Mathu Vadalara 1

Two events inspired this movie - a delivery guy who cheated on camera while counting money and marijuana being grown inside a Hyderabad flat. The story-writer took these two things and charted out a twisted, complicated tale of three bachelors. Narration is witty, humorous, edge-of-seat and with constant twists, it becomes a good movie to watch. The serial episode shown at times is ROFL. At the beginning, it seems dull but picks up pace after about 30 minutes. Acting is mediocre by all but the tale makes up for it.

Rating: Good

Language: Average

Dhurandhar

Very much resembled Gangs of Wasseypur - the greed for power, the backstabbing, etc. While that was set in UP and Jharkhand, this one is completely set in Pakistan. I guess its the first - an Indian movie set in Pakistan. It also has events that led to 26/11 terror attack - maybe fictional, maybe inspired by true events - hard to say. But a very bold movie indeed. Few scenes are very violent due to torture scenes. Well-taken. 

Language: Hindi

Rating: Good

Bhool Chuk Maaf

Very refreshing, unique and entertaining. The whole story of boy falling in love with girl and their family not agreeing and the girl eloping happens within the first few minutes while credits are being shown, and that makes one think what else could be there in the movie. But the actual movie starts from the eloping scene, which is very unique indeed! Every time we think movie is about to end, there is a twist in the tale and it keeps spinning. Not a moment to bore, instead lots of wit, freshness, divinity, honesty and 'do-the-right-thingy'. The dialog and dialog-delivery is good too, from one and all. The movie's very special and deserves a rating higher than Good but not really a Must-see.

Language: Hindi

The Trapped 13

I might have seen already a dozen documentaries regarding the Thailand Cave Rescue of 13 boys stuck inside a flooded cave for 18 days, and each documentary brings me tears. There was one documentary from rescuers' perspective and there was one more from divers' perspective. The Trapped 13 is from the 13 boys and the coach's perspective. Each time I see it, I cannot believe this incident really happened and all 13 got rescued safely. Each documentary is fantastic in it's own way. 

Language: English, translated from Thai at times.

Rating: Good

Gran Turismo

Wow, what a true story, and how well made the movie is! Fantastic graphics, gripping from first scene, fabulous direction. It took four men to converge and make the impossible possible - the person who created the video games exactly like how it is, the person who played and mastered it, the person who conceived the idea of converting simulation players into pros and the person who trained them to do so. Absolutely must-see.

Sitaare Zameen Par

Mediocre in most parts. Not as much hard-hitting as I expected - or as how Taare Zameen Par was. Aamir Khan's character is well portrayed. Humor too is mediocre. Worth a watch once.

Rating: Average

Language: Hindi

Zootopia 2

The movie continues off from where it had ended with the fox and rabbit being the cops. The new animal in the scene for this sequel is the snake. Like the prequel, this one too is filled with lot of fun, good twists and turns, lots of down and one final 'up'heaval! Nice time watching. And to make it special for the daughter, saw this in a nearby theater! Great animation, dialog and narration in general. 

Rating: Good

Dude

Movie starts out ROFL and stays like that for some time, then comes down a bit to just being witty for most part. There are constant twists and turns every 10-15 minutes in the movie to make it interesting and engaging and funny. But the plot continues to go down and down. In the last few minutes, the director tries to make it end with a slight up-twist but it doesn't seem to be sufficient. Overall, somewhat similar to Dragon. Good dialog. Lively and worth the watch - for the most part.

Rating: Good

Language: Tamil

Mahavatar Narsimha

Extremely gory, very unpleasant character visualisations, not much of a feel-good factor. Not too many punchline dialog as well. Animations are good though.

Rating: Average

Language: Available in many...original Hindi, saw in Kannada

Leo

Nice time-pass movie for a weekend with child. Adam Sandler's production. Feel-good for kids specifically. Most of the movie happens inside the classroom. Little bit of creative imagination, of course. Some of the kids' characters are portrayed well - strengths and weaknesses.

Rating: Average

Language: English 

Dragon

Movie starts off in a negative mode and then starts dipping and dipping for almost an hour, to the point where you almost dont want to watch it but it is evident that things will start going up somewhere. It does, and again, it is evident that there will be another crash soon, and it is just a matter of time. Slight twists in the tale here and there, and suddenly there are many endings visible. The narrator and director chose the one which seems to be fair enough. Good tale altogether, lot of messages for the youth on where not to go wrong. The dad's role and Principal's role are brilliant. The Hero's casting seems to be very bold. All female casting is up top-class. Although storyline shows how degree certificate is of paramount importance to getting a job, one point they missed to highlight is that even if one does not go to college, they can indeed succeed in corporate life - which is something the main character proves indeed.

Rating: Good

Language: Tamil

Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1

A sequel that lived upto it's prequel! While the fighting and violence is kind of all gory and unrealistic (like most fight scenes in most movies these days), the theme and the tale more than makes up for any misses as such. The divine interventions are well cut-out, the tale moving from one plot (the King) to another (the 'other' tribals) and to another (King and 'other' tribals) with a smooth twist in the end. The art of temple consecration is very well taken indeed, and also how a 'divine power' can be used both negatively and positively. Wit is good and not too much nor too less. Location setting is awesome amidst lush greenery. The writer and director has the distinct knowledge of Primordial Energy and their team, in this tale, has brought about that knowledge as best as how humans can understand. This is definitely a movie not to be missed.

Rating: Good

Language: Kannada

Metro... In Dino

Not my kinda movie. Movie-making is similar to Life In Metro, obviously since it is the same director. Those folks singing songs at unlikely places while the tale is being narrated, the setting magically changing into a musical, etc. all bear similar resemblances. It is different style of movie-making and very creative indeed. But coming to the story - practically everyone in the story is cheating with someone else because they are fed up of that person! The grandmother runs away from husband and starts staying with her college boyfriend (although intention is to help him ruin his relationship with his daughter-in-law; Yes, see it to believe it!), the first daughter catches her husband cheating and makes him almost naked in public and as a revenge, she herself starts going out with someone in Goa, the second daughter is not sure whom to get married and ends up telling an about-to-marry-someone-else guy that she loves him but doesn't want to marry him, the grand daughter is not sure if she is homo or hetero, so she goes around kissing to check if she gets butterflies in her stomach....huff, whoever thought of such a tale, hats off! As if life is not complicated already..!

Rating: Average

Language: Hindi

Su from So

 A touchy topic handled very well. Beautiful film-making. Starts off very loose with too much drinking and chit-chat and characterless acts, but then slowly, bit by bit things fall into place turning the plot into a serious drama. And yet, the narration is kept witty, sprinkled with humor throughout. A Kannada movie that resembled a Malayalam movie, with lush greenery and a small village setting mixed with local beliefs. 

Rating: Good

Language: Kannada

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2

Well, I was done for the day after seeing Part 1. But then I saw that Part 2 of the movie also was leaving Netflix on the same day! I had no choice but to continue seeing since there were many question marks after watching Part 1. So, with weary eyes, I continued. Part 2 seemed very slow at parts, and the editing could have been better. Some of the scenes lacked the same tenseness as it looked like the director wanted to make it light-hearted at times. And the slow-motion scenes were totally not needed plus the last scene where the 'hero' takes multiple revolvers/rifles/guns to kill the already-dead perpetrator. I guess at least about 15-20 minutes, the movie could have been shortened. But the casting director has done a fantastic job. Each actor suits the role he/she has been chosen for. The dialog is good but subtitles in English are too crude than what is actually spoken. The background score and music is good. Everyone has acted well, and the director has done a good job in ensuring people have their bit well.

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1

Since it rose to fame in the early 2000s, I had an inkling to see this movie but had heard about the extreme violence portrayed in it. Hence, had kept postponing and never prioritised. On Aug 3rd 2025, the movie was leaving Netflix, so I thought I might as well see it. Needless to say, the movie started off with bang-bang and kept on the same veins all through. As the narrator himself says in the beginning, it is a movie of rotten bastards. The movie is unlike anything that I had seen especially because it spans for over 6 decades. It goes on and on from father to son to son to son to son...etc. with no end. I will not be surprised if there will be a Part 3. In fact, it seems the entire movie lasted for almost 5.5 hours and that is the only reason it was broken down into 2 parts unlike other movies where sequel follows after first part is released. Maybe if it was released now, it'd be released on OTT platforms with seasons and episodes instead of a 2-part movie. But the movie is very much similar to many mafia movies I have seen like The Godfather, Satya, and pretty much the same dark, shady, crime, everyone killing everyone else. 

Rating: Good

Language: Hindi

Dhak Dhak

Saw this movie only because Netflix said it is based on true story but realized only in the end that this is a mistake by Netflix, since the entire movie is fictional. Casting is good but direction and acting is average. Some very 'loose' narration at certain points of the movie. Doesn't bore but somewhere somehow a 'punch' is lacking. Watchable once, the tale is slightly interesting. Good thing is there are bits and pieces here and there which is captivating like the lonely soldier making artwork, a widow of 29 years with just 1 year of marriage, the mountain road laborers tired of being away from families, etc..

Rating: Average

Language: Hindi

Aap Jaisa Koi

Very slow movie. It starts off 'dirty' for first few minutes, then it becomes better and better until the turning point, after which it goes downward and downward until last 2 minutes of the movie when something is salvaged, and it can be easily guessed anyways. The script is not that great to make it a wow ending either. Easily "dismissable" movie.

Rating: Average

Language: Hindi

Just go with it

A very average movie. Dialog filled with lot of double meanings which translates to 'comedy' for many film-makers. So, disgusting at times but ok-dokey at other times. Some of the dialog is witty and good timing. Dialog delivery is great by Adam and Jennifer. Although it is set in Hawaii, not much of the island is shown. 

Rating: Average

Yes Day

Nice fun movie to watch on a lazy Sunday. Very true in many aspects of parenting. It is one wild, wild day and a touching mother-daughter tale for probably most. Good storyline, great narration and witty dialog. Be ready for many OMGs!

Rating: Good