Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime (Season 2)

Hollywood movies, tv shows on a specific genre of drama, comedy, horror, cops, espionage, etc have similar plot lines. The originality of the story telling and the cast makes a difference of it being a hit or flop.

Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime is no different. Based on espionage, it follows the life of Jack Ryan an analyst who finds himself on the front end of it.

The first season had made its impact but the second one left a lot to be desired.

It takes Jack Ryan to Venezuela where his ex boss and senator gets killed in an ambush. He hunts to find the killers and to unveil the conspiracy behind it.

The beginning of the series was good, hoping there were going to be more twist than what meets the eye. Then again it was not meant to be.

James Geer, Ryan's ex-boss also end up there but apparently has a heart condition which his new boss is not aware of. This is a gap as being a field officer, health conditions must be duly noted.

The CIA station officer takes matters in his own hands and helping out Jack & James felt like inspired from Bollywood movies as one can see such things happening but Hollywood series, I don't recall. It depicts a very poorly written plot.

What we saw is what we got. It was very clear who the villain was but the story raises a lot of gaps which are quite evident.

A US senator gets killed in a foreign country and there is no action from the US government and no coverage on how the situation plays out. It was treated like its normal business and no hue and cry raised.

The intrusion of US in another country's affairs as in giving in an acceptability that its okay to do so. This again has international repercussions in the world politics but there was again no view point shown by the story writers.

These are glaring gaps which impacts the show season 2 story plot. The story writers could have come with a better story line.

John Krasinski as Jack Ryan does a decent job. Wendell Pierce plays out his character well of James Greer

The series is unable to keep you glued as a viewer with the predictability of knowing what will happen next. Then it becomes difficult to watch remaining episodes.

I am disappointed with the season 2 as expectations were high with season 1 which had good reviews but turned out to be a blip.

You can certainly watch it as a one time but don't keep your expectations high.

You can avail books based on Jack Ryan below.

The Hunt for Red October (A Jack Ryan Novel)
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Books 1 - 3
Threat Vector

Joker

The world of comics be it Marvel or DC Comics have come out from the pages of comics onto the screens of theaters long time back.

Marvel hit its big time gold with the MCU movies, while DC was not left far behind albeit with less number of characters with the likes of Batman & Superman  making most out of it.

By far, the most remakes that has been made from the DC comics stable has been of Batman and Superman. The Dark Knight series surely one of the finest series that has made its mark with the audiences.

We have always seen movies made on the comic books hero, went on from being an ordinary person to becoming the super hero meant to be. How many of them you remember have been made on the villains?

The numbers can be counted on the finger tips.

When a movie like Joker is released, it offers us the rare glimpse on the other side of a person on earth who have decided to make it their hell. We have seen Gotham's cape crusaders now its time for the enemy to steal the limelight.

The movie gives us a peek into the journey of  Arthur Fleck from being the clown to becoming the Joker, Gotham's dreaded criminal.

When we talk about the character of Joker, Heath Ledger names pops up and his performance certainly makes an uphill task for anyone trying to fill his shoes. Jared Leto did played the Joker's character in a minuscule role in Suicide Squad movie.

However, for this movie it was actor Joaquin Phoenix who essayed the character's transition from happy face to clown face.

Arthur Fleck the clown tries to put on a happy face. Trying to make the world smile around him even when he his not. His inner demons getting the better of him, but he is trying to come on top of it by ensuring that he takes his medications, has a job and takes care of his loving mother.

The movie gives a glimpse of his struggles to lead a normal life, his dreams, desires.

However all he got was despair and setbacks one after another leading him to take matter in his own hands to decide the outcome of his fate.

The movie pace has been a bit slow through out even though it did manage to create an excitement in the climax but could not deliver. In a way, the movie is very understated.

The whole movie is about Arthur's transformation into Joker in its various phases. The story appears weak  as it only revolves around the Arthur's character and Joaquin acting prowess has been the only saving grace.

The tempo of the movie never picked up even in the climax when there was a blip.

The direction of the movie Todd Philips keeps you on a leash but the story does not. This could have been great if it was written with a tight story.

The only thing going for the movie is Joaquin Phoneix

Towards the end of the movie, we could see Arthur becoming the Joker but it never evokes any response as a viewer. We knew it was going to happen but the treatment given to the movie left one yearning for more.

When one looks at the earlier representation of the Joker's character played on the screen, one can see it witty even when running amok. This one leaves you in a gloomy state of mind.

Watch it only for Joaquin acting abilities.

Its a one time watch.

Bard of Blood (Netflix Web Series)

The Bard of Blood web series has been released on Netflix. Espionage seems to be the theme these days for web series. Recently we saw the Family Man web series on Amazon Prime on similar lines.

Before reviewing the web series, would like to add that the web series on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, etc are considered to be a niche segment for an audience who have moved away from the idiot box (television shows). 

The segment is still in an infancy stage, given that the number of Hindi web series is yet to hit good numbers compared to the English ones running across all the platforms. The makers need to realize that the Indian audiences have really matured up and knows the difference between a good and bad web series especially the nitty gritty of the story plots. We can see through that. Since we are still growing, expect that the makers start doing a good job on it.

Coming to the Bard of Blood, given the India Pakistan simmering tensions currently going on, the series seems to hit the right areas.

The series is based on the book by the same name written by Bilal Siddiqi in the year 2015 and also credited as writer for the series.

This is a 7 episode series starring Emraan Hashmi as the lead actor playing the role of Kabir Anand who has been dismissed from the agency and now being contacted by his ex boss Sadiq Sheikh (Rajit Kapur) to go on off the book mission to rescue four Indian agents trapped in Pakistan as they have got hold of secrets useful to India.

Before the mission could even begin, Sadiq is found dead and then began a game of cat and mouse.

One of the good thing of this web series is the way they have been able to maintain the continuity and keep you engaged. Every episode ends with you wondering what will happen next?

The focus on keeping it minimalistic, having only one plot and no subplots worked out great. Everything is weaved well within the series.

However, there are some very glaring loopholes/gaps in the plot that is hard to miss.

Isha Khanna's (Sobhita Dhulipala) disappearance. Seriously if you are working in an intel agency and don't turn up at your work, is that not noticeable? They way it has been depicted is really poor.

On top of it, there is no action on part of the Head of the agency when he comes to know she is in Balochistan in an off record mission. He knows nothing about it and does not even attempts to know, implying that he assumed its a rescue mission for the agents captured. No explanations asked for!!

The best part was the connectivity of the data card in the remote areas of Balochistan using a stolen laptop. if they can get such good connectivity then why did the four agents visited a cyber cafe to upload data? They could have done the same thing and not get caught.

The Agency Head seemed completely clueless about his role. His second in command is dead, comes to know Kabir and Isha are in pakistan and does nothing. I am not sure if the writers gave a thought to his character which they should have, given head of the agency.

The funniest scene was perhaps when they were at the oil pump station surrounded by pakistan forces and Isha was taking cover behind a metal crisscross fences. She along with Veer (Vineet Kumar Singh) were also taking their shots through them. This was so genius that reminded me of the South movies scenes or should I say Mithun Chakraborty scene taking cover behind a cycle. I hope the makers were not paying a tribute!!

The chase of Isha behind the Taliban's leader convoy has to be the dumbest scene to be scripted. You are in middle of a desert chasing a convoy and she gets caught, seriously!! If she maintained a distance of a mile too she would have know where they were going. There were no other cars in between...

Kabir finding the Royal Enfield Himalayan in the midst of the desert takes the cake.

The good part of the series is its ability to keep attention of its viewers on the screen. The climax of the season one was somewhat of an anticlimax. There was no mention of agents captured revealing the secrets for which the mission took place. On top of it information of attack finds them instead other way round, does not makes the agency look good. The ending was predictable.

Emraan Hashmi had the same expression throughout the series, not sure if that's a good thing or bad. Rajit Kapoor was impactful in a small but meaty role. Kirti Kulhari also did a good job. Sobhita Dhulipala could not do justice to her role. Sahiba Bali stood out in her minuscule role. Vineet Kumar Singh, Jaideep Ahlawat & Abhishek Khan did justice to their respective roles.

Despite the flaws in the series, one can navigate through them through a tight direction from Ribhu Dasgupta. The writers surely could have done a better job by getting hold of the loop holes/gaps which could have made these 7 episode series more fine.

Bard of Blood is recommended as as a watch as mentioned for its hold to maintain his narrative, continuity and yes the suspense throughout the series.

Do watch it.

The Family Man (Amazon Prime Web Series)

With the success of Sacred Games, Mirzapur and other web series, viewers are always on the look out for web series on Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc to see which one does better.

Amazon Prime has come up with The Family Man web series. Very interestingly the trailer of the series was introduced in the month of september while Bard of Blood series of Netflix which again looks to have similar plots (as per the trailers) was running from august month onward.

Was this intentional or not only time will tell, the Bard of Blood will be released on sept 27.

Coming back to The Family Man web series, the story plot is about an undercover analyst who has to circumvent certain attacks from taking place and prevent the inevitable India Pakistan war.

The main character is played by Manoj Bajpai namely Srikant, a senior analyst. He is seen back on the screen after ages. He has a loving family, his wife Suchitra (Priyamani) and two children Atharv (Vedant Sinha) & Dhriti (Mehal Thakur).

Only his wife knows about his real job, while the kids think their father works in a government cushioned job and too polite to stand up for himself.

He also has a sidekick by the name of JK (Sharib Hashmi) and a rookie Zoya (Shreya Dhanwanthary) for support.

It was a normal day when Srikant and his team were suppose to interrogate two criminals Moosa (Neeraj Madhav) & Asif (Dinesh Prabhakar) and share their report to higher authorities.

Then again things were not meant to go this way as it was the start of the roller coaster ride that would lead them to the bigger plot of an impending attack on the Indian soil.

Even as the main plot was on the works, their were other aspects of the story too, like the exploration of the husband and wife relationship, daughter's attempt of giving into peer pressure, wife's closeness to another guy (Sharad Kelkar) and the divine work-life balance.

As one goes through the complete series, it leaves a lot to be desired. There were some very obvious glaring loop holes which are hard to miss. One has to actually wonder if no one thought of correcting it given that it was a web series.

The sex scene was anything but sensuous. How can someone with needle inserted in hand for drip move his hand so freely? We surely have a lot of work to do to iron out such small details. I hope they were able to fool the viewers.

The way Moosa's real identity was discovered leaves you speechless. If one has seen espionage movies/tv shows/web series there are better ways to execute it.

This is perhaps the only web series wherein the Indian government is getting in touch with Pakistan government and sharing intelligence in order to prevent the attack from happening in India. If only this could be happen in reality...

There seem to be no direction when it came to highlighting other aspects of the story. The intend was there but sadly no execution. Not enough screen time given to build on it or connect with the viewers. It was a case of hit & miss. Perhaps 10 episodes were too less to show it all.

The direction of the series by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. who incidentally happens to be the writes too along with Suman Kumar could have done well. There were certain scenes which seems to be abruptly moved on to the next scene.

Editing could have been better. For example the son finding his father's gun and hiding it under the pillow of the sofa even as both the mother and daughter make their way to home. Then out of the blue to cover it up, in another scene he informs his father about his gun but does not asks what he was doing with it. Nor their is much reaction on the father side if the son could have killed himself with the real gun. The writing, direction & editing falters..

Manoj Bajpai has been good in his role, so did Gul Panag who stood out in a small role. Priyamani, Sharad Kelkar & Dalip Tahil were not given enough screen time for their performances to do justice. Neeraj Madhav stood out in his villainous role.

The climax of the series could have been done differently but then again there could be more than meets the eyes. As suspense is still maintained if the attack is successful or not.

The series has its moments, then again it fails to get you on a high. Hope the second season is a learning.

Its a one time watch.

Gully Boy

Toh kya bolta hain Bantai? Toh kaise lagi movie?

Kya abhi tak dekhi nahi, review ka intezaar kar rahele the. Pehle bolne ka tha na.

Sirf tum log ke liye yeh review. Phir batane ka haan, picture dekhi ke nahi aur kaise lagi.

Yeh review bhi hindi main hoga apne panter ke tarah. Kya hain apne bhai log aur unki bhene ko bhi samaj main aana chaiye na.

Yeh kahani hain apne Murad (Ranveer Singh ) Bhai ki. Bolne ke liye college ka londa hain. Par apne haal ka bayan kya kare. Abba (Vijay Raaz) jo ke ek driver ka kaam karte hain, jawan beta ko chod ke khud hi dusre shaadi kar aate hain.

Ek toh dharavi ka chawl aur us chote se ghar main badtee abadi. Us waqt sirf NAS rapper ke gaane aur kavita likhne ka shauk uske chupe dard ko rahat deti the.

Bhai ke dost bhi the Moeen (Vijay Verma) aur Salmaan (Nakul Sachdeva) jinke saath woh TP (timepass) karta tha.

Par apna bhai bhi kuch kum nahi. Uski ek girlfriend bhi thi. Woh bhi school time bole toh ek dum long term relationship. Naam uska Safeena (Alia Bhatt). Par kiski afat se kam nahi. Bana hain use surgeon. Dimag ka shot kiya toh sirf hi phod deti hain. isse bachke rahena kyuki woh aati hain "handle with care" ke saath.

Dil ke kashmakash chali rahi the, ke Abba apne tang tudwa bhete aur bheja apne Murad bhai ko apni jagah naukri. Driver ka beta driver hi hoga kya? 

Par apne bhai ka time anne wala tha. College ke festival main usko mila MC Sher (Siddhant Chaturvedi) jiske sangat ne bhai ke life ich badal dali. Bole to ek gaana nikala "Mere Gully Main" suna toh hoga. Uske baad kya peeche mudke bhi nahi dekha.

Par taqdeer toh apne paate bheecha rahi the. Apne abu ka ghar chod diya toh khane ke lale ho gaye. Ateeq Mamu (Vijay Maurya) ke yaha naurki kar li. Ab ghar sambale yea apna junoon, kaise yeh majboori hain.

Kya lagta hain apna bhai kya karega. Aur toh aur apne NAS bhai bhi Mumbai aa rahe the jiske show main perform karne ka chance bhi milega. Par kya yeh ho payega?

Yeh jaane ke liye toh picture dekhne padegi na, haan bacchi.

Iske gaane bhi kamal hain, Aur apne India ke rappers bhi apna kirdar nibha the hain. 

Picture ki direction, script aur dialogue baazi ek number hain. iske cinematography ek dum awaal hain, Jay Oza ka naam bolna zaroori hain.

Picture ekdum hard hain. Bole toh itne level pe connect hota hain ke kiya bolu. Zoya Akhtar aap toh chaa gaye. Har ek kirdaar ko  screen time diya hain aur sab ek se ek ubhar ke aate hain.

Chaiye woh Vjiay Raaz, Vijay Verma, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Amruta Subhash aur baki, bas fad dala.

Ranveer aur Alia toh picture ke sitare hain jinke bagair uske chamak ojhal ho jayegee. 

Yeh picture apne Divine aur Naezy rapper bhai ki zindagi se prabhavit hain.

Yeh picture toh dekhna banta hain. 

Ek dum hard!!

P.S.: Could not post earlier, was not keeping well :(