Screen Test

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...

It takes one arrow that she unknowingly pierces into Shahid Kapoor’s chest for Deepika Padukone to fall in love with him and become his second wife. Sadly, even after unending moments of staring into each other’s eyes post marriage, one fails to see any chemistry between Rani Padmavati and the prince of Chittod. Blame it on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s half-baked characters, underdeveloped roles or just the wrong casting. Padmaavat has been in the eye of a storm ever since the film was announced and more so after the trailer was out. The story of the queen committing jauhar (jumping into a fire) along with several other women rather than surrendering to Sultan Allauddin Khilji (essayed by Ranveer Singh) has been written about extensively. The film, therefore, hinged more on the depiction of the tale, rather than the story itself. Bhansali fails on both counts. It takes almost an hour for him to introduce us to the characters and come to the actual plot. By the time comes the ...

An accomplished writer who has travelled from London to Mumbai for his third book launch finds himself as the prime suspect in two murders: That of his wife, who is also the CEO of the publishing house that has brought out his recent book, and a city-based lawyer. Sidharth Malhotra is being chased by the cops on a dreary night on Marine Drive when his car topples and gives him an opportunity to escape. He ends up at Sonakshi Sinha’s house where her lawyer-husband is also murdered. The first 10-15 minutes of Ittefaq build up enough intrigue and set the tone for an engrossing murder mystery, the pace of which does not slacken even for a bit till the end.  Sidharth and Sonakshi offer conflicting versions of the events that unfolded that night to investigating officer Akshaye Khanna, who has only three days to solve the case. The depiction of what could have actually transpired prior to the murders keeps the viewer glued to the screen and involved in the case even as Khanna g...

Rarely do you come across thrillers that have you hooked from the first scene to the last. The potential that the genre offers is often underutilised and many times compromised, with add-ons like songs killing the joy of unravelling a mystery (You’d relate to this if you’ve had the misfortune of watching Jagga Jasoos earlier this year). Thankfully, Faster Fene avoids all this and ends up becoming a racy adventure thriller. Banesh Fene travels to Pune to appear for a medical entrance examination and lives with an aged writer-uncle (Dilip Prabhavalkar) there. At the exam centre, he briefly encounters another aspiring doctor and gets chatting with him. When he reads in the newspapers the following day that the boy has committed suicide, he finds it hard to believe that a certain topper would end his life abruptly. The inquisitive Fene then sets out on a mission to unearth the truth with the help of a sidekick, a lady journalist, an autorickshaw driver and guidance from his uncle...

Secret Superstar is one of the better films of 2017 because of its solid content, intriguing storytelling and top performances. What makes it particularly watchable is that a simple premise of a girl wanting to become a singer is woven around several issues plaguing our society. However, these points are so blatant and yet so understated that they are bound to move the viewers while ensuring they contemplate on the reality surrounding us. Zaira Wasim, a schoolgirl in Vadodara, is blessed with a beautiful voice that is suppressed by her authoritarian and dominating father (Raj Arun). It is her mother, fantastically essayed by Meher Vij, who gives wings to her dreams and supports her in every way that she can, even if that means risking being beaten black and blue by her husband. With a guitar and laptop, both gifted by her mother, Zaira decides to put her talent up for show on the internet. The fear of her father, however, looms large and so, she decides to hide her identit...

Conjoined twins separated at birth due to unfortunate circumstances come together after they have grown up to create a series of misadventures for each other. One's grown up poor, bold and strong and the other as a polished, harmless and weak boy in a rich family. It's a formula that has been tried in several films before. In  Judwaa 2 , the difference is that when the twins are in close proximity to each other, one reacts in the same way as the other. For instance, if one slaps a guy on his right cheek, the other will repeat the act with whoever he is with, however harmless that person is. That in essence is the premise of  Judwaa 2  and jokes are created around this for the audience to have a hearty laugh. The problem, however, is that a majority of them are so pathetic that they fail to evoke even a yawn from you. Like, Sa Re Ga Ma Amitabh Bachchan because the legend played the title role in  Paa . Besides, while the original  Judwaa  worked...

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...