Choose Your Fighter: Yodha Or Kung Fu Panda

Yodha: Sidharth Malhotra's Impressive Hijack Drama Swings Left-Right-Left

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

Dir: S Ambre, P Ojha

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra

Playing in: Theatres

IN the Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Yodha, the male protagonist looks at his miffed wife walking away and utters the iconic Shah Rukh Khan catchphrase from the ‘90s: “palat” (turn). When the couple reconcile after a brief period of estrangement, their chosen words of affection hark to another dialogue from Khan’s filmography: “yeh joke tha…I don’t like jokes.” It makes sense. Yodha has been produced by Karan Johar, the man behind some of these noted lines and responsible for bankrolling outings which thrive on Shah Rukh Khan hattips. But the inspiration of this film lies in another Khan.

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Directed by Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha (Ambre has been credited with the writing), Yodha shares much with Salman Khan’s last release, Tiger 3 — the inflated heroism, the indefatigable bullishness of the central character and even his arc that ranges from being framed as a traitor to emerging as a national hero. Much like Khan’s rendition of Tiger, the Indian spy entrusted with protecting the country, Malhotra plays Yodha, a special task force officer, as a one-man army. He possesses both muscular and mental rigour. He can swim at the speed of light; fight off terrorists during a flight; and detach, divorce and die for the sake of the nation.

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Kung Fu Panda 4: A Reminder That The Animated Franchise Is What We Need & Deserve

Kung Fu Panda 4 is enjoyable in all the usual ways, but there's this disarming sense of life progression that defines the film, and in a way personalises the viewer's journey too, writes Rahul Desai

Dir: Mike Mitchell

Cast: Jack Black, Viola Davis

Playing in: Theatres

KUNG FU PANDA 4, for many reasons, feels like home. The long-running animated film franchise about a giant food-loving panda becoming the unlikely messiah of a Chinese valley is subject to time and tide. This fourth installment has emerged 16 years after the first. And you can sense the real-world continuity in what is essentially a kiddie underdog-superhero series. After inadvertently becoming – and thriving as – the fabled Dragon Warrior of Peace Valley, Po (voiced by Jack Black) now finds himself having to fill the boots of Grand Master Oogway. It’s an honourable but ‘senior’ gig that Po is reluctant to take; this also means he will have to choose and train the next Dragon Warrior. Not to mention an all-in-one villain to vanquish: Chameleon (voiced by a towering Viola Davis), a sinister sorceress who can shape-shift into any animal she wants.

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Murder Mubarak: Potentially Fun Mystery Is A Crashing Bore Instead

Homi Adajania’s first feature film in four years, evokes a crippling brand of frustration as it unfolds

SOME films reveal themselves early. A transcendental moment, a distinct gesture from an actor or a stray line can convince us about their merit beyond doubt. Conversely, some lose us with little effort. There also exists another kind, situated somewhere in the middle of these extremes, when everything falls into place initially — the jokes (if intended) land, the dialogues work, the twists intrigue — and then the filmmaker does something unimaginable. They watch all of it burn. Homi Adajania’s Murder Mubarak, his first feature film in four years, belongs to this category and evokes a crippling brand of frustration as it unfolds.

— I.S.

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