Ajay Wardhan #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #AjayWardhan Cast: #RomilChoudhary #PihuSharna #KshitiPatwardhan #AbhimanyuAryan #YogeshVatts Director: #PragatiAgarwal #PrasidhEklavayaEntertainment @everyone #AltairMedia Runtime: 96 mins Rating: *

A pointless biopic about a supposedly impoverished farm boy becoming a reputed dentist by dint of hard work and perseverance, the narrative of this film fails to highlight the grit and gumption high-points of that yeoman effort and instead wallows in a ridiculous love story with an #ArjunReddy like aside. This is a rather indistinct, routine and lacklustre telling.

Cirkus #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Cirkus #UniversalCommunicationsPR #RohitShettyPicturez #TseriesFilms #BhushanKumar #RelianceEntertainment Cast: #RanveerSingh #JacquelineFernandez #PoojaHegde #VarunSharma #SanjayMishra #JohnnyLever #SiddarthJadhav #VrajeshHirjee #SulbhaArya #MukeshTiwari #AshwiniKalsekar #MurliSharma #AnilParamjeett #DeepikaPadukone #SaurabhGokhale #BrijendraKala #VijayPatkar Writers #SanchitBedre(dialogue) #VidhiGhodgaonkar(dialogue) #YunusSajawal(screenplay) Cinematography: #JomonTJohn Editor #BuntyNagi Director: #RohitShetty @everyone Rating: * Runtime: 132 mins

This super-saturated candy-coloured offering, borrowing heavily from #ComedyOfErrors #Angoor #Hungama, etc is dangerous to your eyes and brain. Rohit Shetty has obviously run out of tricks as he continues to use the same old tired formula to woo the audience already beleaguered by thankless #Bollywood fare. To add to your woes Siddarth Jadhav’s facial contortions is the only acrobatic circus act you can get here. Ranveer Singh’s electric man persona is so lusterless that one wonders why anyone would pay money to watch the uninteresting act in a circus. It's better suited to a believe-it-or-not episode on TV. His attempt to channel his latent energy into a staid double act doesn’t add up either. Deepika Padukone’s item number does nothing to raise the bar on excitement here. The once-ever-dependable Sanjay Mishra gives his worst performance here and even Sulbha Arya and Johnny Lever look out of sorts. Pooja Hegde looks rather insipid and Jacqueline looks more cartoonish than real. It's pitiable that even Varun Sharma fails to get a laugh out of you. The writing, screenplay, direction, and comic timing are so woebegone that the film feels rather flat, forced, stilted, and passionless.

Blurr #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Blurr Cast: #TapseePannu #GulshanDevaiah #KruttikaDesaiKhan #AbhilashThapliyal #SorabhChauhan #NityaMathur #SumitNijhawan #Zee5 #AvianWE #ZeeStudios #OutsidersFilms #EchelonProductions @everyone Director: #AjayBahl Writers : #AjayBahl #PawanSoni Runtime: 126 mins Rating: * 1/2

Taapsee Pannu's first project as a producer, a rather inept attempt at #horror #thriller, this official remake of the #Spanishfilm #JuliasEyes like the #Marathi remake #Adrushya that came a few months before it, fails to drum up interest mainly because both films miss out on integral - the psychological portrait of an ordinary Everyman serial killer that the original film managed to put forward so brilliantly. Multiple plot threads haphazardly put-together strain credulity to breaking point and Tapsee’s enunciation of the helpless betrayed woman who also happens to be losing her sight and is being terrorized by a serial killer isn’t convincing in the least. Mostly because her cultivated image doesn’t allow for such vulnerability. There are a few classy moments in the narrative and #SudhirKChaudhary’s cinematography is enabling enough but overall there’s far too much confusion in the telling for this to be an enjoyable outing!

Vadh #picksandpiques #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #JohnosnThomas

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Vadh #SpicePR #LuvRanjanfilms Cast: #SanjayMishra #NeenaGupta #DiwakarKumar #AbhitoshSinghRajput #ManavVij #UmeshKaushik #TanyaLal #PranjalPateria #SaurabhSachdeva @everyone Directors/Writers : #JaspalSinghSandhu #RajeevBarnwal Runtime: 110 mins Rating: * * 1/2

Hindi cinema is now literally obsessing about the #Dexter ( International TV Series) way of disposing-off dead bodies and we see that translating in real life too (if newspaper reports are anything to go by) but are such macabre methods really required in a story where murder is an act of rage or accident? Well, Vadh ( translated as vanquishment/slaughter/Assassination of evil in cinema terms) would like you to believe it is…A crime thriller that borrows the #Drishyam construct rather simplistically, this one is about a geriatric brahmin couple, hapless and timid, who find themselves in the crosshairs of a vile villain out to extort a debt they are unable to repay. When he suggests that a young girl child they care for as their daughter be the repayment, the old man sees no way out … Up to that point, the narrative was believable. The aftermath of the murder though was unpalatable and rather implausible. The usual cliches of an ungrateful progeny, a corrupt cop, and a gypped criminal justice system come into play. The film literally loses heft on the way to an implausible, contrived ending. While this film does not work up steam as an edgy thriller it indirectly raises questions as to the bias of caste and religion by which we view crime and criminal culpability…

Freddy #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Freddy #SpicePR #NarendraHirawatProductions #DisneyHotstar #AltairPR #BalaiMotionPictures #NHStudioz #NorthernLightsFilm Cast: #AlayaF #KartikAryan #KaranAPandit #SajjadDelafrooz #JenifferPiccinato #HarshikaKewalramani #TriptiAgarwal Director #ShashankaGhosh Writer: #ParveezSheikh #EktaKapoor #ShobhaKapoor #JayShewakramani #GauravBose Cinematography: #AyanankaBose Editor: #ChandanArora Music: #ClintonCerejo #Pritam Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 124 Mins

The makings of a Psychopath. Dentist Freddy Ginwala has no social graces, makes toy planes as a hobby, and gets distracted by women's bust lines while making his oral checks. Marriage dating sites have failed him and then he falls prey to a married, young, attractive damsel in distress. And his life goes from being colorless to blood red all the way through! The main character arc doesn’t hold good here. The dramatic change is inexplicable and Kartik Aryan’s performance ranges from hesitant to inconsistent. Alaya F though is imminently convincing. The helming and editing should have been sharper and tighter. Great cinematography makes this experience visually compelling.

Life is Good #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmoviedocumentaryreviews Film: #LIFEisGOOD Runtime:100 mins Rating: * * * Cast: #JackieShroff #RajitKapur #DarshanJariwala #MohanKapoor #SunitaChaya #Saniya as Misthi (6 Years) #Ananya as Misthi (13 Years) #Ankita as Misthi (older) #SaanandVerma Director: #AnanthNarayanMahadevan Producer: #AnandShukla Music:Abhishek Ray OriginalStory: #SujitSen Background Score: #AjitVarman Director Of Photography: #AlphonseRoy #AltairMedia #AshwaniShukla @everyone #ShyamSharma

How heartache, loneliness and hopelessness gives way to hope when a young chirpy orphan girl enters the lives of lonely individuals - this film is a postcard for going it alone -so long as you make the effort to bond with the people around you. Consummate, non-showy performances in a narrative that blends nuanced sentiment with tempered craft, this film set in beautifully captured Mahableshwar and Panchgani is a heartfelt ode to non-conformist human relationships.

India Lockdown #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #IndiaLockdown #Zee5 #AvianWE #PEN Cast: #PratiekBabbar #SaiTamhankar #ShwetaBasuPrasad #AahnaKumra #PrakashBelawadi #HrishitaBhatt #AishaSAiman #SatwikBhatiya Director: #MadhurBhandarkar Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 117 mins

There’s nothing hard-hitting about this attempt by Madhur Bhandarkar to document the travails and woes of some sections of the Indian citizenry following the unprecedented and unforgivable lockdown announced abruptly, soon after the corona pandemic began to spike. The four mini-plots are inspired by true stories but are treated with his typical lascivious gaze. Pratiek Babbar goes overboard on the facial expressions, Prakash Balewadi is irritatingly over-the-top but Shweta Prasad, Aahna Kumra, Sai Tamhane, and the bit players do a valiant job trying to give this effort some grit. Unfortunately, this is a very sterile attempt at an expose. There’s no attempt made to show the utter lack of responsibility/humanity exhibited by the powers that be, while ensuring a strict unforgiving lockdown. Though the stories reflect and resonate with the common man’s suffering they do not seem to have any greater purpose.

An Action Hero #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #filmmoviedoumentaryreviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #AnActionHero Cast: #AyushmannKhurrana #JaideepAhlawat #AkshayKumar #NeerajMadhav #HarshChhaya #MalaikaArora #NoraFatehi #VaqarSheikh Director: #AnirudhIyer Rating: * * * Runtime: 123 mins #TSeries #ColorYellowProductions #RaindropPR

Poor PR fails this spiffy entertaining spoof surrounding a typical Bollywood action hero and his tryst with murder.Anirudh Iyer’s creation has all the makings of a cult hit but the pre-release publicity was so ineffective that getting people into the theaters is going to be an uphill struggle all the way. Iyer’s narrative takes pot-shots at all things Bollywood and also scores much bigger hits on the media circus (Loud channel newscasters better described as toons) which highlights its own ineptitude by tagging it as breaking News. The plotting is a little wayward and characters may seem to be functioning in an unreal world…but then that’s mainstream Bollywood for you. Ayushmann Khurrana and Jaideep Ahlawat make the most of their screen time by playing it cool and working up a spoofy chemistry with panache.

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.

Thank God #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #ThankGod Cast: #AjayDevgn #SidharthMalhotra #RakulPreetSingh #KanwaljeetSingh #SeemaPahwa Director #IndraKumar Rating: * * ½ Runtime: 126 mins Producer #BhushanKumar #KrishanKumar #AshokThakeria #SunirKheterpal #DeepakMukut #AnandPandit #MarkandAdhikari #Tseries #UniversalCommunicationsPR Writer: #AakashKaushik #MadhurSharma Cinematography #AseemBajaj Editor: #DharmendraSharma Music: #AmarMohile #TanishkBagchi #RochakKohli #AnandRaajAnand #ChamathSangeeth

There’s nothing to thank god for here. While this film may be a harmless piece of fluff, it doesn’t have what it takes to entertain. Billed as a comedy, this film just about manages to gain a few titters before disaffirming with a #KBC kind-of quiz show held in a heavenly arena with the victim vacillating between life and death while answering moral and ethical riders relating to his own eventful life. The outrageous behavior exhibited throughout the film raises serious questions as to the mental health of the lead character. Sidharth Malhotra has gained in confidence and stature as an actor and shows off his acting chops to good effect. Ajay Devgn lends stature to the narrative by taking humorous swipes and playing it suave. The writing fails to raise laughs and the surprises don’t have shock value.

Ram Setu #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #RamSetu Cast: #AkshayKumar #JaquelineFernandez #NushrrattBharuccha #SatyaDev #PraveshRana #Nassar Cinematography: #AseemMishra Writer: #AbhishekSharma Dialogues: #AbhishekSharma #ChandraprakashDwivedi Editor: #RameshwarSBhagat Director: #AbhishekSharma #HypeMedia Rating: * ½ Runtime: 144 mins

Abhishek Sharma's film has Akshay Kumar playing a 40-something atheist archaeologist, a wannabe Indiana Jones sort (with stupidly wigged black hair and grey stubbly beard), setting out to prove that Ram Setu predates Ramayana - but gets so conveniently swayed by predicative nonsense that he not only sheds his atheism, he also believes that RamSetu was built by Lord Ram – just because he discovers the fake remnants of Ravana’s Palace. Our desi Indiana Jones looks and sounds stupid and lacks credibility. No doubt, this is the propagandist’s ( its afterall Akshay’s home production) way of sucking up to the current dispensation ( just like #KashmirFiles did). The #BhaktBias is evident in the assemblage of random people of science who don’t have any idea about their field –other than to mumble some technical terms that make no sense. The uninspiring narrative puts to sword logic, science, proof, and intelligence while subsequently heralding myth, lies, faith, and cooked-up stories as fact. Dialogues are laughable, sets look fake, costumes were ridiculous, situations conceived were pathetic and subplots attract derision. The underwater flying suit looks like a relic and the deep-diving glass-enclosed craft lacks aesthetic proportions. Akshay’s rant at the end makes it all the worse. The camera work is worthwhile though. The disclaimer at the start was so long that one would be forgiven for falling asleep just reading it. This is yet another Akshay Kumar vehicle that’s bound to hit a dead-end at the Box-office!

Kahani Rubberband Ki #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #KahaniRubberbandKi #AltairMediaPR #AshwaniShukla #SanjayMishra #RomilChaudhary #MoonHouseProductions Cast: ManishRaisinghan #AvikaGor #ArunaIrani #PratikGandhi #Paintal Director: #SarikaSanjot Cinematography: #FaroukhMistry Rating: * Runtime: 119 mins

Set in Benaras, with sutradhar voice introduction by Sanjay Mishra, this film, that hopes to put across a social message deviates from context, gets deplorably sexist, regressive and suggestive ( even in a courtroom) and ends up becoming a mockery of what it was trying to say. The script lacked coherence and was terribly amateurish, the treatment was weird, the dialogues stupid and the performances so out of sync with the message that you feel like shutting this out before it can warp your brain! And what can I say about Manish Raisinghan’s whiny dialogue delivery??? Such ineptitude is certainly not becoming.

Codename Tiranga #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #CodenameTiranga #ParagDesai #UniversalCommunicationsPR Cast: #ParineetiChopra #HarrdySandhu #SharadKelkar #RajitKapur #DibyenduBhattacharya Director: #RibhuDasgupta Runtime: 137 mins Rating: * *

A misguided attempt at pop-patriotism, this film follows a female RAW agent as she guiles, glides, jump kicks, shoots and fights her way through a mean bunch of terrorists, directly and indirectly responsible for the 2001 Parliament attack. This attempted action thriller loses it sting because of an unlikely and unviable romance between the female spy and a local Turkish Doctor. Spies going rogue and being found out – is a standard ploy and fails to garner interest. Then there are portly ageing spies still in the thick of things and that’s pure baloney if you ask me. While the action choreography is crusty, the story and narration seem a little out of sync with the overall purpose of creating a springboard for arousing patriotic fervor. The revenge based action finale feels like a video game sequence with a steadily incrementing body count and staccato gunfire sounds accompanying it. Parineeti Chopra is convincing as the action heroine but the romantic aspect feels rather forced. Harrdy Sandhu displays his sensitive credible side as Dr. Mirza Ali and Sharad Kelkar as Khalid Omar does the pure evil bit quite well – unfortunately his Marathi accent doesn’t allow for complete believability as a Turkish-Pakistani-Afghani terrorist. This film would have been a much better experience if the romance could have been truncated and had the finale action been a little more realistic! #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas

Doctor G #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #DoctorG #SpicePR #JungleePictures #VineetJain Cast: #AyushmannKhurrana #RakulPreetSingh #ShefaliShah #SheebaChadha #ShradhaGautam Director: #AnubhutiKashyap Runtime: 125mins Rating: * * *

Debutant Director Anubhuti Kashyap’s Medical campus comedy film proffers gender parity, zestful levity and fluid craft. The subject may be outdated but the light-hearted treatment allows for a great deal of involvement, gamesmanship and fun. Set in a PG Medical college Hospital ( Bhopal Inst. of Medical Sciences) this film tracks the many hindrances in love and work that Uday Gupta faces in his attempts to make do with a PG Gynecology seat while still aiming for an Ortho seat in the next attempt at PG NEET. Obviously an inept, almost unwilling and neglectful male Doctor examining a female patient’s reproductive organ is cause for a great deal of consternation and strife. Screenwriters #SumitSaxena #SaurabhBharat #VishalWagh and #AnubhutiKashyap do a valiant job lending the male doctor a more empathetic and caring touch. The Performances by #Ayushmann #ShefaliShah #RakulPreetSingh #SheebaChadha #ShradhaGautam and others are sharply etched and supple, Amit Trivedi’s background score keeps the interest going and the editing makes sure there’s no lag in the momentum - so the audience gets enough meat to make a meal of this offering.

GoodBye #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Goodbye Cast: #AmitabhBachchan #RashmikaMandanna #PavailGulati #AshishVidyarthi #NeenaGupta #AbhishekhKhan #ElliAvram #SunilGrover #HansaSingh #DivyaSeth #ShayankShukla #SanjeevPandey #SahilMehta #SaraswatiTelefilms #BalajiTelefilms Writer/Director: #VikasBahl #UniversalCommunications Rating: * * Runtime: 144 mins

This is a daring experiment gone bad. A montage based, post death and funeral nostalgia trip, this film is sorely lacking a proper script. There’s no story worth telling either with actors adlibbing in stilted conversations about contentious generational issues which lose bite in the sentiment dripping and conversely, rather un-affecting malady called ‘Goodbye.’ Frankly, this is not a bad concept but a little more development of the plot and characters might have helped make this unconventional non-conformist attempt more attractive. Rashmika Mandanna with her distinctive southie accent is miscast in this north Indian set-up. The rest of the actors are competent but there’s no emotional purchase to be had because of the fractured set-up. It’s not very clear whether all four kids were adopted or only one but certainly some clarity on that front would have helped in making this set-up more believable.

Saroj Ka Rishta #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #SarojKaRishta Rating: * * Runtime: 106 mins Cast: #SupriyaPathak #GauravPandey #KumudMishra #SanahKapoor #RandeepRai #AlokPathak #SachinKathuria Director: #AbhishekSaxena #Studio7 #TarangFilms #KapoorFilms #AENAProductions

An unsatisfactory attempt at Comedy, Drama, Romance, set in Ghaziabad (UP ka Darwaza) where Gaali and Thappad come at you without announcement, this film about a plus size woman Saroj ( Umar 26 Kamar 36) trapping her (one-sided) childhood sweetheart into falling for her alter-ego, ticks all the wrong boxes. Yet another humorless small-town wedding drama that fails to gather roses on its way to happily ever after. It’s a good thing that Bollywood has begun to recognize and value the plus size heroine but having them involved in such meaningless, faltu, drama doesn’t augur well. The narrative falls flat under the weight of its own contradictions. Scamming a prospective bridegroom is shown as a virtue here – all in the name of glorifying the plus size heroine and her stubborn personality. The film is not only in bad taste but also doesn’t provide either humor or elevating drama.

Jahaan Chaar Yaar #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #JahaanChaarYaar Rating: * * Runtime: 124 mins Starring: #MeherVij #ShikhaTalsania #SwaraBhaskar #PoojaChopra #GirishKulkarni #ManishChaudhary Director: #KamalPandey #VinodBachchan #SoundaryaProductions #PenMarudhar #JungleeMusic #ButterflyCommunications

This one is more drudgery than Comedy. Four oppressed housewives, erstwhile friends, concoct an escape holiday that turns sour. They wanna break free but that temporary freedom comes at a price. Frankly, the way things turn here, you wouldn’t want to know what happens next. The dialogue is off-putting, performances lack heft and the scenario doesn’t quite have sense or logic to support it. It’s really not funny by any yardstick.

Matto Ki Saikil #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #MattoKiSaikil Rating:* * * Runtime: 95 min Cast: #PrakashJha #AnitaChaudhary #AarohiSharma #IdikaRay #DimpyMishra #CPSharma #AayanMadar Director: #MGani Screenplay/Dialogue : #PulkitPhilip DOP: #ChandanKohli Editor: #KameshKarna #ParullGossainPR #PJPFilms Music: #WayneSharpe #ShivdevaFilms #SudhirbhaiMishra

A slice-of-life tale of woe, this film headlined by award-winning Director Prakash Jha in his very first major acting role, has the grit and realism to be affective. About a casual daily wage labourer and his relationship with his trusted, faithful bicycle, the narrative shadows his struggle for dignity and livelihood in the face of acute indifference from the powers that be. The script may be a bit threadbare but a truly heartfelt lived-in performance by Prakash Jha (who also looks the part beautifully) elevates the film above the commonplace.

Khalli Balli #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #KhalliBalli Rating: * Runtime: 116 mins Cast: #Madhoo #Dharmendra #RajnieshDuggal #KainatArora #RajpalYadav #VijayRaaj #YasmeenMishra #Asrani #EktaJain #YogeshLakhani. Producer: #KamalKishorMishra . Writer/Director: #ManojSharma #HimanshuJhunjhunwala #DwaparPromoters

A tacky, badly presented paranormal possession story, this film has really bad acting, cheap production values, juvenile scripting and dialogues and totally inept direction (more interested in upping the sleaze quotient rather than constructing a plausible narrative). The star cast may sound impressive but the resultant is not.

Middle Class Love #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #MiddleClassLove Runtime: Ratimng: * * ½ Cast: #PritKamani #EishaSingh #KavyaThapar #ManojPahwa Director: #RatnaaSinha #AnubhavSinha #ZeeStudios #PearlMedia #Ebrahim

This amiable triangular, young adult love story, strikes up likability with an immensely gifted star cast ( Prit Kamani puts up a splendid, agile, nimble footed, highly expressive show and he gets great support from the two female actors and the rest of the cast). Unfortunately the vibrantly alive and enjoyable pre-interval half deteriorates into a maudlin and weepy experience, post that - Thus killing all the fun and taking the mickey out of what could have been a genuine popcorn entertainer. Ratnaa Sinha proves that she has what it takes to become a successful mainstream Bollywood film Director– if only she would have employed the good sense of getting an uninterested expert to whet the script or doctor it!

Brahmastra Part One Shiva #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #Brahmastra #PartOneShiva Runtime: 158 mins Genre: Superhero Fantasy Rating: * * * Cast: #RanbirKapoor #AliaBhatt #Nagarjuna #MouniRoy #AmitabhBachchan #DimpleKapadia #ShahRukhKhan Director: #AyanMukherjee #UniversalCommunicationsPR #WaltDisneyStudiosMotionPictures #KaranJohar Cinematography: #SudeepChatterjee #PankajKumar #VManikandan #PatrickDuroux #VikashNowlakha

A fairly engrossing and enjoyable superhero fantasy with a load full of thrills and action, this film may not be a fun every-minute spectacle but on the overall estimate, it does a fair job. The romance between Ranbir/Shiva and Alia/ Esha is palpable and the writers don’t have to do the hard work here because the audience is already invested in their love story. The myth-building about an Astraverse with X men like specialized skill sets is strong and the action does get the adrenaline gushing quite frequently. It’s the crummy, pithy dialogues and the not-so-great VFX (which lacks clarity and distinctiveness) that fall short. Considering the budget is approximately 450 crores, this doesn’t say much for the talents behind the VFX creation. The charming Ranbir and ‘darling’ Alia look good together and that lends validity to their instantaneous onscreen romance. Amitabh Bachchan’s booming voice and presence lend the narrative a strong pitch while Shah Rukh Khan’s lengthy opening cameo in which he is literally paying homage to #RaOne and Nagarjuna’s brief role opens up the film to a wider audience base. Mouni Roy’s ace villainy is also quite credible. I won’t speculate on whether this film will recover its costs but I will certainly recommend it for a one-time watch. The young Ayan Mukherjee must be given due credit for conceptualizing such a humungous venture and getting #Dharmatic on board. This is a first even if it’s not the best it could have been!

Holy Cow #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #HolyCow Runtime: 96 mins Rating: * * Genre: Comedy/Drama Cast: #NawazuddinSiddiqui #SanjayMishra #TigmanshuDhulia #SadiaSiddiqui #MukeshKumarBhatt Writer/Director: #SaiKabir #ReticPictures #TriggerHappyEntertainmentNetwork #YSEntertainment Producer: #AaliyaSiddiqui #KSeraSera #SukhSagarFilms

This could have been a great satire but the inept writing and the unviable plotting leave a lot to be desired. What happens when a Muslim living in ‘Lynching land’ finds that his cow has disappeared from his yard? Well, the narrative here is so uninteresting that you just wouldn’t bother to find out. Even the performances of some of the best actors in Hindi cinema seem a little tired and stale. Billed as a comedy, this film doesn’t even get to the point of amusing.

Liger #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Liger (Hindi /Telugu/Tamil/Malayalam/Kannada) Runtime: 140 minutes Rating: * ½ Cast: #VijayDeverakonda #AnanyaPanday #RamyaKrishnan #RonitRoy #Ali #MakarandDeshpande #MikeTyson #ChunkyPandey Producer: #KaranJohar #PuriJagannadh #CharmmeKaur #ApoorvaMehta #HirooYashJohar Story/Sceenplay/Director: #PuriJagannadh Dialogue: #PuriJagannadh (Telugu), #PrashantPandey (Hindi) Cinematography: #VishnuSharma Editor: #JunaidSiddiqui Music: #SunilKashyap #VikramMontrose #TanishkBagchi #LijoGeorge #DJChetas #SunilKashyap #Jaani.

Karan Johar appears to be digging deep into the south for his Box-Office fodder but his choices are iffy at best. After all, not every film can be a #Bahubali at the BO. This one is total crass. There’s no story to tell and the lead actor, despite having an #ArjunReddy as his brand awakening, has been unable to score big in the role of an MMA fighter with an all-pervading Mother(steely-eyed one-note Ramya Krishnan) egging him on. The title tag – Saala Cross-Breed is unintentionally befitting in the sense that we see a south hero trying to don Bollywood pizazz to score it big, pan India. Not that it hasn’t happened before but Deverakonda’s personality is rather ‘Duh’ as seen on Karan Johar’s show. Despite all the pre-release publicity and the make-believe plugs of heroines like #JahnviKapoor, #SaraAliKhan, and #Ananya hitting on him publicly on #KoffeeWithKaran, Vijay Deverakonda ends up looking rather ‘Thanda’ on screen. The MMA action plays out in music video format so there’s really no build-up, adrenaline rush or excitement. The overall action is just not interesting and the performances are terribly caricaturist. The oft-retreaded, formulaic, stereotypical Bollywood plot, being rehashed in music video style, is just not entertaining for the viewer. And the long line-up of music composers has failed to score a single memorable number. A terribly disappointing watch this!

Do Baaraa #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #DoBaaraa Genre: Mystery/Thriller Runtime:123min Rating: * * ½ Cast: #TapseePannu #PavailGulati #RahulBhatt #SaswataChatterjee #ShashwatDwivedi #MediniKelamane Director: #AnuragKashyap Writer: #NihitBhave #SpicePR

Anurag Kashyap tries to immerse his audience in a loopy construct but fails to get any purchase out of a borrowed idea (originally from the Spanish film #Mirage). Nihit Bhave’s officially adapted screenplay takes us into parallel universes, murder, and several resolutions but none of them make much sense. The attempt to link an electric storm to TV watching and going into a portal in order to signify the space-time continuum doesn’t come off as believable. The plotting is rather convoluted and fantastic. Fancy edits are employed but it’s just not enough. Minimal use of VFX might have done the trick much better. The lead character Antara, a young mother who finds herself in a parallel universe with the same characters but in a different outcome, and accepting it without much ado is way too fictitious. The film is intriguing and interesting but there’s really no attachment to be had here. The performances can’t be faulted but the underdeveloped screenplay, unviable plotting, and lack of emotional heft hamper this experience dearly.

Sita Ramam #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #SitaRamam #Tamil #Runtime: 157mins Genre: Drama Rating: * * ½ Cast: #DulquerSalmaan #MrunalThakur #RashmikaMandanna #TinnuAnand #DalipThahil #MurliSharma #PrakashRaj Writer/Director: #HanuRaghavapudi Dialogue: #JayKrishna #RajKumarKandamudi #LycaProductions #Subaskaran #VyjayanthiMovies

A period romantic drama set amidst India-Pakistan strife, this film loses appeal as it tries for greater complexity. Its 1964, POK terrorist camp is putting the finishing touches of Operation Gibralter involving the Mujahideen crossing into Kashmir. A young Indian lieutenant who falls in love with a Hyderabadi Muslim Princess(later on, his wife), is tasked with destroying the Pakistani camp – but he gets caught and tortured while his wife goes from Pillar to post to rescue him. Shades of ‘Roja’ in the story but the plotting involves sequences with the Indian army in Kashmir. The narrative spends too much time in setting up the love story amidst strife and loses the romance of it completely. To add to the miseries, the casting is inappropriate – especially Mrunal Thakur ( though a wonderful and competent actress ) who doesn’t fit the character of Hyderabadi royalty, a princess betrothed to an Omani Prince, who instead, falls in love with an army officer. In fact too much detailing makes the viewing tedious and unromantic. The intermingling of timelines also make it a less than lucid experience. The cinematography, music and performances are fairly good though

Karthikeya 2 #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #Karthikeya2. Rating: * * * Runtime: 150 mins. Genre: Supernatural Mystery Adventure Thriller Cast: #NikhilSiddharth #AnupamKher #AnupamaParameswaran #SrinivasReddy #HarshaChemudu #AdityaMenon Writer/Director: #ChandooModeti Producers: #TGVishwaPrasad #AbhishekAgarwal Cinematography #KarthikGhattamaneni Music: #KaalaBhairava #CommuniquéPR #PeopleMediaFactory #AbhishekAgarwalArts

A sequel (not in the real sense) to the 2014 hit mystic thriller Karthikeya, this Telugu language adventure thriller dubbed in 5 languages, has the lead character Karthik, a man of science and that too a doctor, inadvertently embark on a mythic-mystical journey in pursuit of a truth that exposes him to the power of an ancient secret that dates back 5,118 years, linked to Lord Krishna. Structured as a mystery with clues and seemingly impregnable challenges directing the quartet to a buried treasure that has supernatural powers, the narrative marries segments of animation with live action, and comedy, creating a bonhomie of myth and science that comes across fairly well in reactive lucidity. The narrative spiel is ambitious and succeeds in crafting a convincing set-up of myths with facilitative VFX. Even though not sophisticated, it manages to inveigle the audience into its mythic-religious-fantasy world without losing pace or momentum. A small budget film compared to the biggies in current circulation, this film, in spite of its illogic and scriptural faults, realises its potential without making a to-do about it.

Raksha Bandhan #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #RakshaBandhan Genre: Comedic Family Drama Rating: * * Runtime: 108 mins Cast: #AkshayKumar #BhumiPednekar #SadiaKhateeb #SahejmeenKaur #SmrithiSrikanth #DeepikaKhanna #SeemaPahwa #SahilMehta #ShivamGaur #PankajRajput #AbhinayRajSingh Director/ Co-producer: #AanandLRai #RaindropPR Producer: #ZeeStudios #AlkaHiranandani Writer: #HimanshuSharma #KanikaDhillon Cinematography: #KUMohanan Editor: #HemalKothari Music: #IshaanChhabra #HimeshReshammiya

Lala has to offload his four unique, unconventional sisters in the dowry based marriage market before he can knot-up with his childhood sweetheart – a vow he took at the deathbed of his ailing mother. Except for the oldest, the rest don’t fit into the conventional stereotypical concepts of beauty or brains. Crass, degenerate, and totally unpalatable, this film celebrates the popular #ChandniChowk variety of #Punjabiyat before it rushes into a sermonising counter for all the regressive ills that plague the narrative for most of its runtime. #AkshayKumar is loud and trying too hard to emote (though one must give him brownie points for sheer effort to win over the gallery), Sahil Mehta does well as his assistant, the actresses essaying the role of sisters appear to be enjoying themselves, and the efficient Seema Pahwa gets back into an oft-repeated role of wedding planner/broker. Anand L Rai appears to be delving into Jeetendra’s 70’s playbook to help Akshay Kumar lift up his sagging career but it’s to no avail. His helming has pace and momentum but the tone is way too lurid, the script is a little too outdated to curry favor, genuinely comedic moments are rare, the heavy-duty emotions on display here are rather hard to stomach and the nasal sounding, shrill songs meant to render relief don’t fit in with Akshay Kumar’s persona.

Lal Singh Chaddha #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #LalSinghChaddha Rating : * * ½ Genre: Drama Runtime: 164 mins Cast: #AamirKhan #KareenaKapoorKhan #MonaSingh #NagaChaitanya #ShahRukhKhan #KaminiKaushal Director: #AdvaitChandan Cinematography: #SatyajitPande Music: #TanujTiku #Pritam Editor: #HemantiSarkar Producer: #AamirKhan #KiranRao #JyotiDeshpande #AjitAndhare #RadhikaChaudhari #SpicePR

‘Sincerity and perseverance can go a long way – while the story here heralds that aspect, the making of it feels rather fake. A gimmicky attempt at official adaptation ( by #AtulKulkarni of #EricRoth’s screenplay of #ForrestGump), this film plays out like a comic strip with #AamirKhan going over-the-top and inconsistent (more #Chaplin-like than real) in his attempt to portray an autistic man whose ability to run gives him an entry into the army and takes him all over India - touching on strife-ridden and seminal moments dotting India’s contemporary history while traversing across picturesque locales, unspooling his inspirational success story along-the-way. His life takes incredulous turns (and gets forgotten along the way), the narrative is strip-happy and intermittently poignant and affecting, and some performances (especially #MonaSingh, #KareenaKapoorKhan) are luminous while others are stereotyped and inconsistent. Aamir’s performance appears toonish, largely a mash-up of #PK and #MyNameisKhan. Cameos by #KaminiKaushal and #ShahRukhKhan are likable but not surprising. Music/Songs are ameliorating but not memorable. Post-production, VGX & CGI look patchy despite the time, effort, and money (officially Rs.180 crore but rumored to be somewhere around Rs.300 crore) spent on this much delayed (10 years in the making) product. It's more a case of feeling let down rather than this being a bad product. The humongous weight of expectations has taken the mickey out of this experience.

Vaashi #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Vaashi (meaning: Persistent vow) #Malayalam Genre: Courtroom Drama Runtime: 120 mins Rating: * * * Cast: #AnuMohan #KeerthySuresh #TovinoThomas #KottayamRamesh #MayaVishwanath #Nandu #Baiju #MayaMenon #RonyDavid Director/Co-writer: #VishnuRaghav Story: #JanizChackoSimon Music: #KailasMenon Cinematography: #RobyVargheseRaj Editor:#MaheshNarayanan ArtDirection: #MaheshSridhar CostumeDesign: #DivyaGeorge #UrvasiTheatres #Netflix

A courtroom drama that exposes the schisms in the concept and perception of ‘consent’ for sex before marriage while juxtaposing that aspect with an ego and courtroom drama between two opposing lawyers who happen to be recently married to each other. While ‘Vaashi’ sloganeers on feminism that is equal for all genders (as appealed by advocate Madhavi in defense of the accused in a 375A charge) it fails to go beyond that tokenism. Nevertheless, the narrative is a neatly drawn, swiftly enacted drama that finds resolution in a courtroom rather than outside it. The courtroom arguments are rooted and deeper than the dissonance between Madhavi and her husband Public Prosecutor Ebin Mathew. Both Keerthy Suresh and Tovino Thomas perform with convincing amiability and make this half-hearted attempt more appealing than it deserves to be.

Odd Couple #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #OddCouple Rating: * Genre: Romantic/Comedy/Drama Runtime:114 mins Cast: #DivyennduSharma #SuchitraKrishnamoorthi #VijayRaaz #PranatiRaiPrakash #ManojPahwa #SumitGulati #SaharshKumarShukla #SatyakamAnand #PradeepSinghAdhikari #VinayKumar #NehaNegi #ChunmumKumar #NipramCreations #ShemarooEntertainment #PanoramaStudios #AltairMedia #AshwaniShukla #AmazonPrime Producer/Story: #PraneetVerma Director/Screenplay/Dialogue/Lyrics: #PrashantJohari Music/BackgroundScore: #JayRajeshArya Cinematography: #SrijitBasu Editor: #PrakashJha

Weird is the word. The way the screenplay and plotting play out, it feels as though the couples in this drama were out of their mind rather than forced by circumstances. The narrative is stilted, there’s nothing funny here even though this is billed as a romantic comedy and the performances by hitherto good actors come across as inept and pretentious. The writer-director is basically clutching at straws conceiving this farfetched, totally unpalatable narrative. His idea of using a registrar’s error to enforce mismatched conjugal relationships falls flat and rings totally untrue. The pity is that he couldn’t make better use of the talents he had at his disposal.

Haryana #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Haryana Rating: * * Genre: #RomanticFamilyDramaComedy Runtime: 151 min Cast: #YashTonk #AshleshaSavant #RobbieMairh #MonicaSharma #AakarshanSingh Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Lyrics, Direction, Co-Producer: #SandeepBaswana Cinematography: #JohnyLal Background Score/Music: #GuruDhanoa #MohitPathak Editors: #SanyukaKaza #JitendraDongare #AltairMedia #AshwaniShukla #RajaBaswanaFilms

As the title suggests this film is about 3 brothers from Haryana –the oldest Mahinder played by Yash Tonk-Supposedly in his 30’s ( but looks 50), the middle brother- Jaibeer (Robbie Mairh) is the quite, silent vindictive college boy lover type who makes restitution for his past sins and the youngest Jugnu (Aakarshan Singh) a petulant, spoilt brat, an irresponsible teen who gets his way all the time. Their parents are long gone so it’s up to Mahinder to play the father figure. And it’s not an easy task as his brothers make demands on him that no human being can possibly fulfill. But in this film, they get their wish. Sandeep Baswana manages to get his casting right with amiable performances from the three leads lending heft to the character arches, but the wayward, overindulgent narrative is a thorn in the flesh that cannot be ignored. The lack of humor and disastrous musical interludes, alienating, totally unnecessary songs and loose editing stymies the narrative momentum. It’s an exhausting and overly tedious watch.

Darlings #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Darlings Cast: #AliaBhatt #VijayVarma #ShefaliShah #RajeshSharma #RoshanMathews #VijayMaurya #KiranKarmarkar #PoojaSwaroop #SantoshJuvekar Director: #JasmeetKReen Runtime: 134 mins Genre: #BlackComedy Rating: * * ½ #ShahRukhKhan #GauriKhan #RedChilliesEntertainmentLtd #EternalSunshine #AnilMehta #Gulzar #VishalBharadwaj #Netflix #ZeeCinema

A young lower middleclass housewife living in a chawl community suffers through domestic violence before she builds up the courage to reverse roles. The incidents here are mostly farcical derived from black humour - women are presented as dimwits ( in an attempt to garner laughs) - yet suddenly turn smart enough to turn tables on their oppressors, crime is presented as an easy option to get rid of injustice and accessories to the crime are just as easily available to do the needful. The tone jumps from serious to fanciful as the mother-daughter duo start gaining the upper hand. Director Jasmeet K Reen may not be able to sway the audience with frayed plotting but the narrative is populated with actors who can command attention with their craft and presence. That’s what makes Darlings fairly attention-grabbing. Alia, Shefali, Vijay Varma, Roshan Mathews, Rajesh Sharma, and other supporting actors are supremely efficient, likable, and convincing!

Goodluck Jerry #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

Goodluck Jerry #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #GoodluckJerry Genre: Crime /Comedy Runtime: 120 mins Rating: * * ½ Cast: #Abhimanue #DeepakDobriyal #JaswantSinghDalal #JahnviKapoor #DeepakDobriyal #MitaVashisht #MohanKamboj #AvarBrar #SushantSingh #SahilMehta #SandeepNayak Director: #SiddharthSengupta Producers: #SubaskaranAllirajah #AanandLRai #MahaveerJain. Story & Screenplay: #NelsonDilipkumar #PankajMatta #RaindropMedia #LycaProductions #ColourYellowProductions #Disney #Hotstar

The remake of the Tamil film '#KolamavuKokila' (which starred #Nayanthara and was a decent money-spinner at the Box-Office), gets an OTT release. Obviously, considering the star cast (Jahnvi has no real draw at the Box-office and the rest of the cast are character artists and newbies who we’ve hardly heard of leave alone seen) and helming by a debutant director, it was a smart choice. Attempting to remake a dark crime comedy with a new setting and a different lingo has its own limitations. The writers do a fairly good job of rooting it in a Punjabi-Bihari milieu but the story and plotting doesn’t quite work up a storm, as desired. The narrative should have been plot driven rather than character driven especially since Jahnvi as the central player Jerry aka Jaya has little to offer as an actress other than a patented vulnerability that we see in all her performances. She has yet to develop a range as an actress - which she will undoubtedly do over time. Jerry’s reason for becoming a drug courier after her stint as a masseuse in a massage parlour because her mother has lung cancer isn’t convincing. And the entire group of motley hanger-ons and three women family going all-out to out-do the drug runners doesn’t make sense at all. The plotting and treatment is at fault. There’s hardly any humour to be had even though the supporting cast do a valiant job to shore-up this iffy crime comedy.

V R / Vikrant Rona #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #VikrantRona / #VR Genre: #HorrorActionAdventureDrama Cast: #NeethaAshok #NirupBhandari #KichchaSudeep #RavishankarGowda #JacquelineFernandez Director: #AnupBhandari Writers: #AnupBhandari #JohnMahendran #SSRajamouli #SalmanKhan #ZeeStudios #KichchaProductions #ShaliniArtsProductions Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 139 mins

This big-budget action, horror, a period film with fancy sets, absurd ideation, and a marketing boost from SS Rajamouli and Salman Khan, has been released Pan India dubbed in multiple regional languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, German, Russian, English, Arabic and Mandarin in addition to Kannada. The film delves into superstition and mystery before finding a heroic resolution for the death of children and several other murders that take place in a remote village policed by Vikrant Rona. The narrative is clichéd and fanciful – relying on deliberate confusion to criss-cross the paranormal and real. You might get a rise out of the spiffy tech on display here but the narrative is slow, etched with stylized acting, and lacks tension. The horror sequences have no follow through so there’s not much to fear here. It’s only the cinematography, FX, and production design that lends the film some gravitas.

Ek Villain Returns #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #EkVillainReturns Rating: * ½ Cast: #DishaPatani #ArjunKapoor #JohnAbraham #TaraSutaria #RiteshDeshmukh #JDChakravarthy #ShaadRandhawa #KarishmaSharma #BharatDhabolkar #PankajRajput #ShanuKumar Director: #MohitSuri BackgroundScore: #RajuSingh #RaindropMedia #BalajiTelefilmsPvtLtd #TSeries #ShobhaKapoor #EktaaKapoor #BhushanKumar #Spotify

Another serial killer with a twisted self-rationalization in this ‘Ek Villain’ returning franchise installment - but this time it’s ridiculous, half-baked, altogether facile, pea-brained and entirely obvious trickery. Warped, perverse, and sick characterizations abound here. The script revels in throwing up psychopaths and sociopaths while anointing them as heroes and villains as per convenience. Throwing up obvious red herrings appears to be Mohit Suri’s treasured trick so he uses it quite liberally here and consequently loses the plot entirely. It’s really torturous having to sit through absurd rationalizations justifying the utter depravity on display here. Customer ratings, smiley masks, hoodies, and twisted and materialistic love are some of the tools he uses to fashion his silly cover-up of an entirely debauched mindset. Even the music has nothing likable to recommend it. Why would anyone go to see this sorry sequel just to hear the theme song ‘Teri Galiyan’ replayed time and again?

RK/RKay #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #RK/#RKay Runtime: 96 mins. Genre: Drama Rating: * * ½ Cast: #MallikaSherawat #RajatKapoor #RanvirShorey #KubraSait #ChandrachoorRai #SadhikaSyal #ManuRishiChadha #WarisAhmedZaidi #AbhijeetDeshpande #AhishekSharrma #GraceGirdhar #ShrikantYadav #VaishaliMalhara #NamitDas Director: #RajatKapoor #MithiyaTalkies #PriyanshiTalkies #SpicePR

Director Rajat Kapoor may have a unique quasi-experimental way of telling his stories but they don’t always come good. His latest, Rk/Rkay, crowd funded by Over 800 People with donations ranging from Rs 100 To Rs 50,000, has a metaphysical dimension to it but the narrative is represented in such a matter-of-fact manner that it comes across as less whimsical and more absurd. I guess he wanted to show a director cum lead actor’s trauma during the edit stage when he realises that the vision he set out to film hasn’t actually come to life in the accumulated rushes. To make matters worse the ending he has chosen for his film doesn’t go down well with his team or his producer. So the audience has to sit through incorporeal delusions and meanderings into the bizarre. It’s an interesting and intriguing gambit that might have worked if the scripting, tone and tempo were a little more sophisticated. The technical aspects are top-notch in spite of the ‘independent’ budget and the performances are beautifully rendered. The experience of it though, leaves a lot to be desired.