The last decade or so has finally seen some realistic portrayal of Kashmir in Hindi cinema. Among those feature films is Danish Renzu’s Half Widow (2017). We can now safely add his latest short film The Good News in the list for its hard-hitting yet gentle portrayal of the life in the valley.
The film starts with Haleema (Salonie Patel) happily distributing tehri outside a mosque in Srinagar. Her happiness increases when she sees her dear friend Tara (Gauri Batra). The two indulge in some simple joys in each other’s company. Haleema’s joy knows no bounds when Tara reveals some ‘good news’ to her. However, the life in the valley is such that happiness is often short-lived.
Right from the very first frame, The Good News gets the audience transported to the actual location. The visual appeal of the film is such that it hardly takes a minute to achieve that. Similarly, the deep love between a Muslim and a Kashmiri Pandit is also established effortlessly. You start rooting for their bond instantly. Hence, the major story development (which you might see coming) makes you feel for them even further.
The Good News also scores high in giving a message about the terror-stricken land without saying anything and just through the use of visuals. You might not have anything to do with the political turmoil of the region but that doesn‘t mean you can fully stay away from it.
The natural performance of Salonie Patel and Gauri Batra also plays a major role in the film succeeding in moving you. The two are instantly believable in their respective roles as they indirectly announce their talent.
Overall, Renzu once again achieves the goal just like his earlier feature films Half Widow and The Illegal (2019).
The Good News will stream on Disney+ Hotstar from December 3, 2022
Rating: 4 out of 5
Director: Danish Renzu
Writer: Danish Renzu and Sunayana Kachroo (additional dialogue)
First things first. I don’t support Richa Chadha’s ‘Galwan’ tweet. I feel if she had to criticize the government for its working, for which we all have a right, she could have done that without using a comment from a senior Indian Army personnel.
But it is blatant hypocrisy on the part of a few Hindi film celebrities to jump in and target Richa for her tweet and portray her as an anti-national or a big criminal of sorts. These are the same people who turn a blind eye when a fellow celeb who is a supporter of the current ruling party makes even worse comments.
The biggest example of this is Kangana Ranaut. Last year, she famously said, “The independence that India got in 1947 was bheek. We attained actual independence in 2014 (thereby indicating the rule of the current government).
Richa Chadha and Kangana Ranaut
I don’t need to spell out how problematic this comment is. In a single sentence, she has rubbished off our entire freedom struggle and thousands of freedom fighters who sacrificed their everything, including their lives, for the sunrise of freedom. And here is one public figure openly belittling the whole movement as some joke.
Some Hindi film stars openly lambasted Richa for her ‘Galwan’ tweet. But did they ever speak up against Kangana for the aforementioned comments? How can you be up in arms against one person for a three-word tweet but at the same time have no problems at all when someone else makes a comment of a much larger magnitude that rubbishes off the very movement that got India independence? On top of that, Richa has deleted the tweet and also apologized for the same. Don’t even imagine Kangana doing the same.
The reason why Kangana’s comments faces no outrage from few of the same celebrities is because they all are the supporters of the same party. This also points out that for them it is always the party first, nation later. If it was otherwise, they would have slammed Kangana’s statements too. And she has made a big bunch of them. The one mentioned here is just one example.
The same goes for the general supporters of this party. They call themselves nationalists but they completely ignored Pragya Thakur’s comments when she hailed the death of Shaheed Vijay Salaskar at the hands of terrorists Ajmal Kasab and associates. Can you imagine what would have happened if someone from the opposition would have made the same statement?
Hence, only the party matters, nation doesn’t.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the writer in this article are independent and are not endorsed by the publication he works for
Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya’s name has become synonymous with traditional family dramas mostly revolving around marriages among the wealthy class. He tried something different in terms of the content in Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003) but the result didn’t turn out to be favorable.
Barjatya has once again gone out of his comfort zone by presenting a bromance among a small group of friends in an advanced age in his latest offering Uunchai. The end result has turned out to be way different from his 2003 movie.
Uunchai is about a group of senior citizen friends staying in Delhi – Amit (Amitabh Bachchan), Om (Anupam Kher), Javed (Boman Irani) and Bhupen (Danny Denzongpa). The last one is a professional hiker who has successfully climbed few of the highest peaks in India. He is very keen for the four of them to go for a hike at the Everest Base Camp after preparing for two months. However, Amit, Om and Javed plainly refuse citing old age issues.
One day, out of the blue, Bhupen passes away due to a cardiac arrest, despite being fit and healthy. The rest of the three friends, who are obviously heartbroken, realize that Bhupen had already booked their tickets to visit the Everest Base Camp after two months.
Amit believes they should not only fulfil Bhupen’s wish of visiting the site but also immerse his ashes over there, since he was deeply fond of the place and the activity of hiking. Om and Javed strongly object but eventually give in for the sake of their late friend. But they, obviously, need to face various challenges to fulfil their mission.
The narrative of Uunchai is not just limited to three friends embarking on a hugely difficult mission. The script is deep and layered with special importance given to each character and his or her journey. This ensures that you start having sympathy for the main characters, their friendship and mission too.
Despite the emotional nature of the subject, the film is full of sensible situational humour, which comes as a pleasant surprise. Neena Gupta has a major share in the funny moments and she does a fine job of it.
Mainstream Hindi films about such missions always face the danger of suffering from the second-half syndrome. But this is not at all the case with Uunchai, mostly because the main mission is kept for the latter half. Plus, the screenplay has the right mix of funny, emotional and dramatic moments during this part, which is also handled effectively.
What takes the cakes though is the moment where the friends release Bhupen’s ashes. It was vital for this to be the most overwhelming scene from the film and this is understood well by Barjatya.
A good amount of the story based in the mountainous regions. Manoj Kumar Khatoi’s camerawork has provided eye-pleasing visuals. One can make out the tricks used through VFX during various situations but this doesn’t bother you much. While the film is fine in the technical parts, the songs only reach the average level.
(Review continues after the trailer)
The performances can also be easily included in the positives. Amitabh Bachchan continues to defy his age through an enthusiastic act. Boman Irani and Sarika, whose character later joins the trio in the mission, also provide praiseworthy performances. Anupam Kher is likeable but, at times, he tries a bit too hard in appearing angry and offended.
Parineeti Chopra, who is the hike organizer, gets more scope later as she delivers a decent act. Danny Denzongpa and Nafisa Ali Sodhi are memorable despite having guest appearances.
But Uunchai is not devoid of any negative points. Its lambaai (runtime) of 169 minutes should have been trimmed, especially during some events in the second half. The film also takes quite a lot of creative liberties. Without giving away any spoilers, the narrative does this the most with Bachchan’s character.
Overall: Uunchai reaches a convincing height despite its lambaai. It says a lot about friendship goals and human spirit without saying much. The film won’t get a big opening at the box office due to Rajshri Productions’ decision of opting to go with fewer shows. But it stands a chance of getting a wider release once the word-of-mouth spreads.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Director: Sooraj Barjatya
Producers: Rajshri Productions, Mahaveer Jain Films and Boundless Media
Author Ashwin Sanghi is known for consistently coming up with high quality contemporary thrillers connected to either history or mythology or both. After exploring beliefs like Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, his latest offering The Magicians Of Mazda, the seventh book in his Bharat series, throws light on the history of Parsis or Zoroastrians.
The book, as a whole, is a thriller revolving around a Parsi scientist Jim Dastoor, who is settled in the US after being born and brought up in India. He has produced a substance called Humza Dura that has the ability to cure various serious ailments. He wants all of humanity to benefit from his invention. Jim lives with his wife Linda, a history scholar with a deep interest in religion and spirituality.
During the final stages of his experiment, Jim is kidnapped by evil forces from pharmaceutical industry as they feel his finding is linked to the ancient secret of the Athravan Star. He is kept confined in inhuman conditions all the way in Tehran, Iran. Linda makes it her mission to get Jim rescued with timely help from quite a few individuals. Similarly, the story has a number of other interesting characters and sub-plots.
Sanghi continues with his favorite non-linear style of narration, as expected, in The Magicians Of Mazda. In between the story of Jim and Linda, the author gives a deep account of the history of Parsis, who had to migrate to India from Iran after facing extreme atrocities over there. And like his previous books, this one too is a page-turner.
The Magicians Of Mazda also continues the author’s tradition of providing the reader with plenty of knowledge. This time one gets to know the life in Iran and its inhabitants.
Sanghi has once again taken historical accounts and weaved various fictional tales around them. Like before, he has also taken care to not go overboard in adding fiction to facts most of the times, except on one instance where the reader is presented with a hypothesis about Parsis originally belonging to India itself.
It is also during this part and the portions where Jim’s granny is narrating the history of Parsis that the reader is bombarded with too much of information, which becomes difficult to grasp and remember.
But these points don’t become major roadblocks for The Magicians Of Mazda since one surely gets the fulfilling experience of reading a Sanghi novel from the various positives.
During the announcement of his upcoming Marathi historical film Vedaat Maratha Veer Daudale Saat, filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar revealed the actors who would be playing the emperor’s seven warriors in the film. These include Pravin Tarde, Hardik Joshi, Vishal Nikam, Virat Madke, Satya Manjrekar, Jay Dudhane and Dr Utkarsh Shinde.
But the people gathered at the event were in for a huge surprise when it was announced that Akshay Kumar will be playing the character of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the movie. The actor also made a surprise appearance at the event out of nowhere.
He was introduced at the event as the actor who will be playing Chhatrapati by the chief of MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) Raj Thackeray, who was the special guest along with the Chief Minister of the state Eknath Shinde.
Akshay Kumar as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Raj Thackeray (File photo)
Akshay said that he got this role, “Because of Mr Raj Thackeray. He told me, ‘Akshay you should do this role’ and I was taken aback. To play Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s role is a big deal for me. It’s a huge task. I can assure you that I will put in all my efforts while playing this character.”
This is the first time that Akshay will be working with Manjrekar. “I was always very eager to work with Akshay,” said the filmmaker. “I had a lot of films in mind. But I couldn’t see any other actor playing this role. One needs to have a certain personality and look to play this character. Akshay’s image is also correct to play a Hindu raja who brought Hindavi swarajya. So I thought let other films be kept aside, we should do this one first.”
Produced by Wasim Qureshi, Vedaat Marathe Veer Daudale Saat will go on floors next month and will release during Diwali 2023.
Filmmaker Nikhil Mahajan’s upcoming Marathi movie Godavari is all set to release in theatres from 11 November, after garnering applause and awards internationally.
Starring Jitendra Joshi, Vikram Gokhale, Neena Kulkarni, Gauri Nalawade, Priyadarshan Jadhav and Sanjay Mone, the film is about a man, who has to pass through the river Godavari in Nashik daily, being fed-up of his routine of collecting taxes on behalf of his family.
The trailer and music launch of the film took place yesterday in presence of Maharashtra’s deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in south Mumbai. “The quality and stature of Marathi films have always been on par with international level,” he said at the event. “I feel Godavari is yet another film to reinforce that. Our relationship with rivers is ancient. Our culture has always been related to rivers. Even in Rigveda there lies a conversation with a river.”
Devendra Fadnavis at the trailer and music launch of Godavari
Elaborating on the same, Fadnavis added, “The importance of our rivers has reached us through the conversation our Rishis had with them. But unfortunately during some period in history, we forgot the importance. Hence, our rivers, thoughts, culture and lives got polluted. Amidst such a situation, this movie has come to us.”
Godavari also marks Joshi’s debut as a producer. He said that he has dedicated the film to the late filmmaker and his close friend Nishikant Kamat. Interestingly, Joshi’s character in the film is also named Nishikant.
Highlighting the importance of Godavari, Fadnavis said, “It is our lifeline. Our entire Maharashtra is dependent on Godavari. About 50% of irrigation happens in the state though this river and its tributaries. Therefore, I feel everyone from Maharashtra will relate their lives with this movie. We will be able to rekindle our relation with rivers through this film.”
Fadnavis went much deeper to highlight the condition of the rivers in the state and claimed how his government, both at the state and centre, has taken up the task of reversing their condition.
“Industrial effluents are responsible for only 10% [of pollution in rivers of Maharashtra],” he said. “The remaining 90% has happened due to the infrastructure of the villages not being done properly. We will be taking up this task now. Especially our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has already generated funds for this task through Amrut Yojana. It will ensure that in the future gradually all the water from cities and villages will be purified before going into our rivers.”
During last year’s IFFI (International Film Festival of India), Joshi was bestowed upon with the Silver Peacock for Best Actor for Godavari. In the same festival, Mahajan received the special jury award for his direction in the movie.
