AnkAgarwal

There's a very thick line of difference between how should we review a documentary and how should we review a movie, but both of them have one thing in common, both of them should have the tenacity to hold the test of time to be called a great feat. In movies it is achieved through a storyline that does not fade away with the passing of time, in documentary it is achieved by its core material, and how much it affects the world at present and in distant future. Keeping all these aspects in mind if we trudge on the path of analyzing how much "CITIZENFOUR" fared, it should not be very difficult to say that it will go down in the golden books of documentary films.

Any attempt in describing the effects this movie would make in its viewers mind, will be undermining it, and I can assure you that I, in any way, am not exaggerating. This movie is just not an attempt to bring out to the people the story of Edward Snowden, rather it is an observance, observance of the slowly disintegrating constitution, the disintegration of the line between right/wrong, an observance of how our freedoms are being put to trial in the name of well-being and under the veil of protection. It is an observance of how our world has succumbed to the state of a "Ruler and Ruled" rather than "Elected and Electorate" state.

In its heart it still remains a story of Edward Snowden, the man who single-handedly shook NSA and foiled its long going party. And as I was saying earlier, an excellent documentary is one which has the capacity to affect both present and future, Citizenfour is surely one of them. It affects every part of our lives.

See it to believe it, but all I can say is that Don't Miss It. Simply because of the fact that this is a story that everyone needs to know and have an opinion about.

It was last night when I finally saw "The Imitation Game", and boy was I not blown-away. There was a lot of buzz going around about this movie and even though I knew about this movie even when it was in its post- production stages, I was, for long, trying to avoid watching it. Mainly because I thought it will disappoint me and belittle the man whom I look up to with utmost respect and honor, Alan Mathison Turing. A pioneer in mathematics, computer science, cryptanalysis, the man who, according to Winston Churchill, made the biggest contribution in the result of World War II. I was being skeptical about it only because everyone kept talking about how shocked they were to know about this man about whom they had very little knowledge, about this man who made such a huge contribution in WWII but was later forced to commit suicide due to his sexual orientation, but I already knew all this. And all that these reviews kept on doing was to make me affirmative that its all about the stuff I already knew about. But I was wrong, like all those other reviews. Its so much more than only that. This movie has some stellar performances, an excellent narrative, a brilliant direction and a good screenplay. It takes you into a world full of cryptology and code- breaking, but still doesn't hamper with your brain. It makes you feel that you are a part of the race, the race against time, a race which would eventually decide the fate of the trauma engulfing the world. The narrative is brilliantly paced, it has a cinematic tension and the point where all this builds up to a point where it just flows out, you yourself become ecstatic, I literally started jumping, laughing and crying, because Enigma was cracked.

The movie shows what power does movies possess, the power to move you, to make you cry, laugh and jump all at the same time. I must applaud Benedict Cumberbatch, who took on to the job in a way that I think no one else could have done. He really resembled Alan Turing in more than one way.

I also would like to point out a few things that didn't go down well with me, one of them is that even though this movie was a thriller, it was a huge opportunity to introduce to the world a little more about Alan Turing as a person and not just a machine. It was a huge platform which could have been used as to show his condition after the war, his fight within himself to lead a life alone, after all he had gone through.

But still this movie creates more than just a few ripples, it really enlightens you about a man who deserved better. No matter whether you are a noob about Alan Turing or an expert, you can watch it and enjoy and be thrilled.

Have you ever tried Cadbury Silk ? If you have then you must have realized how quickly it melts in your mouth, so quickly so that you don't even feel it was there, but it is the after-taste of it that really stays put. Badlapur is very much like this. This movie starts and ends, and you might think its yet another forgettable bollywood flick, but its when you let it sink that you realize how hard hitting the film really was. Backed by some good performances, this movie really packs a punch and when you leave the theaters you will definitely feel it in your gut.

The story is basically about this sweet, innocent young Indian man Raghu( Varun Dhawan) whose wife and son are killed under unfortunate circumstances during a bank robbery. The only mistake they commit is to be present at the wrong place at the wrong time. This triggers a chain of events that sprawls for 15 years, when the bank robber finally gets out from jail Raghu decides to avenge himself.

The movie starts off slowly and for the starting half an hour or so you don't actually buy anything that is shown, but its after that when the movie picks up the pace. From then it really keeps you at the edge of your seat, makes you anticipate the next move of Raghu and never lets you get off the hook.Direction is decent but nothing good, there are some nice twists and turns and the ending was anti-climactic which really disappointed me. The music is very intelligently use, never breaking the rhythm of the story.

But what really makes the movie so praise-worthy is the performances that it boasts. I, for one, never thought that Varun could carry such a role, but he proved me wrong. He gave the performance of his life. His cold, brutal Raghu really gives you the chill, but sadly, only in bits and pieces. It was not very constant. Nawazuddin Siddiqui was as always good, though he did not have much of a role to play. All the other actors did decent job.

All in all the movie was dark, cold and unflinching that really keeps you on your toes. It really deserves to be seen so be sure to check it out.