The Mountain Between Us (2017)

If you are in the mood for a romantic movie but not something as syrupy as a Hallmark movie,  "The Mountain Between Us" would be a safe bet. A couple of great actors (Kate Winslet and Idris Elba) , adventure and good old romance.

Alex ( Kate Winslet) , a photojournalist , is scheduled to marry her fiance the very next day but is stranded by a flight cancellation due to a storm. Desperate to get back to Denver, she decides to Charter a flight. She over hears Dr. Ben ( Idris Elba ) wanting to go to Denver (desperately as well) to attend to a patient and offers him the option of the Chartered flight.

As Alex and Ben make some idle chat typical of any co-passengers, their pilot has an "in flight" stroke thereby crashing the aircraft in the snow capped mountain of Utah. The pilot dies leaving behind the two protagonists of the movie and his dog. Hence begins the fight for survival. 

The movie focuses on the trust the two strangers must put in each other to survive. As the days go by, the real life ceases to exist from them. Alex stops taking about his fiance and you can visibly see the growing attraction between Alex and Ben and of course, their fight for survival continues.

I quite enjoyed watching this movie though it is not going to be etched in my memory for long. There is no dull moment in the movie with Alex getting into some kind of a trouble or the other. It was a pleasure to watch Kate and Idris together. They make such a lovely couple with the perfect chemistry.

Verdict :- Definite one time watch . 6/10 

Parched

Bold and Beautiful. That's what came to my mind when I finished watching this movie. Based in a remote arid village of Rajasthan, this movie by Leena Yadav bares the parched souls of 4 woman whose lives are entwined with each others. 

Rani ( Tannishtha Chatterjee )  a young widow trying her best to support her teenage son and an old bedridden mother in law, Lajjo ( Radhika Apte), a young vibrant woman married to an alcoholic abusive husband who is taunted  for her inability to conceive, Bijli ( Suveen Chawla ) a dancer with a travelling entertainment company and a prostitute and Janki ( Lehar Khan) the young child bride who is married off against her wishes to Gulab, Rani's teenage son. 

Rani and Lajjo are fast friends from the same village and who look out for each other, while Bijli is an old friend of Rani ( considers her as a sister ) and is an worldly wise woman who advises Rani and Lajjo with their troubles.

The journey with these women will take you in their world of small pleasure, aspirations, hardships, helplessness etc. The movie is laden with situations of the hardship the women go through in the hardcore patriarchal society in-spite of trying to be economically independent ( these women have co-operatives to sell their embroidery work ). The episode where a young girl from the village is forced to go back to her in laws house by the parents, in-spite of her screaming  her guts out that she did not want to go since she was being raped by any and all the men of the house hold including her father in law, will make you realize how gruesome the life of women could be.

From Rani's struggle in watching her Son taking the foot steps of her late alcoholic husband to Lajjo's sleeping with a total stranger in an attempt to get pregnant, "Parched" will keep you glued to the screen wanting to see "what next".

The casting of the movie was just perfect. Each of the women portrayed their role like they were born into it. I liked the fact that it was factual about the state of affairs of women in remote parts of Rajasthan and the social message was quite subtle and not on the face. 

Verdict :- 8 out 10. Cannot be watched with Children. 

Lakshmi (2014)

 

This movie by Nagesh Kukunoor takes you along Lakshmi;s unfortunate Journey into the world of Human Trafficking and her brave fight to victory. This is a biographical movie depicting the social problem of human trafficking and child prostitution in the country. 

Lakshmi, the fresh faced, innocent looking 14 year old portrayed by Monali Thakur is the victim of human trafficking. Hailing from an rural and remote village of Andhra Pradesh in India, she is sold by her father for a mere 30000 Rupees. And none other than the local corporator facilitates the deal. 

The movie has tried to bring to the fore front, the various facets of the human trafficking nexus. To being with the owner of the brothel, Reddy keeps Lakshmi with him for a few days and he is nice to her. Just around the time that she starts to get comfortable at his house, he brutally rapes her and sent to the brothel to live along with several other girls. It's a gruesome life there and every time Lakshmi tries to escape, she is brutally beaten up.

The Madame of the brothel, Jyoti's ( shefali Chaya) behaviour is a paradox. One one end, she seems quite nonchalant and on the other end there are streaks of affection for the girls. She her has a daughter in the engineering school and is hoping to retire once the daughter is settled.

Some girls seem to accept their fate over a period of time ( like Suvarna played by Asha Saini) and this is driven by the fact that they are no longer accepted by the society or for that matter by their family who hide behind the wall of respectability.

There seems to be camaraderie among the girls and most of them look out for each other. They look for small pleasure in life and resort to alcohol and drugs to get by the ordeal of their lives.

And at the end of it, you realize that girls like Lakshmi who stand up to fight and dare to dream of freedom are far and few . Most of them just accept their fate and go back to their life in-spite to having an opportunity to break free.


Verdict :- 8 out of 10. Worth a watch but not a family movie for sure. 

Dear Zindagi ( Dear Life )

I owe my watching this movie to a casual remarks by a colleague at work and the fact that it came up in a movie database search. I had totally missed the release to this one due to my frequent travels abroad. But having enjoyed Gowri Shinde's debut movie, " English Vinglish" I sure wanted to catch up on this one. 

A very refreshing movie indeed. Alia's Bhat's portrayal of Kaira's bohemian life was to near perfection. Kaira is an astute photographer who is trying to make a name for herself and is very passionate about what she does. At the same time she is flighty, slightly vulnarable and quite messed up when it comes to relationships. She struggles with commitment issues. She hates her parents and  is surrounded by a group of close knit friends who stand by her through thick and thin. Kaira reminds one of a typical urban young adult one meets these days.

It is by chance that Dr.Jehangir Khan ( Shahrukh Khan ) enters her life. Dr. Khan is a well known and eccentric Psychiatrist. Alia engages him to help her get over problem. The entire movie pretty much revolves around this engagement. Dr. Khan helps Kaira confront her fears and shed her baggage's. This entire journey was quite engaging.

The movie was a perfect Sunday night entertainer. I wouldn't recommend it for kids at impressionable age though.

Verdict :- 7/10. Not bad at all. 

Bajirao Mastani (2015)

Truly the big fat Indian movie in all its glory. 

 I was all set to watch Starwars last weekend, but unfortunately had to encounter a 'houseful' situation. Now that I had made up my mind to watch a movie, I explored alternatives. "Bajirao Mastani" was the next best choice. My friends had given me a good review and I took a chance.

This is an epic movie based on the life of Balaji Baji Rao, who was the most powerful of the Peshwa's from the Bhat family and served under the leadership of Chatrapathy Shahu. This movie particularly focuses on the relationship of Bali Rao and his second wife Mastani. Keeping in with the famous Bansali love triangle, the movie revolves around Baji Rao (Ranveer Kapoor) , his first wife Kashibai ( Priyanka Chopra ) and second wife Mastani ( Deepika Pedukone).

One of the things I liked about the movie was the casting. Ranveer's portrayal of Baji Rao was near perfect and  Priyanka made a wonderful Kashibai. You will also get to see some sizzling chemistry between Ranveer and Deepika who are rumoured to be real life couple as well.


The historical facts weren't diluted much. There were some modifications made ofcourse, to add to the entertainment value. For example, there is a dance performance by Kashibai and Mastani. Some historical scriptures talk about Kashibai being inflicted with arthritis thereby inhibiting her to dance and also its unlikely that women from conservative Maratha families would dance in public.


On the whole there was no stone left unturned to make the movie opulent and grand. Even though it is a lengthy movie, by all means it was entertaining.


Its a definite one time watch and is likely to refresh some long forgotten history.


Verdict :- 8/10. This is a good family entertainer.



Gone Girl ( 2014 )

It was a sizzling hot afternoon that I decided to catch up with a friend that I hadn't met in a long time. Both of us share our passion for retail therapy thereby meeting at the nearest shopping mall. After shop hopping for a while and acquiring a few bags along the day, H suggested that we watch a movie. Since I did not have anything significant on my "To Watch" list, I went ahead with her recommendation blindly ( Literally !!!)

And "Gone Girl" happened. We managed to get tickets quite easily even though the movie had just about released. I was sceptical!! but went with my friends recommendation any which ways.

I didn't know anything about the movie Not even the genre !!! But I must say that it turned out to be the best movie that I had watch in a while.

Based on Gillian Flynn's novel by the same name, this psychological thriller is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat.

This is the story of the Dunne's. Nick Dunne's ( Ben Affleck ) wife Amy ( Rosamund Pike ) disappears on their 5th wedding anniversary and Ben is the primary suspect. This leads to a series of events - Cops, forensic, the Dunne's traditional treasure hunt, blood stains, deception,  secrets, lawyers etc. etc.

Don't miss this one. Definitely worth the watch.

Verdict :- 9/10.

50 Shades of Grey (2015)

Based on E L James book by the same name, this was one of the much awaited movie of the year. After a friend recommended, I managed to read all the not only this book but the sequels as well. If you are in to Mills and Boon, you won't find the books difficult to read. It's got a sense of romance and its got a story line with several other characters apart from Christen and  Anastasia.

Though this movie is banned in India ( I wondered Why !!! ) , I managed to harness the online resources and get hold of the movie. I was looking forward to watching this movie since there was so much hype about the casting and of course the entire movie. But disappointed ...I was ...

The underlying element of this movie is  BDSM. This movie is all about Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

Christian Grey is a super rich industrialist. He is young, drop dead gorgeous and he has a secret. Anathalisia is spirited and innocent young girl who has just graduated from college.

The " Boy Meet the Girl " happens when Anasthasia is requested by her best friend and roomy , Kate Kavannah to interview Christian Grey for the college magazine since she was unwell. Christian is instantly attracted to the simple, beautiful and gawky Anasthasia Steele.

Anasthasia is soon drawn into Christian's magnetic and mysterious world and soon falls madly in love with him. She tries her best to come to terms with Christian's dark world of sexuality.

Dakota Johnson, in her role of Anastasia Steele was just perfect, but Jamie Dornan passed off as a 27 year old millionaire but failed to exude the magnetic aura.He was a disappointment

Unfortunately, the movie was not able to capture the essence of the book. The several other characters that were prominent in the book sort of faded away in the movie. All the focus was on Dakota and Jamie leading the movie towards the status of "soft porn".

Tonnes of skin show and hence not a family movie by far stretch of imagination.

Verdict :- 5/10. Watch it if you are looking for some skin show...and nothing else....