Half the year gone, and how awesome it has been for our Hindi Movies till now. As many as 9 great movies and 4 likable ones. Its Hollywood that hasn’t really given larger dose of good movies which is surprising, maybe they will in rest half of the year.
Bombay Velvet and Hamari Adhuri Kahani have been the major disappointments, and to a certain extent Avengers : Age of Ultron too.
Here’s what I loved most, and what I didn’t…
1. Badlapur
Brilliant dark thriller by Sriram Raghavan (who disappointed last time with Agent Vinod). Its unpredictable, brutal and insane at times. Nawazuddin is impressive as always, but Varun Dhawan surprises in a new avatar. Some good old movie references used by Sriram in narrative, and very good work by Pooja Ladha Surti in editing department with the unusual but effective fast cuts.
2. NH10
Navdeep Singh so beautifully creates that fear atmosphere right from opening credits. When the road journey begins, you as a audience are more scared for the girl. Infact, the movie serves as a very good horror road journey genre, special applause to the sound design and background score for that. Finally a performance from Anushka Sharma that I loved.
3. Piku
A lovely sweet movie on Father-Daughter relationship that entertains as well as makes you emotional as you think about the question that How much you love your parents even at a age when their habits makes you mad! Special mention to Juhi Chaturvedi for very good dialogue writing. Deepika, Amitabh and Irfan are fantastic in their performances, which aint a surprise. With Piku, Shoojit Sircar completes hat-trick of quality movies.
Other Movies that I loved : Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
1. Roy
One hell of a boredom this movie was. Director Vikramjit Singh un-necessarily tries to confuse you with the screenplay making it more dull. Arjun Rampal’s performance is likable to some extent. But Roy is second Ranbir Kapoor movie after Anjaana Anjaani that I would not like to remember at all.
2. Hawaizaada
Ayushmann Khurana tries so hard to imitate Ranbir in this movie, instead of been himself specially that irritating ‘isse shaadi karle’ scene. The plot of 1st plane built by an Indian could easily had been lovable and patriotic too if only it was executed properly. But the boring screenplay that focusses more on love angle doesn’t allow that. Only Mithun gives you some good moments.
3. Alone
15 Tracks in the album, last Amit Trivedi album that went over 10 songs was Dev.D which I still love madly. With Bombay Velvet, he once again delivers a great soundtrack based on Jazz (something I aint much familiar with). My personal fav is ‘Behroopia’ sung by Mohit Chauhan and Neeti Mohan, that is more of a regular romantic number but with a Trivedi flavor. Love Shefali Alvares ‘Shut Up’ for the way she sings those funny written lyrics. Neeti Mohan is outstanding in ‘Dhadaam Dhadaam’ which was one of best moment in film. Special mention to how she sings ‘Ka Kha Gha’ with anger in last minute of song. Oh how much did I miss Suman Sridhar, as always impresses in re-done track ‘Fifi’. Among the themes, the Bombay Velvet theme was my favorite, I specially love the slow build up part.
3. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy
Various composers come together to give a album that has some heavy rock metal songs too, something I had never heard before. ‘Chase in Chinatown’ is my most favorite even though it was hard to understand lyrics initially. Saba Azad in ‘Calcutta Kiss’ is also wonderful creating that jazz feel with full effect, and a track that is very catchy. Sneha Khanwalkar’s composition ‘Bach ke Bakshy’ is superb though I wish there was a separate female version for it. Suryakant Sawhney rendition of ‘Jaanam’ is lovely and it slightly reminds me of old track ‘dilbar mere’ from old movie Satte pe Satta.
Other Albums that I quite loved : NH10, Hamari Adhuri Kahani and Dum Laga Ke Haisha.
1. Inside Out
A very creative take showing how the emotions Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust works inside our brain. Its not the usual animation movie that tries to please the kids, but it caters to the adult audience much more, a very thoughtful movie with good amount of emotional moments. Sadness was my favorite character, loved her walking style and cute way of talking. Love the dining table scene when Joy and Sadness aren’t around, creating a hilarious situation. And liked the message of ‘you can’t be happy 24/7, and its good to show out your sad feelings at times to feel better’. Inside Out is my favorite animation film I have seen till date.
2. Spy
Hillarious movie, some great dialogues, performances by Melissa (I just lover her comic timing, her best performance I have seen), Jason Statham (he gives laugh out loud moments despite being a cameo doing stupidest things possible), Rose Bryne (looks hot), Miranda Hart (in that 50 cents scene was superb) and Nargis in a comical brilliant action sequence. Good comedy is created through over the top action scenes, specially that WTF moment when Melissa single handedly fights everyone in the final part of movie. Would love if Spy becomes a franchise, a silly way to look at the way agents handle the profession unlike Bond or Bourne series.
3. It Follows
A very good psychological horror movie that doesn’t use the typical cliches to scare you and has a odd premise which makes this movie a great watch. Also the retro old era kinda of music as background works perfectly with the movie setting. Director David uses the main concept and keeps the scare moments waiting. Just need bit of patience for first 15 mins, and then its a very engaging movie that scares you with the thought of when will that thing arrive and David never gives a hint of how to control it that leads to the desperation moment of teenagers thinking of a weird plan to get rid of curse. Also the open ending was nice to see.. Good performance from the lead Maika Monroe.
Other Movies that I loved : Kingsman The Secret Service and Paddington
Bombay Velvet and Hamari Adhuri Kahani have been the major disappointments, and to a certain extent Avengers : Age of Ultron too.
Here’s what I loved most, and what I didn’t…
TOP 3 - HINDI FILMS
Brilliant dark thriller by Sriram Raghavan (who disappointed last time with Agent Vinod). Its unpredictable, brutal and insane at times. Nawazuddin is impressive as always, but Varun Dhawan surprises in a new avatar. Some good old movie references used by Sriram in narrative, and very good work by Pooja Ladha Surti in editing department with the unusual but effective fast cuts.
2. NH10
Navdeep Singh so beautifully creates that fear atmosphere right from opening credits. When the road journey begins, you as a audience are more scared for the girl. Infact, the movie serves as a very good horror road journey genre, special applause to the sound design and background score for that. Finally a performance from Anushka Sharma that I loved.
3. Piku
A lovely sweet movie on Father-Daughter relationship that entertains as well as makes you emotional as you think about the question that How much you love your parents even at a age when their habits makes you mad! Special mention to Juhi Chaturvedi for very good dialogue writing. Deepika, Amitabh and Irfan are fantastic in their performances, which aint a surprise. With Piku, Shoojit Sircar completes hat-trick of quality movies.
Other Movies that I loved : Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
WORST 3 - HINDI FILMS
1. Roy
One hell of a boredom this movie was. Director Vikramjit Singh un-necessarily tries to confuse you with the screenplay making it more dull. Arjun Rampal’s performance is likable to some extent. But Roy is second Ranbir Kapoor movie after Anjaana Anjaani that I would not like to remember at all.
2. Hawaizaada
Ayushmann Khurana tries so hard to imitate Ranbir in this movie, instead of been himself specially that irritating ‘isse shaadi karle’ scene. The plot of 1st plane built by an Indian could easily had been lovable and patriotic too if only it was executed properly. But the boring screenplay that focusses more on love angle doesn’t allow that. Only Mithun gives you some good moments.
3. Alone
A typical horror movie by our film-makers that has 1 erotic song, plenty of cliche scares that makes you laugh and twists that questions the plot. Bipasha looks super hot, but I am tired of watching her in horror movies now. Karan Singh Grover chose wrong movie to make a debut with. Only the piano tune used in the movie is likable.
Other Movies that didn’t work for me : Gabbar Is Back, Khamoshiyan and Tevar.
TOP 3 : HINDI ALBUMS
1. Badlapur
This album is gonna be hard to beat, even for Rahman. Sachin-Jigar’s best work till date with not a single song that doesn’t appeal. My favs were 'Jee Karda’ by Divya Kumar for the angst and revenge feel it carries, ‘Jeena Jeena’ for the beginning vocals of Atif with very less use of instruments and ‘Judaai’ by Rekha Bharadwaj and Arijit Singh for a very lovely emotional song with lyrics that compliment it without overdoing it. Also love the beats used in ‘Badla Badla’ and Priya’s rendition of ‘Sone Ka Paani’.
2. Bombay Velvet
3. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy
Various composers come together to give a album that has some heavy rock metal songs too, something I had never heard before. ‘Chase in Chinatown’ is my most favorite even though it was hard to understand lyrics initially. Saba Azad in ‘Calcutta Kiss’ is also wonderful creating that jazz feel with full effect, and a track that is very catchy. Sneha Khanwalkar’s composition ‘Bach ke Bakshy’ is superb though I wish there was a separate female version for it. Suryakant Sawhney rendition of ‘Jaanam’ is lovely and it slightly reminds me of old track ‘dilbar mere’ from old movie Satte pe Satta.
Other Albums that I quite loved : NH10, Hamari Adhuri Kahani and Dum Laga Ke Haisha.
TOP 3 : HOLLYWOOD FILMS
1. Inside Out
A very creative take showing how the emotions Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust works inside our brain. Its not the usual animation movie that tries to please the kids, but it caters to the adult audience much more, a very thoughtful movie with good amount of emotional moments. Sadness was my favorite character, loved her walking style and cute way of talking. Love the dining table scene when Joy and Sadness aren’t around, creating a hilarious situation. And liked the message of ‘you can’t be happy 24/7, and its good to show out your sad feelings at times to feel better’. Inside Out is my favorite animation film I have seen till date.
2. Spy
Hillarious movie, some great dialogues, performances by Melissa (I just lover her comic timing, her best performance I have seen), Jason Statham (he gives laugh out loud moments despite being a cameo doing stupidest things possible), Rose Bryne (looks hot), Miranda Hart (in that 50 cents scene was superb) and Nargis in a comical brilliant action sequence. Good comedy is created through over the top action scenes, specially that WTF moment when Melissa single handedly fights everyone in the final part of movie. Would love if Spy becomes a franchise, a silly way to look at the way agents handle the profession unlike Bond or Bourne series.
3. It Follows
A very good psychological horror movie that doesn’t use the typical cliches to scare you and has a odd premise which makes this movie a great watch. Also the retro old era kinda of music as background works perfectly with the movie setting. Director David uses the main concept and keeps the scare moments waiting. Just need bit of patience for first 15 mins, and then its a very engaging movie that scares you with the thought of when will that thing arrive and David never gives a hint of how to control it that leads to the desperation moment of teenagers thinking of a weird plan to get rid of curse. Also the open ending was nice to see.. Good performance from the lead Maika Monroe.
Other Movies that I loved : Kingsman The Secret Service and Paddington
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