Dhurandhar Movie Review

Dhurandhar is supposedly a fictional espionage spy thriller set in the aftermath of terror incidents such as the Kandahar hijack, Parliament attack, Mumbai 26/11 and others.  

It is around the same time, the IB Chief Ajay Sanyal (R Madhavan) announces a covert operation in Pakistan to destroy their terror network. A mysterious spy agent named Hamza (Ranveer Singh) is planted by RAW in Lyari, Karachi. His mission there is to infiltrate and destroy Karachi's terror networks supported by the ISI. 

The movie run time of 3.5 hours makes the movie long and exciting. Aditya Dhar’s direction and storytelling keeps the viewers glued. 

Akshaye Khanna gives a stellar performance, Ranveer Singh’s career best performance, Rakesh Bedi is outstanding as a Pakistani politician, Sara Arjun is good,  Sanjay Dutt is superb as a corrupt cop. R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and Danish Pandor all are impressive. Other actors like Khadani Brothers, Naveen Kaushik and Gaurav Ghera among others have also contributed well.

Will Hamza succeed in the mission assigned by RAW? 

The music and the background score by Shashwat Sachdev are amazing as it also weaves vintage Bollywood tracks in the narrative. The production design is top notch. The cinematography is stunning as it creates a real, gritty and authentic world. 

Dhurandhar is a big screen experience thriving on solid direction, commanding performances, spectacular action and sound. In its 29 days run the movie has already raked in over (INR 1203.04 Cr) US$ 140 million, while those who have seen it are anxiously waiting for part-2 release expected by end of March 2026.

****.5 stars

Jolly LLB 3 Movie Review

The much loved Jolly LLB franchise is back with its third instalment addressing the issue of social injustice where a common person is fighting for its human rights. 

A farmer Rajaram Solanki commits suicide after losing his agricultural land. Haribhai Khetan (Gajraj Rao) a rich industrialist businessman dreams of building a township on this seized agricultural land. Rajaram’s wife Janki (Seema Biswas) is now seeking justice for her husband’s untimely death. Both the Jollys who accuse each other of stealing cases are now up against each other in this case. 

Which of the two Jollys will help her in getting justice against Haribhai Khetan? 

Movie is loosely based on the events of 2011 Bhatta Parsaul land grab case. It tackles a serious issue with humour and drama without really losing its direction. The plot is straightforward. First half of the movie is ok, but in the second half it really picks up and soars including the climax scene.

Direction by Subhash Kapoor is good. Movie editing by Chandrashekhar Prajapati is sharp. Dialogues by Subhash Kapoor are hard-hitting and clapworthy. Background music of the movie is really good. There is nothing much to talk about the music as the songs are usually played in the background, thus suiting the movie narrative. 

Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi are first rate in their performances. It is Saurabh Shukla who once again steals the show with his performance as the judge Sunderlal Tripathi. Ram Kapoor delivers a solid performance as an advocate defending Haribhai. Gajraj Rao is fantastic. Amrita Rao and Huma Qureshi do justice to their roles. Seema Biswas is superb. 

Jolly LLB 3 is an engaging court drama that is both thought provoking and highly entertaining. Indeed a worthy addition to the movie franchise.

****

Fighter Movie Review

The movie is inspired by the Pulwama terror attacks, Balakot air strike and Indo-Pak border clashes in the year 2019. 

Commanding Officer Rakesh Jai Singh aka Rocky (Anil Kapoor) forms a quick response team called Air Dragons of Squadron Leaders comprising top Air Force Pilots: Shamsher Pathania aka Patty (Hrithik Roshan), Minal Rathore aka Minny (Deepika Padukone), Sartaj Gill aka Taj (Karan Singh Grover), Basheer Khan aka Bash (Akshay Oberoi) among others. The team is formed for the members to bond and getting to know each other. 

How these combat aviators come together and fight the enemies is what the movie is all about. 

Being India's first aerial action movie Fighter is a fitting ode to the bravehearts of the Indian Air Force. The screenplay by Chibb is smooth and keeps the viewer on the edge of the seat. Cinematographer Sachith Paulose deserves full applause for making the movie a visual treat. Action directors Seyeong Oh, Parvez Shaikh and Sunil Rodrigues capture the audience with their exhilarating stunts and fight sequences. Director Siddharth Anand does a fine job. 

Hrithik gives a stellar performance, Deepika is top notch and Anil is flawless. Hrithik and Deepika coming together for the first time have a great onscreen chemistry. Karan Singh Grover is first rate and Akshay Oberoi is wonderful. Sharib Hashmi, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Ashutosh Rana are good in their cameos. Rishab Sawhney making his debut as the main antagonist is menacing but could have been better.  

Overall Fighter is a well made movie full of action, emotions, patriotism, drama and thrill.

Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai Review

What happens when a godman commits a grave sin against his disciple. This movie is based on a true story, a battle for justice between a common man and a godman. 

Nu (Adrija Sinha) a minor girl files a police complaint against a godman named Baba (Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha), who has been accused of raping her. While the godman is taken in police custody, the legal battle to free him starts. Defending the godman is a powerful and influential lawyer Advocate Sharma (Vipin Sharma) and the prosecutor fighting for the victim is PC Solanki (Manoj Bajpayee). 

Will justice be served to the victim or will Godman be released? For all this and more watch the movie. 

The movie is gripping with natural courtroom proceedings. It has a great storyline and direction by first time director Apoorv Singh Karki. He has done a fantastic job in his debut movie. Dialogues are clap worthy. Movie editing is crisp. 

Manoj Bajpayee is superb in one of his best performances as a lawyer. He is the life of the film. Surya Mohan Kulshreshtha has a few dialogues, but his expressions and gestures create viewer hatred. Adrija Sinha is excellent. One sees the pain in her eyes whenever she comes on screen. Vipin Sharma as the opposition lawyer is likable. 

The movie is a must watch for everyone with a strong message that no one is above the law. 

Now streaming on Zee5. 

****

Uunchai Movie Review

Friendship has no leaps and bounds and it is such a beautiful bond that lasts not just for a lifetime but also crosses all age barriers. This is what the movie is all about. 

It is a story of four friends Omi (Anupam Kher), Javed (Boman Irani), Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) and Bhupen (Danny Denzongpa) from different walks of life. Bhupen has a lifetime dream of trekking and climbing the Base Camp of Mount Everest along with his friends. One fine day tragedy happens due to the sudden death of Bhupen. Will his friends be able to achieve Bhupen's dream? What other challenges and obstacles will come in their way in achieving this feat?

It is a simple and heartwarming story of friendship and human relationships set up in modern times. Director Sooraj Barjatya handles the emotions very well, as one has seen in his previous blockbusters.  

It is also about determination and self-belief which is inspirational in itself. Dialogues are good. Music by Amit Trivedi is nice and melodious with wonderful lyrics by Irshad Kamil. Beautiful scenes of Mount Everest have also been well-shot. 

Top-notch performances by the lead cast of Boman Irani, Amitabh Bacchan, Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta set the tone and make the movie a winner. Danny Denzongpa in a cameo leaves a mark. Parineeti Chopra and Sarika Hassan are good in their brief performances. 

With a good message, this is a must watch for all age groups. 

****

Panchayat Season 2 Review

A popular show which released during the 2020 lockdown is back with Season-2.

In the first season we saw how an urbanite Abhishek aka Sachiv Ji, an engineering graduate, in the course of preparing for his MBA exams, ends up taking a secretary job in a village panchayat in Phulera. While this rural job is much against his wishes, but with his positive attitude he does better than what one could expect from an urbanite. Season ends with a chance meeting of Village Pradhaan’s daughter Rinki and Abhishek aka Sachiv Ji.

 

Season-2 continues from where it had left. While his colleagues working in MNC’s in India and overseas are riding high and earning well, Abhishek on the other hand seems to be acclimatizing and doing well in his rural job. He manages to build good relationships with the key players in the village, as well as a quiet friendship with Rinki. 

Meanwhile, Rinki’s parents are worried about her marriage, they receive a matrimonial alliance offer from a well settled Urbanite in a Metro city. However, Rinki rejects the proposal since her father is humiliated by the boy’s family, even before their first meeting.

On another front there is a brewing conflict between the village panchayat and local MLA Chandra Kishore Singh for grant of funds for new road in the Village. Abhishek aka Sachiv Ji gets the taste of his first close encounter with this notorious MLA politician. 

Will the love between Abhishek and Rinki blossom? How will the Panchayat stand up against the MLA? What will be the importance of Abhishek? Will Abhishek give up his dream of a blue-collar job? For all this and more we have to wait for Season-3 to unfold. 

The good news is that a new season has already been confirmed by the director Deepak Kumar Mishra. We just can’t wait to witness that. TVF have done a fantastic job in depicting an Indian village life with simplicity and subtlety, which are the show's strengths. 

Sachiv Ji (Jitendra Kumar), former pradhaan (Raghubir Yadav), his wife the actual pradhaan (Neena Gupta), pradhaan gram sevak Vikas (Chandan Roy) and up-pradhaan Prahlad (Faisal Malik) have all done extremely well. The starcast breathes life into the show with their performances. They are a treat to watch. Newcomer Sanvikaa as Rinki is a revelation in her debut performance. Notorious MLA played by Pankaj Jha is first-rate. Other supporting actors too are good.  

Panchayat is a slice of the life show and one of the best shows on OTT platform which keeps the viewer engaged right till the end. 

Now streaming on Prime Video

****.5 stars

Badhaai Do Review

Badhaai Do, a sequel to Badhaai Ho is a coming of age movie, which breaks the shackles of traditional Indian families through its offbeat theme and story. 

Shardul Thakur (Rajkumar Rao) is a police cop. His widowed mother Mrs Thakur (Sheeba Chaddha) is worried about her son's marriage. Suman Singh aka Sumi (Bhumi Pednekar) is a physical education teacher.

Sumi and Shardul meet each other coincidentally and decide to get married in order to keep the seniors of their respective family happy, knowing very well that they are biologically opposite personalities. Shardul is a gay and Sumi is a lesbian. 

What will transpire once the respective families learn about this hidden secret of personalities? Will their biologically unnatural marriage survive?

Movie is a wholesome entertainer with great direction by Harshvardhan Kulkarni. Script is well-written by Suman Adhikary, Akshat Ghildial and the Harshvardhan Kulkarni. Dialogues are fantastic. Music of the movie is soothing, melodious and foot-tapping by composers Hitesh Sonik, Amit Trivedi, Ankit Tiwari and others.  

Rajkumar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar deliver winning performances. Newcomer Chum Darang who plays Sumi's girlfriend looks promising. Supporting actors including Seema Pahwa, Sheeba Chaddha and Sumi's parents play their part well. Gulshan Deviah in a special appearance is good. 

Movie leaves an impact with an important social message relevant in today's changing times. 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

**** stars