Chitrakut, Dhaakad, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Adrushya Film Movie Reviews #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

  #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

Film: #Chitrakut  Rating: * * *

#MojdehandMojtabaMovies #AkbarArabiyan #MalikPictures

#MajidMajidi #ParullGossainPR

Cast: #AuritraGhosh #VibhoreMayank #ShrutiBapna #KiranSrinivas #NainaTrivedi

Written, Produced & Directed by #HimanshuMalik

Music : #SomeshSaha

Runtime: 130 mins.

A fresh cast, an interesting take on the transient nature of love and bliss (dependent on the baggage we carry forward), this gently persuasive debut effort (screenplay, production and direction) by erstwhile model, actor Himanshu Malik makes for an intriguing, absorbing watch. It’s a well-rounded film with wonderfully etched sensitive ensemble performances, an enticing background score and accomplished helming. Worth a watch definitely!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

Film: #Dhaakad  Rating: * ½  Runtime: 132 mins.

Cast: #KanganaRanaut #ArjunRampal #DivyaDutta #SharibHashmi #SaswathaChatterjee

Director: #RazneeshGhai

#PearlMedia #EbrahimPR

#SohamRockstarEntertainment #SohelMaklai

Kangana Ranaut attempts a #BlackWidow ripoff and its a pitiable sight. The action is pedestrian – mostly spurious and childish (the illusory bang bang kind), the CGI is silly, action choreography is rather dim and the performances downright inept. Attempts by Divya Dutta and Arjun Ramphal to mimic the ‘#NaturalBornKillers’ duo are laughable. The direction and editing is neither slick nor thrilling. At a whopping cost of Rs.100 Crore , this was a film that shouldn’t have been made!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

Film: #BhoolBhulaiyaa2 Rating: * * *   Runtime: 123 mins.

#KarthikAaryan. #Tabu #KiaraAdvani #RajpalYadav #SanjayMishra #RajeshSharma #SiddhantGhegadmal #AshwiniKalsekar

#Tseries #BhushanKumar

Director: #AneesBazmee

#ParagDesaiPR #UniversalCommunications

Typically presented in Anees Bazmee’s trademark comedic style - involving a lot of confusion, puerile comedic movements, a fair bit of horror mystique with fluid editing, smart cinematography, loud peppy music and enjoyable performances supporting it, this unapologetic all-out entertainer is most likely to do a tandav at the Box-office. Both Tabu and Karthik Aaryan are exemplary with their craft while Kiara Advani does well to bask in their reflected glory. 

 #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#LovelyWorldEntertainmentPvtLtd.

Film: #Adrushya #MarathiFilmMovie Rating: * *

Runtime: 141 mins

Cast: #ManjariFadnnis #PushkarJog #AnantJog #UshaNadkarni #AjayKumarSingh #RiteishDeshmukh

Screenplay & Directed: #KabirLal

Producers: #AjayKumarSingh #RekhaSingh

#FriendsInCorporatePR

#PradnyaaSumathiShetty #PremJhangiani

Digital Marketing #AbhijeetAnilEdlabadkar

#MarathiMovie #marathifilm

A wonderful concept comes-a-cropper because of a shoddy narrative and unaccomplished cinematography. The idea that a nondescript everyman feels the need go psychotic and indulge in a killing spree after being rejected by a near blind paramour is a solid one. It’s just unfortunate that it doesn’t get translated on film with any mystery, thrill or enchantment. The treatment is ineffectual. Manjari Fadnnis’ performance is worthy of kudos but the rest of the cast are wooden and ineffective.

 

Runway 34 #BollywoodFilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #PicksAndPiques

 Bollywood Film Movie Documentary Review

Johnson Thomas

Far from gritty or engaging

Film : Runway 34

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Rakul Preet Singh, Angira Dhar, Aakanksha Singh

Director: Ajay Devgn

Rating: * *

Runtime: 148 mins

 

Ajay Devgn’s third attempt at direction ( after U, Me Aur Hum and Shivaay) is a motley collection of verbose sequences and very little crusty action. Designed to be an action cum investigative thriller, this film which is loosely based on a real life near disaster, fails to recreate either the tensions or the thrills associated with high-flying-into-danger scenario.

Inspired by a Jet Airways Doha to Kochi flight 9W 555’s (Boeing 737-800) near disaster experience while flying in turbulent, inclement, stormy weather under zero visibility conditions, neither the script nor the narrative can keep pace with the true-life near death experience. The fictional flight here is from Dubai to Kochi viz. Trivandrum in a much smaller skyline aircraft. While events leading up to the catastrophic circumstances are pinpointed with a great deal of embellishments, there’s very little in the experience to thrill or savour.

Right from the first frame it’s clear that the movie’s main aim is to promote Devgn as a bad boy hero Captain Vikrant Khanna, who has a photographic memory (a fact that is drummed down our throat several times) and a passion for keeping his word. And throughout the runtime we are expected to believe that they are virtues above all else. We know of his oh-so-understanding, loving wife Samaira and daughter already because we are shown him bidding them goodbye and promising his daughter he will be back in time for her birthday. So when the much married Capt. Khanna decides to wear a hoodie to have a night on the tiles pissed drunk with an unknown woman in tow at the Dubai Club, we are expected to be curious but not judgemental. The next thing we know is he is captaining the Skyline flight from Dubai to Kochi in the company of second officer Tanya Albuquerque ( Rakul Preet Singh) whose only instructions ( from the director is my guess) are to look all goggle eyed with admiration at the hero Captain and later on while flying into turbulence – have a meltdown of sorts.    

Though inspired by true events, the film also has similarities to Hollywood films ‘Sully’ and ‘Flight.’ Runway 34 is basically made up of two distinct halves. The pre-interval period is taken up with the near disaster experience while the post interval (120 min) part concentrates on the investigations, the hearing and the media hoopla that surrounds the incident. Amitabh and Boman come into the post-interval part as Chief investigator and Skyline CEO respectively. The script is riddled with many loopholes and the narrative drives itself basically on lofty suppositions and flighty inferences. Several questions are left unanswered and those that find answers don’t have the weight of logic behind them. The director hopes to present the narrative like a sleight of hand but it feels too premeditated and contrived. All the characters are ill defined, they look showy rather than have any substance and the plotting is reduced to showmanship. There’s nothing meaty or rational in this representation and the acting is all about going through the motions without much heft. The VFX of the flight attempting to land while being buffeted by contrary wind and rain turbulence is downright silly and looks extremely tacky. The editing is concerned with setting up stereotypes and the camerawork also glides in the same direction. Certainly not a thrill ride this!

Johnsont307@gmail.com

 

Operation Romeo #HindifilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

 Bollywood Hindi Film Movie Review

Johnson Thomas

Too long drawn to be effective

Film: Operation Romeo

Cast: Bhumika Chawla, Siddhant Gupta, Sharad Kelkar, Vedika Pinto, Kishore Kadam, Navni Parihar

Director: Shashant Shah

Producer: Shital Bhatia, Neeraj Pandey

Writer: Ratheesh Ravi, Arshad Syed

Rating: * * ½

Runtime: 135 mins

 

The official remake of Anuraj Manohar’s Malayalam film, 'Ishq Not A Love Story, '  and inspired by a true event, Shashant Shah’s ‘Operation Romeo’ has an interesting enough plot that turns on its head post interval but the manner in which it is narrated and presented leaves a lot to be desired. The setting is totally off. Using Mumbai as a backdrop for a story that highlights toxic masculinity while pitting it against evolving feminism, the director and writers fail to make it compelling or meaningful. The issue or theme is not the problem here. The fact that in a city like Mumbai where nightlife is a given, chances of being caught in the high beams of an immoral trafficking police for merely being in a back seat of a stationary car and indulging in a mere peck on the cheek comes across as far-fetched and improbable. Or for that matter having the hero and heroine behave so scared out of their wits that they literally melt at their extortionists’ feet is also quite unlikely.

 

The narrative construct is interesting enough. What happens when two young timid lovers play hookey from hostel strictures and family responsibility for a celebratory night out drive through the city streets in order to usher in the young heroine’s 19^th year? Aditya Sharma aka Adi (Siddhant Gupta) to his friends, is an IT professional in love with a college girl Neha (Vedika Pinto) living in a hostel far away from home state Rajasthan. It’s her birthday and after celebrating with co-eds in college she agrees to an all-night drive with Adi. It’s a sweet set-up so far but the tentative romantic byplay between the two isn’t what the modern urban romantic is expecting. So it comes as an anti-climax when the two are caught pecking by two aggressive men Mangesh Jadhav (Sharad Kelkar) and Kiran Mama (Kishore Kadam) donning the moral police garb, overplaying the good-cop-bad-cop routine and scaring the bejesus out of the two young wannabe lovers. The fact that the two men posing as cops extort quite a large sum of money on the pretext of allowing the young lovers a reprieve is not the issue. The event that turns the screenplay around and pushes the victim to become the aggressor, is the presumption that Mangesh has made good an opportunity to be alone with Neha and force some liberties on her while Adi goes with Kiran to the ATM to withdraw money. It reveals Adi’s regressive mind-set and allows for the hitherto timid heroine’s feminist outing.

While the latter part of the second half plays out like a punch line there really isn’t enough teeth in the prelude to that event justifying this kind of a turnaround? Adi, an educated city bred male is not interested in avenging injustice of being held captive in what appears to be an extra-judicial siege by aggressive posers. Adi is far more affected/obsessed with the fact that his naïve, puritan girlfriend might have been sullied by the vile Mangesh’s touch and sets out to make fair game of Mangesh’s wife (Bhumika Chawla) and daughter after a chance revelation about the extortionists’ true colours.

Creative license might be forgiven but loopholes and lethargic scenarios in the script are unforgivable. What might have been a taut, nail-biting revenge thriller ends up being an unnecessarily long-drawn psychological exposure of toxic masculinity. This sort of a story idea with a handful of characters works better in the short feature format. An hour and a few minutes plus would have been ideal to make this film a relentless thrill on the senses. But Shashant allows the story to drag, deliberating recklessly on the minor moments and losing out on the bigger payoff. The treatment is rather unbecoming for a suspenseful revenge thriller. Too much time is wasted establishing motives when everything is pretty much obvious and in-your-face from the moment the two lovers are accosted. The slow-turning events fail to up the suspense quotient so the intended surprises fail to come good. What makes this effort bearable are the actors. Sharad Kelkar is in his element essaying a rare full-length villainous role, Kishore Kadam is effective as his partner in crime while Siddhant and Vedika are earnest and amiable as the young couple in the middle of it all. This film is a well-intentioned attempt at thrills but listless segmenting of intentions doesn’t allow for much purchase or enjoyment!

Johnsot307@gmail.com

 

The Matrix Resurrections #HollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #PicksAndPiques

 Hollywood Film Review

Johnson Thomas

The weakest link in the Matrix universe

Film: The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff, Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Jada Pinkett Smith, Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Director: Lana Wachowski

Rating: * * ½

Runtime: 148 min.

The first “Matrix” movie since 2003's “The Matrix Revolutions,” “The Matrix Resurrections” is a refashioned reboot with Neo (Keanu Reeves), also known as Thomas Anderson, a brilliant video game programmer, sitting in a board room and under pressure from his boss, trying to come up with ideas for a sequel. His game “The Matrix” was a hit and “bullet-time” an awe-inspiring high that every geek character seeks to top. What’s unique about this attempt to expand the franchise is the merging of the real with the imagined.

You now have to buy into a new-fangled idea that frames “The Matrix” as a simulation, created by Thomas Anderson inside the actual Matrix. It’s basically taken from his dreams arising out of taking a blue pill every day. Whatever happened to the eye-opening red pill he took in the original 1999 film, one might ask?

 Well, it’s been several decades since that film so most of those watching this ‘resurrection’ would have either not had the opportunity to watch the original film or even if they have watched it, would have forgotten about it by now. Morpheus though, does kick open a door and tries to offer Neo the red-pill of enlightenment.

Written by Wachowski, David Mitchell, and Aleksandar Hemon, this effort basically involves using familiar characters and plot elements to create a more with-it world of geeky creators who follow the same old beats in an updated universe. It’s convoluted no doubt but there are striking moments too.

Bugs (Jessica Henwick) is a witness to Trinity’s(Carrie Ann Moss) famous telephone escape, so it isn’t long before she too gets her own swooping, bullet-dodging getaway. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II replaces Lawrence Fishburne as Morpheus, but despite looking the part his purpose of existence here is not very clear. Neo and Trinity return, even though “The Matrix Revolutions” had killed them off. But here, they do not know each other. She is named Tiffany and has a husband Chad (Chad Stahelski) and a couple of kids. The attempt here is to rely on nostalgia to showcase Neo and Trinity as fated lovers. But the ploy fails to find traction, can’t turn up the intensity, mystery or give us any strong reason to care. That sense of desperation of yore is completely missing here. Then there’s Neil Patrick Harris as Neo’s therapist helping him make sense of recurring daydreams (basically repeats of events that happened in The Matrix movies) – a sort of break from reality that previously had Thomas attempting to walk off a roof. There’s a new version of the villain, Smith ( Jonathan Groff) and several copies of agents swarming around, impeccably suited, chasing the good guys. Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) from the underground land of Zion and Priyanka Chopra in a rather inconsequential role, though competent, fail to lend weight to their respective missions.

It’s the action and the FX that clearly holds sway here. Vigorous and flashy fast-paced kung-fu mired with acrobatic gunplay, all in varying degrees of slow motion. You get to see that along with dozens of flying extras and hundreds of bullets in the same frame. The grand finale is an action showpiece and as explosive as they come – but the adrenaline rush garnered from it doesn’t stay with you for very long. This is a showy piece of action cinema but there’s no real depth or value to its myriad philosophical or geeky ruminations.

Johnsont307@gmail.com

 

 

#BablooBachelor #BollywoodHindiFilmMovieReview #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

 Bollywood Film Review

Johnson Thomas

An unendurable yarn

Film: Babloo Bachelor

Cast: Sharman Joshi, Pooja Chopra, Tejashri Pradhan, Rajesh Sharma, Leena Prabhu, Neeraj Khetripal, Sumeet Gulati, Beena Bhat, Raju Kher, Late Charu Rohatgi, Sweety Walia Manoj Joshi, Akash Dhabade, Dowly Chawla, Asrani

Director: Agnidev Chatterjee

Rating: * *

Runtime: 130 mins

Yet another tiresome ‘coupling’ story, this one scrapes the bottom in terms of creativity - by showcasing all the patriarchal archetypes and denouncing equity and choice for women where marriage is concerned. This setup is in a small town and about a well-to-do family with a 35 year old Bachelor son Babloo ( Sharman Joshi) who self-admittedly is still a virgin. The parents ( Rajesh Sharma and Leena Prabhu) want him married but Babloo hasn’t found the right match yet. Just after establishing that, the script jumps back and forth  trying to fashion romantic trysts with potential matches Avantika(Pooja Chopra) and Swati (Tejashree Pradhan). While Babloo falls for the more with-it Avantika, he comes across as a dimwit in front of her assured demeanor. Obviously, Avantika rejects him because she is a career woman and would like a husband who has career goals. Swati, the girl who Babloo is wary of because she has already had 5 boyfriends in her past, smokes and is into makebelieve - ends up married to him and promptly runs away to pursue a career in the limelight. So Babloo’s family is back to where they started off- trying to get him hitched once again. The main irritant throughout though is his friend Chote (Sumeet Gulati) who has the uncanny knack of playing bugbear in every scene that he is in.

It’s bad enough that we have an entire film devoted to getting a simpleton like Babloo married and the writing makes the female characters behave like they were puppets on a chain linked to Babloo in the worst possible way. They come back, get rejected and then are brought back forcibly just so that Babloo gets to do the rejecting and the forgiving in order to compensate for his earlier loss of face. Of course, the film does not highlight that but that’s what it felt like.

Saurabh Pandey’s story, screenplay and dialogue could do better with several revisions.  The writing is pithy, the script circles within a bubble and the tone (meant to be comedic) tends to the tedious. There’s no chance of gaining any laughs from this futile exercise in happily ever after. Agnidev Chatterjee’s direction and cinematography lack class. There’s nothing special here. The camerawork feels pasty, the makeup seems overdone and the slapstick is unendurable. The senior actors play out their roles in caricatures and even newcomer Tejashree Pradhan is unable to drum up any enthusiasm. So it’s left to Sharman Joshi and Pooja Chopra to deliver sincere performances and make this monstrosity close to bearable!

Johnsont307@gmail.com

 

#NirmalAnandKiPuppy #PicksAndPiques #BollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas

Bollywood Film Review

Johnson Thomas

A Simplistic Engagement

Film: Nirmal Anand Ki Puppy

Cast: Karanveer Khullar. Gillian Pinto, Khusboo Upadhyay, Salmin Sheriff, Vipin Heero, Beaula Knauff, Safoon Farooque Sayyed, Ainash Khuri, Jyoti Singh, Naina Sarin, Mickey Makhija

Writer/Director: Sandeep Mohan

DOP:  Krish Makhija

Editor: Pavan Bhat

Background Score: Vivek Philip

Sound Design: Ravidev Singh

Rating: * * ½

Runtime: 101 mins.

Skimming the surface of an urban inter-faith marriage for some puffy entertainment, Writer-Director Sandeep Mohan ( Hola Venky, Love Wrinkle Free, Shreelancer) works up a fair bit of amiability with yet another of his micro-budget efforts.

The story involves a pharma company salesman, Nirmal Anand, (Karanveer Khullar) a Hindu by faith, peddling a diabetes preventive going by the name of ‘Diabye.’ He is married to a Christian, a part-time archivist, Sarah( Gillian Pinto). The couple are parents to a young 6 year old girl and are expecting another when it is discovered that Nirmal, despite faithfully consuming ‘Diabye’ regularly, has contracted diabetes. They also have a young pet dog ‘Parie’ – the life of their home, who suddenly passes away under accidental circumstances.  Disillusionment sets in, and around the same time he meets up with an art filmmaker, Kamal ( Salmin Sheriff) who convinces him to play the lead in his unofficial ‘Taxi Driver’ (Hollywood film starring Robert De Niro) spinoff – because of his tall, fair, muscular and intense hero-like looks, it is stressed. Unfortunately those adjectives don’t exactly fit the visual. Nirmal Anand may be tall and fair but that’s where the buck stops. By no means can he be considered muscular or intense. Throughout the movie we only get a one-note expression of malcontent from him. 

  

Kamal suggests that like De Niro, Nirmal should experiment with method acting, drive a taxi around town and get the feel for his role in the film. By that time the couple’s marriage appears to be floundering for seemingly innocuous reasons. If you are wondering about the puppy in the title, it’s not Parie that its alluding to but a romantic act that Nirmal is expected to perform as a coup d’ grace for the film. Sarah is of course, not amused in the least! The couple do get out of joint thereafter and the endplay becomes a matter of adjustment, acceptance and understanding.

The story does feel a little antiquated and the treatment is rather simplistic. The writing is not exactly accomplished here. While the lead character Nirmal has a recognisable growth graph, the role of the wife, Sarah, appears to have been given the short-shrift. But despite that short-coming, Gillian Pinto, as Sarah, manages to shine through the film with a sincere performance. Kushboo, as actress Gulaboo is all glitter and bright, as her role demands. Krish Makhija’s camerawork makes the everyday mundane happenings look interesting and together with a comfortably paced narrative, makes for an amiable engagement. The featured songs by Kunal Kundu, Andrew Sloman and Vipin Heero amongst others, lends an endearing lilt to this slice of life experience.  

Johnsont307@gmail.com

 

#OurFriend #PicksAndPiques #HollywoodEnglishFilmReviews #JohnsonThomas

 Hollywood Film Review

Johnson Thomas

Fairly Worthy Tragic Drama

Film: Our Friend (original Title ‘The Friend’)

Cast: Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel, Gwendoline Christie, Cherry Jones, Ahna O'Reilly, Jake Owen, Denée Benton

Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Rating: * * *

Runtime: 124 min.

A tale of friendship in its purest form, this film based on Matthew Teague’s powerful Esquire essay, ‘The Friend’ works up a strong case for unconditional friendship and empathetic caring. Yes, it does tug at your heartstrings but the sentiments expressed here are not entirely maudlin. It’s a tragic ‘Love Story’ from another angle – where the friend Dane ( Jason Segal) puts his own life on hold  to care for, comfort and support his besties Matt (Casey Affleck) a journalist for The Atlantic and Nicole( Dakota Johnson) an actor , and their two little girls as they battle with Nicole’s terminal cancer.

Teauge’s article gets the full-on script treatment by Brad Ingelsby while lending some context as to why Dane would be willing to make such a huge sacrifice as putting his entire life and relationships, including the one with his girlfriend Kat (Marielle Scott) on hold. The film shows Dane living a sedentary rather boring life and having a persona that’s content to stay in the shadows of his two more aspirational friends. He is also shown going on a lonesome trek in the wilderness and encountering a similarly disheartened and subsequently resurrected soul who encourages him to find meaning in his existence even if it may be through friends. By doing that Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film shows Dane as a well-meaning, rather dispassionate individual who unlike others in the film, appears to have no clear direction.

But it’s eventually Dane’s (Jason Segel) selfless act of moving in and helping them shoulder the burden of a family shattering, impending loss (for several months together), that defines the friendship and the film.

The nonlinear narrative flits back and forth through time expanding on the friendship and its course over several years. While Mathew’s general ineptitude as a homemaker (under duress) and Nicole’s terminal cancer are vital to the telling, they take a backseat to Dane’s compassionate giving. We do get snapshots about the couples’ milestones but we never get to know them as intimately as we get to know Dane. The terminal cancer is portrayed rather romantically and the focus of the narrative is largely on Dane’s depth of feeling for the couple. The intimacy of a family in crisis is portrayed with a rather sterile un-affecting candour and the overblown background music doesn’t allow for deeper involvement. The appealing A list cast do well to keep the entreaty going with a semblance of control. The director also uses admirable restraint in putting this story forward. "It was a routine death in every sense. It was ordinary. Common. The only remarkable element was Dane.” That’s what Teague wrote in his essay ‘The Friend’ and that’s exactly what this film hopes to convey. This may not a full-on tearjerker but it’s theme of friendship above all is more likely to resonate with a pan-Indian audience who value emotions, relationships and sentiment.

Johnsont307@gmail.com