Movie Review: Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi: A stupid movie! *

1726th BLOG POST -->>

Talking about Happy Bhag Jayegi first, I hadn’t liked the first movie itself to which I had given just one and a half star. There was no chance of having any kind of expectation with its sequel this time having Sonakshi Sinha in the lead whereas Diana Penty is in the supporting role. And as expected, this movie is much worse than the first one. This one is named Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi and I do not know about Happy but audience must have surely ran away from theaters watching this movie. Right from the 1^st scene, the movie is more about just going through it’s total running time as if the director and makers were in some hurry to close this movie. Every scene looks underwhelming and unprepared.

There is not even a single dialogue in this claimed comedy movie which you would be taking with yourself out of the theatre. There is not a single ROFLing moment that shall stay with you leave for months but even for hours. All the characters seem to be just acting their part in the scenes without putting any kind of effort in being a part of their characters. The only one person who seems to be commendable in the movie is Jimmy Shergill and that too because he has become too comfortable in playing such kind of roles where he is expected to keep an angry face and deliver dialogues which are funny yet terrifying. Anyway, he has played his part well.

Talking about the other actors- Sonakshi Sinha has acted the way she does but because of weak script and unfunny scenes, she could not add any substance in the movie and ended up making a mockery of herself. Piyush Mishra is great in the scenes with Jimmy Shergill. Their comic timing is something to watch for in this movie. Rest all the actors even those who are playing the Chinese ones are disappointing and are not convincing enough to uplift this movie. The bad script and no storyline is the main concern why this movie could not fly. Talking about the songs, there are none of them that could either make you feel romantic or end up dancing in your bedroom. Overall, a movie to be forgotten as soon as possible. I give this one just 1 star out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA 

 

Movie Review: Sui Dhaaga: Innocent and One-Time Watch! ***

1725th BLOG POST -->>

Varun Dhawan is one actor I find in this generation who ensures atleast an average entertainment if not something great. I became his fan as a complete desi viewer since Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania which I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the reason which compelled me into watching “Sui Dhaaga” the latest release of Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma. The first surprising and satisfactory take-away of the movie is that both the actors who are actually glamorous have been able to play this role to almost perfection where both of them looks genuine and no one can tell about their real-life handsomeness and beauty.

As a movie, Sui Dhaaga’s first half is very strong showing the characters and their inter-relationship beautifully where Mauji’s helplessness at job and joblessness speaks very well through his body language and desperate reactions – Mamta’s sincerity and commitment as a wife and daughter-in-law is commendably shown where she is able to emote her weak life condition in every scene – Mauji’s father played by Raghubir Yadav is regularly shown in irritation and frustration seeing his son taking risky decisions of entrepreneurship – Mauji’s mother role played by Yamini Dass is one of the interesting characters who doesn’t speak much but is able to display her charm in every scene she is a part of .

The second half is mostly about Mauji and Mamta’s struggle with job and their decision of setting something of their own. The movie becomes predictable and slow in this latter half but still is able to be with it without getting bored because of great performances of each and every one. The dialogues are beautiful and captures the emotions of the moments perfectly. The songs by Anu Malik are fine and suits with the essence of the movie. Talking about the drawbacks, as mentioned above, 2^nd half’s predictability is a concern. Also, the way Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma’s creative side is shown without any skillset mentioned in backdrop which is a complete logic defying element. Overall, Sui Dhaaga is a movie which can be watched once for its innocence. I give the movie 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Swami in a Strange Land by Joshua M. Greene (Book Review:- 2.5*/5) !!!

1724th BLOG POST -->>

It is quite evident to all of you who have been following my book reviews and personal blog that I am quite attracted towards spiritual concepts and the first thing that attracted me towards mythology and spirituality was when I picked up a copy of Bhagavad Gita: As It Is being sold by Iskcon volunteers on a Mumbai local railway station. This version of Gita is written by Iskcon founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. And who would not want to read about the personality which introduced you towards a new concept in life. Jaico Publication published the biography of Swami Prabhupada written by Joshua M. Greene recently which has become the 52^nd book I read this year thus completing my annual target of 2018.

The book covers the spiritual life of Prabhupada on his devotion towards his Guru and how he ends up reaching overseas just to fulfil his Guru’s wish of spreading the Krishna consciousness all over the world. The book is divided in three parts- Prabhupada’s life in India, America and the World. The most interesting one that I personally liked is the one in America which discusses his struggle in gaining the followers and popularizing the Krishna consciousness and the Hare Rama Hare Krishna chant. The impact of these two sentences is nicely discussed throughout the book. The biographer’s research on the life of Swami Prabhupada is commendable and covers many such personal events which is nearly impossible to bring out in public or say, even know about it. Kudos to author for the same.

Talking about the drawbacks of the book, I must say that author should have divided the book in small chapters rather than three vast sections. This made the reading experience quite hectic where author just kept speaking continuously which becomes boring after a point of time and remains just a drag. Also, regarding the spiritual concept and belief or the meditation techniques that Prabhupada himself followed is nowhere discussed which is a very big setback for a spiritual reader who went through these 300+ pages to know new ways of meditation and spirituality. Even regarding the struggles in opening the first few centres is hardly discussed. The book just keeps on speaking the same thing for most of the middle section of the book which took me 10 days to complete this book. One of the struggling reads ever. I give this attempt 2.5 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Movie Review: Soorma: A biopic made without slow-motion tricks! ***

1723rd BLOG POST -->>

The only thing that attracted me towards Soorma’s trailer was Diljit Dosanjh’s expressions which said a lot. And that’s the only reason I even ended up watching this 130 minutes movie based on the life of Hockey player, Sandeep Singh, who made a glorious comeback after an unfortunate accident in his life which paralyzed his lower half of the body. Frankly speaking, I have never followed Hockey in my life and only read this name in the headlines couple of times. Again, frankly speaking, I do not even remember why he was mentioned in the news. And that is why I am very thankful to this movie for introducing such sport stars to us.

Talking about the movie, generally, it is seen in the Bollywood biopics that the scenes are turned overdramatic, over-emotional and over-enthusiastic with slow motions etc. for making the audience feel a larger-than-life event being displayed infront of them. The best part in the direction of the movie is that Shaad Ali does not resort to these tactics and try to keep the scenes as realistic and true as possible. I had read somewhere that the legend, Sandeep Singh, himself was involved in the shoot of the game scenes and it shows why each and every shot or commentary looks and sounds true, real and pure. I liked how they do not show the sportsman as someone who was born as a legend but spend most of the times showing him being as much vulnerable human being as us.

The dialogues in the movie are fantastic and I liked most of them from almost all the characters. The background music lacks in most of the important scenes which I feel could have made the experience of watching this one a bit better. The songs are nice and plays a big part in the movement of the story.

Talknig about the performances, Diljit Dosanjh has proved his mettle in Bollywood once again after his superlative performance in Udta Punjab. The way he emotes through his face, eyes, body language speaks of how much he got into the skin of the character. Taapsee Pannu is charming and does a good job in keeping the romance and love quotient in the movie intact. In terms of script, I felt more coverage should have been given to her role as a player too. Vijay Raaz has given one of the best performances and it is good to see him in both- comic and emotional role in the movie. Angad Bedi is a surprise package and gives a super performance that you will always remember him for.

Overall, Soorma is a movie made with pure heart. Yes, it is neither as good as Chak De India or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag but still keeps you intriguing. I give the movie 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Beyond What Meets The Eye by Sameera Kotta (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

1722nd BLOG POST -->>

As you guys are aware that I do not often fall for e-books considering the strain it causes to my eyes but still I keep trying some of them because for books, I can give away my eyes too. Haha! Well, sorry for the bad joke. Today, the e-book which we are about to talk is Sameera Kotta’s “Beyond what meets the eye”. Considering that the authoress is a debutante, this 165-pages book is very well edited and kept up to the mark without dragging it to the boring level which many debutante end up doing in the passion of writing as much as possible in their first book itself. The two things which attracted me towards this book were the cover page and the title of the book. It is very necessary for the debutante to come up with a little different perspective when they write their first book and I am impressed that Sameera has been able to qualify in this aspect as her story is not the regular stuff which people are writing these days.

Sameera’s writing style is simple which makes it easy for new readers who are just starting with books to complete the book within a sitting or two. Sameera has kept her book so well-edited as I have already mentioned above that it doesn’t make you want to skip any sentence or paragraph. Every word in the book takes the story ahead. The best part about Sameera’s writing is her characterization. Right from the protagonist, Majnu’s character to Varsha’s character including Soumya’s cameo, all of which is covered so nicely that you are able to connect with each one of them. The struggle of people living without parents, the students studying tough subjects like medicals etc, the pain they go through because of the tough past they have been subscribed to, the revenge that they want to take going out of their way etc. is very well handled through characters.

Talking about the drawbacks of the story, I would say that author could have worked little more on developing the twists and turns in the book. Though the book is written in a manner where certain suspense’s are held up and revealed at some certain point trying to maintain the thrilling aspect of the story, but still, they are unable to make the reader jump off their seat or stagnancy of mind. If the book is supposed to be a thriller involving murders, death, goof-ups etc, it should be chilling and frightening. Overall, I would rate this book 3 star out of 5. Having good expectations from the authoress in the future.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Movie Review: Thugs Of Hindostan: An incredible set-up wasted! **

1721st BLOG POST -->>

If there is any movie that people wait for years is the one in which Aamir Khan is involved as an actor or maker. One such movie which was regularly been talked of post-Dangal was “Thugs of Hindostan”. More because it was bringing Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan together for the first time and that too under the banner of Yash Raj films. Over this, it involved Katrina Kaif and the Dangal-fame, Fatima Sana Shaikh too. What more is needed by the Bollywood movie lovers than such assembles of great star-casts and a big banner.

After watching the movie, every curious movie lover like me has been disappointed seeing such an extravagant and over-hyped film being treated so badly that the screenplay and writing had no potential at all. Even the dialogues are such that not a single one of them stays with you after you move out of your seat. Not only dialogues, even the music and songs are such that despite the movie having 2 item songs and couple of motivational songs used during fighting scenes, none of them impresses your ears enough to become a part of your playlist. Talking about the locations, yes, they are mind-blowing and only thing which matched with the film’s outset. Talking about the action scenes, there are few good minute fighting details captured during the fight segments on yacht but the ones including Fatima Shaikh are silly and laughable.

Talking about the performances, Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan has at least acted their part well which was bearable but nowhere it seems that they have put an extra effort in making their characters look extra special. It is like just another good performance out of many whereas it is expected from such a big banner and actors to bring out their best ever in such collaborations. Katrina Kaif has disappointed with her role selection in this movie. After working for more than 15 years and being part of many big movies, how can she sign a movie where she has just 2 item songs and nothing else to do? Embarrassing! Talking about Fatima, she is nowhere close to her performance in Dangal. She has tried a lot to be different but ended up being nothing. No role from any supporting actor is worth mentioning at all.

This movie should have been made as a thriller but the problem here is that everything is so straight that you will end up predicting right every next scene. Even when death of one character is shown, you know within that he will come back later on. With such baseless and weak plot, there is not much that can be talked about. It is very strictly a one-time watch which can also be skipped. I give this movie 2 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Movie Review: Satyameva Jayate: A Family Entertainer with 70's flavor! ***

1720th BLOG POST -->>

Like Akshay Kumar, John Abraham has also chosen a path of patriotism to survive in the industry. And as a producer, if you will notice all his recent movies has been based on the topics which are related to country- either presenting a historical event of our country or the prevalent conditions of corruption and system like his latest production- Satyameva Jayate about which we are talking about. Satyameva Jayate had released on this Independence Day alongwith Akshay Kumar’s Gold but yet survived and managed to earn 80 crores which is a remarkable feat with no major starcast.

Satyameva Jayate is a story of revenge where the son kills biggest corrupt policemen across Mumbai City because he wants to give justice to his father. Manoj Bajyapee enters the movie in its first 30 minutes and since then, he is on the run behind this man who is killing his colleagues but the chase goes on till the climax making this the basic plot on which the movie runs. Reading this plot, you must be remembering the era of Bachchan’s 70s and 80s when such story was the base of almost every story. This is where the Satyameva Jayate as a movie gets stuck. It is talking about the same thing in the same manner with new actors. That’s it. It is not even conveyed in some more intellectual or thrilling manner. It is done just as it has always been done since all these decades in the Hindi film industry.  

Milap Zaveri has been someone who is known for his sex comedies but it’s great to see him direct something very different from his regular stuff. He has done a great job considering the script that he had with him. The dialogues are superb. Disclaimer: They are too-much even when a normal conversation is going on. The background score with Sanskrit shlokas etc. gives boost to the violent and hero-winning scenes. Disclaimer: They are so regularly used that in some scenes, you await when will this music start and as per your expectation, it starts just right then. There are many overdramatic scenes which could have been portrayed little realistically. The flashback of protagonists’ childhood becomes irritating after some time.

Saying all of this, the performances are what makes this movie special- specially by John Abraham who still carries very limited expressions throughout the movie yet impresses with his body language and dialogue deliveries. Manoj Bajpai has given one of the strong performances of his lifetime. He has given life in each and every scene of his screen duration. He could have been explored more if writers could have done magic with the twist they bring after the half-time of the movie but they just let it go just like that. Overall, Satyameva Jayate is a family entertainer with lack of logics in many scenes but would force you to whistle in some scenes. I give this movie 3 stars.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Movie Review: Mitron: A good concept wasted! **½

1719th BLOG POST -->>

Mitron released recently on the digital medium and got quite good feedbacks on the social media which made me watch it last night from midnight hour to 2 AM. This movie runs for less than 2 hours and speaks about certain prevalent issues. The movie stars Jacky Bhagnani and introduced Kritika Kamra. Jacky is known for doing less movies but the ones which are little different from the mainstream stuff which makes the audience go to the theatre and watch his work. Though personally for me, none of his movies has been able to pose a very big impact. Regarding Kritika Kamra, she was one of my biggest crush a decade ago when she used to be one of the big names in TV industry. I would die to watch her deep eyes and long face with those beautiful curves of smile and thankfully, as per my expectations, she had each of those beautiful traits even in this movie. But what surprised me the most was her performance which was unexpectedly above par and failed even the experienced actor like Jacky when compared to her.

Talking about the content of the movie, the first half of the movie is directed very wonderfully where each scene seems to be candid yet so prepared. The flashback is so very well organized in a conversation between a boy and girl who are chatting face-to-face for the first time for the rishta their parents expect them to get tied into. This whole segment is amazing even with subplots where both of them get interconnected even in the flashback. And how they both come together as business partners post this meeting is also done with maturity rather than SRK type stuff where the girl directly falls in the boy’s charm and ends up living and dying just like the opposite person. The movie gets dull in the 2^nd half where the plot gets weakened due to its stagnant script which does not take the story ahead in fast-pace mode the way it was expected to be considering the script’s speed of screenplay in the 1^st half.

The writers and directors did a major mistake in keeping the character of Jacky’s portrayal of an easy-to-go and worthy-for-nothing guy till the climax of the movie. Every time, Jacky came on the screen, audience in you gets mad seeing him talk like a stupid dull person irrespective of having great offers and opportunities around him. They should have treated his character similar to Kritika’s who kept getting stronger with each scene and by the time it is climax, you wish her to move on from this shit she had fallen herself in. Talking about the dialogues, they are what makes this movie watchable throughout. Music is forgettable except the Sawarne Lage song. Climax is predictable just as the whole 2^nd half. Talking about the supporting cast, both the friends of Jacky plays a good part along with the parents’ roles of Jacky and Kritika. Special mention to Prateik Babber who looks great on the screen in his role. I give the movie 2.5 stars.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!