Choona

A very well made webseries based around a money heist, crime, politics and comedy. A corrupt and powerful politician, Avinash Shukla (Jimmy Shergill) wishes to construct a mall on an existing settlement. His ultimate aim is to overthrow the existing government with the help of money from the beneficiary builder. A team of young fellows, one of them a policeman, decide to rob him. Needless to say, the task is easier said than done – the party office is no less than a fortress with lot of security measures in place, be it CCTV cameras, security personnel and even laser beams.

What follows is a tale of meticulous planning, delicate balance between betrayal and loyalty, as sides flip unexpectedly. Shukla proves to be a formidable enemy, shrewd and well versed in astrology. Things go in the favour of the scheming team when Shukla’s brother in law joins them. The techniques used are also in sync with modern times, where characters do video calls, create simulations of their plan and more. Keeping pace with technologies, age old science of astrology asserts its importance.

Most of the faces are new - but they have done a commendable job; while Jimmy Shergill plays the pivotal role, once again proving that his talent has been underutilized in Bollywood movies. Shukla accepts defeat gracefully, leaving the audience yearning for a new season. 

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IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack

Imagine a situation when a short duration flight becomes a 8 day nightmare, because of dangerous hijackers. Lives of everyone associated with us, directly or indirectly, would get impacted. This six episode webseries recreates a true incident of a plane hijack from December 1999. A pack of terrorists manage to smuggle arms into Air India flight no. IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi, in a bid to free their fellow criminals who had been captured by Indian soldiers. The events are portrayed in a realistic manner.. how the terrorists hold the team of pilots at gun point and force them to follow their instructions. The terrified passengers are also subjected to lot of difficulty with overflowing toilets, limited food and water – two passengers are even injured seriously.

On learning of about limited fuel availability, the terrorists are forced to allow the flight to land at various cities. While senior Government officials of various agencies take critical decisions, newspaper and TV channels cover this incident with passion.

The casting is done very well, along with their makeup. Every scene looks realistic. Vijay Varma looks dapper as Captain Sharan Dev. Dia Mirza is almost unrecognizable as a senior media professional, whereas Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor, Arvind Swamy, Kanwaljit Singh and others have done justice to their roles. 

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Kalki 2898 AD

You would be taken by surprise as the opening sequence unfolds in the battlefield of Kurukshetra from Mahabharata. “Wait, was this not supposed to be set in the future?” – Just when this question pops in your mind, you are taken to the future, more than 800 years from now. You’ll need a while to understand what is happening and get a hang of the terminologies, because everything is different in this new setting. Soon you would find yourself enjoying this high end science fiction movie, along with Prabhas, who looks handsome as the carefree Bhairava. The past emerges in the present (2898), when a young girl accidentally encounters Ashwatthama, son of Guru Drona, who has been living 3000 years to fulfil a task entrusted to him by Lord Krishna during the Kurukshetra war.

Deepika Padukone plays the role of lady in whose womb Lord Krishna is about to reincarnate as Kalki Avatar. Ashwatthama, played by Amitabh Bachchan, is committed to safeguard her and the unborn child, whereas Bhairava wants to gain some credits by surrendering her to the evil forces.

While you realize this is only part of a series that is yet to be released, you would enjoy action sequences between Ashwatthama and Bhairava. Kudos to the creativity, and visualization of the film, because it is not easy to imagine the future and build a strong story, interspersed with glimpses from the past. I loved the scene when Ashwatthama’s stick responds in Bhairava’s hands, revealing his true identity to the audience. Saswata Chatterjee as Commander Manas succeeds to get the audience to hate him whereas you cannot recognize Kamal Haasan as Supreme. You are left yearning for more ... looking forward to the sequel!!

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Chandu Champion

The film opens with an old man coming to a police station, with a grievance against President of India (!!!) and stating his claim for Arjuna award, the prestigious recognition for sports persons. He identifies himself as Murli Kant Rajaram Petkar, and the story goes into flashback.

A young child from a humble background dreams of winning an Olympic medal, but is often ridiculed by his peers. His elder brother brings him to local wrestlers, to learn the sport. Destiny brings him into the army – where he gets trained as a boxer. However, life comes to a standstill when lower part of his body is paralyzed after being riddled by bullets in war. His own family also leaves him to fight his own battle. He takes a second chance at life when his earlier coach, Tiger Ali (Vijay Raaz), trains him for swimming and inspires him to participate in Para-Olympics. He goes on to become the champion he had always dreamt of being.

This movie is definitely a masterpiece that has missed out on the publicity it deserves, I must say. Kartik Aaryan has done  a great job by stepping out of his comfort zone of playing heroes with chocolate boy looks – he looks stunning as a army man turned sportsperson, and even as an old man. Please watch this one for a true story that conveys the inspirational message of resilience, not giving up inspite of all adversity and following your dreams.

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