Vikram Vedha, Review: Gang gang, bang bang There are only a handful of characters in Vikram Vedha who do not wield guns, swords or any ‘weapon’ they can lay their hands on. Almost all of them die. And what about those who do wield guns and makeshift weapons? They meet their fate too, except for…Rarely has a film let loose a such a fusillade of bullets, from all sorts of hand-guns as well as AK47s, as in this film. And rarely have we seen so many corpses tumble left, right a...

Dhaakad, Review: Kan-gana Ran-aut-do Charlize Theron? Whenever director Razneesh ‘Razy’ Ghai shouted action on the sets of this film, he must have meant either of two things: A. Kangana Ranaut, Arjun Rampal and a battalion of cronies get at each other, either with arms and ammunition, or fists, kicks and ambition. B: Some version of a lullaby is sung by someone, from at least four characters. There is little else happening. So, what? Is something more needed? Yes, surely! But wher...

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...

Ujda Chaman, Review: Hair loss, weight gain Barren follicles and overflowing lipids can, and often do, cause the corps to be subjected to taunts and ridicule for extended periods of time, maybe all through life. If you happen to be in the marriage market, sporting a bald patch up front, or ample girth across your perpendicular stance, these are distinct disadvantages, almost as bad as age differences of 20 or more years between prospective suitors. Highlighting the plight of obese and balding...

Nakkash/The Craftsman, Review: Balancing Dharma with Karma Carving is a fine art that is dying, like many other man-made enterprises, what with mechanisation and changing tastes. One can see many shops along the Bandra-Mahim Causeway in Mumbai run by hand-carvers, who sell exquisite furniture. And if you take the film Nakkash, described as fiction, to represent the state of this dying art in the holy city of Banaras-Kashi (Varanasi), even the last expert who carved many a mandir (Hindu temple...

Mitron, Review: Food-truck’s mixed menu, part tasty, part insipid Meaning ‘friends’, mitron is among the most favourite opening words when the current prime minister of India addresses an audience. Before becoming the PM, he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and his mother tongue is Gujarati. Mitron is set in Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat, and among its lead players are a gang of three friends. All its characters are Gujaratis, some of who speak the language occasional...

Phullu, Review by Siraj Syed: Misleading title, taboo subject, tenacious treatment This is a good example of a film named after its lead character, with no regard for audiences’ perception of what it might stand for, and no clue about the storyline. The word is not a corruption of phool (flower), though it could well be an attempt to synthesise phool with ullu (owl; figuratively, a fool). We can go with the assumption that they intended to call him the flower fool, Phullu. Phullu is ab...