Perspicuity1's Reviews

The Great Indian Kapil Show: Stars of Chamkila (2024)

Season 1, Episode 3

7/10

17 April 2024

A 38 minute long episode ? Initially i thought it must be a mistake, but unfortunately it wasn't. At this rate, one day we will see some episode of 'The Great Indian Kapil Show' being uploaded as a short on YouTube, after all who has the attention span to watch anything longer than that these days, isn't it ?

WHAT'S GOOD :

1. Finally some good punchlines were thrown in this episode. Kapil seemed to be in good form and the writers too did a pretty decent job of writing jokes.

WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD :

1. Why was this episode just 38 minutes long ? I was really looking forward to this one as Kapil Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh are both entertainers and good friends as well, but Netflix had other plans. This episode just felt like a formality, where stars were forced to sit through and tolerate everything for the sake of promoting their upcoming film. Netflix really needs to understand that when we watch Kapil Sharma's comedy show, we expect it to be around 70 minutes, it makes no sense to edit it down to less than 40 minutes. This show is different from other web shows, it needs to have some funny gags, artists need some time to perform their act. There is hardly any time to ask questions and everything is done in a rushed manner. Whoever is running the show, clearly does not like Kapil Sharma's comedy.

2. Diljit Dosanjh's behaviour clearly implied that he did not wish to be a part of the episode. No actor or actress likes to be a part of movie promotions and it's understandable as well, considering they just have to keep repeating the same answers to every single journalist and channel, and on top of that it never really helps the movie, viewers watch something only if they feel connected to it, no amount of marketing can force them to change their mind, but generally celebrities are quite happy to be on Kapil Sharma's show. Diljit should have just refused to shoot on that particular day because clearly he was not in the mood to. Ultimately it affects the overall experience of the viewer as well.

3. Why do they keep playing the headphone game ? It's just a waste of time and evokes no laughter at all. The creative team should bring back the Instagram segment and use it to roast their guests.

4. What is the need of Archana Puran Singh in the show ? You have a proper live audience to laugh at your jokes, you don't need an additional person for that job. The most shocking thing is that Archana Puran Singh gets paid to just sit on a chair and laugh ! If you have so much money then why not bring in Chandan Prabhakar and Sumona Chakravarti instead, actors who actually made an effort to entertain the viewers. Archana Puran Singh's presence just brings irritation and nothing else.

I really hope Kapil Sharma and Netflix pay attention to the feedback being given to them and make the necessary changes to the show. It's a proud moment for everyone to see Kapil Sharma on Netflix, it would be heartbreaking to see his show end up as a failure.

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The Great Indian Kapil Show: Cricket Fever - Rohit and Shreyas (2024)

Season 1, Episode 2

6/10

Missed opportunity.

17 April 2024

I always look forward to the episodes where the guests are not from the film industry as we get to see a different side of theirs and i had really high expectations from this episode as the guest was cricketer Rohit Sharma, but unfortunately this one too left me disappointed just like the first episode. One of the best episodes of "Comedy Nights with Kapil" was the one with cricketer Virat Kohli; i just couldn't stop laughing throughout the episode, it was just too good; i just wished Kapil Sharma watched that episode before interviewing Rohit Sharma, because he failed miserably in conducting an entertaining interview this time.

WHAT'S GOOD :

1. The set looked beautiful and a few jokes made me smile but that's about it, there was nothing much to appreciate in this episode.

WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD :

1. I just couldn't understand the logic behind inviting Shreyas Iyer along with Rohit Sharma; what is the connection between the two players ? Rohit Sharma being the senior and more popular cricketer would obviously get more attention in such interviews, so why invite Shreyas with him ? I felt it was quite unfair on the young cricketer. A better combination would have been Rohit Sharma and his wife Ritika Sajdeh; that interview could have been really entertaining to watch. Also, if they had to invite cricketers only then Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would have been an extremely deadly combination.

2. Once again the writing was extremely poor. Not a single joke was landing, not a single punchline made me laugh. Rohit Sharma looked bored throughout the episode and was even checking his phone at certain points ! I wonder what kind of brief was given to the writers that they managed to create such a dull and boring episode. Rohit Sharma has given a number of interviews on YouTube and it's easy to see that he has a great sense of humour and is always ready to play along if the host provides him with an opportunity, but unfortunately Kapil Sharma was completely out of ideas for this episode. The only point of excitement in the episode was when Kapil came dressed as Sidhu and Sunil Grover came in as Kapil Dev; their get up and mimicry was on point but unfortunately the writers forgot to give them funny dialogues.

3. Why is the duration of the episode going down ? This episode was 10 minutes shorter than the previous episode and was once again heavily edited. Why is Netflix doing this to us ? What exactly are they trying to create here ? It's not some regular drama series where every episode has to be around 45-50 minutes; viewers are used to watching 70-80 minute long episodes of Kapil Sharma's comedy show, why are you trying to change that ?

4. What is Archana Puran Singh doing on the show ? It's shocking to see someone get paid for just sitting on a chair and laugh. Archana Puran Singh adds only irritation and boredom to the show and nothing else; she has no reason to be on the show. You have an audience to laugh on your jokes and that too for free, you don't need an additional person to do that job for you. If you have so much money then you should just bring back Chandan Prabhakar and Sumona Chakravarti on the show, actors who actually made an effort to entertain the viewers.

I know they have just begun and it will take them some time to settle down, but i really hope Netflix and Kapil Sharma take the feedback from the viewers seriously and make the necessary changes to the show. Kapil Sharma's comedy shows have brought a lot of happiness in our lives and it's great to see him perform on a platform like Netflix, but at the same time I also wish that they don't destroy this opportunity and create a bad memory for themselves and the viewers.

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The Great Indian Kapil Show: Ranbir - The Real Family Man (2024)

Season 1, Episode 1

6/10

A decent start, but the creative team needs to put in some more effort.

15 April 2024

It was truly a proud moment to see our beloved Kapil Sharma on a prestigious platform like Netflix, but at the same time i was quite disappointed with the first episode.

WHAT'S GOOD :

1. The new set looked beautiful. I always wanted Kapil Sharma Show's set to have a grandeur at par with that of popular international shows hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Graham Norton, and this new show has done exactly that.

2. The coming together of Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover would easily go down as one of the happiest moments of the year 2023. It was wonderful to see Sunil Grover return to the place where he always belonged. The anticipation to watch the show increased ten times just because of his presence.

WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD :

1. The most important thing about a comedy show is it's ability to make you laugh, and unfortunately this episode failed to deliver on that aspect. The jokes went flat, the writing was extremely dull, and Kapil almost turned the show into a boring interview with his monotonous questions. It's quite baffling that even after more than a decade in this profession, Kapil Sharma hasn't mastered the art of taking an interview. It was Ranbir who tried to infuse some humour into the conversation, otherwise Kapil and his team of writers were trying very hard to induce boredom into the viewers. Kiku Sharda couldn't crack a single joke in his segment as a Chef while Sunil Grover tried very hard but his act came across more as a show off than one designed to make you laugh. It was only Krishna Abhishek who managed to throw some life into an otherwise lifeless episode.

2. Why has Netflix reduced the duration of the show ? The episode felt heavily edited and just didn't have the feel of the previous shows done by Kapil and his team. Very little time was allotted to Krishna Abhishek and Kiku Sharda's act, which used to be the funniest segment of Kapil's previous show. These comedians need some time and space, along with a good script of course, to perform to their utmost potential; hoping for them to act like robots would be an extremely unfair ask. They are all terrific comedians but you need to allow them some breathing space. Almost every episode of 'The Kapil Sharma Show' used to be around 70-75 minutes long, while this episode wasn't even an hour long.

3. What is Archana Puran Singh doing on the show ? Every single person needs to ask this question to Kapil Sharma and Netflix. She has absolutely no contribution to the show, interrupts the proceedings unnecessarily with some boring questions and the worst part is that she gets paid for being a member of the audience ! Why do you need an irritating Archana Puran Singh when you have a massive live audience to laugh at your jokes ? I would seriously request Kapil and Netflix to remove her because she adds nothing to the show. Also, if you have so much money then its better to bring in Chandan Prabhakar and Sumona Chakravarti into the show, actors who actually made an effort to entertain the viewers.

4. Was Netflix trying to whitewash the image of Ranbir Kapoor with this episode, because it clearly felt like that on a number of occasions. I really hope the creative team doesn't end up killing the fun vibe of the show in an attempt to do such stupid things.

It's great to see Kapil achieving another milestone of his life, but he and his creative team really need to pull up their socks because as an audience we deserve something much better than what they put up in the first episode.

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Theri (2016)

6/10

Simple mass entertainer. Keep your expectations low.

7 February 2024

'Theri' is a regular mass entertainer that follows a predictable path and might just disappoint you a bit if you go in with huge expectations, like me. I watched 'Mersal' and 'Bigil' before this film, both directed by Atlee and way more superior to 'Theri', and because of that I couldn't enjoy this film as much as I wanted to. This movie follows the standard pattern of an Atlee film and also a number of other Tamil films but doesn't have as much depth or layers in its screenplay as I was hoping for. It's an entertaining film for sure but don't go in expecting a 'Mersal'.

The movie starts off really well and the all the scenes involving Joseph and his daughter Nivi make for a delightful watch. The child actress who played the role of Nivi has done such a beautiful job that if an entire movie dedicated to the friendly banter between Joseph and his daughter is made, in my opinion it would be truly worth watching. The charismatic screen presence of Vijay and Samantha definitely added a lot of weight to every single scene of theirs. Vijay may not be a great actor but he knows how to steal the scene with his swagger and on the other hand Samantha portrayed her character in the most realistic way possible. Amy Jackson didn't have a lot to do in the film but she did look gorgeous in every single frame. Rajendran's comic timing was also on point and his scenes with Vijay were quite funny.

'Theri' is yet another vigilante thriller but it falls short in its screenplay department. Movies like 'Sivaji', 'Indian' or 'Nayak' have explored similar topics in the past but they were much more enjoyable to watch in comparison to this film. This movie too has some good messaging but that is not enough to save the film from being called mediocre. Songs of the film are average at best, I didn't feel like going back to any of them after finishing the film. Cinematography of the film is of top quality, every scene looks extremely beautiful. The action sequence at the beginning of the film is very good but the rest of the film is unable to match up to it. Actually the initial fight sequence between Vijay and the goons at his house is the point where the movie starts losing some momentum. It's a one-time watch kind of film, you won't really feel like going back to it again.

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Pippa (2023)

5/10

Wasted opportunity.

27 January 2024

It was disappointing to see 'Pippa' getting delayed because the teaser looked very promising. 1971 war, the story behind creation of Bangladesh with A. R. Rahman's pulsating music; there was a lot to look forward to in the movie. I thought perhaps Ishaan Khatter is the reason behind the delay, considering he's not really a crowd puller, which is unfortunate because he is a pretty decent talent. However, after watching the movie it became quite clear as to why this film didn't find any buyers; it's because 'Pippa' is a film where nothing happens. Pippa remains in the first gear throughout its runtime and at no point develops into an engaging watch.

There is a sense of casualness throughout the film and it never offers the intensity that you would expect from a story like this. The movie has no twists and turns, surprises or layers in its screenplay, something that would have definitely helped in holding the interest of the viewers. The creative team selected a very exciting idea for the film but then it seems lost interest in developing a powerful screenplay for it. The first seven minutes of the film hold a lot of promise, when Ishaan's character gives us some background about the conflict between Pakistan government and the people of East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh, but for some reason the movie just lost focus from that point and went in a completely different direction. The scene where Balram walks by the Refugee camp and the background dialogue about refugees by his mother is extremely moving. There was so much potential in this premise but the director and the writers just didn't put enough effort into creating a powerful screenplay from it.

Among the actors, the best performances have been delivered by Priyanshu Painyuli and Inaamulhaq. The length of their role is not much but they have absolutely given everything to their respective roles. Ishaan Khatter is decent as Balram but a lot more is expected from him considering the talent that he possesses. I don't know why Mrunal Thakur agreed to be a part of this film because the screenplay offers no depth or detail to her character and reduces her to be a side character. I really hope the movie industry handles Priyanshu Painyuli and Mrunal Thakur better because there is a lot of potential in both of them.

A. R. Rahman's music is fine, some songs are good, some are strictly average; can't really blame him if the script itself is not very inspiring. The song 'Main Parwaana' has been picturized beautifully and is wonderful to watch as well as listen; Ishaan Khatter is clearly a better dancer than his brother Shahid. 'Rampage', the song that was presented to us through the teaser, is a brilliant song but has not been used properly in the film.

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Gadar 2 (2023)

5/10

A long, boring and unnecessary sequel.

26 January 2024

Why did Anil Sharma decide to make a sequel of 'Gadar' twenty two years after the first film? Usually filmmakers would want to bring out the sequels quickly in order to encash the popularity of the first film. I don't think he was waiting to come up with the perfect script to carry forward the story or that he had an epiphany that the time has come to make 'Gadar' again. This movie is just a desperate attempt of a father to relaunch his son who was rejected by the audience the last time he showed up on screen. Unfortunately for Anil Sharma, this movie has once again exposed his son Utkarsh Sharma's lack of acting skills. Utkarsh Sharma needs to understand that cinema or at least acting is not his forte.

It's as clear as broad daylight that not a lot of effort went into writing the screenplay of the film. The first half of the film still makes for a decent watch, but the second half is just Tara Singh running around looking for his son Jeete and Jeete running around and looking for his father Tara Singh; this is not a joke, this is exactly what happens in the film. Not that the first half had some crazy level writing but the writers completely ran out of ideas in the second half.

Talking about the positives of the film, Sunny Deol is definitely on top of that list. This veteran actor still has it in him to induce goosebumps among the viewers with his powerful dialogue delivery. The movie becomes watchable every time Sunny Deol comes on screen to say something but becomes a very ordinary film as soon as he goes away. Regardless of what you may have heard about the film, the truth is that it never tries to belittle Muslims or spread any kind of hate for them. In fact, the movie doesn't even show the people of Pakistan in poor light; the hate is only reserved for the people running the affairs of Pakistan.

The music of the film is extremely beautiful. For once, the old songs have been used without a lot of remixing and the new songs composed by Mithoon are also extremely pleasing to listen as well as watch. The songs "Dil Jhoom" and "Chal Tere Ishq Mein" have been picturized very well and are bound to put a smile on your face.

The main villain of the film, played by Manish Wadhwa, is a complete disappointment. One note villains are never interesting to watch, but what makes things worse is when they are played by bad actors, which is exactly the case with this film. The action sequences of the film are so bad that you will end up laughing at them. It's Sunny Deol's play ground in which the Pakistani soldiers just keep standing in a line like wooden toys waiting for Sunny Deol to strike them down.

The success of the film has ensured that we will see more films in this series and Anil Sharma will continue to live under the illusion that there is an actor hidden somewhere inside his son; I am no one to stop him from doing what he wants to but I just hope that he has a decently written script in his hand before he starts of his next project.

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Adipurush (2023)

4/10

Waste of time.

20 January 2024

'Adipurush' represents a confused mindset; the director is not sure whether he wants to showcase the story of 'Ramayana' as it is or tell a modern day tale using the core message of Ramayana, something what Mani Ratnam did through Raavan (2010) and as a result of which he has created something that is a bit of both, but unfortunately the movie falters on both counts and fails to leave any kind of impact on you and just bores you to death because of it's never-ending runtime. Also, it's better to stick to simple storytelling if your idea of taking creative liberty is to just borrow scenes from Hollywood films like 'Harry Potter', 'Game of Thrones', 'Planet of the Apes' etc., because that is the complete opposite of being creative.

I was super impressed by Prabhas after watching 'Baahubali', but now he is nowhere to be found. This Prabhas just sleep walks through his role, quite literally, and is extremely boring to watch on screen. Prabhas lacks the charisma that you would expect from the leading actor of a film like this. Sunny Singh, who plays Shesh, perhaps read a completely different script or had no interest in doing this film, because he was never in character. Sunny Singh's dialogue delivery reminded me of the character he played in 'Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety'; someone forgot to remind him that this is a different film. Saif Ali Khan is the only one took his part seriously and has managed to put up a strong performance as 'Lankesh'.

The visual effects of the film are good in some places and bad in some places. A large portion of the film actually looks like an animated film or a video game. The songs of the film are pretty decent.

Directors like Om Raut just blindly follow the old saying of "Make hay while the sun shines"; they are perfectly fine with a poorly crafted film as long as it fits well with the mood of the nation or the kind of movies that have worked of late, but this kind of thinking just reflects a lazy and ignorant mindset because the truth is that a well written story is always timeless. All you have to do is make a good original film that connects with the audience and moves them, but it seems like too much to ask from a filmmaker who finds solace in being banal.

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ImMATURE: Is this how it ends? (2023)

Season 3, Episode 5

4/10

Completely unnecessary season.

8 January 2024

The journey of 'Immature' was done and dusted in the first season itself and what TVF is doing now is just undoing all the good work done by Prem Mistry, Abhishek Yadav, Nishaad Javeri and Suprith Kundar, the original creators of the show. Why is it so difficult for TVF to understand that not every story needs to be told in multiple seasons ? Also, looking at the quality of the season, it's quite clear that the new writers are either not competent enough or don't have enough inspiration to carry forward the story.

The duration of an episode in TVF shows is normally just about half an hour, so the writing is always sharp, things take place at a decent speed and characters don't take forever to come to the point; but unfortunately that is not the case with the new season of Immature. The episode duration is still the same, but the screenplay just comes across as a deflated balloon. The pacing of the episodes this season is extremely slow and the events unfolding on screen just don't engage or excite you at any point of time. Also, TVF should stop calling this show a comedy because it had almost no humour in this season.

Omkar Kulkarni, playing Dhruv, is a good actor and has done a decent job once again, it's just that the script is a complete letdown; he deserves a better show that properly utilizes his acting skills and allows him to play his age. Kanikka Kapoor continues to disappoint in her role of Chhaya. Kanikka Kapoor's dialogue delivery is so bad that she single handedly brought down the entire energy of the show every time she came on screen and spoke her lines. Is she being offered roles just because of her looks being similar to Kiara Advani? TVF's casting team has become quite inconsistent these days. Naman Jain is quite likeable in 'Crushed', the other school show that he is part of, but here he feels like a complete misfit, simply because of the shoes that he has stepped into. The character of 'Susu' was immortalized by the outstanding performance of Visshesh Tiwari, it's just impossible to see any other actor portray that role. Chinmay Chandraunshuh's comic timing is pretty good, as was evident in the first season, but here once again he has been let down by a lackluster script.

Even though it seems like there is another season being planned, I would strongly request TVF to stop the production of this show and move on to something fresh. The creators have unnecessarily stretched this storyline way too much and even the actors don't look like school kids anymore! There is no point in recommending this season to anyone as it would just be a waste of their time. Immature came to an end after the first season, that's it.

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Leo (III) (2023)

8/10

A thoroughly enjoyable film !

19 December 2023

I went in looking for an entertainer in this film and I wasn't disappointed. I found 'Leo' to be a thoroughly enjoyable action adventure that I would easily recommend to anyone and everyone.

WHAT'S GOOD :

1. The movie wastes no time in beating around the bush and hooks your attention right away from the first scene itself. The pacing of the movie was so good that the first time I checked the time, forty minutes had already gone by.

2. The first three action sequences, the battle with the hyena, coffee shop fight and the attack in the market have been choreographed beautifully. Action sequences tend to get boring but if they are written creatively, you won't feel like moving your eyes away from the screen, something I experienced myself in this film as well.

3. I have always thought of Vijay as an entertainer, but through this film he has proved that he is much more than that. The bedroom scene where he has a heart to heart with his wife felt so real, it almost felt like intruding a private conversation; I did not expect this film to take such an emotional route. Both Vijay and Trisha acted beautifully in that scene and almost convinced me that my theory about Leo is perhaps not correct.

4. One might think that the first half an hour was pretty much meaningless in the overall context of the film, but that would be a wrong way to analyze the film, as everything that happens initially leads up to what happens later on, so much so that a surprise towards the end has a connection to the events that take place in the beginning of the film. The writing team deserves to be appreciated because they have done a wonderful job in his film.

5. When it comes to the background music, Anirudh just knocks it out of the park every single time, and in this film he has once again nailed it perfectly. I didn't enjoy all the songs that much but the score is outstanding throughout the film. Also, the Vijay title card during credits with Anirudh's phenomenal music was an absolute joy to watch.

6. The visual effects team did a phenomenal job in the hyena fight sequence as well as the car chase sequence. It is obviously not at par with the standards set by Hollywood, but it's definitely a major improvement from what we have seen in Indian movies in the past.

WHAT'S NOT GOOD :

1. The action sequence in the climax just goes on for too long. After a while the fight sequence just becomes boring and you wish for the movie to get going, but it just went on and on and on. The initial fight scenes of the film were terrific but I didn't quite like the climax fight sequence.

2. Sanjay Dutt always looks quite imposing on screen but i found it a little difficult to see him as the father of Parthiban and on top of that his voice was dubbed. I know they were going for a bigger audience with this film, but I just feel Sanjay Dutt wasn't the right choice for this role.

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Permanent Roommates: Goodbyes (2023)

Season 3, Episode 5

6/10

A new season that no one asked for.

30 November 2023

Why was it necessary to bring this show back ? Who asked for it ? This show was wrapped up quite beautifully in the second season and there was absolutely no need to extend the story, so why did TVF feel the urge to go back to this show after seven years? It's quite interesting to note, that on the day the third season of 'Permanent Roommates' came out, Sameer Saxena and Biswapati Sarkar, the original creators of the show, released Kaala Paani (2023), a first of its kind show in India; which tells you that while the original creators have moved on towards a new experiment, TVF has lost track of time and is still busy romanticizing the past, unwilling to move ahead, explore some new avenues and create some new stories.

The new season of 'Permanent Roommates' offers nothing new, everything just feels like something we have already seen a number of times. The only bits of this season that offer some sort of enjoyment are the scenes that involve the most memorable supporting characters of the show, like 'Purshottam' (played by Deepak Kumar Mishra), 'Leo' (played by Anandeshwar Dwivedi) and Choubey Ji (played by the amazing Sudheer Chobessey). It goes without saying that Mikesh and Tanya are very well written characters, but what's the point of visiting them again and again? For how long can you possibly milk them? When creators run out of ideas, they go back to old successful projects and start making their sequels to encash the nostalgia associated with them and as a result of that a substandard screenplay is turned into an actual film; I never thought that TVF would end up doing something like that.

We expect TVF to come up with revolutionary and path-breaking content but they just don't want to step out of their comfort zone and are stuck in a never ending loop of predictability. TVF really needs to do some self-introspection at this point and remind themselves of their own tagline, "lights, camera and experiment", because clearly they have forgotten about the "experiment" part.

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Hostel Daze: Hostel Departure (2023)

Season 4, Episode 6

9/10

Nikhil Vijay......Just remember the name !

28 November 2023

I am glad TVF took the criticism received after the second season seriously and put in some genuine effort to improve the quality of the show. The third season was a massive improvement from the disastrous second season and with this one they have completely outdone themselves once again. Of course, the first season continues to be the best one but full marks to the creators for this fantastic effort. This season not only entertains but also impacts you emotionally and is guaranteed to leave you with a tear or two by the end of the show. TVF has mastered this art of creating shows that make you laugh as well as cry but I wasn't expecting something like this from a show like 'Hostel Daze'.

WHAT'S GOOD :

1. Unlike the previous three seasons, this season had a common thread that ran parallel to the central plot of every episode. This is what differentiates a web show from five random YouTube videos made for entertainment; this is what lends more believability to the universe being depicted in the show; something unique takes place in every episode, but the characters haven't forgotten the other things taking place in their life.

2. As always, Nikhil Vijay, the powerhouse of talent leads from the front in the acting department. Nikhil Vijay's performance during his monologue about placement to Shubham Gaur (who plays Rupesh Bhati) and his facial expressions after he gets placed hit you hard. I never thought I would cry watching a show like Hostel Daze, but that is exactly what happened during that scene. The writing and Nikhil Vijay's phenomenal performance ensure that you genuinely care for his character and his success felt like a personal achievement. Watching that scene, I felt happy not only for the character Jatin Kishore but also the actor that is Nikhil Vijay; this is the guy we have been rooting for since the first season, this is the guy we have enjoyed watching in so many YouTube videos, so watching him perform brilliantly on this big stage just fills you with pride. Hostel Daze would be nothing without Nikhil Vijay and the crazy character that he has portrayed in the show.

3. It's one thing to make a good season that entertains the viewers, but it takes a lot of effort to come up with a near perfect ending that leaves the viewers with tears in their eyes and a smile on their face, so kudos to the writers for achieving this rare feat. The final episode had already given us a solid ending with the farewell of Jatin Kishore but that final phone call between Jatin and Rakhi completely took me by surprise and made me so happy that I almost felt like standing and applauding for the legend that was Jatin. That ending may have felt bittersweet but it was a memorable one for sure.

4. One thing that I always look forward to in Hostel Daze is which actors are going to break the fourth wall while narrating the story of the episode. Thankfully, TVF did not break the tradition in the final season and we have a well-known face breaking the fourth wall in every episode. Among the guest appearances of this season, Gopal Dutt was easily the best. His acting was as flawless as always but the dialogues that were delivered by him were actually very well written.

WHAT'S NOT GOOD :

1. The songs were not at par with what we usually hear in TVF shows. The music of first season, composed by Vaibhav Bundhoo, was so good that it's remembered even four years after its release; I just wished the creators had asked Vaibhav to compose some songs for this season as well. The writing of the final few scenes was outstanding, I just wish the song that played in the background was equally memorable.

2. The twist added in the final few moments of the show was completely unnecessary and should have been avoided. The show was coming to a beautiful end, there was absolutely no need to take it to a completely different direction.

3. The selection of Utsav Sarkar once again raises the question as to what happened to TVF's impeccable casting team. Although, he was much more watchable in this season, it goes without saying that Utsav Sarkar's acting skills are not at par with the other actors of the show and he is definitely a terrible replacement of Adarsh Gourav. The only good thing is that he is no more the main lead of the show and has been reduced to a side character.

Now that this show is over, I really hope that TVF steps out of its comfort zone, because it's quite clear that they are stuck in some kind of a loop, where they just want to make the same kind of stories over and over again. The tagline of TVF has always been, "Lights, camera and experiment", I just hope the creative team remembers that as well.

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Sex Education: Episode 8 (2021)

Season 3, Episode 8

8/10

The writers need to hear it out that we need more of Otis and Ruby !

4 October 2023

Warning: Spoilers

So finally we got to see what we were robbed off in the finale of the second season, Otis and Maeve confessed their love for each other, but unfortunately it did not have the desired impact on me. This is what happens when you unnecessarily delay something purely out of greed. The creators realized that they had messed up in the final few scenes of the season 2 finale, a beautiful message written by Otis was deleted by Isaac before it could be read by Maeve, so they had to re-create that scene with Otis reading out everything that he had written, word by word, which was stupid, and then the much awaited kiss happened between Otis and Maeve, except that as an audience it couldn't give me the happiness that it should have, because the moment had passed and I was rooting for someone else to be with Otis.

In this new season, Sex Education continues to break boundaries, by talking about some more taboo topics like gender queer with a character like Cal Bowman. The show continues to make its contribution towards normalizing things that are often brushed under the carpet because they make people uncomfortable. This show presents itself as a test of how liberal are you, by showing you all the things that most people just don't want to talk about. Just imagine the plight of all those people who don't have the freedom to live their life the way they want to, with the person they want to. These people are not harming anyone, they are not terrorists and yet they are being treated like one. They don't find acceptance in the society, and two consenting adults have to seek permission from a third, fourth and fifth person in order to get married, and in most countries they don't get that permission. In some countries, they get a death penalty. This should make everyone understand the importance of Sex Education and what a commendable job they are doing. This show is not only entertaining you but also educating you.

It's not possible to mention the positives of this season without talking about Jemima Kirke. After watching the trailer, I got the impression that we will have an evil headmistress this season who all of us would end up hating, but surprisingly I fell in love with her ! In every single scene, she looks extremely beautiful and attractive. The way she talks, her dressing sense, her entire body language makes a striking impact on you, and as a viewer you can't focus on anything else when she is on screen. Forget about hating her, Jemima Kirke as Hope Haddon has such a scintillating presence, you just want to see more of her, wish for a woman like her in your own life. She is not exactly a negative character, she is just doing her job and in that process ends up taking some tough decisions. Towards the end, where she opens up in front of Otis (who else), you feel a lot of empathy for her. I really hope the writers bring her back in the next season, because Jemima Kirke literally killed it this season with her fantastic performance. Just imagine having a professor as sexy as Jemima Kirke, no student would be able to take their eyes off her !

The writers surprised us last season by introducing an unexpected friendship developing between Ruby and Otis. That story-line continued in this season but not in the way any of us would have liked. To watch Otis move around Ruby like her dog was unbearable, but thankfully all that was short-lived as Otis took a stand and called out Ruby for behavior. I felt really happy at that moment, and to my surprise something unexpected happened, Ruby didn't break-up with him, instead she decided to change for him. Finally Ruby found someone, who didn't like her for being rich, beautiful, hot and arrogant. Otis was honest with her and called out her fake attitude and offered his real friendship, which she happily accepted. And that's how it began, the most beautiful romantic relationship in all three seasons of Sex Education. The most memorable part of this season was the relationship between Otis and Ruby and the best episode was the third episode.

Finally we got to explore the other side of Ruby, her real side, something she had been hiding from the world. Till now, all the boys were attracted to her only for her beauty, they weren't really interested in knowing what kind of life she lived outside of School. But Otis never really believed in having superficial relationships, he always believed in developing connections and made an effort to know the real side of the person. While others saw Ruby as an arrogant beauty queen, Otis treated her as just another human being. This unexpected affection surprised Ruby, and allowed her to be vulnerable in front of him. Till now, all the viewers were rooting for Otis and Maeve to get together, but the bond developed between Otis and Ruby came out of nowhere. I had no idea, that this would be such an enjoyable thing to watch, and dare I say, I like the pairing of Otis and Ruby way more than Otis and Maeve. And that's why, it was heartbreaking to see what happened at the end of the episode. The reaction that Ruby (Mimi Keene) gave after her phone call with Otis was heart wrenching and I am pretty sure it must have melted millions of hearts worldwide. Her silent face spoke a thousand words. What's worse is that the writers somehow forgot about Ruby in the second half of the show. Asa Butterfield (Otis Milburn) has always been fabulous as far as acting performance is concerned, but what Mimi Keene (Ruby Matthews) did in this episode was quite a revelation, her portrayal of the Ruby that she had hidden from the outside world was just beautiful. I would love to explore more of her works and really hope that she gets noticed by filmmakers worldwide so that we get to see her in even better roles than this one.

I did not like the Maeve story-line at all this season. Otis and Isaac fooling around her and fighting like kids was plain stupid. You have created such a wonderful character like Otis, who is sensitive, intelligent and an introvert, well somewhat, so why would he indulge in such activities ? Why would he say things like that to Maeve ? Also, how could Maeve fall in love with Isaac so easily despite knowing what he did ? How did she lose her sense of judgement? All that just did not make sense to me, that was just bad writing.

The whole love triangle between Eric, Adam and Rahim is quite idiotic. First Eric and Adam were together, then Rahim came up and he and Eric got together, but in the end Eric broke up with Rahim and went back to Adam, and in this season Eric once again broke up with Adam and now Adam and Rahim are together ! What is happening here ? I didn't enjoy this storyline at all, because it felt like a repetitive storyline going around in a loop. There is a limit to everything and you must not stretch a storyline when you don't have a story to tell.

The storyline involving Michael Groff was quite tiring and sad to watch, but Alistair Petrie portrayed the role very convincingly. Towards the end you do feel bad for the character, but I also wish that the writers had given a little less screen time to his storyline. It felt like the writers were just filling in the empty spaces, but in doing that they completely ignored the revelation of season 3, Mimi Keene.

In conclusion, the third season of Sex Education was quite entertaining as usual, but it felt quite long this time as the writers didn't have a lot of story to tell, and the one story that they could have expanded was given an abrupt ending. I really hope they bring back Otis and Ruby together in the next season because that is the pair we want to see. I really hope that instead of trying to touch too many topics, the creators should focus on the key characters of the show and give them more screen time. It's great that you want to talk about everything, but in that process you can't really ignore the storylines of our favourite characters. No series should go on forever, and I firmly believe that the writers should starting thinking about the endgame of Sex education as well before the audience starts losing interest in it.

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Sex Education: Episode 8 (2023)

Season 4, Episode 8

4/10

Not the climax i was hoping for.

2 October 2023

At the end of this season, one does wonder as to what exactly was the point of this show? Why did they stretch this show to four seasons when clearly they didn't have anything new or interesting to depict? This season was a complete waste of time as there was absolutely nothing in it that stood out, it didn't say anything that hadn't already been said before and it didn't take the story forward in any way because by the end of it we are still where we were at the end of the last season.

A big problem with Sex Education throughout its journey has been that it tends to digress from its main storyline and pay more attention to the sub plots or the storyline of its supporting characters, characters that no one really cares for. Introduction of interesting new characters is always welcome, but the creators shouldn't forget the main reason why people watch this show. A number of new characters get introduced in this season as well, but the problematic part is that they end up getting more screen time than our central characters. Also, why do they dedicate so much time to social commentary? It's good to talk about social issues but after a while it just feels like force feeding. I felt like this season was more interested in male bashing than throwing some spotlight on the social issues ailing our society. In the name of feminism and liberalism, sometimes filmmakers overstep the line so much that they end up in the realm of absurdity and that is exactly what happens in this season.

Otis, Maeve, Ruby, Eric and Adam are the main characters of the show and I feel it would have been great if the creators focused only on them and not on some irrelevant characters that no one really cares for. In my personal opinion, Otis and Ruby should have got together in the end because they truly understand each other and never try to be pretentious in front of each other. Otis and Maeve had the chance of getting together in the first two seasons, but the writers got so greedy that I just lost interest in that relationship. Also, it was Otis who followed Maeve everywhere like a faithful friend and took care of her, Maeve never really cared for him, she just used him as and when she wanted to. On the other hand, Ruby underwent a major transformation in the company of Otis and revealed her vulnerable side to her because she found genuine warmth in his friendship. The relationship of Otis and Ruby was extremely delightful to watch on screen and easily one of the high points of this show, and yet the creators decided to destroy that beautiful relationship. Why did they have to do that? It's not like the viewers didn't want it, or there was some kind of outrage against it; in fact as far as I know most viewers actually wanted Otis and Ruby to be the endgame. So why did the writers give Ruby such a step motherly treatment? Even in this season, as soon as Otis and Ruby started working together, things became so much more interesting. I seriously wished for a show which only focused on their storyline because it was the most entertaining to watch, but instead the creators sidelined the character of Ruby Matthew, played wonderfully by Mimi Keene, and reduced her to a state of irrelevance, which was completely unjustified. In the overall scheme of things, it seems as if the Otis and Ruby subplot meant nothing to the writers, so what was the point of introducing a romantic relationship between Ruby and Otis ? The heartless manner in which the writers disregarded that relationship was quite shocking to see.

A television show is spread over multiple seasons because the entire story cannot be told in just one season, but in the case of 'Sex Education' I feel like the writers didn't have enough story and hence they kept circling around the same plot and created some uninteresting subplots just because they had to. For example, what was the point of 'Jackson' wondering about whether he had testicular cancer or not? That storyline added no value to the show, the sole reason for its existence was to increase the duration of the season. Why was so much screen time allotted to Roman and Abbi's storyline? I had zero interest in knowing the events of their life and yet I was forced to watch them as the showrunners treated them as the main protagonists of the show. Also what kind of people were Roman and Abbi? Two individuals who couldn't even properly decide if they wanted to live like a man or a woman? Is Netflix out to change the world with this show? Why is it so difficult for an individual to accept themselves as they are born? It is often said that excess of anything is bad and this show is a great example of that. Every sub plot acts pretty much as a filler, except that the screen time allotted to those subplots was way more than the main storyline of the show, the one that I actually cared about.

The most heartwarming thing of this season was Adam's reunion with his family. I was totally hooked into that storyline and felt very happy to see at least someone getting a happy ending in the show. The way divorce and multiple marriages have been normalized in our society, it came across as a pleasant surprise to see a family coming together for a change. I really liked Jem, played by the beautiful Bella Maclean, and found her track with Adam to be quite engaging. Ncuti Gatwa is an astonishing talent who has been consistently good throughout this series and in this season his performance towered above everyone else. Ncuti's portrayal of Eric has been thoroughly entertaining to watch and truly blessed are the souls who have a friend like him in their lives. Eric's final speech in the church, with him not only accepting himself as he is but also fearlessly announcing it to the world was very satisfying to watch.

Why are the creators scared of giving the viewers what they want to see in the final season? The most 'predictable ending' may not make everyone happy, but it would still be better than not making anyone happy. What is the need to experiment or shock the viewers in the final season, why can't the creators give us what we have been looking forward to since the beginning of the show? Why is it so difficult to give our lead characters the happy ending that they all deserve? In the end, the viewers are left with a lot of frustration and a number of unanswered questions, as yet another favourite show of theirs ends in a disappointing manner.

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Friday Night Plan (2023)

5/10

Not a great plan.

26 September 2023

'Friday Night Plan' just feels like a lazy effort. It's easy to see why it got released on Netflix and not in theatres, what I don't understand is that why did they even make this movie in the first place? The creators of this film wanted to make something similar to Hollywood films like "Superbad", but were not creative enough to make it relatable for every student or at least the majority of them. Does 'Prom Night' exist in Indian schools?

The movie feels like a ride that remains in the first gear throughout its runtime. It seems as if the director wanted to copy a Hollywood movie but wasn't sure about the extent to which he should get inspired. One would expect the 'Friday Night Plan' to be one crazy night where the excitement level hits the roof, considering how eager the students were to be there, but the party just turned out to be lamer than the birthday parties of twelve year old children. Frankly speaking, that was just a boring party and I don't see how anyone would have a good time being there. It's safe to say that not a lot of effort went into writing the screenplay of this film, as it fails to intrigue you at any point of time and throughout the film I kept wondering as to how to do producers approve such projects?

Babil Khan made a fairly impressive debut in 'Qala' but he came across as slightly uncomfortable in this film. Babil has the advantage of looking almost exactly like his father, the late Irfaan Khan, but he needs to work on his dialogue delivery. On the other hand, Amrith Jayan, the actor who plays the role of Aditya, came across as a complete natural on screen. The confidence with which Amrith has portrayed his role, makes it difficult to believe that this was actually his debut film. Amrith's dialogue delivery, body language and expressions are just too good, and it goes without saying that he has outshined every other actor in this film. The two female leads of the film, Medha Rana and Aadhya Anand don't get to do any heavy lifting in the film, but showed a lot of promise in the limited screen time provided to them by the film.

'Friday Night Plan' is a mildly interesting feel good film that fades in comparison to even the YouTube videos we see on a daily basis to entertain ourselves.

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Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023)

6/10

A long and boring lecture that just goes on forever.

12 September 2023

Through this film Karan Johar tries to teach his audience to be more progressive and let go of stupid old traditions because they were not right in the first place and have not improved our lives in any way. It's good to talk about all these things, I just wish Karan Johar himself followed what he has preached in the film, because looking at the title of the film, it seems Karan still believes that changing the spelling of a name will actually make his film a success.

WHAT'S GOOD :

1. Ranveer Singh was easily the best part of this film. His flamboyant portrayal of Rocky Randhawa was extremely entertaining to watch and the movie would have benefitted a lot if he was the main focus of the film. Not for a moment does it feel like Ranveer is forcing himself to act and also he never feels out of character. Once again Ranveer proves how good of an actor he is and it goes without saying that he is an absolute joy to watch on screen.

2. Every scene involving Dharmendra was truly worth watching. The veteran actor has a charming screen presence and even at this age can act better than most of his co-actors. The emotional impact of the dialogues delivered by Dharmendra was more than any other actor in the film; I just wish he had more scenes in the film.

3. Tota Roy Chowdhury's performance was easily the best among the supporting actors of the film. The scene where he reveals his story to Rocky was extremely heartwarming to watch and of course his dancing was phenomenal throughout the film. Aamir Bashir is an extremely underrated and unfortunately a very underutilized talent of our film industry; be it 'Inside Edge', 'School of Lies' and now this, he always delivers a top quality performance but for some mysterious reason remains under the radar. Jaya Bachchan as the evil mother reminded me of Amitabh Bachchan in [url=tt0213890] with some added goofiness. I didn't like her character at all, which only means that she played her role quite convincingly.

WHAT'S NOT GOOD :

1. The movie just goes on forever, as if it's on a mission to bore it's viewer to death before coming to an end. When the trailer itself has informed the viewers about it's central conflict, then why does the movie waste an hour to get there? Also, after the houses are interchanged, the movie just turns into a television show, with no real intention of reaching anywhere. There is absolutely no way this movie should have had a runtime of three hours; a ninety minute runtime was more than enough.

2. Karan Johar's films are known for their music but unfortunately this one has forgettable songs. A number of songs have been thrown into the mix, but by the time you are done watching the film, you don't remember any of them. Pritam has been delivering some beautiful songs of late, but it seems even he wasn't inspired to create some gems for this dull and boring story. Every single song of the film should have been rejected at the editing table.

3. The movie starts off nicely with some genuinely entertaining scenes thanks to Ranveer Singh's flamboyant portrayal of Rocky Randhawa, but soon turns into a lecture of morals and code of conduct with non-stop lessons being forced upon you in every single scene. Now it's a good thing to talk about social evils, but it has to be done in an organic manner and it definitely should not be the whole point of the film. Also, the movie gets carried away so much in some scenes while lecturing that it just becomes absolutely nonsensical. What was the whole point of that 'bra' shop scene? Was it really necessary for Ranveer to wear a bra to understand the point? Normally, people are hesitant in talking about their undergarments, they are not ashamed of it. That scene went unnecessarily over the top. Also, how is it wrong if someone is shy to talk about undergarments? That whole sequence felt like a case of feminism gone wrong.

4. The whole movie has the feel of an Ekta Kapoor soap opera, something that we stopped watching a long time back. Rich people dressed up all the time as if they are about to go for a wedding; mind games being played between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law; even the background music reminded me of the music that played during the Ekta Kapoor produced television shows.

5. The movie tells the story of two families, one of them being conservative while the other one being liberal and progressive. Now, it's completely fine for people to have different beliefs but to show one family as regressive while the other one as progressive is stretching it a bit too much. Life needs balance in order to function properly, you need to be progressive as well as a conservative; it makes no sense to declare one way of life as wrong because both of them have their downsides. Extreme form of anything will only lead you towards the realm of absurdity, where nothing good can ever exist, so it's always best to maintain a good balance in life as it allows us to take the most logical and sensible decisions in life.

6. Alia Bhatt wasn't a good choice for this role. Of late it has become common to push Alia Bhatt's name for every big project, regardless of whether she is suitable for it or not and this of course being a Karan Johar directorial, he was obviously going to take her considering the amount of love that he has for her; but unfortunately he took a wrong decision. From the very first scene, an attempt was made to portray Alia Bhatt's character as a very sexy woman, who wears sarees and has a voice of her own, but the director failed to do so convincingly, simply because Alia Bhatt wasn't fit for this role. Alia Bhatt's baby face and her voice completely takes you out of the kind of scene that the director was trying to showcase. This role required someone like an Aishwarya Rai or Kareena Kapoor or Kiara Advani. Even her acting felt forced on a number of occasions; she just wasn't cut out for this role.

7. I was hoping to find some comedy in the film, but apart from the "Big Boss" joke I didn't find anything to be particularly funny. Regardless of how we see 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho' today, one can't deny that they had a lot of humour.

I had high expectations from this one after all the praise it received from the critics, but I guess it was naïve of me to trust the judgement of critics in the first place. 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani' is a long and boring lecture that just doesn't know that it needs to conclude things as well.

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Bawaal (2023)

5/10

You don't need a hammer to slice tomatoes.

21 August 2023

Warning: Spoilers

Why did this film go for a digital release despite being directed by Nitesh Tiwari, who has previously directed 'Dangal' is a question that I am sure a lot of viewers must have pondered over. After watching the film you do get the sense as to why it couldn't gain the confidence of the exhibitors. Getting straight to the point, the connection that this movie tries to establish with Hitler and World War 2 is rather bizarre and fails completely in convincing the viewer to buy into that idea. I understood what the director wanted to say, that no matter how big you think of yourself and your problems to be, there is someone else out there who has faced something much worse and yet tried to live their life in the most normal way possible; there is no point in crying for what you don't have, just make the best of what you have because it could have been worse; but there was no need to integrate World War 2 to prove this point. Throughout the film the director failed to establish a meaningful connection between the events of World War and the life of our protagonists; the only thing that he managed to do was give us all a good history lesson.

The action sequences have been done very well, there is nothing to criticize in the production design and cinematography of all the flashback sequences, the only problem is none of it was necessary. Auschwitz is a rather disturbing chapter of world history, using it to resolve a trivial issue of a couple was quite stupid in my honest opinion; I don't think you need a hammer to slice a tomato. In one particular scene, an Auschwitz survivor talks about his love story, which was a poor attempt by the director to establish a connection between World War and the love life of our protagonists; the connection has to be organic, you can't force people to create one. Also, it was difficult for me to understand as to why was a girl like Nisha, with all the qualifications that she had, putting up with a guy like Ajay? The behavior of Ajay, played by Varun Dhawan, was a bit too much; I find it difficult to believe that an educated girl would tolerate so much humiliation. If Ajay had made it clear that he doesn't wish to be with her, then why was Nisha still living with him?

The movie doesn't start or end well, it's only in the middle that it somewhat redeems itself with some charming romantic moments between Ajay and Nisha. The sequences in which Ajay and Nisha roam around Europe and explore each other are easily the best and the most enjoyable part of the film. Janhvi Kapoor has never looked this beautiful in any film of hers, though as far as acting is concerned she still comes across as quite stiff. Varun Dhawan does not play a very likeable character but he is extremely believable as the moron that Ajay is. Only question is why would the School hire a History teacher with no knowledge of History?

One bad film does not make you a bad director and in the case of Nitesh Tiwari, he has already proven himself with "Dangal", but he needs to realize that this was a bad film and he needs to stay away from such stupid ideas.

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Made in Heaven: A Taste of Heaven (2023)

Season 2, Episode 7

4/10

Poor writing and unnecessary male bashing ensure that this season does not give you a heavenly experience.

17 August 2023

Most Indian web shows are not made with the intention of carrying forward the story into multiple seasons, and I strongly believe that filmmakers shouldn't go ahead with a new season unless they have an actual story to tell. After watching the first two episodes of this season, I just felt that perhaps this show didn't really need a second season. The first two episodes didn't leave any kind of impact on me as such and it felt like I was watching the show only because I had to and not because I wanted to. It was the third episode, where things finally got exciting. That's the magic of having a good director helm your show - Neeraj Ghaywan in this case - as they are quite capable of shaking things up and making the show more engaging for the viewers. I was thoroughly entertained watching the third episode and eagerly anticipated the next one as soon as this one came to an end. The writing on this episode was sharper, the pacing was fantastic and the actors finally made me believe that they wanted to be a part of this new season.

I was hoping that perhaps after a slow start this season would now pick it's pace, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Neeraj Ghaywan came back to direct the fifth episode and transformed 'Made in Heaven' into a completely different show once again. This episode was once again packed with some brilliant performances and very beautifully integrated an extremely relevant social issue in it's central plot. It goes without saying that the two episodes directed by Neeraj Ghaywan were the most praiseworthy episodes of this season, the only two that I would want to watch again. The rest of the season was highly problematic. When it happens in one or two episodes, you could say the creator just wants to highlight the problem because it's also a social issue, but if it happens in every single episode then you know that the showrunners have an agenda here. I felt like this season was more interested in male bashing than throwing some spotlight on the social issues ailing our society. In the name of feminism and liberalism, sometimes filmmakers overstep the line so much that they end up in the realm of absurdity and that is exactly what happens in this season.

In the first season I was more interested in the social issues being tackled in every episode than the events taking place in the lives of the main characters, and the showrunners also gave equal weightage to the two threads running in parallel, but in this season the marriage event takes a backseat and more attention is given to the lives of our main characters, which did not always make for a great watch because it was repetitive, boring and often frustrating. Even though this new season also takes up a number of social evils, but because the focus is primarily on the lives of our main characters, we are unable to fully invest in the issues being highlighted and as a result don't get affected as much as we did in the first season.

Made in Heaven made it quite clear in the first season that the protagonists of this show are grey characters, but with this season they have pretty much turned into Lord Voldemort, I just don't like them anymore. According to the showrunners, all the problems in this world are due to men, women are just victims, if a woman does something wrong then there is nothing wrong in it because she is just ambitious and wants to live her life independently, but if a man does something wrong he needs to be called out for it and punished severely. What kind of nonsensical ideology is that? How exactly are we supposed to empathize with 'Tara' in the final episode after the treatment she gives to Adil's mother? If the showrunners wanted us to hate 'Tara' after the final episode, then they clearly succeeded in doing that. It was such a relief to see Raghav parting ways with Tara in the end, no man deserves to be with a woman like that. This season feels like a case of feminism gone wrong.

Kabir and Jaspreet, possibly the most likeable characters of the show, had some beautiful scenes in the first season, but this season turns Jaspreet into a victim and paints Kabir as a bad person. It was mind boggling to see Jaspreet pointing fingers at Kabir even though every single one of those allegations could have been pointed at her as well! Kabir played by Shashank Arora was such a likeable character in the first season, but in this one he is hardly seen anywhere. Why did the writers destroy such a wonderful character? Why do the writers forget that Kabir is the one summarizing and narrating the story? How can a man who understands everything so deeply be so ambiguous about everything in his own life? Did the showrunners seriously ruin Kabir's character just because they had to show every man as a bad person?

This season also had two cameos by Jim Sarbh and Kalki Koechlin, yes the same two actors who were part of the main cast in the first season. Why were two amazing central characters given a treatment like this is a question that can be answered only by the showrunners. Jim Sarbh was brilliant as Adil Khanna in the handful of scenes that he was given this season, and it was frustrating to not see more of him. Were the actors not available for the filming of this season? Did the showrunners run out of ideas for them?

Mona Singh was the most notable new addition to the show in this season as Bulbul Jauhari and she did a fantastic job. Bulbul Jauhari was not only a very likeable character but the portrayal by Mona Singh was extremely believable as well. The track given to Karan and Meher in this season made me wonder, that is that all what their life is about? Looking for dates all the time, having sex with random people, taking drugs all the time? We got introduced to a new character in this season called Meher, who is so desperate that she is continuously swiping left and right, looking for hook-ups, even when she is at work; there was nothing else that the showrunners felt like telling us about her life. Also, the showrunners just casually ignored the fact that Karan stole eighteen lakh rupees from the company, he never gave an explanation for that and life just went on. The writing of this season was seriously messed up.

A couple of things in this season made me wonder if the showrunners are trying to cater to an international audience or they are completely out of touch with reality. While the first season was around 70 percent in English, this season was around 99 percent in English. It was fine in the first season because the rich and affluent people do tend to talk in English, but in this season everyone was talking in English all the time, including Ramesh Jauhari and his family, which felt extremely odd. Also, I could not understand the reasoning behind Ramesh Jauhari and his family eating food with spoons and knives. I don't think even a single middle class household in India eats their food like that. Who exactly were the showrunners trying to impress here ? Also has Zoya Akhtar and her team never met any normal Muslims? In the first Muslim wedding, alcohol was being served to everyone while the main Nikaah ceremony wasn't even shown, while the second one was a case of polygamy! It just reflects the major disconnect showrunners have with the culture.

Too much of anything can be bad and the final episode is a good example of that, where we see a rather bizarre wedding in which a bride marries herself. In the name of feminism and liberalism, sometimes filmmakers overstep the line so much that they end up in the realm of absurdity and that is exactly what happens in this episode and the season as well. By the time this season ends, one actually feels happy for Adil, his sister Gauri, his mother and Faiza; they may have lost their house, but at least they have each other; Tara on the other hand is left to live alone in that big house with her selfishness. How do the showrunners expect the viewers to root for the main leads after all this is beyond my understanding. Despite a longer runtime for each episode, this season feels extremely hollow and disappoints big time. Barring the episodes directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, there is nothing that I would wish to watch again from this season and I am certainly not looking forward to the next season.

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Farzi: Cat and Mouse (2023)

Season 1, Episode 6

9/10

Brilliant episode !

4 May 2023

This was the shortest episode of the season but there was so much going on in it and at such a good pace that once again it felt like watching a mini movie. I loved the back and forth kind of situation portrayed in this episode as it was not only entertaining to watch but it also created a balance between the two sides. The chaotic scenario created due to no one getting an upper hand despite their best efforts was extremely enjoyable to watch.

This episode tried to emphasize on the fact that Megha has fallen head over heels in love with Sunny and is thinking more with her heart than with her mind when it comes to him; all this was done perhaps to make us understand as to why she is not finding anything off with Sunny. Although I still feel that Megha shouldn't have fallen in Sunny's trap, it's great to see the two of them together.

The highlight of this episode was the sequence that involved transporting the fake notes from Oman to Mumbai. It's rare to see a ship being featured in any Indian movie or a series, so it's always a sight when something like that happens and on top of that when you have some emphatic music, composed by Ketan Sodha, playing in the background, that scene becomes even more powerful. It was a pleasant surprise to see Anastasiya Ador in this episode, who was very impressive as the cunning and charming Svetlana. I was happy to see Anastasiya finally getting the opportunity of doing a proper role instead of the five minute cameos we usually see her doing. Anastasiya is quite an amazing talent but for some reason hasn't yet found her footing in the film industry; I really hope it changes after 'Farzi'.

The writing team hasn't missed a beat in this season so far and that consistency continued in this episode. Almost every scene had some amount of humour, with the conversation between Zakir Hussain and Vijay Sethupathi taking the cake as usual. It's unbelievable to see the amount of humour that has been packed in this show, even comedy films don't make you laugh so much even though that is what their primary job is. It's truly an incredible style of storytelling in my honest opinion and Raj and DK have my respect for that.

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Farzi: Second Oldest Profession (2023)

Season 1, Episode 5

9/10

A fantastic episode that felt like watching a mini movie.

19 April 2023

After a small break, Farzi is back to it's normal course of action and is sprinting ahead at a breakneck speed once again. It's almost like a new beginning with Sunny and Mansoor teaming up and creating new problems for Michael and Megha's CCFART unit. This needs to be said again and again that it's a very enjoyable show that keeps your excitement level high in every single episode.

Shahid Kapoor has that unique quality to look extremely innocuous and innocent as well as ruthless with complete conviction as per requirement. In Farzi, we get to see two different sides of Munna, and Shahid Kapoor has been doing a phenomenal role in portraying both of them. Kay Kay Menon has a personality that makes you believe that he is actually the kind of person that he is portraying. Also, it never really seems like Kay Kay is acting, he keeps switching his style of talking seamlessly as per the scene and his portrayal always comes across as flawless; when you see an actor like him perform, it makes you feel that he is indeed a true 'artist'. Bhuvan Arora has also been doing an amazing job as Firoz; he is not some random supporting actor that you won't notice, he actually holds his own in front of an actor like Shahid Kapoor.

The dialogues of Farzi, written by Hussain Dalal, are very good. It's funny how things change when you are working with a much more competent script and under the guidance of good quality filmmakers like Raj and DK. A few months back, Hussain Dalal was being bashed left right and centre for writing some cringe worthy dialogues for 'Brahmastra', and now in Farzi he has delivered absolute gems in the name of dialogues. The scene where Yasir questions Munna's decision of working with Mansoor Dalal was a brilliant scene with some beautiful dialogues.

The background score by Ketan Sodha continues to be outstanding. The composer has been trying to create something unique and unheard of for this show and that is something truly remarkable. Every scene becomes more powerful because of the brilliant music being added to it by Ketan Sodha.

It was very surprising to see characters of The Family Man (2019) in this episode. In one of the previous episodes, we did get to see Inspector Shinde, who was also in The Family Man (2019), but I didn't think too much about it, but in this episode the creators made it loud and clear that they fall in the same universe and perhaps we might see a cross over between the two shows. It was a pleasant surprise and quite exciting to see characters from 'The Family Man' in this episode.

I know the creators let us know in the previous episode about how desperate Megha was for a new flat but what happened in this episode was a little difficult to digest. Megha's software CT-600 became a major stumbling block in the fake note market and on top of that Mansoor Dalal's right hand man Bilal got arrested by Michael and his team, clearly things are a little shaky for Mansoor Dalal; so when a stranger tried to get over friendly with Megha, so much so that he got her a sea facing flat at a price of her choice, why didn't she get suspicious? Also, when Sunny needed the phone, he could have asked his broker friend, but he asked her and she gave it to him without any hesitation, the same phone that receives confidential messages from the CCFART unit. Throughout the show, Megha has been portrayed as a very sharp minded girl, but that scene between Sunny and Megha broke that continuity. That whole storyline couldn't make me believe that a smart girl like Megha would fall for something like that. The show was trying to put across the point that after being constantly pestered by her mother, Megha too started believing that perhaps she needs someone in her life, which is why she allowed herself to be vulnerable when a charming young man came up to her and offered help, but unfortunately it just came across as plot convenience. Of course it brought together Sunny and Megha, two good looking individuals, so there is nothing much to complain about.

Apart from that one criticism, I absolutely loved this episode. As always it felt like watching a mini movie packed with plenty of drama, action, suspense and a possible romance.

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Farzi: Dhanrakshak (2023)

Season 1, Episode 4

9/10

A somewhat filler episode, but a very good one, nevertheless.

15 April 2023

This episode felt like what we often call in a series as a filler episode. Although it did move the story and take it to a critical junction, most of it was giving us details of what's happening in the personal lives of our key players. Some people may not like these episodes, but I feel they are necessary not only because they act as a breather after some high intensity action packed episodes but also because they add a human touch to our heroes. Regardless of how heavy their workload may be, these characters are still human beings not robots, they have a life beyond duty and everything they do in their professional life does have an impact on their personal life.

Once again the comedy in this episode was extremely quirky and evokes laughter out of you because it hits you out of nowhere. I feel this is a great style of storytelling as it ensures viewers stay in high spirits while watching the show and don't feel bored at any moment. Vijay Sethupathi shines once again with his comic timing in the latest chapter of the Tom and Jerry saga going on in the show.

I really like that they are trying to break some stereotypes with the character of Megha. She is a girl, but doesn't really care about marriage, is obsessed with her work, has aspirations to do something big for the country and on top of everything loves eating food, lots and lots of food; I don't remember the last time the leading actress of a film was shown filling her plate with so much food.

It was good to see that Raj and DK are not shying away from doing some social commentary in their show despite all the restrictions under which web shows are made these days. Everything said by Sunny and Michael was extremely true and relevant, and also it was a nice touch to integrate humour in those monologues as it makes such harsh truths somewhat palatable and digestible.

The screenplay has been so good so far that I didn't even realize the absence of Mansoor Dalal, portrayed by Kay Kay Menon. So finally our local hero gets noticed by the biggest player of this game and we reach exactly the point from where the show started. Kay Kay Menon has a very intimidating style of talking and you know he's not messing around when he threatens you. Kay Kay was fantastic in that conversation sequence with Shahid Kapoor. Earlier Sunny was making a five hundred rupee note but now he will be making a two thousand rupee note, a metaphorical way of telling us that he has levelled up and is now playing a bigger game.

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Farzi: CCFART (2023)

Season 1, Episode 3

9/10

Every episode is turning out to be better than it's predecessor.

13 April 2023

This episode felt like watching an hour long movie that was packed with content and was sprinting at the speed of light. I didn't even realize that an hour had gone by, that's how engaging it was. There are shows which move at a snail's pace because they barely have any story to tell, and then there are Raj & DK, who stack up so much content in one episode that an average filmmaker would use up to create at least three episodes. Technically this show falls under the genre of drama and thriller, but it also qualifies as a comedy, because of the amount of humour every episode has. The whole sequence where Firoz and Yasir set up MKG Publishing was absolutely hilarious. 'Farzi' turned into a full blown comedy for the next few minutes. The subtitled conversation between the old man and Firoz and the job interview session were insanely funny. That was just genius level writing and very entertaining to watch.

Finally we get an insight into the life of Michael, which is very similar to the kind of life Srikant Tiwari has been living. Also we get a glimpse of the lovely Regina Cassandra, an actress whose name had piqued my interest ever since the announcement of this show, but I was surprised by her absence from the trailer and promotions; perhaps she is not playing a very prominent role in the show, at least not in this season. I loved it when they switched the conversations to Tamil as soon as Michael came in touch with his family, it makes perfect sense for a show to do so but unfortunately it wasn't the case earlier. During Michael and Rekha's conversation, Michael was talking in Tamil while Rekha kept replying in Hindi, which felt odd initially, but then I realized that perhaps it was reflective of them not being on the same page, and also because she had a North Indian boyfriend now, so she may have been trying to adapt to a different kind of life. It was a good scene but since we have seen this kind of storyline so many times, it didn't really impact me that much.

Normally female characters exist in a show or movie only to be the love interest of the lead character or for the sake of glamour, it's not every day you get to see a smart female character with aspirations of her own, so it feels wonderful when something like that happens because it comes across as a breath of fresh air. Raashi Khanna is doing a fabulous job as Megha in this show and she shines once again in this episode with her confident act. Raashi's voice, talking style and body language is reminiscent of Taapsee Pannu, but there is more sharpness in Raashi's performance.

The scene where Megha and Shinde end up at Kranti Patrika office for investigation had an insane amount of tension in it and kept me on the edge for it's entirety. What made things worse was that Firoz and Sunny kept shouting throughout, giving me even more anxiety. That was an amazing scene because you just didn't know where was it going and how it would end. Frankly speaking, I did not expect to see a clash of their worlds so soon, but I guess while watching a Raj & DK show, one must expect the unexpected.

This was once again a fantastic episode that did not limit itself to one particular genre. The story is moving ahead at an incredible pace with unexpected twists being thrown at us every now and then. Also, it's not just trying to entertain us but also delivering a message through Sunny in a very subtle way; this business was started to fulfill a need, that need turned into greed and that greed has starting to take control of Sunny's mind. What kind of person will Sunny ultimately become, that is the big question.

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Farzi: Social Service (2023)

Season 1, Episode 2

9/10

Fantastic episode!

12 April 2023

You never truly know what to expect in a Raj & DK show, but it will be engaging that is for sure. The first episode ended on a cliffhanger so I expected this episode to continue from there but instead the episode opens with a flashback sequence showing us the kind of life Sunny lived as a child, and soon enough I was completely lost into that storyline, because of how beautifully it was done. A lot has already been said about Raj and DK's storytelling, but they also leave no stone unturned in selecting actors for their shows and I am not just talking about the senior actors but also the child artists who are always impressive; 'Tha Family Man' introduced some very promising young actors and that streak continues in 'Farzi'. The child artists portraying young Sunny and Firoz are so good that they could have easily carried an entire episode on their own.

The story opens up a lot in this episode and we get introduced to some very interesting new characters like Megha Vyas, played by Raashi Khanna, and Minister Pawan Gehlot, played by the impeccable Zakir Hussain. A decent amount of quirky humour is always expected from Raj & DK shows and this episode gave us a good dosage of it through some crazy conversations between Minister Gehlot and Michael. I wonder what kind of discussion takes place in the writer's room with regards to these kind of scenes; I am sure that must be as entertaining to watch as the final cut of the episode. Zakir Hussain was terrific as Pawan Gehlot and not for a moment did it feel like he was acting. Zakir Hussain and Vijay Sethupathi's relationship felt like that of Tom and Jerry with Zakir being Tom, and it was truly as enjoyable to watch as the cartoon.

Madras Café is the only work of Raashi Khanna that I have seen, but it was a long time back and her role was too small for me to remember anything from it; this was pretty much the first experience of watching her work for me and I found her to be very impressive. Raashi's voice, talking style and body language is very reminiscent of Taapsee Pannu, but she keeps things tight and doesn't let her character go out of hand.

This episode once again had some fantastic background score by Ketan Sodha. From the synth music at the beginning during the flashback scene (reminiscent of Stranger Things) to the upbeat and edgy score played later on, the background music beautifully elevated the emotional impact of the scenes and made them much more powerful. The song 'Fark Nahin Padta' composed by Sachin and Jigar was not only a good composition but also a perfect fit for the situation in which it was played.

Just like the previous one, this episode was packed with content and was sprinting ahead at a lightning speed; there was not a single moment where i felt like checking my phone or moving away from the screen. This episode focused on the rise of Sunny and Firoz and it's always fascinating to see such stories. You know they are going to fall at some point of time, but for now it's their moment to shine and it always feels like a personal victory when a common man does something special and earns respect from the people around himself.

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Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (2023)

8/10

A gripping thriller that surprises you in the most unexpected of ways.

8 April 2023

In these kind of films, you want the action to begin right away, so I was somewhat unhappy when the initial few minutes focused on developing the romance between Sunny Kaushal and Yami Gautam, but after watching the entire film, it's safe to say that all those scenes were justified. While watching the first half, it was quite clear that it wasn't coincidence that brought Ankit and Neha together. With the help of common sense and the experience of watching a number of such films, it's easy to deduct that Ankit was just taking Neha for a ride because he wanted her help to accomplish his goal. What I didn't see coming was the second twist, which comes later on in the movie and catches you completely off guard. That twist elevates the quality of this film by quite a few a notches, as it leaves the viewer astonished and bewildered, with an array of questions in his/her mind, the most prominent one being, "how did that just happen?".

This is the second time I have seen Yami Gautam play a character with grey shades, the first one being A Thursday (2022); the key difference in both roles being that this time she looked convincing. In the movie 'Thursday', it was difficult for me to think of Yami as someone who could hurt anyone, she just couldn't portray that role with enough conviction. In this film however, you could really see that she had fully embodied the character of Neha; perhaps Yami was drawing inspiration from some real life experience because the depiction of all the hurt that her character had suffered felt very real. The acting performance of Sunny Kaushal was fine but not something that you would remember for a long time. Among the supporting cast, Krunal Pandit was quite convincing as the greedy and creepy Bhagat, while Sharad Kelkar looked solid as RAW Officer Parvez but his role wasn't sufficiently fleshed out.

The screenplay by Siraj Ahmed, Raj Kumar Gupta and Amar Kaushik is fast paced and extremely engaging. Credit must be given to the director Ajay Singh and his team of writers for going against the flow of things and trying out something new. It's not every day we get to see a heist based suspense thriller, what makes it even more special is that it's actually a good one. These kind of films don't take a lot of your time and offer you great entertainment, but unfortunately filmmakers don't show a lot of interest in such films anymore. Also, wonderful decision to limit the number of songs in the film to just 1, that too in the beginning.

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Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

8/10

Not as powerful as the first part but a visual spectacle, nonetheless.

4 April 2023

Warning: Spoilers

James Cameron has crafted a unique methodology for talking about controversial issues without offending anyone; just tell a story about a whole new world, which is inhabited by people who look nothing like us, talk in a language that is unheard of and follow a religion that doesn't even exist in our world. With Pandora as the backdrop, even a simple story attracts everyone's attention, the message gets delivered and no one's sentiments get hurt. If you think it sounds simple, then all that you need to do is figure out a way to convince a financer to invest 300 million dollars in that simple story!

I thought this movie would never come out, but now that it has, I find it astounding that a filmmaker decided to dedicate so many precious years of his life to this project. Avatar - The Way of Water looks beautiful and once again encourages us to be more compassionate towards our natural resources, because our life depends on it. Nature gives you the gift of life but can also unleash it's fury if you stop caring about it and when that happens, no force on earth can save you from it. We all are spellbound by the breathtaking looks of Avatar but what we don't realize, is that it's the story of our world; if we don't make an effort to take care of our environment, we will go extinct, but if we do step up then Pandora could become our reality.

WHAT'S GOOD :

1. The visual effects of this film are spectacular. This movie was in the making for so many years, primarily to get the visuals right and in the end all the effort that went into making it happen has truly paid off. It's unbelievable to think that Pandora exists only in the imagination of James Cameron. The world that we see in Avatar and the creatures that inhabit it feel more real than reality itself, but the mind blowing truth is that it's all CGI. The best VFX is the one that seamlessly integrates the real with the unreal, and that is exactly what is happening in this film.

2. The action sequences in the final hour of the film are outstanding. The fiery exchange between the Metkayina clan and the RDA after a stunning attack by Payakan had me on the edge of my seat for its entire duration. For all the build-up that the movie does in the first couple of hours, which might test your patience, it delivers beautifully in the final hour.

3. It may seem like James Cameron is telling a very simple fictional story but if you see the big picture, you will realize that he is showing us a mirror, it's the story of our planet and how we are destroying it. While the first movie dealt with the subject of saving our forests and wildlife, the second one brings to our attention the water bodies of our planet and the creatures dwelling on and underneath it. It's not necessary for a movie to have any kind of message, but if a director like James Cameron is leveraging his popularity and the power of this platform to communicate an important message, then this act of his is truly worth appreciating.

4. While the first part of Avatar gave us Jake Sully, a hero we all could relate to and the immensely charming character of Neytiri, the second part gets you invested in the lives of all the children. If told well, a story centred around kids can be very exciting to watch; 'Stranger Things' is a great example of that, because regardless of how old you are, you have all experienced childhood and can easily relate to everything being shown on screen, and that is exactly the case with Avatar - The Way of Water, which spends a considerable amount of time showing the exploits of the children and the camaraderie shared between them.

5. The subplot about Tulkuns is the one that moves you the most. The scene where the calf tries to wake up his dead mother Tulkun, breaks your heart and shakes you from within and that is why when Payakan decides to spoil the party of the Hunters in the climax, you end up rooting for him as it was not only a cathartic moment for Payakan but also for the viewers. It felt so good to see Payakan toy around with the hunters and give them a taste of their own medicine. Payakan's moment of glory is easily the best scene of this film.

6. This movie is more about the children than the adults, so we don't get to see Jake and Neytiri that much, especially Neytiri played by Zoe Saldana, who has very few scenes in this one, but she performs beautifully whenever she's on screen and her shining moment arrives towards the end of the movie where she leaves you stunned with her brilliance. Neytiri's stand-off sequence with Colonel Miles Quaritch was an amazing scene that had me on my edge.

7. This film introduces a very mysterious character in Kiri, biologically the daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine and adopted by Jake Sully and Neytiri. Not much information was offered on how Kiri was born despite the fact that Grace died in the first film, who was her father and why is she different from the others. Kiri is a teenager like her other siblings but shows a greater sense of maturity and seems to have a deeper connection with Eywa, the sacred tree of Pandora. Kiri adapts easily to the new life with the Metkayina's, can breathe easily under water unlike her siblings and adoptive parents and also has some magical powers, as seen towards the end of the film; is she some kind of Goddess? It almost feels like she is some incarnation of Eywa, sent to help the people of Pandora, save them from the darkness and guide them towards the light.

WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD :

1. Minor plot holes and plot conveniences are common in almost every film, but in a movie that was thirteen years in the making and was crafted under the guidance of James Cameron, you don't really expect to see such mistakes. In the climax fight, the Reef people just disappear all of a sudden after the main ship breaks down. What happened to the Metkayina's? Where were they when Jake Sully and Neytiri were confronting Colonel Miles? A little help from the Reef people could have resolved that situation rather easily. Also, Tonowari and Ronal's daughter, Tsireya, had also been captured by the RDA group, why weren't they concerned about her? I guess the writers just forgot about them just like Daenerys forgot about Euron Greyjoy in the final season of Game of Thrones.

When Kiri becomes unconscious after coming in contact with the Spirit Tree, Jake Sully sends a message to his Doctor friend living far away in Pandora, then waits for him for a long time before he arrives; during all this time he doesn't bother to seek help from Ronal, wife of Tonowari, who was present right there on the island. Also, Ronal, despite her abilities didn't bother to go near Kiri, she waited for a long time and then as soon as the Doctor from Pandora arrived, she realized that "oh, I can help Kiri too!". That whole situation felt a bit implausible. The writers clearly messed up in that scene.

2. Kiri is supposed to be a 14-15 year old girl in the story, then why is a 74 year old woman dubbing for her? Despite their best efforts to modify Sigourney Weaver's voice, one can easily figure out that it's not the voice of a 14 year old girl. Regardless of how beautiful Sigourney's voice may be, it just didn't suit Kiri. All the kids sounded like kids, then why couldn't they give Kiri a young voice as well?

3. RDA's plans regarding Pandora were slightly unclear and also why was Colonel Miles Quaritch calling the shots? Initially we were told that RDA's mission is to silence the resistance and take over Pandora, so Jake Sully being a target was understandable because he had been sabotaging their plans for quite some time, but when Jake disappeared and things went silent in the Jungle, then why didn't they attack the Forest people or the Omatikayans? Why did they start looking for Jake Sully? RDA's primary aim was to capture the territory, not to turn into a search party looking for Jake Sully. Colonel Miles was thirsting for revenge, but why was the RDA wasting it's time and resources on his crazy mission?

4. This film is not as fast paced as it's predecessor, and the runtime of 190 minutes does test your patience. For the first 100 minutes the movie feels like a television series because of it's leisurely pace and a number of scenes that could have easily been edited out. Also, because there is not much story in this part, the first 100 minutes almost feels like watching a documentary about aquatic life.

5. The final action sequence of the film goes on for way too long. I am all for creatively done fight scenes but a conventional hand to hand combat just becomes boring to watch after a while. The fight between Jake Sully and Colonel Miles Quaritch should have been shorter and he should have been killed off; letting him live made no sense at all after all the trouble Jake and Neytiri had to endure because of him. Now we know that Colonel Quaritch will once again come back in the next film and try to do something that killed him in his first attempt and gave him a near death experience in the second. Why can't they create a new villain?

6. Avatar had some memorable music thanks to James Horner, but unfortunately 'The Way of Water' falls short in that department. It's been 13 years, but the song 'I See You' still has the power to shake you from within; I expected another amazing song this time, but there was none to be found. The background score of this film is strictly average, and that was quite disappointing.

The second part of Avatar is not as good as the first part, as far as storytelling is concerned, but it's definitely worth watching for all the effort that has gone into its making and for the message that it carries.

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The Oscars (I) (2023 TV Special)

8/10

Wonderful event but they shouldn't rush things up.

30 March 2023

What a wonderful show it was this year with some genuinely deserving winners and an absolutely fantastic host. The one thing that kept bothering me however was the rush with which things were happening. I get that it's a long show but the Oscars take place only once in a year and it holds a special place in every cinema lover's heart. For all the importance associated with the Oscars, I feel rushing through with the awards night is not the right way to go. In comedy, it's a basic rule not to say anything when the audience is applauding at your jokes; the fact that an experienced host and comedian like Jimmy Kimmel had to break that rule and say his lines even as the audience clapped, gives an idea about the kind of pressure he must have been under to move forward the show at a rapid pace.

I know some winners have had the habit of just going on and on with their speech, so I tend to agree that there should be a time limit allotted to each winner to deliver their speech, but cutting them off, especially the first time winners, comes across as a little rude. The Oscars should go a little easy on first time winners and when there is more than one person receiving the award. I felt really bad for Guneet Monga, who was ready with her speech but wasn't allowed to say anything. She won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film for The Elephant Whisperers (2022), and it was the first time an Indian had won this award, so it just felt a little unfair. Also, the next award which was given for Best Animated Short Film had two winners as well, but interestingly both of them were allowed to speak for close to two minutes, which felt rather odd. Why wasn't the Oscar management team consistent with the time allotted for the winner's speech? The award for the Best Make-up went to The Whale (2022) and even in this category more than one person was getting the trophy, but only one person was allowed to speak as the music started playing right after 36 seconds, cutting Judy Chin off; meanwhile both winners of Best Production Design were allowed to deliver their speech. This inconsistency was wrong and unfair in my honest opinion.

I was really happy with the decision of making Jimmy Kimmel the host of this year's Oscars, as he is truly an exceptional comedian and host. By the end of his initial monologue, he had delivered way more punches than what we experienced last year, only this time it left everyone in splits. I was looking forward to some more comedy from Jimmy Kimmel but unfortunately he was on stage for a very little time after his initial monologue; I guess they reduced the comedy on purpose this year to avoid a situation like the one we had last year. The segment where Jimmy Kimmel was throwing stupid questions towards the guests should have been longer as it was so much fun, but it just came to an end abruptly. I feel there are many things in an award show that can be cut short, but comedy is not one of them, because it keeps everyone in high spirits and excited.

The performance on the song 'Naatu Naatu' from RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) (2022) was truly one of the highlights of the show. The introduction by Deepika Padukone, the highly energetic dance and finally the Oscar for Best Original Song made this year's Oscars truly memorable for every Indian. Of course I can't say anything about every song that came out last year, but among the nominees, 'Naatu Naatu' was easily the most enjoyable number.

I was very happy to see Michelle Yeoh getting an Oscar; she is such an amazing talent and after so many years in the movie industry, her magic moment finally arrived at this year's Oscars. In my honest opinion, Michelle also gave the best speech of this year's Oscars; I feel it's so much better to say something that comes straight from your heart instead of thanking hundreds of people, because quite frankly that just comes across as a formality and not something that you really want to say.

This year's Oscars did not have a number of top actors and actresses like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Tom Cruise, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix, Russel Crowe, Woody Harrelson and Lupita Nyong'o among others; I almost thought there is some kind of boycott happening his year! It would be really sad if just the nominees attend the event. It's understandable if people skip other award functions, but considering the importance associated with the Oscars, I was really hoping to see a lot more stars in the auditorium.

There is a visible effort being made by the Oscars to focus on representation and inclusivity, but in my honest opinion that should not be a criteria for selecting the winners. The award for the best film should go to the best film, that's it, there should be no additional eligibility criteria for it to fulfill. No one should be overlooked just because of who they are, but the quality of their work should be the only reason for them to win an award.

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