Srikanth

This one's a fascinating true story, which is both inspiring and gripping, starting from the day he was born blind to how he built Bollant Industries. One cannot imagine how one person can do so much, against all odds. Cricket, baseball, MIT, Science college, Entrepreneur, etc.. Very good story-making, narration, and improvisation. At every other scene, one can see how the director had to rise above the challenge, come up with suitable dialogs added to what Srikanth himself has said in those situations - like the court scene, the airport scene, the interviews with MIT panelists, his time spent in blind school, his interactions with his teacher, etc.. Truly remarkable, and indeed well worth the watch.

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

Rise

Perhaps my first Australian movie, and that too a true story. The thing that stood out to me is excellent background score for some of the scenes. And perhaps character Jimmy Cove's screen presence - as solid as Maximus in The Gladiator. Movie itself is average although story is heartening. Much of the tale is depicted from inside the prison walls. It had been quite some time since I had seen such a movie which is based inside the cells. Maybe about two decades ago, I used to watch lots of such prison movies. This being Australian one, it was hard to understand the accent (added to that, saw this while commuting to/fro office in Metro) and there was no subtitles. So, had to understand the context in many scenes. Worth a watch for the film-maker Lindon whose story itself is depicted. And really glad that he was able to get out of the prison for an action he never committed...

Rating: Average

Motichoor Chaknachoor

A well-made wholesome family entertainer based out of Bhopal. Pretty much every character in the movie is innocent with his/her own petty desires, and the resulting conflict of that between two neighbouring families is what makes this movie. From scene 1 till the very end, it keeps the audience engaged and about 80% of the time with a smile! A true Fam-Rom-Com that is well worth a watch. Casting, setting, dialog, direction are all above the mark.

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar

After a very, very long time, watched two movies back-to-back! And perhaps, for the first time - both Bollywood. Plus, last one was Alia's and this was Ranbir's - the couple! Also, for a long time now, wifey has stopped seeing Bollywood Romcom movies and when we were simply surfing the TV, this one came up, and this is exactly her type of movie which we used to watch every weekend a decade ago! She was ok to watch it this time somehow and that's how we ended up seeing it! 

The movie starts with a bang indeed. Exceptional dialog, plot, characterization, dramatization, etc.. But then it fizzes out after few minutes. Then the heroine comes in. She doesn't seem to be a good actress. Her crying scenes are worthy of fast forwarding! In the middle, the movie takes a big turn, and then it becomes interesting again. The last part is completely drama with a little bit of family humor. Watchable. Very similar to early 2000 Bollywood movies from Salman Khan & SRK. If you liked those, you will like this!

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

Darlings

Dark comedy thriller. Resembled Andhadhun. There are scenes which make you sit on the edge of the seat and there are scenes which make you go forward. Lot of twists and turns which makes it interesting indeed. A reality check for many Indian wives who go abused by drunken husbands. Quite exceptionally made movie. All actors have done a great job. Alia Bhatt is awesome. Direction, narration, setting are all great. Just short of a must-see perhaps. 

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

Annamayya

True story movie about Annamacharya, a Telugu poet devoted to Lord Venkateshwara. Felt the director took great liberties in portraying the tale especially with some of the dialogs. But it is great fun at times, the humor is good, characters are good. I had heard a lot about Annamacharya but did not know his life story. Some parts of the tale were jaw-dropping like him having two wives, about them dying at the same time like samadhi, he himself being so devoted to his wives and then his devotion to Lord Venkateshwara. The director has made a good collection of the songs in the movie as part of the narration. Definitely worth the watch.

Language: Telugu (but saw Tamil-dub, however, the English subtitles helped!)

Rating: Good

Laapataa Ladies

Fabulous written all over it, from first scene to the last! Casting, acting, location-setting, narration, screenplay, direction, humor - everything is top-notch. Indian traditions coupled with local/village flavors make this movie so colorful indeed! Add to this a spice of mystery, wee bit of family issues and innocent love and we have a must-see!

Mistaken

Just because it is a 9/11 true story, watched this movie. But film-making was very, very average. Felt like watching an amateur documentary. It is made out as if something really really bad happened as part of mistaken identity but highlight of the movie was just a few mins of intense interrogation. Movie is a reminder of why people should have patience to deal with issues that crop up in life! Part of the movie that I did like was Morocco perhaps. Nothing much to write about this movie. Except maybe to pass time while standing in a Metro (which is what I did)!

Rating: Average

Fifty first dates

Had seen this movie before with wifey. But, off late, she has had these memory lapses where I had to remind her. So thought it would be good to show her this movie..!! Hopefully she will not get into such a mess! The movie is kinda nice although there was no need to make so many references to adultish content - could have been a neat family entertainer.

Rating: Average

Dark Waters

Well, I guess some people are born just to fight the evil single-handedly risking all their (and their family's) lives. This tale starts off with a sad narration about how several cows died and a farmer's analysis on how this happened due to the chemical giant DuPont's unethical waste disposal methods. But the onus lied on the Lawyer to do the right thing and bring DuPont to its knees despite all odds and not knowing anything about Chemistry in the first place! And this movie is about that lawyer Robert Bilott. Hats off to him indeed. A nicely made legal thriller movie, and one wonders what would have happened if EPA was not made aware of gross illegality performed by DuPont. 

Rating: Good

Language: English

Million Dollar Arm

Well, I thought this was just another true story about Sports. But as the movie unfolded, I was mildly surprised that a huge part of this movie involved India! Then, as the movie unfolded further, I was greatly surprised that two Indians Rinku and Dinesh actually got selected and even ended up playing professional baseball! Well, well, well! I guess this was in the news back in the days when the reality show was going on across India and maybe I missed it since I was in US but indeed this was a great venture and innovative thinking, not just for the business of baseball but for enriching lives! Coming to movie-making, it is as professional as it could be. Excellent casting options, great screenplay and narration. Definitely worth the watch. One directional feedback though - instead of showcasing only India's poverty localities, they could have also shown some of the country's much developed locations. 

Rating: Good

Language: English

Home

A family drama movie. Had been quite some time that we had seen a Malayalam movie, and this was just as refreshing as ever, with lush greenery and clean script and light humor. The narrator/story-writer has done a good job in coming up with a climax out of nowhere that kind of ends the tale in a nice manner! The references to a smart phone and people's addiction to it is very well embedded within the tale itself.

Rating: Good

Language: Malayalam 

The Kerala Story

Very, very sensitive topic yet filled with true stories. Kudos to the crew for risking their lives to make this movie and bring out unpublished information to the masses which would possibly save many, many lives in the future. Film-making is slightly above average but the potency of the movie is in the tale itself - how a life-loving simple Hindu girl gets brainwashed into Islamic radicalism and becomes what this video describes as anti-human. Casting, acting, direction, narration, screenplay, location settings are all above-the-mark and appreciable. Definitely for mature adults, viewer discretion seriously advised. 

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

12th Fail

Heard elaborate appreciations about this movie wherever I went/saw - relatives, friends, whatsapp groups, etc.. So I guess I had set myself up with some very great expectations. Waited for a long time to watch it (much like RRR). Unlike RRR, though, this one did not buoy my feelings while the movie unfolded itself. It went from ok to well, alright to so? to fine to then and so on. I guess I have seen too many True stories with similar motivation/insiration and seen it made really good that my mind starts making comparisons very soon on same genre. 

Not to belittle the tale itself - it is truly fascinating how Mr Manoj became an IPS officer, full kudos to him. But the movie-making definitely could have been better, editing was definitely needed with lot of repeated dialogs, scenes, etc. Free-flowing camera movement is ok and trending now but not sure if it was really needed. Acting by pretty much new cast is great and they have all done really well. Shraddha's scenes were very well captured and clean, definitely the highlight of the movie. Also I thought I detected couple of directional miss too but, overall thanks to Vidhu Vinod Chopra for bringing this story to the masses although could have done better.

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

A Bad Moms Christmas

This one is more intense than the prequel. Again, not much of a ROFL but funny enough. Very raunchy indeed to be categorized as A. Just goes to show how low human consciousness has dipped if this is how mainstream life is in US. Sad indeed. Some scenes are really good especially when moms are unable to handle their own moms. While the prequel was about handling kids, this one is about handling (or getting handled still by) moms - so a good concept, and Christmas adds good color to it. Again, full marks to acting, casting, etc.. I guess Dialog too. 

Rating: Good

Bad Moms

Thought this will be a ROFL but it was not. Simple concept which is made with an A rating for no good reason. Could have been made as a family entertainer so easily. Dialog is witty at times, characterization is good and some scenes bring a cheer to the face but on the whole, it is pretty average movie. Typical American Hollywood comedy flick, I guess. Time-pass. Had been a really, really long time since I had seen such a movie.

Dasavarenya Sri Vijayadasaru

After Jagannatha Dasaru, had high expectations for this movie considering it was pretty much same film crew - casting, direction, production, etc.. However, this one fell flat. Not very compelling, and seemed very mediocre although narration is altered to weave across years and lifetimes. Story sparkles at times but then that is the miracle of Sri Vijayadasaru's life itself. Felt like we would not have repented if we had not watched this.

Rating: Average

Language: Kannada

Sant Tukaram

True Story about Saint Tukaram, a great devotee of Panduranga Vittala of Pandharpur, like Purandara Dasaru. This movie is made in 1963. The dialog of Tukaram's wife is simply awesome and well scripted with a touch of humor. Throughout the movie, Dr Raj Kumar is in a state of equilibrium and has acted very well. Sometimes, I feel such movies of the yesteryears simply cannot be made in this era - with that clarity, language, style, poise, prose, elegance, etc.. Of course, some of the scenes are like 'did that really happen', like when Shivaji was about to be killed in the temple, the Abhang books that got submerged came back up, etc.. Miracles or not, worth a watch for the Saint himself.

Rating: Good

Language: Kannada

Thutta Mutta

Couple of people had spoken about this movie about how they were sandwiched between wife and mother and this prompted me to watch it. Indeed, the movie is well-made, with the right set of dialog from each of the main participants - the mother, the son and the daughter. Many people in real life can relate to these roles and the dialogues. Acting is great - Ramesh plays the role with such ease and so does Prema. Direction and narration is good. Although I felt some scenes could not be seen with the family. And it brought back memories of 1990s Kannada movies, because this is how most of them were made. Those ridiculous dances on hill stations, change of dresses within same scene, songs all of a sudden, not much of violence, etc.. Watchable if you are either a son or a wife or a mother!

Rating: Good

Language: Kannada

Sri Purandara Dasaru

For a movie made in 1967, it is indeed well-made. Saw this movie on Purandara Dasa Aradhane day, and it was much much better than the soap/episode that was telecasted in 2022. Movie starts off with that nose-ring which was pivotal in Purandara Dasaru's life whereas in the soap, it starts off with his parents. All the actors have done a remarkable job, and it is still a wonder how Narasimharaju climbed on Rama devi several times and even Balakrishna!! Does not bore much although it is a wonder why even such a great saint underwent so much troubles in his life time. So, yes, there are sad scenes. Thankfully, on the net, one can fast forward, so that makes it easy!

Rating: Good

Language: Kannada