Zindagi Shatranj Hai, Review: Partly chess, partly mess With a title like Zindagi Shatranj Hai (Life is a game of chess), you are ready to watch some smart moves, and the film does offer a few such moves. But it also offers several false moves that negate the positive ones. Designed as a mystery-suspense-thriller, it has a plot within a plot within a plot. Besides that, there is pretty little in terms of good cinematic content. There are many loose ends that are left untied and several thread...

In the mood for Mood Banaleya, with Amruta Fadnavis Her instant intro on Instagram reads, “Banker, Singer, Social Worker, Unadulterated Free Spirit! What you have many can have...but what you are no one can be! Stay Unique!” Click on www.amrutafadnavis.in, and you can discover her biography, in her own words. “Amruta Fadnavis is a trained classical singer, a social activist and a banker. She is married to Deputy Chief Minister (and former Chief Minister) of Maharashtra, Deve...

Armaan Malik and Vedika Pinto croon and swoon to Rochak Kohli’s tune for T-Series’ ‘Bas Tujhse Pyaar Ho’ Multi-platinum singer Armaan Malik has released yet another collaboration with Bhushan Kumar of T Series, titled ‘Bas Tujhse Pyaar Ho’. The ‘prince of sonorous romance’ teams up with composer Rochak Kohli for the first time, to bring the lyrics, penned by Kumaar, to life. The soft and soulful love ballad features Malik and Vedika Pinto in th...

Doctor G, review: A 124-minute operation, performed by a novice G in the title could stand for ‘jee’, a suffix denoting respect, or for gynæcology. Neither is moniker material, so why title your film Doctor G? Because the protagonist is a male student of medicine and has his heart set on orthopædic studies and practice, but no seats are available in that branch of study and the only option is gynæcology. Pray, why the reluctance to study gynæcology? B...

Dhokha Round D Corner, Review: True lies, deception-perception and betrayal-portrayal Way back in 1940, a British film was made under the title Gaslight. It had an American version in 1944. Since then, it has inspired a lot of psychological thrillers, in India too. In the film, a man plots to convince his wife and all around them that she is mad, in order to recover the jewels that he had tried to steal from her late aunt, who he had just murdered, but had failed by the sudden arrival of the ...

Jayeshbhai Jordaar, Review: A ban on soap and kisses instead of foeticide Even a relatively small budget film from Yash Raj Films (YRF), with only two known names to tout, succeeds to a large extent in highlighting the hideous Indian social practice, seen predominantly, in a few states, of killing/aborting the girl child. Since marriage involves a large sum as dowry, which is given by the girl’s family to the boy’s family, the birth of a girl child is considered the genesis of a m...

Attack-Part 1, Review: Dawn of a new Ira Ira is the new Artificial Intelligence set-up, inspired by Alexa, that is implanted in a soldier who has been paralysed as a result of a bullet wound, converting him into a cyborg. That concept was milked over years in Hollywood films like The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Genisys (2015), and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). Then there was the Universal Soldier series, Universal...

Gangubai Kathiawadi, Review: Guess what is the oldest profession in the world, and meet its President Gangubai, a variation of Ganga, is the most common name of Maharashtrian maid-servants in Mumbai. Ganga becoming Gangu is quite normal, while the Bai here refers to her designation as maid. An engaging film was made in 2013, with the maid as the central character, only it was spelt phonetically more correct, Gangoobai. In other parts of the country, Bai could mean a courtesan, a classical sin...

Shimla Mirchi, Review: Chilly? Don't be silly! Several highs dot the career graph of director Ramesh Sippy, right from his debut in 1971 as a 24 year-old, with the remake of A Man and a Woman (Claude Lelouch, France, 1966) under the title, Andaz. Crests include Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and Buniyaad (TV series), relative high points were reached with Saagar and Shakti, and troughs bogged him down when he attempted Shaan, Bhrashtachar, Akayla and Zamaana Diwana. Completed 19 years after Zama...

Yaaram, Review: Single blues, double whammy and triple talaaq Actor Siddhanth Kapoor, a part-time DJ (disc-jockey), makes his singing debut in Yaaram. The number, titled, ‘Kaash phir se’, is composed by Jeet Gannguli and penned by Kumaar. According to a newspaper report, the actor took a single take to record it, after a mere two days of rehearsals. The song recording is shown as a live studio event while the end credits roll. Credits over, let’s get down to debits and brass...

Batla House, Review: Policeman with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Distinguishing one police thriller from another is becoming an increasingly difficult task. He is part of an incident/encounter that results in deaths of alleged criminals. The officer’s marital life is disrupted due to his erratic working hours and heavy post-traumatic stress. Having had enough, the wife threatens to leave him. The incident creates controversy and he runs afoul of the powers that be. Most of his higher-...

Khandaani Shafakhana, Review: Familial Clinic, Unfamiliar picnic A title like that would suggest a medical practice that has been in the business for generations and garnered a formidable reputation of efficacy in treatment. Khandaani Shafakhana (Urdu for Familial Clinic) is not about any such practice. The subject is sex, in general, and the distressing conditions of erectile dysfunction and lack of libido in particular. Okay, so they have a misleading title. You could overlook this fact if ...

De De Pyaar De, Review: Differential calculus Some films begin on a positive note, start developing into potential winners, and then squander it all away, with inane, inept, insane, insipid, inchoate, infeasible, indifferent, inexcusable, incongruous and inconsequential writing. Most likely inspired by a play, American or Indianised, or a Hollywood romantic comedy, De De Pyaar De (Give Me, Give Me Your Love) begins with a newish take on the age-old plank of Daddy Long Legs (1955) and Lamhe (1...