Sachin A Billion Dreams - Trailer Review

Sachin Tendulkar, the God of Indian Cricket’s most awaited biopic ‘Sachin: A Billion Dreams’ is the film entire world has been waiting for. Here comes ‘Sachin: A Billion Dreams’ trailer and has set the standard high.

The film is sure to unveil many unknown shades in Sachin’s personality as director James Erskine and producers Ravi Bhagchandka and Shrikant Bhasi of Carnival Pictures took the project very prestigiously.

‘Sachin: A Billion Dreams’ trailer of 133 seconds length begins from Sachin Tendulkar’s unruly childhood and how 1983’s world cup winning Indian team inspired a 10 years young kid to begin a new journey of his cricketing life to hold world cup in his hands.

Then the worst phase of Indian cricket came when match fixing controversy marred our future. During those times, the hopes of billion people are carried by a single man called Sachin.

For him playing cricket was like going to a temple. He walked out for us a 1000 times into the field and what a wonderful player he really is. For the first time, he lets us to walk into his life.

Sachin’s wife Anjali says, ‘cricket was first for him and we were always second. We accepted it. Whenever the team didn’t do well, he would be upset and he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.’

Every frame in the trailer is heart touching. Sachin’s voice over and feel enhancing background score by AR Rahman kept me hooked.

For all the cricket lovers on this world, ‘Sachin: A Billion Dreams’ trailer is sure to connect emotionally.

Though the movie is not like the other biopics and has documentary style shots accumulated over the years and directed by James Erskine, when the crowd shouts out the name of their favourite player – it echoes.

The trailer has managed to capture the attention of the fans, but will the movie be a successful biopic or will it go down as yet another documentary on a legendary cricketer? Is something that we will have to wait and find out!

The film is slated for a release on 26th May in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi languages.

The Hitman's Bodyguard - Trailer Review

If you've been dreaming of the day where Deadpool and Nick Fury trade R-rated barbs on the big screen, you may have to just keep dreaming. But, if you'll settle for Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson cursing and shooting up a storm in a non-superhero movie, then the red band trailer for The Hitman's Bodyguard should be right up your alley.

The world's top protection agent (Ryan Reynolds) is called upon to guard the life of his mortal enemy, one of the world's most notorious hit men (Samuel L. Jackson). The relentless bodyguard and manipulative assassin have been on the opposite end of the bullet for years and are thrown together for a wildly outrageous 24 hours. During their raucous and hilarious adventure from England to The Hague, they encounter high-speed car chases, outlandish boat escapades and a merciless Eastern European dictator (Gary Oldman) who is out for blood.

Salma Hayek joins the mayhem as Jackson's equally notorious wife, with a supporting cast that also includes Elodie Yung, Kirsty Mitchell, Joaquim de Almeida, Sam Hazeldine, Joséphine de La Baume, Rod Hallett and Ori Pfeffer. Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3, Red Hill) directs from a screenplay by Tom O'Connor (Fire with Fire). Skydance Productions' David Ellison and Dana Goldberg and Mark Gill are producing alongside Matthew O'Toole, Les Weldon and John Thompson. Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Avi Lerner, Yarvi Lerner, Samuel Hadida and Victor Hadida serve as executive producers.

While this R-rated action-thriller does not involve Deadpool or any other superheroes for that matter, it could lure in fans of Deadpool with plenty of adult language and action that could very well tide fans over until Deadpool 2, which is slated to begin production this summer, for a 2018 release

Lionsgate has set an August 18 release date for The Hitman's Bodyguard.

Valerian And The City of A Thousand Planets - Trailer Review

Europa has finally released the first full trailer for Luc Besson’s upcoming science fiction film, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, showing off more of the movie’s wild sci-fi world.

The first look or the teaser was released back in November 2016 it introduced the two main characters, Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne).

This new trailer shows off more of the story, revealing that the duo is sent to Alpha — the titular “City of a Thousand Planets” — to help save the city from an unknown threat that could destroy it.

Like the teaser, the trailer portrays a film that looks very much like it’s in the same vein as Besson’s other big science fiction film, The Fifth Element, with tons of creatures, lush landscapes, and what looks like some incredible action sequences.

The movie is based on a series of French graphic novels Valérian and Laureline by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières, and was published between the 1960s and 2010. The comics are incredibly popular, and it’s a project that Besson has been working on since 2012.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets will hit the screens on July 21st, 2017.

Thor: Ragnarok - Trailer Review

Have you always wanted to see Thor and Hulk team up with one another to take down a very powerful villain played by an Oscar-winning actress? Well then, you are in luck! Thor: Ragnarok is going to be delivering exactly that to Marvel fans around the world later this year and Marvel has finally released the very first trailer online.

In a year that also will see Marvel releasing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, it looks like there is a very real chance that Thor: Ragnarok could wind up being the best of the bunch, which is a crazy thing to say, but this movie has a lot going for it.

Marvel decided not to make us wait any longer and they have finally given us our first real look at the third installment of the Thor franchise. Well, this is technically a solo movie, but Doctor Strange is going to be along for the ride and so is Hulk. And not only is Hulk going to be in the movie, but Thor 3 is finally going to deliver on that sweet, sweet Planet Hulk action many Marvel fans have been dying to see for years now, which is teased in this video.

Here is the official synopsis for Thor: Ragnarok.

"In Marvel Studios' Thor Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiator contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger, the Incredible Hulk!"

Historically speaking, the Thor movies have not been the most beloved solo adventures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are still decent superhero movies, no doubt, and fans have always loved Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder, but the movies themselves have always been missing something. To that point, both Thor and Thor: The Dark World are among the lowest-grossing movies in the MCU. Only Ant-Man, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk have grossed less domestically.

Critically speaking, Thor did well enough, with a 77 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that is oddly on the lower side for the MCU. Thor: The Dark World only has a 66 percent which isn't awful, but again, certainly can't compete with the likes of Captain America: Civil War or Doctor Strange. Maybe Thor: Ragnarok can finally deliver the solo Thor movie we have all been waiting for.

Thor: Ragnarok includes Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill and Mark Ruffalo.

Thor: Ragnarok is directed by Taika Waititi and is set for release on November 3.

Half Girlfriend - Trailer Review

Finally, the wait for the trailer of the movie based on Chetan Bhagat's novel, Half Girlfriend is over. The film stars Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles. The tagline of the film is 'dost se zyada, girlfriend se kam' and narrowly reflects on commitment-phobic young mindset of today's time.

Arjun essays the role of Madhav Jha, a young lad from Bihar while Shraddha is rich Delhi girl Ria Somani, who loves basketball and music. The film, which is directed by Mohit Suri (of Aashiqui 2 fame), portrays their complex love story that takes them from Delhi to Patna and then London.

Shraddha's character is shown half-heartedly in the trailer, but Arjun surprises with his adaptive Bihari accent and decent acting skills.

The locales are beautifully captured as are the lead characters' emotions. It was reported that Suri has changed the track of Ria's tragic back story for the film.

However, how much would that justify the title, only the film can tell.

Arijit Singh's magical voice melts in your ears like honey and makes you believe in the charisma of love.

Bhagat's bestseller tackles strong issues alongside a complicated love story. He has unapologetically claimed to always write his novels for the masses of India, whom he calls the "non-English types". A look at the trailer makes us believe in his words yet again.

Half Girlfriend explored the conditional side of love story and I can't wait to watch how the book unfolds on screen.

Half Girlfriend releases in cinemas on 19th of May 2017.

Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana - Movie Review

CAST: Akshara Haasan, Vivaan Shah, Gurmeet Choudhary, Darshan Jariwala, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Mishra

DIRECTION: Manish Harishankar

DURATION: 2 hours 10 minutes

Laaddoo is an ambitious young man who has no conscience when it comes to making money. He's in love with Laali who becomes pregnant soon into their relationship. Laaddoo wants no kid in their life but when his parents get to know, they denounce him and take Laali away. The boss then discovers some fraud Laaddoo was planning and kicks him out.

Laaddoo realises that he needs to go back to his parents but then they have Laali now. A kindly uncle suggests he do what Laali had done: go to her parents and win them over, then make an offer for Laali's hand in marriage. A heavily pregnant Laali is now going to get married to prince (what's with these royal weddings and Hindi movies? Each just gets worse than the one before!) Who needs to marry because of some forecast! Laaddoo arrives at the wedding venue with a fake fiancée, makes friends with the prince, and hopes to win over his own parents who are there as Laali's parents.

Confused yet?

Vivaan Shah plays Laaddoo, with all the enthusiasm of a high school annual play, offering voice modulation that is more radio than on screen, but using only two expressions no matter what the situation is. He either smiles or he cries. There is nothing in between. It is very disconcerting to watch someone smile while singing a love song or indeed when planning to defraud the company they work for. If you look away from the screen, then he sounds appropriate, but otherwise, it is odd to see someone smile as he is defending himself from a bamboo stick wielding father of a girl who...

Wait a minute! If Laali has a family, who knows that she's going to be an 'unwed' mother, who knows that she has nowhere to go, just let her go to Laaddoo's parents? Yes, she ran away from home to escape a father who beats up the mother but she had confronted him before leaving home, no? He had not hit her...

If you get used to Laaddoo's constant smiling, then there's another curveball that hits you smack on the face: Laali's vacant expression. Now don't get me wrong. Akshara Haasan is beautiful, she has inherited her mother Saarika's hazel eyes... But she truly, truly lacks any sort of expression. Even when there are tears running down her face, the rest of her face is blank. She smiles, but her eyes are vacant.

With the lead pair being disastrous to watch, you fervently wish the rest of the cast will help pull the convoluted story through. There's Saurabh Shukla and Darshan Jariwala, Suhasini Mulay, Gurmeet Choudhary (famous after hit TV shows like Ramayan and Geet - Huyi Sabse Parayi) and even Sanjay Mishra. But when you see Suhasini Mulay slap Sanjay Mishra each time they meet, you wonder what the filmmakers are thinking. Saurabh Shukla is shown to be a lush, a bottle of dubious liquor in his hand. Not funny. Darshan Jariwala is meant to be uptight so he shows his disapproval by turning away physically in a huff. Watching them all interact with each other, is pure torture. And since it's a wedding at a castle (Gurmeet is the prince), everyone is dressed in bling.

Of course, you have inadvertent hilarity. Those moments keep you going. The funniest one: The prince has a horse called Stallion. Not kidding. And he says that, 'Stallion is my one truly loving companion!'

It’s a MIRACLE I made it ALIVE out of the cinema hall!

My Rating: 1/5

Ghost In The Shell - Movie Review

CAST: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Pitt, Takeshi Kitano, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han, Juliette Binoche

DIRECTION: Rupert Sanders

DURATION: 1 hour 45 minutes

It’s always difficult for a remake of a beloved film to please audiences – despite exceptions like Scarface and The Fly, there are way too many colossal failures to side with the reasoning behind why remakes should exist.

The live action remake of Ghost in the Shell, an incredibly popular manga of the same name, always had an uphill task, and though it is a pale shadow of the source material, surprisingly it doesn’t completely disappoint as an entertaining action movie.

Directed by Rupert Sanders who made Snow White and the Huntsman and got himself in a lot of trouble for it for his behind the scenes antics, Ghost in the Shell carries a giant controversy on its own.

There’s just no escaping the white washing in the casting of Scarlett Johansson as a cyberpunk Japanese manga heroine.

Luckily, the film, right with its stunningly photographed opening scene, quickly makes you forget about this controversy and dive right into the visually resplendent action.

We’re introduced to a futuristic world full of cybernetics and humans trying to upgrade their limbs with robotics replacements. Public Security Section 9 is a shady organization running agents and uses cybernetics to its own advantage. Johansson plays Major, a new recruit in the organization whose brain was encapsulated in a robotic body after a near fatal accident.

After an assassination attempt goes wrong she stumbles upon clues that leads to the information about her life before she was turned into a robot. She then deflects and goes on a rampage to find out the truth, leaving a trail of destruction.

Needless to say, fans of the 1995 film are going to loathe this remake, or at the very least walk into this film with an undercurrent of pessimism. In their defense there’s little in the film to make them prefer this version over the previous one.

Dramatically this is a weaker movie, and the ingenuity is lost in translating the cyberpunk palette the original so beautifully executed thanks to the manga artwork. Moreover, the humans are second fiddle here because Sanders clearly has more flair for CGI than character development.

On the flip side, the surprising aspect here is that Sanders really does try very hard to both pay homage to the source material, and establish his own vision – an incredibly hard feat.

This is not an average cash grab designed purely to cash in on a known brand name, but the work of a genuine artist whose fandom for the source material results in an inspired action flick with gorgeous visuals. As a standalone action movie it delivers the goods - most of the action sequences, set in red blue shimmering neon are eye popping.

The whole world feels like an electric nightmare of sorts and it’s hard not to be swayed by the unsubtle commentary on the parallels between the evil futuristic corporations in the film and the narcissistic behavior of present day real life organizations.

Taken as a pure action movie and an enjoyable thrill ride with a butt kicking Scarlett Johansson clad in body hugging outfits, Ghost in the Shell is serviceable fare, and definitely worth your effort to head to the theater.

As a bonus those not familiar with the original film can watch it right after reading this review by me and figure out for themselves which version worked better.

My Rating: 3/5