Tag Archives: Hindi Cinema

Sector 36 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fascinating exploration of the interception of power, corruption, and serving the community, and how all of that can be shaped by self-interest.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains Scenes that may cause distress.

Mission Children Posters.

Sector 36 Review –

Corruption is one of the worst sins that a public official could do because their job is to uphold the people under their care, and when they obfuscate that sacred oath for money, power, or friendship, everyone suffers. Corruption can happen anywhere, but what happens when you target the most vulnerable members of society who have even less of a voice than ever? Well, you have a recipe for disaster.   

So, set the scene, in Section 36 of Delhi, works Sub Inspector Ram Charan Pandey (Deepak Dobriyal), a thoroughly corrupt police officer. Who is more interested in lecturing people on the Third Law of Motion than actually helping people. But when a girl’s hand turns up in the sewers, it puts into focus that there is a killer on the loose, not that the police want that. But that is what Prem Singh (Vikrant Massey) is doing, focusing on the most vulnerable members of society. He would have continued to get away with it, given the police’s incompetence, but one day, he tries to take the daughter of someone important, and ignorance is no longer an option.  

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Not Today – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that explores the subject of suicide, as two people are brought together on what could be the worst day of their lives.  

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress: if you are concerned, Lifeline Australia runs a confidential 24-hour hotline, which you can call inside Australia on 13 11 14.

Mamta quizzes Aliah.

Not Today Review –

Today, we look at a film that explores a very sensitive topic: suicide. It is a subject that is rarely tackled well in the media and in society. Given that this is such a difficult space to work in, how would you tackle a film where this subject is not only referenced but is central to the story? Well, that is what we are going to be looking at today.   

So, to set the scene, Aliah Rupawala (Rucha Inamdar) is training under Mamta (Vibhawari Deshpande) to be a suicide prevention counsellor. This is a profoundly difficult job not only because you are trying to intervein with people on their darkest day about engaging with actions that can’t be walked back from. But also because of the emotional toll it can take on the receptionists themselves. It is Aliah’s first day, and she has had to deal with learning a new environment, making prank calls, trying to waste their time, and more. But just as it is about to come to an end, she gets a message from Ashwin Mathur (Harsh Chhaya) that may turn her life upside-down.

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Kill – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A bloody rampage of action that perfectly uses the medium of a train to tell its story of revenge.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Amrit, bloodied on the floor surrounded by bandits.

Kill Review –

There are times when you want to sit down and watch a bloody action romp on screen. Fists throwing, legs kicking, knives slashing, and all that jazz. But what if you could get that and get something a little new that you have never seen before? Well, that is what we are getting today with one of the bloodiest action romps I have seen in an age.

So, to set the scene, Amrit (Lakshya) and Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan) are captains and commandos in the Indian Army. When they return from the field, they find out that Amrit’s love Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) has been betrothed to another. Amrit and Viresh try to rescue her from the engagement party, but there are too many families with assorted weapons. However, the next day, Tulika, her sister Aahna (Adrija Sinha), her father Baldev Singh Thakur (Harsh Chhaya), and the rest of her family are taking an overnight train back to Delhi. So, Amrit and Viresh tag along, hoping for a better chance there. The only problem is that Fani (Raghav Juyal) and his extended family are also on the train, and they are about to rob it.    

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Movie Review – Maska

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TL;DR – A nice story that does tread some well-worn ground    

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Maska. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

So to set the scene, we open in on Rumi Irani (Prit Kamani) who is living in his late father’s shadow. Like all things, he is fated to take over the family business which in this case is the Café Rustom an Irani café in Mumbai. His mother Diana (Manisha Koirala) cannot wait till he can take over the café and breathe new life into it. However, one night Rumi won the Mr Firozsha Baag and in it, he discovered his dream, he wants to become an actor. Of course, it does not hurt when he discovers that at his acting lessons not only is this his passion but one of his classmates Mallika Chopra (Nikita Dutta) might be his soul mate.

One of the things I like about Maska is how is it is about breaking out of the bubbles of our life. I once heard that tradition is just peer pressure from dead people and in this film that is both a metaphorical point and also a literal one as he sees an apparition of his father Rustom (Javed Jaffrey). It is about balancing the expectations of your past with the realities of the future.

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Movie Review – Yeh Ballet

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TL;DR – a fun film about finding your place in the world through a talent you never knew you had   

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Yeh Ballet. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

We continue our look at Indian cinema this week with an interesting film that has recently arrived on Netflix. It is a film that charts the highs and lows of two kids finding a new outcome for their lives. Also, it is kind of cool that it is all based on a true story.  

So to set the scene, we open in on the Mumbai slums as Asif (Achintya Bose) competes in a festival of people stacking on top of each other to get the prize hanging above. Elsewhere Nishu (Manish Chauhan) has made it onto the TV and while his raw talent is impressive, his lack of skill lets him down. Both of the boys have a trajectory of where their lives are headed and neither of them is happy with where it is going. All of this changes when a local talent scout and dance studio owner (Jim Sarbh) brings over the cantankerous Saul Aaron (Julian Sands) to coach his students in ballet and he sees something brilliant in the two boys from the slums.       

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Movie Review – Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (Extra Careful of Marriage)

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TL;DR – A fascinating if a little blunt film about love in India  

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (Extra Careful of Marriage). Image Credit: T-Series.

Review –

In my endeavour to watch more non-English language films, I had been spending a lot of time with those coming out of Europe, but this week I want to shift things by focusing on India. With that in mind, today we look at the first of two Indian films out this week that really intrigued me and this is a film is all about finding love even in the face of your family.

So to set the scene, we open in on two guys making a last-minute rush to get to a train that is about to depart as we hear about just how much weddings cost in India. We then go back a bit in time to meet Kartik (Ayushmann Khurrana) and his partner Aman (Jitendra Kumar) who hide who they are from their families by living away in Delhi. One day as they are helping a good friend elope they get caught by her family and need to get out of town for a bit. Well, that’s good timing because Aman’s cousin Goggle (Maanvi Gagroo) is about to be married back in Ahmedabad. The only problem is that Aman’s family does not know he is gay and it goes about as well as you imagine it does.

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Movie Review – Drive (2019)

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TL;DR – Today I have what might be the easiest pitch I have ever heard, its Fast and the Furious but Bollywood. Well, that is if you can get through the very uneven first hour that is and some super clunky CGI.    

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Drive (2019). Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

I like me a good heist film, where you have shifting loyalties, betrayals, convoluted plans, misdirection, and of course a quick exit. So when I heard that there was a Bollywood heist film with a dash of the Fast and Furious and a sprinkle of well-choreographed dance sequences, I knew I had to give it a watch. Well, let’s dive into a world where you need to screech those tyres and aggressively change gears every half a second.

So to set the scene, the Director of Monetary Restrictions Authority Vibha Singh (Vibha Chibber) and her chief of staff Hamid (Pankaj Tripathi) are going about their days, using less than conventional technics to get businessmen to pay all their taxes when they get an urgent message from President’s office. As his aid Ifran (Boman Irani) explains there is a new thief on the scene called King because they leave a playing card with the location of their next heist at the place they have robed. Well the next place they are going to rob is right there at Rashtrapati Bhavan, India’s Presidential Palace. Their only lead is Tara (Jacqueline Fernandez) who runs an illicit courier business so they sent in a double agent Samar (Sushant Singh Rajput) to see what they can find out.

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TV Review – Bard of Blood

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TL;DR – This an interesting spy series which is unfortunately held back a bit with inconsistent pacing and the flow-on effects from that.  

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Bard of Blood. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

One of my goals this year has been to expand my global cinema intake from places away from the traditional English speaking countries that I am used to. I have not been as successful as I would have liked, but when a new Indian spy thriller drops on Netflix you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Now I have finished it, wow, is this series a lot, and I think it might also have lasting repercussions.

So to set the scene, in Balochistan, Pakistan, a group of Indian deep-cover spies are in a lude video internet café using it as a cover as they upload important information back to New Delhi. However, before they can finish, they are captured by the local Taliban. Before they can be executed the Pakistani Intelligence forces intercede and save then, not to keep them alive, but to kill them at the right time and place. Back in India, one of the chiefs in India’s Intelligence bureau Sadiq (Rajit Kapur) feels that something is odd so he seeks out Kabir Anand (Emraan Hashmi) code name Adonis but there is bad blood between them over what happened last time in Pakistan. He instead sends Isha (Sobhita Dhulipala) to retrieve him, however, Sadiq is murdered in his home and Adonis is framed, and only he might be able to save the agents because there is a mole in the Indian government and he does not know who they might be. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Movie Review – Jaoon Kahan Bata Ae Dil

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TL;DR – It is said that a film succeeds if it makes you feel something, well if that is all it took than this film would be a success, but considering this made me feel revulsion and anger, I think it takes more than that.    

Score – 1 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Warning – This film contains extensive scenes of abuse

Jaoon Kahan Bata Ae Dil. Image Credit: Netlifx.

Review –

Okay I’m going to be honest right from the start, I am coming to this film as someone who is from outside of India and does not have the most extensive experience with Indian cinema, so there may be some context I am missing. Also, by writing this review I feel like I am positioning myself in the same position as some of the people criticised in the film, an irony that is not lost on me. But all of that being said, you can skip to the end if you want because I do not in any shape or form recommend this film.

So to set the scene, we open in on a couple a man (Rohit Kokate) and women (Khushboo Upadhyay) who are walking along a coastal boardwalk in Mumbai. They are in a relationship but they are not married so they need to be discreet given the conservative aspects of Indian society. But as they talk it is clear that both of them want different things out of the relationship.

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Movie Review – Chopsticks

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TL;DR –  A film that feels ripped right out of the 1990s that you would look back and muse that it has not aged well at all.     

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Chopsticks. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

There are times when you sit down to watch a film and you revel in the chaos not knowing where it will go next. Then there are times that in the first five or so minutes you can get a rough sketch of each major plot point that is about to come. Well, today, unfortunately, we look at a film that is a latter with a story that feels like it would have been dated in the early 2000s let alone now.

So to set the scene, we open with Nirma (Mithila Palkar) who is a Mandarin translator and who is apparently named after a laundry powder brand. She is buying her first new car in her life but her number plate ads up to 11 rather than the preferred 9. On the way home, she takes her mother’s advice and goes to temple and has an attendant park her new car, and it should come as no surprise that there was no attendant and she just gave her keys to the guy that stole her brand new car. While she is at the police station she is told of someone who can help her, who goes by the name Artist (Abhay Deol), and she gets more than she bargains for.

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