Movie Analysis : Chup - The Revenge of an Artist (Zee5)

Directed by : R. Balki 

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15654262/

Audience ki aankhein khol.. unka taste upgrade kar.. Entertainment ki quality badha, its your bloody job.

Spoilers ahead... 

Inspector Arvind Mathur (Sunny Deol) reaches the crime scene of a building where a film critic has just been found dead having many cuts on his body including an inverted triangle drawn on forehead. When more such brutal killings of film critics takes place, Arvind realizes its work of a new kind of serial killer who kills critics. On other hand, a parallel track runs involving a florist Danny (Dulquer Salmaan) also a Guru Dutt fan, as he meets an entertainment reporter Nila Menon (Shreya Dhanwanthary). She is a huge bollywood lover and aspires to be a film critic. 

It doesn't matter whether you have seen the trailer or how much you know about the story before watching the movie. R. Balki isn't interested in narrating the story in form of suspense, from the very first scene of Danny you can make it that he is the killer. The focus of screenplay stays on 2 aspects, one is the running commentary about Critics vs FilmMakers/Actors basically stating how important ethics are while critiquing a movie, and the other is the homage given to Guru Dutt's 'Kaagaz Ke Phool'. Both in my view is done very efficiently without going overboard. 

There's no direct references or namecalling done but if you follow critics closely (not literally) then you would most likely be able to connect dots, for instance the scene where Danny calls out the critic for his 4 star rating to a movie stating he must have got good sum of money or a vacation package for some nights or a good present. Another scene where Nila refers to a dead critic telling whenever he would rate a film high would mean she won't like that film and vice-versa. 

Another very important point the movie makes is about the personal attacks that some critics do and are still doing in the name of reviewing a movie thinking they have become God and can say anything they want even if it has no relevance to the movie. There's actually 2 points that Balki missed out keeping in the script that could had been part of Danny's frustration over some idiotic critics, one is the famous 'Tweet while watching film on the go' (Like how the hell are you watching the movie then?) and other is some critics I have noticed like to write a long paragraph on what people were doing in their show, their talks or even own life talks or just some other random stuff. Just because they didn't like the film they feel they have to entertain the readers with gibberish!

The topic of what matters more - Critics Rating or Audience Views (Boxoffice Results) is taken up subtly through a small cameo scene of Amitabh Bachchan (can there ever be a Balki movie without him?) where he without much hesitation chooses Boxoffice, however he doesn't deny that Critics are very important to be there in the film industry so that everyone can learn about their mistakes. 

The screenplay of movie keeps shifting from dark to romantic to dark to dramatic and its never ending, usually I would not really enjoy it but here it had a very good effect and special thanks goes to the way music and background score is used. Many classics are brilliantly inserted, whether its the theme of 'Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam' (Kaagaz ke Phool) filmed on Danny who is cutting a body in the style of using brush over a painting. The lyrical version is also aptly used when Danny just gifts Nila paper flowers on Guru Dutt's birth anniversary. 

There's 'Sar jo tera chakraye' (Pyaasa) used in such a clever dark humor way over how Danny just fooled Arvind. Then there's 'Jaane kya tune kahi' (Pyaasa) which essentially forms the romantic track of Danny's life, however its catch tune is used throughout wonderfully. Also, I like how this very romantic track turns into a psycho-tic version when Dulquer sings the lines while telling the person he is about to kill what did that person write wrong in the review. 

Sneha Khanwalkar's emotional version of 'Yeh Duniya' (Pyaasa) is very haunting with the visuals of Danny's past life and I really liked that they added the original version's famous lines 'Tumhari hai tum hi sambhalo yeh duniya' for a perfect end to the movie. 

Its not just the old music but I found the original songs also very good at a time when we hardly get much quality music these days. The romantic track 'Gaya Gaya Gaya' is very well sung by Rupali Moghe and Shashwat Singh, and also beautifully picturised on Danny and Nila. Love those 2 small mistakes Danny does, firstly that direction of sunset through bicycle frame and then trying to have his routine two cups of tea by himself. Also, the track 'Mera Love Main' has some lovely lyrics, even though it is rightly not used in the movie. 

I really don't know why Balki movies in past have always been mixbags, they would always have one underwhelming act to not make me love the movie. For a change, that doesn't happen in 'Chup'. The  final twist is really good because for a moment I fell into the narrative that 'Oh no, is Danny going to kill her despite knowing she wrote fake review', but that foreign film copy idea was a super one. By the way I didn't understand the reference of Woody Allen, what was Balki trying to say there ? 

It would have been a perfect movie if they didn't include Pooja Bhatt's character in the movie who helps Arvind in the case in just one way informing him that the killer attacks those critics whose review has a particular script with catchy lines. I rather would had wanted Arvind himself to brainstorm and learn about this aspect very much how he decoded the traingle on forehead or how the review lines are being brought to life in his killings. Or they could have let Pooja help him right from the 1st killing. Another thing that came to my mind was the reason behind Danny being like this, they went the cliched route of a troubled childhood, how would have it been if Danny did it because he was tired of the poor critic system, much like Naseeruddin Shah in 'A Wednesday' who took it to himself because he felt someone had to do something. I am not 100% sure if this version would have worked more or not, but it would have been less routine than the chosen flashback. 

Dulquer Salmaan plays the serial killer exceptionally well, whether its the double personality or his growing closeness with Nila. Love his hilarious dialogue referring to 'Nalasopara ke baad agar Churchgate aa jaaye toh kaisa lagega?'. Shreya Dhanwanthary as a reporter again didn't really feel repetitive as her role plays more around her being a movie buff and also her chemistry with Dulquer is very good. I like the scene where she gets hyper realizing how her bravery act might actually result in her death. 

Sunny Deol in a very restrained role keeping his anger limited to just one loud shout scene was also a delight to watch. I like how he slowly understands the case, afterall someone killing critics for bad reviews doesn't happen everyday. Saranya Ponvannan playing the mother of Nila was very sweet and lovely to watch in a supporting role. 

Chup works for me both as a sort of tribute to Guru Dutt and also a very good take on how critics can misuse their profession resulting in ruining life of a filmmaker/actor.

My Rating : 7.5/10

Movie Analysis : The Good Nurse (Netflix)

Directed by : Tobias Lindholm 

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4273800/

Why ?

They didn't stop me.

Spoilers ahead... 

Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain), a single mother with 2 daughters works at the Parkfield Memorial Hospital as a night nurse in ICU. She has a heart condition but can't let anyone at hospital know or she will lose the insurance she badly needs. When Charlie Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) joins her as the male nurse, they form a good friendship but she isn't aware of Charlie's past and what kind of person he actually is until some patients begin to die. 

If you are told the basic premise and the true events on which the film is based then it would bring a very chilling effect just to think how dangerous your life can be even when you are safely in the doctor's hands just because a male nurse wants to kill you for no reason at all. He was charged for 29, but it is believed that he actually killed around 400 patients. Also, you can't help but think how poor the health system is if they allowed this guy to shift jobs from one hospital to another 9 times. 

In the film however, this feeling never comes across fully as I felt it should have. We do get some great scenes involving both Jessica and Eddie (who are really good in their performances), but they never culminate into more than that. There's always a creepy kind of feeling hanging whenever we see Charlie come into the frame especially after the moment Amy learns his truth. Or how afraid suddenly Amy feels when Charlie is at her home with her daughters. I liked both the confrontation scenes, one at the restaurant and other in jail, though I still don't understand why he did it or maybe we will never know.

One reason for the slow pace of movie could be to set up the moody feel while showing the life of a nurse at hospital. I still would had preferred tight editing, some scenes just meander along way too long serving no purpose. 

If like me you had never heard about Charlie Cullen, then 'The Good Nurse' is going to be worth a watch as you realize that such kind of 'serial killer' (if I can call that) exists too. Despite a weak screenplay and loose editing, the story and performances make up for it to some extent. 

My Rating : 6/10 

Movie Analysis : The Adam Project (Netflix)

Directed by : Shawn Levy

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2463208/

When a bad idea is the only idea, it becomes a great idea. 

Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds), a pilot who time travels from the future into 2022 accidentally meets his younger 12 year old self (Walker Scobell) who is still mourning the loss of his father Louis Reed (Mark Ruffalo) having lost him in an accident a year ago. Adam wants to travel to 2018 and find what happened to his wife Laura (Zoe Saldana). In his way is an obstacle of Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener) who was once partner of Louis at work but in the future she became greedy to be in total control of Time-Travel.

Having directed some of the episodes of 'Stranger Things' and also 'The Free Guy' that I enjoyed a lot, have to say this movie turned out to be a little disappointment. The whole time-travel plot I understand wasn't meant to be complex and rather used in entertaining way, yet it never appeals or draws me towards the storyline. 

Some of the scenes that actually worked were the non-comedy ones like Adam's interaction with her mother Ellie Reed (Jennifer Garner) at the pub, or younger Adam giving advice to Adam about their dad, or Louis just pondering over if his busy professional life has lead to very less time given to his own son.

The entire romantic angle of Adam-Laura felt too rushed to my liking, it would have actually worked lot better had they kept Laura completely out of story and just introduced her in the last when that story Adam told his younger self happens again. 

The Adam Project with a weak core story and irritating villain ends to be quite a bore despite some good performances and the usual Ryan Reynolds laughs. 

My Rating : 4.5/10

Movie Analysis : Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (Netflix)

Directed by : Anees Bazmee

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6455162/

Mere ghar ka toh phone na tring tring nahi karta, conjuring conjuring karta hai.

Spoilers ahead... 

Two strangers, Reet Rathore (Kiara Advani) and Ruhaan Randhawa (Kartik Aaryan) meet at a bus stop, they visit a music festival and become so friendly that Reet asks for a favor from Ruhaan to come along to her hometown in Rajasthan while she pretends to be dead to her family so that her fiance gets married to her sister. The only issue is they decide to hide in that very abandoned mansion that was shut down 18 years ago with the spirit of Manjulika trapped inside a room. 

Watching the movie I was wondering if forced humor is the new norm and do today's youth enjoy this in name of entertainment? What happened to the genuine laughs we would get over films a decade or so ago. The original directed by Priyadarshan and starring Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan was miles better than this. 

Anees Bazmee films have in past worked for me, even that guilty pleasure movie 'Mubarakan'. But here, I kept searching for the moments when I would really say 'Oh yea, this was a very good punchline'. There are so many un-necessary parts that if edited out would atleast had made for a shorter movie even if it wouldn't still have made any difference to the poor humor thanks to the writing team. For instance, both the tracks involving Reet and Ruhaan, firstly does nothing to narrative, and secondly they were so average to listen to. Then that entire 'RoohBaba' angle was not required, complete waste of time it was.

There's Bade Pandit (Sanjay Mishra) who keeps using yester year movies songs/dialogues to talk while having an hearing issue. Normally, Sanjay Mishra would be very reliable but here even he felt so irritable, very few scenes worked like the one where he asks Manjulika to translate in hindi as his bengali is as poor as french. Both Rajesh Sharma and Govind Namdeo are under utilised. Ashwini Kalsekar was good, and the Rajpal Yadav 'Big Boss' dialogue was hilarious. 

The best part of the movie was Tabu, in the double role she was so good. There's a scene where she kills her dad, the way she behaves there slightly reminded of 'AndhaDhun'. The flashback scene telling the story of Manjulika, the entire black magic and then the twist at the end was very well done. 

Kartik Aaryan's comic timing is pretty good which is a reason he was able to get some laughs out of silly moments or poor writing too. I also liked his dance over the male version of 'Ami je tomar'. While Kiara did really nothing except being a glamour element, and I was really happy that they didn't go the route of Manjulika possessing her body because that prank scene where she mimicked Manjulika was extremely poor acting. 

In the end, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 falls way short when compared to Akshay's movie in 2007, is it watchable for Tabu's performance alone ? Not really. 

My Rating : 4.5/10 

Movie Analysis : Enola Holmes 2 (Netflix)

Directed by : Harry Bradbeer

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14641788/

No matter how lost you feel, if you stay true to yourself, the path will always find you again.

Spoilers ahead.. 

Opening up her own Detective Agency in London, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) is super excited only to find no clients at all as her age and the fact that she is sister of Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) often comes in way of her getting new cases. Just when she is about to close the agency, a little girl Bessie Chapman (Serrana Su-Ling Bliss) comes for help to find her missing sister Sarah Chapman (Hannah Dodd). Enola soon learns about a matchstick factory where Sarah worked and there the girls were dying from Typhus disease as she tries to dig deeper into the case.  On other hand, Sherlock Holmes  himself is busy in a case involving corruption soon realizing he is against a very clever rival named Moriarty.  The question is, are both the cases interlinked ? 

Its a much better film than the 1st one (Enola Holmes), the pacing is good, very less meaningless interactions (already introduced characters before, helps in that regards) and we get lot more of Sherlock in this part in a supporting way making sure it still stays Enola's story. The use of breaking the 4th wall is again done exceptionally well without overdoing it, the feminism angle is still there but at the core the movie focusses very well on how Enola solves a new case with all the difficulties she faces. Liked how the nepotism angle is subtly played out where Enola is frustrated to be in the shadows of her brother Sherlock, while trying to create her own identity. Also, a lovely scene involving her mother telling her that its not compulsory to be great on your own, she can still accomplish a lot by seeking help of the ones that are close to her. 

I however still did not like Henry Cavill as Sherlock, for the same reasons.. just hard to see anyone else in this role other than Benedict or Robert, even though he does a fairly decent job. 

The star of the movie is Millie Bobby Brown who is delightful and perfectly suited in this character full of energy, ready to take on the world and even her own brother. I would love to see her get a tougher next case to solve. Special mention to David Thewlis (playing Grail) who is efficient in a negative role. Other cast involving Louis Partridge, Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Hannah Dodd also chip in with good performances. There's a end credits scene involving the introduction of Dr Watson, slightly skeptical about it but hoping the actor chosen would be good in this role. 

I would have personally loved next part to have Sherlock and Enola together solve a case from the very start. But the scene where Enola refuses the offer of 'Holmes and Holmes' from Sherlock probably suggests we may again get them on different cases and meeting each other's paths along the way. 

Even though the case may not look that complex, Enola Holmes 2 screenplay holds itself very well and turns out to be a pretty good entertainer full of adventures.

My Rating : 6.5/10 

Also, DO READ - Mini Review : Enola Holmes (Netflix)

Movie Analysis : Dhokha Round D Corner (Netflix)

Directed by : Kookie Gulati

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10644708/

Main farebi nahi hoon Gul, aazmaa ke dekh lo.

Spoilers ahead..

Yathaarth Sinha (Madhavan) at work catches a glimpse of a news running on tv describing a terrorist Haq Riyaaz Gul (Aparshakti Khurana) in Springshine Aparments and soon realizes its his own house he is hiding where his wife Saanchi Sinha (Khushali Kumar) would be all alone. ACP Harishchandra Malik (Darshan Kumaar) has the whole building sealed trying to negotiate with Haq Gul. But, none of these 4 main characters could be trusted as we keep on getting their perspective stories one by one over what happened in past. 

Usually a film like this that keeps testing your brain is an immediate thumbs up for me, but here the issue is that firstly it tries to overdo it as a result it gets so much tangled that you no longer care who is telling the truth until everything is revealed in the climax. And then there's little hard to believe scenarios happening specially how Haq Gul having got betrayed by Saanchi, still falls for her 2nd time around. Thats too much even if at that time you are willing to trust his story on being innocent regarding the alleged hostel blast attack.

Also, having a talented actor like Madhavan and keeping him in more of a supporting role wasn't really a good idea. Having said that it was a delight to watch Aparshakti Khurana in a non-comedy role even if he had to go through a very below average writing and cringy situations at many places. Khushali Kumar too does a decent debut job as a housewife trying to seduce and having a personality disorder that makes the whole situation a deeper mess.

There's 2 really laughable moments (not sure if intentional or not).. first is when Haq Gul is so frustrated that he can't understand who the real Saanchi is, he directly asks her 'Tum goli (medicine) se pehle wali asli ho ya phir goli ke baad wali.' And then there's a spoof on Arnab Goswami, who actually in entire film gets trolled a lot but this one was unmissable as it was a direct take on that famous clip 'mujhe drugs do, drugs do' if you seen it.. its cringeworthy but hard to not laugh at. 

Talking of the twists, there are many.. most of them you would be able to guess, except for the last one that actually is good because that negates those scenes where I felt why the hell is ACP Malik all the time chilling with Yathaarth, having cups of tea or smoking like he is so sure nothing is gonna happen.

A dark ending always makes me happy but in this case, it didn't really move me which was more to do with how mediocre the 2nd Act was, that it made me run out of the patience to know what happens to all these 4 main characters.

In a way this is unofficial adaptation of Ittefaq with many additions done, if only it was tightly edited and the feeling of repetitivity didn't come after a while. Still an okay one-time watch!

My Ratings : 5/10 

Movie Analysis : The Gray Man (Netflix)

Directed by : Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649418/

Six is an odd name.

Just, 007 was taken, so.

Spoilers ahead...

Six (Ryan Gosling) signs a deal with Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) to work  for CIA in exchange for freedom from the prison for the murder sentence he was in for. Its been 18 years now, Fitzroy retired and his position taken up by Denny Carmichael (Rege Jean Page). On a mission given by Denny, Six comes across another guy named Four from the same program who reveals some dark secrets and hands him an encrypted drive having all the information. Denny hires Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) who is known for his sadistic methods to eliminate Six, while Six has very little time to uncover the truth behind the drive with suitable help from colleague Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas). 

The movie has everything you would expect from a spy thriller, lots of international locales, action set pieces (that rail tram sequence was amazing), attempt to not let a valuable drive go into wrong hands, an all out negative character and a foreign actor cameo which in this case is Dhanush (very well done action scene, and its good to see him not die). There's not much dull moments, the pacing is very good, even with very less character developments and a predictable plot, the film achieved to keep me engaged. The issue is when you have Russo Brothers and starcast of Ryan, Chris and Ana involved, just keeping you interested isn't enough, you are expecting lot of 'wow' moments which are very few here. 

Can't deny it was so fun watching Chris Evans in this negative role, total opposite of what he did as Captain America, all the bad mouthing and plus way he is acting it feels like how much he was enjoying playing this character, I do wish he had some better dialogue lines. On other hand, not that I find Ryan not suitable for these roles, just I personally prefer him lot more in comedy or romantic roles. His best parts actually are the conversations he has with either Fitzroy niece Claire (Julia Butters), that Bond 007 name reference,  or with Dani Miranda, specially the feeling ego hurt scene or handing her unloaded gun. Ana De Armas I felt was a very weakly written role, she still gets 1-2 scenes to shine through. 

The Gray Man is one of those films that despite being underwhelming is likeable and most likely I would be re-watching on tv to pass my time. 

My Rating : 6/10