Member Reviews
No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough. Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you.
You can also browse reviews using our alphabetical index of films reviewed
Films reviewed on this Page
Jigra (5)
Black (1)
Raat Jawaan Hai (1)
Citadel Diana (1)
Janaka Aithe Ganaka (1)
Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video (1)
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Jigra
Tatsam Mukherjee
The Wire
Alia Bhatt Successfully Reinvents the Cornered Anti-Hero of 1970s Bollywood
Vasan Bala’s smart thriller draws from various influences, but loses momentum towards the end.
The clock’s ticking for Satya (Alia Bhatt) in Vasan Bala’s Jigra. Her brother Ankur (Vedang Raina) is on death row in an island nation called Hanshi Dao (a fictitious version of Singapore), and she’s just gotten news that the date of his execution has been expedited for an attempted jailbreak. What was supposed to happen in a few weeks, will now happen in a few days. We see her face computing all possible ploys as fast as she can, and then deciding on a plan of action. It’s not going to be pretty, an accomplice warns, but she’s already made up her mind. The accomplice backs out, telling Satya that she’ll be on her own. “I never said I was a hero. I’ll understand if you don’t wish to join me,” she says, “but don’t get in my way.”
All 18 reviews of Jigra here
Black
Avinash Ramachandran
Avinash Ramachandran Talkies
Jiiva, Priya Bhavanishankar shine in a gripping, intriguing melange of genres
Powered by compelling performances and a strong technical team, director KG Balasubramani presents to us a very knotty affair, and does a decent job of unravelling it all.
The best part of Black is how it reels you in right in the first ten minutes. The film starts in 1964. There is a couple eloping with the help of a friend (Vivek Prasanna). It is raining like crazy. Their journey is briefly interrupted by a vehicle in the ditch. This vehicle carries a marble statue of a guardian angel. There is thunder and lightning. Soon enough, this friend, who has sinister intentions, hears two gunshots. He rushes in to ask the couple what happened? Cut to black. Literally. The title credits pop up, and we are in 2024.
Raat Jawaan Hai
Srivathsan Nadadhur
Independent Film Critic
An Entertaining, Bitter-Sweet Ode to Parenthood, Friendship
Three childhood friends and stay-at-home parents Avinash, Radhika and Suman come to terms with adulthood, marriage and parenting in a metropolis, dealing with one blow after the other. While Avinash is in no mood to return to work soon, Radhika is in two minds about taking up a job. Suman, content with motherhood, struggles to take a stance for herself.
All 5 reviews of Raat Jawaan Hai here
Citadel Diana
Srivathsan Nadadhur
Independent Film Critic
A Slick Spy Thriller With a Gimmicky, Confounding Narrative
Citadel, an independent spy agency, is wiped out by Manticore, a powerful syndicate that’s desperate to take charge of the world. Diana, an undercover Citadel agent, works as a mole in Manticore. She forges an unexpected rapport with Edo Zani (the heir of Manticore Italy), who is keen on taking the mantle from his father Ettore, grooming himself to be a capable leader.
All 2 reviews of Citadel Diana here
Janaka Aithe Ganaka
Srivathsan Nadadhur
Independent Film Critic
The courtroom drama is a missed opportunity
An earnest Suhas cannot salvage ‘Janaka Aithe Ganaka’, which ends up as a messy courtroom comedy
Telugu cinema has consistently portrayed stories where protagonists embody middle-class values — from Needi Naadi Oke Katha and Middle Class Melodies to Middle Class Abbayi (MCA) and The Family Star. Interestingly, Dil Raju, the producer behind two of these films, also backs Janaka Aithe Ganaka this week. The Sandeep Reddy Bandla directorial, starring Suhas, aims to acknowledge and appreciate the bread-winners of middle-class households, in the guise of a courtroom drama.