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Who should watch it?

This is one of the films we can recommend to the ‘ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages.’ Trust us, you don’t want to download the movie from the internet later and miss watching our spies in action, in 3D!

Animation/action

SPIES IN DISGUISE

CAST: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Ben MendelsohnKiara Advani

DIRECTION: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane

Length:1h 42m

“Spies in Disguise” is an all-out detective movie, with a cocky yet successful sleuth saving the world time and again, a nerdy sidekick assisting him in his quirky endeavors, a powerful villain set out to destroy the system, and all that technological jazz to help the heroes. And to make the visuals as imaginative as conceivable, this one is computer animated and in 3D.

Directed by the debutante duo of Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, Spies in Disguise draws multiple parallels with the 007 James Bond series. Our hero Lance Sterling (Will Smith), the secret agent for H.T.U.V. (Honor, Trust, Unity and Valor) is an obnox­iously over-confident, tuxedo-clad detective who sets out to recover an attack drone from a Japanese arms dealer. Although the mission is fairly successful at the start, Sterling discovers he has been outwitted by Killian (Ben Mendelsohn), a terrorist mastermind with a bionic arm which controls an array of weaponized drones.

Then enters into the scene Wal­ter Beckett (Tom Holland), a sci­entific genius who designs gadgets for H.T.U.V. A young genius who is socially inept and a pacifist, Beckett has been termed “weird” by his col­leagues and contemporaries all his life because of his attempts to create peaceful weapons that protect and not kill—so not appropriate for a crime-fighting agency!

The two don’t quite hit it off but when Beckett’s newest discovery, the “biodynamic concealment”, is put to test accidentally by Sterling and which then turns him into a pigeon. The Sterling one-man-army is forced to unwantedly team up with Beckett and a small group of pigeons to save the day.

The plot of Spies in Disguise, although inspired heavily by hi-fi detective movies, holds a ground of its own when it comes to a unique narration. Even in its animated form, the message is subtle yet pow­erful. While most action movies demonize the ‘villain’ and glorify the ‘hero,’ Spies shows Killian in a grey area and his perspective is not entirely dismissed, unlike in many orthodox action movies. As Sterling says in a scene, the story is wrapped in a “good guy, bad guy vortex.”

Also, the ‘heroism’ surrounding violence and vengeance is dispelled. While Sterling believes in “fighting fire with fire”, Beckett—who lost his cop mother to a violent incident early in life—holds that there are no good or bad guys in the world and people are just people. This is the film’s central conflict which is expertly resolved in the end.

When it comes to performance, although the film has multiple char­acters, it is basically a Smith-Holland show. Both actors who’re giving voiceovers to their characters prove their versatility. Smith’s Sterling is aggressive, assertive and wrapped in self-gratification. Likewise, Hol­land’s Beckett is submissive, subtle, and quaint, yet when it comes to taking a stand for what he believes in, he is relentless.

With excellent performances, exciting 3D visuals and groovy back­ground score that mixes hip-hop and old school funk, the film is an entertaining package. The only let down, if we may call it that, is the length. 1hr 42mins seems long for the story and some scenes feel a bit stretched. And for an animated movie, the humor quotient is a bit low, even though the film does have its hilarious moments

The story of “Good Newwz” has parallel cinema written all over it. It could have been a great plot for a serious, dark and thought-provoking film about the suffering of couples who cannot conceive naturally. But give this story to Karan Johar and his team of flamboyant producers, and you get ‘Good Newwz’ starring the money-making machine of Bollywood Akshay Kumar along with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh, and Kiara Advani. 

Two couples—Honey and Monika Batra (Diljit and Kiara) and Varun and Deepti Batra (Akshay and Kareena)—are married for six and seven years respectively. Both are childless, and not for the want of trying. The two Punjabi families face immense social pressure to have children. Given their biological problems, their only option is in-vitro fertilizations (IVF). Not acquainted with each other before, they are forced to meet at the hospital because of a huge mix-up caused by their same surnames. 

This leads to all the confusion and the ruckus that ensues, and how the couples deal with the problems surrounding the big mishap is what the plot is all about. Written by Jyoti Kapoor and directed by debutant Raj Mehta, GN is an entertaining package of humor, emotions, and foot-tapping Punjabi music. It is a family movie that will make you smile, chuckle, giggle, and maybe cry a little too. 

GN’s story basically addresses the growing issue of infertility among couples owing to lifestyles and other biological factors. Science has progressed enough to help them artificially conceive and that’s what Dr Joshi (Adil Hussain) says, translated, “Helping parents make babies is an art.” 

The filmmakers take a witty approach to story-telling, making it an enjoyable comedy where IVF is explained in the simplest terms and the social pressure of being childless is perfectly illustrated. The physical and mental exertions that women go through during pregnancy as well as the less talked about psychological struggles of a father are also shown convincingly. All with a tasty bit of wit and humor. GN unfolds so rapidly that you’re entertained for the whole 2hrs 12min of the film, which is not short by any means. 

Besides the on-point writing and direction, individual performances of the actors add to the already strong script. Akshay proves again why he’s the most bankable actor in the industry. From action films to senseless comedies to social dramas to inspiring biopics, he does it all with equal finesse and box-office success. In GN, Akshay’s Varun is a straightforward, no-nonsense husband who comes across as insensitive at times. But he is also a loving husband and a witty person whose coping mechanism is humor. With almost 200 commercial movies under his belt, Akshay plays his part with an ease that makes one feel that might well be Varun in real life.

Kareena as Deepti, making a comeback after a brief hiatus, is an equal match for Akshay. As a nagging wife whose biological clock is ticking and who desperately wants to conceive, Deepti is strong-headed, bossy and focused on achieving her goal. Where Kareena as Deepti specially excels is in emotions. She has matchless in the movie when it comes to dramatic scenes and she keeps the audience gripped at all times about Deepti’s fate.

Diljit as the stereotypical, loud-mouthed, kind-hearted sardaar straight outta Chandigarh is the most lovable character in the movie. Like Varun, Diljit’s Honey is oblivious to emotions and even insults, and he can easily make people laugh at him. Varun is a ‘solid character’ and Diljit manages to personify him with brilliance. Coming from the Punjabi movie industry, Diljit’s trysts in Bollywood has finally given him the success he can be proud of.

With so many talented actors, Kiara, also a central character in the movie, is underwhelming. Coming from the success of last year’s “Kabir Singh”, where she played the shy and indecipherable Preeti, Kiara as “Monika” in GN can’t seem to match the energy of her co-actors. She is neither hilarious enough in humorous scenes nor emotionally capable of holding together her character in the dramatic bits. 

The fast-paced and outright hilarious film in the first half gets a little slower and melodramatic in the second. But that is excusable, given the seriousness of the matter at hand. The emotional scenes are not too draining and, in fact, enjoyable because of Kareena. 

Who should watch it?

The film is entirely about spams, oops, sperms and ovaries. There’s a lot of talk about reproductive organs (not only the genitals) and copulation but no cringy double meaning jokes and sexualized representations. So nothing to make a Nepali family watching it together feel awkward. We highly recommend this movie, and a little PSA—when you meet that newly married couple again and feel like asking them about “good news”, please don’t! 

Rating: 4 stars

Run time: 2hrs 12mins

Director: Raj Mehta

Actors: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khana, Diljit Dosanjh, Kiara Advani 

Genre: Comedy/Drama

When you go to a Punjabi dhaba for some grub, you don’t expect to be served champagne and caviar. Parathas and lassi maybe, but no fancy stuff. That’s the kind of expectation you take with you when you go to watch a Salman Khan movie, that too one directed by Prabhu Deva.

Continuing in his role as “Chulbul Pandey” that began with “Dabang” (2010), Khan in “Dabang 3” is the same vigilante policeman who hails himself as “Robinhood Pandey” for the extra-judicial justice he metes out. Problematic as his character might be legally, one cannot deny that Chulbul Pandey is one of the most loved cop characters in the history of Bollywood.

A dacoit in the middle of a robbery rubs a lamp, hoping that a genie would appear. But then enters our hero who disarms them all while dodging hundreds of bullets with his dancing skills. That’s how Chulbul is introduced and that’s what the audience expects for the entire 2hrs 43mins. And people seemed to enjoy every moment of the elongated movie. A win for the Khan Brothers, but not a big one.

Dabang 3 is a Bollywood masala movie packed with absurdities. With the actor/choreographer turned director Prabhu Deva donning the director’s hat, the film only gets wilder. Forget what you studied in your physics class and forgo your logic and only then can you enjoy Dabang 3.

In this movie, we’re taken back in time for an ‘origin story’ of Chulbul Pandey. The trailer itself is a tell-tale so without the fear of giving out a spoiler, we can openly hint that a tragedy befalls a young man which forever changes his life. “Dhaakad Pandey” becomes Chulbul, and why he becomes a cop is an obvious guess.

But despite having nothing for a story, the writing is clever enough to incorporate bits and pieces from the previous two Dabangs to give the audience something to think about, identify and recall. We’re shown the origins of Chulbul’s memorable dialogues from the previous movies and how he picked up the style of hanging his sunglasses on the back of his collar.

Dabang 3 also revives some characters from the franchise and manages to replace the late actor Vinod Khanna who played Chulbul’s father with a convincing lookalike. The 21-year-old actress Saiee Manjrekar debuts opposite the 53-year-old Salman Khan as “Khusi”, the center figure around which the tragedy revolves. Sonakshi Sinha, who debuted in the same franchise in 2010, retains her role as “Rajjo”, Chulbul’s wife. While Sinha was brilliant in her debut role and bagged half-a-dozen ‘100 crore club’ roles consequently, there’s nothing to write about Manjrekar besides the customary “better luck next time.”

But as much as it takes from the previous Dabangs, D3 serves nowhere near the entertainment value they did. Yes, the film is partly enjoyable and doesn’t get boring despite its length, but this one fails to clear the high storytelling bars raised by the first two installments.

There’s a lot of forced humor. Many comic scenes could have been cut out to make the storytelling compact. Also, the dialogues are out of whack with the flow. The most underwhelming part of the movie though is the music. Sajid-Wajid cannot recreate the magic of the first Dabang.

The Dabang franchise banks on its item numbers and romantic songs to get the audience talking about the film. But there’s nothing in D3 to uphold that legacy. To make matters worse, the filmmakers include way too many songs in the already stretched-out movie. The recreated “Munna Badnaam Hua” doesn’t have the same groove “Munni” did, and will probably not be the most played song at Indian weddings.

While Salman Khan is his usual self in the movie, South Indian actor Sudeep playing Chulbul’s arch nemesis “Bali Singh” is the best performer. Singh is the most brutal villain in the whole franchise. He is cruel, unrelenting and shrewd. Sudeep, despite his limited Hindi, manages to give the character the viciousness it demands.

Who should watch it?

Any Salman fan would love this film. Also, this is meant for the audience who love illogical potboilers and there’s nothing wrong with us feeding our guilty pleasures once a while, right?

Rating: 2.5 stars

Genre: Action

Run time: 2h 43m

Director: Prabhu Deva

Actors: Salman Khan, Sudeep, Sonakshi Sinha

Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji), the Senior Inspector from the Crime Branch, Mumbai in “Mardaani” (2014) is now a Superintendent of Police stationed at Kota, Rajasthan in “Mardaani 2”. But even with the promotion and additional authority, Roy’s battle to prove herself as a female IPS officer continues in the male-dominated police force. While she fought and brought an organized nexus of human traffickers to justice in the previous installment, Roy in the latest release meets more than her match in the conniving and ruthless murderer “Sunny” (Vishal Jethwa.)

A mutilated dead body of a young girl “Jessica” is found in an abandoned construction site in Kota. Police investigation finds she has been repeatedly raped and tortured. Roy’s further inquiry into the murder reveals a chain of kidnappings, rapes and killings that are somewhat interlinked—and all point to a single suspect. With some of her own officers ranged against her—just because she is a woman—and pitted against a psychologically disturbed but extremely intelligent criminal, who also enjoys an extent of political protection, the deck is stacked against Roy.

The mind games between Roy and Sunny make for the meat of the movie. While Roy is as fearless and determined as she was in Mumbai, her nemesis Sunny, who also holds a personal grudge against the police officer, is always a step ahead of her.

Produced by Yash Raj Films, Mardaani 2 is written and directed by Gopi Puthran, also the writer and assistant director of the first installment. Despite taking the director’s seat for the first time, Puthran shows amazing maturity and is brilliantly by the production team. Mardaani 2—a mainstream release in Bollywood—breaks so many conventions it gives off the vibe of a low- budget, high-spirited independent film. 

For one, a film on a sensitive topic like violence against women and inbred sexism in Indian society does nothing to glamorize the women in it. There is no objectification whatsoever, no extravagant ‘creative liberties’ taken to project a larger-than-life hero in Roy and no heroic male character on whose shoulder our protagonist has to rest her. Sans peppy item numbers and even promotional songs, as the team believed they did not fit the film’s narrative, Mardaani 2 banks more on strong writing, capable actors and diligent production. The maturity level of the filmmakers is highlighted by the fact that even in sequences which could have ended with the culprit being lynched or ‘encountered’ by a cheering mob, filmmakers resist this easy temptation.

The smart screenplay and witty dialogues befit the actors, especially Mukerji and Jethwa, both of whom give stellar performances. Even after a pregnancy-induced hiatus, Mukerji proves she is still the best pick for Roy’s character. Mukerji as Roy is bold, caring, and ferocious. And the best part of Roy is, the filmmakers have not tried to emulate the male action heroes of Bollywood. She’s a fighter all right, but her battles are won by patience, perseverance, and intellect.

Playing the most important role in the film, the youngster Jethwa is impressive. With the ability to change identity and blend into the crowd, Sunny is a dangerous villain and Jethwa perfectly captures the poisonous evil in him. Sunny in brought up in a society where a woman needs to be punished for speaking out, and raping her is the best form of punishment in his reckoning. With that mentality, a childhood trauma and asthma, Jethwa carries Sunny’s multi-layered character with aplomb.

Who should watch it?

This is a must-watch. Not only does it destroy the misconceptions about women in our patriarchal society. It also puts a woman in a position where she can make a difference, on her own. Roy’s character is nothing sort of inspirational and the many messages that the film gives are on point and well explained. We recommend you watch the first Mardaani too if you haven’t.

Rating: ****

Director: Gopi Puthran

Actors: Rani Mukerji, Vishal Jethwa

Time: 1hrs 45mins

Genre: Thriller