Zerxo

Bhumi Pednekar has proven herself to be one of the most consistent performers of this generation, along with the Taapsee Pannu's and the Alia Bhatt's. And much like them, she has the ability to deliver such a well crafted act that feels effortless - but hard to imagine that it is anything but that. In 2022 she gave us the award-winning Badhaai Do, and in 2023 we were gifted such electrifying yet subdued outings in Afwaah and Bheed. This is along those lines and it doesn't disappoint. Although time is taken in the beginning setting the scene of the film, once it gets going, it's non-stop. And the chemistry between Sanjay Mishra and Bhumi is very enjoyable. This will be one of the front runners of the best films of 2024 - and the message of the film deserves that you watch it and tell your friends and family to do the same. This is cinema.

I had to Google the director because I couldn't believe someone so inexperienced/incompetent could get a film starring Gabrielle Union and debut at Tribeca Film Festival. It's a sweet effort but entirely amateurishly made.

The camera work is awful. The lines of the characters are laughably bad. It's just a very laborious watch which is sad because it could have been so so much better, with a good director at the helm.

After you get over the shock of how bad it is going to be, if you stick with it, it eventually settles into a slight charm, and the lead actor is so hot so that helps. But overall it's just so bad on so many levels, even my rating is generous.

This film had a theatrical release in November 2022 - and it went by largely unnoticed. I remember seeing the soundtrack pop-up on my music streaming service as a recommendation, but I didn't get around to listening to it at the time - there were actually several big releases at that time of last year in fact...

Sorry about the long-ass intro, but I just now watched the film on Netflix and to cut a long story short: this film is incredible.

I will be re-watching it immediately, because the way it took me by surprise - I'm still shooketh. I just need to experience it again, fully. At first I thought "Oh it's got a cool concept"... and then I was like "Wow okay, they got some well executed scenes and several entertaining moments here, bravo". And after that I had to pause just to delve deeper into the music because "Jadoo" is still on repeat. Exquisitely sung, composed and written by: Parampara Thakur, Vishal Mishra and Raj Shekhar, respectively. All the other songs are just as beautiful, but this one has hit me in the feels, it's that melancholic vibe, that's my vibe.

I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but I'm going on.

The performances will take your heart. I can't emphasise that enough. Kumud Mishra is soul-stirring. Divya Dutta is spellbinding. Abhishek Banerjee is delightful. Hats off to the director Vikrant Deshmukh and writer Rishi Virmani - what a class act.