Rajeev Masand – movies that matter : from bollywood, hollywood and everywhere else

November 16, 2018

Cast: Myra Vishwakarma

Director: Vinod Kapri

Pihu, a film about a two-year-old girl tottering about unsupervised in a high-rise apartment, appears to have been made specifically with the intention of traumatising the viewer. This is no cutesy Home Alone-style comedy; this is a horror film.

Writer-director Vinod Kapri turns an empty flat into a potential minefield. Everyday appliances like a steam iron, a faucet, a microwave, and a cooking range represent life-threatening risks as the toddler in question – alone, frightened, bored, hungry, confused – crawls around desperately, turning knobs, pushing switches, and dropping things, oblivious to the possible consequences. Over the course of 93 minutes, the child is repeatedly put in harm’s way, and you spend the bulk of the film hoping she comes away unharmed. When she climbs the railing of the balcony, her doll dangling over the edge, your heart is in your mouth.

It’s easy to draw parallels between Pihu and last year’s Trapped, in which Rajkummar Rao struggled to find ingenious ways to break out of a locked flat. But while that character’s brushes with near-death, his fight for survival might be viewed as thrilling, the same comes off as unmistakably exploitative in the case of an innocent, helpless child. It’s also a shame that the scenarios quickly become repetitive because the script runs out of ideas early on.

Perhaps the only reason you stay with the film until the end is little Myra Vishwakarma in the role of Pihu, who doesn’t betray a hint of self-consciousness in front of the camera. It would be a stretch to call it a performance, but Myra’s natural delivery and responses to situations keep you invested even when the film doesn’t.

But the movie doesn’t ultimately work because there’s no point to it. It’s neither a compelling cautionary tale about bad parenting or a sufficiently responsible thriller. The film revels in making you flinch and squirm and cringe. That’s just mean-spirited. I’m going with two out of five.

(This review first aired on CNN News18

November 08, 2018

Cast: Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, Lloyd Owen

Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya

Thugs of Hindostan is a joyless slog in the guise of a movie. Not every film needs to be uplifting, inspiring, or even fun. But watching a movie shouldn’t feel like you’re serving a jail term either.

It’s a real shame because Thugs seemed to have all the ingredients for a swashbuckling adventure. There’s a small bunch of rebels taking down the Goliath-like villain, there’s thrilling action on the high seas, a clutch of decent songs, and of course, the casting of two stalwarts – Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan – together on screen for the first time.

The problem is that it’s all held together by a moth-eaten script from some 70s vault. This is trite, outdated plotting; a revenge saga that never lifts off the ground.

Set in the 18^th century, Thugs is about a gang of rebels, led by the heroic Khudabaksh (Amitabh Bachchan), trying to win back their kingdom of Raunakpur from the East India Company. Khudabaksh and his army go by the name Azad, which means the word is bandied about dozens of times to milk the patriotism angle. Khudabaksh is also the guardian to the heiress of the Raunakpur throne, Princess Safira (Fatima Sana Shaikh), who is tormented by the brutal way her family was killed by ruthless British officer Clive (Lloyd Owen).

Frankly we’re equally tormented by the way Clive and the other British officers murder the Hindi dialogues. For some reason they insist on speaking in mangled Hindi even among themselves, instead of switching to English.

Into this mix, writer-director Vijay Krishna Acharya throws the film’s most colourful character, Firangi Mallah (Aamir Khan). He’s a duplicitous double-crossing rogue; a charming opportunist who cons people for a living. The British hire him to infiltrate the rebel group, and we’re never quite sure which side he’s on.

In a corny scene we watch as the righteous Khudabaksh rubs off on Firangi while convincing him to till a barren land with him, planting seeds of hope. The film in fact is riddled with corny bits involving protection bracelets, poisonous laddoos, and a falcon (perhaps loaned from a Sooraj Barjatya set) that not only appeals to a character to make the right decision, but on another occasion, wisely drops the bracelet into the correct hands.

All of this unfolds over an exhausting 2 hours and 44 minutes. It’s a good thing the action scenes are nicely mounted and executed, especially the ones in which rival ships go to war on the sea. An early sequence in which a Trojan horse is smuggled onto a ship is especially impressive.

But for the most part Thugs of Hindostan is a humourless, solemn affair. Barring Firangi, the other characters are a sullen lot that sport long faces as if they were fed sour lemons all their life. Fatima Sana Shaikh is blank in the emotional scenes, but fares better when she’s shooting arrows or landing blows in the action portions. Katrina Kaif, who plays a dancer named Surayya, shows up for precisely three inconsequential scenes. Her chief job here is to writhe around on the floor for two songs.

Amitabh Bachchan, his expressions hidden under a mound of facial hair and long tresses, performs the action bits convincingly, but is barely challenged in a role that doesn’t require him to utter his first words until nearly an hour into the film.

It’s only Aamir Khan who appears to be having any fun around here. His constantly jabbering Firangi gets the best lines in the film, and the actor’s inherent charm lifts this anti-hero off the page, although after Lagaan and Mangal Pandey it’s getting a little tiring watching him go up against the British again.

The biggest disappointment, without question, is the wasted opportunity of a plot that squanders the possible chemistry between Bachchan and Khan. For that we’ll just have to wait until a better film comes along.

I’m going with a generous two out of five for Thugs of Hindostan. It doffs its hat to everything from Kranti to Pirates of the Caribbean, but this ship hits the iceberg early on in its journey.

(This review first aired on CNN News18