Sunday, 30 October 2016

Movie Review on Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil


This is not a movie review that I usually write, this is a personal feeling while watching this most-relating and a genuinely moving emotional drama.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil touched all my hidden-emotional chords and blew me away with its top notch storytelling. Writer-director Mr. Karan Johar has done the most compelling and the most mature work in the recent times. In this film the director Karan Johar, left the writer in him behind. He gave great direction to this film and kept its narration interesting till the end. This can be the freshest and the newest concept of a love story that exists nowadays in real life too.

There are two types of good films- one which are just for entertainment and passing your time but these are the easily forgettable. Second one are those which are not just for entertainment but touches your soul too and to which you can relate yourself with, these films remain in your heart forever. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is this rare second type of film for me. It's an intense love-story, which is honest, real, heartbreaking and yet beautiful in all the right ways. I have been thinking about this film for hours after watching it. Most importantly it doesn't have that usual bollywood co-incidences or extra melodramatic scenes that could have made this movie a usual one.

The actors in the film are the perfect. Ranbir is literally the soul and Anushka is the heart of this film. Ranbir is in almost every frame and brings every emotion possible to life. And I am very happy to say that this ranks amongst his best works. Anushka is equally convincing. Her character in the film is the most complex, freshest and best written character, and she does complete justice to it. Aishwarya Rai Bachan looks devine and delivers a mesmerizing performance. So, everyone did a splendid work and did full justice to their characters and I can't imagine anyone better than these to do the respective roles. Alas, apart from all others, Shah Rukh Khan gave a cameo worth thousand lead roles. In his short span on screen, he conveyed everything that one could say about unrequited love in a lifetime. He not only influenced Ayan(Ranbir's character), but made a deep impact on me too. The music of the film is this year's best. And the songs in the film are either heart-wrenching or rocking. Every song heightens the narrative and adds fun or an emotional quotient to it.

For me this film is undoubtedly a gem, but had to face the same fate that "Tamasha" faced being a different and complex love-story from the usual one's. I feel that this can also be one of the most underrated love-story like Tamasha. Alas, it's not all perfect movie as there are some weak moments too. The last 20 minutes do make this film bit different but failed to make it an unique one. The film falls in the clichéd trap towards the end but does give an emotional closure to this gorgeous tale of friendship over love. One thing that me and my friend felt missing is the individual connection for any one character. I felt that the director concentrated more in the story-telling than on exploring the characters of the movie.

Now, as far as the rating is concerned I will give it 8.5 stars out of 10. This film has been something else for me. I may be exaggerating and you may not feel the same like i did but if you know anything about unrequited love or gone through that phase, you'll feel this right in your bones.

"Ek tarfa pyar ki taqat hi kuch aur hoti hai ... auron ke rishton ki tarah yeh do logon mein nahi bat'ti ... sirf mera haq hai ispe... sirf mera..."

Friday, 14 October 2016

Movie Review on Ron Howard's "Inferno"


There is a switch. If you throw it, half the people on earth will die, but if you don't, in 100 years, the human race will be extinct. You are humanity's final hope.

With such powerful phrases you might think that there's nothing that could go wrong in this movie, but there are some places where this movie do disappoints a bit. Director Ron Howard's "Inferno"- final instalment of the Dan brown trilogy is finally here in India, this time with our own indian-jewel Irrfan khan as one of the main lead. So, Irrfan Khan and my love for its previous movies, made me damn excited for inferno since its trailer release. And after finally watching it first day first show, I felt that although my hopes for this were bit too high but movie didn't disappoint, it showcased mystery, facts as well as Irrfan brilliantly.


Inferno starts off with quick edited sequence which is used to elaborate Robert Langdon's (Tom Hanks) confused mind, which was shown very creatively but also confuses the viewer and for sometime it gets hard to follow. The stage is set too quickly, which do not let the characters breath. So, the first half is bit confusing and less-pacing but the second half picks up the dull tone of the movie and makes it pacing. Apart from Tom Hanks the appearance of quite well acted cast, which include famous names like Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Fellicity Jones and Ben Foster lifted this movie. Each has done quite nice work in the movie, especially Ben Foster and Irrfan Khan. Irrfan's quirky-nature adds up the humour in the movie.


Then, the climax arrives, and this is where things hit the roof and the movie reaches at its peak. The build up to the climax may have been dull, but the climax is very intense and full of thrill. And at last, movie ends satisfying. Ron Howard's direction is quite weak, he could have done better with such a grand plot. The screenplay is interesting and impressive as it builds mystery needed for the movie brilliantly. Hans Zimmer's background score is not up to its mark,but it sure does matches with the movie and stands out towards the end to give thrills. Dialogues are average but some quotes were so awesome that I couldn't get over them.

I haven't read any of Dan Brown's books but after watching this awesome trilogy, I can't stop myself from reading all of his books. As, I too believe that reading is way better than watching. Overall, Inferno got great suspense, mystery and obviously a great cast to look out for. Inferno is obviously a great thriller, and it's much better than Da Vinci Code but fails in matching the pace and thrills of Angels and Demons. But as far as the suspense and the scale of the events are considered Inferno leads. It is not a perfect film. It will not leave you in awe but what it will do is entertain you. If you can look past the many minor issues then you will hopefully enjoy the bigger picture. Atleast, watch it for Irrfan!!!

I'll give this mystery thriller 7 stars out of 10.

"Greatest sins in the human history are committed in the name of love"