What's on Film Reviews
Deliciously witty
Mrs Ratchliffe's Revolution
comedy
Dir: Billie Eltringham
Cast: Catherine Tate, Iain Glen, Katherine Thalbach
Theatre: PVR
hh1/2
What's it about: The story is set in the '60s when the Berlin Wall hadn't crumbled. The Ratcliffe family is trying very hard to come to terms with life in Germany as opposed to life back home in England. Mrs Ratcliffe tries her best to settle down with her two daughters after her idealstic husband moves from Yorkshire to East Germany but she cannot understand why listening to Elvis Presley, jiving or spreading marmalade on toast are crimes in her new country. She brews a revolution at home to get her family out and becomes the mother of revolutions!
What's hot: The dry wit and the one-liners. Catehrine Tate is brilliant as Mrs Ratcliffe.
What's not: The narrative plods along in places but the dialogues rescue the film.
Verdict: Watchable on a lazy afternoon.
What a song and dance!
Savaari
drama
Dir: Jacob Varghese
Cast: Raghu Mukherji, Srinagara Kitty, Kamalini
Theatre: PVR, Tribhuvan, Viresh, Navrang
hhh
What's it about: Abhi (Raghu Mukherji), who hails from a richie-rich family, meets Janaki (Kamalini), a medical student, at a college function, and falls in love with her.u00a0Janaki is an idealistic girl who's always focused on helping the downtrodden. Abhi is a selfish guy who wants only the woman Janaki, and not her noble traits.
Naturally, Janaki walks out of his life. He begins searching for her and his journey brings about a transformation in him.
What's hot: All the three lead actors Kamalini, Raghu Mukherji and Srinagara Kitty have delivered outstanding performances. Manikant Kadri's music forms the other major highlight of the movie. Savaari is a frame-to-frame remake of the Telugu blockbuster Gamyam. Director Jacob Varghese has remained loyal to the original flick and has done a neat job.u00a0
What's not: Technical finesse is lacking. And the way those "item" numbers keep popping up is alarming. They actually spoil the pace of the film.
Verdict: Savaari is a decent effort, even if it's a remake.
All joshed up
Josh
drama
Dir: Shivamani
Cast: Rakesh, Vishnu, Alok, Sharan, Poorna and Sneha
Theatre: Triveni, Pramod, Uma, PVR
hh1/2
What's it about: The film revolves around a group of fun loving pranksters who join the same college after their schooling. Rocky (Rakesh) is in pursuit of Meena (Poorna) but she rejects him. On the rebound, he woos another classmate while his friends are busy studying and carving a career for themselves. Rocky turns out to be a loser. He repents for wasting his time but it's far too late to turn back the clock.
Director Shivamani is backu00a0 after a hiatus of two years. In Josh, he captures the charm and the energy ofu00a0 campus life. The movie bears more than a passing resemblance to Jolly Days and various other campus capers, but the lucid screenplay and the substantial storyline make the film engrossing.u00a0
What's Hot: Full marks to Shivamani for apt casting. Actors big and small fit into their roles perfectly. All the lead actors are newcomers and there is a lot of josh in the performances. Cameraman Santosh has done an excellent job. Robo Ganesh, who plays the villain, impresses with his unique mannerisms.
What's Not: Supporting actors Achyut and Karibasavaiah are annoying. Their acting is OTT. The music is disappointing.
Verdict: A popcorn flick, this one is entertaining.u00a0
First day, no show
A devoted band of movie lovers catches the first show every Friday. Naturally, last week's screen drought, as Hindi film producers/ distributors and multiplexes battled it out on revenue sharing, evoked shocked responsesu00a0
After a long and tiring week, I really look forward to watching a good Hindi film. If new films are not released, it's very disappointing. In these hard times, films are an important escape from reality!
Swati Jain, financial analyst with Goldman Sachs
It is very irritating that there are no new Hindi movies being released here, especially because it's vacation time.
Kritika Gupta, student of Christ University
DVD sales are sure to go up! If I am craving my quota of entertainment, I will watch it on DVD although I prefer to go to theatres to watch new films, not squint at some bad quality camera downloads!
Malini Vijay, IT professional
With the kind of fancy money that multiplexes charge, people would prefer to sit at home and watch television!
Film critic M K Raghavendra As told to Surabhi Jain
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