When sports journalists try their hands at directing films based on their vocation, much is expected – especially when the sport is one which the nation breathes and eats 24/7. To begin with, the title of the film, which alludes to the distance between stumps to stumps, is a tad misleading. Ron Sen (TV actor […]
‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and multiple lives for one’, seems to be the motto of ‘Cold Pursuit’, a remake of Moland’s 2014 ‘In Order of Disappearance’ – a motif cleverly crafted during the film’s closing credits. Eye-catching cinematography, a body count which one loses track of halfway through the […]
British history is replete with ruling (Asia, Africa) and rulers (the Elizabeths, the Victorias). Adapted from the 2004 ‘Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart’, by British historian John Guy, the film charts the troubled history of the Isles from 1561, when, at the age of 16, Mary (Irish-American Saoirse Ronan) returned to […]
Six-and-a-half decades after Sohrab Modi’s technicolor epic but commercially disastrous ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ hit the screens, comes a modern-day version with Kangana Ranaut in the lead of Manikarnika (Manu). The common runtime of 148 minutes could be a mere coincidence though. The story begins in 1828 in Varanasi where great fame is predicted for a […]
Shiv Sena founder, Bal Thackeray, was the de facto ruler of Maharashtra from 1966 till he passed away in 2012. Written and directed by Abhijit Panse, from a story by Thackeray’s trusted lieutenant, Sanjay Raut, the eponymous film covers his life from 1961 to 1995. Working as a cartoonist with the Free Press Journal, the […]
Also known as ‘The Mumbai Siege: 4 Days of Terror’, the film attempts to recreate the ghastly, inhuman attacks on the iconic Taj Mahal hotel which claimed 166 innocent lives. The four-day siege on the Taj was just one of many such strikes, though it was the one which was the one to have captured […]
The first sign of attempted comedy in the film comes when a local politician Pandya (Adil Hussain) is shown reading a motivational book on Donald Trump, while in jail. Names such as Ramesh Wadia and Arjun Sorabjee may be attributed to either intentional, or unintentional humour. Meghna (Radhika Apte) is a Public Relations officer attached […]
The film would have had a higher impact and captivated audience imagination several degrees more had the statistics, which rolled out just before the end credits, been revealed during the opening stages of the film. Sample a couple – the market share of coaching classes in India is estimated at a staggering Rs. 45,000 Crores! […]
Genre: Action, Drama Rating: 3/5 138 minutes Director: Aditya Dhar In the war room cabinet of a not-so-friendly neighbouring country, a kohl-lined, light-eyed, bearded gentleman (?) sardonically – in response to their dastardly operation which massacred Indian soldiers – says in Urdu, “What will they do? At the most they will ban our singers and […]
Genre: Biography, Drama Rating: 2/5 108 minutes Director: Vijay Ratnakar Gutte The film could be termed a severe disappointment, or a hilarious take on the political scenario of our country from 2004-2014, which was the period when a certain, and ‘contingent’ gentleman held the office of India’s Prime Minister. It all depends on which side […]
Genre: Musical, Family, Fantasy Rating: 4/5 130 minutes Director: Rob Marshall The first thing one is likely to remember of the 1964 classic ‘Mary Poppins’ are the songs, especially ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ and the wonderfully made-up ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. Though set in 1935, the sequel comes 54 years later. Michael Banks (Ben Winshaw), a recently widowed dad […]