Movie Analysis : War

Directed by : Siddharth Anand
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7430722/

Jai jai shivshankar, aaj mood hai bhayankar.. 

Spoilers ahead..


The basic premise is about a patriotic soldier  Khalid (Tiger Shroff) who is given a mission to kill Kabir (Hrithik Roshan), his former mentor who has suddenly gone rogue.

Till the 1st half, I was quite happy with the movie, managed to somehow ignore the many irritating elements that are still part of this 1st half, namely the over-use of slow motions (I will get tired of referring to this stupid love affair our filmmakers have). I get it that you need the entry scenes of superstars get whistled so slow motion gives more time, which again is pretty stupid but whats bizarre is when you keep doing it again and again, even in the action scenes. Also the action sequences weren't impressive and at times gave repetitive feeling. 

But I was still fine with all those problems, it was Naina's (Vaani Kapoor) character and the plastic surgery plot they bring in 2nd half that just makes me lose all my interest. Only scene of Naina that was likeable was when she says 'mera dil tootne wala hai na' but that too doesn't totally work as I was never invested in her character, it comes out as something added just for some glamor. Why would you build half of movie based on Khalid's loyalty for his country, showing his past where his dad was a traitor and got killled by Kabir. And now we are shown Khalid is dead and another traitor, from Kabir's team has plastic surgery to have same face as Khalid. Whats funny is, he has same mannerisms, same kind of fighting style, almost a ditto copy of Khalid, because its a film based on suspension of belief I assume. 

Now to the best part of movie, which is undeniably Hrithik Roshan, and I don't mean just his performance, but he just makes you adore him every time he is in the frame even if he is given a average/bad dialogue or he is asked to dance in a song that was never needed to be inserted in narrative (Guilty pleasure, I did love Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, it still was a song only meant for end-credits). In short, with all the flaws around the story, narrative and other actors, Hrithik holds his own and never gives me a reason to criticise him.

Tiger Shroff is wonderful as always in his dance and action sequences, his acting is still here and there. His character getting killed off, does give him scope to perform the grey side for a change in that plastic surgery act and he does it pull it off quite nicely.

War would appeal certainly to Hrithik-Tiger fans (thats a given), but for neutrals like me, its just a decent one time watch, full of loving as well as cringeworthy moments. 

My Rating : 5/10

Series Analysis : The Family Man (Amazon Prime)

Directed by : Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9544034/

Inhe bas ek baar jeetna hota hai, aur humhe har ek baar.. aur woh bhi sahi tareeke se. 

Spoilers ahead..



Story of a middle class man Srikant (Manoj Bajpayee) who has a field job working for NIA along with his partner JK Talpade (Sharib Hashmi). They find out about a mission called 'Mission Zulfiqar' and start tracking clues that lead to it. But Srikant also has to manage his family, a wife and two kids, whom he has been giving very less time.

Series begins really well with the starting four episodes engaging you throughout, there's a question lingering over mind what exactly this 'Mission Zulfiqar' is, and there's Moosa (Neeraj Madhav) who appears to be always more than he is trying to show. But I started losing some interest when the narrative shifts to Kashmir. A special mention to the excellent visuals and the use of kashmir folk song 'hukus bukus' (You may recall it was used in 'Hafiz hafiz' of Laila Majnu movie).

Usually the answers to the questions in mind from earlier episodes should make you happy  but in here it felt like a let down. Also, Sajid (Shahab Ali) been a main character, never worked for me which was a miscast issue, rather the short role Kareem (Abrar Qazi) plays worked brilliantly. I did like the open ending, with lives of some officers unknown whether they will survive or would Delhi as a whole survive the attack, which hopefully a better season2 will tell us.

Liked how they used the 'national anthem' and 'anti-national' sub-plot without going overboard. And same with the 'beef incident' or the sarcasm at the tourists in kashmir referred with the police all over.

What fully worked was Manoj Bajyapee's performance, his scenes with his kids, Dhriti (Mehek Thakur) and Atharv (Vedant Sinha), both of whom acted wonderfully and gave some lovely comical moments. Priyamani (Suchi, wife of Srikant), Sharib Hashmi and Kishore Kumar G were solid too with their given screentime. Suchi's character has lot more scope in next season, keen to see where they take it. Would had liked more scenes of Darshan Kumar who was effective in the role of Major Sameer.

'The Family Man' is certainly better than the total disappointment 'SacredGames2' was, but the way this series starts and builds up to a great finale, it can be said that the series just misses out to be a lot more.. I did like it, but the high ratings at Imdb gave me a feel of something really good which it wasn't. Still a enjoyable series, with solid performances from Manoj (he is just too good) and rest.

My Rating : 6/10

Movie Analysis : In The Tall Grass (Netflix)

Directed by : Vincenzo Natali
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4687108/

The field doesn't move dead things. It makes them easier to find.

Spoilers ahead..


Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) hears cry of help coming from a field of tall grass, of someone who appears to be a young boy. She immediately asks her brother Cal (Avery Whitted) to check who's in there, only to get trapped and find the mystery that lies in that place.

I liked the premise, but the loop that keeps playing in the narrative gets irritating after a while. When you are constantly checking the remaining time of the movie, its a bad sign how the movie is failing to engage you. Some stupid things that happen here are, why would a brother let her pregnant (6 months) sister come with him in what was easily visible a tall looking grass field. And then why don't they call the cops first even if they go in for adventure thinking they can help the boy.

Leaving those problems aside, the narrative still keeps you interested as there's the urge to know what exactly is happening in there, and the revelation is pretty good too that covers plot of your life sins, a rock that acts as a judge, whether you get redemption or not for those committed sins. And if you do get the redemption then there's a church where you get transferred to, if you don't then you remain stuck in form of grass after death.

They could had added different scenarios in every loop and also have extra cycle shown with parallel scenes running at same time, could had been confusing but more engaging that way. Also, I didn't get why the boy was acting so creepy in the initial scenes and then normal (the last loop I am comparing with) later.

In terms of 'Is it scary enough?' Not Much! There is some good use of mantra chant kind music at places that show grass spirits (if I can call it that) moving. Also, a gross scene involving eating flesh that I just hated. Patrick Wilson gives a nice performance as dad of the young guy, a somewhat grey character.

To be honest, I have a strong feeling I will enjoy reading this novel of Stephen King much more, because its the detailing that this film lacks and ofcourse the repetitive of events that visually don't work but as a read might well do. Still a movie that may work for those who like different concept horror, for me it was just a one time watch.

My Rating : 5/10

Recap 2018 : Performances

Presenting the winners along with the list of nominees in various categories. Just a reminder, its entirely my personal opinion based list.



Best Actor Male : Ranveer Singh (Padmaavat)

• Vineet Kumar Singh (Mukkabaaz)
• Gajraj Rao (Badhaai Ho)
• Ayushmann Khurrana (Andhadhun)
• Varun Dhawan (October)

Special mention to Avinash Tiwari's powerful performance, especially in 2nd half of Laila Majnu.. just about misses out in my top5.


Best Actor Female : Taapsee Pannu (Manmarziyaan)

• Alia Bhatt (Raazi)
• Neena Gupta (Badhaai Ho)
• Tabu (Andhadhun)
• Anushka Sharma (Pari)

Zoya Hussain in Mukkabaaz and Sanya-Radhika in Pataakha were the notable omissions here.


Best Director : Meghna Gulzar (Raazi)

• Shoojit Sircar (October)
• Sriram Raghavan (Andhadhun)
• Anubhav Sinha (Mulk)
• Vishal Bhardwaj (Pataakha)


Best Film : Raazi

• October
• Mulk
• Andhadhun
• Laila Majnu


Best Supporting Actor Male : Manoj Pahwa (Mulk)

• Saurabh Shukla (Raid)
• Angad Bedi (Soorma)
• Pankaj Tripathi (Stree)
• Vicky Kaushal (Sanju)

Sunil Grover in Pataakha and Sunny Kaushal in Gold were some of other brilliant performances.


Best Supporting Actor Female : Gitanjali Rao (October)

• Katrina Kaif (Zero)
• Surekha Sikri (Badhaai Ho)
• Renuka Shahane (3 Storeys)
• Yamini Das (Sui Dhaaga)


Best Music : Niladri Kumar, Joi Barua, Alif (Laila Majnu)

• Ajay-Atul, Tanishk Bagchi, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Zero)
• Amit Trivedi (Manmarziyaan)
• Vikram Montrose, Rohan Rohan, A R Rahman (Sanju)
• Amit Trivedi (Andhadhun)


Best Lyricist : Irshad Kamil, hafiz hafiz (Laila Majnu)

• Irshad Kamil, aahista aahista (Laila Majnu)
• Shellee, grey waala shade (Manmarziyaan)
• Irshad Kamil, mere naam tu (Zero)
• Shekhar Astitwa, kar har maidaan fateh (Sanju)


Best Playback Singer Male : Shahid Mallya, daryaa (Manmarziyaan)

• Sukhvinder Singh, kar har maidaan fateh (Sanju)
• Mohit Chauhan, hafiz hafiz (Laila Majnu)
• Arijit Singh, aahista aahista (Laila Majnu)
• Abhay Jodhpurkar, mere naam tu (Zero)


Best Playback Singer Female : Jyoti Nooran, tanha hua (Zero)

• Harshdeep Kaur-Vibha Saraf, dilbaro (Raazi)
• Nikhita Gandhi, mujhe chaand pe le chalo (Sanju)
• Jonita Gandhi, aahista aahista (Laila Majnu)
• Rekha Bhardwaj, so ja so ja (Pari)


Best Debut Male : Dulquer Salmaan (Karwaan)

• Zain Khan Durrani (Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz)
• Ishaan Khatter (Beyond the Clouds & Dhadak)
• Jassie Gill (Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi)
• Varun Mitra (Jalebi)


Best Debut Female : Zoya Hussain (Mukkabaaz)

• Radhika Madan (Pataakha)
• Gitanjali Rao (October)
• Sara Ali Khan (Kedarnath & Simmba)
• Banita Sandhu (October)

I did like Jhanvi Kapoor in Dhadak, but the competition too strong in this category, so she misses out.


Best Debut Director : Amar Kaushik (Stree)

• Sajid Ali (Laila Majnu)
• Prosit Roy (Pari)
• Arjun Mukerjee (3 Storeys)
• Akshat Verma (Kaalakaandi)


Best Story : Akshat Ghildial, Jyoti Kapoor, Shantanu Srivastava (Badhaai Ho)

• Mitesh Shah, Adesh Prasad, Rahi Anil Barve, Anand Gandhi, Narayan Dharap (Tumbbad)
• Anudeep Singh (Mukkabaaz)
• Raj-Dk (Stree)
• Juhi Chaturvedi (October)


Best Scene : Qais questioning the people who pelt stones at him, asking if he didn't notice them while lost in his love for Laila, how did they notice him when lost in their love for God (Laila Majnu)

• Vinayak's son suggests idea that can earn them lots of money in one go, not knowing the greed is going to put them both in danger (Tumbbad)
• The helplessness Bilal feels when he is mentally tortured with questions and being made to say things by Danish and his team at Police Station (Mulk)
• Akash gets out of lift and watches Simi commit a murder right in front of him, as he quickly adjusts and goes in his blind act, with the Beethoven background score (Andhadhun)
• Sanjay heavy on drugs uses toilet commode as mangalsutra for Ruby (Sanju)

Pataakha's climax fake death scene, Avinash's emotional speech on his father in Karwaan and Pari's scene where Rukhsana uses earphones to fool were also among my favs!


Best Jodi : Varun-Banita (October)

• Sanya-Radhika (Pataakha)
• Avinash-Tripti (Laila Majnu)
• Ranbir-Vicky (Sanju)
• Rajkumar-Shraddha (Stree)


Best Trailer : October

• Omerta
• Pataakha
• Sanju
• Mulk

Laila Majnu, Stree and Gold had pretty good trailers too, many of these films however didn't turn out to be good.


Best Screenplay : Bhavani Iyer, Meghna Gulzar (Raazi)

• Anubhav Sinha (Mulk)
• Juhi Chaturvedi (October)
• Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Yogesh Chandekar, Pooja Ladha Surti (Andhadhun)
• Raj Nidimoru, Krishna Dk (Stree)


Best Dialogue : Vishal Bhardwaj (Pataakha)

• Anubhav Sinha (Mulk)
• Sumit Aroraa (Stree)
• Nandita Das (Manto)
• Akshat Ghildial (Badhaai Ho)


Best Editing : Pooja Ladha Surti (Andhadhun)

• Nitin Baid (Raazi)
• Sanyukta Kaza (Tumbbad)
• Ballu Saluja (Mulk)
• Aarti Bajaj (Manmarziyaan)


Best Choreography : Kruti Mahesh Midya-Jyoti D Tommaar, ghoomar (Padmavati)

• Rajeev Surti, hafiz hafiz (Laila Majnu)
• Poonam-Priyanka, grey waala shade (Manmarziyaan)
• Shabina Khan, balma (Pataakha)
• Bosco, dil chori (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety)


Best Background Score : Daniel B George (Andhadhun)

• Shantanu Moitra (October)
• Jesper Kyd (Tumbbad)
• Hitesh Sonik (Laila Majnu)
• Amit Trivedi (Manmarziyaan)


Best Cinematography : Pankaj Kumar (Tumbbad)

• Aveek Mukhopadhyay (October)
• Sayak Bhattacharya (Laila Majnu)
• Tushar Kanti Ray (Kedarnath)
• Sudeep Chatterjee (Padmaavat)


Best Action : Sham Kaushal (Padmaavat)

• Cyril Raffaelli, Sebastian Seveau, Vikram Dahiya (Bhavesh Joshi)
• Vikram Dahiya, Sunil Rodriguez (Mukkabaaz)
• Sunil Rodriguez (Simmba)
• Ram Chella, Lakshman Chella, Kecha Khamphakdee (Baaghi 2)


Best Art Direction : Nitin Zihani Choudhary, Rakesh Yadav (Tumbbad)

• Amit Ray, Subrata Chakraborty (Padmaavat)
• Madhusudan (Stree)
• Rita Ghosh (Manto)
• Debashis Debnath (Pari)


Best Costume : Ajay, Maxima Basu, Harpreet Rimple, Chandrakant Sonawane (Padmaavat)

• Manish Malhotra, Natascha Charak, Nikita Mohanty (Dhadak)
• Aki Narula, Anaita Shroff Adajania, Ankita Jha (Zero)
• Karishma Sharma (Pataakha)
• Smriti Chauhan, Sachin Lovalekar (Tumbbad)



Special Mention to Child Actors - Mohammad Samad in Tumbbad and Harsh Mayar in Hichki, both of them were outstanding in their acts.

Recap 2018 : Best Hindi Albums and Top100 Songs

Slightly below par year in terms of music if compared to 2017, we did have few outstanding albums but the albums having only 1-2 good songs were way too many.

Here's my list of Top10 Hindi Albums of 2018 :

1. Laila Majnu
2. Zero
3. Manmarziyaan
4. Sanju
5. Andhadhun
6. Raazi
7. October
8. Jalebi
9. Dhadak
10. Padmaavat

Raid, Soorma and Kedarnath just about miss out my list, did love some of the songs but as a whole those albums were underwhelming.


Now presenting the best songs, as always a reminder, the order is based on songs that I love to hear repeatedly, and not in terms of quality! I know many will differ but I strongly believe quality doesn't matter if it wont make me wanna hear the song again.

Nooran sister's song was at no.1 last year, and every year they are in my top10 list, this time they are at no.2.. while Mohit Chauhan takes the top spot with a song that can be labelled yet another angst but lighter version of Saadda Haq!


My List of Top100 Songs of 2018 :

1. Haafiz haafiz (Laila Majnu)
2. Tanha hua (Zero)
3. Daryaa (Manmarziyaan)
4. Aahista (Laila Majnu)
5. Mere naam tu (Zero)
6. Kar har maidaan fateh (Sanju)
7. Raazi (Raazi)
8. Mujhe chaand pe le chalo (Sanju)
9. Woh ladki (Andhadhun)
10. Theher ja (October)
11. Dilbaro (Raazi)
12. Ann bann (Zero)
13. O meri laila - radio version (Laila Majnu)
14. Sacchi mohabbat (Manmarziyaan)
15. Ruby ruby (Sanju)
16. Grey walaa shade (Manmarziyaan)
17. Husn parcham (Zero)
18. So ja so ja (Pari)
19. Dekhte dekhte - atif version (Batti Gul Meter Chalu)
20. Halla (Manmarziyaan)
21. Qaafirana (Kedarnath)
22. Aapse milkar - reprise (Andhadhun)
23. Dil chori (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety)
24. Heeriye (Race3)
25. Kudiye ni tere (Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi)


26. Ghoomar (Padmaavat)
27. Nain na jodeen (Badhaai Ho)
28. Tum se (Jalebi)
29. Chalte chalte (Mitron)
30. Dilbar (Satyameva Jayate)
31. Pehle ke jaisa (Jalebi)
32. Dhadak (Dhadak)
33. F for fyar (Manmarziyaan)
34. Lae dooba - sunidhi version (Aiyaary)
35. Gazab ka hai din (Dil Juunglee)
36. Zingaat (Dhadak)
37. Naina da kya kasoor - unplugged (Andhadhun)
38. Nainowale ne (Padmaavat)
39. Heer badnaam (Zero)
40. Ae watan - female version (Raazi)
41. Balma (Pataakha)
42. Soorma anthem (Soorma)
43. Ae watan - male version (Raazi)
44. Tum (Laila Majnu)
45. Mera pyar tera pyar (Jalebi)
46. Ek dil ek jaan (Padmaavat)
47. Lo safar (Baaghi 2)
48. Kadam (Karwaan)
49. Laaj sharam (Veere Di Wedding)
50. Sanu ek pal chain (Raid)


51. Nazar na lag jaaye (Stree)
52. Dekhte dekhte - rahat version (Batti Gul Meter Chalu)
53. Pappi le loon (Veere Di Wedding)
54. Kamariya (Stree)
55. Kundali (Manmarziyaan)
56. Monobina (Gold)
57. Good man di laaltain (Soorma)
58. Pehli baar (Dhadak)
59. Rangdaari (Daas Dev)
60. Aapse milkar (Andhadhun)
61. Chota sa fasana (Karwaan)
62. Namo namo (Kedarnath)
63. Chal (October)
64. Pal (Jalebi)
65. Selfish - atif version (Race 3)
66. Tum - javed ali version (Laila Majnu)
67. Mujhmein (Jalebi)
68. Mundiyan (Baaghi 2)
69. Badan pe sitare (Fanney Khan)
70. Nit khair manga (Raid)
71. O meri laila (Laila Majnu)
72. Jaan nisaar - asees version (Kedarnath)
73. Pehla nasha (Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz)
74. Bijlee giregi (Manmarziyaan)
75. Little little (Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se)


76. Dholida (Loveyatri)
77. Tajdar-e-haram (Satyameva Jayate)
78. Pataakha (Pataakha)
79. Tere jaisa tu hai (Fanney Khan)
80. Morni banke (Badhaai Ho)
81. Duma dum mast kalandar (Zero)
82. Koi gal nai (Happy Phir Bhag Jayegi)
83. Bas tu hai (3 Storeys)
84. Chhote chhote peg (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety)
85. Saansein hui dhuan dhuan (Race 3)
86. Phir kya hai gham (Hichki)
87. Meri khamoshi hai (Pari)
88. Chavanprash (Bhavesh Joshi)
89. Yaadon ki almari (Helicopter Eela)
90. Saansein (Karwaan)
91. Jaisi teri marzi (Manmarziyaan)
92. Allah duhai hai (Race 3)
93. Ishq di baajiyaan (Soorma)
94. High rated gabru (Nawabzaade)
95. Tujhe dekhti hai nazar (Nanu Ki Jaanu)
96. Qasam kha li (Bhavesh Joshi)
97. Lag ja gale (Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3)
98. Sehmi hai dhadkan (Daas Dev)
99. Achche din (Fanney Khan)
100. Lae dooba - asees version (Aiyaary)


Andhadhun's 2nd theme was my most favourite instrumental of the year, Also liked its 1st theme and the lovely October theme!

Recap 2018 : Best, Disappointing and Worst of Hollywood

Quite a eventful year, when it came to English movies, saw 36 in theatre, 8 on lappy and 2 Netflix movies (Hold the Dark and Mowgli, both were disappointing). Also, saw 15 old movies and 8 netflix/prime series, with Bates Motel (best I have seen so far), Sharp Objects, The Haunting of Hill House, Mindhunter, Sherlock (first 2 seasons) and Narcos really turning to be impressive.

Talking of 2018 movies, it was kind of a letdown year, mainly because most of the Nov/Dec i.e Oscar nominated movies turned out to be pretty disappointing, atleast I felt majority of them didnt deserve nominations as they got. One of rare occasions when Hindi films outdid Hollywood!

Here's my list of Top10 Hollywood Movies of 2018 : 

1. A Quiet Place
2. Mission Impossible 6 : Fallout
3. Avengers : Infinity War
4. Spiderman into the Spider Verse
5. Black Panther
6. Green Book
7. Shoplifters
8. Paddington 2
9. Ready Player One
10. Searching

Halloween, If Beale Street Could Talk and BlackKklansman just missed out in my list. Special mention to everyone's favourite Roma, didnt like it at all.


My list of Top5 Worst Hollywood Movies of 2018 : 

1. The Nun
2. Hold the Dark
3. First Reformed
4. At Eternity's Gate
5. Crazy Rich Asians

And two of these movies were nominated for Oscars (thankfully not in Movies category).


My list of Top5 Most Disappointing Movies of 2018 : 

1. Deadpool 2
2. A Star is Born
3. Venom
4. First Man
5. Insidious : The Last Key

Many of these movies were keenly anticipated ones for me, which made it even worse to see them not turn out to be on the level I wanted them. Except for Insidious, they all are still pretty likeable!

Recap 2018 : Best Hindi Films, Dissappointing and Worst!

In comparison to last 10 years, this was probably my least no of seen movies in theatre (if counting only Hindi) which ended at 45 movies. But, I also saw 10 movies on Netflix/Prime, and also RajmaChawal (was good in parts) along with 3 series, Ghoul, Lust Stories and Sacred Games, all of which didn't fully work out for me.

Turned out to be a pretty good year, unlike whats been the case for past 2 years, still you can say we have got lots of improvement to do, specially the big stars who had a very off year.

Well, time to give out my list for 2018, and sorry once again that it will not be detailed, again busy with personal life. Not promising but hoping 2020 changes and brings back the old me that was always blogging, Cheers!


Here's my list of Top10 Hindi Movies of 2018 : 

1. Raazi
2. October
3. Mulk
4. Andhadhun
5. Laila Majnu
6. Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz
7. Padman
8. Pataakha
9. Karwaan
10. Mukkabaaz

Also, liked Badhaai Ho, Stree and Pari that miss out.


My list of Top5 Worst Hindi Movies of 2018 :

1. Race3
2. Paltan
3. Thugs of Hindostan
4. Sanju
5. Zero

One of those years where all the big guns misfired, and very badly! Satyamev Jayate and Baaghi2 were very close to being in that list too.


My list of Top5 Disappointing Hindi Movies of 2018 : 

1. Omerta
2. Gold
3. Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety
4. Blackmail
5. Aiyaary

While, Kedarnath, Love Sonia and 2 Point 0 were some of the other movies that didn't live upto my expectations.