Review of Malang . . .

Review of Malang . . .

From the beginning of career Mohir Suri made thriller and romantic drama kinda films such as Zeher, Muder, Kalyug, Aashqui2, Ek Villian but my personal favorite of the director is Awarapan. I'm so much connected to that film. I can take it's name in my most fav film of Emraan Hashmi too.
Mohit Suri delivered superhit musical romantic drama Aashqui2 and then also successful Ek Villian and now came back with one more thriller Malang - Unleash The Madness.
It's his second film with Aditya Roy Kapur, second time working with Kunal Khemu and casting one Jhakaas Actor in supporting role Anil Kapoor & as there is Aditya then there must be someone very hot actress needed and he got Disha Patani for this role.
It is suspense thriller so I'm not going to write much about the story but it is set in Goa so we can expect some definite things from Goa location such as Beaches, Bars, Drugs, High Music etc and we can see all these things in the film.
Film starts from one fight sequence of Advait (Aditya Roy Kapur) in Jail and then introduction scene of Anil Kapoor who is shown short tempered drug addicted Cop who believes justice is killing the killer rather than taking him to court. then one murder happens, then Kunal Khemu's personal life scene and professional life scene is showing where his character has built up for us to understand what he kind of a character as a Michael he plays. and sometime story goes in past while sometimes it goes on with present scenario. In present it's story of just on night which is an eve of Christmas 24th December. This is how first half of the film is going on with character building and story building. I didn't get bore for a second as it's a fast pace story telling.
Indian audiences prefer to watch suspense thrillers as they are so engaging and it's taste of Indian people to watch nail biting films it may not get much audiences at theatres but later whoever will see this film on television or web they're going to appreciate it as it's well made thriller. I heard reviews on first day it was negative to average not a single critic appreciated the film all of them were finding faults in this well actually it's their job but as i am one film lover i must go for the film which film's trailer made me super excited. I always have my own views on the films. Many times it happens that critics appreciated the film a lot and when watch it i may find it very average film and also critics rejected the film totally and i loved it. So it's an individual choice to watch and share your thoughts.
Malang has usual predictable story but it's stylish direction, sharp editing and specially major twists and turns makes it winner. Once again Mohit Suri delivering finest thriller which has all the elements one suspense film requires.
Writing work is quite ok but dialogues could have more better. Direction is very stylish, Mohit Suri managed to execute actions, emotions, drama, thrills, romance everything in just 2 hours film without loosing it's core. He is too good in making thriller films.
Loved first fighting sequence of Aditya Roy Kapur in jail, the his first meeting with Disha is lovely scene, Disha entry scene is very nice, Anil Kapoor's intro scene, some chasing scenes, interval block and specially climax i really enjoyed it.
Title track by Arijit Singh is mind blowing i could not get over from that track when i came out of the theatre. Background score is also superb. Cinematography very fine specially captured Goa amazingly. Casting is also very nice some special appearance and some extended cameos are there except the 4 leading characters.
Disha Patani from her entry she is looking damn stunning and sexy. She has done very good job. I must say decent one performance of her career. Her appealing in bikinis make people fall in love with her hotness. She's good choice for the role and she proved herself in emotional scenes too.
Aditya Roy Kapur is seen here playing dual type of character one from the past who is young cool guy traveling at places to spend more and more time with himself while another one we can see in present where he's killer and killing one by one cops. For us they have revealed that Aditya is a killer but why he is killing is the suspense of the film. He nailed his character completely specially his physics is looking damn good for his role of present.
Anil Kapoor's performance is brilliant. His laughing obviously reminded me and all people of Nawazuddin Siddqui's character in Kick. He's not exactly laughing like that but still we can feel that. In emotional scenes, angry scenes Anil sir shines. Powerful performance by him.
Last but not the least Kunal Khemu is stealing the show here. OMG what a performance as Michael. He nailed it completely. Last year in Kalank he was outstanding but his role did not have much length. Here he gets really good space. I must thank to Mohit Suri Sir for not showing heroism only here all the leading characters whether it's Aditya, Disha or Anil Sir all of them are given good space to share the screen rather than just showing only Aditya again and again in every scenes.
Kunal Khemu is brilliant actor i loved him in Kalyug also liked him in comedy roles like Dhol or Go Goa Gone types but here he played his best role till date. Hatz off to him for this solid performance.
I am not going to share more about the second half of the film as it has the major two suspense that why Aditya is killing and what happened in the past of all the characters.
It is not for the below 18 as it's showing consumptions of drugs and some other scenes.
On the whole Mohit Suri brings another thriller and I wish it may get enough audiences to enjoy the thrilling experience of suspense drama Malang.
My Ratings
3.4/5.
--- by Harsh Desai Filmy . . .

Review of Panga . . .

Review of Panga . . .

 Nil Battey Sannata fame Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari brings another women oriented film or we can call a film which has story of women empowerment and having an actress in a lead role in this hero dominated film industry. It has been good for the cinema since past some years whenever any female director handled the film which is based on female characters mainly. Be it Lipstick Under My Burkha or Raazi or Chappak etc are the examples for the same. The quality and reality remain in those films rather than just an entertainment. After delivering excellent film Nil Battey Sannata once again Ashwiny ma'am came up with the story of women a housewife in present but Kabaddi player in past Mrs.Jaya Nigam(Kangana Ranaut).

Story starts from the present where we can see Jaya is a that women who's working in Indian Railway living happily married life with her HusbandPrashant (Jassi Gill) and one son Aditya (Yagya Bhasin). In the initial scenes we got to know that she's a forgotten Kabaddi captain of Indian Kabaddi Team once upon a time past 7-8 years before the marriage along with her Kabaddi partner Meenu (Richa Chadda). Meenu is still in the field because she's an unmarried and positioned as a coach for Bhopal Kabaddi Team in MP.

At one stage Adi son of Jaya wants her mom to make her come back in Kabaddi again as she had left her dream incomplete because of becoming a mother but now as Adi has grown up little and going school he wants to see her mummy playing for Kabaddi Team of India. For his wish Jaya meets her friend Meenu  and somehow she realized that she can make a come back at the age of 32. This is how this simple but interesting story goes on with some ups and downs.

This type of story was similar to previous Bollywood films like Marry Kom but presenting the story is challenge for film maker. This story is simple as we have seen earlier but USP for the film that makes it worth watch and successful is first of all lead casting and technical aspects like writing and execution.

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari herself wrote the story along with Nikhil Mehrotra and screenplay work done by her husband who's is also master in writing Nitesh Tiwari Ji.

Storyline is simple yet screenplay makes it much stronger and engaging. Excellent dialogues written. I must mention here the dialogue of one scene where Kanagana says to Richa that "Mai Ek Maa Hu, Maa Ke Koi Sapne Nahi hote aur Na hi Ahemiyat hoti hai" it deserves huge round of claps. Incredible writing work so touchy.

Direction by Ashwiny ma'am is very well handled and what kind of execution this story needs is really given. Some outstanding scenes are Office scene when Jaya reaches late and tells her boss the reason, followed by from her past life Kabaddi matches, Hospital scene when her son is born and doctor consulting about him that scene where she looks and talks to her born baby is MIND BLOWING, BRILLIANT very EMOTIONAL scene there we realize what's the feeling of becoming a responsible mother for lifetime, later interval block where Jaya talks to her husband is another superb scene written and directed. Post interval it's mostly a sport type set up.

Performance by Jassi Gill is superb and lends outstanding support to his wife in the whole film. His acting is so nice as a husband of an ambitious wife and he does his job of father so well too. It's out and out female lead film but his support is really very good.

Master Yagya Bhasin is also shine in his role and to be honest i must say someday he will be very good actor in future. He steals the show many times not just in comic sense but also emotional parts too played well.

Neena Gupta has little role of mother of Jaya but she acts so nicely and fits in the role.

Richa Chadda OMG she has delivered another OUTSTANDING performance of her career. She's super cool and does very well with her dialogues or scenes with Kangana she's brilliant. I'm sure she is going to be nominated for the best supporting role female category in awards and i wish she may get it. It was nice to see you with Kangana.

On second day of it's release i was scrolling the Twitter and got to know about Padma Shri given to Kangana Ranaut and same day i watched her film. To be honest she really deserved it for her extraordinary contribution to the Indian Cinema in terms of acting. Undoubtedly this role is an another award worthy performance by her. OMG what an appropriate choice Ashwiny ma'am made for playing lead role. No one else could have played it this much real than her. Hatz off to the powerhouse of talent none other than Padma Shri Kangana Ma'am.

I could see one Kabaddi player, Wife, Working Women, Mother etc in her and she nailed it completely. It's out and out her film. I'm sure she'll get awards and appreciation for this role. She's one of the finest actress of recent times from her beginning she was rather preferred playing roles which are unusual than just normal roles in some big commercial film. A QUEEN of acting delivered another gem Panga.

Music is fine, cinematography is also quite nice, Lead casting is amazing. As it is released with Street Dancer which is also going to have some good numbers of screens and also Tanhaji is still running in the cinemas but this one has it's own magic to approach the audiences and I'm sure due to good word of mouth it will collect some good numbers at Box-Office and will become hit for sure as it's low budgeted film.

On the whole it was a very good watch for me specially for one of my favorite actress Padma Shri Kangana Ranaut.

My Ratings

3.3/5.

--- by Harsh Desai Filmy . . . 

Review of Tanhaji . . .

Review of Tanhaji . . .

Om Raut directed his first hindi feature film Tanhaji based on real historical story of an unsung hero Tanhaji Malusare (Ajay Devgn) who was lieutenant of Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Sharad Kelkar). Story set in Maharashtra's Kondhana which was taken over by Mughal Aurangzeb (Luke Kenny) with the help of Udaybhan Rathod (Saif Ali Khan).
As i am big fan of Ajay Devgn not only his versatile acting but also always love to see him in heroism type roles. Whether it was Sultan Mirza of Once Upon A Time In Mumbai or Singham he nails the roles all the time and people appreciate him and what's the best thing about Ajay is he doesn't have haters i mean to say i have never seen any film lovers say I don't like Ajay like what they talk about Khans or Kumar. Not all but most of his films can be watched with family and he tries his best to deliver complete entertainment. It's his century with this one. From Phool Aur Kante 1992 to Tanhaji 2019 he worked in different genres of films such as romantic like Phool Aur Kante, Diwale, Comedies like Ishq, Golmaal, Action like Singham Cop Drama like Gangajal, Political drama like Rajneeti, Apaharan, Thriller like Drishyam, Emotional like Zakhm & some unusual like Raincoat. Overall for me he's the perfect for the word HERO what we call in Bollywood. He has his own fan followings he may not be able to beat the stardom of Khans specially Salman Khan & Shah Rukh Khan but I don't compare him with them generally because all the time not Khan's all films work neither Ajay is giving flops so all the stars have their own way of working. I remember once Salman Bhai said in one interview that "there is no competition among us for the business even i believe that everyone's films do well at Box-Office and if Aamir makes records then i should break then SRK should break it then Ajay Akki all should cross the mark and this cycle should keep going because at the end our main purpose is to provide entertainment to the audience.
So after Salman Bhai, SRK, Akki now Ajay Devgn is the one who debuted in 90s and crossing 100 films.
About Tanhaji i would say in very short time two hindi films came of similar genre two stories of Maratha warriors. Ashutosh Gowariker's Panipat which couldn't do well at Box-Office last year but as i wrote it was very informative and well executed story but due to some other minus points unfortunately they didn't get expected audiences. Tanhaji co-produced and starred by himself who has the potential to bring the audience at cinemas. Ajay not only produced but promoted this film so well and after watching first day i can say that i have never seen any of his films previously like scale of presentation. Earlier he did multiple cast films but this canvas is something mind blowing. As one of my filmy friend Tapan Pattani Sir wrote it's going to be the first super hit film of 2020 and I'm agree with him also i can say that it has potential to become biggest grosser of Ajay's career.
Not going to tell more about the story but Om Raut's direction is so justified the story. Technical aspects are well handled and it really doesn't seem his first film it's like he has years of experience in large scale film making. Screen play is very engaging and many scenes are terrific what audience wants to see in one big budgeted historical war drama they gave their best to present it. Writing is quite usual somewhere but somewhere very impressive specially dialogues for Hinduism/Bhagwa/Marathas/Kondhana etc but dialogues for Udaybhan Rathod could have been better.
Music is not up to the mark because like Baahubali this one also needs at least 2-3 chart buster tracks to celebrate the big film with more joy but what made me impressed so much is background music. Just OUTSTANDING. When the show ended one kid from the audience was chanting Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra which was background music played at many times in fight sequences or entry scene and i was so happy to see this.
Cinematography is brilliant. Special VFX superbly added. Never seen before in any Ajay's films.
Ajay is master in giving best entry scenes all the time from his very first film to till date his entry scenes deserve claps and whistles. Climax battle, interval block etc are well made scenes.
Every Actor in his life plays one role and we can say that he/she was born and became actor to play this role. Yes Sharad Kelkar gave his best earlier oftentimes but the role of Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj is the one which earns him more respect. Unbelievably so so so natural. From his look to his act everything is just so perfect. Awesomeness in his character. Kudos to him for that. Divya Solgama Sir in his review said in coming years we are going to remember his face as an image of Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Kajol lends very good support to Tanhaji's character being his wife Savitribai Malusare.
Last but not least when we have a strong heroism character like Tanhaji then we always expect damn thrilling villain against him and Udaybhan Rathod aka Saif Ali Khan brings that villainous badass thrill to make battle more intriguing. From his entry scene to entire film he is out and out dangerous. He looks Kickass and acts like the same madness he showed in the character of Langda Tyagi in Omkara. From Kacche Dhage to Omkara to Tanhaji this duo of Ajay-Saif proves one of the best co-starring happened. I can't consider it as best of Saif but yes he is terrific here and to make it more clear about his character there's also one story they have included that how he adopted Mughal way.
So on the whole it's first big film of hindi film industry in 2020 which has potential to start the 100cr club for this year & can be seen by family audiences to be more informed about the unsung warrior. I wish Ajay Sir may bring a lot to this series of The Unsung Warriors.
My ratings for large scale presentation and power packed performances by the leads.
3.8/5.
--- by Harsh Desai Filmy . . .

Review of Good Newwz . . .

Review of Good Newwz . . .

Raj Mehta's debut feature film Good Newwz brings Good News for the Bollywood year end. An urban comedy film which is pure commerical cinema likable by both class and mass audiences. Multiplex audiences will have fun in these holidays of Christmas. Last week Dabangg 3 roared at single screens but this week Good Newwz is also opening so well because of presence of Akshay Kumar who is nowadays becoming hot favorite for both class and mass. As i heard the reviews which were mostly positive and it will help the film to get the audiences with word of mouth.
When trailer released i really didn't like it honestly. First i thought the topic is so overrated so it's not going to be my cup of tea. From the trailer it seemed nonsense forced comedy film.  I have been watching all the films of Akki in theatres since 2006 mostly on the very first day but for the first time i thought i shall read reviews then will go. So on Friday i read reviews of it and decided to watch it finally.
Story of two couples having medical problem of becoming parents and both of them are having same surname Batra. Then they consult a Doctor Joshi and he suggest them one theory to become parents. I don't know the name of treatment. Mr. & Mrs. Joshi (Adil Hussain & Tisca Chopra) both are running this hospital but unfortunately in the cases of Batras they are committing one mistake. Due to same surnames their sperms which they have taken for the treatment is used for each others rather than own and then twist occurred. This kind of soft but hilarious story Good Newwz is carrying.
For me it's an adult comedy film not because it does have the story of couples talk about the sex and getting pregnant but it has some double meaning dialogues and scenes which makes it quite adult comedy. Some people find it common or we can say acceptable but some like me can not call it a family pack entertainment. Yes couples will definitely enjoy this film and specially it will be great treat for the newely married couples.
It has ordinary story but what works here is dialogues and engaging screenplay. What kind of Ayushmann Khurrana films are nowadays engaging this one is similar. Short in length, qualitative writing, spectacular performances and specially unusual subject. Mixture of all these is what served in Good Newwz.
Raj Mehta's execution is appropriate for this subject i must say it's one of the finest comedy films in which i laughed so much nowadays. I don't watch generally adult comedy but this one doesn't fall in that nonsense genre. It was nice fun ride. Nice debut in feature with this commercial stuff. Good luck to Raj Mehta Sir.
Inspite of having some adult scenes still it has some really good sensible comedy scenes specially entry scene of Diljit Dosanj, followed by Akki's arguments with Kareena, Akki and Kareena visiting Adil Hussain in hospital, when Dilji and Kiara comes to Akki's home it is really funny scene and also one of the finest scene is when Kareena explains Akki about the being pregnant here writing is terrific. Overall it's very engaging show.
Kiara Advani has less to do but suits in the role of wife of Diljit and plays her part so well.
Diljit is mind blowing here and from his entry he steals the show. I never expected that he's going to be this much fine in comedy roles. What kind of crazy sikh guy Akki played in Singh Is King here Diljit is playing with that level of madness. Hilarious dialogues he is speaking and specially when he is called to the hospital for telling the mistake there he is doing extremely good. It was really fun to watch him. Hatz off.
Kareena Kapoor Khan is always been my favorite since Jab We Met or Tashan. I thought she might not get into the role for this film but i was so wrong because she is fantastic here. Very natural and classy performance. I didn't like her last film Veerey Di Wedding but here i loved her the most. She's damn amazing and still looks very beautiful and super sexy. In her initial films she wasn't doing great or remarkable but later what a drastic change in her Acting which can be seen in Jab We Met or Tashan or Bodyguard. She proved herself finest actress.
Nowadays Akshay Kumar is doing so well in terms of successful films. He always used to do multi releases since 90s but that time unfortunately he was not giving back to back hits like Khans so couldn't become superstar at that time but as we all know "Sabka Ek Time Hona" this is his golden time. His last two films Mission Mangal & Houseful 4 entered in 200cr club and in terms of Box-Office collection he's becoming a strong competitor for Khans specially Salman Khan. Salman Bhai in last decade delivered extraordinary figures at Box-Office and became most bankable and profitable superstar and now Akki is also on the same way of back to back hits. I wish he may achieve a lot success ahead. He is also becoming crowd puller nowadays and families prefer to enjoy his films. If word of mouth works then it will also be very successful mainly because it will not have any big competition in coming two weeks till Ajay's Tanhaji so it has very good chances to become super hit.
I didn't like the Houseful 4 and not even it was up to the mark franchisee but here Akki has done superb job. One is subject and secondly his performance is very nice not the best but what kind of role play this film needed Akki justified it. We all are aware about the comic timing of Akki. Post Govinda he's my most fav Hero who is having immensely good sense of comedy. In some scenes of Good Newwz he reminded me of his earlier comedy films where he used to made me laugh a lot.
Overall it was very nice fun watch for year end. I'm happy that 2019 is going to end with this kind of commercial hit.
My Ratings
3.6/5.
--- by Harsh Desai Filmy . . .

Review of Pati Patni Aur Woh . . .

Review of Pati Patni Aur Woh . . .

Story set in small town with some romance, family drama and comedy with low budget is the new formula to make a profitable film. Be it Badhai Ho, Luka Chuppi or Bala or any recently released in past few years all achieved success and people also liked it.

Happy Bhag Jayegi fame director Mudassar Aziz is back with another romantic comedy which is remake of classic film Pati Patni Aur Woh. He made it in modern way. Nowadays most of comedy films are incomplete without adding sex into the dialogues and which doesn't make it a proper family pack film. I believe nowadays families have become more open so the films too but i belong to that Rajshri production's family drama which is pure family pack without a single use of bad words or any sexual scene. I can't label this film a pure family pack but yes it can be enjoyed with your friends, wife & WOH (if you have).

Jokes apart it's one more soft entertaining stuff coming from Kartik Aryan who is doing these type of films from starting. He never did any other genre's film but he is good in this.

It's small town setup telling the story of Chintu Tyagi (Kartik Aryan) who is living in Kanpur with his wife who was Vedika Tripathi (Bhumi Pednekar) before marriage and post marriage they call each other Tyagi ji & Tripathi ji. Chintu Tyagi is working in PWD and regarding one project he meets Tapasya Singh (Ananya Panday) and meeting after meeting Tyagi ji is trying to get closer to her. Actually he doesn't love her not even he is seeking for sex but whatever Tapsya said good words about laughter, mustache, Kanpur etc he is happy to hear all these which he did not hear from his wife in 3 years of married life. Fortunately or unfortunately his best friend Faheem Rizvi (Aparshakti Khurrana) also working in the same office with him who lends support to him for hiding things in front of his wife & some twists and turns and lies the story goes on in funny way.

This kind of stories i have watched many times in past. Most of Govinda's films used to have similar situations as his character used to have two ladies. Akshay Kumar's Garam Masala also one of the best film in this sub category of affair comedy. Kapil Sharma also did similar film when he debuted on big screen. Whatever i watched in 90s or later they were pure comedy where no vulgarity was seen. nowadays audiences are modern so film makers are more interested in showing what really audiences want to see. Well that's not the issue if film is adultery i just wrote my thoughts on pure family pack film & modern family film.

As the story goes on there are many funny scenes sprinkled with humorous dialogues or wordings which sometimes work but sometimes doesn't work at all. Writing work is fine they tried to add as much humor as they could specially in dialogues of Tyagi's bestie Rizvi he is again after Luka Chuppi in the supporting role of being Hero's friend. In many scenes he is fabulous but seems repetitive. Like his brother he is ultimately talented. His comic timing is extremely good.

Direction well handled job by Mudassar Aziz liked several scenes such as Bhumi's breakdown scene when she comes to know about the extra marital  affair hee husband, Aparshakti's advice scene to Kartik, When Mausa Ji comes home and Kartik's sarcastic jokes brilliant writing, One flirty student who is fan of charm of Bhumi and he tells her that she looking like Kareena Kapoor, That guy Rakesh Yadav's all scenes are superbly executed and creates laughter moments.

Cinematography of Kanpur is quite nice, Music is okayish kinda one remake song Ankhiyon Se Goli Maare comes in end credits. Overall casting is fine. Cameo of Sunny Singh, Kriti Sanon shines.

Performances by Aparshakti Khurrana already said he's superb and steals the show. Rajesh Sharma had very little to do, That student is superb, now coming to the lead Kartik Aryan is good he looks Kanpuriya with mustache look and shines in many scenes but somewhere i found accent of UP missing not all the time but somewhere. He is good performer and did this type of roles earlier so nothing was challenging for him.

Ananya Panday is very fine in her innocent role, she reminds me of Katrina Kaif in starting phase where he had only simple dialogues to speak and nothing more efforts required for the given role WOH and she does it with an ease.

Who is the show stealer is Bhumi Pednekar as PATNI Vedika Tripathi Tyagi. She has done commendable job. From her entry to end credit of acting goes to her. She shine out among three leads. She looks damn sexy in Saree. Hatz off to costume designer for keeping hotness alive inspite of being a PATNI she beats the WOH here. Very stunning look and dialogues are way better than others. When she entered in Bollywood with Dum Laga Ke Haisha i never thought she's gonna rule like this. Lots of love and respect for her performance.

At the end i would conclude that it's a quite romantic comedy drama can be enjoyed with friends and couple will go for it for sure.

My Ratings

3.5/5.

--- by Harsh Desai Filmy . . . 

Review of Panipat . . .

Review of Panipat . . .

Nowadays length of the film matters more in favor of audiences who will always prefer to watch 2 hours long film rather than 3 hours. Film is known as 3 hours long picturization but from past some years hardly any film comes which is having 3 hours long length because audiences have no time to get bored for 3 hours if they're getting the entertainment into 2 hours. Still inspite of keeping this beside some film makers we have who always make long running timing films such as Sooraj Barjatya, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ashutosh Gowariker and some more.
Their stories either must be having a long scale portraying on large canvases or it must be some research based historical drama which can't be told in just 2 hours so they have to make it at least more than two and half hours long to tell the story appropriately.
Ashutosh Gowariker is a director who makes lengthy films all the time whether it was Lagaan, Jodha Akbar, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se or Swades all of his films is having more than 2 and half hour run time but plus point is here for his films length doesn't matter for audiences because of engaging screenplay. Ashutosh Gowariker is fantastic in characterization whether it was Mohan or Bhuvan his character building and deep detailed characterization keeps the audiences on the seat for 3 hours. People don't get bored because of it's large canvas presentation.
Ashutosh made Jodha Akbar but it was historical film not a pure war drama even i remembered it as a romantic tale of Jodha & Akbar undoubtedly Hrithik nailed it as Akbar that I can't even imagine anyone else later in lead warrior after i watched Hrithik as Akbar. I watched it later not at the time of release and i regretted for not watching Jodha-Akbar in theatre. It was a truly masterpiece.
Panipat is a story of third battle took place at Panipat between the Marathas and Afghanistan's Kandahar's brutal king Ahmad Shah Abdali (Sanjay Dutt) who enters in Hindostan and wants to achieve Delhi. At that time Peshwa Nanasaheb (Peshwa Nanasaheb) comes to know about it and decides to stop Abdali from doing this. He sends Sadashiv Rao Bhau (Arjun Kapoor) to stop him and story goes on like a biopic of Sadashiv Rao Bhau aka Raya. When trailer released not only me but many of film lovers weren't ready to accept Arjun Kapoor is playing Maratha warrior and in the lead role of Panipat. Trailer was good everyone appreciated Baba's negative role but unfortunately people weren't happy with the lead actor. I was also feeling the same that i have seen Hrithik & Ranveer in this type of roles but will Arjun Kapoor justify the character?
Due to busy schedule i couldn't go for first day but later on Saturday i went into night show i came to know on Saturday that it got opening of only around 4CR which is very less for such a big budgeted film Ashutosh made. Even in night show second day occupancy was hardly 30-40%. Reviews were mixed so only word of mouth could help for collection because fact is Arjun is not a crowd puller while Baba's fans will definitely go but that won't create something big.
Film starts with the narration by leading female actor Kriti Sanon who's playing role of Parvatibai and i think it's the best idea of narration from her point of view. Credits to Ashutosh for not making a female character only supporting as being a good wife but here Parvatibai is having a solid crucial role from starting to end.
Film's length is i think 2 hours and 50 minutes but in this so called war film the only one battle takes place in last 20-25 minutes in Panipat. In the entry scene there is a one small fight sequence but can't consider as a pure fighting scene.
Many stories are untold in the history of India and some brave film makers like Ashutosh takes it into the hand and presenting it to the audiences. Story of the battle of Panipat is patriotic and make us informed about the Marathas bravery & honor of Sadashiv Rao Bhau.
Story telling is in extraordinary way like as always in his films. Direction is also very engaging many scenes make sense. Some detailed informative scenes are there which proves Ashutosh Gowariker is a master of story telling. Writing work is quite simple but somehow suits to the script. Several dialogues on Delhi is resemblance to the current Indian political situations but i personally felt that neither protagonist nor antagonist are having dialogues massy or catchy which is needed for making audiences impress.
Cinematography is magnificent kudos to C.K. Murlidharan for brilliantly capturing battle ground scenes, fort scenes, river scenes etc. Actually there is a lot to write always on DOP of films of Ashutosh or SLB.
Background Score by Ajay-Atul is very nice but quite hype in Abdali's scenes which I didn't like much but overall it's nice. Specially Mard Maratha song composition is very very very nice and fitted at the right place and also creates impact in end. Costume job is quite good most of the time Nanasaheb and Sadashiv Rao Bhau wearing white shows positive side.
Performances plays pivotal role in making this type of films worth watch. Arjun Kapoor a lead actor who's as protagonist unfortunately in my personal opinion not a great choice for this role. He undoubtedly gave his best but in this role he is not suitable hatz off to him for efforts he has given but sometimes we can't connect with the character.
Kriti Sanon as Parvatibai OMG this is her best performance till date. In most of her films she's playing an ordinary role or small role in multi starrer films or just rom com types roles she played in her career but this one is her finest and honest role till date. Finally she emerged as a good actress who's not there to add glamour only but also plays pivotal role in the film. She's so good in her part and not only lends support to Sadashiv Rao Bhau but also fights in one scene which is mind blowing. Her emotional scenes make her good performer. Loved the way she is narrating the story. Hatz off.
There is also one character Samsher Bahadur who is son Bajirao-Mastani and who's living Muslim way of life. Here point to be noted is Sadashiv Rao Bhau doesn't discriminate Hindus or Muslim as he believed that Chhtrapati Shivaji also had Muslim supporters in his team.
One more good Muslim character here is Ibrahim Khan Gardi played by Nawab Shah which is terrifying. He has done superb job & suits in his role.
Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenam Aman & Mohnish Bahl lends very good support. They are appropriate in their roles. Specially Mohnish Bahl nailed it.
Lastly Ahmad Shah Abdali played by Sanjay Dutt looks terrific in Afghani but unfortunately like protagonist i also not impressed much with antagonist. What Allaudin Khilji did sadly Abdali not that much impressive. I love to see Baba in negative role can't forget Agneepath but here he looks devilish, his scenes are terrifying but his dialogues & accents are not matching with the character. Like i said earlier neither protagonist not antagonist having deadly dialogues & Abdali is from Afghanistan but not having a proper Urdu accent. I'm shocked why Ashutosh let it happen. Role of Abdali could have been a way better if it was more realistic.
Overall Ashutosh did good job but it could have been great. Lastly it was one time watch for me not a masterpiece like Jodha-Akbar or any historical film to be remembered for a long time.
For sweat of Ashutosh and his team for it's large scale presentation
3.2/5.
--- by Harsh Desai Filmy . . . 

Review of Commando 3 . . .

Review of Commando 3 . . .

On very first day watched the third installment in Commando series of last Action Hero of Bollywood Vidyut Jammwal. Commando : One Man Army was Kickass action masala totally loved it. Loved Vidyut in Force as Villian but 1st Commando blown my mind and made me big fan of his extraordinary actions. It was personal story of Army Man Karan Singh Dongra which had mixup of romance and actions. Big fan of 1st part of this series. Later Commando 2 arrived director was Deven Bhojani unfortunately  it wasn't a good film undoubtedly Vidyut's stunts were real deal but i personally didn't like the film as i was expecting something more than 1st one and disappointed with it. This year Vipul Amrutlal Shah brought back the Army Man and continue the series with it's third installment. Topic is similar to 2nd part where there is any issue India is facing and this Army Man is being assigned to accomplish the mission and protect the nation. In Commando 3 story is set in London where one Muslim person planning to attack on India at various places and Vidyut is sent there to catch him.
I was so impressed by the trailer because there were mainly two prime reasons one is Vidyut's Actions as I'm big fan of this type of action films specially feeling proud when Bollywood film makers make this type of mind blowing action film & second reason was the Villian. Yes the Negative role here is played by one of the finest actor we have today Gulshan Devaiah. He was OUTSTANDING in Hunterrr, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota etc kinda films and this time again he came up with Kickass, Badass role and performed it so well.
As i was expecting that critics aren't going to praise it as it has nothing new to offer and this type of stories already we have seen earlier in films. It may not get much sound Box-Office figures as it doesn't have star power because nowadays any usual film with a famous face makes such fine collection at Box-Office but this is for particular targeted audiences who prefer action films like Jackie Chan used to deliver in his time. Youths are definitely gonna watch it may not in theatre but later when it will be released on web but what matters for a films to get the label of hit or super hit is Box-Office collection. So many films are already in the profit before it's release due to rights sold but what matters is Box-Office collection. I'm writing today and i think as per reports it has done business of around 10CR in first two days which is good for Vidyut but not a great business. They have invested money as well as sweat for Actions so they deserve more.
Here as i said what makes film worth watch is Vidyut's Actions and Gulshan's Acting. Story is usual but engaging. It doesn't have much boring scenes length is plus point if they had made it of 2.5 or 3 hours long then it would have been boring.
Direction handled by Aditya Datt and it's good job. He made each scene engaging and thrilling.
Cinematography is very nice. Casting is also good Adah Sharma once again joins Vidyut for the mission and her Hyderabadi accent makes fun. She looks hot and does her part so well and makes scene entertaining. Second actress is Angira Dhar she's also very nice and acts so well. She's stunning as cop officer. Her noticable work was in Love Per Square Foot with Vicky Kaushal other casting is fine.
Gulshan Devaiah OMG what a performer he is. Kudos to him for his mind blowing performance. His role is well written too. He is so brutal and gives damn thrill to the audience. From his anger to dialogues from his spectacles to acting everything Kickass. I loved it completely. So much respect for your dedication. So natural.
Lastly what takes this series to the next level is real deal actions of my most fav Action Hero of recent times none other than Vidyut Jammwal. It's his time for sure no one else can beat him in doing stunts by himself. From his entry scene to climax all the fights he nailed it completely. He is our Indian Jackie Chan. Hatz off to him for his dedication and i must say he should do it more and more because it's his age where he can give back to back action masalas.
Overall it was a decent entertaining one what i was expecting and as i am big fan of Vidyut's Actions i liked it. It is not like the first one but definitely better than second part.
My Ratings
3.5/5.
--- by Harsh Desai Filmy . . .