rasikararaja Reviews

The Flower of Aleppo (2016)

Powerful movie

[8/10 · 4 October 2022]

Gives you one of the sides of what motivates a rational, liberal and law abiding citizens to extremism.

Things which are simple for others drives some to extremism. This part is shown in the movie without any Drama. The boy wanted to someone to stay close to him but the parents separation puts the final death nail and he takes the path to hell.

I could not understand one thing . Towards the end of the movie Salma is traveling along a Dutch Photographer accompanied by ISIS driver and they get ambushed killing the ISIS driver. The captured Jihadists goes on to rape Salma. Who are these evil people ? To which group they belong to.

Operation Mincemeat (2021)

Can watch it once

[5/10 · 22 May 2022]

Full disclosure first about the fact that I have seen 1956, "The man who never was" at least 10 times. So this review is essentially a comparison of 1956 movie with the latest edition. 1956 movie is simple and straight forward with quite bit of fiction. Also 1956 movie has less melodrama barring the episode of American librarian falling in love with British airmen and unknowingly being the part of the deception. With official secrets act long gone, the makers of Operation Mincemeat could use most of the actual events as is. I somehow like 1956 version better. Current version of Operation mincemeat can be watched once and you cannot repeat it unlike the older version because of its darker nature of not just the story but also filming with most shots are night time or indoors. 1956 version had the advantage of having the war time set up almost intact while the current version have to rely on expensive sets or blue screen based animation. Colin Firth is fantastic as usual. He comes across as classical as his fellow countrymen, the legend, Richard Burton.

False Identity (2018– )

Drags and soapy

[5/10 · 27 October 2021]

If you are a fan of Narcos then you will hate this series. What could be a 20 episode series is dragged to 2 season , 190 , 50 minutes episodes. Some of the actions of the lead actors are so stupid that you will start Questioning is it for real or they are really that stupid. The biggest idiot is the hero of this series, Diego.

Only saving grace are pretty ladies who are packed in every episodes. The lead actress is super hot and Talented and you might have already seen in Wild district. Watch it purely as a time pass.

3 Idiots (2009)

Rip off from 1970s Hollywood movie The Paper Chase

[3/10 · 8 April 2021]

I don't know how the makers of this movie have escaped. The story line resembles heavily from the Hollywood movie, The Paper Chase(1973). They have escaped by making some Changes by adding some usual masala typical of Indian movies. If you can't believe me then watch the movie "The Paper chase" and decide for yourself.

Behind Her Eyes (2021)

Great Series

[8/10 · 25 March 2021]

Behind her eyes is a darker thriller series and the ending is out of this world. They give enough clues early on and I could guess there is something very odd with Adele when she has sex with David during the initial episodes. The ending begs for Sequel but coming up with a clever plot is very, very tough and I think it should be best left to the viewers imagination. The soul entering other body and becoming that character can be found among many Indian Folktales and the term used is ParakayaPravesha.

Dogwashers (2020)

Timepass

[5/10 · 25 March 2021]

Just ok movie and good for time pass. Not as bad as other reviewers have written. A mob boss who has lost most of his power with a wife pregnant from another man is facing his final days. Surrounding him are bunch of other characters. There are at least 3 familiar faces. 1 from the Hit Netflix series Narcos. 2 of them from Surviving Escobar .

Venus (III) (2016)

Should have included married and 40+ women

[7/10 · 25 January 2021]

I came across this documentary by accident and come to understand that women no matter in which country/culture they grow up have the same issues. The one issue I found with this documentary is the women who have participated, 90% of them are Lesbians. I would have wished it to keep 50-50 of straight and gay women. Also missing are women who are married and had kids and also women who have reached the age of Menopause. I always say that by giving ability to men to have sex at any age God has cursed them. The reason is, God deprived women of that ability by giving her a thing called Menopause after which majority of the women desist Sex .

Wild District (2018–2019)

One of the Best

[10/10 · 23 December 2020]

As I am writing this review I am in the process of watching this series 3rd time. I am huge fan of Narcos which made me watch this series as many actors who acted in Narcos have acted in this. Every department of this series is top notch and I highly recommend this series to anyone who are sick of run of the mill series dished out by Hollywood studios which are made solely to grab awards at Emmys and Golden Globes.

Easy: Art and Life (2016) Season 1, Episode 5

Liberal view

[5/10 · 9 September 2020]

You get to know how the liberals live and especially the always entitled millennial generation's behavior. They have clearly shown how the generation gap affects. The major turn off is to see a young liberal girl with armpit full of hair, yuck !!!. Practicing clean habits are not liberal or a conservative thing , it is an healthy habit. Why can't film makers project this ?

Easy: Controlada (2016) Season 1, Episode 4

Pushing the envelope ??

[4/10 · 9 September 2020]

The ending is unclear and is left to the viewers. 2 possibilities, the wife gets pregnant after having sex with her ex or the couple continue to try to conceive. If it is former, would the wife reveal who the father is to her husband or keeps her husband in the dark. The real victim is of course the husband who has been faithful(at least from what we see) and really loves his wife.

Dark Desire (2020–2022)

Waste of time

[1/10 · 3 August 2020]

I started watching this and lost interest mid way but dragged myself to watch complete season. What could have been a 6 episode series is dragged ... Many scenes were unwanted turning this to a soft porn. When Zoe comes out as a Lesbian at the end for some strange reason they have given a message of straight people being evils. No idea why they have to do this ... They completed the series with an ending begging for a sequel. The actors who portrayed the roles of Alma and Brenda have really performed well and they are so hot.

Gandhada Gudi (1973)

Once in a life time

[9/10 · 12 August 2010]

For Kannadigas this movie presents once in a life time opportunity of seeing 2 of the greatest Super stars of Kannada movie , Dr.Rajkumar(Kumar) and Dr.Vishnuvardhan (Anand)sharing the screen. The movie starts of with murder of a Forest Range officer. The scene then shifts to the Forest Range Headquarters where the boss is urging some one to take up the position left by the murdered Range officer. That is when Dr.Raj gets up and volunteers for the job while at same giving reason for the acceptance. Kumar does not know that his mother is hiding a family secret. He along with his mother leaves for the forest to take up the position and immediately confronted by the people who wants to have their own way when it comes to hunting down the Wild Animals for their skin and Sandal wood for its worth in the Black market. After successfully chasing down the bad guys for the first time Anand comes and meets Kumar personally and advices him stop his pursuit of rooting out evil. A chance meeting of Anand and his father by Kumar and mom changes the entire situation. Kumar's mom then tells him the story of losing her son and his younger brother who was actually abducted by a Forest guard who did that to take revenge on Kumar's father and continues to tell that the man who is supposed to be the Anand's dad is none other than this forest Guard whose name is Venkatappa and urges Kumar to go and get his brother back. While Kumar leaves the home, Anand who is infuriated at the repeated failure due to constant vigil of Kumar kidnaps Kumar's mom. At the end Kumar confronts Anand and has to shoot him while dodging the bullets fired by Anand. Anand will save Kumar from Venkatappa's bullets when he realized that Kumar is really his Elder brother. Anand dies lying down on his mother's lap with the brother beside him.

Chhoti Si Baat (1976)

Life was Simple

[10/10 · 5 December 2009]

I have seen this movie 10 times and I don't mind watching it another 10 times. The movie is inspired by an English movie,School for Scoundrels ,but BasuDa has done exceptional work in adapting it.

I am very sure movie was done in a budget of less than Rs.10 Lakhs(compared to 10s of crores spent for current day junk movies).

Amol palekar is simply genius. Bombay looks so beautiful. If there was a time machine I don't mind time travelling to those days to enjoy simple pleasures.

All the actors have done excellent work.I would advice current generation movie lovers to watch this.

Jinnah (1998)

Jinnah

[5/10 · 18 April 2009]

This movie is totally one sided and it was expected.It is impossible for any one from Pakistan or India to make a movie about our founding fathers without showing the other side in negatively. The intentions of both the founding fathers,Mr.Jinnah and Mr.Gandhi were good but they failed miserably in creating leaders who would carry forward their plans. Mr.Jinnah will be turning in his grave after the state in which Pakistan currently is ,same thing can be said about India as well.They say hindsight is always 20/20. What would have happened if both Mr.Jinnah and Mr.Gandhi were to study in USA rather than Great Britain. The ideas they would have had might have been different and they may have dealt the issue differently. The reason is , the would have influenced more on Democracy and power to the people rather than the monarchy the style which most of the politicians from both side have inherited.