Don’t miss out: 5 extremely
Under-rated Bollywood Movies of 2017!
Another
year, and another hopeless Indian Masala Movie enters the 100 Crore Club or
embarks upon to the
so-called
Silver Jubilee (as called by the artists). Apart from the banality of the Hindi
movie, the same are the
scripts, the
same are the feigned item numbers, and the same are the actors who’ve proved
themselves
well (not to
say) by all the movies like Dabangg, Happy New Year, Ready & Dilwale (&
the list is endless).
Meanwhile,
amongst them also exists the movies that impart knowledge, screens sensibility
and as well
a few show
us the mirror of the society that do we live in!
Here's a
list of top 5 such Under-rated movies of 2017 which you definitely haven’t even
heard about:
5. The Ghazi Attack –
India’s first underwater War film that is commendable as
‘purely a work of fiction’; said by The Times of
India rating it an enormous 3.5 stars, tries to decode the mystery
behind the sinking of Pakistani
submarine PNS Ghazi during the India-Pakistan war of 1971.
Led by the rebellious Capt. Ranvijay Singh (Played by Kay
Kay Menon), his second-in-command Devaraj
(Atul Kulkarni) and righteous officer Arjun (Rana
Daggubati), S-21 is assigned a classified search mission
after sources tip-off the Indian Navy of a Pakistani vessel
infiltrating the Indian waters. Ghazi intends to
exactly target INS Vikrant (India’s aircraft carrier) in
order to reach East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) by
sea. What transpires between these two submarines once they
get a whiff of each other, is what forms
the story.
Given the scale, of his ambitious project and limited resources at hand, the
debutante director Sankalp
Reddy deserves some respect for making an engaging film. The
second half keeps you on the edge of
your seat as the submarines go head-to-head, firing
torpedoes while dodging and defending themselves.
Despite the hitches, this underwater thriller is a must
watch film. It leaves you in awe of the soldiers, who
gave their lives for their country.
4. Poorna –
Poorna is an incredible story, beautifully told: as reviewed
by Sarit Ray, Hindustan Times along with an
unbelievable ratings of 4/5 to the incredible movie.
Poorna isn’t just a story of human ambition. It is also a
story of the friendship of Poorna and Priya
(cousin of Poorna) – with its joys, grief and inspiration.
It is their dreams that fuel her & the inspiration
to be the girl who can achieve anything and everything. As
she runs endlessly in Darjeeling, trains nonstop,
goes from tiny village to might mountain.
This subplot lends the story its heart, and makes it
relatable.
Also, Bose’s strength as a director lies in keeping it real.
Returning to a directorial capacity after 16
years, Rahul Bose recognizes the beauty in simplicity and
uses it to the film's advantage. Grounded
performances combined with stirring music raised this
relatively uncomplicated tale, making it
essential viewing not only for the young Indian woman, but
for anyone looking to scale great heights
against all the odds in her way.
It would have been easy to turn this into a
hyper-celebratory saga, or a cynical takedown of rural
governance. But Bose handles poverty, neglect, and high
emotion with swiftness, and a total and
delightful absence of melodrama.
Instead, he angles the story itself so that it shines a
light on issues like rural neglect, poor schooling, and
corruption, with moving effect.
Poorna shows you that incredible stories can be told simply.
Bollywood should adopt & begin to learn
from that.
3. Haramkhor:
Appears to be called as a “Reflection of the daily life” at
the cinematic screens has attained an
unbelievable rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.
Shyam has a volatile temper, and beats up adolescent girls
in anger. He tries his best to fool his wife
(yes, he is married) but is also conscious of his ‘sins’.
It’s a complex narrative: Semi-urban Indians dealing
with the loneliness of their lives, looking for the shortest
way out. Societal fear is probably the most
potent tool for keeping things from falling apart. As is the
case in most of mofussil India, policemen are
regarded with dread. But even that doesn’t stop Shyam from
taking advantage of Sandhya.
Siddiqui is at his deceptive best. He plays a sexual
offender to perfection, but you can’t judge him
instantly. Your opinion of Shyam may change if the
government decides to lower the age of consensual
sex to 15.
Sharma smartly weaves the story from the perspective of two
kids who study in Sandhya’s class. They
are fast losing their innocence, but then, they were never
supposed to remain immature – at least not in
circumstances such as these.
Brave and original, Haramkhor walks along the edge of a
cliff. One tiny mistake and it could have been
pronounced morally twisted. Some may call it immoral even
now.
2. A Death in the Gunj:
A Death in the Gung, the Directorial Debut of Konkana Sen
Sharma.
A film that on the surfaces is a thriller set in Bihar.
Making the eight-hour drive from “Cal” — short for
Calcutta — to the gracious home of Auntie (Tanuja Mukherjee)
and Uncle (Om Puri) in the Gunj in Bihar
province are their controlling son Nandu (Gulshan Devaiah),
his attractive wife Bonnie (Tillotama
Shome), and their whiny eight-year-old daughter Tani (Arya
Sharmav). Also along for the ride are
Nandu’s quiet nephew Shutu (Vikrant Massey), a introvert
19-year-old student with some secrets, and
sexy minx Mimi (Kalki Koechlin, “Margarita With A Straw”), a
friend of Bonnie’s with a concealed
agenda.
.He’s the one that domineering Auntie commands to run
various chores, while Nandu and Bonnie
apparently expect him to look after Tani at all times.
Shutu himself appears more cosy with the small girl than
with the noisy, teasing adults, despite
his wistful glances toward Mimi, who is rekindling an affair
with Nandu’s arrogant, hot-tempered friend
Vikram (Ranvir Shorey), even though he is a newly married.
While Shutu’s main secret is not disclosed until later in
the film, we soon get to know that his father is recently
deceased and he still grieves for him. His mourning gives
him a peculiar outlook on death, afterlife and
ghosts, which renders him vulnerable to a mean séance joke
played by Nandu and Vikram that proves
eerily prescient.
One particularly significant revealing scene involves a New
Year’s dinner to which Vikram brings his new bride
Purnima (Promila Pradhan), a traditionally dressed girl with
a glorious singing voice, who is wearing
the ancestral anklets gifted by Vikram’s mother, the
daughter of a local Nawab. As Mimi drinks in the
distinction that unrelate her from her rival, she overdoes
it with booze, smoothing the way for a
seduction she will come to repent.
Although Sensharma seems confident behind the camera, she
directs her cast of name actors at too high
a pitch.
1. Trapped:
‘Shaurya’ (Rajkummar Rao) force himself to be brave enough
to do something (pun intended) to stay alive after he
accidentally locks himself up in his new rented flat in a
desolate Mumbai high-rise, for around a
week. To make things worse, his phone battery dies and since
the building is devoid of residents,
electricity and water or food supply, Shaurya must take
extreme measures to survive this unexpected
nightmare.
‘Trapped’ centers on one man’s fight for survival. He is not
on a deserted island (‘Cast Away’) or an
isolated canyon (‘127 Hours’) or an ocean (‘Life of Pi’) but
in a Mumbai flat, right in the heart of
a easily crowded street. Driving this one-man show is a
terrific Rajkummar Rao, who allows the film to
solely feed on his character’s despair. His ability as an
actor to portray this ordeal is astounding.
Geetanjali Thapa is pleasant.
However, given the nature of the storyline, ‘Trapped’ does
test your patience after some time. You also doubt
the protagonist’s intellect and sanity. Why would you rent a
flat from a unsure agent, in an empty
building? A few occurrences seem implausible. How come even
fire doesn’t draw any attention?
Nonetheless, the mounting tension makes you overlook these
flaws and a bloated run time. ‘SH**
happens’!
But, well said. A psycho-thriller movie it is.
Not to forget some more inspiring & commendable movies
for all movie-bluffs out there.
Do Watch: Anarkali of Aarah, Irada, Mukti Bhavan & the
Hindi Medium for sure!
(You can leave more suggestions, they are always welcomed :D
)
Who knows, it might enlighten your way of thinking too!
