Sachin Chatte

Daayra poses an interesting question concerning the relationship between law and morality: if culprits are likely to get away with murder, is it acceptable to take the law into one’s own hands and deliver justice? And who gets to decide the quantum of punishment, assuming the accused are indeed guilty of a heinous crime? Are extrajudicial killings justified in such circumstances? Meghna Gulzar’s film raises several thorny questions. That is essentially the point of the story, though the film becomes somewhat heavy-handed in making it.

Based on the Japanese video game, the Resident Evil franchise had a good run at the box office from 2002 to 2017. And, like most films based on video games, all six films were quite mediocre. There was also the eminently forgettable Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in 2021. Just when you thought the franchise was dead and buried, it has now resurrected itself-like the zombies in the film.

Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan is a remake of his own Malayalam film Oppam (2016), which was a big hit a decade ago. After watching Haiwaan, I spent some time wondering why Priyadarshan chose to remake a successful film of his own. What value addition could he possibly bring to it? Alas, I couldn’t think of a satisfactory answer - except that commercial considerations must have warranted it.

Mirzapur perhaps marks the first instance of a popular web series being turned into a feature film. The series, which ran for three successful seasons over the last eight years, was helmed by Gurmeet Singh, who has also directed the film. Much of the team remains the same, from the cinematographer to the actors, with the notable exception of Vikrant Massey, replaced here by Jitendra Kumar. Kumar is a fine actor and fits the bill perfectly.

Toxic is 3 hrs 14 mins long.If you remove all the shots of the lead played by Yash walking around in slow motion - you’re down to about 2 hours 30 minutes. Remove all the shots of Yash smoking a cigar/cigarette - around 2 hours. Remove the violent fights involving axes, guns, knives, grenades, chainsaws and what appears to be the entire inventory of a hardware store — and you’re left with roughly 60 minutes. Which, frankly, would have been the perfect length, because the entire film is summarised in the last 20 minutes anyway.

The first Insidious film came out in 2011, and since then, the franchise has spawned six films, including the latest, Out of the Further, directed by Jacob Chase, who makes his debut in the franchise. Horror franchises like this are low-hanging fruit for producers and studios. The six films have collectively made more than $700 million at the box office on a combined budget of less than one-tenth of that amount, making the math fairly simple. The franchise has also attracted some reputed names from the world of horror. James Wan, of The Conjuring fame, directed the first two films, while Oren Peli, who made Paranormal Activity, has served as a producer on all six.

Produced by J.J. Abrams and directed by David Robert Mitchell (of It Follows, one of the better horror films of the century), The End of Oak Street is an old-fashioned survival thriller with a clear tribute to Steven Spielberg and his groundbreaking dinosaurs. Producer Abrams himself did a Spielberg pastiche with Super 8 (2011), a cross between E.T. (1982) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

Based on Asghar Wajahat’s play Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya, O Jamya E Nai, like most films on Partition, Batwara 1947, has its heart in the right place. But, much like Main Vaapas Aaunga a couple of months ago, when it comes to cinematic storytelling, the film gets a bit muddled. The obligatory songs and romance unnecessarily dilute its essence, leaving you desperately wanting the story to move on. At its core, though, there is a strong message about values and respecting humanity. And Sunny Deol proves yet again that there is much more to him as an actor than being the man who can uproot a hand pump. This is one of his finest performances, one that goes beyond the dhai kilo ka haath and bashing up half a dozen people in an action sequence.