Kuttavum Shikshayum #TheScoundrel #PicksAndPiques #Malayalam #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #KuttavumShikshayum/ (translation #CrimeAndPunishment) (2022) #Malayalam Runtime: 138 m Rating: * * * Genre: Action, Crime, Drama Cast: #AsifAli #Sharafudheen #SunnyWayne #AlencierLeyLopez #SenthilKrishna #SibiThomas Director: #RajeevRavi Writers: #SreejithDivakaran #SibiThomas #APInternational #FilmRollProductions #Netflix

In the era of cross-state-border labour migration, Rajeev Ravi comes up with a high-tension police procedural with all the gusto and heft of a thriller. This real-life adaptation of the jewellery robbery case that occurred in Kasargod. Rajeev Ravi and his team of writers Sreejith Divakaran and Sibi Thomas( a cop himself) focuses on exposing the challenges experienced by 5 cops of one state (Kerala in this case) while tracking down migrant criminals who flee back to their home state( UP) after a daring jewellery heist. 5 member team from the Kerala Police had to use their best policing skills and go by-the-book as much as possible, as they embark on a journey fraught with danger - to a dreaded village in Uttar Pradesh where they risked their lives to nab the culprits. Strong on plot, this film casts light on cops grappling with duty, responsibility, morality, family and social media influences and conscience. Even for armed and dangerous cops it’s an insecure world out there. Courage and fear come face to face in activism and crime. The irony of a meagre gains judicial system stares you in the face. Zeroing in on realism and fact, with tempered performances enhancing it, this film takes the audience into a universe – much like ‘Nayattu’ (which again was scripted by a cop Shahi Kabeer) did, portraying it with rare integrity and truth. While the ending may seem a little tame to some, it does leave a lot of room for introspection and thought!

Khuda Haafiz Chapter 2: Agni Pariksha #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #KhudaHaafizChapter2AgniPariksha Genre: Action thriller Rating: * * Runtime: 146 mins. Cast: #VidyutJammwal #ShivaleekaOberoi #DanishHussain #DibyenduBhattacharya #SheebaChaddha #RajeshTailang #riddhisharma Writer/Director: #FarukKabir

#ZeeStudios #Cinergy #PanoramaStudios #KumarMangatPathak #AbhishekPathak #SnehaBimalParekh #RamMirchandani #TreeshulMedia #SonalKarolia #MandviSharma #Deepak Cinematography: #JitanHarmeetSingh Editor: #SandeepFrancis Music: #AmarMohile #Mithoon #VishalMishra #ShabbirAhmed Team Khuda Haafiz was forced to release the film on #OTT because the situation, once covid took hold in the country, had become quite fluid and uncertain. So it’s pretty brave and ambitious of them to want to release chapter 2 in the theatres. Faruk Kabir’s second installment is designed as an emotive action thriller, with the same two actors doing the lead. Vidyut and Shivaleeka play a disturbed couple trying to find a way to overcome unspeakable trauma but as the narrative chugs along, they just keep getting deeper and deeper, becoming victims of the stereotypical cop-politician nexus…until the hero begins to fight back. You have one victim recovering from multiple rapes, another multiple rape victim - a teen girl going into a coma and then recovering, and yet another multiple rape victim, this time a child of 5, succumbing to the despicable act. So with one rape too many ( not graphic thankfully) happening, you are already quite put off at the beginning itself. It also takes way too long for the hero to don his action avatar and make the villains (school-going teens, progeny of powerful politicians) pay the price. In the first half, he gets beaten black and blue and gives no indication of what he can do when push comes to shove. Far too many of the sequences are rather perfunctory and too loosely constructed to seem legit. The action choreography is more lethal and pulverizing towards the climax but before that there’s a dramatic wasteland that neither the director nor the lead actors can do anything to alleviate. There’s nothing original, empathetic or genuine in this telling!

Titu Ambani #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #TituAmbani Genre: Family Social Drama Runtime: 121 mins. Rating: * * * Cast: #DeepikaSingh #TusharPandey #RaghubirYadav #VirendraSaxena #BrijendraKala #PritamJaiswal #SapnaSand #SamtaSagar Producers: #MahendraVijaydanDetha & #DineshKumar Story/Screenplay/Direction: #RohitRajGoyal

Dialogue: #AbhishekManoharChanda Music/Background Score: #Bharat- #Hitarth Lyrics: #MayurPuri Cinematography: #SunilVishwakarma Editor: #SanjaySharma #SabalProductions #AshwaniShuklaPR #AltairMedia A fairly ameliorating, humorous, well-knit, wonderfully acted, meaningful, family social cum drama, this film is about a middle-class dreamer who prefers to run his own business, and gets caught up in get-rich-quick schemes only to drown under the weight of huge debts and familial disruptions and eventually realises that money that comes too easily also goes away just as easily - is definitely worth a watch. The ensemble performances by seasoned actors from NSD, excellent old-world (50’s-60’s Bollywood) style music, well-written script and dialogue, and neat, no-frills helming combined with authentic locations (Udaipur) and camerawork, lift this experience to a notch above the commonplace. This may not be a nuanced or deep experience but it is reminiscent of the family dramas of the 70’s and 80’s.

Rashtra Kavach Om : The Battle Within #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #RashtraKavachOmTheBattleWithin Rating: * * Runtime: 133 mins Genre: Action, Thriller Cast: #AdityaRoyKapoor #ArmenGreyg #SanjanaSanghi #JackieShroff #AshutoshRana #PrakashRaj #PracheeShahPandya Director: #KapilVerma

An all-out actioner meant to establish Aditya Roy Kapoor as an action hero in a potential franchise, this one doesn’t have either a validating storyline or adrenaline-triggering action chops. He may be bullet-proof but his body doesn’t look substantial enough to manage all those heavy lifts and slam dunks. The narrative tries to use heavy doses of patriotism and mother-love as incentives but fails miserably. The betrayer from within construct is old hat so there's nothing new to interest... #ZeeStudios #AhmedKhan #ShairaKhan Writers: #RajSaluja #NiketPandey Cinematography: #VineetMalhotra Editor: #KamleshParui Music: #AmandeepSinghJolly #ArkoPravoMukherjee

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #RocketryTheNambiEffect (Also released in Tamil, Telugu , Malayalam, Kannada) Rating: * * * Runtime: 157 mins Cast: #RMadhavan #RajitKapoor #Simran #ShahRukhKhan Story/Screenplay/Dialogues/Director: #RMadhavan Producer - #SaritaMadhavan #RMadhavan #VargheseMoolan #VijayMoolan #VijayMoolanTalkies #27thEntertainment #TricolorFilms #VargheseMoolanPictures #RaindropPR# Cinematography -#SirshaRay Editor - #BijithBala Music - #SamCS.

Based on the life of ISRO Scientist Nambi Narayanan who was falsely accused of being a spy, arrested in 1994, incarnated unjustly and later on released and absolved of all charges, this film lacks a consistent tone to represent the magnitude of the injustice meted out to Nambi Narayanan. The pre-interval half feels a little too light-weight, the science is not weightily represented either. The narrative comes good in the post-interval section where Narayanan goes through a harrowing time dealing with the consequences of his head-in-the-clouds syndrome. Madhavan presents Narayanan in empathetic fashion but the film fails to warm you up to the eventual ‘cause’ - of releasing Narayanan from the stigma of the injustice done to him. Good solid performances all around and a showy non-linear narrative with #ShahRukhKhan doing the honours of unscrambling the witch-hunt - makes for an interesting enough watch.

Sherdil The Pilibhit Saga #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #SherdilThePilibhitSaga Genre: Comedy Drama Rating: * * ½ Runtime: 122 mins Starring: #NeerajKabi #PankajTripathi #SayaniGupta Director: #SrijitMukherji

#Gulshamkumar #TSeries relianceentertainmentstudios #&pictures #BhushanKumar Inspired by real events - about village folk leaving their elderly in the Pilibhit forest reserve for tigers to prey on so that they can claim compensation from the government - this film fails to bring home that point of reference. The contrived narrative focuses on Gangaram, suffering from cancer and given three months to live - deciding to sacrifice his life in order to garner the Rs 10 lakh compensation that would go a long way to support his starving village. The abovementioned practice is dreadful and deserved a more serious, heart-touching telling but Srijit Mukherjee’s quickie fails to do that job well. Neither the humour nor the drama feels right here. The scripting is uninspired and the tone is off. This film is far too simplistic and un-affecting.

Jug Jugg Jeeyo #PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit

#PicksAndPiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReview #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #JugJuggJeeyo Rating: * * Runtime: 120 mins Cast: #VarunDhawan #KiaraAdvani #AnilKapoor #NeetuKapoor #ManeishPaul #TiscaChopra #PrajaktaKoli Director: #RajMehta #DharmaProductions #HypePR #NilouferQureshi #KaranJohar

Aiming to work up a storm about dysfunctional marriages in a contrary conservative set-up, Raj Mehta’s film takes the long lonely road of needless (excruciatingly tedious for the audience) extravagance (big fat Punjabi wedding style) to reach his selling point. After childhood pranks meant to establish age-old love, the unnecessarily long-drawn narrative in the first half focuses on never-ending joyless wedding celebrations before sending the young couple Kuku (Dhawan) and Naina(Advani) to Canada where they reach an impasse as a couple and decide to end it after one last salvo at faking it. The dramatic bits are all in the second half - some of it genuine and earnest( Kuku and Naina’s face-off) while others – especially the father Bheem’s( Anil Kapoor) so-called asexually pure extra-marital affair, come across as rather toonish. Neetu Singh’s performance is dignified and entreating, Anil Kapoor’s is flamboyantly bordering on ridiculous, Kiara does well to channel Naina’s frustration affectingly while Varun ( even while overstating the petulance of Kuku), does manage to be affecting. Designated as a family entertainer there are hardly any comedic moments to laugh out loud at. The first half is so much a drag that it would be difficult for anyone to sit through long enough to partake in the spoils of so-called wedded bliss as played out here. There are far too many unnecessary sequences padding the narrative ( especially the Maneish Paul thread) and dragging it down to base theatrics. It’s certainly not ‘Good News’ that ‘Happily Ever After’ is beyond the pale for most couples here.