Raksha Bandhan #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#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 into a sermonising counter for all the regressive ills that plague the narrative for most of its runtime. #AkshayKumar is loud and trying too hard to emote (though one must give him brownie points for sheer effort to win over the gallery), Sahil Mehta does well as his assistant, the actresses essaying the role of sisters appear to be enjoying themselves, and the efficient Seema Pahwa gets back into an oft-repeated role of wedding planner/broker. Anand L Rai appears to be delving into Jeetendra’s 70’s playbook to help Akshay Kumar lift up his sagging career but it’s to no avail. His helming has pace and momentum but the tone is way too lurid, the script is a little too outdated to curry favor, genuinely comedic moments are rare, the heavy-duty emotions on display here are rather hard to stomach and the nasal sounding, shrill songs meant to render relief don’t fit in with Akshay Kumar’s persona.