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Bhootatlela (2020)
Boring and slow, but good acting
Show was boring and story was pathetic. Acting by all characters was good and it looked they are good actors. But poor flow of the story made it feel like show was not creative at all. Climax was so predictable and obvious.
Marjaavaan (2019)
Remake of 1970s & 80s content with Amitabh Bachchan in a new avatar
I did not get the feel of watching a movie of 2019, but everything was exactly what one gets by watching a bollywood movie filmed in 70s and 80s. Sidharth Malhotra looks exactly like Amitabh Bachchan with same body-build and body-language. Same angry young man looks and acting. Story was superly outdated with all sequences resembling that of typical 70s film which defied all sorts of logic and rationality. If Sidharth resembles Amitabh, Tara may be considered similar to Parveen Bobby and Rakul as Rekha. It was a replay of such old bollywood films. Only new thing was action scenes and photography.
Birthmarked (2018)
This film is a failed experiment !!!
This is what all happens in the film:
1) Two scientists (Ben and Catherine) marry, and decide to raise kids as an experiment to prove power of nurture over nature. One would be their own son, Luke, with scientific inheritance but would be raised as an artist. Another one would be the daughter (Maya) of ordinary middle class people but would be raised as an intellectual. The third one, Maurice, with family history of violence and anger would be raised as a pacifist in Gandhian ideology.
2) They approach a rich man (Mr. Gertz) who is interested in science and ask for funds. He agrees as he finds their idea groundbreaking.
3) They raise the children on a secluded country-side house which belongs to Ben's forefathers. One of them is an assistant (Samsonov) hired by Gertz to help the family as well as keep a record of "parenting experiment".
4) The experiment goes wrong and children become frustrated by their parents and their ways of treating them. Specially the father who is focused on doing anything in the name of science (showing his son pornographic pics of nude women and ask him to convert his sexual desire by performing a dance while looking at the pics) while the mother is shocked to see their moral behaviors (they act out a sex scene while performing a play from a pornographic novel), especially their sexual development and thoughts.
5) Mother becomes ill, possibly depressed, and her doctor advises to go on a leave of few days outside their residence. After some clashes between the parents, they decide for the holiday. While this trip is being planned, children decide to run away from house and injure parents and the assistant by the car.
6) Court takes away the kids and sends them to a special care school while parents separate from each other. Meanwhile, Gertz tells them that the parents have to pay him $1.4 million as the experiment has failed. He also discloses another experiment that he was doing on Morin family with the help of Samsonov, where he was recording the behaviors of parents and the whole family. So he puts another choice in front of them. They have to sign a document where they will have no objection to whichever way Gertz publishes the results of his two experiments. If they accept this condition, they he will relieve them of that repay of fund money. They both agree to this.
7) The story takes a turn when through a book, the kids come to know about the experiment their parents were doing on them. Parents apologize to them and the family reunites.
The film lacks emotions, becomes boring, is highly predictable, and does not excite at any point. Ben is a very lethargic character, who seems over-exhausted throughout the movie, as if he is doing some great science which is not shown anywhere. Except few places like where he does a maze experiment where he sets up a furnace and asks the daughter to move a rat through the maze and decide which direction rat has to take. One of her decisions throws the rat in the furnace and the girl screams out of guilt and fear. The experiment looked even poorer than a 6th grade model. Most lacking thing from the movie was almost zero depictions of any real experimental stuff. There was really no science anywhere.
Catharine, the mother, looked like a typical mother throughout the movie, and not any great scientist doing some family experiment. She is a worried mother, who is concerned about her children getting aggressive or displaying immoral sexual acts. She is bothered about where this whole experiment thing is going and doesnt find herself comfortable in continuing this "science". Then she gets depressed by all the family stress and decides to take medicines. Her husband is careless and does weird science discussions or has those thoughts. She seems to be the one who is concerned in putting family together and father is following her all the time. Ben is a confused scientist and a confused father who doesn't have any clue to what he is doing. He reads about some new scientific finding and begins to implement on the kids, which obviously kids dislike (like giving beans for dinner and throwing away TV).
The movie brings issues of ethical science into discussion when Gertz threatens Morin family with the publication of his findings regarding the sort of experiment he was attempting on the Morins. His experiment sounded unethical and cruel.
The best part is that the film makes a satire on scientific researches involving humans and capitalist market exploiting science for its own needs. Gertz is a rich man with enough money inherited to invest in science. But he cares least about any good science and in turn wants to earn fame and recognition through unethical practices. He is apathetic to the emotions of a family for the sake of his pride and fame. He exploits scientists as well as a family.
Overall, the movie is a good watch, a different story and a must watch. Film justifies family bonds and emotional ties over the abstract ideology of science. There are certain elements inherent to human nature which science can not capture under any objective lens. More than nurture vs nature, it was film about subjectivity vs objectivity, real vs abstract, and science vs emotions. The kids turn out to be different from what their parents were experimenting for. Finally it was the personal experience that wins in the end, and neither nature nor nurture.
Island City (2015)
Emotions vs Machines: the best Hindi movie showing robotization of urban modern life
The movie is best of its type. It shows dominance of machines over human life. How the pleasures of daily life are being ruined and effecting our emotional health, this is beautifully depicted in the movie. Three stories, interconnected in some way to each other, are showing three different impacts of technology on our life.
First movie shows loss of pleasures due to so-called busy professional life and its ethics. Even the fun-time is professionally earned. This movie is a satire of current professional environments. It is one of the rarest surreal movies seen in Hindi cinema.
Second one shows complex and subtle interplay of social responsibilities personal happiness. One of the best of three. It shows one of the themes that I was dying to see on big screen-impact of TV serials on our daily emotions. Personal relationships have lost their charm and artificially constructed scenarios reveal our true emotions.
Third one has a current as well as a futuristic theme. A girl who is not happy with her life, is being forced to marry with a guy who is only occupied with his professional life and shows minimal care for her. She is waiting for a partner who can love her. But she finds herself a victim of technology in the end and has to live a compromised life.
There are several themes being covered in the movie and it requires a detailed analysis for each movie. All three movies are rich in their meanings and messages. They depict poor emotional connections in today's life and how technology and urban environments are impacting our daily pleasures and ultimately happiness.
A MUST WATCH!!!
Guest iin London (2017)
A tribute to Indian values showing importance of elders in the family
I am surprised to see the ratings for the film so far- 5.5 only. I believe raters have failed to see the basic intent of the film and the message it purports to convey. There are mixed responses to the film as I can see, critics are rating it below 3 out of 5 and public is rating it 4-5 out of 5. Are critics so dumb these days that they can't understand the diversity of movies made in Hindi cinema these days? It is no surprise to me that critics generally consider themselves superior in their understanding of cinema which motivates them to judge movies so hastily. The movie deserves much more than the treatment it is getting. If not 9 or 10, at least 7-8 rating is the adequate quality for this movie.
That being said, the reasons for a rating of 9/10 would be clear to you if you still have Indian values in your blood. The issue of an uninvited guest at home is a sensitive one for our today's social values and norms. The movie is all about sentiments involved around treatment of uninvited guest at home which are woven under an intricate system of Indian values. Why we discount the theme of indianism on its face value? This is what most critics do. The film begins with acceptance of an old Indian couple who claim to be known to the film's actor, Aryan through their neighborhood in India.
The character of chachaji makes everyone laugh through his witty acts and makes others submit to his ways of Indian culture. The display of Indian sentiments and emotions was persistent throughout the movie. In many places, there was realization of importance of following Indian customs and ways of respecting others. The movie will take you on a ride of emotions through an interplay of western and Indian values. Such themes are generally considered out-dated these days. But movie plays these dramas in a sensible manner. This was made possible by the acting of Paresh Rawal, who was the strongest character in the movie.
Its true that the movie had many weak areas and somewhat less attractive story. It was quite predictable from the beginning, though there were many surprises in the end. The movie got boring sometimes and it revolved mainly around chachaji's role. Songs were OK-OK. The strength of the movie is its representation of Indian values which are not priorities of most of us in current social dynamics. Specially the presence of elders at home which support young members in their times of distress. The caring attitude of chachaji and chachiji truly showed how a parent ought to behave for their own children.
The movie is a must watch for lovers of Indian values and sentiments. The movie is a message that we need to respect our elders despite differences of lifestyles and beliefs. There may be many different ways sensible elder members may shower their love and care for the young people at home. Such apparently outdated themes still deserve a place in Hindi cinema. These need to be looked from a fresh perspective and an open attitude should be adopted while liking such movies and stories.
Ankhon Dekhi (2013)
Not much impressive as it could be, beware of pseudo-admirers of art cinema
My review here is unique in the sense that I want to criticize the film and hence my review is different from all other reviews. The reviews of the film posted here on IMDb (and elsewhere) are good and some of them are brilliant but I found some pseudo-admiration of the movie which prompted me to write the review.
The movie is good because of its uniqueness, not many movies are made in commercial cinema which take the theme adopted in the movie. So people who love to watch art/parallel cinema would surely be attracted to the concept of the movie. The actors in the movie are mostly theater artists, who are popular for good acting and commonly appear in low-budget films. The basic theme of the movie showing the life experiences of the protagonist from ''his own eyes'' is appealing and philosophical in its essence. The film clearly showed demonstration of philosophical principle of "seeing is believing" through discussions, mass awareness campaigns (standing at metro station with message board in hand), life experiences of the lead character, Sanjay Mishra. When the movie had so many scenes conveying the philosophical ideas, yet I do not understand why most of the reviewers are saying that movie doesn't intend to spread any message. It seems pseudo-admiration at its heights!! The beautiful part of the movie is its emphasis on family roles and responsibilities, and dynamics of attachments and emotions among family members. The movie is set in a joint family context, which is shown in the beginning following strict social norms and conventions. Looking at all the mess going on around the family, and his inability to handle the circumstances, the lead character of Bauji diverts everyone's attention to his sudden shift of philosophical ideas and preoccupation of the principle "seeing is believing". When everyone was following "believing is seeing, he chose to do the opposite. At this point it seemed that the movie would take on deep, mysterious turns and would show depth of the protagonist's character. But the movie is disappointing in this regard.
The movie takes many turns and shifts in actions of Bauji - not believing in anything heard until experienced, leaving job due to his ideas, remaining silent because everyone was getting fed up of his philosophical talks which were incomprehensible by people, gambling to earn money, brother and his family separating to manage their expenses and duties etc.. All these incidents shake the feelings of Bauji to the core and it is seen that with every incident he takes some dramatic step and changes his behaviors. But in all this superficial drama, the emotional and wise character of Bauji is showing its strength and the only merit that this movie deserves. The emotional bonds of the family members are persistent and deep, even when they separate. The responsible character of Bauji to arrange marriage for his daughter, saving his son from a debt of Rs. 28/38,000 (unclear amount) is the most appreciable part of the movie. The minute details of middle class family life of Old Delhi were remarkable. Very fine details were shown in behaviors and verbal expressions of characters, which, to me, is the only plus side of the story and adds energy to the movie. This is the only part of the movie to which anyone can relate.
The most saddening part of the movie was its confusing story-line, abrupt incidents and events, lack of coherence in incidents, loose adherence with any single theme, lack of connections between different scenes/acts and sentiments of the leading character. If all other characters were predictable, the main character was uncertain and unpredictable. His unpredictable characterization made him incomprehensible and confusing. Why suddenly he became fond of philosophical ideas, why he didn't consider many daily responsibilities as important (like leaving job), how come he suddenly tended to become sannyasi-like, and why he held strong emotional bonds. On the surface he seemed to be dramatizing all this philosophical non-sense just to divert everyone else's attention from social norms and restrictions, because he was always an emotional person caring for his family. Was he trying to wind up his life's duties to experience his dream of flying, was he trying to become a good father- a liberator for himself and family? This was not clearly shown. He was trying to conclude his life as an accumulation of experiences and fulfillment of wishes.
If you have seen many such movies, to make it comprehensible and easy to follow, the story-line should be consistent, convey a deep message and lesson, follows a uni-dimensional approach to story and must establish links to different scenes and themes. On the contrary, Ankhon Dekhi lacks consistent story-line (except family sequences), is multi-thematic, shows uncertain actions of the leading character which make no sense in broader picture, except attributing the protagonist as crazy and free-thinker. I do not advocate such pseudo-admiration of incomplete depictions just because these depictions are meant to be shown through the lens of an art movie. Overall, the movie doesn't give a pleasurable feeling, except admiring disconnected scenes and actions of the lead actor. There are many scenes depicting behaviors of Bauji which show strong and compassionate character, an emotional and deeply attached person who cares for family. For example, debating maths teacher of his niece, asking daughter to prepare for her marriage, saving his son from debt of gambling, appreciating classical music, being an intellectual and providing wise lessons to his followers etc.
Overall, the movie is nice, watchable, shows inner turmoil of an old man who is awaiting his death, good family sentiments and strong emotional bonds within a joint family But at the same time it is inconsistent in connecting scenes and shows multiple themes/messages with loose meanings. These meanings become hidden/suppressed and no single message or theme dominates the whole film. Due to overburdening with multiple messages and themes, the movie loses its charm and pleasure. This leaves many viewers confused and disappointed.