#HolaVenky #BollywoodHindiFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * * *
#HolaVenky #BollywoodHindiFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas #Rating: * * *
#FastAndFurious7(English 3D) Rating: * * ½ As an action spectacle this couldn’t get much better but as a movie experience it’s suspect. Furious it may be in intent, but also spurious in content. Self-referential connectedness and insane plot-turns coupled with hair-raising momentum will make your jaw drop. Caricatured characters and Wild plotting are drawbacks. #PaulWalker gets a warm tribute but for the audience it’s not all a big rush! #UniversalPictures #JascintoFernandes #ChandrashekarNeeli #HardlyAnonymousPR #VinDiesel #PaulWalker #DwayneJohnson #JasonStatham #MichelleRodriguez #JordanaBrewster #TyreseGibson #Ludacris #JamesWan
‘Hola Venky’ has many other firsts to it’s credit. It is India’s first urban ‘Great Indian Travelling Cinema’ experiment with more than 90 screenings around the world’. Armed with a second hand projector Sandeep has been travelling and showcasing his film to anyone who expresses a desire for that unique experience. And it’s all done for no charge. Sandeep is also releasing the film online so that his small investors can atleast regain their investments.
#PicksAndPiques/SnippetFilmReview 3rdApril2015/#JohnsonThomas
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#ByomkeshBakshy(Hindi) Rating: * * * This desi Sherlock based on the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi created by the Bengali writer #SharadinduBandyopadhyay has what it takes to keep you intrigued at every turn of plot( even though convoluted). The ending may be a little tame but this period drama wearing old world charm and new world pizzazz, a #DibakarBanerjee out-of-genre, dark and dangerous experience, is replete with caprice and spice! #SpicePR #YashRajFilms #SushantSinghRajput #AdityaChopra #UdayChopra #AnandTiwari #MeiyangChang #SwastikaMukherjee #UrmiJuvekar #DivyaMenon
#HolaVenky (English/Hindi) Rating: * * * Quirky light-hearted comedy -A Techie's journey from 'his groin to his heart', that takes him from Mumbai all the way to the City by the Bay, is an Indie Film made in the budget of Rs. 10 lakhs by a 3-member guerrilla crew. Great shot making, smart story-telling craft, effective performances are it’s highlights. And there’s pleasing humor to boot. Despite it’s micro-budget, this one looks good and rocks too! #SandeepMohan #PSLivePR #GijuJohn #RogerNarayan #SanjayGulati #SoniaBalcazar #AshwinMushran
#PaisaHoPaisa(Hindi) Rating:* This one’s likely to take your money and your life. Tacky, disjointed, badly dubbed theatrics, shoddy graphics animation, awful music and amateurish acting take the cake here. The director/Producer who has been associated with 42 south movies including ‘Nayakan’ as producer, touches rock bottom with this one! #ShaheenRaj #MukthaSundar #VVishwanathan #DhruvBhandari #MadalasaShah #KanishkaSoni #VivekAntony
#FastAndFurious7(English 3D) Rating: * * ½ As an action spectacle this couldn’t get much better but as a movie experience it’s suspect. Furious it may be in intent, but also spurious in content. Self-referential connectedness and insane plot-turns coupled with hair-raising momentum will make your jaw drop. Caricatured characters and Wild plotting are drawbacks. #PaulWalker gets a warm tribute but for the audience it’s not all a big rush! #UniversalPictures #JascintoFernandes #ChandrashekarNeeli #HardlyAnonymousPR #VinDiesel #PaulWalker #DwayneJohnson #JasonStatham #MichelleRodriguez #JordanaBrewster #TyreseGibson #Ludacris #JamesWan
#CoffeeAniBarachKahi(Marathi) Rating: * * flippant, frivolous and meaningless-much like the urban Cafe addicts it chooses to illustrate…This urban centered romantic tripe has contrary characters and a procrastinating plotline. Not much involvement to be had here! #EverestEntertainmentPvtLtd #RaviJadhavFilms #WhiteSwanProductions #MotionScapeProductions #LatikaChindarkar #EverydayMediaPR
#HumBajaBajaaDenge(Hindi) Rating: * Trumpeting a lost cause! #AnupJalota #PritamSharma #AmitabhBachchan #ChandraBarot
#TereIshqMeinQurbaan (Hindi) Rating: * Sacrificing sense and sensibility in the name of love #SantoshRaj #MDahek
Hindi/English Film Review
Johnson Thomas
Quirky, Inventive Indie comedy
Film: Hola Venky
Cast: Roger Narayan, Sonia Balcazar, Ashwin Mushran, Giju John
Director: Sandeep Mohan
Rating: * * *
An Indie Film made on a micro-budget of Rs. 10 lakhs by a 3-member guerrilla crew, and shot extensively across Mumbai and San Francisco, Sandeep Mohan’s ‘Hola Venky’ is a lesson in filmmaking for all aspiring film makers.
The film’s tagline states that it’s about a divorced Techie’s journey from ‘his groin to his heart’ which takes him away from Mumbai and a near second marriage, all the way to the city by the Bay, San Francisco, where he invariably gets drawn into an adventure that leads to love and possibly, ever after.
Sandeep Mohan admits to working backwards designing his script according to the availability of locations and friend-actors and yet he manages to score big in terms of look and enjoyment. The narrative is quirky, light-hearted fun as it takes us on a wild incredible journey as we follow Venky, a divorcee, living a clueless life who gets sent on a training trip to the US by his boss who wants him to get back the family heirloom pram from his sister. For Venky it’s an escape from immediate marriage to a bold professional, a fellow divorcee who worries about her body clock ticking and wants to have a baby before it gets too late. She has of course latched on to Venky for his sperm. Venky , uncertain about his marital future, is quick to take up the chance of International exposure and possible promotion. But once in San Francisco, among his college mates and a lot of reminiscing, he ends up striking out on his own with unforeseen consequences. Venky thus gets his chance at redemption. The film is sincere, honest and poignant in it’s assay of his route to salvation. Sandeep explores ideas of ‘masculinity’ and the confusions of an Urban Indian man living in the 21st century using a humorous and realistic tone, without degenerating into innuendos or obvious gags about sex and sexual organs. A fresh and able cast, some intriguingly encapsulated reminisces into a near distant past, wonderfully and cleanly imagined misadventures of the sexual kind and a spiffy post production set-up lends it far more sharps and gloss than it’s Rs 10 lakh markup can validate. Vijesh Rajan and Aditya Tawde do a solid job with special effects and Vivek Philip provides appropriate tunes for the east –west confluence of cultures embedded in the tale.
‘Hola Venky’ has many other firsts to it’s credit. It is India’s first urban ‘Great Indian Travelling Cinema’ experiment with more than 90 screenings around the world’. Armed with a second hand projector Sandeep has been travelling and showcasing his film to anyone who expresses a desire for that unique experience. And it’s all done for no charge. Sandeep is also releasing the film online so that his small investors can atleast regain their investments.
Crowd and friend funded, this film which should in fact become a lesson in craft and marketability, is worthy, interesting and engaging!
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