Bullet Train, Review: Brad luck Pitt A Japanese book adapted into an American film, with Brad Pitt in the leading role, set on a high speed train, with armed and dangerous Mafia agents and gangsters on board, seems to be the menu for a high-octane entertainer. And for once, a film delivers most of what it promises. It is a quaint mix of mayhem, mirth and thrills. Bullet Train re-works the gangster genre with a twist that is so obvious that you wonder why did nobody think of it before. And tha...

Jalsa, Review: The feisty anchor, their devoted maid, her teenaged daughter and a ghastly accident If there was a contest for the most misleading film names, Jalsa (celebration) would stand a good chance of making it to the top, with the title emanating from the last few minutes, having no connection to the two hours that have gone before it. And though the film is being touted as an Amazon Prime Original Film, with T-Series and Abundantia as production partners, why did I get the feel throug...

With its lead players putting up pretences throughout the film, it is easy to label the film pretentious. To be fair, it is not pretentious. There is an element of sincerity in the making. My Client’s Wife is potentially full of sexual encounters, only the makers have been careful to keep it ‘clean’. But as is the problem with psychological thrillers, there are too many red herrings and deviations from the plot just to cause shock and awe. Is it based on a true story? The mak...

Isle of Dogs, Review: No bow-wows only wow-wows Dog lovers of the world, unite, stop motion—you have everything to keep but your dogs to lose! Imagine a scenario where all the dogs in a city are captured and dropped-off on a deserted island by cable cars, because of a dog flu epidemic. The story is set in Japan, in the dystopian near-future, and a lot of the dialogue and captions/sub-titles are in Nihongo…er…Japanese. But the appeal is universal, both to dog lovers and pet...

Mukti Bhawan review, by Siraj Syed: Pulsating, Soulful, Lively tale, of Death Mukti is Hindi for release or detachment, and Bhawan is home or mansion. Don’t wait too long after Mukti Bhawan is released in the nearest mansion (cinema hall). And do yourself a favour: Don’t die till you have seen this film about death. A sublime blend of realism and metaphor, Mukti Bhawan is ostensibly the tale of an old man who wants to move to the ‘dying quarters’ in the city of Banara...

*On a snowy morning/I run out/hatless and coatless/as happy as a child--a brief poem by Abbas Kiarostami. *I believe the films of Kiarostami are extraordinary--Akira Kurosawa. Every year, the International Film Festival of India pays a special tribute to film-makers who have moved on to their heavenly abodes. One such genius was Abbas Kiarostami, the Iranian legend, who passed away on July 4 this year, aged 76, in Paris, where he had been living for many years. In an eventful and rewarding c...

The Magnificent Seven, Review by Siraj Syed: Rogue Bogue’s Epilogue You might say that The Magnificent Seven is not as iconic a Western as some others in the genre, like Stagecoach, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Last Train from Gun Hill, Annie Get Your Gun, Billy the Kid, Shane, the Sergio Leone trilogy, The Alamo, True Grit, MacKenna’s Gold or Cat Ballou. But it is not very far either. For one, it has spawned several remakes, sequels and bootleg versions (including a few Hindi fil...

It began, like Ameen Sayani’s legendary film music popularity countdown show, Binaca Geetmala, in 1952, a few months after I was born. The first International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was held in 1952, in Bombay, which was at that time, a state in itself. It was a non-competitive festival and ran for a fortnight. Twenty three countries, including host India, participated, along with the United Nations Organisation. 52 feature films and 115 documentaries, scientific films, cartoons, ...

  On any poll where the greatest directors who ever lived is compiled, the name of Japansese director Akira Kurosawa is certain to show up in the top three slots. More loved outside of his homeland (as are many film artists) and acknowledged by film scholars as a true visual artist, the oeuvre of this cinematic giant is the focus of a 4-week festival to be held at the Film Forum, New York's great arthouse treasure. The 28-film festival celebrating the centennial of director Akira...