 "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Baadshaho, Arjun Reddy, Velipadinte Pusthakam: Reviews of the Week")
Every Friday, we wonder which film could we should watch on the weekend, and this can be a tough decision, considering the sheer number of films that release! The next thing we do is type in the movie’s name and search for reviews, to see what people have to say about them. That might sound like a simple, ‘figured-the-easy-way-out’ kind of solution, but it is far from it. Reviewers can be cryptic, to say the least. While one says that a film is extraordinary and gives it a 4-star rating, others may not stop calling it names or worse, trash it entirely. To solve this problem, here is a list of all the films that release this weekend, along with excerpts from decisive reviews written by Firstpost’s critics. Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
“The first half of Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is a complete riot, yet manages to evoke stirring passages of emotion between the two leads. From their initial meeting, to the manner in which they get past the hurdles involved in courtship in a society where a direct and open expression of interest in a person of the opposite sex is frowned upon, a woman is expected never to make the first move and a decent man must, therefore, find ways to approach a woman he likes without being a stalker or a lech; from their shy shot at having sex one night when they get her house all to themselves, to Sugandha’s mother’s effort to drive home the virtues of virginity to her daughter, and the bride’s calculating yet affectionate chachu, everything is designed to have viewers rolling in the aisles with laughter even while driving home the point it wishes to make. And Prasanna succeeds on both counts.” Read the full review here . Baadshaho
“Devgn is consistently one-pitch: intense. But he’s supported solidly by the on-point Mishra and the likeable Hashmi, who does well with the Rajasthani accent. D’Cruz looks the part and brings in some effort to add shades to a character whose motivations remain unsubstantiated. The screenplay of Baadshaho is unduly non-linear and includes indulgent scenes like one of police torture. Baadshaho’s finale unfolds in a sandstorm and is the one scene that is visually arresting, though the story loses itself somewhere within the vortex.” Read the full review here : Arjun Reddy
“While Sandeep Kumar Vanga paves the way for a new style of filmmaking which doesn’t adhere to any rules of conventional storytelling, please put your hands together for Vijay Devarakonda, who is the life of Arjun Reddy. I can’t think of any other actor in Telugu cinema right now who could have pulled off this film with such conviction, and that is an understatement. Be it his anger or self-inflicted pain, Vijay nails every single shade in his character, and he does all this as if it was child’s play. No matter what you think of the film, let this be inscribed in stone — Vijay Devarakonda: What an actor! What an amazing actor.” Read the full review here : Pullikkaran Staraa
“This being a Mammootty film, it is obvious that there will be expressions of romantic interest from both the lovely ladies. This being a Mammootty film, it is obvious too who the script will choose for him. For the moment, forget the fact that Pullikkaran Staraa rests on a wafer-thin plot, forget the lack of focus in the narrative, the over-stretching, the unnecessary scenes (such as that bus accident), the occasional double entendre, the questionable editing and the unremarkable music. The fact is, there are many possibilities staring us in the face in Rajakumaran’s training sessions with his teacher students. Those passages genuinely have something to say, but instead of keeping its eye trained on them, the film relegates this part of the hero’s life to the margins, remaining obsessed instead with ending his bachelorhood.” Read the full review here : Paisa Vasool
“Paisa Vasool, especially when everything gets into a serious mode, feels even more superficial because the characters rarely gel well with the setting. They just happen to be there and make no effort to make it look like they have lived there for a while. This isn’t restricted to Paisa Vasool alone. Every film which is set abroad, from Puri’s recent filmography, like ISM, Heart Attack and Iddarammayilatho, falls in the same category. We are, in turn, forced to stretch our imagination to soak it all in and wait for those moments where you get something to cheer for. And that’s where Puri Jagannadh unveils his secret weapon — Balakrishna as Theda Singh.” Read the full review here : Velipadinte Pusthakam
“Inevitably, at one point a good-looking young woman expresses interest in marrying Michael Idiculla. This is the primary purpose served by the presence in the story of the teacher Mary, played by the charismatic Reshma Rajan from Angamaly Diaries. A conversation she has with another teacher about the age difference is hardly a saving grace, when you consider how superfluous this aside is in the script, and how silly, no different from the young housemaid’s effort to flirt with Mohanlal’s character Jayaraman in last year’s Oppam. It’s funny – and sad – that Lalettan’s directors feel compelled to remind us that he continues to be attractive to handsome young women, as if that, and not his talent, is the measure of his hero-worthiness.” Read the full review here :
