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#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #HolyCow Runtime: 96 mins Rating: * * Genre: Comedy/Drama Cast: #NawazuddinSiddiqui #SanjayMishra #TigmanshuDhulia #SadiaSiddiqui #MukeshKumarBhatt Writer/Director: #SaiKabir #ReticPictures #TriggerHappyEntertainmentNetwork #YSEntertainment Producer: #AaliyaSiddiqui #KSeraSera #SukhSagarFilms This could have been a great satire but the inept writing and the unviable plotting leave a lot to be desired. What happens when a Muslim living in ‘Lynching land’ finds that his cow has disappeared from his yard? Well, the narrative here is so uninteresting that you just wouldn’t bother to find out. Even the performances of some of the best actors in Hindi cinema seem a little tired and stale. Billed as a comedy, this film doesn’t even get to the point of amusing.

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Liger (Hindi /Telugu/Tamil/Malayalam/Kannada) Runtime: 140 minutes Rating: * ½ Cast: #VijayDeverakonda #AnanyaPanday #RamyaKrishnan #RonitRoy #Ali #MakarandDeshpande #MikeTyson #ChunkyPandey Producer: #KaranJohar #PuriJagannadh #CharmmeKaur #ApoorvaMehta #HirooYashJohar Story/Sceenplay/Director: #PuriJagannadh Dialogue: #PuriJagannadh (Telugu), #PrashantPandey (Hindi) Cinematography: #VishnuSharma Editor: #JunaidSiddiqui Music: #SunilKashyap #VikramMontrose #TanishkBagchi #LijoGeorge #DJChetas #SunilKashyap #Jaani. Karan Johar appears to be digging deep into the south for his Box-Office fodder but his choices are iffy at best. After all, not every film can be a #Bahubali at the BO. This one is total crass. There’s no story to tell and the lead actor, despite having an #ArjunReddy as his brand awakening, has been unable to score big in the role of an MMA fighter with an al...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #DoBaaraa Genre: Mystery/Thriller Runtime:123min Rating: * * ½ Cast: #TapseePannu #PavailGulati #RahulBhatt #SaswataChatterjee #ShashwatDwivedi #MediniKelamane Director: #AnuragKashyap Writer: #NihitBhave #SpicePR Anurag Kashyap tries to immerse his audience in a loopy construct but fails to get any purchase out of a borrowed idea (originally from the Spanish film #Mirage). Nihit Bhave’s officially adapted screenplay takes us into parallel universes, murder, and several resolutions but none of them make much sense. The attempt to link an electric storm to TV watching and going into a portal in order to signify the space-time continuum doesn’t come off as believable. The plotting is rather convoluted and fantastic. Fancy edits are employed but it’s just not enough. Minimal use of VFX might have done the trick much better. The lead character Antara, a young mother who finds her...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #SitaRamam #Tamil #Runtime: 157mins Genre: Drama Rating: * * ½ Cast: #DulquerSalmaan #MrunalThakur #RashmikaMandanna #TinnuAnand #DalipThahil #MurliSharma #PrakashRaj Writer/Director: #HanuRaghavapudi Dialogue: #JayKrishna #RajKumarKandamudi #LycaProductions #Subaskaran #VyjayanthiMovies A period romantic drama set amidst India-Pakistan strife, this film loses appeal as it tries for greater complexity. Its 1964, POK terrorist camp is putting the finishing touches of Operation Gibralter involving the Mujahideen crossing into Kashmir. A young Indian lieutenant who falls in love with a Hyderabadi Muslim Princess(later on, his wife), is tasked with destroying the Pakistani camp – but he gets caught and tortured while his wife goes from Pillar to post to rescue him. Shades of ‘Roja’ in the story but the plotting involves sequences with the Indian army in Kashmir. The narrative spends to...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #Karthikeya2. Rating: * * * Runtime: 150 mins. Genre: Supernatural Mystery Adventure Thriller Cast: #NikhilSiddharth #AnupamKher #AnupamaParameswaran #SrinivasReddy #HarshaChemudu #AdityaMenon Writer/Director: #ChandooModeti Producers: #TGVishwaPrasad #AbhishekAgarwal Cinematography #KarthikGhattamaneni Music: #KaalaBhairava #CommuniquéPR #PeopleMediaFactory #AbhishekAgarwalArts A sequel (not in the real sense) to the 2014 hit mystic thriller Karthikeya, this Telugu language adventure thriller dubbed in 5 languages, has the lead character Karthik, a man of science and that too a doctor, inadvertently embark on a mythic-mystical journey in pursuit of a truth that exposes him to the power of an ancient secret that dates back 5,118 years, linked to Lord Krishna. Structured as a mystery with clues and seemingly impregnable challenges directing the quartet to a buried treasure...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #RakshaBandhan Genre: Comedic Family Drama Rating: * * Runtime: 108 mins Cast: #AkshayKumar #BhumiPednekar #SadiaKhateeb #SahejmeenKaur #SmrithiSrikanth #DeepikaKhanna #SeemaPahwa #SahilMehta #ShivamGaur #PankajRajput #AbhinayRajSingh Director/ Co-producer: #AanandLRai #RaindropPR Producer: #ZeeStudios #AlkaHiranandani Writer: #HimanshuSharma #KanikaDhillon Cinematography: #KUMohanan Editor: #HemalKothari Music: #IshaanChhabra #HimeshReshammiya Lala has to offload his four unique, unconventional sisters in the dowry based marriage market before he can knot-up with his childhood sweetheart – a vow he took at the deathbed of his ailing mother. Except for the oldest, the rest don’t fit into the conventional stereotypical concepts of beauty or brains. Crass, degenerate, and totally unpalatable, this film celebrates the popular #ChandniChowk variety of #Punjabiyat before it rushes...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #LalSinghChaddha Rating : * * ½ Genre: Drama Runtime: 164 mins Cast: #AamirKhan #KareenaKapoorKhan #MonaSingh #NagaChaitanya #ShahRukhKhan #KaminiKaushal Director: #AdvaitChandan Cinematography: #SatyajitPande Music: #TanujTiku #Pritam Editor: #HemantiSarkar Producer: #AamirKhan #KiranRao #JyotiDeshpande #AjitAndhare #RadhikaChaudhari #SpicePR ‘Sincerity and perseverance can go a long way – while the story here heralds that aspect, the making of it feels rather fake. A gimmicky attempt at official adaptation ( by #AtulKulkarni of #EricRoth’s screenplay of #ForrestGump), this film plays out like a comic strip with #AamirKhan going over-the-top and inconsistent (more #Chaplin-like than real) in his attempt to portray an autistic man whose ability to run gives him an entry into the army and takes him all over India - touching on strife-ridden and seminal moments dotting India’s cont...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Vaashi (meaning: Persistent vow) #Malayalam Genre: Courtroom Drama Runtime: 120 mins Rating: * * * Cast: #AnuMohan #KeerthySuresh #TovinoThomas #KottayamRamesh #MayaVishwanath #Nandu #Baiju #MayaMenon #RonyDavid Director/Co-writer: #VishnuRaghav Story: #JanizChackoSimon Music: #KailasMenon Cinematography: #RobyVargheseRaj Editor:#MaheshNarayanan ArtDirection: #MaheshSridhar CostumeDesign: #DivyaGeorge #UrvasiTheatres #Netflix A courtroom drama that exposes the schisms in the concept and perception of ‘consent’ for sex before marriage while juxtaposing that aspect with an ego and courtroom drama between two opposing lawyers who happen to be recently married to each other. While ‘Vaashi’ sloganeers on feminism that is equal for all genders (as appealed by advocate Madhavi in defense of the accused in a 375A charge) it fails to go beyond that tokenism. Nevertheless, the narrative is ...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #OddCouple Rating: * Genre: Romantic/Comedy/Drama Runtime:114 mins Cast: #DivyennduSharma #SuchitraKrishnamoorthi #VijayRaaz #PranatiRaiPrakash #ManojPahwa #SumitGulati #SaharshKumarShukla #SatyakamAnand #PradeepSinghAdhikari #VinayKumar #NehaNegi #ChunmumKumar #NipramCreations #ShemarooEntertainment #PanoramaStudios #AltairMedia #AshwaniShukla #AmazonPrime Producer/Story: #PraneetVerma Director/Screenplay/Dialogue/Lyrics: #PrashantJohari Music/BackgroundScore: #JayRajeshArya Cinematography: #SrijitBasu Editor: #PrakashJha Weird is the word. The way the screenplay and plotting play out, it feels as though the couples in this drama were out of their mind rather than forced by circumstances. The narrative is stilted, there’s nothing funny here even though this is billed as a romantic comedy and the performances by hitherto good actors come across as inept and pretentious. The w...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Haryana Rating: * * Genre: #RomanticFamilyDramaComedy Runtime: 151 min Cast: #YashTonk #AshleshaSavant #RobbieMairh #MonicaSharma #AakarshanSingh Story, Screenplay, Dialogue, Lyrics, Direction, Co-Producer: #SandeepBaswana Cinematography: #JohnyLal Background Score/Music: #GuruDhanoa #MohitPathak Editors: #SanyukaKaza #JitendraDongare #AltairMedia #AshwaniShukla #RajaBaswanaFilms As the title suggests this film is about 3 brothers from Haryana –the oldest Mahinder played by Yash Tonk-Supposedly in his 30’s ( but looks 50), the middle brother- Jaibeer (Robbie Mairh) is the quite, silent vindictive college boy lover type who makes restitution for his past sins and the youngest Jugnu (Aakarshan Singh) a petulant, spoilt brat, an irresponsible teen who gets his way all the time. Their parents are long gone so it’s up to Mahinder to play the father figure. And it’s not an easy task as ...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Darlings Cast: #AliaBhatt #VijayVarma #ShefaliShah #RajeshSharma #RoshanMathews #VijayMaurya #KiranKarmarkar #PoojaSwaroop #SantoshJuvekar Director: #JasmeetKReen Runtime: 134 mins Genre: #BlackComedy Rating: * * ½ #ShahRukhKhan #GauriKhan #RedChilliesEntertainmentLtd #EternalSunshine #AnilMehta #Gulzar #VishalBharadwaj #Netflix #ZeeCinema A young lower middleclass housewife living in a chawl community suffers through domestic violence before she builds up the courage to reverse roles. The incidents here are mostly farcical derived from black humour - women are presented as dimwits ( in an attempt to garner laughs) - yet suddenly turn smart enough to turn tables on their oppressors, crime is presented as an easy option to get rid of injustice and accessories to the crime are just as easily available to do the needful. The tone jumps from serious to fanciful as the mother-daugh...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #GoodluckJerry Genre: Crime /Comedy Runtime: 120 mins Rating: * * ½ Cast: #Abhimanue #DeepakDobriyal #JaswantSinghDalal #JahnviKapoor #DeepakDobriyal #MitaVashisht #MohanKamboj #AvarBrar #SushantSingh #SahilMehta #SandeepNayak Director: #SiddharthSengupta Producers: #SubaskaranAllirajah #AanandLRai #MahaveerJain. Story & Screenplay: #NelsonDilipkumar #PankajMatta #RaindropMedia #LycaProductions #ColourYellowProductions #Disney #Hotstar The remake of the Tamil film '#KolamavuKokila' (which starred #Nayanthara and was a decent money-spinner at the Box-Office), gets an OTT release. Obviously, considering the star cast (Jahnvi has no real draw at the Box-office and the rest of the cast are character artists and newbies who we’ve hardly heard of leave alone seen) and helming by a debutant director, it was a smart choice. Attempting to remake a dark crime comedy wi...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #VikrantRona / #VR Genre: #HorrorActionAdventureDrama Cast: #NeethaAshok #NirupBhandari #KichchaSudeep #RavishankarGowda #JacquelineFernandez Director: #AnupBhandari Writers: #AnupBhandari #JohnMahendran #SSRajamouli #SalmanKhan #ZeeStudios #KichchaProductions #ShaliniArtsProductions Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 139 mins This big-budget action, horror, a period film with fancy sets, absurd ideation, and a marketing boost from SS Rajamouli and Salman Khan, has been released Pan India dubbed in multiple regional languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, German, Russian, English, Arabic and Mandarin in addition to Kannada. The film delves into superstition and mystery before finding a heroic resolution for the death of children and several other murders that take place in a remote village policed by Vikrant Rona. The narrative is clichéd and fanciful – relying on deliberate...

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #EkVillainReturns Rating: * ½ Cast: #DishaPatani #ArjunKapoor #JohnAbraham #TaraSutaria #RiteshDeshmukh #JDChakravarthy #ShaadRandhawa #KarishmaSharma #BharatDhabolkar #PankajRajput #ShanuKumar Director: #MohitSuri BackgroundScore: #RajuSingh #RaindropMedia #BalajiTelefilmsPvtLtd #TSeries #ShobhaKapoor #EktaaKapoor #BhushanKumar #Spotify Another serial killer with a twisted self-rationalization in this ‘Ek Villain’ returning franchise installment - but this time it’s ridiculous, half-baked, altogether facile, pea-brained and entirely obvious trickery. Warped, perverse, and sick characterizations abound here. The script revels in throwing up psychopaths and sociopaths while anointing them as heroes and villains as per convenience. Throwing up obvious red herrings appears to be Mohit Suri’s treasured trick so he uses it quite liberally here and consequently loses the plot entirely...