Tag: review

Airlift-Uplifted


Airlift – a movie with a heroic attempts by an Indian- Kuwaiti businessman to evacuate 1.75 lakhs Indian from Kuwait via Jordan.
First of all, commendable job by Akshay Kumar and Raja Menon, for bringing into highlight, one of the best and largest evacuation effort by a country.
The story starts with a racist joke “How do you fit 20 Iraqis in a telephone booth?” showing Ranjeet(Akshay Kumar), imbibed in Kuwaiti colours.
We don’t get to see more colours of his character as soon enough, the Iraqi forces invade Kuwait and render the inhabitants homeless. In these tough times, Ranjeet finds himself on a crossroad, as he has to decide between his responsibility towards family or towards the people who are dependent on him. The moment of decision has been shown very subtly and simply.
Ranjeet realizes that he is more Indian than he gives himself credit for, as he takes on camp preparation for the dependents and tries to find ways of evacuation.
Nimrat impresses yet again in her portrayal of strong wife. Though cynical of Ranjeet’s actions initially, but she comes on board later as she realizes that Ranjeet is not going to leave anyone behind.
Purab Kohli, playing Ibrahim stands out in the crowd full of Indians in the camp. His cool and calm portrayal yet again shows his immense talent in bringing justice to any role he is trusted with.
The screenplay is balanced with apt focus on the internal struggle of Ranjeet and Amrita(Nimrat) while focusing mostly on the issue at hand.
Some scenes have been portrayed so well, they will get you emotional. A applaud-worthy effort, ending in a clichéd slow-motion waving of Indian flag, but that still works. J
We would have loved it more if it was based more on real life characters. Though we see some names like “Mathunny Matthews” and “Vedi” in credits, but they could have been portrayed in the movie itself. But, I won’t take credit away from Akshay, as this was a brave and flawless effort from his side.
In an era, where directors really shy away from making movies on historic events, due to fear of backlash from intolerant India, this is definitely a good start. We hope to see more of it.
I would definitely advise you to watch once and revive this genre of movies.
Image credit: Google Images

Kai Po Che- Movie Review

First of all, let me clear out the meaning of this phrase most of us heard for the first time; it’s a Gujarati phrase for ‘I have cut’ used when one cuts the kite of someone. The title couldn’t be 3 mistakes because there is no 3rd mistake committed by the protagonist to reminisce about.
Based on Chetan Bhagat’s third novel ‘3 mistakes of my life’, which I rate worst of all Bhagat’s work owing to its uncanny climax, where Ali and Ishaan make the riot and irate environment into their cricket field.
Although the novel was a bestseller, and did receive some polite reviews in some department, and I did learn about the so-called and implicitly understood ‘Bro code’ from this story for the first time, when Omi warns Govind of his ill-adventures with Ishaan’s sister Vidya; Chetan is currently on 1-1(Hello: a flop, no one said hello & 3 idiots: currently an epitome of bro-hood) and will be hoping to have the odds to himself. And it will not be a surprise if the trio of Sushant, Amit Sadh and Raj Kumar Yadav steal the limelight from upcoming releases. They inhabit the characters wholly and have done full justice to their roles.
The portrayals, especially by Sushant and Raj Kumar really make you glue to the screen. While this chemistry does wonders for the movie, Raj Kumar also succeed in making the awkward chemistry between Govi and Vidya look believable and at times gives the only string to hold on for the romantic.
The story, as expected imbibes beautifully, the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, the Godhra Kand, and the communal riots between Hindus and Muslims, while relating their after-effects on the three protagonists’ lives.
The ending does gives the audience a surprise, but it doesn’t seem inept considering the history of our bollywood movies. Abhishek Kapoor deserves his part of credit, especially after he was initially snubbed by the big names of Bollywood.
In all fairness, a one-time watch, a pure entertainer and another portrayal exemplifying friendship….I watched it with friends and I hope you do too.