#GabbarIsBack #HindiBollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * *

#GabbarIsBack #HindiBollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * *

#PicksAndPiques/SnippetFilmReview 1^stMay2015/#JohnsonThomas

 

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#PicksAndPiques/SnippetFilmReview1^stMay 2015/#JohnsonThomas

 

#GabbarIsBack(Hindi) Rating: * * It’s Ak’s #JaiHo and just as silly, unbelievable and inconsequential in premise and action. Plying it straight as a brand war between a vengeance seeking social transformer  and savvy entrepreneur villain, the ensuing action regurgitates formulaic set-ups and stereotypes with all the self-righteousness and superciliousness typical of mainstream Bollywood. Claims to be officially remade from a Murgadoss directed Telugu flick (Ramanna)of 2003- so now you know how dated the film is too. The idea for the remake must have sprung from last year’s #AnnaHazare & #NAC led Anti-corruption crusade but unfortunately the audience has already moved away from that leitmotif.  An idealistic-professor cum vigilante setting out to cure the system is just so passé now. There’s nothing tangible to hold on to here other than some south-side formula that seems so alien in today’s day and age!  #AkshayKumar #Krish #AMurgodoss #ErosInternational  #Viacom18MotionPictures #BhansaliProductions #SanjayLeelaBhansali #PanoramaStudios #ShabinaaKhan

 

#SabKiBajegiBand(Hindi) Rating: * * A bunch of friends park themselves in a farmhouse and pour out their secrets in-camera for a film helmed by one of their own. Their allusions are meant to tag the film industry and expose the real truth behind the starry façade. Billed as a ‘Reality’ film, a first of it’s kind, supposedly, this concept film plays out irritatingly without any logic or sustenance to keep you involved. That it covers every possible hidden truth of a society that is unable to live up to it’s own standards, is neither here nor there!   #AnirudhChawla #1HPR #HemaUpadhyay #TejasPR #YenMovies #PerceptPictures #KapilSharma #SwaraBhaskar #AlekhSangal #SumeetVyas #ShauryaChauhan

 

#WhileWe’reYoung(English) Rating: * * * Softly drawn charmingly humorous portrait of a 40 something couple coming to terms with inevitable truths about themselves while struggling to be something they are not- by getting them befriended by a 20 something couple out to live life to the fullest possible in every which way-put forward by intergenerational harmonizing. The first hour or so is light, breezy and enjoyable but when the realization sets in, it becomes a little heavy-duty and tedium inducing. Even so the overall experience is heightened by the freshness of the charm and wit on display.

#PVRPictures #HardlyAnonymousPR #NaomiWatts #BenStiller  #AdamDriver #AmandaSeyfried #NoahBaumbach #A24FilmsRelease

 

Hindi Film Review

Johnson Thomas

Pulling out oft-repeated bogies from a worn and tattered Hat

Film: Gabbar is Back

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti Hassan, Kareena Kapoor, Chitrangada Singh

Director: Krish

Rating: * *

Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins

 

It’s Akshay Kumar’s #JaiHo and just as silly, unbelievable and inconsequential in premise and action. Plying it straight as a brand war between a vengeance seeking social transformer  and savvy entrepreneur villain, the ensuing action regurgitates formulaic set-ups and stereotypes with all the self-righteousness and superciliousness typical of mainstream Bollywood. ‘Gabbar is Back’ is a film in which Akshay Kumar attempts to go one-up on Salman. And I say this because the film is more or less similar to Salman Khan’s most recent dud ‘Jai Ho,’ albeit a slicker, more integrated version of it.  It’s another matter that the film makers’ officially claim this to be a remake of a Murgadoss’ telugu hit ‘Ramanna’ from way back in 2003 and lets not forget that Salman’s ‘Jai Ho’ was also a remake of a different south film. So in essence dimwit filmmakers are basically regurgitating the same dumb stories with a twist here and there to stake a fake claim for originality.

That said, there’s little to like about this actioner that feels stale and almost a decade out of date. The filmmakers might have found currency in the anti-corruption sermonizing - coinciding it with last year’s much publicized NAC crusade but they forgot that by the time the film saw the light of the theatres, the audiences’ passion for that social transformation would be dimmed and daunted. And to have to see Akshay Kumar trying to justify screeching and speechifying with anti-corruption messaging designed as a brand war between almost evil and pure evil stretches the limits of credibility. Akshay is good as an action hero who uses his brawn to suit his agenda but when idealism is asked of him, it doesn’t bore well for the audience. As a cape-less crusader with an alter-ego that instills fear in the corrupt, Akshay Kumar as Professor Aditya nee Gabbar appears like he is role playing and without much conviction. It feels in fact like ‘Rowdy Rathod’ in swank new (Ill-fitting though) clothes.

Prof Aditya teaches at National College a heaven of upright, incorruptible citizens who go out into the world and live their lives with the steely determination to eschew away from corruption. But those around them don’t follow the same ideals. So Aditya dons an alter-ego Gabbar and sets out to right the wrongs of this world. But there’s revenge also as a motive. We get to know about that midway through the film when we learn of the sad demise of his pregnant wife(Kareena Kapoor looking lovely) in a building collapse. So the Digvijay Patil versus Gabbar confrontation has a back story in which Aditya was left for dead, rescued and refurbished -to start off a new life. This time with a new heroine( a shrill and unnaturally animated Shruti Hassan) in tow and a resolve set in stone!

 

It’s annoying and preachy replete with cheesy one-liners uttered by staccato Kumar.  “I hate sorrys”, “Say no to corruption, otherwise Gabbar will be back” , “deeds of a hero, but the name of a villain: that’s Gabbar” are pre-programmed messages sent out at intermittent intervals in order to garner hypnotic attachment. But what it does instead is turn you off completely. There’s no sincerity in this enterprise and the inanity that floods it is certainly not something you would want to put yourself through. Bollywood films remade from south-side extravaganzas are usually know for their corny misrepresentations of reality and flights of fancy. This one is no different.  A romantic song that gives us an insight on Gabbar’s motivations, a raunchy, overtly suggestive song-and-dance number featuring Chitrangada Singh and several bombastic quips are employed to drive home the brand messaging that is vital to the climactic clash.

 

The preachy overtones, the conscious sermonizing, silly antics, unbelievable action stunts, confounding logic in the sequence of events and Kumar’s staccato dialogue delivery don’t allow for much enjoyment here. Standard Stereotypes ,clichés, formulaic elements make it that much more difficult to make sense of. Director Krish and his editor manage to make it slick but the disjointedness and incoherence doesn’t stay hidden for long. Watch it only if you are a die-hard Akshay Kumar fan!

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