Detective Byomkesh Bakshi - Slow, but Smart!

Movie: Detective Byomkesh Bakshi
Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput,  Anand Tiwari, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon, Meiyang Chang, Neeraj Kabi
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cinematography: Nikos Andritsakis

Dibakar Banerjee has always had a flair for the unconventional and had never bothered about stereotypes. He finally returns to his motherland, Calcutta for this historical adventure and in an interesting casting of sorts, casts the young Sushant Singh Rajput as the detective. The rest of the cast is relatively unpopular for Bollywood standards and that is perhaps what a suspense movie requires: that nobody has any preconceived notions about anybody in the movie.

The comparisons with Sherlock Holmes movies are inevitable since they are also set in the past and are about how Holmes and Watson save the day with the help of Holmes' mercurial deductive reasoning. However, much credit must be given to Dibakar Banerjee for showing us the formative years of the deductive: he is not a detective because he trumps everyone else with his wit, but only because he thinks he is good to be one. He is amateurish at times and even foolhardy in some sequences, trying to outsmart the villain. That is one nice twist, since we are getting to know that Bakshey is not invincible as a Holmes and is refreshing to watch.

The story is set in 1942 in Calcutta and this is one of the most authentic renditions of that age. Hope the makers of 'Hawaaizaada' have a look at the costumes and the set pieces used in this movie and realize how to actually be authentic in a movie set in the past. When Ajit Banerjee (Anand Tiwari) approaches Bakshey to request him to help out in finding his missing father, Bakshey realizes soon that his individual disappearance is not a one-off event and connected to a major plan by the Japanese army, Chinese drug lords and a secret political party. 

He eventually comes across a smart doctor Anukul Guha (Neeraj Kabi) who seems better than the detective himself with his reasoning abilities, a film star Angoori (a sensual Swastika Mukherjee) who seems to be attracted to Bakshey and a fiery Satyawati (a small role for an elegant looking Divya Dutta) who all seem something on the inside and seem to have their own hidden secrets. Whether Bakshey spoils the nefarious plans of the unknown perpetrators and whether Calcutta is saved from imminent doom forms most of the story.

The story gets really interesting around the first hour when people seem to be mysteriously dying around Bakshey as he tries helping Ajit - who eventually sort of settles into a sidekick - into finding out what happens to his father. The charm of the story lies in the fact that Dibakar Banerjee doesn't shy away from showing Bakshey as a shy, frightened or instinctive in a bad sort of way. He seems to be falling easily to the trap of the seemingly smarter villain and realizes that only too late into the movie, after a lot of others die around him.

While the movie itself is engaging, one sore point is the lack of pace in the latter part of the second half before the climax where the movie - like Bakshey - takes it's own sweet time to establish the motive of it's villains. While anybody could have guessed who the villain was, the revelations of why and how are the biggest turning points of the movie and the shock element seems a little lacking during the final reveal.

The technical department is mostly spot on. The editing is taut and to the point, except during the second half where the story seems to be dragging on. The cinematography is beautiful, especially in the fight sequences at late night towards the end, which are a delight to watch on the big screen. Thankfully, there are no irritating song sequences and only sequences which merge with the theme of the movie.

Nevertheless, the biggest takeaway is that Byomkesh Bakshi is not another Sherlock wannabe; Dibakar Banerjee has ensured that Byomkesh is a riveting stand-alone movie with an Indian sensibility and an excellent possibility for future sequels: this is one movie where I found myself immersed and interested in how the fate could turn out for it's different characters after the end. Let's hope they make a good sequel; I'd die to watch one.

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NH10 - Suspend Some Disbelief and Enjoy the Thriller

Movie: NH10
Direction: Navdeep Singh
Cast: Anushka Sharma, Neil Bhoopalam, Darshan Kumaar, Deepti Naval
Cinematography: Arvind Kannabiran
Music: Karan Gour
Run Time: 115 minutes

Expectations:

NH10 has created some good expectations thanks to it's well edited trailer which promised a lot of thrills and chills. Coming from the director of the critically acclaimed thriller 'Manorama Six Feet Under', this movie also marked the first production venture of it's female lead, Anushka Sharma. Did the movie deliver its thrills? Lets find out.

Plot:

Meera (Anushka Sharma) and Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam) are married professionals from Gurgaon. One night, when Meera returns home alone, her car is attacked by unknown people. Traumatized after the incident, the couple get a licensed gun for their safety. Arjun takes Meera out to a desert holiday for some recreation. On the way, they invariably get to witness an attempted honor killing. What follows after that? Do Meera and Arjun get to escape the merciless regressive minded killers forms the rest of the story.

Movie Commentary:

NH10 is that movie that contrasts the two widely different worlds of India: the urban world, where cross-cultural marriage has gotten quite common and the rural world where honour killings are a silent reality. What if these two worlds intertwined? Sounds like a really good concept, but how these worlds get intertwined has been done in a most unconvincing way. There was no need for this incident to have happened had Arjun walked away from the goons when he was warned in no kind terms in their affairs. Rather, with the need to prove his manliness to Meera, he stupidly confronts them and then, well, all hell breaks lose.

That stupid decision by Arjun is the single weakest point of the movie and if one chooses to ignore that, the movie becomes an engaging watch in the first half. However, there are a lot of loop holes in the second half where logical fallacies kind of bug you from really investing for the couple. I cannot recall Meera or Arjun trying to call someone for help from their mobiles. Is it implied that there is no signal? Why did neither of them check for it? However, the powerhouse acting of Anushka Sharma keeps you engaged and looking forward to how things play out.

One of the interesting things in the movie is the sudden love affair that Bollywood seems to have for Tamil mouthing heroines. Starting from Deepika Padukone in 'Chennai Express' to Alia Bhatt in '2 States' to Yami Gautam in 'Badlapur' and now, Anushka Sharma in 'NH10', it has become a habit for the leading ladies to speak cringe-worthy Tamil. As a Tamil speaking guy, trust me when I tell you that while it might look cute on screen, the Tamil they mouth is artificial and pathetic.

Anyways, moving on to the bigger scheme of things, the single biggest takeaway for the audience from this movie is the rampant practice of honour-killing in rural India which goes often unnoticed and unreported because everybody belief is that's how it is. One police officer, who investigates the case where Meera's car is attacked politely says that, 'The city is a growing kid; it will jump at times!' and recommends them to get a gun for their own personal safety. Another police officer refuses to take her complaint when she claims that a gang of goons are following her. The third one asks for her caste when talking to her causally and frowns at her for marrying someone of another caste.

Who can be trusted at a place where everyone conspires to keep their family honour paramount? What kind of society is that we live in when women are seen as commodities capable of being beaten, abused and even killed, if it need be? There are the uncomfortable questions that NH10 poses to us. Only if the plot were more convincing!

Performances:

Anushka Sharma as Meera gets a memorable role and no wonder, she has produced the movie. Darshan Kumar as Satbir - the leader of the goons - looks menacing but doesn't get to establish his character very well, so the impact is not so profound when he looks indecisive at a few scenes. Neil Bhoopalam as Arjun does what his role demands, but I hope that his character was better written, since his decision to take on the big gang of villagers is perplexing. Men can be stupid, but no unreasonably so! Deepti Naval as the Sarpanch of the village gets a good cameo and plays her part well.

Technical Departments:

The direction is spot on for most part of the movie and while the script throws some rather gaping loopholes, the director has taken pains not to dwell too much on them, so the distraction is minimal. Since the story moves at a brisk pace - the run time is a taut 115 minutes - the movie doesn't give you too much time to think of much. Much credit should also be given to the editing of the movie. The cinematography, thankfully doesn't present too many dark backgrounds, though a major part of the story happens at night. The night light is well captured and presented without confusing the audience.

What Works:

The theme of the story, Anushka Sharma's brilliant acting and some edge of the seat moments.

What Doesn't:

The Predictable Story and Perplexing Plot Holes and a lot of gore.

Verdict:

If you can suspend some disbelief and can mouth some gore, you can enjoy this thriller.

Our Score: 3/5

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Badlapur Movie Review - A Gripping Tale with A Subtle Message

Movie: Badlapur
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 132 Minutes
CBFC Rating: A
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Naazzudin Siddique, Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam, Vinay Pathak and Radhika Apte

Expectations:
Badlapur comes from director Sridhar Raghavan three years after the debacle called 'Agent Vinod'. And it has 'Varun Dhawan' in the lead, someone touted to be the next 'bhai' in town, rather than anything else. There are also comparisons to the 'Ek Villain' storyline, which had released last year. Unfortunately, the irony of it all is that 'Ek Villain' was an outright Indianized version of  the cult Korean movie 'I saw the Devil' and 'Badlapur' is a pretty original attempt, as far as this reviewer could see. Either way, the expectations for the movie was muted and the only thing that was being hyped about the movie was Atif Aslam's Jeena Jeena. Which was sad, because this movie is so much more.

Plot:
Raghav (Varun Dhawan) works at an ad-agency in Pune and is happily married to Misha (Yami Gautam) with a son. When a bank robbery by Liak (Nawazuddin Siddique) and Harmaan (Vinay Pathak) goes wrong, Misha and her son are caught in between as collateral damage and are left for dead. Liak lets his friend escape with a money promising to return soon, but gets caught by the police. With his world shattered, Raghav has only one goal in mind: revenge, and he would go any lengths to get his revenge. Liak, who realizes that Raghav would not let him live in peace decides it's enough being bad and tries to turn around his life for the better. Ultimately, what happens to both of them forms the rest of this intriguing plot.

Performances:
You can go to the movie doubting the acting prowess of Varun Dhawan. That is a good thing, because he will prove you wrong. In his small career of three movies, young Dhawan was the typical masala hero who can woo any girl and fight any villain. But not here. Badlapur is to Varun Dhawan what Haider was to Shahid Kapoor. Both as the loving husband and the shattered alcoholic, he shows that he can emote and even match the other veterans that he shares the screen space with. The transformation from a likeable, sweet husband to a brutal, unflinching murderer has been essayed perfectly and it will remain one of Varun Dhawan's best performances for some time to come.

The show-stealer, as expected is Nawazuddin Siddique. As Laik, the bank-robber who wants to make it big, he is the bad-guy you hate at first, but someone who grows on you and earns your sympathy as the tale unfolds. He is fragile, he makes some stupid mistakes (one grave one as well), he loves his mom and his Jhimli (Huma Qureshi) and he is almost likeable. Siddique had deftly underplayed a role which could have so easily become a typical anti-hero role. He is flawed, no doubt, but you tend to like him because you can relate to his flaws, so you kind of hope that Raghav does not kill him.

The other strong pillars of this movie are the leading ladies. Everyone's character has been carefully etched and they remain true to their roles. Yami Gautam's is actually a brief cameo. There are barely four scenes of her throughout and it could have dampened the pace if not for Yami's charming screen presence. But which Tamil girl is named 'Misha', Mr. Sridhar? Radhika Apte as Koko, who does not mind sleeping with a guy to save her husband and Huma Qureshi as Jhimli, the prostitute and love interest of Laik, essay bold roles and deserve special applause for doing what Indian leading ladies would consider 'offbeat' to do. In between all this, Divya Dutta holds her own as Shoba, an activist for prisoners' welfare.

In between all that, did I mention that Vinay Pathak as Harmaan, displays some brilliant histronics and effective underplay as the confused partner of Laik? That is like some dream cast and I haven't mentioned the greedy pot-bellied police officer and the protagonist's mom who wants to shop 'idli-dosa batter' for their south Indian in laws. Truly, the biggest plus of this movie is the detailing of each character, even the minute ones.

Where it does lack though is a seemingly swift shift from the present time to 15 years later where there isn't much of a change in appearance for any character. The jump in time is a little jarring and too convenient to push the story, but not convincing enough.

Technical Departments:
Music by Sachin-Jigar is apt and up the tempo of some scenes, especially the opening scene where you are biting your nails on the edge of your seat and cinematography by Anil Mehta is good especially because it's realistic and does not try anything too fancy. There's no unnecessary top-angle, bottom-angle, wide-angle shots to just show that the cinematographer to display his complete resume in this movie. That is refreshing, for a change!

Direction by Sridhar Raghavan gives this movie an edgy, dark mood as in Ek Hasina Thi and Jhonny Gaddar and nothing seems to be predictable. That is good because, there seems to be no pre-planned plot, just characters driving the story to an end. What a comeback this has been for him!

Positives:
Exemplary performances by a stellar cast, detailed characterization and the transformation of good to bad and vice versa are well documented.

Negatives:
The time-lapse of 15 years all of a sudden is jarring. The ending gets a bit preachy and was not exactly necessitated. It was obvious what was happening and I had found myself enjoying how unstated and beautiful the transformation of characters were and Raghavan spoils it in the end, where he makes Jhimli preach Raghav the virtues of non-violence. Oh, please!

Verdict:
Despite minor flaws, this is an enjoyable offering and a welcome return to form for Sridhar Raghavan.

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Shamitabh - Movie Review - A Masterclass display of Acting

Shamitabh
Cast : Amitabh Bachchan,Dhanush,Akshara Hassan.
Direction : R.Balki
Music : Ilayaraja
Cinematography : P.C.Sreeram.
Tagline : War of egoistic talents.

Expectation:
Coming from the stable of Balki, who previously delivered 2 hits - both featuring Amitabh Bachchan in lead role, with unique plots (a 60 year old's love with 30 year old in Cheeni Kum and the life of a 12 year old boy with a rare disorder -  progeria - in Paa), Shamitabh yet again features Amitabh, accompanied by South star Dhanush, who created impact with his performance in last year's successful Raanjhanaa and Kamal Hassan's second daughter Akshara(debut).From the trailer and the teaser, one could easily grab the premise where Shamitabh is set. Let's explore who actually is Shamitabh.

Plot:

A small town boy Daanish(Dhanush) wants to make it big in the showbiz. He gets to meet assistant director Akshara who wants to help him, and though Daanish is an extremely talented actor, there's one thing that prevents him from getting a break in the industry - Daanish is mute. Enters Amitabh ,(an aspiring actor himself, in his prime), who decides to lend his majestic voice for Daanish. Daanish and Amitabh combine with the aid of voice transfer technology, to create "Shamitabh" and achieve huge success.

Stardom gets into Daanish's head, while lack of recognition for his voice, and the disrespect Daanish gives him angers Amitabh. Selfishness, arrogance, anger and ego weakens the bonding, and the duo eventually break up. Their individual attempts fail big time, and Akshara decides to bring a patch up between the talented artistes. Who won the clash of egos, and whether Daanish and Amitabh reunited to recreate the magic of Superstar Shamitaabh is a fun filled emotional ride to be witnessed on screen.

Performances:

Dhanush and Amitabh compete with each other throughout the movie, and though the contest is evenly poised for most part, towards the end Amitabh proves he's a powerhouse performer. Dhanush, after his impressive act in Raanjhaana has taken the bold decision of not just sharing screen space with a veteran, but also getting his voice dubbed by him. Flawless acting performance by both
Dhanush and Amitabh, and you just cannot take your eyes off even for a moment. Dhanush impresses with his energetic performance as a mute guy, who aspires to become the superstar in the intial stages of the film, and later as the selfish and arrogant superstar. His body language and mannerisms, combined with Amitabh's voice (though you initially feel the voice not matching Dhanush's lean frame, as the movie progresses, it just gets better) assert the fact that he's not a one film wonder, and is here to stay.

Amitabh gets to mouth all the powerful, rhyming, satirical and emotionally charged lines in the movie, and he is at his best!! His angst at being at the background with no recognition, and the desperation that leads to his Ego clash with Daanish are expressed perfectly. Watch out for the climax when he almost overshadows the impact created by Dhanush throughout the movie. Akshara, making her debut in a role which is almost her real self, perfectly fills the bill. Her expressions while attempting to patch up the egoistic duo is apt. A much better artiste than Shruthi !!


Technical Departments and Direction:

Balki's love for Raja continues in Shamitabh as well. Background score by Ilayaraja lifts the mood of Shamitabh, and of his compositions, Bachchan's baritone rendition of Piddly and Stereophonic sannata make the impact with picture perfect visuals. P.C.Sreeram makes Shamitabh a watch-worthy experience. He has captured the emotions of both the leading actors perfectly, and since this is one movie where the actors take precedence over props and locales, Sreeram has done a commendable job.

Balki yet again proves that his success in the bollywood industry isn't a flash in the pan, and re-establishes that he's one creative director who could make unique characterizations and plots. His screenplay doesn't drag or hold uninteresting sequences. His flair for wit and habit of inculcating humor within the screenplay is appreciable, and he even takes a lot of digs on the industry
-casting couch, the name "Bollywood" itself copied..err...inspired from hollywood.etc among others.

Though the piddly number and the following sequence between Dhanush and Rukmani are crass and unwarranted, Balki makes the latter one crowd-pleasing with Amitabh mouthing a counter dwarfing Dhanush. Though the premise is well known even from the trailers, Kudos to Balki for coming up with  an engaging screenplay laced with many light-hearted moments, and sustaining the audience interest throughout, thanks to the magnetic and expressive performances of both Dhanush and Amitabh.

Though laced with all such positive factors, Shamitabh has its own shortcomings as well - one of them being the forced end which just doesn't fit in considering the fun filled screenplay. All said , Shamitabh is Balki brand entertainment with Amitabh and Dhanush sharing the acting honors.

What works :
Dhanush-Amitabh, witty dialogues, the novel, unique plot and tight screenplay by Balki.

What doesn't :
The climax which seems forced (though it essentially is aimed at showing destruction of ego in both the men), the sequence involving Dhanush and Rukmani which follows Piddly, Amitabh's pointless conversation to the dead Gomes at cemetary.

Verdict:
Top notch performances and a near perfect screenplay with an underlying deep message makes this Shamitabh taste victory !! Sure to leave an emotional impact.

7.8/10

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Hawaaizaada : Movie Review : Poorly written, badly acted and completely boring!

Movie: Hawaaizaada

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Pallavi Shradha, Mithun Chakraborty

Director: Vibhu Puri

Plot:

The film is based on the life of scientist Shivkar Bapuji Talpade who is credited with having constructed India's first unmanned plane. The movie is set in Mumbai, 1895 and is a fictional take on the life of Mr. Talpade and the numerous obstacles that he faces before realizing his dream of flying the (hold your breath) first manned-airplane ever in the world. In between, the movie somehow attempts to be part-patriotic, part-tragic and part-romantic all at once. Does it work?

Script and Presentation:

Hawaaizaada wants to tread a fine line between a biography and a musical-romance-patriotic-tragedy, but it achieves nether of these traits and fall somewhere in between. The problem is that the movie seems unsure of what it wants to be. The script is very very poorly written, and the songs come one after the other with no end. There's an item song, a happy love song, a sad love song, a mourning song, a patriotic song, but every single song slows the flow of the movie rather than taking it forward. 

The thought of the scriptwriters should have been like this: The lead is a misfit in the society: 'lets write a song', the lead meets a girl: 'why not another song', the lead gets thrown out of home: 'a sad song', the lead and his tutor set out to make a plane: 'a motivational song', the girl ditches the lead: 'for God's sake another song'. The truth is, I have covered only less than half the movie here. If the makers had put half the effort that they did in placing songs in different situations of the movie into delivering a better script and making a plot that makes sense, the movie could have at least been watchable.

Performances:

The acting is just passable and even the lead pair look very mechanical in their reactions to situations. Ayushamann Khurrana looks like he's about to fall asleep most of the times like the audience who get to watch this movie on screen and on the times that he does become active, he does the randomest stupid things like plucking out the tooth of a Britisher, becoming a traitor to his guru and even becomes Superman by flying out of a ship on top of the sea.

And Pallavi Shradha, for every ounce of beauty that God has bestowed on her, I wish He had also added a couple of grams of expressions on her face. She does have a range of scenes to emote but she just turns out a few staple expressions, that you can count with your fingers the different ways that she emotes. The only saving grace is Mithun Chakraborty, whom as Subbaraya Shastry, is the most 'normal' character in the movie. His quirks are laughable and he at least has a purpose in his life unlike everyone else in the movie who seem to be wandering around without knowing why they are there.

Positives:

Mithun Chakraborty shines in his role as a vedic-scientist who is searching for the right ingredients to make a modern flight using the concepts explained in the Vedas that were used to build the Pushpak Vimanas. As preposterous as that may sound, it is made believable to an extent largely due to the performance of Chakraborty as Subbaraya.

The set pieces are beautiful and kind of remind you of the setting of Sherlock Holmes movies. Only if they could have made someone act in there!

A couple of songs are hum worthy (okay, if you have 14 or 15 in a movie, at least a couple ought to be!) and even though you may not like the movie, you would be humming a few tunes after you exit the theatre.

Negatives:

The entire script is a big let down. The movie does not establish if it is a documentary or a pseudo-documentary or an inspired drama or what it is and leaves the viewer confused since the movie is said to be 'inspired from true accounts'. How much is true? What is false? Someone care to bother?

The acting is lazy, That's what it is. You can't blame the actors though. There's a lot of senseless situations in the movie and with not much to act for, they probably didn't know what to do.

The unrelenting parade of songs that gets you irritated after a point.

Verdict:

The worst part of the movie is the lack of historical evidence behind what it claims was achieved and the absolute lack of clarity in explaining why this part of history was totally forgotten or wiped off. What did the genius Mr. Talpade do after becoming the first human to fly a plane? Why did he not try to manufacture more planes, use his technology to fight the British? Nope, nothing!  A movie made with such beautiful set pieces should have also given some respect to the back story and the script. Hawaiizaada is a movie you can miss. You won't regret it.

Our Rating: 2.5/5

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