Latest Bollywood Movie Review - Narendera Gupta

 Tanahaji Review

1) Tanhaji- The Unsung Warrior(Hindi & Marathi / 2D & 3D)
Rating : 3/5
Duration: 131 min
Producer :Ajay Devgn,Bhushan Kumar,Krishan Kumar

(The film set depicts the 17th Century where the Maratha Emperor, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj orders his General, Tanaji Malusare (Ajay Devgan) to capture Kondhana at any cost to protect Southern India from Mughal invasion, while the Mughal emperor sends his trusted commander Uday Bhan (Saif Ali Khan) to defend the fortress, thus leading to a battle between the two armies for want of control. In history, this became to be known as the Battle of Sinhagad)

PLUS POINTS:
1) Ajay Devgn (De De Pyaar De,Total Dhamaal,Raid,Golmaal Again) as the protagonist Tanaji Malusare, shines through as the brave and heroic Maratha Subedar. Being the first historic film of his career and 100th of his overall run, he has put all his heart into the character.Saif Ali Khan’s (Laal Kaptaan, Baazaar, Kaalakaandi,Chef) menacing portrayal of Uday Bhan, steals the show. 
2)Cinematography (Keiko Nakahara) are of highest standard. Screenplay (Prakash Kapadia, Om Raut) is impressive. Costumes (Nachiket Barve) are superb. Locations are great.
3) Director( Om Raut) has done a good job.

MINUS POINTS:
1) Kajol’s performance as Savitribai has hardly anything to do. Other supporting cast includ. Padmavati Rao as Jijabai, Sharad Kelkar as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Luke Kenny as Aurangzeb and all others are below average.
2) With a historic subject, it fails to create interest joining flops like Panipat, Mohenjodaro,etc. The battle scenes are long (almost never ending). Dialouges (Prakash Kapadia) are below average and not impressive. Story(Prakash Kapadia,Om Raut) does not deliver lacks novelty. It mainly targets the Marathi audience. 
3)Music (Ajay-Atul) is below average.Film does not have a single hit number also a good patriotic song would have helped.
4)Editing (Dharmendra Sharma) could’ve been sharper. Long battle scenes should have been trimmed.

BOX OFFICE:
Promos failed to create buzz and lacks youth appeal clashing with other two  films like “Chhapaak” and “Darbar”, the prospect is likely to get affected. It will be a tedious task for the makers to cover up the budget of 150 cr.
BOX OFFICE RATING:2/5

Chhapaak Review

2) Chhapaak
Rating : 2.5/5
Duration:. 120 min
Producer : Fox Star Studios,Deepika Padukone, Govind Singh Sandhu,Meghna  Gulzar

(The film is based on real life of acid survivor Laxmi Agarwal, who was attacked with acid on a street in New Delhi in 2005. It stars Deepika Padukone as an acid attack survivor, alongside Vikrant Massey).

PLUS POINTS:
1) Deepika Padukone (Padmavat, Bajirao Mastani,Tamasha,Piku) has done a good job. With prosthetics, make-up and her powerful acting, she does full justice to the story of trauma, triumph and the unquashable human spirit. She leaves an everlasting impression as Malti with her strong performance. Though it’s a bit disappointing as 90% of her screen time is with prosthetics which may disappoint her fans who want to see a beautiful Deepika. Vikrant Massey (Debut as hero), has left a lasting impression but is not a hero material. Madhurjeet Sarghi who plays the lawyer, is good.
2)Film has plenty of emotional scenes which will go well with the female audience. It comes with a strong social message that how a small bottle of acid can spoil the entire life of a victim. It’s high time that the laws get stricter towards punishment for the heinous crime like an acid-attack.
3)Cinematography(Malay Prakash) and other production values are good.

MINUS POINTS:
1)Though director Meghna Gulzar (Raazi, Talvar) has done a decent job,she misses the mark. After films like Raazi,  expectation  from her  are high. But sadly there are times when you can have a great story but the director messes it up.
2) Editing(Nitin Baid) is below average. It seems he has forgotten the ABCD of editing. Many scenes are  unwanted.
3)Story,Screenplay( Atika Chohan),& dialouges are all below average. Sluggish courtroom sequences of session court/high court/supreme court look fake and unrealistic. With a strong story comes the need for a stronger climax. Also, romantic angles are totally absent. Hard hitting dialouges could have helped but it’s sad that with such a subject the dialouges fail to hit the right note.
3) It takes its audience on a traumatic and yet inspiring journey, right from investigation of the attack to the court proceedings, medical treatment and emotional healing, with only a few heart-touching scenes,but  sadly it fails to connect emotionally. The subject is dry with no entertainment value looks more like a documentary. In the end, it leaves you with a feeling of it could have been better.
4) Based on a real incident, it is depressing as audience prefer movies which entertain them. 
5)Music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) is below average.

BOX OFFICE:
“Chhapaak” manages to display the pain but defocuses attention through the journey of recovery. Though based on real incidents, it strictly caters to elite audience. After the first 3 days it will be difficult to pull the audience to the theatres. It’s too early to predict whether Deepika’s visit to JNU would help to generate foot fall or otherwise.
BOX OFFICE RATING:2/5

Darbar Review

3) Darbar (Hindi,Tamil,Telgu,Malyalam)
Rating : 2.5/5
Duration: 150 min. 
Producer : Allirajah Subaskaran

(With budget of 200 Cr, film has Rajinikanth as a police commissioner of Mumbai and Suniel Shetty as a gangster. It has been released in around 7000 screens all over).

PLUS POINTS:
1)There is no stopping Thalaivar even at 69! After scoring a much-needed superhit with” Petta”, Rajinikanth is back with his 167th film to send his humongous fan base into frenzy with his action-entertainer Darbar. It’s been 27 years since the Superstar of Indian cinema stepped into the shoes of police for Mumbai audience, he adds 'I am a bad cop'. Rajinikanth is looking young full of energy. He’s infectious and his style keeps the audience rooting for more. Nayanthara does what she does best, looks beautiful. Rajinikanth's heroines normally don't have to do more than that. Prateik Babbar is passable.
2) It’s strongest selling point is the father-daughter scenes between Rajnikanth and Nivetha Thomas. It’s emotional and contains whistle-worthy moments as well.As usual, action  is in extremes with the superstar beating up large number of villains and shooting them without even bothering to look in their direction. Dialogues are grippy and clap worthy.
3) Direction by A R Murugadoss (Akira,Holiday,Ghajni) looks slick as usual.He has also written the movie keeping Rajinikanth in mind all the way and has freely borrowed characters from his past movies.
4) Cinematography (Santosh Sivan) is of top standard

MINUS POINTS:
1)Sunil Shetty fails to impress as villain. His character does not seem convincing.
2)Music(Anirudh Ravichander) is below expectation with zero chartbuster.
3) Film is lengthy and should have been edited (A.Sreekar Prasad ) by atleast 15 min.
4) Lacks novelty. It’s the usual cop-villian drama.

BOX OFFICE:
Planned to be released on January 9th ahead of the long Pongal holidays, till then film will hold good to smash all previous records. It promises to be a mass entertainer for sure.

BOX OFFICE RATING: 2.5/5

Box Office:
It’s sad that all such mega movies  have been released on the same day due to superstition followed by Bollywood of films not doing well if released in the first week of the new year. Had all 3 films be released on different days, all would have got their well-deserved dues for their hard work. All are expected to fare with decent opening at the box-office as they have different subjects belonging to different genre.

Thanks & Regards
Narendra Gupta