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.

Badhaai Ho.. It's a HIT

Director- Amit Ravindernath Sharma

Screenplay and dialogues- Akshat Ghildial

Cast- Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao

Badhaai Ho is a coming of age dramedy where a couple in their 50s get to know that they are expecting a kid. They find it difficult to convey this news to their grown up sons.
The sons are shocked and embarrassed and start avoiding their parents.

The film has some really comic and emotional moments.
Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao are the real stars. The chemistry they share and the way they talk to each other with just expressions is commendable.
The director has given the best scenes to Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao and like veteran actors they have excelled in every scene.

Ayushman Khurana is good as the older son who never troubled his parents. His love for his family, especially his mother, can be seen easily.

Sanya Malhotra has done full justice to her small role. In a scene in the film she asks Ayushman..
"Hum log jab 50 ke honge to kya Floyd ki jagah Anoop Jalota suna karenge?" 
If only the writer knew that after Big Boss 12, Anoop Jalota was going to become the idol of men of all age groups, they wouldn't have added his name.

There was this dialogue in the film  when Ayushman Khurana shouts at his brother

"Apna kamra chahiye.. Apna kamra chahiye.. Kuch saal aur nahi so sakta tha Mummy Papa ke beech mai"

Every single person in the audience was laughing in this scene.

The film has many such scenes and  dialogues where you will laugh your heart out or feel emotional for the characters.

The film has earned around 30 Crores in 3 days and is going to become another surprise blockbuster of 2018.

In a line, Badhaai Ho is a complete family entertainer which shows the love and bond different members of the family share with each other.

Must-watch

Sui Dhaaga - . "सब बढ़िया है "

Writer & Director- Sharat Kataria

Cast- Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav, Yamini Das, Namit Das

Music- Anu Malik

Lyrics- Varun Grover

Best Dialogue- "Ab Zindagi Ki Cycle Pe To Maarna Padega Pedal… Chahe Mile Ya Na Mile Medal."

Sui Dhaaga is the story of a lower middle class couple who decide to take the first step on the journey of improving their living standards. They face several roadblocks but instead of getting disheartened they treat them as life experiences and continue with their hard work and struggle. 

Mauji played by Varun Dhawan is the heart and soul of the story. He lives by the simple rule "Sab Badhiya Hai" even when everything is going wrong in his life. He is an optimist with a never say die attitude who can't see any of his family member unhappy. He has a low paying job where his employers constantly humiliate him, his father thinks he is good for nothing, he has no connection with his wife, he has to cycle for miles in the scorching sun to save few rupees, still, sab badhiya hai.

Anushka Sharma plays the role of Mauji's wife, Mamta. Though she talks less, she is not scared of expressing her opinions. She is a caring wife and the perfect daughter in law. There is only one scene when we see her in her original glory, otherwise through out the film she is shown in printed sarees with the pallu of her saree neatly covering her head. 

Raghubir Yadav as Mauji's father, shines in every scene. In the climax when Mauji wins his father's respect, we cheer for both the father and the son.

Yamini Das as Mauji's mother is a treat to watch. She's so sincere about filling the buckets from the municipality tap that even when she is in the hospital she keeps reminding Mamta about it. She is unlike any other mother- in- law shown in Hindi films and will surely win your heart with her performance.
  
After National Award Winning film, Dum laga ke Haisha (2015), Sharat Kataria is back with another heart warming tale about the underprivileged. The characters are so well written that when Mauji starts working on the sewing machine it looks like he was born to do this. The hospital scenes, the struggle to get a sewing machine, the first time the husband and wife hold hands despite staying in the same home are so real that you will fall in love with them.

The film hints at the corruption in hospitals, over-billing the patients, low wages for workers but mainly is about Mauji's family. How the neighbours unite in times of need is another strong point of the story. Though the director has taken several cinematic liberties, he successfully conveys the message that:"For those who dare to dream big, there is a whole world to win".

Chaav laga is a melodious song which stays in our mind for long.

The film has earned 36 Crores in 3 days and with rave reviews and positive word of mouth it's on it's way to become a box-office success.

In a line, Sui Dhaaga is a total roller coaster of emotions with Varun Dhawan giving his career's best performance. 
Must watch. 

Pataakha, not a cracker but a Box-office Bomb!

Director- Vishal Bhardwaj
Writer- Vishal Bhardwaj (Based on Charan Singh Pathik's short story, Do Behnein)
Cast- Radhika Madan, Sanya Malhotra, Vijay Raaz, Sunil Grover 
Music & Background Music- Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyrics- Gulzar
Best Dialogue- “Hum Apne Dushman To Chun Sakte hai Par Padosi Nahe, Rishtey To Chun Sakte Hai Par Rishtedaar Nahi”

Pataakha is based on Charan Singh Pathik's short story, Do Behnein, which revolves around two sisters, Badki and Chhutki who grow up in a small village in Rajasthan. 

Radhika Madan plays the role of Badki (Champa) whose dream is to have her own dairy. She hates going to school and has no interest in studying.
Sanya Malhotra plays the role of Chutki who wants to become a teacher.

Radhika Madan started her career by playing the role of Ishani in the TV serial, Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi. In her debut film, she's perfect as Badki. Her body language when she is smoking the beedis or shouting abuses is too good. In every scene we see different shades of her character.

Sanya Malhotra has also done a good job as Chutki. She keeps wondering throughout the film if her father loved Badki more as she was the first born. 

Sunil Grover, called Dipper in the film, lives in the same village. He finds ways of starting war between the sisters so that he and the neighbors can have fun at their expense. He is not bad at heart as whenever the sisters are in some problem he comes as their savior.
Vijay Raaz who is addressed as 'Bapu' by everyone is a widower and finds it difficult to manage his wild daughters. 
The film starts with the sisters calling each other names which is followed by a 'yudh' between them over a stolen bidi. Till interval the story follows the same trend where the sisters keep fighting with each other over some issue. They are always finding ways to show that they are better than the other. 
In a scene their father thinks aloud that why do they keep fighting all the time. This thought comes in our minds too as after some time their dusty faces, untidy clothes and unwashed hair start looking repulsive. We have seen many films set in rural backdrop which were aesthetic and cinematic masterpieces. A film can be made on villagers without making them look like homeless people.
There were several humorous scenes in the film and an emotional climax but they were lost in the long story.

The film earned just 90 lakhs on Friday and with mixed word of mouth it won't be able to cross the 6-7 Crore mark.
In a line, a short 6 page story about 2 sisters fighting would have been good as a short film but as a film with a running time of 2 hr 15 min it became repetitive and boring.
Avoidable.

Manmarziyaan~ Somewhere between lust and love, the story is lost.

Director- Anurag Kashyap

Story, screenplay and dialogues- Kanika Dhillon

Cast- Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal.

The trailer of Manmarziyaan had a tagline- Love isn’t complicated, people are!

The film is not about complicated people but poorly written characters who keep changing their nature according to the whims of the storyteller.

The film is released internationally as “Husband Material”

Abhishek Bachchan plays the author backed role of Robbie, the perfect husband material. He is a London based banker who falls in love with Rumi, at the sight of her photograph. Even after seeing Vicky’s pictures on Rumi’s Facebook he decides to meet her. He’s so sweet and understanding that he looks too good to be true. There is only one scene in which he gives way to his anger but the next morning he asks for forgiveness saying he was too drunk. Still in comparison to the other two characters, Robbie seems to be the most sensible.

Rumi, played by Taapsee, is an ex hockey player who in the first 30 min says that she never goes back on her words and in the next 2 hours finds ample opportunities to do exactly that. She accuses her boyfriend of being commitment-phobic but herself fails to understand the sanctity of a relationship. Before interval, Rumi’s sister says,‘mujhe nahi samajh mai ata ye kaisa pyar hai apka’, to which Rumi replies, ‘wo wala hai jismai jitna karo kam padta hai’ . Then when her grandfather asks her about her well-being she says, ‘Pyaar khatam nahi hua, shaadi shuru nahi hui’
So we as an audience fail to understand why her further actions are not in sync with her grand dialogues.

Vicky’s character is the most inconsistent out of all three. We don't know till the end if he actually loved Rumi or was just having a good time. There are scenes when he’s shown angry and teary eyed but all his emotions tend to be momentary. The audience gets emotionally invested in a character and the sudden changes in their behavior confuses them and they feel cheated. So when a guy who was madly in love with a girl just exits the story without any explanation the audience doesn’t like it.
The first half of the film had some light comic moments but after interval the story kept dragging and becomes slow and predictable.

There are more than 10 songs but only ‘Sara jag chad ke’ stays in our mind for a long time.

Anurag Kashyap is known for his experimental films but this new age love story is nowhere near the classy DevD or the action- packed Mukkabbaz.

Avoidable.

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3~ Royalty versus Baba!

Director/ Writer- Tigmanshu Dhulia

Cast- Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Shergill, Mahi Gill, Chitrangada Singh

Best  Dialogues –

Saheb-  "I believe only three things can change our lives, dreams, suffering and love. Pareshaniyon se main nikalke aaya hoon, sapna main dekh raha hoon, aur pyar mujhe aksar ho jaata hai."

Biwi- "Sari galat adaten to apne lagayi, baki tabah hone mai is haveli ne sath diya. Yaha bure kaam karne ki lat lag jati hai."


Gangster- "Mere baare mein joh bhi suna hoga bura hi suna hoga, lekin main itna bura nahi hoon ki mere bagal mein khade hone se koi badnaam ho jaaye."

Gangster's Mistress- "Jab naam ke alawa kuch bacha na ho to naam ko bacha bacha ke chalna chahiye." 

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster franchise is a  story about a royal family of U.P. where Jimmy Sheirgill is Raja Aditya Pratap Singh and Mahi Gill is his wife, Rani Madhavi Devi. 

The first two parts were high-octane drama full of plot twists, volatile characters, good dialogues and sizzling chemistry between the lead pairs. Actors Randeep Hooda and Irrfan Khan had played gangsters in the previous films.

Tigmanshu Dhulia decided to add a star like Sanjay Dutt to add glamour to the film but guess his plan backfired. 

The story is supposed to be a saga of deceit, lust, ambition and revenge where the Biwi uses the Gangster to defeat the Saheb but ends up as a life saga of the gangster.  

The film starts with Sanjay Dutt as Uday Pratap Singh, a banished prince, who has made a fortune in London by playing Russian Roulette. A lot of time is wasted in establishing Sanjay Dutt's character, telling about his anger, his girlfriend, his family members which has no relevance to the story. The Baba theme track that accompanies Sanjay Dutt every time he says a winning dialogue, “He’s the baba.. dekho dekho dekho aya tera baap”, is the only memorable thing about the gangster's character.

Chitrangada Singh plays the role of a dancer and Uday Pratap's mistress. Neither she looks like a villager nor her accent helps her in fitting in the character. Her love scenes with Uday are boring as the character of the Gangster was supposed to be a raunchy man who loses his heart at every pretty face. To see the gangster settle into an easy romantic relation was a big turnoff. When the evil Biwi tries to flirt with him, an uncomfortable gangster tells her that there was no need of doing all this. It was like we went to watch "Jism" and ended up watching "Hum saath saath hai"!

  

Jimmy Sheirgill and Mahi Gill, who were instrumental in bringing success to the previous films get less chance to show their talent. Their scenes are poorly written and they end up looking like side character's in the gangster's story.

The film is full of character artists like Kabir Bedi, Nafisa Ali, Zakir Hussain, Deepak Tijori, Soha Ali Khan, Deepraj Rana who have nothing to do. Except few dialogues here and there and some fiery exchanges between Saheb and Biwi there is nothing entertaining in the film.

The climax was highly disappointing and though it hinted at a sequel I hope there is no 4th part.

The film was made at a budget of 20 Crore and has managed to earn just 3.8 Crore in 2 days which is less than what the first part made in 2011. The film is a disaster and will end up earning less than 10 Crore at the Box-Office.

In a line, the series was supposed to be a tale of power games, lust and deceit but the director's obsession with the gangster has lead to the death of this franchise.

Avoidable.