Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 204

‘Maja Ma’ Review: Madhuri Elevates This Family Drama

Like her Netflix series ‘The Fame Game’, 2022 Amazon Prime video’s ‘Maja Ma’ is engaging largely due to Madhuri Dixit’s dazzling persona and poignant performance. Directed by Anand Tiwari and written by Sumit Batheja, the film follows the trials of a middle-class Gujrati family when their son decides to marry a wealthy NRI girl.

Madhuri and Gajraj Rao play Pallavi and Manohar Patel, who are perfectly content with their simple life. Their son Tejas (Ritwick Bhowmick) is set to be married to his girlfriend Esha (Barkha Singh), whose parents Bob and Pam Hansraj (Rajit Kapoor and Sheeba Chaddha) are obnoxiously arrogant about their high status. While the families start off on an amicable note in their first meet, a rumor about Pallavi threatens to jeopardize her son’s engagement to Esha.

What stands out best in ‘Maja Ma’ are the colorful vibrant sets, since the story unfolds during the festive season, viewers get a lovely slice of culture, costumes and Gujarati food through the runtime. However, the music is forgettable and the writing needed a lot more fine-tuning. The first major twist in the tale unfolds with such poorly written dialogues that my first instinct was to stop watching the film altogether. But Madhuri compels you to watch on, and the other actors are engaging too, even though most of them border on being either unrealistic or stereotypical.

Gajraj Rao was almost wasted in the film, he plays the typical amicable Gujarati dad (tailored on the lines of characters from popular Hindi series ‘Khichdi’) – he doesn’t understand English and takes tips for his marital life as if he is a clueless young groom. The Patel siblings on the other hand make an interesting case study for how two children from the same family can be a world apart from each other. The feisty Srishti Shrivastava plays Pallavi’s older daughter Tara, an outspoken LGBTQ+ rights activist pursuing a PhD in Gender Studies. Ironically it’s Ritwick Bhowmick’s Tejas, who despite staying in the U.S, is a lot more conservative and regressive in his outlook. Simone Singh has a small but important cameo and matches Madhuri’s charisma with gusto.

‘Maja Ma’ is basically like an Ayushman Khurrana film, it picks up a taboo topic and wraps it up in a nice family entertainer package that should woo a lot of viewers. Madhuri Dixit is gracefully vulnerable and endearing as Pallavi, representational of all those women and men who’ve had to let go of their identities, dreams, desires to fit into the role of an ideal family member. Too bad the script gets muddled and hurriedly attempts to resolve the complex issues facing the Patel family. Instead, the makers should’ve trimmed some songs and comedic scenes (which weren’t funny), to make way for a more sensible climax.

On the surface, the film ends on a ‘happy’ not. Perhaps for the rarely explored issues it explores, ‘Maja Ma’ is a laudable attempt. It’s a 7/10 from me.

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Listen To ‘Cuttputlli’ Vs ‘Black Phone’ – Tale of Two Child Serial Killers

‘Mr Harrigan’s Phone’ Dials Wrong Genre

‘Mr Harrigan’s Phone’ is a moving but dark film about a young boy’s friendship with a reclusive old billionaire and how his death leaves the teen distraught. The problem is, it’s marketed as a ‘horror’ movie, while it should’ve been tailored as a psychological drama, with a few tweaks to the script.

Based on a short story by Stephen King, the 2022 film has been directed and written for the screen by John Lee Hancock. An imposing, intimidating Donald Sutherland plays the aging Mr Harrigan, who hires school-boy Craig (Jaeden Martell) to read out books for him thrice a week. On the day of Harrigan’s funeral, Craig put the man’s iphone in the coffin and returns home. Later that evening, the grief-stricken boy leaves a text on the deceased man’s number and is shocked to receive a response. Is it a glitch, a hacker or Mr Harrigan trying to communicate from the grave?

The first half of the film was all about the two men forging a special bond over classics and the first iphone. Donald Sutherland and Jaeden Martell’s onscreen friendship blooms so beautifully, it mitigated the impatience and irritation I should have felt in anticipation for the horror part to finally unravel. Last seen in Netflix’s ‘Metal Lords’ as teen drummer Kevin, Martell brings a certain poignancy to a story that would’ve been laughable in the second-half if not for the serious performances.

“When the Gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.” Mr Harrigan’s Phone begins with this ominous quote by Oscar Wilde, and is further peppered with lots of snippets from popular classics. Had the makers stuck to the realism of some of the stories the two protagonists dwell upon, this could’ve been a fantastic psychological drama of how the demise of a dear friend affects the mental health of a young boy. Instead, viewers get a muddled ‘horror’ tale which isn’t scary at all, forget the ‘this doesn’t make sense’ aspect. Horror fans are willing to suspend logic and ignore loopholes, if they get the kind of gore, dread and chills the genre has to offer.

Regardless, I enjoyed watching ‘Mr Harrigan’s Phone’ and am going with a 7/10 rating for the human tale in it.

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Listen To ‘Cuttputlli’ Vs ‘Black Phone’ – Tale of Two Child Serial Killers

Grave Surprise – Graphic Novel Review

‘Grave Surprise’ by Charlaine Harris digs into the cold case of a missing child and is like an Agatha Christie mystery mashed with supernatural elements. I would’ve liked to say Christie mixed with Stephen King, but it’s nowhere close to the kind of dread, tension, terror some of his horror stories build. Illustrated by Ilias Kyriazis, ‘Grave Surprise’ has some really bright and loud coloring by Tamra Bonvillain.

The story’s protagonist is a young woman named Harper Connelly who has the gift of ‘finding’ dead people. She can sense if there’s a dead body around and can even tell how they lost their life if she is close enough to their remains. When a professor invites Harper to a recently discovered cemetery, she is shocked to sense a child’s body in an old grave – because it belongs to a missing girl whose family had recently hired Harper to help them. Co-incidence or conspiracy? The plot navigates through multiple twists and turns until the reader finds out what happened to the lost child.

The artwork brings to life Harris’ work, and it feels like you are watching a television drama, with a whole bunch of characters walking in and out through the runtime. ‘Grave Surprise’ felt a lot like a Christie mystery for the sheer fact that there were multiple suspects in the missing girl, all of them – family members. While the pace is pretty gripping for the first half of the story, things start to get a little tedious in the second-half.

Since there are so many characters packed into one plot, everybody’s personality is sketched out to hastily, except for primary leads Connelly and her brother/manager Lang. For example, Joel Morgenstern is the father of the child and one of the suspects, all the author has to say about him is – he is a nice charming man who is a total hit with the ladies. There isn’t enough story to any of the supporting members to care about what they do. And those used to reading mysteries will figure out who the culprit is soon enough, without the clues becoming blatantly obvious towards the end to bring the story to a close.

Overall, it’s a decent read for the weekend. It’s a 3/5 from me.

‘Goodnight Mommy’ Review – A Weak Remake

Under a mask for most of the runtime, lead actor Naomi Watts makes an ominous presence in the 2022 horror thriller ‘Goodnight Mommy’, a remake of Austrian film ‘Ich Seh, Ich Seh’ by Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz. And while I haven’t seen the original, just by the trailer, one can tell it’s perhaps a lot more frightening than its watered down reboot.

The Hollywood version is directed by Matt Sobel, starring Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti as twin brothers Elias and Lukas, who are dropped off at their mother’s rather remote property and to their surprise her face is covered up in a mask due to a cosmetic surgery. The children begin to suspect if the woman is really their mother when she doesn’t seem to be as caring as they remember her to be. What follows next is the brothers’ attempts to investigate who they are sharing the house with.

What could’ve been a gripping, chilling tale, is weakened by the lukewarm performances of the Crovetti twins. Twins in real life too, the kids aren’t able to emote the intensity of emotions the script demands from them. While in ‘Ich Seh, Ich Seh’, the mother is wrapped up in bandages that look like she did undergo a medical procedure, in ‘Goodnight Mommy’ Naomi’s character wears a mask befitting a creepy burglar.

The director and make-up department need share blame for doing a lazy job, one can easily see through Naomi’s almost translucent ‘bandages’ and her skin seems perfectly fine. It’s laughable that the kids have a hard time understanding if the lady is their mother. Owing to the shoddy mask, the movie never gets scary enough and probably has just one good jump-scare.

A lot of the scenes in the first half of the movie raise some pertinent questions and an interesting climactic twist does explain a lot of things that not quite make sense. Some viewers might even be able to guess the twist (I didn’t), while others will be thrown off the track by some deliberate misleading dialogues. For thriller fans who haven’t seen the original Austrian film, ‘Goodnight Mommy’ is a decent one-time watch.

It’s a 5/10 from me. You can stream it on Amazon Prime Video.

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Listen To ‘Cuttputlli’ Vs ‘Black Phone’ – Tale of Two Child Serial Killers

‘Adora and the Distance’ – Book Review

‘Adora and the Distance’ was such a drag to read, despite some good artwork crowded in a confused story. The standalone graphic novel written by Marc Bernardin follows nine-year-old Adora, who lives in a royal palace and has a daily schedule packed with activities meant to groom the next ruler. When a sinister entity called ‘the distance’ looks for Adora, the girl leaves her land and sets out on an adventure with a bunch of men summoned from various lands to protect her.

What makes Adora special? We don’t know. Her characterization is poor and a forced twist in the end just does not fit with the rest of the tale. It’s the kind of twist that’s supposed to exploit your emotions as a reader. I actually wanted to stop reading the book after about 25%, because it was just too random and chaotic. If it weren’t for the colorful engaging artwork by Ariela Kristantina and Bryan Valenza, the graphic novel would’ve been completely insufferable.

Quite frankly, I got the e-book due to the gorgeous cover-art – a golden tear-drop surrounds a young girl dressed for adventure and there are building on the sides reminiscent of ‘Arabian Nights’. While there are a fantasy elements in the story, both the world-building and character-building was terrible. I literally cannot remember any character’s name, even though I finished reading the book only a few minutes ago. If ‘Adora’ wasn’t on the title, one might as easily forget the protagonist’s name too.

It’s a 1/5 from me.

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Listen To – Should You Read ‘A Man’ by Keiichiro Hirano?

Minions & More Volume 1 – Review

Only 45 minutes long, ‘Minions & More’ is a collection of short-films made by animation studio Illumination over the last few years. So it packs in a fun number of shorts that range from cute, hilarious and bizarre. For example, there’s one filled with talking sausages, where a character complains about being called a ‘weenie’ by bullies. Easily my least favorite and the only one which was completely skip-worthy.

The animation in all of them is top-notch and the mini-movies featuring minions from the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise are adorable. Some of the shorts are centered on characters from other popular animated films like ‘The Lorax’, ‘Sing’ and ‘The Grinch’. Since they are all a random bunch of creations collected together, there is no particular theme. If one film is about a minion wanting to adopt a puppy, another one is about a puppy trying to buy some tea for their ailing owner.

There is only one thing in common with all the shorts – they are all too short! Each story gets over in a blink, but most of them are entertaining and worth a watch. It’s a 7/10 from me. ‘Minions and More’ is available to stream on Netflix.

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‘Entergalactic’ Review – A Vibrant ‘Meet Cute’

Scenes drenched in a thousand shades of neon colors could either give viewers a headache, or be delightfully charming. Fortunately, the palette of 2022 animated movie ‘Entergalactic’ falls in the latter category. While I began streaming it on my phone, within the first few seconds my inner voice went – “nope, this needs to be seen on a bigger screen”.

Created by Kid Cudi AKA Scott Mescudi, Kenya Barris, this dreamy yet typical romance is directed by Fletcher Moules. Kid Cudi lends his voice to protagonist Jabari, who is starting afresh as a comic-book artist with a new ‘bachelor pad’ in Manhattan. While he isn’t looking for a relationship, it’s almost love at first sight when he meets his gorgeous neighbor Meadow (Jessica Williams), a photographer.

‘Entergalactic’ is a beautiful burst of colors, painting New York in bright vibrant tones. The artwork has a glossy pastel-crayon like touch to it and despite the animation being on the simpler side, it’s a visual treat. Kid Cudi’s new album (same name) serves as icing on the cake, it’s a groovy delight that has been tailored for the movie. An ensemble voice-cast features through the runtime, Vanessa Hudgens, Timothy Chalamet, Laura Harrier, Macaulay Culkin, Jaden Smith, Ty Dolla Sign and a host of other artists play friends/acquaintances to lead couple Jabari and Meadow. There’s a good balance between the male and female gaze… while Jabari and the boys talk women, Meadow and her best-friend Karina debate how to deal with the men in their lives.

Had this been an live-action adaptation, it might not have been half as charming, for it’s the art, music, colors that make ‘Entergalactic’ pass the ‘vibe check’. The animation style changes a few times, especially when a character is narrating an anecdote while doling out relationship advice to either of the protagonist. For example, there was a fun manga-style animation sequence when Karina recalls a first date at a Feudal-Japan themed restaurant. Then there’s a video-game like nightmare sequence, where everything goes black-and-white, except for Jabari’s red hoodie, offering a stark visual contrast against the rest of the film. These little stylistic variations keep things engaging and entertaining.

Jabari and Meadow have a simple love story and even though the climactic conflict was slightly stereotypical, ‘Entergalactic’ never gets too dramatic or serious and ends on a sweet note.

It’s a 8/10 from me.

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My Best Friend’s Exorcism – Movie Review

‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ probably has one of the dumbest climax scenes in a horror movie to have come out in the recent past. Only saving grace – it’s sort of hilarious. Sort of. And that’s the biggest problem with the 2022 Amazon original film, it promises to be a horror comedy, but it is only mildly funny and barely scary. However, lead actors Elsie Fisher, Amiah Miller deliver entertaining performances as teen best-friends Abby and Gretchen.

Directed by Damon Thomas, the story is based on a novel by Grady Hendrix and unfolds in 1988. Abby and Gretchen are inseparable best-friends, but their bond is terribly tested when a satanic spirit possesses one of them. During a weekend trip to a friend’s lake house, the girls try acid and explore a haunted house. When Gretchen starts to behave strangely after the trip, it’s up to Abby to investigate if its drugs or something far more sinister.

For a horror movie, ‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ is very colorful, with a lot of 80s hits making their way into the soundtrack. Elsie Fisher’s Abbie will remind viewers of her awkward teen character from ‘Eighth Grade’, although she isn’t as friendless. Amiah Miller on the other hand as the more confident Gretchen holds a powerful screen presence throughout. Damon Thomas seems to have taken notes off Sam Raimi’s horror flicks (like ‘Drag Me To Hell’), peppering the story with scenes that would gross out viewers, not scare them.

The friendship between the girls, their bitchiness, and the whole ‘high-school’ theme is fun; however, the plot tries to cover too many issues, without being able to explore any of them decently. For most parts, ‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ plays out like a regular teen drama, with a few laughs here and there. Maybe a non-supernatural take on teen friendships would’ve worked better for the film, because horror fans are going to be disappointed with the end product.

It’s a 5.5/10 from me.

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‘Blonde’ Reduces Marylin To ‘Girl With Daddy Issues’

Ugh. Just done watching ‘Blonde’, and despite a stellar performance by Ana De Armas as Marylin Monroe, the 2022 Netflix movie is slow, tedious, and frustrating to watch. It’s a fictionalized account, which the makers claim ‘boldly’ re-imagines Monroe’s life, but their definition of bold is limited to the shallow realms of nudity and sex.

Directed by Andrew Dominik and based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, the film is spread over an ambitious two-hours-forty-six minutes, with several stars making cameos and one is forced to wonder – did nobody see the problems with the script? ‘Blonde’ attempts to showcase how an immensely talented beautiful woman was treated terribly by Hollywood, reduced to a dumb sex bombshell to be milked for money; but this movie too treats its protagonist the exact same way. Ana De Armas’ is so tenderly vulnerable in her portrayal of Monroe, it’s a shame the script couldn’t do justice to neither Armas’ talent nor Monroe’s memory.

If you are going to fictionalize the life of a cultural icon, why stick to a book that’s twenty years old and not be a little more imaginative? Sure, ‘Blonde’ manages to be a tragic tale about the perils of excessive stardom, especially for a woman actor in an era where men were the only ones who called the shots… but it does nothing to defend Monroe, who is portrayed as a mentally fragile woman looking for her ‘daddy’ in every man. The movie starts with the adorable Lily Fisher playing young Marylin AKA Norma Jeane (her real name), and Julianne Nicholson as her abusive mother Gladys, who weaves tales of a loving but absent father to the young child. Thus begins Norma’s obsession to re-unite with her father, until then, she treats the men in her life as a stand-in for him.

The star’s relationship with famous author Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody fits like a fish in water in this role) gets some screen-time. While in real life, biographers maintain Monroe didn’t listen to her husband and lived like she pleased, the movie never shows her as an assertive woman. She might be upset, angry, throw tantrums, wail, weep, scream, but there’s not a scene where she calmly exerts authority. ‘Blonde’ blatantly fails to capture the evolution of Monroe’s personality. Ana De Armas is baby-faced throughout the runtime, never aging, while the ‘Gentelmen Prefer Blondes’ actor looked a lot more confident, imposing, without the ‘innocent’ streak on her face as her career progressed. The make-up team fails in incorporating those details as the timeline shifts.

Let’s say there wasn’t more to Monroe than an insecure immature young star who was constantly bullied and exploited by those around her. Enough books, movies, documentaries, articles out there have already established that. So, ‘Blonde’ brings nothing new to the table and becomes a long pointless affair in milking the myth of an iconic superstar who died of drug overdose.

It’s a 5/10 from me.

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Haunting of Gillespie House – Book Review

‘The Haunting of Gillespie House’ by Darcy Coates is a horror novel about a young woman called Elle experiencing paranormal activity while house-sitting an ancient sprawling mansion for a wealthy couple.

Set in the middle of nowhere, ‘The Haunting of Gillespie’ is too typical a horror story to scare fans of the genre. You have an old big house far from civilization, a family cemetery close-by, sounds from the walls that are eerie and some forgotten secrets. Darcy Coates weaves a mildly interesting backstory for the family that owned the property for generation, but the protagonist just doesn’t blend into the narrative. Elle comes across as a tourist, an outsider, who desperately attempts to make things about her. But her supposed “connection” with the Gillespie grounds isn’t convincing.

Since it’s a pretty quick novel, almost novella sized, the good thing about ‘The Haunting of Gillespie House’ is the fact that the story gets over before things get too overbearing and plain boring. The climax however was ridiculously easy – the protagonist Elle doesn’t have to tackle any conflicts. So there’s very little suspense and close to zero ‘chilling’ scenes.

It’s a 2.5/5 from me.

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