Surya, Review: Twilight zone Giving no clue about its content, Surya is an eponymous title, being the short form of the name of the protagonist. Symbolically, it also stands for the sun, as the dispeller of darkness. While there is no denying that the hero of the film does what all action heroes do, namely dispel darkness by annihilating the baddies, the way he is made to go about it is not only jaded but beaten to death, pun intended. Surya, made in Marathi language, with a generous dose of ...

Prime Video’s first original film, Maja Ma, Trailer launch: Mad about Madhuri One afternoon in 1984, I was invited to the Natraj Hotel, Marine Drive, Bombay, to the release get-together of Rajshri Productions’ Abodh. My benefactor, writer-director Gobind Moonis, who had wanted to cast me as the blind boy in Dosti, had now discovered a girl with a very pretty face who had learnt kathak too. But the star of the day was Gyan Shivpuri, an actor who came with a reputation. When I trie...

The Scorched Forest-Part I-The Kindling, Review: The Killing Fields A twenty-one years old man, whose father died in an accident, is at the bottom end of the class pyramid. Living in abject poverty, he, his mother and sister, work as daily-wage labourers and have a huge debt to repay to a money-lender. The ‘man’ of the house chops (removes) harmful thorns from the plants and trees in a field, for a paltry sum, which is barely enough to help keep the kitchen fires burning. This beg...

Jayeshbhai Jordaar, Review: A ban on soap and kisses instead of foeticide Even a relatively small budget film from Yash Raj Films (YRF), with only two known names to tout, succeeds to a large extent in highlighting the hideous Indian social practice, seen predominantly, in a few states, of killing/aborting the girl child. Since marriage involves a large sum as dowry, which is given by the girl’s family to the boy’s family, the birth of a girl child is considered the genesis of a m...

Bachchan Paandey, Review: Gangsters are best played by real-life gangsters Why would you choose a name like Bachchan Pandey, unless you thought you could cash-in on the franchises called Amitabh Bachchan (name of a real life actor) and Chulbul Pandey (name of a reel-life character, played in several movies by Salman Khan)? Point is, does a superstar himself, like Akshay Kumar, who plays the title role, need these props? Leaving the Paandey behind, ‘Bachchan’ is made to speak some ...

Oh My Ghost, Review: The suicidal man and the four selfish ghosts who want him to live Different in many ways from the usual horror ghost dramas, both international and Indian, and even dissimilar to Casper, the Friendly Ghost, Oh My Ghost is a Marathi language film that is interesting in parts, but does not have enough to leave a lasting impression. It uses not one but four ghosts, two each from either gender and with vast differences in ages. At its heart is the tragi-comedy of a luckless, ...

IFFI 51, 2021, Goa, 16-24 January, 03: Minister Javadekar announces the selection of films in the Indian Panorama Information and Broadcasting Minister of the Government of India, Prakash Javadekar has announced the selection of 23 Feature and 20 non-feature films in Indian Panorama for the 51st International Film Festival of India, IFFI. The I&B Ministry organises the annual festival, through its Directorate of Film Festivals, along with the Government of Goa, in Panaji Goa. The annual ...

Best of Luck, Laalu: Satire on education ‘merit’ game has merit, take-aways His name is Laalu Modi, but the moniker is not an amalgam of two veteran politicians from the Indian arena, Laalu Prasad Yadav and Narendra Modi. At least not obviously so. The film’s protagonist is Laalu, son of late Devesh and Bank Cashier Daksha, and grandson of Haresh Modi. All the Best, Lalu begins in flashback, as Lalu retraces incidents and developments in the last two years in his life, even ...

Bezubaan Ishq, Review: Very little to say This silent, tongue-less (literal translation of the word Bezubaan; ishq means love) tale revolves around three middle-aged friends and their families. Mansukh Patel (Sachin Khedekar) is an NRI toy manufacturer residing with his British wife, Lisa (Alexandra Ashman) and daughter Rumjhum (Sneha Ullal) in London, UK. Though the Patels live in London, they haven't forgotten their Indian traditions and values. Mansukh's younger brother, Rashmikant...