Murtaza Ali Khan, Author at The Sunday Guardian Live

A worthy addition to the Terminator franchise

Terminator: Dark Fate Director: Tim Miller Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta Terminator 2: Judgment Day (aka T2) is...

Misses the bull’s-eye because of bad casting

Dangal’s unprecedented success has given rise to several cinematic offshoots in the recent years such as Pataakha, Chorriyan Chhoron Se Kam Nahi Hoti, Mukkabaaz,...

Engaging film about a pressing social issue

P Se Pyaar F Se Faraar Director: Monoj Tiwari Starring: Bhavesh Kumar, Anuja Jha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Kumud Mishra Manoj Tiwari’s P Se Pyaar F Se Faraar...

A badly executed but well-intentioned film

The Sky Is Pink Director: Shonali Bose Starring: Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim Shonali Bose’s The Sky Is Pink marks Priyanka Chopra’s return...

World-renowned festival of folk music to open in Jodhpur on 10 October

The Jodhpur RIFF (a.k.a. the Rajasthan International Folk Festival) is entering its 13th year in 2019. This year’s edition of the festival is scheduled...

War is entertaining and worth every penny

War Director: Siddharth Anand Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Vaani Kapoor, Soni Razdan and Anupriya Goenka War revolves around Indian soldiers who carry covert missions in order to...

Innovative spy thriller, nuanced performances

The Family Man Director: Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru Starring: Manoj Bajpayee, Priyanami and Sharib Hashmi Towards the latter part of the Amazon Prime Video espionage series The...

Zoya Factor takes too many cinematic liberties

Abhishek Sharma’s The Zoya Factor is based on Anuja Chauhan’s 2008 novel of the same name that tells the story of a girl who...

Finally, a well-researched commercial film

Towards the end of Section 375, a female lawyer tells her mentor, “Sir, I don’t think that the justice was served.” The senior lawyer...

Abandons realism for melodrama

Writer-director Nitesh Tiwari is currently one of the best filmmakers working in Hindi cinema. The IIT Bombay Alumnus gave up on a successful career...

A little-known gem of world cinema from Egypt

The Arabic word “Yomeddine” means Judgment Day. In Islam, Christianity and some other religions, it is believed that the life on earth is merely...

Does a decent job at telling a compelling tale

On 5 November 2013, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched a space probe to undertake a 298-day transit to Mars as part of...

Purposeless screenplay and lacklustre direction

Thanks to the recent success of films set in the Hindi heartland, Bollywood filmmakers these days are very keen on making more such films....

Clichéd plot with engaging action sequences

Having already perpetuated the idea of film sequels and prequels, Hollywood is now fast embracing spinoffs as a means to further expand the popular...

A frenetic tale about troubled people

Seeing the great English actor Laurence Olivier on stage someone once said that Olivier had so much energy that the stage could not contain...

Engaging tale and realistic performances

These days the commercial Hindi filmmakers are consciously focusing on stories based in the Hindi heartland. The diaspora is no longer the primary target...

A well-made film that loses focus in the second half

Whenever we talk about the nation builders we usually tend to underestimate the pivotal role played by the teachers. Vikas Bahl’s Super 30 attempts...

A homage to the cinema of John Carpenter

After two successful seasons, Netflix has come out with the third season of the science fiction horror series Stranger Things. Written and directed by...

Not an entertainer but still quite watchable

Anubhav Sinha’s Article 15 tells the story of a police officer’s fight against the society and the system amidst widespread inequality and prejudice. It stars Ayushmann...

A global event celebrating the fresh food revolution

The first ever Fresh India Show— a two-day event with over 300 participants, ranging from farmers and industrialists to entrepreneurs and policymakers, from all...

Clichéd, rhetorical and momentarily chilling

The Blair Witch Project (1999), a 1999 American supernatural horror film, started a new trend in horror movies—the found-footage technique wherein a part of...

Many memorable moments and amazing action

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is set in the 1990s and revolves around one of Professor X’s favorite most students Jean Grey who is gifted with...

Gets mired in clichés and loses focus

There is a scene in Zaigham Imam’s Nakkash wherein a Muslim craftsman, who does engravings in Hindu temples in Benares, is forced to take...

Convoluted plot, the narrative fails to flow

Back in the ’70s and ’80s Indian filmmaker Ravikant Nagaich was known for making a series of spy thrillers. In the recent times films...

Delivers an important social message

When it comes to the sex ratio the state of Haryana finds itself at the bottom of the list. And yet over the years...

Inconsistent visuals but impressive overall

The popularity of Chhota Bheem among kids is well known. It all started with the television series created by Rajiv Chilaka which premiered on...

Manages to tell a compelling and comical tale

Ashwini Chaudhary’s Setters revolves around a high profile cheating racket operating across the country. They do everything from leaking papers to forging thumb impressions...

Unimaginative storyline, langourous pacing

Towards the end of Abhishek Varman’s Kalank, Roop, the story’s female protagonist played by Alia Bhatt, says “Red is both the color of love...

Movie Review: Successfully creates a world of mistrust, betrayal

Paharganj, situated just west of the New Delhi Railway Station, is a major transit point for all tourists who come to India. The place...

Ludicrous scenarios redeemed by solid acting

The three siblings Chandan (essayed by Sumeet Vyas), Chanchal (played by Maanvi Gagroo, and Chitvan (essayed by Amol Parashar) are back with yet another...

Powerful script with powerhouse performances

Consider a scene in Gone Kesh wherein the girl protagonist first realizes that she is suffering from a severe case of hair loss. While...

Oozes with cinephilia, but leaves a lot to be desired

During an early scene in Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota a man tells his impressionable young grandson, Surya, about his adventurous youth. Among other...

Not a bad cinematic experience, despite its flaws

There is a scene in Triple Frontier wherein survival becomes more important than money for the film’s five protagonists, all military veterans, who are...

Film Review: Female superheroes are here to stay for good

During a scene in Captain Marvel a male fighter pilot makes a sexist remark in front of her female colleague saying that ‘cockpit’ is...

Dull, boring, purposeless: Chaubey’s worst film

One of the biggest problems that the Indian society continues to face is the caste system. But if there is an even bigger problem...

Film Review: A gripping tale of Mumbai’s street-rap scene

There is a scene in Gully Boy where in a girl with a dusky complexion spray-paints a hoarding publicizing a fairness cream with the...

Film Review: Choreography, visuals elevate a predictable plot

When a filmmaker like James Cameron makes a promise there is every reason to believe that sooner or later it would be delivered. In...

Film Review: Honest effort marred by a disjointed screenplay

Hyperlink cinema isn’t still very common to Hindi cinema. And good hyperlink cinema is even rarer to come by. Pia Sukanya’s debut comic thriller...

Film Review: Hard-hitting war drama makes all the right moves

On 18 September 2016 four terrorists attacked an army base near the town of Uri in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. As...

New wave of Indian cinema: 2018 will be remembered as a golden year

The year 2018 has proven to be a rather peculiar year for Hindi cinema. While it witnessed big-budget, star-studded films like Zero, Thugs of...

Film Review: An action-packed film about women safety

In the year 2010, Hindi cinema witnessed an interesting turnaround in popular taste with the success of Abhinav Kashyap’s Dabangg, starring Salman Khan in...

Film Review: Acting and screenplay outshine the plotline

With the advent of internet the world started to shrink which brought everybody closer than ever. But at the same time it created new...

Film Review: Predictable script, groundbreaking visuals

During an early scene in Shankar’s 2.0, the much-awaited sequel to his 2010 blockbuster Enthiran, an old man standing in a long queue likens...

Film Review: Would have passed as an entertainer back in 2012

Back in the ‘90s, Sunny Deol was nothing less than a personification of macho superstardom. For most part of the decade and beyond he...

Film Review: Marred by lazy writing, uninspired direction

Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan begins with the story of a powerful Indian ruler who is forced to surrender after his young son,...

Film Review: Saif’s Baazaar is all about money and moral values

During a brief scene in Gauravv K. Chawla’s Baazaar, Shakun Kothari, the Gujarati business magnate essayed by Saif Ali Khan, asks Rizwan Ahmed, his...

Film Review: A film that succeeds in living up to its promise

Hindi cinema these days is consciously focusing on stories based in the Hindi heartland. The diaspora is no longer the primary target of Hindi...

Film Review: Absurdist comedy with Marquezian undertones

Fed up of his two querulous daughters who can’t stand each other, the father helplessly asks a man, “I just don’t understand why my...

Film Review: Nawazuddin makes us feel Manto’s inner pain

There is a scene in Nandita Das’ Manto wherein Saadat Hasan Manto, the eponymous writer on whom the film is based, tries consoling his...

Biggest film of the year from the Northeast

Sanjib Dey’s III Smoking Barrels is being touted as the biggest film of the year from Northeast India. The film’s trailer was recently launched...

We are all localists now

Jamia accused of religious discrimination

Turning Occasional Buyers into Lifetime Customers

Murtaza Ali Khan

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