Mr. and Mrs. Mahi

The protagonist, Mahendra is forced to join the family business after he misses out on being selected for national cricket team. He gets married to a very bright girl, Mahima, who is a young doctor. Inspite of being quite different from each other, they have a common passion - cricket. He spots Mahima’s cricketing talent and convinces her to take up the sport professionally. She follows her heart and prowesses well under the guidance of her husband turned coach, Mahendra. Soon her success gets in the way of their marital relationship, when Mahendra starts feeling insecure and sidelined. On the other hand, Mahima loses focus on her game.

The story is about coming around of both Mahi-s, Mahendra and Mahima – how they fight social pressure, and their inner devils to recognize their true selves. It is equally difficult to say sorry and repair a relationship, without which your mental peace is disturbed, directly affecting your performance.  

You should look out for versatility of Raj Kumar Rao as Mr. Mahi – how well he emotes the struggles faced by an average guy, with the world around him doing nothing but being judgemental about him, his jealousy when Mrs. Mahi (Jahnvi Kapoor) rises to fame and his coming round at the end. This is a one-time watch movie which encourages you to believe in your abilities and give your best shot to pursue your dreams, even if others may not approve of it.

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Bad Newz

Both Vicky Kaushal and Triptii Dimri have been recognized for their superior acting abilities and characters portrayed by them. This one comes as a total surprise – it is a light hearted commercial film you can watch if you are a fan of the lead actors; or if you want to binge on some casual entertainment. A chef (Triptii as Saloni Bagga) aspiring to win a prestigious competition finds herself on a topsy turvy – roller coaster ride when she gets married to a charismatic chap named Akhil Chaddha (Vicky Kaushal) and also divorced too quickly. She meets Gurbir (Ammy Virk). Life takes her to the hills where she finds herself pregnant, but in a miraculous situation.

The story gently stresses the importance of relationships, and that one should not give up easily, without trying to assess difficult situations from points of view of others. Vicky also comes out of his nomophobia, and lets his love take correct decisions. Acting wise everyone seems to have done a decent job. Neha Dhupia does a small cameo as Tripti’s aunt, while Sheeba Chaddha has played the role of a doting mother who thinks her son is the best among all.

The only thing to look out for is Vicky Kaushal’s dancing – his moves from the song at the very end has become very popular recently.

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Ulajh

Suhana Bhatia, played by Janhvi Kapoor, is a young officer from Indian Foreign Service who gets promoted to a prestigious position in London. Some people who are jealous think it is because of her lineage, but she is determined to prove them wrong. To her dismay, she finds herself entangled in a big time mess – being blackmailed to leak out sensitive information much against her wishes. Her frustration leads her to verge of resigning from her post, and even suicide. Circumstances around her take sharp turns as she discovers that she had been a puppet in a bigger play of power, and there were people out there with enough evidence to prove her to be a traitor. She teams with Sebin Kutty, who had been named as a prime suspect. With help of his IT skills, Suhana and Sebin embark on the task of prevention of assassination of Hon’ble Prime Minister of Pakistan on Indian soil, who was the chief guest at Independence Day celebrations of our country.

This is a good espionage thriller, albeit with room for improvement - a movie which is devoid of the usual Bollywood romance and expensive locations. Janhvi has been dressed very formally, and looks equally beautiful in her sarees and western wear. Gulshan Devaiah did not seem like a good choice as the master blackmailer, though. The rest of the cast have done justice to their roles. The movie ends with a subtle hint of a sequel, and you would definitely be on the lookout for it.       

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Call me Bae

Having spotted lot of promotion online, I downloaded this webseries with lot of anticipation. It did not seem like a good decision for the first two episodes, which are consumed in story building and character introduction. However, third episode onwards, you would start loving Bae, aka Bella Chowdhury who is forced to live a middle class life after a series of unfortunate events. Bae gets hired as an intern in a news channel and soon discovers her true calling. She receives an anonymous video, and she gets on uncovering the truth. Bae and her friends bring out the true colours of a powerful person, who is not only the CEO of an organization but also a soon-to-be politician. Alongwith, the real character of anchor of a popular show is also revealed.

The series is a one-time watch with its own share of comedy, romance and mystery. Ananya Panday, daughter of veteran actor Chunkey Panday, has carved out her own niche and carries the role of Bae well. Vir Das as Satyajit Sen is also a treat to watch – he has come a long way from a comedian to an actor, I must say. The others have tried to do justice to their characters. The story gently touches on topics such as true friendship, standing up for what is right, fact based journalism and relationships. There is room for improvement, but you should watch it for some binge watching.

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