Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews

Movie Preview : Ludo (releases 12th November)

Posted on October 24, 2020 by amodini

Ludo has a large star cast – 4 heroes, and at least 2 heroines that I could see in the trailer. And it is directed by Anurag Basu, who also brilliantly helmed one of my favorite movies of all time – Barfi! Also the very lovely Life In a Metro. Is it any wonder that I’m looking forward to this madcap Diwali blockbuster?

Posted in 2020, All Netflix, bollywood, directors, Hindi movies on Netflix, humor, New Bollywood Movies, New Films, Previews, quirky, WhaTWON | Comments Off

Podcast Episode 8: Bollywood For Beginners

Posted on October 20, 2020 by amodini

I had so much fun making this Podcast episode about Bollywood For Beginners. When I’m recording my podcasts I’m always on the fence about just starting to speak and letting go, or preparing the script beforehand (speaking naturally generally wins). For this episode though, I had the basics in my head, and once I started to speak, I went on for about 24 minutes, thus breaking the sound barrier 🙂 of 10 minutes.

I hope you have as much fun listening and enjoy my picks. If you’d rather read, here is the written Bollywood For Beginners page. And the lists, of about 300 highly recommended films, mentioned in the podcast episode are:

– Best Hindi Movies By Genre
– Best Hindi Movies By Year

Posted in 2020, Amodini's Movie Reviews Podcast, bollywood, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, Hindi Movies List, how-what-why, lists, mini-reviews, outstanding, podcast, recommended | 2 Comments

Movie Review : Cargo

Posted on October 17, 2020 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2/5)
Genre : Sci-fi
Year : 2020
Running time : 2 hours 5 minutes
Director : Arati Kadav
Cast : Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi, Nandu Madhav
Kidwise : PG

Cargo’s premise is an interesting mix of Hindu mythology and space opera. In Hindu mythology, when people die, their souls are collected by the god of death Yama. In the film, in the near future, this “traditional” death has been changed so that deaths are now processed through the Post Death Transition Services. The PDTS runs several spaceships, one of which is the Pushpak – 634A manned by Rakhasa (demon) Prahastha (Massey), and he’s been doing this single, solitary job all by himself for a very long time. Suddenly though he gets a new assistant Yuvishka Shekhar (Tripathi), and things start to change.

There are very few characters in this film. There’s Prahasta, a mild-mannered, quiet man (or demon – they look very human, apparently) who processes his “cargo” of dead people every day. The process is the same for every dead person, and monotonous but Prahastha does his job patiently and dutifully, and has come to enjoy his solitary existence. He communicates with his superiors and co-workers via video streams, but other than that and the minimum back-and-forth with his cargo, keeps very much to himself. Then there’s Nitigya Sir (Madhav), Prahastha’s boss, whom we only see through his video chats with Prahastha. And lastly, there’s University topper Yuvishka who comes on board the Pushpak-634A, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, full of new-fangled ideas on handling cargo, eager to do her job by the book.

Director Kadav shows us the isolation of Prahastha’s life, one repetitive day at a time. With the upheaval of Yuvishka’s coming, and the changing dynamics between Prahastha and Yuvishka, Kadav delves deeper into Prahastha’s personality, his repressed emotions and memories. She also touches upon changing relationships and burgeoning friendships. But that exploration feels so slight, so minute, that I can’t dredge up any strong feelings nor do I care about any of the characters!

The whole thing gets pretty monotonous – there are long scenes where the characters sit unmoving, thinking, watching – and the dialogs and the interactions between Prahastha and Yuvishka remain stilted and superficial. It is frustrating because I can feel a good film underneath all that slow-moving action, but I can’t quite get to it.

With only three characters in the film, it is a challenge to keep things interesting of course, and Kadav doesn’t quite succeed. Very few films do. One of them is the sci-fi film “Moon“, which has one character – a solitary astronaut on the moon. Another is the South Korean “Castaway on the Moon” which is more fable than sci-fi. But both these films managed to do what Cargo fails at – get us interested in their lonely protagonists.

On the positive side, I thought the premise interesting. There’s even some folklore built around the PDTS (even though it has no impact on the story), like the fact that there has been a peace treaty with the humans, or that each Rakshasa has a special superpower. The film has a low budget and the sets/the spaceship shows it, but that didn’t bother me. Also, the actors are great performers – we know that because we’ve seen them before (Laakhon Mein Ek, Raat Akeli Hai, Mirzapur) so I’m blaming the director here 🙂 .

This film doesn’t quite work, but hopefully is a precursor of things to come. I hope Kadav can refine her film-making skills and keep at it; Bollywood could sure use some good sci-fi!

Kidwise: Clean.

Posted in 2020, All Netflix, bollywood, Hindi movies on Netflix, New Bollywood Movies, New Films, rating-PG, sci-fi, WhaTWON | Comments Off

Movie Review : Ginny Weds Sunny

Posted on October 14, 2020 by amodini

Rating : Poor (1.5/5)
Genre : Romance, Comedy
Year : 2020
Running time : 2 hours 5 minutes
Director : Puneet Khanna
Cast : Vikrant Massey, Yami Gautam, Ayesha Raza, Rajiv Gupta
Kidwise : PG

The trailer promised a lively rom-com so I was rather looking forward to Ginny Weds Sunny. But this dull, annoying film is one to be missed.

Satnam Sethi aka Sunny (Massey) must wed, per Papaji, who has promised him the family restaurant at marriage. Fueled by that motive, Sunny goes looking for a woman. One lovely young woman is ready to step onto the marriage mandap, per her mother, but is headstrong and must be wooed with romance. Sunny, floored by the lovely Ginny aka Simran Juneja (Gautam), and nursing a secret crush, makes plans to do the needful. But Ginny already has another suitor waiting in the wings . . .

This film reminds me of Fukrey, in that it is also the story of an utter loser trying to woo a woman out of his league. Now if said loser had some redeeming qualities/showed growth, the film could still have been interesting, but that’s not so. Sunny, while played affably by Massey, doesn’t have much to recommend him. He hopes to have Daddy give him a restaurant, and that’s his big goal. He’s not very interesting or good-looking. Plus he assumes that the woman he marries will automatically give up her life and aspirations to help him run this restaurant. Your standout Bollywood charmer, this one! Ginny isn’t that wonderful either but she at least has 1) an opinion 2) looks 3) a job.

Ginny Weds Sunny follows the typical Bollywood trope where we 1) Harp on the Punjabi-ness 2) Try to pass off worthless young men as great husband material. The film’s storyline is shaky, to put it mildly. It is basically Sunny wooing/stalking Ginny in long, boring encounters. He walks out of his home on a trip to follow Ginny to Mussoorie, like he’s going out to war. Comedy? I think not. And while I can see his family egging him on to bring home a lovely, susheel, sanskaari bahu, I cannot see why Ginny’s mom thinks less-than-desirable Sunny is the man for her daughter.

The film tries to build the comedic scenes with Punjabi-laden dialog, but the characters, who are supposed to be Punjabi, can’t get out a proper Punjabi accent. So the (cheesy) jokes fall flat and seem fake. Also annoying are the “sound effects” that accompany each “joke” – because apparently the audience needs help identifying the funny parts!

Ginny Weds Sunny fails on many counts – the insipid characters, the weak writing, lack of chemistry between the lead pair, the poor casting choices. It is not that these actors are not capable – Massey is a fantastic actor but is not a good fit for this role. Yami was lovely in Bala and Vicky Donor, and she’s good here too – but the script and the characterization let her down. The film is a snoozefest, and even stalwarts like Ayesha Raza-Mishra, who plays Ginny’s mother, can’t perk up things.

Ginny Weds Sunny is another shallow romantic caper – no freshness or oomph. So, why, oh why would one waste time on it?

Kidwise: Clean. But why would you put your kids through this? They will not thank you.

Posted in 2020, bollywood, comedy, cringe-worthy, Hindi movies on Netflix, New Bollywood Movies, New Films, rating-PG, romance, WhaTWON | Comments Off

Movie Review : Lootcase

Posted on October 11, 2020 by amodini

Rating : Good (4/5)
Genre : Suspense
Year : 2020
Running time : 2 hours 12 minutes
Director : Rajesh Krishnan
Cast : Ranvir Shorey, Kunal Khemu, Vijay Raaz, Rasika Duggal, Gajraj Rao
Kidwise : PG

Nandan Kumar (Khemu) lives his middleclass life with family – wife Lata (Duggal) and son Ayush in a Mumbai chawl. When one day he comes across a suitcase full of cash, he takes it and secretly hides it in the home of a neighbor who’s out of town, and doesn’t even let on about this secret to his wife.

The suitcase contains bribe money. It also contains a paper file with hard evidence of corruption against a politician MLA Patil (Gajraj Rao). Thus efforts are being made to retrieve both, and when Inspector Kolte (Shorey) is roped in to investigate, he is quickly on the trail. Will Nandan be able to keep his ill-gotten wealth?

Lootcase is a lively comedy of errors. It’s got a quirky set of characters. There’s Nandan who while being an ordinary working class citiizen finds the time and passion to sing ditties to his new-found love – the suitcase full of cash, and simply revels in the feel of so much money. There is wily politician Patil who will stop at nothing to regain the money and the file. And then there is National Geographic-loving gangster Bala Rathore who implores his gun-toting men to learn about the wonders of wildlife.

The film is nicely done from the setup to the comic timing. This genre of film – common-man hero beset upon by a great number of bumbling goons – is rather rare now. You have to get it just right, develop just enough relationships between friendly and conflicting parties to keep things interesting, introduce the right amount of confusion, and sprinkle humor. Director Krishnan does all this well – he has two rival gangs baying for each other’s blood, he’s got a wily politician in the mix and he’s got a policeman who’s tired of serving his political masters. And he has a hero who’s being targeted by them all!

The acting is immaculate. Khemu doesn’t get too many roles to display his acting prowess – I last remember him from the zany Go Goa Gone. As Nandan he plays his character with verve and charm. Some scenes he hammed through – and I’d expected better. Still he brings alive Nandan’s character – we root for Nandan and his dreams of a better life, and we shake our heads at him when he does something idiotic. Rasika Duggal is getting more roles – you might remember her from Delhi Crime, Mirzapur (second season coming soon!) and the lovely short Chutney. She deserves every one of them with her great talent. Ranvir Shourey, Vijay Raaz and Gajraj Rao are spot-on and funny, and make this edgy humorous movie what it is.

Highly recommended.

Kidwise: Clean. Some violence, gun-slinging.

Posted in 2020, bollywood, family-friendly, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, Good movies on Hotstar, Hotstar, humor | 1 Comment

Podcast Review : Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare (Episode 7)

Posted on September 29, 2020 by amodini

The Podcast Review of Dolly Kitty And Those Shining Stars is live now – listen on Anchor here!
The written review is here.

Posted in 2020, Amodini's Movie Reviews Podcast, bollywood, directors, drama, feminism, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, Hindi movies on Netflix, Netflix Recommendations, New Bollywood Movies, passes Bechdel Test, podcast, recommended, WhaTWON, women | Comments Off

Movie Review : Kadakh

Posted on September 26, 2020 by amodini

Rating : Very good (4.3/5)
Genre : Suspense
Year : 2020
Running time : 1 hour 48 minutes
Director : Rajat Kapoor
Cast : Ranvir Shorey, Mansi Multani, Rajat Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin, Tara Sharma, Shruti Seth, Sagar Deshmukh, Cyrus Sahukar, Palomi Ghosh, Nupur Asthana, Chandrachoor Rai
Kidwise : PG-15

Kadakh starts off with Sunil (Shorey) and Malti (Multani) preparing for a Diwali party at their home. When Sunil is alone at home, he has an unexpected visitor – Raqhav, the husband of a woman, Chaya, Sunil was having an affair with. An affair that his wife knows nothing about. Chhaya’s husband says he wants to chat but once inside the home brandishes a gun. Then all hell breaks lose!

Kadakh, from director Rajat Kapoor (he also stars in the film) is unpredictable in a very good way. After its initial surprise, the film develops into a very interesting thriller. There’s a Diwali party in full swing, and in the bedroom there’s a dead body. The guests are close friends, close enough that one of them has brought food to cook. As the evening progresses, little skirmishes arise leading to a most unexpected betrayal.

Rajat Kapoor is a talented actor-director; I look forward to his films because he manages to always depict such great human drama. Whether it is the lovely, philosophical “Ankhon Dekhi” or the suspenseful Mithya, Kapoor shapes each work with skill, creating organic situations and realistic characters, and pulling you, the viewer, into his onscreen world.

In Kadakh where we have a gathering of friends, and some outsiders – the friends bring other friends, and Malti’s Chacha and Chachi drop in because they are in town – who while close to Sunil and Malti, are still very dissimilar people in their behaviors and worldviews, and can and do rub each other the wrong way. During the party we are privy to multiple conversations, some one-to-one and some group, where we get a good idea of the personalities, by what they say and the way they react to what’s being said around them.

The star-cast is large and impeccable. There’s Ranvir Shourie and Multani who are just fantastic as the beleaguered couple. Their friends are played by Shruti Seth, Tara Sharma, Cyrus Sahukar, Kalki Koechlin, Sagar Deshmukh and Manoj Pahwa, to name a few, and do very well.

Kadakh is a fantastic, wild ride, and a film to be relished. Highly recommended!

Kidwise: There’s a gun, a dead body, some bloody violence and some talk about sex/relationships. This is a classy, clean film though and would probably be fine for older kids.

Posted in 2020, bollywood, directors, drama, outstanding, rating-PG15, recommended, suspense | Comments Off

Series Preview : Mirzapur Season 2 (coming October 23rd)

Posted on September 22, 2020 by amodini

For all of you waiting for the second season of Mirzapur, there is light at the end of the tunnel! This comes to Amazon Prime October 23rd – time enough to binge (again) on Season 1 and remember that it ended on a real cliff-hanger.

Posted in 2020, Amazon Prime Video Recommendations, bollywood, drama, New Shows on Amazon Prime, recommended | Comments Off

Movie Review : Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare (2020)

Posted on September 19, 2020 by amodini

Rating : 3.8/5
Genre : Drama/Feminist
Year : 2020
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Alankrita Shrivastav
Cast : Konkona Sen Sharma, Bhumi Pednekar, Vikrant Massey, Karan Chandra, Amol Parasher, Amir Bashir, Neelima Azim, Kubbra Siat
Kid rating : A, R
Podcast Review : Here

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare is directed by Alankrita Shrivastav. And because she also directed Lipstick Under My Burkha I had high hopes for this film; couldn’t wait for the 18th!Am glad to say then, that I’m not disappointed. DKAWCS (the title is such a mouthful) is the feminist film of 2020.

The story revolves around two cousin sisters, Radha aka Dolly (Konkona) and Kaajal (Bhumi) who have moved far from home (Bihar) to Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Dolly lives with her husband and 2 sons, and Kaajal has come to stay them, as she works a factory job. Kaajal decides to find her own place, because the brother-in-law is getting a little too touchy-feely. She also manages to quit her job and then, sans the protection of her sister’s home, it’s her and the wild, wild world out there. Meanwhile Dolly didi (as Kaajal refers to her) is also getting tired of pretending to be the happy housewife . . .

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare is the journey of the two sisters as they wend their way around what they have and what they want, and those two things are very different. Those are the two main story arcs, but the film also manages to feature moral policing and general lawlessness, societal misogyny/expectations, double standards, religious discrimination, angsty relationships, low self-esteem, various building scams and the taboo around being gay. Some of those issues feel real – like the scene where Kaajal on a lonely road is heckled by a car full of men, or a slowly sauntering bus and it’s leering bus conductor (brought to mind the Nirbhaya case). But some feel shoehorned in there; I wish the director had chosen a few issues and focussed on them.

While Dolly has her head firmly stuck in the sand, ignoring all the uncomfortable truths around her by buying more and more stuff, Kaajal (or Kitty as she’s known at her new job) makes bolder choices but realizes that being a “bold” women has other consequences. The film also explores female desire and sexuality more than any other recent Bollywood film, which is not saying a lot, but still.

I really liked that the characters seem real, flawed like the rest of us. I really liked that the women in the film had actual conversations about themselves, and their wants and needs. I liked the way the characters grow, and the budding awakening in them that they are people too with desires that deserve attention and fulfillment. I like that the film questions the roles that society relegates women to – mother, wife, daughter – neatly slotted away and left to pasture.

Director Shrivastav could not have chosen better actors – Sen-Sharma and Pednekar are marvelous. And they are ably supported by the men in the film: Massey plays Kitty’s boyfriend, Bashir is Dolly’s husband, Parasher is a delivery-boy who often delivers food to Dolly’s home, and Kundra is a Noida DJ. Neelima Azim is fabulous in a small cameo as Dolly’s unconventional mother.

The film felt slow-paced and missed the twisty, unpredictable turns of Lipstick under my Burkha. As I said the film felt crammed with all the issues the director was trying to highlight. On the flip side, there is so much more telling left to this story, and I would love to have a series full of Dolly and Kitty. Because despite the slow-pace, their lives were so addictive to watch. I wanted to know what they would do, and I was invested in their lives.

Which is essentially why this film is as good as it is. Go watch!

Kidwise: Only suitable for an adult audience – sex, sexual talk, language etc.

Posted in 2020, All Netflix, bollywood, directors, drama, feminism, Good Hindi Movies To Watch, Hindi movies on Netflix, Netflix Recommendations, New Bollywood Movies, passes Bechdel Test, rating-A, rating-R, recommended, social issues, WhaTWON, women | Comments Off

Podcast Review : Masaba Masaba (2020)

Posted on September 16, 2020 by amodini

Episode 6 is now live!

In this I review the relatively new Netflix Series Masaba Masaba about a mother-daughter pair, Neena Gupta and Masaba Gupta, living their celebrity lives. Neena is a Bollywood actress and Masaba is a fashion designer, and life is interesting!

To find out what I thought about this series, listen at the links below, or check out the complete list of platforms on this page. If your favorite podcast platform is missing, let me know!

You can also read my review here.

– On JioSaavn
– On PodcastAddict
– On Spotify
– On iTunes
– On Stitcher