#Badlapur #HindiBollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * * *
#Badlapur #HindiBollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * * *
#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview20thFeb2015/#JohnsonThomas
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#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview20thFeb2015/#JohnsonThomas
#Badlapur(Hindi) Rating: * * * #SriramRaghavan tries to steer clear from the Bollywood norm and manages to fashion an interesting enough exploration of revenge. Heavily borrowed moments from the TV drama ‘Dexter’ and conscious and obvious effort to steer clear of clichés and stereotypes makes this a note-worthy effort but the lack of tension, studied tone and the heavily indulgent showboat editing make it less than entertaining. The neo-noir cinematographic texture does lend it substance and deliberately stylised performances by #NawazuddinSiddiqui #VarunDhawan #RadhikaApte #VinayPathak #HumaQuereshi #YamiGautam #DivyaDutta adds to the interest! #UniversalCommunications #ParagDesai #VarunDhawan #SriramRaghavan #TSeries #MaddockFilms #ErosEntertainment #DineshVijan
#SomeTimes (Cineplay,English) Rating: * * *1/2 #SubodhMaskara & #NanditaDas’s latest venture #CinePlay that’s slotted to hit the VOD sector is a series of entertaining plays captured on camera for a wider viewing audience. #Sometimes , the latest play in the series, written by #AdhirBhat and Directed by talented #AkarshKhurana is a vividly entertaining experience. A confluence of solid writing, tight direction and superb performances, this one makes you sit up and take notice. Be prepared to rush to the theatres for the next showing...! #RomaPerieraTalwar #AnishaSenguptaYanger #TurningPointBrandConsulting
#Qissa(Punjabi/Subtitled) Rating: * * * * Multiple award winning Indo-German Production #Qissa is a Stunningly eloquent and intense dramatic engagement. #AnupSingh’s Superb direction, brilliantly structured screenplay combined with unforgettable performances by #TilottamaShome #IrrfanKhan #TiscaChopra #RasikaDuggal make this a never-to-be-missed experience. It’s been a long time since #NFDC came up with a winner..this is it! #VikramjitRoy #HemaUpadhyay #EverydayMedia #1HPR
#Monsoon(Hindi) Rating: * A coming of age tale that lacks distinction and direction. School boy crush on an older woman has been treaded on before with much better finesse and refinement. This one just bludgeons through a set-piece story in order to score on sidey, risque entertainment! #MahendraDhariwal #JitenderGulati #SuzadIqbalKhan #SrishtiSharma #Sudhanshu #Shawar Ali #VijaySingh #RajaGulati
#Wild(English) Rating: * * *1/2 Based on the memoirs of #CherylStrayed, this exploration of the self through a wild adventure trek, a #ReeseWitherspoon topliner, is not as intense or dramatic a road movie as it could have been. Director #JeanMarcVallee tends to be a little more wordy(Voiceover) than visually descriptive(fleeting flashbacks) and that makes all the difference in the experience. #ParagDesai #UniversalCommunications #FoxStar #LauraDern #GabyHoffmann
#Whiplash(English) Rating: * * * * Director-writer #DamienChazelle’s low-budget film, about the development of a top-notch musician(Drummer), shot in just 19 days, devotes itself to the cruelty infused dynamic of the relationship between a music teacher and his student. It has all the tension and intensity of a top-notch thriller. Simmons as Fletcher and Miles Teller as Andy are fantastic.#Whiplash is riveting. #HardlyAnonymous #UniversalPictures #PVR
Hindi Film review
Johnson Thomas
Tempered Revenge Drama
Film: Badlapur
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Quereshi, Radhika Apte, Yami Gautam, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Rating: * * *
This film could have been more aptly titled ‘Badle ki Aag,’ especially looking at how the main character Raghu(Varun Dhawan) waits out 15 long years to wreak vengeance on those who were instrumental in destroying his family- a wife (Yami Gautam) and a son.
Sriram Raghavan’s psycho-drama about a young yuppie advertising professional losing it all (going psychopath) following the murder of his wife and son stretches credibility with it’s timeframe yet manages to keep the interest-mainly because of a neo-noir cinematographic texture, earthy pathos laden music and some showy yet gritty performances.
The film opens with a woman walking her child across the road to a parked SUV and just as they get inside, in run two bank robbers with their loot, who push the woman and child into petrified passenger mode while they car-jack the vehicle in a bid to escape the hot-on-pursuit policemen. The woman and child are killed in the excitement and one of the robbers, Harman(Vinay Pathak) makes a clean getaway while the other one, Liak(Nawazuddin) is captured by the cops. Raghu, who has just sealed a client presentation, is called to the hospital, only to find his loved ones lying lifeless. His transformation into a vengeful psychopath is not immediate. It’s more of a deliberate one.
The narrative then gets embroiled in a rather long-drawn effort to converge into a face-off between the inadvertent killer and the deliberate, calculated one. And in effect it doesn’t come-off largely because Sriram Raghavan fails to build-up either tension or cutting edge tempo in his narrative. While the visuals are suitably spartan, dark, dank and heavy weathered, the flow just doesn’t match up. The time lapse between intent and action is so long that you just don’t experience that momentous estrangement from reality that the titular character is supposed to experience. Raghu’s move to Badlapur, following his loss, also proves facile and is devoid of any substantive weightage in the drama that ensues. Revenge being the principle theme here, there’s just too much of development and as a result you never feel much of the anger that Raghu is supposedly experiencing. The transformation from angry revenge seeking husband/father to a deliberate cold-blooded scheming psychopath just doesn’t come through with enough conviction. The method used for the kill is straight out of ‘Dexter,’ so Raghavan is not exactly original with that specific idea. The pacing and tempo is slackening, so tension is never down to the wire. The thrill factor is sorely missing here. The minimalistic background score, earthy musical serenades and the rooted performances by Nawazuddin, Dhawan, Quereshi, Apte, Dutta and Pathak make the experience at least somewhat interesting. Also, Raghavan’s and co-scriptwriter Arijit Biswas’ efforts to stay away from the Bollywood norm of clichés and stereotypes is commendable. Unfortunately it’s not enough to make the experience entirely definitive, invigorating or exciting! Raghavan’s ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ and ‘Johnny Gaddar’ were definitely far greater efforts than this measly entertainer which might just be ranked a bar above his lackluster spy outing, ‘Agent Vinod!’
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