FRACTURE

Sky and I decided to watch a movie today. After giving a few recommendations, I typically leave the choice to Sky. During the time that Sky takes to pick a film from one of the three platforms, I manage to watch a film AND write its review.

Sky is a fan of Anthony Hopkins. The first movie that we watched together was The Rite.

After dismissing the movies on Prime and Hotstar, Sky finally decided that he wanted to watch a lawyer movie. So, I suggested Fracture.

Fracture is a 2007 film starring Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal) and Ryan Gosling (Hey Girl, you got to know him!). The Director is Gregory Hoblit, who is also the Director of Primal Fear (one of my favourite legal thrillers).

This film is available on Netflix and listed under the genres of crime movies and crime dramas and listed as dark and suspenseful.

Sky put up with me predicting every move of the characters. Halfway through the movie, I realised that I may have watched this movie earlier. It’s either that or I have great deduction skills.

PLOT: Ted Crawford’s (Anthony Hopkins) wife has been shot dead and he’s been arrested on account of having confessed to the crime. The arresting officer also happens to have a personal grudge against Ted. Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is the District Attorney conducting this trial. Willy has had a 95 percent success rate and has recently been hired by a leading corporate firm. Willy agrees to take on this matter as his last as it’s an open and shut case. But is it?

The police have not been able to retrieve the murder weapon and the case that was already built on a weak foundation begins to crumble. Things aren’t going well on the professional front either as now Willy’s employment with the new firm is at stake.

Will Ted manage to hoodwink the system and escape scot-free?

REVIEW: If you love legal thrillers, courtroom dramas or if you have watched Primal Fear and enjoyed it, you most definitely will enjoy this film too.

The plot is entwined with twists and despite having your detective hat on, you may not be able to predict the next move.

Anthony Hopkins is at his Hannibal best. He has that eery, sinister smile plastered on his face, constantly provoking the District Attorney and even succeeding at it. Gosling is his usual cocky self. He starts off as the smug, “I’ve never lost a case” lawyer until he has his smile wiped off his face by Hopkins (not literally though, remember this isn’t Hannibal!)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) plays the role of Gosling’s boss and love interest and barely has much of a role.  

This film is a classic cat and mouse thriller with excellent performances by Hopkins and Gosling and a well-spun script.

TRIVIA: Chris Evans had auditioned for the role of Willy Beachum.

VERDICT: Some old films that had gained enormous popularity during the period of their release have not withstood the test of time. Here’s one that you can watch and still enjoy.

Do you like legal thrillers as well? Then please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent. 

Image Source - Wikipedia

HELEN: WHAT'S IN A NAME!

During the initial days of lockdown, PM was on a movie watching spree, viewing many regional films. I caught her contagious bug and decided to watch a regional film. Earlier I was apprehensive of watching films in languages I don’t understand but now that I am addicted to subtitles (I have them on for Hindi and English movies too!), I decided to pick one from her list of recommendations.

Sky’s cousin T is a big fan of the Malayalam film industry and had recommended a few films to watch which I unfortunately never did. I recall the first Malayalam movie I watched in 2001. It was on a bus. It was during a school trip and as I scanned the bus wondering whom to sit next to and pester into translating the film for me, my eyes rested on NS. I am not sure if NS enjoyed that bus ride having to sit next to me and translate each and every dialogue but I most definitely enjoyed the film.

I decided to watch Helen.

Helen is available on Amazon Prime. It is a 2019 release.  Its falls under the genres of Suspense and Drama. The film is directed by Mathukutty Xavier and stars Anna Ben, Lal Paul and Noble Babu Thomas.

Anna who plays the title character in the film, has won many awards for her performance and deservedly so.

The movie is based on true events which makes the film even more intriguing.  

PLOT: Helen is a nursing student. She lives with her father. With loans looming over their heads, Helen intends on moving to Canada with the hope of landing a high paying job there. On the sly, Helen is seeing a Muslim boy knowing fully well that her conservative father would not approve of the same. Helen also has a part time job at Chicken Hub, a KFCesque eatery in a mall where she works the late-night shift.

All you need to further know about the plot is this – “The movie follows the turn of events after Helen doesn’t return from work one night”. I’ve picked this line from the description on Prime. Please do not read up on the plot from reviews (you may read my review :D) before you watch this film.

I believe that the thrill in watching this movie also lies in attempting to figure out what trouble befalls Helen.

Review: Helen is a survival drama. If you enjoy watching movies that keep you on the edge of the seat, you must watch this one. Here is why I ask you not to delve too deep into the storyline before you watch this film- the suspense is two-fold. You know that something bad is going to happen to Helen and the first three-quarters of an hour has scenes that make your eyes grow big in apprehension, wondering whether that random catcall by the autorickshaw driver or being stopped by the police is what will form the crux of the story. And then unexpectedly, boom, when you least expect it, you realise why Helen will not be returning home that night.

I love the way this film has been shot and the way the actors are presented. It could be the story of the girl next door. There are no extravagant costumes, elaborate scenes, orchestrated background score nor the least bit attempt at making the lead character look like she stepped out of a magazine cover.  I am drawing comparisons with mainstream Bollywood cinema and while doing so, I know I am generalising, considering the massive shift we have seen in recent Hindi cinema. This film feels real, almost as if you’ve caught a glimpse into the life of Helen, who exists in real life. The film showcases not only Helen’s struggles to escape but also her father’s desperate attempts to look for her.

Helen (Anna Ben) is outstanding and to think this is only her second film.  Other noteworthy mentions are Lal who plays Helen’s father Paul, Aju Varghese who plays the Sub-Inspector and Rony David who plays the manager of Chicken Hub.

The movie ends with a heart-warming message on kindness.

When the end credits begin to roll, you realise that the opening shot with the ant was not randomly inserted.

Verdict: I can assure you the movie will not leave you cold.

If you enjoyed reading this movie review, please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent. Thank you. 

Image Source - IMDb

THE LION KING

Image Source - IMDb

It’s only fair; I compare this film to Aladdin. I liked Aladdin better and Skip, The Lion King (his reason being cute Simba). The visual effects though are far, far superior in the Lion King. I was captivated in the first 5 minutes. The Lion King is a live action film with photo-realistic animals. The intricate details of the flora, followed by the appearance of lifelike animals would in the words of R3 (my cousin sista) give you a realistic experience of being on a safari. In certain scenes that pan across the forest landscape, if you observe carefully, you can even spot tiny balls of seed hair fibres floating in the air.  If you thought The Jungle Book was impressive (which also happens to be directed by Jon Favreau, the director of The Lion King), be prepared to be blown away with the graphics in this film. The characters have been rendered digitally using photo and video references of real animals.

In case you’re wondering who Jon Favreau is (tsk tsk). Here’s a picture of him, do you recognise him?

Image Source - IMDb
If you're Happy and you know it clap your hands!

Following the footsteps of Aladdin in being inclusive and racially diverse, the live action film seeks to undo the criticism faced by its predecessor of having an all white cast. Here’s the list of the voice cast:

Young Simba – JD McCrary

Simba- Donald Glover (more popularly known as Childish Gambino)

Mufasa – James Earl Jones ( who voiced Mufasa in the animated film as well)

Nala- Beyonce

Timon – Billy Eichner

Pumbaa – Seth Rogen

Scar – Chiwetel Ejiofor

Zazu- John Oliver

Shenzi – Florence Kasumba

The actors were a perfect fit as the voice-overs considering the film is set in Africa. I particularly liked Timon and Shenzi. Timon is hilarious and Shenzi gave us all the chills.

I’m glad that they retained certain iconic scenes from the animated film and it was refreshing to see them in live action.

It is a film that can be enjoyed by both adults and children, alike. A word of caution for parents with younger children: children who aren’t used to non-animated films or those younger than 5 may find the film a bit frightening.

The film features songs from the original soundtrack plus a few new songs and ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ which had us all humming and singing along (thank you subtitles).

As in all Disney films, this film too had its share of inspiring messages for all. Here are some of my favourite quotes from the film:

“Everybody is Somebody, even a Nobody”. - Rafiki

“To change the past is a big order, but you can change the future”. – Timon

“I may run from Hyenas but I always fight a bully”. – Pumbaa

A must watch film and one to be watched in the theatres.

A question for all you Disney fans – Do you prefer the original animated films or the present live action ones?

While I enjoyed watching the animated films as a child, it’s nice and refreshing to see the same being recreated as live action and more so as the creators haven’t diverted much from the original script and storyline.

And now repeat after me – “Hakuna Matata”

Skip manages to keep himself entertained on most days. But on some days (days when I'm too tired to even move a muscle), he decides he needs his mommy dearest to play with him and that's when we try our hand at Origami (courtesy YouTube videos)

ALADDIN- A MAGICAL TREAT

Image Source - IMDb

The year was 1996. We had been invited over to our neighbour’s house for dinner.  Raucous kids were getting in the way of adult’s (boring) chatter and our game of indoor hide and seek came to a halt with us being shooed into a bedroom and being asked to quietly watch a cartoon film. It was Aladdin. It was the first animated movie I’d ever watched and I remember being completely mesmerised by it. Soon, it was time to leave and the movie hadn’t finished. The next day, I asked my mother to borrow the cassette from Madhu Aunty and I watched the movie twice before we returned the cassette. That year, I secretly hoped for an Aladdin cassette to be magically dropped off at our doorstep.

I watched the movie next, two weeks ago when I had recorded it for Skip. A hilarious genie, a flying carpet, a tiger and a monkey for a pet and a whole lot of magic – What’s not to love in the movie and though I’m not one much for musicals, I loved the songs in Aladdin. However, surprisingly, when I saw the trailers for the live action movie, I didn’t feel like watching the movie until I began receiving messages about how good the movie was and that I should take Skip for it. After postponing the plan by two weeks, I finally got about to watching the movie.

I LOVED IT! LOVED IT, LOVED IT.

I am going to skip the plot, we all know the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp and the three wishes.

Here’s why I loved the movie:

1.  The film is directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). I enjoy his films and was curious to watch a musical fantasy directed by him. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this is the first in this genre of films that he has directed. Though I did read that film critics haven’t appreciated his direction.

2.    I wasn’t too enthusiastic about watching Will Smith play the role of Genie. In fact, when he made his first appearance on screen, I almost shouted “we miss you Robin Williams” but Skip was already squirming as I was singing the songs out aloud and I didn’t want to embarrass him further. What a brilliant portrayal of Genie by Will Smith! He has brought his hip-hop swag to the role and is hilarious. I almost felt disloyal to Williams as I had a big grin on each time Smith appeared on screen.

3.    Disney has cast culturally appropriate actors. (Well, almost...) Mena Massoud plays the role of Aladdin and while Naomi Scott (Jasmine) is not Middle Eastern (She’s British Indian. Woo Hoo Indian !), atleast they didn’t whitewash the film . (Remember Scarlett Johansson portrayed a Japanese girl in Ghost in the Shell). When Massoud is turned into a Prince by Genie and he makes his grand entrance to the song, Prince Ali, he looks exactly like the animated version of Aladdin. The film also does away with religious stereotypes that were portrayed in the earlier film.

4.   The actors are a treat to watch. While Smith, Massoud and Scott have been receiving accolades for their acting, I must also mention Marwan Kenzari (who plays Jafar ) and Nasim Pedrad ( who plays Dalia, a handmaiden to Princess Jasmine).

5.  The set is grand, larger than life and colourful. The costumes are appealing. Some scenes reminded me of Sanjay Leela Bansali’s grandiose setting especially the ones that involved dancing.

6.      Princess Jasmine is a sassy rebel; she’s outspoken and doesn’t need a knight in shining armour to rescue her. In short, she’s not your typical Disney princess. Feminists, rejoice.

7.   Take a deep breath, Disney purists; there are some differences between the animated and the live action film. A new character has been introduced in Dalia, handmaiden to Princess Jasmine, Genie has a love interest and Jasmine gets to become the Sultan.

8.    The film sends important messages to children about honesty, being true to oneself, the power of friendship etc.

Aladdin is the 4^th highest grossing film of 2019 and has passed the original at the Box Office.  Go watch it! It’s a ‘feel-good’ movie. It has magic, music, dance, romance, drama, action. It’s a Bollywood film with great CGI effects.

BADLA

Image Source - IMDb

Plans were made to watch Badla and Archie excitedly messaged on the Whatsapp group that the movie Badla was an adaptation of a Spanish film, The Invisible Guest and announced that she would be watching it before Badla. The five of us sat in the movie hall with our thinking caps on whilst Archie just had a smirk on. She knew how the movie ended and was eager to see if we’d discern the plot.

Archie informs that besides the gender reversal of roles and the extra tadka offered by Bollywood filmmakers, Badla is an exact frame to frame adaptation of the original.

I was excited to watch the film more so for the Amitabh- Taapsee collaboration after Pink. Also, I happen to enjoy whodunits.

PLOT: Naina Sethi (Taapsee Pannu) is accused of murdering her lover, Arjun (Tony Luke) and is on house arrest. News of her arrest and murder is making the headlines as Naina has recently won a prestigious business award. Naina’s only hope of getting an acquittal is Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan), a meticulous lawyer engaged by Naina’s lawyer Jimmy (Manav Kaul).

Badal comes to Naina’s apartment to extract information and deconstruct the entire murder scenario in an attempt to find a loophole in her case. The entire movie revolves around Naina presenting her version of the events and Badal questioning and challenging the same in order to be able to recreate and present a distorted set of facts that could set Naina free.

Naina’s story opens up a Pandora’s box that involves another crime.

Did Naina kill Arjun? Is Naina involved in this other crime? Does Badal succeed in getting Naina an acquittal?

The film is directed by Sujoy Ghosh (of Kahaani fame) and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment.

Needless to say, Amitabh and Taapsee are a treat to watch. The film also had Amrita Singh in it, playing a distraught mother and this was a surprise entry as I didn’t recall seeing her in the trailer. She’s the woman behind the camera in the poster. Tony Luke who plays Taapsee’s lover makes his debut in Hindi cinema and it’s refreshing to see an actor with a strong “South Indian” accent who isn’t in the film to merely serve as a comic relief and doesn’t dress in a lungi sipping lassi from a coconut. Sadly, Manav Kaul has only a minor role in the movie. 

If you liked Kahaani (the first one), you will like this film too. Typical to most thrillers, this film is fast paced and has a gripping storyline. Shot in Glasgow, the movie will have you enjoying the panoramic views only to be jolted out of your seat half way through that. Whilst some critics have labelled the film predictable (this could be true if you are one of those ardent fans of Agatha Christie and you’ve learnt from her books to suspect even the imperceptible commuter at the station with the scarf and big sunglasses who sneaks out of the train only after giving a furtive glance and a half-smile), be rest assured, there are many red herrings thrown in that will have you constantly second guessing Naina and Badal’s next move.

Despite being an adaptation, the writers have succeeding in infusing Hindu mythology into the storyline with Amitabh Bachchan quoting the Mahabharata. The dialogues are catchy, the kind that make you want to repeat them while walking out of the hall. :D

Would it be a spoiler if I were to say that the name of the movie is a spoiler in itself?

Archie and I have decided to mimick movie posters or rather mimick the expressions of the actors on the posters. We started off with the Gully Boy poster. We scoured the length of the floor only to find a teensy poster of Badla. You can find our pictures on our Insta page.  If you like our posts, please follow us on Insta and FB.

Manikarnika- Kangana Run-out!

Image Source - IMDb

Happy New Year folks!

Have you been sticking to your resolutions! I have: p

After a 3 month sabbatical, Bob and I are back with our reviews. We thought we’d start out with a film review. Please follow our blog and also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We have loads of recipes, product reviews, book reviews, DIYs lined up!

Kangana Ranaut had been on quite a roll and deservedly so. I loved her roles in Queen, Tanu weds Manu Returns and Simran. I hadn’t even seen the trailers of Manikarnika and I was excited to watch this film. I like historical films provided they stick to the plot and keep the film as close to real life events and that would also mean not over-romanticising situations/events. I was also curious to see how the film would turn out knowing that Kangana was one of the Directors of the film.

I was disappointed!

PLOT: The film is based on the life of Rani Laxmi Bai.

Manikarnika is a young woman, full of spunk. Jhansi is beset not only by the British forces but also by enemies from within the walls of the palace. Sadashiv Rao, a rival prince has his eyes on the throne. A minister of Jhansi spots ‘Manu’ hunting a tiger and impressed by her courage, he chooses her to wed the King of Jhansi. Unlike her husband, ‘Manu’ refuses to be cowed into submission by the British Officers. At the same time, she wins the affection of the people of Jhansi by standing up for their rights.

Post the death of her husband and son under mysterious circumstances, Laxmi Bai succeeds as the Queen of Jhansi. Taking advantage of this situation, the British ask the  Queen to leave the palace. She finds support from the locals and gathers an army to take back the palace and defend Jhansi from the clutches of the British Empire. What follows is the battle between Jhansi led by Rani Laxmi Bai and the British troops led by Hugh Rose.

I was probably expecting too much from this film and hence came out of the hall disappointed.

Let’s not take away Kangana’s acting skills. I wouldn’t call this, one of her best works, but she was good. Other actors had negligible scenes in the film. One would have expected more screen space for actors portraying pivotal roles such as those of Sadashiv Rao (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) and Jhalkari Bai(Ankita Lokhande). The senior members of the cast -Suresh Oberoi as Bajirao (in whose palace Laxmi Bai has been brought up), Danny Denzongpa as Laxmi Bai’s trusted army general, Kulbhushan Kharbanda as a minister of Jhansi too have a ‘blink and you’ll miss them’ role in the film. However minor a role, apart from the actors playing the British Officers, the rest have done a good job. The Britishers’ speech sounded forced and rehearsed unlike the ones who acted in Lagaan.

 Here is what ruined the film:

1.     I am a fan of Kanagana Ranaut and I understand she’s the protagonist of the film (well, the film IS named after her character) so don’t get me wrong when I say this – she’s made the film all about herself! I really do think that scenes of other actors have been deleted from the final cut. Am I nitpicking? If you felt the same, please do leave a comment below.

2.     It’s a historical film! Why do we need the lead to be all dolled up, sporting a different hairstyle in each scene? Wasn’t it enough that all close-ups of Kangana were airbrushed!

3.  Every visual scene needn’t be vocally explained to the audience by a loud proclamation. When we see a person lying on the floor in a pool of blood, we know he’s dead. Don’t announce it. We are not watching CID!

4.    What’s with the random song and dance sequence! And we have the Queen joining in too. Let’s keep it real, people!

5.   Enough with the tight shots and sweeping shots already! We don’t need to see Kangana and her palace from all angles.

6. The dialogues felt very 1990’s. Kangana’s dialogues in the second half when she’s proclaiming her love for her country and encouraging her subjects to follow suit, while well delivered, is not moving enough. I wasn’t left teary eyed!

7.    There’s no correlation between some of the scenes. For eg: when Jhalkari Bai’s calf is taken away by the British officers from her house (which is nowhere in the vicinity of the palace), the next scene has Laxmi Bai barging into the Officers’ mess to get the calf back.

I hear the film is doing well and receiving accolades but I wouldn’t recommend watching this in the theatres. The film would have been much better with another Director/s and scriptwriter.

Clearly, Kangana’s association with the name Krish has never gone down well.  

Look what I found on the Just Cricket, Cricket Academy grounds :) 

CRAZY RICH ASIANS

Image Source - IMDb

Archie had been going on and on about wanting to watch Crazy Rich Asians and then I also heard Howie Mandel on America’s Got Talent tell us all how hilarious the movie was and the plan was made. After a delayed release in India, the three of us went to watch the show on a weekday and were pleasantly surprised to see we had company. Now there were 6 heads in the theatre.

The movie is based on a book of the same name penned by Kevin Kwan. It has Michelle Yeoh (of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha, Tomorrow Never Dies fame) in it and features an all Asian cast. This is Henry Golding’s (the male protagonist) first film.

PLOT: Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), an Economics Professor NYU is dating Nick Young (Henry Golding) unaware of the fact that Nick comes from a crazy-rich family who are real estate tycoons in Singapore. Nick has to travel to Singapore to attend his best friend’s wedding and decides to take Rachel along and introduce her to his family. Rachel comes to know about Nick’s affluent background and with the help of her Singaporean friend Goh Peik Lin (Awkwafina) tries to fit into Nick’s family. Nick’s mother, Eleanor Young (Michelle Yeoh) doesn’t hide her disdain for Rachel. She disapproves of Rachel’s background, economic status and the fact that Rachel has her roots in the US and that she is passionate about her work. To make things worse, Nick’s friends consider her a gold digger. This creates a rift between Rachel and Nick.

Will Nick’s family accept Rachel for who she is? Will Nick and Rachel work things out or will Nick choose to stay back in Singapore and join his family business?

Does the plot sound all too familiar to our Indian audience? Boy takes Girl to meet his rich family. Girl, being from a lower social stratum doesn’t meet their approval.  Girl is shunned by Boy’s family and friends and not to forget the baddie in such storylines- the mother in law.  Spoiler alert for those not familiar with such storylines – Girl then reveals her goodness by some act of benevolence, good wins over the ‘not so good’ , Boy proceeds to cheesy proposal with the blessing of his family. Boy happy, Girl happy.

As the credits rolled at the end, I questioned Archie, “How is this movie a hit? The creator of this age-old formula, our very own Bollywood, too, has stopped churning out such stories”. Archie is ‘Amreeka returned’ and well versed with their way of thinking. She tsked tsked me and said “All this is very novel to them”.  The movie is fully Bollywood ishtyle, complete with songs and Cinderella-esque makeover of the female protagonist because it’s important to look pretty. Who cares that you are a Professor at NYU.

If I were to keep the storyline aside and review the movie for what it is, I’d say the movie is average- a typical rom-com ‘time-pass’ movie. When I watched the trailer of this movie, it reminded me of Monster-in-law, which has a similar storyline. Now, that movie was HILARIOUS. The title is a misnomer. Yes, the movie does involve rich Asians, but I was expecting to see crazy toys and exorbitant splurges especially with a wedding involved in the film. On that front too it was disappointing.

Besides Michelle Yeoh, the other actor you’d recognise is Ken Jeong (Hangover). Sadly, he’s been given the role of a shady father who hits on his daughter’s friend. His role is minor and failed to evoke any laughter from the audience of 6.

Michelle, Constance, Henry and Awkwafina have acted well. However, the story was predictable, the movie not funny enough and sadly there wasn’t any vulgar display of wealth to leave us flabbergasted.

When Rachel is first introduced to Henry’s mother, Eleanor mentions that Henry’s father is out of town on a business trip. I was expecting the father to be the hero of the film (figuratively) by making an appearance towards the end, standing up to his wife and reuniting the lovers. I have been so accustomed to our films where we’ve had our sanskaari Alok Nath follow the righteous path and protect our frail women from harassment. I was wrong!

Andhadhun

What is life? It depends on the liver.

Image Source - IMDb

The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu and Radhika Apte. With a star cast such as this, a trailer that keeps you at your wit’s end and generous reviews being splashed about, it was no wonder I went to watch this movie with high expectations.

Ever since I’ve started reviewing movies for the blog, I’ve been watching them with a critical eye, nitpicking at flaws and delving too much into the intricacies of filmmaking and scriptwriting. I sometimes miss those good old days of having a monosyllabic opinion. If I were to do that, I’d go, “Hmm... Interesting”. That’s how I felt when I stepped out of the theatre.

Andhadhun (not to be confused with Andhadhund meaning excessive, rash) is inspired by L’Accordeur (The Piano Tuner), a French Short Film.

PLOT (Probably the briefest plot on our blog): The film is about a blind piano player whose sole aim is to make money to be able to relocate to London and play the piano there. However, he unwillingly gets entangled in a murder. What follows are his frantic attempts at trying to escape the murderers that ends up with unearthing of secrets and major plot twists.

Any more revelation of the plot and it would have spoilers!

It goes without saying that the actors have done their jobs well.

I liked Tabu the best in the movie. She’s a brilliant actress.  It’s lovely to see her don roles that befit her age and personality and not being merely typecast into a role one would “expect” her to play.

Sadly, Radhika Apte didn’t have much of a role in the movie.

Ayushmann, Manav Vij (who looks like a beefed up Aamir Khan) and Anil Dhawan were good too.

Piano music makes up for most of the background music, the tenor oscillating with the mood of the protagonist (Ayushmann Khurrana). Such a background score comprising of one instrument rather than an orchestra, often brings a sense of realism to the scene and I like it that way.  

The USP of the movie is definitely the twists in the plot. I applaud the makers of the trailer who have craftily inserted scenes that reveal only so much that would make you want to watch the film, only to be then given a jolt within the first 15 minutes.

There were some brilliant moments that made us go “aaah,we didn’t expect that”, in fact one of the scenes towards the end almost had me clapping. (Yes, I’m the kind who claps in excitement).

The movie ends in a cliffhanger and it is left to the audience to interpret it in the manner he or she chooses to. Some suspect a sequel in the making, but I doubt that but then again I have been proven wrong in the past ( Black Panther, ahem...)

This is not your typical Bollywood film. No wait, I take that back. We have seen such a massive shift from the earlier norm of boy meets girl, saves her from the villain and the audience is invited to witness their happily ever after moment. But this film moves a step ahead. It is free from undying love, untainted protagonist, item numbers (Am I allowed to use the word ‘Item’? Or is that being sexist?)...

Here come the brickbats:

There is too much of an attempt to keep the audience occupied with twists that at times it becomes a little too hotchpotch and in that process the Director/scriptwriter loses sense of the rational that has the audience questioning “As if that could happen in real life”.

I wouldn’t ask you not to watch it in the theatres. Go if you must, but remember seeing is not always believing ;)

Here’s a fun fact, I read online - Sriram Raghavan, who is the Director of this film featured a blind girl playing the piano in the song Raabta in his film Agent Vinod.