Mardaani (Aug 2014) - 4/10

Khoob ladi mardaani woh to Jhansi wali RANI thi! That sums up the plot of Pradeep Sarkar’s latest release, where Rani Mukherjee plays a tough cop and unravels a high-profile organized human trafficking racket. The movie is an absolute disappointment, with Rani’s acting being the only saving grace.  The director’s idea to create a macho lady cop image falls flat added by a boring story-line. The movie does not have any good punch lines (except few ludicrous dialogues like Yeh India hai Madam, Tu under 19 ka 12^th player hai, etc), action sequence (except few slapping and IPC Act recitals), art direction (display of semi-nude children fails to create an intended disturbing image), suspense/ thriller trail (only the last 5 minutes of movie explains the so-called master planning by Rani to turn herself into a one woman squad and obliterate the entire racket, arresting the kingpin all by herself!). An exception would be the middleman (a rich car showroom owner) who throws in some good acting along with Rani, and absence of any inappropriate song/ dance sequences, which makes the movie bearable.

A lot was expected from Pradeep Sarkar and his crew if we go by the trailers and post-production, however Mardaani failed to deliver a wholesome woman-centric entertainment unlike this year’s successful movies with woman protagonist like Queen, Highway, Revolver Rani, etc.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (August 2014) - 8/ 10

The Grand Budapest Hotel can be considered one of the best works of Wes Anderson. The story is about the adventures of a legendary concierge, Mr Gustave (played by Ralph Fiennes) at a very famous hotel during the times of WWI and WWII. Zero, the lobby boy (played by Tony Revolori) joins the hotel and earns himself a trusted friendship of Gustave. This would seem like a typical bollywood movie filled with love, violence, action, suspense, drama and so on. Gustave befriends a very rich old woman who suddenly dies bequeathing a very precious painting to Gustave. This leaves the old women's son Dmitri furious and longing for revenge, and ultimately leading to implicate Gustave for the old woman’s murder. Gustave with his loyal lobby boy and the lobby boy’s girlfriend (a pretty baker girl) escapes prison to get justice for himself. Gustave's quest for justice is shot in suspense-cum-funny sequences and finally the "boy with apple" painting hangs happily ever after as GB's most treasured possession.

The movie is shot on a narrative theme with a flash back style. The movie could have been edited better with few scenes getting elongated (like the initial part when narrator meets a young writer). Also, art direction at few places renders the movie a bit childlike (like the closing scene). All said, this comedy drama is a must watch this season and my prediction says it should be nominated for Academy under Best Movie (if the releases till date can be extrapolated!).