Movie Review: Soorma: A biopic made without slow-motion tricks! ***

1723rd BLOG POST -->>

The only thing that attracted me towards Soorma’s trailer was Diljit Dosanjh’s expressions which said a lot. And that’s the only reason I even ended up watching this 130 minutes movie based on the life of Hockey player, Sandeep Singh, who made a glorious comeback after an unfortunate accident in his life which paralyzed his lower half of the body. Frankly speaking, I have never followed Hockey in my life and only read this name in the headlines couple of times. Again, frankly speaking, I do not even remember why he was mentioned in the news. And that is why I am very thankful to this movie for introducing such sport stars to us.

Talking about the movie, generally, it is seen in the Bollywood biopics that the scenes are turned overdramatic, over-emotional and over-enthusiastic with slow motions etc. for making the audience feel a larger-than-life event being displayed infront of them. The best part in the direction of the movie is that Shaad Ali does not resort to these tactics and try to keep the scenes as realistic and true as possible. I had read somewhere that the legend, Sandeep Singh, himself was involved in the shoot of the game scenes and it shows why each and every shot or commentary looks and sounds true, real and pure. I liked how they do not show the sportsman as someone who was born as a legend but spend most of the times showing him being as much vulnerable human being as us.

The dialogues in the movie are fantastic and I liked most of them from almost all the characters. The background music lacks in most of the important scenes which I feel could have made the experience of watching this one a bit better. The songs are nice and plays a big part in the movement of the story.

Talknig about the performances, Diljit Dosanjh has proved his mettle in Bollywood once again after his superlative performance in Udta Punjab. The way he emotes through his face, eyes, body language speaks of how much he got into the skin of the character. Taapsee Pannu is charming and does a good job in keeping the romance and love quotient in the movie intact. In terms of script, I felt more coverage should have been given to her role as a player too. Vijay Raaz has given one of the best performances and it is good to see him in both- comic and emotional role in the movie. Angad Bedi is a surprise package and gives a super performance that you will always remember him for.

Overall, Soorma is a movie made with pure heart. Yes, it is neither as good as Chak De India or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag but still keeps you intriguing. I give the movie 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Beyond What Meets The Eye by Sameera Kotta (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

1722nd BLOG POST -->>

As you guys are aware that I do not often fall for e-books considering the strain it causes to my eyes but still I keep trying some of them because for books, I can give away my eyes too. Haha! Well, sorry for the bad joke. Today, the e-book which we are about to talk is Sameera Kotta’s “Beyond what meets the eye”. Considering that the authoress is a debutante, this 165-pages book is very well edited and kept up to the mark without dragging it to the boring level which many debutante end up doing in the passion of writing as much as possible in their first book itself. The two things which attracted me towards this book were the cover page and the title of the book. It is very necessary for the debutante to come up with a little different perspective when they write their first book and I am impressed that Sameera has been able to qualify in this aspect as her story is not the regular stuff which people are writing these days.

Sameera’s writing style is simple which makes it easy for new readers who are just starting with books to complete the book within a sitting or two. Sameera has kept her book so well-edited as I have already mentioned above that it doesn’t make you want to skip any sentence or paragraph. Every word in the book takes the story ahead. The best part about Sameera’s writing is her characterization. Right from the protagonist, Majnu’s character to Varsha’s character including Soumya’s cameo, all of which is covered so nicely that you are able to connect with each one of them. The struggle of people living without parents, the students studying tough subjects like medicals etc, the pain they go through because of the tough past they have been subscribed to, the revenge that they want to take going out of their way etc. is very well handled through characters.

Talking about the drawbacks of the story, I would say that author could have worked little more on developing the twists and turns in the book. Though the book is written in a manner where certain suspense’s are held up and revealed at some certain point trying to maintain the thrilling aspect of the story, but still, they are unable to make the reader jump off their seat or stagnancy of mind. If the book is supposed to be a thriller involving murders, death, goof-ups etc, it should be chilling and frightening. Overall, I would rate this book 3 star out of 5. Having good expectations from the authoress in the future.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Movie Review: Thugs Of Hindostan: An incredible set-up wasted! **

1721st BLOG POST -->>

If there is any movie that people wait for years is the one in which Aamir Khan is involved as an actor or maker. One such movie which was regularly been talked of post-Dangal was “Thugs of Hindostan”. More because it was bringing Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan together for the first time and that too under the banner of Yash Raj films. Over this, it involved Katrina Kaif and the Dangal-fame, Fatima Sana Shaikh too. What more is needed by the Bollywood movie lovers than such assembles of great star-casts and a big banner.

After watching the movie, every curious movie lover like me has been disappointed seeing such an extravagant and over-hyped film being treated so badly that the screenplay and writing had no potential at all. Even the dialogues are such that not a single one of them stays with you after you move out of your seat. Not only dialogues, even the music and songs are such that despite the movie having 2 item songs and couple of motivational songs used during fighting scenes, none of them impresses your ears enough to become a part of your playlist. Talking about the locations, yes, they are mind-blowing and only thing which matched with the film’s outset. Talking about the action scenes, there are few good minute fighting details captured during the fight segments on yacht but the ones including Fatima Shaikh are silly and laughable.

Talking about the performances, Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan has at least acted their part well which was bearable but nowhere it seems that they have put an extra effort in making their characters look extra special. It is like just another good performance out of many whereas it is expected from such a big banner and actors to bring out their best ever in such collaborations. Katrina Kaif has disappointed with her role selection in this movie. After working for more than 15 years and being part of many big movies, how can she sign a movie where she has just 2 item songs and nothing else to do? Embarrassing! Talking about Fatima, she is nowhere close to her performance in Dangal. She has tried a lot to be different but ended up being nothing. No role from any supporting actor is worth mentioning at all.

This movie should have been made as a thriller but the problem here is that everything is so straight that you will end up predicting right every next scene. Even when death of one character is shown, you know within that he will come back later on. With such baseless and weak plot, there is not much that can be talked about. It is very strictly a one-time watch which can also be skipped. I give this movie 2 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!