Films of this genre normally start off sedately – the protagonist (being an ex-cop helps) working hard for a living, usually with a spouse and child (comes in handy as hostages), and losing his job – wondering how to break the news at home. So, in The Commuter we have Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson), an […]
It’s the impertinent versus the imperturbable – the cocky versus the cool as cucumber. The 100 minute film braces us for the tennis match of the century – the thrilling five-setter of the 1980 Wimbledon finals in which the upcoming superbrat had threatened to halt the champion’s march to a fifth consecutive title. Shia LaBeouf portrays […]
A single clue is what is proffered in the middle of the film, based on the enigmatic maestro Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel by the same name. The self-proclaimed ‘greatest detective in the world’ – the fastidious and mustachioed Belgian Hercule Poirot (played by director Branagh himself) – is bound for London aboard the famed Orient […]
Who says that road trip movies are the exclusive domain of Hollywood? Prodded on by her friend to have a try at dating websites, Jaya (Malayalam actress Parvathy) pairs up with Yogi (Irrfan Khan) on a trip which takes them across Rishikesh, Rajasthan and Gangtok, culminating in a settled relationship between the two. Jaya is […]
Didn’t know moms could be so bad (wish I could have added an emoji)! Just 15 months after ‘Bad Moms’ released last year, comes this Christmas episodic film, with grandmas in tow. And what happens when they descend upon their daughters and grandchildren? Set within a span of a week, the film begins with the […]
The multifaceted and acclaimed screenwriter, photographer and director, Sooni Taraporevala’s second solo exhibition ‘Home in the City’ was hosted by Chemould Art Gallery at SoBo, till 1st November, 2017. Aptly subtitled ‘Bombay 1977 to Mumbai 2017’, the black-and-white photographs exhibited an eclectic mix of culture and communities, the elite and the populace – roadside barbers […]
Generally speaking, iconic films are not to be tampered with. The 1969 ‘Ittefaq’ ( Rajesh Khanna was still a couple of months away from being christened the new superstar) was collaborated upon by the two titans of Hindi cinema — Baldev Raj Chopra and younger brother Yash Raj. The former’s grandson Abhay Chopra has drawn […]
Kalki Koechlin’s second film within a week has the talented actress playing a committed and dutiful parent as opposed to the carefree and ebullient Jia in the eponymous ‘Jia Aur Jia.’ The film opens with Sahana Mehra (Kalki) being given the ‘good news’ by her gynaecologist, much to the former’s discomfiture. A heated argument at […]
The only reason the director might offer for this film going haywire long before the end is that it was his debut feature. The premise, although a tried and tested one, promised much more. Two girls, unknown to each other and coincidentally sharing their first name, decide to go on a road trip to Sweden. […]
Manoj Bajpayee is one of the triumvirate of our current actors- Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui being the other two- who have challenged the oft-believed perceptions of commercial films, even while making mainstream cinema their very own. Caught in the quagmire of business politics and wrongdoings, Divakar Mathur (Bajpayee) attempts to expose his partner Robin […]
For the fans of sci-fi and fantasy films, this one particularly could be a must-watch. For the skeptics of this genre (this critic included), however, a word of advice for potential viewers-go see this one with an open mind. Even for those familiar with the 1982 ‘Blade Runner’ (set in 2019), this film is sure […]