THE STORYTELLER

By Avik Basak I do not know about you but I was very sceptical before watching this sequel to the 1995 adventure-comedy, Jumanji , titled, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle after watching the awful trailers. I mean so many times we see in Hollywood movies these days where the movie is a let down to its trailers but this time it is the other way around. Welcome to the Jungle is not only entertaining from the word, go but also has a good story, pretty much like the original. In this sequel, four teenagers from the small town of Branford disappear into Jumanji, a board game that has updated itself to a video game to go with the taste of the modern kids. In the game, they are assigned different avatars and are asked to fulfil various objectives, without which they cannot return home. Various video game jargons such as lives, levels, non-playing characters, special powers, character weaknesses etc. have been portrayed flawlessly to keep us invested in it. It has adventur...

By Avik Basak What do you expect when you step into a theatre to watch a Salman Khan film? I do not know about you but I expect a loud cheer when the title shows up, another louder cheer when ‘Bhai’ makes his entry, loud applause and cheers whenever ‘Bhai’ delivers a ‘masaledar’ line and a powerful dose of entertainment with a somewhat okay story. You will get it all in Tiger Zinda Hai , the sequel to Ek Tha Tiger . After a successful experiment in Bajrangi Bhaijaan and a screw up in Tubelight , the actor goes back to his vintage avatar in this second outing as Tiger. And staying true to his track record, he does not disappoint his ‘fans’ as he does what he does best, delivering wholesome entertainment. The film showcases ex-RAW agent Tiger who is now retired and lives in the Austrian Alps with his wife Zoya, the ex-ISI agent and his son whom he calls, “Junior”. He is then approached by the RAW chief, his ‘beloved’ Shenoy sir to embark on a mission to rescue a g...

By Avik Basak Since the time, the Star Wars sequel trilogy was announced, the idea was met with scepticism as we could not imagine Star Wars without George Lucas directly involved. Then, J. J. Abrams brought us The Force Awakens and all scepticism was lost in the darkest corners of the galaxy. Though, I personally felt it was kind of repetitive as it seemed a lot like A New Hope . But with The Last Jedi , the latest instalment in the trilogy, I can say for sure that all elements of monotony are gone. When was the last time, you saw a Star Wars movie that was so unpredictable, so full of twists, defying all fan theories? I for one at least do not recall. The Last Jedi not only keeps you at the edge of your seat for its 2 hours and 39 minutes long runtime but also breaks all the stereotypes of the series, a lot like when Kylo Ren smashes his helmet against a wall, a helmet that he wore to pretend like his grandfather, Darth Vader. The movie picks off where The ...

By Avik Basak Do you remember the time, when the first Thor film hit the theatres? There was absolutely zero expectations from it, rightly so as the Asgardian god of thunder is not known to be one of Marvel’s popular creations. Still, it turned out to be a huge blockbuster. The well-crafted story, the compact screenplay and director Kenneth Branagh’s vision compelled cinemagoers to pay a visit to the “Odinson”. Then Thor made a good enough mark in the first Avengers movie and the expectations from the sequel, Thor: The Dark World became high, but unlike its predecessor, it did not turn out to be a pleasing watch. As a result, I was a little sceptical about Thor: Ragnarok , despite the fact that the trailers looked promising. But I can say after watching it, that the Asgardian crown prince comes back to form in this one along with his trickster brother as this movie dazzles us and keeps us entertained right from the very first frame till the time the screen turns bl...

By Avik Basak While there are Hollywood biggies like Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League coming out next month, there are also a few Bollywood films hitting the screens which are made on low budgets, yet might surprise us with their content. Let’s take a look at these flicks, which look promising enough to compel us to head to the theatres: Ribbon The first among these four films is Ribbon , which is coming out in the first week of November. Directed by newcomer Rakhee Sandilya, the movie stars Kalki Koechlin along with Sumeet Vyas of Permanent Roommates fame. It tells the story of a young urban couple who finds out that they are going to have a baby and how they deal with the challenges of parenthood and how much their daily life and their relationship gets affected by it. Going by its trailer, the movie looks to have a lot of potentials. Qarib Qarib Single Releasing on 10 th November, Qarib Qarib Single is a sweet romantic comedy. It sta...

By Avik Basak Have you ever felt after watching a movie that the film was needed to be made? Well, debutant director Advait Chandan’s Secret Superstar is one of those films. It not only tells us about how we can always find ways to realise the dreams of our lives but also captures the beautiful relationship that the protagonist shares with her mother. Brought to us by the Aamir Khan Productions, this flick reminded me of Taare Zameen Par , which was also about a child’s struggle against the world he belongs in. The story is about a teenage girl named, Insia who wants to become a famous singer but is unable to do so, due to her abusive father who beats up her mother at every chance he gets and prevents Insia from doing anything other than her studies. With the support of her mother, Insia soon finds a way to upload her singing videos on YouTube, wearing a burkha and using the alias, “Secret Superstar” and rises to fame, following which she gains help from a ‘controvers...

By Avik Basak Well, it has been more than three weeks since the finale of the seventh season of Game of Thrones premiered and I am assuming, by now, everyone has watched it. Still, if you have not seen it yet, I would recommend that you do not read any further and turn back from here as this article contains major spoilers. I know I have written reviews without divulging much detail in the past but I cannot do that in this case because I believe as a fan of the show, I need to discuss it thoroughly. This is the very reason why I am writing it so long after the show’s conclusion. There were huge expectations from this season, considering where they left things last year. Everyone knew that season seven would be based entirely on original materials because the TV show overtook George R.R. Martin’s book series, hence no one knew for certain what would happen to whom (As theories do not warrant any certainty). Moreover, the number of episodes was reduced to seven fro...