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Amitabh Bachchan’s longevity in Bollywood as the lead actor is breathtaking. The veteran thespian, now 76, started his acting career way-way back in 1969 with ‘Saat Hindustani’. Fifty years later, he continues to mesmerize audi­ences with his unmatched screen presence and that familiar deep, resounding voice. Having always ruled the big screen, the mass success of Kaun Banega Crorepati has ensured that there will be no star like him, ever, even on the small screen. And yet his career, in both these formats, is far from over.

Anyone who has watched his latest movie, ‘Badla’, would know exactly why. Bachchan fans of late have gotten some amazing psycho­logical thrillers like ‘Wazir’ (2016) and ‘Pink’ (the same year). Badla is better still. This touch over two-hour dare-not-blink movie will hook you in right at the start, then take you down a roller-coaster murder-mys­tery storyline, before landing in a shocking dénouement. It’s as good a suspense movie as you will ever see, anywhere.

 Who should watch it?

Let us say if you don’t like a film that makes you think, and constantly rethink, your assumptions, then perhaps skip it. For everyone else, go book a ticket RIGHT NOW.

The film starts with the celebrated lawyer Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bach­chan) visiting the house of Naina Shethi (Taapsee Pannu), who has sought his services to get herself absolved of a murder charge. A wife and a mother, and an internation­ally celebrated businesswoman, Shethi has been caught red-hand­ed inside a hotel room with the dead body of her paramour Arjun Joesph (Tony Luke).

The doors and windows are locked from the inside; no one else has entered the room; Shethi’s guilt is obvious; it’s an open and shut case. Even with all the evidence stacked against her, Shethi is determined to prove her innocence and the only person capable of getting her out of the mess is Gupta, the veteran lawyer who has never lost a case he has taken up.

If you love murder-mystery, there are unlikely to be many better than Badla

The whole movie revolves around a three-hour-long lawyer-client con­versation inside Sethi’s apartment. The business tycoon recounts exact­ly what happened inside the hotel room; Gupta goads her to focus on the tiniest of details; and it’s a constant back and forth to estab­lish what happened that chilly winter night.

Nearly the entire movie compris­es flashbacks. If you think that is boring, think again. Written and directed by Sujoy Ghosh, you are guaranteed to be at the edge of your seat right through his tight-knit psy­chological thriller.

Bachchan pulls off another mas­terly performance as a ruthless interrogator; Pannu is as convinc­ing in her role as a businesswoman who does not easily trust her lawyer and yet who will literally lose every­thing if she loses this case. Amri­ta Singh convinces as a distraught mother whose son has been mur­dered, while Tanveer Ghani pulls off another commendable, if low-key, performance as her husband.

The film has no songs to break the tension, nor one extraneous scene. The psychological back and forth between Bachchan, the lawyer, and Pannu, his client, is intense, each constantly trying to outsmart the other, even as they pursue a common goal: her acquittal.

Without giving the plot away, the movie has minor flaws and the ending may not satisfy every­one. But if you love murder-mys­tery, there are unlikely to be many better than Badla, not even Hollywood vintage.

Movie: Badla

Genre: Crime/Mystery

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh

Direction: Sujoy Ghosh

Rating: 4.5/5

‘Luka Chuppi’ is a mod­ern-day rom-com that revolves around the issue of live-in relationships. While the comedy stems from a blend of political satire and Bolly­wood stereotype of a weird joint family, the romance is pretty sim­plistic and at times feels rushed. If anything, this movie is a “brainless comedy” but nonetheless also a stellar entertainer.

The story follows Guddu Shuk­la (Kartik Aaryan), a reporter at a local TV station at Mathura who’s gotten himself quite a rep­utation for his quirky TV persona with his best friend and camera­man Abbas Sheikh (Aparshakti Khurana). Funded by Tripathi Ji (Vinay Pathak), the chief of a Hin­du nationalist party (that makes demonizing live-in relationships and PDA its political agenda), the TV station assigns Guddu the issue of live-in relationships. For his new assignment he gets partnered with Rashmi Trivedi (Kriti Sanon), daughter of Trivedi Ji. Their friend­ship quickly escalates into full blown romance in the course of their assignment.

 Who should watch it?

Fans of rom-coms should totally watch it. If you’re looking for a total entertainer to unwind this weekend, this is a good option. And most definitely if you’re a fan of Kartik and/or Kriti. They won’t disappoint.

Guddu then drops down on his knee and proposes Rashmi. Even though she freaks out at first—part confused, part curious—Rashmi proposes they first try a live-in rela­tionship to test their compatibility. The story follows their adventure as they experiment with a post-mod­ern concept in a conservative Hin­du society.

Both Aryan and Sanon are fully into their roles, almost intoxicating­ly so, with their amazing chemistry. While that can be said for most of the cast, the over-the-top character of Babulal (Pankaj Tripathi) feels a little out of place.

The comedy and the irresistible romance make up for an utter disregard for logic

With its political satire, situational comedy, and plot twists, the movie is sure to give the audience a good dose of laughter. The story also peddles a host of other socie­tal issues like misogyny, gender inequality, caste bias and moral policing, all of which get a funny treatment. And the story couldn’t be easier to follow.

The plot is a little predictable; the trailer makes it even more predictable and spoils important scenes. The plot also feels repet­itive at times. On the plus side, there a number of good political satires. (In a scene a journalist is seen asking “So you’re an anti-na­tionalist?” when an actor reveals he’s in a live-in relationship.) The subtle dig at the moral policing of the BJP-allied Bajrang Dal is also on the mark.

Again, while the movie dis­plays an utter disregard for logic, the comedy and the irresistible romance make up for it. If you’re willing to leave behind logic at the ticket counter and watch the movie for what it truly is, you’re surely to be entertained for the two-hour runtime. As a debutant, director Laxman Utekar does an amazing job of bringing it all together.

Movie: Luka Chuppi

Genre: Comedy/Romane

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Atul Srivastava, Alka Amin

Direction: Laxman Utekar

Rating: 3.5/5

The Indreni Foodland at Maharajgunj, Chakrapath, opened its premises at a time fine dining was still rare in the area.

 Located opposite of the Bhatbhateni Supermarket Maharajgunj, the Indreni Foodland is a multi-cuisine restaurant with a dedicated café as well. Don’t get fooled by its Nepali name though. The Indreni Foodland is a chain of lavish fine-dining restaurants that operate in various places around Kathmandu with the same name, under the broader Indreni group. It is an established brand in the hospitality industry of Nepal with almost a dozen entities under its portfolio.

 Coffee and cocktails, naan and sandwiches, palak paneer and pastries, Indreni Foodland has them all and you can enjoy your meal at its luxurious premises, which are almost secluded from the busy ring road by a bit of greenery.

THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Tiger Chicken

- Jumbo Prawn

- Swiss Roll

- pastry

Opening hours: 8 am-10 pm

Location: Maharajgunj

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,000

Reservations: 014720421

 Following the success of ‘Dhamaal’ (2007) and ‘Double Dhamaal’ (2011) comes ‘Total Dhamaal’. With a stellar cast and previous success of the franchise, this film however fails to meet expec­tations: for a comedy film, there are hardly any moments where you feel like laughing out loud. The plot is simple enough. Rs 500 million has been stashed away in a zoo in a town called Janakpur (no, not the one in Nepal). This leads to a mad chase for the booty among a bunch of eccentric and greedy characters. Among them are bad­ly-matched siblings, a bickering couple on the verge of a divorce, a conman, local goons, and a police commissioner. Their slapstick ride to get to the money first, complete with flying cars, falling bridges and crashing helicopters, is what the film is all about. Previous movies of the franchise were also about treasure hunts.

Who should watch it?

Fans of slapstick comedy could like, nay, even enjoy, Total Dhamaal. So might the old fans of Madhuri Dixit. Her pairing with Anil Kapoor is a nostalgia-filled walk down the memory lane.

This film packs in many inter­twined sequences within 2h10m of runtime with ease. The rath­er simple plot also makes the story easy to follow, even though there are a welter of characters. The lavish songs and dance-num­bers are also pleasing on the eye. Fans of comedy movies will get to see known faces in Bollywood like Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Javed Jaffrey, Sanjay Mishra and Johnny Lever, not to mention the famous Madhuri Dixit-Anil Kapoor combo who have made a comeback in this film.

But the movie could have been so much better given its great cast­ing and a famous franchise name. Excess use of badly-executed com­puter graphics and predictability of punch lines are downers too. Dialogue delivery is sloppy, leading to poor comic timing, a problem compounded by equally bad editing.

Devgn, who has appeared in many hit comedies like the ‘Golmaal’ fran­chise, is a letdown. We have also seen better camaraderie between Javed Jaffrey and Arshad Warsi. The film does not do justice to their collective talent and performances they have delivered in earlier install­ments of the film. But Deshmukh does justice to his character of a conman. Though Johnny Lever gets far less screen-time, Deshmukh’s scene with him is hilarious.

Rest of the talent like Boman Irani and Esha Gupta are lost in half-heartedly written characters and poor dialogues. We are see­ing Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit together on-screen after a long time and this is the first mainstream com­edy where they have acted togeth­er. As a quarrelsome couple, they make for a potent combo. But given their filmography of hits like ‘Ram Lakhan’, ‘Beta’ and ‘Tezaab’, these two deserved a better comeback.

The director of the film Indra Kumar has said in an interview that another film will be released under ‘Dhamaal’ franchise, to be called ‘Full-on Dhamaal’ or ‘Triple Dhamaal’. If only movies lived up to their names!.

Movie: Total Dhamaal

Director: Indra Kumar

Genre: Comedy/Action

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi

Rating: 2.5/5