The average Indian’s twin obsessions (pun intended) are cricket and cinema. In making the docu-drama ‘Sachin’, director James Erskine certainly holds the perfect curriculum vitae, having made films on the world’s three greatest sports — Football (‘One Night in Turin’, ‘Shooting for Socrates’), Tennis (‘Billie Jean King’) and yes, even Cricket (‘From the Ashes’, of […]
The Sense of an Ending, based on Julian Barnes’ Booker Prize winning 2011 novel and adapted for the big screen by debutant Nick Payne, is all about a lonely septuagenarian Anthony Webster (Jim Broadbent)— retired, divorced and running an antiquated camera shop – trying to come to terms with his Cambridge University ex-flame, a good […]
Loosely inspired by the Bengali Ramdhanu and the Malayalam Salt Mango Tree, Hindi Medium mirrors the agony and woes parents endure while securing admission for their kids in schools. Chaudhary, in his third feature after Pyaar (and Shaadi) Ke Side Effects, has crafted a delightful and light-hearted comedy which expounds on the trials and tribulations […]
Not all books (however enthralling they may be) need to be translated into cinematic versions and Half Girlfriend — whatever that means to Mr. Bhagat — certainly needn’t have. The opening frames of the film show a desolated Madhav having been left high and dry by his not–yet–quantified girlfriend. Rewind to flashbacks — Madhav Jha […]
Take an eerie-looking spacecraft (Covenant) hurtling through space towards planet Oregai–6, 15 crew aboard in hyper-sleep along with the 2000 passengers out to colonize a planet, add some of the ghastliest, bloodthirsty creatures — with bloodcurdling screams — designed by VFX specialists, and you have Alien: Covenant. Five years after the prequel Prometheus and almost […]
Forget Dharmatma; forget Dayavan. Sarkar 3 is the closest to The Godfather you’ll get to see — in terms of dialogues, the sepia-coloured frames, the subplots, or even the grating and rasping voice of the Don (one could be forgiven for wondering whether subtitles would be needed). The Bal Thakarey inspired character Subhash Nagre’s (Amitabh […]
The measure, and ultimately, success, of a film of this genre is directly proportional to its VFX content. In the second installment of Guardians of the Galaxy, the Guardians’ team, led by Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), confront the Sovereign, a tribe of golden-skinned humanoids. The Guardians’ team member Rocket has stolen precious batteries […]
One thing’s for sure – there’s not a moment of sannata in Aparna Sen’s latest offering ‘Sonata’. The loquacious and prosperous red-wine-loving Bengali banker Dolon (Shabana Azmi), who doesn’t waste an opportunity to spray herself with the choicest French perfumes, ensures that. Aparna Sen, who plays the role of a Brahmin Sanskrit professor, Aruna (Oru) […]
The Nirbhaya incident put Delhi firmly on the map as the rape capital of India. The moment you know that Maatr is a film on rape and violence against women, you would be prepared to watch a film of revenge. There are no court cases here—just raw, brutal acts of retribution which would keep you […]
What can you say of a Holocaust film where most of the tender moments and emotional scenes are not of the Holocaust or the prisoners sent off to execution camps, but of the zoo animals who share an intimate, warm and almost human relationship with their caretakers! Dr. Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh) and his wife […]
On 1 July 2002, after taking off from Moscow, a Bashkirian passenger airliner and a DHL cargo plane had collided over Germany, resulting in a casualty list of 271. Director Lester alongwith writer Javier Gullol have woven the story into a film which, while managing to hold your attention thorough the hour-and-a-half, fails to be […]