The Common Man Speaks

Maidaan review: One of Ajay Devgn’s finest acts in one of the best sports dramas

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Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s Maidaan is based on the life of India’s celebrated football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, played by Ajay Devgn, during the golden period for Indian football, which started in the early 1950s. Rahim is a selfless coach who only has one mission in life, which is to take Indian football to greater heights.

The movie starts off when Rahim is India’s coach when the team horribly loses against Yugoslavia by 10-1 in the 1952 Olympics. Following the defeat, the coach lists down genuine reasons for the team’s loss and asks for some changes from the Football Federation of India (FFI) in Calcutta, including the revamping of the team. Although federation member Shubhankar (Rudranil Ghosh) doesn’t pay heed to the demands, the chief Anjan (Baharul Islam) agrees to the same.  

Hence, Rahim tours all over India to gather players for upcoming tournaments. Although Rahim builds a new team, the journey doesn’t start off well and he gets a bad name. But along with Shubhankar, he has another nemesis in the form of a veteran sports journalist Roy Choudhury (Gajraj Rao). The two are always looking at ways to spoil the party for the coach. If this wasn’t enough, Rahim also faces a personal setback. Will his dream of taking team India to newer heights be fulfilled?

There have been numerous sports dramas and films based on real sports events in mainstream Hindi cinema over the years. Some of them, like Chak De! India (2007), Dangal (2016) and 83 (2021), have turned out to be supreme. Also, these films have a set template where the team (or a player) faces an important tournament in the second half where it plays the semi-final and, lastly, the final. The same is the case with Maidaan too.

But there are quite a few reasons why the film doesn’t appear repetitive. Firstly, the first half is fresh and unlike other sports dramas, especially the part where the protagonist builds the team. His personal tragedy (which can’t be revealed to avoid spoilers) plays a major role in generating the emotional connect. The narrative in the second half also keeps surprising you with events in between the matches. These points, along with Sharma’s fresh presentation makes Maidaan stand out.

Of course, such films work only when the sport is captured satisfactorily. In the case of Maidaan, the cinematography during the football match scenes by Andrey Valentsov is spectacular to say the least. The performance of a large number of actors who play football players deserves high acclaim too for the final result.

These players have been deliberately not given too much screen time because the film is mostly about Syed Abdul Rahim. It will be an understatement to say that Ajay Devgn has managed his job well. He has, in fact, provided one of his career best performances. The scenes where he is affected by his personal tragedy bring out the best from him. Rest of the supporting actors like Priyamani, Gajraj Rao and Rudranil Ghosh leave an impact too.

Also Read: Big celebs endorsing UNRECOGNIZED Phalke Awards adds confusion & lowers value of real Phalke Award

There are no major negative points in Maidaan, only minor ones. It would have been better had they given some background about Rahim and what all he did before becoming India’s coach; his life as a football player. The demonizing of opposition teams could have been, at least, lowered down. It is also questionable to show the character of journalist as so anti-India.

Overall: Maidaan is one of Hindi cinema’s best sports dramas with one of Ajay Devgn’s career best performance. Despite the film not opening with a bang, it will slowly climb the ladder of success at the box office.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Alibaba Aani Chalishitale Chor review: Vivek Bele’s dialogues deserve special mention  

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Subjects about friendship never get old. Most of the times, these are emotional films about a group of friends who face an internal adversity only to reconcile in the end. Aditya Ingale’s Alibaba Aani Chalishitale Chor is also a story about a group of friends and what happens amongst them, but there is a twist. It’s a comic drama with a dash of adultery.

The movie is based on the play of the same name (which this writer hasn’t seen). It tells the story of three couples, played by Subodh Bhave-Shruti Marathe, Anand Ingale-Madhura Welankar, Atul Parchure-Mukta Barve and a single guy (Umesh Kamat), who are a part of a group of friends in their 40s.

The seven of them decide to venture out of the city on a farmhouse for a weekend of relaxation and partying. At night, when all of them are merrily dancing, the lights suddenly go off. During that brief moment, one can hear a loud kiss, followed by the sound of a hard slap. Nobody knows who kissed whom and who slapped whom and whether the kiss and slap are related. This single incident is enough for everyone to doubt their respected spouses.

On top of that, each one of them get an e-mail from a stranger who has started a blog that publishes secrets among the people of their group and after eight days, he or she will reveal what exactly happened that night.

Alibaba Aani Chalishitale Chor is a rare movie where the dialogues score the highest. Vivek Bele, who also wrote the play, has come up with hilarious lines that get you in splits regularly, especially the theories about what happened that night. A lot of the conversations happen over the phone and these are also filled with humour. You are reminded of his previous work on a film on similar lines in the form of Badam Rani Gulam Chor (2012).

The dialogues have been rightly complemented by the actors. After Vaalvi, one again gets to see the funny side of Subodh Bhave and he proves his versatility yet again. Mukta Barve is seen in a different role for the first time and she too scores high. Umesh Kamat, as the only single person in the group, gets good scope and he latches onto it. Anand Ingale, Atul Parchure and Madhura Welankar provide funny and mature acts too. Shruti Marathe is decent.

The movie has a funny and enjoyable first half which also establishes the tale well, makes you laugh and curious about what happened during that fateful moment. But for a good amount of time in the second half, the story doesn’t move much, except creating more curiosity. You still don’t lose interest because of the funny lines.

Also read: Kennedy review: Anurag Kashyap’s political cum crime drama is impressive

But what really hurts the film is the finale, for which you have been waiting eagerly. The major reveal in the end takes you by surprise but it isn’t exciting or interesting enough. The same goes for the message given. The film would have been a much better entertainer if it had scored well in the climax.

Overall: Alibaba Aani Chalishitale Chor is a one-time watch because of the humorous lines.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Director: Aditya Ingale

Producers: Nitin Prakash Vaidya, Nikhil Vadarkar, Viraj Londhe and Sandeep Deshpande

Writer: Vivek Bele

Cast: Subodh Bhave, Mukta Barve, Shruti Marathe, Anand Ingale, Madhura Welankar, Atul Parchure and Umesh Kamat

Sachin-Kambli’s unknown match-winning partnership: 50 Years of Wankhede

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The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai completes 50 years this year. It is an extremely revered site for cricket lovers from the city. In fact, it can also be called a place of worship for them for the numerous memories they have had here over the years. As the stadium completes 5 decades, I am reminded of the very first time I entered this place to watch a match way back in 1998.

It was a Ranji One-Day West Zone League match between Mumbai and Gujarat. It was my brother’s eighth birthday, so apart from both of us, our parents also joined us. Our major reason for going for this match was to see the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli bat together.

Apart from them, the Mumbai team also comprised of some other well-known names like Amol Muzumdar, Pravin Ambre, Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey, Jatin Paranjpe, Ramesh Pawar, etc. It was a star-studded Mumbai line up back then.

Although this was my first visit to the Wankhede, it was the second time I set foot inside a cricket stadium. The first time was in the same year at the Brabourne Stadium for a match between Mumbai and Australia. Myself, my father and brother got to see Sachin score his first double hundred in first-class cricket in the match where eventually Mumbai beat Australia (read more about that match HERE). I was expecting a similar experience at the Wankhede.

Photo for representational purpose only. Source: Deccan Chronicle

There was nothing known as ‘October heat’ that would continue till November back then. Hence, it was a pleasant Sunday November 22 morning on the day of the match. The excitement inside me knew no bounds. As we entered the stadium, it took me a while to believe that I was indeed inside the Wankhede for the first time. For some time, I was just looking around the stadium.

I was hoping to see Mumbai’s star batsmen chase the target and that’s what happened. Mumbai won the toss and sent Gujarat into bat. Kuruvilla and Mhambrey ensured that the opposition never got going. They were eventually reduced to 181 for 9 in their 50 overs. This was some sort of recovery after they were 15 for 3 at one stage. There were some fun moments when Kuruvilla stood near the boundary where we were sitting and there was some funny banter from the crowd.

The excitement in the stadium knew no bounds when Mumbai’s captain Sachin Tendulkar came into bat with Rajesh Sutar. Mumbai lost Sutar early at the score of 11. But the fall of wicket was met with cheers of joy as that gave us a chance of watching Sachin and Kambli bat together. Me, and a lot of others, were in the stadium for precisely this reason. Their on-pitch pair instantly reminds us of their historic 664 run partnership during an inter-school Harris Shield tournament in 1988.

The beloved duo from Mumbai didn’t disappoint as they started going after the Gujarat bowling and we got to see an array of attacking shots from both. To see the two in action play a wide range of shots on my very first outing at the Wankhede was something I can’t explain in words. A sixer Kambli hit near the stand where we were seated is still fresh in my memory and the moment of the match for me.

Both Tendulkar and Kambli reached half centuries in quick time. The former eventually got out but not after scoring a delightful 51 of just 36 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Kambli continued the onslaught and he ended up with 90 not out of just 61 balls. His innings contained 10 fours and 3 sixes! Mumbai went onto chase the target in just 25.5 overs with just 3 wickets down.

I couldn’t have asked for a better first visit to the Wankhede.

This was also probably the last match-winning partnership in a limited overs match between Tendulkar and Kambli. If not that, it is surely a lesser-known one. The match wasn’t recorded as first-class matches hardly got live coverage in those days. Hence, there is not much about the match on the internet, except scorecards like THIS one.

That makes it all the more special.

Also Read: When team Mumbai almost AGAIN defeated Australia

Big celebs endorsing UNRECOGNIZED Phalke Awards adds confusion & lowers value of real Phalke Award

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Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest honour for a film artiste in India. It is given each year by the Government of India to one individual for his or her outstanding contribution to cinema. It is a part of the National Awards each year. However, over the last several years, a number of private awards have been started in the name of Dadasaheb Phalke, which has not only created confusion among the public but is also threatening to lower the importance of the actual Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

The new private awards in the name of Phalke that have cropped up in recent years are – Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards, Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards and Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards.

With the name ‘Dadasaheb Phalke’ attached to each of the awards, the public comes under the impression that a particular film artiste has received the prestigious Phalke Award given by the Government. What makes things worse is that a section of the media also reports as if an artiste has received the real Phalke award. At times, they don’t even care to mention the full name of the award and that this is not the actual Phalke award.

A few years ago, there was a lot of hue and cry on social media when news about Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of MSG fame receiving the ‘Phalke Award’ spread like fire. It was later found out that he was given one of the private Phalke awards and not the actual one. It was all a result of a publication giving a misleading headline, which created an online uproar.

This year, the confusion regarding Phalke awards increased manifolds. Earlier, not many big stars used to attend and accept these awards. But this year, some of the biggest names in the industry – like Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Rani Mukerji, Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, etc, – attended the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards earlier this week and some of them even won in different categories. Also the kind of media coverage this particular awards function received this year was never seen before.

One can just imagine the kind of recognition this unrecognized Phalke Award has now received with the endorsement of some of the biggest names. On top of that, some media houses, like previous years, didn’t care to mention the full name of the award, making it look as if these stars have won the actual Phalke Award. The headlines in the press releases regarding these awards shared by some PR (Public Relation) executives also mentioned only ‘Phalke Award.’

These stars have either a shelf or a room full of awards. So it’s sad to see them endorsing these awards that are unrecognized by the government just to add on to their tally of awards. It is not possible to stop any firm or organization from organizing any private awards. So the least that the industry can do is to not give them importance in order to maintain the sanctity of the actual Phalke Award and, more importantly, the honour of Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, the Father of Indian Cinema.

Tomorrow, someone might just start a parallel National or Padma Awards by adding a few more words in the title.

Also Read: Amaltash (Marathi movie) Review: Tenderly created saga on love, life & music

Aata Vel Zaali (Marathi movie) Review: Film about active euthanasia brings a smile

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Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish advocated the idea of euthanasia on a patient who was completely bed-ridden and in a vegetative state from below his head. But filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s Aata Vel Zaali (English title: It’s Time To Go) shows two protagonists wanting to end their lives through active euthanasia despite not suffering from any major illness.  

The movie starts off in 2018. A senior citizen couple Shashidhar Lele (Dilip Prabhavalkar) and Ranjana Lele (Rohini Hattangadi) lives alone peacefully in a middle-class household in Mumbai. They would appear content with life to anyone. However, they have a desire of ending their lives through active euthanasia despite being fit. They feel they have carried out all their life’s responsibilities and have nothing more to offer in terms of productivity. Hence, they wish to end their respective lives while being in a happy and peaceful state.

Mr and Mrs Lele are considered weird by their extended family members and neighbours but that is not going to deter them. They write to the President of India about their wish and try other means as well but to no avail. But they are not ready to give up.

The biggest challenge for Aata Vel Zaali was to make the audience take Mr and Mrs Lele’s wish seriously and the film achieves that convincingly. You might not agree with Shashidhar and Ranjana’s desire of ending their lives this way but the reasons given by them appear sensible and convincing. In fact, some examples presented are even praiseworthy. For example, Mr Lele once quoting a philosopher saying that if you want a happy ending to your story, you must know where to end it.

The idea about an old couple wanting to end their lives brings back memories of Mahesh Bhatt’s classic Saaransh (1984). However, in that movie, the couple decides to end their life out of depression born out of the grief of their young son’s untimely death. But Mr and Mrs Lele are far from depressed. Interestingly, the 1984 movie also featured Hattangadi as the wife, although in a completely different character.

Despite the film speaking about death throughout its duration, it never gets sad. On the contrary, Aata Vel Zaali also qualifies as a light-hearted drama with a number of dialogues by Mahendra Patil that either make you laugh or smile. The picturization (cinematography by Pradip S Kanvildkar) also plays an important part here. The entire film is visually rich even if it shows ordinary, everyday visuals. This was also the case with Mahadevan’s earlier Hindi movie Gaur Hari Dastaan.  

There was huge responsibility on Dilip Prabhavalkar and Rohini Hattangadi’s shoulders. It was their performance that was largely going to be responsible for making the audience understand and agree to their unusual demand. To say that they succeeded in their task would be an understatement. The two veterans add plenty of life to a film about death. Their unusual chemistry is felt right from the first scene. The rest of the actors like Jaywant Wadkar, Smita Tambe, Bharat Dabholkar and others offer good support in a limited screen time.

After so many plusses, you expect a bit more from the final scene than what is offered. Nevertheless, the climax isn’t disappointing.

Overall: Aata Vel Zaali is a smooth-flowing feel good film despite the topic it deals with.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Director: Ananth Mahadevan Narayan

Producers: Dinesh Bansal, G K Agrawal and Ananth Narayan Mahadevan

Writers: Ananth Mahadevan Narayan and Mahendra Patil

Cast: Dilip Prabhavalkar and Rohini Hattangadi

Also Read: Amaltash (Marathi movie) Review: Tenderly created saga on love, life & music

Amaltash (Marathi movie) Review: Tenderly created saga on love, life & music

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Stories about protagonists suffering from a severe illness have been dealt brilliantly in India in films like Anand and Kal Ho Na Ho. Filmmaker Suhas Desale’s Marathi movie Amaltash, which also deals with an important character going through a serious crisis, reaches to that level, although its way different than both movies in terms of the story, narrative and handling.

Amaltash (which translates to ‘a month and a week’) takes place in Pune and it revolves around Rahul (Rahul Deshpande). He lives with his elder sister (Deepti Mate), her husband (Bhushan Mate) and their daughter Dimple (Trisha Kunte). Rahul is a musician and singer who works in a showroom selling and looking after musical instruments. He was once a part of a band with the same people he is working in the shop. The band was dissolved due to unfortunate circumstances.

Rahul once visits one of their customers and well-wishers Mrs Potdar (Pratibha Padhye) for some music instrument related work. Over there, he meets her young granddaughter Keerthi (Pallavi Paranjpe), who stays with her father in Canada and has visited Pune for some time. The two become friendly and she gradually becomes a part of Rahul’s life because of their common passion towards music.

Amaltash Movie

Amaltash isn’t narrated as the synopsis above. The movie is a collage of scenes, sequences and conversations from real life where the viewer is a keen observer. The narrative takes a few minutes for one to get accustomed to. But once that happens, you just can’t leave the film. The observer in you becomes more and more curious and you never realize when you get emotionally attached to the characters and their story. The film is narrated with a lot of tenderness, which you feel every now and then.

Another major positive here is the dialogue. The conversations are straight out of real life but deep and impactful enough to add to the overall effect. Music plays an important role but the film doesn’t present songs in a conventional manner. What you get is live, unplugged and intimate performances taking place inside homes when friends meet.

During all this, the movie also presents Pune in a very different and pleasant manner. It does what Tu Hai Mera Sunday did for Mumbai.

But the biggest triumph of Amaltash is the handling of the pre-climax and climax with, again, such tenderness, that it moves you no ends but at the same (without giving away much) is full of life.

As far as the technical aspects are concerned, the camerawork, background score and editing gel well with the nature of the film and stick to being simple.

The same is the case with the performances as well. Rahul Deshpande was tremendous in Mee Vasantrao (although he shot this film after Amaltash). With Amaltash, he proves that he is as good an actor as a singer. A major effect one feels in the movie is because to his act. Pallavi Paranjpe is thoroughly believable as a Canadian return. She never overdoes with her language and succeeds in speaking without speaking much at times.

Also read: Kennedy review: Anurag Kashyap’s political cum crime drama is impressive

Deepti Mate, Trisha Kunte and the rest of the supporting cast is flawless too. It is interesting to note that all the actors had faced the camera for the first time and they belong to some diverse fields of work.

It is difficult to point out any major flaw or negative point in Amaltash. Perhaps, the pace could have been quickened a bit in a few portions before the climax.

Overall: Amaltash is a thoroughly moving piece of cinema on love, life and music.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Director: Suhas Desale

Producers: Darshan Productions and Medium Strong Productions

Writers: Suhas Desale, Mayuresh Wagh and Pallavi Paranjpe

Cast: Rahul Deshpande, Pallavi Paranjpe, Deepti Mate, Trisha Kunte, Pratibha Padhye

In an era of govt pleasers, Bhakshak comes as a beacon of hope

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Filmmaker Pulkit’s recent saga Bhakshak, starring Bhumi Pednekar in the lead, tells a fictitious tale inspired from horrific case of a girls’ shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. In 2018, it came to light that a number of orphan girls in a shelter home in the town run by an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) were subject to rape and sexual abuse. The perpetrators roamed free because of their political connections.

But the truth finally came out and after a long period of trial and the people alleged in the crime were punished. The Supreme Court reportedly criticized the then government of Bihar over the delay in filing the correct FIR (First Information Report) in the case.

Bhakshak, which is streaming on Netflix, is about an honest and upright journalist Vaishali Singh (Pednekar) who runs a small news channel called Koshish News, with the help from her only staff member Bhaskar Sinha (Sanjay Mishra) in Patna. She gets to know about the gruesome case of rape, molestation and murder of a number of orphaned girls in a shelter home in Munawwarpur (name changed) after a source hands over a copy of an audit report.

The report states that such heinous crimes are taking place in a shelter home for girls in Munawwarpur. The report is ignored by the authorities since the shelter home is run by Bansi Sahu (Aditya Srivastav), who has major connections among the political bigwigs in the state. How Vaishali and Bhaskar make efforts for the victims to be freed and given justice by facing various obstacles, including Vaishali’s own family, forms the rest of the story.

Bhakshak is a fine example of narrating a chilling tale in an honest manner. The narrative doesn’t give too much footage to the gruesome crimes but still establishes the wrongdoings and its perpetrators in a heart-wrenching manner. This and various other moments are an indication of mature filmmaking, barring few creative liberties here and there. Bhumi Pednekar, Sanjay Mishra and Aditya Srivastav’s brilliant performances also play a large role in creating an impact. You can’t help but feel for Bhumi’s character and you can’t stop hating Srivastav and his associates.

But Bhakshak is more special because it comes at a time when government propaganda films or movies where the government or the ruling party is pleased are seen regularly. It’s quite cringeworthy how artistes bow down to the political class either to be in their good books or because they share the same ideology or some other reason. The number of such films have increased in recent times, obviously because of the general elections nearing.

During such an era, Bhakshak comes across as a breath of fresh air or a beacon of hope when it comes to the conscience of the film industry. The movie takes a hard-hitting route and provides a no-holds-barred approach when it comes to portraying the criminals and those with criminal mindsets within the political class. The film’s bravery can be seen also from the fact that the makers have named the state of Bihar instead of creating a fictitious state in India, like quite a lot of films.

On the other hand, we have films that take the easiest way out where they pretend to tackle something of national or social importance but eventually and indirectly end up pleasing the government or its ideology. In some cases, however, they have even stopped pretending to be neutral.

Interestingly, this is the second film by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment that has dared to show the mirror to the perpetrators of heinous crimes by the powerful. Just a few months ago, the banner did the same with Jawan, which presented not just one but several humongous loopholes and injustice in our system.

Also read: Fighter Review: Regular cross-border action drama

Fighter Review: Regular cross-border action drama

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Filmmaker Siddharth Anand’s Fighter is touted to be India’s first aerial action film. It revolves around a group of Indian Air Force officers. The story starts off in 2019 when a combat unit Air Dragons is created in response to the increase in the illegal cross border operations by Pakistan. The unit consists of Squadron Leaders Shamsher Pathania aka Patty (Hrithik Roshan), Minal Rathore aka Minni (Deepika Padukone), Sartaj Gill (Karan Singh Grover), Basheer Khan (Akshay Oberoi) and Sukhi (Banveen Singh), a junior officer. The group is headed by Rakesh Jai Singh (Anil Kapoor).

The Air Dragons officers are asked to bond with each other. During this time, Patty and Minni get close. There are issues between Patty and Rakesh Jai Singh due to a disturbing past incident. Meanwhile, the officers are sent to Jammu for an operation. During this time, a suicide bomber kills a large number of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) jawans in an attack in Pulwama.

The incident, obviously, enrages Patty and team. They decide to fight back and take revenge. Air Dragons succeed in their mission. However, the dreaded terrorist Azhar Akhtar (Rishabh Ravinder Sawhney) has more deadly plans up his sleeve against India.

A major highlight of Fighter is the aerial action scenes and there are plenty of them. Apart from keeping you thoroughly interested and, at times, at the edge of your seat (especially if you see the film in Imax, like I did), these scenes also boast of good VFX and camerawork. Of course, a good amount of creative liberty is taken since it’s a mainstream commercial film. The movie also deserves to be praised for the detailing it follows with respect to the professional lives of the air force pilots.

Fighter, however, at the heart of it is just like a regular cross-border action drama with loads of patriotism. Anyone following Hindi cinema for even around 25 years would have seen plenty of this in a number of yesteryear films. The movie has all the clichés one would expect from a film of this type, from half-baked, half-intelligent and immature Pakistani military officers to the heroic dialogue baazi between the good and the bad guys.  

The film also suffers from being lengthy. This is felt in the second half where, surprisingly, action and the subject of terrorism take a backseat and the narrative switches onto a number of emotional moments born out of the interpersonal relations between the characters. All those who saw the trailer and felt that this would be an out-and-out action thriller are bound to have an unpleasant surprise. Thankfully, the film makes up for this in the climax.

Vishal-Sheykhar’s music is decent. Apart from ‘Sher Khul Gaye’, the theme song ‘Vande Mataram’ is not only touching but it also adds to the emotions in a lot of situations. But by the time the film ends, one starts feeling that the track is overused.

Fighter is helped a lot by the performances. Hrithik Roshan fits the character of Patty to the T. He is impressive while portraying different shades of his character. And it’s difficult to believe that he is 50. Deepika Padukone is likeable and determined as Minni. Anil Kapoor commands respect, even with a single glance. Akshay Oberoi and Karan Singh Grover offer fine support. In the role of the mastermind terrorist, Rishabh Ravinder Sawhney is just average.

Overall: Despite the negatives, Fighter still turns out to be a one-time watch and for this, the revenge operation in the first half and, more importantly, the climax are largely responsible.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Also read: Merry Christmas Review: Sriram Raghavan leaves behind his stamp yet again

Merry Christmas Review: Sriram Raghavan leaves behind his stamp yet again

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When a filmmaker consistently leaves behind his signature stamp on all his films and, barring one attempt, has a super successful record, he becomes a genre in himself. Sriram Raghavan is easily one such filmmaker. His latest Merry Christmas has all his thriller elements along with his trademark humour.

Merry Christmas is based on the French novel ‘Le Monte-Charge’ by author Frédéric Dard. This is for the first time that Raghavan has tried a period film. The story is set in Mumbai in the 1980s (then Bombay). It’s the Christmas Eve (December 24). Albert (Vijay Sethupathi) returns to Bombay after quite a while. He goes out to eat at a restaurant where he meets Maria (Katrina Kaif) and her mute daughter Annie (Pari Maheshwari Sharma) under weird circumstances.

Albert and Maria meet again at a cinema hall. They then start talking and form an unusual bond. Hence, Maria invites Albert to her place. Albert has had a dark past and Maria is not happy with her married life as her husband Jerome (Luke Kenny) is cheating on her. Albert and Maria both start feeling for each other. After Annie goes to bed, they both go out to celebrate Christmas. But, out of the blue, a deadly crime takes place, which puts Albert and Maria in trouble.

Sriram Raghavan’s movies are known for being right on the money from the start, with something or the other continuously taking place. But Merry Christmas is an exception where during most of the first half of the film, nothing much happens. This, however, doesn’t trouble you since the proceedings are thoroughly engaging, especially due to some witty humour taking place in some of the most unexpected places.

The film changes gears once the crime takes place. Police procedure and the behavior of cops is always unique in Raghavan’s films and Merry Christmas is no exception. It also doesn’t repeat any of the traits of the cops from his earlier films.

The only firm issue with Merry Christmas is its abrupt climax. It seems that the film is ended in a hurry and you don’t feel like leaving the cinema hall. However, one also can’t deny that the manner in which the narrative reaches the climax and a major twist coming from a character who didn’t seem important before, is praiseworthy. Hence, the ending portion is a mixed bag. The other concern here is one activity a couple of characters engage in in the second half, which could have at least given less importance and shortened.

Merry Christmas is also brought alive by Mayur Sharma’s production design of the bygone era of Mumbai. The old bus stop of Bombay is enough to invoke nostalgia for those grown up in this city in the 1980s and 90s. As one would expect from a film by this filmmaker, the technical aspects in terms of the camerawork, background score and editing are praiseworthy.

There was always eagerness to see how Vijay Sethupathi would perform in a Sriram Raghavan film. The actor delivers a top-notch performance and gets every ounce of Albert right. A special mention should be given to his subtle humour. This is one of Katrina Kaif’s better performances, although her usual limitations are noticeable.

Sanjay Kapoor and Tinnu Anand succeed in being hilarious. Vinay Pathak and Ashwini Kalsekar leave behind an impact despite arriving late. Radhika Apte is fine in a cameo. The child actor Pari Maheshwari Sharma shows impressive acting abilities.

Overall: Although Merry Christmas isn’t among Sriram Raghavan’s best works, the movie definitely works for thriller lovers and is worth watching for its key moments.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Also read: Kennedy review: Anurag Kashyap’s political cum crime drama is impressive

Panchak (Marathi movie) Review

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Beliefs in different superstitions is a part and parcel of live all over India, including among the educated class. Superstitions often make way for comedy if looked at them from a distance. This tussle between superstitions and science is tackled by directors Rahul Awate and Jayant Jathar’s Marathi movie Panchak in a humorous way. The film is produced by Madhuri Dixit Nene and her husband Dr Shriram Nene.

Panckak is a belief where if a person from a family dies during a certain astrological time, it is followed by five more deaths within a year either from the same family or from people close to that family. The story takes place in the interiors of Konkan. Ananta Khot (Dilip Prabhavalkar) dies in his old age. The family’s priest Joshi (Vidyadhar Joshi) realizes that the man passed away during Panchak. Hence, the entire Khot family and their near and dear ones get scared as they feel five more deaths will follow in a year’s time.

However, Ananta’s son Madhav (Aditnath Kothare) finds this laughable since he is an atheist and a believer in science and rationality. He also works in the field of science. He faces the wrath from Joshi and the entire family (played by Satish Alekar, Bharti Achrekar, Anand Ingle, Nandita Patkar, Deepti Devi and Ganesh Mayekar) for his outlook but he is unperturbed. What actually happens till a year from that period forms the rest of the story. Madhav also shares a complicated romantic relationship with Revati (Tejashri Pradhan), who stays in the same village.

Panchak had the difficult task of creating a dark comedy out of someone’s death. The narrative and dialogues maintains the balance and ensure that nowhere does the proceedings become insensitive. The film also goes onto the extent of providing some rib-tickling and crazy humour all within the parameters of the subject. The confrontations between Madhav and his family members is funny in a natural away, even though it becomes slapstick at times.

Pankchak doesn’t have much of a story development. This isn’t felt much in the first half where the unfolding events keep you glued. But the same doesn’t happen in the second half where you start feeling that limited story material. Hence, more onus is given to gags and some incidents are stretched. The whole idea of hiding something from one character in the second half appears more like a ploy to keep the runtime over two hours, whereas it would have been fine if the film would have gotten over before that. The humour also appears a bit repetitive in the second half.

The finale, thankfully, is a nice and simple end to the debate and the story.

The performances fall in the positive. Adinath Kothare is thoroughly impressive as a firm but affectionate Madhav. He scores while portraying different moods of his character. Nandita Patkar gets more than noticed while playing an interesting character with perfection. Anand Ingle, Deepti Devi and the rest are also without fault. Veterans like Dilip Prabhavalkar and Bharti Achrekar leave an impact despite limited presence. Tejashri Pradhan is likeable in an extended cameo.

Like a number of previous Marathi films, the picturesque Konkan is explored richly here. Pooja S Gupte’s camerawork is impressive but at the same time quite simple and apt for the subject.

Overall: Panchak is worth watching for the humour and the ensemble cast.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Also read: Ole Aale (Marathi movie) Review: Nana Patekar starrer is a moving family drama