Punter_Hunter Reviews

The Punisher (2017–2019)

Punisher Season 1 is Top Notch

[9/10 · 15 September 2018]

This is the 3rd marvel series i watched , i dont know what is their obsession with 13 episodes. Reducing few episodes can make it much more interesting. Its not much of the problem in The Punisher Season 1 but Daredevil Season 1 was too stretched that it could have ended well in 8 -9 episodes at max.

Moving on to Punisher, It starts with a bang. Punisher has killed all the cartel and goons and then living all on his own as a construction worker living in same ghost of past. He gets followed by David Lieberman who tells him that his family was killed because of what happened in Kandahar and then starts his mission along with David Lieberman to find the real culprit and avenge the death of his family. The series moves on as mission from one link to other and than to the real man or the head .

What differentiate this from Daredevil season 1 is that Punisher maintains its pace except at few places. There are twists and surprises that keeps one on their toes. Last 4 episodes are the best episodes . They are fast , things happen at great speed and makes one remain on the edge of the seat. I wasnt happy with one side track of Lewis Walcott but the way it ends was fab and made all my complains go away.

Everyone has acted very well. I loved the Background music and the loud music during the starting credits. Screenplay is good except that they would have made it shorter by an episode but its a minor glitch.

Jon Bernthall's act and the screenplay is so good that in the end when he beat and kill the villains i felt a big rush of adrenaline . All the blood and gory shown looks justified , such is the level of empathy that it feels like we got our revenge.

Some of my favourite scenes Scenes Between Frank and David's Kids David's reaction when He finds Frank almost dead Madani and Karen conversation Madani and James Marion conversation Frank- Punisher, killing the Last 2 culprits Lewis attack on Karen and senator Stan Ori

Most of these are in last 4 episodes and it will be really criminal if i exclude anything from those episodes as best moments.

Its dark and probably little slow but the screenplay and the acts of Jon Bernth, Ebon and Ben Barnes makes it a thrilling and an exciting ride with good twists and turns which give a good adrenaline rush. Would rate it 9/10 Waiting for season 2 :)

Daredevil (2015–2018)

An average season 1 and Super season 2

[8/10 · 12 September 2018]

1st season was average to above average due to very slow pace and too long conversation . A superhero stuff cant be so slow like some drama. Lots of time is wasted in inner dilemma of Mathew Murdock where he is confused whether what he is doing is good or bad being a catholic guy. Yeah they wanted the human aspect of a superhero but that turned out to be boring. Even the conversations between Vanessa and Wilson Fisk revealing the character and intent of Wilson Fisk bored to death . But it surely has very good action sequences and some equally strong thrilling and emotional moments which acts as savior and keep it an above average watch. Wilson Fisk character could be really threatening but the animal inside him is let free for very few sequences . Scenes between Mathew Murdock, Foggy and Karen are very good . So are the ones between Mathew and Claire.Maybe someone who has acult for daredevil can enjoy this season but i being the one who started with this and not the comics book found it average to above average and rate it 7/10

2nd season i didnt have much hopes where i thought i will end it and wont move to next season. But it starts with a bang- daredevil fighting robbers and then someone killing cartels . The entry of Punisher as a kick ass hero who wanna wipe out gangs and Electra who is non apologetic killer gave the season a big big boost. Second season differs from 1st in one aspect and that is the reason this season comes out triumphant - Fast pace . There are two things going on simultaneously one about Frank castle(The Punisher) and other about an ancient Japanese organization- Hand, and both have lots of mystery and action involved that keeps us on our toes , add to it the turmoil in personal life of Mathew Murdock(Daredevil) with respect to his best friend Foggy and love- Karen. Even there is mystery involved in presence and actions of Stick( Daredevil's master) and Electra. It gives us everything one expects from a superhero stuff - little drama and romance , full of action thrill and mystery. Now iam waiting for 3rd season , hope its like second season not 1st . would rate second season ... 9/10

Pad Man (2018)

Padman - the Superhero Flies Really High :)

[10/10 · 2 September 2018]

The movie is a biopic on Arunachalam Muruganantham and covers the trials and tribulations that he faced during his journey to become one of the most important and respected Social entrepreneur world-over. A movie being made on such a taboo subject in a conservative society like India is big achievement and bigger is the achievement of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who in reality faced all this and maybe much more than this, but stood his ground and come up with such an innovation to make accessible, cheap sanitary pads for menstrual hygiene even to to the lowermost strata of society. Lakshmikanth Chauhan in movie is real life -Arunachalam Muruganantham.

The movie comes to the point pretty early by opening with a song showing the marriage and love and care that Lakshmikanth Chauhan(Akshay kumar) has for his wife Gayatri(Radhika Apte) and out of that care arises Lakshmi's obsession to make cheap Sanitary pads for his wife as branded ones were too expensive to afford for him for his wife and sisters. But this obsession of his makes him try too much and the subsequent failures bring embarrassment to him and his family. All this reach such a point that he was seen as pervert who is possessed or has some contagious sexual disease in village and his sisters , wife , mother all move away from him , so he decides to leave the village. Though all this humiliation separates him from his family but fails to separate him from his obsession to get a 100 % working sanitary pad for his wife at lowest cost and from here on starts his journey to gain knowledge and make a sanitary pad as good as branded one at dirt cheap cost. Testing the pads for their efficacy was one hurdle he had failed to cross from start but there arrives a fairy for this padman- Pari(Sonam Kapoor) who helps him pass not that testing hurdle but also stands by him during tough times and takes his mission from village to village so much so that he names the pads - pari. Whether he settles with pari or his wife returns is revealed subsequently in the movie.

Radhika Apte plays an innocent village girl who has traditional mindset,got her look and mannerism perfect .Radhika is known to be a bold women in real life so playing a contrasting character with so much conviction deserves applause. Sonam looks cute and plays suave urbane girl who gets bowled over by simplicity of Lakshikanth and decides to give his dreams a wings to fly. Sonam also plays her role with elan. Rest of the character actors looked in place with their act. Akshay kumar shed his street smart hero image once again and is very good as a simpleton with an innocence and unwavering dedication and conviction to achieve what he has set out for. The extent to which Akshay has got hold of the character can be easily understood by seeing real Arunachalam Muruganantham. videos.

Background music is excellent so are the songs Aaj se teri and Padman. Cinematography is top notch for such a low budget movie. The Movie slows down a bit after interval as what Lakshmi sets out to be has been achieved by that time and focus has shifted to how far has his innovation benefited people but then picks up with his UN speech,20-25 minutes before the end. So the pacing of the movie is nice. Director has done commendable job by bringing some amount of entertainment and yet not losing the essence of the film - i.e. to tell the complete story within 140 minutes as close to reality as possible.

Some of the High points or scenes i liked LakshmiKanth(will use Lakshmi for him) UN speech Allegory where Lakshmikanth uses sanitary pad on a bleeding arm cut Scenes exposing how 50 rs is too much for menstrual hygenie but nothing when shelled out in name of religion showing various tricks to befool people Lakshmikanth - Pari 1st meeting Affectionate scenes between Lakshmi and pari Lakshmikanth trying sanitary pads himself .

This move is an example of how one can keep the movie realistic and bold and yet add some entertainment value . I would have rated this movie a 9/10 because a big section is devoid of much entertainment value, But then added an extra 1 for making this BOLD movie in a realistic manner and that too at commercial level with one of the biggest Indian superstar. So its 10/10. Anyone who complains of Bollywood not moving out of comfort zone would really love and relish this one .

RX 100 (2018)

Love and Lust - the most destructive forces

[7/10 · 31 August 2018]

Not being a native telugu speaker i check synopsis before watching the movie and on wikipedia someone posted the only twist in the movie, so i knew what was the main twist in the movie and when i started i thought i will have another bad day at movies as i didnt like Bhaagamathie which i saw a day before and this one also was looking not worth it , but the second half got me in and some parts of movie i related to as well.

The boy was shown waiting for someone for 3 years and as and when he comes back he go and thrash him but still he is still looking for someone so much that he go to a funeral just to check whether that person has come back . Now they go in flashback and show the love story and the girl he has been waiting for. The girl is married now and settled in US and he is waiting for her return and as they show her return to village everything picks up and thats where i felt relieved that atleast this is not a bad movie.

Acting wise everyone is good. Kartikeya - who plays Shiva brings out the madness that love brings in , Payal Rajput as smart , intelligent educated girl -Indu was good and looked hot. Ramki plays Daddy- Shiva's loving guardian very well and Rao ramesh who played Indu's father - Vishwanath was dependable as usual.

First half keeps on meandering and songs keep coming in for no reason but the second half picks up and end in a good climax , though climax could have been better .Another good thing was fight scenes were realistic unlike our regular movies where Hero hits and bunch of goons fly so they have kept the setting realistic.

This is no masterpiece but when it can keep my interest despite knowing the twist , it surely is good enough watch . I felt 6/10 but since i knew the twist factoring in that i will go for 7/10.

Bhaagamathie (I) (2018)

Anushka performance stand tall in the below par mash up of genres

[5/10 · 30 August 2018]

Horror and mystery movies needs to get you hooked from the starting but for me this started with disinterest , just before climax it gets me slightly interested and by the end of it I felt dissatisfied with the convenient screenplay they have used to merge the 2-3 genres they have used .

Chanchala(Anushka shetty) is an IAS officer, who is undergoing trial for murder of her husband . CBI on orders of State Chief Minister take her from jail and confine her to a haunted place for questioning her about her Ex boss - a minister suspect of corruption and stealing idols from temple. Mysterious things start happening in that house where the brother of her deceased husband was supervising her stay.

It has same cliched 2-3 comic characters to give comic touch during the horror scenes and a screenplay full of loopholes.

All characters were decent to good , Anushka stand out especially in scenes where she gets possessed by Bhaagmaathi's soul.

Props , camera angles and Background music is good for horror and thrilling scenes but as they say , these can enhance the impact of a good screenplay but when the moves lacks a good screenplay or soul how would these things matter .

Unless you are an Anushka fan , this movie isnt worth wasting time . Its a 4/10 but giving 1 extra for Anushka's performance

Stranger (2017–2020)

Absolutely thrilling start to my K drama exploration

[10/10 · 29 August 2018]

It chronicles the journey of a prosecutor without empathy and not much liked in his department along with an emotional female police officer in solving a murder case which involves taking on the corrupt system and their own corrupt departments.

It is so well written that it makes us doubt every one at one point of time or other so much that i had doubts even about the lead actor-Hwang Shi Mok at few occasions . This, i think is the biggest plus point for any suspense series or movie. The background music completely suits and lifts the series at important junctions which again plays an important role in any thriller. Last few episodes makes you emotional as well despite at initial stages(episodes) it seemed that there wont be much emotional connect.

This is my First Korean drama ,and though i had little difficulty in remembering names when i started but its so well paced with characters coming in at just perfect time that the characters and the story keep seeping in very well. Though as i said it makes us doubt almost every character but my gut feeling about 2 important events or happenings that take place in last few episodes was bang on . Suspense is actually good but what i liked the most is the flow of story and how events unfolds that keeps us hooked.

Performance from everyone was really good and i mean everyone . My favorites are Hwang Shi-Mok(played by Seung-woo Cho) and Lee Chang-Joon (played by Jae-myung Yoo).

I am neither a K drama addict nor TV series addict but more of a movie lover but still it kept me hooked . This was recommended by a good friend of mine and i would recommend it to anyone who loves watching stories that are riveting thrilling and sucks one in . Its a MUST WATCH TV series

Stranger Things (2016–2025)

Enjoyable ride upside down

[8/10 · 19 August 2018]

First season starts with a bang when one kid- Will Byers, goes missing and this is followed by more people disappearing and appearance of a mysterious girl. While searching for Will his family and friends get to know about some experiments and an alternate reality upside down which is threatening their existence. It also sets up the character of Eleven, where it was shown how and what powers she develops. Major part of first season is about character development and the characters trying to unravel the mystery behind disappearances.

Second season is about the creatures from upside down hitting back and unraveling past of mysterious girl- Eleven and development of new chemistry between Police chief Jim Hopper and Eleven. They could have easily avoided episode 7 where Eleven meets her sister Kali who possess power to make people see or not see something unless , she has some Important role in upcoming seasons, It hampered the momentum built in episode 5 and 6 which continued in episode 8 and 9.

My favorite scenes from season 1 => When Mike's younger sister sees the creature from upside down => The way Lucas get into commando mode to get back his friend Will => Fight between Will's Brother- Jonathon and Steve

My favorite scenes/episodes from Season 2 => Chapter 5 Dig Dug where Jim Hopper get stuck in alternate reality is the best episode of both the seasons - It gave me Goosebumps => When the creature hits back i.e. episode 6 and episode 8

The group of Kids - Will Byers, Dustin , Mike and Lucas are shown as nerds and do very well especially Dustin who on first look appeared disgusting but as the story goes on he is one of the cutest and funniest character and not as bad as i found him on 1st look. Will didnt have much to do in Season 1 but in season 2 he is pretty good as someone being taken over by creature or virus. Mike is the one i found least interesting but he is shown as someone who is always there for his friends. Lucas is fun throughout but best part is in second season - his chemistry and love spark with the new girl who enters their group - Maxi and his banter with younger sister. Maxi is shown to be asocial and recluse due to her broken family and abusive step brother but once she spends some time with Lucas and Dustin , she endures even ill-treatment by Mike just to be the part of their group. She is the coolest in their group.

Jonathon - Brother of Will Byers, plays a weirdo , freak who love photography and loves his mother and brother a lot and is shown to be very responsible family guy.He is head over heals in love with Nancy but not expressive Nancy Wheeler- Sister of Mike, is studious, super intelligent but for a period tries to be a rebellion to be part of group of Steve when she starts dating him , but soon she finds herself more inclined towards Jonathon. She is shown to be courageous and brave. Steve - plays boyfriend of Nancy - a popular rich boy who has slept with many girls , initially though even Nancy looked like one of them but slowly it was shown that despite his insecurities regarading her,he cares about Nancy and even fight the creature and as the character develop he is shown as a guy with a good heart , One thing i didnt like is, though he was the most popular guy but is beaten black and blue by every guy( i liked him being beaten by Jonathon but not the other two) Bob - Boyfriend of Will's mother- Joyce, is very intelligent and sharp , though seem little boring with his outdated jokes and over friendly nature but his love towards Joyce and his endeavor to get the trust of Joyce's son was endearing. He plays an important role solving the figures drawn by Will to save Hopper from creature and then ended up being "Bob-The-Superhero" when he protects all of them stuck in Hawkins lab full of Demagorgans

To connect to a series most important things is to connect to its characters and the characters i connected to most are Eleven- Mysterious girl, Joyce - Will & Jonathon's mother and Jim Hopper

Eleven - she was called weird in 1st season but i had a crush on her the first time i saw her and i have fallen in love with her , this much cute i find her. She is shown to be brought as guinea pig away from real world , so her interaction with the real world was interesting , she learns about friendship , family , home and all i can say is the actress Millie Bobby Brown has enacted her part with aplomb. Only thing i didnt like is she shown to be in love with Mike and iam super jealous

Jim Hopper - He plays Hawkins police chief who has lost his daughter to cancer and wife and stays alone but he cares about his town , small kids and his friend- Joyce . Despite showing him as indifferent, hard and a cool guy he has a very soft heart- the reason he develops a father daughter relation with Eleven and does everything possible to keep kids safe.

Mother of Will and Jonathon - Joyce - played by Winona Ryder is a caring mother though she isnt able to devote much time to her children due to her being working single mother . Winona has given a superlative performance especially in season 1 . She deserve every award for her performance as brave , determined courageous mother who is nervous and paranoid but will do anything to get her son back. Her smile is also very infectious

there are few other character in small roles like Brenner , Kali, Billy , Owens, Karen but there is not much to discuss about them till now

Jilla (2014)

Decent Entertainer

[6/10 · 24 March 2018]

The movie is about the relationship between Don - Sivan(MohanLal) and his foster son - Shakthi (Vijay). Shakthi hates policeman and Khaki(police uniform) but Sivan decides to get him into police force in order to carry out his illegal activities without any problem. Things take turn when after an unfortunate incident Shakthi turns into an honest and sincere policeman confronting his father Sivan and his illlegal activities. Rest of the story tells us whether the rift between father-son was genuine or was it a conspiracy by their enemies , or did they plan it themselves , Do they re unite , Does Sivan gives up his illegal business or not ?

Its a masala entertainer with dosage of comedy , action , family bonding which entertains effectively but there is a big weak point in my opinion - the transition of Shakthi . The event that led to his transformation should have been nothing new to shakthi, with him being a right hand to underworld don. Yes , we are not supposed to think a lot in masala entertainers but this thing was very blatant and hard to fathom. If the reason which initiates the confrontation and leads you to the main story is weak it somehow stays with you and questions you.

Mohanlal is excellent as ruthless dominating don who doesn't want his rule to slip away and as a doting father and family man. Vijay is good in comedy and action scenes but at places fumble during emotional scenes. Kajal Aggarwal looks good but she doesn't have much to do apart from providing romantic and comedy relief . Remaining characters doesn't have much to do but were good in whatever part they had to play ..

All in All its decent masala entertainer and you wont be disappointed if you are looking for some entertainment Tamil cinema style :)

Kanchana 2 (2015)

A Good horror Comedy

[7/10 · 15 March 2018]

Raghav and Tapsee Pannu work in a TV channel where TRPs are going down. In order to get TRPs back, Tapsee Pannu take Raghav and other team members to a haunted place in order to prepare a scripted horror show. However after stumbling upon a mangalsutra during the shoot, mysterious things start happening with them and in some time, Raghav and Tapsee get possessed by revenge seeking souls. Are these ghosts able to seek revenge? Are these good or bad soul? Are these ghosts related in any way to Raghav and Tapsee and what happens to Raghav and Tapsee forms the rest of the story? Movie is fast paced and laced with comedy, horror and thrilling moments all throughout. However once Tapsee gets possessed the movie goes to another level with fun and thrill quotient. The idea of climax is good but is shoddily done. Director and writer should have been more innovative with the climax. The two characters who play mothers of Raghav and Tapsee are too loud and spoils the party. Background music is good, camera works also good, However VFX could have been a lot better. Raghav plays quintessential massy hero, a timid boy and possessed guy with aplomb. Tapsee did very well as a confident working girl, sweet loving girlfriend and girl possessed by an unhappy and unfulfilled soul. Nithya Menon who plays physically challenged girl was successful in evoking required strong emotions during various stages of her character. Overall i would say it's a good commercial horror comedy which could have been better had they been more careful with VFX, Climax and those 2 loud characters mentioned above.

Sivalinga (2017)

Nice mix of Horror-Mystery, Masala

[6/10 · 12 March 2018]

The movie is a murder mystery intertwined with horror angle and comedy. Shivalingeswar (Lawrence) plays a CID officer investigating a murder case for which he has to move to a house beside an old cemetery . His wife gets possessed by a spirit . How Shiva solve the case and whats the link between murder investgation and his wife being possessed by soul forms the rest of the story.

Concept is really good with 3 genres being merged in a single move without looking forced. Rather than keeping horror moving dark they kept it light thus opening the scope for wider audience with masala comedy. Acting by all is good especially Ritika Singh.

Listing somethings that could have been better - there is not much emotional connect with the guy who got murdered, it would have really increased the euphoria of culprit getting caught in end multi folds, there should have been more suspicion on other suspects as culprit was the one that most of us would suspect to be, Sound effects and VFX could have been lot better . Horror scenes work on Background music sound effects and VFX and these things can make even a simple story more thrilling. Had they covered these things it would have been a 10 on 10 for me.

Despite all these flaws its surely a decent watch that one wont mind . i will go with 6/10

Qarib Qarib Single (2017)

A sweet and simple Romcom

[7/10 · 23 February 2018]

Qarib Qarib single is sweet small film. It takes usual path where the love kindles during a road journey but here the characters are not young college guys but a 40 year old bachelor, Yogi - Irfan Khan and a widow played by Parvathy.

The movie starts with Jaya at wedding function of one of her friends, who met her groom on Tinder. Jaya, widowed 10 years back, is fighting loneliness and pestered by people around her. Though she was not sure or convinced about getting the right guy online but she decides to give it a try and makes an account on online dating portal where she meets Yogi who is carefree jovial guy.Both are diametrically opposite people and Jaya was not too keen to continue. After few dates,they decide to visit the ex-girlfriends of yogi to see whether they still remember him or not as is proclaimed by him which will be an excursion as well for both. This journey end up as life changing journey for both of them where they discover themselves, love and move on from their pasts.

Direction is nice, the movie has an authentic feel to it and the cinematographer has captured the natural beauty pretty well but could have been little fast in terms of pacing of the movie. Dialogues are quirky and funny. Story though thin line is carried on well by the lead pair. Irfan khan as usual is dependable and plays his part pretty well. Parvathy looked very cute and played her part of a complex, lonely and an independent girl pretty well. Music is just about OK.

All in all this movie won't make you dance, hoot or whistle but will pull a string at your heart and leave a smile on your face.

Sargi (2017)

This Sargi is partially delicious

[6/10 · 12 May 2017]

Sargi is a romantic love triangle involving Rubina Bajwa, Jassi Gill and Babbal Rai. The story starts in Punjab where Jassi Gill is shown to be in love with Rubina since childhood but never had the courage to express his feelings. In order to provide a better living for her family, Rubina decides to do a sham marriage with Karamjit Anmol for immigration purposes and moves abroad with him. Unaware, Jassi was left heart broken. Rubina joins a restaurant run by B N Sharma, whose son Babbal Rai, falls in love with Rubina. When Jassi gets to know about Rubina's sham marriage, he also moves abroad and joins the same restaurant in quest to get his love. Now begins the game of one-upmanship among Jassi, Babbal and Karamjit. Jassi or Babbal, whom does Rubina choose forms the rest of the story.

The first half sets up the traditional form of romance with Jassi head over heels in love with Rubina but failing to express his feelings. This half is little slow but has a nice charm. After the Interval, there is a sense of deja-vu with Babbal Rai trying to woo Rubina and then the game of one-upmanship amongst the suitors of Rubina. In short it can be said that the second half doesn't comes through as good as first half despite both having routine stuff. Climax is good but stretched, should have been little shorter.

Jassi Gill gives an earnest performance. Rubina Bajwa is just about OK and is nowhere near Neeru Bajwa, her sister in terms of acting or beauty. Babbal Rai never comes across as convincing. B N Sharma is as usual- good and Karamjit has done many similar roles but was able to provide few laughs here and there. Music is below average considering it's a love story. Background music is good especially the slower one during romantic scenes between Jassi and Rubina.

Love stories mostly work on treatment and chemistry between the lead actors with a routine framework. Neeru Bajwa – debutant director of this movie, has done just about decent job with the treatment. The track between Jassi and Rubina is really sweet and one can connect to it but the same can't be said about rest of the tracks in the movie which actually has let this movie down along with the lack of good music.

I won't call it a bad movie but surely it could have been much better seeing how well the Jassi and Rubina track kept me connected. It's surely a good one time watch.

Baladoor (2008)

Baladoor is Hackneyed below par Masala

[5/10 · 6 May 2017]

Ravi Teja is Chandramohan's son. Chandramohan along with Ravi Teja lives with his brother Krishna after his wife's death. Ravi Teja is shown as an aimless irresponsible guy who picks up fights with goons, do nothing and is considered black sheep in the family . However Krishna loves Ravi Teja more than his sons and same way Ravi Teja also loves Krishna more than his own father.There is a villain in Pradeep Rawat who is not only the business rival of Krishna but also wants to seek revenge from Krishna for his humiliation.To add glamour there is Anushka Shetty-daughter of Krishna's friend, who is in love with Ravi Teja. How Ravi Teja upholds the honor of his family even when he is thrown out of the house due to some misunderstanding forms the rest of the movie.

First half sets up the family relation and rest of the characters, romance and has some good comedy along with action sequences. Second half emotions, drama and action becomes more dominant.

Ravi Teja is perfect fit for such roles and performed really well. Anushka Shetty is really looking beautiful but doesn't have much to do. Krishna is also very good in his role of doting patriarch and good Samaritan. Chandramohan and Pradeep Rawat were usual.

The movie has everything that a good masala movie needs- emotion, action, romance and comedy but then they need to be blended properly and this is where the director has failed. Narration is also old style. Songs were not great and with few songs trimmed it would have surely helped the movie. Brahmanandam performs well but he has not been utilized properly. Second half is little sluggish and narrated in obsolete way.Editing would have also helped movie become fast paced.Action as with most south movies was badly choreographed.

Overall a treat for Ravi Teja and Anushka Shetty fans only else a below par masala movie which can be easily skipped.

Daruvu (2012)

Daruvu is loud yet entertaining

[7/10 · 5 May 2017]

Daruvu is your typical action masala entertainer with a tinge of fantasy element. Ravi Teja(Bullet Raja) is a small time crook who falls in love with fiancé(Tapsee Pannu) of local goon Sushant Singh(Harbour Babu). Tapsee also falls in love with Ravi Teja and this lead to tussle where Ravi Teja is killed. On reaching Yamalokam, Ravi Teja gets to know he was supposed to be alive and was killed due to mischief of Chitragupta. To rectify the mistake Ravi Teja was sent on the earth in the body of his lookalike - a corrupt Home Minister, since his body was destroyed. How he deals with corrupt associate of this Home Minister and his old rival Sushant Singh and get back his love forms the rest of the movie.

Ravi Teja is energetic and as usual very good with comedy and action. Chemistry between Ravi Teja and Brahmanandam is the highlight of the movie. Tapsee doesn't have much to do except looking pretty. Villains-Sushant Singh, Sayaji Shinde and Raghu Babu have done a good job. The Satirical take on nexus between top religious leader and politicians is also funny.

Movie would have done better with lesser songs. At few places the pace of the movie dips. In terms of originality, it doesn't offer anything new. VFX are little tacky and fights could have been choreographed a little better.

Overall if you enjoy fun-filled Action Masala entertainer without much logic, this movie is a good time pass.

Brahmotsavam (2016)

Stay away from this Brahmotsavam

[1/10 · 5 May 2017]

Satyaraj is a big industrialist who started his business with his brother-in-law- Rao Ramesh. Satyaraj, Ramesh Rao and his 3 brothers stay together as a big joint family. Satyaraj being the head of big joint family wants his family to stay together forever. Rao Ramesh is jealous of Satyaraj getting all the attention and believes that he steals all the credit but he stays with him in the hope of getting her daughter married to Satyaraj's son- Mahesh Babu. All his hopes were dashed when he sees Mahesh Babu kissing Kajal Agarwal- Satyaraj's friend's daughter. He breaks away from the family and Satyaraj dies due to this shock. Kajal wasn't comfortable with this whole joint family thing and leaves Mahesh Babu. Samantha Prabhu who is antithesis of Kajal Agarwal, then comes to stay in Mahesh Babu's house and change the atmosphere of family back to happiness. Mahesh Babu decides to trace his previous seven generations along with Samantha Prabhu. Then Samantha Prabhu goes away as she has to go for reasons unknown. In the end of course Mahesh Babu succeed in getting Rao Ramesh back as his family and Samantha Prabhu also return.

First half is completely laggard with slow pace – songs breaking out of nowhere and all that celebration stuff and family members eulogizing Mahesh Babu for stupidest reasons making it yawn-worthy. Second half again is a boring road trip with songs making it more torturous and the climax twist seems to make no sense at all. It can be easily said that there wasn't enough material for a 2 hour 30 minute movie which is stretched using songs,repeated festival celebration and many more stupid things.

Rao Ramesh and to an extent Satyaraj have done a good job, Samantha looked really beautiful and lively . Kajal was an eye candy. Mahesh Babu looked fake with too much pretentiousness .

Script, direction and editing were surely poor which made this thinly plotted movie even more torturous.

Even if one is free avoid wasting that time on this Stupid sugarcoated CRAP.

Housefull 3 (2016)

Akshay carries this one with his comic timing

[7/10 · 15 January 2017]

As with previous installments in Housefull franchise, this follows the same template with all characters coming together in same house and then there is confusion, chaos and comic situations arising out of those. The story doesn't hold much value in a slap stick comedy so skipping that part and coming to the characters and gags directly. The problem here is that most of the gags in 1st 45 minutes fall flat. Funny moments start once Batook Patel (Boman Irani) starts testing Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Abhishek Bachchan for pretended handicap by them.

Batook Patel (Boman Irani) uses word play which falter most of the times and sleepwalks through his role of a Gujrati man which he has played innumerable times in such slapstick comedies.

All 3 girls Jacqueline Fernandez, Nargis Fakhri and Lisa Haydon suited their Characters of glamorous looking Dumbo girls who in order to maintain their Indianness translate English phrases literally in Hindi to evoke laughter which worked at some places and fell flat at other depending on the situation in the movie. However the director gets the casting right with them because of their accented Hindi even in real life plus the requirement of the role is that of Bimbos and hence no need for great acting chops.

Jackie Shroff plays a Stylish dreaded gangster and a doting father with aplomb. Riteish Deshmukh was underutilized. He has been a major asset to previous movies in this franchise. Abhishek Bachchan was decent with his deadpan humor in role of an aspiring rapper.

Chunkey Pandey as Aakhiri Pasta is completely wasted. He was hilarious in first two movies in Housefull franchise.

The standout performance comes from Akshay Kumar who can be easily termed as the one having the best comic timing amongst the current crop of Lead actors. He is shown to be suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder and once he becomes Sundi, he is riot with his walk, the way he talks and the funny expression he maintains with wacky behavior. Akshay Kumar is the heart and soul of this movie.

Sajid-Farhad who are directing Housefull movie for the 1st time have done just about decent job, but they overdo jokes and stretches them killing the impact of the gag or jokes as they did in their 1st directorial-Entertainment as well . Director of Previous 2 movies in Housefull series –Sajid Khan, would certainly have made these gags funnier and crisp.

Overall it's a good time pass flick if one ignores the buildup that took almost 40-45 minutes and is not averse to slapstick comedies. I would rate it 6 plus 1 rating extra for Akshay's superb performance as Sundi.

Vedalam (2015)

Ajith- The Desi HULK - shines in Run of the Mill Action Masala Movie

[6/10 · 12 January 2017]

The Movie follows Revenge Masala Movie template used in numerous Tamil movies where an innocent looking common man is shown to be living dichotomous life. Heroine falls in love impressed with the good side of hero but then she discovers the other side and we are told in flashback the reason behind his merciless killing of villains. So in terms of Story it has nothing new to say and there is no novelty in terms of presentation or story telling either.

Best part of movie is Ajith himself who is just flawless in his portrayal of a simpleton with an honest and innocent smile. The way his expression transforms from that of a gullible innocent chap to rowdy cunningly street smart man is the highlight of his performance. In flashback scenes as Rowdy emotionless goon also he is very good. This is my first movie of Ajith and I am mighty impressed with his acting skills.

Shruthi Hassan has not much role to play except being a buffoon to bring in comic relief. Along with her is comedian Soori whose scenes mostly fall flat. Lakshmi Menon as Ajith's sister is good. Rest of the actors as in most of the Tamil movies are overacting most of the times. Rahul Dev and other villains are decent to good in their roles of being mighty villains for others but when faced with almighty hero they appear too small to even challenge him.

Movie is fast paced but the action scenes are way over the top. There are some good comic scenes and then there are jokes that fall flat. There are scenes where the director is able to create tension or thrill like the scene where Lakshmi Menon helps Rahul Dev in tracking killer of his brother – Ajith and the climax. Background music is good at places and at some places it gets too loud.

If you are in mood of watching a typical Indian potboiler or are a die hard Ajith fan this is good watch else avoidable

Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (2015)

Varun Sharma is the Real star of this movie

[5/10 · 4 February 2016]

A guy has to get married to three girls because of some unavoidable circumstances and difficult scenarios he become part of.How he manages life with those three wives and get married to his real girlfriend(Love) forms the plot of the movie.

The movie boasts of some hilarious scenes and situations but the movie derails at quite a few places due to unnecessary/bad songs plus badly acted serious and emotional scenes.

Kapil Sharma(Shiv Ram Kishan Kumar) is decent in comic scenes and pathetic in emotional and serious scenes.On the other hand Varun Sharma as his lawyer friend- Karan is Fabulous in his performance.He brings certain innocence in his humor due to his expressions as well as a kid like voice. Arbaaz khan also does very well as deaf don. Sharat Saxena and Supriya Pathak do well as parents of Kapil Sharma in the movie. The three girls playing three wives looked beautiful but not much scope for them in terms of performance. Elli Avram who plays Deepika, girlfriend of Kapil Sharma tries to emulate mannerism of Katrina Kaif and does just about decent job.

Songs are plain bad.

Best scenes involve how Varun Sharma (Karan) saves Kapil Sharma from various difficult situations. His scenes with Jamie Lever (Daughter of Johnny Lever) who plays a maid are also hilarious.

Worst scenes are the ones that involves emotions and are little serious like the one where Kapil Sharma gets drunk or the climax (marriage scene) due to very very bad performance by Kapil Sharma.

All in all a one time watch movie

Aahat (II) (1995–2015)

Aahat Season 2 - Good concepts wasted

[4/10 · 19 January 2016]

This season has some really good concepts but sadly the execution and acting part is no where near the concepts. Maybe because the TV industry as such wasn't as evolved . Here i am listing some of the episode whose concepts i liked

>>1. Confession episode with headless guy >>2.Living with knife >>3. Bhookh >>4. Mysterious Morphing >>5. Confession of a donor >>6. The Prank

All of these have the theme of revenge at the core of it.

For the people who have seen this on TV , You tube videos of same episodes will bring back nostalgia but at the same time feel little underwhelmed that how good execution and acting would have made it much much much better watch even now

Action Jackson (I) (2014)

Prabhu Deva & Ajay Devgan falter with Action Jackson

[3/10 · 2 March 2015]

When we have a Prabhudeva movie what one expect is mere entertainment. The movie takes inspiration from Prabhudeva's own work - entertaining Rowdy Rathore and Rajkumar. We have our hero Ajay Devgan playing double role. One is small time goon - Vishy, in love with Sonakshi Sinha and other is Right hand of don - Action Jackson. Don's sister has fallen for Action Jackson and wants to own him by killing his wife - Yami Gautam. How Paths of two characters of Ajay Devgan cross each other and help Action Jackson save his wife from don forms the story line of the movie.

The main story is around Action Jackson's attempt to save his wife from don and of course kill the don, then why spend almost one hour setting up the romance between Vishy and Sonakshi Sinha which adds nothing to the story. In fact it is a cheap track where an unlucky Sonakshi Sinha discovers her luck on seeing Vishy Pants down and from there on keep following him to catch him pants down and of course fall in love later. Vishy as a playful character is so fond of dancing that he dances even when fighting and believe me he is a complete misfit and a BIG FAIL in this Akshay & Salman kind of character. His non existent dancing talent and comic bone make things worse.

Just before the interval we get a fight scene similar to Rowdy Rathore but impact is no where near it and is way Over the top than Rowdy Rathore pre-interval fight. There was a news before the release that Ajay Devgan learned sword fighting for the movie but even the sword carrying Action Jackson performs same over the top action with men flying and bouncing on being hit. Director really missed the chance here to include some good sword fights which at least would have given a USP to a routine Action masala fare. Background music seems to be lifted from 80's movie and was really irritating. Songs are bad not worth listening.

Don in the movie looks like a D grade movie comedian rather than a menacing threat and the vamp played by Mansvi carries just one seductive look all throughout. Ajay Devgan looks cartoon as Vishy and is decent as Action Jackson as the character is in his comfort zone requiring an intense look. Sonakshi Sinha went hamming at places but was decent overall despite being repetitive. Yami Gautam doesn't have much to do.

To sum it up i would say Prabhudeva breaks his streak of entertaining masala fare with this one. AVOIDABLE MOVIE

Issaq (2013)

Romeo Juliet died many times with this adaptation

[2/10 · 1 March 2015]

This movie is supposedly an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet - an eternal love story but here in the movie neither the chemistry and love between the two lead actors - Prateik Babbar and Amyra Dastur has been developed properly nor i think they are competent enough to bring to life an eternal love/Romance. Since one never gets the feeling of a strong bond of love between the lead actor, the whole journey appears pointless.

Apart from that what kind of characters has director developed ? - Father of the heroine , Cousins of hero, the Sadhu baba all appear caricatures and unintentionally funny.Already the movie in first half is so slow that story doesn't seem to move at all and we have boring songs added to make the movie more tiresome.Screenplay is lousy and editing worst.The scenes where the lead visualize were shot in front of green screen looked really cheap and bad.

The only decent act of the movie comes from Ravi Kissen and i mean JUST DECENT. The title song Issaq was also good.

ONE AND ONLY ONE GOOD THING about movie is AMYRA DASTUR who look ravishing that one cant get eyes off her( her acting chops aside). The rating of 2 i am giving is Just for seeing BEAUTIFUL AMYRA , else Movie Deserves ZERO rating.

Trip to Bhangarh: Asia's Most Haunted Place (2014)

This trip is not worth taking

[2/10 · 28 February 2015]

Its slightly less than 2 hour movie and it takes around 30 minutes to come to the main plot - Initial 15 minutes main characters are introduced and next 15 minutes we get to see their Non existent chemistry. In all honestly even after they take the trip story keeps meandering aimlessly without any direction from their lacking chemistry to love life of main hero to Bhangarh trip, revenge story and blah blah.

Let me try introduction of passengers in this trip. Jay an expressionless leader of the gang. Kavya who has just two expressions smiling and giving twisted smirk,gets offended at adult jokes taking jibes at girl but mouth cuss words and even worse jokes in order to look cool. Golu- An overacting fat ass trying to be funny. Jaddu the Casanova- whom i don't think even witches would date. Ashu who is projected as someone who can outsmart anyone by showing his boss getting fooled by his childish buttering. Along with these passengers we have pretty loose script , bad direction, old SMS jokes which are no more funny and bad acting to contend with.

With such passengers on the trip i think this trip should be COMPLETELY AVOIDED

Alone (I) (2007)

Alone is a nice Horror/Thriller

[7/10 · 28 February 2015]

I yesterday saw its Hindi remake/adaptation so i knew the suspense. But i didn't enjoy the Hindi version. And here for original, despite knowing the suspense i enjoyed the movie.

During separation of conjoined twin girl one of the girl dies and she comes back to haunt the other girl and reveal some hidden truths. The movie starts slowly building the premise and in the last 25 minutes it picks up speed full time. Last 25 minutes are very good thrilling and carrying a good twist.The movies doesn't boast of too many horror or spooky scenes, but stays focused on its story with few typical horror scenes here and there.

Both the main characters have done really well in terms of acting. Script was really tight .

Some comparison with Hindi remake and why original is better

=> Whereas Hindi remake was confused even about the intention of ghost , this wasn't- everything was almost perfect and as per script in this.

=> Hindi remake was lost by trying to make it seem like an adaptation not remake(despite them copying many scenes with same dialogs) and this resulted in senseless tracks inserted in the movie and hence nullified the impact of the movie.

=> Characters in this are pretty well etched while Hindi remake had caricatures of them

=> Both the main actors here - Marsha Wattanapanich & Vittaya Wasukraipaisan acted very well while in Hindi remake the actors( Karan grover & Bipasha Basu) were terrible in terms of performance as well

All in all good watch for lovers of horror movie . Will rate it 7/10

Alone (VI) (2015)

This Alone should be left alone

[3/10 · 27 February 2015]

Mostly Horror movies and to be specific Bollywood horror movies follow a tried and tested path with a predictable story but what differentiates good Horror movie and Alone is Thrill, chill , Pace , Spookiness and good direction. Screenplay is lousy , Art direction bad , Visual effects Horrible . Direction is also mediocre and on top of that Bipasha Basu's same expression throughout the movie coupled with wooden faced Karan Singh makes it a tiresome watch. Plot about conjoined twins could have been made into a pretty interesting movie but thanks to lousy narration, Bad screenplay interrupted by equally bad songs that makes it an avoidable affair . I will rate it 3 - one for the concept and two for the suspense in climax which of course didn't impact that much as it should have been because movie faltered in every department possible from start to end. AVOIDABLE

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010)

A riveting poignant and unpredictable love story

[10/10 · 30 June 2013]

Vinnaithandi Varuvaya (VTV) is very simple story told in a mesmerizing way. The plot of the movie is like any other rom- com but what take it several notches higher, is the script and the way director envisioned the script and brought it onto the screen. It's a love story between two characters – Karthik (played by Silambarasan) and Jessie (Trisha). Karthik is a jobless engineer who wanted to be a film- maker, pretty clear in his thoughts, stubborn, dreamer, perseverant and madly in love with Jessie. Jessie is simple and yet confused and torn between her love for karthik and her parents who would not let her marry a Hindu boy as she is a Christian. The Film boasts of some mesmerizing moments between the two lead actors- sometimes full of love, sometimes anger, sometimes frustration making it look pretty real and giving viewers a feel as if "yes this is the way it happens in real life" Both Silambarasan and trisha brings a gamut of expression (extreme frustration, joy, love, anger) associated with various situations there life goes through without going over the top. The guy who played, the friend of Simbu is also brilliant brings some genuine laughter moments in the movie.

The best part about this movie is that despite having a very simple and regular rom-com plot, it doesn't ever get predictable. As the movie looks to move in certain direction, there is beautiful twist to make one cling on to the movie. Despite all those twists the movie it has its heart at right place - remains truthful to the basic plot. The photography is brilliant. Cinematography is beautiful, have captured some of the most beautiful locations.

Some of the best scenes are

The Kerala meet up between Karthik and Simbu.

The marriage break up scene

Trisha Love confession

Last half an hour and the climax are brilliant.

I will go for 10/10 for this movie