The Critique

The year 2017 is coming to an end. The tree 2017 has nearly shed all its leaves, and it’s time not just to turn over a new leaf but to nurture a new tree! 2018 is just beneath the surface waiting to burst from the ground and take its place alongside (the soon to be barren) 2017. 365 days have come and gone. Plenty of water has passed under the bridge. The tides have changed – sometimes high, sometimes low. Perhaps there were floods at some point but no matter what, the river could not have gone dry. Even though there may have been times when it felt like it was dry, the river never ran dry. The river could stand for both, time and life. As the famous saying goes, “Time and tide wait for no one”. Time is the same for everybody. Everybody had the same 8760 hours that 2017 offered, although some never had all of those hours, others may have been sick or in coma etc but the point is everyone enjoyed time. Each day everybody was gratuitously given 24 hours and now all that time ...

Dir: Christopher Nolan Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, James D’Arcy, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy. Dur: 1 hr 46 mins Genre: War Drama Rating: 8/10 Ever since I watched the trailer, I have been waiting on pins and needles for this film. When I finally got my hands on it, I was restless till I sat down to watch it and I write this review with a great sense of relief as I have not only satisfied my nagging urge but am also incredibly satisfied with the film. Chris Nolan has a knack for intriguing film making and he once again delivers an absolute thriller. Dunkirk depicts the evacuation of allied soldiers, particularly the British, during World War II. The film has an ensemble cast and is a British, American, French and Dutch co-production. Needless, to say it is also quite an ‘allied’ effort. It portrays the evacuation from three perspectives: land, sea and air. It has little dialogue (Nolan wanted it that way so a...

Dir: Kabir Khan Starring: Salman Khan, Zhu Zhu, Matin Rey Tangu and Sohail Khan Dur: 2 hrs 15 mins Genre: Drama Rating: 4/10 I am no big fan of Salman Khan but the trailer of this film attracted me to the movie. I could tell it was weird but yet something in me hoped it was good. Sadly, the film didn’t live up to expectations and left me quite disappointed though not sad. Salman plays a goofy man with an IQ of a five year old. He tries his best to do a Charlie Chaplin but fails miserably. Obviously, he is not cut out for comedy-drama but yet attempts to make money on it. The whole plot is naïve and sadly good actors like Om Puri are also turned into humourous stand-ups. From the first scene itself, the storyline can be gauged. There is nothing but childish entertainment. The silly attempts at humour, the repetitive dialogues, the insistence on Gandhi and his teachings, all become a bit monotonous after a while. Zhu Zhu must be praised for her incredible performance in a...

Dir: Leena Yadav Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla Dur: 1 hr 58 mins Genre: Drama PG: Foul Language, nudity in some scenes, violence, sex. Rating: 6/10 This is a film that is bound to disconcert many (It got me!). It’s a coming-of-age story about 4 women in a fictional Rajasthani village who face brutal situations in an extremely conservative society and who fight to liberate themselves from their futi kismet . At the outset, it must also be said that the film approaches delicate and hush-hush issues in a brazen manner. To say it simply, the film is primarily about women, with special emphasis on their sexuality. The film portrays village women in a different light – in a way that I never thought of before. They are brave enough to share their sexual feelings and even their frustrations. Though externally they are extremely conservative and docile to their village rules and customs, internally they struggle and their turmoil is aptly po...

Dir: Amit Masurkar Starring: Rajkumar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil, Raghubhir Yadav Dur: 1 hr 45 mins Genre: Drama  Rating: 8/10 The trailer of this film is very enticing. In fact, it had me on pins till I got round to watching the film. Newton is a story of a government employee who is ramrod honest and is adamant on giving the Indian bureaucracy a face-lift. He is scorned for his methods and for his righteousness but manages to stand his ground despite the mounting opposition. The film ends well. Needless to add anything else regarding the storyline. What surprised me about the plot was how they managed to stretch it for as long as they did. The story is naively simple and much of it is shot in a specific area, namely, a makeshift election booth. The scenes are changed merely to break the monotony and sometimes appear unnecessary.   Waiting with Newton (Rajkumar Rao) as he waits on the voters is tedious but it reflects the truth about democracy. ...

Dir: David Sandberg Starring: Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Anthony La Paglia, Miranda Otto Dur: 2 hrs 50 mins Genre: Horror Rating: 7/10 Another film in the Conjuring series. It is a prequel to Annabelle (2014) and attempts to trace the genesis of the malevolent demon that is labeled as one of the worst by the Warrens. The film is really great and has plenty of scares. Although the premise is a bit weak – I mean, really, a doll to be the centre of a horror film?! If you thought so too, then you better watch Annabelle: Creation . I was skeptical about this film. I am a fan of the Conjuring series but the first Annabelle movie wasn’t very good. To be honest, I felt it was quite lame. I was expecting more of the same in this film but it pleasantly surprised me and had me on the edge of my seat, nervously twitching and trying to fast-forward through the film. To be honest, the first scare I got wasn’t even scary, in the sense that it occurred right at the start, b...

Dir: Andy Muschietti Starring: Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgard, Wyatt Oleff, Jeremy Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Grazer, Chosen Jacobs, Nicholas Hamilton Dur: 2 hrs 15 mins Genre: Horror PG: Lots of violence and swearing. Two kisses. Rating: 4/10 This film has truly been a blockbuster. It is the highest grossing horror film and the 10 th highest grossing film of 2017. It has received positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, direction, cinematography and musical score. It is an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name and is touted to be one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s books. The story basically is about an evil, demonic clown who preys on the victims worst fears. His victims are mostly children and so the protagonists are a bunch of kids who call themselves ‘the Losers Club’. Once you put kids into the mix, you pretty much can guess what to expect. The chills are kiddish to say the least. That does not mean th...