What can you say of a Holocaust film where most of the tender moments and emotional scenes are not of the Holocaust or the prisoners sent off to execution camps, but of the zoo animals who share an intimate, warm and almost human relationship with their caretakers! Dr. Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh) and his wife…
On 1 July 2002, after taking off from Moscow, a Bashkirian passenger airliner and a DHL cargo plane had collided over Germany, resulting in a casualty list of 271. Director Lester alongwith writer Javier Gullol have woven the story into a film which, while managing to hold your attention thorough the hour-and-a-half, fails to be…
Genre Drama Minutes 135 Director Srijit Mukherji Movie Rating 2.5/5 Shot entirely in Jharkhand and set during Independence on the western border (the original Bengali version ‘Rajkahini’ 2015, was set on the eastern border), Begum Jaan opens with scenes of an old lady stoically rescuing a young women from going the Nirbhaya way. Begum Jaan…
What can we say of a film which has a great scope storywise, hits all the right notes in the beginning, reminds you of one of the greatest blockbusters of all times (DDLJ), and whose supporting cast has three of our most talented actors – Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Misra and Darshan Jariwala, but regrettably still…
An inveterate alcoholic, Gloria (Anne Hathaway) — the once professional, now-fired blogger — gets kicked out of her live-in boyfriend Tim’s (Dan Stevens) pad for her all-night drinking bouts, and er, a little bit of lying. Heading back to her parents’ unused home in New Jersey she chances upon her old classmate Oscar (Jason Sudeikis)…
The phenomenal success of the 2015 Neeraj Pandey directed ‘Baby’ (oh yes, it was Akshay Kumar’s baby back then) undoubtedly inspired him to write ‘Naam Shabana’, a prequel to explain the female protagonist’s entry into the faceless agency that looks after the country’s security. Shabana, a martial arts champion, lives with her mother Farida (Natasha…
Adapted from W. Bruce Cameron’s 2010 novel — with a few changes — A Dog’s Purpose is a charming, and at times, sentimental tale of a dog’s life and his purpose on earth, vis-à-vis humans. Narrated by the dog Bailey (voice of Josh Gad) the film starts off with a young Red Retriever being adopted…
At 13 years, one is just about old enough to learn about the Himalayas, notably its tallest peak Mount Everest. On 25 May 2014, Malavath Poorna, the impoverished daughter of poor and illiterate Adivasi village-folk in Telengana, became the youngest female to ascend the famed peak. In his second directorial effort (Everybody Says I’m Fine,…
Phillauri is the story of a friendly but confused ghost and age-old traditions, peppered quite liberally with Punjabi folk songs. Kannan (Suraj Sharma – Life of Pi) is a Canada-returned Punjabi boy due to marry his childhood sweetheart Anu (a comely Mehreen Kaur Pirzada in her first Hindi film). But as the disinterested Kannan is…
Coming exactly 60 years after the iconic women-centric Mother India, Anarkali of Aarah – starring Swara Bhaskar – tells the story of a rural folk dancer Anar(kali) of Aarah village in Bihar. Anarkali (Bhaskar) is the feisty and plucky lead singer of a troupe which specialises in entertaining locals with bawdy folk songs. Though the…
Two kinds of exploration have always intrigued and baffled humans: the mysteries of the deep (oceans) and the secrets of space. Director Daniel Espinosa has helmed this outer-space sci-fi horror thriller of six scientists and astronauts attempting to collect data from Mars. It’s a motley group consisting of hot-headed technician Roy Adams (Ryan Reynolds), the…