ALL STUNT AND NO STORY

Saaho Story: A huge empire, crores at stake and too many villains. No one can be trusted. So will the balance of power be restored and can one man do whatever it takes to restore the balance of power and defeat the bad guys?

Saaho Review: You probably know the answer to the above question, but writer-director Sujeeth takes you through a maze of twists and turns before he gets there. Pegged as India's biggest action thriller, 'Saaho' gets into the action mode pretty early on. The film begins with signature wide angles of massive structures and grim-looking men, who mean serious business. All through the first half, the narrative travels through cities trying to connect high-stake robberies in Mumbai and the search of a missing black box that is the key to a fortune. Enters the film's leading man, Prabhas, with a loud, high-octane fight scene that sets the stage for many more such confrontations. With his towering screen presence, Prabhas fits the bill perfectly in this larger than life role. However, if you're expecting his 'Baahubali' charm to rub off again, then his avatar in this one is a far stretch. His dialogue delivery seems deliberately slow, but for most part, the way his character unfolds, it keeps the viewer guessing. Shraddha Kapoor looks glamorous, but her character is poorly sketched. Introduced as a tough-talking cop, she soon becomes a damsel in distress, who often needs to be saved rather than she saving the world. Even the chemistry between the lead pair is missing.

Among the many villains, Chunky Pandey as Devraj stands out with a very convincing portrayal of his evil character. The rest come off as mere caricatures, who fail to make an impact. The songs are untimely placed in the narrative, only adding to an already long runtime. Attempts to infuse humour fall flat as none of the jokes land. 

'Saaho', surely delivers well as an action extravaganza with a climax that compensates for its many flaws. Thanks to the action choreography by internationally acclaimed stunt directors like Peng Zhang and Kenny Bates.

The film's second half picks pace, but is marred by a weak narrative that requires constant suspension of disbelief. Also, the special effects and CGI often lack the finesse that a film mounted on such a grand scale deserved. 

Overall, 'Saaho' attempts at being a potboiler that fires in all directions to entertain the audience. There are so many twists and turns that it leaves you more exhausted than excited. 

STORY: When a foreign national is raped by an influential minister’s sons, she attempts to seek justice, but it only leads to an agonising and infuriating series of events.

REVIEW: ‘Chicken Curry Law’, a metaphor that illustrates a victim’s trial, attempts to question the ways of our judicial system. Maya Johnson’s (Natalia Janoszek) case comes to light through a news report that shows her lying, bruised and half-naked, on a street. And with it, the quest of social worker Satya Deshmukh (Nivedita Bhattacharya) begins.

Satya hunts for information and witnesses, and stumbles upon a jaded lawyer Sitapati Shukla (Ashutosh Rana), who once lost faith in the system, but is convinced to get back in the game. This one’s tricky, for it involves none other than the minister’s sons. Not that this is the first of its kind, but you still drag through the predictable plot, struggling to empathise with the melodramatic characters, who fail to connect – with each other as well as with the audiences. And it’s not just the weak dialogues and subplots, but even the make-up that shows bruises that is shoddily done. There are also goofy supporting actors with strange accents, who are thrown in for some comic relief. But alas, the comedy leaves zero impact.

There is so much that could have been done with this concept, but it falls apart at the execution level. The performances, too, are not up to the mark. Overall, it’s an attempt to start a dialogue and bring about a change, but if you’re looking for a story that leaves an impact, this one is far from that.

Story: When Osamu Shibata finds five-year-old Yuri on the streets, cold and starving on a winter night, he brings her home to feed her. Intending to drop her back to her family right after. But soon she becomes an integral part of the Shibata family and their daily shoplifting sprees.

Review: In 'Shoplifters', Kore-eda paints the heartwarming picture of a family living in poverty, stealing to make ends meet and yet closely knit together and empathetic. They live in a cramped home, jostling for space and are seen meeting as a family over dinner, slurping down noodle soup and croquettes- bought from a street food stall. This tiny living space belongs to Grandma Hatsue (Kirin Kiki) and it’s also her pension that somewhat helps the family stay afloat, along with each one’s odd job. Osamu’s wife Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) is employed at a laundry, Aki (Mayu Matsuoka) works at a peep show parlor and he is a daily wage construction worker, indisposed due to an accident. But ultimately, it’s shoplifting of everyday items, groceries and food that keeps them going. And in this expertise Osamu (Lily Franky) takes the lead, with young Shota (Jyo Kairi) under his wing. Osamu creates the distraction while Shota steals and makes a run for it. He reasons to Shota that things in a shop don’t belong to anyone yet so it’s all right to take them.In fact, it’s evident that the Shibata’s are nonchalant about shoplifting as a way of life when Shota is casually told by Nobuyo over dinner to make sure he picks up some shampoo for her the next time. 

And on one such night, little Yuri (Miyu Sasaki) is brought home by Osamu. The family welcomes her warmly for some hot dinner, especially Grandma Hatsue who fusses over her and to her horror discovers several scars on Yuri's body. When Osamu and Nobuyo take Yuri back to the street she has been picked up from to drop her at her doorstep, voices of a couple fighting bitterly emanate from the apartment, confirming the emotional and physical abuse she has faced from her parents. Noboyu decides to bring Yuri back home with her justifying to Osamu and herself that they have not kidnaped the little girl, since they haven’t asked for a ransom.

As Yuri begins to join Osamu and Shota on their shoplifting jaunts, Shota is at first resentful of her but soon there is an unspoken bond that develops between the two. Much like a brother and sister. When walking home one day they spot some kids going to school, he tells her helpfully, “School is for children who don’t learn anything at home.”

And as Nobuyo and Yuri’s bond grow deeper almost like a mother and child, on a picture perfect family outing to the beach, she reiterates to Hatsue “Sometimes it’s better to choose your own family.” 

However nothing is as it seems in the Shibata family as Kore-eda’s nuanced and complex narrative begins to unravel itself. As the film draws to a climax astonishing secrets hidden within the family tumble out one after another. And things begin to piece together or rather collapse. Through his poignant, contemplative and potent screenplay Kore-eda cuts open societal hypocrisy and questions family structures as popularly accepted. The visual narrative of Shoplifters is equally powerful – extreme tight close ups, constricted spaces, a recurring motif of food, the visibly changing seasons – from frosty cold nights to hot summer days, the family’s coping mechanisms. And as the film explores moral ambiguity, every character of this dysfunctional family touches a chord. The performances by Kirin Kiri, Lily, Sakura Ando and Mayu Matsuoka are heartfelt and brilliant. But it’s the two children - Jyo Kairi and Miyu Sasaki - who are outstanding and leave the maximum impact, refusing to leave your mind even long after you’ve seen the film. 

Details

Official Sites: Official site | Official Site [Japan]

Country: Japan

Language: Japanese

Release Date: 23 November 2018 (USA) 

Also Known As: Shoplifters 

Filming Locations: Japan 

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA: $89,264, 25 November 2018

Gross USA: $3,313,513

  

Synopsis: A single father tries to raise his daughter, who has cerebral palsy, even as she is beginning to wake up to her sexuality.
Review: Ram’s Peranbu is divided into multiple chapters, with each one alternately describing nature in the most glowing or loathing terms — Iyarkkai Athisayamaanathu, Iyarkkai Kodooramanathu, Iyarkkai Arputhamaanathu, Iyarkkai Aabathaanathu and so on. But that is how the life of the film’s protagonist, Amudhavan (Mammootty) is; for a while, his troubles seem to vanish only to reappear soon. Ram beautifully encapsulates this idea visually, by repeatedly us giving us shots of mist enveloping or lifting off from the lake by which Amudhavan resides during the first half of the film.

When the film begins, we see Amudhavan moving into a house by this lake with his daughter, Paapa (Sadhana), a spastic child. His wife has left him for another man, and he is forced to look after the daughter whom he has tried to avoid since she was born. Even as he makes attempts to bond with her, he realises that Paapa needs a female caregiver, especially because the teenaged girl is waking up to her sexuality. One moment, she is counting the stars, and the next, she is crushing over a star!

Right from his debut film, Kattradhu Tamizh, Ram’s protagonists have been flawed individuals engaged in a battle with society one way or the other. In Peranbu, Amudhavan is frustrated that society will not allow his disabled daughter to be in its midst, and takes her away to a place removed from human interaction. And when they are forced to return to the city, he has to deal with the yardsticks with which society looks at a special child.

Peranbu is filled with poignant moments. Like when Amudhavan tries to walk in Paapa’s shoes; his retort to a couple (Anjali and Pavel Navageethan) who has betrayed his trust; the conversation between him and an activist who works with sex workers; the reason that Meera (Anjali Ameer), a transgender sex worker, gives him for rolling down the window while they are in his car; the explanation a father (Poo Ramu) offers on why he prefers to have his son in an institution that abuses inmates rather than live with him.

We also get black comedy when Amudhavan ends up inviting a man to his house not realising that the woman he is living with is actually the guy’s wife. Even the name Paapa seems like a stab at dark humour, given that the movie keeps telling us that she is actually a girl who is turning into a woman right in front of her father’s eyes.


Then there are the performances. With his superbly nuanced portrayal, Mammootty puts across the sheer helplessness of Amudhavan. In a role that could have easily become a caricature, Sadhana strikes a fine balance between being showy and subtle. In a tricky role, Anjali makes us empathise with her character while debutant Anjali Ameer makes Meera a noteworthy one.

The technical crew also comes up with their best. Yuvan’s score hits the right emotional notes while Theni Eswar, as he did in Taramani and Merku Thodarchi Malai, comes up with visuals that wonderfully complement the narrative. 

Details

Official Sites: Official Facebook Page | Official Trailer

Country: India

Language: Tamil

Release Date: 1 February 2019 (India)

Also Known As: Peranbu See more »

Filming Locations: Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India 

Box Office

Budget:INR 70,000,000 (estimated)

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Super Deluxe Story: A couple try to dispose a dead body; a little boy gets a surprise when he meets his estranged father; a son discovers his mother’s other side; a religious man starts having doubts over his God… What connects these four stories?

Super Deluxe Review: Super Deluxe gives us four stories and the protagonists in each of these stories are tested in their beliefs in the strangest ways. For the married couple Vembu (Samantha) and Mukil (Fahadh Faasil), the situation in which they get into is a test of their marital relationship. It is a test of her love for her son for Shilpa (Vijay Sethupathi), a transgender who has come back to her family. For Arputham (Mysskin), who has survived the tsunami and found a new God, and Leela (Ramya Krishnan), a former porn star who is desperately trying to save her injured son, Soori, it is a test of their belief in God and humanity respectively. And there are also three lads who face a literal test of bravery.

Giving out anything more about the plot of Super Deluxe will ruin the fun and joy of experiencing something singularly unique. There is a heartless and horny cop, a quirky don, a publicity crazy politician, a greedy doctor, unwanted neighbours, a loyal Man Friday, and more in this crazy world that Thiagarajan Kumararaja has come up with. The performances are first-rate all around. Vijay Sethupathi’s Shilpa is a new high for the actor, while Fahadh and Samantha are instantly likeable. Mysskin and Ramya Krishnan are solid while the gang of boys are great finds. Then, there is Ashwath, who wins our hearts, and a cast-against-type Bhagavathi Perumal, who makes us want to murder him. There is black comedy, double entendres, swear words, WTF moments, political and social commentary, romance, sentiment and even a musing on what it means to be life on Earth. There is ambition, genius, and also a beating heart.

Details

Country: India

Language: Tamil

Release Date: 28 March 2019 (USA) 

Also Known As: Super Deluxe