The fourth in the series, and based on ‘Ju-On: The Grudge’ by Takashi Shimuzu, this one travels from Tokyo to Pennsylvania – a family experiencing something sinister in their lives when in Japan has no respite even when relocating to the US. Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) is deputed to solve a case. She realises that…
Well, the good news, er – newwz, is that 2019 ends with one of the best comedies in recent times – and with performances to match! Varun and Deepti Batra (Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan) are a high-flying couple – childless despite seven years of marriage. As a result of frequent taunts from relatives…
Remember ‘The Trail of the Pink Panther’, Peter Sellers’s 1982 film which was made after his death from earlier deleted scenes and previously viewed footage? Well, at a particular stage in the film, the appearance of late Carrie Fisher (reprising her role of Princess Leia), certainly reminds you of the Pink Panther film, though Fisher’s…
In the age when headless torsos surface (literally) with alarming and disturbing regularity, Mardaani 2 serves as a timely reminder of the atrocities dished out against women, in particular. The sequel to the 2014 hit has Rani Mukerji Chopra reprising her role of SP Shivani Shivaji Roy. The sequel shifts to Kota, Rajasthan, as the…
It took 22 years for the first sequel to be made – ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’. And then just a couple of years for this, the second sequel. The success of ‘Jungle’ possibly prompted Kasdan, who directed it, and one of the co-writers, to helm this one too. Jumanji, based on the 1981 picture…
‘Lagta hai ke mera Khuda bhi ab unke saath hai’, utters the power-hungry Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali (Sanjay Dutt) in exasperation, seemingly outwitted by the wily Maratha commander Sadashiv Rao Bhau (Arjun Kapoor). ‘Panipat’ is all about the third Battle of Panipat, on 14 January, 1761 between the two. Nanasaheb Peshwa (Mohnish Bahl) comes…
India’s 26/11 has been invariably, and universally, compared to 9/11 of the US – the moral bankruptcy of the perpetrators and their handlers, the meticulous planning, targeting of the commercial capital cities, the suddenness and viciousness of the attacks, and above all – the resilience of the peoples of the affected countries. ‘Hotel Mumbai’, inspired…
After we see three brainwashed Muslim youth arrested by the police, two of whom had converted to Islam, the scene quickly shifts to Gurugram in Haryana, where in an akhada, a depraved pehelwan attempts to outrage the modesty of a young schoolgirl by raising her skirt. Enter Commando Karan Singh Dogra (Vidyut Jammwal) who flattens…
Two particular scenes at the beginning of the film prepare the viewer for 32-year-old NYPD Detective, Andre Davis’s (Chadwick Boseman) tough, no-nonsense character – as a 13-year-old, he silently weeps at his father’s funeral – a sincere policeman slain in the line of duty; and later, as a detective specialising in killing cop-killers, standing up…
Mirzapore, in East UP is known more for its carpet weaving industry, and less for the child exploitation that exists there. Noted documentarian, Brahmanand Siingh, whose oeuvre includes documentaries on R D Burman and Jagjit Singh, has directed and co-written ‘Jhalki’, a film on child exploitation, particularly on…
“DDLJ jaisa ending hoga kya?” asks a character, referring to the blockbuster of the 90s. This is just one of the many films alluded to in Amar Kaushik’s latest, written with wittiness by Niren Bhatt. The theme of male ‘premature’ issues seems to be captivating audiences of late. Just a week after ‘Ujda Chaman’ hit…