Madhav - A Lawyer-Police Word-Fest leading to Satyamev Jayte

What is Law?   What is Justice?  Who is right/wrong? 

These and more are the questions Madhav has tried to raise in its Gujarati Cop Thriller avatar.

But the biggest question that begs us and stares us in the face is, “If Gujarat is a dry state, then why does anyone have to be shown drinking with a disclaimer, Drinking Liquor is wrong, etc etc?” I mean just don’t show daaru. Show Chaas, Sherbet, Mocktails, anything!!!

What promised to be an action packed, daring-baaz Singham-bhai version of the Bolly-Poli movie turned into an action packed Word-Fest, a to & fro Dialogue-Drama. It’s like you promise an Ice-Age movie and it turns out to be a Dinosaur-ki-prem-katha.

Independently, Madhav is good, if only the action-perception would have been managed. We were all expecting flying cars, killer moves, jumping men, bomb blasts and more and we got revolving chair, custodial dandas, high-decibel-ear-shattering vocals & three entries, mixed with a good moral for a story.

Madhav Jadeja (a very dashing looking Hitu Kanodia), an action cop who loves to dance in a Ganesh Pandal, keep making entries in an Enfield Bullet gets the son-of-a-lawyer Yash Desai (an under-rated Vishal Shah) arrested together with his girlfriend (Saloni Shah -3-dialogues) for a frivolous mistake inviting the wrath of the mighty Lawyer Vishwas Desai (a high baritone Mehul Buch).

What follows is a mix of tu-tu-main-main-hoon-konn-chhu-jaa-have-tuu-mane-jaanto-nathi some laughter again hoon-konn-chhu-jaa-have-tuu-mane-jaanto-nathi interspersed with one or two funny jokes by Constable No 1 (a completely wasted talent Chetan Dahiya) & Constable No 2 (even more wasted talent Smit Pandya). Soon the plot opens up and we realise why this entire game was being played out and then one thing leads to the other and the game changes. In-between you may feel angry, frustrated, upset, sometimes entertained and a tad-bit bored at the pace of the film. But all is well that ends well.

You are finally left thinking, “Why did the Lawyer, Vishwas Desai kill himself?”

The king of the product is Hitubhai and carries the role to perfection. If only he would have been allowed to fling more than a chair and kick more than one villain.

Mehulbhai is a close second with a good performance. However, he could have been helped with a bit more depth on the role with more meaningful dialogues and a lot more ammunition to defend his son.

Third in line is the Music. Incorporating both Chintata Chita Chita and Singham feel, the music keeps itself and the drama upbeat.

The story, though unique needed a lot of depth. The entire premise looks frivolous with large loopholes. Come on, you can’t take the Home Minister for a spin, so easily. If you are such a hot-shot lawyer you submit way too easily. I mean me, without a law degree, can know how to spin myself out of this. Jigar Rana could have really added more meat and believability to the story  making it more action packed.

Now, when you have two power packed-dialogue-delivery-actors, the lines need to be memorable. None really stands out except Madhav Aave Chhe or hoon-konn-chhu-jaa-have-tuu-mane-jaanto-nathi, the film needed some whistle-maaring dialogues which could have been a game-changer.

All in all, for a first time Hetal Thakkar has done a great effort of giving a good-looking film. The attempt at creating a cop-thriller-drama has been brave and laudable.

I can bet my money on single screen rural audiences to lap up with a lot of excitement and fervour.

So, Madhav Aavi Gayo Chhe, feel free to go and welcome him.

Prem Prakaran

A love triangle between the Hot, Hotter & the Hottest.

First & Foremost hats off to the team for withdrawing their release to accommodate The Kashmir Files.

A rare gesture.

Such rarity is also the film, rare to see a good, classy and cool Gujarati film.

The film is a great product.

The hero of the film is the music. Begins and ends only at the climax. Take a bow Amit Trivedi, you have created pulsating scores that not only maintain the pace but also gives a brilliant direction to the entire prakaran. Songs like Laagni, Zidd, Yaado Taari Tu Nahi To, Kori ne Kaachi liven up the entire experience of the prakaran. Niren Bhatt’s lyrics too touch your heart, though none have yet become hummers. Singers Jigardaan, Ishani, Siddharth Amit Bhavsar too have responded very well.

But first, there are some Prem Lessons you will get:

Prem is Love

Prem is like a label

Prem is not like cigarette.

Prem is like Nasha.

Prem is like Memory.

Prem goes but memories remain.

Prem needs to take memories with it.

Prem is a letter from the past.

Prem break-up & make-up always happens best on a bridge.

Prem is not all signals.

Prem failure makes you paddle your cycle harder.

God so much pressure on Prem, wonder what would happen to his performance.

 Furthermore, we learnt:

If you are a science student you will do arranged marriage.

If a girl gives the mother a chitthi meant for a boy, she will not read it.

MICA has an MBA and MNC job pays only Rs 22,000, might as well have joined a local.

Now, lets get serious. I went to the movie to watch two of my favourite actors, Deeksha Joshi & Sanjay Galsar. They did not disappoint. Deeksha at her goofy and beautiful best and Sanjay in his normal elements always stole the show.

But as I came out, I had added two more to my favourites list.

Director Chandresh Bhatt. Man, you are a find. What a great package.

Esha Kansara. Always liked her act, but here she completely lit up the screen from her first scene. What an amazing essay.

The story is about Aditya (always-teary-eyed, Gaurav Passwala) who falls in love with his school mate Aarti Vyas (Deeksha) who friend-zones him and life goes on. A series of turns later Aditya is dejected and shifts to Ahmedabad where not only does he become rich (wonder how!) but also classy and beardy. But his love continues to burn for Aarti till one-sad-rendition-of-the-sad-song-hothon-se-chhu-lo-tum, a rendition so sad, even Jagjit Singh cried in his grave, he meets Riya (Esha Kansara).

Now the story takes off from here and comes to point where it forms a triangle. Who will Aditya choose? That you will have to go to a theatre and watch the glamour in person.

All I can say is, you know who it would be and yet you will enjoy the reveal.

The movie is at least 20 mins too long, but the music does not make you feel the length. There are times when you wish it would pace up. But the overall chemistry among friends, lovers and the team, makes it really stand out.

Gaurav Passwala looks good and carries the role well. Besides the lead even the friends are well chosen and the entire team led by Maulik Chauhan, Manan, Deep, Aariz, Mehul Nilesh do a great job in keeping the film lively. Even the Katko, replaced by Chashma act of Manan is good.   

The frames are Bollywood, the feel is classy Suraj & Pratik have done a good job on the camera. Even Junagadh looks classy in the entire experience. Heck even the costumes are truly a class apart lifting the film.

All in all, it is a good movie, worth investing your time and money. It is not every day that you come across such good movies from

One dialogue stands out: Past is a good place to visit not to Stay.

Go Watch it Today 

Sonu Per Bharoso Karai

Sonu Tane Mara per Bharoso Nai Ke

A TV from Chor Bazaar can make you chaotically rich

Honestly, considering the name, I was confident that this would be one of those regular slapstick movies that come about. I have known the director Henil Gandhi to be good with stories, I have known Ragi Jani to be a fantastic actor, Off late Malhar's choices of films too have been pretty good, yet this movie. I was mentally prepared for one more disappointment.

But what I saw completely floored me. Of course, not before it had its disappointments.

The Story is straight simple situational. A middle class family lose their TV (in an unbelievable and painful fashion) and decide to go to Chor bazaar to buy a new one. What they discover in the TV is much more than just gold, but confusions, honesty, murders and much more chaos.  

Let us handle Disappointments first:

The first 25 mins need to be endured. It is something that shakes your faith.

Again the villain and the Hindi saga continue. Why do villains have to speak hindi? We are not South India! 

Some dialogues and narratives are more confusing than funny. 

The background music initially was just too loud, it only levelled out later...

There are some scenes which kill the entire flow and have no relation and could have been chopped especially the salon lady and the gangster meeting and seeking help (no this is not a spoiler). It is just there, doing nothing. Adding no value.

Now let us come to the Good things:

Dialogues: Punchy, funny and a lot of time PJs by Suraj Baraliya are rocking. They elevate the movie and take it from slapstick to outright funny in situations.

Ragi Jani: Take a bow. You just took the movie to great heights. There were shadows of Siddharthbhai, still the movie is all standing on Ragibhai and he carries it well. Actually very well. Always talented, he just proved himself all over again.

Malhar: He is himself and that matters. He does a good job at being goofy, funny and likeable. This is one good movie to headline.

Ditto Jayesh More: His chemistry with Ragi is just a treat to watch. Both veterans elevate the movie.

All other support characters fit in fine.

The title song, rocks. What a catchy song. Rahul Munjariya takes it a notch higher. Not to mention the Song in between, again very classy.

All in all, it is an enjoyable movie to take the family out to. Henil Gandhi, welcome to the Good Cinema club. You have actually found Gujarat it very own Priyadarshan. More power to you.

And yes, Malhar's head is more important than that of Nijal because he was wearing a helmet (honestly, a good start).

Golkeri – Awesome Foursome

Jignesh Vasavada

4 (.5 for Mansi)

Life ends one Saturday evening and toils through the entire Sunday before coming to a full circle in the evening. Yes, 24 hours of love, life and relationship is a delightful Golkeri.

Now here is the fear. Good movies just don’t get the right promotions and thus there is a fear of them missing out. Golkeri producers, guys, please go all out, you have a good product. Many a movie, earlier, has messed up with poor no promotion.

What is!

Well, this is a sweet gargle-your-way-to-a guy’s-heart love story (read Gujarati re-make of the Marathi Muramba) of a boy Sahil (Malhar) & girl Harshita (Mansi) which begins with a Break off (not Up) and traverses through Divorce (there is a difference here) and then ending with a Patch up (yeah the same thing).

Yeah yeah, once you settle into the movie you know how it is going to end, but the beauty of the story is in the way it folds, unfolds, re-folds and finally packs up. Honestly, I was waiting to see the climax hoping it would be a taxi-wala-taking-police-wala-helping-aircraft-stopping or simply running with the train ending. But the climax is truly a nice anti-climax.

Here Sahil and Harshita are aided by Sahil’s affable parents played by Sachin Khedekar and Vandana Pathak. The story, screenplay is a delightful journey of values, love, upbringing, generations and the bond called love. Good Movie.

All that is Wow

All four lead actors, simply rock.

Mansi Parekh, take a bow. What a performance. Brilliant portrayal of a stand-up comic going off and on, all the while alternating between being a girl-friend, would-be bahu and a girl. She really connects and takes the movie to an altogether new level.

Vandana Pathak, a veteran, who just keeps getting better and better. She is literally the life of the movie.

Malhar Thakar, yes, not the star Malhar, but the actor Malhar who has been emerging with movies, breaking his stereotype since Sharto Laagu excels in a great portrayal of a scared genius in love. His classical punchy style lends the much needed humour and life to the narrative. He infuses the pace and helps keep the interest alive.

Sachin Khedekar (also acted in the Marathi original), in a brilliant light portrayal of a loving, understanding and evolving father steals hearts. He too binds the narrative and is crucial in some situations where the story needs the push.

DoP, Vikas Joshi paired with the Art Director keeps the film clean and fresh. Despite very limited location you are captivated by the way the scenes have been captured.

Dialogues, by Viral Shah also add the delta in the movie’s Gujaratikaran. Most, other language re-makes miss the mark in this department. Viral has kept it real and Gujarati.

All that is Saav

Background Music alternated between being jarring, loud and sometimes forced. This department could have done with mellowing down.

The Story, while was a huge challenge, could have done with a bit of trimming and appeared to slow the pace at times.

Some scenes really looked like they were an after-thought and the green screen was visible.

Low focus on marketing would really cause a scare for an otherwise good product.

Do not miss moments

Read this more than once. Manan, aapno comedy factory waalo, hosts daaru parties where girls come home late night, drunk. Why didn’t I know of this earlier? Why did I have to learn this from a movie?

The four-seater-scooter is a nice side kick which has a maruti car’s key-chain!!

So, our hero kick-starts his bike with a slight stubble, travels few kms the stubble grows thick and then becomes light again at the end of the journey.

Looks like there is a lot of money in the spectacle shop, simply going by their bungalow.

Jenga, the game, mends relationships, yes, it is true.
Giving out Golkeri bottles, what a great PR victory!

Blatant favoritism by the producer ensures that his wife is always wearing a helmet and the hero is not :))

 

The Verdict

Oh, please go and watch it with your entire family. It is a nice delightful fun foursome ride of relationship and love. You might even end up thanking god for not making you a gold-medalist or a ranker.

Kem Chho – Maybe Majama

Jignesh Vasavada 2.75 Stars Universal saga of a married man trapped with a gorgeous kathiawadi wife, nagging parents, wayward brother and an underpaid job in this beautiful world.

 

It is one of those times in my life as a movie reviewer (as opposed to a critic) that I am bemused (not confused). People next to me, around me were all laughing away to glory while I was chuckling once in a while and scratching most of the time.

That is the effect Kem Chho has on you as a movie. And Mind you, there was more male laughter than female laughter. No marks for guessing why.

Taking a break from the routine let me try and present the rights and the wrongs.

All that is Right

The premise of the movie is perfect. Happy to note that filmmakers are now experimenting with slice of Gujarati life concepts in films too. It is a positive change.

Promoted as a saga of a married man, Kem Chho got its Target group right. They know, like all Bollywood does, connect to the heart of a married man, he will spend any amount of money to watch his own plight projected on the large screen.

Next is the star cast. Tushar looks like a poor, tall, bechara married man (with a slight paunch). He has done an above average job and could have done better if the role and story had been defined more.  Kinjal Rajpriya rocks in the look and the dialogue department. She has been the girl to watch in recent times. Right from Shu Thayu, Kinjal has shown that she is capable of not only acting well but adapting to characters and presenting herself very effectively. Watch out for her too.

Chetan Dahiya, the natural humorist always scores effortlessly. His presence brings life on the screen. Ditto with Jay ‘Palty’ Panda.

Rest all, fit into their respective places decently.  

Dialogues, some punchy and some funny, overall, this department scores well too. Sorryavansham joke was a killer. 

Songs are nice and hummable. They sound good to listen to and may hit a chart or two.

The hoardings, publicity, outreach and the timing is all in the right place. You cannot afford to miss any of this.

All that is NOT Right

Why the subtitles, baba? The dialogue and subtitles were all over the place.

Where is the story? Why so many sub-plots? Why digress from the married man’s gatha to force the audience to pakdo their matha? Story is loose and at most points appears to be dragging. There are just too many subplots which could have been done without. Somehow we keep losing the focus from the dreary life of the hero and heroine and get dragged into unwanted storylines. Too many loose ends are not tied too.

Connected to this is the pace and duration. This film could very well have been 20-30 mins crisper and would have communicated the same message well.

The viewer feels stupid at some very illogical twists.

Why would an insurance guy go to a 80 year ill man to sell a policy?

So, your wife is talking about divorce and you simply jump out to meet an ex-flame?

Your son/husband/brother has locked himself in a room to commit suicide and all you do it just keep banging the door???? Really?

You want to supplement your family income and you only make one feeble attempt at selling?

Your father has been a violent person for all your 20+ years of life and just two dialogues make him forget everything and turn into a good man?

Come on, please. I am confident the writer and filmmaker is much more intelligent to commit such mistakes.

Still, I suggest, go out and watch this once, especially if you are a married man. You never know what scene, dialogue or event you may connect with.

No, I promise you, no married man cried at the end of Kem Chho (still wonder why this name!)

Pics Courtesy Movie Promotions 

Hellaro – Helluva Movie Mate!

Jignesh Vasavada

4.5 Stars

 

Story of 13 women rising up against circumstances, societal evils and their love of Garba as an expression of freedom (guess, a true-blue Gujarati movie).

There are times in the life of a movie reviewer (I am not a critic) when loss of words is a real possibility. Times when the product or the presentation so overpowers you that you end up forgetting to note. Objectivity takes a back seat and you tend to go with the flow.

One such human moment happened with me last night as I finished watching the much-hyped-much-publicized and much-national-award-among-all-language-movies marketed movie, Hellaro. I actually noted only few basic observations as I let my senses overpower me.

Nope, no major Observations here, more so because the review was always a substitute for the lack of entertainment in the product. I didn’t even notice that popcorn came to me late or that the noted Gujarati director had to ask for them to serve me even as the purser conveniently forgot (I am truly blessed). Not to mention delayed starts or that the filmy folk who are not in the movie dressing up much better than the stars themselves.

But today is not about these inconsequential, there is much to note and write, hence I intend to dive straight in. 

Is Hellaro the most perfect Gujarati movie ever? Of course not.

Is this the best Gujarati movie ever? I dare say, not.

Is this among the most flawless movies in recent times? You could say so.

Is this a movie that deserved the coveted National Award, hence should we watch it, heck, I am no jury, yes, the movie is very good. Period.

Put to rest all your doubts and allow yourself to be transported to 1975 in a small parched village in Kutch desperately awaiting rains (yes, this is before the Narmada Canal days when there was not even hope!!!). A typical male dominated society, like then and now, Hellaro is a folklore of brave village women mustering courage to not only stand up against societal evils but to showcase their love for Garba, here, an expression of freedom and rights.

 Any more and I am spilling the beans. Yes, the story is about this much only. But just like most things in life, there are twists and turns, invocations and emotions that take you on a wonderful journey replete with fun, humour, dance, fights, hatred, love and loads of memorable liners.

 Hellaro is a multi-starrer in a unique way. The hero, fighting for the top spot, is the music. Mehul Surti, (the much acclaimed Mozart of Gujarat) revels in this brilliant rendition of folk flavor interspersed with a touch of the modern. The music drives you all along, helping you define emotions and journeys along giving you fantastic highs and lows.

 A close second is the Cinematography & Choreography. Tribhuvan Babu Sadineni, a veteran of Wrong Side Raju, Ragini MMS & Emotional Atyachar had a brilliant canvas in the form of the Rann of Kutch. And he captures it like a painting. Every frame, composition is a complete painting captivating you in its full glory.

 The choreographers Arsh & Sameer Tanna kept the emotions so well defined with their moves that the listener actually got involved. Each emotion had a different step. I can bet there was not a single feet that was not tapping with the beat.

Next comes Dialogues from the Pitamaah of theatre, Saumya Joshi. He gets it right all the time and gets applauded more than once, a rarity on the big screen. Some gems, delivered by the lead actress shows the maturity of writing and lends a lot of depth into the character.

Everything else can be bundled into the next few. Editing by Prateek Gupta, yet another stalwart from Goonga Pehlwan to Love ni Bhavai, keeps us on the edge with his tight craft. The brilliant climax is full credits to screenplay and editing giving us a lump in the throat moment.

In the acting department, people would jump to praise the thirteen National Award winning Heroines, I would stray a bit and begin with Maulik Nayak who lightens up the screen with a flawless performance. His portrayal is so strong, easy, un-noticeable yet he leaves a strong impression in his role. The Pack of leading ladies led by Shraddha Dangar, Denisha, Kaushambi and others get their fair share of screen and opportunity and they make the most of it.

Aarjav is under-utilized so is Jayesh More. While he is the face of the movie, Jayesh did not seem to have a lot of opportunities to show case his talent. Also, the role of Jayesh's daughter Reva could have been done by someone more talented. 

 

All in all, Abhishek Shah (who seems to be present in every department of film-making) needs to take a Bow. You made a classic which has lifted the benchmark for Gujarati Movies and Film-makers. A big thank you for the entertainment.

Hellaro, sooner or later you will have to watch it, why not sooner.

Montu ni Bittu – Pol Ni Bhavai

Jignesh Vasavada

3.75 Stars (.75 for Hemang Shah)

Boy loves girl, who doesn’t love-love him, falls in love with another boy and then triangulated, story brings us back to the same point. Have we seen this before?

 

Full predictable entertainment, thy name is Montu Ni Bittu. A good laugh fest that begins and ends exactly as you know it will. Yet you don’t mind it at the end of 2 hrs 13 mins. You get up feeling good.

Then, you start thinking, evaluating and the fun begins.

Like always, few observations:

1. This is my first ever film which I saw sitting next to the heroine’s parents. Oh my God! It was intense.
2. How many ads precede a movie? Just so many that when we see the cancer ad, there is a collective sigh of relief and happiness, now the movie would start. Arrey even the interval has scores of ads.  
3. Wonder why Vijaygiri Bava had to thank so so so many people (including myself). He has made a good movie, we need to thank him.
4. Which Pol was the movie shot? I want to see women doing the Ketchup Dance as morning exercise, again. Yeah yeah, that is how these women exercise.
5. Sorry, if this sounds eeech…but Mehul Solanki has a mole in the ear! 
6. Now, this film is better than others, the rider wears a helmet and pillion does not. And, none of them wear helmet at night, what re!
7. Funny to see police wala parking their vehicle during night checks opposite a NO PARKING sign board.
8. You know a person is a painter if he has paint all over his body, most of the time.
9. Now, this is perfect Amdavadi opulence. You can spend on a multi-crore bungalow but cannot afford a security system or a watchman.
10. I am just curious, the heroine kept saying, What The…but never got to complete it…wonder how she wanted to complete the same…(Hell, Fafda, Time, Film, Faydo, Help…) Couldn’t get the right answer from people sitting around me.

Now, the movie.

A perfect-for-everything-and-everyone Pol boy Montu (fun-masti-rocking Maulik) is visibly in love with a Pol Girl Bittu (cute-beautiful and natural Aarohi). He does everything to impress her including managing/repairing her home appliances to guiding her 30 plus suitors. But she has Friend-Zoned him (I relate to this feeling). During one such outing they come across an abstract painter Abhinav (handsome, dashing, boring Mehul) and she starts crooning Painter Babu, I Love You.

Now the triangle keeps getting murkier and things keep moving around, guided by Montu’s friend Darri (Magnificent, Lively, Great comic timing, Hemang). Love leads to engagement and then to marriage to Montu’s misery and predictably towards the climax. Keeps you gripped despite you knowing right from the day the trailer was released how it was going to end.

Right then, let us play evaluate, evaluate.

Story: By Ram Mori is the weakest link with glaring gaps. Somethings just don’t add up. How come a breakup happens over something so silly? The characters, though fairly well defined, some of them just do not have relevance or closure. Many such characters like Bittu’s Father, Montu’s Mom, Neighbour Bahu (played by a very talented Kaushambi). The twists and turns are just too casually handled. Dialogues are crisp, fresh and funny. They keep tickling you to laugh out loud.

Performances: Imagine the story where the side comedian takes the accolades in the presence of stalwarts! We waited for Hemang to come and liven up the screen. Very happy to see Maulik carrying the film so well. Aarohi, nothing new, oodles of natural talent despite a casual character sketch. Happy Bhavsar is just perfect bundle of talent. Her portrayal of Mohini Madhuri is just class apart. Mehul Solanki is the weakest link. Poor dialogue delivery, deadpan, yet good looks. We wish he had less-to-none dialogues. Vishal and Bansi (her first movie and she looks so beautiful!!) excel in the presence they get. Pinky Parikh too makes a good mark.

Music & Lyrics: Mehul Surti scores like a legend. My personal favourite is the Aditya Gadhvi voiced Pardesi Mena. Great Beats. The garbo penned by Chirag Tripathi too is

powerful (I have been asked to write this :) no but seriously, it is good). Rang Dariyo by Parth too is hummable. Amdavadi Song by Dilip Dave too is a good ode to the city. 

Cinematography gives it a grand and colourful feel, though we catch lights in some scenes.

All in all, Vijaygiri and Twinkle have made the Janmashtami Weekend rocking with a nice and funny Montu Ni Bittu. 

Go Hopeful (with a capital H), watch it with full family, because even if the heroine wants to swear, What The…Montu stops her and she ends up saying Rani No Hajiro (whatever that means).

Good Going Vijaygiri Filmos…

Pics Courtesy Montu Ni Bittu Promotions

Dhunki – Trance by Chance

A cosmos of chef-turned-entrepreneur meets coder-turned-entrepreneur meets realities of life.

2.75/5 The .75 for Kaushambi and Vishal.

Jignesh Vasavada 

Well the good times for Gujarati cinema for the year 2019 seem to have begun rolling. With a good film last week, this week too appears promising, not to mention, the coming few months. However, there are miles to go in few departments.

What is heartening is that film-makers are experimenting, with styles and genres. Dhunki is one such experiment, slightly late in time, yet not too late.

1. The Film begins with a lot of people to thank. Just too many.
2. Why Why do these actors not wear seat belts or wear helmets, why? (Or am I too paranoid/hopeful).
3. Deeksha Joshi has 5 clearly visible moles, 2 lightly visible ones and one highly invisible mole on her face.
4. ISRO just did not have to spend so much for a moon surface landing, this movie offers a lot of space on the heroes’ faces.
5. Daaru is injurious to health, even in Mount Abu, so relieved.
6. English subtitles of Gujarati movies are a huge distraction. I learnt, Dadagiri is Bossiness.
7. Just because it is a movie about a chef does not give you a reason to forget your manners, never talk with food in the mouth.
8. Looks like Radio Industry is truly throwing up good actors and rich bosses, RJ Ankit (the firing boss), RJ Aarti (the tycoon boss), Chirag Tripathi (the non-hiring boss), wow, good cameos.
9. Daaru Peene Dhingli thai jay chhe! What a line, Loved it.
10.  It will always haunt me, you go to an investor to seek 1 million of funds and have no plan on hand!!

And therein lies the challenge.

But before that, the story.

Nikunj and Shreya, colleagues in a digital firm, quit based on a goof-up and follow their passion of opening a food delivery start-up. Nikunj’s wife (kaushambi) and Shreya’s fiancé (Vishal) keep giving them reality checks even as they duo struggle to keep their passion up and running. Looking at the clever trailer, we are sure how this will end for the protagonists, however, there promises to be some twists. The way the movie ends, it is good.

But can someone please tell me, why does the story need to have so many close-ups? Extreme Close-ups? With a weak story line and average sub-plots, there is just no scope for any kind of facial expressions, then why did Anish and his DOP adopt this classical line of film-making. Beats me, even as I count Pratik’s nose hair, get irritated by Deeksha’s every interfering hair-line, Dr Vishal’s ear (I assume he is an ENT surgeon). Why! Why!

Also, I am confused. Is this film about food? Then where are the array of very well shot extreme close-ups of dishes? Only three dishes, Dal-fry, some non-veg dish with cream and something else? Why? If it was about an app, then why focus on a chef? And if it was about a start-up then where is the marketing plan, the passion, the ‘Real Disappointment’. To be fair, there is a lovely sequence of investors giving gyaan, not money. Very relatable.

Yes, there are some really good sequences, emotions, connects and attempt at humour. Once in a while you also feel the pain, you relate to incidents (home selling, struggle for jobs, at jobs). But all in all, had some more hard work gone into the story and detailing, I am sure, this movie would have been more gripping. Ditto, the pace, it is sometimes too slow, sometimes just ok, but never takes off.

Anish Shah’s directorial debut is commendable. But he just needs to get more story oriented and practical. Among the actors, Kaushambi and Vishal score high, a truly commendable task considering they were number 3 & 4 in the cast. Kaushambi looks and acts fresh and confident while Vishal does a great job of a MCP. Pratik is a natural, but I feel is more of a package than just a face. Extreme Close-Ups spoil the plot. Complete opposite stands for Deeksha, who does not get too many emotions to show her strength. Her Extreme Close-ups are futile.

Music by Siddharth Amit Bhavsar is fine, Niren Bhatt’s Urdu-Gujarati lyrics are good but not catchy.

All in all a truly good urban effort. Definitely worth a watch, worth spending your weekend. Dhunki times for Gujarati cinema are here.

Pics Courtesy Dhunki Promotions