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 ‘Aladdin’ is a live-action musi­cal fantasy adaptation of the popular 1992 Disney produc­tion of the same name. The film follows Aladdin (Mena Massoud), a street urchin, as he falls in love with Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott), befriends a wish-granting Genie (Will Smith), and must save the kingdom from the conspiring Jafar (Marwan Kenzari).

When the first pictures of the movie were released back in December, it received a mountain of criticism for the film’s portrayal of Genie, as the character was labelled “too humanoid”, resulting in upset fans. Then they released the trailer in March. The trailer got the fans a little less upset than they were back in December. And now, in May, with the movie out, many fans, including this reviewer, have found themselves wronged for judging the movie so quick.

Aladdin, as much as it was a fantastic cinematic experience, was also a major reminiscence of my childhood. From jumping through roofs on Agrabah in the 1993 video game ‘Aladdin’ in its compact 2D gameplay to rubbing puja lamps hoping to find a genie as a child, the movie brought back many elements of my childhood.

The opening ‘Arabian Nights’ sequence gave me massive goosebumps for two straight minutes. It was dealt beautifully, conserving the mystery, horror and scale from the original.

You know what was better than the opening sequence? The acting. Don’t get me started on that. Will Smith is funny, and will keep the tone light-hearted right through with his wit and humor. While his portrayal doesn’t compare to Robin Williams’ in the original, it is unfair to criticize Smith for trying things a little differently.

Fans were skeptical about Mena Massoud as Aladdin but he’s proved everyone wrong with his phenomenal performance. Starting with his perfect chemistry with the beautiful Naomi Scott, everything feels smooth. Scott looks gorgeous as a middle-eastern princess and delivers a strong performance as the strong-minded patriarchy-breaking Princess Jasmine. They couldn’t have put together a better Aladdin-Jasmine duo. Marwan Kenzari as the antagonist Jafar is also fantastic, radiating a cunning dark persona with every dialogue.

The problems with the movie are few but important. First, the set feels superbly small. The characters revolve around the same places and the audience is treated with the monotony of the same building over and over again. Disney should have had no problem shelling out enough budget to accommodate more exploration within the city of Agrabah. Second, the CGI does not do justice for a Disney movie. At times, visual effects feel bland—a major flaw for a fantasy movie like Aladdin.

Third, the ‘musical’ part of the movie fails where the original delivered big-time. Most of the musicals feel ill-timed and forgettable. ‘Speechless’ will probably be the only song from the movie I’ll remember.

Even with its downsides, Aladdin is still an amazing movie you will enjoy watching. The only way it will disappoint you is if you’re a purist and want everything recreated exactly like the original. Take your kids, or/and your kid-self and sit back for 2h 8m of pure Arabian magic.

Who should watch it?

The kids will absolutely love it. So will the fans of Will Smith. Visual effects and some songs are disappointing. But, overall, a fun film for the whole family.

Movie: Aladdin

Genre: Fantasy

Csst: Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban

Direction: Guy Ritchie

 Bipin Karki is a good actor, no doubt. The roles he picks remind this reviewer of Nawazuddin Siddique, that versatile Bollywood actor who nails nearly everything he does. Yet there is also a definite difference between the two. Siddique is so good because everything he does feels effortless, as if there is no difference between the actor and the persona he portrays. But rather than relying on his natural talent to impress the audience, Karki sometimes pushes it too far. This is amply manifest in ‘Jatrai Jatra’, the sequel to the highly-successful 2016 heist comedy ‘Jatra’. For some reason, in the second edition, Director Pradeep Bhattarai saw it fit to make Karki’s character of Phadindra Timilsina repeatedly cry. Not just cry. He cries and drools and spits and speaks, all at the same time. The spittle-flecked scenes are obnoxious, made worse because you can barely make out what Timilsina, with his weird accent, is saying. It is sad that when you come out of the theater this is what you remember, rather than Timilsina’s otherwise great acting, amply supported by his two partners-in-crime —Jayas (Rabindra Singh Baniya) and Munna (Rabindra Jha)—in what is a twisted gold heist.

The movie starts with the release of these three ‘criminals’ jailed for stealing Rs 3 million. They have no intent of going back to a life of crime after their release. But as luck would have it, Timilsina, a taxi driver, in another freak incidence, finds himself in possession of 10kg of gold. The plot revolves around how the three try to safeguard their chance wealth and how the real owners of the gold, a gang of hardened criminals, is intent on getting it back. Oh, and in this gang is Don (Dayahang Rai), who belts out another low-key but masterful performance.

Barsha Raut in her role as Timilsina’s estranged wife is effective too, even if she can be a little hard to understand: at one point she is a moralizing wife trying to convince her husband not to take the ‘wrong path’ again, in the other she is an active partner in the gold heist.

Packed with such good actors, some situational comedy scenes are hilarious. But overall, the film disappoints: it is too loud, and trite, and emotional in all the wrong places. Someone who has recently watched Hari Bansha Acharya-starrer ‘Dal Bhat Tarkari’ and was put off by Acharya’s puerile acting and Niruta Singh’s constant shouting will find similar jarring echoes in ‘Jatrai Jatra’. And there is far too much grime and shit and dirty toilets on display, which, again, are a big put-off for the audiences savoring their popcorn and nachos.

Not that it is a bad movie. There is suspense, drama, comedy, some nice dance numbers too. Yet given the anticipation it had generated, Jatrai Jatra disappoints. If you have nothing better to do in the weekend, you may still want to watch it. But keep your expectations low.

Who should watch it?

Die-hard Bipin Adhikari and Dayahang Rai fans should have enough to keep them hooked for 2h17m of runtime. If you have the stomach to ignore all the (literal) filth on display, the other bits of the package are—how do we put it?—digestible.

Movie: Jatrai jatra

Genre:  Heist Comedy

Cast: Bipin Karki, Dayahang Rai, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Rabindra Jha, Barsha Rau, Rajaram Poudel

Direction: Pradeep Bhattarai

Rating: 3.5/5

 “The crazy quilt of a writer’s life: warm enough, though it never quite covers the toes,” writes Andrew Sean Greer in his latest novel ‘Less’ that won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2018. And it is a writer’s fascinating and often filled-with-self-doubt life that Greer shows us in ‘Less’ through Arthur Less. We are told that Pulitzer is pronounced “Pull-it-sir” not “Pew-lit-sir” and that the protagonist, Arthur Less, will never win a Pull-it-sir Prize. For Arthur, who is about to turn 50 and thinks he is possibly the “only gay man to have ever grown old,” this makes him consider himself “mediocre”. His first book was a moderate success but publishers have rejected his latest work. To make matters worse, Freddy, his younger ex-boyfriend, is getting married and Less doesn’t have an excuse not to attend the wedding. So he runs away, hopping from one literary event to another; events to which he had been invited to, but once had no plans of attending.

As Arthur travels the world, from New York, Paris and Berlin to Morocco, India and Kyoto, in a style reminiscent of Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, you see him deal with a lot of emotional baggage and he is also forever getting pulled into his past as random events force Arthur to reminisce on life. Apart from the memories, there are also a lot of mishaps and misunderstandings that make Arthur’s life far less “mediocre” than he believes it to be.

With ‘Less’, you go on a journey around the world while rediscovering what it means to love and be loved

The travelogue bit of the narrative that runs parallel to Less’s reflections on love and relationships make for compelling storytelling. During the various stages of Arthur’s soul-searching journey we also get to meet fascinating new characters. It’s all neatly tied together by a narrator who we know is someone in Arthur’s life but whose identity Greer has you guessing until the very end. With ‘Less’, you go on a journey around the world while rediscovering what it means to love and be loved.

‘Less’ isn’t laugh-out-loud funny but it’s one of the wittiest and smartest novels you will ever read. That we guarantee. Arthur, in his self-deprecating and insecure ways, is a charming character. Greer is a fine writer, a master of words, who is able to keep it fun and poignant at the same time. In an interview, Greer said he had written a book he wanted to, and by doing so has given us a book we have always wanted to read.

Book: Less

Genre: Fiction

Author: Andrew Sean Greer

Published: 2018

Publisher: Le Boudreaux Books

Language: English

Pages: 261, Paperback

Ever watched a movie and felt like you’ve figured out the whole story from the very first scene? That’s ‘Student of the Year 2’. A repetitive formula of the ‘rich vs poor’, ‘good vs evil’ drama that has been frequently used in Bollywood for almost a century now. So SOTY2 is a teenage drama with an attempted coming of age story, puppyish love angles, little comic relief, and a few so-so action sequences. A typical Bollywood masala, but without the main ingredients of a moving story: captivating screenplay and convincing acting.

Tiger does all the things a Bollywood director would want him to: flex 8-pack abs, dance, fight, play kabaddi and even parkour

The movie revolves around the ‘prestigious’ Dignity Cup and the Student of the Year title which is hosted by St Teresa’s College, one of the biggest and poshest colleges in Dehradun. Now our lower-middle class hero Rohan (Tiger Shroff) dreams of leaving his lower-middle class Pishorilal Chamandas College, Mussoorie to… not win the cup actually, but be together with his sweetheart Mridula aka Mia (Tara Sutaria). He does manage to get into the college on a sports scholarship for his kabaddi prowess, but all is not well for our poor hero. He has to face two formidable foes in the form of spoilt, rich brats Shreya (Ananya Pandey) and Manav (Aditya Seal) who’re basically the most powerful siblings in the college because their dad is a trustee there. Sigh!

The original Student of the Year (2012) launched the careers of Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddartha Malhotra. All the starlets from the highly successful movie managed to impress both the audience and the critics, and get more work as a result. Alas, the same cannot be said for this time’s debutants Tara and starlet Ananya (Chunky Pandey’s daughter). They falter in dialogue delivery and expressing emotions. Their dancing is just heavily choreographed mechanical movements. Not their fault. They’re made to dance next to the hunky Tiger, who shines, for the sheer lack of competition. The girls have a very forgettable debut in SOTY2 and they should definitely work on honing their skills while they’re young if they do not want to end up playing second (or third or fourth) fiddle in B-grade rom-com ensembles.

Tiger, on the other hand, does all the things a Bollywood director, Punit Malhotra in this case, would want him to do. He flexes his 8-pack abs, dances, fights, plays kabaddi like a kung fu master and even parkours. But the one thing he, despite of his talents, fails in is romance. Not entirely his fault again. Looks like Bollywood has forgotten to make young people romantic since Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Low-key actor Aditya Seal, playing the stereotypical college jock Manav, almost outshines Tiger at some points. He does justice to his character of a wealthy and arrogant but skilled college idol with his stony countenance and resolute acting.

Rohan’s friends from Pishorilal also manage to add humor and the best thing about the movie is that it maintains a healthy pace throughout, not slowing down to boring sequences.

Who should watch it?

It may lack originality but the movie is not altogether boring for a Bollywood masala fan. You can at least watch it for the overgenerous production. Even poor people cut three-layer cakes in Dharma movies, so you can definitely watch SOTY2 for the larger-than-life characterizations and enjoy it as one big fashion show.

Movie: Student of the Year 2

Genre:  Drama

Cast: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal

Direction: Punit Malhotra

Rating: 2/5