Tevar is old wine in a new glass

The very first thought I had about the movie was how the state government could be so stupid to project the law and order situation in such a bad light. The movie shows how local politicians make a complete mockery of democracy, democratic institutions to create a complete lawless situation in the state. Wonder how such a movie will help in promoting tourism in the lands of Mathura and Agra,

Notwithstanding that, the concept of standing up to a goon is one of the 80s or the 90s and tastes of old wine in a new glass. Arjun does a good job whereas there is not much to speak of Sonakshi and her role in the movie. Much like Govinda, Raj Babbar makes a comeback having lost the Lok Sabha elections.

Two and a half stars to the movie. It is a fair entertainer.

PK is a poor blend of Koi Mil Gaya and Oh My God

PK starts off showing a UFO landing in a desert in Rajasthan and an alien (Aamir) emerging from it wearing a colourful locket. Aamir gets lured by a local Rajasthani, listening to music from his radio set, who manages to flee with Aamir's locket leaving behind the radio set. As Aamir tries to trace the thief, he bumps into Sanjay Dutt (another localite), who mistakes his lack of communication skills for a memory loss. Apparently, the aliens can learn communication skills from the other person by touching and holding their hands for some time. When Aamir tries to hold Sanjay's hands, he mistakes it for a sexual advance and takes him to a brothel where he comes in contact with a Bhojpuri speaking female, from whom he picks up the Bhojpuri dialect.  Indeed surprising that Aamir picks up core Bhojpuri dialect rather than Marwari from a place in Rajasthan!!!!

Aamir heads to Delhi in search of the thief and lands up at a temple, where he is caught stealing money from donation box of a temple. He is saved by Jagat Janani (Anushka), a journalist working with a news channel, whose father is a staunch supporter of godmen and who has returned from a failed love affair with a Pakistani in Belgium.

Thereon, the film veers off in a different direction. It questions faith in God over practicality, blind faith in godmen and in what they say, blind faith in astrology. While it attempts to remain neutral to different religions, bulk of the screen time goes to Hinduism with only small mentions of other religions. Having witnessed Oh My God, the theme has lost its novelty factor and hence, fails to wow audiences as much as a 3 Idiots did.

While the intentions of the director and the actor may not have been otherwise, the movie perhaps goes the wrong route by stereotyping those following religious practices as doing so out of fear and in its core depiction of Hindu religious practices.

In terms of acting, Aamir does a great job as an alien. His facial expressions and dialogues are funny. Perhaps Bhojpuri language is a misfit. Anushka looks weird in a wig and in her outfits.

Individually, KMG and OMG would have been better choices, Watch it for Aamir and his facial expressions. Accept the message that the movie delivers on godmen while inadvertently rejecting its subtle religious biases. Three stars to this movie.

Bhopal - Prayer for Rain recreates events that led to the mishap

Bhopal - Prayer for Rain is a must watch for anyone, who has not lived and read the newspapers in 1984. The youth of today, was not born or were children when this mishap occurred and this movie recreated the events as it happened from an independent journalist and critic's point of view.

This movie points out various chilling facts:

- A rickshaw puller gets a job as a labourer in the plant and is later promoted to operate machinery in the plant despite lack of sufficient training to do so.

- The corrupt government allowed a hazardous plant to operate in an area surrounded by slums because closure of the plant would have meant massive job loss leading to loss of votes

- The plant is running at a loss because of low demand for pesticides and Indian management disregards safety procedures to reduce cost overheads such as air-conditioning and even safety warnings by their own employees. Even a safety siren in the plant is sabotaged by an official, which could have saved hundreds of lives.

- MIC, a key chemical  used in pesticide production when mixed with water becomes a poisonous cyanide, which leads to death. Prior to the tragedy, a worker had died of cyanide poisoning, however, factory management attributed it to the worker's irresponsible behaviour rather than the danger posed by the chemicals.

The movie portrays these beautifully through the eyes of a local rickshaw puller, Dilip, played by Rajpal Yadav. Interesting is the scene wherein his daughter is getting married on the day of the leak and there is a sense of disbelief among the motley crowd in the news that there has been a gas leak as Rajpal asks them to continue with the dinner feast.

What is missing are the events that happened post this gas leak - the ensuing legal battles and the impact left behind that has now transgressed a full generation.

A must watch. Four stars to the movie.

Badlapur Boys is a poorly executed touching story

A man immolates himself for the sake of getting an irrigation canal to his village - a project that would benefit everyone village Badlapur. Despite his death, the mission remains unaccomplished and he is branded as a "mental". Years later, his son Vijay has grown up and works as a domestic help with a landlord. Vijay is very much interested in kabaddi, but his landlord has prevented him from taking part in kabaddi, after a negligence in work. The landlord has an elderly mother, who has a soft corner for Vijay

The village has a local kabaddi team of which Vijay is a non-participating member. The team participates in inter-village kabaddi matches and ends up on the losing side. One fine day, at a village mela, they get to meet former national kabaddi captain (Annu Kapoor), who is impressed by them.

The team heads to Allahabad to partcipate in the national kabaddi championship only to find out that the 32 competing teams have already been selected. One of the teams is unable to make it to the tournament and this provides them with a chance to participate in the event. With Annu Kapoor's help, they make it to the finals.

In the semi-final, Vijay receives a death blow as a result of which one of his ribs is broken. Doctors warn that he can't fall on his left side, which would lead to the broken rib penetrating his heart. Despite the warning, he plays the game to make use of the opportunity to convey the message of water crisis in his village to the Chief Minister, who was to attend the final match and to redeem his father's lost reputation.

Two and a half stars to the movie. Poorly executed, but touching.

Lingaa delivers the much expected Rajni-tics

Like many popular Tamil movies, Lingaa is yet another movie with a social angle. The trend of patronizing movies, wherein the lead sacrifices something for the sake of the society continues. In this case, the lead of the movie is none other than Rajnikanth.

Rajnikanth (Lingaa) is the grandson of Raja Lingeswaran, who didn't leave a stone unturned for the sake of building a dam for the people of Solaiyur in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu. Not only did he resign from his job as a collector under the British Raj, but he mobilized resources including all his personal wealth, expertise as a civil engineer, disbanded social caste unrest to achieve the objective and this made him immensely popular among the locals. Not everything was smooth, however, as the British worked to conspire against his plans. Back in the 21st century, his grandson faces a similar task of saving the town from the evil plans of a local MP.

Rajni, well into his 60s now, looks at least a couple of decades younger. Sonakshi looks comfortable in her role as a 1939 saree clad Tamil female. Santhanam is funny as usual.

Walk into a Rajni movie and you are bound to see some action. What with Rajni flying off bikes off a cliff onto a hot air balloon and kicking a bomb to deflect its course - this movie has its share of Rajni-tics. All said and done, this makes for a decent entertainment on a chilly weekend in Delhi. Enjoy this movie with your cup of coffee. Three stars to this movie.

Action Jackson has nothing new to offer

There's nothing new in Action Jackson - a Bangkok based gangster (Anandaraj), a gangster made to turn into a good guy buy his love (Ajay Devgn), a revenge story, action sequences. One would expect something different from Ajay Devgn movies, but with Singham Returns and now Action JAckson, that no longer seems to be the case. Bangkok has once again been stereotyped as the typical safehaven for gangsters.

Sonakshi has lost some weight and looks much thinner. Ajay is good as far as the action sequences are concerned. Both she and Yami have been overshadowed by newbie Manasvi Mamgai. Once the first hour is gone, which has some good entertainment, the movie drags for the rest of the two-and-a-half-hours. Prabhudeva has put in all efforts to make Devgn dance to his tunes, but we all know that Devgn is a horrible dancer.

Two stars to this movie.

Zid has an unpredictable climax

A journalist (Ronnie)  goes to Goa basis his boss' suggestion and stays in an outhouse owned by a pretty lady (Mannara), who has a crocodile as a pet. Things are fine until their Scorpio meets an accident with a young lady on a scooty while on the way back from a party. Wary of police investigation, they escape the scene in what the media terms it a hit-and-run case. Also, that young lady turns out to be his ex-girlfriend's step sister. It turns out that Ronnie's ex-girlfriend Priya (Shraddha Das) was also in Goa on the day her step sister died.

From thereon, it's a sequence of investigations as the mystery unfolds along with an unpredictable climax. Performances are nothing great and Mannara looks overweight. Those,who are stepping into the theatre for some erotic performances are in for some disappointment.

Two stars to this movie. Makes for a good timepass.