Kafas #PicksAndPiques #OTTseriesReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #OTTseriesReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Title: #Kafas Cast: #MonaSingh #SharmanJoshi #VivanBhatena #MikhailGandhi #TeaswiSinghAlhawat #ZarinaWahab #MonaVasu #PreethiJhangiani Director: #SahilSangha Writer: #KaranSharma Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 6 episodes/ 35-45 mins each #Sonyliv #MoesArt #ApplauseEntertainment #Madiba #everyone Everyone @everyone

An official adaptation of the British series #DarkMoney, This fictional series tackles the social problem of pedophilia within the film fraternity. A film-obsessed family begins to implode when their young teen son, a wannabe actor who bags a leading role in a big production opposite a superstar confesses to having been a victim of sexual misconduct perpetrated by the superstar. The treatment is rather sensational and doesn’t allow for a rehabilitative angle. The idea is to shock and awe the audience by hyping melodramatic turns and avaricious twists. The actors do a good job but the narrative, though tense and engaging, doesn’t spring any surprises.

Tiku weds Sheru #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #TikuWedsSheru #AmazonPrime #ManikarnikaFilms Cast: #NawazuddinSiddiqui #AvneetKaur #Rahoul #SureshVishwakarma #VipinSharma #MukeshSBhatt #GhanshyamGarg #ZakirHussain #MukeshTyagi Director/Writer: #SaiKabir Co-Writer: #AmitTiwariAnand @everyone #everyone Rating: * * Runtime: 112 mins

A bad plot makes for a thankless movie. This #KanganaRanaut production misses the bearable mark by a huge margin. Fashioned as a #TanuWedsManu sort of rom-com, this film has little to laugh about. The script is ridiculous…makes humans look stupid. Imagine a bride’s family falling for empty boasts of a junior artist cum pimp? Well, that’s what happens here. The only good thing about this movie is its lead couple and the fairly decent background score. The rest is pure drivel. Both Nawazuddin and Instagrammer Avneet do a bang-on job but the really horrifying finale sequence having Nawazuddin in drag and the gaudy filmy costumes is something that could give you nightmares.

Adipurush #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Adipurush Cast: #Prabhas #KritiSanon #SaifAliKhan #SunnySingh #SonalChauhan #KrishnaMenon #VatsalSheth #TejaswiniPandit #DevduttNage Director: #OmRaut Rating: * * Runtime: 180 mins @everyone #everyone #Tseries #CommuniquePR

The marketing was passionate even when the trailers were disappointing. So the expectations were not very high, to begin with. A pathetic, disappointing, rather tame, inert, and overly toonish enactment of the Ramayana myth, this Rs 700 crore, T-Series produced Om Raut directorial fails to evoke piety or adrenaline rushes. The ineffectual and poorly created VFX/CGI-laden narrative, riven with silly-sounding dialogue, ridiculous action, dark unappealing cinematography, unremitting sets/production design, and cardboard cutout performances, fails to entice the viewer even when the dramatics moves to the all-out war that Raghav/Ram ( in all-out #Bahubali form) wages against Lankesh/Ravana in order to rescue Janaki/Sita. If you ask me Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Sunny Singh as Shesh/Laxman are miscast. Saif tries hard to insert some Machiavelli in his performance but even he doesn’t fit the mold that we’ve all grown up on. Bollywood’s adulterated version of one of the most epic tales in Indian mythology and literature misses out on the heart and soul of the epic by a mile! We’d all be better off reading #AmarChitraKatha’s comic book version instead of watching this monstrously clueless cinema adaptation.

Sarvam Shakthi Mayam #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #IndianOTTSeriesReview

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #IndianOTTSeriesReview #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Title: #SarvamShakthiMayam Cast: #PriyaMani #SanjaySuri #SamirSoni #AshleshaThakur #Subbaraju #AbhaySimhaReddy #KushitaKalappu Director: #PradeepMaddali Creator: #BVSRavi Creative Consultant: #HemantMadhukar Producer: #KaumudiKNemani #Ankit #VijayChada Rating: * * * Runtime: 10 Episodes /29-35 mins each #Zee5 #ThinkinkCorporation #ChaseIndia #everyone @everyone

A failed businessman and his dysfunctional family embark on a self-discovering journey across India and Sri Lanka visiting the 18 Maha Shakti Peeths believed to be created by Lord Shiva. En route they meet up with an agnostic, a successful author from America, taking a similar route, in his efforts to prove that God does not exist.There’s no prizes for guessing what happens along the way. The series in docu-drama format is basically for those who ‘believe.’ The storyline is obviously contrived but the performances lend validity to the drama and the cinematography lends divinity to the experience. The costumes appear to be comfort-picks and the background score uses a repetitive chant to signify the rigor and divine calling involved in this religious yatra through the many different regions and religious sanctums. The narrative driven by rituals and learning from religious Hindu texts does well to keep you engaged and interested.

Bloody Daddy #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #BloodyDaddy Cast: #ShahidKapoor #RonitRoy #RajeevKhandelwal #VivanBhatena #DianaPenty #SanjayKapoor #AnkurBhatia #ZeishanQadri #MukeshSBhatt #SartaajKakkar Writer/Director: #AliAbbasZafar Co-Writer: #AdityaBasu Rating: * * * Runtime: 119 mins #Jiocinemas #JioStudios #PRPundit @everyone #everyone #AAZFilms #OffsideEntertainment

This film, an official remake of French film #NuitBlanche, narrates an episode set just after the lockdown, in Delhi’s Connaught Circle. It looks like a robbery and leads to the kidnapping of a young boy - the son of one of the cops involved in the stealing of Rs.50 crore worth of drugs. Then comes the clinker. The top line of the ACB are all in it and have ties with Sikander, a hotelier cum drug supplier. Fast-paced, funny, edgy, brutal, and bloody, this action-packed ‘kill me if you can’ run-a-round in a 5-star hotel has all the ingredients of an all-out entertainer and manages to give you an adrenaline rush even when it begins to falter and come apart in the last 20 odd minutes. A high body count, incrementally challenging, fiery action, a set-up that mimics ‘John Wick’ but doesn’t have the gumption or tech savviness to go all the way, fairly acute performances, smart editing, and camerawork that enhances the bloody nature of this thriller. It’s a worthy watch!

Asur 2 The Rise Of The Dark Side #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #IndianOTTSeriesReview

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #IndianOTTSeriesReview Title: #Asur2TheRiseOfTheDarkSide Cast: #ArshadWarsi #AnupriyaGoenka #BarunSobti #VisheshBansal #RiddhiDogra #MeiyangChang #BarkhaBisht #AmeyWagh #GauravArora #AbhishekChauhan #PawanChopra #AdithiKalkunte #AtharvaVishwakarma #KulpreetYadav Director: #OniSen Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 8 eps/48- 60 mins each Writers: #AbhishekGarg #AbhijeetKhuman #GauravShukla #PranayPatwardhan #NirenBhatt Producers: #BhaveshMandalia #SejalShah #GauravShukla Editor: #CharuTakkar #ShadabKhan DoP: #SayakBhattacharya #BombayFablesMotionPictures #RelianceEntertainment #PRPundit #JioCinema #JioStudios #everyone @everyone

This second season of the truly creative indigenous thriller merging Indian mysticism with High-tech criminality has a strong enough lure for an audience already heady with the sinister twists, turns, brutality, and violence of the well-loved first season. This season tries to up the ante a bit with varied layers and tech spiffs - but random use of terms like artificial intelligence, software, and hacking without showcasing detail, sounds frivolous and unsubstantiated. The storytelling is also fractious, flitting from one point to another without any detailing or development. The characters are rigid within their previous bounds. There’s not much development there either. The myth-making is also pretty much dubious. Expecting our fallen heroes Dhananjay Rajpoot and Nikhil Nair to use forensic science to flush out the returning, formidable and weaponised Shubh is a challenge that seems rather defeatist!

MUMBAIKAR #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Title: #Mumbaikar Cast: #RanvirShorey #BrijendraKala #SachinKhedekar #HriduHardon #SanjayMishra #VikrantMassey #TanyaManiktala #VijaySethupathi Director: #SantoshSivan Rating: * * Runtime: 122 mins #HRPictures #ColorsCineplex #jiostudios #riyashibuproduction #PRPundit #everyone @everyone #JioCinema

JioCinema’s Mumbaikar is an official remake of Lokesh Kanagaraj's far superior #Maanagaram (2017). Don’t know why they bothered to do that because the original film is already available in the Hindi dubbed version. This film about intertwining lives in a megapolis and a kidnapping gone horribly wrong, is dull, boring, and terribly soulless. Doesn’t seem like a Santosh Sivan film at all. The film also marks the Bollywood debut of Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi but his role and performance are such that he is imminently forgettable. Vikrant Massey, Sanjay Mishra, Brijendra Kala, and Ranvir Shorey are wasted in badly conceptualised roles. This is probably Director Santosh Sivan’s most unremarkable work and makes for a tedious and exasperating experience!

Taj 2 Reign Of Revenge #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #IndianOTTseriesReview

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #IndianOTTSeriesReview Title: #Taj2ReignOfRevenge Cast: #NaseeruddinShah #AashimGulati #ZarinaWahab #AditiRaoHydari #Dharmendra #ShubhamKumarMehra #SauraseniMaitra #PadmaDamodaran #SandhyaMridul #DigambarPrasad #RahulBose #AayaamMehta #JianshAgarwal #MitanshLulla #PankajSaraswat #AnushkaLuhar #ShivaniTaksale #MirSarwar Director: #VibhuPuri Rating: * * * Runtime: 8 Episodes / 43-55 mins each #ChaseIndia #ThinkinkPR #ContiloeDigital #everyone @everyone #Zee5 #AbhimanyuSingh #RoopaliKadyan #RonScalpello

The succession drama, a desi ‘Game of Thrones’ based on Mughal reign in India from the time of Akbar, designed to mimic ‘House of the Dragon,’ continues to spew its standard issue rigors of decadence, vendetta, betrayal, lust, murder, mystery, action, and twists and turns that literally confound. The fictionally imagined and historic recants merge so well that it all seems so real. It’s a thrill a minute roller-coaster ride through Princely times where power is the greatest elixir and everyone within the palace walls seeks to have a finger in the pie by hook or by crook. TAJ S2 begins 15 years after S1 ended, and charters Salim’s journey from being exiled to his return and eventual ascent to the coveted throne. The acting is great, Nasseruddin Shah is inimitably tragic as the forlorn King Akbar, Aashim Gulati does well to lend emotive sustenance to Salim/Jehangir and Padma Damodaran, Sandhya Mridul, and Sauraseni Mitra make a meal of their roles with dignity and womanly viles befitting queens. There’s far more intensity here than in season 1, set design, production values, and cinematography are first-rate, editing keeps the story arcs and flow consistent, strong, and momentous and the dialogue manages to make the conversations crisp and succinct.