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Maharaj review: Karsandas Mulji’s story, unfortunately, is relevant even after 160 years

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The name of Karsandas Mulji isn’t heard often when one speaks of Indian social reformers that were active during the British Era. Filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra’s Maharaj will perhaps make him a talking point to some extent as the film is based on his heroics in a bygone era.

Produced by Yash Raj Films, Maharaj, which is streaming on Netflix, is based on the book of the same name written by Saurabh Shah in 2013. It narrates the story of Karsandas’ fight against an evil priest. The story starts off in a village in Gujarat in the 1820s where Karsandas, as a kid, questions everything, especially religious practices. He is sent to Bombay to his uncle’s place after he grows up (Junaid Khan). Karsan’s critical and revolutionary mind makes him a fearless journalist and a social reformer. He regularly writes about the evil social practices in Dadabhai Naoroji’s (Sunil Gupta) newspaper.

Karsan is engaged to Kishori (Shalini Pandey) and they deeply fall in love. During that era, Jadunathji (pronounced in the film as ‘Yadunath’) Maharaj (Jaideep Ahlawat), the priest of the biggest haveli (temple for Vaishnavas) in Mumbai, is worshiped by millions. He makes negative use of the devotion by engaging in ‘charan sparsh’ with young girls. The activity is nothing but sleeping with girls in the name of blessing.

One such ‘charan sparsh’ activity by Jadunath enrages Karsan and brings both of them face-to-face with each other. Karsan vows to expose and punish Jadunath through the use of his pen but the evildoer is unperturbed because of his powerful social position.  

The basic plot of Maharaj is similar to that of Manoj Bajpayee starrer Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023), which was based on the infamous Asaram case. But the makers of the former can’t be accused of taking inspiration from the latter for two reasons – Maharaj is also based on a true story and the film was in production before the Bajpayee starrer was released.

Apart from that, what sets Maharaj apart is that it takes the viewer deep into the chamber of the evil Godman and his practices over there. It also goes into detail when it comes to the religious practices and rituals of the devotees of Shrinathji. What also makes the film hard-hitting is the powerful lines, especially the ones mouthed by Karsan. The sequence where he addresses a large group of devotees after Jadunath shuts the haveli temporarily provides goosebumps and is certainly the highest moment of the film.

The court proceedings, although arriving much later, keep the hard-hitting nature of the film alive and the dialogues play a major role here too. The final moment surprisingly doesn’t provide the kind of a kick one would expect, especially after experiencing the aforementioned scene. But nevertheless, the film ends on a high, more so because of the tribute given to the real Karsandas Mulji.

Maharaj isn’t fully perfect in its narrative though. The idea of traditional families happily giving away their daughters to Jadunath for ‘charan sparsh’ despite knowing what he actually does with them and accepting it as an important ritual is not established at all. We also don’t get to know how Karsan earns enough money to live a decent lifestyle. There are a few other questionable moments and creative liberties too.

Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray’s production design recreate the bygone era to perfection. The film is also rich in music (Sohail Sen) and the background score (Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara).

Maharaj marks the debut of Junaid Khan in what is one of the most heroic and challenging characters of recent times. The young actor displays his talent by successfully getting into the difficult shoes of Karsandas Mulji (more so in the scene mentioned above), except for one or two instances. Jaideep Ahwalat is remarkable as the evil Godmen who doesn’t lose his cool even once, no matter what the situation. The actor keeps the character’s evil nature alive even behind a smile.

Shalini Pandey is noticeable despite limited screen time. Sharvari is the surprise package. She lights up the role of a young woman who becomes an important part of Karsandas’ journey. Surprisingly, she is credited as ‘special appearance’ whereas she is a supporting character and has more to do than Pandey. The film also has good supporting acts from Sneha Desai, Jay Upadhyay, Sunil Gupta, Priyal Gor, Jamie Alter (defense lawyer), Utkarsh Mazumdar (Lalvanji Mahraj), Vaibhav Tatwawadi (Dr Bhau Daji Lad), etc.

Overall: Maharaj is a hard-hitting social saga about fake Godmen, which, unfortunately, is relevant even after more than 160 years.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Director: Siddharth P Malhotra

Producers: Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films

Writers: Saurabh Shah (book), Vipul Mehta and Sneha Desai

Cast: Junaid Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Shalini Pandey, Sharvari

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

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

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

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

Dunki is this year’s Laal Singh Chaddha

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Rajkumar Hirani recently completed 20 years as a filmmaker as his debut Munna Bhai MBBS celebrated two decades. In all these years, he and Shah Rukh Khan came close to working together but things couldn’t go forward. So when the two heavyweights finally join hands through Dunki, your expectations rise, irrespective of the story, genre, etc.

As far as the story of Dunki is concerned, it starts in 1995 in a small fictitious village in Punjab named Laltu. Manu (Taapsee Pannu), Buggu (Vikram Kochhar), Balli (Anil Grover) and Sukhi (Vicky Kaushal) are living miserable lives. They feel the only way to better their existence is to migrate to England. However, they are unable to do so despite trying hard.

One fine day, a soldier Hardy (Shah Rukh Khan) arrives in Laltu to repay Manu’s family for the huge favour one of her family members did to him. When he realizes that Manu, Buggu, Balli and Sukhi are desperate to go to England, he vows to help them. After trying a lot, they realize that the only way through which they can enter England is through the donkey method, which is illegal immigration (called as Dunki in the movie).

Dunki appears like two different films in the two halves. The first half keeps you hooked throughout in a typical Hirani way – no time pass, only dialogues, regular conflicts and heartwarming moments. The humour over here is not as funny as one would expect but the proceedings are at least mildly entertaining. Before the movie, it was felt that it would be difficult to root for the characters in their illegal task. But after going through their respective situations, it doesn’t get difficult.

As said earlier, the second half is a different film about the struggles of the group of people to enter England. Till this point itself the movie had fallen short of expectations from a Hirani product. But from here onwards, it goes further downhill. The various events are not only unconvincing but also uninteresting. And by the time the film ends, it becomes worse. Also the whole idea of narrating the film in a flashback makes it predictable on a lot of occasions.

As you move out of the theatre, you are confused thinking why two greats like Hirani and SRK decided to join hands for something like this. More importantly, you also wonder what exactly is the point of telling this story in the first place, especially due to the climax.

The performances save Dunki to some extent. Shah Rukh Khan brings in the right energy needed for this character and carries the film on his shoulders. But the different tone through which he speaks throughout becomes too obvious and questionable, especially when his character grows old.

This is one of Taapee Pannu’s better acts. Vikram Kochhar and Anil Grover provide dedicated performances. A great talent like Vicky Kaushal is wasted in a cameo, although he does well. Deven Bhojani and Boman Irani are decent in other cameos.

The other saving grace is CK Muraleedharan, Manush Nandan and Kumar Pankaj’s camerawork and the visuals of different countries of the world. As far as the music is concerned, ‘Nikle The Kabhi Ghar Se’ is the only impressive track.

Overall, Dunki is this year’s Laal Singh Chaddha. Not in terms of the plot or the characters but because of the end result and a major story development in the climax, which is not possible to reveal to avoid giving out spoilers.

Also read: Indi(r)a’s Emergency review: Show’s the period’s relevance today

Animal, surprisingly, isn’t called out for its silliness    

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Very few films make the kind of noise Sandeep Redddy Vanga’s Animal is making right after its release. The movie, starring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead as Ranvijay Singh, is being called out for its severe violence and the promotion of misogyny. There have been countless articles and social media posts on the same and they just keep on increasing with every passing day.

(SPOILERS ahead)

After finally watching Animal today, I am not impressed. But my dislike for the film is more for other reasons. No doubt, I also felt that it promotes misogyny through its central character. He is someone who doesn’t treat his wife as equal in any away, though he makes it look as if he loves her. Worse, he sleeps with another woman secretly. Although he confesses about it, he has no remorse and, on top of that, tries to justify the same. His worst behavior pattern is the violence he metes out to his wife and he doesn’t feel guilty for that too.

I can somehow look at Ranvijay for being thoroughly mentally ill (although it’s too difficult) and the film as a case study of a person suffering from severe mental disorders and what happens when your family doesn’t take action when you start showing such signs so early in life.

Coming to the violence in Animal, I didn’t find it problematic as we have seen worse than this in Hindi web shows released in last three and a half years. Even a film like Rakht Charitra, which released 13 years ago, had almost the same level of violence and gore.

My major issue with Animal is its silly storyline and its narration. The most laughable aspect here is the complete lack of police or the presence of any sort of authority. Ranvijay announces on national television that he will behead the person who tried to kill his father but there is just no reaction to the threat. As a school kid, he brings a rifle in school and fires it in the class but doesn’t face any consequences, leave alone arrest.

Here comes the biggest one. Ranvijay gets hold of the huge machine gun that has gained popularity on social media in recent times. The number of gunshots fired in that scene is the same as one can see in a war between two countries. But despite the crazy amount of violence and the fact that Ranvijay killed over 100 people, he faces absolutely nothing and gets treated after being injured. Despite the fact that all those whom he killed were goons and criminals, one would expect him to fact at least something from the law.

This is not the only example though. There are various such moments in the film where you are astonished by the complete absence of law enforcement agencies in any way, even in foreign countries. One can somehow excuse these instances if the film is a madcap comedy or a mindless action thriller. But Animal definitely doesn’t fall in this category.

The movie also suffers from an abrupt narrative. The most important incident of Ranvijay’s father getting shot and the former returning to India happens so suddenly that it doesn’t impact you. One can understand that the aim here would have been to present the incident in an experimental or out-of-the-box style but it doesn’t work. The protagonist’s transformation from a young kid to a man possessed is also abrupt.

The worst of such incidents happens in the second half when one character is about to die and is in desperate need of a heart transplant. We are told that there is only 1% chance of that person getting a heart transplant done. But we, as an audience, don’t even realize when the transplant gets done and the character gets a new lease of life. Such an important incident is presented in a lazy manner.

Perhaps, the acting is the biggest plus point here, apart from the technical areas. If the writing would have risen to the same level, Animal would have been a different beast altogether (pun intended).

Also read: Indi(r)a’s Emergency review: Show’s the period’s relevance today

Tiger 3 Review (without spoilers)

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Synopsis: After successfully serving his nation in a daring mission in Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), Avinash Singh Rathore aka Tiger (Salman) is living a simple life with his wife and ISI agent Zoya (Katrina Kaif) and son Junior (Sartaaj Kakkar). But as he is a RAW agent, he can’t enjoy peace for a long time. He is sent on a mission to rescue his fellow agent Gopi (Ranvir Shorey) from a foreign land. Although he rescues Gopi, the latter dies due to severe injuries. Just before dying, Gopi reveals that Pakistan is planning a deadly mission against India and Zoya is hand-in-gloves with them.

The mission is being planned by the ruthless Aatish (Emraan Hashmi). Tiger, who is already disturbed and confused about Zoya’s possible involvement in the evil mission, gets another jolt when Aatish kidnaps Junior and forces Tiger to do what he wants him to.

Review: After watching some high-octane action sequences from a series of films in the Yash Raj Spy Universe, one would keep the same expectations from Tiger 3 on this front. The film passes this test. In fact, the action in some places, mostly in Salman’s entry sequence, is even better and it makes for a thrilling experience, especially when seen in Imax (where this reviewer saw).

Tiger 3

Tiger 3 thoroughly rides on such impressive action throughout its duration of 130 minutes. Of course, like the previous films in this universe, one needs to keep logic and reasoning away to enjoy these moments, especially the old troupe of the good guys not stopping a bullet even when hundreds are showered on them through some deadly machine guns.

Apart from action, the film also shines in other technical areas like cinematography and background score. To see various foreign countries and their portrayal is another plus here.

While Tiger 3 is high on technical aspects, the same can’t be said about its content. The film has a complicated storyline (not all is covered in the aforementioned synopsis) which is narrated in a rather confusing way. On top of that, the stakes here aren’t as high as the previous films in this universe. In other words, the mission is such that one doesn’t feel the tension and worry that one did, especially in a film like Pathaan. This ensures that there are a lot of been-there-done-that moments. The film also leaves a major question unanswered related to the mission (which can’t be revealed to avoid spoilers).

Tiger 3 also lags behind when it comes to the villain. While Emraan Hashmi acts well, he is surely not menacing enough to create a fear in you. The same can be said about the other bad guys.

From Race 3 onwards, Salman Khan hasn’t been in good form. He has had issues with his performances and energy levels in his films of last few years. He is much better in this film, also because the role of Tiger suits him. His screen presence works wonders. One wouldn’t expect much from Katrina Kaif after seeing her, over the years. She scores high only on action sequences. Simran, the actress who played Pakistan’s Prime Minister, provides a mature act. Revathy is also likeable as the RAW chief.

Tiger 3 reaches its highest point during the cameos of Shah Rukh Khan as Pathaan and Hrithik Roshan as Kabir. The former has a longer screen time and his chemistry with Salman is once again exciting. The rest of the film, unfortunately, doesn’t reach this level.

Overall: Tiger 3 turns out to be a one-time watch action extravaganza. At the box office, it has enough masala to be a hit. But it needs to be seen if it turns out to be a blockbuster.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Director: Maneesh Sharma

Producers: Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films

Writers: Aditya Chopra (story), Shridhar Raghavan (screenplay) and Anckur Chaudhry (dialogues)

Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Emraan Hashmi, Revathy

The Vaccine War review

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Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War starts off just before the COVID-19 pandemic hits the world, starting in China. The movie is largely about a group of scientists at the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), led by Dr. Balram Bhargava (Nana Patekar) and aided by a group of scientists and doctors (Pallavi Joshi, Sapthami Gowda, Nivedita Bhattacharya and Girika Oak) and others, who aim to invent India’s own COVID-19 vaccine.

The main aim of the movie is to pay tribute to all the scientists, doctors and medical staff who sacrificed a part of themselves to ensure that India makes its own COVID-19 vaccine. The Vaccine War achieves this motto. The film has various moments where we feel dearly for the scientists or soldiers, as they are called in the film, for their painstaking effort.

The Vaccine War

The performances of the actors also play a large role in achieving this. Nana Patekar is brilliant as a genius yet emotionally cold head of ICMR. Despite the serious nature of the character, there are little nuances that trigger’s laughter, all because of Patekar’s skill. The rest of the aforementioned actors too rise to the occasion.

The team of professionals had enough going in their professional and personal lives for a film to have conflict elements. However, as was the case with Agnihotri’s previous two films, he creates more conflict just to showcase his own personal political agenda and please the supporters of the ruling party.

To achieve this, The Vaccine War creates a cardboard villain in the form of a journalist Rohini Singh Dhulia (Raima Sen). She is vehemently anti-India, who just wants the vaccine to fail. But the film doesn’t stop at this. She is also shown as someone who is working on behalf of foreign interest against India. Her work involves following a ‘toolkit,’ a term very famous among the Right Wingers. To say that the film uses a poorly created character to achieve its political aim would be an understatement.

There is another moment in the film where a large group of journalists in a press conference are also shown to be anti-India. Disclosing the culmination of that scene would lead to spoilers but it leads to an unintentionally hilarious moment. By the time the film ends, it gradually becomes a cinematic version of a government press release.

Overall: The Vaccine War’s tribute to the medical faculty of India gets overshadowed by its political motive.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5