BackFriday Film Wrap: ‘Pagalpanti’ major Bollywood release of the week
Pagalpanti is a hotchpotch of bumbling characters, says The Times Of IndiaFor the Hollywood fans, American animated musical fantasy Frozen II comes to India this week
PremiumNew Delhi: It’s a relatively dull week at the movies with only one mid-sized offering each from Bollywood and Hollywood.
Pagalpanti directed by Anees Bazmee starring Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Ileana D'Cruz, Arshad Warsi, Urvashi Rautela, Pulkit Samrat and Kriti Kharbanda is a hotchpotch of bumbling characters, says The Times Of India. Bazmee, along with his co-writers, throws in everything into the mix. From exciting car chases to high-octane destruction scenes, from African lions to an entire act involving industrial strength glue – all shot beautifully in the picturesque UK. But nothing sticks, thanks to a weak script.
An early review by Times Now says the first half has its moments. The movie is funny in parts and bland in others. The jokes could've been way better but so far the movie is not as bad as the trailer was.
For the Hollywood fans, American animated musical fantasy Frozen II featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell and Jonathan Groff comes to India this week. The best things about the first film — the characters and music — once again sing in a frequently dazzling if narratively flawed sequel that’s better at being sensory than sense-making, says Empire magazine. If the final act underwhelms in the action stakes, Frozen II still delivers where it really counts — the emotional beats and relationship between the two protagonists, who continually strengthen and uplift each other across the runtime.
Then there is action thriller 21 Bridges directed by Brian Kirk starring Chadwick Boseman. What’s so enraging about this substandard thriller is that it seizes on a polarizing group — the police — in an obvious ploy to make a relevant political point about cop culture, says The New York Post. Any remote chance it has of doing so is undone by an empty-headed, poorly considered and impossible-to-believe plot twist that reveals the cops to be the villains.
Tamil action drama Adithya Varma starring Dhruv Vikram and Banita Sandhu directed by Gireesaya is a gripping and largely faithful remake (of Telugu original Arjun Reddy and Hindi version Kabir Singh) with some minor changes here and there and crisper run time, tweeted independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai.
Kannada comedy drama Kalidaasa Kannada Meshtru starring Jaggesh and Meghana Gaonkar directed by Kaviraj has its fair share of entertainment, especially with a breezy first half that reminds fans and viewers of the vintage Jaggesh of the 90s and early 2000s, says The Times Of India. It also raises questions about the right to equal education.
Several releases this week haven’t inspired any reviews yet. These include Remember Amnesia starring Mahesh Manjrekar and Curtiss Cook directed by Ravi Godse, Telugu biographical drama George Reddy, Telugu thriller drama Raaga 24 Gantallo, Kannada drama Kannad Gothilla, Malayalam comedy drama Varthakal Ithuvare, Malayalam dramas Kettiyolaanu Ente Malakha and Sullu and Marathi film Kulkarni Chowkatala Desphande.
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