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How do you make an inspirational movie about a not so well known mathematician/teacher for the mainstream audience and also manage to get them to the theaters? The team behind Hrithik Roshan starrer “Super 30” show you how.

With Bollywood heartthrob Roshan making a comeback in cinemas after a gap of two and a half years, his fans and followers see him asserting a character he has never, in his career spanning almost 20 years, impersonated. Roshan plays Anand Kumar (an educationist and a mathematician from Patna, Bihar) in this biopic based on Kumar’s life as a student turned instructor and the first ever batch of economically underprivileged students he began teaching for free at a school which would later be popularly known as “Super 30.”

The plot, which begins in narration, first takes us back to 1996 when Kumar is a student from an economically deprived family. Kumar manages to get an admission at the prestigious University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom but try as they might, his family is unable to raise enough funds for him to travel there. This is followed by a family tragedy and a sequence of events that force him to give up mathematics and sell papads for a living. Fate changes for him one day on a chance meeting with Lallan Singh (Aditya Shrivastava), CEO of Excellence Coaching. His journey then continuous from a desperate papad salesman, to a star tutor at a commercial coaching center and finally to a patron of a group of 30 bright students from the most impoverished families in the state.

“Super 30” is all about the sacrifice and perseverance of Anand Kumar and his family who give up what could have been a wealth and lavish life to teach and raise underprivileged children. The filmmakers have taken a gamble by making an inspirational film on people usually sidelined in mainstream Bollywood and a story that is usually the subject of low-budget independent films or art cinema. Having said that, they sure have taken the liberty of adding far-fetched sequences just to keep the multiplex audience entertained and despite all its subtlety, “Super 30” does have its larger-than-life moments.

Talking about sacrifices, the one that Roshan has made to give life to Anand Kumar’s character, cannot go unnoticed. Roshan, known for his chiseled Greek God-like physique, plays a Bollywood ‘anti-hero’ in the form of Kumar. He has evidently bulked up for the role, shunning his 8-pack abs and diamond-cut face, to look his part of a regular mathematics teacher. And believe it or not, he does not dance at all in the movie. Something surprising for all Roshan fans.

But where Roshan is found wanting is in dialogue delivery. For as much effort as he puts into his physical appearance, Roshan somewhat falls flat when it comes to emulating the iconic “Bihari” tone of speaking. Especially in scenes paired against the talented Pankaj Tripathi (Devraj Jagan Safdurjang, a local minister), Roshan’s Bihari accent sounds painfully assumed and not amusing at all. At a time when Bollywood has seen its fair share of Bihari characters portrayed by the likes of Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Manoj Bajpayee, Roshan’s Anand Kumar, despite all the intensity he brings to the required scenes, is not as assertive.

Who should watch it?

“Super 30” is certainly an inspirational film that makes the audience feel thankful for the privileged lives they have been living. So students, teachers, parents and movie enthusiasts, everyone can enjoy it. Fans of a flexing and grooving Hrithik Roshan might want to give it a miss though, for Roshan does nothing of that sort in “Super 30.”

Genre: Biography/Drama

Director: Vikas Bahl

Run time: 155 minutes

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Shrivastava

Rating: 2.5 stars

 Poet-turned-novelist Devi S Las­kar’s debut book about racism in Trump’s America is heartbreaking. But it’s also a devastating story that sheds light on important issues that just can’t be ignored—like bul­lying and terrorism. The book is inspired by a true event in Laskar’s life—the Georgia Bureau of Inves­tigation raided her home and held her at gunpoint, on a legal matter that was later dismissed. This event gave Laskar the idea to write about a woman who goes from being polite and submissive to one who holds her ground.

The story opens with a South Asian woman as she lies bleeding on her driveway. She has been shot. Her life flashes before her in fragments and she struggles to understand the question she has been asked all her life: Where are you really from? The protagonist of Laskar’s novel—Mother or Real Thing as she’s referred to—has what might seem like the perfect life. There’s a lov­ing husband and three beautiful daughters in the picture and she has a solid career as a journalist and aspires to be a novelist. But the color of her skin—the Mother is born in America to Bengali immigrants—doesn’t let her enjoy all these good things in life in peace. Her daughters too have inherited her skin tone and that results in a lot of bullying at school.

The narrative jumps between the past and the present as an Ameri­can ‘nightmare’ unfolds right before your eyes. But the fragments are tied together by several themes and timelines which make it easy to get a sense of who Mother is even when the story moves backwards and forwards in time. Though surviv­ing racism in America is the main theme of the book, you also get a glimpse of the lengths many wom­en often go to, to maintain peaceat home.

Mother and daughter’s refusal to tell “the man of the hour”—as Mother refers to her husband in the book—about the racism they are facing so as not to upset him is an example of that. Laskar has also tried to show how women, more so women of color, have to juggle motherhood, marriage, and ambition, and fight for respect and sometimes even just mere acknowledgement.

Although the topic the book deals with is ugly, the writing is beautiful, almost lyrical. It temporarily relieves you of all the horror that’s going on. Laskar, by her own account, is a poet first and so the book’s structure was inspired by one of her favor­ite forms of poetry—a pantoum, a Malay verse form consisting of three stanzas. ‘The Atlas of the Reds and Blues’ is unlike anything you have ever read and Laskar’s “experiment” (writing prose in poetic form) works to keep a complex narrative crisp and engaging.

First suggestion: Don’t wait for this movie to appear on Torrent or some shady website. Watch it in the theater. Second: Don’t watch it in anything other than 3D. Or you’ll miss out on the whole adventure.

Hollywood goes to Europe in this latest Marvel creation called “Spiderman: Far From Home” and despite the carnage it wreaks in some of Europe’s best-known cities, the world is saved at the end. No spoiler, this: Isn’t this how things eventually turn out in every superhero flick? And we’re safe thanks to the teamwork of Spidey (Tom Holland) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).

Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D, can mobilize the Avengers to save the world at his will, and he does so in this installment too. Holland almost effortlessly continues in his Peter Parker role that he started in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016). Sharing the screen for the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Jake Gyllenhaal playing Quentin Beck/Mysterio.

The film starts with an homage to Tony Stark/Iron Man and the Fallen Avengers as well as the “blip” that occurred in the past two movie editions of Avengers. (We are sure you have watched the biggest blockbuster, ever.)

In the new film, Parker, a high-school student, is out on an educational trip of Europe with his schoolmates, including his crush Michelle/MJ (Zendaya). Like most teenagers with a high-school crush, he has planned an eventful trip and the perfect sequence to declare his love to MJ.

But then, even on vacation, the poor chap is faced with a dubious choice: to woo his crush into falling in love with him, or answering Fury’s calling to save the world. We know what our hero chooses already.

So what’s new in this Spidey movie, you ask? Well, to start with, this is partly a coming of age story of ‘the friendly, neighborhood hero saves the world’ narrative. We see a meek and scared Parker who is ‘not yet 21’ take up the gigantic responsibility. Holland’s Spidey character has always been part of a bigger group of Avengers, with him being cast as a teenager with recently-acquired super-powers who is being groomed by the veteran Tony Stark. In Far From Home, the little, unsure boy has grown up into a responsible man, making important decisions on his own.

Although Spidey gets the whole film to himself on this one, we do at times miss the cocky Stark. Spiderman-Ironman relationship was unmatched to relations between any other Avengers, and it was always fun to watch them together. We also miss the Marvel creator Stan Lee’s (1922-2018) classic cameo. (May his departed soul find peace.) You expect him to appear on screen, at any time. Unfortunately, he does not.

The 3D recommendation is not flippant either. If you want to feel the water churn under your ‘gondola’ in Venice, watch it in 3D. If you want to hover above London Bridge like a bird, correction, a drone, watch it in 3D. If you want to experience the best of modern-day VFX, do so again. 

Who should watch it?:

Men, women and children of all ages. Period. It’s a ‘Marvelous’ PG movie with high-end graphics and a whole load of family-friendly humor. 

Rating: 4 stars

Actors:Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal

Director: Jon Watts

Run time: 129 minutes

Seldom do movies celebrate fatherhood. At least not in a way where the loving, compassionate, sacrificing, vulnerable and frail side of a father is portrayed on the big screen without glamorizing the stereotypical ‘manliness’ of screen dads. “Appa” is a movie dedicated to all the fathers. By the end credits, the audience agrees that the common perception of fathers is grossly wrong.

Written and directed by Darjeeling-based filmmaker Anmol Gurung, “Appa” has Kollywood’s own Daya Hang Rai playing ‘Birkhey driver’ and ‘appa’ (father) to Siddartha (Siddhant Raj Tamang). Birkhey, a happy-go-lucky driver who ferries tourists around the treacherous Siliguri-Darjeeling road, causes a fatal accident one day, partly because he is drunk. The accident kills a whole family of Bengali tourists with only Sid and Birkhey surviving the crash. Ridden by guilt and with natural protective instincts, Birkhey gets close to Sid, who in turn starts calling him ‘appa’. What follows in their lives is what “Appa” is all about.

The plot is simple and organic, so is the casting and the production. Rai as the loveable Birkhey finally makes an impact he had initially achieved in “Loot” (2012). After a string of movies that had him in repetitive and forgettable roles, Appa provides his fans a breath of fresh air. Birkhey, despite his drinking habits, is an affable chap, someone you’d love to know in real life. Rai has put so much life into the character that you feel every bit of emotion with him.

Also commendable in their roles are the youngsters Lama and Allona Kabo Lepcha as “Kavya,” his high school love interest. The couple look cute together and the best part is that they do not overdo the romantic bits. The innocence around ‘first love’ is rather sweetly maintained. Legendary filmmaker/actor Tulsi Ghimire also makes a comeback on the silver screen as a catholic priest/teacher with suiting dignity. Albeit in a supporting role, Aruna Karki as the friendly “anggie” (auntie, in local dialect)—a Sherpa woman who runs an eatery on the highway—is another kind-hearted, caring and immediately likeable character you’d want to meet for real. She’s a veteran and that’s how veterans should act. (Pun intended post-Dal Bhat Tarkari and Kumva Karan.)  

The best thing about Appa is that the young filmmakers from Darjeeling manage what most seasoned producers and directors in Nepal fail to—capture the essence of their location as well as of the local dialect. The cinematography is amazing and proves why Darjeeling is called the ‘Queen of the Hills.’ But more admirable is the characters in the film internalizing the ‘Daarj lingo’, which is quite popular even in Nepal for its unique diction and embedded humor.

The hills of Darjeeling resonate with music and director Gurung, who also takes credit for the film’s soundtracks along with Saikat Dev, has been able to capture the musicality that nature has given them. The songs in Appa are beautiful and the background score just fitting.

The film is evidently a low-budget production but Gurung has done a commendable job of holding together the screenplay for 1h 40m. The second half does get irritatingly Bollywoodish and at times lacks creativity, but all the good things about the film make up for these minor lapses.

Who should watch it?

Daya Hang Rai’s fans who have never lost their faith in him since “Loot” will definitely be proud of his role in “Appa”. Also, this is a family entertainer with an important message. It’s thus for everybody.

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Family/Drama

Run time: 1 hr 40 mins

Director: Anmol Gurung

Actors: Daya Hang Rai, Allona Kabo Lepcha, Siddhant Raj Tamang, Tulsi Ghimire, Aruna Karki