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#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Dunki Cast: #ShahRukhKhan #TaapseePannu #VickyKaushal #BomanIrani #VikramKochhar #AnilGrover #JyotiSubhash Director: #RajKumarHirani Rating: * * * Runtime: 160 mins #RajKumarHiraniFilms #SpicePR #everyone @everyone #everybody @everybody @followers #followers #JyotiDeshpande #JioStudios #RedChilliesEntertainment #GauriKhan An intermittently rib-tickling, emotional roller coaster, this film, typically dripping with melodrama, patriotic fervor, sentiments and underscored by fantasy, directed by Rajkumar Hirani and co-written by #AbhijatJoshi, #RajkumarHirani, and #KanikaDhillon, has a narrative that bemuses with its simplicity and ability to hit on the right tone and momentum and messaging to keep the audience enraptured. Heart-touching performances from Shah Rukh Khan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal and great support from the rest of the cast, help keep the interest going even when

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Title: #Chamak Cast: #ParamvirSinghCheema #MukeshChabbra #IshaTalwar #SuvinderVicky #SiddharthShaw #GippyGrewal #PrinceKanwaljitSingh #ManojPahwa #NavneetNishan #AnkitaGoraya #AniruddhRoy #DhanveerSingh #KunwarGrewal Director: #RohitJugraj Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 6 Episodes/45-60 mins each #OTTSeries #AvianWEPR #SonyLiv #Everyone #Everybody #Followers @followers @everyone @everybody Chamak is powered by music - folk to Sufi to Punjabi film songs but the helming is such that the thrills are woebegone. Cheema doesn’t have the presence to come anywhere close to the slain folk singer Chamkila (Amar Singh) who was slain along with his wife, during a concert in Punjab. Though claimed as a work of fiction, this series obviously takes it’s inspiration from that incident and Kaala the central character is a singer himself and son of a slain musician. The tone fails to be distinctive, the temp

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Title: #TheArchies Cast: #AgastyaNanda #KhushiKapoor #SuhanaKhan #AditiDot #LukeKenny #VinayPathak #AliMerchant #KamalSidhu #TaraSharma #VedangSharma #MihirAhuja #YuvrajMenda #KoelPurie #DelnaazIrani #KulpreetYadav Director: #ZoyaAkhtar Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 143 mins #OTTMovie #Netflix #GraphicIndia #TigerBaby #Everyone #Everybody #Followers @followers @everyone @everybody #NikosAndritsakis #ArchieComics Nostalgia inducing, retro driven US comic book adaptation transposed to a desi anglo-Indian set-up in a 1960’s North Indian Riverdale, this film has little going for it other than the skillful camerawork, art direction, production design and locales. The debutante actors don’t have the performance ease to make this look convincing. The music is peppy but forgettable. Agastya appears to be a chip off the Bachchan block but has a long way to go before he can make it big while Khushi

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #ChaapaKaata (Heads or Tails) #Marathi Cast: #MakarandAnaspure #TejaswiniLonari #MohanJoshi #ArunNalawade #VijayPatkar #PankajVishnu #ReenaMadhukar #RiturajPhadke #SushrutMankani Director: #SandeepManoharNavare Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 113 mins #SushilkumarAgrawal #UltraEntertainmentPvtLtd #RamKondilkar #everyone #everybody @everyone @everybody #Followers @Followers #BombayBarodaWebTalkies Typically old fashioned comedy drama about a brother pulling off a con just to get his sister married, this film delivers a fair amount of laughs even though the presentation lacks finesse. The writing is fluid enough even with all the complications that arise from the central conceit. The story may not have anything new to tell but #MakarandAnaspure and #VijayPatkar are in their element delivering laughs through delayed punchlines and effective comedic timing.

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReview #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #KadakSingh Cast: #PankajTripathi #SanjanaSanghi #JayaAhsan #ParvathyThiruvothu #PareshPahuja #VarunBuddhadev Director: #AniruddhaRoyChoudhury Rating: * * Runtime: 128 mins #Zee5 #ThinkinkCommunications #AvianWEPR #FirstStepMovies @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody #Followers @followers A sloppily structured, sluggish mystery thriller, this film fails to appeal because of its messy, rather incoherent narrative choices and stilted uneven performances. The narrative tries to incorporate as many themes as possible including bad parenting, suicide, drug abuse, second chance at relationship etc. and fails to stay focused on the main theme of chit-fund scam operated with the involvement of corrupt Govt employees. Too ‘Kadak’ to make sense!

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReview #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Kastoori ( #TheMusk) Cast: #SamarthSonawane #ShravanUpalkar #AnilKamble #VaishaliKendale #Jannat #KunalPawar #Jaybhim #VijayShikare Director: #VinodKamble Script/Dialogues: #VinodKamble #VijayKarde Editor: #ShrikantChaudhari Rating: * * * Runtime: 97 mins @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody #Followers @followers #InsightFilms #DrPayalDhoke #AnuragKashyap #NagrajManjule Set within the prism of caste prejudice this is a heart-touching story of resilience, hope and friendship. This film’s depiction of real dilemmas faced by the young coming from poverty stricken backgrounds, rings true. It’s really tough to watch a kid of 10-11 yrs help his father and mother do post-mortem cuts, burials and manual scavenging/toilet cleaning jobs. This film has endearing performances embedded into its gritty and realistic narrative. Worth watching!

AMISH SHAH, FOUNDER OF ALTR’S CREATED DIAMONDS & J’EVAR ANNOUNCED AS PANELIST FOR THE 10th ANNUAL VIBRANT GUJARAT GLOBAL SUMMIT “Lab-Grown Diamonds: A Visionary Journey for Gujarat’s Next Quarter Century” Will be Held on December 12th in Gujarat, India Amish Shah, founder of J’EVAR and ALTR, will be a panelist at the pre-summit seminar for the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024. The pre-summit seminar, “Jewellery, Gemstones and Gujarat: Renaissance for Radiant Viksit Bharat,” will be held on December 12, 2023, beginning at 9:00AM at Platinum Hall, SGCCI in Gujarat, India. Amish will be part of the summit’s session 3, “Lab-Grown Diamonds: A Visionary Journey for Gujarat’s Next Quarter Century.” His unwavering passion for jewelry, technology, and sustainability has positioned Amish as a trailblazer in the industry, and J'EVAR is poised to redefine the landscape of luxury fine jewelry. “I am honored and excited to speak at the Vibrant Gujarat Glo

LaLaLand Festival returns to Goa for the fifth time on Dec 9-10, 2023. This international festival is set to connect the communities across Goa and the world, through twenty-five live, national and international acts. As the festival returns, so does its Trash4cash initiative. LaLaLand Festival and Artist Subodh Kerkar have teamed up for TRASH4CASH initiative LaLaLand Festival, scheduled on Dec 9-10th, 2023 is the world’s first festival to come up with a unique TRASH4CASH initiative where people can buy tickets to the festival with trash. A LaLaLand Festival pass can be bought by donating empty chips packets, straws, plates and much more! 100 chips packets or plastic packaging gets you an entry pass This week the LaLaLand team along with Village Recyclers and One Earth NGO are visiting schools in Goa and educating children about recycling and upcycling of trash. People can bring chips, packets, straws, plates, cups, takeout containers, water bottles, thick shopping bags e

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews #AmazonPrime Film: #Dhootha #DubbedTeluguOriginalSeries #Tamil #Malayalam #Kannada (8 Eps/ 45-60 mins app each) Cast: #NagaChaitanyaAkkineni #ParvathyThiruvothu #PriyaBhavaniShankar #PrachiDesai #TharunBhascker #ChaitanyaGarikipati Director: #VikramKKumar Rating: * * #SharrathMarar #NorthStarEntertainmentPvtLtd #everyone #everybody @everybody @everyone #followers @followers Paranormal pickings set in incessant rain, this narrative with supernatural elements fueling the so-called suspense feels unrealistic and terribly contrived. There are no nuances here just obvious, clumsy attempts to steamroll the story through unbelievable events. The suspense is mediocre, tension is slack and cinematography led atmospherics fail to sustain mood. Journalist Sagar(#NagaChaitanya) has little to do other than look harried and stressed out. Even lowly cops behave abnormally. It’s all so sloppily

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Animal #CommuniquePR Cast: #RanbirKapoor #RashmikaMandana #BobbyDeol #AnilKapoor #ShaktiKapoor #TriptiDimri #PremChopra #SureshOberoi Director: #SandeepReddyVanga Rating: * 1/2 Runtime: 211 mins @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody @followers #followers Targeted at the animal in you, this film thrives on excess. The needlessly bloated, thinly constructed vengeance spiel reveres toxic masculinity, regressive representation of women, hyper-sexuality, brutality, pointless sex talk, senseless ridiculous action, fuzzy dialogues, and distasteful and highly offensive gore. It’s an altogether shrill, brash and bestial, totally twisted and unhinged Alpha male eulogy - Unpalatable, incoherent and traumatic to the sensitive viewer. #RanbirKapoor manages to stay unsullied with his rousing performance though!

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #SamBahadur Cast: #VickyKaushal #SanyaMalhotra #FatimaSanaShaikh #MohdZeeshanAyub #NeerajKabi Director: #MeghanaGulzar Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 150 mins #HYPEPR #SamBahadur @meghnagulzar @ronnie.screwvala @rsvpmovies @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody @followers #followers This biopic on India’s most decorated war hero, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (1914-2008), is a chequered one, interspersed with war scenes and political maneuvering - highlighting those turbulent years fraught with tension from our immediate neighbors. While the performers (#VickyKaushal especially), do well to look and act like real-life characters, the real essence of the persons they are representing is missing. It’s the writing that is faulty here. To make Maneckshaw look larger-than-life heroic, the screenplay does a deliberate disservice to all the other political stalwarts (Nehru and Indira Gandhi

2023 Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Film: Where The Road Leads Rating: * * * 1/2 Nina Ognjanović's debut feature 'Where The Road Leads' was screened at Jio MAMI 2023. A graduation feature of the fresh graduate of Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, the film won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and Grand Jury Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) at The Slamdance Film Festival 2023. The film which is produced by David Jovanović, a fellow graduate, and has semi-professional and professionals from the school, playing important roles on the technical and acting side, has also won the Grand Jury Award for Best International Narrative at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival – California and Jury Award for Best Director at Ravno Selo Film Festival – Serbia. It's quite a remarkable slew of awards for a fledgling director who is now basking in the acquired glory of festival plaudits. An intriguing drama that leans towards an escapist agenda,

International Film Festival on the Banks of the Ganges in the Himalayas Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, Nov 28, 2023. The tranquil banks of the Ganges will come alive with cinematic brilliance as Uttarakhand proudly presents the 7th Kautik International Film Festival, December 2 to 4, 2023, at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh. Kautik is a local gem that has grown into a global phenomenon. The first two editions were hosted in association with Kumaun University, Nainital, and primarily showcased the creative talents of student filmmakers. Subsequent editions took place in partnership with the District Magistrate of Marchula, at the serene outskirts of the Jim Corbett National Park, infusing an atmosphere of energy, adventure, and excitement. Marking a major milestone, this year, Kautik journeys to the Himalayas. For, “spirituality is the utmost necessity of our present time,” says festival director Rajesh ‘Kaku’ Shah, the focus puller of hit films such as Johnny Gaddar, 3 Idiots, and L

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Farrey #CommuniquePR Cast: #Alizeh #PrassanaBisht #ZeynShaw #SahilMehta #JuhiBabbar #RonitRoy Director: #SoumendraPadhi. Rating: * * * Runtime: 114 mins #SalmanKhanFilms #ReelLifeProductions #MCStan #SachinJigar #MaanuniDesai #AlviraAgnihotri #AtulAgnihotri #NikhilNamit #NaveenYerneni #YRaviShankar #SunirKheterpal @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody #followers @followers A hip,youthfully charged, tense, thrill-a-minute exercise on the cheat code, this film centred on young aspirants from across the great economic divide, aiming for higher education abroad (STIC), is well-made, superbly acted and sharply executed. The omissions and commissions in the scripting notwithstanding, there’s a wellspring of talent here that should not be overlooked. #Alizeh lends steely resolve to Niyati’s raw culpability while #PrasannaBisht shows off Chhavi’s sophisticated meanness to great c

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Khichdi2MissionPaanthukistan Cast: #SupriyaPathakKapur #FloraSaini #JamnadasMajethia #KritiKulhari #VandanaPathak #FarahKhan #RajeevMehta #AnandDesai #AnantVidhaatSharma #PratikGandhi #PareshGanatra Director: #AatishKapadia Rating: * 1/2 Runtime: 121 min #UniversalCommunications #ZeeStudios #ChirantanBhatt #RajuSingh #HatsOffProductions #everyone #everybody @everyone @everybody @followers #followers Desperately seeking comedy in stilted unbecoming form, this one is a disaster for the big screen. Baffling storyline, amateurishly put together sequences, comedy routines that fail to click, lacklustre random storyline, utterly lacking in logic, creativity and coherence. This sort of nonsense is better suited for the Idiot Box.

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Tiger3 #YashrajFilms Cast: #SalmanKhan #KatrinaKaif #EmraanHashmi #Revathi #RanvirShorey #AamirBashir Director: #ManeeshSharma Rating: * * Runtime: 160 min #AdityaChopra #everyone #everybody @everyone @everybody @followers #followers #YRFSpyUniverse has lost its way. Cliched and problematic, this sequel to #TigerZindaHai, 5th instalment of ‘Tiger’ super spy series creates a fissure between #India #Pakistan (#RAW #ISI) but fails to find stable ground to whet the audience’ appetite. Action feels toonish, nothing fresh here - with predictably boring diplomatic fracas and some stale family histrionics.

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReview #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #Aarya #Season3 #DisneyHotstar #HotstarSpecials Cast: #SushmitaSen #IlaArun #SikandarKher #IndraneilSengupta #VikasKumar #MayaSarao #GeetanjaliKulkarni #ShwetaPasricha #VirenVazirani #PratyakshPanwar #AarushiBajaj #BhupendraJadawat #VishwajeetPradhan Directors: #RamMadhvani #KapilSharma #ShraddhaPasiJairath Co-Producers: #AmitaMadhavni #RamMadhvani #RamMadhvaniFilms #EndemolShineIndia Writers: #KhushbooRaj #AmitRaj Rating: * * Runtime: 35-46 mins/ Episode (4 episodes) #MoesArt #everyone @everyone #everybody @everybody #followers The #sherni epithet has been rendered flaky, the writing has lost its edge, and the series has lost its cool quotient. And what’s with the ‘Mother protecting her children’ by killing others and facilitating drug abuse, What part of women’s empowerment is this? The moral schema is threadbare and fanciful. #SushmitaSen looks ill and seems to be flying at h

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReview #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #ThreeOfUs Cast: #ShefaliShah #JaideepAhlawat #SwanandKirkire #KadambariKadam Director: #AvinashArun Rating: * * 1/2 Runtime: 98 mins #everyone @everyone #everybody @everybody #followers Stuttering and floundering in the wilderness of memories, this film fails to draw us in. A story about searching for closure leaves the viewer with flighty ponderous moments of ingratiation. It’s the actors who shine above the meandering plot and unevenly paced narrative.

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReview #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit Film: #AankhMicholi #UniversalCommunications Cast: #PareshRawal #SharmanJoshi #AbhishekBanerjee #MrunalThakur #AbhimanyuDasani #DivyaDutta #VijayRaaz #DarshanJariwala #GrushaKapoor Director: #UmeshShukla Rating: * Runtime: 144 mins @everyone #everyone @everybody #everybody #followers A dumb, ineffective, sloppily executed and clueless, hopelessly mistimed attempt at slapstick comedy, this one is a complete no-brainer!

Against the Tide by Sarvnik Kaur gets the prestigious Golden Gateway Award and Kanu Behl’s Agra receives the special jury Award at the closing ceremony of Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival After its spectacular opening and a staggering response by the audiences, filmmakers and the industry, Jio MAMI Mumbai film festival closing ceremony was attended by Janhvi Kapoor, Vishal Bhrdwaj, Manushi Chillar, Kiran Rao, Mira Nair and various other top talent from around the world Mumbai, November 4, 2023 Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival closed with a grand ceremony at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC). One of the biggest film festivals in South Asia, Jio MAMI, this year has over 300 films in 70 languages from 70 different countries. Of these, a record number of 70 films are by female filmmakers. The festival also had 40 world premieres, 45 Asian premieres, and over 70 South Asian premieres. The festival is spread across 8 venues and 20 screens. While the closing ceremony too