Poorna - Trailer Review

Sixteen years after directing his first film, Rahul Bose returns to the director’s chair with a true tale of courage and willpower. The trailer starts off by showing the life of Poorna Malavath, a 13-year old girl who comes from a very humble background and a regressive one at that.

The story takes a turn when she runs away from her house and joins a rock climbing club, where Rahul Bose is the coach.

She turns out to be a pro at mountaineering and her coach encourages her to conquer Mount Everest. How he faces several obstacles on the way and how he succeeds in helping Poorna become the youngest girl to climb the Mount Everest, forms the crux of the trailer and I think of the film as well.

It’s a perfect underdog story that, if executed well, will surely resonate with the audience. There is a dialogue in the trailer that goes, “We all know you have a weakness for underdogs.” That is true with general public around the world too. I mean who doesn’t like a perfect underdog story.

The trailer, however reminds of several other films in this genre, mainly last year’s Manoj Bajpayee starrer Budhia Singh- Born To Run, Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De! India etc.

As mentioned above, it all depends on the way Rahul Bose executes the film. Considering his debut was a brilliant Everybody Says I’m Fine, I don’t doubt it.

Written by Prashant Pandey and Shreya Dev Varma, the film features Aditi Inamdar as Poorna along with Rahul Bose, Heeba Shah, Dhritiman Chatterjee etc.

The music is by Tanuj Tiku while Subhransu Das is the DOP and Manan Mehta is the editor.

Poorna is due for release on 31st March.

Split - Movie Review

CAST: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley

DIRECTION: M. Night Shyamalan

DURATION: 1 hour 57 minutes

Multiple personality disorder, like amnesia, is one of those aberrant mental states that has been a curse to those who suffer, but a gift to screenwriters over the years. From Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” to Brian De Palma’s “Dressed to Kill,” filmmakers have long exploited how little we truly understand about the condition — though none has pushed it quite as far as M. Night Shyamalan does in “Split,” treating dissociative identity disorder not as the twist, but as the premise on which this wickedly compelling abduction thriller is founded: James McAvoy plays a lunatic kidnapper with at least 23 personalities to his name.

Rest assured, there are plenty of proper twists to follow, none more unexpected than the fact that Shyamalan himself has managed to get his groove back after a slew of increasingly atrocious misfires. To be fair, it’s hard to imagine any writer/director sustaining a career based almost entirely on surprising audiences. And though he lost us for a while there — water-intolerant aliens, anyone? — By trading on ingenuity rather than big-budget special effects, Shyamalan has created a tense, frequently outrageous companion piece to one of his earliest and best movies.

But Shyamalan isn’t the only one getting a makeover here. Presumably tired of playing handsome, uncomplicated leading men, McAvoy — a talented Scottish actor best known as the young Professor X in the “X-Men” prequels — has recently expanded his repertoire to include unsavory creeps in films such as “Trance” and “Filth.” Those roles may as well have been practice laps for the Olympic main event that is “Split,” in which his performance is splintered between a gay fashion designer, a renegade nine-year-old, an obsessive-compulsive control freak, and a crazy church lady, among others.

Shyamalan introduces these wildly different personae one at a time, revealing them through the eyes of the movie’s three main characters, a trio of teenage girls taken prisoner from a high school birthday party, who wake up — like the victims in a nightmarish new subgenre of sadism that includes films like “Saw” and “10 Cloverfield Lane” — in a bunker-like cell with only the dimmest clue of the fate that awaits them. Popular above ground, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are the first to panic, reacting as most audiences probably would in their shoes, while brooding outsider Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) seems unusually calm … at first, at least.

Trapped underground in an undetermined location (the actual spot is the film’s next-to-last twist), the girls spend several days trying to devise ways to escape. Each attempt will have moviegoers digging their fingernails deeper into their armrests, as McAvoy’s totally unpredictable character manages to gain the upper hand, while the girls try to make sense of the information before them. Meanwhile, to make things a bit easier on the audience, their captor slips out at regular intervals to visit his shrink, Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley, the classic “Carrie” actress who also appeared in Shyamalan’s “The Happening”), a sympathetic ear who dispenses exposition by the wheelbarrow.

The more we learn, the scarier McAvoy’s character(s) starts to sound. At the same time, among the would-be victims, only Casey feels fleshed out, as Shyamalan gradually reveals the young lady’s troubled backstory via flashbacks to childhood hunting trips. Taylor-Joy, who recently starred in Robert Eggers’ “The Witch,” has a knack for suggesting dark undercurrents to superficially lovely characters, to the extent that we start to wonder whether McAvoy has meet his match.

Shyamalan’s goal is to keep us guessing, and in that respect, “Split” is a resounding success — even if in others, it could have you rolling your eyes. Still, scaling down to a relatively modest budget and just a handful of locations has forced him to get creative with the script, while a handful of new hires — most notably “It Follows” DP Mike Gioulakis, whose crisp, steady-handed gaze plays against the gritty confusion of the genre — elevate the result in such a way that we’re more inclined to consider the characters’ psychology, even though Shyamalan appears to be making it up to suit his purposes.

Ultimately, “Split” belongs to McAvoy, who has ample scenery to chew, but doesn’t stop there — he practically swallows the camera with his tiger-like teeth. With his head shaved, the actor depends ever so slightly on costume changes (sly contributions from Paco Delgado, who worked on “The Danish Girl”), but otherwise conveys his transformations through body language, facial expression, and accent, as his various selves take “the light” — since, per Fletcher, only one can come out to play at a time. As in “Psycho,” there’s a tendency to over-explain, and while Shyamalan is basically making up rules for dissociative identity disorder as he goes along, the condition has afforded McAvoy the role of his career.

A welcome return to form from 'The Sixth Sense' director M. Night Shyamalan, whose unhinged new mind-bender is a worthy extension of his early work.

My Rating: 4/5

Lion - Movie Review

CAST: Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Abhishek Bharate, Rooney Mara, Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Deepti Naval

DIRECTION: Garth Davis

DURATION: 1 hour 58 minutes

Movies are all about telling stories. Sometimes those stories are fictional, and sometimes those stories are ripped right from the pages of real life. Often times, those real life stories wind up being the most compelling, at least when executed the right way. Lion is one of those movies.

Lion tells the real-life story of Saroo Brierley who was separated from his family in India at the age of 5, who then winds up being adopted by a family in Australia. Years later, he decides to go on a quest to find his long-lost mom and brother, but at great personal cost. On paper, it is a very simple premise but one that comes with a lot of very intense, much grounded and very real emotion that anyone should be able to relate to.

There is no question that something like Lion could just have easily been made into a semi-effective Lifetime movie with B-list actors and a second-rate director who is just cashing a pay check. Fortunately, this story got the treatment it deserved. In the best of circumstances (and Lion was clearly made under the best of circumstances), people who bring genuine passion to the project will make sure to tell a story like this in a way that makes the audience feel as though they are taking this journey themselves, or at least experience the emotion of that journey. It is truly remarkable that director Garth Davis hasn't actually made a feature length movie before, because a movie like this with such subtlety and expert craft would make you think he had been in the Oscar race many times before, much like when someone on the level of say a Gus Van Sant, makes a good movie. Sure, Garth Davis directed the first season of Top of the Lake, which was super solid, but movies are not TV and TV shows are not movies. The talent doesn't always translate.

As much as Garth Davis is owed for the success that is Lion, this is a personal story and thus, it relies very heavily on the people in it. To that point, the cast hits it out of the park from top to bottom. Even in the early parts of the movie, which take place entirely in India and largely centers on the talents of child actors, everything works. Sunny Pawar deserves a ton of recognition for playing the young version of Saroo, because he anchors the emotional ride you are going on for the rest of the movie. With that said, the performance turned in by Dev Patel as Saroo is award worthy and could be the best of his career, which has admittedly been varied, but definitely has some truly shining moments. Lion is easily going to put him right in the awards season conversation. Mark my words; the Oscars will not be so white this year, but not because there is social pressure, but because there are elements of this movie that deserve recognition.

The second and third acts of Lion rest heavily on Dev Patel's shoulders and he should be applauded for his efforts, but his supporting cast is equally as strong, with whatever screen time they are given. Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman both crush it as his love interest and adopted mother, respectively. David Wenham also winds up being the adopted father that most guys who had a less than adequate father growing up wish they had. I could run down the entire IMDB cast list for this movie and just heap praise onto the entire ensemble, but just know that everyone is great, as is often the case with great movies. They oddly go hand-in-hand that way.

What is perhaps most important in a movie like Lion is that it did not get the typical "white guy" treatment that Hollywood is very famous for. This is a story about something that happened to an Indian person and it is told largely in that environment and told from that perspective. How easy it would have been in the hands of lesser talent to tell this story from the white mom's perspective or something like that. Or on the flipside, how easy it would have been to essentially play it in the much less classy "Look how diverse we are being! Aren't we so diverse?!" fashion. This movie does it tastefully, but as though it isn't a big deal. It is simply the way it needed to be and should be. That said, with all of the complaints that Hollywood loves to whitewash and doesn't promote diversity, it is equally important for audiences to support a movie like Lion so that Hollywood will continue to have a reason (beyond the fact that it is the right thing to do) to keep making these movies. Also, you should see Lion because it is a seriously fantastic and moving movie.

Coming from The Weinstein Company, Lion is a movie based on the book A Long Way Home, which was written by the real Saroo Brierley. Sometimes, it is better to see a movie after you read the book. Sometimes the opposite is true. I can't speak to that in the case of Lion, because I did not read the book. What I will say is that seeing this movie and not knowing what is going to happen is largely what made it work. Though, if you have read the book I still wholly encourage you to see the movie. I can't think of any good reason someone shouldn't see this movie. No, it doesn't have a lot of action or fast paced editing or anything like that. No fancy tricks, but it will make you feel something real. Depending on your level of emotional response, you should either bring a small cup or perhaps a bucket to catch your tears. Either way, go see this movie.

My Rating: 3/5

Rangoon - Movie Review

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Richard McCabe, Shriswara Dubey, Gajraj Rao, Saharsh Shukla, Kashmira Irani

Director - Vishal Bhardwaj

Duration: 2 hrs 47 mins

If “YOU” thought that Saif’s most spectacular performance was in Omkara as Langda Tyagi … then you’re SADLY MISTAKEN … Saif Ali Khan has bounced back in to the scene! And who else to save the actor’s drowning career boat than “VISHAL BHARDWAJ”… His performance alone is worth the money of your TICKET!

At the pre-set of things – Rangoon is a sweeping tale of love, jealousy and valour located ambitiously, and largely effectively, at a fictional intersection of war, history and generic movie conventions. It is buoyed by superbly modulated performances from the three leads as well as the members of the supporting cast. Rangoon suffers a fair bit on account of its marathon, energy-sapping length and its disappointingly facile climax. But nothing can undermine its power as a risky but worthwhile cinematic idea that has been executed with flair and gumption. As one would expect in any push in an uncharted direction, not all of it comes off equally well. But why carp when the rest of the film is so magnificently manic?

The craftsmanship in Rangoon is from the topmost drawer and its retelling of a crucial chapter of India's freedom struggle is radically revisionist and delightfully angular. Vishal Bhardwaj's stylized film is unlike anything that we have seen in a while. The fact that such a film dares to exist in this day and time is itself not a small marvel. A war film with a woman at its centre? No mean departure from norm.

That apart, it is difficult not to spot the daringly subversive soul of Rangoon. It is best revealed by the three lead characters - none is a Hindu. Neither is any of them a single-toned, flag-waving, chest-thumping patriot striving to enhance his/her value in the eyes of the 'nation'. Does anybody recall a Hindi mainstream film without a single principal character who isn't from the majority community?

One character in the film asks another: could anything be more valuable than one's life? The reply is: Yes, the one that you can die for. What is left unexplained is that the 'one' could be your nation, your people, the person you love and the cause you hold dear, but certainly not something that is constricted by a restraining ideology.

The film's principal villain, Major General David Harding (Richard McCabe), an Englishman who deep down has no love lost for Indians, is a Ghalib-spouting, Urdu-speaking bon vivant. He isn't your usual grim, grouchy brute hurling endless abuse at the natives: he does not lose any opportunity to crack a joke and also speaks Hindustani with great love and passion. What's more, he also has a go at Sindh Bhairavi with the thumri Ka karoon sajni aaye na baalam and does a fine job of it.

Rangoon also reclaims Tagore's Jana Gana Mana from its current narrow confines and, in Vishal Bhardwaj's own voice, renders it in the form of the pre-Independence national anthem of the INA's Provisional Government of Free India. The latter was, of course, adapted from Gurudev's original composition that has now been reduced, in the hands of hyper-nationalists, to a stick to beat those that don't fall in line with their thought processes.

Rangoon is set in 1943. Mahatma Gandhi's peaceful Quit India movement is at its peak. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Fauj, too, has advanced to the subcontinent's easternmost frontier and the British Indian Army is under fire from the air as well as on the ground. The two strands of the freedom struggle are at odds but together serve as pincer attack on the colonial government in the last years of the British Raj.

In a NUTSHELL – WATCH IT ASAP and come out saying the MAGICAL WORDS – which are “BLOODY HELL!!"

My Rating: 3/5

Trapped - Trailer Review

The nail-biting trailer of Rajkummar Rao’s upcoming thriller Trapped has been released just sometime back.

Throughout the two-minute trailer, I’ve been on the edge of my seat! It shows the actor Rajkummar who plays the role of Shaurya accidentally getting locked in his own apartment, while he prepares to leave in a hurry and the keys are dangling on the lock outside the door!

Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Trapped is a survival drama of a man who is trapped inside a house of a high-rise for days without food and water and to what extent one can go in the will to survive.

As per reports, the actor went on a difficult diet of just one cup black coffee and a carrot a day for almost three weeks, to get into the skin of his character!

The film has received a standing ovation at the 18th Jio MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival in October 2016.

This much-awaited and critically acclaimed film Trapped is going to hit the cinema screens on March 17th.

King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword - Trailer Review

If you keep forgetting that King Arthur: Legend of the Sword hasn’t actually come out yet, you’re not alone. Indeed, if you keep forgetting it exists at all, you’re probably not alone there either. After all, it’s been nearly two years since Guy Ritchie entered production on his medieval fantasy epic, which was originally supposed to open in summer 2016. Even Warner Bros. barely seems to be paying this film any mind — they haven’t released a new trailer for its would-be franchise-starter since the last comic con. At that time the release date of the movie was 24th march 2017, now things seem to have been changed.

Supposedly now it has about three months to go until release, which makes the studio finally getting around to marketing it for real. Hence a new trailer for Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword has been released. The adventure epic’s cast is led by Charlie Hunnam as King Arthur, Jude Law as Vortigern and Djimon Hounsou as Sir Bedivere.

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Aidan Gillen, Eric Bana and Mikael Persbrandt all appear too, while David Beckham has a small supporting role as a grumpy and apparently grotesque-looking knight.

To accompany the new trailer, Warner Bros. has shared an official synopsis for the film. It teases: “When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern (Jude Law), Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birth right and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy…whether he likes it or not.”

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is set for release on May 12 of this year. It is Ritchie’s first film since The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which performed disappointingly at the box office when it opened in 2015.

The Ghazi Attack - Movie review

CAST: Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Om Puri, Nassar, Rahul Singh, Tapsee Pannu

DIRECTION: Sankalp Reddy

DURATION: 2 hours 5 minutes

The time is 1971. A battle is simmering between Pakistan and India. There’s also a battle between East and West Pakistan. And then there’s one more tussle between the commander of submarine S21 Captain Rann Vijay Singh (Kay Kay Menon) and his Navy command appointed officer Arjun (Rana Daggubati) assigned with keeping an eye on the hot-headed captain.

There’s a fourth fight too — the one you have within yourself, between your ethics and logic and your patriotism and instinct. Debutant writer-director Sankalp Reddy takes on all these issues and plays them out mostly underwater represented by a detailed set of the interiors of two submarines. There are a few other shots in the offices of generals on both sides of the border and the rest is special effects. Sadly these artistic and computer generated images of war craft, docks, floating and submerged submarines and torpedo attacks are nothing less than shabby — almost comic book-like.

Rann Vijay Singh’s idol is Colonel George Patton, whose biopic released in 1970. In other words Singh is as shrewd as he is unfettered by rules. Balancing the two and maintaining calm on the boat is loyal-to-a-fault second officer Devaraj (Atul Kulkarni).

The setting of the high sea shenanigans is the Bay of Bengal and the S21 is engaged in a delicate underwater battle with Pakistani sub PNS Ghazi, commandeered by a sneering Captain Razzak (Rahul Singh). Since the Pakistanis are the bad guys not only do they look un-groomed and sweaty but they are also shot from a low angle so that their nostrils flare menacingly into the camera. But Singh is given the dialogue of the film. When a broken S21 dodges the torpedoes by fixing its depth a few metres and simply dodges the line of fire by going up and down, a frustrated Razzak exclaims, “Is he a commander or a lift man!”

At the beginning of the movie you stare at and listen to the narration of an essay packed with disclaimers. You also know that in this film you are going to hear the National Anthem and Saare Jahan Se Acha. But you don’t feel that swell of pride and patriotism because barring Kulkarni, the other actors do not represent any firm stand. On the contrary, Kay Kay Menon plays the captain with the consistency of someone with multiple personality disorder. Then there’s Tapsee Pannu as a refugee who appears to have one instruction: stand in doorways looking shell-shocked.

The Ghazi Attack is an ambitious film for a first-timer and Reddy does capture the frenzy of an underwater confrontation with some finesse. The strategizing and head-to-head between two shrewd seamen at either end of the battle line is handled well as are the dynamics between the officers and crew aboard the ship. It’s not quite on target but it’s a fine effort.

My Rating: 2/5