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Vinay Shukla’s Award-Winning Journalism Documentary: ‘While We Watched’

Asian Lite International’s columnist Riccha Grrover highlights that the documentary is an impactful character study of a reporter’s unshakable quest to report the truth.

Released across UK and Irish cinemas in July 2023, the film is a turbulent newsroom drama intimately chronicling the working days of broadcast journalist Ravish Kumar as he navigates a spiralling world of truth and disinformation. As factual reporting is in freefall, globally WHILE WE WATCHED is a dignified lens into the abyss.

Produced by the U.K’s Lono Studio and BritDoc Films, the documentary debuted at the Toronto Film Festival 2022, where it won the Amplify Voices award. It then picked up the Cinephile award at the Busan International Film Festival, won the International Competition award at Helsinki’s DocPoint festival, and most recently picked up the prestigious Sabeen Mahmud award for Courage in Cinema. Shukla previously directed the controversial Indian documentary ‘AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN’. The film had a UK premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest on Friday 16th June.

The documentary synopsis is that The Prime Time Indian TV journalist, Ravish Kumar, is in trouble. Famous for his unflinching takedowns of the ruling establishment during his long-running primetime news hour, his nerves have begun to fray from carrying the torch of ‘good journalism’ for too long. In the public eye, Ravish has become a regular fixture, beaming from TV sets and widely shared phone videos. His primetime news bulletin has long been characterised by solid research, verified evidence, vignette-style notes from the field, and a sharp commentary with a touch of rustic sass. In the Indian media landscape, Kumar’s show is a far cry from the new industry standard of high-decibel, polarising, blustering TV news debates.

As press freedom further disintegrates and self-censorship becomes the new normal, Kumar struggles to stay afloat in the rising tide of his own network’s financial hardships, sinking TRP ratings, and the strain of continuous downsizing. The dangerously deteriorating standard of public discourse finds Ravish at the receiving end of harassment, intimidation, morphed images, threats to his life and even violence against his family.

With a growing target on his back, and the looming threat of his network’s imminent closure, Ravish transforms from a spunky troublemaker into a deeply troubled man, worried for himself, his family, and the soul of his nation.

Kumar, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, was a senior journalist at Indian news platform NDTV, who resigned after billionaire Gautam Adani took over the company. He has since set up his own YouTube Channel where he broadcasts and has already built a following of 6.22M subscribers.

Director Vinay Shukla says, “While We Watched is my love letter to journalism. It’s an urgent newsroom horror film – there is a story of hope hidden deep inside layers of personal loneliness”

Shukla is also credited as a producer on WHILE WE WATCHED alongside Khushboo Ranka and Luke W.Moody. Executive producers include Maxyne Franklin, Jess Search, Beadie Finzi & Vijay Vaidyanathan. 

Curator Thom Powers states that While We Watched is essential viewing for anyone interested in how television journalism is under threat. Although the film is rooted in India, its depiction of misinformation eroding fact-based news could apply to any number of countries.

At the centre of the film is veteran reporter Ravish Kumar of India’s NDTV who strives to uphold standards of independence and accountability. “Our job is to ask the most difficult questions to those in power,” he says. But every day, he faces a new set of challenges: budget cuts, staff departures, mysterious obstructions and even death threats. His station struggles to compete against the rising popularity of channels that replace news with zealots shouting down their opponents. 

Filmmaker Vinay Shukla tells this story at the fast-paced speed of breaking news. Early in the film, the accelerator is pressed to the floor and never lets up. One pleasure of the film is watching dogged correspondents at work riding the adrenaline rush of getting scoops. Against the odds of India’s increasingly grim news landscape, Kumar remains a beacon of hope in his professionalism and mentoring of younger reporters. Their perseverance amidst chaos is a wonder to behold.

Founded in October 2022, MetFilm Distribution is a boutique all rights distributor releasing a curated slate of films across the UK and Ireland. 
Recent titles include FASHION REIMAGINED, LOVING HIGHSMITH and A BUNCH OF AMATEURS.

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‘The Trial’: An engaging mix of courtroom drama

The storyline isn’t too complicated, but the treatment could be. For, it is about a housewife who is forced to join back the legal profession after her husband is accused of corruption and is also involved in a sex scandal…reviewed by Arnab Banerjee

The purpose of a trial is to ensure that the defendant gets a fair assessment of all evidence against him or her, and so, it is a structured process wherein the facts of a case are presented to a jury, which decides if the defendant is guilty or not. If the ruling in the case is found to be not maintainable, then it can be challenged in a higher court.

The only difference is that unlike in the US, India does not have a trial by jury system!

The process of trial as enumerated in our Constitution is that “trial is the right of a person”, or that the trial of a court should be a “fair trial”. And that could be a huge challenge if a story around the American courts is adapted to suit the Indian milieu and its legal system.

Understandably then, the eight-episode Disney+ Hotstar series, ‘The Trial: Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha’, adapted from the multi-season CBS show ‘The Good Wife’, has been tweaked — at times, a bit liberally — to cater to Indian audiences, and has amended the original creative writing with some of  the technical legal terms and laws altered.

By doing so, it does fit into the mindset with which court cases are filed, viewed and judged under the Indian Penal Code.

And while you watch an altered version of Robert and Michelle King’s ‘The Good Wife;, the American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS between 2009 and 2016, gear yourself for a trial that had a lot of potential to be an edge-of-the-seat drama series, but ends up as less absorbing.

In many ways, complicated court cases involving murders and defamation getting solved fast — or getting solved at all — are never a breeze in this part of the world, and take ages.

But the final judgment in this case is rather illusory. That’s quite unfortunate, for the innovative premise in the American series is a stupendous idea capable of unputdownable variety.

The storyline isn’t too complicated, but the treatment could be. For, it is about a housewife who is forced to join back the legal profession after her husband is accused of corruption and is also involved in a sex scandal.

The development of the plot has more of storytelling from the woman’s point of view. In the end, the show is all about her, and how she steers clear of hindrances that would obviously stall the proceedings.

It is also about all the hardships she faces in her journey seeking justice.

The female protagonist is stay-at-home Noyonika Sengupta (Kajol), a law school grad who gave up her career a decade ago for the sake of her husband and children.

She is forced to resume work as defence counsel when her husband, an additional judge Rajiv (Jisshu Sengupta), is put behind bars on charges of bribery and abuse of his prestigious position.

A good wife and mother, Noyonika must save her family and her husband’s reputation, and decides to join the law firm of her former love interest Vishal (Aly Khan). Her life is riddled with troubles and there are rivals who are out to add discontent in her life. When she seeks support from another lawyer she had known, Malini (Sheeba Chaddha), the vibes she gets are negative.

There is an intern, Dheeraj (Gaurav Pandey), who resents her rise and attributes her success to her being close to their boss Vishal. Allies include Sana (Kubbra Sait), whose selfless support and running around, help her in preparing the intricacies of the case smoothly.

There is enough meat for the series to pique and sustain your curiosity with legal tangles taking centrestage.

But the writers, Hussain Dalal, Abbas Dalal and Siddharth Kumar, put aside the ins and outs and other particulars of complex cases, and focus on the three principal female characters: Noyonika, Sana and Malini, as Noyonika tries to balance work and home, struggling to piece together the broken pieces of her life and all along protecting her children and defending her spouse.  

Despite its inherent drawbacks, ‘The Trial’ stands a fair chance of appealing to a large part of streaming platform addicts who will find a novel approach to a narrative that is mostly realistic in form.

Director Suparn S. Varma relies heavily on actors who deliver so what if the writing is not first rate and fails to look deeper into the psyche of respected citizens — men and women — whose lives could face a serious conflict unexpectedly, and throws them off the kilter.

In trying to have the wife’s story as the focal point, the imperfections and shortcomings of the human mind are not explored. That results in a lot of loose ends that are not even addressed.

I have always had an issue with the background score both in films and web series. Why do filmmakers want us to react to the forewarning that some musical chords play out before an important scene?

For both somber and cheery moments, there is either a thud sound or a melancholic strain gearing us up for the impending doom or euphoria, as the case may be. Taking our audiences to be naive and uninitiated, they want us to go by their auditory signs often thrown in for good measure.

Kajol, as the protagonist Noyonika, has a tough act to emulate: Alicia Florrick playing her role in the original is a powerful combination of cold fury, bafflement and persistence.

She does have her moments especially in the latter episodes where she holds her own and looks more controlled. Alas, there are far too many lines given to her — and other actors too — to spoon feed viewers whom the writers believe are incapable of comprehension. Perhaps, producers Banijay Asia and Ajay Devgn’s FFilms wanted to play it safe by not adding extra layers to a knotty tale.

As for other actors, Sheeba Chadha and Kubra Sait, as also Alyy Khan, are impressive.

We have had quite a few web series related to crime-law-justice in the recent past. And though most of the cases are dealt with in a typical filmi fashion, the good news is that a number of brushed-under-the-carpet issues are being discussed — issues that lay bare a corrupt legal system and provide us with engaging fare. Well, almost!

Web Series: The Trial: Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha. Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Running Time: Eight episodes (39-46 minutes per episode).
Director: Suparn Verma Cast: Kajol, Jisshu Sengupta, Kubbra Sait, Sheeba Chaddha, Alyy Khan and Gaurav Pandey.
Producers: Ajay Devgn, Deepak Dhar, Rajesh Chadha and Parag Desai.
Cinematography:  Manoj Soni
(Rating: ***)

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’72 Hoorain’ : A debate over religious fanaticism

India is one of those countries in the world that is among the worst sufferers of terrorism spread in the name of religion. And everyone knows how religious fanaticism is being used to burn the social fabric of the country…writes Rafeek Ravuther

India is one of those countries in the world that is among the worst sufferers of terrorism spread in the name of religion. And everyone knows how religious fanaticism is being used to burn the social fabric of the country.

Duration: 80 minutes
Cast: Pavan Malhotra, Aamir Bashir, Saru Maini, Rasheed Naz, Ashok Pathak and Namrata Dixit. Director: Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan (Rating: ****)

There have been films that showcase how terrorism deeply impacts our day-to-day life, but there are hardly any films that daringly question the practice of brainwashing youth into becoming terrorists and killing innocent people in the name of religion.

Director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s ’72 Hoorain’ exposes the dirty game to trick people into becoming terrorists and turning them into killing machines.

The best part of the film is that it doesn’t preach to convey its message and directly points fingers at the perpetrators of such terrorist syndicates and lays bare their fanatical agenda.

Anil Pandey’s brilliant story and Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s hard-hitting direction are the highlights of this unusual saga. Deeply seeped in the dark realities of religious fanaticism and terrorism, the story of the film is so captivating that the audiences will be hooked to the screens till its end.

India is one of those countries in the world that is among the worst sufferers of terrorism spread in the name of religion. And everyone knows how religious fanaticism is being used to burn the social fabric of the country.

Notably, the film does not point fingers against any particular community or accuses the entire community for the act of a few dreaded terrorists.

The film showcases how the act of terrorism is deeply connected to the religious sermons that are misused by dreaded terrorists to brainwash innocent people and turn them into killing machines.

The fact is that we have for long been ignoring the deep impact of such acts of terrorism perpetrated in the name of religion. This has made terrorists more brazen in their attacks and now they don’t think twice before killing people.

The film excels in all departments — from the story to screenplay, dialogues,  direction, cinematography, to editing. Watching the movie, you get the feeling that you are not watching a drama unfold on screen, but watching the ghastly acts of terrorism unfold live and shake you up from within.

Enacting the roles of flag-bearers of terrorism in the film, Pavan Malhotra and Aamir Bashir have done commendable jobs and bring lot of conviction to their parts. No matter how much you praise these two brilliant actors, it is not going to be enough. The other actors also have done justice to their roles in the film. The brilliant and apt casting deserves to be praised.

Audiences are hardwired to watch films for entertainment. Hence, it is all the more necessary that such audiences also watch this film, for it exposes the nexus between religion and terrorism brilliantly, and brings the debate over religious fanaticism to the centre stage.

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Adhura : A supernatural horror thriller without cliches

Produced by Nikkhil Advani’s Emmay Entertainment, ‘Adhura’ is one of Amazon Prime’s first forays into Hindi horror, and is written and directed by Ananya Banerjee and Gauravv K. Chawla…reviewed by Arnab Banerjee

We have reached a stage when genres such as horror and suspense thrillers have to be no-holds-barred. Or else, movie and OTT watchers couldn’t care less. Thankfully, though, the streaming platforms don’t seem to be following any diktat regarding self-control or moderation.

Not all of them are watchable, but it feels good to know that to an audience exposed to the best from around the world, at least some bold filmmakers are making all-out efforts to experiment with newer tactics in horror and suspense movies. In this case, web series.

Using state-of-the-art technology for graphics and storylines getting quirkier, many directors no longer follow the staid whodunit formula that made the Ramsays (in) famous in the 1970s.

Also, a series has enough time to develop and follow up on sub-plots, and add an extra dimension to characters for them to look believable.  

Produced by Nikkhil Advani’s Emmay Entertainment, ‘Adhura’ is one of Amazon Prime’s first forays into Hindi horror, and is written and directed by Ananya Banerjee and Gauravv K. Chawla.

It keeps the scares well within the stipulated setting, which has all ingredients in place — ploys to frighten, shock, horrify and disgust you using a variety of visual and auditory leitmotifs and devices. That too, in nearly all the eight episodes, each with a runtime of around 45 minutes.

Adhura is set in an elite boarding school with a secret so dark that it shakes up the lives of everyone connected to it. When things begin to take a turn in the quaint Nilgiri Valley School in Ooty, as a bullied boy starts to display strange behaviour patterns that leave everyone concerned, mysterious occurrences are wrapped in a shroud.

Professor Adhiraj (Ishwak Singh) is visiting India from the US with an agenda: he needs to catch up with old friend Ninad (Poojan Chhabra) and his former girlfriend Malvika (Zoa Morani), who is married to his former classmate Dev (Rijul Ray).

A reunion of the Class of 2007 is being planned and the celebratory spirit of the batch is on full display as others, including television star Suyash (Sahil Salathia), come in from far and wide.

This nostalgic gathering turns into a nightmare when Adhiraj Jaisingh meets a 10-year-old troubled youngster Vedant Malik (Shrenik Arora) of the current batch. Soon, dark secrets from the past threaten to emerge.

We get to know that the shy and meek Vedant is being bullied by Sarthak, Kabir and Dhruv. How the story unravels and what are the riddles that need to be answered are on everyone’s mind as Vedant and Adhiraj’s past and present collide. The result is disaster.

In the middle of all this, mysterious events take place and matters get more and more complicated: disappearances, troubled students dealing with their personal traumas, and the Class of 2007 introspecting to make sense of their own inner devils that appear to be all the more fearsome. That children could also have dark secrets is not unknown.

There are two timelines — 2007 and 2022 — that alternate and overlap, as secrets tumble out. What is certain, though, is that anybody and everybody associated with the school is going to be affected by the secrets as, and when, they come out.

Amid moments of tension, a few nerve-wracking sequences amplified by the creaking of doors, and a great many other psychological elements, emerge, as viewers begin to wonder about the deep-seated relationship between Vedant and Adhiraj. 

Despite being clueless about their relationship at first, you do want to get more invested in the story for more fodder. Waiting impatiently for it to unravel, you will get annoyed and edgy at time as some irrelevant delays are contrived for the real action to stretch.

That Adhiraj and Vedant have an entwined past is not enough to hold your interest. But then, just when you start getting impatient, you do get a glimpse of their conjoined history. You get to know that while Ninad suffered brutal hazing, and Vedant is being tormented in the present, their counsellor, Supriya (Rasika Dugal), does all that she could to ease matters for them.

The mysterious Ninad is missing in action. But he does have an important role to play in untying the complex entangled ends, How does he help? Therein lies the key to the riddle.

Going back and forth in time, ‘Adhura’, though complex, is layered, and gives the viewer an immersive experience when the past nostalgic associations threaten to turn scary, taking us through a maze of secrecy and unknown fears.

As a supernatural horror thriller, ‘Adhura’ does have all the elements in place; what it could have done without are the cliches that abound.

Web Series: ‘Adhura’ (streaming on Amazon Prime)
Duration: Eight episodes of 45 minutes each
Directors: Gauravv Chawla and Ananya Banerjee
Cast: Ishwak Singh, Rasika Dugal, Shrenik Arora, Rahul Dev, Poojan Chhabra, Medha Agrawal, Zoa Morani, Priya Banerjee, K.C. Shankar, Mridul Ahluwalia, Samridhi Chandola, Preet Bharadia, Chinmay Chandraunshuh, Sahil Chhabra and Arjun Deswal

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Adipurush : An uninspired account of a classic heroic grand tale

Adipurush

The songs by Ajay-Atul and Sachet-Parampara, and the background score by Sanchit and Ankit Balhara, is expectedly loud and spoils the viewing even more with decibel levels that create noise pollution…reviewed by Arnab Banerjee

Duration: 179 minutes, Director: Om Raut Cast: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Devdatta Nage and Sanjiv Singh, Cinematography: Karthik Palani Music: Sanchit Balhara, Ankit Balhara, Songs: Ajay-Atul, Sachet-Parampara (Rating: **)

When disclaimers go beyond the perfunctory three-liners and go on to justify the inclusion or absence of some vital facts, rest assured the filmmakers have a lot to hide and explain, or maybe fear a backlash that might result in a disaster.

The disclaimer also says that the original names of the characters have been changed. That said, what’s a film made on such a grand scale without a minor controversy?

In any case, any hullabaloo helps in adding the right buzz to a film. The nth adaptation of the Indian mythological epic Ramayana, ‘Adipurush’, written and directed by Om Raut, produced by T-Series and Retrophiles, and shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu, is a modern take, but, thankfully, the epic, time-tested tale has not been tampered with. One minute short of three hours, the film is full of tacky computer-generated graphics that come in the way of storytelling, but that’s not its only flaw.

The narrative takes off with Prince Rama, called Raghava in the film, on a 14-year exile to the forest urged by his father, King Dasharatha, on the request of his stepmother Kaikeyi. It focuses on his travels across the forests in the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana.

Soon, it is time for the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, the king of Lanka, and what follows is the war between Rama and Ravana.

One has seen many versions of umpteen legendary tales told with a lot of passion, each one aiming at a fresh approach, and that alone is the reason why most of their novel treatment becomes a hit. The producers and director are aware that they have to have a faithful adaptation and don’t digress from the storyline (thank God for small mercies!).

In this version of the Ramayana, not much on paper can be blamed. Neither the mythical theme, nor are any of the characters unreal. Prabhas, who plays Rama, is closest to doing justice to his character. The rest playing the fabled roles perform with either hyper-sensitivity or deadpan expression.

Saif Ali Khan as Ravana wants to have fun, and roars “Ha … hahaha” the loudest, but looks most unconvincing in his anglicised Hindi. With the help of technology, he is made to look larger than his five-feet-something frame, helping him tower over all characters.

To woo North Indian Hindi speaking audiences, Rama’s voice has been dubbed by Sharad Kelkar, which is half the performance. Rama here is as affable as possible, but he can be fiercely determined as well, leaving no stone unturned to accomplish his mission.

Kriti Sanon is unsure of what she is supposed to be doing; her tall frame and inexpressive impassive face is a distraction. It is the same Krito who was so impressive in ‘Mimi’ last year. And like the other actors, she is not helped by the fact that she has to deliver unimaginative, almost prosaic, lines that sometimes are laughable.

Adipurush.

What is missing is the divinity one looks for in such films. There are many massive visual effects to enhance the effect of wonderment, but sadly, one is not overawed by any of this gimmicky flashiness.

Cinematographer Karthik Palani, though a competent technician, has to deal with too many colours, black and blue in particular, to make way for dazzle and amazement that the film demands.

The songs by Ajay-Atul and Sachet-Parampara, and the background score by Sanchit and Ankit Balhara, is expectedly loud and spoils the viewing even more with decibel levels that create noise pollution.

At the end of the drama, one minute short of three hours, as Rama returns to Ayodhya, it is

a real test of patience to even wait for the credits to roll. So bored one is of the deadpan and uninspired account of a classic heroic grand tale!

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Pinky Beauty Parlour : A must-watch for young women and men

Pinky Beauty Parlour

The pressure of being ‘undesirable’ gets to Bulbul, and one day, when her sister returns home and steals the one thing she really cares for, she hangs herself…reports Asian Lite News

Pinky Beauty Parlour (Releasing on April 14). Duration: 111 minutes. Writer and Director: Akshay Singh. Cast: Sulagna Panigrahi, Jogi Mallang, Vishwanath Chatterjee, Akshay Singh, Anupama Negi, Sangam Rai, Arpita Banerjee, Khusboo Gupta and Abhay Joshi. Cinematography: Gagandeep Singh. Music: Arvind /Lyton and Chintu Saarthak Kalla. (Rating: ****)

One could have an eye operation for better eyesight, but not for better attitude. This one is a special movie that highlights the plight of dark-skinned young women who are oppressed and insulted with subtle jibes about their skin colour.

India is obsessed with fairness, despite being a dark-skinned nation. The unprecedented race to be fair, marry a fair-skinned person, or even have fair-skinned children is remarkable in our country and in the process, we marginalise all those who are dusky, or dark-skinned.

This film also revolves around two sisters, Pinky (Sulagna Panigrahi) and Bulbul (Khusboo Gupta), one being fair and the other dark.

Pinky, the one who’s fair, checks all the boxes for being pretty and desirable, but she is rotten, uncaring, jealous and downright mean. Her dark-skinned sister (Bulbul), on the other hand, is responsible, caring, giving and upholds certain standards.

The film is set in a place called Lanka in Varanasi, where Bulbul runs her beauty parlour, and her parents having passed away, she is all by herself running the establishment, feeding the employees, handling social pressure, and even supporting her sister’s career as well. But life isn’t easy for her.

The pressure of being ‘undesirable’ gets to Bulbul, and one day, when her sister returns home and steals the one thing she really cares for, she hangs herself.

The obsession with fair skin, which is deeply rooted in our society, and how it affects the lives of people is something we all might know, but we aren’t aware of, and this film highlights that space.

The story and screenplay is the life of this film, which flowed smoothly because of the stellar performances. There are many parallel tracks in the movie, but these merge so subtly that it looks obvious. Still, the movie makes you pause and introspect about what we all have done or said that is wrong at some point in our lives.

This one is a must-watch for young women and men, who keep chasing the idea of fairness through creams, parlours, treatments and what not. There is nothing wrong with being just presentable, but all of this is meaningless if you don’t have a good heart.

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Mrunal’s ‘Gumraah’ witnesses a low start at the box office

Vardhan Ketkar on directing Aditya Roy Kapoor and Mrunal Thakur in 'Gumraah'

At times, there are unnecessary turns that digress from the primary probe and stall proceedings. A few songs and a romantic angle have been thrown in for good measure to further mystify an already muddled narrative…reports Arnab Banerjee

Gumraah. Duration: 127 minutes, Director: Vardhan Ketkar. Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Mrunal Thakur and Ronit Roy, Cinematography: Vineet Malhotra. Music: Ketan Sodha, Mithoon, Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi and Abhijit Vaghani. (Rating: **)


This seems to be the year of Hindi remakes of South Indian hits, what with every Friday release banking heavily on either the original box office successes of Tamil or Telugu films. This week, after the official remake of ‘Bholaa’ last week, comes ‘Gumraah’, a yet another Hindi remake of the Tamil film, ‘Thadam’.

As per the credits, ‘Gumraah’, helmed by debutant director Vardhan Ketkar, is a crime thriller and is based on several real-life stories of two identical twins from around the world. For a thriller to engage audiences for two and a half hours, the storyline itself must be interesting, and on that count, the film has a very fascinating premise.

A man wearing a hooded raincoat rings the bell of an apartment where a young man Akash is seen working on his laptop. As Akash opens the door, the man forcibly enters and stabs him multiple times, leaving him dead within minutes. Inspector Shivani Mathur (Mrunal Thakur) is assigned to investigate the murder, and she gets down to her “academy-based research and enquiry” right from the word go.

It doesn’t take her long to identify the man who’s the prime suspect, and within no time Arjun Bhatnagar (Aditya Roy Kapur) is arrested. His arrest is based on the evidence provided by a young couple who happened to be clicking selfies on the terrace of the apartment opposite to the one where the murder took place. One of their pictures shows the suspected murderer from a distance and upon zooming it, Arjun’s face can be clearly identified.

As Arjun gets locked up in prison, Shivani’s senior, ACP Dhiren Yadav (Ronit Roy), gets to know that a look-alike of Arjun named Ronnie (Aditya, again) has been nabbed by the cops for a petty crime. Both Arjun and Ronnie are brought in and investigated without their knowledge of each other’s existence. The two lookalike suspects, who don’t know about each other are a mystery as much to themselves as they are for the police.

The story then moves ahead with two teams getting down to unearthing the backgrounds of both Arjun and Ronnie. Interestingly, as more details emerge about the two men, matters get more complicated for Shivani, especially when she uncovers new facts about the case. Inspector Yadav interrogates Ronnie, who cites different laws to escape torture.

What follows is a mish-mash of several evidence-based twists that leave us more confused than enlightened. At times, there are unnecessary turns that digress from the primary probe and stall proceedings. A few songs and a romantic angle have been thrown in for good measure to further mystify an already muddled narrative.

But the worst of the lot is the justification that director Vardhan Ketkar and writers Aseem Arora and Magizh Thirumeni offer about the incidents/murders allegedly committed by identical twins worldwide. As per the factual details provided in the film, when brothers are principal suspects, they have often been exonerated because of insufficient evidence.

For a crime thriller, Gumraah’s screenplay is so dull that at every moment of its 127 minutes one wonders which way it is headed. A back story about twin brothers and their hapless childhood is added as an afterthought and even that doesn’t add up much to salvage the sudden awkward surprises that one is subjected to.

Aditya Roy Kapur sleepwalks his roles, while occasionally springing into action during the fight scenes. Thakur as the no-nonsense cop presents such a staid image of herself that she almost look robotic.

Gumraah

Cinematography by Vineet Malhotra is nothing to write home about either, and the musical score by Ketan Sodha and the songs, credited to Mithoon, Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi and Abhijit Vaghani, are not even hummable. Perhaps, there was no scope for songs to be included in a drama supposedly laden with suspense.

Post-Covid, it takes such an effort to plan an outing and go all the way to a theatre to watch a film. And if even for a film with a decent budget and good performers, one has to sit through a dreary and lacklustre experience, it’s nothing short of a criminal waste of time.

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Bholaa: Devgn relooks and redefines the ‘Man on a Mission’ exercise

Duration: 144 minutes, Director: Ajay Devgn. Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Deepak Dobriyal, Sanjay Mishra and Gajraj Singh, Cinematography: Aseem Bajaj. Music: Ravi Basnur. (Rating: ****)

Orchestrated by Nithari, who has placed a bounty on the cops to motivate the gangsters, the ride gets prolonged more and more as every now and then, Bhola has to encounter ruthless and outrageously wicked goons who keep pouncing on his truck with deadly weapons…reports Arnab Banerjee



Action is a wide-open genre and term, and when one endeavours to include an emotion-filled tale into the matrix, it sure does have a strong appeal to movie watchers cutting across demographics.

In his newest directorial, the actioner ‘Bholaa’, Ajay Devgn relooks and redefines the ‘Man on a Mission’ exercise with overwhelming fervour, grit and determination. And the best part is that for him, his awe-inspiring task seems like some kind of an errand he has been made to run.

And so, when Inspector Diana (Tabu in yet another impressive cop role) confiscates a consignment of cocaine, obviously, the euphoria of the entire police force at her thana knows no bounds. But after downing a few drinks their elation is shor-tlived, when during the celebrations itself, senior officer (Kiran Kumar) and all the subordinate policemen fall unconscious.

Diana, who is on her way to the police station, is shocked at the sight of some 40 cops lying dead to the world on the ground. She must take them to a hospital for treatment and get them on their feet as fast as possible for she smells a rat. She figures out that the gangsters must be the brains behind such a nasty trick. It is clear to her that the drinks were laced with a poison that would kill them.

Just then, she learns that Bholaa has been released from prison after serving a sentence and is all set to meet his daughter Jyoti at the orphanage where she is being raised. Finding no one to drive the comatose lot of policemen, she instructs Bholaa to take the truck carrying all 40 of them to the hospital.

This is the man who would risk his neck more because of the fear that Diana would carry out her threat that if he chooses to disobey her orders, he would remain behind bars for the rest of his life, and never see his daughter’s face. It is now the lives of 40 men against the privilege of reuniting his child.

Diana also realises that the busting of drug trafficking gangster Nithari’s cocaine shipment worth ?900 crore by her and her team is the cause of such an act of revenge. And thus begins a race-against-time battle as Bholaa helps Diana and her team to take the almost lifeless cops to the hospital on the one hand and also evade, fight off and even attack, if need be, violent strikes from the hordes of men on bikes emerging every 10 minutes on the highway.

Orchestrated by Nithari, who has placed a bounty on the cops to motivate the gangsters, the ride gets prolonged more and more as every now and then, Bhola has to encounter ruthless and outrageously wicked goons who keep pouncing on his truck with deadly weapons.

Now, this is the kind of badass movie that goes down well with audiences. So long as the plot remains engaging in the edge-of-the-seat way, the 144-minute film kicks forward in a hail of bullets, car chases, fist fights, and martial arts wizardry. And who doesn’t love such action?

Led by actor-director Devgn, who is in full form, his character doesn’t even bat an eyelid when he delivers solid punches to dozens and dozens of men, He reminds us of his long trail of action-oriented films. And while he clobbers them all with his knock-out hits, there’s nothing but an innocent-looking face behind all the power-packed anger — after all, he needs to go meet his 10-year-old daughter who has never ever seen him!

With death-defying action sequences and an epic historic sweep, ‘Bholaa’ offers everything a martial arts fan could ask for. Music by Ravi Basnur and Aseem Bajaj’s cinematography are both in sync with the storyline.

Stately Tabu is every director’s choice as the most dependable actor who can pull off any role — a serious role of a wife or a lover (‘Haider’, ‘Andhadhun’), a fun-loving character in an out-and-out comedy (‘Bhool Bhulaiya’), or here, as the law-abiding, gun-toting uniformed officer, she essays each role with elan, dexterity, poise and honesty that’s rare.

From among the supporting cast, Gajaraj Singh springs a surprise with a streak one has not seen before in the characters he plays. Deepak Dobriyal has a limited number of scenes, but still manages to leave an impact. So does Sanjay Mishra in a small but significant role.

This tale would spawn a franchise, bringing more action and casting more A-listers in other roles in the sequels subsequently.

Amid all the high drama, look for four innocent teenagers who are called to the police station on a frivolous charge and end up getting embroiled in a death-defying drama of hostility, brutality and cruelty.

Your heart will go out for this new quartet of young actors who have surrendered themselves to the film completely and live their roles with complete earnestness. It’s ‘paisa vasool’ all the way!

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A fair Holi start for Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar

Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar

Duration: 164 minutes, Director: Luv Ranjan. Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Shradha Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia and Boney Kapoor, Music: Pritam. Cinematography: Santhana Krishnana Ravichandran. (Rating: **1/2)

He talks nineteen to the dozen, forcing her to start liking him too. Soon, the two grow very close to each other and further cement their bond by sleeping with each other on the premise that sooner or later they would formalise their association…reviewed by Arnab Banerjee

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Luv Ranjan, who has often been accused of being misogynistic as nearly all his female characters (‘Pyar Ka Punchnama’ 1 and 2; ‘Aakashvani’; ‘Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety’ and ‘De De Pyar De’) are substantial, but mostly negative. The women in his films have been manipulative and the men have suffered in their hands.

With his latest rom com, ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar’, Luv Ranjan seems to be on a remedial course, for this time his female lead is all-independent, modern and carefree but with a solid sense of commitment. For a change, it is the male lead who is a bit of a brat and a tad unscrupulous. Now, coming from Luv Ranjan, this story is definitely a complete turnaround!

Mickey (Kapoor) leads a lavish lifestyle that his parents (Boney Kapoor, in his first screen appearance, and Dimple Kapadia) with their multiple business interests (automobiles, jewellery, and so on) have provided him with.

His constant companion is childhood friend Anubhav Singh Bassi, who is facing commitment phobia just before his engagement. The two also make money on the side by being experts on solving issues and manipulating ‘break-ups’ between young couples who are dating but have relationship issues.

Mickey falls for Tinny (Shradha Kapoor) at first sight and swears undying love for her. What follows is complete madness when Mickey, considered to be a skilled specialist player in the world of romantic affairs, finds Tinny irresistible and engages with her in a battle of wits.

He talks nineteen to the dozen, forcing her to start liking him too. Soon, the two grow very close to each other and further cement their bond by sleeping with each other on the premise that sooner or later they would formalise their association.

When Mickey’s parents get to know of her, they immediately decide to celebrate, much to Tinny’s amazement. It isn’t just the rapidity of events that surprises her, she is overawed by and snowed under so much love and interference into her privacy. Micky’s family begin to decide what all arrangements need to be done on her behalf and even suggest that she leave her job and join their family business. That leaves her exhausted.

Tinny dials the break-up service number and ends up calling Micky and his team for help. Unbeknownst to who the caller is, Mickey starts offering his golden pieces of advice for a hefty sum of money of course. What follows ensues is not funny, but much more complicated as their engagement ceremony date gets confirmed, and the two go about making all the required arrangements too.

The 164-minute film has nothing concrete in terms of story development and the first half is spent on Mickey displaying his charm and trying every trick in the book to impress Tinny. In a script that expects him to talk the hindlegs out of a donkey, he is perfectly cast as the wooer. A natural performer, he also looks great and easily gets into the skin of his character.

Shradha, on the other hand, is hardly the drop-dead gorgeous that she is made out to be, though her bikini bod is sexy enough. Their onscreen chemistry sizzles at times and falls flat the next moment when the two seem to be trying too hard. What is clearly in favour of the thin storyline is the fast-paced occurrences that leave little room for any breathing space.

But the film defies logic — not that one is looking for any — and is too focused on absurdities that remind us of the 1970s drama in films when two people, failing to identify the caller, could be easily fooled. And to think that there’s so much ongoing drama could be so exhausting, makes you struggle to firmly remain seated.

If Ranjan’s motive is to win back not just feminists, but even other movie watchers who just hated his one-sided interpretation of the so-called modern young woman as the ‘chaloo gold digger’ or the fickle unfaithful all out to have her way and call the shots, he manages to turn the tables this time.

Towards the end, the jaded film lets go of its romantic overtone and transforms into a family drama with the protagonist asserting his everlasting abiding love for his parents, grandmother, sister and everyone else in the family.

The woman too, after exhibiting an independent mind and flaunting her self-governing, self-regulating free and liberated spirit has a change of heart — after all, she is an Indian woman. And when she is quick to get into bed with a man, she’d better remain devoted to him and not come across as too progressive here!

Tu jhoothi main Makkar
Tu jhoothi main Makkar
Tu jhoothi main Makkar

Veteran Dimple Kapadia screams her head off throughout and should have been used in a better way. Her onscreen husband Boney Kapoor, who makes his screen debut, is almost non-existent and mostly merges with the background.

Had it not been for Ranbir Kapoor, most of the jokes would have been tiring and fallen flat. It is his spontaneity and ability to perform effortlessly that keep the audience engrossed. If only there was some substance and material to play around with!

What also works for the film are Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran’s brilliant camerawork and also Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics and foot-tapping numbers in Arijit Singh’s velvety voice set to music by Pritam.

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Selfiee: Heartening for film buffs to enjoy an outing

Akshay posts first look of 'Selfiee', triggers remake debate

Duration: 142 minutes, Cast: Akshay Kumar, Diana Penty, Emraan Hashmi and Nushrratt Bharuccha, Director: Raj Mehta. Cinematography: Rajeev Ravi. (Rating: **1/2)

An enraged Kumar blames Agarwal for stooping so low just for his 15 minutes of fame at Kumar’s expense. The misunderstanding between the two escalates into a feud played out in front of the entire country…reports Arnab Banerjee

Celebrities, particularly film stars, and their brush with the law are not uncommon. Famous people do have run-ins with the law, and some of them have even spent time behind bars. Some superstars rue the fact that the law is very often much tougher on them, but law enforcement agencies believe that celebs are not immune to the law and that all citizens must abide by it.

This week’s only release, ‘Selfiee’, attempts to raise the issue of well-known people riding roughshod over the law and getting away with lesser penalties.

Superstar Vijay Kumar (Akshay Kumar) enjoys the status of a demigod in the country. His cramped schedule doesn’t allow even a single day off, much to the annoyance of his doting wife (Diana Penty).

The couple had planned a month-long holiday in the US, where she wished to deliver her first child conceived through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Kumar is all set to finish the last leg of a film shoot in Bhopal before flying off, but the producer (Akashdeep) requests him to shoot the climax for which the star needs to drive a vehicle in a sensitive area maintained by the Army.

Now that isn’t much of an issue, but Kumar’s driving licence has expired, and therefore, he cannot be allowed to drive without one ASAP. He needs to obtain a new driving licence from the RTO, Om Prakash Agarwal (Emraan Hashmi), who happens to be Kumar’s diehard fan.

Not paying much attention first to something which looks like a cakewalk, Kumar refuses to come down from his privileged high horse and comply with the rules that require him to visit the RTO and do the needful. The inspector, who is delighted at the thought of meeting his idol, decides to take his young son to get a selfie clicked on the historic occasion.

To complicate matters, Vijay’s rival actor (Abhimanyu Singh), supposedly his childhood friend who’s had several flops in a row, and is desperately trying to make a comeback, tries hard to get Vijay into trouble so that his film career nosedives too.

Meanwhile at the RTO, Kumar is upset to see mediapersons thronging the office even before he reaches there to fulfil the formalities required for the licence. Some of the scribes begin to ask uncomfortable questions as to how Kumar was driving his car without a valid licence and canvassing for Safe Driving campaigns too.

An enraged Kumar blames Agarwal for stooping so low just for his 15 minutes of fame at Kumar’s expense. The misunderstanding between the two escalates into a feud played out in front of the entire country.

The premise of this 143-minute film is believable. A worshipped film hero cannot be above the law and must face the consequences of his actions. Agarwal is a commoner who not just adores but reveres his hero, but at the same time is a committed and law-abiding officer. Though the face-off between them seems exaggerated and too staged, it works as per the film’s theme.

‘Selfiee’ trailer

What doesn’t work is the script trying hard to highlight Akshay Kumar and his stardom. Even when his character is shown to be weak and losing his popularity, he is unnecessarily allowed to behave arrogantly.

Maybe, it justifies the superstar status of the character he plays, but on the other hand, it serves as a ploy to make him look both supreme and heroic. Hashmi, who has earned a respectable position as an actor over the past decade, having done away with his stereotypical romantic image that also won him the tag of the ‘serialkisser’, is consistently good as the simple, family-loving conscientious officer.

Director Raj Mehta, who is known to handle serious themes in a typical filmi manner (‘Good News’ and ‘Jug Jugg Jiyo’), cramming his narratives with masala and entertainment, lets you down by reducing all other supporting actors into buffoons.

Some of the situations, too, could have been far more convincing had they been dealt with some sensitivity. Instead, every serious tone is diluted with comic dialogues and characters who are imperfect, derailing the weightiness of some important developments. It had a good premise that could have been either hilariously written, or by adding thrilling moments between entitlement and the principles of the law.

Cinematographer Rajeev Ravi doesn’t have much at hand to improve the strongly marked laugh lines that Kumar tries hard to hide.

Writer Rishabh Sharma, too, must have had a tough time adding heft to the story credited to Sachy, though we all know that it is based on the 2019 Malayalam film ‘Driving Licence’ by Jean Paul Lal.

There isn’t much scope for songs in between what seems like a face-off between a hero and a villain, but there are a few that appear out of the blue — one of them being a a rehash of Anu Malik’s ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anadi’.

The film has been released in theatres and should be heartening for film buffs to enjoy an outing. If only it was worth the effort and the ticket prices!

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