Screen Test

Newton , India’s entry to the Oscars, is a satirical take on the country’s electoral system. Rajkummar Rao is an upright polling officer who is deployed in a Maoist-infested territory of Chhattisgarh during the Lok Sabha elections, his maiden assignment. His ideals and principles compel him to set up a polling booth in a remote village although there are only 76 citizens who are eligible to exercise their fundamental right. Others around him unfailingly persuade him against entering a dangerous territory, but he sticks to his ground despite the odds. He believes he can change the system and mindsets even though he is told on his face that change does not happen overnight. The less-than-two-hour film makes a fine commentary on the farce surrounding the elections in some parts of the country, in this case Chhattisgarh, where people haven’t even seen an electronic voting machine before. Many are dragged to the voting centre and told about the various symbols belonging to...

To call Simran an attempt just to showcase Kangana Ranaut's acting calibre would be grossly unfair. She, of course, stands tall and elevates the film with an outstanding performance. But Simran is also a fresh, breezy tale about a headstrong woman and her quest to build an identity of her own. What works is the treatment, the relatable characters and most importantly, Kangana. A Gujarati NRI working as a housekeeping staff with a reputed hotel in Atlanta, Kangana wants to buy a house of her own mainly to distance herself from her nagging parents. They want their divorced daughter to remarry, but she is happy with the freedom she enjoys, including the joy of flirting with cute men.  A chance trip takes her to Las Vegas where the 'sin' of gambling that she commits earns her lots of money, enough to buy a house and a lot more, including fancy dresses whose price tags kept her away from them till then. It soon turns into an addiction, but the results are not alway...

Bhumi Pednekar aspires to be the runaway bride like they show in Bollywood movies. But the guy chasing her, Ayushmann Khurrana, does not muster enough courage to approach her. When he finally does, he first runs into a bear and then a peculiar problem, that of performance anxiety. Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is set during an interesting period - between engagement and marriage - during which Bhumi and Ayushmann are trying to discover their love for each other. There's plenty of that, but the lack of intimacy stands out and adds to the pressure. While Bhumi accepts Ayushmann the way he is, he feels guilty at not being able to rise to the occasion. That obviously leads to a strain in their relationship. What complicates matters is when the two families involved get to know of his problem. The film tackles an unusual subject in a hilarious way and offers several laughs with its witty and often more-than-one-meaning dialogues. Despite dealing with a peculiar issue, not once doe...