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Recent Reviews by Bharathi Pradhan
Lehren.com

Bharathi Pradhan is a Columnist, Critic & Author with over 50 years of experience. She currently reviews English & Hindi films for Lehren.com and is a Sunday columnist with The Telegraph.

Films reviewed on this Page

The Sabarmati Report
Freedom at Midnight
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Do Patti
Jigra
Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video
Manvat Murders
The Signature

The Sabarmati Report
Conspiracy Uncovered, Story Incomplete

Media, Politics, Truths, Lies & a lot more... Will The Sabarmati Report cover it all at the silver screens

The communal bloodshed that tainted Gujarat in 2002 has been told and retold on film, in books, on TV debates. But there’s been a lid on the Godhra tragedy that preceded the riots, a lid that’s lifted occasionally to put out theories that suppress and mislead more than reveal. A gas cylinder, a cigarette? What sparked the fire that roasted 59 kar sevaks including tiny children inside a bogey of the Sabarmati Express outside Godhra station in 2002?

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All 3 reviews of The Sabarmati Report here

Freedom at Midnight
A Poignant Reminder That Freedom Came At A Cost

'Freedom at Midnight' explores India's 1947 Partition, depicting political drama among Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, and Patel.

Much of our history was unknown in 1975 when Freedom At Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, the bestseller documenting the backstage events that led to the bloody Partition of India, was first published. In recent years, there has been such a glut of printed and visual information on what happened in 1947 that Indians are familiar with most of the Nehru-Gandhi-Patel-Jinnah parleys which director Nikkhil Advani sets out to preserve on film.

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All 11 reviews of Freedom at Midnight here

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Meandering Before Surprising

Watch it for Kartik Aaryan, Madhuri Dixit, Vidya Balan and for the inclusive twist at the end.

Sometimes, a film takes off with an unpredictably thoughtful ending. The beginning and the middle get written to lead up to it. Director Anees Bazmee and writer Aakash Kaushik seem to have had an unexpected climax in mind before they sat down to take the audience through a maze, keeping alive the question, “Who’s Manjulika?” With the return of Vidya Balan (Mallika) to the franchise, the entry of Madhuri Dixit (Mandira) and the tussle between them, the guessing game goes on.

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All 12 reviews of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 here

Do Patti
Important, Inconvenient Conversations

Is domestic abuse a hush-hush family matter or a crime against society?

Is domestic abuse a hush-hush family matter or a crime against society? Is a judge who goes by the word of law (and evidence) dispensing true justice or is a lawyer who looks at the spirit of the law more inclined towards social good?

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All 17 reviews of Do Patti here

Jigra
Gumrah Goes Feminist

An attempt to create a touching story about a sister who fights for her brother. Their journey to come back together tests their relationship, values, and inner strength. Who wouldn't go to great lengths to protect what they love?

Perhaps Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt and director Vasan Bala, who co-writes with Debashish Irengbam, hope that nobody remembers Gumrah (1993), the Sanjay Dutt-Sridevi starrer which Mahesh Bhatt directed for Dharma Productions’ founder Yash Johar. In 1993, it was a besotted Sanjay Dutt who’d helped Sridevi break out of a Bangkok prison where she faced a death sentence after being framed by her boyfriend for drug trafficking. Bhatt had helped himself to the theme from the 1989 TV series Bangkok Hilton where an estranged father helps his daughter break out of a Bangkok prison in similar circumstances as Sridevi in Gumrah.

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All 18 reviews of Jigra here

Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video
Chor Bizarre

A newly married couple faces a crisis when their private video CD goes missing, jeopardizing their relationship and reputation. The narrative tracks their frantic and tumultuous quest to retrieve the CD, filled with unexpected challenges and surprises at every turn.

The promo promised entertainment around the missing CD of a video shot by a couple on its first night. Written and directed by Raaj Shaandilyaa, the promo stirred a strong pre-release buzz. The sense of fun does spill into the first few scenes as glib-talking mehndiwala Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) stages a scene at the engagement of his girlfriend Vidya (Triptii Dimri). It ends the way Vicky and Vidya had planned it with her lawyer-fiancé walking off in a huff and the man who applied mehndi at functions, stepping in to marry his girl.

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All 9 reviews of Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video here

Manvat Murders
Women & Crime — Raw, Real & Ruthless

In 1972, seven women were brutally killed in Manvat, shocking the entire country. The local police were unable to solve the case, so Special Crime Branch officer Ramakant Kulkarni stepped in to find out what really happened and reveal the hidden motives behind the murders.

The ritualistic Manwat Murders which brutally claimed the lives of innocent children and women and shook Maharashtra in the 70s, does it again. Amol Palekar had already put it effectively on screen in Akriet (1981).

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All 3 reviews of Manvat Murders here

The Signature
To Pull the Plug Or Not

After his wife Madhu falls into a coma and is placed on life support, Arvind's world collapses. Can he save his wife and hope for a future together, or will circumstances hold him back?

It is a poignant dilemma familiar to most families. When a loved one is on life support, and prolonging it is unaffordable, can you bring yourself to sign the Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) form? For retired librarian Arvind Pathak (Anupam Kher), it is unthinkable. It’s easier for his pragmatic son (Kevin Gandhi) and daughter (Sangeeta Jain) who have their own lives to lead.

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All 2 reviews of The Signature here