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!).

Lucy (August 2014) - 6/10

Lucy, directed by Luc Besson (critically acclaimed for directing La Femme Nikita and Leon – The Professional), has not been very highly praised internationally but apparently turns out to be a good entertainer, especially given the dry spell at bollywood since last 3-4 months. The story is about a young girl Lucy who accidentally becomes part of a dark drug deal in Taipei. She is then put on a high-power trial drug by cutting her stomach wide open; the drug has ability to increase human’s brain usage capability significantly. An average human uses 10% of its brain but with the help of this drug, humans can use almost 100% of its brains. Lucy is transformed into a super-power warrior followed by a series of merciless encounters with her captors. Medical conditions makes Lucy fixated to the drug-use and eventually her brain usage starts increasing from 10% to 100% over a week’s time.

This 89 minutes runtime movie is fast paced and filled with action, suspense and science fiction. Many of us would disagree with the movie's science fiction/ backdrop if we go by textbook, but then this is a work of fiction and not science.

The Fault in Our Stars (July 2014) - 7/ 10

Based on a 2012 novel by the same name by John Green, The fault in our stars is a romantic splendor sure to make your tear ducts work. This is a story of Hazel Grace (played by  Shailene Woodley), a cancer diagnosed girl breathing with the help of a nose cannula, and her “the world is not a wish-granting factory” experience and moments. Hazel meets an impossibly charming boy next door, Augustus Walters (played by Ansel Elgort) suffering from a prosthetic leg, at a cancer support group and gradually starts liking him. She is moved by a book she reads, An Imperial Affliction, which ends mid-sentence, and she is very animated to know what happens later to the protagonist. Augustus helps her in meeting the author by travelling to Amsterdam (under critical medical condition), but poor Hazel has to return disappointed as the author behaves scornfully with the young couple. The story further continues with Augustus showering magic in Hazel’s life and mesmerizing her, and finally ends on a forlorn note.

Sadly, book readers have not found the movie as delightful as the novel (which is a case with any novel based movie), however the movie stands beautifully as a pure romantic piece in recent times. Set in Indiana, the movie has been neatly shot with delicate art designing and editing. The fault in our stars is about love, pain and memories & is highly recommended for a young adult audience.