JPEI64 Reviews

Crew (2024)

Could have a lot better.

[7/10 · 24 May 2024]

An entertainer and therefore a 'leave your brains at home' type of movie - but refreshing because you don't see over the hill male superstars trying to retain their youth and receding airlines. This is with women and three lovely women, all wonderfully talented in their own special way.

Negatives: Weak storyline Terrible editing Lots of loose ends Implausible situations Terrible CGI effects Sad to see Kulbushan Kharbanda reduced to a miniscule character role.

Positives: Lead actresses perform well - not path breaking but they are all having a good time and the fun is infectious.

Diljit (wish he was more on screen) Above average locations Some good tongue in cheek one liners - elicit some good chuckles

Not a classic, but definitely a fun watch.

Premalu (2024)

Same old same old

[2/10 · 20 April 2024]

In the garb of presenting a 'fresh' Tom com, it's the same old recycled stuff, with the same silly plots, hamming and melodrama.

Trying very hard to represent the youth of today, by looking, thinking and acting Westernised and relevant but seriously falling flat. Embarrassing actually.

The entire cast are so desperately trying to act cool, broad minded and 'modern', half of them just look out of place.

Songs are humdrum - nothing remarkable.

Honestly just an over hyped movie with nothing that pushes the envelope. Weak script, shoddy editing and screenplay.

Lead cast are average. Mediocre actually.

Movie may have done well which probably explains the hype. The success also shows that many in a new young generation will celebrate mediocrity in all glory.

If soulless Rom coms are your thing then watch... Otherwise a strict no no.

On the Line (II) (2022)

So bad....

[1/10 · 17 April 2024]

So unbelievably bad, I can't believe what I just saw. Is this the same Gibson from all those wonderful movies that made him a star?! Is he hard up for cash or did he lose a bet??

Terrible from start. Shoddy Co stars with no expressions. Weak and amateur screenplay and editing.

In fact... I'm try to find one redeeming factor about this.....Nope!

Mel (who was the only reason I watched this drivel) looks so tired and weary. I feel sorry for him. Hope he hasn't given up on his career. Because he's capable of so much better.

Basically lost time that you will never get back. And yo think there were actual producers backing up this tripe.

There's so many gaps, that you might be forgiven if you think this is supposed to be a comedy.

Sad and bad!

Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024)

Ho hum

[3/10 · 9 April 2024]

Nothing original here. Beautiful locales, clothes, cars gadgets and yeah... That's pretty much it.

There was an attempt to have a storyline but the makers must have given up after 15 minutes.

Crass comedy scenes reminiscent of the 70 and 80's. Trite dialogue (embrassaing actually).

The way each scenes cuts to another shows the lack of experience by the makers and you also realise, they just wanted to cram a lot of pretty looking scenes, sprinkle some stale comedy, inject over the top drama (melodrama), some romance shomance, keep the characters looking flawless and pretty.

Shahid could be a good actor (not the best) but he must have got bored of the Udta Punjab type movies and wants to come back dancing and romancing. Kriti is a wannabe Deepika in every frame. She has no distinct personality or charisma. Just another pretty face who happened to have a couple of decent breaks. Less said about the rest of the cast.

Three stars for the locales. Watch it, or skip it... You have not missedcanything.

Murder Mubarak (2024)

Knives Out inspired tacky remake!

[2/10 · 17 March 2024]

And SARA ALI KHAN is just not an actress! Period! But given the level of talents in Bollywood today where it's all about social media followers, designer clothes and plastic surgeries as well as 'who you know' , I'm sure we will continue to see her... Unfortunately.

Hugely talented artistes like Pankaj, Dimple, Tisca ham through the movie. Which is very painful and embarrassing to watch.

The rest of the cast are not worth your time.

Poor direction, editing and slapstick comedy from the 70's, make this embarrassing movie a pain to watch.

The inspiration from Knives Out cannot be denied. Though not a direct copy, the premise is definitely similar.

Watch at your own peril.

A Nearly Normal Family (2023)

Great except for some major gaps!

[7/10 · 14 March 2024]

Crisp editing, great production values, superb acting all around and very well made. Keeps you interested till the end.

Except!! Some glaring gaps! Stella was arrested based on purely circumstantial evidence. No Murder weapon, no DNA (except for the shoe but a strong defense lawyer can throw that out the window), no clear motive (whatever the prosecution had was speculation) and just one witness who only heard the screaming but not seen the act. Her mobile was missing and so were her clothes (obviously taken care of by her Mom, who interestingly is also a lawyer).

Secondly no one even delves into the background of the guy. Had they done so, they would have found the drugs and even perhaps some photos.

The court case was totally one sided. The defence hardly spoke. The whole court case scenes were the weakest part.

The side story of the parents' relationship and the mothers affair were distracting.

Despite all these, it's a good watch. Recommended.

Merry Christmas (2024)

Good premise

[6/10 · 13 March 2024]

Started off quite well and looked promising. Kind of fell apart halfway.

The whole initial set up though of the two lead characters first meeting seemed quite trite and unnatural. Actually it looked forced as if the director wanted to start off the narrative in a hurry and couldn't bother to build upon characterisation.

First half is intriguing and definitely watchable. Shame that in the second half everything went for a toss.

Vijay is a very good actor there's no doubt, but this is not for him. He looked totally uncomfortable and particularly so in the intimate scenes with Katrina.

Katrina does decent work - nothing amazing. She does try hard but the efforts show. I think if the dialogues were in English, she would be much better placed.

The narrative itself is weak in the second half and by the final scenes, you lose interest. Anyway still a better watch than what's coming out of B/wood these days, in the name of cinema.

Garudan (2023)

Rubbish

[1/10 · 3 January 2024]

A movie that glorifies a has been 'star' with the usual mysoginist approach from the 70s, with a ridiculous story line and absurd acting.

A weak copy from various Hollywood thrillers, this movie is not even a one time watch... Unless you want to be transported back in time to the 70s, where such macho men ruled the screen - and not because they had talent.

Absurd acting, embrassing dialouges and scenarios And a laughable 'story' line.

Why do these so called 'lead actors' not act their age?? And He even looks so out of shape and pathetic - sad!! Desparately hanging to their long lost youth! And as usual the women are just decoration.

Dragging movies back to the Dinosaur age!

Shame on everyone involved in this movie!

Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam (2021)

Overhyped.

[3/10 · 1 January 2024]

Not fitting for a State level Award winner. The movie is a one time watch.

Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Not sure though it has elements of both.

What is relatively fresh is some unknown faces make a pretty impression and it's good to see new talents being condidered for such movies - The biggest plus of most Malayalam movies - Actors are chosen (not stars) based on the justice they can bring to the character and script and not by bowing down to the star system.

The lead actress shines but I think she can do a lot better. The Father and most of the rest of cast try hard but their dialogues and reactions seem stilted and forced.

The humor works in a few parts. Not throughout the movie.

At the fag end the actress hams a lot to the stage of being embarrassing and ridiculous. The situation could have been dealt with in a much more hilarious manner.

Padmini (2023)

Good one to Fast Forward after first 10 mins

[2/10 · 26 August 2023]

Waste of time. Kunjachacko has gone seriously wrong with this one.

Movie could have been so much better. Even the humour is lopsided, warped and trite. Clichéd situations, mysoginistic (what's new), talentless lead actress who is half the age of the middle aged lead actor (but perfect hair, sarees and bleached face of course, is in place - Acting is optional).

Story goes for a toss after 10 mins or so. Rudderless direction with silly dialogues.

I would not even this is a one time watch.

Given this is a Malayalam movie, I can only imagine that such ridicous movies are few and far between, as the industry has some excellent talents, way better than any other regional cinemas in India. Otherwise God help the Malayalam movie industry.

Asvins (2023)

No

[1/10 · 24 July 2023]

Comedy show. The scary part is I think the actors, the director and everyone involved in the making must have thought they're making an original and path breaking horror movie!!

Watch Daniel Radcliffe's The Woman in Black from where many scenes/ideas have been lifted.

Less said about the corny dialogues and the scattered script, the better. Its funny to see in some where the actors discreetly try to look at the others to see what the cue is, as they seems to have forgotten their roles/dialogues.

The first 10 minutes, though not original, was done pretty well but post that everything goes all over the place.

So e if the worst acting to match the deplorable movie. Watch The Woman in Black instead and do yourself a favour, which is still far better.

The Season (1975)

Haunting, poetic, heart breaking and simply marvellous

[10/10 · 21 July 2023]

They just don't make movies like this anymore - and that's not old age talking! It's a fact.

Gulzar's movies never truly got the recognition they deserve. Ijazzat is another gem of a movie.

To be honest I was never a hardcore Sharmila fan, I found most of her mannerisms in commercial movies fake and exaggerated. But in this movie, barring a few scenes, she has knocked it out of the park! And with the immensely talented Sanjeev Kumar (what an actor!) alongside, Excellent editing, production values and the haunting music/songs, this is a movie you can watch again and again.

Romantic and yet heart breaking at the same time, this deserves to be on the same pedastal as some of the other greats.

To my mind Sanjay Bhansali at one time came a close second to Gulzar (relatively speaking of course, but still miles behind) with Khamoshi (and only Khamoshi) until he sold his soul to Bollywood.

Paachuvum Albhuthavilakkum (2023)

Had high hopes

[3/10 · 2 June 2023]

Meandering rudderless cruise liner lost at sea.

Loopholes galore. For Eg - Who is their right mind leaves a child to board a train by himself from Kerala to Mumbai!??!!

The story starts off well and then goes in a completely different direction. I suppose that was the intention, but sorry it does not translate well on screen.

The actress who acts as the grandmother lacks conviction. Vineeth looks bloated and an otherwise good actor, fails to convince you here. The rest of cast do average jobs and are easily replaceable. Fahadh repeats his mannerisms and to be honest, no surprises here. He is good, but the same as in many of his earlier movies. High time he really challenges himself and goes the extra mile.

And emotional movie with made up melodramatic emotions. Waste of time.

The Pope's Exorcist (2023)

Pure unadulterated baloney finally reaches Hollywood!

[1/10 · 17 April 2023]

A load of tripe disguised as a 'horror' movie, by using the Catholic Church (a favourite punching bag), the Pope and the Catholic faith as a crutch. It is to the Vatican's credit that no one objected to this drivel.

Dreadful storyline, acting, script and dialogues. The kid looks anything but evil. Everything is hyper bloated to include explosions, bloody mouths spewing obscenities, twisting bodies and ear shattering screams - none of which are horrifying, - rather tiresome.

So it's a been there done that movie that drains you halfway and just when you thought everyone's done, the voice says 'We' re not done yet!'. Aaaagh! The horrors!!

Watch it if your cinemas has great popcorn and snacks. Otherwise, strictly avoid and offer a prayer for everyone connected with this nonsense.

Faraaz (2022)

Could have been so much better for Farzaan's sake.

[4/10 · 4 April 2023]

Could have been much more impactful but still not a bad watch. I don't think anyone will watch it more than once.

The whole movie could have been much tighter, with a lot more finesse, and better dialogues. The cops were totally unconvincing (almost comical) and just by adding an expletive here and there doesn't make one sound tough.

There was some subtle humour, which would have been better placed in a movie that was not based on such a horrific incident. There was a song (seriously), which could have been totally deleted.

Acting wise, Aditya Rawal as the lead terrorist, Zahan Kapoor and Juhi Babbar performed exceptionally well but Zahan had very limited screen presence, which is weird since the movie is supposed to be about him. I think he had great potential.

This shocking and tragic story could have been dealt with in a much more sensitive and mature way. A lost opportunity!

Class (2023– )

Excellent!

[10/10 · 9 February 2023]

A no holds barred, non apologetic thrilling and edge of the seat series that had me hooked from the 1st episode.

A lot of reviews have compared this with ELITE, and so what? The makers have said it from the beginning that this going to be an official remake, so why the crib?

Someone has even said this is not for Indian audiences! Highly laughable. I suppose he/she knows what the Indian audiences like!

The series is not without its faults, for sure and honestly speaking maybe Internationally this may not raise any eyebrows. But for the Indian audiences, many parts of it will be an eye opener - things we now exist but we never speak about. A mirror into our souls.

Without any apology, the series has largely hit on the distasteful attitude of class, snobs and culturally and morally ignorant self appointed elite (a disease that is spreading rapidly all over India), the existing corruption and has sheared off the shiny glossy veneer of the pseudo class.

Performance wise - hurrah to the bold, bright, beautiful new young talents. Every single one of them performed excellently. It indeed makes you feel good when you see such actors and know that there is still talent galore in Bollywood, who will thrive much longer than the brainless, talentless twits we have parading today with their endless paid for Insta followers.

Kudos to the entire team. Hopefully season 2 will not disappoint.

Monica, O My Darling (2022)

An excellent effort with some flaws

[9/10 · 12 November 2022]

Overall thoroughly enjoyable. Have not enjoyed anything rom the Hindi industry for ages. This comes like a breath of fresh air.

It is not without its faults like the direction and screenplay could have been a bit more taut but overall a delightful film.

Rajkumar, Huma, Radhika Sikander and everyone else do so well I just Marvel at how talented these guys and girls are unlike the talentless overhyped, media made so called A listers today.

A huge revelation for me personally was Huma and Sikander who deserve a lot more and I can only hope and pray that they get their dues.

We all know about the talents of Rajkumar and Radhika and as usual they come out aces! Truly gifted talents.

Enjoy this one, don't take it too seriously but it's not a time pass one either. It's a wonderful joy ride!

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)

Vile, disgusting and tacky

[1/10 · 3 November 2022]

Is this what horror is today??

The series started of decently but quickly graduated into a vile, extremely gory and disgusting mess - all in the name of horror!!

There should be a law against such degrading nonsense!

Voyeuristic use of cut body parts, unnecessary nudity, blood, gore, filth and tacky acting.

Stopped watching after episode 4. The Autopsy was really bad and the next one was disgusting.

Sorry but it's an emphatic NO from me. Horror can mean many things to many people. You have the good old fashioned haunted houses, then slasher movies, sci fi, etc. But this is just gore and nonsense. In the guise of trying to look intelligent and creative. Yuck!

Nna, Thaan Case Kodu (2022)

Fabulous from start to finish!

[10/10 · 1 October 2022]

I tried very very hard to find faults with this movie. But seriously couldn't. An excellent watch all the way through. A very relevant story with great humor excellently laced with sarcasm and scorn.

Each and every cast member have done wonderfully. It's like there was no one 'acting'. Everyone with a dialogue performed so well I just can't believe that these were actual actors. Gayathrie did not have much of a role but whatever she did she did it ery well. This girl has a lot of potential and I hope so eone taps it fast. Would love to see more of her in the screen.

KCB is someone I never took seriously - to be honest I just took him for this chocolate type boy from a well off family, making a quick buck. But the past few years I have seen him in some amazing stuff and he has finally found his niche. KCB 2.0 rocks!

Hats off to all and especially the Kerala film industry - in India, no one does it better than them!

Umrao Jaan (1981)

The maximum points are for Rekha and the songs!

[10/10 · 24 September 2022]

Never before and never after will there be a Rekha and such a performance. Where does one start? For an actress who took acting so casually and then evolved into a powerhouse of acting not just in this but several other movies says a lot for her talent - which honestly remains untouched till today.

Stories about her initial awkward days to her metamorphosis to a swan are legendary. She is definitely a class apart and the saddest part is she never took herse or her career seriously otherwise she would have leapt to even greater heights. Not a single director has explored her full talent till today and sadly it will probably remain so. Alia's Gangubai comes nowhere close.

The movie itself is very slow but poetically do e. Every scene and dialogue is beautiful and poetry in motion. I doubt we will ever see such a movie ever again and such an actress too.

But I still wait in hope Rekha will grace us with presence again very soon.

Sita Ramam (2022)

Nothing great

[4/10 · 23 September 2022]

Seriously?

Interesting storyline heavily compromised by catering to superstars. Everything looks and appears staged. Acting is mediocre, with stilted dialogues, cringeworthy action and stereotyped characters. Nothing in the movie makes a powerful impact or create any emotions. Weak continuity and terrible directing add to the mess. The movie is ridiculously preachy to the extent of being embarassing. The lead characters looking good, perfect make up and poise. Amateur work at best and a waste of time.

DS looks extremely uncomfortable and Rashmika is definitely not an actress by any stretch of imagination.

Or have I seen the wrong movie?

Khamoshi the Musical (1996)

SLB's best!

[10/10 · 31 August 2022]

The one and only movie of SLB that has soul! Everything else he has made since then pales in comparison. Not a single movie he's made after that has the raw emotions, and storyline as shown here. He has sold his soul to Bollywood since this movie all for money, fame and glamour which is what Bollywood worships anyway.

The movie is not without faults and is by no means a masterpiece but seriously I have not seen any Bollywood movie since then that is so powerful.

Excellent performances across the board mainly Seema, Manisha and of course Nana. The only movie where I could watch Salman Khan till the end without getting irritated. Songs are absolutely melodious. Must watch repeatedly.

Nope (2022)

Good first half

[5/10 · 30 August 2022]

The movie starts off excellent. Excellent locations, screenplay, acting, mood and suspense. The second half actually the last 1 hour or so, is ridiculous. Over melodramatic and downright silly.

Which is a shame. I had the same issue with US.

Anyway watch once, the movie doesn't stay with you so I guess no harm done. Daniel is definitely underutilised. Very sad. Keke is very good but gets a bit screechy towards the second half.

Everyone else does their bit well. The parts with the chimpanzee were so Intriguing and shocking as asub plot but then just fizzles out with not much explanation. Sorry I couldn't make a connection.

12th Man (2022)

Amateurs

[4/10 · 25 May 2022]

Seriously? And Mohanlal as a drunk super intelligent ex cop? Where have we seen all this before? Only in quite a few ancient Hollywood movies. Mohanlal trying to pull off a Poirot/Holmes is hilarious!!!

Acting here is mediocre at best. Mysoginist values thrive here (women are shown as weak without their men - or shrill voiced characters to portray 'independent and modern'). And Mohanlal in the dying embers of what left of his career tries hard to salvage his lost glory - in vain.

It could have been a wonderful original movie but falls prey to the usual commercial demands. Avoid unless you have nothing else to do.

Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022)

Overhyped

[2/10 · 27 April 2022]

To be honest SLB is a very good director if he is allowed to make the movies he wants to - without the pressure of producers and the Box office. After a gem of a movie like Khamoshi he has sold his soul to making emotionless, glossy yet empty movies. Weak characters, stilted dialogues, melodramatic and souless. This movie is no different. Everything is mounted very exquisitely, but looks synthetic.

Storyline that has been done to death. Alia is overrated as an actress anyway - but then when you compare her with the other bimbos today, she does fare better - but she's not the best. Not by any means. Her efforts especially in some of the scenes that calls for subtlety and more nuanced acting, falls flat. She aces the melodramatic scenes as most Hindi film heroines do. Everything else in the movie is just an attempt to manipulate audiences into thinking that they are watching some masterpiece. But at the end it's just a load of drivel.