chand-suhas

Ojas Gambheera becomes Satya Dada's protector / right hand man after deciding to fight for his diamonds during an ambush. His presence alone makes Satya Dada to rule the Bombay port. OG is ruthless and an unbeaten warrior, instilling fear in their enemies' hearts. When a personal loss results Satya Dada's enemies cornering him over a confiscated container, it is revealed that OG is no longer by his side. Now with Satya Dada and family in trouble, OG has to come back from exile while his current nemesis Omi and co are unaware of OG's skills. Will they be any match to OG and does he succeed in thwarting their actual plan involving the stuff from the container, forms rest of the story.

Sujeeth is ambitious with his making as the makers already revealed about the S C U before the show even started. Basically Sujeeth gets the fan service, hero elevations and the attempt to build a shared universe right. What he forgets though is a strong story. Before getting into that, I enjoyed the umpteen number of elevation scenes from various supporting characters before the OG actually arrives on screen. Pawan Kalyan as OG is presented in a way his fans had dreamt of. There is no room for logic and the magic lies in that, especially the interval block and the completely mental police station scene that follows in the second half. The making is impressive and the narrative moves from 1940s to 1970s and to 1993 without feeling jarring. The action blocks were well executed.

The problem ofcourse is with the run on the mill script which Sujeeth has very little hold on and relies heavily on the gimmicks. It's like him writing 2.5hrs of hero elevations and inserting some story in between. Due to this, the other characters get heavily sidelined. For all the hype, Emraan Hashmi's Omi is still no match to OG but then none of the bad guys were. The predictable writing only drags the film only to be saved by the fan service moments that evoke the loudest cheers. If fan service is all you seek then Sujeeth serves it aplenty and I wish he had a stronger story to back that effort of his. It's challenging when audience figure out a character's fate instantly after the casting is announced but that doesn't justify putting zero effort in the said character's presentation as it was painful to see the crowd in my show laughing out loud during that main scene. I hope Sujeeth proves his mettle as a director and writer without relying on the usual fan service stuff.

Aurora is extremely protective of her daughter Emma and has sacrificed a lot in her life to raise her. Emma on the other hand, grows impatient of her mother's controlling nature and falls in love with a professor Flap Horton. She marries him against her mother's wishes. Emma has her own children and has moved on with her life while her marital life starts getting cracks. Aurora on the other hand, starts feeling left alone after having given up so much for Emma. Aurora starts dating her a neighbour Garrett who was once an astronaut. Tragedy strikes the family as they stood firm all through the years, amidst all the challenges the life threw at them.

James L. Brooks won the battle with the casting alone and the screenplay takes us through the lives of Aurora and Emma in those two hours. There is consistent time jumps, emphasising on Emma's life but eventually it circles back to Aurora and what she truly feels. The birthday scene with the priest triggering Aurora was dealt well, giving the much needed emotional twist to the tale which focused on Emma's marriage and adultery. The final act tugs on the heart strings way too hard and Shirley McLaine truly shines as Aurora in these final moments.

Caligula is a Latin teacher at a school in Stockholm and he torments his students with his strictness. The students are often scared of his demeanour and get extremely stressed over preparing to attend his classes. One such student is Jan-Erik and he is regularly targeted by Caligula. Jan-Erik befriends an young woman named Bertha who is going through a drinking crisis. Unknown to Jan-Erik, her tormentor too is same as his and this in turn makes Caligula target him more. To what extent does Caligula's torture go and how does that impact the lives of Bertha and Jan-Erik while the system itself doesn't favor the student, forms rest of the story.

It started out as this school having one terror for a teacher whom all the students are scared off and the initial scene itself establishes this while also showcasing how strict the school already was. The students remain over stressed which impact other subjects but the teachers do not take students' side on this matter. It was coming of age sorts of tale for Jan-Erik as he gets involved with Bertha, something he is fully not matured enough to handle and it impacts his studies as well which only gives Caligula more reason to torment him. As a commentary on the school system, the narrative leaves a mark but though for a brief moment, it does shed light on Caligula's loneliness which again doesn't justify his actions. The final scene with him opening up to Jan-Erik as he walks off was indeed the most impactul scene in the movie.