[AROO7]

After BHPian Ninja's well-analyzed post on why the movie Laal Singh Chaddha tanked at the box office, it really got me thinking that of late Bollywood hasn't been doing well. And South Indian and other regional film industries have slowly yet steadily taken over the entertainment industry. As I was thinking Mindreader Google Baba spotted my dilemma and threw this Youtube video recommendation. The video has well explained the downfall of Bollywood and the reasons behind it in an entertaining way. Thought should share with others as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUsViGh8_7k

[naveen.raju]

Barot House - 2019



A crime thriller supposedly based on a true story. It was a pretty good watch as they kept it short. The lead actors were pretty good with their acting but that kid blows it out of the park. He was brilliant and I guess he acted in another movie of the same genre.

A reasonable watch considering some of the recent Hindi movies that came out.

Rating - 4/5 (Zee5)

[AnnaRocks]

RAKSHABANDHAN on Zee5
I saw Rakshabandhan on TV. I am a bro-guy who celebrates the festival with much zeal, but I could not connect with the film. It is mostly an Akshay show with the rest of the characters just being there for the sake of it. Even the sisters in this movie are half-baked characters present for occasional body shaming and stereo typing. It has a couple of moments here and there that will pull the emotional strings, but found nothing in the movie that you will remember once you are done watching it, not even the anti-dowry message that it tries to convey. The performances are decent from all involved.
Even though the ZERO fiasco was still on my mind, I was hoping for a little more from Anand Rai. Did not watch Atrangi re. Watch it if you are looking for a clean movie to watch with the family, where the girl meets boy when they were teens of similar age and 20 years later, the boy is 56 and the girl is 32.

[vibbs]

Dobaara : Netflix

Time travel movies are difficult to pull off. They result in paradoxes that are difficult to explain. But a tight story line will attempt to keep the rules same.

This has a similar storyline (maybe desi butterfly effect?) but fails to set the rules. One time watch if you ignore that. Some decent performances helps to keep it watchable.

[JVH]

A Death in the Gunj

This is streaming on Prime Video right now. Stumbled upon this beautiful movie purely by chance. This is a gem by Konkona Sen Sharma. The casting and characterization, cinematography, and acting is really really good.
I believe this is one of the first roles of Vikrant Massey before he went on to become a popular and familiar name in the TV/Online streaming world. The story largely centers around Vikrant's character as a shy young man going through a tough time.

Do go for it. You won't regret it.

4.5/5

[GTO]

Originally Posted by driver52001

Titli (2014) is another slick but dark movie. Totally raw with dark humour. Again, no fat, all steel. Pasting screenshots below.

Thanks for sharing! An extremely unusual film with an unusual storyline. I quite enjoy this kind of cinema (versus the junk that mainstream Bollywood is churning out these days). Will give it a 3.5 / 5 star rating, and also say that it's definitely worth 1 watch . Good performances by all actors, even the good-for-nothing father in the movie.

On Prime Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOqiQiMkXDA

[ValarMorghulis]

Doctor G: Starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Rakulpreet Singh, Shefali Shah, Sheeba Chaddha, and others
Rating: 3/5

A comedy affair from Mr. Khurrana who is on a mission to touch every social topic in the society with a touch of humor.
Premis: Ayushmann is an OB-GYN in Bhopal. The movie centres around the nuances of being a male gynecologist.

The movie is decent but meanders through the second half searching for an antagonist and fizzles out at the end.
Recommended only if you have nothing else to watch.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by GTO

I quite enjoy this kind of cinema

Since you mentioned, some extremely underrated gems to ponder over. Old movies, so not sure if you have already seen these but keeping it here anyways.

Manorama six feet under, Gurgaon and Matrubhoomi- should be available on streaming platforms. Of these three, I saw Matrubhoomi in an almost empty cinema hall and it shook me to the core. It's a travesty that impactful movies were never seen by the paying public and which in turn gave rise to the present state of hindi movie industry where mediocrity rules !!

P.S- The movies are sensitive in content and not children friendly at all.

[Eddy]

Kantara (Hindi Dub)

It is very difficuly for anyone who's lived his entire life in a North Indian city (Delhi, in my case) to connect with this movie. Since the movie got great reviews everywhere, we went ahead and watched it a couple of days back. Sadly, the movie didn't work for us at all. Apart from the last 15 minutes and a couple of laughs here and there, we just couldn't appreciate the nuances of Buta Kola and other emotions. Totally different culture wise, and I am sure a dubbing can never be as good as the original.

I feel it is our loss that we are not in a position to enjoy this form of cinema. We were absolutely indifferent when we didn't enjoy Bahubali because we found it to be overhyped. But not being able to connect with Kantara made us a little sad, because we got the feeling that this is a well made movie but just not for us. This divide was evident even in the movie hall. There were people clapping and qustions like what is there to clap for?

I don't think it will be fair for me to rate Kantara.

[Ketan]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Kantara (Hindi Dub)

I feel it is our loss that we are not in a position to enjoy this form of cinema. We were absolutely indifferent when we didn't enjoy Bahubali because we found it to be overhyped. But not being able to connect with Kantara made us a little sad, because we got the feeling that this is a well made movie but just not for us. This divide was evident even in the movie hall. There were people clapping and qustions like what is there to clap for?

I don't think it will be fair for me to rate Kantara.

I guess that's perfectly alright! If one is from different culture, it's not going to be easy to understand or accept the emotions behind the rituals that a specific culture is following for generations or more.
I read some review who was suggesting to research a bit about 'Bhoota Aradhana tradition' from Udupi/that part of Karnataka before watching this movie. I read a bit about it found I have something similar in my culture that exists and this looks to be common across many cultures/traditions with different names/terminology to it. However, with the world of intellect and science conditioning growing upon us urban folks, its difficult for us to accept something that doesn't have a logic and only based on belief system.
I'm going to give Kantara a try, looking forward to it.

[AnnaRocks]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Kantara (Hindi Dub)

It is very difficuly for anyone who's lived his entire life in a North Indian city (Delhi, in my case) to connect with this movie. This divide was evident even in the movie hall. There were people clapping and qustions like what is there to clap for?

As someone who has spent a good amount of time in different parts of our country, I can relate to what you have written here. India has such an enormous variety of sublime cultures and customs, that it will be difficult for some of us to connect with this movie. A Haryanvi friend of mine who watched this in Delhi said the same things that you mentioned here.

The cultural aspects in Kantara are more specific to the coastal Karnataka belt and I am sure that it's neighboring states will also relate well to this as there are similar customs in those states too.

I liked this movie and with the BGM score and some spectacular visuals in between, theatre viewing is justified. The first 10 and the last 20 minutes are the highlights of the movie in my opinion. The efforts taken by the cast and crew deserves the appreciation it is getting, especially the lead Rishabh Shetty and specifically in the climax which will probably fetch him a national award. That 'Wuooooo....' is still ringing in my ears. The movie is not flawless and also includes occasional cliché humor and unwanted objectification aspects too.

Kantara is a very good movie but do not go in with too much expectations due to the hype, especially those who are not familiar with the cultural aspects of the story . DO WATCH this in theatres as I am not sure if it will be that impactful when viewed on smaller screens with a headset or on TV post the OTT release. Wuoooooo....

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by AnnaRocks

Wuoooooo....

Happened to read this below article somewhere. Not to pinpoint your statement, but just saying in general.

The success of Kantara prompted Rishab Shetty to do an Instagram live. In the live session, the actor-turned-director urged fans and moviegoers to not imitate the dog and his dialogues. He said that in one of the sequences God yells ‘O’ and it should not be used for fun.

Rishab said that this word cannot be said randomly. To quote Shetty, “Worshiping God is our culture. Kantara is a story of our soil. This folk song and movie should reach children. Please bring your kids to the movie. It’s not just a South movie but is made for everyone. I saw after watching the movie, the audience outside the theatres were using the word O in different ways. Please don’t do this. It’s not like any other movie dialogue."

[huntrz]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Kantara (Hindi Dub)

It is very difficuly for anyone who's lived his entire life in a North Indian city (Delhi, in my case) to connect with this movie. Since the movie got great reviews everywhere, we went ahead and watched it a couple of days back. Sadly, the movie didn't work for us at all. .
I don't think it will be fair for me to rate Kantara.

Same here. Found it very difficult to tolerate the movie. Without hurting anyone's sentiments in my personal opinion the comedy and romance etc were typically unimaginative, unrefined, occasionally vulgar and immature stuff which is not going to appeal to many cinema lovers. Not sure what the hype is for. The practice shown in the movie is pretty common in every rural area albeit with different names and borders on being lablelled superstitous. But then when one watches horror movies one neednot question the existence of ghosts. Similar idea here, one need not question the act as its a matter of faith. Nevertheless IMHO it is super hyped. The issue is not about the plot or the act but there hardly any appreciable cinematic artistry there. I guess some very strong PR agency hired to carefully create hype/controversy and make people flock to the theatres.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by huntrz

Nevertheless IMHO it is super hyped... I guess some very strong PR agency hired to carefully create hype/controversy and make people flock to the theatres.

Not completely in agreement with the entirety of your post but I am with you specifically on the quoted part.

The company that produced Kantara is the same one that helmed KGF too. Their website is forthright in saying that:

At Hombale, we strive to set benchmarks in the way films are created, marketed, and consumed

They know how to create demand and then meet the same through their own offerings. The days when only Sharukh or S** could be sold are clearly long gone.

Interestingly, Rishab Shetty sought out this production house because for him, a 15 crore movie was really big; the huge canvas needed for the film was not something he himself or his friends could independently invest in.

For him, as a director, the box office collection is indeed beyond his wildest imagination.

[Rajeevraj]

Bhramastra: Out on Hotstar now. A nice film bringing in the concept of the Astraverse. Setting the stage for a super hero universe film based on the Indian mythology and 'astras'. Nice concept, good vfx, great performances especially from the kids, Amitabh Bachchan as usual was good. SRK cameo was fantastic. Ranbir was also good. Something seemed off about Alia Bhatt's performance.

The one weird thing I felt, even as a non Hindi speaker were the dialogs. Seemed very artificial and strange. As if being said in a stage show or something.

Overall a good watch. Best viewed on a large screen with a good sound system.