Shakhahaari

Set in a small village in Karnataka, this movie revolves around a pure veg hotel - the guests both wanted and unwanted, and how the owner gets caught in the web, just while his own life is getting better. Lots of amateur actors - some have done well but others are tough to watch! Good direction for the most part. Can dare to watch if open to gruesome scenes.

Rating: Average

Language: Kannada

World's First Christmas

 Watched it for the daughter. Very, very average movie. Story could have been finished in max 30 mins. The middle 1 hour is all time-pass and totally not needed. But all actors have enacted well, esp the kids.

Rating: Average

Language: Brazilian

Do Patti

 Hindi thriller. But didn't get much of a thrill. Location setting is nice - mountain regions. Acting by all is good especially Kriti Sanon - much like Sridevi in Chaalbaaz. Story is tense but not gripping. Small twist in the tale makes it interesting a bit. 

Rating: Average

Language: Hindi

Murder Mystery 2

 Binge watched immediately after the prequel. Did not find this as good as part 1 but it had all the same  characteristics - awesome adventure, setting, twists/turns, Poirot-like situations, witty dialog, the ending, etc.. If anyone likes Part 1, Part 2 is definitely unmissable!

Rating: Must-see

Language: English

Murder Mystery

 Wow, talk about making movies just like how Murder Mystery novels are written. This one's a cracker of an adventure, like Indian Jones, but very much modern combined with Hercule Poirot's setting where he gets into a situation and everyone starts dying around him, and he has to sleuth it out. Jennifer and Adam have done a fabulous job producing and acting, the dialog is superb, action sequences are real, European setting is always wonderful and twists and turns till the very end keeps the audience fully entertained. This reminded me of so many Murder Mystery books that I used to read once upon a time! 

PS: Third consecutive hattrick movie day!

Rating: Must-see

Language: English

Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty

 This movie is like a sinusoidal curve but it starts off with a trough, becomes better, reaches the crest with some nice humor and then starts going back to trough and finishes off with a rise towards the crest. Good innocent and plain acting and narration, comedy is bearable but good at times, bores a bit at other times, relates to the new generation, watchable once. More of a drama genre than comedy.

Rating: Average

Language: Telugu

Khel Khel Mein

 Very sleeky at the beginning, but fizzles out. Not much of a comedy although it claims to be. Entire movie is based on a game that is played overnight where mobile is not private. And it just so happens that pretty much everyone is hiding something or the other. Amateurish acting by almost all. Becomes a bore after few minutes, since there is a lot of conversation, most of which is not pleasing either.

Rating: Average

Language: Hindi

Instant Family

A very different genre movie about foster parenting and adoption. But the movie is extremely well-made with great humor and wit and dialog and dialog-delivery. The frustrations are shown superbly. The casting is great, characterization of each person is fabulous such as grandparents and children and teenagers and other fosters. Even though this is (or inspired by) a true story it doesn't seem so, thanks to the excellent narration. All in all, a great family entertainer.

Rating: Good

90 Feet from Home

Not really sure but saw it thinking it is inspired by True story. A very dark movie, filled with domestic abuse. The background score is apt for such genre, and the intensity of the victim & culprit roles are very well enacted. Not really sure if I enjoyed watching it but there have been great reviews about it. See this one for example: https://www.indyred.com/90feetfromhome.html.

Rating: Average

Trip to Paradise

Well, after watching the trailer, we felt there was no need to watch the movie because the entire storyline is shown, so there is practically no surprises. But, at the same time, the trailer has so many humorous scenes that one does feel like watching for the humor more than the story itself. And we were glad we watched it. Especially since we recently returned from Bali! The movie was like a breath of fresh air, in itself! George C and Julia R have done a fabulous job for their ages especially with the rapid dialog delivery scenes. The script is super witty. Location is great but then Nature helped them a lot with that! Ending is in fact a surprise indeed! Overall, a great watch!

Rating: Good

Mission Raniganj

A thriller, and narration is perfectly aligned for the genre. While the movie itself was an edge-of-the-seat, I wonder how the real lives were of the victims and their families during those crucial hours when the miners got stuck underneath. The true story is definitely worth the watch. Akshay Kumar has done good justice to the role. The politics, the undercurrent emotions, the family-angle, the time-factor, the lose-all-hope situations, etc. are all directorial master-pieces. Of course, the real Jaswant Singh Gill is the true hero! A big salute to him!

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

Ginny Weds Sunny

Bollywood Rom-Com. A simple triangle story. Climax did not have to be so hyped up, felt it was unwanted. The hero character is well portrayed and so is the lead female character - done true justice to it. At times, humor via dialog is light, simple & good. Good time-pass for a lazy Sunday, doesn't bore a bit.

Rating: Average

Language: Hindi

The Sky is Pink

Well, what to say. True story about Aisha Chaudhary who lived a very short life. More than her life, this tale revolves around the parents who struggled so much from her day one till her last breath to make her life beautiful and worth living, and tried so hard to keep extending her life at every possible roadblock. To raise so many pounds by way of crowdfunding to get her treated at such a young age was remarkable especially when there was no gofundme or other social media networks. Niren's (dad) life is remarkable too, considering how he grew up the corporate ladder despite family issues. Aditi's (mom) life seems to be single-pointed dedication to Aisha. As you can see, there is more to the tale than the movie itself, so definitely worth the watch. And all the actors have done a great job, and director has made the narration remarkable too (considering the ending is well known indeed). Hats off to the entire crew for bringing this inspiring story to the big screen and to many homes now via OTT.

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

OMG 2

Had been quite some time since I had watched a movie with court scenes. And this one had loads of them. Needless to say, dialog had to be (and was) superlative. Casting was good and genuine. Very sensitive and touchy topic, so acting involved lot of maturity from every member of the cast especially when done in front of large crowds. Akshay Kumar's dialog was very good as the Lord Himself. Overall, well worth a watch. Director has done a great job overlaying Hindu scriptures with the needs of modern education system.

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

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