The Critique

Dir: Vinil Mathew Starring: Siddharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra Dur: 2 hrs 21 mins Genre: Romance Rating: 4/10 Bollywood produces a lot of romantic movies. Come to think of it nearly every film is a romance or has something to do with romance. Romance is a useful component for spicing up a movie but when it is turned in to the main storyline it reduces the scope of the movie and relies on the directors and screenwriters creativity to turn it into a hit. Indians love romance although they may not be very vocal or open about it. The idealist romantic thread is woven strongly into the Indian sensibility. Hasee toh Phasee is a weird romance. It’s about a guy who is courting a beautiful girl but who ends up falling in love with her outcasted and eccentric sister. I called it ‘weird’ because he spends more time and is shown as more sympathetic to the sister then to his lover, for no obvious or apparent reason. Things like this can happen but the film remains disconnecte...

Dir: Boaz Yakin Starring: Josh Wiggins, Thomas Church, Lauren Graham, Luke Kleintank Dur: 1 hr 45 mins Genre: Drama, Family Adventure Rating: 9/10 This is a really cute film with a nice story. It’s been quite a while since I’ve last watched an animal-centred film and I wasn’t disappointed with the performance. Animal-based films usually have a better appeal because of their simple storyline and creative performances. Max is no exception. It stands as probably one of the best animal-based films I have ever seen. It is wonderfully made and has a mysterious appeal to it. It is a tribute to war dogs and their handlers and hence the protagonist, Max is a war dog whose handler was killed in a firefight. Max suffers from post-traumatic stress (this is the first time I heard of an animal suffering from this disorder but apparently it is possible and true). He turns ferocious and is about to be put down but begins to show some kind of loyalty to his handlers brother. Hence he...

Dir: Raja Krishna Menon Starring: Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur Dur: 1 hr 45 mins Genre: Thriller Rating: 9/10 When I first heard about Airlift I was so eager to watch it. The story caught my attention and I was curious to know how Bollywood would dramatize the story. My experience with Bollywood cinema is that they either over-dramatize or misrepresent the facts. I was happy to note however that neither of these was the case in Airlift . Airlift tells the bold story of a man who was willing to put his life on the line to help his fellow countrymen escape the terrors of war in a foreign land. When Iraq went to war with Kuwait lakhs of Indians were left stranded on foreign soil with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Their lives were in danger and their belongings had to be left behind. Somehow they drew close together and Ranjit (Akshay Kumar) emerged as leader. Things didn’t progress smoothly and after repeated attempts that courted danger and failure, he, along with t...

Dir: James Marsh Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones Dur: 2 hrs 3 mins Genre: Biography – Romance PG: A number of kisses.   Rating: 8/10 When I heard about the release of this film I was very excited. Besides, reading the reviews whetted the appetite. The film didn’t fail to deliver. Normally biographies are pretty interesting though they tend to be slow but The Theory of Everything engaged me for the entire duration. The tempo was pretty slow but nevertheless it was well shot and above everything are the performances of the lead pair. These, in fact blew me away. Eddie and Felicity were absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t think of a better pair to play the parts. The story is inspiring and touching. I did feel a heart tug when Stephen is told about his disorder and what the future holds for him. That his fate turned out different is a matter of joy, for if it hadn’t the world would have lost a genius even before he could really share his brilliance. The f...

Dir: Clay Klatis and Fergal Reilly Dur: 1 hr 35 mins Genre: Animation I had great expectations from this film. Considering the craze around Angry Birds and the interest the ads and trailer created I couldn’t help but expect a hilarious comedy. What I was delivered instead was a poorly scripted and disinteresting movie that sucked out over an hour and a half of my precious time. Basically, here is a failed attempt at explaining the theme ‘Angry Birds’. The main birds are all in an anger management class for reasons that are rather stupid and the rest of the story is also rather stupid. The entertainment factor is pretty low and so is the attraction. The dialogues are simplistic and humour-less as is the rest of the adventure. I can’t fathom how it has grossed over 350 million worldwide. In my opinion it’s a total waste of time and money.   

The 2 nd Gospel Music Fest was organized at Garcia da Orta by Henry Music Café to mark 26 years of its foundation on the 12 th of October 2016. It was a nice evening with pleasant weather and a decent crowd. The stage was well lit up and the sound system was a bit too ostentatious in my reckoning. The organization could have done with better planning and coordination. Projectors and screens were set up but were sparsely used. Too many performers were called up to entertain in a short span of time and this led to a lot of time being wasted on set up and sound checking. Besides the regular changes led to a loss of momentum and meant that the audience had to make another laborious wait. Some of the groups did do justice to the opportunity given to them while the others served merely as entertainment. Chrystal and Sancho gave the crowd a wonderful performance. Chrystal had powerful vocals and a honey-dipped voice; combined with Sancho’s skills on the keyboard, the duo were fantas...

Dir: Prabhudeva Starring: Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Yami Gautam, Anandaraj, Manasvi Mamgai Dur: 2 hrs 24 mins Genre: Action Rating: 0.5/10 The first three words that come to my mind when I think of this movie: Aimless, Shameless and Brainless. Just when I was beginning to appreciate Bollywood and rid myself of the long held prejudice that Bollywood is all about fake fights and melodrama besides a whole lot of other fake stuff, I watched Action Jackson and honestly, I regret doing so. It is perhaps the worst film I have watched in the recent past. It’s got nothing to offer save for some stupid action and mindless violence that every person would do well by avoiding. Honestly I don’t even feel like reviewing this because some may be drawn to watching it after reading my review.  I’ve said it once indirectly, now I’ll say it directly: Don’t Waste Your Time Watching This Movie. It is really awful. The story in short is about AJ or Action Jackson [Ajay Devgn] who ...

Dir: Lee Toland Krieger Starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman Dur: 1 hr 50 mins Genre: Romance PG: A number of kisses. Rating: 7.5/10 A fantastic tale of love and age and how the two try hard to outdo each other but end up complementing one another. Adaline Bowman [Blake Lively] was a beautiful young woman who married and had a baby but whose life changed forever after she met with a fateful accident. Due to a DNA reaction, which is supposed to be discovered in 2035, she stopped aging and remained 29 for over 70 decades. Her everlasting youth was no pleasure. In fact it began to tear her apart. She was forced to remain on the move for fear of being pursued as a science specimen. Her daughter, Flemming grows old without and before her mother. Adaline can never resign herself to a single place or a single person save her daughter who she passes off at different times as her sister and even grandaunt. Her resolve however is put to the test when she encounters the debona...

Dir: Rupert Wainwright Starring: Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne Dur: 1 hr 37 mins Genre: Thriller PG: A few smooches and foul language.  Rating: 6.5/10 The occurrence of stigmata is something that has always fascinated me and I suppose it has also fascinated many within the church. St Francis of Assisi was the first known stigmatist. Since then numerous people have claimed to have received the stigmata and the Church has been rather careful in accepting their claims. This is a story that stands by its name and does so in a pretty dramatic manner. We follow Fr Andrew Kierman {Gabriel Byrne} a priest and scientist who is entrusted with the task of investigating a case of stigmata in Pennsylvania. The subject is a young and wayward girl who accidently came in possession of a relic of a stigmatist whose spirit consequently entered her. The what and how of stigmata is hardly given any explanation but the manifestation of it is shown rather clearly and graphically....