4 Hindi Movies you will enjoy

 Movie Reviews

4 Hindi movies that I loved watching and if you have the time, do watch.

(Not in order of preference)

1.      Mission Majnu – A spy story based on real life events but not a James Bond movie. Sidharth Malhotra nails it as the undercover RAW agent posing as a Pakistani tailor who rises above his guilt and secures love for his country and his family. Ashwath Bhatt, playing President Zia was brilliant. Quite a pacy thriller.

 Dhak Dhak – Loved the concept of a road trip with four women for varied ages. So you can identify with which ever age group you are in. With four characters we get four touching stories and the beauty of Ladakh.

 Three of Us- What do you do when you have Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat sharing screen space? I was hypnotised and the seemingly slow pace of the story glued me to the screen. I felt cheated when the story ends. I wish we had more such stories of the soul.

Sajini Shinde ka Viral Video – Sajini Shinde, the protagonist, played by Radhika Madan is a brilliant teacher, has a strict father, is tormented by a video, and has nowhere to seek refuge. The cake is, of course, given to Nimrat Kaur for assaying the inscrutable police officer investigating the case of the disappearing teacher. But Bhagyashree was the surprise element. After Maine Pyar Kiya, this is her second movie I am seeing and yes, she has grown!!

Choona (Lime)

 Movie Review (Hindi)

This web series is a mix of a political drama, comedy and a thriller and it revolves around revenge and a heist. With the combination of all these elements, it is impossible to take a break from watching the episodes. More so because the actors are spot on with their characters.

I am an admirer of Jimmy Shergill and kudos to him for carrying the role of Shukla so beautifully. His obsession with astrology and vastu which prove to be his undoing builds upon the interesting plot. The story cleverly spins VFX into the scheme of things and this stands out in sharp contrast to astrology and faith healers.

Pushpendranath Misra as director and writer (besides Shristi Dubey and Mugdhaa Ranade) has hit the right spot and made this web series worthy of our time.

Jaane Jaan (Beloved)

 

Movie Review (Hindi)

Jaane Jaan is a thriller-cum-unrequited love story shot in Kurseong and Darjeeling. I say the names because the dark atmosphere in the film is brought on by the mist in the mountains.

The delightful part of the movie are the actors – Vijay Verma, Jaideep Ahlawat and Kareena Kapoor. Their chemistry works magic. It is lovely to see Kareena without make-up (to hide lines) and holding her own along with the two talented men.

I have loved Sujoy Ghosh’s earlier movie, Kahaani. This one is from the same genre, only a little confusing at times with the storyline going back and forth in time. 

This is indeed a good time for the audience to be able to see movies revolving around fine actors and based on a riveting plots.

Rocky aur Rani kii Prem Kahaani

 Movie Review (Hindi)

Raja aur Rani kii Prem Kahaani starring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh has been directed by Karan Johar. I have been waiting for this moment just to see him take the Director's chair once again. 

And yes, I wasn’t disappointed. Over the top, no doubt, what with Ranveer Singh playing Rocky, a very rich guy with little sophistication, it has to be. However, Jaya Bachchan provided the surprise element for me. That she can be such a wicked north Indian matriarch is a treat to watch! Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra pairing up again is something that lovers of 70s cinema would love to see. Tota and Churni, playing parents to Alia are well-known actors from Bengal, hence the Bengali household is all authentic. Alia  playing Rani, as usual is great at what she does. I enjoyed the way she speaks Bangla.

The use of hit Hindi film songs is an excellent touch. Like all Karan Johar films, the well-to-do family reuniting theme shines through.

Jawan

 Movie Review (Hindi)

Shah Rukh Khan (in a double role) is a complete treat for the eyes. His last movie, Pathan, was quite the sizzler but this is several notches higher. It provides a roller coaster ride with all the masala and slickness one can think of, no time to breathe, not even during romantic interludes. After all, Atlee is the director. Then there are actors like Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika Padukone, Nayantara, each one doing their job commendably.

Even though the movie highlights such important issues as corruption in Health services, Agriculture, Armament deals, Elections, there is hardly time for each of these to take root in our minds.  

As a person who enjoys Shah Rukh Khan films, I wish I could see him do more films similar to Swades, Chak De, My Name is Khan, and so many others. 

What I mean is - films where he is everyman.

Kaalkoot (Poison)

 Web series Review (Hindi)

A gem of a web series! As I watched Vijay Varma playing a cop, Ravi Shankar Tripathi, I was quite wary of his actions, expecting him to breakout into some kind of psychotic rage. It was such a welcome change to see this talented actor as a balanced human being. Anyway, I consider him to be the best of the lot right now.

The story is a hard hitting thriller on the patriarchal way of things. There is a victim of an acid attack played by Shweta Tripathi. Then there are men who consider themselves to be the saviours of society and see to it that young women are taught a lifelong lesson in obedience. Finally, we see fathers drowning their infant daughters in a pond. The pond is now polluted with the phosphorus from the bones of the dead and is poisoning the village! So much for sweet revenge.

The script by Arunabh Kumar and Sumit Saxena, who is also the director, is tight and each character is distinct. Gopal Dutt, the SHO and Yashpal Sharma playing Constable Yadav, were a perfect foil to Ravi’s character. At times though Ravi’s personal life encroached a tad too much into the story.

I am looking forward to this plethora of web series (Dahad, Kohrra) of the thriller genre, each one as good as the other!

Kohrra (Fog)

 Web Series Review (Hindi)

 

This web series on Netflix is one of the best I have seen yet. It is a thriller and a dark one sans humour. It instantly pulled me into its web of murder, revenge, addiction, power play, character flaws... so many layers. The actors are simply the best. The characterization has been looked at down to the last detail and I was living in the Punjab hinterland and its underbelly.

Savinderpal Vicky, who plays the role of policeman Balbir Singh, is one of those rare actors who get into the skin of the character effortlessly (it seemed).

Thank you Randeep Jha and the team of Sudip Sharma, Gunjit Chopra and Diggi Sisodia for bringing this hard hitting story to us. Looking forward to many such gripping tales in the future.

Two Movies and a Web series

 Review

Dahaad, Kathal and Bheed

Watch all the three and then thank me. 

The three have something in common - the protagonist in each of them is a police officer belonging to a lower caste (as per the Indian caste system still followed by many). Two of them are unmarried women.

Dahaad (Roar) is a thriller web-series. You will be binging on this. Sonakshi Sinha has done a wonderful job as a protagonist. She plays a police officer carrying the burden of two curses - being an unmarried woman in a man’s world and belonging to a lower caste. I mention this because these themes flow through the series like an undercurrent, making you constantly aware of them.

But hats off to the psychopath serial killer played by Vijay Verma. I think he has fine-tuned his ability to portray such characters.

That the story has been told impeccably and it portrays a strong woman comes as no surprise because Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti are the creators.

Looking forward to more such stories from this genre.

Kathal (Jackfruit) as a satirical comedy, shines. Sanya Malhotra plays the police officer, unmarried in a man’s world, also belonging to a lower caste, has really honed her acting skills. It’s a joy to watch her smile and catch criminals and carry the movie on her shoulders.

An aside on the story: A fact that it is almost impossible for a woman to marry someone above her caste even if she is a police officer. This officer makes sure that the constable boyfriend gets promoted to a sub-inspector so that the professional gap isn’t too huge. However, the inspector is saddened by the fact that she has been promoted to DSP!!

The movie revolves delightfully around the disappearance of two jackfruits (of a very high quality, or so it seems) from a politician’s garden and trying to locate them and at no point does the movie’s plot seem banal. So who stole the jackfruits and why were so many girls disappearing?

Bheed (Crowd) is in black and white and one of the reasons why it hits the senses hard. Yes, the lack of colour makes the story more poignant. Rajkumar Rao plays the role of a policeman who (yes you guessed it!) belongs to the lower caste. With a strong cast including Rajkumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Pankaj Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, the movie delivers its message well and clear. The COVID times are not easily forgotten. The pain and the helplessness of those walking on the roads for days trying to reach Home and are shut out at the border by an unfeeling administration is portrayed expertly so that it hits the audience hard.

Anubhav Sinha has done a wonderful job trying to bring out the layers of human emotions and drama when faced with the question of survival. 

Korean Drama

 Web series (Review)

I was thinking…
Why have I not reviewed a single movie in the last so many months?
It’s not as if I haven’t seen a movie. In fact, I have seen movies and web series like never before. All thanks to the OTT platforms.
So back to the question… Why the no-review phase? No answer to that.

However, I shall go full throttle now.  Let's begin with Korean drama. Of late I have have been quite hooked to this. Here are reviews of several web series I saw and enjoyed. 

(Do recommend some that you have found interesting.)

The Glory – A hellish journey of a young girl who is bullied at school by her rich classmates. She comes back and exacts her pound of flesh and how!!! The story has snazzy twists and turns which keep you hooked. A not to miss thriller! The protagonist, Song Hye-kyo is one of my favourites now.

The Good Detective – Must watch this series if you like detective stuff. Good dose of humour too.

Stranger, Divorce Attorney Shin, Life – Watched all these mainly because the protagonist is Cho Seung- woo. What a wonderful actor! I assure you, you won’t be disappointed.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo – A must watch as the protagonist Park Eun-bin simply steals your heart as the brilliant autistic lawyer.

Through the Darkness- Gripping suspense drama dealing with the minds of serial killers.

Partners in Justice – Thriller revolving around forensic investigations.

Queenmaker – Corruption, Greed, Politics, Murder- you will find it all in this intense drama.

While you watch all of these and some more, I shall be back with my next lot very soon.