Screen Test

Maharashtrians, by nature, aren’t entrepreneurial. They’d rather have a comfortable job that brings in a regular monthly income. So, if someone from the community who is employed with a bank in London decides to quit with the aim of starting his own restaurant, all hell is certain to break loose. Sidharth Chandekar is that 27-year-old youngster in Sachin Kundalkar’s latest Marathi film,  Gulabjaam . What aggravates his agony is that he is coaxed into getting engaged to his childhood friend during his visit to Mumbai, although this was never on the agenda. Frustrated at the way his life is going, he runs away to Pune instead of taking a flight to London, without informing his family, to learn cooking. He is an expert in making delicious non-vegetarian dishes, but he wants to be a master in churning out authentic Maharashtrian food that his restaurant would offer. Here, he comes across Sonali Kulkarni, who supplies  dabbas  on a daily basis to working professional...

Two upright officers – Manoj Bajpayee and Sidharth Malhotra – of the Indian Army are at loggerheads with each other after viewing corruption in the armed forces differently. The latter turns rogue, resulting in the former going against his protégé before he lets out some secrets. Both were inducted into a special unit by the Army chief for their competence, but are now under the scanner due to various developments that take place.  Neeraj Pandey’s Aiyaari is a well-intentioned film with good performances by its star cast. Like some of his previous movies, this too is a hard-hitting commentary on the ugly reality at various levels, including in the government and the Army. This one, in particular, focuses on the nefarious dealings while striking arms deals, the Uri attack as well as the Adarsh scam. The problem, however, in tackling so many issues is that it does not focus on any one aggressively. It meanders and touches upon various aspects, thereby affecting the flow and pa...

There’s a lot to like about PadMan . It’s a tale of tender love between a husband and wife apart from the obvious issue that it tries to address. It’s a story of one man’s belief in himself and his propensity to take on society to ensure women are treated with as much dignity as men. It’s a rather tricky subject to tackle, but director R Balki succeeds in doing it beautifully on screen, using humour as a strong supporting cast. The start itself is captivating with a melodious song showing Akshay Kumar’s marriage to Radhika Apte in a small village in Madhya Pradesh. In the days that follow, he is aghast to know that she uses a dirty cloth instead of a sanitary pad, and that women in his home have to keep distance during their periods. He buys her a branded pad from a pharmacy, but Apte cannot see herself using such an expensive one, lest other women in the family taunt her. Kumar then decides to make one himself, but fails on multiple occasions. And despite his clean intention...