Category: Movie Magic (Page 1 of 2)

Dhurandhar – A review

January 11, 2026 / queenbee / 1 Comment

After lot of mulling over, whether I can take in the violence and after Mr.Bee had watched it with his friends, I decided to watch Dhurandhar. Mr.Bee promised that he would warn me at the violent parts, so that I could cringe and grit my teeth, without having to see the gore and blood shed, but only listen to the audio at those parts! (I was THAT set on watching Dhurandhar)

This is a fair warning to all the people who love a good movie, but get the jitters at violence, do watch the movie, to get a general idea of how much our Army is sacrificing for mediocre individuals like us!

Firstly, a person who is skilled about what to do and how to do is called a Dhurandhar!

Now let’s jump into the review….

Released on : 5th December, 2025

Queen Bee watched on : 9th January, 2026

Starring : Ranveer Singh, Akshay Khanna, R.Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Gaurav Gera, Rakesh Bedi, Sara Arjun, Manav Gohil and more.

Directed by : Aditya Dhar

Review :

Movie starts with the 1999 Kandahar plane hijack and the killing of one of the passengers. It must have been a harrowing experience to all the passengers on the airplane. (Incidentally, all the Islamic terrorists had used Hindu code names during the hijack.)

We meet R.Madhavan, essaying the role of Ajay Sanyal, chief of National Security, who is patriotic and plans well ahead for the country. Project Dhurandhar is his brain child.

Next comes the 2001 terror attack of the Indian Parliament. The director included real footage of the incident too. I was not prepared for it, I shed a tear or two for the 9 brave hearts, the security personnel who died on that day, foiling the plans of the terrorists. Salute! (Imagine if only the suicide bomber had succeeded in entering the parliament, the damage would have been manifold.)

This incident puts the wheels in motion and the Dhurandhar, Ranveer Singh enters the enemy territory, as Hamza Ali Mazari. The song which introduces him is the best. Can’t get it out of my head! ( Na toh Karvan ki talaash hai….)

I was worried for him. Imagine living among enemies!

Anyway, by making the right moves, Hamza ends up in the close circle of Rehman Dakait (Akshay Khanna). Then there is Jameel Jamali (Rakesh Bedi), a PAP politician who uses Rehman Dakait, as an ally.

Hamza meets Yalina Jamali (Sara Arjun), the 19 year old daughter of Jameel Jamali, who falls for Hamza.

Through these links Hamza manages to get intelligence about the 500 and 1000 rupee note scam. (The information later is passed onto the IB chief Ajay Sanyal.)

The one at the center of this Indian currency scam is Major Iqbal (Arjun Rampal), somehow, he looked creepy from the get go! (Anyone remembers those days in our childhood when people took extra care to check if the 500 note is original or not. Somehow, the information got leaked to even general public, but nothing was done to stop the scam)

The Khanani brothers who were part of the Indian currency scam also join hands with Rehman Dakait, along with Major Iqbal to procure weapons. They plan another terror attack on India, on October 3rd, 2008 with the spearhead being Ajmal Kasab.

Hamza passes on the information to IB chief and the terror plan on October 3rd is foiled. Major Iqbal successfully catches hold of the Indian spy among the terrorists!

The next scene is probably the most haunting scene I have ever watched in a movie. The Indian spy is tortured and I could hardly look at the screen. ( Not even an enemy deserves that torture.)

Inspite of the terror warnings given by Hamza and the other tortured spy, 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks happen!

Hamza’s pain is real. He is living among enemies, doing stuff he normally doesn’t do, watches first hand, how the enemy nation is torturing the Indian spy and still the terror attack couldn’t be averted.

In the next scene, Hamza shows this angst by amputating the fingers, one by one of a mere employee of Rehman Dakait! ( powerful scene indeed)

The movie ends with Hamza marrying Yalina, helping SP Aslam ( Sanjay Dutt) encounter Rehman Dakait.

During the last fight scenes, when Rehman was not easily bowing down to both Hamza and SP, I was like, maar saale ko, khatam kardo…that shows how well Akshay Khanna lived in the role of a violent crime lord.

I know, by now everyone is all praises for Akshay Khanna, but for me, Ranveer Singh is the man! He truly brought out the best and I don’t know how he managed his generally over-the -top personality, contain it and bring out such nuanced performance. He emoted with his eyes and how! I have always known that he is a good actor and he proved himself once again.

Lastly, full credit to the director Aditya Dhar for bringing out such a movie. The 3 hour 34 minute runtime didn’t feel long at all. Everyone were engrossed in the movie. Young India needs to know, learn, adapt and decide it’s own future. Thanks to brave hearts and brave story tellers who inspire us.

P.S:

1. Whoever called this a propaganda movie is nuts.

2. The movie made me numb! Who even gives instructions during a terror attack, step by step! The audio during the 26/11 terror attacks was played and it was shocking how cold terrorists can be.

Army is doing so much for the country, what are we even doing to earn it?

3. I have never watched any movie remotely patriotic. I plan to watch URI and Sam Bahadur soon.

4. On a lighter note, I like the background score, at the scene when Hamza is fighting gang war, flips his long hair in slo-mo, Ramba Ho ho ho….! I wish I had such beautiful, untangled hair!

Music by Shashwat Sachdev is off the charts and awesome. The Arabic rap song Foos Foos by Fa9la is also unforgettable.

Waiting for Dhurandhar 2, on 19th March 2026.

Till the next post, ciao!

Kantara : Chapter 1 – A review

October 9, 2025 / queenbee / 1 Comment

One of my all time favourite movies has been Kantara , so obviously I had to watch any prequel , sequel or series (if at all) was released. That being said, I was not really in a happy mind space, before going to the movie. Luckily, everything changed once I sat in the multiplex, among the audience. (There was a silent anticipation in the theater, before the movie started, probably because we were all waiting for the signature, Wooahh! call, by the Bhoot Kola performers)

Without further ado, let me jump right into the review.

Movie Name : Kantara : Chapter 1

Released On : October 2nd, 2025

QB watched On : October 4th, 2025

Starring : Rishabh Shetty, Jayaram, Gulshan Devaiah, Rukmini Vasanth and others

Directed By : Rishabh Shetty

Review:

The movie starts with the cruel king of Bangra, Vijayendra, who hunts down tribals and makes them his slaves in his kingdom. Although he has everything, he is not satisfied. He is after the spices found at the mystical Eswara Vanam, deep inside the Kantara forest.

Vijayendra, reaches the divine part of the forest, along with his probably 7 year old son, Rajasekhara and army following them. The king and his army perishes, thanks to the Daiva Ganas in the forest, only the child survives, who later on becomes the king, played by Mallu actor Jayaram (My favourite).

Rajasekhara has ties with the dark magic users, the Kadapa people. Though his son Kulasekhara is born healthy, his daughter Kanakavathi had to be breast fed by a Kadapa woman, to cure her useless legs.

Meanwhile, the tribals find a newborn baby boy, seemingly with divine intervention, raise him as their own. No prizes for guessing he is Berme, our own Rishabh Shetty. He looks the part of a tribal, with raw power. (He even wears curvy, off-white earrings, which I later realised were probably the tooth of a wild boar, a subtle reference to the divine Varaha Roopam.)

The Bangra kingdom is now under the rule of a new king, Kulasekhara (Gulshan Devaiah), who is not much of a ruler. He is alcoholic, lazy, ignorant and arrogant at the same time. His sister Kanakavathi (Rukmini Vasanth), looking ethereal and exquisite is more of an active ruler.

The first half is about how Berme and his gang, ditch the forest, come to the kingdom of Bangra, learn trading etc. The fight scenes are interesting. There is a brief cameo by Rishabh Shetty’s wife too!

When Berme is captured by the king, we get to see Peppe, the son of a head port trader. (Sadly, the actor who played Peppe, Rakesh Poojari died even before the release of the movie, by heart attack. RIP. He was in his early 30s)

Coming back to the movie, the first half is rather slow and long, because, the director Rishabh had to give us an idea of the world surrounding Kantara.

Just before the movie goes into intermission, Berme and his friends come face to face, for the first time with Kadapa people. They are this gross looking people, whose face have more cracks than my feet. Their makeup is so good, I began to hate them, as soon as I saw them. (After seeing the Kadapa tribe, I understood what dark magic and dark thoughts make your face look like, UGLY!)

The movie makes heady progress, thanks to the closeness of Princess Kanakavathi and Berme. This triggers King Kulasekhara into waging a war on the mere tribals. He kills off most of them, but brings on the death wrath of Guliga Daiva, after killing Berme’s adoptive mother. (What you sow, is what you get!)

The next scene is what menace looks like. Berme transforms into Guliga Daiva and spectacular acting follows. (I would love to interview Rishabh Shetty’s costars about their feelings, being in the middle of his fabulous acting during these high octane sequences, I want to know everything!)

The scene that stood out for me is after Guliga Daiva leaves Berme, after the violence and all, we see Berme is shattered, coming to terms with the deaths in his tribe. I loved the hopeless expression Rishabh could come up with, showing his helplessness. Bravo!

All this is a pre-cursor to the grand finale.

After being at loggerheads with the Bangra kingdom, the tribals of Kantara are ready to fight it out one last time.

This time around, the Bangra king has the help of Kadapa people, with Princess Kanakavathi in the lead.

All is well, that ends well. The final sequence is replete with many memorable scenes. Some stick into your brain, as if they were our own experiences. The hero Berme, is heroic, without being over-the-top. I can’t put into words the acting calibre of Rishabh Shetty. He is the soul of the movie. I like how the villains die in a jiffy, they can’t spar with the divine Guliga Berme!

Just like how the first Kantara made us sit up and notice, this one too forces us to watch it again and again anddddd again!

It took me more than 4 days to process the movie and form words for the review.

If my next post is late, you need to understand, I am probably in my room, watching other movies directed and/or acted by Rishabh Shetty.

Can anyone blame me for that??

P.S:

1. I loved the screenplay. What will happen next, was my thought while watching the movie.

2. The attempt at comedy in the first half was unnecessary. But I am beginning to think that, that is Rishabh Shetty’s strategy, to give a slow start and end the movie on a high! ( even Kantara was like that)

3. While talking to Mr.Bee, I understood that Rishabh Shetty is to film industry, what M.S.Dhoni is to Indian cricket. Both are confident leaders and are willing to step up and get the job done!

When top order batsmen fail, Dhoni becomes a middle order batsmen and finishes off the game. Similarly, Rishabh Shetty finishes off the movie with his peak acting and fantastic direction.

4. I was apprehensive about Kantara: Chapter 1, because Kantara set such high standards, who knew if even Rishabh Shetty could top it? He is surely going to sweep the National Award for best actor and best director.

5. Let me add, the tiny detail of bringing important Kantara actors into this prequel too was a good touch. The cinematography, music and VFX, take a bow!

Till the next post, cheerio!

October Sky

June 26, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

I never knew Jake Gyllenhaal started out as a child actor, which came as a major revelation for me and that goaded me to watch October Sky. Ya, and also the preview showing Jake Gyllenhaal going to a social pariah (i.e. an outcast) and striking a friendship with him. That did it and I was eager to watch the movie.

Movie : October Sky

Released in : February 1999!

QB watched On : June 2025!

Starring : Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen and others.

Let’s jump into the review.

I love watching American movies, old and new but I especially love watching the ones from 90s because that was the best period in Hollywood (personal opinion).

The movie starts with Homer Hickman (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his family, Homer trying to find his way to get into college and he knows for sure that he doesn’t like being a miner. He is neither athletic like his older brother Jim Hickman nor good at his studies.

His father, John Hickman is a coal miner, in Coalwood, West Virginia, who expects Homer to follow his footsteps and become a miner. At one point John even tells his son Homer that, if he becomes a miner, that will make him very happy indeed!

Although I already know it, mining is not an easy job. One has to spend most of the day underground and anything may go wrong at any minute. But being a miner doesn’t guarantee good money.

Anyway, Homer is completely against becoming a miner like his dad, because he saw how the job affected his dad’s health.

Meanwhile, Russia makes a breakthrough in the field of science by sending Sputnik, the first artificial satellite from Earth, which moved at a low Earth orbit.

This particular incident inspired Homer which set into motion, his career and his aim to become a rocket scientist.

What follows is how Homer befriends the social outcast, the nerd Quentin (Chris Owen), to help him with the calculations and learning the basics. His two other loyal friends follow him and the four of them form an amateur group, who focus on building a rocket.

John Hickman is at loggerheads with his son, always asking him to quit his rocket making and join in mining. He bans his son from the town premises, forcing Homer to find a No Man’s Land, to conduct his experiments with his friends.

It is interesting to see how his people begin to show interest in his experiments and try to help him, from time to time.

He even faces minor setbacks, like police arresting him and his friends wrongly for a forest fire and even his own dad getting injured in a mining accident. But he pushes forward, to the relief and happiness of his favourite teacher Miss Riley (Laura Dern), who encourages him to take part in the Science Fair.

All is well that ends well and Homer Hickman wins a college scholarship and also gets acknowledged by his dad.

It is a truly inspiring to watch the October Sky. Jake Gyllenhaal is comfortable in the skin of Homer Hickman and I especially loved the scenes between him and his father, Chris Cooper as John Hickman. What a movie!

The end credits roll and we get to see all the original characters at the end.

P.S :

1. After watching Laura Dern, I felt nostalgic and was reminded of Jurassic Park and the Triceratops she tries to help!

2. The most dangerous jobs in the world are mining, tunneling and maintenance jobs of both windmills and sky scrapers!

Till the next post, ciao!

Chhaava

February 16, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

We just returned home from the second show of Chhaava and I should say it is not really a Valentine’s day material!

Anyway…

During Christmas 2024, we had visited Maharastra and that was when I decided to start researching a little about Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj. I also found out a little about Chhatrapathi Sambhaji Maharaj. I didn’t know then about the movie, but I found out that a city has been re-named after Chhatrapathi Sambhaji Maharaj and found it fascinating.

The trailer caught my attention in it’s tight grasp and I asked Mr.Bee to take me to this movie, even though I knew the ending of the story, thanks to my online research! (Yup, this movie was our Valentine’s day movie date!)

Jawan – A Review

January 31, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Let me start the review by saying that this is the first ever movie I have watched of SRK in a theater! I am not his fan but I did love his Om Shanti Om and Main Hoon Na, in that order. Incidentally both were directed by Farah Khan.

You can hardly blame me. Inspite of only watching movies after a good word of mouth talk, I did end up watching an ek number ka faltu movie like Love Story 2050! (I even heard fellow audience saying out loud, ‘kya bakwas hai‘ in between the dialogues of the hero too!) If you ever have time to kill, try watching Love Story 2050 and you will know how bad some movies can be. It is forever stuck in my personal list of worst movies ever! I pity the hero, Harman Baweja. It was his debut movie and it buried his movie career alive!

Anyway, let us get back to Jawan.

Movie: Jawan

Director: Atlee

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanathara, Priya Mani, Sanya Malhotra

Released On: September 2023

Watched on: First day, evening show.

Movie starts with a bloody Shah Rukh, (whom we don’t see fully, because he is bandaged fully, like The Mummy), on the verge of death. Thankfully he has enough loyalty in his blood to wake him up from his coma, to help his saviours. The next scene is the powerful hero elevation sequence. I love the scene, when Shah Rukh’s shadow overlaps the tribal God’s statue, the hero has arrived!

The hero elevation sequences are a rare feat in Bollywood, whereas, almost every South Indian movie has high voltage scenes, where heroism is celebrated and the hero is introduced, but only some attract us and this one is one of those. (Mr.Bee was busy howling at the top of his lungs, happy for the hero and his heroism.)

Twenty years pass by, we find a taklu Shah Rukh take over the system, by turning into a Robinhood for the farmers. He is also set on cleaning the Government as a whole. (South movies are always so hopeful, that someday, things are going to change. Sadly, it takes time, not just 5 hours, like they show in the movie.) Wait! Did I say South movie? Ya, this one looks and feels like a South Indian movie, except for the dialogues and the hero, that is!

Later we get to know that the taklu Shah Rukh infact has a head full of dyed hair and is also a Jailer! (I recently watched the Rajni starrer Jailer too. So what is this new fixation about Jailers? Beats me!) His gang of 6 girls are also from his jail. By the way, the music by Anirudh Ravichander for Jawan, also reminded me of Rajnikanth’s Jailer, once again!

We also meet Nayanathara, playing an IPS Narmada Rai, who is a single mother of a cutie pie, ends up marrying none other than the masked Jailer cum Robinhood Shah Rukh! *claps*

First half ends with a bang! (I loved the twist. It is very logical, but I was so immersed in the movie till then, I forgot the major clue!) I am not giving away much details because I want you to enjoy the turn of events in the movie.

Second half has a cameo appearance by Deepika Padukone, who has a small but effective role, tugging at our heart strings, with a mother sentiment. (Mother sentiment works like no other, even Hollywood is following suit, with ‘The Wild Robot’.) Deepika gets a meaty role and steals the spotlight, away from Nayanatara, who gets a one dimensional role.

Vijay Sethupathi needs no introduction and he packs a powerful punch with his character. I loved Shah Rukh in the role of Vikram Rathore, it was a treat! Both Vijay Sethupathi and Shah Rukh have much to solve among themselves, settling the scores, that is.

Heroism is real, Vikram Rathore proves it for us (most noise made by the audience during the movie was in his scenes). He also shows us what muscle memory is! Paisa Vasool kind of movie. Even the kids enjoyed it till the very end.

P.S:

1. I had written this post long ago and it had been gathering dust in the draft folder. So I decided to post it, better late than never.

2. As you must have guessed, I will come back in a couple of days with the review of ‘The Wild Robot’.

Bubyee friends, time to draw the cartoons for the next post. Cheerio!

Sookshmadarshini

January 27, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

My movie antenna generally perks up with attention if and when I hear a positive “word of mouth” talk about any movie. They are mostly accurate and on point. I had Sookshmadarshini in my Disney HotStar watch list for more than a month. I was on a week long vacation to Maharashtra and was busy afterwards. Now that I watched it, read the review ASAP.

Movie : Sookshmadarshini

Starring : Nazariya Nadeem, Basil Joseph and others.

Directed by : M. C. Jithin

Released on: 22nd November 2024

Watched on: HotStar, 16th January 2025

Review:

What can I say? I love crime thrillers the Malayalam film industry keeps churning every year. I grew up watching such movies starring Mallu super stars like Suresh Gopi and Mammootty. Incidentally, there is no such Star in this movie except for fairly well known actors like Nazariya Nadeem and Basil Joseph. ( I admire Basil Joseph’s effortless acting.)

Anyway, Sookshmadarshini (which means a microscope) starts at a small peaceful town in Kerala, where the neighbourhood ladies gossip through their WhatsApp group!

Priyadarshini a.k.a Priya (Nazariya Nadeem) is a mother and a homemaker, looking for a job and attending interviews. She is as curious as a cat. As they say curiosity killed the cat, she gets too close to the killer but luckily nothing happens to her.

The various characters are introduced and once Manuel (Biju Joseph) enters the town with his widowed mother as a neighbour to Priya, the story gets interesting, to Priya and to us too, the audience. Manuel runs a popular and lucrative bakery, called Grace Bakers which is in the name of his mother, Grace.

The slow pace of the movie lays a foundation to show us the true nature of the characters. Like how Priya, pulls out her tiny nose ring out the kitchen sink drain with a simple jugaad. It shows she never leaves things mid way. Then there is Manuel, who finds a monitor lizard, (udumu in Telugu) kills it off. Suddenly that evening he hosts a barbecue party for his new neighbours with ‘beef’, even cooks it himself, but refuses to eat it! It is one such rare scene in a movie which makes us ikky 🤢.

I also loved how the director uses the stained glass window to portray the Sookshmadarshini!

Grace, is a silent and troubled looking septuagenarian(probably). She hardly interacts with anyone and never leaves the house. We also see Manuel making meticulous plans like befriending a neighbour, who is a single mother and we know he is upto no good!

During a party at Priya’s place where the whole neighbourhood has gathered, there is a fire in Manuel ‘s house and Grace is missing. Luckily they find her after a couple of hours at the railway station. It is later announced that Grace is an Alzheimer’s patient.

The second disappearance of Grace happens again but Priya is sure she has seen Grace through the window. Priya is also convinced that Grace is not a patient of Alzheimer’s. Later, she is caught by Manuel, trespassing his premises.

Then there are other supporting characters which help Priya in their own way. There is also Diana, Manuel’s elder sister staying in New Zealand who flies to Kerala after her mother’s second disappearance. Priya befriends Diana and that is how she is able to solve the case.

The rest of the movie needs to be watched for the anticipation it builds. We know clearly a crime has been committed, we also know who the culprit is, but still, the movie manages to take us by surprise. It is one of those movies, where the premises is intelligent and if the execution of the movie had failed, it would have fallen flat on its face, but it doesn’t!

Kudos to the director and his writer for this one. The movie manages to bring a certain dread and thrill without being violent or gory in the least, like how we see blood which has seeped into a wall and making it bloody and damp! (I even had a dream about the same, as I wrote half the post yesterday before retiring for the night!)

If you are into crime thrillers and mysteries, do yourself a favour and watch the movie and remember to thank me later for suggesting it! 😜

P.S :

1. The movie, the location, the murder somehow reminded me of the Netflix crime documentary I had watched more than a year ago, Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case. That is one of the few documentaries which can’t be forgotten easily. (The other unforgettable documentary is the Oscar winning The Elephant Whisperers.)

2. Basil Joseph is quite an actor, with his unassuming stature and all. The other movies I have watched him in were, Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey and Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil, also starring Prithviraj Sukumaran. While the former gives him better scope for acting, the latter is a timepass movie!

3. I am beginning to watch more and more Malayalam movies for the interesting scripts they come up with.

Till the next post, bubyeee readers!

P.P.S:

I have come across a recent murder in Meerpet, Hyderabad, where the killer, the husband killed his wife brutally and it reminds me of Sookshmadarshini! It is sad that people are getting inspired from movies when it comes to the bad stuff, but ignore the good stuff. May the soul of the victim rest inpeace. I had goosebumps reading about it.

The Namesake

January 25, 2025 / queenbee / 0 Comments

As my loyal readers know of our brief life in the US of A, Mr.Bee would go to his office at 11 a.m. and I would pack my canvas tote with my black vertical striped apron and my wallet, booking an Uber to go to the Monroe Road studio of Clayworks, where the potter’s wheel was all I could see, as far as my passion was concerned.

Some days, when I felt low, even the pots and cups I made would turn out bad and I would leave the studio early (artists would understand!) On such afternoons, I would make a snack for myself and sit in the Ashley’s chocolate brown couch in our living room, with a parrot green woollen throw blanket and watch movies.

By chance, I had come across The Namesake, by Mira Nair, starring Irrfan Khan and the talented Tabu and decided it was worth a watch. It was a revelation. I liked Irrfan Khan too (It was the first time I watched his movie). It was a memorable movie, but this post is about The Namesake, the Pulitzer prize winning novel.

This is the first time I watched a movie first and read the novel on which the movie is based on, later. I have been to the recent book exhibition, the yearly ritual of my maternal family. I got myself a copy of The Namesake and interestingly, the lone thing I remember is Irrfan Khan and Tabu, in the awkward photo from the movie. It’s been more than 9 years since I watched the movie and it tells a great deal about the actors’ and their performances. (I couldn’t find the photo online). No wonder the lead pair is known for their talent.

The Gangulis

The Names

It is about a Bengali couple Ashoke Ganguli and Ashima, in an arranged marriage, whose life as immigrants is at once relatable. It starts with the marriage of Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli and progresses at steady pace to the births of their children Gogol and Sonia. The focus shifts to Gogol and that’s where the novel gets it’s name.

Gogol goes from a phase where his name is just a nickname to, where he loves to be called Gogol , to a phase where he hates it so much , he changes it to Nikhil, gets to know the real reason behind his name and finally regretting the change of his name.

Gogol doesn’t like that all his parents’ friends are desi families. He doesn’t like Indian food and the time it takes to cook. He struggles, as they say, ABCD – American Born Confused/Conflicted Desi. He sees the contrast between his parents and the lives of his American girlfriend and her parents. Gogol hates being told what to do by his parents,(most Asian parents do that) but ironically, ends up always submitting to his girlfriends and his wife. He performs fairly well in studies but since he takes decisions based on his rebellion against his parents, he falls flat. Like choosing a college to stay away from his family and not because it is better! He gives up studying at MIT, it is exasperating!

Ashoke Ganguli, in his own way had adjusted to the life in America. Interestingly, Ashoke ‘s friends had predicted accurately, that Sonia is a true American, right after she was born. But Ashima never feels at home, neither in Calcutta where she lived before marriage nor America, where she stayed for more than three decades. Neither here nor there.

The Ganguli family dynamics changes with the sudden death of Ashoke. Sonia, the daughter who had stayed away for studies reaches out to her mother during her mourning and shows us subtle glimpses of her character. (She hardly get 2 pages worth of space in the whole book)

After two failed relationships and 1 death in the family, Gogol a.k.a Nikhil meets Moushimee Majumder. Both have emotional baggage of their own and that leads to a disaster in waiting, which is their marriage. I didn’t like her at all. Nor did I like Gogol. He was a good man but he had his weaknesses and drawbacks.

The book ends with the hint of Sonia’s upcoming marriage to Ben, Ashima’s plan of moving back to India and well, Gogol, still coming to terms about the journey of life!

Overall, the Namesake is a slow paced story and at the end I did feel sad for Gogol and Ashima (both the troubled souls). It is worth a read, if you are not an avid reader, I suggest you to watch the movie for first class acting,

P.S:

1. Coming to the author Jhumpa Lahiri, her writing is easy to read and understand but at places it gets overly descriptive and lengthy. I found myself skipping paragraphs! I need to read more of her works to comment better.

2. Although we know little about Sonia, I liked her!

3. I went on to watch Irrfan Khan in Piku, Talwar , Jurassic World and Life Of Pi.

4. I will be back with a Sookshmadarshini review soon. Ciao!

Kalki 2898 AD

June 29, 2024 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Fresh from watching the latest pan – India movie on the horizon, Kalki 2898 A.D. here are my thoughts. (It is a review, actually!)

Kalki 2898 AD

Directed by : Nag Ashwin

Released on : 27 June 2024

Starring : Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Hasan, Shobana and many more!

The movie starts with the final glimpses of the battle of Mahabharata. Aswathama, the only son of Acharya Drona, who was born with a diamond on his forehead, is cursed by Lord Krishna to lead a long life of immortality, to pay for his crime, of shooting a Brahmastra, onto the belly of a heavily pregnant Uttara, (wife of Veera Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna)

Lord Krishna removes his omnipotent diamond on the forehead and he has to live on, in exile, waiting for the last and final avatar of Krishna, Kalki to take birth. (I have little to no claim on the rumour, but it is said that Aswathama is still alive somewhere in the Himalayas, along with many sages and Rishis, Hanuman and the God of future, Kalki Bhagwan) As everyone knows it, Aswathama is played by thespian Amitabh Bachchan (probably his best role yet, after Piku!)

After more than 6000 years since Mahabharata, in a depleted and dry holy city of Varanasi, the story progresses. It is a general knowledge in Hindu culture, that once the Dharma is overtaken by Adharma, Kalki Bhagwan will take birth and lead the humanity. So, in 2898 A.D, the people are selfish, lazy, money minded and can kill each other for petty reasons. There is little to no good in the world.

There is a divide among the people, the ones who get to stay at the complex and the others who live outside it. The complex is under the rule of Supreme (Kamal Hasan). I loveeeeed the look of Kamal Hasan. Just when I thought he couldn’t surprise me, he did! Even with his limited screen time in the first part, we can sense that he is a really powerful villain. I am happy for him. Getting a juicy role is any actors dream come true and watching great actors is an audience’s dream! Although, his faithful servant is the villain in this movie, played by Saswata Chatterjee.

Apparently, a pilot (Dulqeer Salman), who fostered Bhairava (Prabhas) as a child and taught him everything, like a teacher, sells him off for a better life at the complex. Interestingly, Bhairava, manages to one – up him and beat him at his own game, by handing pilot away to bounty hunters, for some units, which is their currency. (That is how the director wishes to show us that it is indeed the time for Kalki to appear, adharma is on the rise!)

The complex mainly works to get fertile women and girls, to use them for their experiments in collecting fetal serum! I liked how a scientist, who knows about the misdeeds of Supreme, tried to kill him off, to save the test subjects. (A little Dharma still exists in the world.)

Deepika Padukone, as Amma / Sumathi, one of the test subjects, is 5 month pregnant, apparently, with Kalki Bhagwan. She is not a fierce warrior or a great fighter. She can hardly kill someone. She is patient and loving, may be that is the reason, she was chosen by the God Himself, to be His mother. (I was expecting her to be like Lara Croft, but that wouldn’t have made sense.) She is meant to give life, not take from anyone, as per the words of Aswathama!

Once the fetus is 5 month old, Aswathama starts sensing It. The fight sequence between the 8 foot tall, over 6000 year old Aswathama and the lazy 6 foot bounty hunter Bhairava, is to be watched on the screen to enjoy. It was fun. I loved to see a very angry Amitabh, protecting Amma from a goofy Prabhas.

The first half was a bit of a drag at some places. There were cameos by Ram Gopal Varma, Rajamouli, Avasarala Srinivas, Brahmanandam, Disha Patani which were totally unnecessary, but were fun to watch. (It was like a guessing game, who will appear next kind.)

The second half is about how Amma is taken into a secret location , Shambala among the mountains, apparently, it was the location where the battle of Kurukshetra had been fought, during Mahabharata.

Once again there is a fight sequence of Aswathama and Bhairava and it is later revealed that Bhairava is indeed the reincarnation of Karna, the eldest son of Kunti, with Vijay Deverakonda as Arjuna.

Finally, Sumathi is captured by Bhairava, who is on the run and Aswathama is helpless(He is surprised that Karna had reincarnated).

The movie ends with Supreme, who decides to pursue Sumathi, himself, to abort Kalki Bhagwan, before He is born. Let’s see how the sequel holds up. Fingers crossed for a Kamal and Amitabh fight sequence!

P.S:

I loved how the director portrayed the diverse cast. You can find foreigners, people from all corners of India, everyone, gathered on both sides, the good and the evil. It shows, in the future, the geographical differences mean nothing, on the face of destruction. It may also imply that, every other place had been destroyed on the earth, except the holiest of the holy place, Kasi. So the surviving man-kind had gathered at Kasi. (That is my interpretation)
The director has played to his strengths. If you look closely at all his films, he has a strong sense of selecting star cast for his roles. He doesn’t slip in that area. If it is Amitabh as Aswathama or Deepika as Sumitra or Kamal Hasan as Supreme or Prabhas as Bhairava / Karna, he aces it. (He proved it through Mahanati, by selecting lesser known Keerthy Suresh for Savithri and Dulqeer Salman as Gemini Ganesan.) All the actors have done justice to their roles, which is most important for the success of a movie. Half the battle is won if the star cast is perfect.
I was sure that no one can show Lord Krishna on-screen, better than the one done in Karthikeya 2. But, the director Nag Ashwin showed us Lord Krishna not in the human form, but as a dark aura in the shape of a human. (It would have been better if the aura had been Blue or Purple, indicating the Neela Megha Syama.) Like they say, humans can not see the God with their eyes, they can only perceive His aura.
Lord Krishna and the white horse in the background is the precursor for the Kalki Bhagwan
I enjoyed the fight sequences between Aswathama and Bhairava a lot. (I was once told that, Aswathama was indeed a cyborg, since Indians were technically advanced in those days. The diamond on the forehead is apparently which brings power to Aswathama.) This little detail had been used, unsurprisingly by Marvel in creating their own super hero, VISION! Apparently, there is a temple for Aswathama in Kerala, to be exact, the famous Ananthapadmanabha Swamy temple. If you happen to go to Kerala, do visit it and see for yourself.
It is interesting to see people from all industries work for this movie and they dubbed for their own roles. This is a subtle hint to show people from different locations have migrated to Kasi and its surroundings and have all begun to talk the same language, albeit with their own accents!
In the movie of Avatar by James Cameroon, the Na’avi people were indeed designed after the Indian mythological creatures of Vanara or monkey people! May be we should just ask James Cameroon about it, to confirm this particular rumour.
The movie looks like it is heavily inspired by Star Wars franchise. The personnel of Supreme look similar to the army of Darth Vader!
There is the introduction scene of Aswathama in a Shiva temple. I thought it was the clever idea of the CGI team to have only the temple gopuram visible and the temple buried deep under sand, because there is a ban on Gods in 2898 AD! But turns out, it is true and not fiction. The said temple indeed exists as Perumallapadu Temple in Nellore which was buried by the flood waters of River Penna, approximately 80 years ago and came to light, in the recent years, during the period of Corona!
Encouraging tourism, the Kalki 2898 AD way (Featuring real life historic sites in the movie!)
The only drawback that was apparent is the CGI of a young Amitabh Bachchan as Aswathama. It could have been better.

As I mentioned earlier, all the opinions in the post are my own and are as per my perception. The images have been freely copied from the internet and I take no credit for the same.

Till the next post, cheerio, dearies!

Laapataa Ladies!

May 18, 2024 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Although most people these days crave for ‘zara hatke‘ movies, the important criteria which clinches the deal is the title of the movie. Once I heard the title Laapaata Ladies, I wanted to watch it. Kiran Rao has always been the director who interested me, but I never got to watching her other movie. Interestingly, now is the time for the woman directors to shine.

So, lets see how Laapataa Ladies fares! (Laapataa loosely translates to Missing)

Released on : March 2024

Watched on : May 2024

Directed by : Kiran Rao

Starring : Mostly new faces…. except for Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan. (He also acted in Telugu movie Race Gurram)

Review:

The movie starts with Deepak Kumar (Sparsh Srivastav) and Phool Kumari (Nitanshi Goel)’s bidaai. They board a train to the grooms village in the fictional Nirmal Pradesh. Incidentally, the train is filled with other newly married couples, where all the brides are in bridal finery, wearing the customary blood red saree with ghoonghat, covering up their faces from any prying eyes.

There is also a small scene here, where the grooms compare how much dowry they have been given and how rich the bride’s family is. They also judge that something must be wrong with Deepak because he got the least out of all the grooms in the compartment!

When the train reaches the main leads’ destination, Deepak Kumar inadvertently picks up another bride, one Mrs. Pushpa Rani, w/o Pankaj. They only find out the error, on reaching the far away village! Deepak is devastated. (The drawbacks of ghoonghat is apparent. The husband can’t recognise his wife, if there are many ladies in similar dress. Even the wife can’t see the husband clearly, to confirm that she really is following her husband around!)

Meanwhile Pushpa Kumari has a cell phone; sim card included, in her possession. But why is she not reaching out to either her parents or her rich husband? Is Pushpa her real name and is she really married to Pankaj as she claims?

Deepak Kumar visits the Police Station to file a complaint about the missing Phool Kumari and the arrival of Pushpa Rani in her place. But turns out the paan chewing, money minded SI Shyam Manohar (Ravi Kishan) is cleverer than he looks. He begins to doubt Pushpa Rani, may in-fact be Jaya w/o Pradeep Singh. (Pradeep Singh has already filed a complaint that his wife Jaya is missing at another Police Station.)

On the other end of the story is our soft spoken, baby faced, innocent, uneducated young bride Phool Kumari. She doesn’t remember the name of the village her new home is in! (Though she knows her own village, she doesn’t want to reach out to her parents. She fears that, her reaching out to her parents will shame them in the society! Society may taunt them for marrying their daughter to a fraud!) Luckily for her, she makes new friends at the train station. She begins working at a tea stall and ends up earning a little money too! The tea stall owner is a kind old lady Manju Mai, who has harsh words for everyone, but is soft at heart.

As days pass by, SI is sure Pushpa Rani is Jaya and spies on her and finds her selling gold bangles and sending someone money through Money Orders. Is she a thief?

All the while, she has made herself many friends in Deepak’s house. It is apparent that Jaya a.k.a Pushpa is well educated and not a total bumpkin like Phool!

Even though Deepak wants to search around for his bride, all he has is a picture of her with him, with a ghoonghat covering her face. The incident when khan saab tells him that ghoonghat is not only covering Phool’s face but also her identity! All the while, Khan saab’s wife herself is in a burqa, which shows the sad state of women across the society. (The movie takes place in 2001)

All ends well, when Phool Kumari reaches Deepak after the missing person posters are printed. Phool Kumari’s friends at the train station celebrate upon knowing that she reached her in laws home safely. Such a heart rending moment.

But what is the story of Jaya? Why not watch the movie to find out?

I loved, loved and loved the main leads, Phool , Deepak, Jaya and the supporting role of Manju Mai and their acting. The best character, though, went to Ravi Kishan as the SI who rose to the occasion. He sets things straight between the chauvinistic egoistic dowry hungry Pradeep Singh and Jaya. I could totally guess what was going to happen, but the way Shyam Manohar handled Pradeep brought me immense satisfaction.

Laapataa ladies is an honest and beautiful movie and is worth watching for the director Kiran Rao’s ability to tell a story and for the actors who did their job perfectly. This movie is of the ‘not-to-be-missed’ kind!

Why not watch it over the weekend?

P.S:

Of all the movies I love, Zoya Akhtar takes my top billing thanks to her Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Then comes Talvar by Meghna Gulzar tying with The Namesake by Mira Nair, followed by English Vinglish by Gauri Shinde, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer by Aparna Sen and commercial super hit Om Shanti Om by Farah Khan, lastly, Bareilly Ki Barfi by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari.
There may be better movies, I am yet to watch them. Once I do that, I may change the list.
I love the incident when Deepak meets a local politician to help find Phool. It brought some laughs.
I also loved the subtle romance between Phool and Deepak. I am thankful that Kiran Rao selected the cast based on her story and not because they are big named stars!
Actress Chhaya Kadam who played Manju Mai reminded me so much of aai, whom I was fortunate to meet in USA. She was sooooo relatable!
I am on a movie spree. I have few more movies to watch and I will surely update as fast as I can.

Premam

May 15, 2024 / queenbee / 2 Comments

I wanted to watch Premam for a really long time, because of the reviews it had garnered. But I was busy with my own life, getting married, moving to USA, coming back to India and all.

Recently, I read an article about Sai Pallavi, since she is going to play Ma Sita in the Ranbir Kapoor starrer Ramayan. That brought back the list of movies I wanted to watch and I ended up watching Premam. So, here goes the review.

Interestingly, I watched the movie almost 7 years after its release.

Released on : May 29, 2015.

Reviewed on : May 16, 2024. (after almost 7 years!)

Directed by : Alphonse Puthren

Starring : Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameswaran, Sai Pallavi and Madonna Sebastian.

The movie starts in Aluva, Kerala, with George David (Nivin Pauly), a 16 year old teenager, busy writing a love letter for his first love, Mary George (Anupama Parameswaran), who is a regular high schooler, girl next door, with bushy hair. George’s bestie Koya even wonders what George sees in her! Infact, she has most of the local boys wooing her. Her father is always on his toes, shooing away all the boys who crave for Mary’s attention. Even I wondered why so many boys always waited near her gate (in-spite of her strict father), trying to catch a glimpse of Mary. Its not like she is the only girl in Aluva! George’s love comes to an end as Mary loves another boy.

Years pass by and the once innocent George David now sports a full beard and a mustache. He and his friends are a tight bunch and are always ready to fight. He is a college student.

Then comes Malar (Sai Pallavi), the guest lecturer in his college. George smokes, he drinks, he appears to be a tough guy but is soft at heart. He falls in love with Malar at first sight. It is interesting to see that, George, has no prejudices. Once again Koya asks why George likes a lecturer, who has pimples on her face, who is from another religion and community, who speaks another language, who is also few years older to him. George is pretty open minded and he is confident his parents will accept his love. He manages to express his love and Malar loves him too.

The brief dance sequence by Malar is beautiful. (No movie of Sai Pallavi is complete without a dance number.)

Since I already saw the movie poster, I was sure there is another heroine who is yet to enter the picture and wondered how this love story is going to end. (Either the lover has to die or cheat him because of some unknown reason. Thankfully, the director didn’t go down this route.) Turns out Malar loses her memory during an accident and that’s the end of the love for George. (He is brave enough to visit her after the accident but not brave enough to wait for her to regain her memory.) At that instance George proves why age difference is important. He is immature.

He later attends Malar’s wedding and that closes the second chapter of love for George.

Years pass and George is now the owner of a cafe. He even bakes the cakes himself. He now ditches the beard and only has a mustache. (Simple manipulation facial hair changes his face a lot. Guys are so lucky. Women can never change their appearance so drastically!) He meets Celine (Madonna Sebastian). She flirts with him with knowing smiles and glances and he seems interested in her. Turns out, she is the beautiful younger sister of Mary George, his first love!

Instead of wasting time to woo her, George directly asks her if she is ok with marrying him. (Almost all his friends are married and he is a 30 year old.) He has his priorities right, his goal is marriage!

After a minute set back regarding an ex-fiance, George weds Celine at the end. Even Malar comes to his wedding and wishes the couple.

What I loved:

The natural acting and progress of the story (especially of the lead pair). I liked the chemistry of George and Malar at first and later of George and Celine. The expertise of the director is also apparent from the way the film was made. I already have a high opinion of Kerala and its streets, so, watching this movie filled me with positive vibes. It was relatable. I liked how even the heroines are not portrayed as having no flaws, but as mere humans. They charm us with their nativity.

Although I am have no knowledge of Malayalam, I found a couple of songs good. This is the second Mallu movie that I liked a lot , after Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey! ( I also liked Drushyam 1 and 2, but I hardly know the lead pair of Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey and this is my first Nivin Pauly movie.) Drushyam has Mohanlal and he is not a newbie, so liking his movies is a no-brainer!

P.S:

We all know some directors love to do cameos in their own movies, this is one of those. The director Alphonse Puthren appears at the end, as Roney Varghese,ex-fiance of Celine. It is a powerful cameo, because, I felt like he deserved the beatings he got from Nivin and others in Premam!
The other famous cameos include Rajamouli in a scene before item song in Baahubali – The Beginning and Quentin Tarantino in Django Unchained! There are others too, but I am unable to recall at the moment.
I also like watching movies of Mammootty and Suresh Gopi. After Ala Vaikuntapuram, Ponniyin Selvan and oldie Pancha thanthiram, I also admire Jayaram, not to forget ‘Ramam‘ Dulquer Salman!
I wonder if Nitesh Tiwari the Ramayan movie director is going to use Sai Pallavi’s dance expertise in the movie. She could probably perform a beautiful number like the Pranavalaya song in Shyam Singha Roy and steel many hearts up North India! A graceful Ma Sita indeed!

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