ASHOK’S FIVE reviews for all things online

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “MAYA BAZAAR 2016” the Kannada comic caper meets thriller film from Puneeth Raj Kumar’s production house. Directed by newbie Radhakrishna Reddy, the film is built on the demonetisation issue but that’s not the central theme; Maya bazaar 2016 is a wonderful cocktail of comedy, thrill, emotion, dialogues and whacky screenplay that lands just about right. 1.        Achyut Kumar is brilliant in his role as Joseph the honest police officer who is need of money because his wife (played by Sudha Rani) is hospitalised with cancer. He teams up with a small time con-man Kubera (Raj B Shetty) and later a hopeless romantic Raaji (Vashishta N Simha) to make some easy money by faking IT raids but as more characters enter the scene, there is a riot of confusion that leaves you in splits. Achyut literally carries the film on his shoulders and shines through even in contrast to established heavy weights. 2.        Maya Bazaar 2016 is extremely well narrated and made

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “Extraction” now streaming on Netflix. Starring Chris Hemsworth as Tyler Rake the Australian mercenary, “Extraction” is a fast-paced action thriller. Written by Joe Russo and directed by Sam Hargrave, the film boasts fantastic action sequences. Incidentally, Hargrave worked as stunt director on the Marvel movies and the Avengers-Endgame film as well and clearly the focus on stunt and action shines through. 1.        The film belongs to Chris Hemsworth and is a tribute to his physical prowess as he pulls off mind-blowing stunts. The film opens in Mumbai where the son of a gangster played by Pankaj Tripathi (only one scene) is kidnapped and held hostage by a drug lord in Dhaka. Enter Chris as Tyler who is charged with extracting the kid. Things go wrong when Saju (Randeep Hooda) lands up in Dhaka and Tyler is compromised. 2.        Watch Extraction for a pure video-game like action film. The hallmark of the film is clearly the 12-minute one sh

ASHOK’S FIVE reasons to watch “Taxi”, Jafar Panahi’s unique work that looks at everyday life in Tehran but shot through three hidden cameras in a taxi that he drives around. Banned for twenty years by the Iranian government, “Taxi” is Panahi’s labour of love and a tribute to the spirit of free expression. The film won the Golden Bear at the Berlin film festival in 2015. 1.        Taxi is every aspiring film-maker’s delight. One of the first things that they teach you in film school is that you don’t need to have a lot of money to make a film. What you need is resourcefulness and ability to get a lot of people to collaborate together inspired by your idea. And Taxi is exactly that and more! 2.        As Panahi drives around Tehran city, he encounters various passengers ranging from a man who is a thief but believes in the death penalty, two old women who believe in religious superstition, a DVD bootlegger, an artist who has been weighed down by restrictions and his own ni

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch the first episode of the “Corona virus Explained” series now streaming on Netflix. It is a short episode just about thirty minutes long and provides an insight into the origins of the pandemic that is currently sweeping the world. Created in collaboration between Netflix and Vox Studios, this is expected to be part of a three series show. 1.        The show demystifies Covid 19 and explains the concept of the zoonotic virus, and how it belongs to a family of viruses that exist in animals but has now jumped to infect humans. SARS and MERS belong to the same category, but this is more deadly paradoxically because the spread is slower and herd immunity is tough to attain. 2.        The origins can be traced back to the wet markets of China where living bats support the presence of the virus and how this can be transmitted to birds or pigs. Identifying and isolating the virus at the source is one way of preventing further outbreaks. The larger point tho

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch the new Marathi movie “Bonus” now streaming on Amazon Prime. This is one gem of an idyllic film that is worth dropping everything else to watch with your family and leaves you stunned with its simplicity and thoughtful with its incisive insight. Writer-director Saurabh Bhave puts together a Marathi special that focuses on the premise of enjoying the smaller things in life and in his own way setting up a contrast between the poor and the rich in the same terrain that ‘Parasite’ did.   “Bonus” is the story of Aditya who has been challenged by his grandfather to spend thirty days in a fishermen’s colony in Mumbai on a budget of five thousand rupees. How this seemingly innocuous experiment goes on to impact Aditya’s world view and leave a lasting impact on his life is what the story dwells on. 1.        Bonus gets to the point with amazing alacrity much like the quintessential Marathi film; no rambling, no unnecessary chatter – it sets up the prem

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “Hasmukh” now streaming on Netflix. When little children get fed up of playing with their dolls, they start pulling hands and legs out of the doll and hold it by the hair and shake it fiercely giving it the ‘ragged doll treatment’ and this is precisely what you feel like doing to this ten episode series that sets up a brilliant, uncanny and truly original plot and then lets it meander into sublimely ordinary fare. Hasmukh is a dark thriller with humour laced in and a matter of fact ‘anything goes’ style that makes you sit up and take notice. Applause Entertainment’s new show is directed by Nikhil Gonsalves and co-created by Vir Das and Nikhil Advani and boasts Das’s debut as an actor on the OTT space. 1.        Full marks to the ingenuity of the idea. An awkward and shy comedian from Saharanpur discovers that he gets his ‘feel’ and transforms into a tiger on stage only when he murders an evil person. A string of killings, tonnes of dark humour

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “Kavaludaari”, the maiden venture of Puneeth Rajkumar productions streaming on Amazon Prime. Director Hemanth Rao weaves his magic once again after the success of Godi Banna Sadharanu Mykattu (GBSM) which won the Film fare award in the best film category for 2016. I have been an ardent admirer of the silent revolution happening in the Kannada film industry, which has always been the little brother to Tamil and Telugu and Kavaludaari doesn’t disappoint. Starring Anant Nag and Rishi, the story is an investigation into a forty-year-old crime carried out by a traffic cop who has a motive to solve the mystery. Literally meaning “At the cross-roads”, Kavaludaari is a realistic crime thriller that stands out for fantastic acting, interesting cinematography and a class of film-making which is unusual. 1.        Kavaludaari belongs to the category of what is called the Neo Noir film – made popular in 1950s Hollywood crime drama. You could sit through this film

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “Four More Shots Please” Season 2 now streaming on Amazon Prime. This new season comes four months after Season 1 ended leaving the audience asking questions as to whether Damini would get together with Jeh, the Anjana-Arjun affair would lead anywhere, was the Umang – Samara story worth tracking and what would happen to Siddhi after she rejected Mihir. Season 2 starts with Siddhi and interestingly enough ends with Siddhi signifying a certain shit in focus that seems to go down well with audiences. More importantly, if Season 1 was about carefree laughter, girly chatter and an ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude, Season 2 is about growing up, becoming mature and grappling with life and choices while retaining the sass and the sauce. The four divas played with swag by Kirti Kulhari, Maanvi Gagroo, Sayani Gupta and Bani J are back and sexier than ever! 1.        Watch “Four More Shots Please” for the novelty of a true-blue chick lit that deals with

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “ANGREZI MEDIUM” now streaming on Hotstar. Starring the redoubtable Irrfan Khan in a comeback role after being diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour, the film is a full-on saccharine overdose and all five reason perhaps can only be him! Directed by Homi Adjania – Being Cyrus ( 2006) and Cocktail (2012), the premise of a father-daughter relationship set amidst many sub-plots including the craze for foreign education falls squarely flat in an absurd mocktail of an overloaded cast with nothing to do, cute sounding Rajasthani dialect that shines to disappoint and attempts at comic humour that needs more than hand wash to sanitise! 1.        Irrfan makes a comeback with his trademark comic timing and sardonic humour. The scenes where his relationship with his daughter played with élan by Radhika Madaan are eminently watchable before the madness begins. Irrfan plays Champak Bansal, a widower based in Udaipur who will do anything for his daughter.

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “MONEY HEIST” Season 4 now streaming on Netflix or the more fancy Spanish name “LA CASA DEL PAPEL” (the house of paper). Created by Madrid based Alex Pina, this show has caught public fancy across the world and the unique iconography of the show is fast becoming common world-wide currency. Acquired by Netflix in 2017, Money Heist has gone on to become the most watched non-English show in several countries including France, Italy, Argentina and Brazil. In India, our own SRK has gone on record saying this is a show he wants to create, and popular memes abound as to which Bollywood character would fit each of the iconic characters of the show. The latest one has Ayushman Khurana as the Professor and Tabu as Raquel Muerillo! 1.        Watch Money Heist for its unique Iconography and symbolism. The characters names after world cities, Salvador Dali masks, unique red overalls and the Bella Ciao song have gone on to catch public fancy. The title song in Engl

ASHOK’S FIVE reasons to watch “Caliphate” now streaming on Netflix, a Swedish 2020 series and winner of the Nordisk film and TV Fond prize. Season 1 comprises eight episodes and keeps you on the edge of your seat all through. 1.        Created by the veteran Wilhelm Behrman and shot across Stockholm and Jordan, the series covers the story of people impacted by the terrorist crisis in the geography. The settings, characters, houses and décor right through the bed-linen are realistic and capture the ground situation so well. 2.        A fantastic performance by Swedish actor Gizem Erdogan as Previn, the hapless housewife caught in Raqqa and attempting to escape. She is brilliant in her character, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes the victim and sometimes flashes of clever thinking on her feet. 3.        The story has three parallel plots running simultaneously – the story of Pervin trying to escape and get back home. The story of Fatima the Swedish cop who is facing tough times at

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch MARZI now streaming on Voot. Here is a compact six-part series that is a thriller set against the MeToo context and based on the 2017 British TV series Liar created by BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated producers and screenwriters Henry and Jane William. If you are not looking for heavy duty binge watching and want to indulge in a beautifully produced work, this is your best bet to put your feet up, dim the lights and drift along with the narrative. 1.        Reason one is undoubtedly Shimla. The setting is picturesque and the houses on the hill-top, the main road, greenery and the rains make for really scenic delight. Add to that the stylish woollen costumes worn by the protagonists and you begin to feel nice and comfy! 2.        Full marks to Rajeev Khandelwal and Aahana Kumra for some brilliant work. They carry the series on their shoulders. Khandelwal is comfortable in his skin and plays his age and carries off the character of Dr Anurag Saraswat

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “TRANCE” the 2019 Malayalam release now streaming on Amazon Prime. Be prepared to for a mind-blowing experience as you see Fahadh Faasil in a role that is tailor made for him. Trance is also Anwar Rasheed’s comeback film after the 2012 Ustaad Hotel. The film explores several themes pertinent to religion and uses the metaphor of trance with devastating effect. The film promises you a superb build-up in the first half but loses its way in the second and fizzles out towards the end but it’s definitely worth a watch for several reasons. 1. Watch TRACE for Fahadh Faasil in a spectacularly brilliant and explosive role. This is the kind of script that’s written with Fahadh in mind and one can almost visualise how he would have moulded it and made it his very own. Fahadh plays Viju Prasad a failed motivation speaker who makes it all the way from Kanya Kumari to the international stage as pastor Joshua Carlton, the miracle worker. His transformation along the way

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch “PANCHAYAT” now streaming on Amazon Prime simply because I am bowled over. This is a sooper dooper jalebi that’s dripping in sugar syrup, fresh off the pathila and yet not so sweet that gets you diabetic. It’s a wonderful little nugget waiting to be discovered and if you haven’t seen it yet, then you are perhaps missing the best Indian series on air this year. Panchayat is a three in one scoop – a discovery of rural India where everything is as simple as it seems, a discovery of self through the eyes of the protagonist Abhishek Trivedi (Jitendra Kumar in yet another TVF creation), and life lessons without a tinge of moral science instructions. 1.        Watch Panchayat for a simple story that is beautiful without being silly. Writer Chandan Kumar and Director Deepak Kumar Mishra get it spot on with a tale set in Phulera panchayat where time stands still, and simple issues are spun into a narrative that provides you fodder for thought. Typical village