HUNTERRR (A): Not all great foreplays ensure great climaxes! [2/5]

The stage/bed is set. Nicely decorated with all flowery elements, scented in the most arousing aroma and with dimly lit intense mood-making ambient! Charming players [more than you can imagine but essentially and effectively three in this case] have taken their pre-marked place. So far so good! You have all the control over the most before the drum rolls and the game begins; still no one can guarantee an orgasmic climax or even a smooth ride to make it a satisfying s-experience. First timer Harshvardhan Kulkarni’s ‘coming of age’ sex-comedy HUNTERRR is exactly like any love-making situation; you never know which side the camel will sit. Foreplay is just foreplay. It can’t replace the final act, no matter how skillfully it is being performed. Contrary to the myths, the extensive length doesn’t always ensure great pleasure. You may slower the pace, withdraw your force at regular intervals but the rhythm has to be there…and HUNTERRR lacks it. It is one of those failed sex-adventures where you were all set to lose yourself but it never happened the way you imagined.

Mandar Ponkshe [Gulshan Devaiah] has always been a sex-addict all his life. He’s been hunting ladies of all sorts since his young days. A college girl, an unhappy housewife in his building, a passionate sex-lover; the list is countless. But at 40, this is the age when he must get settled. His all ‘grown-up’ uncle-look is killing his charm. Tripti [Radhika Apte] - a modern girl who can unhesitatingly confess all her past affairs is his last bet to start a fresh. Can he put it on risk by telling her about his irrepressible compulsion to hit on any possible bait in saree, skirt or denims? Or will he be able to tame this wild animal in him for everyone’s good?

HUNTERRR promises not to be in the league of regular adult-comedies with lewd double-meaning dialogues and the objectification of women with their body parts shown on screen in the most abusive manner but at the same time, couldn’t hold itself from portraying its women characters as the dumbest class on earth. They can be easily fooled and brought to bed by any average looking-certainly ‘not so smart in his tricks’ guy. Why on earth there was not a single female who could bring him beneath her? Yet, some sequences sure work well with a catchy retro-feel soundtrack [Bappi Lahiri and Altaf Raja’s tracks are perfect to recreate the era] and an authentically designed middle-class settings playing the believable quotient in the final mixture. The young days in the plot are potent and fun. The characters are very much from the neighborhood.

Performances are a relief. They make you stay in the game though the ‘too much’ back and forth narrative style takes all the fun and excitement out of this cheesy looking film of great promises. Sai Tamhankar as the sensuously attractive housewife is perfectly cast. She is expressive, impressive and talented enough to pull it off like no one else could have. Radhika Apte is all about how confident, bold and clear Indian women are today. She brings an effortless and comforting performance yet a very radiant one. And then, the hunter himself! Gulshan’s charming looks and impenitently impish-scheming & teasing body language do it the way it should be. He may not be the typical hero with qualities to die for but sure there’s something in him inexplicable that makes you go with him all the way from start to end. He gives strong shoulders to rest this comparatively weaker film.

HUNTERRR also tries to speak for domestic sexual violence and new finds in modern age of marriages like compatibility and trust but it is all just some words at touch & go. Overall; it is not a sleazy but lazy, long but loose and ‘not so satisfying’ session. There’s always a next time and a more suitable position to try! [2/5]                 

HATE STORY 2: Rotten, regular & regressive revenge drama! [1.5/5]

What do you expect from a vengeance drama that has a woman as its main lead fighting for freedom, justice and right to live & love? At least to have a common courtesy to show the strength, sensibility and sensitivity of a woman in good light at the first place! Vishal Pandya’s HATE STORY 2 fails to remember this very simple logic even when the evil forces [Men, mostly] are not busy disapproving the very existence of this breed, equally responsible and possibly more reliable in the evolution of human race. So, the women here are seen being abused verbally & physically, portrayed as the sex-symbol and a powerless weaker sex pleading for her life. And when not, a ruthless killer with least traces of sensitivity and emotions in her acts of revenge! HATE STORY 2 is a rotten, regular & regressive revenge drama.

Sonika [played by Suvreen Chawla] is a trapped soul in nasty hands of a powerful criminal minded male-chauvinist politician Mandar Mhatre [Sushant Singh in his ‘Saavdhan India’ avatar]. He keeps a check on her regularly and fiercely accepts that he doesn’t care if she actually loves him or not. In hopes to taste freedom, Sonika finds a soul-mate in Akshay [TV Star Jay Bhanushali for the first time on silver screen] but the possessive captor decides to spoil the game if he’s not there in it.

Taking cues from its first part, HATE STORY 2 also relies on thrills and chills of same nature. Thrills based out of action and violence and chills from the sexual objectification of women. Though this time, the intensity is a bit low and driving force in the both lacks the charm to pull any of it better. Looking for logics in the events happening one after other is something foolish to even think of. The transition of Sonika from a horrified victim to a much stronger opponent and a cold-blooded slayer is extremely convenient, unreal and highly dramatic.

Surveen as the lead either screams like her guts out or just keeps her tone in a huskier region sounding like possessed souls in horror flicks from Bhatts. She sure knows the demands of a script and what to put in the showcase. I don’t blame her for that as one of women characters in the film states, “Hum auraton ko humesha karna padta hai”. Jay only impresses with his facial muscles especially when he’s lip-syncing a romantic number. I wish if making faces would make him eligible for any category of awards. Sushant Singh takes full control of all the overstated performances. His ‘baba kehte the’ quotes irritates and infuriates time and again. They all are very inhuman, anti-women and definitely age-old.

To wind up, HATE STORY 2 is a film that has nothing good to say. Neither a plot that is new nor an emotion that has been transported well! It is only meant to tease you and tickle in the lower part of your body to keep ringing the box-office a good amount of return. Avoid it! [1.5/5]        

MASTRAM: A satisfying session, far from being an orgasmic delight! [3/5]

The fact that I belong to Uttar Pradesh, the dregs of North India and the very same time zone; there can’t be any possible chance of denial that I might not know about these hugely popular & highly erotic writing materials, openly available at all book stores at crowded state bus-stations and local newspaper vendors under a fictional handle-name of Mastram. I never really bothered much about who’s the man behind and what force could drive him to enter this very exploitable yet offensive sector till Akhilesh Jaiswal’s fictional biography MASTRAM came into limelight.

A small town writer from Himachal Pradesh dreams to make it big as a novel-writer in big cities like Delhi. He definitely is aware of the consequences of being a writer so doesn’t want to get into married life but soon he’s told about the girl being a typical housewife material who can cook lip-smacking mutton, he agrees. Now, this is the era where most publishers are only interested in printing study materials and not some boring ‘shuddh Hindi’ literature. Rajaram- our protagonist is forced to look out for some ‘masaaledar’ addition to his stories, often explained by people around as sex. And, thus Rajaram turns into Mastram- an unknown iconic writer of soft-porn novels!

Many would look at it with expectations to be a pornographic movie that would tickle mostly the lower part of human body but the writer-director Jaiswal boldly decides to focus on the writer’s catch-22 situation while changing gears from one kind to a completely different, the pain of losing opportunity to be known and famous and also the categorical expansion that creates competition in his self-claimed province. Film also talks; if not in volumes, in suggestions for sure, about the hypocrisy of the two-faced society. People, who read him the most, start disgusting him in the same measure after his identity comes out in light.

The real hero of MASTRAM besides the fascinating concept is Mukesh Chhabra- the casting director of the film. This man does magic with his strong sense in reading the characters and finding out talents that can carry it more than what is written, briefed or expected. Though Rahul Bagga as Rajaram is very recluse, reserved and restricted for the most part, it’s the supporting cast that outshines everyone else in the crew. Debutante Tara-alisha Berry as his charming wife, Akash Dhaiya with his publisher partner and Istiyak Khan as his best friend are outstanding.

With aesthetically shot intimate sequences, hilariously erotic dialogues on the likes of the original Mastram bestsellers, nicely built plot and believable performances, if MASTRAM couldn’t take a deserving leap from being just watchable, it is only because it lacks more layers to the story with time and again getting repetitive especially with the episodic visualizations of erotic stories he pens down.

Overall, it is an entertaining effort to bring the legend of Indian soft-porn back on screen. Watch it to relive the era or to get a brief intro to this yesteryear’s guilty pleasure if you haven’t been fortunate enough to enjoy till date. Do not expect orgasmic pleasure but a satisfying experience is guaranteed! [3/5]         

RAGINI MMS 2: ‘Sunny’ side up! Horror gets low! [2/5]

So, how many more times exactly you want to see a possessed body [quite inviting in this case] tied in wooden chair-hanged in air, making screechy deafening sounds and one good Samaritan soul helping the needy with his/her own set of sacred chants tries to persuade the evil with, “Isse chhod do! Tum chali jao” (Leave her alone! Go away!!)? That too when we already have impactful exorcism scenes in numerous horror classics! With such plenty of ripped-off references from the past formulaic horror flicks; defined deliciously as ‘horrex’, RAGINI MMS 2 fails big time to chill your bones and ends up tickling your funny bones unintentionally with stupidity scattered allover and boredom that comes from the lack of originality in plot.

Taking clues from its previous part, RAGINI MMS 2 takes you back at the same haunted house where Uday [the Rajkumar Rao of now] has lost his life while implementing his sleazy idea to shoot his personal moments with his girlfriend Ragini [Kainaz]. Ragini is now in a mental asylum and an irritatingly over-excited filmmaker [Parvin Dabas hams like anything] wants to make a film on the same. In his explanation, this would be a well-balanced mishmash of horror and sex that will leave you in your best of confusion to either go to your mother in holy-scare or to your girlfriend to satisfy your urge for dirty pleasures. This is probably the most honest announcement for all the viewers as what to expect from it. Get confused and return unfulfilled with neither being a solid punch in the name of entertainment!

Film also has been written, as to rationalize and defend its main lead Sunny Leone’s past line of work and her way in to Bollywood. She interestingly plays herself in the film. And where everyone else in the cast & crew make comments on her real life (In one scene, the director of the film in the film reacts on her instinct to have some research before playing the character, “Research? Yeh Porno se Rituporno kabse bann gayi?”), she takes on everyone with an enactment of a fake-orgasm scene to make her point of it being all a part of one’s profession. For the rest, either she’s roaming around in her skimpy pieces of silken lingerie or being extremely physical with most (She was even made to kiss Sandhya Mridul for literally no reason to have enough justification). At best, it is a 2-hour long Sunny Leone showreel!

Talking about performances in such mediocre film would be wasting one’s time and effort but if anyone could really manage to pull it till the status of ‘likeability’, it is Sandhya Mridul. Cast as an animated starlet who adds an extra ‘s’ in each word she bound to speak, Mridul responsibly slips into the character and provides a couple of genuine laughs with her contagious flare of immense energy. Sunny looks astoundingly hot and does precisely what most would love to see her doing!

Overall, it is a bad follow-up to an impressively performed & directed first part which was again a rip-off from ‘THE BLAIR WITCH REPORT’ and ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY’. This one pays its tribute to ‘EXORCIST’ & ‘THE SHINING’ and many others in the most forgettable manner. Only for people with weak hearts and even weaker sense of entertainment! [2/5]

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB: A Sure-shot winner with Matthew McConaughey in his career best! [4/5]

Heroes born with superpowers are usually from other planets. Their actions are larger than life. They fight baddies in a very enthralling manner. They endorse macho-ism particularly in looks. But they are unreal, illusory and fictional. In reality, heroes rise and shine when & where least expected. And that makes reality always stranger than fiction.

Jean-Marc Vallée’s Oscar nominated biopic DALLAS BUYERS CLUB documents the arousing story of one such real-life hero Ron Woodroof in 80’s. An electrician by profession and a part-time rodeo cowboy by preference Ron [Superlative performance by Matthew McConaughey] loves & lives to get high on paid sex and sniffing drugs of all kinds. One such regular day, he collapses and wakes up on the hospital bed with a shocking affirmation of having AIDS and 30 more days to be in this world!

After much denial of the self-aggrandizer macho man inside, Ron decides to go with AZT- the only drug approved by FDA [Food & Drug Administration] and that too for testing purpose only with no proven positive results. Fortuitously, Ron encounters an illegal doctor who prescribes him a mix of protein capsule with drugs that are banned in America. With an improved health and a homosexual partner Rayon [Jared Leto in a terrific supportive role]; Ron forms a Club in Dallas city to help people like him who are misguidedly forced to take legalized AZT that only helps the moneymakers in the business. Combating with system one-on-one for the people infected and destined to die and also with AIDS, makes Ron a hero of his times. He dies 7 years after the first time doctors gave him a period of 30 days to live. Now, this is what the story of survival should be.

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB finds a good shoulder to rest-grow & rise in Matthew McConaughey. He loses his physical weight to fit the bill but never in what he means to project and portray. He’s confident, convinced and a 100% contributor as Ron. As if transforming his appearance dynamically wasn’t enough, he comes with an influential, inspiring and one of the most imperative performances this year. First his denial of the fact, then hard-to-stand acceptance and later in his fight against system, he’s there and how. Absolutely committed act! In others, Jared Leto supports well as Rayon- an HIV-positive transgender having golden but crushed heart seeking out love, acceptance and respect as a human. Watch out for the part where he returns back to his father asking some financial help for the club. One of the best performances in the kind and an applause-worthy!

Film scores big on one more front; the sensibility and the intensity of the subject. The screenplay doesn’t lose its grip on both. Ron himself was once misinformed and cynical about AIDS targeting only to homosexuals but later befriends with one of them and starts handing out pills for free. Neatly edited, intensely shot and exceptionally acted, this survival drama with social importance is worth spending your time on. Book your tickets now…or if an ‘Oscar winner’ tag would encourage you more, wait for the announcements; it is a sure-shot winner all the way! [4/5]

MISS LOVELY (A): ‘A’ grade film about ‘C’ grade Film Industry in late 80’s! Dark & disturbing! [3.5/5]

Much before the current ‘Salman-Akshay & now everyone else’ dominating world of non-sense action thrillers, existed the times of Bollywood’s guilty pleasures confidently called as ‘C-Grade’ films. The period when soft-porn sleazy horror flicks were considered the most profitable idea of mass entertainment. The period when ‘Ramsays’ were more a rage in show-business than ‘Benegals’ & ‘Nihalanis’. Ashim Ahluwalia’s MISS LOVELY takes you back to the very same fascinating era but in a very dark, disturbing, unsettling and highly absorbing tone.

Set in Bombay Film Industry of late 80’s, MISS LOVELY is an atmospheric tale of two brothers [on the suggestive lines of ‘Ramsay Bros.’] trying to make it large in a parallel running darker side of mainstream cinema that is destined to find its end in an illegal commercialization of sex & porn. Vicky Duggal [Anil George] alongwith his younger brother Sonu Duggal [Nawazuddin Siddiqui] makes movies with plump-chubby women of desire in ill-fitted blouses and blood-red lipsticks for clients who only bother about filthy exhibition of female body. These movies are in general those ‘extra reels’ that get added in between shows at single screen cinemas to give viewers maximum pleasure and their value for money.

Where Vicky is unabashedly passionate about making money through these movies, Sonu seeks a way out of all these filth and wants to make ‘ceretainly not with Kumar Gaurav’ but a romantic film. Soon he finds his leading and love-lady too in Pinky [Niharika Singh]- a small town girl with twinkled eyes. Rest is the series of betrayal, hope, dream and passion…all in a dim-lit dark shade.

Ashim Ahluwalia masters in soaking you in the not-so-lovely shocking world behind the curtains where C-grade films rule. The nuances and the settings are perfectly captured through lenses. The lighting sets the swing in moods from cheap flashy parties to excessively melodramatic & multi-colored shooting sequences and the shady-murky times of harsh rejection from reality. The soundtracks are varied, apt and interestingly engross. You can easily find the transition stage from subsequential in quality music pieces in movies to jazzy Biddu-Nazia Hasan eon of Music videos in 90s. Production-design succeeds well in recreating the atmos and the textured look of 80s.

Performances here are subtle, realistic and innate. Nawazuddin is known for the kind of acting his role demanded. He impresses with his honesty mixed with brilliance that never allows you to doubt on the standing of his character. Anil George though looks methodical & disciplined in most of his portrayal. Niharika Singh brings a breezy break with her innocence in playing a small towner.

This all can never be completed without making it loud & clear that MISS LOVELY takes on a world popular in mass but is not everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to an overall movie experience. It does have an arthouse movie feel with less dialogues, engaging but slow pace, lack of hardcore non-sense entertainment & anything that is regular and in routine these days. It is a film for cinema adults. [3.5/5]