During October 2015, it was TALVAR that emerged as the winning film from the month as it overpowered the rest of the competition. It was the clash between Singh Is Bling, Talvar, Jazbaa, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 and Shaandaar.
Singh Is Bling directed by Prabhu Deva, starring Akshay Kumar, Kay Kay
Menon, Amy Jackson and Lara Dutta in the lead roles. This was another
disappointing show from filmmakers trying to utilize the image and name of
Sikhism to help try and sell a film. What significance does Bling have in the
film with a Singh? Putting the lackluster use of Sikh identity to sell the film
aside, overall the film did not prove much of a spectacle. After Singh Is Kinng,
there really was no need for Akshay to try and top that film. In fact, in Singh
Is Bling it was a poor chemistry on screen with the cast as well as a
below par storyline that never really created a talking point. Akshay performs
well as he always does, whether it is a serious or a comedy situation. The
comedy dialogues some were laughable but not enough, more of it seemed as a
slapstick attempt but it just never lived up to the genre. As a film it was a
one off movie that had no chance of being the top film from the month.
Talvar is directed by Meghna Gulzar, starring Irrfan Khan,
Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi in the lead roles. This film was showing the
angle of the case and investigation process, the twists and turns and the connection
of politics, it was an edgy dark thrilling movie that keeps you dragging along
in finding the truth. Meghna Gulzar has screened tension throughout as it
leaves you wanting to have the truth unraveled. The cast put in a believable performance
especially Irrfan Khan who controls the screen with his calm and confident
persona to tackle the case. He arrives at a later stage in the film leaving a
striking acting show. Konkona Sen Sharma plays an average looking parent and
she makes her role feel and seem so genuine, with little effort she manages to
add more drama and emotion to the situation in the film. As for the story there
are a few flaws, not seeing much viewpoint of the parents and what they are
going through currently, prior to the incident and after the murder. I felt
this would have added much more dramatic moments to the case but the director
focuses on having the perspective of the enquiry which I also felt was a good
concept in making a crime film not too cliché. Overall, I found this film to be
quite engaging and keeping me eager in wanting to find the final outcome even
though we don't get a strong conclusion, just another assumption, the film
progression kept me enticed to it and it was intriguing enough.
Jazbaa directed by Sanjay Gupta,
starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi and Jackie Shroff.
This film showed the return of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, playing a working class
mother figure who embraces kidnapping problems in her family. Story concept
was decent but not portrayed with enough intensity as well as leading
to a climax that you can only sit and smirk towards due to such a disappointing
outcome. Performance wise, Aishwarya Rai did well playing the lawyer character
adding that mature, focused mindset as well as playing a convincing mother
figure showing the attachment, frustration and sadness in losing and finding
her loved one. Irrfan Khan who has displayed some strong enactments previously,
he was an interesting watch, a character that you would like to
continue seeing due to the nature of his character persona in the movie. The
film marked a decent effort return for Aishwarya Rai, but it required a
much stronger script development and outcome. It just did not fit the build
up around it well enough.
Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 directed by Luv Ranjan, starring Kartik Aaryan, Omkar
Kapoor, Sunny Singh, Nushrat Bharucha, Sonnalli Seygall and Ishita Raj
Sharma in the lead roles. This was an entertaining film with acceptable acting
and scenarios that friends and couples encounter. The film keeps you keen on
wanting to know the outcome. The cast paved a good performance and story line
was a good one to watch seeing something with a younger expression and take
for the audience. Could the screenplay be better? Rightly so, it required more
of a creative approach to help spark this youthful film. Nevertheless, a decent
watch movie that entertains.
Shaandaar is directed by Vikas Bahl, starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia
Bhatt and Pankaj Kapoor in the lead roles. This film almost like a fantasy
rom-com tale did not survive at the box office, being deemed a failure.
Ideally it was evident where the film failed but it did not fail with complete
disaster. The on-screen pairing of father and son was a glimmer of hope for the
film as their chemistry was perfect as well as the pairing of Shahid and Alia
giving a feel-free perception adding a laid back expression on screen which was
a delight to see. But it was the story that failed the film heavily, not
spectacular from the script aspects, but the only positive would be the
performances that leave you liking this film to a certain extent.
Overall, I would pick Talvar as the movie of
the month as it had a complete package of good script and performances to
compliment a well-made movie. The least likeable film from the month would go
down as Singh Is Bling as that left no significant affect to
me as a viewer, I struggled to sit through the movie and complete it, at times
wanting to avoid it before it finished. But for me, Talvar proved
to be a sitter of a movie that had a bit of the intensity and thrive
within.
