Member Reviews

In the grand tradition of Hollywood throwing mountains of cash at sci-fi epics, The Electric State arrives with a budget so colossal it could fund a small nation — or at least a few more seasons of Stranger Things. Directed by the dynamic duo of Anthony and Joe Russo, the film is based (loosely, because of course it is) on Simon Stålenhag’s hauntingly beautiful 2018 illustrated novel of the same name. It has a cast packed with well-regarded names. But does the star power mean the movie works? Let’s dive into everything we know about The Electric State, including its plot, ending, cast, trailer, and a brief movie review. We mentioned Stranger Things above because this film stars Millie Bobby Brown in the lead. If you are waiting eagerly for the fifth and final (sob) season, this might serve as an amuse-bouche if you are a fan.

Based on a true story, The Diplomat is about an Indian woman lured into a false marriage with a Pakistani man, and how her life spirals into a nightmare. The backdrop of terrorism-and-espionage is, by now, very much a John Abraham zone, and here he plays JP Singh, the diplomat who moves from suspicion-to-support when the terrified Uzma Ahmed (Sadia Khateeb) seeks refuge within the Indian embassy in Islamabad.

Schoolgirl Dhara (Inayat Verma) dreams of taking a bow under the spotlight, convinced that she’s born to dance. She is also chirpily precocious as dad Shiv Rastogi (Abhishek Bachchan) dons an apron, makes her breakfast, plaits her hair and mom’s only a wistful memory in a photograph. Choreographer-turned-director Remo D’Souza is on familiar terrain when he sets up a superstar dance competition. A dream platform for Dhara. Renowned dancer Maggie Madam (Nora Fatehi) spurs Dhara’s dream by trying to convince Shiv that Mumbai’s where they should be for Dhara to train for the competition. Set in Ooty, bankers Shiv and father-in-law Nadar (Nassar), a doting thatha (grandpa) to Dhara, banter with a few words of Tamizh thrown in.

The Diplomat begins with a disclaimer so lengthy, someone at the press show quipped ‘interval’ at the end. Among many, many, MANY things, it makes a point to mention that the movie, which is based on the true story of Indian citizen Uzma Ahmed, is neither a biopic nor a documentary, neither condones nor endorses the views put forward and so on and so forth. In 2017, Uzma became national news when she sought the Indian high commission’s help to get her out of Pakistan. The media documented her tears, trauma and thank you on television as she sat between then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and then deputy high commissioner in Islamabad J P Singh recounting her story. There’s significant cinematic value to her harrowing experiences and Writer Ritesh Shah and Director Shivam Nair dig into it to recreate the drama, if not the danger.

Abhishek Bachchan is shaping into quite a father figure. From playing one to his real-life ‘Paa’ Amitabh Bachchan wherein the latter’s progeria condition ages him dramatically to the point of infirmity, an estranged dad of a precocious kid he reunites with under curious circumstances in Ludo, a divorced daddy surviving medical issues of the life-threatening kind while navigating a bumpy relationship with his daughter in I Want to Talk to a single dad of a smart-alecky princess harbouring dancer dreams in Be Happy, Abhishek has embarked on quite a few journeys where his parenting skills are put to test. Unlike the textbook Papas trickling with emotional wisdom and snuggly warmth, Abhishek’s silently supportive approach, playful sarcasm and sparingly expressed authority conveys a father figuring it out as he goes along.

मई, 2017 की बात है। एक पाकिस्तानी जोड़ा भारत का वीज़ा लेने के लिए पाकिस्तान स्थित भारतीय दूतावास पहुंचा। काउंटर पर पहुंच कर उस लड़की उज़्मा अहमद ने कहा कि मैं भारतीय हूं और यहां फंस गई हूं, कृपया मेरी मदद कीजिए। भारतीय डिप्लोमेट जे.पी. सिंह ने मामले की नज़ाकत को समझते हुए उस लड़की को दूतावास में शरण दी। इसके बाद भारत ने पाकिस्तान की धरती पर एक पेचीदा कानूनी लड़ाई लड़ने और उसमें जीतने के बाद उस लड़की को वापस भारत लाने में कामयाबी पाई। इस लड़ाई में भारत की तत्कालीन विदेश मंत्री (स्वर्गीय) सुषमा स्वराज की महती भूमिका रही जिन्होंने न सिर्फ उस लड़की को बेफिक्र किया बल्कि राजनयिक जे.पी. सिंह की पीठ भी थपथपाई। यह फिल्म ‘द डिप्लोमेट’ (The Diplomat) उसी कहानी को दिखाती है, बहुत सारी विश्वसनीयता के साथ, थोड़े फिल्मीपने के साथ। किसी सच्ची घटना पर फिल्में अपने यहां हमेशा से बनती आई हैं। हाल के बरसों में यह रफ्तार थोड़ी तेज़ हुई है तो उसकी प्रमुख वजह यह है कि दर्शकों में ऐसी कहानियों को देखने व सराहने के प्रति जागरूकता बढ़ी है। ऐसे में यदि फिल्म वाले चुन-चुन कर ऐसी कहानियां सामने ला रहे हैं जो सच की कोख से निकली हैं और दर्शकों को छू पा रही हैं तो उनकी सराहना होनी चाहिए। खासतौर से तब, जब उन कहानियों को परोसा भी सलीके से गया हो। यह फिल्म यही करती है।

Clad in a full black burqa and looking like Kashmiri jihadi Ashiya Andrabi, a young woman desperately seeks asylum and help from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. Is Uzma Ahmed (Sadia Khateeb) a plant, a suicide bomber or a genuine case for humanitarian aid from the Indian Embassy? Does her story ring true? She’s an educated Indian, job hunting in Malaysia, who fell in love with Pakistani taxi driver Tahir (Jagjeet Sandhu) and took off alone to his country to marry him. Her first impressions despite finding Tahir togged up differently from how he seemed in Malaysia and his insistence that she cover her head right from the airport: “Kudrat ki mehr samajh baithi.” Where did she go in Pakistan? To Buner, deep into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “A place even the average Pakistani would fear to go,” she’s dryly told by Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh (John Abraham) who’s vetting her case and gauging her authenticity.

In a sense, Perusu is one of the rare Tamil films that fit the adult comedy genre, as the premise of the story, directed by Ilango Ram, is as wacky as it can get. Halasayam, a respected man from a rural town, is fondly known as Perusu, a term used for an elder or a patriarch of a family or a village. He is one of those notable people of any town who have a say in its affairs. When we meet Perusu, he lands a slap on a youngster for allegedly peeping at women taking a bath in the community pond. Along with his elderly friends, Perusu orders the young chap to behave. Before leaving the place, he doesn’t miss to grin at the ladies himself. The lad resolves to have his revenge, but Perusu doesn’t give him any chance as he dies after returning home from watching TV. But the catch is that Perusu dies with an erect penis, which lands the whole family in trouble. His two sons–Saamikannu (Sunil Kumar) and Durai (Vaibhav)–try their best to ‘de-escalate’ the problem but it won’t die down. If you frown upon my double entendres, then imagine watching a film with such incessant phallic dialogues and words.

College kids of a certain age would be familiar with the practice of filtering assignments through a very rudimentary anti-plagiarism software, mainly to avoid being caught cheating by professors. So worthless were the results of this scam that a kid might even be shamed into putting in the actual effort and writing their assignment themselves. Not only were they submitting something unoriginal, it was also impossible to read. Essentially the same route is now being taken by filmmakers. This week’s new romantic comedy, Picture This, isn’t merely a remake; it’s a remake that is happy to be released in the same week as the Oscars and actively aim for a 2/5.