OTTplay Reviews Gadar 2, OMG 2, Jailer, Heart Of Stone

Dull ‘Heart Of Stone’ Doesn't Deserve Alia Bhatt

This is #CineFile, where our critic Rahul Desai goes beyond the obvious takes, to dissect movies and shows that are in the news.

Dir: Tom Harper

Cast: Gal Gadot, Alia Bhatt, Jamie Dornan

Stream on: Netflix

I wonder when Netflix will realise that — like a geeky kid who isn’t cut out for sports, or a dog that isn’t cut out for purring — they just aren’t cut out for slick action thrillers. It doesn’t take an MBA genius to detect that it makes zero sense for streaming platforms to keep making big-budget action spectacles when the only screen we can watch them on is…small. So much of the adrenaline, rhythm, plotting, effects and punch gets muted by default. Not a single stunt lands. The immersive quality is as good as non-existent. All I can hear is money. As of now, it feels like Netflix is using ChatGPT to ‘write’ these incredibly derivative, long and unimaginative movies — the latest of which is Heart of Stone, starring Gal Gadot and Bollywood star Alia Bhatt. At more than two hours, the movie feels like five, and only goes to prove the novelty of Tom Cruise and his stubbornly big-screen spectacles.

Does Jailer Bring Back Rajinikanth & Nelson's Mojo? Somewhat

Recreating Petta-type fan service for Rajinikanth is not a bad idea but Nelson's Jailer is spread too thin, writes Aditya Shrikrishna.

Dir: Nelson

Cast: Rajinikanth

Playing in: Theatres

AS is customary in Tamil cinema, someone from the film’s crew reads out the statutory smoking and drinking warnings before a film begins. In Rajinikanth’s latest film Jailer, director Nelson’s voice can be heard loud and clear. Just as I did, the person sitting next to me recognised the voice and went “Nelson kaapathu da (Nelson, save us)”. My neighbour’s of course the famished Rajini fan after the twin disappointments of Darbar and Annatthe. Not just disappointments but solid embarrassments for the idol and disciples alike. Nelson himself is trying to recover from Beast, his film with Vijay, a not-half-bad but tame actioner that received a disproportionately negative response. Apparently a young, promising filmmaker isn’t allowed one average film. So everyone expects Jailer to lift not just spirits but also bring back Nelson and Rajinikanth’s mojo. Does it? The simple answer is yes, but it’s complicated.

OMG 2: Amit Rai's Film Is In Dire Need Of Sex Education

This is #CriticalMargin, where Ishita Sengupta gets contemplative over new Hindi films and shows.

Dir: Amit Rai

Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Akshay Kumar, Yami

Playing in: Theatres

AMIT RAI’s OMG 2 has a direction problem. This is not because several scenes in the film unfold with an unhinged-ness that makes the presence of a director on set seem implausible. This is also not because the story unravels in a city whose name is never mentioned (the number plates on cars allude to Madhya Pradesh) and depicted as if it only has space for temples, ghats and a huge school. Both of these are true. But what really contributes to the outing’s problem with direction is the way it goes about to arrive at something: The route is so unnecessary, insensitive and frankly dangerous that it makes all conversations about the destination futile.

Broadly speaking, OMG 2 is a social drama that means to highlight the importance of sex education and its introduction in schools. Now, think of the hundred ways in which one could tell such a story. Here’s how Rai goes about it: a leaked video of a young boy masturbating in the school washroom goes viral leading to his rustication, which triggers his father to initiate a court case in favour of introducing sex education in schools.

Gadar 2 Is Loud, Dated & Unnecessary

Dir: Anil Sharma

Cast: Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel, Utkarsh Sharma, Hand Pump

Unfortunately playing in: Theatres

IT is oddly moving to see a sequel to Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Anil Sharma’s monstrous hit from 2001, in 2023. There is a gap of two decades in between. But time is not the only thing that has changed. The language of patriotic films in India has altered, the tone has become combative, themes lean more on jingoism and the very air in them has become more aggressive. In such a case, Sharma’s decision to revisit a film, which centred on the love story of a Sikh man and a Muslim woman during the turbulence of Partition in 1947, appears to stem from commercial and sentimental reasons. The Sunny Deol starrer was also a propaganda film of its time but there was an attempt for inclusivity and acknowledgement of multiple faiths through the lifting of hand pumps and raging roars. Part Two of this film is a mess of conflicting proportions. The disparity of ideology at every given moment is so much that I was reminded of the many liberal uncles at parties who reveal their news source to be WhatsApp after they are drunk enough.

The year is 1971. East and West Pakistan are caught in turmoil. In India, Tara Singh (Deol) lives happily with his ‘Madamji’ Sakina (Patel). He still drives trucks, and their son Charanjeet aka Jeete (Utkarsh Sharma) wants to be an actor. The film “portrays” this desire by adorning his room with unimaginative posters of Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna. When Tara Singh goes missing while helping the Indian Army, his son goes to Pakistan in search of him. Some days (months? years?) later Tara turns up, and finding his son missing, undertakes his raison d'etre: crossing over to Pakistan as an excuse to lift a hand pump.

— ISHITA SENGUPTA

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