Happy New Year 2024

Dunki #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Dunki Cast: #ShahRukhKhan #TaapseePannu #VickyKaushal #BomanIrani #VikramKochhar #AnilGrover #JyotiSubhash Director: #RajKumarHirani Rating: * * * Runtime: 160 mins #RajKumarHiraniFilms #SpicePR #everyone @everyone #everybody @everybody @followers #followers #JyotiDeshpande #JioStudios #RedChilliesEntertainment #GauriKhan

An intermittently rib-tickling, emotional roller coaster, this film, typically dripping with melodrama, patriotic fervor, sentiments and underscored by fantasy, directed by Rajkumar Hirani and co-written by #AbhijatJoshi, #RajkumarHirani, and #KanikaDhillon, has a narrative that bemuses with its simplicity and ability to hit on the right tone and momentum and messaging to keep the audience enraptured. Heart-touching performances from Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and great support from the rest of the cast, help keep the interest going even when its stridently make-believe. Discrimination in immigration laws against the poor and uneducated, the world is one family, borders were not meant to be, are some of the themes that Hirani chooses to highlight here. #Pritam’s songs and #AmanPant’s music may not have individual brilliance but it certainly helps augment the mood here.

Chamak #OTTseriesReview #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Title: #Chamak Cast: #ParamvirSinghCheema #MukeshChabbra #IshaTalwar #SuvinderVicky #SiddharthShaw #GippyGrewal #PrinceKanwaljitSingh #ManojPahwa #NavneetNishan #AnkitaGoraya #AniruddhRoy #DhanveerSingh #KunwarGrewal Director: #RohitJugraj Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 6 Episodes/45-60 mins each #OTTSeries #AvianWEPR #SonyLiv #Everyone #Everybody #Followers @followers @everyone @everybody

Chamak is powered by music - folk to Sufi to Punjabi film songs but the helming is such that the thrills are woebegone. Cheema doesn’t have the presence to come anywhere close to the slain folk singer Chamkila (Amar Singh) who was slain along with his wife, during a concert in Punjab. Though claimed as a work of fiction, this series obviously takes it’s inspiration from that incident and Kaala the central character is a singer himself and son of a slain musician. The tone fails to be distinctive, the tempo is slack and there’s no punch in the telling. The songs have meaning and are worthy of a following though!

The Archies #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #OTTFilmReview

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Title: #TheArchies Cast: #AgastyaNanda #KhushiKapoor #SuhanaKhan #AditiDot #LukeKenny #VinayPathak #AliMerchant #KamalSidhu #TaraSharma #VedangSharma #MihirAhuja #YuvrajMenda #KoelPurie #DelnaazIrani #KulpreetYadav Director: #ZoyaAkhtar Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 143 mins #OTTMovie #Netflix #GraphicIndia #TigerBaby #Everyone #Everybody #Followers @followers @everyone @everybody #NikosAndritsakis #ArchieComics

Nostalgia inducing, retro driven US comic book adaptation transposed to a desi anglo-Indian set-up in a 1960’s North Indian Riverdale, this film has little going for it other than the skillful camerawork, art direction, production design and locales. The debutante actors don’t have the performance ease to make this look convincing. The music is peppy but forgettable. Agastya appears to be a chip off the Bachchan block but has a long way to go before he can make it big while Khushi looks a lot like Sridevi and that might be her biggest and only draw so far. Imminently forgettable, bordering on tedious, this one is hard to sit through…

Chaapa Kaata #MarathiFilmReview #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #ChaapaKaata (Heads or Tails) #Marathi Cast: #MakarandAnaspure #TejaswiniLonari #MohanJoshi #ArunNalawade #VijayPatkar #PankajVishnu #ReenaMadhukar #RiturajPhadke #SushrutMankani Director: #SandeepManoharNavare Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 113 mins #SushilkumarAgrawal #UltraEntertainmentPvtLtd #RamKondilkar #everyone #everybody @everyone @everybody #Followers @Followers #BombayBarodaWebTalkies

Typically old fashioned comedy drama about a brother pulling off a con just to get his sister married, this film delivers a fair amount of laughs even though the presentation lacks finesse. The writing is fluid enough even with all the complications that arise from the central conceit. The story may not have anything new to tell but #MakarandAnaspure and #VijayPatkar are in their element delivering laughs through delayed punchlines and effective comedic timing.

Kadak Singh #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReview #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #KadakSingh Cast: #PankajTripathi #SanjanaSanghi #JayaAhsan #ParvathyThiruvothu #PareshPahuja #VarunBuddhadev Director: #AniruddhaRoyChoudhury Rating: * * Runtime: 128 mins #Zee5 #ThinkinkCommunications #AvianWEPR #FirstStepMovies @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody #Followers @followers

A sloppily structured, sluggish mystery thriller, this film fails to appeal because of its messy, rather incoherent narrative choices and stilted uneven performances. The narrative tries to incorporate as many themes as possible including bad parenting, suicide, drug abuse, second chance at relationship etc. and fails to stay focused on the main theme of chit-fund scam operated with the involvement of corrupt Govt employees. Too ‘Kadak’ to make sense!

Kastoori The Musk #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReview #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Kastoori ( #TheMusk) Cast: #SamarthSonawane #ShravanUpalkar #AnilKamble #VaishaliKendale #Jannat #KunalPawar #Jaybhim #VijayShikare Director: #VinodKamble Script/Dialogues: #VinodKamble #VijayKarde Editor: #ShrikantChaudhari Rating: * * * Runtime: 97 mins @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody #Followers @followers #InsightFilms #DrPayalDhoke #AnuragKashyap #NagrajManjule

Set within the prism of caste prejudice this is a heart-touching story of resilience, hope and friendship. This film’s depiction of real dilemmas faced by the young coming from poverty stricken backgrounds, rings true. It’s really tough to watch a kid of 10-11 yrs help his father and mother do post-mortem cuts, burials and manual scavenging/toilet cleaning jobs. This film has endearing performances embedded into its gritty and realistic narrative. Worth watching!

Dhootha #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews #AmazonPrime Film: #Dhootha #DubbedTeluguOriginalSeries #Tamil #Malayalam #Kannada (8 Eps/ 45-60 mins app each) Cast: #NagaChaitanyaAkkineni #ParvathyThiruvothu #PriyaBhavaniShankar #PrachiDesai #TharunBhascker #ChaitanyaGarikipati Director: #VikramKKumar Rating: * * #SharrathMarar #NorthStarEntertainmentPvtLtd #everyone #everybody @everybody @everyone #followers @followers

Paranormal pickings set in incessant rain, this narrative with supernatural elements fueling the so-called suspense feels unrealistic and terribly contrived. There are no nuances here just obvious, clumsy attempts to steamroll the story through unbelievable events. The suspense is mediocre, tension is slack and cinematography led atmospherics fail to sustain mood. Journalist Sagar(#NagaChaitanya) has little to do other than look harried and stressed out. Even lowly cops behave abnormally. It’s all so sloppily orchestrated that the 8 episode series is only likely to heighten your disbelief. There’s really no edge-of-the-seat thrills or excitement to lure you in.

Animal #PIcksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Animal #CommuniquePR Cast: #RanbirKapoor #RashmikaMandana #BobbyDeol #AnilKapoor #ShaktiKapoor #TriptiDimri #PremChopra #SureshOberoi Director: #SandeepReddyVanga Rating: * 1/2 Runtime: 211 mins

@everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody @followers #followers Targeted at the animal in you, this film thrives on excess. The needlessly bloated, thinly constructed vengeance spiel reveres toxic masculinity, regressive representation of women, hyper-sexuality, brutality, pointless sex talk, senseless ridiculous action, fuzzy dialogues, and distasteful and highly offensive gore. It’s an altogether shrill, brash and bestial, totally twisted and unhinged Alpha male eulogy - Unpalatable, incoherent and traumatic to the sensitive viewer. #RanbirKapoor manages to stay unsullied with his rousing performance though!

SamBahadur #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #SamBahadur Cast: #VickyKaushal #SanyaMalhotra #FatimaSanaShaikh #MohdZeeshanAyub #NeerajKabi Director: #MeghanaGulzar Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 150 mins

#HYPEPR #SamBahadur @meghnagulzar @ronnie.screwvala @rsvpmovies @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody @followers #followers This biopic on India’s most decorated war hero, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (1914-2008), is a chequered one, interspersed with war scenes and political maneuvering - highlighting those turbulent years fraught with tension from our immediate neighbors. While the performers (#VickyKaushal especially), do well to look and act like real-life characters, the real essence of the persons they are representing is missing. It’s the writing that is faulty here. To make Maneckshaw look larger-than-life heroic, the screenplay does a deliberate disservice to all the other political stalwarts (Nehru and Indira Gandhi especially) represented here. The music is distracting at best. Archival footage helps keep the narrative tethered to reality but the sketchy representations and episodic leaps don’t allow any fleshing out of the central character through forty years of his life story and achievements. This adulatory romanticised approach fails the real person that Sam Maneckshaw was.