Release Date : September 21, 2023
123telugu.com Rating : 2.75/5
Starring: Kareena Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma, Saurabh Sachdeva, Naisha Khanna
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Producers: Jay Shewakramani, Akshai Puri, Hyunwoo Thomas Kim, Shobha Kapoor, Ekta R Kapoor
Music Directors: Sachin Jigar, Shor Police
Cinematographer: Avik Mukhopadhyay
Editor: Urvashi Saxena
Related Links : Trailer
Starring : Ishaan Khatter, Ananya Panday, Jaideep Ahlawat
Directed by : Maqbool Khan
Produced by : Ali Abbas Zafar, Himanshu Kishan Mehra, Zee Studios
Music by : Sanchit Balhara, Ankit Balhara
Cinematography : Adil Afsar
Edited by : Rameshwar S. Bhagat
So, continuing the series of reviewing movies and shows during the lockdown period, our today’s pick is the Hindi film Khaali Peeli. The film is available on Zee Plex for pay per view format and let’s see how it is.
Story :
Blackie(Ishaan Khattar) is a young cab driver in Mumbai. His drivers’ union calls a strike but Blackie decides to run his cab. This does not go well with some of the drivers who confront him. Accidentally, Blackie stabs one of the drivers and runs away from there. On his way, he meets Pooja(Ananya Pandey) who is also on the run and is escaping the goons of a brothel house where she lives. She asks Blackie to save him and offers him big money. But Blackie decides to cheat her and gain more money from the goons. What happens in this course of a one-night car journey is the crux of the story.
What’s Good
Ishaan Khattar is the star of the film with his tapori slang and Mumbaikar gully boy look. He is the man who provides entertainment and his dialogue delivery brings a lot of humor in the film. Ananya Pandey is quite good when compared to her previous films. She looks beautiful and carries her role with a lot of ease.
The first half has decent fun moments and the humor generated through situational comedy is also neat. The narration is decent and has the audience engaged for the most part. Zakir Hussain and Satish Kaushik are decent in their roles. The film has some good night visuals and Mumbai’s crazy night life is shown well.
What’s Bad
The second half is where the film falls flat. As the film moves back and forth, this becomes a headache after a time. Also, the grip in the proceedings goes for a toss. Though the lead pair does well, there is no matter in the story and there is not much one can do.
Also, the manner in which the film is ended in a hurry also spoils the fun. The plot is a bit old and one can guess what is going to happen next in the second half. The so-called music and BGM by Vishal Shekhar is pretty bad and disappoints the audience. Though Satish Kaushik is good, his track looks forced and irritates the audience.
Final Verdict :
On the whole, Khaali Peeli is a mass masala film that has a decent first half but falters in the second. The situational comedy, lead pair’s performance are good but a routine story, irregular screenplay takes the film down in no time making it just a strictly okay watch. Give it a shot only if you have absolutely nothing to do.
Rating: 2.5/5
Starring : Neeraj Kabi, Gul Panag, Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhishek Banerjee, Mairembam Ronaldo Singh, Swastika Mukherjee
Directed by : Avinash Arun & Prosit Roy
Producer(s) : Clean Slate Films, Anushka Sharma’s banner
Cinematography : Avinash Arun, Saurabh Goswami
So, continuing the series of reviewing movies and shows during the lockdown period, our today’s pick is the latest Hindi web series Paatal Lok. Produced by star heroine Anushka Sharma, this series is available on Amazon Prime.
What’s it about?
In the heat of Delhi traffic, four criminals get caught red-handed fleeing the city. The news comes in that this group landed in the city to kill a famous TV journalist Sanjeev Mehra(Neeraj Kabi). The Delhi police select inspector Hati Ram Choudary(Jaideep Ahlawat) to crack this case. But as the web series progresses, Hati Ram comes to know that some of the biggest heads in the country are involved in this case. How does he crack the case forms the rest of the story?
What’s good?
Paatal Lok has a solid script and that is the main strength of the web series. The manner in which the story unfolds with each episode is riveting and has been executed in the best way possible. The back story of each of the criminals is shown in a gruesome manner. The detailing that has gone into the writing is on another level as every nitty-gritty of logic and how the whole media and political game played is shown in a terrific manner.
Jaideep Ahlawat gives his career-best performance. His slang as the Delhi police and how he fights alone to crack the case, the actor has showcased it in a solid manner. Abhishek Banerjee as Haotda Tyagi was brutal in his role. Gul Panag did her house wife’s role well. The caste-based politics in UP have been showcased well. Ishwak Singh as Ansari is also amazing in the series.
The web series has the best production values and looks so realistic. The BGM, camerawork, and props used are so real and effective. The series has 10 episodes and every episode is filled with crime and suspense which keeps you hooked till the end.
What’s bad
The story is simple but the way it is unraveled is a bit complex. If you miss a few scenes or an episode it is very hard to understand what is going on in the story. Things should have been simplified a bit for the common man to understand the proceedings a bit more easily. There is too much gore and is surely not for family audience.
Final Word :
Overall, Paatal Lok is one of the best web series that has come out in recent times. The writing, setup, performances, and execution is top-notch. All those who have an eye for investigative thrillers will just love this series. Barring the slightly complex narration in a few episodes, Paatal Lok is a must-watch during this lockdown. Don’t Miss it.
Rating: 3.5/5
