Movie Reviews

The Fault in Our Stars

Critic's Rating: 4/5  Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe Direction: Josh Boone Genre: Drama Duration: 2 hours 6 minutes

Story: The film adaptation of John Green's best-selling novel centers around two cancer-stricken teens, Hazel and Gus, who fall in love knowing theirs won't be a 'happy ending'. 

Review: Most love stories end with 'and they lived happily ever after'. But what happens when you may not live another day? Will you still fall in love, knowing your time is limited? 

The Fault in our stars Stays faithful to the book. What you see is what you get. When a practical Hazel (Shailene Woodley) meets the charming and cheerful Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) at a cancer support group, sparks fly. He fears oblivion, while she believes it's inevitable. In his company, she discovers there's a world beyond hospitals, medication, pain and cancer. Their shared passion for books, common fears, and heartfelt talks make the two inseparable, until death comes knocking... 

If you like feel-good, escapist films, this one's not for you. The Fault in Our Stars is one of the most unpretentious tragic love stories told in a heart-warming manner. 'Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened' pretty much sums up the story. 

Earnest performances lend depth to the characters, making them come alive. Shailene Woodley is brilliantly melancholic while Ansel Elgort displays the complexities of his character with great maturity. The film is not about crying over what you may lose, but learning to live with what you do. After all, it's not the fear of death that makes you bitter, lack of love does. 

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Critic's Rating: 3.5/5  Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, JackReynor, Bingbing Li, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe, John DiMaggio, Reno Wilson, Peter Cullen Direction: Michael Bay Genre: Action Duration: 2 hours 46 minutes

Story: The Autobots are in hiding as they're being hunted down by the CIA with the help of a ruthless bounty hunter Transformer. When a broke inventor accidentally 'finds' Optimus Prime, the CIA and the Decepticons make a beeline for them.

Review: Transformers takes a little time to really build up, with the necessary character-establishing scenes of the humans. Cade Yeager (Wahlberg) lives in the Texas countryside with his daughter Tessa (Peltz). Struggling to pay the bills, he invests every cent into buying and re-purposing what Tessa calls 'junk'. She is skeptical that the eager Yeager will one day make a game-changing invention. Yet later, when the pace kicks in, Bay ensures that you are blindsided by a juggernaut of metal.

CIA agent Harold Attinger (Grammer) finds out that Yeager knows where Optimus Prime (Cullen) is. Attinger gets a Decepticon called Lockdown, whom he has formed a tenuous alliance with, to track down the Autobot leader as well as other Autobots because they are no longer welcome on Earth.

The technology that makes the Transformers is then recycled and reverse-engineered by tech tycoon Joshua Joyce's (Tucci) company KSI, to create a new breed of Transformers. But does Joshua really understand the alien technology well enough to create and more importantly, control?

Prime regroups with Bumblebee, Hound (Goodman), Drift (Watanabe), Crosshairs (DiMaggio) and Brains (Wilson) to fight the Decepticons. Yeager,Tessa and her boyfriend Shane (Reynor) help out. But while the effects are totally off the hook, the dialogues sound like a random collection of one-liners. Indeed, the machines display a wider range of emotions. But then again, you don't watch a Michael Bay film for intense dialogues. The idea is, why shoot a person just once when you can take a cannon instead and literally shred not only the person, but the car next to him, the building behind him and a few bystanders, with a few hundred bullets and shells for good measure. Be it fiery photogenic explosions, smashing buildings, mega monster battles and more, there is no doubt that action rules this film.

Source : TOI

Chef

Critic's Rating: 3.5/5  Cast: Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Dustin Hoffmann, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson Direction: Jon Favreau Genre: Comedy Duration: 2 hours

Story: A chef in a fancy restaurant is removed from his job one day and strikes out on his own, on the road, by starting a food truck. And in doing so, he finds his true calling in life.

Review: If you're passionate about food, this movie, replete with its food imagery, will whet your appetite for all things epicurean. But apart from that, this is a simple story that is simply told, with various food analogies, of a man who breaks a monotonous cycle and follows his instincts.

And so we have the portly chef Carl Casper (Favreau) who toils away in a fancy Los Angeles restaurant, under the aegis of the unadventurous owner Riva (Hoffmann). Casper sweats and fumes about his job and clearly does not get along with Riva. The latter likes to play it safe and have the menu stick to crowd favourites. Casper tries his best to experiment with the food and give diners a taste of more adventurous flavours.

The narrative bubbles its way to a boiling point, when one day a respected food reviewer called Ramsey (Platt) visits the restaurant. Seeing this as an opportunity to try and impress the critic with a special menu, Casper gets to work. But he is told by the boss to stick to the favourites. Predictably enough, the restaurant is panned and the vengeful Casper's spat with Ramsey goes viral. The jobless Casper manages to get a ramshackle food truck with the help of his ex-wife Inez (Vergara) and her current husband (Downey Jr.) and goes on a road trip. His old friend Martin (Leguizamo) as well as his son join him as they cook up Cubanos.

Pleasing yet somewhat predictable, this film marks a sharp departure from Favreau's various blockbuster (*Iron Man*) films into something far simpler. Johansson, however, is somewhat under-used but on the whole, the story is paced nicely. With food remaining the biggest star of this show, the side dishes also include some family-bonding as well. And the result is a serving of something refreshingly original.

Source : TOI

Blended

Critic's Rating: 2.5/5  Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Shaquille O’Neal, Bella Thorne, Abdoulaye NGom Direction: Frank Coraci Genre: Comedy Duration: 1 hour 57 minutes

Story: Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) can't stand each other after a disastrous blind date. But when they end up in the same suite on an African safari, they have to try and get along. 

Review: Going about their everyday lives in a suburban American town are Jim and Lauren. Both have a brood of kids from their respective earlier marriages. Of Lauren's two boys, one is on a permanent sugar rush while the other lasciviously leers at porn mags. Jim's daughters are mostly angels, except for the eldest, Hillary (Thorne) who is frustrated by people constantly mistaking her for a 'dude' rather than a girl. Her Tudor-style pageboy hairdo doesn't help matters.

Jim takes Lauren to a Hooters restaurant on a blind date where they are served by a giggling bevy of busty waitresses. The sleaziness of it all has Lauren wanting to bolt for the door, never to see Jim again. But fate (and a supremely predictable plot) has other plans. They would meet again in Africa, and even share the same resort suite, thanks to tickets purchased from mutual friends who planned to go there themselves, but cancelled out.

After being greeted by an overly enthusiastic concierge Mfana (NGom) in Africa who mistakes them for a quarrelling couple with a lot of kids, the gags that follow range from somewhat funny to cheesy. The movie's first scene that involves Barrymore flushing a toilet is indicative of the kind of humour you'll find in here. The resort's singing group 'Thathoo' are like a bunch of mad minstrels, but funny nonetheless. They pop into the frame at various points in the movie.

In their unintentional quest for love, Jim and Lauren's lives and dealing with loss, single parenthood and divorce, offers an interesting and unintentional insight into suburban middle class America. Sandler is firmly in his comfort zone and Barrymore is the cute person she is in most of her films. The movie is no doubt funny, but the genuinely good jokes are just by the handful.

Source : TOI

Lekar Hum Deewana Dil

Critic's Rating: 3/5  Cast: Armaan Jain, Deeksha Seth, Akhil Iyer Direction: Arif Ali Genre: Romance Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes

Story: Buddies Dinoo and Karishma elope. En route, they discover love. However, their adventure comes unstuck when their lives are not in apple-pie order. 

Review: Debutant director Arif Ali's Lekar Hum Deewana Dil is a sweet film that borrows the elopement theory from evergreen 70s'-80s' romances like Bobby, Love Story and Betaab. It even has shades of Arif's older brother Imtiaz's Jab We Met and Highway. But this has a mint-crisp feel with its .com lingo. The lack of melodrama, for most part of the movie, is also refreshing. 

Dinoo (Armaan) and Karishma (Deeksha) are collegians who haven't scratched the surface of their feelings for each other. They're happy sipping strawberry milkshakes with buddies. But when the Shetty girl's obstinate businessman dad wants her to marry a groom of his choice from within their community, she flips. On cue, good friend Dinoo and she fly the coup, also remembering to adopt a stray along the way. 

Taking their deewana dil along and as is suggested in the Yaadon Ki Baaraat ditty, they go manzil manzil. 

On the journey from Mumbai to Goa, over bottles of beer and zany nocturnal adventures, they swear undying love. As relatives attempt to hunt them down, the couple also safeguards itself with a chat mangni-pat shaadi without band, baaja and baaraat. The start of their idyllic life together is blissful because the girl's every wish is the young boy's command. 

But when they run short on budgets, land in Naxalite territory (a strange detour with a raunchy item song - Mawaali Qawaali - thrown in), the screenplay takes an interesting twist. 

AR Rahman lifts spirits with the club number Khalifa Khalifa and draws sighs with the poignant Alaahada. Armaan is endearing and energetic, getting you to warm up to him. Deeksha is confident and likeable. Bangalore boy Mahesh (Akhil) excels. And if you're looking to cuddle up this monsoon just like the slightly mismatched young couple in the movie, attempt doing it the LHDD way.

Source : TOI

Ek Villain

Critic's Rating: 3/5  Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Aamna Sharif Direction: Mohit Suri Genre: Romance Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

Story: When Guru's love Aisha is threatened by Rakesh, a villain, the evil within him resurfaces. He too bays for blood and how.

Review: Guru (Sidharth) is a gangster who is happy to let his gun speak. Till the effervescent, virginal Aisha (Shraddha), a Good Samaritan, crosses his path. Opposite attract. His gun goes silent as the two of them chase the rainbow together. The texture of their relationship has that fairy-tale quality. And just when they start to build their castle, brick by brick, their life is stopped on the tracks by a psychotic serial killer Rakesh (Riteish).

Guru, who had dropped his gun in exchange for a bed of roses with Aisha, rediscovers metal. Inspired largely by Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon's I Saw the Devil (2010), Mohit Suri's romantic thriller is Bollywoodised for the desi market.

While the Korean film relied on too much blood and gore, Suri's film mixes romance and violence in equal measure, letting the plot meander a bit butallowing for some sharp twists as well. So there are those sweet moments interspersed with the melodious galliyan track rendered beautifully by Ankit Tewari. And there are also those look-over-your-shoulder thrills because suddenly, you have not one, but two villains running amok on screen. The cat and mouse game between the two bad men is exciting. However, there is some repeated violence that makes you squirm and wish that the writer had kept the plot tighter.

Sidharth kills with his good looks and delivers an angry man performance deftly; Riteish strikes the right amount of fear in his maniacal gear. Shraddha is bubbly and achingly beautiful. But the supporting cast should have been chosen more discerningly. Aamna Sharif as Riteish's nagging wife is an irritant and Remo Fernandes as the mafia don should definitely have had more menace.

You cannot fault the scale of Ek Villain or berate its lead star cast. But you wish you could celebrate this thriller like you did Suri's last movie outing Aashiqui 2. This one lacks soul.

Source : TOI

Humshakals

Critic's Rating: 2.5/5 Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor, Tamannah Bhatia, Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta Direction: Sajid Khan Genre: Comedy Duration: 2 hours 39 minutes

Story: Ashok and Kumar are fraudulently declared mad by evil Kans mama - what happens when two more Ashoks, Kumars and mamas show up?

Review: A lovely line in Humshakals - "Why're you making it so aaabvious?" - exemplifies the film. Humshakals features an odd balance between brilliant jokes, followed by a pajama party of PJs. Ashok (Khan) is a London billionaire whose day job is "business umpire sambhalna" but who does cringe-worthy comedy which even his buddy Kumar (Deshmukh) can't bear.

Fortunately, TV star Shanaya (Bhatia) finds Ashok funny which has him smiling until his wicked mama Kunwar Amar Nath Singh - aka Kans - slips him a 'Mad - mind-altering drug', making Ashok and Kumar go doggy-style, landing up in 'Lord Cray G. Mental Asylum'. As Dr. Shivani (Gupta) and manager Mishti (Basu) aid them, Kans mama thinks he's won the corporate board game - but Ashok and Kumar discover helpful humshakals. What happens when mamaji's humshakal also arrives?

With its convoluted plot, Humshakals needs terrific acting - and the actors deliver. As three variants of Ashok - original, insane, effeminate, plus a girl role too - Saif runs away with Humshakals. Khan surprises with his flair for twinkling-eyed, giggle-voiced, mincing-step comedy, delivering lines like "Shet up, scoundrel!" with liquid ease. As three-Kumar, Deshmukh's fun, doing a memorable Dilip Kumar over, well, vodka ke paranthe. Playing Kans mama, Ram Kapoor performs with velveteen wickedness, even shaking a waxy leg as a 'kali-flower' on a beach. The boys have a ball but the ladies are as wasted as icing sugar on a layered cake.

Meanwhile, with its multi-story story, Humshakals must be tightly told. Here, the film wobbles, its first half distractedly meandering with mindless sequences involving comas, electric shocks and Satish Shah as a Hitler-worshipping warden, tormenting patients by showing them Himmatwala. The second half gets tauter and funnier with an uncommon House of Commons involving the three duos, Prince Charles and Chunky Pandey as a drug lord. This tootie-fruity climax is clearly Sajid Khan's revenge for empire - the cut-rate Prince Charles barks, "Kyah baath kar rahe ho?" and bombs tick. The comedy could've tickled had the plot not faltered again, throwing in a dull diversion involving dwarves.

The result's like a minty chewing gum that's been stretched too long. Shedding 30 minutes and some jaded gags would make Humshakals consistent fun - now, you laugh but also frequently go, ho-hum.

Source : TOI

Filmistaan

Critic's Rating: 4/5  Cast: Sharib Hashmi, Innamulhaq, Kumud Mishra, Gopal Datt Direction: Nitin Kakkar Genre: Drama Duration: 1 hour 57 minutes

Story: An Indian is mistakenly kidnapped and taken to Pakistan. Amidst all the animosity he bonds with his brothers from another land on one common ground - passion for Bollywood and cricket. 

Review: In a nutshell - SRK, Salman and company rule Pakistan. If not the 'sarzameen', then definitely their hearts and souls. Such is the crossover power of Bollywood. This movie dares to go to 'no man's' land, in between the physical and emotional boundaries that bind two great nations that politics tears apart with hatred. A place where only Bollywood runs in the bloodstream (maa kasam!).

Sunny (Sharib), an obsessive Bollywood addict, briefly abandons his acting aspirations and becomes an assistant director for an American crew shooting a documentary in Rajasthan (close to the Indo-Pak border). A terrorist group intending to kidnap the Amreekis mistakenly capture Sunny. He's held hostage in Pakistan, there he befriends Aftab (Innamulhaq) who makes a living out of selling pirated Bollywood movies. A 'Sholay'-like' undying brotherhood is born out of purepyaar for Bollywood. But the boss of the terrorists Mehmood (Mishra - intense and electric) has differences of opinion with this so called 'infidel', even as he's baffled at his Bollywood bhakti.

Whether it's Sunny's naivete or nerve - he never loses hope (even as a dhai kilo ka haath lands on him, he says,"Mard ko dard nahin hota"), letting his filmigiri fuel his courage. Debut director Kakkar spins some remarkable moments when Sunny directs his own 'ransom' video with multiple retakes; his conversations with Mehmood over Tendulkar v/s Afridi followed by a wild victory dance. Sunny parroting Salman's dialogues from 'Maine Pyar Kiya', and his filmi impersonations of superstars and their iconic dialogues are hilarious.

In this National Award winning film, Kakkar subtly laces the scars of Indo-Pak hostility with humour and satire, while beautifully making way for all the malice to melt over undivided love for movies. It's slightly stretched in parts; Arijit Datta's music blends well. Sharib in a superlative act completely surrenders to the role and Innamulhaq piques the emotions with perfection. The camaraderie between the pure souls who understand only the language of Bollywood is heart-warming. Datt, with few dialogues, is deadly.

In a nation of star-worshippers, this film devoid of superstars brilliantly stands out. Aaj khush toh bahut hain hum! Ab bas, tareef pe tareef ...

Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty

Critic's Rating: 3.5/5  Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Govinda, Sumeet Raghavan, Farhad Daruwala, Gireesh Sahedev, Zakir Hussain Direction: A.R. Murugadoss Genre: Action Duration: 2 hours 50 minutes

Story: A soldier's holiday turns into a full-time mission to save Mumbai from terror attacks, while only taking time out for his bride-hunt.

Review: Gagged men tumble out of his closet. Tied up terrorists and 'sleeper cells' too. Hell's bells, they're far from 'sleeping beauties'. But then they have to make our brave-heart Virat Bakshi (Akshay) look good. And he sure does. In his camouflage suits and his neon bermudas. Whether he's on a secret mission (as Defence Intelligence Agent), or romancing his boisterous 'boxer' belle Saiba (Sonakshi). All the while coaching his cop buddy on how to 'crack a case', or saluting his boss sergeant (Govinda, in a cutesy cameo).

Virat's on holiday in Mumbai - 'ladki dekhne' - where a terror blast kills school kids in a bus. A suspect is caught and it leads to series of more suspects who're part of a devious demolition plan by - Sleeper Cells (trained terrorists guised as common men in society). His holiday turns into havoc and Virat becomes a one-man army - who has to raze the terror outfit and salvage Mumbai from exploding into flames. Nothing can break this lion-hearted soldier who upholds his valour, wardi and values - like a true jawan.

Murgadoss' film (remake of the Tamil 'Thupakki') offers an intelligent plot, with blows, blasts and raw bone-cracking action (Greg Powell- of 'Skyfall' fame). It triggers a fear that anyone from your paanwala to pizza-delivery boy could be a 'closet' terrorist (Beware!).

While the core plot is compelling and finely directed, the side-tracks - like bombs needing to be deactivated and the romantic angle, waste screen-time and the songs infiltrate the plot too often. The film is too long and needs a taut edit. It has flaws too, but doesn't fail to entertain.

Akshay's stunts are jaw-dropping; he's in top form and impressively leads the show without much support from his squadron of actors. Farhad (the lead villain) doesn't leave much impact; and Sonakshi slides in for the song and dance.

This one applauds the jawans who live in the jaws of death, and is a 'wake up' call for all the 'sleepers' that abound. Bravo!

Source : TOI