JAWAN : Girl Power + Mind Blowing Action + Emotion = Entertainment Guaranteed

Thanks to SRK and Atlee, this is yet another entertainment filled weekend for the Indian cinema lovers.

The perfect cross of South Indian masala-filled cinema with the aura and charm of a pan-Indian superstar.

If you look at the story, its nothing extra-ordinary. It's a plain old revenge saga with a tinge of vigilantism sprinkled on top.

It has all the tropes of a typical Atlee film such as -

- Sorrow filled back stories of side characters shown in excruciating detail that will squeeze a tear out of you.

- Villain causing the death of the hero's wife.

- Hero fighting for the greater good of the society.

However, what makes this movie really entertaining is the screenplay and action scenes. There are multiple scenes that are whistle-worthy and that give you goosebumps when you watch it in a packed theatre.

There seems to be a trend in Indian cinema post Vikram to give the female characters a lot of action scenes. The 'Agent Tina' scene in Vikram is the genesis for this formula in the last decade at least I believe. Jawan takes that idea further and the whole movie is packed with multiple women performing swift, unbelievable stunts that catch the viewer's attention and imagination.

And boy does Nayanthara look like a 'Queen' with the Badshah on screen. Her eyes are just enough to tell how powerful the character is. I cannot imagine any other actress who could have pulled off this with so much believable authority. It's perhaps because of her other movies like Aramm, Imaika Nodigal, Viswasam that established her image as a strong protagonist that it's so believable in this movie too.

Go and watch this movie for the beautifully choreographed action scenes, SRK's charm, Vijay Sethupathi's menacing portrayal as the antagonist and much more. 

Oh and it also has so many strange call backs to other characters from other movies

- 'The Family Man' mother-daughter is paired in a scene together.

- 'Kaveri amma' call back from Swades

- 'Thangabali' scene from Chennai Express

- I couldn't resist but be amused thinking how Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara were a pair in Naanum Rowdy Thaan and this one is such a stark contrast to that.

If you liked Jailer, you will definitely like this one more.

Has it Aged Well? (By IVM Podcast) -- Reliving 80s and 90s kids childhood

 This podcast is a very recent discovery for me - about 2 months old discovery as of today :-D 

As the name of the podcast suggests, this podcast discusses movies from the 90s and 2000s mostly. It's main hosts are Abbas and Urjita and they are super funny. They usually invite another guest who chooses the movie that gets discussed on the podcast. 

I have been addicted to this show mostly because its super funny and all credits to Urjita and Abbas for keeping the show's mood so light. Though its funny, it also discusses a lot of serious issues from the se yester-year movies. The podcast ends with the panel giving their verdict on whether the movie has ages well or not.

Also, shoutout to Urjita - she is the game changer on this podcast and without her and her vivacious and bubbly personality, the podcast would not be the same.

I have watched almost all the episodes and here are my top choices for whoever wants to get a glimpse of the vibe of this super cool podcast. 

To all the Bollywood movie buffs out there, Enjoy!!! 

Pathan : Only for SRK fans

 

There was a time when I used to like watching movies for SRK. After sitting through Pathan yesterday, I can safely say those days are long gone. I went in with really high expectations for some mad fun but was totally disappointed. There were so many things that did not work for me in Pathan unfortunately -

• Very fast paced action which keep moving so fast that my eyes ad brain could not keep up and lost interest very quickly. There should be some time/gap in the stunts so that they can be viewed, savoured and eventually enjoy the scenes.
• Poor VFX which was just distracting. Everyone, including my 63 year old dad could tell that the locations were fake.
• The movie also was perhaps not made for IMAX screen. There were so many scenes where some frames were just so pixalated that it again adversely impacted the whole viewing experience.
• A lack of emotional pull in the movie meant I just couldn't care enough for any of the characters. I couldn't care enough when Rubina betrays Pathan or when Nandini(Dimple kapadia) and her team gets blasted in their lab or when Pathan's teammate is blasted in a car in Dubai. None of that emotion ever translated to me or even my mother who can cry at the drop of a hat for a movie.

Overall, I feel that the bar for action movies has been raised so high by movies like Bahubali, RRR,  Pushpa, Vikram, etc. that it feels like creators of Pathan have just taken the audience for granted with an absolutely dated and below-average movie. Pathan is a movie we would have thoroughly enjoyed perhaps in 2012. It's not for 2023 and certainly not for audience that has been better cinematic universe movies to watch such as Vikram.

Dear Zindagi : A must watch for all youngsters for years to come

 

So yesterday I saw Dear Zindagi on Netflix for the 2nd time. The first time I saw it when it had released years ago. This time, the movie left a deep impact on me for some reason. Maybe I am a different person after all these years which is why the movie spoke to me and made so much sense. I also felt slightly guilty for not having appreciated this movie when it released. But it's better late than never. So here are some of things that caught my attention in this movie.

1. Alia Bhatt's performance. This movie was released in 2016 and at the time, she was just 4 or 5 years into the industry. But that did not stop her from portraying such a complex character with so much ease. She showcases so many emotions such as rage, anger, innocence, desperation to feel loved and belong, etc with such conviction that you are convinced that this person Kaira really exists.

2. Shah Rukh Khan as Dr. Jehangir Khan was just right. The role needed a superstar like him for the message that was conveyed to reach the masses. Hats off to King Khan for picking up such an unconventional role for a super star.

3. The portrayal of what goes through a person's mind before going for therapy and the fear of judgement from the society was on point. Even today, there are a lot of people who suffer silently due to the fear of what judgement of going to a therapist. People immediately label you as "Mental" if they hear that you are seeing a therapist of psychiatrist. The movie shows what therapy is and tries to normalise it.

4. There is a subtle message that perhaps is most important in my opinion - "Forgive your parents if you were wronged by their decisions in your childhood." That message is absolutely need and so different compared to typical Hindi movies that put parents on a pedestal and showcase that they can never be wrong. But the truth is, they are humans just like us and fallible. A lot of people keep blaming their parents for their career, marriage and just life in general and keep that spite in their heart. This movie tells you to bring them down from the pedestal and see them as mere humans.

Thank you Gauri Shinde for making this movie.

 

Piku : Just too real

 

Piku is one of my all time favorite movies. It's a comfort film that I keep going back to when I feel a little down. There is a kind of comfort in the music and story of Piku. Here are some of the reasons why I recommend everyone watches Piku at least once.

- Piku is a very relatable movie for single women living with ageing parents and grand-parents.

- There is a Baba in all our houses who is slowly getting old and grumpier and needier by the day. They ask for attention indirectly and blame you if you do not pay attention to their health condition every hour.

- As a successful woman finding a partner who respects you and understands all the responsibilities you shoulder is very hard.

- You become the parent to your parent after a point in time and get just as irritated when they do not listen to you as they did when you were an adamant kid years ago.

- There is something about long road trips or long journeys that brings people together and for a while they stop bickering with each other.

Piku is streaming on multiple OTT platforms including Amazon Prime and Netflix. Go and watch it and let me know what you liked about this movie.

Major : All heart ❤

 

Last week I had the opportunity to watch 'Major ' which is a biopic on Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. It was a heart-melting movie. There are five things that one can takeaway or experience during the course of watching this movie.

- Life of Major Sandeep and a deep dive into his personality

- Beyond the ultimate sacrifice that a soldier is prepared for while serving the country , there are so many little things they sacrifice each day This was beautifully brought out in the movie.

- The roller coaster of emotions that goes through the family of an army man who has set out into the field. The uncertainity of not knowing whether they will get to see their son alive after the battle was one of the side tracks you get to witness in addition to the actual terror attack on the Taj Hotel.

- Performance by Adivi Sesh and the way he immersed himself into Major Sandeep's personality was a delight to watch.

- The disservice that media did to the nation during the attack by unintentionally and indirectly aiding the attackers.

The movie is currently streaming on Netflix in Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. Go ahead and watch this movie and let me know what your takeaways were from this movie.