Monthly Archives: April 2016

Movie Review: Baaghi (2016)

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BaaghiEntertainment Factor: 3.5 Stars (out of 4)
Quality Factor: 1 Star

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Baaghi‘s sheer ineptitude is its greatest asset. It assembles a hodgepodge of movie cliches into something inadvertently hilarious.

Right off the bat, the movie hints at the stupidity to come. A henchman, Biju, enters the lair of the villain, Raghav (Sudheer Babu). “We found her,” Biju declares, handing his boss…a magazine with a woman on the cover?! Either Biju is the world’s worst detective, or this woman is the world’s worst at hiding.

Probably the latter. The woman is Siya (Shraddha Kapoor), who has some sort of disorder the film chalks up to spiritedness. Siya giggles whenever it rains, and she yells at the clouds when it stops. This is her entire character.

Despite being a mental lightweight, Siya’s beauty charms two men for whom nothing must matter but looks: Raghav and Ronny (Tiger Shroff), a standard issue Bollywood man-child brat whose overwhelming character flaws are forgiven because he’s cute.

In a flashback, we see Ronny fall in love with Siya on a train journey south to Kerala. She’s visiting her grandmother, and he’s joining a martial arts academy. He arrives at the academy bearing a note from his dad, who’s basically Chappy from Iron Eagle: “By the time you read this, I’ll be dead.” The head of the school is Chappy’s former comrade, and the note begs the headmaster to turn butthole Ronny into a decent human being.

There is no indication that Ronny knows or cares that his father is dead.

Raghav falls for Siya on the same train trip, despite never actually talking to her (which explains everything). She has no clue who he is. In addition to being the head of an international crime syndicate based in Bangkok, he’s also the headmaster’s best student… and son!

While Ronny romances Siya and gets Miyagi’d into shape by the headmaster, Raghav bribes Siya’s piece of crap dad (Sunil Grover) for her hand in marriage. A bunch of stuff happens that drives all the characters apart and out of Kerala, leading us back to the start of the film, with Raghav “finding” Siya and kidnapping her.

Siya’s piece of crap dad pays Ronny to rescue Siya, a job Ronny only agrees to because he needs the money to — I shit you not — pay for surgery to help a mute little boy speak again. The mute boy can only say, “Ya ya,” which he does all the freaking time. The surgery is only mentioned once, with zero followup.

During a fight scene, the boy gets thrown about in the best cinematic instance of child-tossing since Gunda‘s Shankar tossed his adopted daughter to a monkey. There’s also a shootout at a quarry, again evoking Gunda imagery (as does all of the terrible acting and plot construction).

Speaking of evoking other movies, director Sabbir Khan and writer Sanjeev Datta boiled down the entire plot of The Raid: Redemption into one 14-minute-long action sequence. They did it so ham-handedly that the producers of The Raid took the producers of Baaghi to court. Make no mistake, the sequence is a total ripoff.

But that’s all Baaghi really is: a collection of elements of other movies awkwardly stapled together into an amateurish scrapbook. At times, the formula yields unintentionally hilarious results. Siya and Ronny make it onto a descending elevator seconds before Raghav, so what does Raghav do? He grabs a firehose and John McClanes it out the window to beat them to the ground floor!

There are many other golden moments that need to be seen to be believed, and the climax is a thing of botched beauty. Watching Shroff struggle to emote is likewise entertaining. Kapoor — who has it in her to be better than this — does nothing to help him.

Baaghi‘s worst moment is an alleged comedy sequence in which a blind cabdriver played by Sanjay Mishra molests a woman because she is Thai and wearing a miniskirt. It highlights a nasty strain of ethnocentrism in the film, which repeatedly belittles East Asian cultures. Another example is the atrocious wig the filmmakers force upon Kazu Patrick Tang, Bollywood’s all-purpose “East Asian bad guy.”

Still, it’s hard to take anything too seriously in a movie this dumb. If you’re delighted by misguided failures, Baaghi is for you. If you want to see an actual good movie, watch The Raid: Redemption.

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Opening April 29: Baaghi

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Tiger Shroff’s sophomore effort, Baaghi, hits Chicago area theaters on April 29, 2016. The action flick co-stars Shraddha Kapoor.

Baaghi opens on Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 15 min.

Fan carries over for a third weekend at all of the above theaters, plus the Regal Gardens Stadium 1-6 in Skokie and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge. The South Barrington 30 also holds over Ki and Ka and Kapoor & Sons.

Other Indian movies playing in the Chicago area this weekend include:

Movie Review: Waiting (2015)

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Waiting3.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Waiting was the closing night film at the 2016 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.

Writer-director Anu Menon presents an unvarnished look at the lives of those with seriously ill loved ones in the smart drama Waiting.

A young wife, Tara (Kalki Koechlin), finds herself in the southern city of Cochin after her husband is injured on a work trip. The husband, Rajat (Arjun Mathur), suffered serious head injuries and lingers in a coma while doctors wait for swelling in his brain to subside.

Alone in a strange city at night, Tara turns to the only other person in the hospital cafeteria for comfort. Retiree Shiv (Naseeruddin Shah) can sympathize with Tara’s situation. His own wife, Pankaja (Suhasini Maniratnam), has been in a coma for eight months following a stroke.

Shiv patiently talks Tara through the torrent of emotions she’s experiencing: disbelief, anger, depression. He’s been through them all himself. Looking past Tara’s short temper and foul mouth, Shiv sees in her the daughter he and his wife never had.

Being together gives Shiv and Tara something they both need: a way to relieve their boredom. Having spent my fair share of time in hospitals in recent years, I can attest that the predominant feeling is not panic or sadness, but tedium. Everything happens slowly. Answers are vague and in short supply. The chairs are uncomfortable. The walk to the cafeteria isn’t nearly as long as you wish it would be to kill all the time you have on your hands.

Palling around gives the two spouses something to do. Shiv explains to Tara that her duty is to take care of herself while the nurses take care of Rajat. But time spent together allows them to put off answering the terrible question of what their own lives will be like if their spouses never wake up.

Dr. Nirupam (Rajat Kapoor) is the surgeon responsible for the well-being of both patients. His instincts are often correct, but he finds it expedient to project an air of confidence regardless of his level of certainty. He’s not exactly compassionate.

It falls to Dr. Nirupam to have a frank conversation with Shiv about Pankaja’s quality of life. The doctor says, “You have to ask yourself, what would she want?” Shiv replies, “She would want to get better.”

Sometimes people can’t get better, and the film addresses the challenge of accepting that fact. Menon doesn’t try provoke a reaction from her audience, instead presenting her characters in a natural way that sparks the audiences’ empathy. It’s sad without being melancholy.

Both lead actors are so strong in very different ways. Shah’s character is easier to sympathize with, but Koechlin makes Tara likeable and relatable, despite her brash exterior. Kapoor is solid as the film’s equivalent of a villain: a man who’s trying to do what he thinks is right, albeit in an off-putting way.

The straight-forward tone of Menon’s story makes it feel familiar to those who’ve spent time in hospital waiting rooms while also serving as a useful guide for those who haven’t. Waiting is a real achievement, and an enjoyable one at that.

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Bollywood Box Office: April 22-24

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If you’re curious as to why movies featuring Randeep Hooda as the headlining star don’t release internationally, look no further than Laal Rang. From April 22-24, 2016, it earned just $5,874 from 31 North American theaters, a per-screen average of $189. Yuck. That’s the second worst opening weekend of the year after Loveshhuda ($1,399 from eight theaters), and that movie starred a couple of no-names. Randeep is my favorite actor, but apparently I’m one of the few people on the continent who will buy a ticket to watch him as the solo lead in a film. I was not surprised to have the entire theater to myself Friday morning.

The weekend was notable for another disappointing box office performance. In its second weekend, Fan earned $353,949 from 249 North American theaters ($1,421 average). That’s a drop of 74% from its opening weekend. Compare that to how this year’s other high-earners fared in their second weekends: Kapoor & Sons (-40%); Airlift (-41%); Neerja (-27%). Perhaps Fan‘s most comparable film among wide releases is Fitoor, which saw its second weekend biz drop by 87%.

Yash Raj Films should be worried, because among Hindi films that failed to retain at least 30% of their opening weekend gross in their second weekends, none have been able to double their opening weekend gross over the course of their theatrical run. (For Fan, that double figure would be $2,677,506.) That raises the distinct possibility that Fan may not be able to unseat Kapoor & Sons from atop this year’s North American leaderboard.

Of course, Fan has plenty going for it, including Shah Rukh Khan’s star power, a huge theatrical presence, and a favorable Bollywood calendar that won’t see another wide release until Housefull 3 on June 3. On the downside, waning interest tends to have a snowball effect. Fitoor earned $2,171 in its third weekend. With per-screen average earnings currently on par with Hollywood movies that have been out for a few weeks, there isn’t much incentive for theaters to keep Fan around, especially those theaters that rarely carry Hindi films. Even regular Bollywood theaters will be under pressure to free up screen space when Captain America: Civil War opens on May 6. Fan needs a really good second week and solid third weekend if it has any chance of beating Kapoor & Sons.

Other Hindi movies still in North American theaters:

  • Kapoor & Sons: Week 6; $13,352 from 12 theaters; $1,113 average; $2,647,874 total
  • Ki and Ka: Week 4; $8,074 from 12 theaters; $673 average; $914,993 total

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Movie Review: Laal Rang (2016)

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LaalRang2 Stars (out of 4)

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Laal Rang (“The Color Red“) is a treat for Randeep Hooda fans, but it’s not an especially good movie.

Although Hooda is the biggest star in the cast, he doesn’t play the protagonist. That gives him the freedom to chew through scenery like a wood chipper, but at the expense of screentime given to another character who frankly sucks.

That character is Rajesh (Akshay Oberoi), a young guy from a modest background who’s studying to be a laboratory technician. In his lab tech program, he meets Poonam (cute Piaa Bajpai), a fellow student with whom he falls in love. It’s also where he meets Shankar (Hooda), an alluring criminal who sells blood.

International moviegoers may find the setup for Laal Rang confusing. Sophomore writer-director Syed Ahmad Afzal’s story assumes that the audience has a certain degree of familiarity with the Indian hospital system. (This knowledge prerequisite was also a problem in Afzal’s first movie, the political drama Youngistaan.) Without such background information, the very notion of an illegal blood trade sounds bizarre.

Based on what I’ve learned from other Hindi films, Indian public hospitals require the families of patients to source their own medications and supplies needed during the course of the patient’s hospital stay. This is opposed to the American system in which the hospital provides everything during the patient’s stay and bills the patient later.

The premise in Laal Rang is that men like Shankar exploit Indian’s chronically short supply of blood — another problem that is sadly not explained — by selling blood bags at exorbitant prices. Shankar’s blood is either stolen from other hospitals or donated by junkies looking to earn a few extra rupees. A lab tech degree would make Shankar’s black market enterprise even easier, hence his enrollment in a program with students at least a decade his junior.

Shankar is cut from the same cloth as Matthew McConaughey’s character Wooderson in Dazed and Confused. Not only are both characters much older than the people they hang around with, but they have the same sleazy charisma. Shankar is kind of gross, but his throaty laugh and magnificent hair make one overlook his less savory qualities. Watching Hooda ooze his way through his scenes is a lot of fun.

Rajesh takes one look at Shankar’s spinning belt buckle and cool motorcycle and decides he wants in on whatever action this dude is running. Soon enough, Rajesh is delivering blood bags on Shankar’s behalf and raking in the dough. Rajesh romances Poonam on the side in a boring subplot that forces Hooda offscreen.

Rajesh justifies his illegal activities by saying that he needs the cash so that he can marry Poonam, but he’s really just greedy and impatient. There’s no reason why he and Poonam can’t wait to marry until they graduate and find jobs. Then Rajesh spends his first big windfall on his own motorcycle and a wardrobe modeled after Shankar’s signature look: boots, jeans, and a flashy shirt.

A couple of characters tell Rajesh that he’s a good person, but there’s nothing to substantiate that. He turns to crime because he wants easy money. As soon as he’s out from under Shankar’s wing, Rajesh does something so heinous as to be unforgivable.

Yet Rajesh never pays for his crimes. His otherwise upstanding parents don’t want to know where his money comes from, and Poonam doesn’t care. Rajesh doesn’t really learn anything or develop a conscience, so what’s the point? Why is he the main character?

Perhaps making Hooda’s character the protagonist and giving him a growth arc would have cut down on his swagger. Who knows? Still, when the only reason to watch Laal Rang is for Hooda, why not just cut out the rest of the fluff and let us enjoy him?

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Opening April 22: Laal Rang

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One new Hindi movie opens in the Chicago area on April 22, 2016. Laal Rang (“The Color Red“) stars my boy Randeep Hooda as the operator of an illegal blood bank.

Laal Rang opens on Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago and AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 30 min.

After posting the best opening weekend of 2016, Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan carries over for a second week at both of the above theaters, plus the Regal Gardens Stadium 1-6 in Skokie, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, Muvico Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

The South Barrington 30 also holds over Ki and Ka and Kapoor & Sons.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: April 15-17

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Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan was the first movie of 2016 to earn more than $1 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. From April 15-17, 2016, Fan earned $1,338,753 from 308 theaters ($4,347 average).

The caveat to the celebrations is that, of the 13 films starring Khan that have released in North America in the last decade, Fan‘s opening weekend only ranks tenth. Additionally, Fan‘s opening weekend average is the worst of all Khan’s movies going back to 1999. Granted, Fan opened in 18 more theaters than Khan’s previous widest release, Dilwale, but that increase isn’t enough to explain such a low average. Musicals are Khan’s bread and butter, whereas Fan doesn’t have a single dance number.

That said, any movie starring Shah Rukh Khan makes a ton of money for theaters here. Among films showing in more than 100 theaters in North America over the weekend, Fan‘s per-screen average would rank third, behind new releases The Jungle Book and Barbershop: The Next Cut.

Ki and Ka closed out its third weekend with $34,175 from 38 theaters ($899 average), bringing its total to $892,159.

In its fifth weekend, Kapoor & Sons earned another $28,377 from 36 theaters ($788 average). Its North American total stands at $2,624,277.

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Movie Review: Fan (2016)

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Fan3 Stars (out of 4)

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Shahrukh Khan’s dual role highlights the dangers of celebrity obsession in the smart thriller Fan.

Gaurav Chandna (Khan) is a lifelong fan of actor Aryan Khanna (also Khan). Twenty-something Gaurav bears an uncanny resemblance to his hero, albeit a bit skinnier and with a smaller nose. The physical similarities and a carefully honed impression of the star make Gaurav the reigning champ in a local talent competition, three years running.

Leaving behind his mother (Deepika Amin) and father (Yogendra Tiku) in Delhi, Gaurav heads to Mumbai to present his talent show trophy to Aryan as a birthday gift. It’s harder to meet the star than Gaurav expects, so he finds a more effective plan to get Aryan’s attention: assaulting the up-and-coming actor who’s been stealing Aryan’s spotlight.

Aryan himself is known for his temper, and his attempt to scare Gaurav straight backfires. How do you fight someone who looks just like you?

Given that this is a movie about an actor endangered by a fan — starring the same superstar in both roles — one might expect Fan to side squarely with Aryan. Writer Habib Faisal’s story is more complex than that, however. There’s an element of “celebrities are people, too” to the story, but Gaurav’s character is richly developed. The temptation to tell Gaurav to ditch his obsession and get a life ignores the fact that he has a life. He enjoys impersonating Aryan. His obsession defines him. Trying to brute force his devotion out of him won’t work.

The relationship between celebrities and their admirers is the backdrop to a real thriller. A foot-chase through Dubrovnik is especially exciting and takes advantage of the gorgeous scenery. The movie is great-looking overall, thanks to director Maneesh Sharma and cinematographer Manu Anand.

The only time the movie falters is near the end. The pacing slows so much that the audience is out of steam by the time the climax arrives. While the climactic nighttime setting is striking, the darkness makes the action a bit hard to follow.

One easy-to-miss shot in Fan is worth noting. During a man-on-the-street montage of citizens reading news, members of a movie theater audience are shown checking their phones. Including a shot like this only serves to normalize this frustrating behavior. Doesn’t director Sharma want the audience to pay attention to his own movie?

Khan does a wonderful job with both roles. It takes a while to get used to the makeup and CGI effects used to turn him into Gaurav, but the character is well-crafted. Same goes for Aryan, who is less complicated but who is forced to make the harder decisions.

It’s fun to see Khan back in roles that emphasize substance as much as style. Fan is a thought-provoking thrill ride.

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Opening April 15: Fan

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Shahrukh Khan’s Fan opens in the Chicago area on April 15, 2016. The highly meta film features Khan in two roles: as a superstar actor and as an obsessed fan. I can’t exactly say that it looks good, but I’m sure it will be interesting.

Fan opens on Friday in nine local theaters: AMC River East 21 in Chicago, Regal Gardens Stadium 1-6 in Skokie, Century 12 Evanston in Evanston, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, Muvico Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 22 min.

In other exciting news, the South Barrington 30 is showing Friday’s new Hollywood release The Jungle Book twice daily with its Hindi audio, featuring the voices of Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, and Nana Patekar.

Ki and Ka gets a third week at MovieMax, South Barrington 30, and Cantera 17. All three theaters also hold over Kapoor & Sons, as does the Woodridge 18.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Box Office Star Analysis: Shahrukh Khan

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It’s hard to find a more reliable Bollywood star in North America than Shahrukh Khan. It’s been over a decade since he last had a theatrical release that earned less than $1 million in the United States and Canada — 2003’s Chalte Chalte. Here’s a chart representing the total North American gross for each of 24 films featuring Khan in a starring role, going back to 1999 (the earliest year for which I can find reliable data).

SRKfullchartWhat’s so remarkable about Khan’s success is that it predates the era of super-wide releases. His two most recent films — Dilwale and Happy New Year — opened in 290 and 280 North American theaters, respectively. Yet 2003’s Kal Ho Naa Ho made almost $2 million on just 52 screens! The lowest earning film on this list — 2000’s Josh — opened in just 30 theaters but still made $426,318.

Another great bit of news for exhibitors is that Khan’s films always open well. Khan’s median opening weekend per-screen average is around $9,000, compared to an overall median PSA for Bollywood films in North America in the $2,000s. High theater counts have hardly put a dent in that average, with Chennai Express averaging $12,327 on 196 screens in 2013.

Those consistently high averages only tell part of the story, though. The two movies on the list with the lowest opening weekend PSAs are Chak De India and Swades — $5,675 and $5,740, respectively — arguably two of Khan’s most beloved films (at least compared to more financially successful ventures like Don 2 and Ra.One).

Fan marks yet another collaboration between Shahrukh Khan and Yash Raj Films. The five other YRF movies on this list — Mohabbatein, Veer-Zaara, Chak De India, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, and Jab Tak Hai Jaan — averaged total North American earnings of $2,051,086. It’ll be interesting to see if Fan raises that average even more.

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Bollywood Hungama