New Delhi: A week before Salman Khan’s Christmas release Tiger Zinda Hai, a bunch of small local films and a big Hollywood offering vie for attention in movie theatres.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Monsoon Shootout, directed by Amit Kumar, shot through with stylistic flourishes and narrative sleights that frequently add up to arresting images and moments, is absorbing, even startling, says NDTV Movies. The propulsive, crisply edited noir thriller set in Mumbai’s dark, dank and dangerous underbelly is consistently intriguing on account of its structure. Add to this the film’s all-round technical finesse and the near-flawless performances from the principal actors and you have a crime drama that has the feel of a veritable tour de force.
While the idea hooks the viewer, what fells the film is its execution, says The Times Of India. Three different versions of the narrative play out based on the varying decisions made by the protagonist and end up frustrating and fatiguing the viewer. The screenplay must have sounded good on paper but when translated on screen, it lacks a definitive sharpness.
For Hollywood fans, American space opera film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong’o, comes to India this week. The Guardian calls it an explosive thrill-ride of galactic proportions. Like The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi offers variations on the mighty orchestral themes of the original trilogy, switching occasionally to muted tones and minor keys, before cranking the volume back up. This auto-reference has become an accepted and exhilarating part of the new Star Wars rhetoric.
American 3D computer-animated comedy Ferdinand, directed by Carlos Saldanha, and featuring the voices of John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Anthony Anderson, Bobby Cannavale and Peyton Manning, brims with bumptious fun, droll characters and poignant emotions, says The Washington Post. Honouring Munro Leaf’s gentle The Story of Ferdinand, about a Spanish bull who would rather smell the flowers than fight in the ring, the film incorporates the book’s story arc, with stylistic nods to Robert Lawson’s drawings of Spanish scenes and people. But it also adds new incidents, characters and depth, with a contemporary wit that doesn’t coarsen the story—or not much, anyway.
In the south, Tamil thriller Maayavan, directed by C.V. Kumar and starring Sundeep Kishan and Lavanya Tripathi, starts as a crime thriller and slowly moves on to become a sci-fi film, says Firstpost. It starts to skid as it lacks the emotions of a thriller due to hazy detailing which leaves certain crucial scenes unexplained. Though the film is 2 hours and 7 minutes long, the first half moves at a slow pace, and picks up only towards the end. The writing is not cohesive as the director wants to keep the audience guessing, which beyond a point becomes irritating.
Tamil social drama Aruvi, directed by Arun Prabu Purushothaman and starring Lakshmi Gopalswami and Aditi Balan, is a delectable concoction of emotions and ideals presented with great craft, says The Indian Express. A tale that makes you laugh and weep, the film is also technically sound. If you’re the person who wants cinema to speak to you and move your soul, Aruvi is the film for you.
Telugu romantic thriller Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, starring Kiran and Harshada Kulkarni and directed by Karthik Medikonda, is a cheesy thriller which tries hard to be different, says 123telugu.com. The dark theme is good but too many cuss words and unnecessarily hard-hitting scenes make the audience uncomfortable. Except for some elements of suspense in the second half, the film has nothing much to offer and is only suitable for the adult audience.
A few films this week haven’t inspired any reviews yet. These include Hindi movie My Friend’s Dulhania, Kannada drama Mooka Hakki, Marathi romantic drama Rang He Premache Rangeele, Marathi film Ghaat and Punjabi drama Hard Kaur.