Uri - The Surgical Strike is one of the first movies released in the year 2019 and is going to remain one of the best movies of the year.

Based on the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army after the terrorist attacks in Uri, it is one of the most realistic movies about any operation by the Indian Army. Just considering that the makers have been able to pull off something like that is a huge achievement in itself. The action scenes of the movie make you flinch because of the reality of these scenes. The action scenes are what make the movie what it is. But even if you look beyond them then the storyline and the way the movie has been written are very commendable. The character of the kead has been written very well and the movie gives proper reasoning for the actions that he takes. But the other characters have not been developed very well. Barring one other character involved in the surgical strike, no other character has seen any development. This is one of the blemishes of the movie because of which the end sequence does not seem to be very well made. Even though the action is good but the screenplay does not provide any scope for the impact it has on the characters. Other than this the movie is very good with a very fast pace and proper emotional impact on the main characters. The movie does a good job of establishing the main characters, the story and the action and thus achievws what it is out to do.

The movie's highlight is Vicky Kaushal. He is the only character apart from Paresh Rawal who has been given full justice in thw movie. Vicky Kaushal is very good as an army officer and Paresh Rawal is good as he is. All the others including Yami Gautam do not much of a role in the movie and thua do not get the opportunity that they could have been given.

This is Aditya Dhar's first movie and he has done a good job at both writing and.directing the movie. The scenes look the really authentic and it shows the kind of research that has been done. If only his writing would habe been better it would have helped the movie achieve greater heights.

Overall the movie is about one of the proudest moments of India's military history and should be seen as it is also very well made.

Rating - 3.5 / 5

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Review

With Bandersnatch, Netflix has created an experience for viewers possible only on OTT platforms. This is not a first from Netflix, but certainly something which will become a talking point in the history of movies.

So what is Bandersnatch? It is a movie which runs according to the choices you make for the lead character. And according to the choices made you can end up with any of the possible endings of the story. And you can go back and select the other choices and end up with an entirely different ending. There are so many scenes linked to the different choices that I doubt anyone has been able to see all of the hidden scenes within the movie. Thus in doing so Netflix has given consumers a totally immersive experience. I myself have tried out different variation of choices and have found out at least 6 different endings.

Why this works? it's simple. As an audience you are given the power to choose what step the character takes, and once you do so, you see the story moving in one direction. Thus you want to find out what would happen if you select a different decision. And thus you end up watching the movie several times over repeat watch. And with each watch you are sucked more and more into the world. Thus Bandersnatch involves you with the story and while giving you the power of choice for the lead character, it also takes away your power to stop watching this movie again and again.

The story is so layered that you cannot begin to fathom how the writers must have written this in the first place. The writers must be given all the credit for this and the director too has done a fabulous job at joining all the layers perfectly. The performances of the lead cast is great. So overall it is an experience everyone must go through. The only problem is it is not possible outside the world of Netflix.

Rating - 4 / 5

Simmba Review

Simmba is another movie from the stable of Rohit Shetty's entertaining movies and comes right after the success of his last movie, Golmaal Again. Similarly, Ranveer Singh came back to the big screen after the super success of his last movie, Padmavat. For both of them this movie is  going to be a commercial success, but it is not as good as their previous movie.

Simmba has got all the elements of an entertainer - from high octane background score to danceable music to loud acting and thus will be lapped up by the audiences. However if you look at it closely it gives you nothing new and just tries to encash on the existing formula. It looks and feels like a rehash of Singham, Dabanng and Rowdy Rathore with the various sequences giving you a sense of Dejavu. While the first half of the movie is entertaining, it actually offers you no story till the interval. The first half has all the elements that we have seen in previous Rohit Shetty movies - the hero introduction action scene, the follow-up mohalla song with countless dancers, the heroine introduction (who has nothing to do except look stunning and steal the hero's heart at first glance) and the villain introduction. You can thus watch the first half of a Dabanng or Singham and still watch the second half without getting confused with the movie's story. It is the post interval portion where the movie has much more on-screen action and the story moves forward. The second half has much more to offer and is more entertaining. While the movie is entertaining, the writing is not good. The problem here is that the writers have tried nothing new in this movie which makes it a regular entertainment affair. Another thing that I noticed about the movie was that in the first half I could not see a single woman police character inside the police station. And suddenly in the second half you get to see 5 to 6 women police characters inside the police station. Was this a miss or an after thought. Thus the continuity seems to suffer. Another big problem here is the movie's trailer which tells you the entire movie's story even before the movie has released. Due to this you know what's coming next and just wait for it to happen instead of being on you heels all the time to try and figure out what is going to happen. Even the plot point which wasn't shown in the trailer is given out in the first scene itself. This is a perfect example of poor movie promotion and also poor writing. Indian movie makers should learn the art of cutting a trailer from Hollywood because their trailers do not tell you the entire story but still build up the audience's curiosity. Thus while the movie entertains you, it has got a lot of problems, removing which would have made it more entertaining.

Ranveer Singh, Sonu Sood and Ashutosh Rana are the three actors who provide life to this movie. While Ranveer Singh goes overboard in most of his scenes, Sonu Sood's character makes you remind of his character from Dabangg. Ashutosh Rana is the only one who seems to be acting his heart out in all his scenes. All the other actors including Sara Ali Khan are just there to fill up the movie with characters and provide nothing in terms of story or acting.

Rohit Shetty is a director who can make good family entertainers but the problem is he just sticks to that and tries nothing new. Thus his movies look repetitive and this one too gives you the same feeling. While he is good in providing the entertaining and tense moments, but they fall flat because of the problems in other areas as already mentioned. He is one director who needs to try something different. Hoping that he will try something new in his next movie.

The movie's songs are good but they stop the flow of the movie making you want to skip them. One more thing to be corrected by Rohit Shetty.

Even with all these flaws the movie entertains you. So go watch this mindless entertainer if you just want some entertainment this holiday season.

Rating - 3 / 5