Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 178
March 26, 2023
Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga Review – Banti Babli Aur Badla
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram) | Click here for audio version
It’s hard to get a satisfactory English translation for “Chor Nikal Ke Bhaaga”, but let’s settle for “the thief runs away” for now. Written by Siraj Ahmed and Amar Kaushik, the 2023 Netflix Bollywood film directed by Ajay Singh has Yami Gautam in its lead role as Neha, an air-hostess. What starts off as a cheesy-cute romance between an air-hostess and a businessman, morphs into an ambitious mid-air diamond heist, which is scuttled by an unexpected terrorist hijack. All of this is already apparent in the trailer, but the creators manage to surprise viewers in the second-half with some twists that look great onscreen, but are too farcical for reality. But hey, it’s still fun!
Yami Gautam propels this flight drama as Neha, who falls for Ankit (Sunny Kaushal) and decides to become his accomplice in stealing smuggled diamonds when dangerous creditors threaten to harm them. While Yami is charming, courteous, and affable as an air-hostess, I would’ve preferred somebody more magnetic as Ankit, even though Sunny Kaushal does deliver a convincing performance. All the other supporting actors are like cogs in a big wheel, each driving the story forward with their parts. Yami is definitely the star of this crew.
The pace takes a while to pick up, the creators take time to set the back-story of the protagonists before things become intriguing, but once the heist plan is hatched, the film remains steadily interesting. First you are lulled into believing this is perhaps another Bollywood attempt at “Bonny & Clyde”/”Banti aur Babli”, but “Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga” throws in some surprising ingredients that make it more than a simple ‘bad romance’.
The cinematography is frills-free and the flight scenes involving the heist and hostage action were the most gripping parts of the film. While I was expecting a more gritty climax, the ending is quite satisfactory if you are willing to shrug-off all the practical problems and logical loopholes ignored by the writers. The primary theme of the story is on the sentimental side, so it will appeal a lot more to viewers who love a thriller that tugs at their emotions.
It’s a 7 on 10 from me.
March 25, 2023
Daisy Jones & The Six – Episode 9, 10 Review
By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
We knew it! Just from watching the trailer, it was easy to predict the big twist in “Daisy Jones & The Six”. Since the novel it’s based is a bestseller, a lot of us hoped that the adaptation wouldn’t be as predictable, but unfortunately, it was. Despite this, the creators of the live adaptation have done an amazing job with original songs, lavish sets, chic costumes, and a talented cast. The finale was a grand ending, with a classic romantic last chapter that tugs at the heartstrings of those who still have a soft spot for mush.
In episodes 7 and 8 of the series, Daisy Jones takes off to Greece, has a scenic but crazy wedding, gets a reality check about being a ‘selfish bitch’ from best-friend Simone and ultimately returns to her band as they prepare for their upcoming world tour. You’d think she’d act a little more responsible, she only gets her knees deeper in drugs. Well, rock stars. Ugh. But Reiley Keough as Daisy eventually worms her way to your heart, despite all her character flaws and there was a beautiful scene in episode 9 where she sings a new song titled “It’s Always You” to Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin). I really wish they had weaved in the full track instead of the brief but soulful acoustic rendition that made the final cut.
Anyway – the cat is finally out of the bag, viewers get to know why “Daisy Jones & The Six” broke up at the peak of their musical career and things get emotional, nostalgic and heavy. The juxtaposition of Camilla Morrone and Suki Waterhouse as Camilla Dunne and Karen Sirko is subtly but cleverly done – both are strong-willed women, but while Camilla puts her family over career, Suki puts her career over everything else. I love how both of them keep their chin up and know what kind of sacrifices they should be making to live the life they want. Daisy and Simone’s friendship and creative differences are also brought about poignantly. Too bad the male friendships don’t get as much attention. Sebastian Chacon as The Six’s drummer Warren Rojas was my favorite male character, he is effortless as the laid-back member of the band, the dude who enjoys every performance and is truly thankful for everything they have.
The cinematography captures the tumultuous travails of a rising band really well, and music fans will be able to notice the 70s influences, especially with Daisy’s outfits that pay a tribute to Stevie Nicks of ‘Fleetwood Mac’ (a bunch of the band’s tracks are also peppered through the show). The last episode titled “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” sets up expectations of a crazy finale, but it was slightly overdrawn, conventional and surprisingly heart-warming towards the very end. I’d say “Daisy Jones & The Six” turned out to be predictably good!
It’s a 8 on 10 from me for the last two episodes. Stream it on Prime Video.
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Listen to – “Rana Naidu” Review – Thoda Gurda, Zyaada Goo
March 24, 2023
‘Knights of the Zodiac’ Looks Kinda Counterfeit
I don’t know if it’s my shitty small screen or just poor VFX, but the trailer for “Knights of the Zodiac” looked quite underwhelming, like an ad for a video game. Coming from Sony Pictures, one would expect the cinematography to look a lot more convincing and not like it was made in the early 2000s. Besides, I guess my hopes are sky high for fantasy fiction creations like these, especially after the modestly budgeted “Everything Everywhere All At Once” delivered such a fun fantasy multiverse movie despite its small team for special effects.
“Knights of the Zodiac” is based on the awesome Japanese series “Saint Seiya” and stars the hunky Mackenyu as Seiya, the lead character who’s on a mission to protect a young girl who’s actually the reincarnation of a Goddess. Sounds like a total blast, especially for fans of the fantasy fiction genre. But the trailer kind of warns you to keep your expectations in check and maybe just enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. Bummer, but still worth checking out, I guess?
‘Furies’ Review – Blood Blood Pow!
The story starts with a rundown building filled with bloody, lifeless bodies of men, and a battered woman who appears to have been responsible for their deaths. Next, we get a visceral flashback of a young girl being sexually abused and how she fights back. The 2023 Netflix movie “Furies,” which is the streaming giant’s first original Taiwanese-language film, lives up to its angry-sounding name. It is all about blood and vengeance.
Directed by Veronica Ngo, who has co-written the script with Nha Uyen Ly Nguyen and Nguyen Truong Nhan, the movie follows a trio of young girls who are mentored by a mysterious woman to take down a criminal gang that thrives on drug trade and sexual trafficking, mostly of minor girls. So, “Furies” takes you on an adrenaline-fueled ride through the crowded streets of Ho Chi Minh, which is rife with turf wars between rival gangs and illegal trade.
Dong Anh Quynh plays the feisty primary protagonist Bi, an orphan and rape survivor who is rescued by Jacqueline (Veronica Ngo). Bi is then introduced to the serious Thanh (Toc Tien) and sassy Hong (Rima Than Vy), who dress like they might be in a retro girls-band but are trained assassins capable of making a gang of goons’ bleed. While their growing sisterhood doesn’t get a lot of space, it was still nice to see the brief bonding between three young women who are united by their traumatic past and strengthened in their will to fight injustice.
“Furies” incorporates many elements of older action films. It can be exaggerated and predictable in some parts, but I enjoyed watching the female protagonists kick and take down druggies and criminals. The actors all did a fantastic job in executing the fight sequences. The characters of Bi and Thanh share similarities, as they are both intense and brooding, while Hong is the fun one. They are like anguished Asian power-puff girls sans the super-powers and privileges of an innocent content childhood. Thuan Nguyen plays the villainous gangster nicknamed “Mad Dog” and is sleazily despicable despite his limited screen-time. He is coked-up, red-eyed and looks every bit an archetypal villain, the sorts who would sell his mom if the need arose.
The cinematography is snazzy, the fight sequences engaging and satisfactory. One extended bike-chase sequence was a little jarring, the special effects made it look like a video game and the creators should’ve shortened the case. Even the climax was a more long drawn than necessary. But those looking for an action flick with a lot of kicking and killing – “Furies” doesn’t disappoint.
It’s a 7 on 10 from me.
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Listen to – “Rana Naidu” Review – Thoda Gurda, Zyaada Goo
A Sister – Graphic Novel Review
I didn’t read the blurb for ‘A Sister’ by Bastien Vivès and simply picked up the graphic novel to read due to it’s simple-stark cover illustration and the promise of a familial story. Guess I am to blame for not expecting a coming-of-age tale about a 13-year-old boy’s sexual awakening when a family-friend’s daughter spends the summer with them.
Plot-overview – Antoine, the teen protagonist, loves to draw different kinds of Pokémon with his younger brother Titi, and the two boys often go off to the beach by themselves to have a good time. However, when 16-year-old Hélène and her mother come to spend a few days with Antoine’s family, she introduces him to new ideas and makes him think beyond just cartoons, games, and drawings.
The artwork reminded me of melting ice cream, as if the illustrations had devolved from their original shapes and slowly smudged into slightly deformed versions of themselves. Bastien Vivès sparingly draws full faces of the characters, so often Antoine is missing his eyes, or we don’t get to see his face at all. The abstract nature of the artwork actually makes the explicit scenes involving the underage characters a little less discomforting to read.
It’s a 3 on 5 from me.
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Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes
March 23, 2023
‘Longest Third Date’ – Why Though?
“Can someone just tell me if their relationship survived or not so I don’t have to watch the whole thing?” read one of the top YouTube comment under the trailer for Netflix documentary “Longest Third Date”. It’s about a couple who met on a dating app and decided to take a spontaneous trip to Costa Rica for their third date. However, their plans were disrupted by the Covid19 pandemic, resulting in their return flights being cancelled, and they ended up spending several weeks together away from home. Many viewers will only be interested in knowing whether they eventually ended up together and don’t need an entire documentary to find that out.
The documentary’s trailer features Matt and Khani who had matched on Hinge and went on their Costa Rica date when it was March 2020. It’s definitely the kind of story that would’ve made a nice quick Instagram reel/tiktok video or like a reddit thread. Perhaps a quick romantic-comedy movie might have been more exciting, because the documentary doesn’t look very promising.
‘End of the World With You’ – Series Review
Bibliophiles need to take a page from Masumi’s book about how to spend their last days on earth – go to the library and read your favourite novels. But when the world is ending, even dying plans don’t necessarily fall in place.
Adapted from the manga of the same name, “Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu” (known in English as “End of the World with You”), this 10-episode series has been directed by Miki Koichiro. The story follows two estranged ex-lovers who go on a trip to help a young boy meet his family as a large meteor is headed directly towards earth and is expected to wipe out humanity in 10 days.
Seto Toshiki of “Kamen Rider” fame, plays the protagonist Nishina Masumi, a sensitive, asocial working-class man who heads to his university’s library to immerse himself in literature during the last week of his life.” But in a shocking surprise, he meets his ex-boyfriend Ritsu (Nakata Keisuke) at the library, who had ripped his heart into pieces when they were university students. What starts off as an awkward painful re-union, morphs into a random trip where the two try to live the few days they have left without remorse.
Seto was last seen in a lead role in “Senpai, Danjite Koidewa!”, a bland romantic comedy where he played an unimpressive blonde-haired boy who falls for his senior. Thankfully, the creators allowed him to keep a regular black mane in this series, which is in sync with his shy personality; he delivers a memorable performance as the fragile Masumi, who is still hurting from the heartache of an almost decade-old break-up. “Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu” was surprisingly sensual, sentimental, and stirring, despite having a distinctly grey lead in Ritsu. Nakata Keisuke as the callous-cool bisexual Ritsu comes across as untrustworthy throughout the series and it’s hard to like him. However, his character is written like that – Ritsu is selfish, materialistic and picks up the courage to make amends too late.
I really liked the cinematography and camera work of this show, there’s a balanced blend of both outdoor, indoor scenes and the makers don’t overdo the dystopian elements of the ‘end of the world’ theme. The background score was a mixed bag, sometimes the music was apt and nostalgic, other times it didn’t really fit well with the scenes.
The LGBTQ+ representation in the series was done well, Idegami Baki who identifies as gender-fluid plays Madoka, a popular girl idol and her look-alike younger brother Meguru. Despite the smaller supporting role, Idegami Baki is memorable in their portrayal of two siblings who live different lives. Tomimoto Sousyo ranged between endearing and annoying as the hyper-active Hirose Yuma, a teen Otaku who gets riled up with emotions over the smallest of things. Overall, “End of the World With You” was an interesting show that tries to cover more themes than it can handle.
It’s a 7 on 10 from me.
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Listen to – “Rana Naidu” Review – Thoda Gurda, Zyaada Goo
March 22, 2023
‘XO, Kitty’ Looks Super Cute!
Those who saw “To All The Boys: Always and Forever”, will remember how Lara’s sassy little sister Kitty meets a cute boy during their vacation in Korea. And now, Kitty thinks she should go to Korea and study in the same school as her boyfriend!
Netflix shared a “First Look” clip of its upcoming series titled “XO, Kitty,” in which Anna Cathcart reprises her role as Lara’s sister. The clip shows her pitching a presentation to her dad and stepmom about going to Korea to learn about her mother and get closer to the boy she likes. Although “discover your roots” stories are becoming quite common, the “XO, Kitty” clip looks bubbly, cute, and full of teenage optimism. Minyeong Choi plays Kitty’s romantic interest but does not appear in the brief clip.
So will Kitty be flying to Korea to study to fulfill her destiny? Definitely looks like it! The series will be streaming on Netflix on May 18th.
The Magician’s Elephant – Movie Review
When a magician struggles to woo his audience with poorly executed tricks, he resorts to a last-ditch attempt at a powerful spell, hoping it will be something spectacular. To his surprise, his chants make an elephant appear on the stage out of nowhere. However, the effect is chaos, and both the magician and his elephant are imprisoned.
Directed by Wendy Rogers, the 2023 animated movie “The Magician’s Elephant” isn’t really about the pachyderm, instead it’s about a young orphan called Peter, who is told by an astrologer that an elephant will lead him to his sister. So the appearance of a magical elephant is timely, but the little boy is tasked with three impossible tasks to win the key to finding his sister.
While the basic story of “The Magician’s Elephant” is interesting, it’s unfortunately slow-paced, cliched and doesn’t evoke the magical charm of other films in the genre, like “How To Train Your Dragon”. The animation looks borrowed from everywhere and while it’s colourful and cute to look at, there’s no mesmerizing stand-out scene. A dream sequence of the elephant swimming with its family could’ve been breath-taking, but something about the artwork was just a little off – it was almost realistic but awkward, because it looked neither real nor animated.
I guess it’s a sweet film for children under fourteen, viewers older than that might no longer have the patience for the movie’s pace nor for it’s old formulaic “anything is possible if you believe it” message. It didn’t even keep me engrossed enough to finish it in one sitting and I saw it over a period of two days. To the makers credit – the climax managed to be heart-warming, despite it’s predictable nature.
It’s a 6 on 10 from me.
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Listen to – ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’ Book + Movie Review
March 21, 2023
Dhanush Is Ma(th)ster Fighter in ‘Vaathi’ #Review
Watching “Vaathi” was like experiencing rapid mood-swings, in the first few minutes I was laughing, after one hour I was bored out of my mind, but by the climax I was quite moved by the emotional ending.
Written and directed by Venky Atluri, 2023 Tamil movie “Vaathi” stars Dhanush as schoolteacher Balamurugan, who tries to set an example against the privatization of education in his state. As someone whose native village didn’t even have a primary school, ‘access to affordable education’ is a theme I feel strongly about. So, “Vaathi” for me has a lot of heart in its core message, but the script is a pompous mess. Take the protagonist for example, Dhanush is a lanky math teacher, but beats up goons and criminals with ease like an action hero. He is both a math master and martial arts fighter, that’s a deadly combination, but in real-life students aren’t going to get superman to save their grades.
The very opening of the story is a little incredulous – three laid-back students discover an old video-tape of a man explaining a complex math problem like a boss. The students then set on a journey to find the teacher so they can take lessons from him. But I let the exaggerated introduction slide and allowed myself to be taken back to the glorious 90s, when single-screen theaters thrived, and a shady cinema hall somehow becomes the hub of great teaching.
Balamurugan (Dhanush), an assistant teacher at a private school in a big city, is deputed to a government school in a small town to address a severe teacher shortage. However, when he arrives, he finds empty classrooms as impoverished students choose menial jobs for extra income rather than attending what they perceive as poor-quality education. This is a story of how one man motivates an entire town and turns diamonds out of coal by inspiring his students to reach their full potential. Actor Samuthirakani plays Thirupati, a very standard forgettable villain, who isn’t despicable enough to evoke any feelings in the viewers. Samyuktha Menon has a supporting role which is as good as a blink-and-miss cameo.
Filled with many mass masala scenes, “Vaathi” alternates between peachy and preachy. There are some fun throwbacks that will have pre-2000s kids in splits, like a scene where three male schoolteachers use the “inky, pinky, ponky, father had a donkey” to pick a room for themselves. The music didn’t really stand-out and the songs could’ve just been trimmed out of the timeline. In a small surprise, the climax wasn’t too predictable and yet, it doesn’t really give viewers concrete solutions to the problem the plot attempts to explore. It’s a feel-good philosophical ending you must make do with
Only a star like Dhanush could’ve made a film like this watchable and even entertaining in parts.
It’s a 3 on 5 from me. Stream it on Netflix.
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