HollywoodBollywood&everythingElse

Independent Film critic Johnson Thomas speaks to young filmmaker Dhruv Solanki on the processes he went through to make his first feature which was shot on an iPhone First-time filmmaker Dhruv Solanki - Director of ‘It’s All In Your Head,’ shot on iPhone, shines the spotlight on the new age youth of a Tier 2 city in India. The film captures a day in the life of six siblings in Vadodara who are deeply influenced by American culture. The indie film basically navigates through their digitally-driven existence. The film won the Best Producer award at The African Smartphone International Film Festival 2023 in Nigeria and was chosen by Beth Sanders, a faculty member and producing tutor at the prestigious MetFilm School in Berlin, as a case study for postgraduate film students. The film is streaming on GUDSHO. How did you come upon this story idea? The idea for the film came from the ones I shot before this one. My film ‘Blah Blah Blah’ which I am currently editing, is a story of si

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Film: #Srikanth Rating: * * * This biopic on #SrikanthBolla, a visually-impaired industrialist/founder of #BollantIndustries is fairly humorous & engaging. It’s an honest depiction of resilience & perseverance amidst struggles that might have forced a lesser man to give up. The writing may not be consistent & the tempo keeps flagging but the performances don’t. Powered by an inimitable performance from #RajkumarRao & solid support from #Jyothika, #AlayaF & #SharadKelkar, the film does warrant a ‘dekho’ at least! Cast: #RakumarRao #Jyothika #SharadKelkar #AlayaF Director: #TusharHiranandani Runtime: 134 min #CommuniquePR #everyone #SumitPurohit #JagdeepSidhu #BhushanKumar #KrishanKumar #NidhiParmar #ChalkAndCheeseFilms #TSeriesFilms #TanishkBagchi #IshaanChhabra #AanandMilind #SachetParampara

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Title: #MurderInMahim Rating: * * 1/2 While the novel by #JerryPinto was absorbing, this whodunit-murder-thriller series delving into social prejudice & lack of familial acceptance w.r.t. LGBTQ rights, is not. The lethargic pace & wayward interconnections between characters make coincidence a given. The show is more deliberative than gripping & the tension slackens considerably. It’s tough to stay hooked here. Cast: #DivyaJagdale #SmitaTambe #VijayRaaz #AshutoshRana #ShivajiSatam #ShivaniRaghuvanshi Director: #RajAcharya Runtime: 8 eps/45+ min each #PRPunditHavas #JioCinema #Tippingpoint #Viacom18studios #JigsawProductions #AjitAndhare #everyone #followers

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTReviews Title: #Undekhi3 Rating: * * * The intensity is down this new season, the crime family politics feels like old-hat, the punjabiyat gets tiresome & some scenarios & dialogues get sloppy. Even so, Undekhi 3 continues to generate chill, diving deeper into remorseless darkness & deception with a deeply brutal and nihilistic bent. Cast: #DibyenduBhattacharya #HarshChhaya #VarunBadola #SuryaSharma #AanchalSingh #AnkurRathee #ShivangiSingh #MeenakshiSethi #AynZoya #LavvinaTandon #NandishSinghSandhu Director: #AshishRShukla Runtime:8 Episodes/ 30-45 mins #ApplauseEntertainment #BanijayAsia #AvianWE #Sonyliv #everyone #followers

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryOTTreviews Film: #PyarKeDoNaam Rating: * 1/2 A good idea about a debate held in Aligarh Muslim Uni on Peace as represented By #MKGandhi and #NelsonMandela goes for a toss when this film veers off into romantic entanglements and comes off the loser because of it. Love and philosophy are a bad mix, obviosuly. Poor scripting, Shabby treatment, unlikable performances & a long runtime kill the interest. Cast: #BhavyaSachdeva #AnkitaSahu #KanikaGautam #AchalTankwal Director: #DanishJaved Runtime: 142 min #AltairMedia #everyone #JocularEntertainmentsPvtLtd #RelianceEntertainment

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #filmmovieDocumentaryOTTreviews Title: #HeeramandiTheDiamondBazaar Rating: * * * Despite the brilliant visual architecture, painstaking period costuming, amazing lighting, cinematography, brilliant music, choreography, amazing art direction, high production value & impeccable performances, the series takes more than a couple of episodes to get used to. The imbalance in scripting, artifice of the sets, over-emphasis on stylistic flamboyance, languid pacing & over-the-top ostentation doesn’t allow for any great attachment. It’s only when the final few episodes play out that we get to enjoy the payoff. That’s when the series takes on new meaning. #SLB’s magnum opus on the debauchery, tragedy & spirited aid to the freedom struggle by the nautch girls of Lahore during pre-indepenence, has his signature flair - unfortunately its too much of a good thing! Cast: #ManishaKoirala #AditiRaoHydari #RichaChadha