Ahmed and Jyoti have eloped and decided to court marriage because of obvious reasons. The court rules to produce a letter of approval from both of their families when they show up in the court a week later. Until then, they live in a district-safe home. But to their horror, a hunter is assigned to kill them.
I think Love Hostel is quite a lengthy film for such an ordinary story that cannot be stretched to play the film for 100 minutes. It is a chase film that offers not enough thickness of the plot. The film runs on survival with a couple of understood predictions. But I must say that the film ended well.
Vikrant Massey and Sanya Malhotra have given a fair performance but it is Bobby Deol whose horrifying psycho stature made his role impressive. He looked off-beat but that is how his character was. A mercenary on a mission to eradicate debauchery.
Love Hostel deserved better writing. This film kept running and didn’t lose breath. And because it didn’t stop running, the makers could not develop the characters. This film was about honor killing and with that plot, the makers messed up in scriptwriting.
Naina Jaiswal is a teacher who has returned to the school to resume her work after a three-week leave. She is in good books to her staff, students, and all the parents of the kids. The parents leave their kids in her custody and leave the premises but no one realizes for a second what would happen next. Naina calls the police and informs them that she has taken sixteen children as hostages.
Okay first thing, A Thursday is a shocking story. I don’t remember if I have watched a Hindi film with a similar plotline. And with such an impressive start, the film continued holding interest with a captivating screenplay. And with the continuity, all the supporting characters played their part well and got enough screentime to fit in this thriller.
With such an impressive start, it becomes a bigger challenge for the writer to maintain that aura in the middle and the final phase. And I think the final phase is where the story didn’t get its deserving piece of conclusion. It then looked as if Behzad Khambata, the writer and director of the film, was desperate to end this story somehow. The points Naina rose were critical and could have been better if more intensity was built instead of showing the country’s premier arriving to meet her and listen to her story. The realism faded and I felt if the writer had more time to think about the conclusion, he would have done better.
And pretty sure that live shooting scene dropped everyone’s jaws and eyes from the socket. That is some daring sequence we often do not possibly watch in a Bollywood film. So kudos to Khambata for that.
The film is led by strong performances. Yami Gautam as Naina deserves all the praise who took the mantle of a psycho. I liked the muscles she pulled to display her angst and facial expressions of a terrorist. I wish she could have brought more madness, after all, she took sixteen kids with her. Atul Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia also performed very well.
The director took some of the shots with quality care like the media’s portrayal, reactions of mentally disturbed parents, and even the social media reactions Naina received had characteristics with a real feel. The background score annoyed me and was distracting the scenes that were shot well.
A Thursday is a social commentary of a victim demanding change by seeking attention and taking matters into her hands by making children her hostages. It is a psycho case that expects a change in the system by giving that multitude of threats. Addressing a very critical issue was necessary, but practically I do not see this applicable. Could have approached any other method to make the point and get the attention but not this. I praise the message that is forwarded and how the public is made understood about her angst so I will just take it as a very good try at raising the voice by committing wrong.
Ratings: 6.8/10
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One night, a lawyer arrives at the door of 36 Farmhouse to meet the owner who has decided to change the will. But her son interferes which leads to murder.
If the film centers around Vijay Raaz and Sanjay Mishra, you would definitely want to give it a try. But if that film is 36 Farmhouse, I suggest you pass. Cheeky dialogues, nonsense and over forced comedy, lame picturization of ordinary songs out of nowhere, below-est par performances; everything revolving around Sanjay Mishra looking cringe.
36 Farmhouse is a horrible execution of everything. Characters talking about corona does no favor, the application looked so pressing. After you finish the film, you ask yourself what was the need of Sanjay Mishra’s character and half the film surrounding him.
Subhash Ghai‘s comeback in any capacity looks terrible. He not only wrote the story but he also gave music and penned lyrics. I am not sure if he is running out of money or ideas.
I am actually surprised by my own judgment that decided to watch this after peeking at half a trailer. Plus I had the impression that Zee5 were the distributors so there must be something. But I have realized that great actors can make horrible choices in life. So Vijay Raaz and Sanjay Mishra did. Subhash Ghai is a past and strong reminder of the films from the 1980s and 90s, Taal was his last impressive project and that was back in 1999. He never moved on. Even this film looks like a late release of that period with better cinematography.
Gary “Eggsy” Unwin lives with his mother and brother Ryan in Peckham, South London. One night, he gets arrested for smashing up a stolen car. His uncle Jack London bails him out and recruits him to work for the British spy agency. After a three-year training, Eggsy is put in use to work as an agent, and along with Uncle Jack, they investigate a series of celebrity kidnappings that leads to the dangerous Doctor James Arnold whose mission is to reduce the human race to only one billion population to avoid facing a total extinction and establish a brand new society of intellect.
British literature has a proud history of presenting one of the most pre-eminent spies and detective writings. Kingsman may not rank amongst the great writings but established a cult status, especially after the first graphic novel was turned into a film. The popularity of the novel can be observed this way that Kingsman’s first novel ‘The Secret Service‘ was published in 2012 but the idea of filming the book began the very next year.
The Secret Service was created by a trinity of Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons, and Matthew Vaughn. Millar wrote, Gibbons drew, and Vaughn co. plotted. The novel has six issues and those who have watched the first film in the series will enjoy reading this and remember a lot of scenes coming straight from this novel. But after reading this, I feel that the film improved by sensationalizing the story. The audience will get more joy in watching than reading because of the ideas and the changes that were developed in the film.
And these are major changes I am talking about. Professor James Arnold, a small character portrayed by Mark Hamill in the film is actually the main antagonist of the novel as Doctor James Arnold. Colin Firth‘s Harry Hart is Jack London in the book but his relationship with the main character Eggsy differs. He is an uncle to the kid in the novel but not in the film. In fact, the film had a backstory that well supported the cause that introduced Eggsy to the spy agency. The famous William Horman quote Manners Maketh Man wasn’t written in the novel but picturized in the film. Jack London’s death scene is totally different, he got killed by Professor Arnold without knowing his identity whereas, in the film, Harry Hart is killed by the antagonist Richmond Valentine portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson after that magnificent action sequence inside the church. Gazelle is an African-American man in the book who can also speak but is a mute girl in the film.
So many things changed in the film but these are acceptable because it was the trinity of Millar, Gibbons, and Vaughn who made this film. Millar and Gibbons were the executive producers and Vaughn directed this. So there is no point in questioning the changes if the creators of Kingsman were responsible for the decision making.
Dave Gibbons’ artistry has a classic detailing of old-school comics with pretty good care on facial moods, posh attires, and brilliant bloody violent action scenes. Observe the gunshot exploding in Jack’s head. I don’t know why I have this feeling but the Blu-ish theme used in the night scenes is striking like Eggsy’s team flying near the mountains in Switzerland or the balloon in the air.
The Secret Service is a short story that gives the readers its share of entertainment, enjoyable humor, quality violence, and such an impressive character detailing of Eggsy and Jack. The fans of the Kingsman series can definitely give a try to this book.
REFERENCE
Kingsman: The Secret Service Issues 1-6 (2012-2013)
Lady Sings The Blues is the bio-drama of the legendary Jazz singer Billie Holiday. It is based on her autobiography with the same title. This film marked two notable debuts. One was Diana Ross‘ as an actor who played the central character and the other was Motown‘s big daddy Berry Gordy Jr. as a film producer. The film didn’t meet a mega success but got recognition with five nominations for the Academy Awards.
This film tempted me to watch it for a few important reasons. One is that I am a fan of Billie Holiday and have listened to most of her songs, including Decca Recordings. After watching The United States Vs. Billie Holiday last year, I felt that I must check this old classic to observe their take on her life. Another reason is that I never watched Diana Ross as an actress, have only listened to her music. And then Berry Gordy trying his hand at the film production made my mind further because I have huge respect for this man for giving birth to Motown Records through which many legendary singers and bands blessed us with rich music, especially in R&B and Soul.
ISSUES
The impressions I held for the film met a fatal blow for some critical reasons. Let me try to highlight a few.
The most critical error is Diana Ross herself. Despite a breathtaking performance, her selection for the role of Billie is a huge question mark. She neither reminds Billie facially nor her vocals while in character, Diana’s vocals are not even close to her. Billie had a distinguished voice that defined the Jazz music that was played in the 1930s and 40s. Those ears who have listened to the recordings of Billie will clearly complain that Diana didn’t try to give a feel of Billie in her voice at all. With such a problem in the selection, the film makes you believe more in Diana’s story instead of Billie’s.
The second issue with the film is that despite being adapted from her biography, a lot of liberty is taken from the material. Even if I keep the book aside or say that the film is not based on any book but is based directly on the legendary singer without the use of any source, the screenplay is questionable. The handsome Billy Dee Williams plays Billie’s husband, Louis McKay, and fits in the story when Billie was a rookie in the nightclub. Whereas, Louis came into Billie’s life later. Billie married three times in her life but the film mentions Louis as if he was in her life right from the start. And then the characterization of Louise is doubtful. Louise was abusive to Billie but here, he is totally opposite. So if the actual reputation of Louise really is bad then this bio-drama disrespects Billie’s sentiments by showing her cruel man with the Godly image.
Another problem is that the film ignores the dark consequences in Billie’s life like the troubles she faced with legal issues. The film missed the chance to depict how her most famous song “Strange Fruit” impacted the audience. In the film, Billie witnesses some terrifying cruelty on the African-Americans and then sings this track. And then there is no mention of it. If you make a film on Billie, you have to tell the world the political and social impact of the song.
IMPRESSIONS
My criticism about the film is based on fact that it did no justice to Billie’s legacy. I felt like the makers preferred to give Diana a platform to establish herself as an actress rather than present us with the life of a legend in those troubling times in America.
But true story aside, there is no doubt about the film’s excellence if I take a general view. Sidney J. Furie is quite a name who has been directing films for around six decades. And he did a splendid job in directing this film. There were a few intense scenes that can make the audience uncomfortable like Billie’s first performance in the nightclub when the audience breaks her confidence for not picking their money from her body despite singing so well. It was a social mockery of the public concern that portrays the horrors of singing at the nightclub.
Billie witnessing dead bodies on the trees and people around lamenting is another shot carefully directed that led to Billie’s health deterioration. Not sure if such an incident occurred but there is a scene when Billie is enjoying herself with all her white friends in the touring band when the bus is suddenly stopped to pave way for KKK demonstrators. Billie gets angry and passes angry verbal remarks leading to a bus attack and minor injuries. It was a very significant shot to spare a thought for. Even if such an event never happened with Billie, it still qualified as the need of the hour to give a glimpse of political unrest to the audience.
It is hard to believe that this was the first time Diana Ross performed in the film. The moment Diana enters the prison to be thrown into her cell at the beginning, she doesn’t remind any of us if this is a performance. Her facial expressions and body language were perfect.
CLOSING REMARK
I like the film in general. If I keep this out of my head that this is based on the true life of a legend, it is an excellent film with a fabulous performance by Diana, some good support from an impressive casting, excellent costume design, and direction. But the main purpose of the film was to watch Billie’s life in the reel and that did no justice. After all, this is why this film came into production but took a lot of liberty. So enjoy the film about her life but believe almost nothing about what most of the film showed you.
RATINGS: 5/10
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Sami Naik | Film Critic 