sunildaswaney-63642 Reviews

Maidaan (2024)

EXCELLENT MOVIE

[9/10 · 10 April 2024]

Besides 2 unnecessary songs the USP of this excellent movie was its almost flawless editing. Although the movie was 3hrs 1 minute long,i never never felt bored(except for the 2 unwanted songs)as it was always very interesting and captivating throughout. Although his role was not a challenging one at all,Ajay Devgn is always extremely convincing in these types of roles unlike comic roles where he's a total failure. Gajraj Rao's average acting was overshadowed by his ridiculous hairpiece which made him look like an absolute clown. The rest of the junior cast were average while all of the footballers were very convincing in playing their parts This true story was very well scripted and the screenplay and direction were absolutely brilliant 9/10.

Crew (2024)

POOR MOVIE

[3/10 · 3 April 2024]

This movie started off as a light breezy uncomplicated comedy with poor to average acting and direction. Tabu&Kareena are brilliant actresses but no role in the movie was challenging for anyone much less these 2,so they just waltzed through their respective roles. However about the 3/4 way mark,precisely after their employer absconded from the country,the filmmaker decided that we the viewers should stop thinking completely and just watch and digest the absolute nonsense that he dished out for us to see. The last 30 minutes of the film were unbelievably senseless and totally impossible to accept. This reduced the quality of the movie dramatically.

3/10.

Griha Pravesh (1979)

AVERAGE

[5/10 · 2 April 2024]

The basic storyline was excellent but the movie trudged along at such a painfully slow pace that it became an absolute struggle to complete it. The 2hrs 23minutes long movie should have been trimmed by at least 30 minutes. All of the songs were totally unnecessary and should have been left out completely. Since it was a very low budget film the production values were extremely poor and very ordinary,alongwith the acting of the junior cast who were all totally unimpressive.

This was a very unchallenging role for the brilliant Sanjeev Kumar,who just went through the motion of acting, very disinterestedly.

Sarika besides looking extremely beautiful was very average in her acting.

Sharmila Tagore however gave an excellent performance as the subdued wife who went through emotional turmoil at the hands of her confused husband.

All in all very poor editing with unwanted songs reduced the quality of the movie dramatically.

5/10.

Merry Christmas (2024)

VERY POOR CASTING!

[6/10 · 19 January 2024]

MERRY CHRISTMAS had a very interesting storyline,but the casting of the main leads was extremely poor. Katrina Kaif at best is a below average actress and yet again she was very ordinary in a very demanding role. Vijay Setupathi might be a very big star in South India,but besides his witty dialogues(which have to be attributed to the writer or whomever and not him)I find him to be very very ordinary in every way with no exception. If the filmmaker had taken Tabu/Vidya Balan and Pankaj Tripathi/Nawazuddin Siddiqui instead of the present two and trimmed the movie by about 20 minutes,it would have been brilliant as these actors and actresses would have lifted the film to greater heights with their superb acting.

Alas,the 2hrs 24minutes running time and very poor casting of the main leads diluted the very good story line of this film 6/10.

Killer Soup (2024– )

VERY DISAPPOINTING!

[4/10 · 16 January 2024]

"You get what you pay for"!

If you make a webseries like KILLER SOUP on a shoestring budget,you are going to get "shoestrings"and not "shoelaces"!

Besides Konkona Sen who was absolutely brilliant,everyone else and everything else was at best below average.

Almost everything be it the direction,screenplay,casting(expect KS)and editing was quite poor.

The plotline was quite good but the editing was terrible. This webseries of 8 episodes should have been trimmed to 6 episodes. The casting was extremely poor,and as a result most of the acting was really very awful Even Manoj Bajpayee was very ordinary.

The only plus points were KS's brilliant acting and its good storyline which unfortunately was not well developed.

4/10.

Khufiya (2023)

ABOVE AVERAGE

[6/10 · 7 October 2023]

After making such classics like HAIDER,OMKARA.and to a lesser extent MAQBOOL,Vishal Bhardwaj has definitely lost his magical touch when it comes to making excellent movies!

KHUFIYA is an above average movie that could have been much better if it was edited much more tightly. It's length of 2hrs 37 minutes was definitely too long and should have been reduced by at least 25-30 minutes. This spy based film because of its extra length began to really drag in many parts and this caused the quality to be diluted. The performances and direction were above average. There were about 2 unnecessary songs in the film. All in all a 1 time watch with no repeat value.

6/10.

Mission Raniganj (2023)

ABOVE AVERAGE

[6/10 · 6 October 2023]

MISSION RANIGANJ is a sensible movie based on a true occurrence which took place 34 years ago. However since films like these have limited appeal at the box office the production values are often extremely low( as is the case with this motion picture)and so the focus in films like these is on the actual story and not the acting and direction which usually at best are very ordinary (again as is the case with this movie). In Hindi cinema the difference between A grade and C grade is very vast and as such the quality in C grade films is so very low(like this movie)that the viewer has to just appreciate the fact that the filmmaker was trying his very level best to present a true occurrence in the most palatable fashion possible. Basically this movie(like other movies in this mould) is a "feel good" film depicting a true story where the "hero" in the true sense of the word both in reel and real life executes a very noble act which is highly praiseworthy.

Besides this unique story,every other aspect of filmmaking takes a back seat!

6/10 Ps. A miner's dog had a relatively long role (although silent)in this film!

The Vaccine War (2023)

VERY GOOD MOVIE

[8/10 · 29 September 2023]

As is the norm after TASHKENT FILES,the filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, has once again made a hard hitting and sensible movie based on actual facts with competent acting by almost everyone.

The takeaway(for me) from this movie was that up today we have this dreadfully dreadful situation where many Indians(for various reasons) are hell bent on disgracing their own motherland India for their own selfishly selfish motives and in turn don't hesitate to serve the vested interests of foreign countries which are intensely jealous of India's successes in different fields.

This movie needs to be judged in a different light as it does not seek to entertain the viewer,but to enlighten us from an Indian perspective,on what really happened during the Covid 19 crisis 8/10.

Jaane Jaan (2023)

VERY GOOD MOVIE

[7/10 · 23 September 2023]

JAANE JAAN is a good suspense and tension filled movie with twists and turns throughout the film. Kareena Kapoor has a very good screen presence and she matched this asset with very good acting alongwith Jaideep Ahlawat who was brilliant. All in all a good movie for those who enjoy Whodunits!

Ps. This film is definitely good enough to be seen in the cinema,but I guess when the filmmaker realised that uselessly useless Hindi movies( with very few exceptions)are striking gold at the box office this year, and a good film like GHOOMER flopped then it's better for him to release his motion picture on OTT!

7/10.

Retribution (I) (2023)

GOOD MOVIE

[7/10 · 28 August 2023]

A good,tension filled thriller that keeps you the viewer involved from start to finish. Liam Neeson as always is very convincing in every role and yet again he does the same. His movies are always very engaging and this one does the very same,keeping the viewer guessing as to what will happen next.

7/10 Ps. Recently i have noticed on a very regular basis,especially in American based movies(&this film)the children being extremely rude and very very insulting towards their parents who for reason or the other seemed to be totally incapable and/or unwilling to address the matter in the correct fashion. New way of life in the US?

Dream Girl 2 (2023)

DISASTER!

[1/10 · 25 August 2023]

Buoyed by the success of the first part (which was a good movie)the filmmaker should have been encouraged to make a much better film than the 1st one. However he has instead made complete,absolute and total garbage with everyone's acting(except Annu Kapoor who was brilliant and to a lesser extent Vijay Raaz who was above average)being totally useless. Paresh Rawal was totally wasted and Ananya Pandey neither has any acting potential whatsoever,(at least in this movie)nor is she good looking. Besides a very very very few amount of funny jokes(mostly by Annu Kapoor) everything including the songs was terrible 1/10.

Ghoomer (2023)

VERY GOOD MOVIE

[8/10 · 18 August 2023]

GHOOMER is a very sensibly written and directed movie with above average performances by the junior cast. Abhishek Bachchan,Shabana Azmi and Angad Bedi who did not have very challenging roles were their usual competent selves. However the girl who was the main protagonist and acted as Anina had a very physically challenging role which she pulled off very beautifully. Besides being very pretty with very luscious eyes she must be commended for handling the physical aspect of her role so very well as it was definitely not easy at all to enact that particular role. Amitabh as himself was like a breath of fresh air. All in all a very good movie that benefited from a very good script,editing and screenplay.

8/10.

OMG 2 (2023)

VERY GOOD MOVIE

[8/10 · 14 August 2023]

OMG2 is a very well made movie that deals with a taboo topic in India viz.sex education. However this sensitive subject was expertly handled by the director, writer and others and so a result everything was top notch about this film. Pankaj Tripathi is an absolute natural when it comes to acting and once again as expected he did a splendid job. Akshay Kumar who had a very limited role in this motion picture was extremely impressive as Lord Shiva as he had the right physique,and height to pull off such a realistic look. Yami Gautam looks are much more "prettier" than her acting;however she was like the other star cast above average.

All in all this comedy drama is one of the best movies of 2023 8/10.

Gadar 2 (2023)

COMPLETE GARBAGE

[1/10 · 12 August 2023]

Sunny Deol himself got it wrong, when he made GHAYAL 2 which was a massive disappointment when compared to his excellent GHAYAL. Aamir Khan himself got it totally wrong when he made LAL SINGH CHAADHA.

And now once again Anil Sharma and Sunny Deol have made a complete hash when they came together to make GADAR 2 after making such a good movie in GADAR 22 years ago.

Everything about the movie was completely totally and absolutely useless!

Besides shouting and screaming endlessly and showing his indestructible invincibility while ignoring his elderly age Sunny Deol had absolutely nothing else to offer.

The rest of the acting was totally useless.

This is definitely one of Sunny Deol's worst movies.

Anil Sharma's direction has plummeted to an extremely low level 0/10.

Neeyat (2023)

SUBSTANDARD

[4/10 · 10 July 2023]

The production values of this film NEEYAT were extremely poor and so was the quality of the acting of the entire star cast includingVidya Balan and especially Rahul Bose. It was like watching a primary school play on a giant sized screen.

Ram Kapoor was an absolute misfit as his personality was absolutely zero and his acting was 1000 times worse than that. Vidya Balan was a faint shadow of her normal brilliant self. Rahul Bose's character was extremely weak and thus his acting was way. Over the top. Everything about this movie was substandard. Definitely not worth watching in the cinema!

4/10.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

GOOD MOVIE

[7/10 · 9 July 2023]

Except for the very first movie in this franchise with Tom Cruise which was released in 1996 and which was an excellent movie in every way,the script always takes a back seat in this franchise,which was the case in this film. The focus is more on high quality action,disguises,daredevilry, high paced chases and extremely beautiful and scenic locations. In this regard,the movie did not disappoint and definitely checked all those boxes.

The acting as always was at best average and the editing was off by about 10 minutes or so.

Nevertheless it was a good watch and one of the better ones in this 27 year old franchise 7/10.

About My Father (2023)

BELOW AVERAGE MOVIE

[4/10 · 5 June 2023]

Somehow when it comes to making great comedies,Hollywood,generally speaking gets it wrong 99%per cent of the time and this is another example of Hollywood messing up yet again. Besides a very very very small amount of movies they just can't seem to get it right in this particular genre.

Even after judging this motion picture in the most liberal fashion it's at best a below average film in every way including the acting by Robert DeNiro. The most irritating aspect of this film is that the dialogues are so very cheesey and the acting so very artificial.

Perhaps if this movie was made a long time back with the late Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon or Robin Williams and the dialogues were more original it might have worked.👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽 4/10.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

EXTREMELY POOR MOVIE

[1/10 · 19 May 2023]

This movie which was released 50 years depicted society at that point in time where racism was at an extremely extremely high level much much much worse than it is today in USA.

However the fact that this movie was a huge success despite having a situation where there was clear cut case of extremely poor parenting from the father towards his children who continuously disobeyed him and treated him with scant respect is mind boggling seeing that this was a reflection of society 60 years ago.

One of his children used to call him continously by his name. Athough today it would be frowned upon,60 years it should have been totally unacceptable to do so anywhere in the world,except I guess USA!

At 2hrs 9 minutes this movie was at least 39 minutes too long!

I found everything about this film to be of a very low standard especially the acting by everyone,especially Gregory Peck who incidentally won an Oscar for his acting All in all I found it to be an extremely poor movie totally undeserving of being treated as an all time classic that it became 1/10.

Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway (2023)

IF FACTUALLY CORRECT THEN......

[7/10 · 18 March 2023]

If this movie has been made purely on fact,then this act of literally snatching away small children from their mother for the flimiest of reasons,is a disgracefully disgraceful one by the Norwegian Government,and one that they should be totally ashamed of,as they have nothing sensible/acceptable/logical/rational on which they could explain their heinous capture of two little children from their loving and devoted mother in the film.

Once again,if Rani Mukherjee patterned her acting on the actual behaviour by the mother in real life then her acting was absolutely brilliant. If not then her acting was extremely loud and very much over the top! Once again I must reiterate that if this film is factually correct(as it has been based on a true story)and the facts have not been contorted in any way,then it's an outstanding movie with matching acting,direction,editing and screenplay!

7/10.

Trial by Fire (2023)

SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE!

[6/10 · 18 January 2023]

TRIAL BY FIRE would have been better suited if it was presented in the form of a documentary.

Everyone's acting (except the actress who acted as Neelam Krishnamoorthy) was average while she was very good. Anupam Kher and Ratna Shah were totally wasted and there were only there to add some recognition to the cast list. Screentime was really wasted on the personal lives of the security guard who worked at the burnt cinema and the foreman who had the ill fated transformer repaired on the morning of the fire. What do their personal lives have to do with the tragedy?

Looks like the contract was signed for 7 episodes and the makers ran out of proper material to fill same Somehow the web series should have been edited much more tighter thus reducing it to 5-6 episodes,and thus making it more palatable.

All in all at best, a slightly above average web series.

6/10.

Mukhbir: The Story of a Spy (2022– )

ABOVE AVERAGE

[6/10 · 12 January 2023]

A fairly decent plot involving espionage between India and Pakistan was tarnished by the makers/writers treating extremely delicate situations very lightly and make it look like it's extremely simple for anyone firstly to be a national spy and then to indulge in a very high level of spying without being caught! That apart it was a very interesting series with above average acting,direction and editing!

6/10 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Inside Man (II) (2022)

ABOVE AVERAGE

[6/10 · 8 January 2023]

An above average Limited web series where certain parts of the plot were illogical and thus unacceptable. It was very difficult for me to treat an absolute overreaction as logical when in my books that could never make sense. Besides that the plot was above average with matching acting and direction 6/10 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

The Watcher (2022– )

EXCELLENT SERIES!

[9/10 · 3 January 2023]

THE WATCHER is an edge of the seat suspense and tension filled family drama that keeps you glued to the screen from the start to the end. It's an All American story in every sense of the word,with brilliant acting,direction ,screenplay and editing! Excellent web series that's definitely worth watching 9/10 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Glass Onion (2022)

VERY POOR ACTING!

[3/10 · 26 December 2022]

Very loud, caricaturish, poor and way over the top acting by almost everyone,ruined a fairly decent plot. Only Daniel Craig and the female who acted as Andi/Helen held their own. The rest including Edward Norton(who normally is an excellent actor) were absolutely terrible 3/10 Ps. I figured out who the murderer was way before the ending.

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Code Name: Tiranga (2022)

DISAPPOINTING!

[4/10 · 21 December 2022]

Once again the filmmaker of this action based film (as has been the case with many many Indian movies in the recent past)continued to defy conventional wisdom/basic sensible logic and continued to have the hero/heroine defying near fatal injuries and somehow continue with their daredevilry in an unaffected manner thus marring a decent storyline. When movies such as VIKRAM(which followed the same senseless formula ) turn out to be superduper hits this encourages the filmmaker to churn out more illogical garbage. Unfortunately the Indian audiences lap up this rubbish like they do with the absolute trash made with Salman Khan,ShahRukh Khan and now Aamir Khan. All in all an opportunity to convert a decent plot into a decent film has gone awry!

4/10.