Movie Reviews by Pranshu Awasthi

  RAPID REVIEW:  A decent but superfluous sequel, which undermines the beautiful memories of its parent film: Drishyam     OTT Platform:  Amazon Prime Video         Genre:  Crime, Drama, Mystery   SYNOPSIS   Coinciding with Drishyam’s climax, the sequel starts off with a frantically running unidentified man, who accidentally glimpses ‘someone’ inside an under-construction building. This loophole revealed at the outset becomes the foundation for Drishyam-2’s premise.   Six years later: George Kutty runs his own movie theatre and wants to produce his own film. George is criticized by his wife Rani for his indulgence into occasional alcoholism and discourages his movie business aspirations. Amongst all this, rumors about George being the ex-IG son’s murderer start to spread, which unsettles the already fearful family. Soon after, the unidentified man from the opening scene shows up again. Then, precisely ...

RAPID REVIEW:   An inconsistent yet thought-provoking take on the typically disregarded master-servant relationship, with its lead performance screaming for an Oscar  PLATFORM:  Netflix        GENRE:  Dark-Comedy, Crime PREMISE:  Brainwashed by his poverty-stricken community to be a lifelong servant, an underprivileged but canny villager Balram Halwai makes his way to become a driver for Ashok, the younger son of his affluent landlord, in Dhanbad. Contented initially with a city-job and by serving his chosen Master - Ashok, Balram eventually realizes the obnoxious truth behind his master-servant relationship, after an unfortunate incident involving Ashok’s American-Indian wife Pinky. Owing to his growing feeling of dispensability and renewed ambition, a disillusioned Balram plans for an act of ruthless revenge against his Master, with unforeseen consequences.   Adarsh Gourav (Mom, Rukh) in and as The White Tiger has effortlessly pl...

RAPID REVIEW:   Unoriginal and derivative writing heroically saved by first-rate lead performances and an engaging screenplay. WHERE TO WATCH:  Amazon Prime Video         GENRE:  Thriller, Crime, Drama REVIEW: “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”, the words by 19 th -Century British politician Lord Acton - it’s the theme around which the show revolves.   When suave but autocratic politician Samar Pratap Singh is sidelined by his father - the current Prime Minister of India Devki Nandan Singh, to be the next PM, to what extent Samar orchestrates this Chanakya-esque game of thrones and cunningly manipulates every pawn on the board weaves the show’s prime narrative.   After the 'sudden' death of Devki Nandan Singh and despite his myriad supporters, Samar realizes that he is not alone in the sinful race to become the next Prime Minister of India. And soon, Samar’s plot intertwines with an equally charismatic student activist-...

AJOY My name is Ajoy. Last night, my father surprised me with a candlelit cake. Then he showed me a mini-splash-pool. ‘Your birthday gift’, he said. Today, we went for a long drive. We strolled in a park and had my favorite ice-cream on our way back. It was an enjoyable but tiring day. He was not wearing his usual all-black attire and a white neckband. I have no idea what he does but wonder why I get an uncanny negative vibe from most of his visitors. It was already late when we returned home, despite my resistance. He tucked me up in my bed. He looked sorrowful. With his right hand, he held my mother, kissed her and went back to his room. Besides seeing her on his neck-chain pendant, I haven’t seen her in person for a long time. He never talks to me about her, presuming I won’t understand. Wait a minute. What is that noise? I think it’s the sound of the main door opening. Is my father going out this late? Let me check. Nope. The main door is shut. It’s dark. Can’t see anyone. But wher...

Over the years, some of the most-loved action films were initially criticized for having a weak, or even a nonexistent story. Some notable examples being DIEHARD, KILL BILL, TERMINATOR, PREDATOR, FIRST BLOOD etc. All these films revolved around an interesting premise (An NYPD cop single-handedly taking on German terrorists, A former assassin seeking revenge from fellow-mercenaries, A cyborg sent back in time to terminate a woman, A team of commandoes fighting an extra-terrestrial warrior in a remote South American jungle, A retired CIA agent trying to save his kidnapped daughter, A war veteran waging a one-man war against a sadistic sheriff’s department respectively) and then capitalized on this premise with a spellbinding screenplay and flamboyant performances. While some other filmmakers gave us a unique blend of an intelligent plot embellished with high-octane action. THE MATRIX (By the Wachowski brothers) , AVENGERS ENDGAME (By Russo brothers) , V FOR VENDETTA (By James M...

Over the years, the Indian Film Industry has intermittently churned out genuinely good films, which were made on a smaller scale but with top-notch (and often better) content compared to their blockbuster counterparts (barring a few exceptions). This is the list of the top 50 of these underrated films which deserve more recognition and need to be seen by more people. 1. 13B (2009)  One of the best mystery-thrillers of Indian Cinema, 13B follows the story of a quintessential middle-class man (played by Madhavan), who begins to experience a series of supernatural phenomenon by way of a television program, soon after his family moves into a new apartment on the 13 th Floor. The film’s story and its execution were acclaimed by some Hollywood filmmakers also. 2. 1971 (2007)  A deftly made prison movie set in the year 1977, it revolves around six brave prisoners of Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, as they attempt to escape from a POW camp to reach the Indian border, whic...