Film Review - The Shaukeens

Tiresome Threesome

Film: The Shaukeens
Cast: Anupam Kher, Piyush Mishra, Annu Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Lisa Haydon

Directed by: Abhishek Sharma

Duration: 2 hrs 5 mins

Rating: * * 

Director Abhishek Sharma gave is the entertaining Tere Bin Laden, but sadly The Shaukeens is nowhere close to it. Inspired by Basu Chatterjee’s Shaukeen (1982) this film loses steam very quickly. The rehashed plot where Akshay Kumar plays himself is funny in parts but eventually ends up going nowhere.

Three dirty old men Pinky (Piyush Mishra), KD (Annu Kapoor) and Laali (Anupam Kher) are looking out for some carnal pleasures. When their plan to go to Bangkok fails, they decide to travel to Mauritius and they get to stay in the house Ahana (Lisa Haydon) a single woman. Instantly, all eyes are on her as she becomes an object of their affection.

She happens to be a fan of Akshay Kumar and since he is shooting in town, the men try their best impress her by arranging a meeting with him. The funniest scenes are where Akshay Kumar sportingly makes fun of himself and the films he has done. But unfortunately, the fun bits are few and far between, most of the film focuses on the old men and their efforts to win over the girl. 

Mercifully, even with the songs and dances included, the film is just over 2 hours but even that looks like a long at times.

Published in The Navhind Times on 9th Nov 2014

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Film Review - Gone Girl

Reality Check

Film: Gone Girl

Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike

Directed by: David Fincher

Duration: 2 hrs 29 mins

Rating: * * * *

Adapted from the book by Gillian Flynn who has also written the screenplay, Gone Girl is one twisted story and you expect a director like David Fincher to do justice to it and he does. Fincher has made some memorable films like Fight Club, Zodiac, Se7en, The Social Network and the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and a plot like this one is right up his street.

The likely hood of coming out after watching the film in one of these three stages is high –Utterly delighted, happy and partly dissatisfied. The more I think about the film, the more inclined I am to move from the second category to the first.    

A plot like this that involves mystery and a lot more is not easy to adapt, besides, the story is not just a mystery, there are many more layers like relationships, media trials and Fincher has managed to bring them to the fore admirably.

Those who have read the novel will be aware of the twists and turns but those who haven’t the story is about Nick (Ben Affleck) who, on the morning of their anniversary, discovers that his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing. They have moved from New York to this relatively smaller town and though there are signs of foul play in the house, Amy’s fate is unknown. Nothing more can be said without giving the plot away.

While the first half is your routine mystery thriller with an edge, it is a completely different proposition later. It is not only about what we see but from whose point of view we see it that’s important and Fincher manipulates (one of the posters of the film is cleverly distorted) the audiences seamlessly without they feeling manipulated. The film uses flashbacks and keeps cutting back and forth gradually revealing what the characters are all about and what stand they take. During times when television can change the perception of just about anything the notion of guilt also becomes flexible.

The winding up process towards the end is not entirely satisfactory and that is perhaps the only flaw that one can find. 

It won’t be surprising to see the cast win a few Oscar nods. Ben Affleck has come a long and done a variety of films in his career but this is among his best performances. Rosamund Pike’s career will surely get a boost with this film, she is first rate. Even the supporting cast is superb lead by Carrie Coon as Nick’s twin sister.

All in all, Gone Girl is a highly satisfying experience, refer to the second paragraph if you have any doubts about watching it. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 2nd Nov 2014

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Film Review - Fury

War Fair

Film: Fury

Cast: Brad Pitt, Shia LeBeouf, Logan Lerman

Directed by: David Ayer

Duration: 2 hrs 17 mins

Rating: * * * 1 /2

There have been many films set during World War II, David Ayer’s Fury tells us about what happened at the fag end of the war. War films rarely go wrong, there can never be enough reminders about the perils of death and destruction and Fury also engages you with the action and heroism of the few. 

Their heroics as we learn, didn’t necessarily come from within, they learnt it the hard way. Kill or be killed was the mantra for all the soldiers no matter where they came from and what they did before. Set after the Normandy landings and when the war was almost over but the dangers continued to hover. The remaining German soldiers and the SS staff put up a fight in vain. 

At the receiving end is a bunch of American soldiers lead by Don (Brad Pitt) the tough guy, Norman (Logan Lerman who played Percy Jackson) the rookie, a bible quoting Boyd (Shia Le Beouf), a Mexican immigrant Gordo (Michael Pena) and a hot headed Grady (Jon Bernthal).

The war is already driving them nuts, they have no choice but to see it through. Don takes the young kid under his wings, from being a typist to using machine guns, the transition is understandably is not easy for him. But life can be a cruel teacher as he soon finds out. The German resistance is fading but the allies can never be sure where the next assault will come from and whether they will survive it.

One of the best scenes has precious little to do with the action of war when Don and Norman enter a house to see two women hiding there. When the other soldiers join in, you don’t know how it will pan out.

The action scenes are also very well orchestrated in fact they are one of the more memorable ones seen on screen. At almost two and half hours the length is a bit daunting but that is usually the case with most war films. But if you leave out some very filmi dramatic moments, there is little room to complain here.

Even though there is very little background that is established about the characters, they all come off well. Don for instance, doesn’t think twice before shooting someone in the back yet there is a human side to as well. 

The acting is top notch, Brad Pitt is more restrained than the character he played in Inglorious Basterds and Logan Lerman is also impressive with the portrayal of young man caught in the wrong place.

For those who like war movies, Fury is eminently watchable and even as a action film, it succeeds. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 2nd Nov 2014

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Film Review - Ouija

Bored Games

Film: Ouija

Cast: Olivia Cooke, Darren Kagasov, Ana Koto

Directed by: Stiles White

Duration: 1 hr 30 mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

Ouija is the debut of director Stiles White and you wish they had never made this film.  With the script that doesn’t even bother to make an attempt to convince the audience, this lame story could have been written by anyone who has seen three horror films in his or her life.

Ouija started off as a board game, urban legends gave it s status of something that can summon spirits and hence now it is the subject of a horror film. Going by the conversations overheard from not-so-smart teens holding smartphones, many of them were actually discussing how this ‘spirit’ business is true. Ramadhir Singh was right in Gangs of Wasseypur when he said “Jab tak Hindustan mein cinema hai log ch***ya bante rahenge” (As long as there are movies in this country, people will continue to get fooled).  I think it extends beyond the country too.

As for this film, a group of friends get all upset when one of their friends commits suicide by hanging herself. We don’t see a single cop investigate the death. Instead Laine (Olivia Cook) takes it upon herself to find out how her best friend died. Apparently it was an Ouija board that invoked the spirit and as we are told, “connections once made with a spirit are difficult to break” 

How I wish I could establish a similar connection with my BSNL internet.

Needless to add, some of the friends are going to be gobbled up by the ‘spirit’ especially when they enter attics in the middle of the night and of course the cursory background story of the haunted house and it tries to be clever by twisting it a bit but by then all is lost.

There are the standard boo moments of someone getting pulled away or someone suddenly appears at the door and the sound design guy should get more credit for that than anyone else.

Forget Ouija, read the newspapers instead. There are more horror stories in that these days. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 2nd Nov 2014

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Film Review-Roar – Tigers of Sundabans

White Tiger 

Film: Roar – Tigers of Sundabans

Cast: Abhinav Shukla, Nora Fatehi, Himarsha

Directed by: Kamal Sadanah

Duration: 2 hrs

Rating: * *

There aren’t many films centered around animals or the environment so from that point of view this is a welcome effort. However, over all, especially as far the execution is concerned, it is not. The screenplay is very loose and the basic premise of seeking vendetta against a tiger itself is flimsy.

A wildlife photographer in the Sunderbans gets killed by tigress after a cub is taken away and this makes his brother (Abhinav Shukla) angrier than the tiger. He assembles a team with guns and ammo to hunt down the tigress and kill it. To add glamour, there is also a lady commando (Nora Fatehi) whose attire is not most appropriate for the jungle. To append more glamour, an attractive tracker (Himarsha) also joins them. Expectedly, the hunters become the hunted.

Their whole approach to hunt the tiger borders on the ridiculous at times. In between all the tiger hunting, there is also a molestation attempt, of one of the women that is. It is hard to understand the characters and their motivations, they are way too superficial. The special effects are a mixed bag, the odd one is impressive while some of it looks fake.  The acting also borders on the amateurish. On the whole, these tigers are not burning too bright. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 2nd Nov 2014

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