‘Saala Khadoos’ heartwarming but fails to pack a punch
'Saala Khadoos' is a strictly average affair, while 'Mastizaade' is meant only for Sunny Leone fans
New Delhi: Sports drama Saala Khadoos (also releasing in Tamil as Irudhi Suttru), starring R. Madhavan and newcomer Ritika Singh and directed by Sudha Kongara, is passionate and heartwarming but never quite manages to pack the punch needed, says movie website Pinkvilla. Kongara breezes through important issues like corruption scams and sexual harassment to focus on a love story that is a complete misfire. Madhavan and Singh deliver but are unable to make up for the film’s flaws. Read more here
Bollywood Life adds that the film is a strictly average affair, watchable only because of its lead performances. It has neither the intensity nor the nail-biting suspense of sports dramas like Chak De India! and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The romance seems forced, the songs unnecessary and the plot surprisingly predictable. Read more here
Milap Zaveri’s adult comedy Mastizaade, starring Sunny Leone, Tusshar Kapoor and Vir Das, is meant only for Leone fans, says Bollywood Life. She is brash and unapologetic in a film that thrives on stale jokes borrowed from WhatsApp groups, gags that are stretched endlessly and stereotypes like garish gay men. Watch this one only if sexual innuendos and racy images get you excited. Read more here
For Hollywood fans, Oscar-nominated Canadian-Irish drama Room, directed by Lenny Abrahamson and starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay and Joan Allen, comes to India this week. Variety magazine calls it a suspenseful and heartrending drama that morphs from a taut survival thriller into a hauntingly conflicted drama of loss, mourning and gradual reawakening. The performances are outstanding and the film is beautifully handled even though it misses out on some of the elements of the gripping book it has been adapted from. Read more here
The Atlantic adds that it’s hard to think of a movie adaptation of a book that feels truer and more loyal to its source than Room. Abrahamson finds beauty in the smallest details and the film captivates largely because of its central duo, Larson and Tremblay who play mother and son. Read more here
American horror film The Boy, directed by William Brent Bell and starring Lauren Cohan and Rupert Evans, attempts to do so much that it forgets to scare, says Entertainment Weekly. By the time the film’s mystery is revealed, the impact is blunted by the lack of a relevant or suspenseful build-up. Read more here
Animation film Asterix: Mansions of the Gods, directed by Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy, is slightly long and sags in the middle but the film will leave you in stitches with its wordplay, innuendoes, and sight gags that cater to all age groups, says Yahoo Movies. The tongue-in-cheek comments about the comic characters play a part in adding to the self-referential style of the movie. Read more here
In the south, Telugu comedy thriller Lacchimdeviki O Lekkundi, directed by debutant Jagadish Talasila and starring Naveen Chandra and Lavanya Tripathi, is refreshingly different, says Indread. Both the lead and supporting cast performed wonderfully and apart from the direction, M.M Keeravani’s music is an asset to the film. Read more here
Marathi drama Bandh Nylon Che, starring Mahesh Manjrekar, Subodh Bhave and Medha Manjrekar and directed by Jatin Satish Wagle, is preachy, devoid of logic and verbose, says Pune Mirror. A concept adapted from a one-act play that seemed promising doesn’t deliver and ends up as an amusing idea gone awry. Read more here
Some releases this week haven’t inspired any reviews yet. These include Tamil horror film Aranmanai 2 (releasing in Telugu as Kalavathi), starring Siddharth, Trisha and Hansika and directed by Sundar C; Telugu film Seethamma Andalu Ramayya Sitralu, directed by Srinivas Gavireddy and starring Raj Tharun and Artana; and Kannada action film Viraat, starring Darshan and Chaithra Chandranath and directed by H. Vasu.
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