Member Reviews

Sometimes you get what you want, but it’s not what you need. Since 2018, Raj & DK have been on a creative streak. It began with Stree, a horror-comedy sleeper hit they wrote and produced. The following year, their first series, The Family Man, premiered on Amazon Prime; they show-ran and co-directed it over two seasons (a third is in the works). This was followed by two more shows, Farzi (on Amazon)—my favourite of their long-form work—and Guns & Gulaabs (on Netflix). With each success, the possibility that Hollywood would come calling seemed likelier.

There are some movies you just want to like before you watch them. Personal biases are an integral part of the cinema experience. For instance, I used to have a soft spot for stories that romanticised a version of myself: slice-of-life introvert tales or dysfunctional family dramas. My focus has now moved to aspirational old-people stories; perhaps it has something to do with my parents aging with all sorts of ailments. The prospect of watching Vijay 69, then, was an inviting one. Not only is it director Akshay Roy’s first film since the criminally underappreciated Meri Pyaari Bindu (2017), it stars Anupam Kher as Vijay Mathew, a 69-year-old widower who attempts to become India’s oldest triathlete. I went into the film expecting to revise my reality — of having a 71-year-old father allergic to physical fitness — for a few hours. A bit of sports thrown in can’t hurt matters. What could possibly go wrong? And what could possibly go wrong when you have to ask what could possibly go wrong?

On paper, ‘Vijay 69’ must have felt like a splendid idea. Old men dodder. They don’t go about being potty-mouthed, or making sad sex jokes. How about getting Vijay Mathew, a ripe 69, to have a vocabulary which is more foul than fair, even if he has reached grandfather status? Next, how about setting him an impossible task? Even the fittest baulk at attempting the triathlon. Why not get our elderly hero to have a dash at it? Vijay lives in a house surrounded by the memories of his dead wife, the only one who used to encourage him in his endeavours, the chief of which seems to be getting ranked in a swimming race. Everyone else, including his dearest friend Fali (Chunky Panday donning a grey wig and the broadest Parsi accent that can be mustered), thinks he’s gone bananas.

After a messy breakup with his girlfriend Shehnaaz, Zubin moves to London for a holiday and bumps into Ruby, an intimacy expert on film sets. Realising Zubin’s love life is in disarray, she decides to help him out and even lets him stay in her room. He, in turn, restores the balance in Ruby’s financially insecure existence. Zubin, Ruby and her roommate Quinn forge an unlikely friendship over a week. Prateik Babbar is maturing like fine wine. He’s an apt choice for the role and one senses he’s similar to Zubin in more ways than one – just that he’s figuring himself in front of the camera. Sayani Gupta is equally convincing as Ruby, her characterisation is one of the film’s major strengths. Kubbra Sait is a natural, though one would’ve liked to see her role fleshed out more convincingly.

The choices in Citadel: Honey Bunny sing less frequently compared to other undertakings of the Raj & DK filmmaker duo. An offshoot of Amazon Prime’s gazillion-dollar spy franchise pitted against the silliness of James Bond, Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt, etc., Raj & DK’s latest carries the baggage of an over-embellished universe tensely fitted into a studio-approved runtime. Like its American counterpart helmed by the Russo brothers, even the Indian version spans six episodes with a duration of 40-50 minutes each.

Many years later, Bunny and Honey have a daughter – Nadia – but are no longer together. However, they must look beyond their differences to guard their daughter against rival forces. What connects them to Vishwa, Citadel and an Armada? Performances There’s little to complain about the performances from the star-studded lineup. Samantha, continuing from where she left off in The Family Man, packs a punch with the action sequences and showcases restraint while handling Honey’s conflicting situations and emotions. She has the right style and body language to be an action star and makes the most of the opportunity.

‘Life happens while you’re busy making other plans’. ‘Here’ is a moving love letter to life and fleeting time. The iconic Forrest Gump team (Hanks, Wright, Zemeckis) reunites after 30 years to give us yet another poignant human story on the evolution and circle of life. While one constantly looks ahead, the story urges you to live in the present, live ‘here’, where every beginning is the end and vice versa.

How far would you go to help your loved ones? This question is oft explored in books and cinema. If done well, it can be an emotionally moving drama. Komal R Bharadwaj, who has written and directed the Telugu indie film Rahasyam Idham Jagath, gives this idea a different spin, interspersing elements of science fiction and mythology. There is romance, a bitter past, a possibility of revenge, unexplained murky happenings in an eerie setting and the possibility of time travel through a wormhole. It is an ambitious, interesting idea on paper but does not translate to an engrossing adventurous ride, despite the earnest execution of the film.

The never-say-die mantra of its 69-year-old protagonist is what forms the crux of Vijay 69. This is a story of spirit, spunk and resilience which is birthed within Vijay Mathew when he, ironically, is given up for dead. Played by Anupam Kher with the kind of chameleonic ease that has seen the actor make 500-plus films in 40-odd years, Vijay Mathew’s moment of epiphany arrives in the film’s initial moments when he lands up at his own ‘funeral’. When former swimming coach Vijay is spotted ‘diving’ into the sea in the middle of the night and not turning up till the morning, his friends and family assume the worst. The truth is that Vijay was spending the night at a drunken sesh and when he stumbles on to his coffin the next morning, it is a wake-up call for him.

If there exists a parallel world where losers are guaranteed to find salvation, Girish A.D’s characters would probably be the rulers of that world. Down and out protagonists have been a common factor in all his films till date, be it Thanneer Mathan Dinangal or Super Sharanya or Premalu. His latest outing I Am Kathalan is no different, but just as always, he brings the same underlying theme in a different packaging.