Author: aninditaroy444

GULABO SITABO: Since the theatres are shut because of the pandemic, this movie released on Amazon Prime. At 125 minutes, the movie is a tiring watch. Amitabh Bachchan as the bulbous nosed Mirza, stooped over with age, with the face hidden by huge glasses gives a labored performance. His voice is so muffled that it is hard to make out what he is saying. Ayushmann Khurrana’s act is nothing exceptional. He looks ordinary and blends with the surroundings. There is no prominent female protagonist. In this dull tale between a tenant and an owner, none of the characters connect with the audience. Vijay Raaz and Brijendra Kala play side characters that can be easily forgotten. Set in Lucknow, the movie shows glimpses of havelis and taangas. The pace of the movie is very slow and boring. Juhi Chaturvedi’s writing is average and is no where close to that of Vicky Donor and Piku. The songs are nice and the background score is also engaging. Good music direction by Shantanu Moitra. Very disappointing fare from the stable of Shoojit Sircar. Can surely give it a miss.

TEEN MAHURAT: Quirky, contemporary, soul-stirring and simple this hands-off romantic fable is all hearts. Perfect casting and a coherent script pulls the flick together for a little more than one hour. High production values and a fabulous cinematography adds relevance and class. The movie has already raged the festival circuit and would be liked by the mainstream multiplex audience as well. Your performance as the irate, busy corporate is top-notch. You have let your eyes do the talking which is just super. The scene where Raj Banerjee appreciate his secy Neha’s performance and breaks into a grin, I could see the old Rajarshi I knew some forty years back. The girl who played Neha is very fetching. The movie is gender-balanced neither steeping into misogyny nor male chauvinism.The movie’s underlying theme is that women like to depend and men like to protect.It is a modern day tale that can be told yet another time.

CONTAGION(2011): Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? This in-your-face movie was made in 2011 with a slant on biological warfare, bio-terrorism and the like. This movie is an installment of earlier Hollywood movies with the same name released in 1987 and 2002 but they had limited box office success. This movie has a star-studded cast with Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Kate Winslet-all of them make their presence felt. The ensemble cast also throws in some superlative performances and carries the Doomsday conspiracy story forward. In the context of the Coronavirus outbreak (MEV-1 in this movie) the movie is watchable for the uncanny similarity of suffering people and places as in real life right here right now.But the proceedings are very slow and torturous. At almost two hours the movie tries your patience. The movie however does not end in a tragedy. Set in Chicago and paced out over a period of five months, this movie despite its disaster affinity ends as a survivor story on a happy note ala vintage Hollywood. Watch it for the context and content but it would not alleviate the impending gloom that looms large in the present day.

THE PARCEL: This movie is a social commentary and a satirical outlook on the sad jack-in-a-box state of affairs of the doctors in Kolkata. The initial few reels has a Tabu-starrer Astitva hangover but the movie is not a copy-and-paste job. The female protagonist Rituparna Sengupta is shown as a schizophrenic and her husband Saswata Chatterjee (also a doctor) soon follows suit while trying to solve her. Sensitive and brilliant, this movie has Rituparna don a non-glamorous avatar and reiterates the audience’s faith in her as a thinking man’s actor. At a time when most older actresses have retired or are running parallel to parallel cinema, Rituparna’s production house has come up with a script that shows her due diligence (read: hard work) and commitment to rise above above mediocrity. In a career spanning almost three decades, from dancing with Mithun to Manda Meyer Upakhyan she has come a long way and she also has a long way to go.Superlative performances, a brilliant yet coherent script might make this movie a festival favorite as well as a desired watch amongst the classes and the masses.

ANGREZI MEDIUM:This movie is a xenophobic tale of a hapless father(Irrfan Khan) trying to make ends meet, dreams big for his daughter (Radhika Madan) and almost loses his life in the bargain. But in this East is East, West is West story all the immigrants fall for the rustic, dehati father and all the kids and the aunties come home to India to sit with their fathers. There is tons of passive patriotism. The dialogues are really humorous and witty with lots of situational comedy. Lots of cars get smashed thanks to some splendid visual effects. Kareena Kapoor Khan plays the honest policewoman who helps the immies in London and Dimple Kapadia is the upright and benevolent landlady who are bought in by the Made in India contingent. Deepak Dobriyal is the side-kick who supports Irrfan Khan’s idiosyncracies. A multi-starrer with the right amount of brains and brawn, action, comedy and wit-this movie is a pleasurable watch. It is Irrfan’s brlliant comic timing and effortless acting that pulls the movie together. This movie also exposes the international academic placement industry that is milking dry the parents of mediocre students in India.

BARUN BABUR BONDHU:A star-studded venture directed by Anik Dutta, this is a very simple, poignant story of an old man Barun (played by the thespian Soumitro Chatterjee) and his friends and family. The powerhouse script is the king here and ensemble cast gives a stellar performance.The ever dependable Paran Bandopadhyay oozes charm and confidence in every shot. Madhavi Mukherjee looks cute but fails to make an impact. Kaushik Sen, Srilekha Mitra and Arpita Chatterjee are adequate. The climax is very special with its intuitive hidden message. You need to watch this movie to savour the experience. I am too small a reviewer to comment on this movie which has the brilliance of a Ray movie.

BRAHMA JANEN GOPON KOMMOTI: A concept movie from the stable of Nandita and Shiboprasad, this movie has an original screenplay that the audience can relate to and does not make the viewers overthink and get all nerved up over a mindboggling script. Subhashis Mukherjee, Manasi Sinha and Ambarish play small but important characters in this nicely put together ensemble cast. The movie highlights the social atrocities that are dished out to women at all strata of the society and the many masks women have to don to save a marriage. Execution is not top-class but the creative endeavor takes flight with superlative performances and an original agile script that stays true to its course, logic and intention. A pleasurable watch.

KAAMYAAB(HAR KISSI KE HISSE KAAMYAAB): A small-budget movie that will warm the cockles of your heart, this movie is an endearing tale of Sudheer (Mishra), a character artiste who had survived 90’s Bollywood and done 499 movies as a small-time actor. He has now hit Sunset Boulevard, and starts scavenging for a role for the elusive 500th movie. Deepak Dobriyal plays the super-optimistic casting director who makes an all-out effort to bring the yesteryear actor back in business. But years of indiscipline and solitary boozing takes a toll on his health and he falters take after take and is thrown out of the movie sets. The movie exposes the dark side of film-making and the toil and moil involved in the ultra-creative process and so much less remuneration at the end of the day. Nukkad’s Lilliput, 90’s comedy queen Guddi Maruti, veteran actor Viju Khote and several other non-descript actors play important cameos to depict how actors have to constantly upgrade themselves in keeping with the times and shine in every single take but is deprived of the fame, glory and big money involved with superstars. Sarika Singh plays the dutiful daughter who makes an earnest attempt to make her father drop his ego and peacefully retire. But Sudheer dons a wig and a pair of cowboy jeans and tries to convince the younger generation with his mangled accent. The climax is well-crafted and in a matter of 60 secs Sudheer impersonates several characters and ultimately collapses on stage. The movie reminds us that even dreams have an expiry date. The ending credits list the rather longish list of side actors in Bollywood who carved out a niche with stupendous performances like Iftekar, Johnny Walker and the like who donned pseudonames, acted in repetitive roles in movie after movie and played second lead to the hero or heroine for far lesser money, all with a smile. A small-budget movie with a big heart, the movie shows Sudheer somersaulting on his hands ala Shahrukh Khan the producer of the movie. Four thumbs up, hands and toes included.