Minia's Mundane Musings

Mardaani 2 This is a must watch for those of you who are Rani Mukherjee fans. I am one and I really enjoyed it. She is in superb form and on screen after long, so it kind of settled my Rani-craving a little. All the necessary cop elements are present in this one. An honest cop, a superior who is ready to suspend her and a subordinate who is initially anti the brave and honest cop, but then redeems himself by helping out when it really matters. The story is one of a psychopath obsessed with a cop, as opposed to the genre where it is one brave and honest cop against an entire behemoth of corrupt politicians (do politicians really need adjectives any more? It's a given, isn't it?), and mafiosos. The story worked for me  because of Rani and the stupendous talent of the antagonist Vishal Jethwa. This 25 year old or rather young actor has been on television for a while now. His definition of the role is a complete credit to the writing and direction and also a testament to his own ac

Panipat  The people of my generation, must be remembering the days when we had newscasters like Salma Sultana and her ilk reading out the news like one would a checklist. I would often watch that news and a silent tick mark would appear in my head at the end of each of their sonorous comments. I had that same funny sensation whilst watching Panipat. The movie was just a spate of incidents strung together, and me having read the history of this particular battle avidly, kept feeling that the myriad collection of individuals who had scripted this movie were just ticking one check box after another. It is just a bland recitation of fact after fact, and somehow the grandeur that one associates with historicals was absent. In fact Lagaan had better sets than did Panipat. Gowariker must have known that comparisons to Bajirao were inevitable and given that this battle occurs just two decades after Bajirao's demise, this movie could be considered a sequel to that one, he should have been m

Knives Out. This was a very gripping movie in the style of Agatha Christie's whodunnits. It's pace is fast and sinister and one keeps guessing, but I for one was unable to sort it out in my head, till the grand reveal. It deals with the murder of a Head of the Family, who has potloads of money. Just like any good whodunnit, there are wild goose chases and dead ends and red herrings. But the writing is very, very good and ultimately it all concludes quite satisfactorily. Before I go on to the performances, let me tell you that I will pretty much watch anything that Daniel Craig is in. This one was no exception and I quite liked the way they put him in the shade(literally) and he still made an impact. It is a very Hitchcockian filming technique and you feel the mark of the actor by his absence. Daniel Craig is sensibly aware that there is more to life than being an agent with a License to Kill. Given what he is choosing to do these films these past years is a sure indication of a