Reviews

The third installment of the franchise is more like the second one rather than the first one. The storyline is decent but excessive action is at best distracting and at worst jarring. The action-focus is not a surprise but the over-the-top heroics just make it harder to stay with the story.

All actors are senior and seasoned and do their part well though there isn't much room left for acting given the non-stop action. Songs are sub-par and can't compare with the original movie's songs.

Although both Salman K & SRK are the same age, SRK looks a lot older - in his Pathaan character. Thankfully the old man is not romancing a young woman here. Emraan Hashmi has done a good job too.

An ad for sequel to War (Hrithik Roshan) is gratuitously appended to the movie. I thought ads were shown before the feature film - but whatever.

This is clearly not a spy thriller. I was not sure if this is an intended or accidental spoof or comedy. The R&AW chief behaves like clown rather than a top spy chief and the dialogs definitely point to a spoof. But alas, I later discovered that this was intended to be a thriller which ended up as an accidental comedy.

The story has some gratuitous additions in multiple places and dialogs are spoken well after you would expect them for the visuals in front of you. They have not left the slightest sense of professional script writing or direction. Most film workshop projects are done more professionally that this hodge hodge.

Maybe the movie is so bad that it can become a legend as a REALLY bad movie.

The story is just a sequence of violent scenes interspersed with SRK's overacting & corny scenes. First time we stopped watching after ~25 min. I did see the rest later alone but the remainder is no better.

Complete waste of time.

Action is worse than in Pathaan & SRK's overacting is painful to watch. Yes, there is novelty in makeup but that only adds to the over-the-top feel.

There is nothing redeeming in the movie - songs are forgettable, dance is unattractive. I think the producer/ director decided that they don't need much of a story if SRK is the lead but SRK's performance is perhaps the biggest negative about the movie!

Bollywood films often get criticized for copying foreign movies - especially Hollywood hits. Most such copy-makers at least make an attempt to copy with some fidelity. Those who copied this from Knives Out are so bad that they couldn't even copy properly!

They added their original trash to the copy and it stinks. They clearly have the swagger to imagine that they are adding great twists and some contemporary social "masala" (spice) but the result is an unintentional satire. It is a mystery movie that feels like a farce and its own parody at times. Maybe the music director for background score really captured the self-satire spirit as the villain dies in the end and cheerful music plays in the background.

I shudder to think what these writers would write in their original. Otherwise, the two stars are for the cast that suffered through acting in this trash - in consolation.

The Drishyam vibe is very apparent soon. The gloomy setting of Kalimpong is a world apart from Goa (or Kerala in the original Malayalam movie) and so is the story.

Kareena Kapoor is clearly to add glamour quotient. She is adequate but this is Ahlawat's show and he is superb. Vijay Varma does his part well as well but none of the three can make up for the nonsensical story by Sujoy Ghosh. Just as you finish most of the movie feeling like it simply lacks the soul of Drishyam, he makes it even worse by laying out what happened which leaves you even more dissatisfied. Without Ahlawat's phenomenal role, this would be 3-4 stars at best.

The movie started well and after the first 10 min, it was clear that it is not a mystery but rather a thriller. Initial narration and character building was promising but then it was mostly downhill. There were too much jumping across the timeline with sudden segways for different characters. That is a fine device if used sparingly but Vishal Bharadwaj has used it excessively which makes the story feel very choppy. Initial plot was probably based on some well known real stories of RAW agents. But in the second half, the writers have let their imagination run a bit too wild resulting in a hard-to-believe plot. Would a cabinet level minister go to some far off place on a foreign tour without any security detail? How would foreign agents operate with impunity in a place where sensitive foreign immigrants are resettled? Oh well, if you ask such inevitable questions, then the story feels very weak in the second half.

Actors have done a commendable job - especially Wamiqa Gabbi. Other actors like Tabu, Atul Kulkarni, Ashish Vidyarthi et al are very seasoned and natural as always and as expected. But Vishal Bharadwaj scores way below his high rating as a director.

What else can you expect from a Luv Ranjan film?

Ranbir - Shraddha romance, rich Punjabi family with all kinds of characters. Club songs, street song, wedding, engagement, goad-bharai - all usual trappings.

To show modernity, skimpy clothes, some premarital sex, regular breakups etc have to be there. No bad guys/ gals here - just different preferences and some light-hearted conning. Thankfully no violence / action which definitely earns an extra point or two.

Scenes in Mallorca, Spain are beautiful. Costumes are great too. Dance songs are well choreographed and accompanied by good but not great songs. Ranbir shines in both Romeo and emotional parts. Shraddha Kapoor is adequate though her character feels a lot shallower so she has less scope than Ranbir.

This is in the same category as "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety" and "Jug Jug Jeeyo" - more RomDrama w/ just a dash of comedy and a good helping of rona-dhona. Stirred well and served like bhel-puri. Tasty for a good change.

This is not a bad one-time (at most) watch - mostly due to Kiara Advani. First half feels super-ridiculous and is not engaging or funny. Most of the humor falls flat or doesn't really help the story.

The second half picks up pace but changes the character of the movie totally from a useless comedy to a mystery / thriller. Humor is mostly gone and now it engages you with a whodunnit. The revelation at the very end makes very little sense given the first half but then again, you are not supposed to look for logic, right?

This could have been a more engaging movie had the director decided to produce a thriller. It is ineffective as a comedy and the first half feels out of place and Govinda (Vicky's character) has to do a complete transformation which is also not credible.

All actors have done a commendable job - especially given the confused director who couldn't decide whether they were going for a comedy or a mystery. Kiara Advani - though in a supporting role, outshines Vicky Kaushal who has done a decent job. His character is just ruined by the director trying to straddle two genres.

This movie is so bad that it might become a cult classic. At times one might suspect that it is a parody like Om Shanti Om but alas it switches between a thriller and a parody effortlessly. So it is a parody of itself. Kind of like James Bond & Johnny English in one movie! Wow!!

There are numerous torture scenes in the movie but the real torture is what the director has performed on the audience. Action scenes are incredible because you can't believe them. Story too is incredible.

I expected better from Yash Raj Films at least but they too have descended the pit like other studios.

But don't worry - there is sequel planned.

This one is better than your average Bollywood masala movie where the good guys & the bad guys duke it out and then the audience is expected to leave satisfied when the good defeats the bad. Plot twist is interesting even if many of the ideas are far fetched. If you believe the unbelievable for sake of entertainment, then the performances will appeal to you. But I do wish the movie-makers had picked a non-give-away title.

Yami Gautam is of course an experienced actress and carries the movie on her shoulders. Shared Kelkar is great as usual in a small-ish role. Others are competent but not noteworthy.

Jeethu Joseph's sequel is phenomenal and deserves a 10. This too is gripping but Khan-Pathak duo's "adaptation" of the original screenplay has made it definitely worse. They have added the usual Hindi movie masala of a song & IG Ahlawat's visit's unnecessary drama (maybe to take advantage of Akshaye Khanna's abilities). To accommodate those additions, they have cut very relevant parts of the Malayalam version (which I watched in dubbed-in-Hindi form). Both the meetings with the writer & the watchman are reduced and that makes the ending fit less well than in the Malayalam version.

Unless you are a super-fan of Ajay Devgn or just can't stand dubbed versions, I would recommend the original one over this in a heartbeat!

The core story seems rather weak: really - what was the objective of the mission and was it even achieved in fact in history? The flow of the story is rather predictable - including the end which I did not like. But the performances by most actors make it worth watching - in addition to the usual patriotism and bash the villains factor!

Siddharth Malhotra has delivered as the lead. He fits the role like a hand in glove - as good as Akshay Kumar in Bell Bottom or Saif Ali Khan in Phantom or maybe even better! Parmeet Sethi & Kumud Mishra really excel in their roles and Zakir Hussain who had less scope is also great as usual. Heroine Rashmika M has limited scope but does well within that scope.

I would have preferred a sunnier end but that would have been unpredictable, right?

This film is not going to win any awards or show up on favorite lists. But it is also not as bad as some reviews indicate.

For me, the biggest weakness was the last FPS approach to cinematography in the finale action scenes. It felt like it was lifted from some common FPS game with little to no engagement with the story. Lots of violence, weapon switching and gore, it ruined what the movie had built up.

Contrary to some reviewer claims, Parineeti Chopra - the lead has done pretty decent job. Maybe a good looking female action hero is just not what those reviewers are comfortable with. Of course she is shown with unrealistic capabilities / luck but which lead action hero isn't? Supporting actors have done a very good job and they all fit well. Shared Kelkar shines in his role in particular - maybe the best performer of all.

I wish filmmakers would tone down solo action hero doing irrational and unbelievable acts and instead show a thoughtful action hero who behaves at least somewhat rationally. But alas, that is not how Bollywood scripts get written.

The film started out well and after ~45 min it felt gripping. But then some far fetched twists and protagonist actions almost ruined it and I felt like dismissing it as another not-at-all-believable plot. Instead of discontinuing, I somehow persisted and was rewarded with more far fetched but at least entertaining last third. The item song - Aap Jaisa added a some real Bollywood spice to the otherwise thriller/ action flick. The writers have indulged in fantasies but if you ignore a few weaknesses, you will get to see some entertaining dialogs & scenes.

As usual Ayushman K delivers a great performance and he is well supported by others who have far less of a role in the movie anyway. It is a different product from the run of the mill thriller.

If I hadn't seen the two original movies plus a more recent 3-season serial, I would have dismissed the character Jack Ryan as another dumb, shoot first, think later (if at all) Hollywood product to be ignored.

Effectively, they have removed Jack Ryan's brain and thoughtful approach to give you a yet-another-action-character that is forgettable.

The villain & their motive are also not credible. Maybe they just wanted some diversity among villains - at the cost of credibility. Anyway, most things in the movie make very little sense so it kind of fits the nonsense theme.

Stars like Costner & Knightley are sprinkled in the hope of hiding the fundamental weakness of the plot.

As usual Rajkumar Rao has done a great job of carrying this movie on his shoulders. Supporting cast has done a decent job as well.

Author & director have stretched the suspense to build up tension. But in the end, when the secret is revealed, it feels like a far-fetched & weak plot. Plus, the first mystery remains unresolved and presumably deferred to the sequel - that is REALLY uncool. SRK's Don did leave room for sequel but didn't leave a key mystery unresolved.

There are some woke homilies in the end - presumably added to discharge social responsibility (which is utterly abandoned by showing the main character smoking all the time).

Overall not bad given the weak revealed plot with more holes than a sieve.

Story & script writer deserves the "igNobel" prize for stupidity. Amateurish script & direction doom this movie from the start. Talented experience actors like Mithun & Zakir Hussain are completely wasted and earnest newcomers don't stand a chance.

Anil Sharma made this to launch his son but this rocket explodes on the launchpad destroying everything! I hope he never inflicts another movie on the world.

This movie just did not click for me. It started well but then slowed down & eventually became a drag.

Actors did their best and no complaints there. Maybe the script just did not click with me.

This is the first serial where I did not feel there was any "padding" - just to increase the number of episodes. I had to watch it in almost one sitting (with short breaks in between) due to a well-maintained pace.

The story is complex so it requires attention to understand & follow but all different strands come together in the end.

Another sign of maturity is that there are no purely good or bad characters. Each has his/her flaws and yet you can relate to most - even many of the negative ones.

Acting is very good - though in a few places accents are inconsistent.

Definitely recommended.

It is not a bad action flick given the lack of A-list cast. Less common plot & location makes it a one-time watch.

What I found interesting is that instead of taking attractive actors & actresses, they have gone for attractive male actors only while taking ordinary looking female leads. Sam Heughan has been paired with a rather unattractive actress & the other female lead too would not be noticed on the street.

This has the usual poor jokes that Rohit Shetty loves and the level of dialogs is juvenile (e.g. Dev aaya gun leke for Ajay Devgn's entry). But still this multi-starrer is entertaining.

Before the intermission, the movie is actually an interesting thriller but then turns progressively cheesier and from thriller to a not-funny comedy. I wish they had stuck the first part's theme & tempo.

AK is the lead and fun to watch. KK is attractive as usual & not required to do much acting (which is good). Ranvir Singh's entry marks the downward spiral of the movie. His Simmba role continues and is not really funny or thrilling. Jackie Shroff is impressive in his role and a relief from Rohit Shetty's corny dialogs and the usual distractions for communal harmony and what not.

Worth watching one time.

Pointless movie with a weird story, shallow characters. Just some random action based on an ill-described premise.

Good actors wasted and audience time destroyed. Two stars are for the efforts of the cast. Idea, script & direction deserve zero.

Not much to say. Time wasted. Not entertaining.

PSA: skip this, save time, avoid headache.

If you managed to get past the fake 10/10 ratings to pump up the show: It would have been a slow but OK show if it weren't for the moralizing tone of the show. If usual male bashing & making excuses for bad behavior by some women is what you want, then this is your show! See some non-fake reviews by going beyond the 10s & 9s - likely paid for by show's promoters.

No, this review does not contain a spoiler; amateurish direction contains it.

Good, nice story, short (1:17) movie, avoids distractions like songs and extraneous characters. Actors have all done a very good job and feel natural. Kudos to the team for pulling this off in Covid times. I have added an extra star just for their tenacity and dedication that allowed them to get this done in these trying times (Covid-19 outbreak is still raging as I write this).

Story does have some weaknesses (this is not a Neeraj Pandey movie) and slip ups but you can ignore them as this is just a movie. But the director has ruined the mystery by over-hinting. Even after knowing whodunnit, you still do feel like watching the movie to see how everything fits in place. But don't go expecting a mystery.