Replicas
U/A: Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Thomas Middleditch, Alice Eve, John Ortiz, Emjay Anthony
Rating: 

The bland, expressionless Keanu Reeves as a scientist is a hard sell for even the most gifted filmmaker so one can't understand why he was chosen to lead the cast as an obsessive scientist wanting to clone his family back to life after a drowning accident. And that's not the only bad choice here. The story itself never develops beyond the perfunctory -allowing for quick jump forwards into sci-fi territory that doesn't appear conclusive in the least. The script appears to be written by novices who have little idea about the subject matter. Neither the Director, the tech team nor the cast seem to believe in this story. So they all appear to be playing a game of make-believe that only they enjoy. For the viewer the experience is sheer tedium.

Playing God in a high tech world is not a new concept but the treatment, tone and momentum must be good enough to gain attachment and believability. There's no such thing here. At no point are we ensnared by Will Foster's (Keanu Reeves) need to bring back his family from the dead. Neither his guilt nor his love for them are established here. And his corralling of his lab partner Ed (Thomas Middleditch) for support, is also not believable in the least. The talk of neural maps, synthetic brain, algorithms and consciousness sounds like mumbo-jumbo in such an unbelievable set-up – even when it's done in a futuristic facility called Bionyne.

Check out the trailer here:

When Will persuades his friend Ed to dispose the bodies of his dead family members it sounds insane and when he pretends to be his kids and responds to text messages from their friends it becomes all the more ridiculous. We never see his grief or experience his pain. And that's also because Keanu Reeves doesn't go beyond harried and lost in terms of expression. Both writer Chad St. John and director Jeffrey Nachmanoff don't appear to have figured out what exactly they wanted to convey here. They just run with the tide and make a mess of it. There's no style or mood to hold this sort of idea through. Nachmanoff hits the bland and straightforward route – on e that leaves the audience totally distended and discontent. This is the kind of hare-brained unbelievable stuff you wouldn't waste your hard-earned money on!

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Glass

U/A: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Sarah Paulson, Bruce Willis, James McAvoy
Rating: 

Shyamalan’s earliest films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs) were brilliant, they intrigued, shocked and entertained all at the same time. The same cannot be said about the films that came later. The big budget ones especially were all jumbled up and schlocky. It felt as though the director never really achieved his vision. ‘Glass’ is a far better effort in terms of visual context but it fails on cohesion and lucidity – especially in the third act dominated by Shyamalan’s signature twists.

Glass, a sort of sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, spends its two hours plus without a strong story to tell. It is every bit as inconceivable and snaky a film as his worst but it still has a psychological depth that could have amounted to much more - if only the director had been a little more focussed. There’s so much he is wanting to say that it all gets lost in the confusion and incoherence brought on by a lack of emphasis.

Glass opens with Dunn(Willis) tracking down Split's villain, Kevin Wendell Crumb aka 'The Horde' (James McAvoy), a serial killer suffering from multiple personality disorder who has been preying on girls in the Philadelphia area. After some visceral action Dunn and Crumb are captured and taken to a secret wing of a psychiatric hospital also housing Mister Glass(Jackson) – to be studied by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), a psychiatrist obsessed with decoding the phenomenon of men who believe themselves to possess the powers of comic book characters.

Check out the trailer here:

This is an indie film (in partnership with Blumhouse)with no big studio backing it so there are budget constraints which Shyamalan could have overcome by running a tighter ship. Shyamalan manages to get close to poignant and memorable but the third act(rather threadbare) pulls you off that track all the way through. The twists don’t make much sense and in fact renders the entire work rather directionless.

The build-up is pretty good even though the action is all visual, internalised and verbose but the third and final act fails to make something out of that. The director and DP Michael Gioulakis manage to compose some fascinating and striking visual mayhem but it doesn’t amount to anything powerful. If you followed ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Split’ then there is a chance that you might cotton on to Shyamalan’s wavelength but for a large part of the audience this is going to be a film without a strong sense of purpose.

James McAvoy is simply the best thing about this movie. His enthusiasm and effort in playing out multiple personalities is extraordinary. Jackson wakes up from his stupor a little late and loses out on creating an impact while Willis looks on strategically- the thing he does best I guess. This is at best a baffling and inconsistent exercise in cinema!

Also Read: James McAvoy on Glass co-star Bruce Willis: He is most chilled dude

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Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi
U/A: Biography
Director: Krishna Jagarlamudi, Kangana Ranaut
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Danny Denzongpa, Ankita Lokhande
Rating:

As a film, this might seem a bit too ultra-patriotic/nationalistic for the fact that it's set in the mid 1800s, when the idea of India itself wasn't as concrete, let alone the concept of "Swarajya" (used here often), which was first popularly coined by Lokmanya Tilak, only born in 1856. The film itself though, right in its opening disclaimer, washes its hands of any pretense towards complete, uncontestable historical accuracy, which is only for the better. Helps you view it as a fabulous legend/fable first.

Be that as it may, the fact that the Indian Revolt/Rebellion of 1857, that began with the Sepoy mutiny, with Mangal Pandey firing the first shot, is widely considered the First War of Indian Independence, among Indians, can't be denied either. At the centre of this piece though, with absolutely no other players even in the periphery, understandably, is Rani Lakshmibai, born Manikarnika, a bibliophile 'brahmin' girl, raised by the Peshwa as a warrior, who eventually takes over as the Queen of Jhansi (currently in Uttar Pradesh). Yes, this is a big-budget, wholly star-driven, action-packed, period picture. Except the star is female, which is rare enough. Even if you consider Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat (or Padmavati), where Deepika Padukone played the eponymous character all right, but the film focused on Ranveer Singh as the antagonist Alauddin Khilji far more. Speaking of which, this is the sort of passion project that Bhansali, as master of magnificence (Padmaavat, Bajirao Mastani, Ram-Leela), has excelled in to a point that subsequently similar works, by most other craftsmen, are likely to somewhat pale in contrast. And so while the inspirations here are obvious, it might be unfair to compare still. This holds just as true for any allusion to SS Rajamouli's astoundingly massive Baahubali, given that the screenwriter (Vijayendra Prasad) is the same.

For, the story here has to be enjoyed for its own worth. It relates to a legend that pretty much remains unsurpassed in Indian history—of a woman, who lost her husband, the king, and her little son, the heir, giving way to the British to take over her kingdom, with help of locals (as they almost always did), and a 'doctrine of lapse', which applied to heirless princely states.

Instead of wallowing in widowhood, as per tradition, the Queen got on the white horse-back, and led a full-frontal attack against the mighty British, all by herself, holding fort until the point that she could, and then creating alliances, organizing her brigade, to go at the Brits all over again. Her valour is a common, modern metaphor. You see a fearless woman, and inevitably go: "Aa gayi Jhansi ki Rani!"

Frankly, as a public figure from Bombay films, I can't imagine anybody as naturally earning that sobriquet as Kangana Ranaut. Dainty but fierce, Ranaut plays Rani Lakshmibai with the ferocity that suits her character best. She leads the charge not just as an actor, but also as director, the baton she took over midway through the making of this film. One can't help but conjecture if there are really two separate movies here, given that two directors were helming it at different times.

Well, there are two huge battle sequences in the picture. And one could argue that the second one, the climax, in its tone and shot-taking, looks considerably different from the first. But then, that could just be me as audience noticing, because consciously searching. Either way, there is nothing to hugely fault this film on technical competence, and indeed the scale at which it's been mounted.

Watch Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi Trailer

The sets are grand. Extras, both Brits and desis, fill up the screen. War scenes look reasonably authentic. Mortal combats appear real. Riding through the artillery lined-up on either end is Manikarnika with her sword, the ultimate symbol of female power, from around the time that feminism as a word had only but been coined (in the West). It is an aspect that's thankfully quite dialed -down here. You can see it. You don't need to be incessantly told.

We've all read about Rani Lakshmibai in middle-school history. But we remember her best from the Allahabadi poet Subhadra Kumari Chauhan's long poem with the famous descriptor, 'Bundele har bole ki muh, humne suni kahani thi. Khoob ladi mardani, who toh Jhansi wali Rani thi.' A genuine, soul-stirring tribute to her phenomenal heroism can at best hope to come close to Chauhan's immortal lines. Yes, this one does.

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Thackeray
U/A: Biopic
Dir: Abhijit Panse
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao
Rating:

Rather than a biopic, Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Thackeray tends to become a hagiography that doesn't offer an insight into the larger-than-life personality that was Balasaheb Thackeray. If you've wondered what lay beneath this powerful leader, or how he rose when the odds were against him, be warned this film doesn't answer those questions. Which is not to say it doesn't work.

Director Abhijit Panse's offering is an interesting drama for those who don't know much about Thackeray. The protagonist's journey from being a cartoonist at a newspaper to becoming a ruthless leader, insistent on the progress of the Marathi manoos, is captured well. But is this movie an image makeover exercise for the party, which is at loggerheads with its long-time ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections this year? It definitely feels so. Interestingly, while the film starts with a disclaimer which reads that the makers don't support violence in any manner, they haven't shied away from showing Thackeray as someone who was in favour of using violence as a means to instill peace.

The film opens with the leader's trial in a Lucknow court as he is being questioned about his role in the demolition of Babri Masjid. When he is asked about his supporters tearing down the mosque, he replies, "Nahi, nahi. Toda nahi, saaf kiya." The film then travels between Thackeray's past — stylishly shot in black and white — and the courtroom where he has to justify his deeds and decisions.

From the rise of the angry Marathi consciousness against the dominant South Indians in Mumbai to the killing of Krishna Desai, a member of the Communist Party, to Thackeray supporting the Emergency because he believes that the country would finally be disciplined — various chapters present the protagonist as a tyrant.

The problem, however, lies in the most important chapter — the '93 Bombay riots. The film skims over the matter, and shows it as a conspiracy to kill Thackeray rather than people avenging the post-Babri riots, as is popular knowledge. The storyline then leaps to the bomb blasts that shook the city, and unsurprisingly, Thackeray and the Shiv Sena, rather than being depicted as the instigators of the communal riots, are shown as the city's saviours.

Siddiqui is riveting as Thackeray. It is his terrific performance that makes you invested in the film even when it trudges down a predictable path. But he falters with his voice; he can't match the deep baritone of his subject. Amrita Rao is convincing as Meena Thackeray. The movie ends with the victory of the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in the 1995 state elections; the makers also use the opportunity here to announce the sequel. Produced by Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut, the film barely goes beyond being the audio-visual version of Sena's official newspaper.

Watch Thackeray Trailer

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Mary Queen Of Scots

U/A: Biography, Drama, History
Director: Josie Rourke
Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine
Rating: 

Director Josie Rourke and writer Beau Willimon's attempt to give two warring Queens, the widowed Mary Queen Of Scots (Saoirse Ronan) and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) of England, a larger voice in their historic confrontation, makes for fairly compelling viewing. This is a tapestry of discontent woven with a rare female gaze and allows for greater involvement in the royal proceedings.

Mary, following untimely widowhood, returns to her native Scotland to assume her throne. Her half-brother James Moray (James McArdle) is not enthused and his peace-keeping allegiance to the Protestant regime in England may have well become meaningless. Mary's cousin, Elizabeth I, monarch of England is also wary of Mary's far more valid claim to her own throne. So the intrigue and betrayals begin. And it's the men on both sides who play out the deceit in bloody fashion.

Check out the trailer here:

This is largely a biopic on Mary, Queen of Scots beginning with her return to the throne, subsequent precipitous marriages, the power struggle with her brother and several other aspirants to the throne and eventually her tragic death on the orders of her cousin. So there's more than enough drama to be had. Unfortunately, clarity is not a strong point here. Framed largely as per the version put forward by John Guy's biography of the Queen, the film has some controversial moments but fails to concretize the reasoning for her eventual beheading.

We get to meet Mary's ladies-in-waiting, her attempts to solidify her claims to the throne of England, her fight with the clergy who are largely protestant, her brother James' attempts to undercut her authority, John Knox's(David Tenant) outrage at having to know-tow to a female ruler and Elizabeth's helplessness and insecurity in having to deal with a more beautiful, younger claimant to her monarchy. Most of the narrative gives vent to Mary's life story but towards the end the focus shifts to Elizabeth's, thus creating a dichotomy that is a little difficult to empathize with. This filmed drama is largely faithful to the established record, has authentic fashionably period costuming and make-up and intensely committed performances from the two leads as well as their co-actors in crucial roles. So it's a vividly engaging experience even if not an entirely lucid one!

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The Escape Room

U/A: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Director: Adam Robitel
Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine
Rating: 

These so-called 'live' reality game movies occupy a sub-genre of their own and Hollywood has been churning out quite a few of them following the Young Adult's obsessive fixation with material that encompasses it in entirety. But they are not all as thrilling or compelling as the first few that made it to hit franchise levels.

'Escape Room' is basically a set-up to get rid of six nondescript lone survivors through a series of life-threatening puzzles designed to test their survival instincts. And why pray does that have to happen? There's not much explanation here for that. Just swim with the tide, is all they ask. Unfortunately, it's not that easy for the audience because the viewer has to constantly suppress the disbelief that springs up every time the participants go through haranguing moments that willy-nilly put their lives in peril.

Check out the trailer here:

This is a far more perilous version of the more recent spurt of high-risk Telly games and since we don't get to know or understand the participants' motives (other than the 10,000 dollar prize money) it's difficult to empathize or find a reason to pay attention to their trauma. The writers also use some uninteresting physics theory to justify the random six players' participation in a largely predictable schema of disjointed thrills. They are made to go from intense heat to intense cold, then to a gas chamber, a space crusher and a few more vicarious routines before the winner can be decided.

While the production design is vivid, there's not much holding it together. Nik Dodani as nerd Danny, Jason Ellis as irritating yuppie Jason, Tyler Labine as trucker Mike, Deborah Ann Wolf as the tough, capable war vet Amanda, Logan Miller as a young alcoholic Ben and Taylor Russell as a withdrawn college student Zoey put in imminently indistinct, forgettable performances. The writing is largely formulaic too and the helming lacks serious edge. There's really nothing here to hold your attention for the near 100 min runtime.

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Alita: Battle Angel
U/A: Action, Adventure
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali
Rating: 

This film, which has Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron working together with Peter Jackson's visual effects, has wonders never experienced before in cinema. The film may have taken a long while (twenty years) coming to screen, but the end result is fantastic enough to keep you asking for more. A manga-based action thriller, James Cameron's $200 million-worth, long cherished dream is aimed at young adults seeking fresher pastures from that of The Hunger Games variety and hopes to make it to bigger box-office returns than that sub-genre hit-starter.

Cameron started on the cinematic adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's original manga comics way back in the late 1990s, (much before Avatar), but the phenomenal success of Avatar had him relinquishing directorial control to Rodriguez while holding firm as screenwriter (with Jon Landau and Laeta Kalogridis) and producer.

The resultant kick-ass cyberpunk adventure may not be as original as he imagined it, but it has certainly got all the chops to make it to a long-term fan-following on its own.

The filmed adventure is set 500 years from now, in Iron city - a junkyard that is a wasteland for the flying citadel of Zalem. The city is peopled with AI controlled cyborgs mingling with real humans in a community so tech-spangled that it's hard to decipher one from the other. Kindly Doctor Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) reconfigures a former robot superweapon and rechristens her Alita (Rosa Salazar), after his own daughter. I do, who moonlights as a hunter-warrior, tries to protect the young Alita, but her mind has memories of a past that keeps haunting her present. She even develops a crush on handsome robo-junk dealer Hugo (Keean Johnson) and eventually ends up becoming the super weapon she once was.

The plotting here is a little too jumbled up, ensnared as it is in creating set-piece thrills and out-of-this-world experiences. Stereotype characters and genre tropes make the engagement less than wondrous. The tech-specs are certainly the best we've seen in a long time, the IMAX imagery is splendid and beguiling and the vivid expressions of the actors make it feel all the more real and intimately experiential.

Watch the trailer of Alita: Battle Angel

Even though Salazar is the most riveting and fascinating of characters, she does feel a little artificial at times. The CGI blends in effortlessly with digitally morphed motion-capture performance, but the artifice can be felt - too strongly at times. The array of side characters also feels like old hat killing the originality of the experience and allowing déjà-vu to creep in. Even so, there's no belittling this explosive cutting-edge adventure that takes cinema thrills to never-seen-before heights!

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The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Dir: Mike Mitchell
Cast: Chris Pratt, Tiffany Haddish
Rate: 

The Lego universe gets a sequel intended to keep the young fans happily engaged, but the film fails to come close to being entertaining, even if we whittle down expectations and limit them to their target audience.

The novelty that the first Lego movie had going for it, has, of course, worn off. First-off, the script by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Raphael Bob-Waksberg goes intergalactic in its attempt to give Lego Batman a life-partner. Their resulting union is meant to spread the message of peace and love in the universe. That's a place where no Batman sequel has gone before, and therefore, seems a little too contrarian and far-fetched to stomach. Even the threat to Bricksburg by Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, seems like a marketing gimmick rather than a believable story idea.

The usual characters Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) end up having to confront an alter ego that appears more sinister and powerful than it seems at first glance. The belief that kids from kindergarten and pre-primary school will relate to this sort of story ideation is preposterous. That they make it all link to everyday family friction may seem commendable, but the consequent labelling is not something to be proud of.

The ideation here is musty, the characters are no longer likeable, and the story is too tortuous to be considered engaging. Garishly coloured animation, sentimental live-action montages meant to connect the dots, and musical numbers (including a not so catchy, Catchy Song) make it all the more off-putting. There's over-abundance of elements here, which makes the experience jarring for the senses. The puns being bandied (including Ourmomageddon) about are silly and patronising.

The stray humour sputters to life in intermittent gurgles, but it's too little to be entertaining. This sequel reeks of commercialisation, and there are no two ways about that!

Check out The Lego Movie 2 trailer here:

Also read: Fun facts about The Lego Movie 2 we bet you didn't know 

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Gully Boy
U/A: Drama
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Ratings: 

What does it take to so gently bottle up an overflowing volcano like Ranveer Singh, into a completely subdued bloke like Murad? Who is yet someone with such seething anger within, wholly internalised, that you can almost sense his brain inhaling life and surroundings, and exhaling potent words of poetry, in response? It's the script/story, Gully Boy, of course.

Kya bolta hai, bhaay! Lead actor Singh, like this newspaper, grew up in the city this film is set in. He's perhaps, for the first time, playing a character so close to home, and yet so far. For it's also a city that so perennially lives in the cross-section of classes, that all it takes for you to see Bombay and Mumbai at once, is to draw your curtains wide, from any point in the bustling metropolis.

Singh's leading man Murad operates from right at that casual intersection - a college-going temp driver during day (or night), and an amateur rapper, 24x7. There's, on the one hand, plush interiors of high-rise Bombay. And, on the other, stuffy squalor of the city's lower-deck (worthy of poverty tourism), shot by Jay Oza, in a natural gold-dust palette - almost like a dream.

Around these two natural extremes, and with several layers between, Gully Boy is foremost a befitting tribute to Bombay - among very few places in the world where popular art has traditionally existed as possible exit-route for someone born into rags, or resigned to fate/naseeb.

A lot of the times, it's taken a full chawl/slum to raise a star (lyricist, composer, actor, name it). Besides, Internet has made showbiz redundant, making it possible for anyone to pole-vault into stardom, with growing hits, likes, and shares on social media - a fact that was equally well tackled, around a Baroda girl, in Advait Chandan's recent Secret Superstar (2017). And it's the same Internet providing access to inspirations, worldwide.

This is in that sense a global story with a Mumbai heart - totally bereft of any obvious, on-screen self-awareness. Only fair that it should come from director Zoya Akhtar (Luck By Chance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) who, if I'm not mistaken, first developed deep interest in filmmaking through Mira Nair's iconic Salaam Bombay! (1988).

Not one to make gender distinctions among directors, or indeed actors (talent's talent, of course), but I do feel it is Akhtar's deft touch that allows for the female lead character (25-year-old Alia Bhatt: astoundingly amazing, almost as always), and her life's story and insecurities, to take root, and equally flower within a film that is essentially centred on two Mumbai, local, raapchik Rap artistes.

And there's as much to be said about the fact that while the film entirely belongs to Singh, it's his co-rapper (brilliant debutant Siddhant Chaturvedi), who gets to walk around with all the swag instead. It's the interplay between the main and minor characters, spot-on twang, dialogues (by Vijay Maurya), and indeed a superb play-list (put together by Ankur Tewari) that truly makes this movie, the food of love - at 155 minutes, very much a long main course, too.

Maybe because I watched Gully Boy among an altogether Mumbai audience, or perhaps it would the same anywhere: Never have I observed folk at a press preview periodically break into loud claps during key dramatic sequences, especially given that the scenes have been quite subtly staged, in fact. This is a new kind of 'Angry Young Man' movie, in effect - seamlessly merging sub-culture with pop mainstream.

Also Read: From Scarlet Macaw to Unicorn - Ranveer Singh's flora and fauna inspired clothes are hilarious

People in my hall, or indeed outside it, would have first heard about a booming, Mumbai Rap/Hip-hop underground scene, with open-mic nights, and proper gigs at venues like Anti-social (also referenced in the pic), only a few years ago. It's almost at the same time that stand-up comedies in the city began to draw totally untested, raw greenhorns concentrating on the all-important self-expression - or content (which can't be taught) - and then, delivery (which can be learnt).

Rap, or Rhythm and Poetry, you can tell, similarly opens lines of (a very visceral form of) communication - between heartfelt (often antsy) words, thumping beats, and the crowds that instantly relate to both.

This film, as per its opening slate, is a "shout-out" to budding Mumbai stars Naezy (Naved Sheikh) and Divine (Vivian Fernandes). Their story, and of desi rap itself, is still unfolding, as we speak. When it's written in hindsight, I'm pretty sure, this film will be considered, the high-point, if not the turning point, for the genre, after all!

Also Read: Exclusive: Naezy on Gully Boy: People are looking at us like we're pioneers of Indian hip hop

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The Wife
Director: Bjorn Runge
Cast: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater
Rating: 

The two lead performances are what make The Wife so special. In this unsettling drama - an adaptation of the 2003 Meg Wolitzer novel by Jane Anderson - Glenn Close plays Joan, the wife of a Nobel Prize-winning writer Joseph Castleman (Jonathan Pryce).

Directed by Bjorn Runge, The Wife opens in 1992 when Joe and Joan Castleman, in their Connecticut home, are trying to fall asleep when they get a call from the Nobel academy, informing them of the prize. It's their moment of triumph after 40 years of struggle with the written word, in which Joan, supposedly, has played a largely complementary role. Of course, there are flashbacks that hint at her own phenomenal ability to write prose, stifled by a marriage that demands she subjugate her talents to a life of reflected glory in a period (late '50s and early '60s), where women writers were not given the importance they command today.

There's no great suspense or mystery powering this tale of a breakdown that spirals into tragedy at the crowning moment of an author's accomplishments. In fact, Runge doesn't appear to be as interested in developing the suspense as he is in showcasing the unravelling of a suppressed human mind.

Close literally steals the thunder with her role as the devoted wife of a celebrated novelist. She is the keeper of his deepest, darkest secret; a stunningly nuanced expressionism that is more than likely to take your breath away. The restraint and modulation she brings to the role are simply phenomenal. It's a performance that is deservedly walking away with a slew of awards.

Pryce is no mean performer either. His role may not garner much sympathy, but his act complements that of Close so well that you begin to believe in their togetherness.

The Wife is a little compact and contrived, given its novel origins. The attempt to complicate matters for the Castlemans by showcasing their troubled relationship with their budding novelist son, David, seems passé. Also, Joan's seething frustrations don't seem completely justified, even whilst considering the period they take wings in. While the movie is not a great piece of work, the lead artistes definitely are worthy contenders for the awards.

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Total Dhamaal
U: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Director: Indra Kumar
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Mishra
Rating: 

The first thing you notice about this Hindi film (or at least I did) is that it plays with English subtitles. Not that most need it; but great relief, nonetheless. For I had returned from the same Mumbai theatre only the evening before, within the first minute of a Malayalam film (a heavily recommended Kumbalangi Nights), having realised that the pic had no English subs, and people were laughing at jokes (presumably), that I couldn't access.

Would Total Dhamaal, in a language you didn't understand, be watchable still? Technically there is hardly a plot/story. So you'll follow what's going on, regardless. But this is the sort of deliberately-sasta, kaam chalau comedy that works on simplest set-ups, and pay-offs - or punch-lines - that you ought to be in sync with. Some jokes work - at a pure comic timing level. Several don't. But that's really what you walked in for. For the record, the first Dhamaal (2007) had entered theatres hot on the heels of the fab Golmaal (2006), with Arshad Warsi common to both - making the former seem like pretty much a sequel to the latter. Modelled along the lines of the Spencer Tracy epic It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Dhamaal actually had a lot of dhamaal going for it.

Ever since, Golmaal has turned into a four-part, money-spinning franchise (or as Devgn calls it, his "retirement plan"). As have similar all-star comedies from the time - Housefull (the fourth instalment is on its way), Kya Kool Hain Hum (in the screwball, sex-com space), Masti (there've been three so far - directed by Indra Kumar, as well).

This is the third in the Dhamaal series, and as a ride, perhaps mainly intended for kids, if you consider the amount of slapstick (instead of adult) humour, stereotyped 'Madrasi', Bihari, Gujju kinda gags, and tonnes of fine VFX paraphernalia - collapsing bridge, rickety helicopter, cute animals bumbling around in the farm, folk either hanging or flying off ledges… This is besides a lot of self-referential Bollywood one-liners that appear as stuck in time as, of course, the picture itself.

And so the password to open a door is 'one-two ka four; four-two ka one' as Lakhan, or Anil Kapoor, jumps off a wall. 'Ek do teen' as in the Madhuri Dixit Nene song is referred to, since Dixit is in the movie, along with Kapoor. Rohit Shetty is summoned in a line while cars fly. Ajay Devgn is of course the dude. His sidekick, Sanjay Mishra, whose refrain, "Dhondu, just chill," made him a superstar with Shetty's All The Best (2010), a similar mad-cap comedy, gets, "Bro," a new takia-kalaam here.

But my favourite guys in this movie have got to be Adi, and his man-child partner Manav (Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi). Glad they've survived the franchise's original line-up (the only ones to, besides the perennial ensemble-com favourite, Riteish Deshmukh).

The entire lot is after a Rs 50 crore booty. All they know is that it's kept at a zoo. And with presumably someone called OK, which is what you must feel like - never mind what happens in the movie thereafter. Anything I say about this expectedly total dumb maal, should be construed as boring old me, coming in the way of your heightened, harebrained entertainment. Already have; read no further!

Also Read: Exclusive: Ajay Devgn on Total Dhamaal: It's very difficult to make people laugh

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2019 Oscar Nominated Short Films
U/A: Action, documentary
Director: Reyka Zehtabchi, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Marianne Farley, Jeremy Comte, Vincente Lambe, Guy Nattivi
Ratings: 

This anthology film features five Oscar-nominated short films each in the Live Action category and one short documentary set in India. The live action line-up includes Madre, Fauve, Marguerite, Detainment, and Skin.

The documentary film Period. End of Sentence by Reyka Zehtabchi from the USA, tells the story of women, in a rural village just outside of Delhi, fighting the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation in India. It's factual, hard-hitting and exposes India's hinterland underbelly that puts premium on dogmatic tradition and self-defeating old school beliefs.

Stills from Detainment

Madre (Mother), a stirring short from Spain directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, has a single mother enveloped in a living nightmare - having to deal with her seven-year-old son, who tells her he can't find his father who he was vacationing within the French Basque Country. The film is a taut, frightening thriller that grips you till the end.

Marguerite, the short from Canada, by Marianne Farley, opens up locked-up memories through an evolving friendship between an ageing woman and her nurse, thus allowing her a sort of redemption from all the hurt and guilt accumulated over long lonely years. It's a human story that allows emotions to creep in steadily and eventually makes the precarious journey through memory lane a fulfilling one.

Fauve, another Canadian short, by Jeremy Comte, deals with an innocent, seemingly harmless power game between two boys that eventually turns scary. It's a stirring indictment on the brash, confrontational, competitive arrogance that has enveloped every aspect of young life today.

The most shocking of the lot are, of course, Detainment and Skin. Vincent Lambe's Detainment, a short from Ireland, based on the James Bulger case - for which two 10-year-old boys are detained by police under suspicion of abducting and murdering a toddler. It's a gruesome and harrowing tale told through interview transcripts of the case and the tension-ridden treatment is bound to leave you disturbed and despondent.

Skin, a short from the USA by Guy Nattiv, spins a horrific drama that has its origins in racial incrimination. A black man smiles at a 10-year-old boy in a small supermarket in a blue-collar town, and all hell breaks loose. This one's a blinder about how conditioning rules the way we think and behave even in such harmless, innocuous moments.

This entire package is a delightful showcase of talent and diversity and therefore, rightfully enshrined in the nominations for the best and worthiest shorts of 2018. They are definitely winners!

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Isn't It Romantic
U/A: Romantic comedy
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Cast: Rebel Wilson, Adam DeVine, Liam Hemsworth, Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Ratings: 

How fresh can a rom-com be? Well, at least, Rebel Wilson attempts to lend a fresh perspective to the genre with Isn't It Romantic. It's interesting to witness how the film's writers have parodied the commercial prism through which love is depicted on celluloid.

Wilson plays Natalie, a closeted rom-com lover who wears the irreverent 'Love-is-bulls**t' veil to hide her softer side. After suffering a head injury from being mugged, she wakes up in an alternate universe - one that is straight out of a rom-com where the roses are brighter, her apartment resembles the enviable houses that are featured in glossies and she, too, is a peachier version of herself. Even her dog is less mischievous and better groomed.

But instead of being delighted at the situation, Natalie feels suffocated with the perfection around her. With its sharp writing, the film gets across the larger message that love isn't all peaches and cream in real life.

You can play spot-the-rom-com too -there are several references to major hits like Pretty Woman (1990) and La La Land (2016). The comedy offers more than its share of fun moments; my favourite is the scene where Blake (Liam Hemsworth) walks out of the shower and it is suggested that Natalie had spent the night with him. But like in the movies, the steamy details are snipped - a deliberate play on the inherent need to keep the rom-coms clean, never upping the passion despite it being an integral part of romance. The writers' ability to question the romanticism around happily-ever-after without letting the grime of cynicism seep in, is commendable.

Wilson does a top notch job of headlining a cast of fine actors - Liam Hemsworth, Adam DeVine and our very own Priyanka Chopra Jonas. For the desis, the last song and dance sequence will be a brutal reminder that we haven't seen her in a Bollywood film in four years. This dose of mush attack is strongly recommended; at least, it doesn't let you lose sight of logic in the face of love.

Watch trailer:

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Luka Chuppi
U/A: Romance, comedy
Dir: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Kriti Sanon, Kartik Aaryan, Pankaj Tripathi
Ratings: 

If you ever needed a better proof of the fact that most 'star-actors' (especially the new-age ones) are inevitably over-rated, given that the success of their characters, or indeed their films, depends so much on the script: Well, here is one.

This picture stars Kartik Aaryan, lately anointed the rising star among millennials, largely on the back of three super-hit rom-coms in a row - Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011), its sequel (2015), and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018) - by the same director (Luv Ranjan).

Social media, and of course the usual entertainment portals, have been fired up ever since, capturing his newly captive mass-base. He walks into a picture of a similar genre, with hardly a story, let alone a screenplay, and you can watch the same actor, looking dumbfounded, fumbling all over the frickin' place - much like his film.
Which is about a girl, with a stock-expression (Kriti Sanon), taking stock of her young-adult life. She isn't quite ready to get married. But doesn't mind being with the guy she's just about met. She decides to live-in. For? 20-odd days, pretending to be married, in another town - sounds like a long vacation to me!

Either way, it's a logical step for a modern couple to take. Not for the characters in this movie, who live in seriously moronic times. Local news channels have gone berserk over, "Desh mein naya system aaya hai" - referring to an epidemic called live-in relationships! Goons, with the heroine's dad lording over them, are at every nook and corner, whacking/harassing couples over an inescapable pandemic. A top Khan Bollywood superstar has been boycotted/trolled nationwide for moving in with his girlfriend!

The hero-heroine in this pic play news reporters - continuously covering this earth-shattering story. Those behind the writing of this ultra-filmy picture were obviously born in PVR/Fun Republic. What happens next? Honestly, absolutely nothing. Or rather nothing that you may like to know, since the couple is still very much together, and their families seem okay with them being so forever. Eh?

This is supposed to be a comedy, exploring a perceived taboo, set in small-town India. Which, as a movie, is just the reverse from a decade and half ago, when Bollywood films just had to be set abroad, in order to do well - think Salaam Namaste (2005), also about a couple (Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta) living in, but in Melbourne!

Writer Javed Akhtar, astute cultural observer, ascribes this shift towards small towns as a fairly settled, secure, migrant Indian middle-class finding solace in its roots or where it came from. Given a massive string of commercial successes, emanating from stories from Meerut, Agra, Kota, Lucknow, Kanpur and the like, a formula is bound to set in.

This picture is placed in Mathura and Gwalior. An ensemble cast of rustic faces, dressed down, attempt some semi-rural humour, with odd, local mannerisms, and 'horny uncle' sex jokes. There is mention of caste and religion for the realism.

In walks Pankaj Tripathi, giving you a glimpse of how a performer can still rise above poor material - but only that much. Forget the audience, just wondering why/how they managed to chipkao this non-script on an actor, who's seriously in top form right now. Anyhoo, that's probably another story.

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Captain Marvel
U/A: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, DeWanda Wise, Samuel L. Jackson
Rating: 

Brie Larson's entry into the Marvel superhero fold as the titular hero in Captain Marvel is not the 'Wonder' we expected. Though Captain Marvel is the first Marvel Studios film to be built around a female superhero, it comes minus the savoir-faire that gave Marvel productions its high brand value over the years. There are two directors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck at work here, alongside several writers including Nicole Perlman, Anna Boden, Geneva Robertson-dworet, Meg LeFauve, Ryan Fleck, Jac Schaeffer, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. And it does feel like too many cooks have literally subdued the vivacity and nihilistic exuberance unique to the comic book cinema superhero universe.

The Captain Marvel female counterpart first appeared in comic books in 1977 but the real inspiration for this film comes from Kelly Sue DeConnick's series, beginning in 2012, that featured the alter ego of Carol Danvers.

Check out Captain Marvel trailer here:

While the experience of this film is not exactly unfavourable, the narrative never really takes off into the stratosphere even though it has a storyline that has Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) straddle a galactic war between two alien races. The narrative is a little jumbled up and the eventual aim to launch her into the Avengers team becomes a little too obvious even as the non-linear plotting is laid out with convoluted reasoning. Danvers' is with the Air Force, but she is also the eponymous warrior on behalf of Starforce, an intergalactic fighting squad committed to battling the fiendish, shape-shifting Skrulls. As the film opens we see her being tutored by her mentor, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), leader of the intergalactic military force of the Kree. Danvers is shown as uncertain about her past and as the narrative trudges along things get a little too murky and distorted for comfort. Danvers may go from cosmic to earthbound (C-53) in the fraction of a second and then back up into the skies again but for the viewer, this is not much of a roller-coaster thrill ride. The action is set in the '90's, the storytelling is obligatory at best, none of the characters stay on in your mind after the movie is done and the writing and direction lacks definition and seems a little too obviously patched-up towards a grander purpose.

Brie Larson tries hard to instil humour into the role but there's only so much she can achieve in a jumbled-up universe. She is solid if not exciting and that's the mainstay of this film – if at all it can be considered to have one!

Also Read: Captain Marvel reviews: Here's what the critics are saying

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Kesari
U/A: Drama History
Director: Anurag Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Rating:

First off, this might well be actor Akshay Kumar's finest performance ever. And this has much to do with an earthy, true-blue, proud Punjabiness that he exudes in his natural persona that translates so seamlessly on to the big screen; him fitting into the get-up like a glove, as Havildar Ishar Singh, a die-hard, hatta-katta soldier with a sharp disc on his huge turban, belonging to what the British deemed the 'martial race'—born to fight and protect, for community, and honour.

And that's tall compliment for a superstar, currently at the brightest phase of his career, who for years since he made his debut was condescendingly dismissed as woodwork—chiefly for the kind of work he starred in, of course.

Kumar, lesser known as Rajiv Bhatia, over the past few years, has upped his game to a point that you can't tell one character of his from the next (his last outing was as the iPhone sensation, Pakshi Rajan, in 2.0), naturally generating curiosity in ways that Aamir Khan has been capable of. Surely there are other contenders too, but hardly as prolific.

That said, you know where this film is coming from: 1897, Battle of Saragarhi, fought between Sikh soldiers under the British, and Afghan/Pashtun tribesmen from North West Frontier Province, or what's now the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.

What's more important for the viewer to figure/gauge/understand is where this film is going—mainly towards mainstream, mass-belt audiences in Punjab/North, naturally inclined towards manic action films, exhibiting bravado of a community that has enough history to prove for it.

The director is most loved for massive Punjabi hits like Jatt And Juliet, and its sequel. Frankly, Sunny Deol is the only other actor I can think of who could so easily have pulled off this rustic 'gadarness' with gusto. The younger lot doesn't quite cut it in that sense. And Kumar has a cred that precedes his presence. Here he does to Sikh pride through dialogue-heavy, relatively over-the-top, period action-drama, what he attempted in Singh Is Kinng (2008) through comedy, with considerable success.

The key is the story of course. But the downer, the script/screenplay, probably naturally flows from there as well. For how do you spin off an entire feature from what's essentially a merciless, brutal battle between two groups, where the side you're on (the Sikhs) has no stake in the system?

They're minor soldiers. Their bravado is deliriously captivating, yes. You can see it. You can feel it. But the battle can't be the whole film. Well it is already half of it, with scenes leading up to the big moment essentially checking off boxes for issues that the film wants to perfunctorily highlight: caste, religion, colonialism, slavery. What you seek is simply what you get; no more, no less.

At the heart of this pic is the fact that 21 soldiers of a Sikh regiment held fort, carried on what was self-admittedly a suicide mission, against an army of over 10,000 tribesmen attacking them one fine day. Could this be a case-study on tactical warfare? How else did the Sikhs survive even more than a second? Or were the Afghans/Pashtun soldiers completely daft to suffer huge casualties still? Was there unlimited ammo at Saragarhi, or was the opposing side marching in with seriously primitive weapons?

Watch Kesari Trailer

The statistics are staggering. This explains why this film has been made and can be loved for that moment in military records alone. And which is why there is already a movie on the same episode on Netflix (with Mukul Dev; haven't seen yet), and another one that director Rajkumar Santoshi is currently shooting still.

Maybe there's more to the battle. Or maybe this in-your-face, goose-bumpy ride—heartwarming, because its history; and hysterical, because it's that kinda movie—is just the best one can do. Well, either way, this works alright.

Also read: Sikhs dress up in saffron hues to watch Akshay Kumar-starrer Kesari

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Dumbo
U/A: Family, Fantasy
Cast: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 

Disney's attempt to lend more darkness and quirks to this live-action remake of its 1941 animated classic about a baby elephant whose ears double as wings, Dumbo, pays off with loads of cuteness but the director Tim Burton's signature strangeness is missing. Burton's craft is more simplistic here - even though the film is a sort of circus fantasia with all the aspects of an imagination running wild.

The owner of a struggling circus, Max Medici(Danny De Vito) enlists a man(Colin Farrell) and his two children to care for a new born elephant that can fly. Of course, the contretemps are not merely about a flying elephant but also about those opportunistic times when diabolical people sought to make their fortunes off the sweat of lesser mortals.

Check out the trailer here:

With Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito on the same page here, one would have expected something more whimsical and intriguing but this production doesn't quite fit the bill. Burton's attempts to stuff up the visuals with a surrounding darkness doesn't set flight to the imagination. Ehren Kruger's screenplay is inconsistent and chaotic. Character development is uneven so even the leads don't come across as engaging. Burton's attempts to give vein to the freakish performer doesn't have much impact because the plotting is quite wayward. Even the presence of snake charmer Pramesh Singh (Roshan Seth) and the resident circus "mermaid," Miss Atlantis (Sharon Rooney), who strums a ukulele by the fireside and sings "Baby Mine," feels out of place in this extravaganza that lacks connect and soul!

Also Read: Disney's 'Dumbo' will take you to new heights

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Notebook
U/A: Romance
Dir: Nitin Kakkar
Cast: Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl
Ratings: 

I, for one, am not of the belief that remakes are a bad thing. If made well, they can stand their ground and even shine, in some cases, better than the original. Given that Notebook is directed by Nitin Kakkar (the man behind the luminous gem Filmistaan), I had a fair share of expectations, despite the underwhelming trailer. Kakkar's powerful storytelling in the unassuming Filmistaan played in my mind as I walked in to watch Notebook, an adaptation of the Thai film, The Teacher's Diary that released in 2014.

It's not a good sign when, in a love story, children steal your heart over the lead pair. Individually, both debutants Zaheer Iqbal and Pranutan Bahl sparkle, but they meet only at the fag end of the film. Kakkar draws out adequate performances from both, playing to their strengths, using the naivety of the novices to build on some screen charm. But with so much solo heavy lifting and a wobbly screenplay in tow, Kakkar delivers far short of what he is capable of.

Watch the trailer here:

As a plus, the film uses the picturesque settings of Kashmir, blending it with good music. The story, much like the original, traces the unlikely love life of Firdaus (Bahl) and Kabir (Iqbal). She leaves behind a notebook full of sketches and doodles; he is her replacement in a school where they teach. The notebook becomes a source of hope for Kabir, who connects deeply with her over the pages. She is an unusual teacher in an abusive relationship. As Kabir struggles to bond with the children, the notebook comes handy. The rest of the film paves the way to their final interaction.

Kakkar remains faithful to the original design, transporting his viewers into a world of innocence. It is concerning that the director never delves deep into the problems of the state, bringing forth its elements for a pure cosmetic use. A child with a fundamentalist father is a needless addition to the plot. Kabir's former job as a soldier, and his Kashmiri pandit background, also do little to add to the larger plot. It's a balanced view, but not a bold one; too simplistically handled, which is unlike Kakkar's risque style.

Watch it for the adorable kids, and if you are excited about star children in general, Pranutan is a good deal as a first timer.

Also Read: Notebook celeb review: Bollywood unanimously touts the film as a sweet and genuine

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No Fathers In Kashmir
U/A: Drama
Dir: Ashvin Kumar
Cast: Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Soni Razdan, Zara La Peta
Ratings: 

So grim and unnatural are the goings-on in Kashmir, that it's almost hard to find yourself not questioning the films that claim to mirror the realities in the Valley. Ashvin Kumar's No Fathers In Kashmir is empathetic in its approach, but critiques the militarisation in the state. Kumar narrates the story through the eyes of Noor, a teenager oblivious to the situation in the Valley.

Like those of her kind, she continues to showcase her life on social media, ever so often posing with a terrorist because... Well, why not? Unaware of the repercussions of her actions, Noor eventually stumbles upon some harsh truths pertaining to her family. Her father, Basheer was picked up by the Army, and never returned. The more she delves into the details, the more the skeletons she finds in the closet - literally!

Kumar uses Noor's naïvety to explore the plot from the perspective of a third person, elucidating how Kashmir's normal is actually bizarre, claustrophobic and heartbreakingly inhuman. At the crux of the film is an innocent love story involving Noor and Majid, who bond over their unfortunate but common fate as both their fathers were taken away by the Army.

Lucidly shot, and wonderfully executed, the film seems to evade the point that it attempts to make at first, but is more aligned post-interval. Shots involving the goings-on in interrogation rooms, graves that see militants dumped in masses, and the common sighting of stray dogs roaming around with severed parts of the human body, successfully invoke the fear that the makers desire. It's a matter that should most certainly be discussed in mainstream media.

To drive home this point, Kumar successfully highlights the effects of the situation on children when he showcases one kid elaborating on the difference between a terrorist and a militant, to his friend, and attempts to state how those perceived as enemies of the state, have clarity of intention in their heart. The actors are perfect, especially the children.

Kumar's film, however, isn't without loopholes. But you are willing to let them pass because the film makes a brave point - no one deserves to be woken up in the midst of the night by the resounding noise of bullets. Can this be rectified? The film makes an earnest plea, urging us to do our best.

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Shazam!
U/A: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Director: David F. Sandberg
Cast: Zachary Levi, Michelle Borth, Djimon Hounsou, Mark Strong
Rating: 

Moving from dark and foreboding (Batman, Batman Vs Superman, Suicide Squad) to bright, frothy and fun (Wonder Woman, Aquaman) and now Shazam!, DC Comics appears to have gotten a lead on its entreaty. This film based on a lesser known comic book, in which Zachary Levi plays Billy Batson a.k.a Shazam, a superhero who is actually a 14-year-old boy magically transformed by uttering the titular incantation, is kid-friendly, has a strong jocular vein and advocates family values at a time when families are breaking apart because of selfish, individualised pursuits.

Watch the Shazam! trailer here: 

Directed by David F. Sandberg, Shazam!, is an origin story of the titular character as well as the villain, Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong). The villain, in fact, is first shown as a little boy bullied and blamed for all calamities that befall, by his older brother and domineering father. So when he believes and actualises in taking control of the dark powers of the Seven Deadly Sins, you still empathise with his need to prove himself worthy. It's only when he pursues Shazam that we get conflicted and confused about whom to root for. More so because Shazam, being just a kid and forced to play in the adult league, takes a long time getting a handle on himself, his powers and eventually coming into his own.

Billy Batson's own history comes into play to swing empathy to his side. Separated from his unwed, teen mother at a carnival and subsequently sent to a series of Philadelphia foster homes - from which he continually runs away, he eventually winds up with an extended foster family of five, including disabled Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), who walks with the aid of a crutch and is obsessed with all things superhero. With Freddy as the wonder-struck side-kick, the duo embarks on theatrical antics that are delightfully fantastic.

The battles between Shazam and Dr Sivana don't amount to much other than CGI driven plot mechanics. The CGI incarnations of the seven deadly sins and those highlighting the powers of Shazam and his siblings never get distinctive enough to keep us hooked. The rather long 131 mins runtime also takes a toll on the overall enjoyment. Despite the negatives, this film manages to drum up anticipation and leave a smile on your face after the end credits!

Also read: Zachary Levi roped in for The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

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Romeo Akbar Walter
U/A: Action
Director: Robbie Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff
Ratings:

John Abraham's latest nation-in-peril movie is set against the backdrop of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Releasing nearly a year after Raazi, this one suffers from an acute hangover of the Alia Bhatt-film. It even ends with a song that seems inspired (read blatantly copied from Ae Watan…).

Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW) has a confusing structure, is supported by a blaring background score, and lacks both the smarts and the menace of being a good espionage thriller. The problem here lies with director Robbie Grewal (also director of Aloo Chaat, Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar, and Samay), who botches his own script.

Given the twists and turns, the film comes across as a convoluted and tedious mess. For a major portion of the film, you find yourself trying to decipher where it is leading. In order to fit the sub-plots, the script is stretched to a point that you stop caring. The first part revolves around Romeo's (Abraham) induction into the task force and imbibing the nuances of Akbar as he enters Pakistan. What could have been an interesting depiction, is reduced to a clichéd montage of training. In the second half, our super-spy hero is in pursuit of getting details of the Pakistani Army which threatens to set a bomb in a part of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Watch the Romeo Akbar Walter trailer:

The sequence is shot so casually that it makes you wonder if walking on the streets of Pakistan while trying to gather sensitive information, is a cakewalk. The attempt to create a sense of urgency and intrigue are undermined by the lack of coherence. The film manages to pick up the pace in the second half, but by then, it is too late to salvage the situation.

Also Read: Romeo Akbar Walter director shoots across the country in 46 days

The screenplay moves at a snail's pace and is devoid of tension. The unnecessary inclusion of a love story between Romeo and Parul (Mouni Roy) makes it further lethargic. That's not all, amidst the supposed high-tension situation, a lovemaking scene seems like a desperate attempt to titillate the audience.

Grewal tries to bank on the emotional side of Romeo as he remembers his mother. The scene is almost an ode to Darsheel Safary from Taare Zameen Par (2007). It comes across as pretentious and dreary. It seems, the director hoped to present the film as a complete package, and failed miserably. Had he stuck to the narrative of a spy, the outcome would have been very different.

Sikander Kher is the only one who has attempted to salvage the film. Jackie Shroff as the director of Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) sails by. Abraham's deadpan expressions are a hindrance but he somehow manages to hold his ground. And Roy should stick to doing Naagin instead of a gratuitous role like this. As for RAW, YAW(n).

Also Read: John Abraham: RAW: Romeo Akbar Walter isn't a jingoistic, flag-saluting film

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Five Feet Apart
U/A: Drama romance
Director: Justin Baldoni
Cast: Cole Sprouse, Haley Lu Richardson
Ratings: 

Justin Baldoni's film latches on to cystic fibrosis (CF) for its cause, and makes two teens go through the motions of suffering from the disease to develop its romance and effect. CF is a disease that makes its victim struggle for every breath. Those suffering from it rarely survive beyond the age of 10. So, of course, go ahead and blame advances in modern medicine for allowing the two protagonists to live on as teenagers.

They obviously can't risk any infection, and more so from the disease's fellow-sufferers, who are considered high-risk. At all times, they are meant to be separated by latex gloves; no touching, and six feet between them, at all times. The villain here is the disease; not parents or society.

The first rule to be violated is that of the distance. It conveniently becomes five feet, at the heroine's suggestion. Though the film's main premise is about keeping the protagonists interested and engaged in each other, despite their restrictions, it takes plenty of liberties while trying to establish their connect. They even break away from the hospital's restrictions and risking death when heading on a freakish date in snowy conditions. While they cavort in the snow with no care, viewers hold their breath watching their tragedy unfold amidst compulsive melodrama.

Stella (Haley Lu Richardson) treats the hospital as her second home. She is aware of her disease, stays strictly within her regimen, and looks forward to extending her life (through a lung transplant that offers her five years) while carrying the hope that a new cure may be developed. Her best friend Poe (Moises Arias) is back in the hospital and has his own relationship problems to grapple with. Will (Cole Sprouse), another teenage CF patient, receives an experimental drug to take care of his B-cepacia infection. While Stella is hyper-cooperative with those treating her, Poe and Will cope differently. Will, a cynic and rebel, is persuaded by Stella to keep up with his regimen. Of course, you know where this is going to end, but Baldoni lays on a few surprises along the way.

The director may have gotten his inspiration for this film from his documentary titled My Last Days, about the terminally ill. Reportedly, screenwriters Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis developed it further while Rachel Lippincott churned it into a best-selling novel later. Baldoni kick-starts the narrative with no-nonsense flair, zooming in on Stella and her friends as they party before she must return to her dreaded hospital routine.

Baldoni and cinematographer Frank G DeMarco keep the narrative bright and cosy, straying away from medical restrictions to chart a course that has the young hopefuls straining at every bit. The production design makes the setting look luxurious; unlike regular hospital set-ups. The actors are amiable; able enough to gather empathy without going heavy-duty about their woes. This is a genre flick meant to ply on your sympathies and does the job efficiently.

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The Tashkent Files
U/A; Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Vivek Agnihotri
Cast: Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Shweta Basu Prasad, Mandira Bedi, Pallavi Joshi, Rajesh Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Pankaj Tripathi, Vishwa Mohan Badola, Prakash Belawadi, Achint Kaur, Prashant Gupta
Ratings: 

Based on true incidents, director Vivek Agnihotri's Tashkent Files, is a fictionalised film with cinematic liberties. In form, it is a blend between a courtroom drama and an online game with different task levels. In purpose, while seeking answers to the mysterious death of India's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died on January 11, 1966, in Tashkent, it implores you, as a citizen of the nation, to question for, "your right to truth".

The film has a kind of stark simplicity: Apart from a brief set-up and a briefer epilogue, a major portion of the film takes place within the four walls of an inquiry commission which is so akin to a jury room, as nine prominent and responsible citizens headed by politician Shyam Sundar Tripathi (Mithun Chakarobarty) debate on the "common conspiracy theory", that surrounds Shastri's demise.

It is an open fact, and no denying it, that there have been various theories surrounding the mysterious death. The Shyam Sundar Tripathi Commission is set up after the investigative journalist Raagini Phule (Shweta Basu Prasad) is coerced by an anonymous well-wisher cum source, into writing an article that digs into the nation's past.

The well-wisher dishes out nuggets of information via a telephonic conversation which appear like stages of an online game.

Soon, Raagini is also roped into the Commission for being a journalist who has done a lot of investigation on the subject. She propels the narrative and drives home her point based on the Mitrokhin Archive II, which is a collection of handwritten notes made secretly by the Russian KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin.

Dedicated to the journalists of India, the film, on the face of it appears balanced, but the tone and texture of the narrative definitely appear slanted. Sample this; "Gau bhakt, topi pehnewala baba, kaun the?" This question subtly and surely ignites a sense of underlying brotherhood that forces an ignorant viewer to seek the truth.

And so, on the pretext of speaking the truth, the narrative digs out the bitter and indigestible political history of our country. Also, while smirking at our democracy and our education system, the film makes each one of us feel guilty as it opens a Pandora's Box but shows us nothing that we are not aware of. And the last frame, stating that the facts mentioned in the Mitrokhin Archives have not been proved or verified till date, clearly shows that the plot along with the dialogues, is clever and manipulative.

This is a film where tension comes from personality conflict, dialogue and body language, not action. The drama within the confines of the claustrophobic room appear forced and staged.

On the performance front, the film is Shweta Basu Prasad's canvas. She is effective as the ambitious, yet vulnerable Raagini. She holds her steady against the dynamic Mithun Chakraborty, who gives an equally new and varied dimension to his Shyam Sundar Tripathi.

The duo are aptly supported by an ensemble cast which includes; Pankaj Tripathi as Gangaram Jha, Mandira Bedi as the social activist Indira Joseph Roy, Pallavi Joshi on a wheelchair as the historian Aiysha Ali Shah, Rajesh Sharma as a prominent government contractor Omkar Kashyap, Vishwa Mohan Badola as the aging Justice Kurian Abraham, Prakash Belawadi as the senior bureaucrat GK Anantha Suresh and Prashant Gupta as Vivendra Pratap Singh Rana, all members of the commission.

Naseeruddin Shah as the master brain politician PKR Natrajan and Vinay Pathak with a scarred visage as Mukhtar, the person who helps Shweta unearth the mystery in Tashkent, have their moments of onscreen glory.

Mounted with ace production values, the visuals of the film do not boast of any cinematic brilliance. The songs with the lyrics, "saare jahan se achcha" and "sach jalta hain" are lost in the narrative.

Overall, with aggressive pacing, the film is well-researched and potent in nature. But with the timing of its release and the undertones in its messaging, this film appears to be a propaganda film that neither ignites any patriotic fervour nor journalistic appeal.

Also Read: Vivek Agnihotri's The Tashkent Files lands in legal trouble

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Pet Sematary

U/A: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsch
Cast: Jete Laurence, Hugo Lavoie, Jason Clarke, Lucas Lavoie, Amy Seimetz
Rating: 

The 1989 version of Pet Sematary based on the 1983 Stephen King novel, was certainly no classic but it was a cheesy horror tale powered by a solid performance from Fred Gwynne and the title song from the Ramones was quite rage. Given the cult popularity of horror films today, it's no surprise that even such an unremarkable representative of the genre gets recast for the GenNext voyeurs of horror thrills. Co-directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer don't have much of a challenge on their hands, given the fact that there's no attempt being made here to tell the story from a different vantage point.

Dr Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz), eight-year-old daughter Ellie (Jete Laurence), two-year-old son Gage (Hugo and Lucas Lavoie) and pet cat Church—relocate to a rustic home in the quaint rural town of Ludlow, Maine. Though there's plenty of land, with a mysterious pet cemetery and a strange bog behind the home there's not much of it in front - with a state highway running through right at the curb just off their driveway. So one would think that responsible parents would take the trouble of checking out their abode and taking the necessary precautions before moving in.

Check out the trailer here:

Such deliberate contrivance is of course a given for a horror film attempting to spook you by suggestions rather than facts. Soon enough the pet cat gets crushed under a speeding mammoth and the grieving Dr Clarke, helped on by friendly neighbour Jud Crandall(John Lithgow) takes the cat to be buried near the mysterious bog which apparently has mystical powers of resurrecting the dead. A rather convenient ploy to give wandering souls a rejuvenated body to do evil. The rest of it is rather brutal.

The film, as the book, is riddled with plenty of plot holes but King's book at least had a descriptive set-up that kept the interest going. The film doesn't have much exposition. The wife's torment from a traumatic experience during childhood is represented through hallucinatory flashbacks and the tragedies that befall the Creed family just keep piling up soon after they move in. The directors and writer Jeff Buhler, make a few deviations but they play out as altogether facile and non-requiting. The actors do their job well but the narrative doesn't create enough empathy for us to be worried about their fate. Closing it out with a Starcrawler cover of the Ramones's original theme may stir up some nostalgia but that's not going to spook you. Even King's original denouement gets replaced and that makes this particular effort altogether superficial.

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Hellboy
U/A: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: David Harbour, Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim
Rating: 

This latest adaptation of the Mike Mignola comic book is a reboot and not a sequel. Most of the sequences and plot points take for granted that- the viewer is familiar with the story. This film has a rather peculiar blend of history, myth, supernatural and occult playing peekaboo in a narrative that opens up in the past and flashes forward to the post-modern present with rather too much haste. We see a time when everything is acceptable including the paranormal, the other-worldly, different dimensions and the freak. We see Hellboy with horns, crimson skin, and thorny attitude passed out in a Mexican bar or observing a wrestling match and he doesn't raise any eyebrows. And just as we get familiar with the characters and interested in the theme we are subjected to a flashback and that's the pattern we are exposed to throughout this rather jerky, coarse re-imagining of the Hellboy universe. The real problem here is that there's just too much back story and not much of going forward.

Hellboy of course looks more or less the same. The overall look is replicated from the original – this one though looks more worn and unkempt. Hellboy (David Harbour) works with his adoptive father Professor Broom (Ian McShane) at the B.P.R.D, an organization devoted to investigating and generally exterminating paranormal threats. The gruff Superhero heads to England when called upon by the Osiris club to help nullify the Blood Queen's(Milla Jovovich) demonic plot to resurrect herself and bring ruin upon the world.

Check out the trailer here:

The narrative jumps from one plot point to another without acquiring much coherence. We get it that the Blood Queen is part of the main conflict here but by the time she gets into her stride the narrative gets all rushed up and the ensuing melee doesn't have much engagement. Andrew Cosby's screenplay writes in some inner conflict for Hellboy but it doesn't translate all that well on screen. Even the other main characters don't have smooth enough arcs. Neil Marshall is no Guillermo Del Toro and his vision for the action here is also not consistent enough- even though there are a few flashes of brilliance. David Harbour's performance, lacks the confident stamp of authority that Ron Perlman's did. Some of the CGI effects are good but there are moments when they look conspicuous and patched on. Too many characters, too many plot threads and just as many merges between the unimaginable, plagues this tale of a superhero winding his way through tales of legends and destiny - ending it with cataclysmic bedlam that works out to be a rather chaotic gory mess!

Also Read: Milla Jovovich said yes to Hellboy for this reason

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The Tashkent Files
U/A: Mystery
Director: Vivek Angnihotri
Cast: Shweta Basu Prasad, Mithun Chakroborty
Ratings: 

Guess who's watched Steven Spielberg's The Post (2017), based on the New York Times' Pentagon Papers revelation, given that an envelope filled with a certain case-file (in this film) mysteriously lands up on a newspaper reporter's desk, piquing curiosity, and leading finally to an exposé as front-page news the following day. There is also a gravelly voice of the unknown "source", guiding the journalist in this film, all through the case. The anonymous caller refers to the reporter as his Deep Asset. He seems more like Deep Throat himself.

And so the other mother of political-journalistic dramas, Alan Pakula's All The President's Men (1976), on the Watergate scandal, has also been dutifully checked. If anything, the brief for Naseeruddin Shah, who plays a wily minister, spouting one-liners on the murky art of politics, may well have been Kevin Spacey from House Of Cards.

That said, The Tashkent Files, beyond all else, is essentially modelled on Sidney Lumet's courtroom drama 12 Angry Men (1957), which was brazenly, blatantly lifted by Basu Chatterjee's Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986) - without any context whatsoever, given that jury trials had already been abolished in Indian courts by late '60s, early '70s.

To be fair, this film provides some background to why a grand-jury/committee has been appointed by the government - with that young newspaper reporter herself on board! Never mind. Actor Shweta Basu Prasad plays this lead role, and she does a fine job, by the way. So does everyone else - Mithun Chakroborty, Pankaj Tripathi, Prakash Belawadi, Pallavi Joshi, Mandira Bedi - in what's a rather fine line-up for any film.

The aim is to probe supposedly strange circumstances under which Lal Bahadur Shastri, India's second Prime Minister, died in his hotel/chalet in Uzbekistan (then USSR), after sealing a deal with Pakistan, post 1965 war. Was Shastri poisoned? Or did he die of cardiac arrest, as officially recorded? The group in the room delves into this mystery, presumably 53 years after the event!

Frankly, call it propaganda if you will, we must welcome this genre, regardless of the quality of recent output, that have mainly targeted folk from Congress - right from a tiny portion of Sacred Games (Rajiv Gandhi), to films like Indu Sarkar (Indira Gandhi), The Accidental Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh, Sonia, plus Rahul Gandhi) - putting faces to actual names, without fear, even if on account of (currying) favour.

Sure, this goes down well with the current dispensation, otherwise trigger-happy with censorship of all kinds, films foremost. The fact is that, barring notable exceptions, Indian, or at least Hindi cinema, has been bereft of robust political commentary, and an iron curtain has been lifted from an unexpected quarter.

God knows deaths of Shastri, or for that matter, Subhash Chandra Bose (also widely referred to in this pic) aren't the only local mysteries. There have been many question marks over possibly political motives behind several prominent deaths, some of them more recent: Haren Pandya, Lalit Narayan Mishra, Justice Loya, Gauri Lankesh … This is apart from a staggering number of politicians who keep dying in either car or copter crashes (Munde, Pilot, Scindia, etc).

The meat of the material (book-quotes, interviews) on Shastri's demise, before the writer-director (Vivek Agnihotri) - most of them apparently accessible to public - is however scant enough to be reproduced (as is, with a voice-over) in a 15-min video. Rather than sit through over a two-and-half-hour long feature, that in its effort to spin a thriller, instead of grabbing you by the eye-balls, throws up such garbled, gunny-bag gyanpatti, so much bak-bak, you constantly feel like stepping out of the hall of darkness, for a smoke break (no; don't wanna know what the filmmakers were smoking).

And so practically everyone sitting in this 12 Angry Men style committee is essentially a terrorist: "intellectual terrorist," (historian), "social terrorist" (NGO activist), "judicial terrorist" (retired judge), "TRP terrorist" (print journalist!), "racial terrorist" (someone who judges people for their religion, which incidentally is not a race anyway)…

If you must know more: There is call-back to 26/11 attacks, parliament attacks, CWG, 2G (scams)… So-called secular folk will apparently come with a fauj (army) to go after everyone in this country. "Bloody, heartless, capitalists," savages will kill us with fries and cola. And socialism is the ultimate evil, anyway.

This, coming from a filmmaker, who I'm told popularised the term "urban naxal" on Twitter, referring to the relatively affluent, who care for the completely marginalised - arguing that this is all done with the intent of destroying the 'nation'! Not going to judge him personally. He's allowed his hate/opinion, or general lack of empathy. Certainly not falling into that Twitter trap.

But this is the sort of know-all, grand con-spiracy theory picture - regurgitating catch-phrases like "presstitutes", "Lutyens Delhi," "fake news" - that emanates from a world-view wholly derived from spending far too much time on social media.

The gist of this juvenilia (that 15-min vid) is at best, currently Juhu-Versova's version of JFK then, ideally forwarded on your uncle's Whatsapp group. No, nobody's reopening any files for this, or getting rattled up to relook at laws (as was the case with the Oliver Stone masterpiece). A whole lot might just get bored, though. I'm just waiting for this genre to grow. Baby steps, I guess.

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The Curse Of The Weeping Woman
U/A: Horror, mystery
Director: Michael Chaves
Cast: Linda Cardellini, Patricia Velasquez, Sean Thomas
Ratings: 

This film, derived from a Latin American folk tale, has been force-fitted into the Conjuring-Annabelle universe. Writers Mikki Daughty and Tobias Iaconis, and director Michael Chaves turn a demented criminal act into grist for an insidious tale involving a social worker working with abandoned wives. The film bears the brunt of this conspired opportunism.

The narrative opens with the origin of the folklore in 17th century Mexico, where it is showcases a beautiful woman (abandoned by her husband) in a fit of jealous rage, drowns their two male offsprings, kills herself and then roams around as a restless weeping ghost, seeking to replace her dead children by sacrificing other kids. The Curse Of The Weeping Woman leaps to 1973 Los Angeles, a convenient period that hopes to link-up a priest from the Annabelle world and transports him into the weeping woman miniverse.

A recent cop-widow Anna (Linda Cardellini), who works for Child Protective Services, has just been entrusted with the task of rescuing two young boys - Sam and Chris from their abusive mother, Patricia Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez). Anna puts the boys in a home for the evening, hoping they would feel secure and comforted in the care of professionals. But a late night call from the cops tells a different story. The boys are dead and Alvarez holds Anna accountable.

Watch the trailer of The Curse Of The Weeping Woman:

The malevolent ghost - a typically yellow-eyed blotchy-skinned bride weeping icky black tears starts haunting the boys. The jump-scares don't have the power to scare the audience, but it definitely makes the children sweat. The opening and shutting of doors and windows accompanied by sound effects don't scale up the scares either.

The set-up is intriguing enough but the visions are feeble and the horror quotient is laughable. Anna claims she is a non-believer, but when her children are affected and strange things begin to happen, she seeks help from a curandero - a former priest turned shaman, Rafael Olvera (Raymond Cruz), who uses his skills to keep fear at bay. Cardellini and Cruz do their best to make this trope happy formulaic poser an efficient one, but alas!

Also Read: Kalank Movie Review: A great cinematic experience, but is it worth a watch?

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Avengers: Endgame
U/A:  Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson
Rating: 

Avengers: Endgame, undoubtedly the most anticipated film of recent year's, lives up to most expectations. This film is a befitting finale for the decades-old, 21 films, Marvel Cinematic Universe that heralded the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Together they formed the original Avengers team while the newer allies and villains added more power to subsequent outings. This may not be a non-stop action spectacle. Instead, what we get is a well- proportioned, engagingly structured narrative that spreads out its content and thrills in momentous expansiveness, End game basically posits a finale worthy of the superhero characters it promotes. Marvel's time-travelling sci-fi adventure saga throws up a few surprises too along the way.

The story is rather basic - After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), which ended with Thanos getting all of the six Infinity Stones and then using them to wipe out half of existence, including beloved heroes like Black Panther, Star-Lord, and Spider-Man. The surviving heroes go through a period of self-recrimination, hopelessness, heartache and self-doubt before they take the necessary steps to reverse Thanos' actions, they're fatalism keeps us grounded.  

Also Read: Box Office report: Avengers: Endgame sells 1 million advance tickets in India

The script by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely among others, is surprisingly inventive, fraught with emotion and funny. The performances live up to the iconoclastic expectations of the fans while the CGI and effects lend whole new meaning and dimension to quantum physics and chaos theory. The film is a sort of nirvana for the thousands of people who sweated night and day to make such a unique and unprecedented experience come good. Endgame has a much slower, deliberate pace allowing for deeper character development and strong motivations while developing intensity and attachment all the way through. A major portion of the action happens only towards the last half hour of a nearly 3-hour runtime – yet, doesn't feel bloated or unnecessarily expanded.

Also read: Avengers: Endgame Box Office Prediction: Will the film open at Rs 50 crore in India?

This film incorporates beloved elements from earlier outings and recalls character beats, origins, and sub-plots while adding texture and complexity to the inter-galactic drama envisioned as homage to the never-say-die superhero spirit. Alan Silvestri's amazing background score elevates the intensity and involvement. The helming by the Russo brothers is also quite remarkable – creating a well-sprung of entreaty that is truly an event!

Also Read: Avengers Endgame release: A look at how Avengers films fared at the Indian box office

Check out the Avengers: Endgame trailer here:

Also Read: Critics review Avengers: Endgame, say it's 'everything you want it to be and more'

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Avengers: Endgame
U/A: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson
Rating: 

How does one put together words about a film that, for all practical purposes, anything and everything you write, is likely to be misconstrued/diagnosed as a spoiler?

Suffice it to know that this expectedly dramatic conclusion of Marvel's three-part Infinity Saga is a relatively internalised, deep and sober film, concerned more with the motivations of super-heroes, the choices before them, and what they should pick, in order to take on super-villain Thanos—of course.

For one, the earth is a much quieter place, since as you're aware, its species have been annihilated, decimated by Devil Thanos, ever since he got his hands on the infinity stones, and went on to execute the bizarre plan of supposedly ethical ethnic cleansing—randomly ridding planets of half its populations, to make them more sustainable, by restoring balance of sorts, as it were.

Of course, there will be survivors. And Iron Man or Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), to start with, is thankfully rescued or reunited with the human family back home. So is Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Both of them, like all the others, seem to be somberly dealing with the aftermath of a universal tragedy.

Surely, you have your own favourites from this cinematic universe (and how can Iron Man not top that list?). But there's something about the inherent cuteness of Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) that saves this franchise's final installment from turning into a complete depresso—left to be downed over rounds of espresso, what with the screen-time running three hours plus.

Also Read: Box Office report: Avengers: Endgame sells 1 million advance tickets in India

Indians might thank their theatres for the usually hated interval. I caught it without one, but didn't miss it either. There's enough material here to keep you engaged, even if to wonder, on occasion, if some of it makes any sense. You may or may not be impressed with the long drawn explanations, but you're only too happy to go with it.

Frankly, I'm no Marvel fanboy/fanatic—if the movie-world is indeed divided into two types, then more the DC demographic. That said, there is an infectious verve and energy that multiple super-heroes bring to this cinematic universe that is hard to not be swayed by, even if an individual or sub-set, Guardians Of Galaxy in particular, may be difficult to appreciate on their own.

Check out the Avengers: Endgame trailer here:

Avengers: Endgame does a fine job of navigating a reasonably cogent script without over-populating the screen. Avengers: Infinity War seemed more overwrought in comparison. I re-watched portions of the 2018 prequel on my phone (for quick revision), which of course means I didn't watch it at all.

For, at the end of the day, battle sequences and pyrotechnics is the point of it all, isn't it? Endgame, despite all the philosophy, is not an exception. It shines gloriously as 3D spectacle on the IMAX screen, ideally viewed from the third-row, from the back—and if you're not on IMAX, then the third row from the front—for a stunningly immersive experience, with such depth of field that the points where the camera focuses on a river, the ripples flowing towards you, you almost feel like you can wade through the frickin' water!

I know, don't need to put in a word (spoilers be damned). Suffice it to know that seldom has the excitement of audiences entering a theatre, matched by those exiting, after a hugely hyped pic. Endgame equals its astounding anticipation. And that's saying a whole lot!

Also read: Avengers: Endgame Box Office Prediction: Will the film open at Rs 50 crore in India?

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday claimed that around 75 per cent of the nursing homes in the city have restarted services, after its warning of cancelling their licences if they did not do so, on Saturday. The municipal commissioner has ordered the cancellation of licences of the remaining 25 per cent nursing homes. Action will also be taken against private clinics who continue to remain shut, under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

Warning issues
The associations of doctors, nursing homes have expressed fear to work during the COVID-19 pandemic without proper safety kits and strict guidelines. The BMC has several times offered to provide safety kits but most private clinics and nursing homes remain closed due to fear of transmission of COVID-19. On Saturday, the BMC warned nursing homes and clinics to restart immediately and refer patients who have symptoms of COVID-19 to its centres. On Monday, the BMC claimed that out of 1,416 nursing homes, 1,068 have restarted their service. "Out of 99 dialysis centres, 89 are working," said an officer with the health department of the BMC.

According to the press note issued by the civic corporation, the municipal commissioner has ordered the health department to start the process of cancelling licences of the 348 nursing homes which haven't started services yet.

Mayor in nurse's uniform

Mayor Kishori Pednekar visited Nair hospital to meet the nurses

Kishori Pednekar, mayor of Mumbai and a former nurse, donned on a nurse's uniform and visited the COVID-19-only Nair hospital on Monday morning. She was there to encourage nurses. The mayor will visit Sion hospital on Tuesday to communicate with nurses. Pednekar followed social distancing norms during her visit. "I was a nurse by profession and am aware of their challenges. I am getting many calls from nurses and their parents who expressed fear. This is a challenging time and we all should fight the pandemic," said Pednekar.

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No one informed us that my brother had been killed. We heard about his death on news," said Rakesh Tiwari, the brother of Kalpavrishkgiri Chikne Maharaj who was lynched in Palghar earlier this month, from Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi taluka where the deceased priest's family lives.

On the night of April 16, a frenzied mob of close to 450 tribals lynched 70-year-old Chikne Maharaj, another priest and their driver, suspecting them to be thieves, at Gadchinchale village. While the incident made headlines across the nation, Chikne Maharaj's family learnt about his death only two days later.

Rakesh told mid-day over the phone that neither the police nor the authorities in the state informed them about his demise. We learnt through the news two days later that Kalpavrishkgiri had been brutally murdered in Palghar, he said.

Kalpavrishkgiri had left his home in Uttar Pradesh at the age of nine and was reunited with his family after 20-long years. When Kalpavrishkgiri was nine years old, he left home for Gramsabha Bhusavla school at Bhadohi one day, and never returned. We searched for him across the town but didn't find him." After reuniting with him 26 years later, the family learnt that he had gone to Nashik to become a monk, Rakesh said.

"We found his address when Kalpavrishkgiri was about 35-year-old and learnt that he had become a priest. After leaving UP, he had gone to Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple to become a monk and later moved to Mumbai. He was a priest at Vandevi temple at Jogeshwari East. We accepted him and I used to meet him whenever I visited Mumbai."

Kalpavrishkgiri wanted to attend the last rites of our mother, who died on March 22, said Rakesh, adding that he couldn't make it to Uttar Pradesh due to the lockdown in Mumbai announced by the Maharashtra government in an attempt to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

"On March 22, I called to my brother to inform him about our mother's demise, but due to the restrictions he could not attend her funeral. He was our mother's favourite son," Rakesh told mid-day. Rakesh said, "Our wish was to attend my brother's final rites but we received the information very later and that too from the media."

He also accused the police of failing to save his brothers and the two others with him. The videos clearly show that the police surrendered my brother to the mob, who then brutally thrashed him to death, said Rakesh, adding that the police could have saved Kalpavrishkgiri.

"Not a single police officer informed us about his death," Rakesh told mid-day.

Tilghate was driving Chikne Maharaj and Sushil Giri to Surat where the duo were headed to attend the last rites of a head priest, Ramgiri Maharaj. However, they came across the tribals, who were enraged by the rumours that a gang of child lifters were active in the region. While the police maintain that close to 450 people were part of the mob, a local leader had said as many as 2,500 tribals had gatheredthat night.

16 April
Day the two priests and their driver were lynched

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Mumbai police personnel on lockdown duty were attacked by a mob at a Govandi market on Sunday. A police officer suffered injuries to his right wrist when a person from the 25-strong crowd tried to hit him on the head with an iron rod. The officer managed to block the blow with his right hand.

The incident occurred at 6.50 pm on Sunday when a large number of people had stepped out of their homes amid the Coronavirus lockdown and 10 police personnel on the spot asked the people to disperse. Senior Police Inspector Sudarshan Paithankar said that the "illegal crowd" had refused to listen when they were asked to return home.

"There was a large crowd with 25 to 30 active members. A person who was in the crowd tried to kill the police officer by aiming for his head with an iron rod, but the (officer) managed to block the blow with his hand, which got injured," he said. "They also pelted stones at the authorities, chanted anti-police slogans, and damaged a police vehicle, hence we had to resort to lathi-charge."

An FIR has been registered at Shivaji Nagar police station against 25 unknown men and two women, under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (Assault or criminal force to prevent public servant from discharging his duty), 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to public servant to deter him from doing his duty) and other sections.

"The problem of people not observing lockdown has increased in the past few days since Ramzan began," said Paithankar, adding that six people had been arrested in connection with the case so far. "We are looking for the rest of the accused."

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The Maharashtra Jail Administration has allowed prisoners to talk to their families over landlines. as family visits to jails have been disallowed due to the lockdown. 

There are a around 36,000 prisoners across jails in Maharashtra, out of which 8,500 prisoners have been convicted. The total capacity of these jails is 24,000 so most jails in the state are overpopulated. In an attempt to create social distancing within the prisons, 4,611 accused who were serving jail sentences for non-serious crimes, were released on bail. However, the state administration continues to keep those involved in serious crimes behind bars.

According to a jail official, allowing inmates to communicate over phone was allowed so that they could be in touch with their families. The officer said, "We have details of all the accused and on the basis of those, we call their houses and allow them to speak to their families." Otherwise the accused could meet their families once a month.

The phone call facility between the accused and their family members are being allowed in every jail in the state. Around 25 accused are able to talk to their families every day. Every accused gets to make a phone call once a month.

IG Prisons, Deepak Pandey told mid-day, "The jailer first confirms that the person on the other side of the phone is a member of the family of the accused, only then the call is allowed. A duration of 5 minutes is given for each conversation between the inmate and their family."

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The 73-year-old mother and wife of a police constable have tested positive for COVID-19 in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, an official said on Tuesday. The constable, who is attached to the Mumbai police, had tested positive for the infection earlier, while swab reports of his elderly mother and wife came out positive on Monday, public relations officer of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Mahendra Konde said.

In another development, a 42-year-old heart patient, who died while being shifted to a hospital in Navi Mumbai, tested positive for coronavirus post death, the official said. A 57-year-old medical personnel of a civic hospital in Mumbai has contracted the infection, and at least 12 civic workers, who came in contact with her, were quarantined, a release from the Palghar district administration stated.

As per reports, the number of positive cases in Palghar stood at 146, of which 10 patients have succumbed to the infection. Meanwhile, as many as 41 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Maharashtra''s Thane district, taking the tally to 728 in the region and toll to 21, after two more died on Monday, an official from the district administration said.

With 41 patients, Mumbra town has recorded the highest number of cases in the district.

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A Bandra court on Tuesday granted bail to Vinay Dubey, accused of inciting migrants to assemble outside Bandra railway station on April 14 in violation of lockdown norms. Dubey was granted bail on a cash surety of Rs 15,000 by metropolitan magistrate JY Ghule, his lawyer Deepak Mishra said.

On April 14, the last day of the first phase of the lockdown, several hundred migrants had assembled on the west side of Bandra railway station, demanding trains take them to their native places, just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the lockdown till May 3.

Police claimed Dubey's video and Facebook post incited the migrants, as he was heard stating that the government must run trains by April 18 for migrant labourers, or he would start a rally to get them home.

Dubey was charged under sections 117, 153 A, 188, 269, 270 and 505 (2) of Indian Penal Code on charges of promoting enmity among different groups, abetting the commission of an offence by members of the public, and for negligence that could spread infections, disease etc. He was also charged under the Epidemic Diseases Act.

Advocate blames police
Advocate Mishra claimed the police was wrong in charging Dubey. "Dubey had said in the video that an agitation would start on April 18. However, migrants gathered on April 14 itself. So how can my client be blamed for that?" he said. He also told court that the migrants had been able to gather despite the lockdown because of the failure of the police and state.

Rs 15k
Cash surety against which he was granted bail

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While videos and pictures of a big flamingo congregation in Mumbai go viral on social media claiming that the number of these migratory birds is high this year, wildlife experts stand divided on this deduction.

Over the past few weeks, large flocks of flamingos have been spotted at Airoli creek, NRI Complex in Navi Mumbai and Bhandup pumping station. This has therefore sparked assumptions that the number of flamingos this year is much higher than last year. Experts, however, feel that this is not new and that because people are observing the birds a lot more, it is leading them to assume the increase in number.

According to Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), it has estimated more than 1.5 lakh flamingos were seen in Mumbai in the first week of April 2020 and the number has been high compared to last year.

Sunjoy Monga, naturalist/ecologist, writer and photographer, told mid-day, "Over the past years, flamingo congregations are pretty routine and this period is often longer for them than for most other migratory birds. However, if the numbers are higher this season it is difficult to quantify it because with people locked down in their homes, those living near Airoli creek, Palm Beach Road, etc, are continuously seeing the flamingo congregation they may not be accustomed to. So it is a question of perception."

Naturalist and bird expert Aadesh Shivkar said that the number of flamingos seen in and around Mumbai is definitely more this year. "It is true that the number of flamingos sighted in Mumbai and surrounding areas at present is high. One can see large flocks of flamingos at Airoli Creek, Bhandup pumping station and in Navi Mumbai and is an indication that they're preparing to fly back," he said.

"Another reason why we are witnessing more flamingos is that there is less disturbance in the city due to the lockdown and also because people sitting at home are utilising their time by clicking pictures of these birds," he added.

Retired Vice-Principal and associate professor of Zoology, Parvish Pandya said, "Because of the lockdown, people staying near water bodies have become more observant. Also, if some people feel that the number of flamingos has increased this year because there is less air pollution then it is not true because they arrived in Mumbai much before the lockdown. The number of flamingos currently in the city cannot be correlated with the lockdown."

1.5 lakh
Flamingos spotted in city in April

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Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, who had been undergoing treatment for Neuroendocrine tumour since the last two months, breathed his last on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Paan Singh Tomar actor was admitted to Kokilaben Hospital for a colon infection. While a host of Bollywood celebrities mourned his death, politicians across parties took to Twitter to pay homage to the most 'Versatile' actor of the Indian Film Industry.

Irrfan Khan’s demise is a loss to the world of cinema and theatre. He will be remembered for his versatile performances across different mediums. My thoughts are with his family, friends and admirers. May his soul rest in peace.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 29, 2020

Saddened by the demise of the late actor, PM Narendra Modi said that Irrfan Khan's demise is a loss to the world of cinema and theatre. While offering his condolence to the the late actor's family, PM Modi said that Irrfan will be remembered for his versatile performances across different mediums.

With the untimely demise of #IrrfanKhan, we lost a versatile actor.
Not just a hardworking actor but he was also a good cricketer but couldn’t persue due to lack of funds. His TV and film presence is unparalleled and has been giving confidence & motivation to many.
(1/2)

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) April 29, 2020

Remembering the fond memories that he shared with the late actor, former CM of Maharashtra and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that Irrfan was also a good cricketer but couldn't persue it due to lack of funds. While Rajya Sabha Member and actor Shatrughan Sinha said that Irrfan was a man of few words, but a volcano of talent.

Here's how other's paid homage to Irrfan Khan:

Heartfelt condolences on the untimely demise of a self made, brilliant, versatile actor par excellence our own #IrrfanKhan. He was certainly one of the best in our film industry. A thorough gentleman & fine human being @irrfank. A man of few words, but a volcano of talent.

— Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) April 29, 2020

Saddened to hear about the demise of #IrrfanKhan.

One of India’s most versatile actors and a true gem of a person, my thoughts are with his family and friends in this hour of grief. Om Shanti.

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) April 29, 2020

Sorry to hear about the untimely passing of #IrrfanKhan. He was a truly talented & versatile actor, who helped India shine around the world. His presence will be missed on & off screen. My thoughts & prayers are with his friends & family.

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) April 29, 2020

Saddened to hear about the passing of Irrfan Khan. The Indian film industry has lost a much accomplished artist, who was also a warm, affectionate and humble person. He will be missed by all!#IrrfanKhan #RIPIrfan pic.twitter.com/QrfhJxSYBR

— N Chandrababu Naidu #StayHomeSaveLives (@ncbn) April 29, 2020

सिनà¥Â‡à¤Â…भिनà¥Â‡तà¥Â‡ à¤Â‡रफान à¤Â–ान याà¤Â‚à¤Âšà¥Âया निधनाà¤Âšà¥Â€ बातमà¥Â€ à¤Âà¤Â•à¥Â‚न दà¥Âà¤Âƒà¤Â– à¤Âालà¥Â‡. à¤Â…तिशय सà¤Â‚à¤Â˜रà¥Âष à¤Â•रà¥Â‚न पà¥Âढà¥Â‡ à¤Â†लà¥Â‡लà¥Âया या à¤Â…भिनà¥Â‡तà¥Âयानà¥Â‡ à¤Âœाà¤Â—तिà¤Â• सिनà¥Â‡मात à¤Â†पलà¥Âया à¤Â…भिनयाà¤Âšा ठसा à¤Â‰मà¤ÂŸविला हà¥Â‹ता. तà¥Âयाà¤Â‚à¤Âšà¥Âया निधनानà¥Â‡ दà¥Â‡श à¤Âà¤Â•ा महान à¤Â•लाà¤Â•ाराला मà¥Âà¤Â•ला à¤Â†हà¥Â‡.
तà¥Âयाà¤Â‚ना भावपà¥Â‚रà¥Âण शà¥Âरदà¥Âधाà¤Â‚à¤Âœलà¥Â€ðŸ™ðŸ¼

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) April 29, 2020

No stereotypical looks, no six-pack, no fancy dance steps, no dynastic claim to a place in Bollywood. It was just talent & a breathtaking screen presence. #IrrfanKhan your courage to speak up when others chose silence was your biggest asset & will be missed the most. God speed.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 29, 2020

We've lost a tremendous actor who shattered all the stereotypes of what a 'Bollywood hero' should be.
Heartfelt condolences. #IrrfanKhan

— Prakash Ambedkar (@Prksh_Ambedkar) April 29, 2020

My sincere tributes to the great magician of an actor, the legendary #IrrfanKhan who weaved magical emotions into his characters with utmost ease in each of his acts!

Indian Cinema will struggle to fill the void to be felt by his absence!Condolences to near & dear#RIPIrrfanKhan

— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) April 29, 2020

Omar Abdullah, former CM of Jammu and Kashmir said that Irrfan had talent and a breathtaking screen presence which helped him cement a place in the Bollywood film industry. Poitician and advocate Prakash Ambedkar said that the Irrfan shattered all the stereotypes of what a 'Bollywood hero' should be, while former Deputy Chief Minister, Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav said that Irrfan weaved magical emotions into his characters with utmost ease in each of his acts!

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On April 16, two priests and their young driver travelling in a car from Mumbai to Surat were lynched to death by a frenzied mob in Gadchinchale village, Palghar district. This paper has been closely following the sequence of events, including interviews with the family of the slain, and the political brouhaha that followed.

While it is learnt that the men became the target of an enraged and armed mob, it is clear that they were fuelled by rumours and in some cases by alcohol too. Locals claim talk about child kidnappers and organ sellers was doing the rounds. There were also rumours about outsiders coming into the village and spreading Coronavirus.

We now have to think and put into place some kind of gameplan, so that such incidents do not occur again. Having said that, it is also understood that there is no guarantee, and one acknowledges that it is very difficult to control a mob baying for blood.

This does not mean that we cannot try and learn from some takeaways of this crime. Police and leaders must act proactively the next time any rumours start swirling around. This could be done by putting signboards in areas or making announcements to dispel rumours. The frontline of the tribal community and villagers, those who command respect could be roped in at an early stage by authorities as allies. They could then hold meetings of people dispelling and squashing dangerous, loose talk. An aggressive truth campaign can be started.

Action against culprits stoking irresponsible fires can be part of the rebuff-the-rumour strategy. All this should be driven by those who have won the trust of the people. All easy to say, but worth giving a shot. The key seems to be not to be reactive and try to pacify an already charged, unmanageable group, but, proactive so that there is a strategy in place to scotch lies and wilful attempts to misguide.

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started mobile dispensaries to curb the spread of COVID-19. Currently they will move about in the areas most affected by the disease such as Worli, BDD chawls, Lower Parel, Currey Road etc.

It was decided to start mobile dispensaries to prevent the spread by reaching out to people and detecting patients. While the service began on Wednesday in the severely affected G South ward, the doctors will move to other areas later. More than 600 COVID-19 positive patients have been found in G South Ward.

A doctor, a nurse and an assistant will be available in the mobile dispensary. It will be stocked with medicines for cold, cough and fever, and in case of a suspicious patient of COVID-19, a thermal scanner has also been placed in the vans. The vans will provide the service from 10 am to 7 pm.

After their check-ups, people will be treated with pills for minor fever etc. But if a suspected patient of COVID-19 is found, she or he will be hospitalised. The mobile dispensaries aim to find such patients in red zones to help curb the spread of the disease.

The mobile dispensaries were launched at the NSCI club in the presence of Mayor Kishori Pednekar. In all five mobile dispensaries have been started.

Mayor Pednekar told mid-day, "Medicines for cold, cough and fever are available in these dispensaries. If a suspect patient is found during the check-up, he will be taken to the OPD of a COVID-19 deisgnated hospital and examined immediately."

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his nomination to the State Legislative Council. According to sources, Thackeray asked for PM Modi's help, saying if it doesn't happen, he will have to resign. The PM said that he would look into the matter and get more details. The Maharashtra Cabinet on April 28 once again asked Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to nominate Chief Minister Thackeray to the State Legislative Council.

Earlier on April 9, the state Cabinet had recommended Thackeray's name for one of the two vacant MLC seats that were to be nominated by Koshyari to the Legislative Council to avoid a constitutional crisis. Thackeray was sworn-in as the Maharashtra Chief Minister on November 28, last year. He is currently not a member of either of the House -- Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council.

According to the Constitution, Thackeray has to be elected to either Assembly or Council within six months in order to continue in his post.

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The police remand of the 101 accused arrested in the barbaric killing of two priests and their cab driver in Palghar district last month, was extended for another 14 days on Thursday in connection with the attack on police officers on April 16.

They were produced before the Dahanu Magistrate court in the afternoon as their police remand expired on Thursday. Magistrate O B Kulkarni sent all the accused to additional police remand of 14 days. They have been charged with attempt to murder for attacking the cops while they were headed to the lynching site.

Lawyers headed by advocate Parmanand Ojha appeared before the court on behalf of deceased Chikne Maharaj, 70, Sushil Giri, 35, and driver Nilesh Tilghate, 30.

The police had on April 17 apprehended 110 people and arrested 101 of them, and sent them in police remand in connection with the murder of the three men. The nine other accused are juvenile and currently at Bhiwandi juvenile home. "Since the 14-day police remand ended on Thursday, I requested the court not to grant them bail instead send them into judicial custody," said Ojha.

Police search for others involved in the lynching at Gadchinchale village. File pic

The CID officials requested that the accused be sent to police remand for the murder attempt on cops and obstructing the work of police officials. None of the advocates appeared on behalf of the accused.

Advocate Ojha alleged that the trio became victims of a huge conspiracy against them. "There was no rumour before the incident and the priests and the driver were well aware of the internal routes to Gujarat from Mumbai. But their vehicle was turned back at a check post bordering with Dadra and Nagar Haveli," he said.

But crucial eye-witness Sonudaji Borsa told mid-day that a rumour of a child lifting gang was doing the rounds of the village. "Two nights before the incident, people gathered at our forest check post and forced me to step out saying a child lifting gang was active in the area. People often used to shout 'chor ayaa, chor ayaa' unnecessarily to trigger panic among villagers who would gather in large numbers," Borsa said.

Not the first mob attack

Sources said incidents of villagers creating unrest to raise their voice against government officials are very common here. "In December 1998, a mob in Gadchinchale village attacked forest officials and a State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) team acting against timber smugglers. Two men were caught but they screamed for help and a large number of villagers surrounded the forest officials and SRPF personnel," said an officer from Palghar police. The mob assaulted the officials and snatched the rifle of SRPF constable Vikram Valvi.

One of the priests killed in the April 16 incident. File pic

"Regional forest officer Digambar Manohar Dahibhavkar had registered an FIR against the mob at Kasa police station on December 22, 1998. Four people including Lohu Kanoja, Sonu Pilena, Tulja Pilena and Madu Kanoja were named in the FIR," said the officer. After the case was registered, all the villagers abandoned their homes just like they have done now. "The police later managed to arrest five absconders," said the officer. They also recovered the snatched rifle. "The four accused named in the FIR were arrested on August 9, 2012. Several accused are still at large," said the officer, adding that there have many such incidents that reveal the aggressive nature of Gadchinchale residents who have no fear of the law.

"The villagers clearly say 'yaha mehnat karke khana milta hai aur jail me bina mehnat ka' (here, we have to work for food, but in jail it's for free)," said the officer.

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Five tribals were arrested late on Thursday in connection with the April 16 mob lynching incident in Palghar district. The group was remanded to police custody till May 13.

"Interrogation of all the accused is underway. They have given some inputs and we are working on them," said Additional Director General (CID), Atulchandra Kulkarni. "We are yet to find the motive behind the killings of the three people."

"Several teams have been formed and we are very close to arresting all the accused who fled to the jungle after lynching the trio," ADG Kulkarni added.

The five have been identified as Vansha Lahanu Gorakhna, 50, Sachin Ramesh Dandekar, 20, Prakash Gajanya Gorakhna, 26, Ranjeet Soban Gorakhna, 33 and Lahanya Ramji Bhaver, 60.

"If they give information on anything that can be recovered or seized, we will take proper action," Kulkarni added. All five accused are residents of Cholherpada of Gadchinchale village.

An enraged mob had killed priests Chikne Maharaj, 70, Sushil Giri, 35 and their driver Nilesh Tilghate, 30 on April 16, thinking they are child-lifters.
"The five people were nabbed when they were sleeping in the forest," said an officer privy to the investigation. This takes the total number of arrests to 115, including nine minors.

Mobile video and CCTV camera footage were examined closely to take grabs of accused. "These grabs were shown to all accused to establish the identities. These are being matched with details retrieved from the dump data of the lynching site," said the officer.

The cyber cell is also zeroing down the locations of cellphones found in the dump data. "Most of the cellphones are switched off," said the officer and added that tracing them is taking time as large patches of Gadchinchale village and nearby areas are 'no network zones'.

Police sources said 10 robust, young officers from each police station in Palghar district are camping near Kasa police station as the investigators have learnt that nearly 200 absconding villages are hiding in one location in the forest bordering Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

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Revising its attendance circular, the BMC has asked all its employees and medical staff at civic hospitals to report to work. However, it has made an exception for a section of employees – aged 55 years and above with existing ailments, like diabetes, hypertension, kidney problems, etc, and do not hold senior positions. They have been exempted from coming to work for a month.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued the new circular on Thursday, April 30. According to the circular, the civic employees, doctors and medical staffers, who hold senior positions and are aged above 55 with existing ailments, will have to join work. However, they will either be given work from home or office, and will be assigned tasks that do not involve interaction with COVID-19 patients, stated the BMC.

Around 60 per cent of the civic staff in the age group of 55 and above hold senior positions in their respective fields.

The civic body had earlier issued an order for a 50 per cent attendance, which has now been revised in view of the increasing novel Coronavirus cases, said the civic officials. They added that the BMC needs full manpower to prevent the further spread of the virus. Full attendance is needed to increase strength in Ward offices for contact tracing, management of quarantine centre, Containment Zones and COVID Care Centres, and upgrading of municipal hospitals with extra beds and oxygen. Besides, employees are also needed for desilting and pre-monsoon work.

The BMC has also sought monthly report on the employees' assignment from concerned departments. If any employee misses work, the BMC will take appropriate action, it added. Additionally, workers with disability will be allowed to work from home, stated the circular. A daily remuneration of Rs 300 will be given to those working on ground.

"The new circular is superseding the earlier ones, and has now made it mandatory for the employees to be present for work, as now, a larger manpower is needed with the increasing number of cases in the city," a civic official said.

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Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made it clear on Friday that lockdown relaxations would be considered only after assessing the situation over the next three days. He said the primary objective was to save the lives of people who are the real assets of the state and the country and their survival could only help us recover the losses in the future.

Speaking on Friday, which was the Maharashtra Day, Thackeray made an emotional appeal to people who are worried because of the lockdown-induced economic losses in terms of jobs and business activity. "We are brave people. Maharashtra doesn't lack anything in fighting against odds. It is true that our economy is stalled and difficulties have increased. But I say that the people are the real assets of the state and the country," he said adding that if the people who are like soldiers survived the health crisis, we should together be able to beat all odds.

"Relaxing lockdown in the red zone would not benefit the state. In fact, the red zone will have to follow restrictions more diligently. But we are trying to give some relief in the orange zone's unaffected clusters and in the green zone. This will be done in a phased manner," he said.

"Some people have questioned the need for a lockdown but I must say that it has definitely delayed the spread of the virus. It interrupted the circuit or chain. Imagine what would have happened had the lockdown not been enforced," he said.

The CM said stranded people would be sent home in an organised manner and advised against mass gatherings. "We are in talks with other states. We will coordinate the movement with home states of migrants and other stranded people here and there."

He said COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai were being increased on a war-footing. Domes and open grounds like MMRDA and Goregaon Exhibition Centre which share political history with the Shiv Sena have been prepared to house thousands of affected people. "In Mumbai alone, two lakh COVID-19 tests have been conducted," Thackeray said.

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A 55-year-old man who was one of the 101 people arrested in connection with the Palghar mob-lynching incident has been tested positive for COVID-19. Sources said that 43 others involved in the case would have to be tested for the virus.

It is to be noted that all the 101 people who were arrested on April 17, were produced before a court on Thursday to seek their custody in another case regarding the lynching of three men including Chikne Maharaj, Sushil Giri and their cab driver Nilesh Tilghate in Palghar.

Sources have told mid-day that the person was tested negative on April 28 but 'he developed symptoms of coronavirus and was tested again'.

"The 55-year-old man was kept in lock-up with 20 others arrested in the case at Wada police station. The samples of all accused and police officials are being collected. They will be quarantined," said a senior police officer at Palghar, adding that the officers who have interrogated the person will also be quarantined.

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Why do movie stars matter so much to us? May be, because cinema amplifies and engages with not the timidities of rational logics, but the boldness of the senses. Its hyperkinetic tangle of conventions and innovations, speaks to our urges, desires, emotions and intellect, allows us to be all this and also several people at one time, fluid, unlike the rigid identities of law, society, political correctness. Movie stars communicate these libidinal energies of cinema through a bodily presence. Star and audience, mirror and remember each other, in an intimate, mysterious embrace.

The three stars who died recently, each represented a specific era in this ongoing relationship.

Nimmi died in March, at 88. A major star of the studio era, she acted in India's first technicolour film (Aan, 1952). Often the feisty village belle, the unbound girl in the garden, she made heavy-lidded eye-contact with audiences in songs that yearn for love. Born Nawab Banoo, she was one of the last star-heroines from the tawaif communities. Practitioners of the sensual courtesanal arts—dance, music, poetry—tawaifs were erased from performing arts via colonial laws and rising nationalism, both squeamish about eroticism and pleasure. They transitioned to films, as producers, directors, actors, contributing to Bombay cinema's defining aesthetic—stylised eroticism through song, heightened emotive ada-kari, androgynous appeal, glimpsed in figures like Nighar Sultana and a focus on pleasuring the audience. With each filmic embrace we surrender to, each dance move we mimic, each song we sing, these aesthetics become part of us: a queer form of memory, bodily, but ephemeral.

Rishi Kapoor, who died at 67 last week, carried forward the sensuality through his dance and romance persona. His bodily vivacity fluidly merged masculine and feminine, past pleasures like qawwali and more contemporary pop enjoyments, even as parallel cinema's realism and masculine-centered Bachchan films began dominating. His beauty was delicate—androgynous pleasures—and he often paired with women whose attractiveness was more robust. Love was freedom, frolic, khullam khulla, yet luxuriously intimate, hum tum ek kamre mein.

Maintaining traditional cinema pleasures, he also replaced their stylised nature with a modern, casually stylish manner, pre-figuring later realist commercial film, into which he flowed with energetic ease, bridging two cinematic worlds.

Irrfan, who just passed away at 53, was an iconic figure in the post-globalisation emotional realist cinema with its cross-over films, less interested in symbolic storytelling, making room for more everyday characters. Some of this cinema believes in what I call aspirational realism, which considers older conventions of emotional and ornamental excess—like songs—as lesser. But, in fact, quite apart from his acting skills, what made Irrfan a star was the sexual intensity
of his presence—carrying forward that desi quality of emotional and sensual excess, something larger than life, yet intimate, to connect directly with the audience.

This is why I believe he was most compelling in films where he had a romantic track—Maqbool, Life In A Metro, Piku—and underserved by anaemic works like Lunchbox.

Critical culture sometimes favours a real estate mentality: location, yaniki cinema category, determines value and meaning. So it is, that too little has been said of Irrfan's cinematic, libidinal intensity, not enough about Rishi Kapoor's virtuosity. And barely anything about Nimmi. The artistes themselves defied categorisations.

Through cinema they straddled the cusp of worlds always changing, for better and worse simultaneously, just like us, helping us to flow with the flux.

Paromita Vohra is an award-winning Mumbai-based filmmaker, writer and curator working with fiction and non-fiction. Reach her at aromita.vohra@mid-day.com

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A 55-year-old man, who was arrested in the Palghar mob lynching case, has tested positive. Highly placed sources in Palghar police told mid-day that four days ago the same accused was tested negative for the virus. The accused was kept in a lockup at Wada police station with 21 other prisoners, who have been quarantined at a hotel. The hotel is being guarded by Palghar police now.

The accused is one among the 110 people who were arrested on April 17 by Palghar police in connection with the mob lynching of three men including two priests Chikne Maharaj (75), Sushil Giri (35) and their cab driver Nilesh Tilghate (30). "His fresh swab sample tested positive and the report was handed over to Palghar police on Friday. All the senior police officers swung into action as the news of him testing positive reached them," said a police officer.

"Since we don't have a district hospital here, we shifted him to Palghar Gramin hospital which is a COVID-19 hospital now," said a health officer at Palghar district.
Besides 21 prisoners, there are 25 others who came in contact with him, and they have been identified. These officers had served them food inside the lock-up, two others are doctors from Wada Gramin hospital. In all, 46 people who came in his contact have been traced and their swabs have been collected and sent for testing. All these 46 people have been quarantined at a hotel in Wada," said the health officer.

As per protocol, all the police personnel at Wada police station were relocated and the entire premises, police vehicles, etc., are being disinfected for two consecutive days.

Sub Divisional Officer, Wada, Archana Kadam, said, "The cops have shared details of those who came in his contact after April 17. We have identified a few, and they are being tested."

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It was a race against time for Bhiwandi police on Saturday, when they were informed that a special train would leave from Bhiwandi Road Railway Station for Uttar Pradesh. The exercise of shortlisting passengers who belonged to UP's Gorakhpur district, and bringing them to the railway station, took less than five hours. And through it all, there was no chaos. The joy on the face of the migrants—who could finally see sight of home—was inevitable. The Government of India on Friday cleared the inter-state movement of trains for migrant labourers. Bhiwandi, a hub of handloom industries, is the workplace for more than thousands of labourers all of whom have been stranded after the nationwide lockdown. The local authorities received information from the Railway department that a special train would leave from Bhiwandi on Saturday. With 24 coaches it would run non-stop, completing the journey within 30 hours. Each passenger underwent a temperature check before boarding.

"As soon as we received this information, we started gathering information on people in the area who were from Gorakhpur and began the exercise with help of the municipal corporation and revenue department," says DCP Rajaram Shinde. "We shortlisted 1,200 persons."

Shamshuddin Sheikh, a driver, says, "I have spent the last one-and-half months with almost no money and very little groceries. I have been waiting for this day, now I am happy as I am going home to see my parents, wife and kids."

Another handloom worker, Muniram Yadav, says, it took him six hours to complete his registration with the authorities. "I haven't told my family that I am coming. I am going to inform them only after the train leaves," he adds.

Each coach will accommodate 54 passengers. The police have provided food, water, face masks and sanitisers to all passengers.

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The Mumbai Police’s social media pages are gaining popularly among netizens for their epic memes during the lockdown imposed due to Coronavirus outbreak. After taking inspiration from Bollywood and popular series streaming online for some of their recent memes, the police department has now turned to Potterverse for some meme-spiration to explain their followers why it is important to stay at home.

In the Mumbai Police’s recent post on their Instagram account, they have shared what Hermoine Granger would say in her sassy way to explain the necessity to stay at home. The caption for the post read, “You already know Hermione's reaction if you step out unnecessarily during the lockdown,” while asking the ‘magical folks of Mumbai’ to stay at home. The message displayed in the clip will make you think twice step out of the house

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

You already know Hermione's reaction if you step out unnecessarily during the lockdown. Just #StayHome magical folks of Mumbai to win 'The Battle' against corona #BattleOfMumbaikars

A post shared by Mumbai Police (@mumbaipolice) onMay 1, 2020 at 10:26pm PDT

The clip shared on Saturday managed to garner 61,407  likes with many Potterheads relating to the post and calling the Mumbai police’s social media page the ‘coolest’. A user said, “Mumbai's Auror Department got no muggles.” Another user said, “Wish we could just expeliamus the virus. One more user said, “Harry Potter post on the day of Battle of Hogwarts?! You guys won my heart!”

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Time slides by

A security guard uses the slide as a couch to relax on Sunday at Five Gardens, Dadar East Pic/Ashish Raje

A day in the life of Irrfan Khan

Irrfan with Heggode at the ashram

Everyone is aware of what a classy actor Irrfan Khan was, but not many people know about another side of his — the fact that he championed the cause of activism in his lifetime. Playwright and social activist Prasanna Heggode recently shared photos taken on a day that the actor and his wife spent at Badarwal Gandhi Ashram in Karnataka. The pictures show Khan examining women who are weaving cotton, and he later also interacted with other activists to understand grassroot reality when it comes to agriculture and handloom. Heggode also shared how the place had no bathrooms, and Khan ate food cooked on a wood fire. "Irrfan showed keen interest in every minute detail that goes into activism," he said.

Joining forces

The biggest concert in the country thus far took place online yesterday, with big-ticket names including Zakir Hussain, AR Rahman and Sunidhi Chauhan, and international stars such as Mick Jagger, Sophie Turner and Nick Jonas. All the proceeds from the gig will be donated to the NGO, Give India. Musician Ankur Tewari, who was also part of the line-up, told this diarist, "I have performed for online concerts for charity earlier, and since I sensed from the comments that we receive that people are experiencing heightened anxiety, I tried to pick songs that highlighted the positive side to life, instead of showing the glass as half empty"

Pumped up

At a time when zero contact is the need of the hour, Gamdevi's AVL (Advanced Video Lab) Retail has developed a foot-pedal hand sanitiser. This allows the product to be dispensed via pressing your foot against a pedal at the bottom. The store also offers walking sticks with adjustable height that also doubles as a foldable chair as well as laptop storing and charging karts. "As a fabrication business, we have to create products that people are in urgent need of at this moment. We developed it a month and a half ago, and have been supplying to hospitals, societies and other institutions. Delivery is available all over Mumbai and for other cities, courier charges are applicable," founder Kamal Dharamsey told this diarist. The product retails at '2,500 (plus 18 per cent GST) and can be ordered by calling 9819893075.

Dance to a different beat

Theatre practitioner Quasar Thakore-Padamsee is up to something different in the lockdown. He took to his social media recently to share a crowd-funding request for a dance production that he is involved in. Odissi dancers who have had some experience with contemporary dance, Bhavna Pani, Charvi Budhdeo, Namaha Mazoomdar, Nupura Bhaskar and Gia Singh Arora, have come together for a performance themed on silence in dialogue, that was to open in June. "It was a project I was brought on board for as an outsider to help put it together. It's however an exciting time to be producing something during these times. The influence makes its way into the work. Also, we are actually rehearsing over Zoom and that's interesting," Thakore-Padamsee told this diarist. To support the project, log on to ketto.org.

A classical idea

Thane-based Suranjan Trust is an organisation that promotes Hindustani classical music, and the platform is organising a digital competition for the genre. It's called Passion 2020, and Chinmay Lele from the trust said, "The auditions will conducted be in three batches, with May 17 being the last date for registrations. We will send a Google Drive link to the applicants, who will then have to upload a video of them performing, with the shortlisted people performing on Facebook Live by May-end."

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