Moana 2, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar: Reviews This Week

Moana 2: The Disney-Shaped Perils Of Growing Up & Selling Out

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

Dir: Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand, David Derrick Jr

Cast: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Nicole Scherzinger, Temuera Morrison

Playing in: Theatres

MUCH LIKE its “ancestor” in 2016, Moana 2 is a rare Disney movie that captures the childlike wonder of storytelling. Most animated adventures are crafted by adults who imagine what it means to be young again. But Moana 2 is all kinds of young: excitable and colourful and messy and clumsy and wild. The premise unfolds like blotches of bright paint thrown against a wall — unburdened by the ‘sense’ of growing up. Some call it Polynesian folklore, others call it raw flair. It’s like hearing old truths in baby voices.

Sample this: Moana (Auli’i Cravalho), the brave wayfinder, can’t find other ocean people because an evil storm god named Nalo (think Thanos on a beach holiday) sunk the one mystical island that connected all islands. So Moana’s mission is to lift this curse by setting sail with a crew that features her pet pig and rooster, a grumpy farmer, a hunky fanboy, a geeky craft-woman, and of course, the shape-shifting demigod with a motion tattoo, Maui (Dwayne Johnson). The plan is to sail into the eye of the deadly storm and distract Nalo so that Maui can literally yank the island out of the water and clear the skies. This limitless journey also features a displaced coconut race named Kakamora, a huge monster clam that looks like a mountain going through an existential crisis, an ocean that’s alive and friendly, an underwater lair, Maui morphing into a cute shark and much more. Oh, and it’s also a kiddie musical. One of the songs goes: “Remember there’s always another way, even if you have to get lost to find it”.

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Sikandar Ka Muqaddar: Oops!

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

Dir: Neeraj Pandey

Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Tamannaah, Avinash Tiwary

Stream on: Netflix

AT THIS POINT, I am certain that Neeraj Pandey is laughing at our expense. The statement might be severe but hear me out. This year in August he helmed Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, an agonisingly dull film that made the coming together of two fine actors, Ajay Devgn and Tabu, part of the problem. Barely three months later, he has made Sikandar ka Muqaddar that unravels as a spiritual sequel in tediousness, has credits designed in Comic Sans typeface and would have been considered a joke if the actors did not trudge along with the straightest of faces. All three of them brave the insane plot twists like their life depended upon them. Oh have I said too much? Oops — not mine but Pandey’s word.

The year is 2024 and it appears that we have reached some worrying level of intimacy with filmmakers for them to keep throwing words like “oops” on screen not once but twice. Or we have ushered in a post post modernist phase where anything and everything goes, a little like the duct-taped banana artwork. The reason is still unclear but Pandey’s unearned cheekiness is not. With 30 minutes left to Sikandar ka Muqaddar, the screen goes dark and “The End” credits flash before our eyes. You heave a sigh of relief and then comes the catch: “Oops”. And then the drudgery starts again while dialling up the outlandishness. The screen turns black again and again comes the four letter word: Oops.

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