MOVIE REVIEW
SINGHAM RETURNS
Director: Rohit Shetty
Writer: Farhad, Yunus Sajawal
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Amole Gupte, Anupam Kher
Runtime: 142 minutes
Strength: Action, stunts and songs
Weakness: A bit too long
Showbiz Rating: 3/5
Plot: Owing to the wrongdoings affiliated with evils similar to black money, an honest but ferocious police officer returns as the Deputy Commissioner of Police with the prospect of wiping out injustice.
Review: `Singham Returns` is a sequel to the 2011 hit Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty film, `Singham`. Like in the first part, director Rohti Shetty has continued to depict the plight and problems faced by police officers who carry out their duties with much honesty and pride. Ajay Devgan's character Bajirao Singham is now in people's heart and you can understand it by hearing the whistles every time he comes on screen. As always Ajay is in top form. The honest and brave police officer , Bajirao wilfully boasts of a team which is as courageous, as he himself is. However, the twist in the tale is when a head constable `Mahender` from his team is found dead with a whopping Rs 10 crore, in an ambulance. From here, the drama really picks up pace. There are several `wow` moments in the film, in terms of breath-taking high octane action sequences. Kareena Kapoor Khan as Avni, is seen as a breath of fresh air in the film. She has been utilized well here without going overboard. A bonus treat here for all the CID TV serial fans is Inspector Daya who is addressed without any doubt with the same name that he is been known since years. Ashwini Kalsekar and Anupam Kher are flawless in their respective roles. Amol Gupte and Naser Hussain as antagonists are superb. Rohit Shetty and team have given yet another entertainer for the audience with a message related to Mumbai police which we have seen in many Bollywood pot boilers but this one's handled well. Singham Returns will join the 'better than first' rank of sequels. Singham was a classy mass entertainer. The team has done a brilliant work to make the sequel a better treat to their fans.
Reviewed by Broti Rahman
***
AWAKENINGS (1990)
Director: Penny Marshall
Writer: Oliver Sacks, Steven Zaillian
Stars: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson
Runtime: 121 minutes
Strength: Great story, screenplay and acting
Weakness: Slow plot development
Plot: The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
Review: Awakenings is one of the most emotionally moving films ever made. It delves deeply into one of the worst human fears, losing the ability to move and function, but it's never forced or manipulative, and there aren't any heavy-handed messages or morals. It's just a fascinating story that's beautifully told. A new doctor finds himself with a ward full of catatonic patients. He is disturbed by them and the fact that they have been catatonic for decades with no hope of any cure. When he finds a possible chemical cure he gets permission to try it on one of them. When the first patient awakes, he is now an adult having gone into a catatonic state in his early teens. The film then delights in the new awareness of the patients and then on the reactions of their relatives to the changes in the newly awakened. This is a stunningly beautiful and profoundly moving journey, and, amazingly, based on a true story. The acting performances in this movie shall live on forever. Robert DeNiro deftly handles all the emotional and physical challenges of his role, and Robin Williams demonstrates convincingly that he is an actor, not just a comedian. Williams, as Dr. Malcolm Sayer, is perhaps a bit too nerdy at first, but he captures perfectly all the hope, fear, exhilaration, and anguish that a doctor in that situation must be experiencing. Awakenings is based on actual people and events, and, to me at least, real events are always more powerful than even the best fiction. The film a must watch for all people of all ages.
Reviewed by Mohammad Haque
**
LUCY
Director: Luc Besson
Writer: Luc Besson
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked
Runtime: 89 minutes
Strength: Fantastic visuals and acting
Weakness: Stretched logic, a few plot holes
Showbiz Rating: 3.5/5
Plot: All Lucy had to do was deliver a mysterious briefcase to Mr. Jang. But immediately Lucy is caught up in a nightmarish deal where she is captured and turned into a drug mule for a new and powerful synthetic drug. When the bag she is carrying inside of her stomach leaks, Lucy's body undergoes unimaginable changes that unlocks her mind's full potential 100%. With her new-found powers, Lucy turns into a merciless warrior intent on getting back at her captors.
Review: Writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. And he has done it again with Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. The drug, CPH4 that is surgically implanted into Lucy`s belly leaks after one of her captors manhandles her. Instead of killing her, the drug works wonders on her. It drastically enhances her nervous system and she begins to discover a host of new abilities including morphogenesis, telekinesis, teleportation, mind reading and many other superpowers that defy our comprehension of human physiology. A lot of people will be reminded of Bradley Cooper's Limitless (2011), and Lucy does start off on the same thread, but where it takes us is completely different, both in conclusion and scale. What really stands out is the film's beautiful cinematography, story, a gripping score and tension that crawls into you. This is in between an action and a science fiction tale, but where the action is nothing new, this is a must watch for lovers of sci-fi. Scarlet delivers an intriguing performance. Her transition from a vulnerable girl to an indifferent superhuman is smooth, and strangely believable.
Reviewed by Zakir Mushtaque
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