It’s not just the title that is alliterative: with bounteous babes, bullets and Biharis– though not necessarily in that order– in good measure, Kushan Nandy’s ‘Babumoshai Bandookbaaz’ can lay claim to being a tolerably worthy, albeit milder successor to Anurag Kashyap’s 2012 ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. Contract killer Babu Bihari (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) has no compunctions about […]
‘Atomic Blonde’ — the title apparently borrowed from the song Blondie by the group Atomic– is an out-and-out one woman show. Its 1989, before the Berlin wall is set to come crumbling down. MI6 undercover agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is sent to Berlin for a two-fold reason—to probe the death of an MI6 agent […]
The first few minutes of the film gives you a sneak peak of North Indian culture, real estate wheeler-dealers, gender-bias, sibling rivalry, and more. First-time director Shanker Raman (cinematographer of ‘Peepli Live’, ‘Rocky Handsome’), clearly influenced by the neo-noir films of Anurag Kashyap, has helmed the quizzically titled Gurgaon – showcasing its fanciful malls, buzzing […]
What would you do if you were a woman, backpacking on your own in a faraway continent, and ‘accidentally’ bump into a stranger who delivers a worn-out, clichéd pickup line? Laugh it off and walk away, or fall an unsuspecting prey to his wiles? Scripted by Shaun Grant and based on the 2011 novel by […]
The phenomenal success of the 2015 Neeraj Pandey directed ‘Baby’ (oh yes, it was Akshay Kumar’s baby back then) undoubtedly inspired him to write ‘Naam Shabana’, a prequel to explain the female protagonist’s entry into the faceless agency that looks after the country’s security. Shabana, a martial arts champion, lives with her mother Farida (Natasha […]
Two kinds of exploration have always intrigued and baffled humans: the mysteries of the deep (oceans) and the secrets of space. Director Daniel Espinosa has helmed this outer-space sci-fi horror thriller of six scientists and astronauts attempting to collect data from Mars. It’s a motley group consisting of hot-headed technician Roy Adams (Ryan Reynolds), the […]
Three hours into the race and thirty minutes into the film, a series of explosions rocked the site (near the finish line) of Boston Marathon on 15 April, 2013 — the third Monday of the month — traditionally celebrated as Patriots Day in that part of the US. Mark Wahlberg is Sgt. Tommy Saunders of […]
‘Split’ has James McAvoy playing Kevin, diagnosed with a dissociative identity disorder and assuming 23 apparent identities — as Barry, as Patricia, or as the lisping 9-year-old Hedwig. As Dennis, he attacks the father of Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), before driving off with the girl and her two teenaged colleagues Marcia and Casey (Jessica Sula […]
The 2014 prequel ended with John Wick a widower and losing his puppy to the Russian assassins. Barely five days after the eventful first film, director Stahelski (who was a stuntman in Reeves’ Matrix Trilogy), unleashes a wave of some spectacular, and some all too predictable action scenes in John Wick : Chapter 2. Santino’s […]
Director Sanjay Gupta has always shown a penchant for adapting, or taking inspiration from foreign films — his first directorial venture Aatish (1994) was based on the Hong Kong film ‘A Better Tomorrow’ (1986). Eight years later he remade Tarantino’s cult ‘Reservoir Dogs’ into the hugely successful ‘Kaante’. Now comes ‘Kaabil’ — part ‘Blind Fury’ […]
There are film crazy folks who adore watching horror flicks purely to test themselves for the jump scares. And then there are those who don’t care about which film they are shelling out valuable bucks for. For the fist category, a word of advice — skip it, wait for the next horror film—any one would […]