Gunjan saxena

Movie Review

Movie- Gunjan Saxena-The Kargil Girl

Director- Sharan Sharma

Genre- War/ Drama/ Adaptation of true story

Hai saare jahaanse pyaari, mere Bharat ki beti, hai saare jahaan pe bhaari, mere Bharat ki beti......

I always have a soft corner for patriotic films and more so when it is female-oriented. This film was no different. Having been to the Kargil War Museum, I have tremendous respect for all soldiers and their dedication and sacrifice. This story of Gunjan Saxena was a revelation for me and I am sure, for many of us. It's a shame that we don't know about our real heroes who are out there at the borders protecting us. It is a must to have such films so that we understand about their heroism and they inspire other Indians. This and such movies are a true dedication for the spirit and valour of our bravehearts, be it of the Army, Navy or Air Force.

About the film. It is a moving and inspirational film about Gunjan Saxena-a fighter pilot, who at the age of 24 was in a mission at the Kargil War. She conducted and saw through about 40 missions successfully. Janhavi Kapoor was just about average as Gunjan Saxena, but Pankaj Tripathi who played the role of her father was exceptional. He was a natural! Janhavi looked authentic in the training scenes at the training academy and when she is trying to lose weight. After watching some really well-filmed Hollywood war movies, this film looks lack lustre and mediocre in the scenes connected to the war, but emotions behind the story mean a lot for me, so this was a hit in spite of that drawback. I just read that the IAF have raised objections about the wrongful portrayal of the treatment of women in the Air Force. I think the film-makers took some artistic liberties in that area. Also some scenes at the pre-tests, like the interviews, made a mockery of the other lady participants at the test. The late night partying, drinking and dancing to item songs and the attitude shown by the male pilots at the academy was also too hard to accept. I think it's an insult to portray then like that.

Special mention of the songs that had great lyrics and good music. This is a good watch during the Independence Day week. It evokes a surge of patriotic emotions and also makes us wonder whether there has been a change in the way the world looks at females who are out to prove themselves. Have things really changed ?

Do watch this one!

Salute to our bravehearts!

Jai Hind!

Loving Vincent

Movie Review
Film- Loving Vincent (English)
Director - Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman 
Genre-  Biography / Drama

What a spectacular movie! A true treat to your eyes. A must watch for all lovers of art. 

This is a movie made entirely out of paintings don't by 100 artists. About 64,000 paintings were used to make this movie! This movie is nothing short of an artistic miracle. Each frame was a pleasure to watch. The story too is interesting. Wouldn't we all like to learn about the lives of great artists? I love Van Gogh's Starry Nights and plan to paint it on a canvas some day.

Do watch this marvellous movie. It's magical to see paintings come to life on the screen.

Seven Years in Tibet

Movie Review
Film- Seven Years in Tibet
Director - Jean- Jacques Annaud

Story - Heinrich Harrer
Genre- Drama/ Novel adaptation

What an amazing movie! It is a surreal experience where we travel and see the life and culture of Tibet. We see countries at war and fight for survival. Some unforgettable scenes and dialogues that are really impactful. It's sad to see how communist China ravaged the religious and peace loving Tibet.Thousands of Tibetans were killed and the Dalai Lama was forced to escape and hide in India. Even today, China is planning and plotting against other countries including India. It's a shame that even after so many years, Tibet is still waiting to free itself.The film shows how Tibet was betrayed from without and within, and then the Dalai Lama, now 21, flees into long years of exile.

Breath-taking locations, beautiful and music and vivid portrayal of Tibetan culture and traditions makes this movie a treat for the senses. A truly enthralling movie about friendship in uncertain times, about scaling mountains and failing, about war and agreements, about trust and treachery, about religion and patriotism. I was totally mesmerized. This movie encourages me to learn more about Tibet and the Dalai Lama and his teachings. It's a must watch movie. Don't miss it.Again, don't miss it!! For the last time, don't miss it!

(This is an adaptation of the novel of the same name)

Visarnai

Movie Review
Film- Visarnai
Director-  Vetrimaaran
Genre- Drama 

Four labourers are tortured by the police to confess to a theft they have not committed. Just when they feel relieved after being saved by an honest policeman, they find that the worst is yet to come. Pandi (‘Attakathi’ Dinesh), Murugan (‘Aadukalam’ Murugadoss), Afsal (Silambarasan) and Kumar (Pradeesh) are arrested after a local big shot’s house is burgled. The cops don’t care who committed the crime.They just want a confession. Any confession. They plan to take the confessions of these four as they’re voiceless and dispossessed. They’re sacrificial lambs or the scapegoats.

An amazing movie about the corrupt law and order system where the innocent are mercilessly beaten up and trapped in false cases while the guilty go scott free. It's a true story of the circumstances that led to the death of innocent migrant workers due to greed for money and fame. It's a shame that such atrocities are committed and poor, innocent people have to bear the consequences. This is a hard hitting film, not for the weak hearted. It makes us want to go out there and shoot the culprits, the police and the politicians who are playing their dangerous games for their personal gains. Do watch this drama. It's sad but these are true facts.This film win the National Award for the best Tamil film. What a movie!!

Ship of Theseus

Movie Review
Film- Ship of Theseus
Director - Anand Gandhi
Genre- Drama

Watched this critically acclaimed movie Ship of Theseus and was stupefied. What a beautiful way to weave together three stories! Do understand that this is not an entertainer as such but a movie that keeps you thinking. Simple facts of life put forth in a way that veers towards the philosophical.

An excellent movie according to me. 

Inspired by the Theseus Paradox , which is helpfully provided at the start of the film, Ship of Theseus tells three stories one after another. There is  a wealth of thought-provoking little nuggets scattered in the conversations that make up the film. It is a slow paced but thought provoking film. You cannot be untouched by the emotions the stories portray.

The first stars a blind photographer. The hero of the second story is a Jain monk. The last story is about a young man whose profession is intimately tied to meeting someone called Yamamoto and watching the movement of stocks on his laptop. The three characters have one trait in common — they've all had or need an organ transplant. 

Aaliya, the photographer, discovers sight when her corneas are replaced. Instead of making her a better photographer, being able to see overwhelms her and she's unable to focus on a subject. Maitreya, the monk, campaigns fiercely against the pharmaceutical industry's cruel practices of animal testing and then discovers he needs a liver transplant. Without it, he will die, but the transplant would mean taking medicines made by the companies he's attacked. Navin, who just can't get a meeting with Yamagoto, chances upon an organ trafficking racket when he realises he may have been given an illegally-procured kidney.

Whiplash

Movie Review
Film- Whiplash
Director - Damien Chazelle
Genre- Drama

What an amazing movie! A must watch for lovers of music. J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller were exceptionally good in their roles. It's all about jazz and finding your true calling. It's about determination and grit. Good music is the language of the soul!

The movie is about  the relationship between a music student and his teacher and turned it into a thriller built on a brilliant undercurrent of social commentary about what it takes to make it in an increasingly competitive and cutthroat world. How far are you willing to push yourself to succeed? How far are you willing to push someone else to force them on the path to success.

It is about the approach taken by a music teacher to teach his students.Whether you think it's the right approach or not, we’re in an era of praise, where encouragement is the teaching tool and every kid gets a medal for participation. Have true talents been left to wither because they were over-watered? Simmons perfectly captures the drive of a man who believes his abusive degree of pressure is the only way to produce a diamond. a gem of a movie with outstanding and controlled performances.

The Wife

Movie Review
Film- The Wife
Director - Bjorn Runge
Written by - 
Genre- Drama

Another amazing movie on Netflix.It is a story about a writer who is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is about how he reached there. Glen Close is brilliant as the wife. Beautiful portrayal of characters and interesting story line. This story is about supreme sacrifice, family and the routes we choose in life. It is about how much we aspire against how much we actually achieve. Marvelous film.

A must watch.

Joan and Joe remain companions after nearly 40 years of marriage. Where Joe is casual, Joan is elegant. Where Joe is vain, Joan is self-effacing. And where Joe enjoys his very public role as the great American novelist, Joan pours her considerable intellect, grace, charm and diplomacy into the private role of a great man's wife. As Joe is about to be awarded the Nobel Prize for his acclaimed and prolific body of work, Joan starts to think about the shared compromises, secrets and betrayals.

Brilliant and controlled acting by the leads. Excellent story line and superb presentation of emotions. I loved this one and it is unmissable for the sheer drama .

Room

Movie Review
Film- Room
Director - Lenny Abrahamson
Genre- Dark drama

Adapted from Emma Donoghue’s 2010 novel ' Room'

What an amazing movie!!

It is heartfelt and makes you see how blessed you are to be free. 

It is a story about five year old Jack and his mother who are confined inside a 10 by 10 feet garden shed. They are held captive by the captor who had kidnapped the girl as a teenager.It is the story of what they go through inside and then on the other side of the wall that separates them from the outside world.

The story projects their turmoils and their mother -child relationship. Impregnated by her captor, she has been fiercely guarding her son’s innocence and well-being ever since, including when the man known only as Old Nick appears to demand sex in return for groceries and supplies. Ma makes sure that Jack is hidden in a cupboard for these encounters, which he only dimly understands from his dramatically circumscribed experience. His entire world consists of the things he can see and touch within the tiny environs of the shed, which, thanks to Ma and his own imagination, has taken on the parameters of a fairy-tale kingdom: Inanimate objects — a toilet, a television — for him have become cherished friends and confidantes.

Later on , the mother has a plan and it is up to the little son to see the plan through. Brilliant performance by all in the movie. Specially amazing to see the little boy portray the emotions so well.

Do watch this,

Sense and Sensibility

Movie Review
Film- Sense and Sensibility
Director - Ang Lee
Written by - Jane Austen
Genre- Novel/romance/fiction

What a beautiful movie! A great feeling to be taken to the story that was read. The story comes alive with the costumes, locations and music. Amazing experience! This is a story of love, longing, separation and relationships.A good watch for sure!

The story tells of the fortunes of two sisters: the sensible Elinor (Thompson) and the romantic Marianne (Winslet). Love, money and social position are the objects of interest in Regency England, and while Elinor pines for the shy but kind Edward (Grant at his most annoyingly depreciative), Marianne falls, literally, for the dashing but unsuitable Willoughby (Greg Wise, entering swooningly on horseback). Cue various ruptures, reunions, misunderstandings and impediments to true love. he script bubbles with lovely comic vignettes, and there are some hilarious performances, particularly from Hugh Laurie as the rude monosyllabic Mr. Palmer and Elizabeth Spriggs as the obligatory plump panto-style matchmaker. Thompson leads with assurance as the responsible elder sister who bottles up her emotions for the sake of others, getting some plum emoting as heartbreak and joy drag out her feelings. Winslet, who spends a great deal of the plot passing out, struggles in the more experienced acting company, most notably a wonderfully subtle Alan Rickman as Marianne's faithful admirer, Colonel Brandon.

It is an emotionally charged movie that takes us back to the pages of the book that is a classic. Brilliant cast and acting.Its a treat to our eyes and our ears. What beautiful words!

Do watch this one!

Yeh Ballet

Movie Review
Film- Yeh Ballet
Director - Sooni Taraporewala
Genre- Drama/ Based on true events

Watched the film 'Yeh Ballet' purely on instinct, even without reading any review, and was pleasantly surprised. This one is a simple small budget film which warms your heart. It is a realistic story about family, friendship, passion and determination. The two leads mesmerize you with their dancing skills. This movie is about fighting against all odds and showing grit. A story for everyone as everyone is fighting their own battles. Do watch this movie. A big thumbs up for this movie!

Streaming on Netflix. So much better than the over-hyped 'The Big Sick'.

Yeh Ballet’s protagonist, Asif (Achintya Bose) is a young, poor Muslim in love with hip-hop. He lives in a Mumbai slum. Even before making a name for himself, Asif needs to win a crucial battle at home – his uncle disapproves of his interest in music, considers it “haraam”. Ditto the other hero Nishu (Manish Chauhan), who, an exceptional dancer, comes from a poor family, contending with an apathetic father. These characters find their roots in real-life stories. For long, pursuing a career in the arts seemed reserved for the privileged. But young India is pushing back. Standing on the edge of abyss, it is not afraid to dream. It is a story of hope and dedication. The will to change for the better and to aspire to reach one's goals.

Crawl

Movie- Crawl

Director- Alexandre Aja

Genre- Thriller/Horror

What a movie!! Watch it at night in a dark room. The movie is full of thrills and chills. Haley is out to look for just dad who is missing during the onslaught of a hurricane. She is hell bent on rescuing her father come what may. But everything does not look too easy. She had to fight the demons within first and believe in herself. Don't miss this one. It's not for the faint hearted. I had my heart in my mouth moments. Fantastic direction and sets. We feel we are there with Haley, battling it out in the hurricane. I felt I was drowning at some point. Brrr.....still feel the shivers! Hope you can have a good sleep at night after watching this. Amazing movie! Don't miss this one.

This slickly made ‘creature feature’ is a man vs beast survival story that offers jump scares and cheap thrills to make up for its non-existent plot.

Despite warnings to stay indoors during a brutal Florida hurricane, university student and former competitive swimmer, Hayley sneaks her way into the storm’s path to check in on her father, who lives alone at the other end of town and isn’t responding to any of her messages. She finds him bruised and unconscious in the cramped basement below their old family home, and pretty soon she’s trapped there with him and a big scary alligator, even as the house begins to flood.

It’s a pretty basic premise but one that yields some genuinely thrilling moments. Father and daughter struggle to keep themselves safe from an increasing number of threats. It turns out there isn’t just one set of sharp teeth out there, there are more. Good thing there’s always a handful of disposable background characters to be made a meal of.

A must watch horror drama that keeps you on the edge of your seats.

Out of Africa

Movie- Out of Africa

Director- Sydney Pollack

Genre- Romance/ drama

What an amazing movie about life in the wilderness of Africa! Vast expanse of land, jungles and animals that make the movie a treat for the eyes. The local Masai and Somali people and their culture and hunting scenes capture your interests.

The gorgeous Meryl Streep and the handsome and dashing Robert Redford have an enviable love story with the school for the locals, tea farming and the English style parties with Mozart playing on the gramophone. It also talks about the diseases that plague the wild. Adventure and the thrilling locations make this movie a must watch.

Loved the scene of the lions attacking, that was a heart in the mouth moment. Lions, giraffes, zebra, baboons, elephants and gazelle are the added bonus points in the movie. What a life in the wild! A must watch for those who love a life of adventure. There is also an adventure in the skies when they fly in an aircraft. The view is breath-taking! A beautiful story about a woman who narrates the most amazing stories. Do watch this movie. A superb watch indeed.I loved it!

The movie is based on the life and writings of Baroness Karen Blixen, a Danish woman who, despairing that she would be single forever, married her lover's brother, moved out to Kenya in East Africa, ran a coffee plantation on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and later, when the plantation was bankrupt and the dream was finished, wrote books about her experiences under the name Isak Dinesan. Her books are glories - especially Out of Africa and Seven Gothic Tales - but they are not the entire inspiration for this movie. 

What we have here is an old-fashioned, intelligent, thoughtful love story, told with enough care and attention that we really get involved in the passions among the characters.

The Good Lie

Movie- The Good Lie

Director- Phillippe Falardeau

Genre- Drama/True story

What an AMAZING and heart-stirring and emotional movie! The movie is about a group of Sudanese refugees who are given a new lease of life when they are taken to USA. The story follows them from their journey as little children whose families are killed due to war. They walk for miles facing numerous challenges and finally reach the refugee camp in Kenya where they spend a few years before they are taken to USA.

There are some really sweet moments in the film that stay with you long after the movie. The movie showcases how they try to gain a foothold in a new place and the changes they have to make for that. This might is exceptional and I loved each and every frame. The songs and background music is also really moving. Each emotion of innocence, love, sacrifice and bonding is so well portrayed ! The scenes at the beginning where they face trouble in their war-torn village is heart -breaking. This movie should NOT be missed. I was truly mesmerised! It is sad in parts but it also gives us hope.

This moving story possesses an honesty that compensates for any of the more obvious tugs on our tear ducts, most of which arrive in the latter part of the film.  The primary source of this authenticity is a cast populated with South Sudanese actors who captivate without pretense. Two of the three male leads, as well as the actress who plays their sister, were caught up in the conflict before fleeing their homeland for asylum elsewhere. One was a child soldier, the other two lost relatives in the war.

The Good Lie honours its subject matter by devoting its first half-hour or so to events that unfold in Sudan, starting with a sudden and brutal attack on a rural village. Bullets are fired from a swooping helicopter, killing everyone save for several children. Related or not, they form a makeshift family and embark on a grueling 1,000-mile barefoot trek across punishing terrain where the threat of danger is around every bend. Starvation, a lack of water and illness claim the lives of several of the companions. As for Theo, who inherited his late father’s status as chief, he allows himself to be captured to save the rest, who eventually find sanctuary at a Kenyan refugee camp. And there they will stay for 13 years, until humanitarian efforts abroad allow them to seek a permanent home in Kansas City.

Portrait of a Lady

Movie- Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Director- Celine Sciamma

Genre- Drama

What a sensual and beautiful movie about love and longing. Breath-taking locations and superb emotions of the lead characters. Loved this one.It was wonderful to see the different nuances of portraiture. Do watch this beautiful movie. After all, it's pride month and love is love.

It is a delicate drama that flourishes through the liberating power of art, where a hopeful yet consuming love affair sparks between two young women amid patriarchal customs, and stays concealed in their hearts both because of and in spite of it. 

It’s not the secret bedroom trysts that Sciamma’s film renders the most erotic. It’s the suggestive longing, the camera’s respectful caressing of the skin, the studious stares that the two women get locked in that prove to be the most rousing. These gazes—first, exchanged out of obligation, then, cherished more and more—are stirring, simply because the lovers-to-be have no choice but to dwell in their private safety when any kind of sexual release seems out of the question for them.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Movie- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Director- Tim Burton

Genre- Fantasy(Inspired by the Book by Roald Dahl)

I loved this film for the fun and fantasy in it. It's a must watch for kids and also for those who have a little kid hidden inside them. I read this book by Roald Dahl recently and so this was like a revisit to the chocolate factory. It's amazing how good the songs sound and it's like a wonderland inside the factory.Watch this one with your kids and enjoy some chocolate and popcorn. Thank me later. It's great to feel like a kid again!

The movie is based on the story of Roald Dahl's magical tale of a young boy's adventure in the strange factory. The film stars  johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, the owner of the factory. Johnny Depp is perfect as Willy Wonka. He is crazy, eccentric and freaky, the way he allowed the rotten children to get what they deserved and protected his factory like it was his child.

The movie remains truly faithful to the book and it is like the book is presented to you on the big screen word to word, scene to scene.

Article 15

Movie- Article 15

Director- Anubhav Sinha

Genre- Dark Drama

The truth is brutal, but it needs to be told. This movie takes us to witness the issues of casteism that plague the villages.High caste, low caste and their different bifurcations are in the spotlight here. The ones with money and power go scotfree while the poor and downtrodden are made scapegoats. A hard hitting film to open your eyes and look at the way things are. I really liked it. Ayushman Khurana has always made the right choices in films. Brilliant acting by all the characters. Do watch this one.

A young IPS officer’s new posting in rural India has him confronting caste disparities and uncomfortable truths in the face of a gruesome crime. When three girls go missing in the fictional village of Lalgaon, two of them are found dead and there is no trace of the third one. Where is she and who is responsible for this heinous act?

Anubhav Sinha’s 'Article 15' is designed like a crime thriller. And what works for the film is that it’s thought provoking, hard-hitting while unflinchingly bringing to light burning social issues.

The performances by an ace set of actors is one of the high points of the film. Ayushmann Khurana has you hooked instantly, belting out a riveting performance as the sincere, determined police officer. It’s an intense, gripping act as he gets under the skin of his character. Other noteworthy scene stealers include actors Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub.

'Article 15' is not a light watch, but it is definitely relevant, compelling and a film that will spark conversation.

Tikli and Laxmi Bomb

Movie- Tikli and Laxmi Bomb

Director- Aditya Kripalani

Genre- Dark Drama

This is a hard hitting movie about Mumbai's sex trade that is nurtured, protected and abused by the system.

Politicians, police and the local goons take full advantage of them and their life is burning less than hell. When they try to protest and try to take control over the system they are discarded and the world does not give a damn.

A realistic film with some troubling facts.No one is a sex worker by choice, it is circumstances that lead them there. This film is about their trials and tribulations.

Not an entertainer but a must watch. Not the usual kind of film for sure.

The film’s story encases, at once, patriarchy’s deepest desire as well as its uncontrollable fear of women having a right over their own bodies.It shows men’s urgent, existential need to control and profit from these women, but also to, simultaneously, demean, abuse, kick around, exploit and, of course, rape them.Tikli & Laxmi Bomb doesn’t flinch even once in presenting a gritty, stark, dark ecosystem in which these women operate. It happily speaks the language of the streets, of a dhanda where there’s a price on women’s bodies that belongs to men.