Category: Film

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Review: Shutter

A film about four people trapped by circumstances and forced to adapt to a strange situation, this one’s a must-watch.
by Ravi Shet

Rating: 3 out of 5

Shutter is directed by VK Prakash, who has remade his own Malayalam film by the same name. The movie starts with Pari, the oldest daughter of Jitya bhau (Sachin Khedekar) who is often away on work. Pari is rehearsing for a Super Singer Radio City competition, and her father has just returned on vacation. He is unhappy with her antics and decides to get her engaged to his friend Hemant’s son before he resumes work again.

Ekya (Amey Wagh) is an autorickshaw driver and one of Jitya’s close friends; his dearest ambition is to work outside India. Meanwhile, a struggling film director (Prakash Bare) takes Ekya’s autorickshaw and forgets to take his bag along when he alights; the bag contains a film script he is working on.

One day, Ekya, Jitya and his friends are partying in Jitya’s shop, when the two friends take a ride in Ekya’s autorickshaw to fetch liquor. At this juncture, a sex worker (Sonalee Kulkarni) enters the scene, starting a rollercoaster ride in the lives of Jitya and Ekya. A turn of events end up in the sex worker and Jitya being locked up in the shop with scarce ventilation and no food. Ekya, meanwhile, goes to fetch food for the duo and meets the film director who is still looking for his bag. At this juncture, Ekya is arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. This is the focal point of the story.

 

Sachin Khedekar and Sonalee Kulkarni essay their roles to perfection with great intensity, and are ably supported by Amey Wagh and Prakash Bare. The direction is top notch, as is the cinematography by KK Manoj. My only grouse with the film was that it should have had no songs – these only take away from the overall fast pace of the film. Overall, this is a great suspense thriller. Go watch it.

(Picture courtesy in.bookmyshow.com)

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Review: Insidious Chapter 3

Far from being scary, this film falls flat in several places and does not hold the audience’s attention for long.
by Ravi Shet

Rating: 2 out of 5

Making his directorial debut with this horror film, Leigh Whannell brings Insidious Chapter 3, a prequel set a few years before the haunting of the Lambert family. The film begins with a young girl, Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) approaching a psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) for a chance to talk to her late mother Lillith (Ele Keats).

Quinn thinks that her mother has been trying to reach out to her through the world of spirits and Elise can help her through the reading. Elise refuses, however, but she agrees later. But she is not able to complete the reading, since she hears a demonic presence that threatens to kill her. She advises Quinn not to reach out to her mother on her own. Regardless of the warnings, Quinn still attempts to reach her mother which opens doors that are meant to be closed.

She starts hearing noises in the night and the next day, she notices a dark figure waving to her offstage before going onstage for an audition at the theatre academy in New York. While crossing the street, Quinn again sees the same dark figure waving to her and she stops to look, but a speeding car hits her. The accident temporarily leaves her bedridden and she is looked after by her father Sean (Dermot Mulroney); however these problems are nothing in comparison to the ones she faces when she is tortured by demons trying to get at her soul every night.

 

This film provides no chills and thrills and is not likely to stay with you once it’s over. There were just two scenes of note – onen where the demon grabs Quinn and attempts to pull her over the ledge, and the other, where the spirit of Black Bride nearly kills Elise. Curiously, there is not back story for the demon in the film, though it is a burnt victim with a breathing mask. The end of the film signals the hint of another installment coming audiences’ way; however this installment of the Insidious series falls flat when compared with its previous two fellows.

(Picture courtesy trrdatfiltz.890m.com)

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Film

Review: Welcome Zindagi

A fresh look at many current happenings in society, the film gives the message of hope to the broken hearted.
by Ravi Shet

Welcome Zindagi directed by Umesh Ghadge is a remake of the Bengali film, Hemlock Society. The film starts with a discussion on love and relationships followed by a song (featuring Prashant Damle (Prashant) in a club. Meera (Amruta Khanvilkar), a fan of Prashant who never misses his shows is also shown in the same frame enjoying the moment.

Meera is a journalist by profession, who catches her fiancé cheating on her just 10 days before her wedding. She is already feeling lonely and ignored since her father, Dr Rajwade (Vivek Lagoo) has remarried after her mother’s death. On top of everything else, she hears that her boss is about to fire her from her job. Cornered in every possible way, she decides to end her life. For this, she meets her father and asks him for a prescription of sleeping pills on the pretext that she isn’t sleeping well. She thinks overdosing on sleeping pills will be a quick way out.

But at the moment she attempts to consume the pills, somebody rings her doorbell. That somebody turns out to be Anand Prabhu (Swwapnil Joshi). He enters the house and sees the bottle of sleeping pills, which he promptly flushes out. However, Anand does not tell her not to end her life – instead, he advises her to do it in a systematic way.

 

It turns out that Anand is the founder of Happy Ending Society, an organisation that believes every individual has a right to decide his or her destiny. He convinces Meera to enroll in three-day ‘suicide camp’ which will teach her many ways in which to end her life systematically. Convinced by his proposal, she leaves with him for the camp.

The pace of the movie is well maintained and the dialogues are crisp. There are few good cameos by Bharati Achrekar, Mahesh Manjrekar and Mohan Agashe; however the film truly belongs to the lead pair. This film is recommended for family viewing – it is humorous but sympathetic of all the issues we face in our lives, and gives hope to all those going through problems.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Film

Review: Spy

An unusual action heroine on a mission to tail a deadly target –an interesting premise falls flat in the execution.
by Ravi Shet

Writer-director Paul Feig presents the action-comedy secret agent film Spy with Melissa McCarthy (Susan Cooper) playing the pivotal role. Susan is a desk-bound CIA analyst helping her partner Agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) on a secret mission to Varna, Bulgaria to find a suitcase nuke bomb. She is connected with Bradley through his earpiece and watches via satellite from the CIA office in the United States, where you see bats and rats all over the office.

Bradley accidently kills his target – Boyanov – without finding the suitcase nuke bomb. The CIA sends Bradley to break into Boyanov’s daughter Rayna Boyanov’s (Rose Byrne) house to where the bomb could be. Before killing Bradley, Rayna reveals that she knows the identities of all the CIA’s agents and whoever follows her will be dealt with in the same way.

Susan volunteers to become a field agent and gets approval from her boss Elaine Crocker (Allison Janney) on the condition of a track and report mission; however Agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) dislikes Susan’s interference in his territory and follows her everywhere. Susan travels to Paris to spy on De Luca (Bobby Cannavale), Rayna’s contact. One of the De Luca’s men along with Lia (Nagris Fakhri), the Bollywood presence in this film, changes Rick’s bag for a bomb; however Susan saves Rick’s life and also kills the man in a hilarious way – before throwing up on his dead body. Susan then follows Rayna to Rome where she successfully prevents her assassination in a casino and also gains Rayna’s trust.

 

Despite its funny action premise and some stellar performances, this film falls flat due to excessive dialogue and slapstick in between the scenes, especially in the scenes between Melissa McCarthy and Rose Bryne. However, Jason Statham’s character keeps the audience engaged, particularly in his scenes with Melissa. The film would have benefited from a shorter length and less talk.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

(Picture courtesy

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Film

Review: ABCD 2 (Any Body Can Dance 2)

A tiny plot and passable lead performances are bolstered by lots of dancing in ABCD sequel, and is worth one watch.
by Ravi Shet

The plot of this film is the journey of the real life Fictitious Dance Group’s from Mumbai’s Nalasopara to the finals of the World Hip Hop Challenge in Las Vegas. ABCD 2 (Any Body Can Dance 2) directed by Remo D’Souza, features a motley crew of dancers named ‘Mumbai Stunners’ with Suresh (Varun Dhawan) as their lead.

The group, also comprising Vinnie (Shraddha Kapoor) and a crew of others, are accused of copying each and every dance move from a famous dance group – Philippines’s ‘All Stars’ by the judges (played by Remo D’Souza, Terence Lewis and Seema Pandey) and are disqualified from a reality show. Post this incident, the group is taunted by one and all as a bunch of cheaters (a customer calls out to Suresh, who is working as waiter in a pub as a ‘cheater’, then sarcastically corrects it to ‘waiter’, a woman in a salon tells Vinnie she wants a haircut like Katrina Kaif, and says Vinnie can do it expertly since she is good at copying, etc.) Even a popular TV comic mocks the group on his show.

Suresh wants his group to participate in the World Starz Hip Hop Challenge in Las Vegas and prove to the world that they are not cheaters through their dance performances. Vishnu Sir (Prabhudeva), a struggling choreographer guides the team and also renames it as Indian Stunners. After that, the film follows a fairly predictable graph.

 

There are a few moments that drag it down, especially in the second half; however the dance sequences makes up for the movie and really hold your attention. Varun and Shraddha have put in a lot of effort with their dancing to match the likes of Dharmesh Yelande, Lauren Gottlieb, Punit Pathak, Raghav Juyal and others.

The cinematography by Vijay Arora is excellent, especially the shots taken in Las Vegas. Prabhudeva’s entry, followed by his dance and the last dance sequence of the film are standout sequences. Sachin-Jigar do well in the music department.

All in all, this is a good film to watch if you’re not looking for a very strong story and lots of dancing.

Rating: 3 out of 5

(Picture courtesy movies.ndtv.com)

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Film

Review: Jurassic World

A complete edge of the seat thriller, this film will keep you engaged till the end if you suspend disbelief.
by Ravi Shet

Almost 14 years after the release of Jurassic Park 3, director Colin Trevorrow carries the legacy of our beloved dino series on his shoulders in the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park film franchise.

The films starts with a baby dinosaur trying to come out of an egg. Jurassic World is now a fully functional dinosaur theme park owned by Masrani (Irrfan Khan) and managed by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard). As a business person, Masrani feels that innovation is required to attract more visitors to his park; hence, along with Dr. Henry Wu (Wong) they furtively play with the genes of the dinosaurs to create a new genetically-modified mega dinosaur – the terrifying Indominus Rex. The Rex is monitored by creepy military consultant Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Gray and Zach Mitchell are brothers who have come to visit their aunt Claire and also the theme park under the supervision of Claire’s assistant Zara. Meanwhile, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), works at Jurassic World as a Velociraptor expert and trainer. He has trained four Velociraptors – Blue, Charlie, Delta and Echo. When his ex-girlfriend Claire asks him to train the Indominus Rex, he does so reluctantly.

 

Owen and Claire discover that Indominus Rex has escaped from the enclosure, while Gray and Zach leave Zara and start exploring on their own. By this time, the audience has guessed the graph of the story – Indominus Rex creates chaos around the park while Owen and Claire try to rescue the boys.

The pace of the movie is well maintained and keeps the audiences engaged. The special effects and background score of the film are stunning. Rexy, the female dinosaur from the first Jurassic Park is seen in the end moments of the film, where she fights Indominus Rex. The film’s last scene shows Rexy climbing on top of a helipad and inspecting the havoc caused by Indominus Rex – this ending shows the possibility of the next installment from this franchise.

Rating: 3 out of 5

(Picture courtesy www.jurassicworld.org)

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