Posted on

Movie Review: Sarbjit Tragic But Real!

Sarb

Biopics are the flavor of tinseltown these days and soon after Neerja and Azhar we have another biopic hitting the screens this week – Sarbjit. If Omung Kumar showcased his expertise in storytelling with Mary Kom then Sarbjit confirms the fact that he is no flash in the pan. Based on a real life character Sarbjit featuring the ever so talented Randeep Hooda and beautiful Aishwarya Rai, is an eye opener of a movie. This brother-sister saga will churn your heart and will make you question being a human. Even animals will never put their kind through such atrocities the way one human being might do to another.

Sarbjit Singh (Randeep Hooda) is a farmer who’s a doting brother, husband and father who is humiliated in the most despicable ways in jails in Pakistan for allegedly being Ranjit Singh, the mastermind behind the ghastly Lahore blasts. His stoic sister Dalbir Kaur (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) makes herculean efforts to attain freedom for her brother. Sarbjit’s wife Sukhpreet (Richa Chadha) silently raises two daughters Poonam (Ankita Shrivastava) and Swapan (Shivani Saini) with a hope to see her husband free one day. Dalbir tries out every conceivable option including meeting the Prime Minister of India while Sarbjit desperately collects whatever vestiges of family that he could through stray letters. A Pakistani lawyer Awais Shaikh (Darshan Kumaar) takes over Sarbjit’s case and battles out fanatic forces to try to obtain a semblance of justice for Sarbjit and his beleaguered family.

Writing a screenplay about a real life personality is a Herculean task and one should applaud Utkarshini Vashishtha and Rajesh Beri for the same. The movie is a dark movie with no scope for entertainment but Omung Kumar does a fabulous job with his direction to keep the audience attention captivated. Randeep Hooda has given his career best and gets into the skin of Sarbjit. Some of the torture scenes in the jail will make you squirm in your seats.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan barring few high-octane scenes where she goes overboard with histrionics delivers a strong performance. Richa Chaddha as Sukhpreet does a wonderful job. She knew very well that the movie rests on the shoulders of Aishwarya and Randeep and therefore instead of competing with them for screen presence she does a fabulous job with her limited screen time.

The music by Jeet Ganguly, Shail-Pritesh, Amal Malik and Tanishk Bagchi goes with the mood of the movie. The background is quite gripping and the locales are well captured by the lens of Kiran Deohans. Editing could have been crisper especially in the second half towards the end.

On the whole Sarbjit is a gripping human tale which every Indian should watch.

My Verdict: ****

Posted on

Regional Cinema Is Here To Stay – Teeshay

Teeshay Shah is one of the few popular faces on the small screen who is also making his presence felt on the big screen. After last year’s much appreciated movie The Perfect Girl, Teeshay is ready with his new movie I Wish. With the advent of high content regional movies like Duniyadaari, Timepass, Natsamrat, Sairat and Chello Divas doing great business at the Box Office. I Wish is one of the most anticipated Gujarati movies of the year. Here is an excerpt from our recent conversation we had over a cup of hot tea and cookies.

IMG_2097

It’s great to have you back on CWS (smiles)
It’s a pleasure to be featured on CWS (smiles) I was looking forward for this interview.

How sweet… so tell me… I am all ears to know what is your new movie I Wish all about?
I Wish is about the struggles of a couple in love before and after marriage, and how they redeem themselves and their love, with music as a backdrop because the character I am playing “Vismay” is a budding rockstar and music is all that he knows.

With I Wish Team
With I Wish Team

After dabbling in mainstream Bollywood and Television, what was the thought behind doing a regional movie?
Well there are is tremendous talent all over the country and amazing stories hidden in every part of India which filmmakers want to express, plus over the last couple of years regional cinema is really standing its own ground and being noticed because of the talent which is there. I have been wanting to do something challenging always and I Wish gave me another opportunity to do so.

After Sairat and Natsamrat Bollywood is facing some serious competition from regional movies, what are your thoughts on this? Why is this happening?
People today are so exposed to internet and social media that a good product can never be ignored, and this will only grow. There is tremendous scope for telling unique stories and it  is reaching today’s audiences too. People want to watch good cinema and fresh stories and there is tremendous talent out there to feed the audiences with it. Hence, I believe regional films are here to stay.

TEESHAY 22 MARCH 20151743 copy

As Chello Divas was a big hit in Gujarati there might be some tremendous expectations from I Wish. Is the pressure bogging you down?
We had lots of crowds gathering when we shot outdoors. Even within the industry there is tremendous buzz, which is exciting because we know we are giving them something absolutely fresh and unique. It’s not fair to compare our film to Chello Divas because both the films are absolutely different and as far as the pressure is concerned it will always be there but we are a young and passionate team and have given it our best. We had a lot of fun while filming and that at the end of the day is important.

What can the audience expect from this movie?
The audience can expect a fresh young love story which has its ups and downs which everyone will relate to. It is an entertaining movie with some tremendous music to stay true to its genre of being a musical.

What are your future plans?
Nothing has been planned yet. I just want to take it one step at a time. Enjoy each day and have fun with the work I pick up.

IMG_2096

Posted on

Movie Review: ‘Sairat’ scores BIG!

Sairat

I know this is way too late for me to write a review about any movie however, I could not stop myself from writing a review on this masterpiece by Nagraj Manjule. The movie shows two sides of a love story. The rosy dating days which is represented with songs and dreamy sequences and the harsh reality when the lovers run away from home.

Prashant Kale aka Parshya (Akash Thosar) is the cricket team captain and the brightest student in his year but the beautiful and confident Archana aka Archie (Rinku Rajguru) is out of his reach. She belongs to a rich and higher caste family and her father is a kingpin in local politics. But Archie is a headstrong girl who won’t let anyone boss her around and she likes the persistent and brave Parshya. After few dreamy sequences and duet songs the youngsters fall in love. However, when their families (especially Archie’s affluent family) come to know of their love all hell breaks loose. What happens to the lovers? What are the conditions they have to face? Is love above everything? Does their love story find a happy ending? The movie explains all layer by layer.

First and foremost, I would like to appreciate the director Nagraj Manjule for being brave enough to choose a sensitive subject like this. This is a great follow-up to his debut movie Fandry which released couple of years back. The script, dialogues and screenplay is perfect and flawless. The music by Ajay-Atul is one of the high points. This movie has almost every character played by a debutant. The performances are world-class especially the lead pair Rinku and Akash who are stars to watch out for. They fit their parts perfectly and for not even a frail second you feel them out of sync with their characters. No wonder Rinku won a National Award for her performance as Archie.

Cinematography by Sudhakar Reddy is good. He captures the rustic feel of the village and the gory details of the slum life in Hyderabad wonderfully with his camera. The editing is crisp and the background score compliments the tone of the movie.

Overall, it is one of the best movies of 2016. Please go and watch it!

Posted on

Urban Clap A Fraudster!

Dear #UrbanClap you sent your technician to repair my refrigerator and without checking the compressor your technician cut the pipes which voided my warranty for the compressor. The company charged me Rs.2400/- for your technician’s mistake for gas filling which would have been free if the warranty was not voided. When I call you up, asking you to pay the money (as you have put it up on your website about damage insurance worth Rs.5000/-) your representative tells me that you will only pay Rs.500/-. How justified is it and why do you mislead poor customers like me with your PROMISE tab…?

Capture
Screenshot from Urban Clap website about Rs.5000/- worth damages being covered.