Review: Ghoul:- Beautiful blend of Horror and Psychological thriller! ***½

1694th BLOG POST -->>

Netflix released its first horror-based content in India with a 3-episodes series based on the Arabian folklore named “Ghoul”. The series is a wonderful blend of both- horror and terrorist-based plot. In the first episode, the curiosity is very well built up where the viewer is unable to comprehend what is the exact topic of the show- is it just a normal terrorism related stuff or has something related to ghosts etc. But as we step into the episode 2 and the way story takes its pace ahead, it is surprising to find the number of elements covered in the small segment of time.

The writing is powerful and crisp without dragging any segment of the show for unwanted minutes. The direction is also worth-applauding as things are kept straight. Mostly, the way last episode has been executed is mind-boggling and keeps you at edge for the whole 45-50 minutes until the show ends. And the last scene of the series is a show in itself where you are given an indication of part 2 as you find Radhika Apte’s character dying to use her powers. I am personally not very fond of horror genre but this one has completely won me over with its unique and believable content. After the show, I spent two days reading several articles on the concept and belief of Ghoul.

Talking about the performances, Radhika Apte has once again awed the viewers with her same accent that we find in all her short movies. Haha! Manav Kaul has done a tremendous job and he looks very convincing in every scene where he is on the screen. Ratnabali Bhattacharjee and Mahesh Balraj has also done a terrific job as villains. Before ending the review, I must also mention the chilling background music which has surely increased the impact of every scene. Overall, Ghoul is a good content to watch but it had more potential considering its unique concept because many scenes are just about characters being confused in their own questions. I give this one 3.5* out of 5.

Thanks.

Abhilash Ruhela! 

Review: Shahid:- One of the powerful script-based movies! ****

1693rd BLOG POST -->>

Shahid is one of the movies that made Rajkumar Rao’s talent stamped for most of the movie buffs. I had not watched the movie till date considering it to be more of the documentary types than being an entertaining movie or even a serious movie which can keep you intrigued. I watched it recently on one of the web channels and the way movie has impacted upon me is indescribable. Shahid is a biopic based upon Shahid Azmi who fought cases in favour of the people being charged for serious crimes as terrorist attacks, murders etc. People always referred him with names, but he did not stop fighting cases for such clients because he had a belief that not every person charged as guilty is really guilty and the case needs to be fought being neutral and unbiased owing to his own experiences.

The film shows his whole timeline of life very clearly without confusing audiences with unwanted to and fro in the timespan. Hansal Mehta must be credited for this. How the character’s life gets impacted after the bomb blast of 1992 because of which he goes on for militant training but leaves it as soon as he realizes that it is all a brainwashing activity and nothing else. Then he comes back but gets arrested by the police in false cases and remains in jail for next 7 years. He is finally out after which he begins his law practices. The court scenes are realistically filmed as in most of the movies these days where the lawyers are shown cutting each other in between to prove their points and not letting the other person speak. Even in such scenes, the way Shahid fights the cases with as much modesty and professionalism is nicely portrayed.

Talking about the dialogues, they are powerful. Some great dialogues and scenes are between Shahid and his elder brother. Other small integrity shown is in the relationship of Shahid and his wife before and after marriage. The background music is soothing. The climax is nicely ended giving you a feeling of having watched a complete movie rather than such serious movies ending in an incomplete way for you to decide what could be the ending according to you. Overall, Shahid is a delight to watch and a very powerful movie. When you say a script needs to be perfect, you should always point your finger towards this movie for giving an example. I give the movie 4 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

Abhilash Ruhela! 

Review: Love Per Square Foot: As Amazing as its name! ***½

1692nd BLOG POST -->>

Netflix is releasing one Indian stuff at a time and assuring that it gets full attention of the audiences awaiting some online stuff to watch without the guilt of not watching it on 70mm screen. This February, they released their first digitally released full movie named “Love per Square Foot”. It stars one of the best actors’ industry has found out- Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar of Bang Baaja Baaraat fame. The movie is very well made with realistic scenes and dialogues. The characters are also kept quite locale and with which you can relate very easily. Vicky Kaushal plays a corporate slave and does significantly perfect in his role. Angira Dhar also works in his office and plays her part of a Bandra girl who is not so rich perfectly. Raghubir Yadav, Ratna Pathak Shah, Supriya Pathak, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Gajraj Rao and Brijendra Kala plays a wonderful supporting cast with each one of them having distinct characters but still relatable as you have found someone like them around you in Mumbai.

The film is about the dream of both the main characters dreaming of their own individual homes and for this specific reason, they come together and fake their marriage so that they can book a lucky draw flat which is applicable only for couples. And while walking on this path of their personal goal, they fall in love and after a time gets confused if they are more passionate about each other or their personal goal of having their own home. Anand Tiwari has directed this movie very well which intrigues you for two hours completely.

Love per Square Foot is a feel-good movie which you will recommend everyone after watching it. It is one of those romantic movies which is not cheesy, and you can publicly claim that it’s your favorite. There are many beautiful scenes between different characters which makes the movie worth watching. Also, film has done full justice with the city of Mumbai where nothing has been overdone or ignored.

Talking about the drawbacks, the songs in the movie isn’t something you were looking out for with the kind of settling it has. The boss-employee lust thing is given too much screen time in the movie whereas more focus should have been given to the chemistry of the two main characters. Overall, Love per Square Foot is a movie you should watch and yes, re-watch again whenever you feel upset in this city which keeps running without stopping for anyone. I give this movie 3.5 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

Abhilash Ruhela!!! 

Review: Hichki:- A perfect family movie! ***½

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Whenever an actress comes back with a movie after years and is not working full-time with at least a movie per year, I become highly doubtful about the potential of the movie. My reaction was same when I saw the trailer of Hichki starring Rani Mukherjee even though I had liked her in her last outing- Mardaani. Finally, I saw the film on Amazon Prime and I regret not watching it in theatre when it was released. The movie is full of emotions and scenes that can make you cry or weep at any point of time. It is hard to find such movies in this genre of Bollywood where almost all the movies are either action-packed or genre-specific.

Hichki is about a girl who is suffering with Tourette syndrome but believes herself to be normal despite people laughing at her and judging every time she makes crazy sounds. She has a dream of being a full-time teacher which she achieves after multiple rejections. But her new job comes up with its own set of challenges where she gets a class of 14 students who have got entry in an elite school through the Right to Education programme. These children have interests in creating one mischief after another without thinking about who is on the receiving end and has not an iota of interest in studying and achieving something in life.

The movie is basically about Rani’s struggle in making these students realize the importance of education and making it interesting for them. Also, she must regularly prove herself to the school where her peers believe that she is not capable of the position and needs to be thrown out immediately. The scenes based innovative way of teaching are masterpieces. Rani’s acting as a patient of Tourette syndrome is perfect to the T. If nothing, you will at least end the movie appreciating her efforts in making herself comfortable in the shoes of this character about whom we haven’t heard or seen much in our lives. Other performers such as Neeraj Kabi as a professor and all the child actors playing the role of students are also perfect in their parts.

The dialogues are great, and screenplay is engaging. The biggest fault in the movie is not doing justice to some segments which could have been dealt more intriguingly like Rani’s character’s relationship with her father. The communication between Rani and her principal whenever something wrong happens. The communication between the teacher and the students in some parts where as an audience you awaited to witness some epic dialogues between the teacher-students after some realizations creep in. Also, the climax is not very promising as it could have been directed in much better way. But still, Hichki is the kind of family movie we expect from Bollywood makers these days. I give the movie 3.5* out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Review: Laakhon Mein Ek:- One of the best web series! ****

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The first time I was introduced to Biswa Kalyan Rath was when I watched one of his videos of the series “Pretentious Movies” which he hosted with another popular stand up comedian- Kanan Gill. It was one of the most unique stuff on the Internet at that point of time. On Amazon Prime, one of the popular contents is Biswa’s stand-up piece of an hour named “Biswa Mast Aadmi”. It was umpteenth number of times that I saw the thumbnail of “Laakhon Mein Ek” while scrolling through Amazon Prime’s contents for binge watching but ignored it each time but as soon as I got to know that it has been created by none other than our very own Biswa Kalyan Rath, I watched it the first thing the very next day.

Laakhon Mein Ek is about our education system and how we are forced to study the subjects and course that we are not good at all. Parents in the name of society and their own dreams for their children ruin their child’s life by making them do something which leads them towards committing suicide or think about it later in their life. The story is based around the character named Akash who is sent to one of the coaching institute in South India to prepare for IIT entrance examinations. As soon as he reaches there, he finds that he has been allotted Section D which consists of students with less percentage in their 10^th board examinations with not-so-good teachers. He makes friends with two students who are the naughtiest in the class and does one or the other mischief every minute. Later on, he realizes why he is here for and tries to concentrate upon studies but in vain. And then there are several incidents which takes place with the character that makes you feel sympathy for him.

The series consisting of 6 episodes of roughly 30 minutes each is intriguing and makes you await the next minute to know what will happen with this boy who is overloaded with expectations that he clearly knows he can’t meet. The initial episodes are entertaining as it’s more about the fun that the children are having among themselves, but it is in few scenes in between which tells you very significantly about the pressure the protagonist is facing due to his incompetency and disinterest among all the others around him. By the end, the character becomes quite apologetic about himself for no fault of his which speaks volume about the kind of pressure teenagers are, how insensitive parents have become just to see their child score first, how impatient our education system has turned into which only wants to go ahead with scholar and bright students.

Overall, the series is one of the best web series available online and deserves your time. I wish that Biswa and his team comes up with such great series more frequently. I give this one 4 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Review: Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare:- Strictly for Zakir Khan's fans! ***

1689th BLOG POST -->>

Web series are such that even if it’s average because it’s a new thing for us, we intend to like it as we find it unique. And talking about Netflix and Amazon Prime, everything they are bringing out is distinct in its own sense and perfect contents for binge watching. I am personally fan of the comic stand-up shows that Amazon Prime has in infinity and the best among all of them for me has been “Haq Se Single” by none other than one of the most popular Hindi comic standup these days, Zakir Khan. It is one of the epic sets which I can see every day with the same curiosity for each upcoming one-liner or set. Hence, seeing another content from Zakir Khan on Amazon Prime excited me to go ahead and the name of the 8-episodes web series is “Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare”.

The series is set in Indore, Madhya Pradesh basically so the whole dimension of the show is to engage audience with the lifestyle of a rural India where people have just begun following the urban class and end up sounding and looking silly rather than modern and stylish. The show moves around its central character named Ronnie which is played by Zakir Khan himself. Right from the first episode to the 6^th episode, there are many scenes, dialogues, one-liners where you would not be able to giggle or laugh due to its true and exact representation of how boys and middle-class families sound in India. Ronnie is a guy who needs attention and appreciation for which he lies to everyone around himself that the vidhayak of the town is his real uncle whereas the reality is that he has no connections at all with his VIP entity.

As my native place is in a city like Kanpur and Gorakhpur where I find such characters who are nothing but tries to prove sitting among people that there is no one greater than them in the locality and the funnier thing is that they also get quite a fan-following and blind-worshipers on this, hence I could completely relate with all the characters shown in the series. The show is funny in parts and not all and all a laugh riot. This is surely going to disappoint Zakir Khan’s fans. Also, Zakir is unable to prove himself as a good actor as it becomes irritating at times to see him just sleep walking through some scenes. The show is curious for the viewers for the first 6 episodes but later becomes quite predictable and dull. The relationship between father and son is beautifully portrayed in few of the episodes.

The kind of topic that was selected for the series had a lot more potential but just to keep the legacy of Zakir Khan alive of a boy who fails at relationship but still knows how to impress girls, the script has been kept very confined to the topic. Talking about the performances, it’s only Zakir Hussain who takes the whole cake away. To some extent, Venus Singh who plays the love interest of Zakir in the series. Overall, it’s an average stuff to which I will give 3 stars. Extra 0.5 stars for just being a fan of Zakir Khan.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Movie Review: Stree: Perfect blend of Horror and Comedy! ***½

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When I had first watched the trailer of “Stree”, I was very much sure about its success. And now that film has already crossed 100 crores, this review is not much effective but still I would love talking about it as this is one of my favourite movies already. Any movie starring Rajkumar Rao assures you as an audience that you will at least won’t be disappointed if not impressed. And Stree is one of those movies which will always be counted amongst his one of the best performances plus commercially successful movie. Stree is in my knowledge, the first attempt where the horror genre is blended with comedy and made into such a movie where the audience laughs once in every 2 minutes. Before this, audience still laughed while watching Bollywood’s horror movies but on the stupidity of the story line and scenes.

The writing is very strong in the movie which ensures that the audiences are keen to know the truth behind this chudail who comes annually for four days during pooja and takes away one of the males from the village except his clothing. The film does not focus only on this by repeatedly showing run-and-chase scenes but spends much of the time in backdrop of it and conversations between the characters about how to be safe from the chudail etc. The strongest point in the movie is its dialogue. Every dialogue made for you to laugh makes you laugh and made for you to think upon makes you think with the characters.

Talking about the performances, Rajkumar Rao is funnier than ever. The one scene that will always stay with you is when he tries to imitate Shahrukh Khan when he is asked to be romantic in front of the chudail. Similarly, there are many such scenes which are memorable. Shraddha Kapoor, as a mysterious character, does a fine job with her expressions and confused facial looks. Aparshakti Khurrana and Abhishek Banerjee are also commendable as Rajkumar’s friends who makes you laugh with their scared expressions. Pankaj Tripathi and other supporting actors are also perfect in their roles and bring specifically what is expected from them on the table. The music is not so great and there are no songs which will stay with you once you are out of the theatre hall.

The first drawback of the movie is its climax. The climax is very confusing and something which is not explained very nicely which disappoints the audience. Either there is a sequel coming or something like that for which the makers wanted it to be open for the audiences to interpret but it wasn’t a perfect ending to the movie which was winning the heart all through the first and the second half. Another drawback of the movie is its preachiness about feminism regarding women are expected to be respected and loved. Leave the above two points and Stree is one of the best written movies released in recent times with a new concept altogether. I remembered Golmaal 4 which released few months back trying to do the same while writing this review and what an irritating output that was. Stree is Titanic in comparison to that. Haha! I give Stree 3.5 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Movie Review:- Manmarziyaan: Kashyap's version of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam! ***½

1687th BLOG POST -->>

Anurag Kashyap’s art of making movies is very distinct and if you have seen his works before, you enjoy watching his next movie even more. Even though each movie of his is an individual movie yet all his movies seem to be a series where you need to go through all his work to understand his latest flick. When you will watch his latest work- “Manmarziyaan”, you will be surprised to see the transformation in the style of movie-making that Kashyap has gone through to make a commercial movie which can be accepted by most of the masses. Yet I believe that this movie is very modern and can be accepted by only few from the current generation. There is rarely a chance that previous generation will accept this overdosed romance and frequent mood-shifts of the characters.

First, I would like to mention the characters in the movie. Each one of them is distinct from each other which gives the writers to play around with them as much as they can. The character of Rumi played by Taapsee Pannu is basically the protagonist who faces two men at the same time in her life and gets confused with which one should she consider marriage with. In this confusion, she takes decisions which affects her, these men and her family members. The character of Vicky played by one of the best actors we have in our new set of performers in Bollywood- Vicky Kaushal is a man who earns little bit through his DJ work otherwise only keeps following and chasing Rumi for sex. He cannot see his life beyond Rumi and gets worked up every time he finds her ignoring him. The character of Robbie played by Abhishek Bachchan who is making comeback with this very movie is a man who is too good to be considered real and ensures that everyone is happy with him. He finds it tough to handle Rumi considering her infatuation with Vicky. Making a movie with such characters is fun and thus, audience also enters the theatre with lot of expectations.

Talking about the movie now, the first half is wonderful with lot of one-liners and funny moment with special romantic segments between Vicky and Taapsee. The dialogues are powerful. The second half is more about Abhishek and Taapsee’s chemistry and the intervention of Vicky in their life which never lets anyone settle down completely. The music, songs and background score make the experience of watching this movie joyful and passionate. Amit Trivedi’s kind of music was very necessary for showcasing and doing justice with the kind of passionate and intense romance being shown. Few scenes are very cinematic where the characters play with dialogues and facial expressions. The climax is also nicely handled and looks convincing for such a confused love story.

Talking about the drawbacks in the end, the 2^nd half is quite stretched which could have surely edited by 15-20 minutes. There is too much of Rumi in the movie. The screen could have been equally divided among all the three characters. Being set in a rural background, there are few scenes which could not be handled by the parents but still they consider it without even raising their eyebrows. Otherwise, the movie is entertaining and, one-time watch. I give the movie 3.5 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

Abhilash Ruhela!! 

We need a teacher in every phase of our life!

1686th BLOG POST -->>

We are celebrating Teacher’s Day today and it is such a delighting experience remembering all the fun I had during my college and even school times with the teachers. Learning is a great process, and, in this journey, teachers are our only companion. Unlike the previous times when we had only one teacher teaching the students all the subjects and, even teaching a student individually on one-to-one basis, these days we have one teacher specifically assigned to one subject but teaching multiple students at a time. Just today I am done watching Hitchki starring Rani Mukherjee and it so beautifully depicts the life of a teacher from their perspective. Someone has rightly said that no job is easy and the problem with us is that we believe teachers have the easiest job in the world. This is very unfortunate with these professionals who leave their home every morning thinking that they will educate a generation by spreading every knowledge he or she has but they are always seen as a low-profile worker.

I remember one of my teachers who used to teach us a subject named “Data Structure” in MCA which I could not understand a bit. But she was so strict that I could never ask any questions. A very scary part started in our lectures was the revision of previous class where the teacher started asking the questions related to whatever has been taught previously till now and she understood that I knew nothing. She strictly asked me to sit on the first bench for all the future lectures in that semester and monitor/control the slides while she is teaching. Then she would look at me for most of the times and teach the topics. She would regularly bombard me and make me answer whatever she taught just after she completed teaching the same. This helped me understand the topic as clearly as possible because I gave all my concentration to her words and later, I was most confident about this subject out of all in the semester. My friends were surprised and in fact, I helped them understand many of the concepts during exam time. This is what a Teacher is. When they do strict things with us while teaching, we feel irritated and annoyed, but it is only when we leave the academic part of our life and move towards corporate world, we understand the price of what these good teachers helped us with.

I do not say that every teacher is this wonderful but there are surely many of them who try their best. Our perception may be different about them, but their efforts should always be respected. Just imagine that you have a child, you want someone to teach him/her as you are going to be out throughout the day to earn bread and butter for your family, but you are unable to find a teacher. How scary this situation is! I can’t even imagine. This is how strong presence of a Teacher in our society is. Today, all of us remember our good teachers in life and feel if we can get more from them. Why? Because only as we mature do we understand what they have helped us accumulate in our system which has enabled us to do many major tasks subconsciously. Teachers are the ones who help us perform things effortlessly. Even today, I consider my organization’s founder as my current teacher as whatever he has communicated with me in last 3 years of my job experience is something I know will remain with me always. He is moulding me in to something I am sure will transform me into a better employee for some another organization in near future. In every phase of your life, assure that you always have a mentor whom you respect like a teacher. With this, I would like to wish a very Happy Teacher’s Day to all these great souls who have selected this responsible job.

Thanks.

Abhilash Ruhela 

Be The EXPECTATION!!!

1685th BLOG POST -->>

What is an end to all the greatness and motivation you have? It’s not when someone insults you or write you off. You can always beat this shit. The real fall starts when the people you work for stops expecting things from you. That is the time when you should look yourself in the mirror and ask if you are doing things right. In the life of a human being irrespective of whatever he does, either people have expectations from him or not at all. There is no middle way. We, the human beings, in our misconception, forget that this worldly affair is either black or white with no other shades in between. You can either be this or that. You can either be a performer or loser. You can either win or completely lose. Even if you are 2nd, you will not be trusted if you do not ensure the first two spots every time you go for the race. And this is the only struggle every person is facing today.

The moment you fall, you start seeing your support system disappearing and then comes a day when it completely dissolves in the air and you find it unworthy of even performing; leave performing the best. But do you ever sit alone and think about why people expected so much from you and stopped suddenly? Why did the people who were once so dependent upon you stopped even taking your name and mentioning you where you used to be the trendsetter? This all happens because either we start building a castle of egos within us or we start comparing the amount of stuff we do against the people who are also supposed to do as much as you but aren’t. Whenever the spirit of comparison and pulling/pushing down comes in your attitude and lifestyle, your life starts leaving you and does not to associate with you anymore in this endeavour of yours where you are just demeaning yourself every minute. 

When you are respected and loved, remember, that these people want to respect and love you more. Their motives and agendas might be for their own establishment and has nothing to do with the personal aims and goals of yours, but this is indirectly meant for your own benefit. If at your college, you are given most jobs by the teacher to do than anyone else, remember, it’s your time and this leadership quality being taught to you will benefit you someday. You are not being used for the excellent student you are, but life is attracting challenges as per your potential towards you. Grab this opportunity. If you are being asked to do your own job plus help rest of everyone in your team, you are not being asked to work more than the salary provided to you, but this will enable you to become a worker no one else is and your career growth is going to reflect this sooner or later of course. 

Whatever you are being assigned in this world, take it. Do it. Prove yourself that you are an unlimited piece of energy and no one can ever be as dynamic and vast as you. Let the universe know that you have all the power of it within you to attain anything that you believe you can. Keep telling your mind and heart to stop thinking silly things about why you are being given more than everyone else of your age, class, designation, skills etc. Ask your conscious if you are made to fail against the world or rise above the world and be an example if not for the world but at least for the small set of people around you. Being a Go-to person even for 3 people in this life is an achievement. Move towards the direction that is taking you to the mountains rather than the one which is drowning you in a forceful waterfall of mediocrity which will drown you deep inside the river never to rise again and be the capable human being this Earth wanted you to be. You are of this Earth and it’s your duty to be everything you can to prove that you are made of the most powerful matter. 

Hence, when people are keeping expectations from you, be that influencing stuff which makes their day powerful because of your contribution in it. We can never be the divine if we are not a participant in people’s happy life. You are here not to think what is happening with others or why you are suffering every minute. You are here to fail everything that is meant to pull you down in people’s expectation meter. Be the charger that charges everyone to be like you. Be a good workman in whatever work you do. Even if you are a clerk, ensure no one did paper work better than you. If you are a sweeper, ensure that no one cleans the roads better than you. If you are a student, ensure that no one studies better than you. If you are an IT engineer, ensure that no one develops products better than you. If you are a marketing person, ensure no one projects the matter better than you. Always be the best so that people sees only you in bad and worrying times. Only when you are the light of someone’s tunnel will you be prayed otherwise, there are already many entities in this world still fighting for its identity. I wish you do not end up being one of them. 

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!