Category: Hindi Movie

Dhurandhar 2025

Firstly I want to thank Abhi for recommending this movie to me. Then I saw the Akshaye Khannas viral moves, I was hooked. A fantastic block buster movie it is, if I can shake off that subtle (or not so subtle) political propaganda.

So here comes the Good, the Bad the Ugly.

The Good: Boasting cinematography that is truly top-tier, this production emerges as a sophisticated spy thriller, soaring far above the pompous, high-octane spectacle of predecessors like Pathaan, Jawan, and Tiger. The ensemble cast delivers a masterclass in performance; every actor inhabits their role with a stunning, meticulous precision that anchors the narrative’s gravity.
Predominantly set within the borders of Pakistan, the film maintains a refreshing restraint, steering clear of heavy-handed propaganda but for a few fleeting, sharp dialogues. Not since the legendary Sholay has a film possessed such a magnetic, arresting grip on my attention. The characterizations are superlative—from Arjun Rampal’s commanding portrayal of an ISI Chief to Rakesh Bedi’s nuanced turn as a Pakistani politician.
Had this cinematic triumph been titled Don of Pakistan, it would undoubtedly explain why it has garnered such fervent admiration from Baluchistan and Pakistani audiences alike. At the heart of this brilliance is Akshaye Khanna, the film’s true protagonist, who carries the entire narrative on his shoulders with a powerhouse performance. While his viral dance sequence is undeniably captivating, it is his overall screen presence—commanding, dominant, and electric; that truly defines this masterpiece.
I don’t think this is a propaganda movie, but I get why people feel that way. The last few films, especially Vivek Agnihotri’s, have set such a bad precedent. A perfect writing/direction by Aditya Dhar.

The Bad: Animal is the film that really kicked off this recent trend of excessive goriness, and each new release seems determined to push it even further. Unsurprisingly, it has driven away some viewers — including my better half. While it’s natural for audiences to be drawn to stylized violence on screen rather than in real life, the troubling part is how this on‑screen brutality seems to be spilling into the real world. That said, the decision by some Arab nations to ban the movie feels completely misguided.

The Ugly: R. Madhavan: — ‘Let’s save these documents; in the future there will be a better Prime Minister’ — felt completely unnecessary. This is especially disappointing coming from someone with his background. He comes from my own fraternity of engineering, something I’m genuinely proud of. He was an NCC cadet who trained with the British Army in England, once dreamed of joining the Indian Army, excelled in public speaking, and even represented India at the Young Business Conference in Japan.
After all of this, he chose to pursue acting — and with such a stellar education and sharp acumen, he accepted the role of Ajit Doval, a highly respected former Intelligence and RAW chief. Yet he delivered that dialogue with such carelessness.
It’s possible he didn’t fully grasp the implications of the line while filming — though if anyone should have, it’s someone with his training and analytical mind. But after watching the final cut, he could have at least clarified publicly that the dialogue was not a precise reflection of the character and risked being interpreted as propaganda.
Celebrities today don’t voice their opinions — whether it’s Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, or Aamir Khan — often facing backlash for doing so. Hrithik Roshan initially praised the film while acknowledging its propagandist elements, only to backtrack later. Madhavan, with his stature and credibility, could have taken a clearer stand.

Here’s my conclusion: if I only had the budget for one movie ticket, I’d skip a big family blockbuster like Avatar: Fire and Ash and choose Dhurandhar instead. I actually ditched my family and took a leap of faith on this one — and I wasn’t disappointed. That said, I’m already bracing myself for May 2026 Dhurandhar 2: Revenge, because I’m convinced the sequel will be full‑blown propaganda, and I won’t be watching it in theaters.”

Usha Vance: Second Lady

I felt compelled to write about Usha Vance, the second lady of USA. She exuberates grace backed by her knowledge as opposed to first lady. The saying ‘There is a woman behind every successful man‘, she is a testimony.

Her smile and grace has captivated the entire inauguration while the First Lady hid her face behind that Don’t Kiss Me hat. Usha is a daughter of immigrants – the one who Donald Trump wants to deny the birthright citizenship; Usha is Yale graduate lawyer, mother of three: you need to stand against bullies, just a beautiful smile doesn’t cut it.

On a lighter note what caught my attention the whole time with Usha’s attire, which the western world has compared it to Audrey Hepburn, for us Indians it was the look of old age movie era of Dil Chahta Hai song Wo Ladki Hai Kahan.

Do Patti (2024)

Alright this is another movie/serial of Kajol comeback, well the show is stolen by Kirti Sanon, good acting by her as she has been doing well including with that of Sifra(2024) and Crew(2024). It appears to me that Kajol has something with being a lawyer, she wants to be one, after the failed attempt at The Trial(2023), here she is a police officer but takes upon herself to fight this domestic violence case; faminisim much!! It is not that cliche that a police officer argues in the court of law; she does have a law degree. This begs the question if she had a law degree then why did she not practice; I thought only engineers do any job they get, now lawyers too. I hope Kajol’s next quest is not to fight a real case or apply for CJI.


I am really supposed to focus on the story not on the personal life of Kajol; disclaimer, I am huge fan of Kajol since her debut in Baazigar(1993)(debut for me), Yeh Dillagi(1994) and DDLJ(1995). There is little acting by Kajol in the movie, instead of practicing MC and BC, she could have practised on treadmill. She badly wants to be Richard Gere of Primal Fear(1996), sorry but there is only one Primal Fear, how many a ways you try to twist the story. The case faught in the court is pathetic at best. Being an Indian movie it has been dragged to 190 mins by explaining; how the twins have conned Kajol.


In the end I just want to say that my quest for Indian Meryl Streep; the GOAT continues, have lost hopes on Madhuri Dixit, now Kajol, waiting on Raveena Tandon. The only credible one as of now is Tabu. There is another who claims that she is actually Meryl Streep of India, when you claim you know you are not.

Badhaai Ho(2018)

Badhaai Ho – Congratulations!

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The title of the movie is supposed to bring a very pleasant feeling but that’s not what goes on in the movie. Nakul(Ayushmann Khurrana) our lead lives in a joint family with his parents, younger brother and his loud mouth grandmother. It’s still a very happy family although he is very embarrassed to introduce his upscale girlfriend Renee(Sanya Malhotra) to them.
The movie is picturised in a middle class family living on row houses, every time we watch such movies it’s reminiscent of the fact the we are loosing this culturally knit locality to fast growing metros.
So Nakul is enjoying his life, hanging out with his new found love everyday, his brother going to school who gets a pocket money from his brother; it’s a greatest feeling. Grandma is happy controlling the family where both son and bhau(Neena Gupta) are obedient all the time. It’s a very happy family.
Then the pain starts, mother kinda falls sick. See this is a story based of a middle class family, there has to be some pain. So the whole family is attending to her now. Anyways before I go into describing her sickness, I really want to quote this classic dialogue which summarizes the whole movie. Nakul and his brother are sulking on the terrace with their mother’s “illness“, he goes,
“You really had to cry and beg to have your own room, hah!“, smacks on his back of the head. Corollary to that line  ‘Can’t you just continue sleeping with parents!‘. Yes, his brother is in high school and children do sleep with their parents as long as they want,

a. for the lack of space

b. unlike American culture it is not looked down upon for children to hang out with parents. Instead it builds a lasting bond of caring, this story is testimony for that

c. the most important reason is that in India it acts a parent birth control.
Alright to the climax of their mother’s illness, she was feeling giddy and throwing up, the common problem at this age – gastric trouble. With the expert doctors visit, the unthinkable gets confirmed, she is pregnant!

The family falls apart, Nakul storms out the door saying, “What were you thinking“, younger brother never looks into his parents eyes. Grandma scolds them saying, “It is time to see your son get married and have children, and here you are having your own time“. These grandma’s have a heart of gold mine, but spits fire from their mouth. Well the only person who said Congratulations was the doctor.
Then the smirky congratulations keep coming from neighbors and distant relatives.
Nakul who was already feeling low with his status as stacked up against his aristocratic girlfriend, this makes him go even lower. In the heated argument, breakup happens. He is ashamed to meet his friends, skips going to cousins wedding. His brother comes home with a bruised face; he had gotten into a fight with his classmate who had teased their mother. Then it takes a turn, first Nakul goes to school with his brother and fixes that classmate, comes back home and comforts his mother that he would be there for the smooth delivery supporting the family.
Well it’s a two hour movie going melodramatic and addressing the family values in the society. Finally on the delivery day his girlfriend comes to join his hand in celebrating a beautiful new angel baby girl to life.
In this day and age where socially appropriated heterosexual sex has become a novelty, while the millennials are busy using all kinds of social media, texting and sexting, somebody has to keep the age old tradition alive.

Selfie by Shweta Bachchan

 

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Russian daredevil Kirill Oreshkin taking a selfie atop a hi rise building

I have conveniently dropped the Nanda at the end to make it more appealing. Yes it is Sr Bachchan’s daughter writing about Selfie. Not surprisingly very eloquent article; she hails from writers family, her father and grand father. Found it very interesting to note that she is totally against the selfies while she is surrounded by huge personalities.

Selfie was immortalized by Ellen DeGeneres of course promoting the phone she held at Oscars. The picture itself was beautiful with all the Hollywood stars posing  triumphantly for the shot, then it went viral on Twitter.

I am not so much against the selfies, but I tend to agree with Shweta on the self indulgence of we humans. Although selfie can be used as medium to capture everybody in the group, but like she says, why do it, if there several other tourists around you who would be glad to help you out. Builds human interaction and social acquaintance.

She also vents about the children taking selfies with duck face. Sure she being a mother herself would be annoyed by that, but it is still cute as long they are limited to children. Unfortunately lots of adults have never grown out of their childhood and progress into belfies.

Selfies has taken a sinister turn, which she is not addressing, the deaths related to Selfies is overwhelming. The picture posted above is that of a Russian daredevil Kirill Oreshkin has earned a name as Russian Spiderman for his selfies atop a hi-rise buildings. Call it daredevil or dumb move, one mis-step could cause his death. Other daredevils have not been so lucky who have succumbed to death, pricenomics lists such deaths in this article.

Mumbai police has posted a sign for Selfie daredevils,

Don’t make ‘taking a selfie‘ mean ‘taking your own life‘.

scores of people are dead taking a selfie near Marine Drive or Bandra seaface. Statistics have shown that India had almost 60 percent of deaths of all selfies.

Finally Shweta ends her blog with a satirical note, where she contacted her doctor for sunburns over the phone, to which her doctor responded, “Send a Selfie”, you can read her entire article here.