नवरात्रि के पहले दिन सामने आया ‘पद्मावती’ का पहला पोस्टर. अब फ़िल्म के लिए Excitement और बढ़ गया!

आज से नवरात्र की शुरुआत हो चुकी है. नवरात्र के पहले दिन ही पद्मावती का पहला पोस्टर भी जारी किया गया. फ़िल्म के पहले पोस्टर में रानी पद्मावती का किरदार निभा रहीं दीपिका नज़र आ रही हैं.

दीपिका ने इस पोस्टर को अपने ट्विटर हैंडल पर शेयर किया.

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देवी स्थापना के शुभ अवसर पर मिलिए रानी पद्मावती से #Padmavati@FilmPadmavati

6:25 AM - Sep 21, 2017

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फ़िल्म के दो पोस्टर रिलीज़ किये गये. एक पोस्टर में दीपिका के पीछे कुछ औरतें घूंघट में नज़र आ रही हैं. दीपिका के चेहरे पर आत्मविश्वास साफ़ झलक रहा है. साथ ही उनके Uni Brows भी गौर करने लायक है.

दूसरे पोस्टर में दीपिका पूरे राजस्थानी लिबास में किसी मंदिर में खड़ी हैं, संभवत: किसी शिव मंदिर में.

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6:44 AM - Sep 21, 2017

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दीपिका के लुक से ये साफ़ हो गया है कि ये फ़िल्म बॉक्स ऑफ़िस पर कई रिकॉर्ड तोड़ सकती हैं. इस फ़िल्म में शाहिद कपूर ने रानी पद्मावती के पति, राजा रावल रतन सिंह निभाया है. रणवीर सिंह अलाउद्दीन खिलजी के किरदार में नज़र आएंगे. इससे पहले रणवीर और दीपिका ने इतिहास की घटनाओं से प्रेरित फ़िल्म बाजीराव-मस्तानी में भी साथ काम किया था.

फ़िल्म 1 दिसंबर को रिलीज़ हो रही है.

Lucknow Central movie review

Directed By: Ranjit Tiwari
Produced By: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Nikhil Advani, Monisha Advani, Madhu G Bhojwani
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Diana Penty, Deepak Dobriyal, Rajesh Sharma, Ronit Roy, Inaamulhaq, Gippy Grewal
Duration: 2 hours 27 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3/5

Whisking vivid feelings led by triumph, disaster and tragedies was what debutant director Ranjit Tiwari aimed to do. With its share of mild flaws, ‘Lucknow Central’ pulls off its intentions pretty well.

Farhan Akhtar plays one Kishen Mohan Girhotra, a UP man who falls victim to false accusations of committing a murder, and lands up behind the bars. Now, this portion looked not only fairly unconvincing, but also enjoyed unlikely convenience as events occurred.

Kishen is just one among many under unfavourable circumstances, may be? He is a passionate singer who imagines himself to make it big some day. But a jail isn’t where you do that, right? For Kishen, however, the tale twists.

After some intemperate conflicts with fellow inmates that look like the director’s efforts to introduce us to other key characters and also set a backdrop of imminent days, he comes across Parminder (Gippy Grewal), Victor (Deepak Dobriyal), Pandit Ji (Rajesh Sharma) and Dikkat Ansari (Inaamulhaq). Gayatri Kashyap aka Diana Penty is a social activist who crucially functions behind forming  a musical band at the Lucknow Central Jail, uniting the five friends with a mutual motive of breaking free.  Though, the hidden agenda is smelt by the badass jailer (Ronit Roy). At the end, however, the film is not about finding freedom through short cuts. It is about dumbing down the catastrophes.

Farhan Akhtar seems to have developed a serious fetish for films with music as their key influential factor. Though, drawing a comparison with ‘Rock On!!’ and ‘Rock On 2’ wouldn’t be fair, since ‘Lucknow Central’, in its ambitions and intentions, is more than a group of people celebrating music as their passion. And since the film was almost banking on the spirit of melody, we expected so much more from the film’s music. It however remained only situational.

The first half flows slowly and comfortably, allowing you to sync in to the moving course of events. The second half is eventful, quicker, resulting in quite an adrenaline rush.  It is also the period of changing emotions. Barring places wherein the pace slows down, Tiwari’s direction is crisp and has its message on point.

A strong Rajesh Sharma and an aptly obnoxious Ronit Roy take away the cake from a decent Farhan Akhtar here. Diana Penty, in her third Bollywood outing, has a surprisingly small screen-time. She manages fairly well, but leaves no mark. Another person, to have done a commendable job within limited time, is Manav Vij.

Production wise, the film is a delight. From the massive jail, perfectly imitated and made to feel like a narrow, little known world of its own, to those dimmed lights giving away hints of many scary nights, ‘Lucknow Central’ just looks and feels real. So is the cinematography, demonstratively done by Tushar Kanti Ray.

Where the film arguably lacks is, the sufferings don’t stay with you for long. However, the film definitely deserves one watch.

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Simran movie review

Directed By: Hansal Mehta 
Produced By: Bhushan Kumar
Cast: Kangana Ranaut 
Duration: 2 hours 04 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 2.5/5

Once, there was a small girl. She asked her mother, “Mom, what’s a good girl?” Her mother answered, “If you are a good girl, you get a boyfriend”. The girl asked, “And what if I become a bad girl?” Her mom said, “Then you get many!”

Sums up Simran’s character. Badass and beautiful. Free as a storm, pellucid as a river. Lovable in all her mistakes. If not for Kangana Ranaut, ‘Simran’ would probably be an exhausting watch.

Praful Patel (Kangana Ranaut) a 30-year-old divorcee has every possible annoyance in her life. Her parents pester her to marry again. She doesn’t have enough money to buy a house of her own. The woman who looks and acts chirpy and delighted with her life on the surface, has dark patches of loneliness and futility, underlying. Her forage of prosperity leads her to a mistake, then another, and another. Finally you know, she is in deep mess.

Kangana possesses this strange ability to literally wear the shades of her character, in every film. ‘Simran’ is no exception. In fact, she lives the confusions, the catastrohpes, the let-downs and the deliberate happiness with the finesse of a seasoned performer. But the best part is something else. She doesn’t take shelter of past tragedies to justify her present self. She is badass without being apologetic. She refuses sex without protection and shrugs off relationships that are over. She says no when necessary, and pleases no one. She falls in love, and falls out of love too. She admits her needs, and does act needy at times. She soaks her life with every bit of her fibre. They all are what make her a bit like all of us. In a long time, Praful Patel is the most progressive female character that doesn’t scream rebel, but subtly acts like one. And she’s a slap to Bollywood’s otherwise stereotyped depiction of ‘strong’ women.

If you exclude Kangana’s coruscating deliverance, you’ll be left with less than what you expected. Hansal Mehta, whose proficiency in making slice-of-life films is adored, puts in all efforts to come up with an emotionally riveting, subdued tale with a number of familiar crises which is at the same time, a lighter watch. But in that case, the comedy quotient should’ve been higher. We’ve certainly seen better from him. At more than one place, ‘Simran’ has taken supererogatory cinematic liberty. As a result, a chunk of the film is unconvincing. There are high chances it will convince you that robbing banks is easy. Don’t give up to that inspiration!

Further, throughout the first half, the pace keeps drowning down, making it rather tedious. Despite strongly sketched emotions and supporting actors who manage it fairly well, it feels long. Sohum Shah, for the first time in a kind of romantic role, pulls it off well, accompanied by Kishori Shahane and Hiten Kumar.

Shot like sunshines by Anuj Rakesh Dhawan and ornamented with soothing music by Sachin-Jigar, the film’s production values won’t let you down. But these don’t save a weak screenplay.

But, let’s give the ‘Queen’ what she deserves. Watch ‘Simran’ for a mind-blowing Kangana.

P.S. Only once you watch the film will you know why is it titled ‘Simran’.

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Newton movie review

Directed By: Amit V Masurkar
Produced By: Manish Mundra
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil
Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 4/5

I think a one-man army is always underestimated. One woman cooking for a hundred men. One old, fragile security guard protecting a house. One child planting a tree. One blind man crossing the road on his own. It takes just one to arise, to make a change. If not for the Newtons who care for nothing but the truth, how would this messed-up world still sustain?

Rajkummar Rao’s latest outing was like living 1 hour and 46 minutes of an extremely uncomfortable truth. Or may be we are over simplifying what the film was trying to convey. After all, what would we, the privileged urban population, know of places and people, devastated from all ends?

Rajkummar, who plays the titular role, wears his name like a symbol. He is this young government officer with truckloads of values and ethics. Hence, when he is sent to a remote election booth in Chhattisgarh as a presiding officer, he almost dreams he has been trusted with retaining democracy. Not to forget, the film is set on a backdrop of a severely disturbed, naxalite-influenced geographical arena wherein the people are torn between external threats and untrue, politically fickle administration. Newton, as he explores more of a world unbelievably ransacked, is sent through shockwaves at the sight of those burnt and broken houses, devoid of smallest prosperity and happiness. Reality brings him down to the true democracy we boast of; the democracy that probably exists nowhere beyond those 24 inches of a television box. Accompanied by teammates Malko (Anjali Patil), a local tribal woman and also a teacher, and a reluctant Loknath (Raghubir Yadav), he still begins the voting process inside a half-broken, abandoned school building.

And then begins the true exposure. What was initially looking like a crisis Newton would have to bear alone, becomes a twofold story. Since the beginning, we are introduced to Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathi), the assistant commander, in charge of Newton and his team’s security. A man of forty and also a man who has earlier managed elections at places like North East and Kashmir, Aatma Singh knows it all. He knows the farce that often occurs in the name of election. And he also knows, the very system that assigns him the duty to safeguard democracy, is failing him in more than one ways. Pankaj Tripathi perfectly essays a character with his own crisis who likes to keep it underneath. A man on a mission with a small weapon, Aatma Singh is constantly trying to wake Newton up to reality. It happens, but not very comfortably.

If you ask us what impacted us more than the actors, we’d say, the people. As we sat through and stared at those scattered, clueless, blank eyes wondering what a mere EVM machine could do for them, none of them looked like actors. They were far too real and far too honest to be anything less than truth, and just truth. Aren’t those the faces that often flash on our TV screens; washed with tears, slapped with tragedies? From UP, Bengal, Assam? From Kashmir, Karnataka, Uttarakhand? Failed by justice, religion, democracy? Failed by us, at large? But well, may be we are just carried away.

Rajkummar Rao looks unstoppable. He has mastered every little posture of a man in an ethical crisis. In one of the sequences, an enraged Rajkummar picks up a gun and screams at the top of his voice as he safeguards four ‘genuine’ voters. Why did I find so many of us in his wrinkles and his sweat-drops?

Anjali Patil plays a local teacher; a young, educated, tribal woman who might not buy the idea of violence caused by naxalites but relates to every bit of exploitation that has led tribals to how perturbed they are today. She is subdued, expressive and acts well. So is Raghubir Yadav.

The production was well taken care of. Since the beginning, you spot major usage of ambient sounds, instead of fabricated music. That just helps the tension build up. Mostly shot at real locations, it features decent work by Swapnil Sonawane.

‘Newton’ isn’t a pleasant watch. Neither is it relaxing on your nerves. It is just a piece of truth shoved on your face with a great dose of dark humour. Watch it for its honesty, and the fine performances.

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Daddy movie review

Directed By: Ashim Ahluwalia
Produced By: Kundalini Entertainment
Cast: Arjun Rampal, Aishwarya Rajessh
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3/5

“Arun utna hi bura hai, jitna tu. Woh Police wale ke ghar pe paida hota, toh police banta. Aur tu Dagdi pe, toh tu gangster,” – says Zubaida aka Asha Gawli, Arun Gawli’s wife, to a police officer.

And there comes the truth, shoved on your face.  Behind a person with a dark present is probably a sinless soul who was put amid taxing circumstances. To say that nobody is a born criminal would be an over-simplification of reality. It is rather like, criminals are born out of individuals. Ashim Ahluwalia’s ‘Daddy’, that way, tells you how one of the country’s deadliest gangsters was born, out of a man who once dreamt of nothing more than a happy home.

Spanning over three decades, from 70s to now, the film catches Arun Gawli’s life on celluloid with its mentionable ups and downs; and does so kind of effectively. Gawli (Arjun Rampal), who started off being a mere part of a local gang, is gradually met with the ultimate bhai Maqsood (played by Farhan Akhtar, inspired by Dawood Ibrahim’s character). He wants to depart with crime, but crime doesn’t spare him. In the mean time, he happens to meet, fall in love and marry Zubaida (Aishwarya Rajessh). The course of turning DADDY from Arun includes depletion of friends, near ones, comfort of home, sense of security and much that couldn’t be gathered in words. But who dominates your mind from beginning to end is a man with interminable dilemma inside, and a strange sense of affection and righteousness that are quite in contrary to his otherwise ‘gangster’ image.

Further, the film raises several questions that are especially relevant on the backdrop of a country consisting of miscellaneous citizens, in terms of education, moral practices and access to social privileges. While nothing can justify a crime, how open are we to allow a criminal to reform himself? Keep that aside. Have we, as a structured society, been able to ensure a circumstance for the marginal people (in all meanings) wherein they get through their basic rights? Hence, when a boy from a chawlgrows up surrounded by goons and becomes another himself, who do we really blame? The surroundings? Or the ones who let it flourish? One step further, we have authorised a system (represented by few people who we elect) to ensure justice for us, no matter what your or my social, political and financial stand is. How guiltless is the system itself, though? Talk of murky political conflicts and conspiracies clad in shameless abuse of power, and we all will have at least one instance to mention. To say that the ‘system’ is the deserving body to punish criminals would be to comfortably overlook the dirtiest mud the system itself hides. Or is it hidden, at all?

Was daddy a messiah? No. He looks like a person with equal share of mistakes which he probably would have rectified, given a chance. What might set him apart is his undying love for people. The people who elevated him to DADDY from being another gangster. The film, however, could be a bit more critical on him.

‘Daddy’ is production wise a strong film that carefully recreated Bombay of 70s. The shady chawls, the small nuances of dressing, the glittery and loud discs are perfectly recreated. It features strong performances from Arjun Rampal, Nishikant Kamat (the police officer we began with; the one who delayed his retirement to arrest Gawli), Anand Ingale (Babu) and Rajesh Shringarpur (Rama); two of Gawli’s closest companions. Aishwarya Rajessh is decent; however, within her character’s limited span. The misfit is Farhan Akhtar, with a perfect makeover but unconvincing personality. Further, it would be unfair to call this a ‘special appearance’, because his role is as good as that of a side role!

We could fairly manage without the ‘Zindagi Meri Dance Dance’ number, that was only made to add some flavour, we assume.

The film, however, does slow up in the first half. At times, we have to gather the story on ourselves. Further, it had chances to be more gripping.

However, ‘Daddy’ deserves one watch for attempting to explore a life as interesting as Arun Gawli’s!

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Poster Boys movie review

Directed By: Shreyas Talpade
Produced By: Sunny Sounds Pvt. Ltd, Shreyas Talpade, Deepti Talpade
Cast: Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Shreyas Talpade
Duration: 2 hours 11 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 3/5

Take a bowl. A bowl, not a bow! Put Sunny Deol’s dhai kilo ka haath in it. Add Shreyas Talpade’s million-dollar expressions and mix them well with Bobby Deol’s otherwise-not-making-sense face. Sprinkle some good humour. You’ve ‘Poster Boys’!

To keep it short, this film is on three men who invite much trouble in their respective lives after their photos are used for a poster promoting vasectomy; well, without their consent! Ab aap agar baap nahi ban sakte, toh aap kuchh nahi ukhad sakte! Hence, Jaagavar Chaudhury (Sunny Deol)- a military man, Vinay Sharma (Bobby Deol)- a forgetful school teacher and Arjun Singh (Shreyas Talpade)- a young aashiq (well he has a job too; collecting money from borrowers on his boss’ behalf), are embarrassed, insulted, cursed, and what not? Jaagavar’s sister’s wedding goes for a toss. Vinay’s wife leaves him. Arjun’s fiance’s father refuses to accept him as his son-in-law.

Now what? These three get on a mission to find people responsible for their mistake, and make them apologise. They start from the local health office and reach… let that be a suspense!

I am personally finicky when it comes to comedy. Comedy in Bollywood films often turns out sucker, since it’s either too sexist or too on-the-face most of the times. This one, however, had me high on simple humour. As the film unfolds, little punchlines and excellent performances don’t let the fun die. Most importantly, you always want to know what’s happening next!

Shreyas Talpade couldn’t have a better film to make his directorial debut with. He has got what it actually takes to make a ‘family entertainer’. No, adult humour isn’t prohibited in family entertainers. You just have to know that being funny is different from being misogynist. As you sit through the film, you’re going to get a bit of sanskari dose and a bit of ‘orthodox’ stuff that you might not like. Hold on, it’s going to change! Most importantly, he makes his actors act and bring the respective characters to life.

The end, although, feels a little stretched. Also, we were better off the preaching that happens during the climax.

A big hand for screenplay writers Bunty Rathore and Paritosh Painter. If not for these guys, ‘Poster Boys’ wouldn’t be such a delight to watch. These dudes so aptly put ‘Soldier Soldier, Mithi Baatein Bol Kar’ as Bobby Deol’s ringtone. I can’t get over it!

For once, I even liked all those brightly coloured houses and backgrounds that evidently looked like sets and VFX. The fun was such silly that they didn’t seem to matter. And anyway, if Sunny Deol’s buffalo’s name is Shila and if he is a soldier who likes to pout, I don’t mind his house looking like a fancy crayon-coloured picture!

If not for this, I’d say I loved Shreyas the most in ‘Iqbal’ and the ‘Golmaal’ series. But his hilariously troubled character in this film is a treat you shouldn’t miss. Sunny Deol has got something about his face. He gets me senti. Like, say, when he removes his pagdi, he gets me senti. When his lips tremble like a maple leaf and as per Bollywood’s guideline he is about to cry, he gets me senti. Here, he is trying to convince his arrogant brother, his heartbroken sister and his devastated wife that he has not lost his ‘manhood’. Sigh! On a serious note, he is probably the most underutilised star we have. I lobed Bobby Deol too! Erm… am I actually saying that?!

Honestly, music didn’t have much to do. The opening sequence of the film is an item number featuring Elli Avram. Hmm… good for her! It is a decently shot and decently edited film.

Give it a watch, you’re going to come out feeling a lot light! I want to conclude with a spoiler. xD

–Maine Aap Ko  Pehle Bhi Dekha Hai

-Mujhe? Main Toh Iss Gaon Mein Do Sal Pehle Hi Aaya Hoon. Isse Pehle Main Kashmir Border Pe Tha. Usse Bhi Pehle Main Ladakh Border Mein Tha.

-Lekin Maine Aap Ko Zarur Kahin Dekha Hai

-JP Dutta Ke ‘Border’ Mein Dekha Hoga!

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