Two subjects I hate writing a column are the Republic Day and the Independence Day, I just hate to recount all the patriotic moments in our cinema because I truly believe patriotism is in my heart and not for display but a newspaper has its demands and I was asked to write something close to the topic.

I suggested to my editor that I will present it from a fresh perspective and Unadkat sporting as always agreed. There are kinds and kinds of columnists, those who write in close coordination with the editor and those who like to surprise him. Having been in the business for too many decades I prefer to be in harmony with my editor, I like to tell him what I am writing rather and he appreciates my interaction.

For the special issue, I looked at Hindi cinema over the years and how much we had progressed since independence.

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Sanjay Leela Bhansali was in the news and every powerful body in the country seemed to have made up their mind to not allow the director to release his labor of love. The editor was not willing to take the risk and I assured that I will not be responsible. The point is how does one raise issues close to your head and heart without making reference to the culprits? The point also is that are you really helping/ harming those you stick your neck out for?  There are no answers because every problem is a new challenge and one has to ride the terrain and seek solutions.

To me the issue was not whether the film is finally going to be titled Padmavati or Padmavat but what the filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his cast Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh were going through. Were they getting wounded or deriving strength in their silence?

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Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli had got married and everybody was happy, even strangers not connected to the couple were celebrating. I wondered why and analyzed the same in the column. After a long time a celebrity marriage was clean and without cobwebs, both were successful in their fields and looked forward to spending the rest of their lives together. For the younger generation, Anushka and Virat are a role model.

The media heralded Anushka for not bothering about the repercussions of this big step on her career. She was in love and wanted to be with her man. It was wonderful to watch Anushka in her chooda seated beside Virat Kohli at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and weeks after her marriage at YRF Studio getting ready for her film shooting.

A month later, her film got released and captain of cricket team went to play another game in another city.

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Tiger Shroff is unstoppable

 Film: Baaghi 2

Date: 30 March

Director: Ahmed Khan

Producer: Nadiadwala & Grandsons

Cast: Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani, Prateik Babbar, Manoj Bajpayee, Randeep Hooda, Deepak Dobriyal

Ratings: 2.5 stars

The trailers of Baaghi 2 prepare you for an out and out action so one is surprised that the writer has actually bothered to weave a story so what if it is a remake of Telegu hit Kashanm, 2016.

One morning Neha/Disha Patani is attacked by masked men as she waits to drop her child/ Ria to school. After a serious trauma disorder and two months in the hospital, Neha discovers that her daughter is still missing and the police has shut the case due to lack of evidence.

With no one to support her Neha contacts old boyfriend Ronny/ Tiger Shroff now serving as an army officer for help.

The first half of the film concentrates on the romance between the lead pair and a feeble attempt to create intrigue. The second half is about solving the mystery and punishing the villains, in short a lot of action!

The demerits of the film are the illogical plot, the exaggerated situations and meaningless violence. There is not a single weapon besides pistol, gun and knives that are spared and this includes sticks, ropes, pipes, drums, barrels, gas, smoke, fire, glass, bombs, chairs, tables, everything…

And this occurs every five minutes at any occasion/wedding or police encounter and every location/ hotel, bars, garage, dungeon, forest, helicopter, farmhouse, hospital, lockup, dark alleys and buzzing streets.

It is a torture to constantly watch vehicles blown to flames and goons beaten up in bloodbath because the question always is how much is too much?

The merits of the film are the scale and the production and the variety of skillfully performed action sequences and more than that the effort to present all the actors in refreshing roles.

Manoj Bajpayee as DIG officer, Randeep Hooda as LSD and Prateik Babbar as Sunny do their best, Deepak Dobrial for a change is in a serious mood and Disha Patani tries hard to be taken seriously.

Tiger Shroff sets new standards for action. He hangs from a helicopter, jumps from the rocks, flies into the sky and chases like a leopard and most important packages passion in his emotive scenes.

If you like daredevil action and Tiger Shroff then Baaghi 2 is for you, if not it is better to stay at home.

I rate Baaghi 2 with 2.5 stars.

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Motley is once again paying a tribute to writer Ismat Chugtai in their third tribute Aapa Ke Naam
III titled Aurat Aurat Aurat. Directed once again by Naseeruddin Shah it contains segments from
Ismat aapa;s autobiography, and the essays, Ek Shahar ki Khaatir, Aadhi Aurat Aadha Khwaab
and Soney ke Anda.

Shah believes that the charges of obscenity leveled at Ismat aapa were a smokescreen for what
actually riled the orthodoxy of that time. Because she insisted on female education, dismissed
superstition was irreverent towards tradition, showed contempt for misogyny and asserted her
identity as a human being, the self-appointed custodians of religion attempted in vain to
condemn and thus silence her.
But Ismat Aapa was far from being tamed, on the contrary, she continued on her merry way all
her life, enraging the greybeards with her lacerating observations of life around her. Aurat Aurat
Aurat is an all-female cast and will present pieces with multiple characters on stage, unlike the
previous versions which presented monologues.

Any performing art is not possible without the immense passion and where there is passion there is always a way. Different artists have a different way of working for accomplished classical dancer Madhuparna Kumar dance is a way of life. She has been dancing since the age of five and continued over the decades even after marriage and a baby.

Madhu’s day begins with riyaaz followed by one class after another in different age groups and experience. Often to make it interesting for her students she holds a combined workshop of children where the slightly senior students supervise the steps of the junior ones. I happened to be at one such workshop and was enchanted by the chemistry and affection among all the students.

 Is it surprising that Madhu starts a new batch of students in Bandra from April, if you live in Bandra and are a lover of Bharatnatyam don’t think twice, call 9920-6-15500 you will never regret your decision

On the same day, a private roundtable discussion between Tacita Dean, Christopher Nolan and the major influencers in the world of film is scheduled to discuss art and conservation that will cover a range of topics linked to the future of photochemical film as a shooting, exhibition and preservation medium.

 The following evening has a 70 mm screening of Dunkirk at Carnival Cinemas, IMAX, Wadala to be introduced by Oscar-nominated director Christopher Christopher Nolan who brings 70 mm film projection back to India after 26 years!

This is going to be a first in India and The IMAX technical team has been working for days to be able to fit the projection system especially for this very special single screening of Dunkirk and Warner Bros has flown the IMAX 70 mm film print in from Los Angeles – a shipment that weighed almost 300 kg – to ensure that Indian audiences get the opportunity to watch the film the way that Christopher Nolan intended for it to be.

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