Talvar [2015]

Language - English
Director - Meghna Gulzar
Run Time - 2 hours, 12 minutes
Genre - Drama/Mystery
Starring - Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma

'Talvar' takes us back to the gruesome story of Aarushi Talwar double murder case which absorbed and dumbfounded the entire country. This is not another version of what happened, rather an anthology of all possible versions, upon which the audience can base their judgment.

Bollywood  movies rarely please me, but Talvar was an exception.

What works for this movie is its unique documentary-esque style of storytelling which keeps the audience enthralled throughout. Kudos to Vishal Bharadwaj for that. Also, credit to Irrfan, Konkona and especially to Neeraj Kabi for his performance as 'Ramesh Tandon' (Ramesh Talwar). I'm beginning to like him quite a lot after following his performances in 'Ship of Theseus' and 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy'.

This movie reveals how truly fucked up and bizarre the Indian justice systems' working is, as we get an overview of how this case progressed. It shows how Indian police and investigating authorities are incapable of solving a crime even with the easiest of evidence available and how a case becomes a media trial instead of being just a police investigation.

Although there were some shortcomings according to me. Vishal Bharadwaj, here portrays a biased stand towards the parents' innocence and builds the movie chiefly on that. Also, Tabu's role was unnecessary and could have easily been cut out.

In conclusion, I would like to shower some praise on Vishal Bharadwaj. He is one of the few genius minds in Bollywood. His films move away from the usual run of the mill Bollywood films, and that is one thing I love about his work. His films challenge the typical 'song-dance-drama-sprinkle some comedy' routine to which majority of Bollywood films adhere to and thus seem like a diamond among the soot. More movies should be made like this.

Just go Watch it. This is one movie you should not miss out on.

My Rating - 8.6/10

The Martian [2015]

Language - English
Director - Ridley Scott
Run Time - 2 hours, 21 minutes
Genre - Drama/Sci-Fi
Starring - Matt Damon, Kristin Wiig, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Kate Mara and Chiwetel Ejiofor

With such a star-studded cast, one can barely go wrong. (Remember Expendables, Valentine's Day, The Counselor). And you have Ridley Scott as the director. This film had success written all over it.

A great story (everyone loves a hero story), coupled with some phenomenal actors, and brilliant cinematography and we have our masterpiece. One thing that was mediocre was the background score. You cannot have a science fiction movie without a good background score. It was lacking half the times and the other half seemed like it had been picked up from the soundtrack of Interstellar. Well, all can't be Hans Zimmer.

The Martian, based upon the best-selling novel of the same name, tells us the story of Mark Whitney [Damon], who's left behind upon a mission to mars as he was presumed dead. Now all alone on this planet he must find means to survive and somehow alert NASA that he is still alive. How will NASA bring back America's hero?

One may try to compare The Martian with the previous year's space saga, 'Interstellar'; but I ask why? They are completely different and amazing movies and should be left at that. Genius director Christopher Nolan's Interstellar made us think while Ridley Scott's Martian makes us hope. Hope for our hero to survive.

Although not suspenseful, but it was certainly not predictable. Our hero, Mark Whitney's tale sure had its share of ups and downs. Another thing that worked for the movie was the dialogues. The quips and quirks sure added some flavor to what otherwise would have been a pretty mundane movie.

I was a bit sad to see the other actors to receive such less screen time considering the tremendous talent and pedigree they hold to their names.

But Kudos to Ridley Scott and Matt Damon to deliver us one of the smartest, simplest and most satisfying film of the year.

My Rating - 8.8/10