“You’re guilty from the moment you’re born”, is the common refrain of African Americans, especially in the state of Alabama, where racism still persists to a horrifying degree, and where ‘Just Mercy’ is centered. Based on a true story, and adapted from noted civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s memoirs ‘Just Mercy: A Story of Justice […]
The film, which depicts the happenings over a 24-hour period on 6th April, 1917, during WW1 (and hence the title) could well have been called ‘Race Against Time’. Co-written by director Sam Mendes, and based on a story narrated to him by his grandfather, Alfred Mendes, the film unfolds with Lance Corporal Tom Blake (Dean-Charles […]
Bollywood certainly knows how to time its releases. Barely a couple of months after the political wrangling in the state subsided, comes an epic involving the greatest Maratha warrior – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. But then this film is not so much about him as it’s about his trusted lieutenant Tanhaji Malusare, played by Ajay Devgn. […]
Somewhere in Jharkhand, in a small town called Karnalganj, is a small-time politician-cum-goon (isn’t this species omnipresent in those areas?) Baba Bhandari (Akshaye Khanna), who’s perennially shadowed by two cronies and whose supplementary means of income is from kidnapping potential grooms for girls whose parents can’t afford the dowry, which runs into lakhs. The local […]
Award-winning director, Jay Roach (Trumbo) and Oscar-winning scriptwriter Charles Randolph (The Big Short) unite admirably for ‘Bombshell’ – a reconstruction of the sexual harassment cases which brought about the downfall of Fox News honcho Roger Ailes (played astutely by John Lithaow) in 2016, 20 years after setting up the news channel, although it’s difficult to […]
Shimla mirchi, the Indian capsicum, is not supposed to be spicy – not even pungent. Ramesh Sippy’s film by the same name, released after more than five years of completion, stays true to the meaning! Avinash (Rajkummar Rao) is on a holiday with his family (all women!) to picturesque Shimla where his eyes dwell on […]
The fourth in the series, and based on ‘Ju-On: The Grudge’ by Takashi Shimuzu, this one travels from Tokyo to Pennsylvania – a family experiencing something sinister in their lives when in Japan has no respite even when relocating to the US. Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) is deputed to solve a case. She realises that […]
Well, the good news, er – newwz, is that 2019 ends with one of the best comedies in recent times – and with performances to match! Varun and Deepti Batra (Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan) are a high-flying couple – childless despite seven years of marriage. As a result of frequent taunts from relatives […]
Remember ‘The Trail of the Pink Panther’, Peter Sellers’s 1982 film which was made after his death from earlier deleted scenes and previously viewed footage? Well, at a particular stage in the film, the appearance of late Carrie Fisher (reprising her role of Princess Leia), certainly reminds you of the Pink Panther film, though Fisher’s […]
In the age when headless torsos surface (literally) with alarming and disturbing regularity, Mardaani 2 serves as a timely reminder of the atrocities dished out against women, in particular. The sequel to the 2014 hit has Rani Mukerji Chopra reprising her role of SP Shivani Shivaji Roy. The sequel shifts to Kota, Rajasthan, as the […]
It took 22 years for the first sequel to be made – ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’. And then just a couple of years for this, the second sequel. The success of ‘Jungle’ possibly prompted Kasdan, who directed it, and one of the co-writers, to helm this one too. Jumanji, based on the 1981 picture […]