Reviews (63)

Vinod Khanna was once considered as a top star in Hindi cinema. Infact, he was the media's blue-eyed man against the superstar Bachchan in late 70's. A shocking decision by Khanna to leave the filmdom and join Osho's ashram left the dream unfulfilled. However, after a 5-6 year gap when Khanna made a comeback with 2 back to back hits Insaaf and Satyamev Jayate, both released in 1987 he did prove his point. Following, these 2 movies came this movie with his friend Feroz Khan. Despite not being a hit for me Davayan has Vinod Khanaa in his best ever performance alongwith Gulzars Achanak and Raj Khosla's Mera Gaon Mera Desh and is brilliantly directed by Feroz Khan.

After making crime thrillers like Apradh ,Dharmatama and the biggest of them all Qurbaani, Feroz hit a slight low patch as Jaanbaaz despite having an excellent music track failed to match the success of his earlier movies. In order to recreate the magic Feroz made the most intense movie of his carrier-Dayavan. The movie was a remake of Tamil classic Nayakan directed by Mani Rathnam and had Kamal Hassan in the lead. Though its impossible to match Mani Ratnam and Kamal Hassan of Nayakan , I must say that Feroz Khan made a great remake of a classic movie. It is very difficult to make a good remake of a good movie and Khan deserves full credit for handling a subject which was so different from his style of cinema.

However, the highlight of the movie is Vinod Khanna. Kamal Hassan's Nayakan act CANNOT be matched BUT I must say that Vinod lived the role of Shakti to perfection and gave one of the best performances of a man caught in the web of crime. His diction, accent and typical Tamilian behaviour and look deserves a pat on the back of both Vinod himself and Feroz Khan.

Despite the fact that the film didn't do well and lot of critics didn't like it as the original masterpiece NAYAKAN was so fresh, I still feel Dayavan was very well remade and enacted!

Indian films particularly Hindi ones had a great fan following in 1970s and early 1980s. Amongst other factors one of the biggest factors was the phenomenon of AMITABH BACHCHAN and of course SALIM-JAVED-the creators of his "ANGRY YOUNG MAN" image. A film credits saying WRITTEN BY SALIM-JAVED for close to 1.5 decade meant that the film will be dollops of larger-than-life entertainment, dramatic scenes and paisa vasool dialogues. To be fair to the legendary duo they also tackled lost and found, romantic, serious and comedy scenes very well, but it was their angry young man discovery became their ticket to Bollywood history.

Amazon Primes 3 episodic documentary "Angry Young Men" directed by film editor Namrata Rao is a well-made tribute to the brilliant and most popular Hindi film writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. The series is jointly produced by the companies of their sons Salman Khans S. K. Films as well as Farhan Akhtar's Excel entertainment and is a homage to their amazing journey. The series covers a series of interviews of the duo, their families, and inputs by Amitabh Bachchan, Ramesh Sippy, Yash Chopra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra, Aamir Khan, Prem Chopra, Raj Kumar Hirani, Shatrughan Sinha, Yash amongst lot of others. It starts with their childhood, their struggle, their initial individual works, their success, their peak, their arrogance, their fall, their redemption, their breakup and finally their lives as of now.

The show is full on nostalgia, many known facts, some unknown incidents, and re-creates the magic of their blockbusters particularly Deewaar, Sholay, Zanjeer and Don. The failure of Imaan Dharam also is covered very well. The starting animations mixing characters and situations from their films is excellent!! The painful memories of personal loss and financial low by Salim Khan and Javed bring a lump to their fans.

However, there is flip side too, as one feels that there should be 1-2 episode more to discuss more about their other films -Trishul, Shakti, Kaala Pathar, Kranti, etc. Also, total ignorance of films like Majboor and the grand finale Mr. India was surprising. I felt the makers should have touched the success they got after their separation Salim Khan in Naam and Javed in Arjun, Betaab, Meri Jung and later as legendary lyricist. As die-hard fans of the duo who have read a lot about them in last many decades will feel "Hey its good but we already knew most about them already"!

Having said that I cannot deny that I fully loved the series for a celebration of a golden phase of Hindi cinema and for the duo who proved for long that "A film without a good script will fall flat"!!!!

Hrishida's last film with Amitabh-Bemisaal was a Hindi remake of the Bangla film Ami Se O Shakha starring Uttam Kumar!

The film was based on a medical background and since my father was a doctor it became a favourite of his and our entire family. It looks as a suitable movie to end this golden team of Hrishida-Amitabh although I wish that they make some more movies. In an interview Hrishida revealed that once he had an argument with his good friend Raj Kapoor on human psyche. Raj Kapoor said that if one gives bread and shelter to a dog he always remains faithful but if u do the same to a man he will stab your back. Hrishida replied that it was not the same everytime and he said the plot of Bemisal proved that!

The script has shades of earlier Hrishida's classics Anand-medical profession and 2 friends who have different views on the profession and Namak Haram where also Amitabh takes the blame on something which he had not commited. It also has shades of Tere Mere Sapne. The story and screenplay of Bemisaal is amazing. The relationship between the 3 main characters is amazing. The friendship of Amitabh and Vinod, the romance of Raakhee and Vinod and above all the relationship between Amitabh and Raakhee are very well scripted and enacted. Hrishida repeated his team of Jurmaana-which had Amitabh bachchan, Raakhee and Vinod Mehra in lead. The movie released in 1982 has one of the best ever performances by Amitabh Bachchan. He is the lifeline of the movie. He excels in every scene and it is amazing to see him pump life in the complex character of Dr. Sudhir Rai. Surprisingly he did not had a proper action scene nor did he had a drunk or exactly comic sequence.

The performances by Vinod Mehra and Rakhee are also top notch. R. D. Burmans music lifts the film and all songs still remain popular!!

The movie was the least successful of the 6 Big B movies released in 1982. The other 5 being Namak Halaal, Khuddar, Shakti, Satte Pe satta and Desh Premee. Infact it did not do an impressive business but it remains a classic and was a huge favourite on the video circuit!!!

In 1980s and 90s,Doordarshan used to telecast regional films alongwith English subtitles so that others could also enjoy good films in other Indian languages.

With the coming of satellite tv and DD on the backburner,this trend too ended.

However of late there had been a rise amongst many film fans who want to watch good cinema irrespective of language. They enjoy French,Spanish, Italian cinema with English subtitles and also good Indian regional cinema with subtitles.

Some OTT platforms have realised this and started showcasing good Indianb regional stuff.

Thanks to Amazon Prime,I watched Satyajit Rays last directed film ,the 1991 Bengali acclaimed AGANTUK.

This is a film which I wanted to watch since long and finally got the chance. The film a simple story of a rather amusing and mysterious visitor who claims to be uncle of the leading lady lands as a Agantuk-guest.

The simple story of Ray is multi layered by the maestro as he inserts so many topics like anthropology,sciences, mythology,culture,civilization,society ,travel,architecture and many others. The Hindi film where I saw so much discussion on various topics and intellectual stimulation was Govind Nihalinis classic Party. Hindi film audience mostly saw Utpal dutt in a comic role or occasional villain role. The fact remains that he was an acting legend and very versatile.

Utpal dutt is excellent in one of his last roles. I found his questioning of civilised and civilization is also connected with Kamal hassans philosophy in Tamil cult Anbe Sivam in a way. He is ably supported by Mamata Shankar, Deepankar De,Rabi Gosh and Dhritiman chaterjee.

The film though has a predictable climax ,yet the overall multi dimensional views makes it a rather intellectual delight. The scenes between Utpal Dutt and the kid are lovely to watch.

Somehow this Sunday the timing of my watching Agantuk wity subtitles matched with the timings of regional film telecast on DD-Sunday afternoons!!

I found an uncanny similarity of the mysterious visitor in Agantuk to Rajesh khannas character in Hrishidas brilliant Bawarchi. Also, in a way I found Paresh rawals character of Atithi Tum kab jaoge a lighter vein similarity to Rays Agantuk.

Agantuk ofcourse is more serious in tone.

A really well made Bengali film of 1990s!!

By 1995,I had read and heard a lot about the great movies Govind Nihalani had made but I had seen none of them. One afternoon while watching a weekly programme India This Week on DD-Metro I saw the preview of his then forthcoming movie-Drohkaal. Alongwith the preview there was series of behind the camera scenes and interviews about the movie which had wooed audience in film-festivals even before its release. From what I saw I realised that Drohkaal was a hard-hitting movie. At that time I was a fan of Ajay Devgan stunts but his carrier was on a low phase. I just dreamt that if ever Govind made a commercial film with Ajay Devgan as its hero what will be like.4 years later when Thakshak was released I smiled pleasantly on seeing that the dream was realised. However the flopping of the film made me feel that it is not good. Then one of my friends called it a damp-squib as he had a big hang-over of Vaastav-on similar lines and released around the same time. In all this I almost missed watching Thakshak. However when one of my other hostel-mate gave me rave review about it and said that it is a must watch for intense movie buffs we brought the VCD to hostel and I still remember that we watched it and loved it.

The story of Thakshak is brilliant. Although the concept of land-shark was shown in Mahesh Bhatt's Kabzaa-1986 as well but in Thakshak it is shown in a really complex way. The police-crime-politics nexus is also shown brilliantly. The movie shows a complexity in almost every character and it is portrayed in a good way. Like all famous Nihalani movies-Ardh Satya,Aakrosh and Drohkaal,Thakshak has a strong undercurrent of violence.

Ajay Devgan gives a brilliant performance as Ishan. Although the movie did not do wonders for him still he got acclaim for his portrayal of a man caught in a web of crime. It is totally different from his performance in Company-2002. Tabu as Suman is excellent. She gives new dimension to the role and proves that even heroines can make a solid impact in violent male oriented movies. The mature romantic scenes between the couple are very well executed and one cannot believe that this is the same pair which acted in potboilers liek Vjaypath and Haqeeqat. Amrish Puri is alsobrilliant. A regular of Nihalani Puri again proves his mettle as an actor. However the performance which haunts you the most is that of Rahul Bose.

Shaheed-1965-The Kewal Kashyap-Manoj Kumar jointly made film is one of the most amazing films made in popular cinema. Although before this movie on the life of Bhagat Singh,2 films had already been made yet it was this film that did justice to Bhagat Singh's life. Although not much is known about the first movie on Bhagat Singh but the second movie on the freedom fighter was released in 1963 and starred top star Shammi kapoor as Bhagat and Prem nath as Sukhdev yet it sank without a trace. Manoj Kumar's script on the freedom fighter was hard-hitting and was amazingly shot jointly by Manoj kumar and Kewal Kashyap. Manoj gave his best performance to date and Prem chopra as Sukhdev was also brilliant. Prem Dhawan's recreation of Bhagat's songs was terrific and still the songs stir the patriotic feelings. The movie was a huge hit and swept the national awards. The movie had amazing emotional impact and is still the only hit movie based on Shaheed Bhagat Singh's life. In 2002 Ajay Devgan- Raj Kumar Santoshi made another cult film on The Legend of Bhagat Singh, however it was more on political idealogy of Bhagat singh and was amazing. For emotional effect, I still feel no film on Bhagat ji could match this one. At that time Manoj Kumar was seen as a romantic star with Dilip Kumar hangover in hits like Shaadi and Hariyali Aur Raasta. Playing a rebel was the last thing expected from him. Infact the rebel star-Shammi kapoor had tried his hand and though his personality matched with Bhagat but he failed to resurrect the legend on-screen. In that case the obvious choice should have been the first rebel of Indian cinema-Sunil Dutt but Manoj Kumar surprised everyone by playing the part so brilliantly. Although Kewal kashyap went into hibernation but Shaheed made Manoj Kumar the ultimate patriotic hero on-screen and film maker cum writer ever!

After being sure of not watching Kalki post the trailer, I finally succumbed to the euphoria and saw Vyjayanthi films mega budget bilingual KALKI 2898AD in packed theatres. A film of this magnitude requires a long write up so please bear with me for lengthy writeup WITHOUT the spoilers. Ved Vyas immortal epic Mahabharat has been a permanent source of inspiration for plays, stories, f olk tales, films across languages, tv serials (most notable BR Chopras and Tiwaris Star Mahabharata and many more), web series, animation, Amar Chitra katha comics and now science fiction as well. The film also bases itself on Mahabharat.

As most of us already know Ashwin Nag's dream project KALKI 2898 A. D. (previously titled Project K after the successful Mahanati) is a Telugu-Hindi film connecting ancient Hindu epic age of Mahabharata with post apocalypse dystopian era of future. The common link being immortal warrior Ashwathama (played by old yet active Amitabh Bachchan) who is present in both the eras. There is a story of evil self-proclaimed god Supreme ( menacing Kamal Hassan) and the complex where pregnant and non-pregnant women including Sumati( Deepika Padukone) is kept for research. Then there is bounty hunter Bhairava (Prabhas) who works basically for money(points in this case to enter the complex). Adding to the already complex stories are many more characters,rebels,villains etc making Kalki A UNIVERSE in its own. The film is how things shape up for next Lord Vishnu jis Avtar Kalki and the evil forces trying to stop it. After long fights,the film ends on a cliffhanger leaving scope for a sequel or rather full series.

Ashwathama(epitomized by Pradeep Rawat in Chopras cult show Mahabharat)and his immortality curse has always led to curiosity and interest in public since ages. Even Dharam veer Bhartis cult play Andha Yug had Ashwathama ,Lord Krishna and Kripacharya in important roles. Ashwin Nag deserves a big pat for thinking so big for making a film which connects different eras and having such massive PAN INDIA starcast. The producers Vyjayanthi productions( famous for grand epic Telugu films)leave no stone unturned to give the best quality budgets for such a HUGE film. The film however has more than it's set of flaws as per me alongwith the good points.

If we discuss the good points is definitely it's budget,canvas,sets,VFX and setting. Nag,the makers and team successfully creates the Mahabharat era and more importantly the dystopian future. While Hindi films attempting such a mix till now like Rudraksha,Naksha and even Brahmastra(as per me) have failed to connect the dots,here Nag does succeed in connecting link between Indian mythology to Western depiction of dystopian society. In contrast Telugu films like Aditya 369,Kartikeya and serials like Mahakumbh,Naaglok had succeeded in connecting dots but this is the first multilingual huge film to do it rather effectively. The post apocalypse setting is taken from Mad Max,Avengers and lot of Hollywood films yet kudos for world class effects which succeed in creating a rather scary picture of future. The interval is the highlight of film and the post interval till climax are rather interesting and action is of international standard.

Now the flaw(s),the first being that at 3 hours the film is tooo long for today's standard. The first half after the initial build up falls flat and comedy,song,long fights,romance all look forced. Inspite of being prepared about the bad first half, I literally got a headache seeing all that complexity and so many characters. The music as we know fails to deliver and romantic scenes tests your patience. In making the setting too dark and complex for dystopia, the film becomes unnecessarily complicated leaving one confused. Things ofcourse improve in second half but again I felt there was overdue of action. Infact non action fans will feel kind of suffocated with all that throwing of objects,bullets etc(though the 3D effects were not great). The film for me came to it's peak in last 10 minutes and the climax definitely left me interested in what will happen now??

The film is lead by 81 year old yet in form legend Amitabh. Though honestly I can't say that it was a great performance(as compared to my favs-Khakee,Piku,Virudh,102 not out from his old man innings) as he did such stuffs from Eklavya ,Thugs of Hindustan to Brahmastra(none of them worth remembering in my opinion). Yet kudos to him for being effective in the high octane VFX laden fights and looks convincing as the 8 feet huge giant Ashwathama and back doing action after long even at 80 plus. His younger AI enhanced avtar looks a caricature like Rajnikanth in KochaDaiyan and Amitabhs own animated version in Mahabharat cartoon film(2013). Prabhas(m not his fan) looks odd in all those comedy, romantic and action in first half. He however rises in second half peaking in the last 10 minutes. Deepika is first rate and acts very well in emotional scene. Kamal hassan as the super villain again carries overdue of makeup(he seems to be obsessed with it since Indian/Hindustani-1996) and his character will also remind fans of his Abhay film,maniac villains of Hollywood Marvel films,the bad guy roles by Naseer and Vivek Oberoi in Krish series and even Surendra Pal's-Samrat Kilvish(Shaktimaan serial). However even with 2 scenes Kamal manages to leave solid impact and his character should finally arrive in second part(cant wait to see faceoff between Amitabh and Kamal,they never fought in GERAFTAAR). Shobhana also leaves her mark. In Mahabharta scenes they havent shown actors face playing Lord Krishna effectively,yet as die hard BR Chopras Mahabharat fan I could imagine Nitish Bhardwaj as KESHAV(I am sure most Telugu fans will imagine NTR saab when Lord Krishna appears on screen). The rest of the cast with some cameos was nothing great to write.

The teams research on Mahabharat,Kalki Avtar,dystopian write ups is very good but there are misses like no mention of the other Chiranjeevi from Mahabharat- Kripacharya (played effectively by Dharmesh Tiwari in Ravi Chopras serial Mahabharat) in the film. The film has genuinely has alot of flaws but still hats off to Nag and entire team for lifting Telugu, Hindi and overall Indian cinema to an international level and mixing science fiction with Hindu mythology. The audience comprising of Mahbaharat and Avengers style action fans are flocking to see this synthesis even with flaws!

The release and success of Kalki has again started interest in films made across time range and dealing with past, present and future and having some known characters as well.

This genre of so-called science fiction got a shot in arm with HG wells- novel The Time machine and later Hollywood films like Back to Future, Total Recall, The planet of apes took it further. In India Telugu film industry was pioneer in creating a successful time travel film and it was Aditya 369-directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao-released in 1991.

This fascinating film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna in the lead role and stars Hindi film actor Tinnu Anand who creates a Time Machine. Then there is an evil Raja (Amrish Puri) who wants to collect all fascinating and antique stuff including the prized diamond from Raja Krishnadeva Rai's era. The film takes a twist when Balakrishna along with heroine Mohini enters the time machine and travels across 4th dimension to land in Vijayanagar in the era of KrishnaDeva Rai (played again by Balakrishna).

What follows next is interesting twists and turns which ensure action, comedy, song, and dance.

The film takes inspiration from The Time machine, Total Recall and has inspiration from Bollywood big hit Mr. India and the famous science fiction series of Door Darshan Indradhanush, Space city Sigma but the product really works very well. The direction and script is very tight and not much lose ends. The sequences of Vijayanagar era are best and stay after the film is over. The future scenes look tacky, but the concept is shown well. Balakrishna plays the lead part quite ok and relies more on action and comedy. However, as the legendary ruler Krishnadeva he looks great and acted very well, maybe inspired by his legendary dad NTRs portrayal of Rai in the Tenali Raman movie. Bollywood actors Amrish Puri(who dubbed his own dialogues) and Tinnu Anand are perfectly cast. It's kind of ironical that though the film in parts has inspiration from Shekhar Kapur's Mr. India, Kapur's dream film of time travel-Time Machine (Aamir Khan, Naseer, Rekha, Raveena and Vijay Anand) never got complete.

On the whole Aditya 369 is a pioneer entertaining science fiction Indian film whose impact can be seen later in films!!

The first film of the Ape franchise- The Planet of Apes-1968 remains a landmark sci-fi classic and its ending left a lot of viewers wanting to know what happened next!

The second part Beneath The Planet of Apes-1970 takes the story and the franchise further. I remember watching Beneath The planet of Apes as a child on VHS in late 1980s and being stunned by it. Later I came to know that this sequel was not that high rated and many felt it didn't match the magic of the first movie.

After decades, I found the film and gave it a re watch and could connect the story from part 1. The film begins with the climax of 1968 classic and we see the lead couple again getting into fresh troubles on the planet. Enter the second astronaut hero who comes to find his team mate and he also gets trapped in this planet of deceit, apes and mutants. He eventually solves the mystery and finds what is "BENEATH" The planet of Apes.

The sequel has too many things combined into it- astronauts, apes, evolution, nuclear warfare, time travel, end of days, mutants, telepathy and of course man vs apes. The initial part gets heavy and slow as you feel kind of déjà vu from part 1 and this is why I understand critics were not kind to the film. Also one can feel the impact of Star Trek and real life nuclear warfare in the film. However, after a sluggish part the film picks up pace and totally changes the plot mixing many sci-fi elements and making the sequel totally engrossing and very different from part 1. Honestly barring the middle 20-25 minutes I loved the film!!

The sets, action, make up, and visuals are stunning. The climax of part 1 was definitely haunting but here also the climax leaves a lot thinking amidst all the sci-fi. A sequel which packs a punch and even though cant match the part 1 yet stands tall as an individual sci fi film !!!

On the occasion of Buddha Purnima , if anyone wants to watch a well-made feature film then the multi lingual-Tathagatha Buddha: The Life & Times of Gautama Buddha is the ideal one. Though the tale of Gautam Buddha has been shown in serials, animation films and films, yet I will say that this 2007 mega budget film really impresses in capturing the life and times of one of the most respected human being the world has ever seen.

The cast includes Hindi film, Telegu and popular tv artists and all do justice to their parts. Special mention for Sunil Sharma as Gautam Buddha, Surendra Pal as Suddhodana , Suman as Bindusara and Punit Issar as Angulimal . The sets, directions, and setting is apt. The film is available on YouTube.

The 1970s saw a lot of political changes in the world and it reflected in novels, films and other forms of media. Frederick Forsyth wrote a best seller thriller novel The Day Of Jackal taking inspiration from the real life France situation at that time and blended fiction so well that it remains a cult novel till date. In 1973 Fred Zinnemann directed a classic British-France production film based on the novel. The movie starts with the real life assassination attempt on French president Charles De Gaulle by extremists due to their anger on Algerian independence. The president escapes it narrowly an d guilty are punished. Now starts the fiction part of an extremist organization hiring an international killer "Jackal" to complete the task. The killer JACKAL is a cold blooded murderer who handles hi-profile international murders and is very meticulously planned. A cat and mouse chase starts between French Action service and the Jackal and spreads across England, Italy and of course France. The film remains a fav of all assassination genre films till date. Though it is not a hardcore Hollywood style action thriller, this British-French film takes time to grow and is very much into details. The treatment of course does justice to the real socio-political situation of the time and also remains true to novel with minor changes. The term "jackal" was further used in real on international killer Carlos, and this adds to vintage vale of the film. Of the cast, Edward Fox as the villain Jackal stands tall-literally. The film is shot very well in Europe and captures Paris like never before. The impact of this film was all over cinema including Indian cinema. Almost all Indian films with an assassination plot including Mani Rathnam's Dil se, Manoj Kumar's disaster Clerk and even Mahesh Bhatt's action film- Lahu Ke Do Rang had clear inspiration of the film. The film is not that easily available online and I got to see through a collection but will definitely recommend it to political and thriller film fans!!

As the latest Planet of Apes saga- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes- is all set to release I went ahead in retro time to watch the original sci-fi classic -Planet of Apes-1968 (online on DailyMotion), which started all this cinematic luv of apes vs man! The first installment of the original series is based on the French novel- La Planète des singes French author Pierre Boulle. The writers and makers of the film made substantial changes from the original novel to give it a more Hollywood touch and the result is absolute magic on screen!

The movie is about a group of astronauts led by Taylor (Charlton Heston), whose spacecraft crashes and they land in a remote and in totally different time zones. As they move around the area, they realise that this is a totally different planet where humans are looked down as animals and apes are the real rulers. The ape society is self-competent and divided in classes amongst the Orangutans, Gorillas and chimpanzees. This result in a man-ape conflict and a lot of events leading to a brilliant climax!

Over the decades this film has become one of the most popular science fiction film ever leading to several sequels, remake, tv series and finally reboot series. The film directed by Franklin Schaffner and written by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, is what an ideal mind bending yet entertaining science fiction should be. It combines the fundamentals of time travel, life on different planets, evolution and yet has emotional impact. Charlton Heston, who has been part of so many cult films again proves his mettle as a fine actor here. The remaining cast also does justice. The dialogues, situations are thought invoking and really impactful even 56 years after its release. The film has excellent production values, the locales of North Arizona are captured so well that you are really transported in different era and planet. The prosthetics make-up of actors playing apes is so great that it won honorary Oscar award for the same. There is lesser physical action in the film as compared to the reboot series, but whatever action is there is first rate. All in all, a brilliant(and for many arguably the best one) sci-fi part 1 of one of the most popular Hollywood movie franchise ever!!

Let's go back in time to app 29 years ago-1994 July precisely!

While in school days the soccer world cup 1994 was reaching it's final and like most viewers we too were glued on tv sets catching football mania. While watching TV I was surprised to see Doordarshan showing a movie starring my school time idol Sylvester Stallone and which was based on football. I was surprised to see few scenes of this ESCAPE TO VICTORY,as till then I had never heard about it.

Finally watched it now as it was available online on Dailymotion.

The film is a prisoner of war cum sports drama and loosely inspired by a true story of "Death Match". The film is set in POW camps and then things move in a manner that a challenge football match happens between the Allied team vs Germans. Adding to the drama is the attempt by prisoners to ESCAPE from prison.

The film is very well shot in Hungary and tries to do justice to both WW2 era as well as soccer. There are few hiccups as proceedings become slow after the great build up,but the film picks up pace again in the last 45 minutes. In Bollywood one can see it's inspiration in Lagaan,and recent sports drama Maidaan as well.

This 1981 film has Michael Caine in great form. The film also stars many real life soccer legends and the iconic Black Pearl-Pele is a treat to watch. The film in 1980s means peak of Stallone and he looks so young and smart in it. He carries the role with so much comfort that it becomes effortless. Though his action film fans will miss the fights he did on screen,yet Sylvester charms you throughout the film. Overall an enjoyable sports drama cum war film from Hollywood!!

In the 1980s, several Big-budget Hollywood action films had an Indian connection. Though Octopussy and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom are well known, few people will know about the big-budget adventure wartime movie THE SEA WOLVES-1980. The grand movie, directed by Andrew V McLaglen and produced by Euan Lloyd was the second big multi-starrer by them after the big actioner THE WILD GEESE and has many common cast and crew.

The film is based on a rather unknown/ forgotten chapter during World War 2 set in India-Operation Creek by Calcutta Light House. The basic plot involves a German ship in the Portuguese colony Goa, which gives information about Allied ships to U-Boat. To find the ship and destroy it we have a great team led by Gregory Pack, and Roger Moore and support from David Niven and his semi-retired men from the Calcutta Lighthouse unit.

Though the film is set in India, surprisingly most Indians might not be aware of this big event. The film is shot very well in India and captures Goa, Cochin, Delhi and Calcutta aptly. The production values are great and the film has small roles by Indian actors like Marc Zuber, Keith Stevenson and Mohan Agashe. Roger Moore at the peak of his James Bond mania again fits a non-Bond role here just as he did in Andrew's previous The Wild Geese. It was his first big film shot in India followed by the more popular Octopussy and he manages the charm, and humour of his Bond image here as well. David Niven is also first-rate. The film though set in the war era has less of action if we compare it with The Wild Geese. In fact the first half is a slow burner and takes time to set in and the real action explodes in the last 40 minutes.

For me though apart from the interesting real-life event, and India connection the film is immensely watchable for the legend Gregory Peck. The charming actor just nails every scene with his tall personality, amazing voice and great screen presence. Inspite of the more popular Roger Moore at that era, Peck really owns the screen. No wonder that Indian legend Dev Anand also was in awe of him and used his style in several films.

If one loves wartime sagas, Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and big Hollywood films with India connection, you will like this. It was available on YouTube but not present on any OTT.

Some stories need to be told, some stories need to be watched and some characters need to be remembered.

Maidaan is such a story which celebrates the golden age of Indian football and remembers the life of the great Indian football team coach Syed Abdul Rahim.

Amit Ravindernath Sharma's sports drama works both as a sports film as well as a biopic of the forgotten hero of Indian football-Rahim Saab.

This is a tale which most of us were kind of unaware of and I am glad that someone brought up this story on the big screen.

The film stands strong on the brave shoulders of Ajay Devgan, who again shows his class in such intense roles.

Though he looks very different from the real Rahim Saab and doesn't get the right Hyderabadi lingo, yet Devgan gels so well in the character that the physical difference hardly matters.

Gajraj Rao as the negative sports journalist again gets a plum assignment after Sharma's Badhai Ho. Priyamani, after The Family man and Jawaan is totally comfortable in another big Hindi film.

The rest of the actors are rather not well known in Bollywood but all do a good job. Hats off to the casting team and makers as the actors match the real-life characters very well(this one realizes when we see the original pics of the football legends in the end credits).

The film along with Rahim does justice to the legendary players- P. K. Banerjee, Peter Thangaraj, Jarnail Singh, Chuni Goswami and Tulsidas Balram apart from Rahim's son Syed Hakim ji. The film has production values are great, decent music by A. R. Rahman and great camera work. The film brings lot of Deja vu moments with other great sports films like Hip Hip Hurray and Chak De India in Bollywood and Escape to Victory in Hollywood. Maidaan unlike Chak de and others is rather a slow burner and takes time to build up and it is towards the climax where the film reaches a thrilling high. No wonder after a slow opening, the film is getting family audience due to good reviews.

The makers have done a lot of research on the film and have also given hints about the socio-political events of those years. The film however stands tall for its story, direction, Ajay Devgan and amazing soccer scenes choreography. Maidaan was stuck for release for years after completion and the makers-Zee Studio, Boney Kapoor had to wait a lot till it was finally released. The climax shows a couple of the legends who were alive till a few years ago but passed away before the film could be released. I am sure after watching the film, audience will remember them along with the real Syed Abdul Rahim Saab!

Finally watched the most talked about film of current month,the blockbuster ANIMAL. The film has placed "Superstar" Ranbir Kapoors film career right on top at Bollywood after few not so great years. The film inspite of being huge success has got extreme reactions and ignited debates from critics and film buffs alike due to exaggerated depiction. I will try to pen down my honest unbiased though lengthy opinion on this violent film by Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

The film is about an extremely aggressive young guy Ran Vijay Singh ( Ranbir Kapoor) who is overtly possessive about his extremely rich and busy father (Anil Kapoor). Ranvijay gets into one trouble after other and his relationships with wife,sisters and everyone is always on extremes.

When the father is attacked, the son becomes literally an "ANIMAL" to revenge.

The topic of father and son relationship and issues has been integral to Hindi cinema from the time of Mughal E Azam. The genre reached peak with Amitabh bachchan and Salim Javed combination films most noticeably Trishul and Shakti. However,Animal doesn't have any of that as core issue. Its the story of a neglected son by his super busy father and has overtones to Bobby(where son was Ranbeers great dad Rishi) and Sharaabi(Amitabh and Pran). The film has shades of Copolas classic Godfather and it's Desi remake Dharmatma as well. Ranbirs character has madness like SRK(Darr,Anjaam), trouble maker hero Salmans (Tere Naam) and Vanga adds his Kabir Singh male toxicity in full thrust here. There are also shades of Ranbirs earlier big hits like Raajneeti and Rockstar, yet overall the character is totally different from all these.

Of the performances I found Anil Kapoors character and performance both very weak. Inspite of long length of role, he somehow didn't get enough lines to emote well and whatever he did was average. The golden old time baddies Prem Chopra and Shakti Kapoor have small but effective positive roles. Suresh Oberoi, after Vangas' Kabir Singh is again good here. Bobby Deol as the violent villain surprisingly gets very less screen time and it's more of a glorified cameo. Though the role's duration disappoints, yet Bobby Deol doesn't and has got a resurrection of sorts. Tripti Domra has more skin show than dialogues ,which added to her popularity. The female lead Rashmika disappoints a lot and her performance is not at all effective.

Sandeep Vangas pack a punch in the emotional scenes ,but also shows over male toxity with too much uneccesary emphasis on "Alpha" male. Some sequences seems forced in for the heck of making the film disturbing and bold. They could have easily been edited out reducing the longgg length of film. The screenplay also has many lose ends. The first half is gripping but in second half pace drops at several places. The action is brutal ,very well shot but the violence is on extreme. The music and songs are great and the track "Arjun Vailly" is excellent and it's reference to Sikh History battle makes it haunting!!! The background score is killer!!

The film belongs to one person -Ranbirrrrr and the Kapoor Khandaan's son nails it. Though post "SANJU" his mannerisms here reminds one of Sanjay Dutt of 1990s-Yalgaar,Khalnayak and Vaastav lot,yet he shows his own class. From a school student till an old man,he is great in all shades. He plays both the Rebel with a cause and also Rebel WITHOUT a Cause effectively! The film gives a hint for it's sequel as well!!

Overall I liked the film basically for Ranbir Kapoor,strong songs and powerful fights. However,owing to a lot of forced scenes which makes film toxic as well,and longg length, I can't say that I Loved it!!

The armed forces have always fascinated the common man and filmmakers across the world. In India also number of remarkable films have been made on army/war but no biopic as such has been made keeping a legendary armed force man,and so Meghna Gulzar takes the plunge on arguably the biggest name of Indian armed force post independence- the great Sam ManekShaw!

The film is a tribute to the great man(played effortlessly by Vikki Kaushal)and shows various chapters of his life from pre-independence till his retirement. The film covers various chapters in the form of several wars - World War 2,India Pakistan 1947 war,Indo Sino 1962 saga,North East India army- separatist conflict, India Pakistan 1971 war and creation of Bangladesh. The film also showcases various modern history and important political incidents of India. In this process Meghana Gulzar and her team also shows real characters Pandit Nehru,Sardar Patel,Lord Mountbatten,Indira Gandhi,VK Menon,Yashwant Chavan,US diplomat Henry Kissinger(who passed away last week) and Pakistani generals Yayaha Khan,Tikka Khan and more.

Meghana Gulzar has made remarkable films like Talwar and Raazi in past and SamBahadur is her grandest film,produced very well by Ronnie Screwala. She handles the life of Manekshaw ably and captures all important armed and political incidents related to him in episodic form. The research of the team is impeccable and even many dialogues are straight from what Sam said at couple of places. Though the film takes cinematic liberties yet stays true to the lead man's life. The screenplay is good but what many fans found missing was a solid emotional punch at many important instances. They have used real life archive footages to give the film an authentic touch. However, as some critics have rightly pointed out rightly,due to various wars shown ,the movie looks more of a war-political history docudrama of modern India like ABP political series PradhanMantri and Aaj Tak war series Vande Mataram. So a major chunk of audience who are unaware of the events will find it kinda jumping from one event to other without pausing much on each. Also the personal life of Sam is not covered much except his conversations with his wife and his domestic help. Having said that,there is no doubt that Meghna and Vikki with their team have brought alive the legend for the rightly deserving big screen and surely audience who like war,army,politics,modern history will definitely like it. This is where I feel Meghana succeeds in SamBahadur,where Shyam Benegal had failed in the grand but disappointing Bose. The cinematography, action and production values are first rate. Music and lyrics by Daddy Gulzar are apt for the few songs. Of the cast both Dangal girls get major footage after the title character. Though Sanya Malhotra as Mrs Manekshaw is fine but Fatima Sheikh looks misfit as Indira Gandhi. Meghana's Talwar fame Neeraj Kabi ,after playing Gandhi in Shyam Benegal's tv series Samvidhaan is good as Pandit Nehru. However Zeeshan Ayub with really bad make up and over prosthetics look fully forced and ineffective as Yayaha Khan.

The film however fully belongs to Vikki Kaushal who as Sam Bahadur himself gives an excellent performance. Vikki already played armed officer successfully in Meghana's Raazi and in Aditya Dhar's Uri. Here,the Udham Singh fame Vikki, has taken care of mannerisms of the real life Manekshaw, added a bit of style of moustached army Dev Anand in Hum Dono, yet given a performance which is his own. It makes up for all the minor flaws of this heavily mounted film. And "Sweetie" he is the main reason why "Josh is high sir". The release clash decision of SamBahadur with the hugely popular Animal by the makers seems wrong placed and will definitely effect its box office prospects ,just as YRF released Tiger 3 on Diwali day instead of 2 days earlier killing a major chunk of extended Diwali business.

However,all in all SamBahadur is a good film with great lead performance and celebrating the life of an Indian legend,and even with few flaws will find its own audience!!!

Finally watched Tiger 3 in theatres, though a bit later than planned. Though I had read some mixed reviews I wasn't sure about how it is, but I am glad that I watched it on the big screen as I enjoyed it fully.

Yash Raj has made the SpyUniverse a huge Desi-born high-action-oriented franchise which has gained a big fan base in the last decade. Though Tiger 3 hasn't done as well as Pathaan, in the final collections still it's a plus-profit earning film.

The film carries forward the story of RAW agent Tiger (Salman) from Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai and his partner and ex-ISI agent Zoya (Katrina). This time they have to fight the evil plans of a cruel ISI cruel agent (Emraan Hashmi). This ensures non-stop action, travel across continents, twists and turns and finally happy ending.

Spy films right from Hollywood to India have always had grand fantasy action, outlandish plots, having some facts yet totally unrealistic stories, and YRF SpyUniverse is no exception. The story of Tiger 3 of a RAW agent trying to foil an ISI and Pakistan army general-designed plan in Pakistan itself is unrealistic surely but then so were the plots of all previous Tiger, Pathan and Kabir films of SpyUniverse. The film plot has strong echoes from old Bollywood flops-Hindustan Ki Kasam (Ajay Devgan), Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon and popular films Mission Kashmir and Main Hoon Naa (Emraan Hashmi angle) and also on Bond and Mission Impossible films. There is deja vu of still fresh in mind Pathaan as well. Despite all this, the third instalment of Tiger works especially for action fans. The action like all previous Tiger films is excellent and though unrealistic, yet very well shot and with great VFX. Salman Khan who started the entire SPY thing for YRF looks a bit bulky and old but is fully in form as TIGER. He rises to his role and shows that despite some bad previous films, still has a lot of fire, especially in an action role like this. Katrina also looks a bit aged in flashback scenes but gets into the skin of Zoya and is great in action scenes. Emran Hashmi as the bad guy is good and is back in a big film after long. The supporting cast of Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda also are gelled in Tiger 3 to make a full connection with all 3 Tiger films. Girish Karnad is missed and Revathy fills the part. The cameo connection with Pathaan and War gets maximum interest. The film music however is not up to the mark and "Leke Prabhu Ka Naam" is shot well but not a great song. Maneesh Sharma has kept the pace fast and it's interesting that Aditya Chopra used 3 separate directors for all Tiger films- Ek Tha Tiger (Kabir Khan), Tiger Zinda Hai (Ali Abbas Zafar) and Tiger 3 (Maneesh Sharma). The production values by Yash Raj are excellent and the film is shot in great international locales.

I agree though that the film like previous films has an overdose of non-stop action which can look tiring, especially for non-action buffs. That's why I feel some people felt kind of Spy Fatigue with it. But with the overall TIMEPASS masala action, I feel it should have done even better at the box office.

Overall, I will say that Tiger 3 is a fast-paced, pop-patriotic action dhamaka that Salman and Tiger fans like me will find Pisa Vasool!!

Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru-Tamil-with English subtitles -YouTube. The Hindi dubbed version is also available on DisneyHostar and YouTube. Of late the Hindi movies channel has had a huge overdose of South Indian dubbed action films, many of which don't look appealing. However, some of them are so slick that they deserve PAN India viewers. A couple of years ago I had watched a few scenes of Theeran on Zee Cinema and since then this thriller has been on my wish list. I was not interested in the Hindi dubbed version and finally found a good original Tamil version with subtitles which added to the regional flavour. This 2017 action thriller by H. Vinoth is based on a real-life Operation Bawaria case led by former Tamil Nadu DGP S. R. Jangid (who interestingly hails from Rajasthan, where this gang was based). The film stars Karthi in the lead and has Rakul Preet Singh adding glamour quotient and Abhimanyu Singh as the dreaded villain. The plot involves nomadic looters and killer gangs who reach South till Tamil Nadu and commit heinous crimes and the leading man Karthi forms a team and nabbing them. The film-maker H Vinoth and team did extensive research on the case and have added commercial elements making Theeran a great action thriller film. The initial romantic tracks between Karthi and Rakul Preet are kind of boring and the film has an overdose of violence surely. Apart from these, the film is a gripping tale of law vs. Crime and keeps one glued to the last scene. The direction, screenplay, editing, and background is great and makes it an edge of thriller. Karthi as the leading man is simply excellent and I will rate his performance even higher than his other blockbuster Kaithi(which was remade by Ajay Devgan as Bholaa). Rakul Preet doesn't have much to do but Abhimanyu Singh as the sinister baddie is spine-chilling and terrifying. The action sequences are mind-blowing and the film is shot so well across Tamil Nadu, the desert of Rajasthan and most strikingly Aravallis of Haryana. A must-watch film for all action lovers!!

Finally watched the most talked about Bollywood film of recent times JAWAN and it is full on entertaining with ignorable glitches!

2023 has been the year of Shahrukh Khan and after the blockbuster PATHAAN he is again back with more action packed version here.

Atlees grand actioner is a full on masala Hindi film with dollops of spices taken liberally from Tamil cinema as well.

The film is about Shahrukh Khan(s) in the title role and also stars Nayanthara, Vijay Setupathy in important roles. The film has strong social and political statement as well which are shown well within the commercial larger than life cinema limits. Shahrukh Khan owns the film like he did in Pathaan. Though I have never been a fan of his die hard romantic image,I must say he is terrific in action avtar. In some close ups he looks aged but his energy and his swag in post interval is unmatchable. Nayanthara holds her own opp SRK and shines in the film. Vijay is menacing as villain but I loved him more in Vikram Vedha and Farzi. Of the remaining cast, Deepika makes an impact with her strong cameo. Film fans will find some connect from Hindi films like Desh Premee,Aakhree Raasta,Sarfarosh(Jeetendra),),A Wednesday and Shankars vigilante based Tamil films like Indian(Hindustani),Gentleman,Aparachit and even Shivaji. Traces of earlier SRK films like Main Hoon Naa and Swades also can be seen. Atlee ofcourse mixes all these in his films Bigil, Marsal and presents King Khan in a full massy avtar. The songs are disappointing but Anirudhs Background score is awesummm. Some of the scenes are heavy and taxing but overall the film has great pace. The action scenes are excellent and many sequences are thrilling. I remember seeing SRK first time as a JAWAN in my childhood in serial Fauji,and now after Pathaan he shows with Jawan that his action avtar is to stay here!!

Jai Jawan Jai Pathan!!!

Mumbai underworld has always been a fascinating topic in Indian films, novels and discussions. Now with the current trend in web series, the Bombay Mafia as it was known is showing its presence on OTT as well. Along with Hanslal Mehta's Scoop, Netflix has created an international crew documentary titled "Mumbai Mafia: Police vs The Underworld". This well-shot documentary has been made by British film-maker- Morgan Matthews. It covers the journey and important incidents of the underworld from 1991 to 2022! It covers interviews of major police officers, journalists and ex-D-company person and also shows the impact of shootouts, gang wars, and encounters and also opens old wounds of the Mumbai 1993 riots and the blasts. Although Bollywood has covered almost all of these issues in popular films like Shootout at Lokhandwala, Black Friday,Bombay,Ab tak Chappan etc ,still the documentary with a running time of app 1.5 hours is an interesting watch. A slickly made docu for people interested in real-life underworld and encounter specialists!!

Kohrra is a dark unsettling murder mystery set in Punjab and available on Netflix. The series is about the murder of a young NRI guy and how the police try to solve the case and connect many disturbing dots as well. Nowadays, in this ocean of web series on various platforms, we have been observing 2 points. First is that many makers dare to touch bold uncomfortable topics to show what's happening in society, the other is that in many series you feel there is unnecessary showing of certain issues and explicit usage of violence and foul language. Sudip Sharma's Kohrra is a well-made dark murder mystery but I felt uncomfortable at parts and felt certain aspects could have been avoided. The series takes time to build due to its pace and also I felt has an overdose of issues. Having said that, there is no doubt that it is very well shot in Punjab, shows the modern issues of the state and is technically superb. What makes the otherwise heavy series appreciative is the great performances by Barun Sobti, Rachel Shelley(after Lagaan), Varun Badola, and Arjuna Bhalla(after decades of comedy series-Flop Show). The makers and team have managed to stay true to the title Kohrra and the murder mystery thickens and gets mistier after every episode till it's finally solved. The show however belongs to Suvinder Vicky who gives an amazing controlled performance and is the highlight of the show. A class act in a well-made grim intense murder mystery!

Sunday afternoon regional film show!!!

Mumbai Underworld has been the inspiration for many Hindi crime-based films. However, with the super success and acclaim of Mani Ratnam's cult Tamil hit Nayakan starring Kamal Hassan, many South Indian films were also set in Bombay crime land. One such popular film is PriyaDarshan's 1991 Malayalam hit -Abhimanyu starring his fav superstar Mohanlal in the lead. The film is set to be loosely inspired by the life of now-forgotten criminal Bada Rajan, who was a kinda mentor to underworld don Chota Rajan. This of course is added by loads of fiction and cinematic liberty, though using some real references. Having watched so many films on the Mumbai underworld, the film now looks predictable and has some avoidable side tracks.

However, the team of Priyadarshan-Mohanlal again rises above the basic story and makes it an entertaining crime saga. Priyadarshan and his team capture the spirit of Bombay of the early 1990s and the action scenes are done very well. To add authenticity to the film, a huge chunk of dialogues are in Bambaiya Hindi despite Abhimanyu being a big Malayalam film. The title refers parallel to Mahabharat where Abhimanyu gets stuck once he enters the Chakravyuha. Mohanlal is first rate and later on, also did films like Company and even Lucifer which had Mumbai underworld angle as well. Rami Reddy as the scary henchman again manages to look menacing. The Hindi film actor Mahesh Anand plays the main villain here and is very stylish.

The film's impact can be seen later on in Hindi crime capers like Vaastav and the sequel Hathyaar.

A decent crime film lifted by Mohanlal's performance and Priyadarshan's treatment!