BackShah Rukh Khan’s ‘Fan’ is a refreshing masterstroke
While Shah Rukh Khan's thriller dominates the week, Before I Wake is a yawn-inducing horror film
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New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Fan clearly dominates the week. The Maneesh Sharma directed film is watchable and engaging, never falling into the trap of being self-indulgent even though it focuses on a Bollywood matinee idol, says Gulf News. Khan, who plays the superstar, makes sure that doesn’t happen with his splendid turn that doesn’t miss a beat. Even though his fan act could’ve been way sinister, there is much reason to walk home smiling.
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Emirates247.com agrees the tale is intriguing though a little stretched for a songless thriller. Sharma scores immensely for chronicling Gaurav, the fan’s life in Delhi. There’s very little of Khan’s influence on the character, making it a refreshing masterstroke for the actor, who had almost forgotten to challenge himself, and a credit to the director.
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American supernatural horror film Before I Wake, starring Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane and Jacob Tremblay and directed by Mike Flanagan, comes to India this week before being released in the US or the UK. The movie generates all but a few giggles though the intended purpose is more to haunt, says The Indian Express. There is a squiggly worm of an idea here, of a woman who has just lost her young son projecting her dreams and yearnings onto a scared eight-year-old whom she and her husband foster-parent. However, neither Bosworth has the ability nor director-writer Flanagan the inclination to see this through.
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The Hindu agrees it’s a yawn-inducing horror film that seems firm in its absolute resolution towards embracing dumbness. While the collection of random, disparate set-pieces tries hard to emotionally manipulate and fails miserably, it doesn’t have the camp value either. Tremblay is the only positive little thing.
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In the south, Telugu film Eedo Rakam Aado Rakam, directed by G. Nageswara Reddy and starring Manchu Vishnu, Sonarika Bhadoria, Raj Tarun and Hebah Patel, begins on a positive note with some fun comic sequences but the wafer-thin plot peters out in the second half, says Telugu Cinema. Most jokes are clichéd and the heroines have nothing to do but add some glamorous presence. The director makes liberal use of double-meaning dialogues.
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Actor Vijay’s Tamil film Theri, directed by Atlee, checks all boxes of a commercial entertainer but ends up predictable and illogical, trying desperately to balance sentimental moments with the more macho stuff that the actor’s fans want, says The Hindu. The action sequences could’ve been way better and we’re still to find a choreographer who can do justice to Vijay’s superb dancing skills.
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A few releases this week haven’t inspired any reviews yet. These include Kannada action romance Soda Buddi, Bengali action comedy Power and Marathi film Ek Kutub Teen Minar.
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