Movie Analysis : Insidious Chapter 3

Directed by Leigh Whannell
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3195644/

Least liked chapter of Insidious series, good performances by Lin Shaye and Stefanie Scott

Insidious is one of my favorite franchise (might be surprising for horror fanatics). I loved first two movies, because of the storytelling. Specially the 1st one where the concept of ‘The Further’ comes into notice 1st time. The unnecessary jump scares were very less, though they did that in 2nd movie which was sad, still it was worth a watch for me as there were plenty of nice twists and scare moments.

The 3rd Chapter goes to the events that happened before 1st movie i.e before the hauntings in Lambert family. I would had preferred them to continue from the end of 2nd movie where Elise (Lin Shaye) sees a demon that terrifies her. Instead we have a altogether new story about a teenager girl Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) who tries to connect with her dead mother but ends up calling a dangerous supernatural entity known as ‘a demon who can’t breathe with a mask’. Quinn and her father have to opt for physic help from Elise who herself is recovering from tremors she faces every time she goes into ‘The Further’.


Whannell doesn’t really attempt building story, he directly starts with a scene between Elise and Quinn, as Quinn wants her help to connect with her dead mother. What follows thereafter is, the usual scares like door bang, footprints, neighbor giving hint about demon indirectly etc. There are some good horror moments for sure, atleast for those like me who gets scared easily. One scene where Quinn is lying on floor while the demon shuts doors and switches lights off is scary though they end that scene very tamely, but my fav jump scare moment was when Quinn and her father follow the footprints and look down the road from the window, I almost jumped out of my seat.

What turned me off was the relationship between Quinn and her father, aren’t we tired of watching a family member experiencing supernatural power around while the other member ignores it and not believing it, something ‘The Conjuring’ didn’t do and even 1st two parts of Insidious. Also, there is that lack of emotional connect as Quinn’s father is represented poorly with no significant scene.

I like how they introduce characters of Tucker and Specs, who form a team with Elise eventually as you would know from last 2 parts. Also the climax again has a surprise twist, making you leave theatre thinking where the 4th chapter will lead to.

Another aspect I felt was a let down, was when Elise goes into ‘The Further’, they didn’t make it scary enough, like have lots more of demons and not just that lady who is after Elise. Felt it was less spooky then it should had been.

In the end apart from the good scary moments, it was Lin Shaye’s performance that was likable who gets larger role in this part. Also, Stefanie Scott does well despite a script that is not so pleasing.


Insidious Chapter 3 is the least liked movie in this franchise for me, but if you haven’t liked the 1st two, then who knows this one might work for you, not for me though.


Verdict : 2/5 

Spy and Any Body Can Dance 2 - Reviews

Couldn’t get time to write full fledged reviews,  so posting my views on both the films in few lines only.

Spy

Hillarious movie, some great dialogues, performances by Melissa (I just love 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. Even 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. The person who Aldo was very good too specially that dialect.

Easily one of my favorite movies of this year. Hope this becomes a franchise, won’t mind watching a silly look at the way agents handle this profession unlike Bond/Bourne series.

Verdict : 4/5 



Any Body Can Dance 2 

Much much better than 1st part with right choice of cast who can dance well and act too. Dance pieces are brilliant, Prabhu Deva’s “should I tell him or show him’ as he showcases those dance moves that leaves everyone in the song including us in audience awestruck, only you wish that the song played was also of the same quality. Bezubaan dance is wonderful as it comes at a keypoint, sadly the middle part that includes water scenes lessened the impact. In Las Vegas, the semis Ganpati act is to watch out for, can’t find a fault in it. Also, the comical Charlie Chaplin dance act. The Final act infact on ‘Vande Mataram’ was a bit disappointing as the level was set too high by then, and also the over-dramatic setting doesn’t help.

Remo tries to insert too much of sympathy early on with those overdose of ‘Cheater cheater’, could had focussed just on main characters I felt. Like that scene where Suresh (Varun Dhawan) connects to his mother while being in pain over the accusation of copying choreography. And what the hell was that dialogue ‘your mother died with her ghunghroos on’. Also, the un-wanted love triangle created with Lauren was so silly which includes 2 of her songs, one that introduces her  and other a dreamy sequence, both should had been cut out. And why did Raghav let his friend make the team suffer in the final act, instead of making sure his dream to be part of Final stays and he takes position in that final formation in such a way that it doesn’t make his cough problem to occur, really Silly just to add drama!

Varun Dhawan’s performance is very good, these are the roles he owns completely. Shraddha can definitely dance well too just like her singing, sadly her acting is still very dodgy, can’t help to repeat what I always say, its her dialogue delivery that always lets down her performance. In supporting cast, Raghav and his friend were very good, specially their intro dance sequences. Also, you can trust Lauren when it comes to dancing, she is one of the best! And in acting too she did fairly well. Prabhu Deva surprisingly, emoted way better than the 1st part, but then maybe because he wasn’t the central character this time.

Any Body Can Dance 2 isn’t a great movie, but its a very good step forward in the franchise (expecting more to come) after the 1st one, if Remo could just keep the cliches aside, and let it be fully dance based!

Verdict : 3/5 

Movie Analysis : Hamari Adhuri Kahani

Directed by : Mohit Suri
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3483612/

Forgettable Mohit Suri movie, Emraan’s performance and music only saving grace. 

I had loved ‘Ek Villain’, and started to think that Mohit Suri is coming close to that magic he created in ‘Awarapan’, but with ‘Hamari Adhuri Kahani’ he takes a step back and gives one of his most forgettable movies.

Vasudha’s (Vidya Balan) husband  Hari (Rajkumar Rao) goes missing after 1 year of marriage. She stays with her son, and keeps waiting for 5 years. She is a florist by profession, and meets Aarav (Emraan Hashmi) who is a famous business tycoon owning over 100 plus hotels. Aarav falls in love with Vasudha, and she does too after hesitating initially thinking about her husband and all the traditions and norms she lived with. But when Hari returns back, it creates a dilemma for Vasudha. A triangular love story, where Emraan plays the positive hero deeply in love, Vidya a wife that has lived a tortured life (shown only through 2-3 flashbacks, thankfully) and Rajkumar who considers his wife as his property rather than loving her.

Mohit Suri continues the similar narration pattern like he did in ‘Ek Villain’, as he reveals the end right at the beginning of movie so that the entire movie works only in a flashback through a diary.  There are those typical Suri elements visible here - God angle, a romantic repeated catchline/moment (Aarav asking Vasudha for a photo always) and the way lovers meet at the end.

Its the script and terribly heavy dialogues written by Shagufta Rafique that never allows you to connect with the story. At interval, you get a uneasy feeling that tells how badly the movie fails to engage you. Suri tries way hard to manipulate, make you sympathize with Vasudha, feel bad for Aarav when Hari returns. It all appears so made up, nothing comes out natural. Even the love story of Aarav-Vasudha is very unconvincing.

The flashback story of Aarav’s mom is hilarious and so is the Shimla sequence, whoever the lady was who played the role totally hammed. And then there was that police inspector who tries to help Aarav in a sequence by saying a line starting with ‘Kaaynaat’ something, but by then I had already lost interest in how the kahani will remain adhuri!

Cinematography by Vishnu Rao is good,  that gives some eye-catching visuals. Raju Singh’s background score is lovable as always.

Music from Mithoon, Ami Mishra and Jeet Ganguly is fantastic. Almost all songs you could hear non-stop, and will stay with you for years. And they are indeed used very well in the narrative, specially ‘Humnava' my most fav track. Title track gives one of movie’s most emotional moment but spoiled at the end with a cliched visual.

In performances, its Emraan Hashmi who shines the most, he looks wonderfully good and emotes brilliantly through his eyes. I almost felt bad coming out of theatre thinking he would have another bad film to his name despite his own performance being so good.

Vidya Balan only gets one powerful scene, where she bursts out at Hari, coming out of her crying and remaining silent avatar. Her character is so badly written that even she couldn’t pull off a performance to admire. Sad that Vidya Balan has gone missing ever since Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani happened.

RajKumar Rao has lesser role, but his character of a husband treating wife badly has been done many times before, and thereby never interested me. Being a fan of his acting, he still didnt disappoint specially the scene where he is in utter shock and fear when he sees how much Vasudha has changed and transformed from what she used to be once.


Hamari Adhuri Kahani had great music, three very good lead actors and yet it fails to make any mark at all. Except for some good romantic moments, its a movie that should be skipped.


Verdict : 2/5 

Movie Analysis : Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Directed by : Anand L Rai
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140465/


Kangana’s terrific double role performance, 2nd half falters in writing but still very entertaining movie. 

Anand L Rai has been a director whose movies haven’t clicked for me. They (Tanu Weds Manu, Ranjhanaa) had pretty interesting premise, but all faltered in 2nd half. Unfortunately, Tanu Weds Manu Returns follows the same path but good thing is this movie still holds you together till the end, leaving aside the cliched climax.

Four years after their marriage, Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu (R. Madhavan) have grown apart from each other due to their regular fights and the missing love. Tanu returns back to her hometown Kanpur and starts living her old wild flirty life meeting ex boyfriends. While Manu accidentally catches glimpse of Tanu’s look-alike, Kusum in his hometown Delhi, who is a young college going athlete. Manu is attracted towards Kusum and eventually falls in love with her. Tanu wants to get Manu back in her life, but Manu wants to marry Kusum, and there’s Raja Awasthi (Jimmy Shergill) linked to these 3 characters too.

If you have seen the first part of this movie, then you would know that Tanu-Manu never really looked like a couple whose marriage would last long. The writer doesn’t waste time in showing their fights, starting movie directly with a psychiatrist scene where both crib about their boring and un-successful marriage. What starts off as a hilarious scene, ends in a bizarre way with Manu getting locked up in the mental asylum. A small indication of how Tanu Weds Manu Returns too will have many doses of stupid illogical moments.

Till the 1st half, the movie is very enjoyable. Tanu’s flirty avatar laden with hidden feelings for Manu, and gutsy Kusum’s non stop haryanvi dialogues makes for a entertainment ride.

There was a great chance for the writer to play around with Manu’s feelings for Kusum, their age gap,  and the desire of Tanu to get him back. Instead we see a kidnapping sequence, where the person kidnapped goes missing in the movie until the end credits begin, really? Also, there’s a scene of Kusum’s brother (Rajesh Sharma) giving a lecture on women empowerment, what was the need of even showing Kusum’s village.

Do watch the end credits scenes of various characters, quite funny and maybe a hint too at 3rd movie of franchise.

Despite the problems with 2nd half in terms of writing, whats applaudable is the fact that it still entertains you fully and special mention goes to the dialogue writer Himanshu Sharma who has written some amazing one-liners.

Music by Tanishk-Vayu is top class, every song is aptly used into the narrative. Watch out the emotions of Tanu in ‘Move On’ when she madly dances in an unknown baraat on road, and walks away with teary eyes. Or ‘Ghani Baawri’, dancing in front of Manu at his 2nd marriage, pouring out her feelings. Whereas ‘Banno’ and ‘Old School Girl’ shows the vibrant as well as romantic side of Kusum.

Anand Rai uses few old classic songs into the movie very well, specially ’Sun Saahiba Sun' opening credits one that gives you a fantasy movie feel which is quickly removed with the 4 years after scene. Also, ‘Ja ja bewafaa’ where Tanu walks all alone at night after knowing how much desperate Manu is to get married again. Thats the scene where you could see her completely broken and how miserable she feels.

Special mention to the scene where Manu’s father is explaining him the pros of living with wife, finding ways to manage it, while Manu’s mother in background is blabbering her anger against Tanu.

In the performances, its Kangana all the way. She owns the movie to such a extent that you could even end up enjoying the movie with all its flaws like a typical Salman movie. Love the scene where Kusum frankly asks Manu if he is following her or her friend, and the beating she gives after the answer was hilarious. Also, the wonderful reply she gives to Tanu at her village place. I felt Kangana’s dialogue delivery was not upto the mark throughout the movie in 1st part, but in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, there’s never that problem. It may not be as memorable as Queen, but definitely among her top performances in career.

Madhavan is way too restrained in the movie once again, not his fault though, felt his character gets very less chances to outperform Kangana.

Jimmy Shergill gets some of best one liners in the movie “yahan ek baari ghodi pe chadhna naseeb nahi hua, yeh saale toh ghodi pe hi ghoom rahe hai tabse’,  ‘Inhe original, duplicate.. sab inko hi chahiye’, and also that ambuja cement dialogue.  Also liked how they fitted him into a situation that is like a complete life circle for him, making the scenes involving him humorous.

Deepak Dobriyal is over the top but still hilarious and gives you plenty of laughs. If there’s a 3rd movie in franchise, then I would like his setting with Komal happen.

Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub is humurous inspite of a very small role. However, didn’t like that part where he tries to split relationship of Tanu and Manu. The scene where he refers to himself as ‘kandha’ when Raja asks, was very funny.

Eijaz Khan and Swara Bhaskar are sadly wasted in this movie unlike the 1st part. Love Ejiaz’s dialogue to Manu asking him why did he fall in love again with same looking face like Tanu.


Tanu Weds Manu Returns is a entertaining movie, it falters in writing department at places mainly 2nd half but you can easily leave it aside and enjoy double delight performance of Kangana Ranaut.


Verdict : 3.5/5 

Journey of Actors : Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Last Updated on : 19th May, 2015

My most Loved Movies :
Gangs of Wasseypur > Kahaani > Badlapur > The Lunchbox > Talaash

Disliked Movies :
Aatma, Miss Lovely

Yet to Watch :
Seen all where he had big enough role. Liar’s Dice I guess hasn’t released in India yet?

Fav Songs :
Kaala rey (Gangs of Wasseypur II), Moora (Gangs of Wasseypur II), Emosanal Atyachar (Dev.D)

Best Scene :
Sabka Badla Lega (Gangs of Wasseypur II), Congratulating watchman (Bombay Talkies), Permisan (Gangs of Wasseypur I)

Fav Jodi :
Huma Qureshi in Gangs of Wasseypur and Badlapur.


Nawazuddin Siddiqui has become a famous name in Hindi Film Industry at present, but his journey to fame was full of struggle.

In 1999, his first movie ‘Sarfarosh’ came with Aamir in which he played an extra (a criminal). And then followed a series of movies, ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ (pick-pocketer), ‘Black Friday’ (interrogation scene with kay kay menon), 'Dev D' (remember the 2 singers performing emosanal atyachar song on stage, he was one of them), ‘New York’(excellent two min monologue) and ‘Peepli Live’ (a journalist). In all these movies, he hardly had 3-5 mins screen time.

The transition from blink and miss roles to supporting/lead roles happened for him after 13 years, i.e 2012. 'Paan Singh Tomar' had him in a negative shade (police informer) getting good appreciation and then came ‘Kahaani’ where he held his own as the short tempered IB officer, despite presence of Vidya Balan, and it was his 1st role where he was smartly dressed in suits.

But the movie that changed his career completely was 'Gangs of Wasseypur I & II'. How well he lived upto the standards set by Manoj Bajpayee in 1st part, telling us that he has the capability to carry the film on his own. I can never forget that dialogue ‘baap ka, dada ka, sabka badla lega tera faisal’ or that epic ‘permisan’ scene with Huma Qureshi with whom he shared excellent chemistry on screen.

He got good recognition for ‘Miss Lovely’, based on 1980’s sleazy C grade horror movies and it got screened at various festivals including Cannes and Toronto. Nawazuddin got a chance to work with Aamir again in ‘Talaash’ albeit in a much longer supporting role and he didn’t let us down here either.

Dibakar Banerjee’s short film in ‘Bombay Talkies’ had Nawazuddin reciting famous hindi film dialogues in one of film’s longest wide shot scene, and the story of short is relatable to Nawazuddin’s real life.











His film ‘Lunchbox' might had even won a oscar had our film federation been sensible by sending movie to oscars. Nevertheless, the film had Nawazuddin in a very good supporting role where he outshines Irrfan Khan in some scenes - can you imagine that?





He didn't limit himself to just character roles, by doing a horror flick ‘Aatma’ which didn’t work but was a good experience to see him in a different genre. He also tried commercial cinema with ‘Kick’ where for first time we saw him doing a larger than life role and hamming completely with that evil laugh quite effectively, though I would certainly like him not fall in this commercial trap, and do it only once a while.

His latest offering ‘Badlapur’ has met with unanimous applause for his performance.

Nawazuddin tends to play realistic characters with ease along with dark comic touch and mannerisms he provides. He may not have the good looks, but as he mentioned once in a  interview ‘good looks can make you hero, not actor’.

It would be fun to see him in a cop role chasing Shahrukh in Rahul Dholakia’s upcoming film ‘Raaes’. Also keenly awaiting to see him in ‘Haraamkhor’.






Special Mention : Watch a terrific short film named ‘Bypass’ that was shot in 2003, its a 15 min duration movie with no dialogues and Irrfan is also part of it. Here’s the link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCRBY9ss-58

--------

Movie Analysis : Bombay Velvet

Directed by : Anurag Kashyap
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2979920/


Anurag Kashyap can go wrong too, poor screenplay lets the film down. 

10 years in the making, a Anurag Kashyap movie with Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma in main leads, it would increase expectations of anyone who has followed Kashyap cinema closely. However, Bombay Velvet ends up as a major disappointment.

Its early 60’s of Bombay and Johnny Balraj (Ranbir Kapoor) wants to become a big shot. From earning a living through street fighter along with his friend Chiman (Satyadeep Mishra), they become henchmen for  Kaizad Khambhata (Karan Johar) who is editor of ‘Torrent’ and also a top wheel-dealer. Kaizad has a liking for Johnny and makes him in-charge of his club ‘Bombay Velvet’. Jimmy Mistry (Manish Chaudhury), editor of ‘Glitz’ and former friend of Kaizad, keeps coming in their way. And then there’s Jimmy’s mistress Rosie (Anushka Sharma) who he sends to Johnny and find an important negative that could ruin the entire city. Rosie becomes a Jazz singer at Bombay Velvet but eventually falls in love with Johnny too. Will Johnny succeed in becoming a Big Shot, and what will he do when he finds out the truth about Rosie?

Based on Gyan Prakash's book ‘Mumbai Fables’, there is so much to love in Bombay Velvet. For instance the brilliant production design by Sonal Sawant. The sets created in Sri Lanka gives you the feel of Bombay in 50’s and 60’s shown in the movie. Niharika Khan’s costumes reminds of good old mobster movies like Scorsese’s Goodfellas, he even gets a special mention before opening credits. Amit Trivedi’s soundtrack brings out the Jazz world post independence beautifully, and so does his background score. Also, Hollywood editor Thelma Schoonmaker (known most for her Scorsese edited movies) edits the movie pretty nicely.

But a movie can’t simply work on basis of technical brilliance. Its the screenwriting and Kashyap’s execution that fails the movie. Yes even Kashyap got it wrong. The screenplay is so shaky that it never engages you after the 1st act of establishing the characters is done.  The second act and the climax is disappointing, even the Tommy Guns homage to Scarface in few sequences makes no impact whatsoever. And it frustrates you a hell lot because the visuals are stunning, the atmosphere is well created and there are actors who give very good performances, yet it turns out to be not enough at all.

Johnny-Rosie love story is weakly handled thereby the chosen end to it doesn’t really affect you. Would had been better if they focussed on the crime drama and the political angle more instead. There’s a unwanted twin angle, a character trying to split two friends, climax involving strange funny villain-lead actor interaction, all these cliches in a Kashyap movie pretty much sums up Bombay Velvet.

Amit Trivedi’s music is fantastic, and is used in the narrative very well.  ‘Dhadaam Dhadaam’ stands out for the emotions and intensity Anushka brings out in it plus the drama Kashyap sets in that sequence. ‘Fifi’ different version used is good too. So, is ‘Sylvia’ again for Anushka’s lip syncing. Special mention to ‘Aam Hindustani’ track at opening credits which sets the mood for Jazz beautifully. My personal favorite ‘Bombay Velvet theme’ is used aptly at many places in narrative.

In the performances, Ranbir Kapoor is fantastic as power hungry protagonist,  watch the scene where he watches a movie on screen and later practices those two keywords in mirror ‘Big Shot’. Or when he decides to betray Kaizad without worrying about its aftereffects,  or when he loses someone very dear to him due to his decisions. Wish they worked on his greed angle in detail. Its sad that such a performance goes down wasted due to a bad movie.

Anushka Sharma gets the Jazz singing act perfectly, but its her character sketch that is inconsistent, for instance her first violent scene comes out of no where and you never come to know when and how exactly she fell in love with Johnny. Could had been great if her character was given more motives.

Karan Johar in his first major role as an actor (seen before in films like DDLJ), that too in a negative role does reasonably well, and is surprisingly so restrained. Watch out the scene where he is in conversation with Johnny and Chimman, and has to come out of room to have a loud laugh all alone. There are hints of homosexual behavior in just  a few scenes, one of its dialogue gives a good laugh too.

Raveena Tandon makes a special appearance, surprisingly was expecting a cameo, probably edited out. She looked extremely gorgeous in the jazz singer looks.

Kay Kay Menon is terribly wasted, and gets some of worst possible dialogues along with that unusual last scene.  Only Satyadeep Mishra shines among the rest cast, playing friend of Johnny effectively.


Bombay Velvet works only for its performances and specially the technical aspects but you expect lot more from a Kashyap movie. In the end he is also human, as his most ambitious movie turns out to be very much forgettable.


Verdict : 2.5/5 

Movie Analysis : Piku

Directed by : Shoojit Sircar
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3767372/

Lovely and sweet take on Father-Daughter relationship by Shoojit with excellent performances by all 3 leads. 

After giving successful and quality films like Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe, Shoojit Sircar is back with yet another terrific movie Piku.

An architect by profession, Piku’s (Deepika Padukone) day begins and ends with her father’s, Bhaskor (Amitabh Bachchan) highly irritating ideologies. They are Bengalis living in CR Park of Delhi. Rana (Irrfan Khan), is owner of Taxi company, whose taxi Piku always books for office or any other places she needs to go. And all the drivers are scared of her, because of her arrogant nature. Bhaskor decides to go on a road trip basically to his ancestral home in Kolkata, and Rana finds himself tangled into the trip as his drivers don’t turn up on the morning. And so begins the journey from Delhi to Kolkata, with Rana, Piku, Bhaskor, their servant and a special chair.

In the first scene of the movie, Shoojit shows a conversation between Piku and her dad, where she asks him to go inside toilet instead of roaming around house, to which he replies that he knows his system much better, she tries again but to no avail and annoyingly leaves for her office, and its followed by 'directed by' credits. Quite a wonderful way of telling viewers what kind of relationship to expect between Piku and her dad. Piku’s dad has a fixed thinking over various matters and has habit of bringing his constipation topic into the talks. While Piku shows frustration at not having her own life, with a child-like dad who even sends her office receptionist conspitation related message. She has no social life, and her dad doesn’t want her to get married because according to him marriage is meant for girls who have no I.Q.

What is beautiful about this movie is the subtle way Shoojit handles moments that in any other movie would be either very dramatic or over the top. For e.g., the romantic pairing of Piku and Rana comes across as very real despite no scene where they both admit love for each other. Infact, there are times when you think ‘Now they will, its surely going to go that way’, but it doesn’t. Add to it, the climax is so surprisingly good and unique to describe it in best way.

If you got a father who is ageing, who likes to stick to his beliefs and irritates you, would you stay together with him, or leave him because you also demand your own social and personal space? The movie touches this subject, but it never preaches us as we see Piku give her everything for her father whom she loves even though we see her get angry on him many times.

The plot of movie is pretty simple but its the narrative that keeps you hooked with excellent screenplay and dialogue writing by Juhi Chaturvedi. She gives us characters about a typical Indian family who are very relatable and whose conversations leads to many joyous and interesting moments.  Dialogues are witty at times, but always realistic making the conversations delight to watch.

In one of the scenes, Bhaskor gives reference to her daughter as ‘She is financially, emotionally and sexually independent'. And there’s a scene where Bhaskor is singing a Bengali song during road trip, with Rana driving as Bhaskor tells Rana meaning of song since being a non-bengali he (and we viewers) wouldn’t know. He tells its meaning ‘this journey should never end’, and Rana quickly tells him to change song ‘koi aisa gaana gao jiska koi matlab ho’.

Anupam Roy’s music and background score is simple and gels well with Shoojit’s vision. Bezubaan, the best track of movie has the cinematographer Kamaljeet Negi showing us some very good shots of Kolkata. No song is used in totality, as Shoojit uses them in background mainly.

Only low points of the film would be, the bengali accent at places was missing and the 2nd half was slightly on slower side though the screenplay and performances negates that to larger extent.

Performances wise, the trio Deepika, Amitabh and Irrfan are fantastic. Its a dream star-cast, and as expected they didn’t falter even in a single scene. Deepika Padukone gets larger screen time, and its one of her best performance outdoing ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’.  Amitabh Bachchan is so lovable in a role where he plays his own age, and behaves like a child like character who gets sad to know that nothing bad came out in his medical reports. Irrfan Khan may have lesser dialogues, but his body language is enough to impress. His unusual pairing with Deepika works so well specially the silent moments he shares with her, he effortlessly brings a smile on your face.

Moushumi Chatterjee is in top form playing Piku’s maternal aunt role with utmost ease. Good to see her in a hindi movie after a long gap. Jishu Sengupta is effective too in his small role, playing partner of Piku at her work place.


Piku is a lovely sweet movie that you will enjoy. Its entertaining and at times it also makes you emotional. With powerful performances by everyone, its a movie to be watched in theatre. In 10 years time, Piku would be talked along with classics like Golmaal, Angoor, Chupke Chupke etc.


Verdict : 4/5