Directed byMohit Suri Written by Sankalp Sadanah Dialogues by Rohan Shankar Produced byAkshaye Widhani Starring: Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda Cinematography: Vikas Sivaraman Edited by Rohit Makwana, Devendra Murdeshwar Music by Songs: Mithoon, Tanishk Bagchi,Sachet-Parampara, Rishabh Kant, Vishal Mishra, Faheem Abdullah, Arslan Nizami
Rating: ***
(The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie or show when seen. But minor details may have been divulged for a proper review!)
I checked
out Saiyaara on Netflix this weekend, and was quite surprised that it fell
short of my expectations, especially given its status as a box office hit with
rave reviews!
Saiyaara
is a romantic, heartbreaking drama featuring debutant actors. The idea of
creating an emotional romance with fresh talent is excellent; however, the
overall execution falls short due to inadequate character development, weak
story building, and poor editing. The movie felt like a collection of disconnected
and copy-paste scenes, lacking a realistic flow. Additionally, the numerous
technical flaws, medical inaccuracies, and excessive melodrama detract from the
emotional depth of the storyline.
The
lead actor, Ahaan Pandey, delivers a good performance, channeling a Sanjay
Dutt-like persona. However, his grunge look throughout the movie felt
excessive. A cleaner appearance during the happier moments could have enhanced
the narrative.
The
heroine, Aneet Padda, resembles the cute Alicia Silverstone, but her character's
script requirement was limited to looking pretty, vulnerable, and sad. While both actors are good-looking, neither of
the lead characters was endearing enough, nor did they evoke the charm
necessary for viewers to fall in love with them, an essential component in
romantic films.
On
a positive note, the soundtrack is enjoyable, with eloquent lyrics compared to
many recent films. However, aside from one standout song, the tracks don't
compare to the memorable ones from Mohit Suri's films like Aashiqui 2 etc.
Overall, I would rate it 3 out of 5.
Written by Sudip
Sharma; Sagar Haveli; Hardik Mehta; Gunjit Chopra
Directed by Avinash
Arun; Prosit Roy (season one);
Starring: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Gul Panag
Genre:Neo-noir; Crime thriller; Social Drama
Rating : **** /5
(The aim and
intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the
whole story to enjoy the movie or show when seen. But minor details may have
been divulged for a proper review!)
Paatal Lok, an Indian crime thriller and social drama well
known for its realistic storytelling, direction, and extraordinary acting,
recently released its second season on Amazon Prime.
The first season, which debuted in 2020, gained acclaim for
its impactful dialogues: "The world is divided into three parts—Swarg
(Heaven), where the gods and the wealthy live and can get away with anything;
Dharti (Earth), where ordinary humans reside; and Paatal Lok (the underworld),
inhabited by criminals and insects." It explored themes such as
murder, corruption, dirty politics, media manipulation, oppression,
Islamophobia, and caste discrimination.
While the first season was set in Delhi and its surrounding
areas, the second season shifts the setting to the eastern Indian state of
Nagaland. This season is equally bingeworthy, weaving a murder mystery through
the complexities of politics, rebel insurgencies, drugs and narcotics, and
family drama.
Jaideep Ahlawat shines as Inspector Haati Raam Chaudhary,
delivering another outstanding performance. The Haryanvi cop, characterized by
a thick mouche, a small paunch, and an untucked shirt, may not be a
typical action hero, but surprisingly impressed with his numerous combat
scenes, fist fights, chases, and sliding down roofs.
The partnership between Jaideep Ahlawat and Ishwak Singh as Imran Ansari, —Sub
Inspector from the first season turned to IPS officer, is beautifully captured.
Their respectful and friendly chemistry, which sometimes is awkward due to
changed power dynamics, adds depth to the narrative.
An excellent binge-worthy show to watch. Highly recommend.
"Jab tak baithne ko na kaha jaaye
sharafat se khade raho. Yeh police station hai tumhare baap ka ghar nahi."-Zanjeer
"Don ka intezar toh gyarah mulkon ki
police kar rahi hai.Lekin….. ek baat samajh lo Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi,
namumkin hai"- Don
"Aaj mere paas paisa hai, bangla hai,
gaadi hai, naukar hai, bank balance hai, aur tumhare paas kya hai?"-Deewar
These iconic dialogues with new storylines reinvented the Bollywood formula, which was romance-centric with a new kind of anti-hero, introducing the "Angry Young Man" in 70's Bollywood, revolutionizing Indian Cinema.
The legendary duo writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar single-handedly created this creative shift of popularizing the action-drama genre when they kickstarted the dawn of the "Angry Young Man" with Zanjeer.
Hence, appropriately, a documentary about these two writers and creators, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, is called "Angry Young Men." I guess Amitabh Bachchan, who was the face of the "Angry Young Man" and immortalized it, will have to title his life series differently one day ;)
This three-part documentary series produced by the duo's kids, Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Farhan Akhtar, director Zoya Akhtar and others, is on Amazon Prime. Directed by Namrata Rao, it walks through the personal and professional journeys of screenplay writer Salim Khan and dialog writer Javed Akhtar while exploring their partnership as "Salim-Javed," who wrote 24 films together, 22 of which were blockbusters!
The series captures nostalgic memories of their early lives, their coming together as a team, their movies, and their iconic dialogues, which were engraved in the minds of Indian audiences and became common parlance. We hear them talking about their philosophies, vulnerabilities, and personal lives reflected in some of their characters; their angry angst mirrored in the "Angry Young Man" and such. Special mention is the amazing story of their confidence in themselves and the need to get screenplay writers deserving recognition and credits on movie posters with cast and crew; they graffitied their names on film posters of Zanjeer across town. Despite sharing some movie trivia and details, the series keeps the curious cine fan skeptical about what caused their split and why the duo stopped working together.
But in retrospect, while seeing the series, when we think of the "Angry Young Man" in Bollywood cinema, we see the rise in the pattern of male-centric movies with no turning back! In a conversation snippet, Jaya Bhaduri mentions she was initially uncomfortable and unsure of acting in a male-centric movie like Zanjeer but did it for Amitabh's sake.
But unknowingly, did the writers change Bollywood cinema, the audiences, and the culture towards male chauvinism and a patriarchal society? Though the conversation in the series talks about their screenplays having created strong female characters and not namby-pamby women, as Javed says, the persona-building process of the "Angry Young Man" left no space for women to have an equal share of space.
When you see the present-day ripple of the "Angry Young Man" characters in today's Indian film industry, they have left behind Salim- Javed's "little good and little bad anti-hero" to full-blown immoral misogynist heroes! By creating the "Angry Young Man" action genre, they may be uncomfortable for being partially responsible Frankenstein creators of today's monster heroes in Arjun Reddy/Kabir Singh and Animal!
Every summer, for so many years living in Austin, we have enjoyed watching high-quality Broadway-grade productions on the open-air Zilker Hillside Theatre for free! The Shakespeare in the Park or the Zilker Theatre Productions (ZTP).
This summer, we had a fantastic Saturday evening at the Zilker Hillside Theatre with the ZTP show Legally Blonde. Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Motion Picture "Legally Blonde" starring Reese Witherspoon.
Legally Blonde is the empowering story about how Elle Woods, a fashion major sorority girl, enrolls in Harvard Law School to win over her ex-boyfriend. She tackles stereotypes and faces skepticism from her peers and professors, but with unwavering optimism and the support of her new friends Emmet Forrest and her hairdresser friend Paulette, she discovers her true potential, passion, and power of the law degree.
If you liked the movie Legally Blonde, you would love this theatre production with its lightweight and fun comedy, tongue-in-cheek dialogues and lyrics, high-energy songs and dance choreography, high-tempo music by Laurance O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, fabulous, eye-catching costumes and pink ambiance lighting.
Each of the actors has excellent performances, especially the lead actors Megan Hudson as Elle Woods and Will Mallick as Emmet Forrest, and Ashtyn Kahn as Paulette. Besides being pretty in pink, Megan brought out the ethos and spirit of Elle and Reese perfectly.
Elles's empowering journey of self-discovery, perseverance, staying true to oneself, optimism, and shattering stereotypes are excellent themes that need to be echoed and embraced by all for true success.
Dressed in pink, with picnic blankets, picnic baskets with tuna bagel sandwiches, chips and dips, pretzels, snacks, banana bread, drinks, water, precautionary dabs of lavender oils, and mosquito repellant, and a pack of uno for pre-show entertainment, our family was ready for the fun evening.
It was a hot evening, but the help desk gave out paper fans along with and the musical programs. I was also lucky to go backstage to meet a friend who supervises the costumes and wardrobe of the musical. At intermission, I even got an answer to my curious query of how Elle changed her costume on stage so fast when she was dress-shopping and prepping for her possible proposal. The astonishing answer is that magnets sewn on the dress snap together fast!
Zilker Theatre Productions Legally Blonde the Musical has been showing July 12 through August 18, 2024, Thursday to Sunday at 8.15 p.m. Blankets can be laid out starting at 6:00 p.m. to secure prime spots for the show. Arriving at 6:50 p.m., we found a slightly diagonal spot with a decent view.
Since it was a Saturday, it drew large crowds, and more than 1000 people were watching this entertaining musical. We saw some familiar faces but because of the large crowd we couldn't spot some of our friends who were there as well.
Zilker summer musicals have been an Austin Tradition since 1959, when Austin's Parks and Recreation Department created it as an annual project. Sustaining the legacy of serving the Austin community through the magic of performing, these theatre productions make the arts accessible, with Broadway-grade productions inspiring artists and audiences and celebrating the spirit of community. They welcome donations and during intermission, the cast comes out to the Hillside with buckets for donations, too. The program also has QR codes to donate electronically.
FYI, if you are a dog lover, with the help of the Austin Animal Center, you can adopt one of the animal stars of ZTP's Legally Blonde- The Musical.
So, get your friends and family together, pack a picnic and head to the Zilker Hillside Theatre- its and experience you won't want to miss. Last day of the show is August 17, 2024.
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika padukone, Sanjay dutt, Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani
Director: Atlee
Screenplay by Atlee, S. Ramanagirivasan
Story: Atlee
Dialogs: Sumit Arora
Producers: Gauri Khan, Gaurav Verma
Cinematography: G. K. Vishnu
Edited by Ruben
Music by Anirudh Ravichander
Rating: ***
(The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)
Not many celebrities in India are brave enough to take a stand or take a mantle to raise awareness, denounce social and political injustices, or point fingers at a broken system. Shahrukh Khan, using his stardom and charisma in collaboration with Director Atlee, stands as the avenger and vigilante in Jawan for social and political justice and tries to shake the Indian audiences out of the lull to come together for the greater good.
While he is at it, he also makes a personal retaliatory statement about the persecution of his son with a dialog in the movie- “Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar.”
Jawan is a soldier, a jailor, and a Robin Hood-style vigilante. His agenda is to expose the recent happenings with faulty systems and improve the lives of the common man. He tries to right the wrongs caused by - the Ministry of Agriculture with the sad plight of the suicidal farmers burdened by debt; - the Health Ministry and their insensitivity to provide government hospitals with infrastructure like simple oxygen cylinders and wrongful blaming the doctor for deaths instead of the real offenders; the faulty weapons in warfare due to underhand arms deals leading to loss of soldiers lives; political deals with billionaire businessmen; and such….All simultaneously with action adventures, high-speed chases, and hostage takeovers of the masked hero & his girl squad of avengers with guns and tech gadgets.
The big negative was the long list of wrongs to right sequenced to fit into one movie, cramming it a little. With the movie already stretched to 169 minutes, the transitions between each tragic flashback story and action-adventures to fix those wrongs were too quick that it lost out on making an emotional impact and meaningful connection.
But hopefully, if SRK’s fervent speech on democracy and the power of a single vote to help bring about a better tomorrow has influenced the audiences, it’s the biggest positive!
The director Atlee, did an excellent job of representing all Indian audiences, races, religions, and castes in his imagery from the north to the south to the east to west, showcasing the diversity of India. Though he is known for his blockbuster movies confronting social issues, in this agenda to expose the long list of events that have unfolded in India docu-drama style, he didn’t work his magic effectively in Jawan. Lacking the seamless blending of social messages, emotions, and action affected the movie’s entertainment value.
The South Indian Directors’ influence on the music and choreography is visible in the songs. ‘Challaya,’ ‘Not Ramaya Vastavaya,’ and ‘Zinda are good but not showstopping numbers.
While SRK in Jawan comes out sometimes as the vigilante Amitabh Bachchan of ‘Shehanshah,’ ‘Agneepath,’ and ‘Akhri Rashta,’ he pleases all audiences across the country by channeling even the South Indian superstar Rajnikanth and his iconic moves with cigar and stunts with motorcycles.
Shahrukh Khan proves himself as a feminist again in Jawan (besides in Pathan) when the women in the movie have an equal footing and show women empowerment. Deepika shines in the small role, while Nayantara also emerges as a strong character. However, Nayantara lacks the same romantic chemistry with SRK. His girl squad, like Charlie’s Angles with Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Girija Oak, and Lehar Khan, are outstanding, but their characters were a little underwritten due to excessive story jamming.
Vijay Sethupathi is a well-known South Indian actor, but maybe due to difficulty in adapting to the language or whatever reason, he doesn't have a strong villainous impact.
SRK, as the soldier, was outstanding and outshined the younger CGI’ed jailor SRK. But what is remarkable is not talking about his acting prowess but his courage to get off beyond the screen and play a ‘true real-life hero,’ exposing the wrongs in today's India.
Produced by
Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Aanand L. Rai
Starring: Ayushmann
Khurrana, Jaideep Ahlawat
Cinematography: Kaushal
Shah
Edited by
Ninad Khanolkar
Music by
Parag Chhabra, Sunny M. R.
Release
date:2 December 2022
Running
time:130 minutes
Language: Hindi
Genre:
Action Comedy, Satire
Rating:3/5
(The aim and intention of my review is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)
Lights-camera-action. The action hero throws a punch, shoots
bullets, kicks butt, and does his own stunts. This is because the actor is not
just playing the part of an action hero, he is living it. When an incident occurs
for the hero to escape reel life to real life he has not escaped the baddies
chasing him.
An Action Hero is a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase between
actor Manaav (Ayushman Khurana) and revenge-seeking small-town politician Bhoora
Solanki (Jaideep Ahlawat). It has a well-written, fast-paced plot, comic wit,
spunky dialog, punchy, sharp satire, and commentary.
Yes, there is commentary. Ayushman Khurana, with his mission
and hope of improving the world, tackling social evil, and breaking societal norms
through movies, imparts another underlining message.
The movie has incisive and acute observations about politics
and politicians showing off power; the rich and affluent society’s expectations of Bollywood celebrities to dance to their tunes; obsession and
entitlement of fans' beliefs that they
are the makers of the actors’ celebrity status; underworld references; capriciousness
of media who can make you from famous to infamous; satire of how media and TRP
obsessed news channels and irritating TV anchors are weaponizing media, especially
against Bollywood with the dig at the use of #BoycottBollywood for many recent
movies.
Director Anirudh Iyer stages the Tom and Jerry kind of play
between Khurana and Ahlawat. Where one is trying to kill his opponent, but also
getting pally with him! Both the actors Khurana and Ahlawat have strong
performances. Jaideep Ahlavat, with his fierce broody looks delivering comic
dialogs or revealing unsureness of his revenge intent, was an excellent
juxtaposition. Of the umpteen Bollywood action hero possibilities, Ayushman
Khurana was perfectly chosen. He is buffed and fit, but importantly he is among
the few actors who appear relatable and vulnerable, playing the part of an
action hero very well in reel life and real life.
An interesting aspect you notice is this movie doesn’t have any
females in the leading cast. Malika Arora is still her hot self in the reprised
version of Nazia Hassan’s song Aap
Jaisa Koi ….. Nora Fatehi features her sexy strut in Jehda Nasha as the
numbers roll.
This action comedy is now on Netflix and is definitely worth a
watch.
(The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)
Pathaan is a high-octane
Spy thriller, too true to the genre. It is an action-filled entertainer with
adrenaline rush thrills, exhilarating adventure, and gravity-defying stunts in the
air, land, snow, ice, and water! It practically check-marks all the action
sequences possible in any movie of this genre! LOL, I am not kidding; I have
listed it below and still feel I missed out a bunch from my memory…. You are
promised a total visual treat from the action to the actors;)
It’s a movie where
your favorite Bollywood hero of romance is reinvented as the action hero with
chiseled six-pack abs, long locks of hair/a man bun, with suave daredevil moves
but, of course, still packed with the SRK charm;)
This spy thriller is
like James Bond meets Mission Impossible, Fast and Furious, and Captain
America! With high doses of eye candy, action, thrills, drama, and patriotism! The
story involves an Indian secret agent putting together a team of agents to
fight international crime and terrorism, hopping across countries, and
indulging in games of revenge and betrayal with rogue agents and spies of
another country. Do we have a logical
and rational plot? No, it’s best to ignore it and not take all that seriously.
Just get visually entertained ;)
Listed are the ever-so-many Action Sequences:
þHand-to-hand combat
þGuns, Knives, and Glass bottle Fights
þMissiles & Rockets
þBombs & Explosions
þBiowarfare
þWaterboarding & Torture
þCar Chase: Hummer vs. Dodge Charger
þFight Scene on top of SUVs & Trucks
þHelicopter Chases, Fights, and Hanging from Helicopters
þZip Lining between Helicopters
þHanging from Glider Airplanes
þMid-Air Chase in self-propelled Flying Jet Wingsuits
þFight scene on Top of the Moving Train; Fight
scene in Moving Train
þBridge with train tracks burning; running up
the falling train bogies
þHigh-security vault Heist
þMotorbike Chase on Snow
þMotorbiking on a Frozen Lake
þIce skating on a Frozen Lake
þUnderwater Rescue
þHologram technology
þCliff Jumping
þRappelling on high-rise glass skyscrapers
Director
Siddharth Anand presents Pathaan like a Hollywoodesque superhero movie for the YashRaj Spy Universe Series. Some accolades go to the multiple stunt directors in
the cast. At the same time, the writers Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala
write into the movie some humor and dialog with a few old SRK movie references,
which he smoothly glides in with his charm and wit.
Shahrukh Khan works
well as the six-packed abs tough but vulnerable Superhero, not the indestructible
kind. He is the type who gets beaten up but still comes out as the chivalrous
hero who saves the day. It looks like he has carved new ways and roles to shine
in Bollywood at 57. Despite SRK being the protagonist, the movie balances out
prime time with John Abraham as the handsome villain with his own set of
chiseled Abs, tattoos, strength, moves, and subtle humor (I love his joke about
dating among spies) Adding to the battle of equals is Deepika who gives off
sexy, sultry glam with kick-ass action moves. She proves she is not just some
eye candy or love interest but another action hero!
The songs Jhoome JoPathaan and Besharam Rang (with the orange bikini, controversial for ridiculous non-reasons) are visually
appealing in the cinematography and choreography, while the music by
Vishal-Shekar and the lyrics are reflective of the action thriller.
Lastly, don’t miss
the fun cameo of Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan discussing Bollywood after the
numbers roll.
Recommend checking
it out in theatres for the visual treat from the action to the actors;)
The Oscar nominations are listed below, time to start checking out the movies and start rating your favorites...
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
AUSTIN BUTLER-ELVIS COLIN FARRELL-THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN BRENDAN FRASER-THE WHALE PAUL MESCAL-AFTERSUN BILL NIGHY-LIVING
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
BRENDAN GLEESON-THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN BRIAN TYREE HENRY-CAUSEWAY JUDD HIRSCH-THE FABELMANS BARRY KEOGHAN-THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN KE HUY QUAN-EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
CATE BLANCHETT-Tár ANA DE ARMAS-Blonde ANDREA RISEBOROUGH-To Leslie MICHELLE WILLIAMS-The Fabelmans MICHELLE YEOH-Everything Everywhere All at Once
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
ANGELA BASSETT Black Panther: Wakanda Forever HONG CHAU The Whale KERRY CONDON The Banshees of Inisherin JAMIE LEE CURTIS Everything Everywhere All at Once STEPHANIE HSU Everything Everywhere All at Once
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES
GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH Joel Crawford and Mark Swift THE SEA BEAST Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger TURNING RED Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins
CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT James Friend BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS Darius Khondji ELVIS Mandy Walker EMPIRE OF LIGHT Roger Deakins TÁR Florian Hoffmeister
COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES
BABYLON Mary Zophres BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Ruth Carter ELVIS Catherine Martin EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Shirley Kurata MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS Jenny Beavan
DIRECTING
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Martin McDonagh EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert THE FABELMANS Steven Spielberg TÁR Todd Field TRIANGLE OF SADNESS Ruben Östlund
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
ALL THAT BREATHES Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov FIRE OF LOVE Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström NAVALNY Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
THE ELEPHANT WHISPERERS Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga HAULOUT Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR? Jay Rosenblatt THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison STRANGER AT THE GATE Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
FILM EDITING
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Mikkel E.G. Nielsen ELVIS Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Paul Rogers TÁR Monika Willi TOP GUN: MAVERICK Eddie Hamilton
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Germany ARGENTINA, 1985 Argentina CLOSE Belgium EO Poland THE QUIET GIRL Ireland
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová THE BATMAN Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Camille Friend and Joel Harlow ELVIS Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti THE WHALE Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
NOMINEES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Volker Bertelmann BABYLON Justin Hurwitz THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Carter Burwell EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Son Lux THE FABELMANS John Williams
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
APPLAUSE from Tell It like a Woman; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren HOLD MY HAND from Top Gun: Maverick; Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop LIFT ME UP from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
NAATU NAATU from RRR; Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose THIS IS A LIFE from Everything Everywhere All at Once; Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne
BEST PICTURE
NOMINEES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Malte Grunert, Producer AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers ELVIS Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers THE FABELMANS Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers TÁR Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers
TOP GUN: MAVERICK Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers TRIANGLE OF SADNESS Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers WOMEN TALKING Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers
PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole BABYLON Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino ELVIS Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn THE FABELMANS Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
NOMINEES
THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud THE FLYING SAILOR Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby ICE MERCHANTS João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano MY YEAR OF DICKS Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon AN OSTRICH TOLD ME THE WORLD IS FAKE AND I THINK I BELIEVE IT Lachlan Pendragon
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
NOMINEES
AN IRISH GOODBYE Tom Berkeley and Ross White IVALU Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan LE PUPILLE Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón NIGHT RIDE Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen THE RED SUITCASE Cyrus Neshvad
SOUND
NOMINEES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges THE BATMAN Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson ELVIS David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller TOP GUN: MAVERICK Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
VISUAL EFFECTS
NOMINEES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett THE BATMAN Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick TOP GUN: MAVERICK Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Screenplay - Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Written by Rian Johnson LIVING Written by Kazuo Ishiguro TOP GUN: MAVERICK Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks WOMEN TALKING Screenplay by Sarah Polley
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Written by Martin McDonagh EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert THE FABELMANS Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner TÁR Written by Todd Field TRIANGLE OF SADNESS Written by Ruben Östlund
Story: Hussain
Zaidi (story is based on a chapter from the Book- “Mafia Queens of Mumbai:
Stories of women from the ganglands” written by Hussain Zaidi & Jane Borges)
(The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)
White is the color of clouds, pearls, milk, snow, salt, paper, ice, swans…..it’s not just an illustrious dialogue of the movie, the color white is an unblemished marker for purity and I guess it can help illuminate the literal and figurative ills of society! Hence Sanjay Leela Bhansali may have chosen the color white to clad the queen of the red-light district in shades of pristine white in stark contradiction to dark views on prostitution and sex trade.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s artistry is not limited to the lead character of Gangubai, but reflected in the whole set and visual scenery. All the large scale scenes have the grandeur and aura of white and his whole movie has a white color scheme elevating the protagonist to a larger stature.
The movie is loosely based on the real life of Gangubai Kathiawadi. Based on the chapter The Matriarch of Kamathipura of the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, written by S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges. It chronicles the journey of a young, small town girl who gets conned with lure of Bollywood dreams to be sold in the lanes of Kamathipura, Bombay’s notorious red-light district. Staging through the shameful, sad, painful times, to the strong fight- for- her- life stage, to an activist and advocate for the rights of fellow sex workers, to the queen of Kamathipura, crusading for the sex worker community, and lobbying for legalization of prostitution. Her journey is loaded with challenges, vile brothel madams, conflicting opponents, social stigma, police and politics which builds her to stand up strong for basic rights to education, banking, equality and dignity, for the sex workers and their children.
The empowered and feminist Gangubai who supports her sisterhood is nicely reflected in the equally powerful, feminist Bollywood movie about her, with exceptionally fiery dialogs, getting mouthed out by the female lead protagonist. Such audacity of strength and power used to be reserved for angry young man roles, in Amitabh Bachchan like movies only….. Towering applause goes to the dialog writers Prakash Kapadia, Utkarshini Vashishtha for all the remarkable and outstanding dialogs. Interestingly the feministic part is reflected in paradox of how a sex worker like Gangubai shows importance of consent. Her love interest waits for her consent, the policeman is scared to touch her feet, and the goon is beaten up for trying to get violent with her.
And finally it’s time to applaud Alia Bhatt for her brilliant acting skills. She would not have been the first Bollywood actress one thinks of for a role of a sex worker. But she has matured and grown as an actress to depict such complex emotions from pain to joy, fear to strength, shining in every moment. Her paused and impactful dialog delivery, her sweet expressions and confident swagger in this movie show she has the acting chops perfected.
Ajay Devgn shows strength and power in his strut and gait in his brief role as the upright Pathan-don Rahim Lala. Jim Sarbh with his role as an encouraging journalist with his subtle performance adds interesting interludes. Seema Pahwa as the vile brothel madam, Vijay Raaz as the Trans Razia add some melodrama. Scenes with Indira Tiwari, Gangu’s friend, are full of pathos and pain, be it the letter writing one, in sickness, or the dead scene. Shantanu Maheswari as the shy love interest of Gangubai brings some old fashioned sweet and shy romance and cute moments to the movie to contrast the sad, bruised and tragic realities.
Bhansali who is known for his genius of visual production, adds glamour and grandeur and artfully downplays the painful details, suffering, sexual exploits and exploitations of sex workers.
Gangubai Kathiawadi is a well done movie and worth a watch. It’s in theatres now if you want to enjoy Bhansali’s visual artistry and Alia Bhatt’s larger than life role. It will be also released on Netflix later in the month.
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