Swapnilagarwal

'Mistry' is a scene to scene adaptation of the famous American series 'Monk', hence for those who have watched the original one, know who's the killer for each episode/ story!

MONK

• The seriws works for us as audience for the sheer vulnerability with sharpness, OCD with intelligence and gloom with playfulness displayed by Tony.

• His relationship with Sharona is so endearing and sparking, so is his friendship with officer Stottlemyer.

• Randy's character adds additional tickle to so many episodes.

MISTRY

• Coming to Mistry, only close adaptation at least from starking resemblance is the character of Monks psychologist Charles.

• Rest others are all not even caricatures of the original.

• Ram Kapoor looks anything but OCD patient. Any attempts here and there to look so appear forced.

• Sharanya's character lacks the zeal and charm of Sharona completely. She at max looks like a Kitty to Karamchand.

• The moustached Stottlemyer has been made to a smoker Mona Singh here, absolutely unnecessary change!! The male to female change in character doesn't add anything to the already weak characters rather plays down the mysterious camaraderie between Monk and his old police friend.

All in all, Mistry is a completely dampener for esp those who have watched Monk. Ram Kapoor isn't a Kay Kay Menon who nailed Sherlock Holmes character in its adaptation in Shekhar Home.

I found the movie bang on with many unknown untold stories about our unsung heroes beyond the overly revered gandhi and nehru. It does answer well lot of questions around whys and how's about VD Savarkar while of course busting several myths that were circulating about him till date. Hats off to Hooda for taking up this subject, choosing it for his directorial debut and literally wearing Vinayaks character across stages. Even the support cast is spectacular esp the actors who played his elder brother, Madan Lal Dhingra, Gandhi, Jinnah and many many more. It gets a bit sluggish in bits and pieces but overall successfully narrates a story we all deserved to know long back.

Another sports biopic, not just another one! In a world of more well-known faces of Milkha, Dhoni, Mary Kom & Sandeep Singh, here comes a flick that's based on 2 lesser known oldest women sharpshooters of the world. In many ways, 'Saand ki aankh' is different from the others of same genre - first, it's about not one, but two sportswomen; second, the choice of a lesser known story. In fact, I myself read about these wonder-women only after I saw the first trailer. Without delving into story-line, I would just share what I liked and didn't like about the movie: Yay:

• At so many points in the movie, one wonders, now what else will these ladies accomplish/ win! But then, they prove our vision myopic by showcasing the long list of taboos, rules, dominance of patriarchy and mindsets to be won and it's heartening to see the victories happen before your eyes!
• Debutante director Tushar Hiranandani is a revelation! Somebody who has a history of penning stories and screenplays of not so meaty flicks like Masti, Double dhamaal, Houseful 2 (and same day released Houseful 4), etc. was not expected to repeat a Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal). While Tushar keeps all characters grounded, the overall feel of the movie is credibly rustic and genuine - one actually feels traversing through the lanes of Baghpat (UP). Full marks to Balwinder Singh Janjua for the immaculate screenplay and Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti for the very plausible cinematography.
• The camaraderie of 'womania-gang' was heart-warming. No jealously, no arrogance, only common mutual goals - a true teamwork in every sense! The house-women solidarity reminds one of the likes of Mirch-Masala.
• Special mention of actors - Bhumi literally wore the soul and body of Chandro Tomar, be it the body-language or dialect. She has literally mastered this art since her debut in Dum laga k haisha, making her a method actor in every sense! Prakash Jha was literally unrecognizable yet highly convincing as the family patriarch. Vineet Kumar (Mukkabaaz fame) exuded ample sincerity required for his character.
• Dialogues by Jagdeep Sidhu are catchy, hard-hitting at places and suiting the mood of the film.
• Music by Vishal Mishra is one of the highlights of this movie - peppy, offbeat yet foot-tapping; fully carrying soul of the film! Lyrics are truly meaningful. Some songs do sound a bit similar to Gangs of Wasseypur numbers.

Nay:

• In an age of availability of impeccable prosthetic make-up, Saand ki Aankh failed to add much-needed age and antiquity to the lead actors. When a 28-year old Anupam Kher could look believable as a retired father in Saraansh, something similar was ideally expected here. Nevertheless, actors mitigated this flaw through their polished acting.
• Unlike Bhumi, Tapsee Pannu wasn't able to do full justice to the role of aged shooter daadi. In most part of the film, she looked more 'Tapsee Pannu' than 'Prakashi Tomar'.
• Shooting stadiums in India never get the occupancy and crowd as shown in the movie. However, this can be ignored as on-screen crowd only added to the vigor of the show!

Full marks to the producers - Anurag Kashyap, Nidhi Parmar and Reliance Entertainment to bet their money on a story like this. It takes guts to select offbeat faces for a not so offbeat subject and release it alongside a popular Houseful series movie. However, it was saddening to see empty seats in theater. Such movies definitely deserve a better treatment and much bigger audience. A must watch in theater!