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New Delhi, March 22 (Ians)There may not be anything like an entirely historically accurate film. With liberties taken and not merely tweaked to make incidents more palatable or believable in order to tell a certain story, there could be numerous valid reasons for a storyteller’s dire need to change parts of history.

Unless incidents are altered completely, that may still be explicable or pardonable because contemporary accounts may be coloured by a particular ideology, and isn’t it every director’s prerogative to present his or her point of view? What filmmakers cannot afford to get away with is a shoddy narrative that struggles to stay afloat — or poor acting that fails to strike a chord.

We have all grown up studying (and not just reading) history and India’s fight for independence is firmly unshakable as a lesson. Director Kannan Iyer’s biographical ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’ uses...

Ae Watan Mere Watan

It is strange, but director Kannan Iyer has directed just one other film in his entire career. Ek Thi Dayan in 2013 featured Konkona Sen Sharma as a, ha ha, witch. Which, if you think about it, is just the antithesis of what Sara Ali Khan plays in Iyer’s second film.

Ae Watan Mere Watan warmly embraces all the shining trophy-like atrophied tropes of desh-bhakti films, and yet succeeds in being a trifle removed from its flag-waving origins.

Sara Ali Khan, so far known for making faces on camera, withdraws into a quietly assured space to play Usha Mehta, a fierce nationalist who combated colonialism in her own way by manning an underground radio station propagating the views and ideology of Mahatma Gandhi while he, the Mahatma, was jailed.

Uniquely, the character Usha Mehta’s fight for freedom is in-sync with the actress’ flight into freedom.

Comedy is the most difficult of all genres, and we have all seen some wonderfully amusing films that made us convulse with laughter or made us chuckle and crease up. Kishore Kumar’s films, notably ‘Half Ticket’ and ‘Padosan’; or many of Mahmood’s comic capers are hard to emulate. Priyadarshan’s films, in the recent past, have had us rolling with uncontrollable laughter, but an out-and-out comedy is still few and far between.

After the two successful franchises of ‘Fukrey’ in 2013 and ‘Fukrey Returns’ in 2017, writer Vipul Vig and director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba must have thought that they could pull off another entertainer and laugh all the way to the bank.

No harm in dreaming, but didn’t they know that they needed a script – a solid one at that – to allow fine actors to play around with?

‘Fukrey 3’ stars almost all of the cast of the predecessors...

Comedy is the most difficult of all genres, and we have all seen some wonderfully amusing films that made us convulse with laughter or made us chuckle and crease up. Kishore Kumar’s films, notably ‘Half Ticket’ and ‘Padosan’; or many of Mahmood’s comic capers are hard to emulate. Priyadarshan’s films, in the recent past, have had us rolling with uncontrollable laughter, but an out-and-out comedy is still few and far between.

After the two successful franchises of ‘Fukrey’ in 2013 and ‘Fukrey Returns’ in 2017, writer Vipul Vig and director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba must have thought that they could pull off another entertainer and laugh all the way to the bank.

No harm in dreaming, but didn’t they know that they needed a script – a solid one at that – to allow fine actors to play around with?

‘Fukrey 3’ stars almost all of the cast of the predecessors...

Mumbai, Aug 6 (Ians) Bollywood’s ‘Khiladi’ Akshay Kumar took Friendship Day celebration a notch higher on August 6 by giving a funny spin to the iconic song ‘Kya Hua Tera Wada’ with his close friends.

In the video, he and his friends are seen getting silly as they dance to the track from the 1977 film ‘Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin’ with his buddies. They gave a funny spin by using household items such as a plant, mop and a yoga ball.

He captioned it: “Dosto ke sath masti karne ka koi mukabala nahi. No matter what age or stage, my friends bring out the inner child in me May God bless everyone with the joy of friendship. #FriendshipDay.”

On the work front, Akshay, who was last seen on screen ‘Selffiee’ with Emraan Hashmi, will next be seen in ‘Omg 2’, where his character is inspired by Lord Shiva.

The film, directed by Amit Rai,...

Roohi; Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Alexx O'Nell, Manav Vij; Direction: Hardik Mehta; Rating: * * (two stars)

By Vinayak Chakravorty

Stree was smart stuff, Roohi seems like random fare. The comparison had to crop up, the only reason the producers seem to have made Roohi is because they struck gold with Stree. Blending horror with humour looked so easy in Stree. Clearly it isn't, you realise watching Roohi.

It doesn't take you long to understand why Roohi slips, despite having a core idea that could have been moulded into a winner. The film lacks imaginative storytelling. Stree, scripted by Raj and Dk, struck a fine balance crafting the dicey sub-genre of horror comedy, at the same time delivering a societal comment without getting preachy about it.

In contrast, Roohi writers Mrighdeep Singh Lamba (he wrote and directed the Fukrey films) and Gautam Mehra struggle from early on. The few good jokes are sporadic,...

Roohi movie review is here. The Hindi language horror comedy film directed by Hardik Mehta is produced by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba under the banner Maddock Films in association with Jio Studios. Roohi stars Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma in main leads. Roohi is hitting the screens on 11 March 2021.

Roohi movie review

Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock is back with another horror after the amazing Stree (2018). As per the Maddock’s horror tradition, Roohi is a delightful horror comedy that has a surprisingly unique meta layer.

Set somewhere in Uttar Pradesh two buddies Bhawra (Rajkummar Rao) and Kattanni (Varun Sharma) are part of the groom kidnapping (Pakaruah shaadi / Jabaria shaadi) gang led by Guniya Shakeel (Manav Vij). One day they get the assignment to kidnap Roohi (Janhvi Kapoor). Circumstances forced Bhawra and Kattanni to keep Roohi at a safe place amidst the jungle for a few days.

Darbaan (film on Zee5); Cast: Sharib Hashmi, Sharad Kelkar, Rasika Dugal, Flora Saini, Harsh Chhaya; Direction: Bipin Nadkarni; Rating: * * and 1/2 (two and a half stars)

By Vinayak Chakravorty

It is easy to make a film if your material at hand is Tagore. Then again, it is just as hard, think of the purists. National Award-winning Marathi filmmaker Bipin Nadkarni enters Hindi films straddling those pros and cons.

Nadkarni's film rides a second asset besides the hallmark emotive nuances that come with a Rabindranath Tagore classic. Sharib Hashmi may still not draw immediate recall for many Bollywood buffs, but chances are if you recognise him from Filmistaan or the web series The Family Man, you know him as an actor who doesn't need much of an effort to light up a scene. With a title role in Darbaan, Nadkarni gives Hashmi an entire film to flaunt his skills.

Nadkarni and co-writer...

Tollywood Nag earlier directed the hit film ‘Mahanati’ which starred Keerthy Suresh in the lead. Digital NativeNag Ashwin who directed the critically acclaimed biopic on legendary actor Savitri titled Mahanati, is all set to turn a producer. He will be bankrolling a comedy entertainer in which Naveen Polishetty will be playing the lead role alongside Rahul Ramakrishna and Priyadarshi. Those in the supporting roles include Murali Sharma, Tanikella Bharani, Vennela Kishore, and Vk Naresh. Kv Anudeep will be making his directorial debut with this flick titled Jaathi Ratnalu. Radhan has been signed up to compose music for this flick. Kv Anudeep will be making his directorial debut with this flick titled Jaathi Ratnalu. The first look motion poster of this film was unveiled recently which showed all the three actors in prison uniform. A press statement released by the production states: “It’s a crazy combination and the film is an out-and-out entertainer.

TollywoodDigital NativeNaveen Polishetty had tweeted a while ago about his upcoming film which has created a huge hype. His tweet was about his upcoming film Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya. “Here is the teaser of my Telugu film Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya . Please do share and help detective Athreya find his next.” Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya is directed by Swaroop Rsj. Naveen plays the lead role in the film and has co-written it along with the director. On the launch of the teaser, Naveen’s close buddy and film star Vijay Deverakonda had tweeted: “We did theatre together, laughed together, struggled together and now I feel super happy to share with you the super talented @NaveenPolishety's #AgentSaiSrinivasaAthreya's Teaser.” To this, Naveen had replied, “Mom always says don’t praise ur own, let the world do it . But I can’t help but show off what my brother and your ‘Arjun reddy’ @TheDeverakonda has achieved.

Stree

Starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurrana

Directed by Amar Kaushik

A new language in the horror genre burgeons as we watch this quirky cocktail—or shall we call it a quirk-tale?—of strange eerie mysterious goings-on in a minuscule town somewhere in Madhya Pradesh.

First off, the narrative acquires its judiciously-harnessed strength from the lazy serpentine locations. The congested claustrophobic gullies and lanes of Chanderi lend themselves effectively to the plot that quite literally loses it.

This is a film where supernatural beliefs are dragged to the extremes of self-parody and then dragged back up panting puffing and gasping for breath. It’s a delicious voluptuous mishmash of terror and titillation all titivated in loads of guffaws.

To sustain the mood of mirth during times of terror is not easy. Stree manages it. It also squeezes in a piercing message on gender dignity and women’s empowerment,...

Agastya Films’ black comedy thriller Baa Baaa Black Sheep starring Manish Paul has just completed its first shoot schedule. The slickly-shot entertainer – directed by Vishwas Paandya and produced by Anand Swarup Agarwal & Krishna Datla – revolves around Baba (Manish Paul), who is initiated into his family business when he turns 25 by his father (played by Anupam Kher). But a professional revelation turns Baba’s personal life upside down and how he comes of age juggling his love life with his professional one, forms the crux of this comic thriller.

Laced with rather highly-stylish action sequences, the film also stars versatile veterans Anupam Kher and Annu Kapoor in very interesting roles.

Director Vishwas Paandya reveals that they will commence the second 40-day schedule in Goa in February next year. He says, “The film is based in Goa and will see Manish in a more subtle avatar, yet in perfect sync with the comic-timing.

2012 turned out to be a year when a number of smaller or independent films made their way onto many Top Ten lists. But, as always, there are films that, for a number of reasons, risk being forgotten or overlooked, especially in a year where there are so many great films to choose from. Here are 13 films – 10 already released, 3 from the festival circuit – that you should have seen in 2012. It’s still not too late!

Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid (dir. Nila Madhab Panda)

It’s a massive shame that Nila Madhab Panda’s film didn’t get as much attention as his I Am Kalam, and also a shame that the film was released to DVD without English subtitles. Because Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid, like I Am Kalam, weaves an issue into a story about, and for, children and families, and the message it carries (about the value of women and...