New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan’s much awaited drama Zero finally hits theatres this week, eclipsing all competition. Initial reviews of the film, however, aren’t encouraging.
The Aanand L.Rai directed movie co-starring Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif fails spectacularly at giving us anything we can believe in, says The Indian Express, and we go from start to finish, with disbelief growing with each passing frame. The film doesn’t quite know what to do with its characters once it has them. The writing is all over the place, and everything is so choppy, that the characters all appear to float in their own bubbles, without any palpable connection with each other.
This is a movie that probably sounded interesting at the concept stage but ends up being irretrievably outlandish in its execution, says Scroll. By trying to play the man next door rather than a larger-than-life personality, Khan has all too literally let himself be cut to size. The romantic declarations are less effective, the conviction with which Khan has carried off more modest romances is missing, and the package is smaller than before.
Kannada/Hindi action period drama K.G.F: Chapter 1 directed by Prashanth Neel starring Yash and Srinidhi Shetty seems to have delivered what it set to achieve, says The Times of India. The film has a fast-paced first half, which does seem a little long, but the second half and the climax sets up the right premise for the second part of the film.
Tamil action drama Adanga Maru starring Jayam Ravi and Raashi Khanna directed by K.Thangavel could have been a flawless cop thriller, but it misses the mark by a few inches, says India Today. Taking up a relevant issue, Thangavel has etched a gripping tale which sometimes goes overboard.
Tamil sports film Kanaa starring Sathyaraj, Aishwarya Rajesh and Darshan directed by Arunraja Kamaraj explores various themes including gender inequality, the ethnic and regional prejudice besides sexism that revolves around women’s cricket, says The Indian Express. What works wonderfully is the writing. There is humour and there are also several poignant father-daughter emotions all through. A big thumbs-up to Rajesh, who has convincingly pulled off her character.
Tamil action comedy Maari 2 directed by Balaji Mohan starring Dhanush progresses in a fairly engaging manner until the first half, says The Times of India. The film, however, loses its way in the second and never quite recovers.
Tamil drama Seethakaathi directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan, starring Vijay Sethupathi is a long overdue tribute to the theatre art form and its many passionate proponents, says Film Companion. But what makes Seethakaathi doubly special is not its story, which traces the twilight years of a man who lived (and died) on stage. It’s the ingenious manner in which the film uses techniques of ‘pure’ cinema to take us closer to the stage.
Tamil action comedy Silukkuvarupatti Singam directed by Chella starring Vishnu Vishal, Regina Cassandra and Oviya takes a while to get going as it takes its own time to establish the characters and the various conflicts, says The Times Of India. By the time we reach intermission, we end up with a handful of funny episodes. But the second half doesn’t really live up to the promise of the first. Yes, there are funny sequences, but none that is an absolute laugh riot.
Several releases this week haven’t inspired any reviews yet. These include Telugu science fiction thriller Antariksham 9000, Telugu romantic film Padi Padi Leche Manasu, Malayalam horror comedy Pretham 2, Malayalam comedy Njan Prakashan and Malayalam drama Ente Ummante Peru.
The development was reported by livemint.com
