Mishawr Rawhoshyo(2013)

                                

Mishawr Rawhoshyo - Srijit Mukherjee's fifth directorial 

venture based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's novel was a treat 

to watch from beginning to end. The attention to detail 

and innovative camera angles right from the start bore 

an indication that something special was in store.

 Srijit twisted and modified the original story to make

 it relevant in the present times, interspersed it 

with enough comic moments to make the movie 

thoroughly entertaining and bound everything 

together in a non linear timeline seamlessly.

 Prosenjit Chatterjee delivered in style as Kakababu,

 the larger than life handicapped yet jovial protagonist

 and all the other actors were brilliant in their respective 

roles. The vast deserts and the inherent mystery of 

Egypt was captured with panache and along with the 

mesmerizing background score, made the big screen 

experience one to treasure. 

All in all, it was really fulfilling seeing our childhood 

hero come to life and save the day in style in a 

scintillating adventure. At the same time it made me a

 little sad thinking that there won't be another 

new kakababu novel in the pages of Pujabarshiki Anandamela....

Argo(2012)

Argo -- A thrilling caper film set in 1979, where an Exfil expert CIA agent (played by Ben Affleck) tries to rescue 6 American diplomats trapped in Iran in a state of political outrage. The film maintains its brisk pace right from the beginning and sustains an atmosphere of suspense which keeps on increasing as the film progresses. Although the film has been accused of moulding history I felt that it was necessary to keep the drama intact while following a story based on true life. The supporting cast of the film including Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston (breaking bad fame) did an excellent job while Affleck proved it once again that he's a much better director than an actor.

The film's award nomination streak shows once again that Americans are really obsessed with the heroism of their intelligence agencies or the military and in order to satisfy this, unnatural glorification of certain characters was evident during the course of the movie. But all in all it was a good watch, thrilling and surprising the audience at the same time.

Skyfall(2012)

Skyfall -- Bond goes "classic" in his newest mission where M's past comes back to haunt(hunt) her and Bond himself has to confront his past to fight the villain who is not only an ace hacker but also a previous MI6 super-spy.. The action set-pieces were brilliant as usual but what made this film different from most others was it's character development and considerable inclination towards giving an emotional background to the story, a phenomenon silently put forth to action ever since Daniel Craig donned the Bond suit. A special mention to the Adele number and opening sequence, which really set the momentum of the film. Overall the sound effects and the cinematography were brilliant too.

If anyone watches the last part of the film isolated, it would be very difficult for him/her to associate it with any other previous Bond film. Here we sympathize for the villain, doubt the capabilities of the hero, feel the vulnerability of the whole situation while the feelings try to sink in midst the usual bullet fires and humongous blasts. All in all, this was an action thriller with an emotional edge, making it arguably the best Bond film ever. 

Frailty(2001)

Hand of god, or an evil desire,

Lurking in the dark depths of your heart?

You want peace,or another fire,

To silence the joys yet to take birth?

Frailty is a strange tale of delusion and paranoia mixing with spirituality  and veiled by a thrilling background. First of all it needs to be stated that the content of this film may offend people who don't take a film as a film, and may also hurt some religious sentiments.

Now getting down to the plot, this starts with a young man visiting a FBI chief and telling that he knows the identity of a notorious murderer whose recent murders were becoming a menace for the police. And then he justifies his theory by revisiting his traumatic childhood and the bizarre nightmarish events that he had to encounter.But soon the tables turn, the prey becomes the predator and another side of the story unveils itself leaving the viewer in a dazed state.

The film is very well acted, the suspense element builds right from the beginning and doesn't let go at any time of the story. The semi-illuminated close ups, the haunting background score everything indicates at something ominous taking place, and it does; but not in an ominous way!!

21 Grams(2003)

The earth turned to bring us closer,

It turned on itself and in us,

Until it finally brought us together;

In this dream......

21 grams is the weight which a human being loses at the moment of his death,and this movie explores the myriad emotions that are attached with those 21 grams,the several forgotten memories hidden within those 21 grams,the guilt,the tears,the love and smiles which comprise those 21 grams.

The fragmented story telling in this film creates a emotionally wrenching impact as in one moment we are introduced to a character and in the next we find him lying,flooded with blood.This in a way is complex to follow,but if you let your mind flow along with the unveiling of story;in the end everything will be clear as a cloudless sunny summer day.

21 grams is basically the story of 3 people- an ex con who tried to reform but always found himself at the wrong end of the stick;brilliantly played by Benicio Del Toro, the wife of a man who gets killed in an accident along with his 2 daughters;portrayed by Naomi Watts and ultimately sean penn playing the role of the man whose ailing heart is replaced by the person who died in that accident.

The story moves without any definite time frame and the characters are revealed bit by bit in each scene until at the emotional climax when everything gets mingled in a picturesque manner...

A beautiful film, recommended for those who enjoyed memento,7 pounds, stay, fracture etc...  

A time to kill(1996)

A time to kill,
and a time to heal;
a time to break down,
and a time to build up;

Another John Grisham courtroom drama cum suspense thriller turned into a film,, with serious doses of some 'ism's...
To begin with, racialism, then sexism, then favoritism,then clan-ism and at last 'they all live happily ever after'-ism....


It begins with two white guys almost killing a 10 yr old black girl by means of some very graphic acts,the father of the girl getting enraged and killing them both in-front of a million eyes...And then the usual Grisham stuff follows, legendary lawyers,prodigious lawyers,good jury, bad jury,complicated judge and a scintillating courtroom drama..

Apart from the clan thing thrown in here and there, which seemed outright foolish and out of place,this film was enjoyable and thrilling. Acting was good, Matthew McConaughey as the prodigious young lawyer who felt for the convict,Sandra Bullock as the his helper, and Samuel L. Jackson as the convict;everybody delivered...

P.S- Samuel L. Jackson looked like Nana patekar's clone in this film.. see for yourself...

Stay alive(2006)

Come to me, clouds. 

May you rise as an evil storm,

born to rip them open. 

Let the cover of night bear witness;

and destroy those who resist,

so they shall harm me not.

Let the blood of many cleanse me, 

preserving beauty eternal, I pray you. 

A game begins, a deserted boulevard, a dilapidated mansion with creaking doors, shadows looming here and there, an ancient curse, and a super-evil spirit trying to come back to life..

Now u'll think, wait;i've seen this kinda stuff like a million times...and I won't disagree... this is a teen horror flick where a survival horror game is given a life and it's on a killing spree... so please keep ur brain on the shut down or hibernate mode...

But apart from the 'giving competition to pot-holes on Indian roads' plot, this is a decent film.. It tries out almost all the scary elements,, right from the super agile and gymnastics champion 'ring' ghosts, to the red cloak wearing female version of dracula... From the smoky atmospheres to rustic torture chambers, it tries to culminate all..

The acting is passable if u consider that they are trying to portray that they're being scared of a video game..

Recommended to all those who enjoy survival horror games in the lines of silent hill,and who liked the descent,or for that matter man v/s wild.....

Identity(2003)

Yesterday upon the stairs,

I met a man who wasn't there,

He wasn't there again today,

I wish, I wish, he'd go away. 

Rain splattering down all over, and blood giving it a close competition..... 10 ppl stuck in a dingy motel,one severely injured, one cop ,one convict and several shady characters included... and as expected suddenly a competition begins of who can get killed before whom and the countdown begins to give the gold medal to the struggling survivor....... But all of a sudden enters a mental patient,hence changing  the entire ball game.....it's  like u bought a ticket to watch Baichung Bhutia scoring goals, but instead u see yusuf pathan hitting sixes.. ,, none the less, it's very entertaining.... and the twist in the tail,, really twists it painfully hard,, overall, nice thriller film...

It did have it's funny moments though--

how can u kill someone by an overspeeding car when ur speedometer reads zero?


How can a broken lock hold a door when 2 ppl were trying to choke-slam it, undertaker style??


there r many more, but i don't wanna give the spoilers here..
 So it's recommended to all those who liked films like-- shutter island, stay, Mulholland drive etc...