Jagajyothi Basaveshwara

It being Basava Jayanthi, wifey thought it best to watch the life history of Basavanna. She came across this 1959 old black and white Kannada movie. Although I initially thought I will not see, I ended up seeing it since it seemed good enough. Some of the scenes, dialog and acting were indeed very powerful. The "true story/biopic" attracted me. Worth a watch for what Basavanna went through.
Rating: Good

Kumbalangi Nights

A very different movie with extremely different spectrum of characters - all blended to make one great tale. Awesome narration by the director - with each character having his or her own orbit of tales and all orbits encompassing to make one great Universe. Superb acting by one and all. One can easily see the professionalism by each crew of the movie. This one has it all the right ingredients - drama, suspense, little bit of humor, romance, horror, etc. Definitely worth a watch.
Rating: Good
Language: Malayalam

Fidaa

Wifey chose this to watch a Sai Pallavi movie (of the Maari-2 Rowdy Baby super song-dance sequel). Fidaa (maybe Telugu original but we saw the Hindi dub version) is a very simple love-hate-love tale between brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Extremely amateurish direction. Loose dialog and script. As well as most parts of film-making and even acting (except maybe Sai Pallavi who clearly shines all through). The hero is irksome to watch at times. Movie kinda falls flat but you can pass through it yawning all the way. Definitely avoidable.
Rating: Average

Love Mocktail

Saw in a random whatsapp message that Love Mocktail is the opposite of Dia and it is tangentially true although here there are more than 2 love stories! While the first one is the most humorous, second less so and so it goes on - still the movie fares well enough as a "RomCom". Very clean, neat and in all likelihood the story of most young guys. Worth a watch on a lazy weekend. Has good amount of humour but does slightly gets boring and a wee bit of sluggishness in the middle and I was like 'Is it still Intermission?' but one can sit through with a little bit of patience. All aspects of movie-making gets credits too.
Rating: Good

Gully Boy

Well, I am not a fan of rap music, so I always postponed watching this movie which I knew was based on rap artists - kinda first-of-its-genre in Hindi music arena. But, today when I finally watched it - it is indeed a very well-made movie & totally worthy of all the awards that it has garnered. Superb acting by one and all - not just Ranveer & Alia. Setting (or Dharavi) has been very well portrayed. Characterization of Alia is superb, especially her J factor! Lyrics of most raps is worth a second hearing. Screenplay is absorbing & narration is easy-going. Definitely worth a watch.
Rating: Must-see

Dia

Well, it started off differently - much differently than what is usually portrayed in movies. Kinda felt it was Slow though. But catchy. And then moved from one emotion to another - which are all very well shown: butterfly feeling in the stomach, fast heartbeat, shaky legs, depths of sadness by loss of life, etc. And then the tale moved towards the expected jerk. And more slowness. And some hope some where. And then some twisty, quirky emotions. And then another jerky end which I personally felt could have been made better. Overall, a very clean and neat movie with nice dialog. Characterization, casting and acting is well directed. The female introverty character has been very well portrayed by Kushi. Watchable once, if no other better option.
Rating: Average 

Brochevarevarura

Wow! What a stunner! This one's one of the purest best! It starts off very calm and soothing and then the plot thickens and thickens, and intertwines and suddenly you will get a jerk midway through the movie, and then the jerks continue making you come to the edge of the seat, and that's how the movie can ultimately be tagged: And edge-of-the-seat comical thriller! Simply brilliant in narration, concept, direction, casting & acting. A definite must-watch.

Rocket

I somehow like Sathish Ninasam movie. This is the third movie I am seeing of his (Lucia and Kwatle Satisa being the other two), and I have liked all of them so far, including this. Rocket, although somewhat a misnomer, is a very refreshing tale much like Simple Agi Ondh Love Story which quite literally means a simple love story which is what this movie is all about. Dialog & screenplay is the star of this movie. Very entertaining and humorous. Sathish's acting also is very natural and captivating. The heroine too has done justice to the role. The dance & fight sequences although highly unnecessary has been made to fit in quite appropriately just to appeal to the idiotic masses. All in all, a good entertainer, great casting & wonderful direction!
Rating: Good

Thithi

Always wanted to watch this movie since a long time because it had won so many awards. At one point even started to view but scenes were too fuzzy, non-HD, and just didn't feel like it. But today went through with it in entirety. It was enjoyable at the beginning - with the pristine village-ish language, tale, character, costume, etc. But after sometime it became kind of predictable and not-so-worth a watch. Not sure why these kind of movies get so many awards all the time. Better off avoiding it.
Rating: Average

Mulan

To be honest, I didn't have plans to watch this movie with the daughter. Idea was for her to see this and wifey & me to see something else. But when this movie started, it somehow caught the attention and stayed so till the very end. The animation is awesome, the characterization is good, humor is in abundance & story is captivating. So, we were better off watching this movie than anything else! Well worth it!
Rating: Good

Mission Mangal

A top-class movie that breaks down a real-world complex space project into a beautifully explained common-man story with the right amount of science, family-life and humour. Add to this the element of 'true-story' and it is a corker of a tale! And also add some 'Indian masala' as well! Vidya Balan is awesome, as always! That scene of her making poori is super, especially when she says 'SIr, you take over' to her boss! Great job done by the director in architecting it all & his entire crew (casting, cinematography, screenplay, location, story, music, etc.) for taking it beautifully and gracefully over the finish line. A very satisfying watch!
Rating: Good

Chhichhore

Started off like 3 Idiots but then it veered off to parentage. And then it moved back to college days and finally settled down as a sports movie! Quite a spectrum of emotions covered and full kudos to what the director has pulled off in this quite an important topic. In addition to the emotions, he has also brought in real-world experiences of a person moving from high-school grads to college grads to professional adults. Well worth a watch!
Rating: Good

Simple Agi Ondh Love Story

Another Rakshith Shetty movie in the same week! But this one was much better. Much simpler. Kannada literature in this movie is superlative - filled with loads and loads of similes and metaphors. Scenery and location is good - filled with lush greenery and watery spots. Rakshith has done good acting whereas his counterpart seems to have done some overacting - or maybe that's what her directed told to do, not sure. Three love stories are there in the movie although title says just one! Shades of Before Sunrise (talking, talking) & concept from 50 First Dates & Memento (memory-related) but this one goes one notch up - although not much of a comedy nor action thriller. A fresh watch. A surprise was I got to see real-life RJs - thats a nice way to get more audience!
Rating: Good

Avane Srimannarayana

Well, well, well. I am a fan of Rakshit Shetty - thanks to Kirik Party & Ulidhavaru Kandanthe. Hence when this movie made headlines, I was all eager. So much so, that I was even ready to go to the theater - which I rarely do since most movies come on TV within a short period of time anyways. Hence, hopped onto the nearest theater. The movie started. Within a few minutes, I realized this is different. A few more minutes later I felt I was watching a Texan cowboy movie - complete with hats, rifles, desert, etc. Definitely not my type. And then in fight sequences, I could see Jackie Chan's style: witty and creative. Liked it, yes. But then, it became too much - both in terms of fights, violence (chopping off fingers - ewww), loud background score which made it hard to follow, too many hippies (long beards & dirty looking - drinking & shooting), etc. There are twists, yes, it is a very-different-Kannada-movie, yes, but sadly this movie didn't score well in my charts. Rakshit is great - his dialog delivery albeit fast is very natural. Story is a simple gang war tale for a hidden treasure - & one can pretty much predict who gets the loot. And, of course, it definitely has some flaws in the narration. Pardonable though.
Rating: Average

Frozen 2

After a really long time, saw a movie in a multiplex: the last time was in 2016! And it was well worth the wait! Frozen got all three of us enchanted and this sequel kept us enchanted all the way to the Enchanted Forest & out of it too! The magical beauty, the superlative animation, amazing musicals, thick plots and coupled with supreme spirituality - the movie has it all! 
Rating: Good

Super 30

What a man, what a story! Truly very inspiring! The director has done extremely well to bring the story of Anand Kumar to the big screen albeit using dramatical sequences to make it full of Bollywood masala - which totally keeps the audience hooked. And it is not just any ordinary story at that - it is filled with complex mathematics & science concepts brought into day-to-day life. Hrithik Roshan has done justice to the role but somehow I kept feeling that Akshay Kumar was better suited (maybe because of the multiple biopics that AK has recently enacted in - Pad Man, Toilet, etc.)

Rating: Good

Gandondu Hennaru

A nice jovial Rajkumar movie - at least for most part. Initially I was cynical to see the movie since a typical old (black and white) Rajkumar movie is fraught with desolation & despondency with usual happy ending. But this one seemed different & nice time-pass for a lazy Sunday afternoon. At one point it almost seems like an anthology with many short stories but the dots start getting connected at the end. Of course, one has to give leeway for narration and direction to be illogical at various points but for a 1969 movie to be made like the way it is done (sci-fi-ish) without the technology which is available now is really commendable. And yes, no desolation and despondency!
Rating: Good

De De Pyaar De

A nice Hindi rom-com. Very clean and simple, to the point. Dialogs are crispy, scenes are just as much is needed. Excellent editing. Superb acting by each and every one of them - old actors, old actresses, young adults, the entire crew. I guess credit goes to the director. The double-edged witty dialogs are entertaining too. Scenery and setting is fresh. All in all, a nice entertainer.

Rating: Good

Luka Chuppi

New and nice casting, unique theme for a story, fitting religious locations & the right ingredients spiced correctly for a rom com. While the courting seemed to be too short to believe (like in Barfi), it seems to be rightly edited because there is much more in the tale than just courting. The characters involved are perfect too - for a middle class family. Well worth a watch.
Rating: Good

Dongaata

A con movie. Nice, flashy, entertaining, light-hearted. Takes frequent twists that almost makes it edge-of-the-seat but somewhat lacks a little punch to push it to the must-see category. Nevertheless a good enough movie to watch with the family. The last few scenes takes things beyond what could be considered as humanly possible - but then have to give a benefit of doubt to the movies!
Language: Telugu
Rating: Good