Month: April 2020

Kriti ★★★½

Manoj Vajpayee and Radhika Apte starrer psychological thriller which keeps audience on edge.

Synopsis: Sapan is schizophrenic. He pays regular visits to her psychiatrist, who is trying to help Sapan both in the capacity of a doctor and a friend. Kriti is Sapan’s live-in partner. She is a mystery to the psychiatrist, and also to Sapan. Kirit has her own psychological disorders, and suffers severely from agoraphobia. The film unfolds the dark secrets and explores morbid twists of psychological issues among the trio.

What works: The film Kriti is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller. The film manages to keep audience on the hook about what would happen next. The short film is also a proof that one doesn’t need full feature length for creating great stories. An experienced and talented star-cast also helps. The performances are good. Manoj Vajpayee particularly has delivered a splendid schizophrenic Sapan. Neha Sharma, Radhika Apte and Manu Rishi all fit the role well.

Negatives: Nothing from the film per se, except that it may be dark and unsettling for those who do not like the genre. Period. However…

One negative for me was the ‘inspiration’ Writer-Director-Prodcuer Sirish Kunder takes from the original Bob without giving due credit to original source material. Seemingly, the film is inspired from Nepalese short film Bob. Sirish has also vocally pretested against these allegations. To be fair, Kriti goes much farther in the story-line and the twists; but I see some merit in the plagiarism claims. Some of the scenes, the theme, and especially the doctor-patient discussions seem copied-pasted from Bob. Such attempts demotivate the hard working lower budget counterparts and would be highly detrimental for further expanse of the creative works. One relevant article is here.

AglaPlay Verdict: A good psychological thriller
AglaPlay Rating: 3.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~17 minutes
Writer: Sirish Kunder
Director:  Sirish Kunder
Cast: Manoj Vajpayee (Sapan),
Radhika Apte (Psychiatrist),
Neha Sharma (Kriti) &
Others

Watch now!

Tindey ★★★★½

A hot and sweet take on extra-marital misadventures of a man in his 40s.

Synopsis

This film is about the misadventures of a middle aged man, Kranti. A faithful husband, Kranti somehow gets lured into exploring dating app Tinder Tindey by his colleague. On the other end of the app is a suave, hip gal in her 20s, Molly. Somehow, the chemistry clicks and…. well… I will hold the synopsis here. Saying anything extra may just ruin it a bit for you because this one, is hilarious.

What works

This one is an absolute must watch. The theme which seems so generic has twists and turns which are done very different than other attempts on similar topics. At least, the ones I have watched or read. Tindey strikes just the right balance between comedy, emotions, dialogues, presentation – just everything seems perfect about this one! The short duration format also helps Tindey, as the full length feature films fall in the issues of extended emotional scenes (and songs). Tindey perhaps is able to maintain the balance because there was not much time… Perhaps!

On acting front, the leads have done a tremendous job, but any review would be incomplete without praising Ashwini Kalsekar (Mrs. Kranti). From the first scene to the closure, she is just splendid. Great job there!

What could have been better:

None.

Verdict

Must watch. Except for references to online dating format and the usage of app by married people, the film is suitable for all age groups subject to viewers discretion.

AglaPlay Verdict: Must watch
AglaPlay Rating: 4.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~20 minutes
Writer: Seemaa Desai
Director:  Seemaa Desai
Cast: Rajesh Sharma,
Ashwini Kalsekar,
Adah Sharma,
Mukesh Bhatt,
Abhishek Khanna

Watch now!

Chutney ★★★★½

A conversation between two neighbors – little sweet, little spicy – just like a Chutney.

The opening scene is of a party in a township where we quickly meet the two central characters – Rasika and Vanita. Pretty and hip Rasika is making fun of the boring housewife Vanita. Next twist? Rasika is having an affair with Vanita’s husband! Vanita invites Rasika to her home next afternoon for sharing her secret recipe. Over the snacks, Vanita confides in Rasika. Vanita shares few memories from her past, some sweet some spicy, but tasty just like a well-made chutney!

Vanita’s story is the strongest pillar in this film. The story is inspired by writings of famed writer Bhishm Sahni. It has a strong punch! The deliberate ambiguities also make it for a decent repeat watch, or when you show it to someone else in your friends and families. I am going to watch it again for sure!

Minor Spoiler Alert. Better to read after watching. Click to read The story has deeper sub-contexts. For example, Vanita’s story succeeds not only in threatening Rasika but also her misbehaving servant. The direction and the story not only brings out Vanita’s frustration in the open, but also her jealous nature and desire for her brother-in-law, which is just so subtly shown. All this makes Chutney a must watch! Let us know if you also find something!

Tisca Chopra in the role of Vanita deserves applauds. She is so believable in the role of a blunt dull housewife. All other actors also perform well.

Negatives? Nothing that I could complain about!

AglaPlay Verdict: Must watch
AglaPlay Rating: 4.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~17 minutes
Writer: Tisca Chopra, Jyoti Kapur Das, 
Avneesh Mishra
Director:  Jyoti Kapur Das
Cast: Tisca Chopra (Vanita),
Rasika Dugal (Rasika) &
Others
Chutney: Little Spicy, Little Sweet

Corona Virus ★★

A short film depicting a post-apocalyptic world caused by human activities and Corona pandemic.

Yep, that’s the title! Search Engine friendly, isn’t it? 🙂

Synopsis: This is a very short film of around 7 minutes that follows a survivor on his daily activities in a post-apocalyptic world. The conversation between the survivor and his imaginary friend gives us the backdrop of the story.

What Works: Firstly, I appreciate the crew for bringing out the film in such environment. It would have taken them extra efforts and time in getting this completed. The film feels dark and the morbidity is tangible. There is a social environmental message central to the film which is simple and intriguing. Kudos to the team!

What all could have been much better: There are a few things which I didn’t like in CV. The biggest single drawback for me was mention of a conspiracy theory as a fact. It is acceptable in terms of artistic liberty for a science fiction setup, but in the sensitive times like these, such references could have been avoided to prevent anymore animosity that we already have in the world.

The dialogues are also a let-down. The dialogues fit the purpose of filling in with the background, but sound inorganic and documentary-style. Another minor issue that I felt was on the activities of the survivor. He somehow knows that he will get a wet cloth packed in a plastic bag under the ground. How does he know that? Even if he knew that, he would have perspired more water in digging it out that he was to get. The protagonist also does not look like one suffering from famine – and to me, it is a major flaw. The wardrobe team has merely provided him with a rope on brand new clothes, a cloth hair band; and makeup team put some mud on the face. That just does not work fully. Perhaps I am asking for too much, but these are not tough to arrange – torn cloth, mangled hairs, and may be, someone thin or skinnier to match the role.

But perhaps the idea behind this short film was never the perfection but to catch a believable glimpse of possible future, and for that it does a decent job.

Overall: nothing great. Please skip!

PARENTAL ADVISORY: There is a very short clip at the end depicting cruelty on animals which may not be suitable for all audience, particularly children.

AglaPlay Verdict: Worth a watch
AglaPlay Rating: 2.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~7 minutes
Writer: Dushyant Kapoor
Director:  Dushyant Kapoor
Cast: TBU
Corona Virus: Short which fell short on our expectations

Juice ★★★★★

Winner of two Filmfare awards 2018, Juice is a poignant short film that depicts differential treatment of women in some sections of the society.

Synopsis: The short film depicts a house party among family-friends. The men are chatting and having a good time in the living room with drinks and TV,. The children are playing video games in a different room. All the women, though, are in the kitchen cooking the munchies for the gentlemen outside. These women are from different regions as it shows in the film, but share the common destiny of a single broken table fan in a boiling kitchen. What’s all this to have to do with the title, you ask? A juice? A lot, perhaps…

What works: The film is a must watch, it is really that good. The lead, Shefali Shah also walked away with the best actress award for her performance. Every scene and setup is very authentic. The whole film looks like a scene out of daily life in a Delhi house. If we talk about awards alone, this film won the best short film award in the fiction category in Filmfare awards 2018. And the whole good package ends at even better climax scene with one of the most intriguing facial expressions that I will remember for quite some time.

The dialogues and the screenplay is something which shall be appreciated separately, even if these could not get awarded. This is an overall feminist presentation, and these go over-board with the dramatization and cliches. Juice balances it deftly. It also hints how women themselves think lesser of themselves. It hints how biases are also fueled and supported by submissiveness among women’s social circle.

What is bad: Nothing at all that I could comment on this specific film!

Small note: not particular to feminism or Juice but generally, few presentations (videos, speeches or Whatsapp forwards) charge us emotionally. They color our views. They make us believe (even if for a short period) that everyone on the other side is wrong. That is their job. That is how they will earn and will get viral. Aglaplay strongly advises its viewers to keep themselves free from such emotional on the basis of religion, gender, region, caste, nationality, language, dressing, earning or anything else under the blue sky. Judge a person for who he or she individually is. For Juice, do remember while watching that not all men are alike! There are men at workplaces, in family, in friends who support women and stand for their equality in the society.

Overall: Enjoy Juice, it is a must watch!

AglaPlay Verdict: Must watch
AglaPlay Rating: 5.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~14 minutes
Writer: Neeraj Ghaywan
Director:  Neeraj Ghaywan
Cast: Shefali Shah(Manju Singh), 
Manish P Chaudhari(Brajesh Singh) &
Others
Juice: Relaxation for a moment