy is like an elephant stomping around to do his business and he gets away with it too. That feels extremely ridiculous if you ask me. Also, despite being under watch from multiple Govt. agencies, the guy still gets away through no talent of his own. It’s obvious that the storyline wills it so. The period setting, the title credit sequence, the signature music and fairly consistent tone bordering on intrigue are of a high order. So are the sepia tinged saturated cinematography, the production design and locations - which lend strength to the period being highlighted here. Mukhbir, despite its many faults, is serviceable but it’s just not thrilling enough for a spy story! Johnsont307@gmail.com

Kartoot #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Kartoot #KaushalyaFilms #AnupJalotaFilms Cast: #MadalsaSharma #SahilKohli #PiyushRanade #AnupJalota #DhirajRai #HimaniShivpuri #ShubhangiLatkar #UtkarshaNaik #PragyaMishra Director: #AnilDutt Music: #Anisadh Rating: * * Runtime: 113 mins

A beautiful young girl from a poor family is lured into marriage and prostitution by a city slicker claiming to be a businessman. The girl, now a wife doesn’t put up much resistance but after years of being under his influence finds a way to turn the tables on him. Supposedly inspired by a true life event, this sort of story is old hat. The scripting, though it had noble intent, seemed rather strip-happy and piecemeal. It’s a woman-oriented film and as such gives Madalsa Sharma scope enough to act but she prefers to look pretty and sweet rather than get down and dirty. Television-style performances, sloppy editing, and copious melodrama affect the audience experience. The plotting and treatment don’t allow for much logic or continuity to set in. The music and songs are different but not exactly hummable. Director Anil Dutt has certainly struggled with production issues due to the pandemic and then, later on, release hiccups and this shows up in the film. There’s not much take-home here.

Thai Massage #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

Thai Massage #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Thai Massage #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #ThaiMassage #ReliancePictures #ImtiazAli Cast: #GajrajRao #DivyenduSharma #AlinaZasobina #AnilCharanjeett #VibhaChibber Director: #MangeshHadawale Rating: * * #RukeshHandaPR Runtime: 122 mins

Neither dramatic nor humorous, this moralistic tale about a small-town resident, an aging typing artist going on a secret trip to Thailand for sex (egged on by village idiots and tempted by a naked foreign babe on a calling card), plays out in rather unbelievable fashion. Even a ‘#Shaukeen’ with three lascivious old men salivating over a young nubile #RatiAgnihotri, had much more humor to offer – this one doesn’t move beyond the impractical, obvious, tedious, and boring. Gajraj Rao may have made some progression in career choices by moving from the role of a 50-plus middle-class man becoming a father to an unexpected baby (#BadhaiHo) to a 60-plus sexually deprived man wanting to make sure his sex organs are all on the go – but it certainly doesn’t do him any good as an actor. And to think that a beautiful blonde Russian-India-lover is just waiting in Thailand to give him pity sex is a hoot if you ask me. Don’t know where these filmmakers get their regressive, antiquated, and utterly banal ideas from?

Banaras #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Banaras (Kannada - also releasing in dubbed Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu versions) Cast: #ZaidKhan #SonalMonteiro #SujayShastry #AchyuthKumar #BhargavPolara #Devaraj #BarkatAli Director/Writer/Choreography: #Jayathirtha. Runtime: 140 mins Rating: * * Producer: #TilakrajBallal #NKProduction Cinematography: #AdvaithaGurumurthy. Editor: #KMPrakash #1HMedia #AltairMedia

A film that plays around with time must have a solid foundation to make that challenging concept believable but this one doesn’t. The overly long runtime makes the ensuing melee of multiple plots heading in different directions (without any coherence or cohesion), rather off-putting. There’s also only so much scientific mumbo-jumbo that an audience can suffer through. This one takes the cake! Trying to fit in a ‘Run Lola Run’ construct into a prank-powered romance set in the city of piety, Banaras, Director Jayatirtha makes a show of it but it’s more of a showreel for his technical skills and less of a narrative with a logical flow and visual lucidity. The editing could have been sharper, the cinematography less interested in showcasing Banaras as a religious tourism destination, and the scripting could have been less hallucinatory. A couple of songs have great melodies but the dubbed lyrics don’t fit in well. Zaid Khan does his best to shore up this film with his supple, earnest performance but it’s all to no avail. Those brave enough to watch this film might need some opioid help to get through it!

Double XL #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #DoubleXL #TSeries Cast: #SonakshiSinha #HumaQureshi #ZaheerIqbal #MahatRaghavendra #JimmyShergill #ShobhaKhote #KanwaljeetSingh #DollySingh Director: #SatramRamani Runtime: 130 mins Rating: * * ½ #CommuniquePR Producers: #BhushanKumar #KrishnaKumar #VipulDShah #AshwinVarde #SaqibSaleem #HumaQureshi #MudassarAziz Co-producer: #ShivChanana

Celebrating Corpulence in hollow fashion, this dramedy has good performances and a fairly ok feel-good factor to interest the audience. The script, detailing the facile journey of two plus-sized, 30-something women - Rajshree Trivedi from Meerut and Saira Khanna from New Delhi, is rather contrived with a pan-India marketing angle to it. So the pair-up of the wannabe sportscaster with a fledging south-Indian cameraman appears forced and so does the pairing of the Kashmiri line producer settled in London with that of a north Indian wannabe fashion designer. Instead of them navigating society's beauty standards we see them battling their own confused perceptions of it. Body image, body shaming, and repercussions are toyed with. There’s nothing concrete to celebrate. We get more muddling and vacuous sermons on that ‘plus size’ aspect and very little clarity. There’s so much bling and blah in the fashion choices that it hurts your eyes. The costume lacks aesthetic value and the color choices are so garish that even a fledging fashion designer would hide their head in shame. The script doesn’t go beyond the surface – just flits around trying to make good when there’s nothing substantial (other than the weighty heroines), to make it worthwhile. The two heroines appear to be at ease with each other and their camaraderie makes it all bearable. The mash-up of multi-lingual songs and music though makes the experience fairly ameliorating.

Kantara #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Kantara Cast: #RishabShetty #Kishore #AchyuthKumar #SapthamiGowda #PramodShetty Director: #RishabShetty #HombaleFilms #ViayKirgandur #SpicePR Rating: * * ½

The film in the news for its remarkable Box-office run, #Kantara is a typically regressive south offering showcasing molestation as a pathway to love/romance in addition to many other old-fashioned, long disposed formulaic tropes – including a shrieky mother who looks as young(or old) as the portly hero. The natural tribal rights versus forest laws confrontation is rather underdeveloped and the main plot serves merely as a vehicle to venerate yet another God from the Hindu pantheon. The prologue about an unhappy King temporarily renouncing his throne in search of happiness is an obvious lift from ancient texts. The rowdy hero who later on gains redemption is not an arc that is validated by a believable storyline. This is a rather crudely crafted film that is jumbled up with a slew of half-baked subplots and nowhere to go. Bhootha Kola, a traditional dance for the deity and the hero racing buffaloes, are part of the attractions here. The climax is filmed in a rousing manner and the background score and chant-happy music provides the gravitational energy that is possibly drawing the crowds in.