Tag Archives: Sara Ali Khan

Movie Review: Sky Force (2025)

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3 Stars (out of 4)

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Despite its billing as an aerial action war flick, Sky Force is at its best when it focuses on military bureaucracy and the soldiers who serve.

The film from co-directors Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapur is based on a true story from the Indo-Pakistani air war of 1965. Cinematic liberties were taken — including changing the names of the participants — but the screenplay by Kewlani, Aamil Keeyan Khan, and Carl Austin effectively ties together various threads into a satisfying narrative.

Sky Force opens in 1971, when Pakistani fighter pilot Ahmed Hussain (Sharad Kelkar) is captured by India’s military. Indian Air Force officer Kumar Om Ahuja (Akshay Kumar) seizes the opportunity to ask Hussain if he knows anything about an Indian fighter pilot who went missing six years earlier.

Flashing back to 1965, we get a pretty standard air force flick, with scenes of life on the base and rivalries within the elite group of pilots. The best of the best is T. Krishna Vijaya (Veer Pahariya), who goes by the call sign “Tabby” (all of the call signs are animal names). When the base gets word that Pakistan is preparing for war, Tabby’s the most eager to start fighting. That eagerness worries Ahuja and Tabby’s pregnant wife Geeta (Sara Ali Khan).

The Indian military brass don’t want to be the first to attack. There are surely international legal reasons for this, but there are practical ones, too. India has a limited number of fighter jets and no money to replace them. They don’t want to risk losing trained pilots or planes unnecessarily, especially considering that America just gave Pakistan a fleet of high-tech new Starstriker jets that can easily out-maneuver India’s comparatively ancient planes.

Pakistan launches a surprise nighttime attack on the airbase. The scene is mostly just Ahuja and Tabby running and jumping in slow motion while stuff explodes behind them. The Indian counter-offensive the next morning is far more dramatic. Daylight makes it easier to appreciate the loss of life as Ahuja leads twelve pilots in an attack on a Pakistani airbase. Indian gunners mow down fleeing soldiers, and Ahuja collapses the air control tower in order to destroy nearby Starstrikers. However, only eleven of the Indian pilots make it home.

Back in 1971, Ahuja gets oblique confirmation from Hussain about the fate of the downed Indian pilot, but rules of war limit what Hussain can say. As a fellow soldier, Ahuja understands. His ire is directed instead at the Indian military brass who refuse to act on this new information. Due to their reluctance, it’s more than a decade before Ahuja learns the fate of his lost comrade.

Sky Force is only moderately successful as an action film. Computer graphics technology makes it cheaper and safer to make movies about air battles, but it doesn’t necessarily make them better. The deft blend of actual footage and CGI is a big reason why Top Gun: Maverick is so thrilling. With a budget about a tenth of the size of that Hollywood hit, Sky Force relies much more heavily on CGI, and it shows. The unreality of the events on screen make the fight sequences something to get past rather than something to enjoy.

But as a military drama, Sky Force really works. It takes a comprehensive look at all of the factors that various parties have to consider regarding combat. Tabby — who’s well-played by Pahariya is his very first acting role — has the luxury of being eager to fight because shooting down enemies is the only thing he’s asked to do. He’s not responsible for securing the ammo he uses or organizing military funerals if things go badly. The higher up the chain of command you go, the wider the scope that must be considered.

Ahuja is in an interesting position. He’s ranked high enough to be responsible for fellow soldiers, but not so highly that he can do what he wants. His arc is full of obstacles and opportunities. Kumar plays him as a man who knows that compassion is his best asset. It makes the losses especially painful, but it helps him build relationships that pay dividends in the long run.

Ahuja’s treatment of Hussain is especially important in that regard, and it exemplifies what separates Sky Force from a lot of other recent Hindi war films. The mutual respect between the two soldiers from opposing countries is a refreshing counterpoint to the easy cinematic jingoism currently in fashion.

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Movie Review: Murder Mubarak (2024)

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2 Stars (out of 4)

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The mystery Murder Mubarak is packed with characters but feels insubstantial. Sara Ali Khan and Vijay Varma show why they are in-demand actors, but Pankaj Tripathi’s turn as an offbeat detective feels too familiar.

The film — based on Anuja Chauhan’s novel Club You to Death — invites comparison to Knives Out, as both feature a murder where most of the suspects are obscenely wealthy. However, a critical difference renders the class undertones in Murder Mubarak less satisfying. The murder victim in Knives Out is the patriarch of a rich family, whereas the dead man in Murder Mubarak is an employee at a posh country club.

Director Homi Adajania’s movie takes place at the Royal Delhi Club, a British colonial relic. The morning after a raucous party, the club’s hunky fitness coach Leo (Aashim Gulati) is found dead in the gym. Police inspector Bhavani Singh (Pankaj Tripathi) and his assistant Padam Kumar (Priyank Tiwari) determine that Leo’s death was homicide and set about questioning the eccentric members.

None of them are eccentric in a fun way. There’s B-grade actress Shehnaaz (Karisma Kapoor), royal descendant Rannvijay (Sanjay Kapoor), and Cookie (Dimple Kapadia), whose tongue is bright red from constantly drinking beet juice. Club president Bhatti (Deven Bhojani) has a perpetually runny nose that he wipes with his hand before touching people.

Adajania insists on showing example after example of the president’s revolting habit. It highlights an unexpected gross streak in the movie. Deaths that occur later in the film are needlessly gory, and Cookie’s bright red tongue is unappealing, too.

Inspector Singh discovers that Leo the trainer was blackmailing several members of the club, using the money he extracted from them to fund the orphanage where he grew up. While this gives those being blackmailed a motive to kill Leo, his death actually makes their lives easier. It’s not like there’s a killer targeting rich folks. The only consequence is that one of the other trainers at the gym will have to take over the Zumba class.

The surfeit of tedious oddball characters accentuate the narrative’s slow pace. The only characters who are remotely interesting are two of the club’s younger members: twenty-something widow Bambi (Sara Ali Khan) and Aakash (Vijay Varma), who’d rather be anywhere else. He’s had a crush on Bambi forever but left town after her wedding. She still knows how to push his buttons and does so to keep him around.

Khan’s performance is natural and engaging. Varma likewise demonstrates why he’s cast in seemingly every Netflix Original movie these days. Sanjay Kapoor has one very good scene, but the rest of the performances are nothing to write home about.

Tripathi has been the go-to guy for quirky roles for several years now, and the well is starting to run dry. Inspector Singh is fine but unremarkable. It’s time for casting agents to find a new actor to pigeonhole into these types of parts and let Tripathi move on to meatier roles.

There’s a chance that the book Club You to Death is better than the movie, but Murder Mubarak is so lifeless that I’m not tempted to find out.

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Movie Review: Ae Watan Mere Watan (2024)

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3 Stars (out of 4)

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Ae Watan Mere Watan (“Oh Country My Country“) gives a glimpse into an important chapter in Indian’s freedom struggle, highlighting the role of one inspiring young revolutionary.

Though not strictly biographical, the film is based on the life of social activist Usha Mehta. Sara Ali Khan plays Usha as a college student in Bombay in 1942, where she protests against British tyranny with her boyfriend Kaushik (Abhay Verma) and fellow student Fahad (Sparsh Srivastav).

Their involvement deepens after Gandhi’s “Quit India” speech leads to his imprisonment, along with the detention of other leading figures in the freedom movement. It falls to those on the outside to continue the struggle covertly.

Usha gets the idea to start a pirate radio station, broadcasting recordings of speeches by Gandhi and others to reach people directly in their homes. Operating a private radio station is illegal, so this is a dangerous proposition, especially considering the willingness of the Brits and their Indian police force to use violence against suspected insurgents.

The station — dubbed Congress Radio — is a success, and Usha, Kaushik, and Fahad are invited closer to the movement’s de facto leader, Ram Manohar Lohia (Emraan Hashmi). Lohia wants to expand the station’s reach beyond Bombay to the rest of the country. But doing so invites greater attention from the Brits, who will do anything squash Congress Radio. They put sadistic officer John Lyre (Alexx O’Nell) in charge of finding the station and those who run it.

Ae Watan Mere Watan excels at showing the tremendous cost of being an activist, beyond the obvious risks. Usha’s father (played by Sachin Khedekar) is a judge within the British-run court system. He sees Usha’s activism as more than a just political disagreement, but as a repudiation of his life’s work. Though he’s not portrayed sympathetically, his hurt is understandable. Usha likewise feels hamstrung by her love for him — she can’t live according to her beliefs and be a dutiful daughter at the same time.

Her father isn’t the only man frustrated by the depth of Usha’s devotion to the cause. It’s sad to watch Kaushik as he realizes that whatever future he imagined with Usha — marriage, kids, etc. — is not what she envisions. Romance and revolution aren’t always compatible.

Khan is a more-than-capable lead, but Verma and Srivastav are the breakout stars. Verma is delightful as lovestruck Kaushik. Srivastav plays Fahad with nuance as he evolves from being Usha’s rival to closest ally.

The movie also makes it clear that not everyone needs to be willing to lay down their life like Usha is in order to be helpful. One of her colleagues is a literature student who offers to handle any writing for the group. Another character gives money. Revolutions aren’t cheap.

It’s easy to get invested in the characters and subject matter of Ae Watan Mere Watan — so much so that the overly melodramatic music and slow-motion shots in the first half feel like overkill. Director Kannan Iyer — who co-wrote the screenplay with Darab Farooqui — tells a good story, so such obvious flourishes are unnecessary.

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Movie Review: Gaslight (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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A young woman returns home to mend her relationship with her estranged father, only to find him missing in Gaslight. The creepy but unambitious mystery does just enough to keep viewers hooked until the end.

Meesha (Sara Ali Khan) hasn’t seen her father Ratan Singh Gaikwad since she was a little girl, before the accident that left Meesha unable to walk. Her childhood in the family’s ancestral palace was happy until Ratan had an affair with Rukmani (Chitrangda Singh). Meesha and her mother moved away, but Mom never got over the breakup and killed herself.

Years later, Meesha receives a surprise letter from her father asking her to come home for a visit. When she arrives, she’s greeted by Rukmani — now her father’s wife — who assures the young woman that Ratan is away on a work emergency and will return in a few days. But that night, Meesha sees a man she thinks is her father. She gets in her wheelchair and follows him to a remote part of the palace, only to fall down some stairs when she’s startled by a loud noise.

Though Meesha at first thinks that her father is in the house, a series of frightening incidents convince her that Ratan is actually dead — but no one believes her. Not Rukmani or the family physician Dr. Shekhawat (Shishir Sharma). Only sympathetic, handsome estate manager Kapil (Vikrant Massey) humors Meesha, while warning her to be careful of Rukmani and her allies.

Gaslight is legitimately frightening at times. Besides Meesha’s eerily preserved childhood bedroom, the palace is full of scary artwork. Bold is the homeowner who thinks Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son is suitable decor for a family abode.

The film could have pushed the spooky factor further by advancing Rukmani’s subplot in the story. At one point, she also begins to see things that aren’t there, which — had it happened in conjunction with Meesha seeing things at night — could have elevated the possibility of a supernatural cause for Ratan’s absence. Instead, Rukmani’s subplot isn’t highlighted until the second half of the film, after Meesha has already articulated her own, non-supernatural theory as to what is happening (a theory many in the audience will likely share by that point in the story).

Gaslight writer-director Pavan Kirpalani proved his ability to craft a chilling story with previous films like Phobia and Bhoot Police (both of which I thoroughly enjoyed). His latest feature leaves enough questions unanswered throughout to entice viewers to see things through, and the cast does a fine job with the material. Rahul Dev is good in a small role as a cop who is a more attentive investigator than he initially appears to be. It would have been nice if the film’s character development had avoided reinforcing traditional class hierarchy, but Gaslight doesn’t aspire to be more than what it is.

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Movie Review: Coolie No. 1 (2020)

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1 Star (out of 4)

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One of the questions at the heart of Coolie No. 1 is, “Why can’t a poor man marry a rich woman?” In this case, the answer is: “Because he doesn’t deserve her.”

Coolie No. 1 is a remake of the 1995 film of the same name, both of which are directed by David Dhawan. I have not seen the original, so this review will focus solely on the remake.

The coolie in question this time is Raju (Varun Dhawan), head of the porters at a railway station in Mumbai. Raju defends his elderly coworker from an abusive jerk Mahesh (Vikas Verma), not with his wits but with his fists. In the scuffle, Mahesh is exposed as a drug dealer and arrested.

One witness to the fight is pandit Jai Kishen (Javed Jaffrey), who is on his way home after bringing a prospective groom to the mansion of hotelier Jeffrey Rosario (Paresh Rawal). When Rosario insults Jai Kishen and the groom, declaring that his daughters will only marry men even richer than himself, Jai Kishen vows revenge. He plans to trick Rosario into getting his daughter Sarah (Sara Ali Khan) married to a poor man, and Raju seems like the perfect pawn for his scheme. Raju takes one look at a photo of Sarah and is onboard.

Raju poses as Raj, the son of the king of Singapore. Sarah is smitten with how humble Raj is despite being so rich, and Rosario is smitten with Raj’s apparent fortune. Only after the handsome couple is wed does Rosario begin to doubt Raj’s identity. When Rosario spots Raj working at his old job, the coolie improvises, inventing a heretofore unmentioned identical twin brother — compounding his original lie and making things exponentially more complicated.

It’s hard to buy in to Coolie No. 1, because it never acknowledges the harm done to Sarah for the sake of chastening her father. Sarah is tricked into falling for a man who lies to her about his identity, promises her a lifestyle he knows he can’t deliver, then traps her in a legally binding marriage contract. Would she have married him if she’d known he was working class? Maybe. We have no way of knowing.

Part of that is because Sarah is written as an empty shell. She’s too vapid to be suspicious of Raju. She earnestly fears for his safety when his charade keeps him away from home overnight. She eagerly tackles the housework in their dilapidated apartment, as though she didn’t grow up in a mansion full of servants (I guess women are just supposed to be innately good at cleaning). She’s a beautiful blank slate who reacts the way the plot needs her to react.

Coolie No. 1 is yet another film that thinks goodness is conferred upon its main character just by virtue of his being the main character, regardless of what he actually does. It’s significant that Raju doesn’t tell Sarah the truth until she accidentally discovers his deception. He wasn’t struck by a pang of conscience, nor did he try to enlist her help. He planned to keep lying to her indefinitely. How exactly does that make him a good guy?

For non-Hindi speakers, jokes in Bollywood comedies don’t always survive the translation via subtitles. But much of the wordplay humor in Coolie No. 1 is in English, and it’s still not funny. Rosario’s rhyming shtick and Raju’s Mithun Chakraborthy impression grow tired almost immediately. The physical humor in the movie isn’t amusing either.

As for the film’s positive points, it does have a number of entertaining, large-scale dance numbers (although the one where Rosario peeps through the window of his daughter’s hotel room while she’s on her honeymoon is creepy). Shikha Talsania and Sahil Vaid are likable as Sarah’s sister Anju and Raju’s friend Deepak, respectively, who fall in love amidst the drama.

Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan are both forgettable. In fact, let’s just forget this remake ever happened.

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Movie Review: Kedarnath (2018)

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3 Stars (out of 4)

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Two lovers on opposite sides of a religious and class divide fall in love just before their world falls apart in Kedarnath. The compelling central romance is eclipsed by a well-executed disaster sequence based on the tragic floods of June, 2013, which destroyed much of Kedarnath and killed thousands.

Mansoor (Sushant Singh Rajput) works as a porter, ferrying Hindu pilgrims and their belongings up the winding mountain path to Kedarnath Temple. He and the other Muslim porters and shopkeepers have a history of cooperation with the Hindu innkeepers, allowing everyone to make a steady living during the six months of the year that the temple is accessible.

An upstart Hindu landowner, Kullu (Nishant Dahiya), sees profit in building a fancy new hotel in the valley, increasing the number of pilgrims and displacing a number of shopkeepers in the process. Mansoor — whose mother’s shop would be demolished to make way for the hotel — argues that more buildings and pilgrims could put the infrastructure of the whole valley at risk. Briraaj (Nitish Bharadwaj), a Hindu priest, appreciates Mansoor’s dedication to Kedarnath despite not being a Hindu himself.

That appreciation only extends so far, however. Briraaj isn’t about to let his younger daughter, Mukku (Sara Ali Khan), date a Muslim. Mansoor’s relationship with her exposes simmering inter-religious divisions and provides a pretext for violence, led by Kullu, who’s engaged to Mukku after dumping her older sister, Brinda (the beautiful Pooja Gor). The floods hit before the town can erupt into full-scale riots.

Khan shows poise and charisma in her first film role, but Mukku is problematic. She has a lot in common with stereotypical Bollywood man-child protagonists in that she’s immature and unable to see things from other’s perspectives. She has no regard for how her romance with Mansoor affects him, his family, or the other Muslims in the valley, so confident is she that her desires are right simply because she desires them.

Unlike the typical man-child protagonist character arc in which he finds a woman who makes him aware of the world and his role in it, Mukku’s worldview doesn’t change. Her position as the privileged daughter of a powerful man makes her overestimate her ability to shape her world to her will. If she’s just persistent enough, she can break down Mansoor’s barriers and make him fall in love with her. That same persistence will get her out of her engagement to Kullu, she believes. She’s even convinced that she can influence cricket matches and the weather.

Having been mostly insulated from negative consequences thus far, Mukku fails to account for all of the other factors that influence the events in her life, like the desires of other people, the lucky bounce of a cricket ball, and the randomness of a natural disaster. Mukku’s arrogance makes one question whether, from a narrative standpoint, her star-crossed romance with Mansoor is a worthy enough endeavor to balance the deaths of thousands in raging floodwaters.

That balance undermines the vibrant romantic tension conjured by Khan and Rajput. This is Rajput’s most charming performance in years after lackluster outings in M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story and Raabta, a reminder of how good he can be in the right role. It would be fun to see these two leads pair up again in the future after Khan gains more acting experience.

Director Abhishek Kapoor successfully blends practical effects with computer generated ones in Kedarnath‘s climactic disaster, with Rajput and Khan battling treacherous waters in thrilling sequences. The rarity of Bollywood disaster movies is perhaps reason enough to watch Kedarnath, coupled with the intrigued of a star scion’s debut (Khan’s father is Saif Ali Khan). If only the central romance matched the film’s spectacle.

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