[RavenAvi]

Monica, O My Darling


Absolutely loved it. Granted the plot doesn't tie up some loose ends by the end, but these kind of stories are far more enjoyable which leave some things left open to the "Wait...what?!"s, or to the viewer's imagination.

The 130 minutes flow by so smoothly with twists galore that you are smiling smugly by the end. There are so many references, puns and hat tips to the movies of yore which make you remember back fondly when you come across one. And the final scene of the story, just before the end credits start rolling, will make you scream and smile at the same time.

One of the best Hindi dark comedy films I have seen. Go in blind and watch it, just for the plot and the pacing. Satisfaction guaranteed.

* * * *

[huntrz]

Happened to watch "Chup:Revenge of the Artist". The trailer gives away the entire plot so there is no suspense whatsoever. Google says its a Psychological thriller however its more of a drama. Nice visuals, dialogues and symbolism though. A good one time watch.

Dhokha: Round D Corner- The trailer look very promising, and the movie doesn't disappoint much, but is let down by some average acting barring the two with max screen time. Aparshakti Khurana has got his break and he has done full justice to his character. His mastery of the craft could be more than his brother. Plot is please all politically correct. The twists and turns of the story though are quite predictable. But will keep the audience entertained. Aparshakti and Kaushali Kumar are good to watch. Madhavan and Darshan kumar are as usual just okay in my opinion. In the end one keeps thinking who conned and who got conned. Some plot loop holes not properly dealt with.

[400notout]

Monica O my darling

Rating: 2/5

With all the hype around it decided to give this one a go. While I liked "mard ko dard nahi hota" a lot, this one didn't quite appeal to me. For me the only likeable thing was the treatment of the movie which was fresh but the suspense was non existent and even the humor was not really there. Other observations would serve as spoilers so I'm refraining from sharing them here.

Bhediya

Rating: 2.5/5

I was excited for the movie once the trailer was out. However the movie didn't live up to my expectations.

Likes;

Deepak Dobriyal and Abhishek Banerjee are in top form. They have the most lines and are the best part of the film.

Varun Dhawan and Kriti get the job done. But there was not much scope for them other wise too. Varun delivers the Bhediya transformation scenes well.

The VFX and CGI is top class, no wonder as it's done by MPC an MNC which delivered the tiger and other animals in RRR.

Not so much;

Gets preachy, very preachy. Environmentalism and racism are rubbed on your face.

The visuals are ok, expected better cinematography as the movie is based in Arunachal Pradesh.

This one would be below stree in the ranks.

The worst

Nothing to do with the movie. My subpar experience would also have been due to the theater experience. There was a noisy kid and her dad. She kept talking throughout. If you can't control your kids mouth they should watch movies at home. I usually make sure I watch the night show so that my 5 year old sleeps after Jana gana mana. Other people don't seem to be courteous enough. Then there were people talking loudly on the phone. This was one reason I had stopped going to movies. The crowd really spoiled the show for me.

So one star for Dobriyal and Banerjee duo. One for the VFX. Half for attempting the werewolf genre with decent success.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by huntrz

Watched Rorschach starring Mamooty on OTT. It was a very decent watch. Thriller with super natural touch. Don't want to give away the plot so I will stop here but some how whatever few Malayalam movies I have watched(with subtitles or hindi dubbing) they always seem to provide some fresheness in storyline, and not always revolve around "whom to marry, how to marry and when to marry" themes that drive the indian cinema scriptwriters across the board.

How are you? Long time.

You are absolutely spot on. Being a Hindi speaker like you, I have developed an interest in Mallu movies. And, I keep asking my Mallu friends for recommendations and have see a few and totally agree that their content is way superior to the Hindi movies. In fact, most Hindi movies are now copying their movies and making Hindi versions.

An example :

Recently saw Dhrishyam 2 in a movie theatre here.

I have seen first part in both languages (Hindi and Malayalam).

Dhrishyam 1- I saw it in Hindi first and then watched Malayalam version. I was surprised that in this instance, Hindi version was better than Malayalam version.

However, I watched Dhrishyam 2 first in Malayalam and over this weekend in theatre in Hindi. Firstly, the storyline is a bit overboard and makes the hero almost clairvoyant as he plans so many things in advance which was a major dampener for the movie.

Part 2- Dhrishyam Malayalam version was lot better than Hindi one.

Dhrishyam 2 (Hindi Version) : 3.5/5

[PPS]

Watched Drishyam 2 past weekend. Overall its a good movie & worth a watch though it gets off to a slow start. The pace only picks up slightly before the interval & the 2nd half is much better than the 1st half with the plot twist! Akshaye Khanna is the most underrated actor in Bollywood.

[ghodlur]

Chup: Revenge of the Artist

Streaming: Zee

I am amused how the producers/directors are coming up with some fancy name for the movies. Being labelled as a crime thriller, I decided to watch the movie as it starred Sunny Deol and Dulquer Salman along with Shreya Dhanwantri ( of Scam 1992 fame). The scenes are gory and not fit to be watched with family. The plot is easily spilled out within 15 mins of the start. The whodunit element was missing. Seeing Dulquer for first time in a Hindi movie, the south accent still hangs heavy. The surprising element for me in the movie was Pooja Bhatt, she still has the wooden face but acted well. All in all would recommend this to watch once if nothing else is available. Definitely not with kids and family.

Rating: 3/5

[huntrz]

Monica O my darling- What a movie it was! Totally loved it. The humor was in layers some were obvious, some were hidden in dialogues and actions. Abhimanyu Dasani was also there in one shot, the lead of his previous movie. I love Vasan Bala's style. There were many hidden comical references to many old movies in the characters, casting and dialogs pretty much like the name of the movie. Not a thriller, but its a funny movie and quite entertaining. Reminded of Johny gaddar. Radhika Apte stole the show for me. I have started feeling that Rajkumar Rao is slightly overrated, he lacks variation. Radhika and Huma were much better.

[ghodlur]

Freddy

Streaming: Hotstar

Starring Kartik Aryan in the role of a doctor with dark side. Fantastic performance by Kartik. The movie is quite slow building up the characters. The movie comes live in second half when the actual story kicks in. The surprise package in the movie was Alaya F (Pooja Bedi's daughter)in a vampish role who matched Kartik's performance . One time watch for sure recommended. I guess the producers took a leaf from the Dexter series to come up with this movie plot.

Rating: 3.5/5

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Freddy

Streaming: Hotstar

Starring Kartik Aryan in the role of a doctor with dark side. Fantastic performance by Kartik. The movie is quite slow building up the characters. The movie comes live in second half when the actual story kicks in. The surprise package in the movie was Alaya F (Pooja Bedi's daughter)in a vampish role who matched Kartik's performance . One time watch for sure recommended. I guess the producers took a leaf from the Dexter series to come up with this movie plot.

Rating: 3.5/5

I watched it last night and loved it. It was Kartik's show all throughout playing the character rather well. I felt Alaya did a fair job but faltered towards the end. A slow burn which kept me hooked till the end. I would give a similar 3.5/5.

PS: I loved it songs and background score too. But can't seem to find some of the songs on usual platforms (YT has the videos)

[400notout]

Movie: Freddy

Rating: 2.5/5

What I liked;

Solid performances. Kartik Aryan commits to his role and delivers a believable performance. Alaya F was pretty convincing too.

What I didnt like;

It's a smartly made low budget film. The plot is single layered and the twists are somewhat predictable. Ok for OTT viewing.

Anyway it's refreshing to see bollywood folks attempt something new. So that worth appreciating. Half a star for that.

[naveen.raju]

Ram Setu



I quite like these adventures style movies (Indiana Jones, National Treasure etc) and liked the topic of discussion as well but the movie didn't live to my expectation.

Acting was poor, the VFX was horrible and some scenes didn't make sense. Also, is it a norm to have a song in every movie even when it's not required?

Wasted a good storyline.

Rating - 1/5

Chup was a decent thriller. Quite liked it.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Acting was poor, the VFX was horrible and some scenes didn't make sense.

Akshay Kumar wraps up a movie in 2 to 3 months apparently. It is quite likely that everything is rushed through, with very little retakes. Unless he changes his working style, it is best to avoid Akshay Kumar movies from now onwards. His 2022 movies:



Samrat Prithviraj director reveals Akshay Kumar shot film in 46 days, calls it 'first historical made in shortest time'
https://www.hindustantimes.com/enter...113858808.html

'Filmein 3-4 Mahine Mein Nahin Banti' Did Madhavan Take An Indirect Dig At Akshay Kumar?
https://www.mensxp.com/entertainment...rithviraj.html

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Ram Setu

Wasted a good storyline.

Rating - 1/5

Many thanks for the review, I was about to rent it.

[deathwalkr]

Watched Bhoot yesterday. My wife and I are running out of good horror movies and this was on Prime, so thought of giving it a shot.

Few good jump scares, overall it was a pretty decent watch all things considered.

Next up is Raat

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Watched Bhoot yesterday. My wife and I are running out of good horror movies and this was on Prime, so thought of giving it a shot.

Few good jump scares, overall it was a pretty decent watch all things considered.

Next up is Raat

Bhoot was actually pretty good especially on the big screen. Some of Ram Gopal Varma's old movies are pretty decent like Bhoot, Raat, Kaun, Darna Mana Hai, Darna Zaroori Hai (this was not that good), Darling (okish) etc. You may also catch 13B (okish), Ragini MMS (First part), Vaastu Shastra (okish). I have seen quite a lot crappy stuff released early 2000's both Hindi and Tamil.