‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and multiple lives for one’, seems to be the motto of ‘Cold Pursuit’, a remake of Moland’s 2014 ‘In Order of Disappearance’ – a motif cleverly crafted during the film’s closing credits. Eye-catching cinematography, a body count which one loses track of halfway through the…
Six-and-a-half decades after Sohrab Modi’s technicolor epic but commercially disastrous ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ hit the screens, comes a modern-day version with Kangana Ranaut in the lead of Manikarnika (Manu). The common runtime of 148 minutes could be a mere coincidence though. The story begins in 1828 in Varanasi where great fame is predicted for a…
Shiv Sena founder, Bal Thackeray, was the de facto ruler of Maharashtra from 1966 till he passed away in 2012. Written and directed by Abhijit Panse, from a story by Thackeray’s trusted lieutenant, Sanjay Raut, the eponymous film covers his life from 1961 to 1995. Working as a cartoonist with the Free Press Journal, the…
Also known as ‘The Mumbai Siege: 4 Days of Terror’, the film attempts to recreate the ghastly, inhuman attacks on the iconic Taj Mahal hotel which claimed 166 innocent lives. The four-day siege on the Taj was just one of many such strikes, though it was the one which was the one to have captured…
The first sign of attempted comedy in the film comes when a local politician Pandya (Adil Hussain) is shown reading a motivational book on Donald Trump, while in jail. Names such as Ramesh Wadia and Arjun Sorabjee may be attributed to either intentional, or unintentional humour. Meghna (Radhika Apte) is a Public Relations officer attached…
The film would have had a higher impact and captivated audience imagination several degrees more had the statistics, which rolled out just before the end credits, been revealed during the opening stages of the film. Sample a couple – the market share of coaching classes in India is estimated at a staggering Rs. 45,000 Crores!…
Genre: Action, Drama Rating: 3/5 138 minutes Director: Aditya Dhar In the war room cabinet of a not-so-friendly neighbouring country, a kohl-lined, light-eyed, bearded gentleman (?) sardonically – in response to their dastardly operation which massacred Indian soldiers – says in Urdu, “What will they do? At the most they will ban our singers and…
Genre: Biography, Drama Rating: 2/5 108 minutes Director: Vijay Ratnakar Gutte The film could be termed a severe disappointment, or a hilarious take on the political scenario of our country from 2004-2014, which was the period when a certain, and ‘contingent’ gentleman held the office of India’s Prime Minister. It all depends on which side…
Age, it seems, is neither a barrier nor a deterrent for shaking a leg or exchanging a kiss with your long-time life partner. This was evident when London-based Adi Mistry (all of 91) and wife Gool, 85, who come down to Cama Park every winter, trudged along to the dance floor to win the…
Genre: Musical, Family, Fantasy Rating: 4/5 130 minutes Director: Rob Marshall The first thing one is likely to remember of the 1964 classic ‘Mary Poppins’ are the songs, especially ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ and the wonderfully made-up ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. Though set in 1935, the sequel comes 54 years later. Michael Banks (Ben Winshaw), a recently widowed dad…
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Action Rating: 3/5 159 minutes Director: Rohit Shetty Let’s get one thing clear – Rohit Shetty has proved amply in the past that his films (Golmaal, Singham), like Manmohan Desai’s in the 70s, are intended to titillate the grey cells – not stimulate them; nor has he ever demonstrated any pretensions to…