Tag Archives: Bollywood

Film Reviews

Film Review: Afwaah (2023)

STORY

Afwaah is a mystery thriller centralized on two characters, Rahab and Nivi played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bhumi Pednekar. Rahab is a CEO of a telecom company and Nivi is fiancée of a local politician Vicky. One night, Nivi runs away from Vicky and accidentally crosses path with Rahab when the latter saves her from Vicky’s goons. And then the chase begins.

REVIEW

Veteran filmmaker Sudhir Mishra brings another interesting plot about one horrible night like he made “Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin“. What ‘Afwaah’ gives us in its two-hour presentation is the series of unfortunate incidents that leads us to ridiculous as well as thought-provoking consequences. The core of the purpose was to show the audience how the netizens are manipulated and brainwashed by a lie that ignites with emphasizing on the Islamophobic content of “Love Jihad“.

When Vicky understands that Nivi is running away with a guy named Rahab assumingly a Muslim, Vicky plays a dirty game and allows his social media team to viral their running video and fit the angle of love jihad so that people lose their mind and help him bring Nivi back.

Afwaah’s story and the screenplay started and developed well with all major characters of the plot getting decent minutes and settled the viewers to the focal point. The film gets slow where the character has to grow and picks up the pace when the thrill is required. I think the screen time of 120 minutes was accurate due to important subplots of Vicky’s goon Chandan and police officers Tomar and Riya.

I don’t understand why Tomar didn’t kill Chandan when he saw him in the truck. Why did he scan the truck and interrogated the driver instead of easily catching Chandan who was sleeping?

Are Tata Motors one of the producers of the film? I ask because their car Range Rover driven by Rahab falls in the ditch and later one of the goons speaks highly about the car, reckons the price and even talks about selling it for a higher price. That was an unnecessary scene too.

KEEPING RAHAB ALIVE WAS WRONG

The film gave Nivi a deserving conclusion. But I am absolutely not convinced with keeping Rahab alive somehow. The gate of the festival was closed after his viral video with Nivi and Rahab’s wife kept protesting over the decision that fall on deaf ears. Rahab desperately kept hitting the gate to get in but the media brainwashing won over him. After Chandan stabbed Rahab, he must have died with injustice. The dialogue that he uttered to his wife that his death will be a total waste if he died were fittingly the character’s final words and must have cried these words when he was stabbed. Had he died, the purpose of the film would have been served, the word ‘Afwaah’ would have won, the lie would have defeated the truth. Sadly, Bollywood maintained keeping the hero of the film alive.

CLOSING REMARKS

I want to thank Sudhir ji for not making Rahab and Nivi fall in love with each other. Afwaah, without a doubt, deserves the praise for a thought provoking story followed by an impressive screenplay. Nawaz was superb as usual but the real winner was Bhumi. Watch her argument with Vicky, escaping from goons, when she humiliates the boy, and her scenes outside the gate. She was fabulous. Afwaah successfully shows the viewers how a political denunciation brings hatred and divides the communities through media manipulation.

When I finished watching Afwaah, I remembered that Rahab lectured to the audience about why he came back from the US. Because he wanted to contribute to his country. And see what happened. Where this passion led to? A viral video almost killed him because his name was Rahab. Because he was assumed that he is one of those Muslims who would take a Hindu girl, convert her religion or marry her to produce Muslim children, and pace down the Hindu population and accelerate and do favor to the fastest growing religion in the world. All this was poisoned to all the netizens through a viral video.

RATING 8/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: U-Turn (2023)

Radhika is an investigative journalist working on a story about the traffic offenders at a particular flyover who move the divider blocks to take a U-turn. One night, the police interrogate her in a murder mystery. When she informs them about her extensive research, the police inquire about her findings. And in a shocking revelation, the police find out that all those offenders that she tracked were also murdered.

U-Turn is the remake of a Kannada film with the same title but this supernatural thriller heavily relies on two pluses. One is the story and the other is Alaya F‘s performance. U-Turn has an interesting story because the idea covers many interesting elements like a particular traffic violation, its offender and the victims, journalism, police, crime investigation, superstition, suspense, and super-naturalism.

This is my second experience of Alaya’s acting and I must say that she is really impressive in applying behavioral attitude and body language of the character that you can observe when the police interrogates her, her immediate reaction when the body falls on the police’s vehicle, when she almost had a pedestrian accident, or her series of getting scared of unnatural appearances.

Besides these two pluses, U-Turn struggles to compel me for any impression. And that’s the problem with the low-budget films. Good stories fail to sell if the direction has no impact. And the final act of the film is a let-down. The film in its entirety loses towards the motive.

U-Turn guarantees fresh idea about the story but that is because it is remade and is not an original content. The film could have been much better than presented.

RATING 5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: The Archies (2023)

STORY

A young group of friends in the Riverdale High School take stand to save Green Park, the heart of the town Riverdale.

REVIEW

The Archies is based on the characters created and published by Archie Comics. The film is directed by Zoya Akhtar who herself is a fan of Archie comics. The Archie Comics is remembered for its golden run from the early 1940s until the late 1950s. These characters and their Riverdale cannot look fit in any other era at all. Setting Archie Comics in India was also difficult so Zoya did a huge favor by setting the storyline in the Anglo-Indian community based in India of the 1960s.

There can no question over the production and costume designing at all. The architectures, color tone, and the camera technique really brings that time back.

The detailing in the film is meticulous. The story is set in the year 1964 and I noticed the newspaper that Archie’s father reads. The year is 1964 and two headlines are about reforms in Nepal and cyclone in India. And both events actually occurred that year. Another point, Archie asks the tourists if they ever heard The Beatles five years ago. The Beatles was formed in 1960, their first studio albums were released three years later but 1964 is the year when the band gained international stardom.

Another good reason for setting the story in the 1960s is because of the rebellious elements in the plot. When the developers decide to destroy the legacy of Riverdale and build a hotel by destroying the Green Park, the young ones take stand, sign petitions across the community, protest, and perform for more votes. That is the most 1960s thing one can remember.

Making the film a teen musical was the only way to run it. The music and tracks really lived up to that time period. Excel Entertainment’s most trusted musical team Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were well supported by Ankur Tewari, The Islanders, and Dot.

A couple of scenes were well shot. I loved the one where after kissing, Archie and Betty close and hang in their doors, and touch their lips and then leave on the opposite directions at the same instant when the camera is moving out.

I liked the corporate angle that folds the Riverdale society. Zoya showed how the community affects by the decisions. People and their emotions are bought by the rich, you get the capitalistic vibes in the book shops and salons.

CAST

The teaser of the film that was released last year sparked outrage among the netizens and Bollywood buffs due to sense of nepotism as three of the seven kids belonged to major film families. After the release of the film, the netizens showed no mercy to note down how badly star kids performed on the silver screen.

Someday I will speak about Bollywood and nepotism but in brief, the criticism is harsh because the audience needs to understand that nepotism is one of the main roots that defines the film industry. These kids have made their debuts but their acting careers in the future will run ONLY if the audience accepts them.

The three in the lead are Agastya Nanda, the grandson of Amitabh Bachchan; Suhana Khan, the daughter of Shah Rukh Khan; and Khushi Kapoor, the daughter of Sridevi.

Almost a year ago, in a podcast with Nadir Ali, the British-Pakistani actor Alyy Khan, who play’s Suhana’s father, shared his experience of working in this very film and showed his dissatisfaction working with these newcomers. He gave an interesting insider that these kids get to work in a workshop for one year. He judged that if the kids still do not perform, then damnation on them. He was absolutely right.

Out of seven, none of them performed. They all were disappointing. The dialogue deliveries, the facial expressions, the body languages, they failed everywhere despite having Zoya Akhtar on the director chair. The fun fact is that the supporting actors are the actors.

I am unsure if the kids were instructed to act like that despite one year at the workshop. Particularly, Suhana’s acting was extremely messed up but if you look at her performance in that short film “The Grey Part of Blue”, you will be surprised.

But readers, again! time will tell. Many star kids were awful on their debut in the past. Some of them became very outstanding actors.

CLOSING REMARKS

The Archies with all impressive technicalities and music is halted to crafting the film into excellence for one major reason and that is the leading cast. The film depends on the Archies more than the pluses I mentioned above.

The era of rock’n’roll and miniskirts dashed by the obviousness and predictability. If the spine is broken, it leads to paralysis. A factory ready to manufacture the best possible product with best available resources but failing to deliver the required result due to weak labor force.

RATING 6.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: 12th Fail (2023)

INTRODUCTION

A boy from Chambal leaves his family and village behind to become IPS officer. On a difficult route is an unthinkable struggle that will either achieve his purpose of life or break him and his dreams ending up returning to his family without a uniform.

12th Fail is adapted from Anurag Pathak‘s book with the same title that he published in 2019. It is a non-fiction biography of Manoj Kumar Sharma who set an example of determination and courage from extreme poverty to become the IPS officer as described before.

I think this was about time that one of the finest filmmakers of Bollywood Vidhu Vinod Chopra reintroduced us as a director. The last couple of generations have mostly known him to have produced the most beloved Munna Bhai series and 3 Idiots but film buffs like me will always remember that this man blessed us with Khamosh, Parinda, and 1942: A Love Story. His Parinda is one of my 4 all-time favorites and one of the very few to whom I have given my highest rating 9.5.

So I am excited that his 12th Fail is a sleeper-hit and after watching it, I know all the reasons of the film being exceptionally so well. So read me out.

REVIEW

One of the most impressive aspects of the film is the art of simplicity. The workload of the script has no complexity nor is it incohesive. From the village days to Manoj’s institute days, nothing looks exaggerated, unnatural, or profusely stereotypical. In fact, there is a fair balance of black comedy and seriousness. There are some classic touches of elements that reminds us of being cultured and sticking to traditions.

Observe Manoj’s mother who after being furious over the crisis runs towards her husband to hand him his food, covers her head, and touches his feet. I haven’t watched such importance of beautiful tradition in the films in a while. This was common in films forty years ago.

The product is a fabulous raw, the content is original, watching this film is exciting. 12th Fail doesn’t look like a reel but real. The film is very related and whoever watches it, will grow on them. Just like Gauri bhayya’s tution center will make most of us remember our time. A private class in a very small apartment with the tutor on the mattress teaching dozens of students spread from his room to the corridor while sitting on the floor.

When Manoj passes the prelims, I actually thought that when he calls to his family, someone at his home may have passed away. But then, it would have been predictable and typically dramatic. Perhaps, no one died in reality when the real Manoj called.

VIDHUGRAPHY

Vidhu Chopra takes a lot of care in giving some captivating shots. My favorite shot was when the brothers were driving the tractor and the camera drone zoomed out when the police stopped them for arresting. The whole walk of DSP Dushyant and the school principal from the class to the latter’s office is a one-shot scene. It began with honey talk and ended with failed bribery. After the police arrests the principal and leaves the school, you observe all the dark-brown skinned uniformed students spectating. For once, you cannot notice at where Manoj is standing.

The director’s vision distinguishes in brilliance depending on how he is willing to present a shot. There are numerous gathering and crowd of students and Manoj is mixed with them. Nowhere is his seated in the class in order. He is not taking the center stage for his being the leading character. Equaling him with the others signifies that he is one of the million stories fighting for their dreams.

CHARACTERS – MANOJ

This show is solely run by Vikrant Massey who plays Manoj, the guy who keeps failing the tests but never gives up. There comes a time in the celebrity’s life when a particular work becomes the highlight of the career. Vikrant has several good performances but I think he has found the one that he will be best remembered for. I have never watched him act so splendidly as in 12th Fail. In my opinion, his performance in one of his earliest films “A Death in the Gunj” was his best until this occurred.

Observe him when he begs for help to the DSP and shows his desperation. Also notice him, when his bag is stolen and he is looking here and there, and getting lump in his throat. And watch his marvelous reaction when he eventually passes. This film is gifted with his many facial performances, check him when he stands up to request Gauri bhayya for some work while he takes his time in humbleness.

CHARACTERS – GAURI

The role of Gauri bhayya played by Anshumaan Pushkar heavily reminded me of Kota Factory‘s Jeetu bhayya. Same energy, same optimism.

Gauri’s speech was worth attentive. Straight up facts spoken. 12th fail has that distinctive motivation that propels you to never give up. You can feel that blood pumping when Gauri cheers up Manoj after failing and rises his voice RESTART. Thanks to this film that restart now is a motivational word. Before that, restart was always annoying especially for the console gamers.

CHARACTERS – SHRADDHA

Although there is immense importance of Shraddha because not just that she is the heroine of the film but like Manoj, she also became the officer. Medha Shankar did a fair job but there must have been something about her character to bring it to audience instead of only being Manoj’s love interest. Just like recently in Maestro, the film was based on the maestro but also gave justice and importance to his wife.

CHARACTERS – PRITAM

Talking about giving importance, Pritam’s character, played by Anant V Joshi, had more growth than Shraddha. Another UPSC aspirant who cannot afford disappointing his family which was clearly visible in his phone calls with his father. Those calls became intense with time, every attempt he failed. Pritam was shown so lost in the call that he could not be disturbed while talking; and that’s how he lost a girlfriend. With repeated failures and losing a girlfriend, he dropped his frustration on Manoj and almost jeopardized the other relation.

I like how Vidhu used this character as an opposite case to Manoj. Someone who had money, phone, girlfriend, money enough to drink but was lazy to struggle for the test. He regretted that he couldn’t be as dedicated as Manoj. It was Pritam who found him and cleared the tests before him. And that brought jealousy and made him look ignored.

CHARACTERS – DUSHYANT

The character of DSP Dushyant Singh played by Priyanshu laid the foundation of Manoj’s dream as his staunch loyalty with work set his mind to become ISP officer. The character disappeared after the start and I sensed that he will return for a very important scene.

He did return but I think it was not an ideal scene as it could have been when Manoj arrives at a police station to release his friend. In the scene, there is an argument between Manoj and the inspector, and if you have watched the film, you will note that a senior officer is noticing him from his back since he arrived to the station. When Manoj wins the argument, that man steps in and walks slowly towards him. But to my surprise, that man was someone else. This could have been so heartfelt if this would be Dushyant observing Manoj in a new avatar.

ACCURACY/AUTHENTICITY

I have neither read the book nor I have any knowledge of the minor details about Manoj and his wife Shraddha Joshi like if Manoj cleaned toilets and worked on the flour or if one of their friends actually misinformed Shraddha’s father. Accuracy is important and I understand the need of dramatizing and taking liberty where necessary. But what’s important are the bullet highlights. Was Manoj poor and left the village to become the officer? Yes, he did. Did Manoj and Shraddha become officers? They did. Did Manoj fail the tests again and again? He did.

Vidhu Chopra also worked on the authenticity of the film and gave a real feel. The teacher in the class is the actual UPSC teacher, Vikas Divyakriti. In fact, Vikrant confirms that some junior UPSC aspirants get to play their roles. When Shraddha is dared to sing, she actually sings instead of using a playback singer. Moreover, the real Manoj and Shraddha were sitting on the other table. The extent of Manoj’s poor background can be traced from his father’s briefcase.

12th Fail is one of those rare Bollywood films where the background score was not overused. And the usage was mostly Indian classic giving a more Indian sophisticated touch. And the love chemistry has always been Vidhu’s gem of film making.

CLOSING REMARKS

12th Fail doesn’t look like a typical Bollywood film but some international project by some multiple European or American production companies working together on a project based in India.

In the world of Indian cinema, between the territories of Baahubali, RRR, Tiger, Pathaan, Animal, follow the route of 12th Fail. Because this is called a cinematic accomplishment. This is a kind of film which attracts the global audience who are enthusiastic about watching a well-crafted film. This is the content India is badly in need of making. This is how you make a bio drama in India. This is one of the very few Indian films that has the potential to reach the Oscar.

12th Fail is the tale of struggle and the most ideal storytelling about the magnitude of hard work that paid off well. 12th Fail is an inspiration for all the generations. If someone feels low and needs their spirits to lift, recommend them 12th Fail.

RATING 9/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Dunki (2023)

STORY

Dunki is about a group of friends who decide to move to London through illegal immigration technique which is called “Dunki” in Punjabi. This is the first collaboration of Rajkumar Hirani and Shah Rukh Khan.

REVIEW

I liked the idea about making a film on the ‘Donkey Flight’ method. But unfortunately, Raju’s comical aesthetics have lost the quality as well as the writing. Dunki has a library of plot-holes. There were many comic scenes that could have created a laugh riot but collapsed due to ordinary use of humor.

From start until the end, there is no directional impact in the screenplay. Absolutely senseless! Just look at those 9 minutes of IELTS exam scenes. Five visibly awful duffers trying to pass the speaking test with more than half of the time speaking in the native language.

The classroom scenes were mockery. The dramatizing and comedy were not even half funny if I consider it some Z-grade parody of “Zaban Sambhal Ke“, forget about “Mind Your Language“. The courtroom scene of Hardy addressing and begging to let him stay also was a brain fart. When will Bollywood realize that the judges of the foreign country do not sympathetically and sentimentally listen to the Hindi addresses of the accused? And why was the bridegroom running away from Hardy by climbing the chairs?

THREE IDIOTS AGAIN?

I felt if Raju was revising his 3 Idiots script the whole time. A few scenes had the same vibe. Just for example, Hardy’s race interrupts due to Manu’s call just like Farhan interrupts the flight by a call. Friends reunite to fly and meet Hardy just like those three idiots travel to meet Rancho. Both films have more than half of the script in the flashbacks. Friends heavily drunk try to break in someone’s home, three idiots also try to break into a house. The very next day, friends in the class are still not sober just like three idiots were. Only one succeeds in the exam and the others feel gutted. Oh wait! one of the friends even committed suicide.

TWENTY MINUTES OF DUNKI

Even action sequences were pointless. How come the shooter allowed Hardy to assist Manu walk inside the tent? In a caravan of Dunki movers, three of them are killed in the encounter. That was one of the defining moments in the film but due to lack of growth in those three characters and terrible dramatizing of the entire sequence, Raju badly missed giving a genuine feel to the film buffs about how a painful tale of immigration meets a heartbreaking conclusion.

Crossing the border by swimming was bizarre. Making a mockery of such intensity by showing how dumb the night watchman is. He neither alert to the border control about his suspicion nor did he stood after switching the light off. And no one inside the water got hit or killed by the round of bullets?

If you realize, this entire immigration that was shot for only twenty minutes of the screen time badly demanded at least half of the film’s length. After all, the film is about Dunki. The value of immigration decreased due to extremely less dramatizing. In fact, the journey was swiftly covered in the songs.

DUNKI DO NUTS

Shah Rukh Khan… Naseeruddin Shah once quoted his teacher and this is one of my favorite lines. “Your talent lies in your choices”. The biggest delusion about the phenomenom of Shah Rukh is that he is King Khan because of his acting. Nope. He is King Khan because he is the greatest superstar since Amitabh Bachchan. And the star power comes from entertaining, not from acting. Both are separate classes. And this is exactly why he chooses entertaining people but not prefer doing character roles in quality films. Dunki is just another example of that side of talent.

In this film, you will realize that Vicky Kaushal was all over Shah Rukh if you take the case of his being drunk on the ceiling and when he humiliates the teacher.

CLOSING REMARKS

Let me be very frank about the film. Dunki is a cinematic disaster. The titanic that will not hit the iceberg because of Shah Rukh Khan. If this garbage was to be carried by Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, or Ranveer Singh, you would see the authentic figures of the box-office results. If I was the producer, I would have offered this project to Shoojit Sircar after my experience with Sardar Udham.

A potential story butchered by terrible direction, screenplay, dialogues, and forced lame comedy. Overall, an outrageous execution.

You know what are the only two pluses that I really liked in the film? One was Vicky Kaushal’s performance and the accurate picturising of the Africans hiding the illegals inside the car.

RATING 2/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Dream Girl 2 (2023)

STORY

A female voice impersonator Karam Singh gets an offer from his best friend Smiley to recover from the financial crisis by getting married as a woman to a man whose sister he is with. The reason for all this trouble is that the girl’s father has set the condition on Smiley to get his son married first before he hands his daughter to him.

REVIEW

Dream Girl 2 is a spiritual sequel of Dream Girl with a few actors from the previous venture showing up.

Like most of Ayushmann Khurrana comedy films, Dream Girl 2 also entertains with rib-tickling comedy in the first half and then the writing suffocates to conclude in the second half resulting in a comedy, that was fittingly working before, beginning to look forced and dragged.

The major plus is the plot followed by the complexity of sub-plots that stayed in the connected roots and exhilarated the viewers. The thread of all exaggerated and nonsense comedy reminded me of both comic flavors of David Dhawan and Priyadarshan films.

Many one liners and several follow-up scenes were impressively funny and that is hugely because Raaj Shaandliyaa directed this. And his CV says that he was behind the immense success of Sony TV’s Comedy Circus and wrote scores of lines for a few comedians including Kapil Sharma.

For me, the funniest scene was when the old man in the family passes away and Smiley & co. jubilantly arrives at their doorsteps for wedding.

CLOSING REMARKS

Dream Girl 2 slipped in the second half with a terrible cringe conclusion but the film must be praised for Ayushmann’s shameless performance and comic writing.

RATING 6/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Jaane Jaan (2023)

STORY

In Kalimpong, Maya kills her husband Ajit in self-defense in her apartment. Her next-door neighbor Naru offers help and gets rid of the body. But Karan, the investigative officer, arrives from Mumbai in quest of Ajit because he is also a policeman.

INTRODUCTION

Jaane Jaan is an official adaptation of the Japanese novel “The Devotion of Suspect X” by Keigo Higashino. And with the involvement of Hyunwoo Thomas Kim‘s South Korean film production company “Kross Pictures“, the official remake is more distinctive because the same company also financed a Chinese film based on the same novel.

REVIEW

Jaane Jaan has a compelling tone of frankly addressing the elephant in the room. The film has a quality start and nicely introduces Maya and Naru. The first twenty minutes easily settles the viewers and grows their characters on us. Then the real game begins when Maya’s psycho husband predictably gets dusted. It is Naru whose character gets more interesting and surely we all viewers, at this moment, begin to take more interest.

The whole proceeding of the screenplay is fitting. There is no wastage of silliness as Bollywood does often. The film in its entirety is servant to dedication and novelty. Thanks to the adaptation that gifts us freshness in to the story. And this is why, Bollywood needs to refine their cringe content and prefer making films based on novels.

Yes some scenes looked pretty artificial to realism like Maya hugging Naru, Maya performing after karaoke, Maya changing her shirt (could have made sense if Karan had noticed some serious injury marks on her back), etc. These were avoidable and there were alternatives to proceed ahead.

Although this novel-based so the story cannot be curved but I was thinking, what if there could have been another angle of watching the entire story from the angle of Karan and then we might have enjoyed further more because then, the element of suspense would have thrilled us. But then the adaptation would have compromised.

TECHNICALITIES

The technicalities of the film deserves the praise. Besides the screenplay, what impressed me the most was fabulous editing. Much of the film’s credibility goes sound if the editing of a mystery thriller aids the screenplay.

Sujoy Ghosh has written the script and directed this film. And this is why Jaane Jaan is so good. He has a habit of bluntly moving a serious story. And he has done that before in Kahaani and Badla.

Shooting in Kalimpong may make the viewers wonder, why Kalimpong? Only the director knows a better answer but I felt such a plot heavily suited a small town or a district where mysterious Maya and her daughter wants to start a new life. And being a Japanese novel, I felt Kalimpong served the right aesthetics. The shots of that smoky place were beautiful.

PERFORMANCES

Jaane Jaan stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, and Vijay Varma, who are quite different actors from each other. I felt Kareena’s Maya needed more aggression after what she has been through. Vijay’s body language of a detective was skilled. Notice his interrogation scene with Maya in the police station. Jaideep is the winner between them, he impressively built growth of the character. There was sanity as well as insanity. I just felt that his character had such a strong reputation in the district, the director must have dramatized his teaching scene for a minute or two to justify why people of Kalimpong regard him highly.

CLOSING REMARKS

Jaane Jaan is a terrific mystery thriller that grabs a lot of attention due to a strong grip of the script.

RATING 8.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Adipurush (2023)

STORY

Raghava rejects Shurpanakha‘s proposal which infuriates her and attempts to kill Raghava’s wife, Janaki. In retaliation, Lakshmana bleeds her nose with an arrow. Shurpanakha informs her brother Ravana. Ravana kidnaps Janaki which starts an epic war.

INTRODUCTION

Adipurush is a mythological action film based on the Sanskrit epic from ancient India called ‘Ramayana‘. Before I jump towards this cinematic disaster piece, let me give you a few insights about where this story is coming from.

Hinduism is arguably the world’s oldest religion. After four holy books of Vedas, two Sanskrit epics that together forms the Hindu mythological belief and constructs a university of faith are Mahabharata and Ramayana. And Adipurush is based on Ramayana.

A legendary poet Valmiki wrote this epic poem thousands of years ago. The poem covers Rama‘s life, his 14-year exile to the forest with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana. And then Sita’s kidnapping by Ravana that resulted in a war. And last of all, Rama’s return from exile.

Who was Rama? Rama was the prince of Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala. Kosala was one of the 16 realms that existed in the ancient India between 6th and 4th centuries in BCE that were collectively called “Mahajanapadas” which means great footold of people. Rama’s father was Dasharatha, the king of Kosala. He had three wives; Kausalya gave birth to Rama, Kaikeyi to Bharata, and Sumitra to twin sons Lakhsamana and Shatrughna. Bharata is the one who ruled Ayodhya when Rama was exiled.

So when Ravana kidnaps Sita to his Lanka, Rama and Lakshmana are informed about this shocking incident by Jatayu, the vulture, who tried to rescue Sita. Rama and Lakshmana seeks help from Sugriva and Bajrang Bali to raise an army against Ravana and liberate his wife from the captivity.

So readers, I have given you a lot of insight. I have shared you some bullet points of the story. So why is Adipurush a box-office disaster? Why the Indian viewers of Hindu faith have taken this film as a blasphemy? What went wrong? Almost everything.

REVIEW

See, I have read the bullet events that occurred in Ramayana and Mahabharata. And I think that Hindu mythology really gives us some interesting stories. Back in the 1990s, I happened to watch a few scenes from Ramanand Sagar‘s Ramayana that, if I am not wrong, used to be telecasted on Doordarshan. Whatever was happening in the show looked to be weird to me in those times. In my mid-teen, I was not a film critic but a typical Shah Rukh Khan fan. So, my opinion in the childhood matters the least or close to none.

But in 2023, with elite level of CGI and many technologies to ponder our unsettling surprises, I can easily envision that if Valmiki’s epic poem is given justice by its true loyalist, both Ramayana and Mahabharata will be shot with the aesthetics of a combined universes of James Cameron‘s Avatar and Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of The Rings.

But in 2023, the general audience especially of the Hindu faith are tortured to watch three hours of Adipurush which is in all sorts, outrageous and quite insulting to Hinduism. Most surprisingly, a film on Hinduism has severely messed up when Narendra Modi is the prime minister of India.

AGONIZING THE VIEWERS

Adipurush begins with a disclaimer that mentally instils the ‘Hindu’ audience to expect a volcano erupt from the presentation. It clearly states that ‘certain elements, characters, and events may have been interpreted or modified to suit the screen adaptation’. Later on, it also informs that they may have include dramatizations and fictional additions. I have always believed that if the film is based on a true story, just depict in its true nature with the highest level accuracy as possible. Because if you don’t, the film carries no purpose at all. And Adipurush is based on Hindu mythology that has become a religion to more than a billion people on the planet. So altering the story or trying to install the whole story in different aesthetics will do no good.

CASTING AND TERRIBLE PORTRAYALS

One of the massive issues with the film is an extremely enormous production budget which is ₹500–700 crore. With that budget, the film ridicules the audience with one of the worst visual effects ever paranoid. Also, with that budget, the casting and their costumes and make-ups don’t fit at all. One of the highest-paid actors in India, Prabhas, played the titular role of Rama. But more than Rama, he looked like Karna of Mahabharata. Plus, Rama sporting a moustache looked pretty odd because I think this has never happened before. Not even in animated films.

Beautiful Kriti Sanon plays Sita but by her attire, I assume she is reimagined as Sita in a modern setup. But Adipurush’s Sita also suffers from cheesy dialogues that corrupts the portrayal further. Imagine one of Sita’s responses to Ravana in Ashok Vatika is ”Ye kesa prem hay, Ravana? Mujhe koi aisi cheez do jo kuch din chale.” (What love is this, Ravana? Give me something that lasts for days).

Two more castings raised the eyebrows. One was Saif Ali Khan as Ravana and Devdatta Nage as Bajrang Bali. I dont have knowledge from what family did Ravana belong to but Adipurush’s Ravana, with his spiky hairstyle and Muslim beard, definitely comes from the house of Targaryen who instead of riding a dragon rides a gargoyle-like bat. Ravana’s original ride was called Pushpaka Vimana which was a flying chariot. So I am unsure what caused to change the ride whereas Pushpak Vimana was shown for a few seconds when Hauman flies to Sita. And then the bizarre alignment of Ravana’s heads in such an outrageous CGI. The ten heads of Ravana, if I am not wrong, always appears in one horizontal parallel. This is the first time, I see a 5×5 dramatizing of Ravana’s heads.

The portrayal of Hanuman is a joke. Neither the right actor was picked nor the physique was muscular enough to hand him over the mace. Plus, the dialogues he uttered were garbage. I felt that Devdatta was trying to be a silly Hanuman. But in any case, the makers surely had a lot of muscular choices for Hanuman. Overall, the casting on that massive budget needs an inquiry. Vatsal Sheth? Sonal Chauhan?

ZERO AESTHETICS

Adipurush doesn’t have a soul for magnificence in visual artistry or storytelling. I feel director Om Raut was being extremely lazy in giving a better look at this ancient world. A viewer cannot watch and say if the aesthetics are inspired. Almost every creativity in Adipurush will remind you of something and make you convince that the makers copied. Ravana Targaryen’s Westeros has striking resemblance with Marvel‘s Asgard. The legend is that Ravana’s Lanka was made of gold. Adipurush’s Lanka is made of coal. Almost everything is coal black. Bollywood has a tendency to dark the tone in the film when the world of the antagonist has to be portrayed as hell. But there is a level. Adipurush’s Lanka is more than elite level.

Not only that but Ravana Targaryen has an army of Orcs borrowed straight from Tolkien or perhaps Peter Jackson. There are a few sequences of Ravana Targaryen riding on his bat that will remind you the flights of the Witchking of Angmar.

Ravana’s son is one of the worst characterizations in the film. Those who have watched Vatsal Sheth giving a B-grade performance of Ravana’s son but doesn’t understand his value. Let me inform you what Indrajit meant in Ramayana. My research says that this guy nearly destroyed the race of vanara when he killed 670 million Vanaras in a single day. Vanara is the race of ape-people from where Hanuman belongs. They were created by Brahma to help Rama defeat Ravana.

Another legend is that Indrajit defeated both Rama and Lakshmana not once but twice in Ramayana. Plus, no warrior possessed all the three Trimurti astras other than Indrajit. Om Raut destroyed this character by making him the Lankan speedster Indrajit Allen aka The Flash. If I am not wrong, there is no mention of Indrajit being a speedster.

The vanara king Sugriva is a shameless replica of Caesar from the Planet of the Apes trilogy. Not only that, the dramatizing of the vanaras will precisely remind you of the Bandar Log from The Jungle Book. The jaw-dropping throat slitting scene is brutal false as that never occurred in Ramayana.

There is a sequence where Rama, Lakshmana, and a few vanaras are surrounded by the army of Orcs just like before the start of the Battle of Black Gate in The Lord of the Rings. And then comes a shot of the heroes warming up for the fight exactly like the first assembling of The Avengers.

In the beginning, two universes collide when Adipurush’s Rama fights against Harry Potter‘s Dementors. Whatever those creatures were, had no part in Ramayana.

WTF IS YOUR MESSAGE???

The laziness of filmmakers is so plentiful that the most controversial dialogue of the film ‘Jali Tere Baap Ki‘ which itself is so subpar to listen is taken from a spiritual motivational speaker, Amogh Lila Prabhu. He uttered Hanuman’s entire dialogue in one of his addresses with using the word ‘Ravana’ instead of baap.

Can you imagine the sages, deities, or the most respectful figures of some mythology or faith, to whom millions or billions of people dedicate their lives or respect to its zenith, speak such cringe, low-level, or pedestrian dialogues? And in all honesty, it is not funny for people of any faith. Imagine a Christian or Jewish film being highly disrespectful and inaccurate. As a Muslim, I will not tolerate if a film is based from the times of Muhammad and instead of depicting the true soul of the story, make the joke out of it.

Om Raut wrote and directed Adipurush, Manoj Muntashir wrote the dialogues. They shamelessly defended against all the criticism. Ramayana is such an incredible story and its live-action adaptation deserved a very careful planning to transform it into a live-action. There must be inquiry about the film’s production cost because with almost zero creativity and cheap editing resulting into one of the worst VFX results from an assumed ₹500-crore budget film questions the authenticity of truth. This film is no way more than ₹50 crore at all. Perhaps, a half of this budget is Prabhas’ pay for the film.

CLOSING REMARKS

Adipurush lacks the emotional value that would show the cultural and religious significance of the Hinduism. It just doesn’t remind you of the core or some essence in which Ramayana is valued to the hearts of the viewers but a three-hour Western portfolio and re-imagination of the ancient India unsuccessfully and unfaithfully resetting that war between good and evil.

Without watching any Ramayana or related show, I can blindly tell you that Adipurush is the last thing to remember for a Hindu content and unfortunately an unforgettable project for the wrongest possible reasons. If Om Raut and Manoj Muntashir are alive, that is only because they are Hindus. There is no excuse of this insult.

Those who want to try Adipurush, at your own risk. I wasted my three hours on the film and three days working on this content as a blogger and vlogger because this is my work. But you, let me save your 173 minutes and recommend you watching a 7-minute bhajan from Swades called ‘Pal Pal Hai Bhaari‘. That has music, poetry, essence of Ram, and Sita’s devotion.

Adipurush is a cinematic disaster which is lost in translation of the scripture that is sacred to the billions.

RATING 1/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Animal (2023)

STORY

Vijay has temper issues and is obsessed about protecting his family from any threats and mistreatment. He loves his father a lot. His father is Balbir, a business magnate who runs a steel factory. One day, Balbir gets shot under mysterious circumstances. Filled with fury, Vijay decides to reunite his family, find the culprit, and kill him.

REVIEW

Currently, one of the five highest grossing films of 2023 with over ₹700 crore crossed within two weeks, Animal is obviously a super-hit. But is it that good? Not even close. This film is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and is considered one of the longest Indian films ever made. How so? In all honesty, I don’t know. Only the director Sandeep Reddy Vanga can explain you that. From what I see, coming from someone who believes that the film can be completed generally in 90 minutes, is not a script that is passionately trying to justify the overstretching of a simple plot but a suicide letter of the art of writing.

See the plot is simple and not really inspiring because we have watched this before countless times. A father who is a businessman and his son who is a typical example of a rich upbringing. The ancestors started the steel business and quarreled. And the enmity led to the death in the family that caused lifetime revenges in the bloodline. Any director with this story can conclude the film in not more than 90-100 minutes, or max 120 minutes. In fact, the director must have thought of a limited series and developed interest instead of stretching a simple plot.

Animal is extremely unrealistic with larger-than-life action sequences and for the sake of entertainment glamorizes a rich spoiled brat and his anger issues. Every character connected to him directly and indirectly loves him, loves to obey him.

Writing errors and stupidity has no limits. Vijay openly declares in front of media that he will kill the one who shoot his father and there is no media uproar. How is that normal? How on earth the news doesn’t alarm the national security that a son of India’s richest businessman is openly threatening to kill.

Geeta breaking her engagement for Vijay was so underdeveloped writing. It didn’t make any sense.

How was the boy not stopped from rushing in the factory searching for papa?

The hotel attack on Vijay and his cousins was so bizarre and brutally unreal especially when Vijay beats the entire skull gang on the same floor alone with an injured leg and his cousins are singing for him. There was no charisma but instead, it was funny.

The one who supervised the attack admits that he doesn’t know Vijay’s name but later, Vijay reminds that he wanted to know his name and tells him his name before killing him. The question is, how come Vijay knew that he wanted to know his name? Vijay was occupied in the arms deal.

MISOGYNY ISSUE

Speaking of misogyny issue of the film that has recently ignited in the social media is a political whining. See, my issue is not women beating in the film. Balbir silencing his wife, the marks on Zoya’s neck, Abrar slapping his wife, Vijay asking Zoya to lick his boot. That all has been happening for centuries and husbands often do the honors of dishonoring women. So that is true picture finally depicted on the silver screen. I refuse to belief that the vulgar promotion of misogyny is encouraged. Not at all. People need to understand that the film doesn’t portray Vijay as a messiah or a prophet. But people also need to see a good side of Vijay when he didn’t stand for his sister getting bullied when they were in college. He didn’t appreciate his brother-in-law going physical with his sister in the party. If the public is complaining that the film is glamorizing misogyny then the film isn’t glamorizing only misogyny but all the bad things like violence, blood shedding, and killing.

Must women-beating be dramatized more often in the films? Well, it depends on the script. Completely okay with what you want to dramatize in your story. If the story demands that part of violence, this should not be objection and no one must get offended by it.

THE OTHER SIDE

Although, Bobby Deol‘s Abrar will be considered one of the most intriguing entries in the film for some time because of that Iranian folk song, Jamal Jamaloo. Maybe that entry covers the reputation of the character but I felt that Abrar’s short appearance is a misfiring. Sandeep wasted a lot of potentials in the film to focus primarily on Vijay and heavily underwrote Abrar.

The whole antagonism of Abrar and his world was stupidly underbaked that deserved to be on level with Vijay’s. Why? Because that family attacked Balbir, planned to kill Vijay, then sent Zoya for a major killing plan. Introducing Abrar after two hours was plain injustice.

So the whole rivalry between Vijay and Abrar deserved half a film but stood for only 20 minutes because the director made the entire film on Vijay and his madness which was not what the plot demanded. Also, silencing Bobby Deol’s character was cruel as people love to listen to Bobby’s dialogues.

FATHER & SON

One of the major plusses is the father-son chemistry between Anil Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor. Notice when father observes his palm when he is sleeping or when Vijay meets Balbir after 8 years. Their whole last sequence of Vijay imitating Balbir was a terrific insider about how a child feels lonely over father’s cold responses and steps into insanity. The feelings get hurt with such upbringing.

PERFORMANCES

Most of the performances were usual as expected. In action films, there is less burden of doing something extraordinary but depends on the given scene or a character. Now take a look at Rashmika Mandanna. She did nothing special until she had to burst on Vijay when he confessed.

I think that kid Ahmad Ibn Umar who played young Ranbir is for playing very intelligent kids. First Laal Singh Chaddha and now this.

The biggest plus of the film is without a doubt the animal Ranbir Kapoor. A mental and physical commandment at the character can be watched in many scenes like his speech in the factory, and all his heated arguments with Balbir and Geeta. His performance was more sentimental when he was with Anil in father-son sequences perhaps because of the passing of his father Rishi Kapoor. It was during this very period when he signed this film. So the gashes were fresh. So came the performance.

I have just started checking Bollywood films of 2023 but I feel this has to be one of the best performances of the year.

MUSIC

The soundtracks need to be praised for being innovative. I think Papa Meri Jaan was the best soundtrack in both versions of the child and Sonu Nigam. It builds a lot of sentimental vibes for children who love their father a lot. The tune is moving. And then both Vijay and Abrar had superb entries. A. R. Rahman‘s Roja tracks were beautifully renditioned. And the Iranian folk song played on Bobby’s entry was out of the box. A beautiful and simple tune that allures the listeners.

CLOSING REMARKS

Animal deserved better writing and must have leveled both the families to ignite the rivalry. Focusing on Ranbir’s Vijay ignores most of the promising aspects of the film. If you want action sequences to blow your mind, watch it. But Animal is a special treat for all Ranbir Kapoor fans and those who appreciate quality acting.

RATING 4/10

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MovieTalks

The Dark Knaik’s 9th FilmFair Awards 2022

INTRODUCTION

I welcome all of you to my 9th edition of Bollywood’s Best for a calendar year. An effort I have been making for my own version of Filmfare since 2014.

The reason for blogging this particular material for the past eight years is because I and surely most of you have understood for a long time that the most prestigious award which is Filmfare has lost its credibility for some decades. The deserving people most of the time do not even get nominated or if they do, they do not win. Many potential films are least considered or perhaps not at all for Filmfare. Why? A few bullet reasons can be a failure at the box office, or a not-so-well-known cast leading to a lack of interest despite having a potential story.

So, with such yearly disappointments, I got annoyed and felt I had had enough of this nonsense. And someone has to take the initiative. I do not claim that I am the first to start my own Filmfare but it has now become a part of my nature to honor and recognize with the highest possible accuracy in my decisions every year.

I promise and guarantee that my picks will not sound reward but an award. My decisions will not be biased but simply on my judgment scale. Many of my finalized nominations and winners are about to surprise you like every year.

From 2014 until 2021, click any report below you would like to visit.

2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019 2020 2021 

And since I have become a vlogger, a content creator, and a YouTuber, I am happy to inform all my readers that for the first time in 9 years, my annual report is transformed into a vlog. If you want to watch instead of reading, click below.

 

And I will no longer call my annual reports “My Bollywood’s Best of” whatever year. From this 9th edition, I am renaming it “The Dark Knaik’s FilmFair Awards”.

Note: “The Dark Knaik” is my avatar and the name of my YouTube channel. Subscribe to my channel here: https://youtube.com/@thedarkknaik

HOW FILMFAIR AWARDS ARE SHAPED?

Like every year, I present my nominations and winners for each category by dividing all the categories into three major sections.

The first is the ‘Musical Section’ that will have 6 categories.

Then the next is the ‘Technical Section’ that will consist of 12 categories.

And the last one is the ‘Major Section’ which will have 6 categories.

So, there will be 24 winners from 24 categories. And each category will have a maximum of 5 nominations.

Also, I will rank all the nominations of all the categories.

HOW WAS MY EXPERIENCE FOR 2022’S BOLLYWOOD?

I was generally disappointed after watching around 45 films from 2022. Bollywood had not much to offer, to be honest. There were several good stories but most of those failed due to bad execution. And then Bollywood’s mainstream aesthetics do not change. Unstoppable uninspiring musical scores, mentioning Salman Khan, needless songs, forced humor, unknown extras or unrelated characters knowing the dance steps in all the songs, stereotypical portrayals of hazuris and janabis, concluding the film on a terrible note, and many more.

THE DARK KNAIK’S 9TH FILMFAIR AWARDS

Readers!

The wait is over…

Allow me to honor Bollywood’s artistic and technical excellence in 2022.

MUSICAL SECTION

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE

CLINTON CEREJO (COBALT BLUE)

2nd. Kabeer Kathpalia (Gehraiyaan)

3rd. Tanuj Tiku (Laal Singh Chaddha)

 

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

GANESH ACHARYA – DANCE KA BHOOT (BRAHMĀSTRA)

2nd. Bosco–Caesar – Rangi Saari (JugJugg Jeeyo)

3rd. Kruti Mahesh – Dholida (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

 

BEST MALE PLAYBACK SINGER

SHAHID MALLIYA – NIRBHAU NIRVAIR (QALA)

2nd. Arijit Singh – Deva Deva (Brahmāstra)

3rd. Arijit Singh – Kesariya (Brahmāstra)

4th. Shadaab Faridi – Tur Kalleyan (Laal Singh Chaddha)

5th. Kanishk Seth – Rangi Saari (JugJugg Jeeyo)

 

BEST FEMALE PLAYBACK SINGER

KAVITA SETH – RANGI SAARI (JUGJUGG JEEYO)

2nd. Sireesha Bhagavatula – Phero Na Najariya (Qala)

3rd. Lothika Jha – Doobey (Gehraiyaan)

 

BEST SONG & LYRICS

KESARIYA – PRITAM, AMITABH BHATTACHARYA, ARIJIT SINGH (BRAHMĀSTRA)

2nd. Ghodey Pe Sawaar – Amit Trivedi, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Sireesha Bhagavatula (Qala)

3rd. Rangi Saari – Kanishk Seth, Kavita Seth (JugJugg Jeeyo)

4th. Aadhi Kahani – Vishal Mishra, Raj Shekhar, Jubin Nautiyal (Nazar Andaaz)

5th. Aadmi Bhutiya Hai – Shantanu Moitra, Rahgir (Sherdil)

 

BEST MUSIC

AMIT TRIVEDI (QALA)

2nd. Pritam (Laal Singh Chaddha)

3rd. Kabeer Kathpalia, Savera Mehta (Gehraiyaan)

4th. Pritam (Brahmāstra)

5th. Achint Thakkar (Monica, O My Darling)

TECHNICAL SECTION

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

SHEETAL IQBAL SHARMA (GANGUBAI KATHIAWADI)

 

2nd. Veera Kapur EE (Qala)

3rd. Priyanka Agarwal (Thar)

4th. Darshan Jalan & Neelanchal Ghosh (RK/RKay)

 

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

DNEG & REDEFINE (BRAHMĀSTRA)

 

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

PREETISHEEL SINGH D’SOUZA (GANGUBAI KATHIAWADI)

2nd. Seema Mane, Rihead Ronni Jr. (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

3rd. Serina Tixiera (Thar)

4th. Nusrat Abbas Rizvi, Kajol Kanther (Cobalt Blue)

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

MEENAL AGARWAL (QALA)

2nd. Subrata Chakraborty, Amit Ray (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

3rd. Amrita Mahal Kahai (Brahmāstra)

4th. Wasiq Khan (Thar)

5th. Sanjeev Khandekar, Vaishali Narkar (Cobalt Blue)

 

BEST SOUND DESIGN

KAAMOD L KHARDE (ANEK)

2nd. Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee (Brahmāstra)

3rd. Baylon Fonseca (Drishyam 2)

4th. Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee (Runway 34)

5th. Anthony B Jayaruban (Jalsa)

 

BEST EDITING

NITESH BHATIA (GEHRAIYAAN)

2nd. Sumeet Kotian (A Thursday)

3rd. Sandeep Francis (Drishyam 2)

4th. Aarti Bajaj (Thar)

5th. Dharmendra Sharma (Runway 34)

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

TIYASH SEN (SHERDIL)

2nd. Kaushal Shah (Gehraiyaan)

3rd. Sudeep Chatterjee (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

4th. Vincenzo Condorelli (Cobalt Blue)

5th. Ravi Varman (Salaam Venky)

 

BEST ACTION

SALAAM ANSARI (THAR)

2nd. Stefan Ritcher, Riyaz & Habib (Anek)

3rd. Vikram Dahiya (A Thursday)

4th. Dan Bradley, Diyan Hristov, Parvez Shaikh (Brahmāstra)

 

BEST STORY

R. BALKI (CHUP: REVENGE OF THE ARTIST)

2nd. Rajat Kapoor (RK/RKay)

3rd. Anirudh Iyer (An Action Hero)

4th. Prajwal Chandrashekhar, Suresh Triveni (Jalsa)

5th. Sunil Gandhi (Uunchai)

 

BEST SCREENPLAY

RAJ SINGH CHAUDHARY (THAR)

 

2nd. Ayesha DeVitre, Sumit Roy, Yash Sahai (Gehraiyaan)

3rd. Aamil Keeyan Khan, Abhishek Pathak (Drishyam 2)

 

BEST DIALOGUES

RAJAT KAPOOR (RK/RKAY)

2nd. Kanika Dhillon, Himanshu Sharma (Raksha Bandhan)

3rd. Srijit Mukherji, Sudeep Nigam, Atul Kumar Rai (Sherdil)

4th. Yash Sahai, Wajid Shaikh (Gehraiyaan)

5th. Vijay Maurya (A Thursday)

 

BEST SCENE

NIKO WITNESSING ARRESTS AND FIRE IN VILLAGE IN ONE-SHOT SCENE (ANEK)

 

2nd. Pushkar trying to eat a biscuit during a lamenting poetry from a distance (The Kashmir Files)

3rd. Alisha speaking about life and relations with her father (Gehraiyaan)

4th. Rookie Gangu’s first day at work on the door (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

MAJOR SECTION

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

ANUPAM KHER (THE KASHMIR FILES)

2nd. Shrikant Yadav (Jalsa)

3rd. Sanjay Dutt (Toolsidas Junior)

4th. Atul Kulkarni (A Thursday)

5th. Vijay Varma (Darlings)

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

SHEFALI SHAH (JALSA)

2nd. Mona Singh (Laal Singh Chaddha)

3rd. Sheeba Chaddha (Doctor G)

4th. Sayani Gupta (Sherdil)

5th. Simone Singh (Maja Ma)

 

BEST ACTOR

KUMUD MISHRA (NAZAR ANDAAZ)

2nd. Siddhant Chaturvedi (Gehraiyaan)

3rd. Akshay Kumar (Raksha Bandhan)

4th. Kartik Aaryan (Freddy)

5th. Pankaj Tripathi (Sherdil)

 

BEST ACTRESS

DEEPIKA PADUKONE (GEHRAIYAAN)

2nd. Alia Bhatt (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

3rd. Vidya Balan (Jalsa)

4th. Tabu (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

5th. Madhuri Dixit (Maja Ma)

 

BEST DIRECTOR

RAJ SINGH CHAUDHARY (THAR)

2nd. Sachin Kundalkar (Cobalt Blue)

3rd. Shakun Batra (Gehraiyaan)

4th. Suresh Triveni (Jalsa)

5th. Abhishek Pathak (Drishyam 2)

 

BEST FILM

DRISHYAM 2

2nd. Thar

3rd. Gehraiyaan

4th. Jalsa

5th. Cobalt Blue

TABLE OF MULTIPLE WINS & NOMINATIONS

MULTIPLE WINS & NOMINATIONS
WINS NOMS FILMS
3 9 Brahmāstra
3 8 Thar
3 6 Qala
2 12 Gehraiyaan
2 7 Gangubai Kathiawadi
2 3 Anek
1 7 Jalsa
1 6 Cobalt Blue
1 5 Sherdil
1 5 Drishyam 2
1 4 JugJugg Jeeyo
1 3 RK/Rkay
1 2 Nazar Andaaz
1 2 The Kashmir Files
1 1 Chup
4 Laal Singh Chaddha
4 A Thursday
2 Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
2 Runway 34
2 Raksha Bandhan
2 Maja Ma
1 Monica, O My Darling
1 Salaam Venky
1 An Action Hero
1 Uunchai
1 Doctor G
1 Toolsidas Junior
1 Darlings
1 Freddy

Thank you for reading my annual Bollywood honors report. I will return with a new report next year. Share your opinion below.

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