FILMY BOLI

Baaghi 2              3 Thriller   Cast: Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani, Randeep Hooda, Prateik Babbar , Manoj Bajpayee, Deepak Dobriyal Director: Ahmed  Khan Story: Ronny gets a mysterious call form Neha four years after they parted ways, asking him to help her find her missing daughter. Things , however are not how they seem. Is Neha telling the truth? Review: We dive right into a world of rebels, drug addicts and vulgar corrupt police officers and are taken close ( a bit too close) to the hub of everything illegal ,Goa. According to the film, in Goa you are either a drug smuggling murderer or a shell shocked victim, there is no in between. Baaghi 2 makes an effort to create a story which is a good thing though I'm not sure how successful they are. The story gets carried away and in an attempt to look stylish and slick it ends up looking illogical and frivolous in places. Also I would like to know what was going on in the minds of...

Padman 4 Drama Cast : Akshay Kumar , Radhika Apte, Sonam Kapoor Director: R.Balki Story: Padman is the on screen adaptation of the true story of  Arunachalam Muruganantham , a man who invented low cost sanitary pads ( for just 2 rupees) on being acquainted with the unhygienic conditions in which the women in his village, including his wife, live during "that time of the month."  Review : When a female centric film can be made with a man in the lead we know our industry has finally arrived.   This film is an honest attempt to eradicate/ abolish the taboo surrounding menstruation. I will admit I was a bit hesitant before seeing this film as I was unsure of how the " female problem" will be portrayed on the big screen. Given the fact that it is hushed up and hidden beneath the sheets (literally) every month. I was very glad to find out that the whole topic is handled very well. For those of you who feel this film will make you uncomfortable , having see...

Padmaavat  3.5 Drama Cast: Deepika Padukone , Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor , Jim Sarbh , Aditi Rao  Hydari Director : Sanjay Leela Bhansali  Story: Alauddin Khilji's obsession with the queen of Chittor , Maharani Padmaavati paves way for war, destruction and desperation. Review: After the most elaborate disclaimer at the start of the movie , clarifying everything the film does not support  , the magnum opus that has been the talk of the town for so long finally unfolds. I have never really admired the  "Sanjay Leela Bhansaliness" of movies where he often mistakes exaggeration and overdoing things for a so called "magical effect". Padmaavat is no exception to Bhansali's trademark style of storytelling. That being said , this film could not have been visually grander. Everything from the costumes to the make up to the sets to the stunning stunning jewellery and every attention to detail is spot on. The grimy dark sequences , the chilling ...

The Greatest Showman   4.5 Musical  Cast: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson  Director: Michael Gracey  Story: A period drama narrating the story of PT Barnum , the first man ever to form a group of 'curious' people and put together a circus.  Review: This is a film about making your dreams come true. It is about following your desires to whichever unexplored corner they take you to, and most importantly this is a film about being yourself!  A visual spectacle, "The Greatest Showman" tells the touching tale of a man who opened the first ever circus! A unique yet simple story put together on screen with so much grace and all heart is so refreshing. The effortlessly thrilling narrative is just lovely! Foot tapping music helps in driving the marvel of a story forward. Mostly , all the artists in the circus were simply dancing and it would have been nice to see them trying their hands at different stunts...

Tiger Zinda Hai  4 A ction Cast:   Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif , Anupriya Goenka, Sajjad Delafrooz   Director: Ali Abbas Zafar  Story: Two agents, from enemy nations have been called back to work for their countries , leaving behind their lives of comfort . Their mission is to rescue 40 nurses who have been kept hostage. Review: The "Tube Light " has fused and now "Tiger  Zinda  Hai" aur ek baar yeh "Jasoos Jag" gaya toh aap bas "Baar Baar Dekhte" reh jaaonge! Tiger is back and with such a tiger around there is no fear of extinction!  Every scene in this movie is so well explained . Carried out with gusto and obviously ample of swag, mostly owing to Mr Khan's charisma, this film will be included in the list of the better thriller films that have released in a while. it has action but it doesn't seem too much thanks to the stylish music which complements the scenes.  This is a Salman Khan show but Katrina Kaif is...

Shaadi mein zaroor aana  2.5 Drama Cast: Kriti Kharbanda, Rajkumar Rao, Nayani Dixit , Manoj Pahwa Director: Ratnaa Sinha  Story : Two love birds decide to get married. What happens when the girl leaves the boy at the mandap on the night of their wedding? Review: At the  start we are made to dive headlong into a mushy, romantic story which is easy breezy and sometimes cheesy!  The girl and boy are besotted and  after galavanting around the whole city ,they finally arrive on their wedding day.  Here comes the twist in the  tale , which seems to have taken inspiration from this year's smashing commercial success , Badrinath Ki Dulhania . The girl just leaves  her marriage without even talking to the boy or her would -be in laws about the issue at hand. She just runs off in the Marathon of life without once looking back at the starting line . The makers were so eager to show the message of women empowerment that they did not paus...

Thor Ragnarok: Thunder Roars Again! 3.5 Action Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hilddleston, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo. Director: Taika Waititi Review: Thor is back! (I hear hooting from the audience )and this time he has brought with him some scintillating humour.  We are transported to a world , or rather nine worlds (realms) of immortal beings where unexpected surprises await you , ready to be unleashed with miraculous flamboyance. Thor, the god of thunder has to fight the rather Hellish Hella to save his fellow Asgardians from the merciless schemes of death and he has the help of a remarkably outlandish yet extraordinarily powerful team of five. It has been four years since the last Thor movie came out in 2013 and the growth in the franchise has been phenomenal since then. Thor: Ragnarok is being appreciated by critics and audiences alike. From the first scene itself the director commands your attention by showcasing a rather fascinating sequence of events where you...

              Golmaal (yet) Again                        3.5 Comedy   Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu , Parineeti Chopra, Shreyas Talpade, Arshad Warsi , Kunal Kemmu, Tusshar Kapoor, Johnny Lever  Director: Rohit Shetty   Story: The gang of five visit the orphanage where they were raised and encounter a spirit, two builders with wrong intentions and an old friend. Thus leading to Golmaal! Review: The Horror comedy genre is something that always fascinates me . So when such a film was being included in one of the most successful comedy franchises in the industry I just had to watch it on the big screen! The film starts off on an interesting note and manages to hold your attention . Just when you feel the director has lost his grip on the film and you are about to take your first yawn the madness begins! The audience could not stop guffawing at the brillian...

                                American Made  2.5 Biography   Cast: Tom Cruise , Sarah Wright , Domhnall Gleeson , Jayma Mays Director: Doug Liman Story: The retelling of the true life incident surrounding the infamous TWA pilot Barry Seal. Barry became a drug smuggler for the Medellin Cartel and later to avoid jail time joined hands with the White House and the DEA Review: Set in the years between the late  1970's and the mid 1980's American Made comes across to be more of a documentary . The pedestrian routine of picking and dropping off goods shown countless of times throughout the film is nothing to write home about! The film is mostly air borne and I wish it had stayed a bit more grounded because in their desire to scale greater heights both the protagonist and the film get into trouble . The film could have been much more interesting had the scenes not been ...

Judwaa 2 3 Comedy Cast: Varun Dhawan( ×2) , Jacqueline Fernandez , Tapsee Pannu , Rajpal Yadav Director: Father (David) Dhawan   Story: Two twins are separated at birth only to be reunited many years later . Chased by menacing villains and themselves chasing after pretty girls these judwaas have a lot in store for them! Review: First let's get over with the bad part. This film is seriously outdated and quite sexist. Scenes which might have worked in the original fail to do the trick this time . Forcibly kissing a girl and then giggling away with her , calling a middle aged woman Khatara Gadi , flirting around with the house staff while your girlfriend's father is standing in the background and seemingly enjoying the whole episode is just not ok!  We have a mother who throws  her daughter at a rich hot- shot and a boy kissing  his future girlfriend's mom!  The film industry has been progressing in a big way and scenes like these Just set us w...

Toilet : Ek Prem Katha  Drama 3 Cast : Akshay Kumar , Bhumi Pednekar ,Sudhir Pandey, Divyendu, Anupam Kher  Story : A man fights against the unprogressive mindset of the people of his society in order to build a toilet for his wife in his house. Will he succeed? Review  : There has come a time in Hindi  Cinema, when a film can be made on a relevant social issue and be termed as a commercial film. Toilet :   Ek Prem Katha is a proof of just that. The gutsy makers have shed light on a subject which is so vital to our society. However It is unfortunately  more often than not deemed insignificant or unnecessary and sometimes even trivial. The film starts off by cementing the love story between its two leads.  They meet by the way for the first time outside (you guessed it right ), a toilet! The man stalks the woman ,the woman one day bursts out at the man and tells him to leave her alone. Then  the man gets offended and lecture...

Bareilly Ki Barfi     Romantic Comedy 3.5 Cast: Kriti Sanon , Ayushmann Khurrana , Rajkumar Rao , Seema Pahwa , Pankaj Tripathi Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari  Story: A bohemian girl who feels tied down  by the narrow mindedness of her society  finds a book written by an author who she feels understands her completely . She sets out to find the author with her love- struck friend. Will she find true love?  Review: Making small- town films has become sort of a trend in Bollywood. The latest follower of this trend is the recently released film Bareilly Ki Barfi. As the title suggests the film is set in Bareilly.   The best part about the film is that it remains true to its characters  and its story . There have been no unnecessary attempts to sensationalise or glamorise anything. The dialogues by Nitesh Tiwari ( the master mind behind the mega success Dangal) range from quirky to heart touching and are bang on! The film is embellish...

Mubarakan  Comedy   3 Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Anil Kapoor , Ileana D'cruz, Athiya Shetty, Ratna Pathak Shah , Neha Sharma. Director: Anees Bazmee Story: Two twin brothers end up getting engaged to the wrong girls and what follows is an extremely bizarre sequence of events! Review: Mubarakan is a glamorous outing. It is a full -  on Punjabi wedding film with glossy sets  ,  groovy music  and the the lead actors in spunky costumes. The film  has a slow start . I was anyways tired before going inside the hall and the first 40 minutes of this film  could have almost broken my record of not falling asleep in any Bollywood film till date.  it was just simply not funny and a bit foolish. Sample this , A guy has come to a girls house to fix his marriage with her and the girl  asks him  'do you have a girlfriend ?' It is also ruined by a brother - sister angel which is just too monotonous to watch. Bazmee could have handled th...

Spider-Man : Homecoming  Action 3.5 Cast : Tom Holland, Michael Keaton , Marisa Tomei , Robert Downey Jr , Zendaya. Director : Jon Watts Story : Peter Parker aka Spider-man wants to be an avenger and help save the world. After facing a lot of humiliation he finally finds the perfect job to put his skills at use. Review : The friendly neighbourhood superhero (as Tony Stark puts it) returns! This time in the form  of a 15 year old  boy.    ( though he doesn't look like one.) and minus the back story of his Uncle Ben. Spider-Man casts his web and captures the goons , unfortunately the movie could not quite  do the same for the audience. The film starts off on a rather slow note.  Induced  with mild humour, the first half has nothing more to offer. Instantly picking up pace , the second half is a relief from the sluggishness of the first half. At least it heads in some direction .  Now that Peter  is done figuring out who he...

The Mummy Action   1.5 Cast : Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Russell Crowe Director : Alex Kurtzman Story : An Egyptian Princess from ancient times rises from the dead to complete an unfinished deed . Thus creating havoc in the lives  of countless innocents . Review :  As I re-evaluate the genre of this film I feel it should be changed from action to disgusting because that is exactly what this movie was in many parts. We are not interested in seeing mummies suck out human souls and the turning of their crooked body parts as they awaken from the dead. If we wanted to see that we would have seen a C-grade horror movie, oh wait, that is exactly what we were doing. This film moves at an awkward pace. Sometimes if you shut your eyes even for a minute you would have missed so much and sometimes if you leave the cinema to buy popcorn and come back ten minutes later( yes I did that) you feel like nothing has happened and the film had...

Wonder Woman Fantasy 3.5 Cast : Gal Gadot , Chris Pine Director : Patty Jenkins Story : Born and brought up in the land of the Amazons, Princess Diana seizes  the opportunity to go to the real world and save the people   from a blood thirsty war raging there. Review : The days are gone of the woman being the damsel in distress!  Now it's the man who takes the backseat while the woman wonderfully ( pun intended) locks horns with the bad guys. The film starts off with a back story to Diana's life explaining where she came from and what she believes in . wonder woman takes an exciting turn only once she reaches the real world.Her vulnerableness and innocence has been portrayed well by the makers . However ,all superhero (or heroine ) films are garnished with quips and that's what makes the  film so entertaining to watch! Wonder Woman is behind in that department and lacks  the occasional verbal showdown between the villain and the protagonis...

Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead men tell no tales    Action 3 Cast: Johnny Depp, Kaya Scodelario  , Brenton Thwaites Director :Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg Story :Carina Smyth , Henry Turner and Jack Sparrow are all searching for the trident of Poseidon for different reasons . During their quest ,they encounter the wrath of a half - dead man and an old nemesis .Will they succeed ? Review : Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead men tell  no tales is like being on a ship where you experience sea sickness at times but then when a thrill wave comes your way you are soaked in  exuberance. Some scenes in the film are quite amusing (we have Johnny Depp to thank for that ),and they bring in laughs .(watch out for Jack Sparrow 's entry scene ) . But in the attempt to be funny,  the makers overdo it and  some supposedly funny scenes miss the mark. Once the crew finds the ship ,they seem to reach their destination(which  I won't reveal , ...

half girlfriend  Romance 3 Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Vikrant Massey , Rhea Chakraborty . Director: Mohit Suri  Story: A Bihari boy , Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) falls in love with a rich, sophisticated Delhi girl, Rhea Somani  (Shraddha kapoor) who is commitment phobic and only wants to be his half girlfriend. Will he manage to win over the love of his life with his rustic charm and simplicity? Review:  The film 'Half girlfriend ' only really starts after the song Baarish. It doesn't take long for the lead pair's friendship to blossom. Rhea gives out mixed signals and leaves Madhav as well as the audience confused . Why is she stringing along the poor guy if she has internal issues? This is one of the many glitches in the story of this glossy celluloid venture. Why is Madhav  so hung up on Rhea when she obviously does not want to reciprocate? Why is Rhea's mom suddenly worried about her whereabouts when she let her go in the first ...

Meri Pyaari Bindu Romance 2.5 Cast : Parineeti Chopra, Ayushmann Khurrana, Aparajita Auddy,Rajatabha Dutta  Director :   Akshay   Roy  Story : Childhood sweethearts Abhimanyu and Bindu get separated .  Destiny , however has other plans for them as they   keep meeting each other repeatedly as they experience love, desperation ,heartbreak ,success and failure together. Review : Meri pyaari Bindu takes you back to the 1990s . The basic concept of the film is not something that is very new but the writers try hard to stand out . The film starts off well ,it is cute and  has some chuckle worthy moments ,but you keep waiting for SOMETHING to happen in the film! You wait for that defining moment in the film without which the film just seems incomplete. It looks like the scenes of the film were all shot and then joined together like in a jigsaw puzzle.  The film is therefore not able to make much of a connect with the audience.Even if...

Beauty And The Beast Romance 4 Cast :Emma Watson,Dan Stevens,Luke Evans Director:Bill Condon Story : An arrogant prince is transformed into a hideous Beast by an enchantress,this spell can only be broken if the Beast finds true love. The magical world of the fairy tale unfolds  when Belle comes across an  occult castle , inhabited  by the Beast and his helpers. Will she be able to free the Beast and his helpers from the curse? Review : Beauty and the Beast has been written and rewritten,made into a film and remade quite a few times but no one is complaining! The first 30 minutes or so of the  film are a bit slow as they are laying the foundation of the film. When Belle reaches the castle ,the film instantly picks up pace . The scenes with the talking objects singing and dancing are spectacular and look grand, not to forget the costume and make up of the Beast.The whole castle seems alive and the correct word to describe the ambience of the castle ...

Phillauri  3 . 5 Drama Cast : Anushka Sharma,Suraj Sharma, Mehreen Pirzada,Diljit Dosanj Director : Anshai Lal Story :In the midst of a big fat Indian wedding the groom is having serious pre-wedding jitters  and to add to his troubles a ghost from 98 years ago shows up at his door step claiming to be his newly wed wife. Review :The film "Phillauri" is a refreshing concept . The first half is loaded with wacky  one -liners. The film constantly moves back and forth narrating Shashi's (Anushka sharma) story before she became a ghost and the present time . On one hand the girl at first shows no interest in the boy and on the other hand the girl has been dreaming to marry the boy since she was in the tenth standard .The scenes from Shashi's present are better than those from her past and you eagerly wait for those to come back.Shashi understands what Anu(Mehreen Pirzada) is going through as she has gone through something similar herself and  she helps make K...

Badrinath Ki Dulhania 4 . 5 Romantic comedy Cast : Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sahil Vaid, Akanksha Singh, Shweta Basu Prasad, Sukhmani Lamba Director : Shashank Khaitan Story : A  Whimsical boy from Jhansi has his heart set on a  headstrong girl from Kota. But she wants different things in life . How does their love story play out in a patriarchal society? Review : The film is set in the heartland of  India .  You are straight away transported into the world of Badrinath Bansal aka Badri  (Varun Dhawan ) and Vaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt), characters that will stick with you . He is adamant on getting married to her , she wants to get a job and prove her worth to her family.  Full  credit to the director  (Shashank Khaitan ) for making a film which could easily have become stretched, boring and foolish into a realistic and believable film.  The film is entertaining and full of light hearted moments along with some cute ones ...