Member Reviews

पति-पत्नी के रिश्ते में जब प्यार की जगह हिंसा ले ले, तो चोट पूरे परिवार और खासकर बच्चों को लगती है। घरेलू हिंसा का यह जख्म कभी-कभी इतना गहरा होता है कि पूरा घर बिखर जाता है। विडंबना देखिए, हिंसा के इतने खतरनाक रूप को ‘घरेलू’ कहा जाता है, जिस कारण घर से बाहर के ज्यादातर लोग पति-पत्नी के इस आपसी मामले में दखल तक नहीं देते। घरेलू हिंसा की इसी कड़वी सच्‍चाई को दो बहनों की राइवलरी के मसालेदार पैकेजिंग में लपेटकर पेश करती है, एक्ट्रेस कृति सेनन और राइटर कनिका ढिल्लों के बैनर की डेब्यू फिल्म ‘दो पत्ती’।

Sanjay Gupta’s The Miranda Brothers revolves around two hunky brothers named Julio (Harshvardhan Rane) and Regalo Miranda (Meezaan Jafri), rising football stars in a Josh-coded Goa where orphaned babies are picked up from garbage dumps outside churches; arrogant cricketers cackle and say: “Cricket has two C’s: Cash and Chicks”; football scouts exclaim: “if we select both brothers, it’s like an earthquake and typhoon becoming one!”; bronze-bodied dance tracks called “Be My Mehbooba” pop up on a beach; and mourners at a funeral walk together in slow-motion as if they’re teleported to Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante (2002) instead.

Every viewing of Shuchi Talati’s excellent Girls will be Girls, produced by Richa Chadha, will probably elicit a different response. The coming-of-age film focused on a mother and daughter is tender, moving and nuanced. The period story is set around a boarding school where rules and regulations reign supreme. But through them, these women break free, to live a little.

Billy Crystal is known for his roles that show off his comedic range like Harry Met Sally… and City Slickers. With his latest project, Before, the veteran actor is trying out a different side to his talent. He plays a grieving widower who finds purpose treating a young boy named Noah with unprocessed trauma. Written by creator Sarah Thorp, the psychological thriller delves into coincidences, fate and things science can’t explain. The Apple TV+ has a shaky narrative that gets repetitive fast and leaves its big reveal too late.

Both Kajol and Kriti Sanon embark on a couple of firsts in Shashanka Chaturvedi’s directorial debut Do Patti. Written by Kanika Dhillon, the Hindi film sees Kajol as tough-on crime police officer and Kriti takes on a double role as twin sisters. The Netflix suspense drama relies on a couple of red herrings eventually emerging as a wobbly thriller with a message.

Aijaz Khan’s Hamid and Danish Renzu’s Half Widow are the names that easily come to my mind when it comes to movies about husbands going missing. But both the aforementioned films have the backdrop of the political crisis in Kashmir. This is where filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi’s Manipuri movie Boong stands apart. It is more of a personal story of a boy whose father goes missing not due to any political tensions.

Co produced by Kriti Sanon and Kanika Dhillon the film suffers from lack of consistency possibly from the writing stage. The film aims to spread awareness about women and domestic abuse, it attempts to express the turmoils of abuse trauma, its generational history but fails to do it through out the run time. The film tries hard to be It Suspect X (Jaane Jaan), It Ends With Us, Gone Girl and The Girl In The Train all at once with a crime thriller genre — it ends up being none of them.

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?

Coming from a background in writing low-brow comedy skits for television, director Raaj Shaandilyaa has this knack for creating funny characters rooted in mofussil towns that generate mirth by engaging in rollicking repartees. His broad humour emanates from deep observation and understanding of the cultural mores of a conservative society coming to terms with socio-economic liberalisation in the 1990s. However, Shaandilya’s skill to combine the comic sketches into a wholesome screenplay is still a work in progress, resulting in a disappointing outcome.