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Movie Review: ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ is a heart warming film about true friendship

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The Man Who Knew Infinity

Producer: Edward R. Pressman, Jim Young & Joe Thomas
Director: Mathew Brown
Star Cast: Dev Patel, Devika Bhise, Jeremy Irons, Toby Jones, Stephen Fry, Jeremy Northam, Kevin McNally & Enzo Cilenti
Genre: Drama
Verdict: VERY GOOD

Plot: The Man Who Knew Infinity is the true story of friendship that forever changed mathematics. In 1913, Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), a self – taught Indian mathematics genius, travelled to Trinity College, Cambridge, where over the course of 5 years, forged a bond with his mentor, the brilliant & the eccentric professor, G. H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), and fought against prejudice to reveal his mathematics genius to the world. This is Ramanujan’s story as seen through Hardy’s eyes.

Aces: The mesmerising performance of the lead cast namely Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons & Devika Bhise. Hats off to debutante director Mathew Brown for presenting a true picture of a mathematical genius & his mentor without getting tempted to take refuge in the commercial gimmicks.

Minuses: It is a straight narration devoid of any entertaining relief.

Last Word: The Man Who Knew Infinity based on the book of the same name by Robert Kanigal does full justice to the subject at hand. This art house movie will also be a delight for the festival circuit audiences.

Movie Review: ‘Mother’s Day’ is an extremely boring fare

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mothers-day

Producer: Brandt Andersen, Howard Burd, Daniel Diamond, Mark DiSalle, Mike Karz & Wayne Allan Rice
Director: Garry Marshall
Star Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Jason Sudekis, Britt Robertson, Timothy Olyphant, Hector Elizondo & Jack Whitehall
Genre: Comedy
Verdict: POOR, Extremely Boring

Plot: Mother’s Day is the latest star-studded ensemble comedy from director Garry Marshall. Bringing together Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson & Julia Roberts along with Jason Sudeikis, it’s a celebration of mothers everywhere. This big – hearted comedy invites us all to enjoy the laughter, the tears & the love as 3 generations come together in the week leading up to the Mother’s Day.

Aces: The only good thing about Mother’s Day is a few laughs raised by some comic punches.

Minuses: Oh! What a waste of the ensemble cast’s acting skills proven by them over the years in innumerable movies.

Last Word: No need to waste your time & money and add insult to injury.

Movie Review: ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ is an exciting thriller full of suspense drama

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10 Cloverfield Lane

Producer: J J Abrahams & Lindsay Weber
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Star Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher, Bradley Cooper, Suzanne Cryer & Jamie Clay
Genre: Suspense Drama
Verdict: GOOD

Plot: A young woman wakes up after a terrible accident to find that she’s locked in a cellar with a doomsday prepper, who insists that he saved her life and that the world outside is uninhabitable following an apocalyptic catastrophe. Uncertain what to believe, the woman soon determines that she must escape at any cost.

Aces: 10 Cloverfield Lane is good edge of the seat thriller especially because of the actor’s sterling & mesmerising performance aided and abetted by director Dan Trachtenberg’s excellent directorial treatment.

Minuses: The only thing missing in 10 Cloverfield Lane is lack of entertainment value.

Last Word: 10 Cloverfield Lane is a spiritual sequel to the 2008 thriller Cloverfield. In a way both the films live up to the expectations of the audiences who love disaster movies.

Movie Review: ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ is a good costume drama which is good for at least one time watch

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The Huntsman Winters War

Producer: Joe Roth
Director: Cedric Nicolas – Troyan
Star Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Sam Claflin, Rob Brydon & Jessica Chastain
Genre: Fantasy
Verdict: Ok

Plot: Freya the Ice Queen (Emily Blunt) brings her sister Ravenna (Charlize Theron) back to life, and the powerful evil siblings plan to conquer the Enchanted Forest. Only the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and his secret lover Sara (Jessica Chastain) can stop them in this sequel continuing the inventive twist on the Snow White fable.

Aces: The Huntsman: Winter’s War a sequel to the Snow White fable has all glitter & gloss with all the apt production values intact. Besides Chris Hemsworth & Charlize Theron are impressive.

Minuses: Instead of a continuation of a fairy tale, this movie turns out to be more mysterious adventure in which every character dies and is instantly reborn. Intriguing & Unbelievable!!!

Last Word: Fairy tale sagas have its own fans, coupled with mystery & adventure The Huntsman: Winters War may have a slow start at the Box Office turnstiles but has chances of pick up in the long run.

Movie Review: ‘Fan’ is devoid of any entertainment value and may over all appeal only to die hard SRK fans

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fan

Banner: Yash Raj Films
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Waluscha De Sousa, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Sayani Gupta, Deepika Amin & Yogendra Tiku
Music: Vishal – Shekhar & Andrea Guerilla

Director Maneesh Sharma has tackled a very sensitive subject of a so called superstar and his so called obsession for the superstar in his latest offering Fan. But he has certainly disappointed all the SRK fans with his so called convoulted plot. And both director Maneesh Sharma & screenplay writer Habib Faisal are solely responsible for this hotch potch scenario.

The scripted scenario of Fan narrates the story of Gaurav, an over – obsessive fan, whose life revolves around superstar Aryan. In his desire to meet his idol, Gaurav embarks on a journey to Mumbai. However, his interaction with the man he hero – worships & idolises But the superstar fails to meet his expectations. Resultantly, Gaurav decides to get nasty & malicious.

All said & done Fan may not be the most original piece of work as cine goers are bound to draw parallels with other films of this genre especially the Robert De Nero – Wesley Snipes Hollywood movie of the same name. Fan of course is not deviod of its share of flaws. The other minus point of Fan is that it is devoid of any entertainment value.

Performance wise SRK succeeds in holding his fort as an obssessively dangerous fan Gaurav, here too he shows more of his negative streaks as he had shown in Darr & Anjaam. He has just carried forward those roles. And as Aryan the real – life superstar he is just about ok. So if SRK is charming & believable as the superstar, he delivers a sterling performance as the fan with vengeance on his mind. While the other actors like Shriya Pilgaonkar, Sayani Gupta, Deepika Amin, Yogendra Tiku are really superb. On the other hand Waluscha De Sousa has simply been wasted. doesn’t get much scope.

Movie Review: ‘Love Games’ promises to showcase story of modern relationships filled with lust, betrayal & lots of ‘love’

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Love-Games

Banner: Vishesh Films
Producer: Mahesh Bhatt & Mukesh
Director: Vikram Bhatt
Star Cast: Patralekha, Tara Alisha Berry & Gaurav Arora
& Hiten Tejwani
Music: Sangeet Haldipur & Siddharth Haldipur

The 2 mammoth camps namely the Bhatt camp & the T -Series camps have given an altogether different name to modern cinema namely that of erotica. And this genre of cinema has given rise to eroticism in its fullest glory with no holds barrier and then of course lustful sex is thrown in blatantly and beyond imagination. So much so that even the so called Censor Board officials are left speechless & tongue tied.

The scripted scenario of Love Games starts with the sexy Ramona Raichand (Patralekha) losing her husband in an accident. However, she is a sex addict and decides to find solace in the arms of her f*ck buddy Sameer Saxena aka Sam (Gaurav Arora). Sam, on the other hand, is a lonely, rich & spoilt son of a wealthy business tycoon. While sex, drugs & self -harm is his way of living, Sam, who consults a psychologist for his depressive state owing to a dark past, tries to find adventure in his life. Hence, he decides to accompany his sex buddy Ramona in ‘love games’. This game of infidelity is all about seducing happy couples and getting laid with them. Sam has to score the wife, while Ramona has to go for the husband and whoever gets laid first wins. And the loser will supply a week of cocaine to the winner! Amidst this game, things get serious when Sam falls in love with Alisha Asthana (Tara Alisha Berry), a doctor by profession but married to an abusive criminal lawyer Gaurav Asthana (Hiten Tejwani). Sam’s love for Alisha threatens his ‘friends with benefits’ sort of relation with Ramona and she starts losing her partner and in turn also her ambitions.

Director Vikram Bhatt needs no special introduction for his refined directorial prowess in all his past bold & dark films starting from franchise films like Murder, Jism, Hate Story and now Love Games in which once again his directorial prowess excels beyond limitations. No wonder cine goers may lap up Love Games as the film has ample love making scenes shot aesthetically. The plot, like other Bhatt films, explores the deep, the dark and the dangerous sides of humans with several twists and turns. That apart like all Bhatt camp films, music is the highlight of Love Games too.

Performance wise it is indeed Patralekha who walks away with all the honours in all the scenes with even a seasoned actor like Hiten Tejwani coming in a close second. While actors like Tara Alisha Berry & Gaurav Arora have lended their strongest support to the above mentioned 2 actors.

Tail Piece: Love Games promises to showcase another story of modern relationships filled with lust, betrayal & lots of ‘love’.

Movie Review: ‘Before I Wake’ is a spine chilling horror fare

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Before I Wake

Producer: Sam Englebardt, William D. Johnson & Trevor Macy
Director: Mike Flanagan
Star Cast: Kate Bossworth, Thomas Jane, Jacob Trembley, Annabeth Gish & Dash Mihok
Genre: Horror
Verdict: GOOD

Plot: Jessie (Kate Bosworth) & Mark (Thomas Jane) adopt a new foster child, Cody (Jacob Tremblay) after their son Sean dies. They soon find out that Cody’s dreams become reality, but his nightmares are deadly. Jessie & Mark must figure out what to do before one of his nightmares kills.

Aces: Director Mike Flanagan has succeeded in creating the right aura of horror as well as the mysterious suspense besides extracting good performances from all the actors especially Jacob Trembley.

Minuses: The entire background soundtrack for the horror sequences is too jarring.
Last Word: Before I Wake is a good watch after a dearth of right horror movies for a long time.

Movie Review: ‘The Jungle Book’ is a delightfully entertaining film for one & all

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The Jungle Book

Producer: Jon Favreau & Brigham Taylor
Director: Jon Favreau
Star Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Alba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Gary Shandling, Brighton Rose, Sam Raimi & Russell Peters
Genre: Adventure
Verdict: Very Good

Plot: Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is a human boy raised by the Indian wolves Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) & Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) ever since he was brought to them as a baby by Bagheera the Black Panther (Ben Kingsley). When the fearsome scarred Bengal Tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) threatens his life since man isn’t allowed in the jungle, Mowgli leaves his jungle home. Guided by Bagheera & Baloo the bear (Bill Murray), he sets out on a journey of self – discovery while evading the man – hunting Shere Khan. Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who do not exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (Scarlett Johansson), the Indian python, and the smooth – talking Bornean orangutan -resembling Gigantopithecus.
King Louie (Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive & deadly “red flower”.

Aces: Director Jon Favreau deserves a standing ovation for making a delightfully entertaining movie for kids, in fact one which will be definitely enjoyed by one & all. Performance wise Neel Sethi, the debutante child actor, is the scene stealer. The film also has an overall technical finesse. That apart all the voice over artiste too, deserves a special mention.

Minuses: The inappropriate use of the songs which does not jell well with the adventurous mood of the film.

Last Word: The previous Jungle Book movie made in 1997 was an animated version of Rudyard Kipling’s novella and the latest version of The Jungle Book is the live – action movie based on the same novella which has surpassed even the previous attempt. And the 2016 movie The Jungle Book made in 3 dimensional is like an added bonanza.

Movie Review: ‘Rocky Handsome’ can be recommended only for die hard action movie lovers

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Rocky-Handsome

Producer: John Abraham (JA Entertainment)
Director: Nishikant Kamath
Star Cast: John Abraham, Shruti Haasan, Baby Diya Chalwad, Nathalia Kaur, Nishikant Kamath

Director Nishikant Kamath has given good films earlier but sadly he disappoints cine goers with his latest mad caper violent offering Rocky Handsome, and pray why was he tempted to don a villainous avtar in his own directorial venture which is also very disappointing and one which is a very huge put off for the audiences.

The plotted scenario of Rocky Handsome kicks off an extremely silent Rocky (John Abraham) buying fishes & flowers. The very moment he smells the flowers, the film goes into a ‘flashback mode’ followed by the introduction of Rocky’s beautiful wife Rukshida Kabir Ahlawat (Shruti Hasan). When the movie is brought to the present day, a cute little girl by the name of Naomi (Baby Diya Chalwad) gets introduced. She is a frequent visitor to Rocky’s pawn shop. On one such visit, when she starts conversing with the ferocious looking Rocky, she confesses that all her friends call him as ‘Handsome’ and that, she has been deliberately told to stay away from him because ‘he had committed a crime’, something that her heart refuses to believe. As days pass by, she opens up about her dreaded life before Rocky. She confesses that her mother (Nathalia Kaur) is a hardcore drug addict who gets beaten up always by some men. The unsaid bond of friendship gradually increases between the 2 and Rocky becomes extremely protective about her. One fine day, when Rocky enters his shop, he becomes shell shocked to see that his shop has been broken into and that some men are driving away with Naomi in their captive. All of this leads to a deal that Rocky strikes with Naomi’s kidnappers Kevin (Nishikanth Kamath) and his psycho brother. As per the deal, Rocky should deliver a certain (drug) consignment to an assigned place, in return of the freedom of Naomi and her mother. And when Rocky lands up at the assigned place for the delivery, he realises that the police has cordoned the area. What follows after that is oodles and oodles of violence including many merciless killings and brutal murders all for a single reason. Amidst all this, the police department discovers Rocky’s past that shocks the daylights out of them.

Director Nishikant Kamath seems to have made Rocky Handsome only to please his money bags producer John Abraham and to further John’s hardcore action image and also tried to further showcase his non – existent talent. Both the actor John & the director Nishikant were highly inspired by a Korean film The Man From Nohere which the duo must have watched at least a 100 times to copy and make its frame by frame indianised version and wrongly titled it as Rocky Handsome but what one fails to understand is what was so handsome about the whole film. The only handsomest thing about Rocky Handsome is its mind blowing action sequence
but with a mind numbing overdose of it.

Performance wise the film clearly belongs too John Abraham, but seriously speaking he has failed to live up to the cine goers expectations. Finally Abraham Baba has proved that he is not at all better or rather worst than other past models turned wooden performers. Yet another disappointment comes from Nishikant Kamath himself, for his extremely forgettable villainous avatar. Shruti Hassan, in a very, very special appearance is just about ok. But it is certainly Baby Diya Chalwad who imparts a very heart touching performance.

Tail Piece: Rocky Handsome can be recommended for die hard action movie lovers but strictly at their own risk.

Movie Review: ‘Kapoor And Sons’ is a very sensitive, heart touching & heart warming film

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Alia-Bhatt-Sidharth-Fawad

Banner: Dharma Production
Producer: Karan Johar
Director: Shakun Batra
Star Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan, Alia Bhatt, Rajat Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rishi Kapoor et al

Shakun Batra, in his 1st ever directorial outing had delivered an impresssive film namely the Kareena Kapoor & Imran Khan starrer Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu regardless of its Box Office prospects at the turnstiles, and now in his latest directorial offering Kapoor And Sons he has come up with an extremely sensitive & heart touching film harping on the dysfunctionality of a nuclear family ties.

The well – knitted scripted scenario of Kapoor And Sons kicks off with a 90 year old Daadu (Rishi Kapoor) who is rehearsing his death sequence and suddenly gets a heart attack. His son Harsh (Rajat Kapoor) & daughter -in – law Sunita (Ratna Pathak Shah) are forced to summon their 2 sons Rahul (Fawad Khan) & Arjun (Siddharth Malhotra). Rahul & Arjun are living a completely different life in London & New Jersey respectively. Rahul is the perfect son, mature, successful and an established writer and on the other hand Arjun works as a part time bartender who is struggling hard to make it big as a writer. Arjun is always over shadowed by his elder brother Rahul. Daadu is doing every bit to bring the family close. Harsh & Sunita whose marriage too has turned sour are also trying to rediscover love in their life. Here comes the entry of a cute & lively Tia (Alia Bhatt) who is also dealing with her past tragedy. Arjun & Tia’s friendship blossoms into love but Tia who kisses Arjun’s brother Rahul in a drunken state is scared of revealing this to Arjun. It is also revealed later that Rahul’s bestseller novel’s idea was similar to his younger brother Arjun. But Arjun never confronted Rahul as his mother had asked him not to do so. In the 2nd part there are some heart breaking revelations about the entire family. Rahul who portrays a perfect son is a gay. His life is not at all perfect. Harsh Kapoor is having a long time affair with his colleague. Arjun parted ways with Tia on learning about Tia’s & Rahul’s kissing incident. Sunita has a tussle with Harsh on learning about his affair. Harsh leaves the house in the heat of the moment. He meets with an accident and passes away. At the same time Arjun & Rahul have a tiff and it is revealed that Sunita gave Arjun’s novella’s script to Rahul in order to push his career to new heights. The entire family is now shattered beyond redemption.
Director Shakun Batra’s flawless directorial finesse is evident in the fact that he has made every actor to literally live up to their roles and Rishi Kapoor tops the list amongst all of them. Kudos also goes on a platter to Karan Johar for producing such a lovely film. Don’t miss some of the nicest comic punches. Besides cinematography is the main stay of Kapoor And Sons.

Performances wise after Rishi Kapoor’s par excellence act it is Pakistani heart throb Fawad Khan who walks away with an extraordinarily eye catching performance as a budding gay writer (Time to take a bow Karan Johar). Fawad Khan has really stunned one and all by portraying the hollowness of his gay oriented life very genuinely. That apart other actors like Rajat Kapoor & Ratna Pathak Shah are picture perfect in their respective roles. Siddharth Kapoor & Alia Bhatt are also good enough and have tried their level best to be the best.

Tail Piece: Kapoor And Sons is strongly recommended for one and all at least for a single viewing.

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