PHILLAURI

PHILLAURI : is a Hindi Fantasyromantic comedy film, directed by Anshai Lal starring Anushka Sharma, Suraj Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Mehreen Pirzada.

PLOT: A young man Kanan (Suraj Sharma) returns to India from Canada to marry his long-term girlfriend Anu (Mehreen Pirzada), but comes to know that as he is a manglik (born under an unlucky star) he has to get married to a tree before getting married to her. He very reluctantly marries the tree, which is duly chopped down after the completion of the ceremony. As a result, from that day onwards he is haunted by the spirit of a woman named Shashi (Anushka Sharma), who lived in that particular tree and hence claims to now be 'married' to him.When asked about the reason for Shashi’s ghostly existence, she recalls her love story with Roop Lal Philauri (Diljit Dosanjh), which, till date as remained an unfulfilled dream because of unforeseen situations and circumstances. What were the circumstances which played the villain between Shashi and Roop Lal’s love, what happens to Shashi’s soul ultimately and do Kanan and Anu get married is what forms the rest of the story.

PERFORMANCES: Anushka Sharma excels in the film even though her character comes as half baked (because of the script), she manages to pull it off with supremacy.Diljit Dosanjh shows his soft and vulnerable side in PHILLAURI. Despite having limited scope, he puts on a decent performance.The film’s scene stealer is however, the endearing Suraj Sharma.He plays his part of a confused young boy extremely well. He also consistently maintains the fun quotient in the film.Mehreen Pirzada has impressed us with her simplicity & naturality.

MUSIC: composed by Shashwat Sachdev & Jasleen Royal is average and fails to impress except for one song ‘Sahiba’.

Full marks to the film’s cinematographer (Vishal Sinha) for turning the film into a visual delight.While the film’s first half is funny (in parts) and bearable, the film sees a drastic downslide in its second half, which is mostly dedicated to Anushka Sharma character’s life in the past. The slow and predictable second half does nothing more than testing the patience of the audience. Even the parallels between the two eras seem extremely forced. One just cannot help but say that the film’s climax is bizarre and outrageous.

Overall, Phillauri fails to connect emotionally due to its weak and slow paced narrative.You can watch it once.

Trivia: Those who don't know who is Suraj Sharma who plays the character of Kanan....Let me tell you this guy also played the role of PI in hollywood blockbuster Life Of Pi...

BADRINATH KI DILHANIA

BADRINATH KI DILHANIA : is a 2017 Indian romantic comedy film,[4] directed by Shashank Khaitan starring Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Sahil Vaid.

PLOT: Tenth standard pass Badrinath Bansal aka Badri (Varun Dhawan) and his family which consists of his mother, his elder brother Alok Bansal (Yash Sinha) and his brother’s wife Urmila (Shweta Basu Prasad). The entire Bansal household is kept under his control by Badrinath's strict and patriarchal father Bansal saab (Rituraj Singh). One day, when the carefree Badri sees the effervescent Vaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt) in a marriage, he instantly falls in love with her. He, then, starts pursuing Vaidehi relentlessly to marry him, only to get a firm no for an answer every single time One day, after much ado, Vaidehi says yes to Badri’s proposal for marriage, but, with a condition that she has to get her elder sister Kiran (Aakanksha Singh) married before her. After searching the length and the breadth of the city (which also includes a ‘bridegroom hunt audition’), Kiran finds her soul mate in Bhushan (Aparshakti Khurana). After all the ‘customary dealings’, the elders of both the families decide to conduct the marriages of Vaidehi and Kiran together. While Kiran gets married to Bhushan, Vaidehi runs away from the marriage without informing anyone, thus leaving both the families in an extremely embarrassing situation. An infuriated Bansal saab then orders Badri to get hold of Vaidehi from wherever she is, so that they can beat her up in the public and make an example out of her. Does the ever-obedient Badri listen to his father’s orders or does he listen to his heart which still loves Vaidehi, what was the reason for Vaidehi’s escape on the day of her marriage, does Badri become successful in tracing Vaidehi or does he return home empty handed and what ultimately happens to Badri and his selfless love towards Vaidehi, is what forms the rest of the film.

PERFORMANCES: it’s the impeccable duo of Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt who carry the film solely on their shoulders. The chemistry that they share in the film is simply impeccable. One has to see it to believe it.He creates yet another winner in his titular role of ‘Badrinath’. The attitude and the body language with which he approaches his character are spot-on.He gives yet another reason for audiences to be in awe of him. The ease with which he has handled both, comic and emotions, are really clap worthy. On the other hand, it’s Alia Bhatt, who (yet again) pulls off her role in the film very flawlessly.

MUSIC: composed by Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi and Akhil Sachdeva.The film does have a couple of melodious tracks in the form of the remix of ‘Tamma Tamma’ and the film’s title track.

The film’s first half is interesting but it’s the second half that plays the spoilsport as it seems dragged and stretched after a point.The film does have its share of hard-hitting dialogues and funny moments.

Overall,BADRINATH KI DULHANIA is a beautifully textured love story and an enjoyable entertainer that wins you over and keeps you hooked right till the end

COMMANDO 2

COMMANDO 2 : is a 2017 Indian action film, directed by Deven Bhojani starring Vidyut Jammwal, Esha Gupta, Adah Sharma, Shefali Shah, Adil Hussain, Freddy Daruwala, Thakur Anoop Singh, Satish Kaushik.The film is a sequel to the 2013 film Commando: A One Man Army

PLOT: India's most wanted Black Money agent, Vicky Chaddha, gets arrested in Malaysia and is kept in a safe house by the Malaysian authorities, along with his wife. A team of four is being sent to Malaysia to bring them to India.In the mission to catch and bring back Vicky Chaddha to India, Abhaya Sharma (Shefali Shah), the ‘Director of Investigation Division of the Central Board of Direct Taxes’, assigns the said task to a team of Inspector Bhavna Reddy (Adah Sharma), ACP Bakhtawar (Freddy Daruwala), Zafar Hussain (Sumit Gulati) and Sharad Pandey. In a sudden turn of events, Karan ‘replaces’ Sharad Pandey and joins the team.When the team reach Malaysia, they come face to face with ‘Vicky Chaddha’ and his lovely wife Maria (Esha Gupta).Apart from the growth of inter-personal relationships, the mission has quite a few twists and turns on its way.Does Karan become successful in bringing back the notorious Vicky Chaddha to India single handedly, what was the incident that shocks Karan is what forms the rest of the film.

PERFORMANCES: On his part, Vidyut does a decent job and has justified his role of a ‘Commando’. He successfully keeps you engaged throughout with his performance and action.Adah does a decent job in the film. It does take some time for the viewer to absorb her south Indian accent in the film. Adah brings in the humour quotient in the otherwise serious film. Besides having her share of comical scenes, she does impress everyone with her action scenes as well. The surprise element of the film is however in the form of Esha Gupta, who comes across as the high point of the film.

MUSIC: Mannan Shaah and Gourov Roshin.The film has only one song in the form of ‘Hare Krishna Hare Ram’ (which features only in the end)

While the film’s first half successfully manages to build momentum and the pace in the form of the introduction of the characters with some really stylish action scenes thrown in, the film’s second half starts dragging and also becomes predictable at many places.
A special mention to the film’s action director (Franz Spilhaus) for the breath taking action sequences.

Overall,Commando 2 is for one time watch only,a descent timepass.

JOLLY LLB 2

JOLLY LLB 2 : is a 2017 Indian black comedy film written and directed by Subhash Kapoor. A sequel to the 2013 film Jolly LLB. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Huma Qureshi, Saurabh Shukla and Annu Kapoor in lead roles.

PLOT: Jagadishwar Mishra aka ‘Jolly’, who works as an assistant to the extremely renowned lawyer Rizvi saab, keeps on dreaming about breaking free from the ‘clutches’ of his boss and go independent. In an attempt to realise his dream, Jolly lands up cheating a helpless and pregnant Hina Siddiqui (Sayani Gupta), whose husband was killed in a fake encounter. When Hina realizes that she had got cheated by Jolly, she commits suicide. The news of Hina’s suicide disturbs Jolly immensely that he starts getting nigtmares about her. As repentance, Jolly decides to take up the case for which Hina had given up her life. No sooner Jolly decides to take up the case, he is faced with strong opposition in the form of the superlatively experienced and ‘street smart’ Pramod Mathur (Annu Kapoor), who represents the case on behalf of his client, the accused Inspector Suryaveer Singh (Kumud Mishra). The man in charge of delivering the judgment is the Bollywood-loving Justice Sunderlal Tripathi (Saurabh Shukla) .Now,can Jolly win the case,can he deliver justice to Hina forms rest of the story.

PERFORMANCES: As for the performances, it’s the power packed enactment by the trio of Akshay Kumar, Annu Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla, which acts as the film’s forte. Even though the film’s first half rides majorly on the ‘tried and tested’ shoulders of Akshay Kumar, the second half sees Annu Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla, who, alongwith Akshay Kumar hold the film in a big way. Annu Kapoor is brilliant in the role of a corrupt lawyer. His character becomes powerful majorly in the film’s second half .Saurabh Shukla, on the other hand, is outstanding in the role of a frustrated judge who can see everything, but does not always react. But, when the situation demands, he can very strictly put his foot down and call the shots with utmost authority. Despite Huma Qureshi being the film’s leading lady, her performance gets overshadowed by the trio of Akshay Kumar, Annu Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla. She does a decent job, if not an outstanding one

MUSIC: composed by Manj Musik, Meet Bros, Vishal Khurana and Chirantan Bhatt."Bawara Mann" is a average composition.

Despite the film being a sequel of JOLLY LLB, Subhash Kapoor has taken utmost care to ensure that the sequel enjoys a life of its own and does not come across as a mirror image/ clone of its predecessor. As compared to the film’s first half which sets up the ambience of the film and establishes all the characters, it’s the film’s second half which comes across as extremely powerful and takes the film to a different level altogether.

Overall, Jolly LLB 2 is a must watch film & one of finest films of 2017 till date.

THE GHAZI ATTACK

THE GHAZI ATTACK: is a 2017 Indian Telugu & Hindi bilingual war film directed by debutant Sankalp Reddy.The film is based on mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.The film stars Rana Daggubati, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni,Taapsee Pannu, Om Puri, Rahul Singh.It is India's first underwater/war-at-sea film

PLOT: After the Indian Navy decodes a cryptic message by the Pakistan Navy about a surprise attack on India, the Indian Navy officers become extremely alert about the situation. In order to combat the attack, they recruit a team of three officers to lead India’s submarine S21. The trio, then go on a classified mission to do a detailed underwater recce of the situation. The three principal officers chosen for the mission include Lt.Commander Arjun Varma (Rana Daggubati), Captain Ranvijay Singh (Kay Kay Menon) and Executive Officer Devraj (Atul Kulkarni).What follows after that, are a series attacks and war games between both the submarines under the ocean. Do the Indian officers aboard ‘S21’ manage to survive the Ghazi attack and defeat the Pakistan submarine or do they succumb before the enemies, is what forms the rest of the film.

PERFORMANCES: Rana Daggubati was the star in this film but Kay Kay Menon was the hero. His performance as the stern Commander was so convincing that you would instantly hate his arrogance and yet love his dexterity. His cold commanding stare could penetrate the screen and send a chill down your spine. Rana’s skill however, shines through in the second half in what was possibly his best performance yet. Atul Kulkarni too as usual brought the character to life. Rahul Singh, who plays Commander Razzaq (and the neutral evil) of Pakistan also did a commendable job, particularly against actors of that calibre.

MUSIC: While the film has absolutely no scope for music (Krishna Kumar aka K), it’s the film’s background music, which is outstanding and helps the narrative in a big way.

The film’s cinematography is well-researched script is extremely engaging and keeps the viewer hooked to the seats till the end of the film. Given the fact that the film’s premise was set majorly inside a submarine, one has to applaud the film’s writing and execution, which undoubtedly comes across as one of the toughest aspects of the film. Also, the kind of homework done in order to unearth the story is extremely commendable and remarkable.The VFX used in the film though could have been better.

Overall,The Ghazi Attack is a must watch film.

RAEES

RAEES: is a 2017 Indian action crime thriller film directed by Rahul Dholakia stars Shah Rukh Khan, Mahira Khan,Atul Kulkarni and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

PLOT: Raees(SRK), from Fatehpur, Gujarat gets involved in illegal liquor trade at a very young age. Along with Sadiq(Zeeshan), Raees works for a notorious gangster Jairaj(Atul), smuggles alcohol illegally by bribing the police. Though he is a smuggler, he lives by the philosophy, as taught by his mother that every occupation is good, and no religion is greater than any occupation till it does not cause any harm to anyone. He decides to part ways with Jairaj and start operating on his own. He meets Musabhai and Nawab in Mumbai, and with their help he starts his bootlegging business. Meanwhile, an honest police offer of the IPS cadre, J. A. Majmudar(Nawaz), wants to end this illegal liquor trade as well as Raees's empire.Is he Majmuder able to do this or Raees saves his all by beating Majmuder forms rest of the story.

PERFORMANCE: Shah Rukh is good as always,casts in a character that has grey shades.The person who steals the show is Nawaz.Starting from the entry scene,he delivers a brilliant performance.Maahira has nothing to do.Atul Kulkarni makes his presence felt with a committed performance.

MUSIC: is composed by Ram Sampath."Zaalima" is the only song which u can remembe.Sunny Leone starrer Laila o Laila is recreated which is also good.

The first hour unravels at a feverish pace, making you thirst for the second half. But it’s here that the problem arises. The pace slackens soon after the intermission and the romantic song and a few sequences act as spoilers.Climax sequence is not also impressive.

Overall,Raees is one time watch for SRK & Nawaz.

KAABIL

KAABIL :  is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film, directed by Sanjay Gupta starring Hrithik Roshan, Yami Gautam, Ronit Roy, Rohit Roy, Narendra Jha.

PLOT: Rohan(Hrithik) is a kind, happy young man who has been blind since birth and works as a voice-over artist for a living. Through friends, he meets Supriya(Yami), a working woman who is also blind, but proudly independent. The two start liking each other and get married.Oneday Rohan is at work, Amit(Rohit) and Wasim sneak into the house and gang rape Supriya. Rohan’s world is plunged into even more darkness than the one he is born into. Supriya commits suicide after raped by Amit & Wasim for 2nd time.The rapist Amit is the brother of the local corporator, Madhavrao Shellar(Ronit Roy), so the corrupt police officers, played efficiently by Narendra Jha and Girish Kulkarni, drag their feet over the investigation. When the humiliation gets too much to bear, Supriya caves in, leaving Rohan with vendetta on his mind. Rohan decides to fight it out, but his opponents are the powerful and influential . Will he be able to settle scores?

PEFORMANCES: The highlight of the film is Hrithik’s bravura performance. He is vulnerable as a lover and menacing as a killing-machine.Probably, this is Hrithik’s best performance till date. Yami Gautam is unmistakably earnest and catches you unaware with a tremendous act. Her innocence and simplicity act as a magnetic charm. Ronit Roy is at his vicious best here. Absolutely menacing as the conniving politician. Rohit Roy is intimidating and leaves a strong impression.

MUSIC: is composed by Rajesh Roshan. In fact, the film borrows two evergreen compositions from the past [‘Saara Zamana’ and ‘Dil Kya Kare’], but the accomplished composer garnishes them delightfully. The songs “Kaabil”,”Mon Amour” are harmonious.

KAABIL never fails to involve and entertain the moviegoer and if I may say so, it contains enough worthy material to hold the moviegoer’s attention for most of its run time. The emotional component is well balanced with low-key humor, tension-filled moments, energetic action pieces and of course, some razor-sharp and punch-packed dialogue in dramatic sequences [penned by Sanjay Masoomm].

Overall, Kaabil is a must watch film. In the end, it’s the emotional journey of the protagonist that acts as a hook and lingers in your memory