Judgementall Hai Kya

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Amyra Dastur, Jimmy Sheirgill, Satish Kaushik, Brijendra Kala

Director: Prakash Kovelamudi

Story, Screenplay & Dialogues- Kanika Dhillon

Mental Hai Kya was renamed as Judgementall Hai Kya, after the Indian Psychiatric Society wrote a letter to the censor board to object against the film's posters and title.

The trailer of the film was quite intriguing and created enough curiosity in the mind of the viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BywLe4m2j2I

The story revolves around Bobby, played by Kangana Ranaut, who is diagnosed with acute psychosis. She suffers from mood swings and has trust issues. As the story progresses we come to know that she is delusional, has hallucinations and her condition gets worse if she forgets to take her medicines.

She works as a dubbing artist for South Indian films but thinks that she is good enough to be the heroine. Her manager is also her boyfriend but she uses him to get all household chores done. 

Rajkumar Rao plays the role of Kangana's neighbor. There is a twist in the story and both Kangana and Rajkumar Rao become murder suspects.

First half gives us a detailed insight into Kangana's character and few glimpses of Rajkumar Rao. After interval the story becomes inconsistent, new characters are added which don't make much sense. To add to the confusion, Bobby is asked to be a part of futuristic Ramayan, told from Sita's point of view. Bobby starts thinking that she is Sita and the voices in her head start telling her to punish the wrong doers.

The film starts as a comedy but soon turns into a murder mystery with the lead actors trying to frame the other for the murder.

Near the climax everything starts falling into place to give the viewers a happy ending.

Rajkumar Rao's character is poorly written and he never gets much opportunity to show his talent. Kangana Ranaut has given a decent performance but ends up looking melodramatic in few scenes.

The film was released in 2000 screens and despite good reviews from critics collected just 4.5 Crore on Friday. The film has a budget of 35 Crore and may end up as a loss making proposition for its makers.

In a line, Judgementall Hai Kya looks like a result of reading too many Sidney Sheldon novels and because of an inconsistent story line fails to entertain or thrill the audiences.

Avoidable. Can be seen if you are a die-hard Kangana Ranaut fan.

De De Pyaar De~ Lust, love and second chances

Director- Akiv Ali
Written and Produced by- Luv Ranjan
Cast-  Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakulpreet Singh, Jimmy Shergill, Javed Jaffrey

De De Pyaar De is an urban romantic comedy, written by Luv Ranjan and directed by Akiv Ali in his directorial debut.
The story is about a 50 year old London based financer, Ashish Mehra who abandoned his family 18 years ago. His peaceful middle-age life is threatened when he falls in love with a 26 year old Ayesha. 

Ajay Devgn tries to play his character with sincerity but because of his well toned body and packs he doesn't look like a "Buddha" or an "uncle". The first half shot in London deals with his falling in love and wooing Ayesha. There is no chemistry between Ajay and Rakulpreet because of which their love story looks shallow and overdramatic. All the scenes featuring Javed Jaffrey and Sunny Singh are hilarious and the first half could have been more entertaining if both these characters had full fledged roles instead of cameos.

Tabu makes her entry in the second half and instantly lights up the screen with her energy and flawless acting. She is the estranged wife who has singlehandedly raised her children for the last 18 years and also looked after her in-laws. She's the backbone of the family. 
The second half has a lot of plot twists and is entertaining.
Jimmy Shergill plays the role of Tabu's neighbour and admirer. His character is made to look like a caricature of himself as if women in their late 40s could not have admirers who are actually good looking and smart.

Songs are average and don't have any repeat value.

The trailer of the film was super entertaining and I was hoping for a better comedy but superficial emotions and melodrama slowed the pace of the film and it ends up as an average entertainer. 
http://bit.ly/DeDePyaarDe_Trailer 

The film was released in 3100 screens and despite no competition earned less than 10 Crore on Friday. The reviews are mixed so the film may find it difficult to reach the 100 Crore mark. In a line, the film is entertaining in parts and can be seen for Tabu.
Good one time watch. Time-pass.

Badla~ The Invisible Guest

Director- Sujoy Ghosh

Cast- Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Manav Kaul, Amrita Singh

Best Dialogues-
1. Sabka sach alag alag hota hai

2. Woh moorkh hota hai joh sirf sach ko hi jaanta hai aur sach aur jhooth ke fark ko nahi jaanta hai

Badla is the official remake of Spanish hit film, The Invisible Guest. It’s a scene by scene remake so if you have seen the original film on Netflix, this one can be skipped.

The film is about Naina Sethi, who has recently been facilitated with the Businesswoman of the year award and Badal Gupta, an advocate who hasn't lost a single case in his 40-year legal career.

Naina Sethi is accused of murder and her lawyer thinks that only Badal Gupta can save her. Badal agrees to take the case on the condition that Naina should tell him the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 

As the film progresses, through the table discussions of the two protagonists we come to know about the other characters and the plot slowly unravels.
Amitabh Bachchan as Badal Gupta is superb. It's his screen presence and dialogue delivery which keeps us hooked to the film.

Taapsee Pannu has the same bored expression throughout  the film. 

Amrita Singh shines in a small role.

The film is made on a  small budget, there are no grand sets or songs, and most of it is shot in a room.
The story has several plot twists, though the climax could have been better.
The film has managed to earn 30 Crores in 5 days and has turned out to be a profitable venture for the producers.

In a line, if you are a Bachchan fan, the film can be seen for his energy otherwise watch the original on Netflix.

One time watch. Can be seen when is aired on TV.

Made In Heaven

Creators: Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti

Cast: Arjun Mathur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh, Shashank Arora, Vijay Raaz, Shivani Raghuvanshi

Made in Heaven is about Delhi-based wedding planners, Karan and Tara, who have an event management company by the same name. The series has nine episodes of 1 hour each. Every episode tells us about a wedding and also discloses some secrets from Tara and Karan’s lives.

Made In Heaven’s trailer link.
https://youtu.be/u0UkDQaR5KQ

Don't let the trailer make you think that this is just another chick-flick about designer clothes & huge sets. It's emotional & hard hitting. It'll make you think and inspire you to be a better person who once in a while does something for others too. It deals with pain, courage, dreams, ambitions and honesty.
Arjun Mathur as Karan is outstanding. By the end of the series you will surely wish that you had a person like that in your life.
Sobhita Dhulipala as Tara  is amazing too.

This 9 hour long series is worth your time and shouldn't be missed.

Review of Sonchiriya

Director: Abhishek Chaubey

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey, Ashutosh Rana, Manoj Bajpai, Jatin Sarna

“Apni apni Sonchiriya, apni apni mukti.”

Sonchiriya, set in the Chambal of the seventies is a tale of rebellion, justice and salvation. There are several gangs of dacoits (called baaghi in the film) who live in Chambal and have their own set of principles. They question each other about the “dharma of the baaghi” but fail to give satisfactory answers.

There are fights between police and baaghis, within family members, between Gujjars and Thakurs and also between villagers and baaghis.

We are shown that the baaghis live a difficult life where there is no surety of life, they don't know when they will get food or where they will take shelter.  They know that surrender is not an option as mostly the police is going to shoot them at sight.
Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar and Ranveer Shourie are the soul of the film. They are so good in their respective roles that you actually sympathise with them even when you know the crimes they have committed and their dark secrets.

Manoj Bajpai and Ashutosh Rana outshine in their short roles.

In his earlier films like Ishqiya, Dedh ishqiya and Udta Punjab, Abhishek Chaubey has always shown strong female characters. Here though the females are shown as victims they do have that internal strength which makes them survivors.

There are only 3 female characters Indumati Tomar, Phulwa and the youngest of them named Sonchiriya but how these characters change the life of the others is what the film is about.

According to a female character, Phulwa, “Division according to caste is only for men and the women have a different caste which comes lowest in this social system.”

If you saw the film's trailer, you know that the film is not everyone's cup of tea.
Sonchiriya’s Trailer link-
https://youtu.be/aejAkKGiimk

The film starts with a shootout where many baaghis are encountered and throughout the film there is violence, bloodshed and elaborate fight sequences. There is hardly any entertainment for the family audience because of which despite good reviews the film couldn't do much business over the weekend.
It was released in 720 screens and collected just 4.5 Crores over the weekend which is nothing as compared to 32 Crores income of Luka Chuppi.

It’s a minor setback for the producers, RSVP films as they are still reaping money from their last release, URI, The Surgical Strike.

In a line, despite good performances by the lead actors, Sonchiriya couldn't attract much audience but may become a cult film with passage of time.

Can be seen in theatres if you like this genre.

Review of Luka Chuppi

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurrana

Luka Chuppi, set in Mathura, is a situational comedy about a local news channel reporter, Guddu Shukla who falls in love with a politician's daughter, Rashmi and wants to marry her. Rashmi likes Guddu but wants to be sure about him before taking the final plunge.

The first half is slow with introduction of characters, occasional songs and few comic scenes.
In the second half there are few plot twists which make the story slightly better but in the absence of strong emotions the viewers don't feel connected to the characters.

Laxman Utekar, who has been the cinematographer for films like Dear Zindagi, 102 Not Out, English Vinglish and Hindi Medium, makes his directorial debut with Luka Chuppi.
The film is shot in Mathura and Gwalior and gives a good tour of both the cities.

Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon use the local lingo but they look too urbane in some scenes. They share a good chemistry but there isn't even one scene where we could see the love and understanding between them.
Aparshakti Khurrana has a small role but manages to leave an impact.
Talented actors like Pankaj Tripathi and Vinay Pathak are totally wasted in their poorly written  roles.

The film will manage to collect around 50 Crores in its first week because of Kartik Aryan’s popularity and no competition from Sonchiriya.

In a line, despite good performances by Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon, an average story and lack of emotional quotient will effect the financial prospects of the film.

Timepass. One time watch.

Gully Boy~ For the youth and the young at heart



Director- Zoya Akhtar
Writer - Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti
Cast- Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Raaz

Gully Boy trailer started with an underground rap battle where a rapper says, ‘Ye gali ki barat nahi, teri koyi aukaat nahi is jung main’ followed by another rapper telling a nervous Ranveer Singh to go back to his gully.

Gully Boy is the story of the rise of a shy and underprivileged student, Murad Sheikh into a confident hip hop performer, Gully Boy.
The film is based on the lives of rappers Naezy and Divine, who have also given music in the film.

Murad wants an established rapper, MC Sher played by Siddhant Chaturvedi to sing his songs as he was not comfortable in front of an audience. MC Sher tells him that “Agar duniya mein sab comfortable hote toh rap kaun karta?” which inspires Murad to break the belief that ‘Naukar ka beta naukar banega, ye fitrat hai’

In a scene Murad’s father played by Vijay Raaz tells him that sapne apni sacchai ke hisab se dekhne chahiye and Murad tells him that instead of changing his dreams he will change his social status.

Director, Zoya Akhtar in her most realistic film till now takes us to the slums of Dharavi where people live in small houses. The contrast between the poor and rich is shown when Ranveer realises that the bathroom of a rich girl ‘s apartment was bigger than his full home.

Gully Boy is as hard as it gets.
The struggle, the pain is shown in a subtle way but Ranveer Singh with his hard hitting performance makes it sure that you will keep thinking about the lives of these people long after the film has ended.
As per  the film's lingo, Ranveer Singh as Murad is 'Ek Number', Bahut Hard. Within 5 minutes he has totally transformed himself into Murad who obediently follows his parents wishes. Music gives him the fire to follow his dreams.



Siddhant Chaturvedi as MC Sher has given an equally mind blowing performance. This is his debut film but he wasn't overshadowed by Ranveer Singh in any scene.

Alia Bhatt as Murad’s possessive girlfriend, Safina is the force behind him. She is his support system. She wants Murad to follow his heart. This film was totally a Ranveer Singh film, still Alia Bhatt has managed to leave her impact.

The film is not a mass entertainer and family audiences may get bored with the hip hop parts but it should be seen for the hardships & struggles faced by the less privileged.

Apna Time Ayega is already a chart buster but when I saw it in the film, it was filled with so much energy that it gave me goosebumps.
The film was released in 3300 screens and has got an opening of 18 Crores which is good considering it targeted a niche audience.
Gully Boy will not make as much as Ranveer Singh’s last masala film, Simmba (240 Crores) but it will definitely be remembered for his effortless performance both as an actor and a rapper.

In a line, Gully Boy is Zoya Akhtar's most honest and hard hitting film and is a must watch for Ranveer Singh’s fans and music lovers.

Good one time watch in theatres.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

Directors: Kangana Ranaut and Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi (Krish)

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Atul Kulkarni, Danny Denzonpa, Suresh Oberoi, Jishu Sengupta, Vikram Kochhar, Prajakta Mali, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, Kulbushan Kharbanda

Manikarnika, The Queen of Jhansi was touted as Kangana Ranaut’s most ambitious project. The shooting of the film started in October, 2017 under the directorial skills of Krish. After 8 months of shooting, Krish walked out of the film citing prior commitment to other projects (NTR Biopic) .

There were rumours that Kangana Ranaut was interfering with the writing and direction and Krish did not take this well and allegedly walked out of the project.
Sonu Sood also left the film saying that he can not work under two directors on a set and his portions in the film were reshot with Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub.
This caused delay in the shoot and increased the production cost of the film.

In the first half we are introduced to a young Manikarnika who is brave, confident and loves reading books. She is married off to Gangadhar Rao and later becomes the Queen of Jhansi.
In the first half we see Kangana Ranaut in heavy sarees and jewellery sporting different hairstyles, looking like a dream. With her actions she keeps reminding the audience that she is a born rebel.
There is a scene where the Queen tells the Firangis, “Of course I know English. It’s a mere language. Language, without culture, is empty.”

The Queen is then seen dancing with the tribals which according to the writer of the film forms the basis of her bonding with Jhalkari Bai.

Kangana Ranaut was so much involved in this project that there isn't a scene where she is not there. With her taking most of the screen space there wasn't much scope for other actors.

TV actress, Ankita Lokhande, makes her Bollywood debut as Jhalkari Bai and even though she had few scenes, she manages to leave an impact.

Danny Denzongpa as Ghulam Ghaus Khan is perfectly casted but like other actors he has nothing much to do.

In the second half there are few war scenes which are shot on a grand scale but overall the film lacks the passion & energy associated with such mega-budget period films.

The song, “Main rahoon ya naa rahoon, Bharat yeh rehna chahiye” plays throughout the film to evoke the feeling of love and sacrifice for the motherland.

The film has started off on a low note (may collect around 8-9 Crores) and may collect around 35 Crores over the weekend which is less considering its production costs (around 120 Crores).

In a line, Manikarnika is totally a one woman show and even though Kangana Ranaut has given her best, a slow first half and less focus on supporting characters will make it a loss making proposition.

Can be seen in theaters for the second half and war scenes.