Change Your Image
discerninguser
Reviews
Dahan: Raakan Ka Rahasya (2022)
Illogical and unnecessarily stretched out
This is a series that starts off fairly well and in the initial 2-3 episodes even engages the viewer; but falters badly later on and sinks further with each episode.
The screenplay and script in the last 5 episodes of the series is so unrealistic and confused; that at places it looks like a parody horror series or one made for kids.
The makers of this series tried hard to convince viewers that the premise is novel and interesting; but in the bargain ended up making it an unappetising khichdi.
Several sub-plots actually go nowhere and also make no sense. For example, somewhere along the way the lead is revealed to be the monster's mother; but its conveniently left unexplained. Its like the writer had some interesting ideas and started to weave them in the plot but suffered loss of memory and left it halfway.
The end reveal is so anti-climactic and underwhelming that it doesn't match up to the build up. Several scenes are lazily written and executed. Feels like several script writers were involved and they ended up spoiling the broth.
For example, the main character's driver is shown as taking up the mantle, getting his forearm branded with a red-hot iron etc. But he meets his end tamely when a possessed female (who he is trying to exorcise) picks up a conveniently placed sword and beheads him.
Unnecessary emotional drama is added in between. The main character is perpetually on a guilt trip and actually does nothing. The climax is so ridiculous and laughable that it actually Insults the intelligence of the audience.
All in all, this could have been a good series if the makers had cut out all the emotional nonsense, focused on just the supernatural aspect and kept it limited to 4-5 taut, well made episodes.
Jahaan Chaar Yaar (2022)
Lacklustre and boring
This is a weak drama film which fails to deliver its premise and ends up being a dull film to watch.
Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania are supposed to be the lead actors in the film, but their acting is mediocre. The director Kamal Pandey who also wrote the film has tried hard to pen a narrative which strikes a chord with common women; but has failed hugely.
It is a silly film that wants to say something meaningful about women empowerment but can't resist being flippant at every given opportunity.
The jumbled plot and infantile wit is mostly to blame as the film resembles a cheaply funded public service short.
Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (2022)
Childish movie
Very bad acting and totally incoherent storyline. Cheap VFX which looks more like laser light show than anything spectacular. If you watch this travesty on the big screen, it will give you a splitting head ache.
It looks as if the makers of this movie were confused about whether they should make a love story or a fantasy adventure movie. The dialogues are so cringe-worthy that even college students could have written better lines.
Amitabh Bachchan should give up acting in films and instead concentrate on advertisements. He looks too tired and jaded. They tried to show Ranbir like some kind of warrior; but he doesn't look convincing at all. He should stick to rom-coms and lover boy roles.
Maharani (2021)
Agenda driven political thriller series
The one star is for the acting.
Can't really say much about the storyline; which is basically a blatant and thinly veiled attempt to white-wash the Lalu Prasad government of the 90s and his outrageous decision to make his wife the CM of Bihar.
Too much upper caste-bashing for my taste. There is even a conniving god-man who is made to look exactly like Sadhguru.
Of course, the lone Muslim character is the loyal, courageous and honest bureaucrat; who even risks his life to bring the truth to the fore.
In one scene, the governor of Bihar tells the OBC Chief Minister that there was an assassination attempt on his life by the upper castes; as he is an aberration and the state was traditionally always ruled by the upper castes.
Now anybody who knows the politics of Bihar will know the exact opposite to be true. Bihar and UP politics is dominated by OBC Yadavs, followed by Dalits and Muslims. The upper castes really had no currency in the politics of these two states till recently.
Some of the plot holes are stretched to the point of incredulity. So we have a naïve, illiterate woman transform into a confident and canny politician overnight. A top bureaucrat who is investigating a scam on the orders of the CM herself breaks into offices at night to get his hands on bills which his own subordinates are withholding from him. The newbie CM makes the most disastrous political moves which would sink any government; but incredibly always manages to retain power.
The speed in which characters change their loyalties is mind-boggling and hard to keep up with.
Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (2022)
Childish movie
Very bad acting and totally incoherent storyline. Cheap VFX which looks more like laser light show than anything spectacular. If you watch this travesty on the big screen, it will give you a splitting head ache.
It looks as if the makers of this movie were confused about whether they should make a love story or a fantasy adventure movie. The dialogues are so cringe-worthy that even college students could have written better lines.
Amitabh Bachchan should give up acting in films and instead concentrate on advertisements. He looks too tired and jaded. They tried to show Ranbir like some kind of warrior; but he doesn't look convincing at all. He should stick to rom-coms and lover boy roles.
Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022)
Wasted opportunity to make a meaningful movie
Sanjay Leela Bhansali must be the worst choice of filmmaker to make a movie on the gritty and sleazy underbelly of prostitution in Mumbai.
A guy who is famous for the exceedingly lavish and pompous settings for his movies rather than any directorial abilities shouldn't be allowed near such topics with a barge-pole.
The real individual on whom this movie is made was a non-glamourous, jaded prostitute/lady don in Mumbai's rather infamous Kamathipura. Bhansali has tried hard to glamourize the titular character by having her dance, pose and mouth flamboyant dialogues. Basically yet another poor attempt to make criminals look glamourous and fashionable.
Alia Bhatt is highly over-rated actress who has proven her utter lack of talent in yet another wasted role. She doesn't look like an experienced prostitute; nor has she tried. She looks exactly like what she is in real life - a Papa ki Pari.
SLB and Alia should have studied movies such as "Monster" to see how an amazingly beautiful actress like Charlize Theron can be transformed into a ugly looking prostitute. What a wasted opportunity!
Liger (2022)
Mediocre affair
This is a very mediocre movie with over acting by Deverakonda and under acting by Ananya.
Mike Tyson is there in a blink-and-you-miss-it role and his cameo is completely irrelevant to the story. They probably just got him in the movie because his fees was affordable to them.
Tyson supposedly said that he doesn't even remember acting in any such Indian movie. Imagine how unremarkable it is.
Chunky Pandey seems to be as bad in acting as his supremely untalented daughter. This is a best example of nepotism taking precedence over talent.
The story is so generic and the movie so below-average that nobody will be happy even watching it on OTT.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
Boring and not at all worth the wait
I am a big fan of LOTR (both the book and the movies) and I must confess that I was eagerly waiting for the web-series. The trailer looked great and just watching it made me breathless with anticipation.
But when the two episodes released and I watched them, I was in for a massive disappointment. The CGI is good enough; but the story is pretty boring. The dialogues are cringe-worthy. The characters are very poorly-developed. There is not a single character that you actually get attracted towards or want to see more of.
Its a very mediocre effort; especially considering the fact that it is hyped as the most expensive series made for television. With so much at stake, the least that the makers of this series could have done is to have hired the best script-writers and others in the industry.
The story so far is not at all exciting. Normally, if you are watching a well made series, you are eager for the newer episodes to be released. But there is no such eagerness that I feel after watching the first 2 episodes. Yeah I might watch the newer episodes; if I have time; but I don't really find myself waiting for them.
In fact, even while watching the first two episodes, I found myself checking to see how much more time is remaining (which happens only when the movie/series is a drag).
The Priest (2021)
Boring...predictable...
Cringe factor is very high in all aspects of this film. Mammooty looks ridiculous and I wasn't able to understand why a weirdly dressed priest is playing detective and he can't even conduct a half decent exorcism.
Shrikant Bashir (2020)
Pathetic series
Amateurish web series, with over dramatic performances, shoddy acting, cringeworthy dialogues and weak script.
The main actor needs to take acting lessons, as do the rest of the cast. And whoever wrote this series should be fired from the industry forever.
Chakravyuh: An Inspector Virkar Crime Thriller (2021)
Cheap shoddy copy of Abhay
This is such a lousy and mediocre series that I couldn't watch it beyond 3 episodes.
The main character looks like a gigolo with his over tight clothes, rather than a cop. The makers have desperately tried to make him look cool, but failed miserably.
This wannabe Sherlock Holmes is supposed to visualise the crime by looking at the crime scene; but none of his deductions are actually brilliant. They are what any average cop would make, without all the fuss.
Clearly Pratiek Babbar can't act to save his life. Nor does he have the looks or charisma. His idea of being intense is to speak in a husky whisper all the time.
They even made him show his muscular body in every frame they could. This ridiculous guy is supposed to live in a small wooden boat, where he spends his nights bare-bodied drinking with a revolver in his hand.
Pls don't watch this crap.
Jallikattu (2019)
Crap movie made to insult Tamil culture
First of all, this movie is nothing to do with Jallikattu and seems to be deliberately named this to misrepresent that practice.
Secondly, it is a loud, crass and poorly acted travesty of a movie, with weird sound effects, dozens of wild, uncouth men running here and there aimlessly, brawling mindlessly and over acting.
The film is technically brilliant and the cinematography is beautiful to look at. Kerala is a magnificent land, but same can't be said about it's denizens.
To think that this cringeworthy revolting trash was sent to Oscars makes me retch.
The Midnight Swim (2014)
Pretentious muddled film
This is not a horror film, rather it is semi drama and semi pseudo-philosophical tripe, which ends up making no sense. Waste of time watching it.
The 16th Episode (2018)
Weird disjointed film
This could actually have been a gem of a movie, only if it hadn't been dragged down by it's own weirdness.
They tried to go for something unconventional but ended up spoiling the whole thing.
7 Witches (2017)
Not witches, more like cannibals
Very stupid film with misleading title. Nothing connected to witchcraft in this; just one or two random references to Salem.
More like a lousy cannibal slasher film. No idea why they kept showing all the seafood preparations though.
Maybe the director wanted to be on masterchef or something.
El habitante (2017)
Laughable and ridiculous plot
While the one star is for the mostly original setup, the inanity of the plot and the ridiculous plot twists (put mostly to try to shock the viewer, in a very lazy way) made me take away the rest of the stars.
So basically the new Pope is the devil himself, as is revealed to the main character in the end, when he licks his lips on the television. Wow, that's subtle! How I wish it were so ridiculously easy to identify demons.
And the fact that the devil can apparently possess anybody so easily, including the Pope (who himself is a master exorcist) will essentially make it omnipotent.
Essentially, if you make the antagonist omnipotent and somebody to whom no rules apply, then there is hardly anything of interest left in the story. That's lazy plot-writing and not very intelligent.
The House in Sherwood (2020)
Worse acting by the two lead actresses
The acting of the two lead actors was so hammy and over the top, that this so-called horror movie came across as a spoof comedy.
Found footage movies are where the characters show us what they are seeing. But for the major part of this film, we had to endure close ups of the two characters' faces, including their ugly teeth and skin pores.
The actress who plays the antagonist is particularly irritating.
Death of a Vlogger (2019)
Found footage done right
This was an excellent example of a creepy FF film, where till the last moment you are kept wondering as to what will happen next. I have no idea why people are rating it low.
For a movie made on a shoestring budget, it was pretty smart and I had my heart in my mouth a few times.
At the end, you are left wondering as to what the truth really is (though there are plenty of clues that point either direction). Was it faked? Was it real? Was the ending faked too? Coz you don't really see the man hanging; though his feet lift off the ground. But he could just be hanging on to a rod or something.
It makes you think and it makes you want to believe both sides - the ones who insist that it's a hoax and the ones who insist that it is real.
The Wicker Man (1973)
Propaganda movie
So the underlying theme in this film is that pagans are evil and they have shocking, disgusting rituals; while Christians are pious, god-fearing and brave.
The main character deserved to die in the end for being such a stuck up and obnoxious religious nut.
It's kinda ironical because in the middle ages, heathens used to be burned at the stake by Christians; so they just returned the favour here.
Enjoyable in parts, but showing pagans as evil and repulsive is unacceptable.
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag (2020)
Unoriginal and unfunny
This is a completely tedious, unfunny and forgettable series with the utterly untalented Swara trying hard to act and failing miserably.
Don't waste your time on this atrocious series.
Naxalbari (2020)
Terrible web series with twisted agenda
One more web series, glorifying terrorists and vilifying Hindutva groups as well as placing the blame on the system for "forcing" people to take up arms.
After several web series like Family Man, Ghoul etc which justified Islamic terrorism now is the time to white-wash Naxalites, which is exactly what this series aims to do.
The Naxalites are basically portrayed as "Gandhians with guns" and noble souls who are forced to fight for their rights against the cruel manipulative government, scheming corporates and biased police men.
On the other hand, Hindutva groups are shown as indulging in unbridled violence against poor villagers, killing and raping them with impunity, shooting them for sport and so on.
Sure they do show a few Naxalites who are evil too and a couple of cops who are sincere; but the overwhelming message is that 99.99% of Naxalites are good people who are forced to pick up the gun to fight against a system which has made their lives miserable.
This is nothing other than main-streaming of violence and an attempt to create sympathy for anarchists.
The series as such is nothing much going for it. The main characters are played by veteran TV actors, so they deliver average performances. Convoluted story line with everyone double and triple crossing each other in an attempt to stay on top.
Key characters conveniently take stupid risks when it is time for them to be bumped off. But the protagonist always stays alive no matter what and is invariably rescued at the nick of time, so that he can carry on the good fight.
Trained cops behave like amateurs when the story line dictates it. Naxalites sit around in the forest the whole day and clean their guns (which consists of detaching and reattaching their magazines endlessly).
Couple of over-dramatic moments, which reminded me of the stupid saas-bahu serials.
Dabbe: Zehr-i Cin (2014)
Decent film, but the ending ruined it
I am a fan of this series, but this film falls into the Hollywood trap of showing too many frightening images, scares and sound effects in an attempt to create horror. Not needed. Sometimes a disturbing story told well is more effective in scaring the audience than all the scare effects in the world.
This film looks like a rehash of all the ones before it in the series and has nothing much new to offer. After a point, the constant barrage of images and sounds starting wearing you out.
Plus the explanation given in the ending and how it all ties together was awful and convoluted. That's where the movie totally lost me. It didn't feel genuine at all and looked like a cheap stunt to create some twist in the story.
Acting was adequate; but the madman character introduced towards the end was pathetic. Not just the character, but the acting itself.
Ludo (2020)
Ugly and abusive
Ludo is ugly cliche presentation of comedy in violence, sex, abusive language with backdrop of psychopath.
Khaali Peeli (2020)
Worse movie by nepo-kids
Kareena Kapoor showed us the way by telling us that nobody is forcing us to watch their movies and we shouldn't go, if we don't like it.
Yeah well Kareena, advice accha laga. Nahin dekha yeh 3rd class movie. Phir bhi review denge. Jo ukhaadna hai ukhaad lo.
Bollywood ko public ne banaya. Ab dekho public kaise tum logon ko sadak pe laati hai.
Mirzapur (2018)
Pathetic story and even more pathetic execution
This is one of the worse webseries to come out of India. No story, just gratuitous violence and sex by the truckload. The acting, especially of Ali Faizal, is sub par.