Raees (2017) - Movie Review

It’s Bollywood time again, and I am once again thankful that I am stepping on familiar ground with this one. This time around, it’s with one of the most recognisable Indian actors out there: Shah Rukh Khan. Now, that term doesn’t have as much worth to me as it probably should, but that’s only because I’m still on the learning path when it comes to understanding Bollywood cinema. It took me two decades to understand Hollywood’s antics; chances are I have a while to go yet. I’ve already covered two of Khan’s more recent films on this blog before, with the decent if insubstantial Happy New Year and the phenomenally misguided Dilwale, and I’m far from an aficionado for his work but I definitely give the man credit where it’s due; even in Dilwale, the guy still managed to deliver. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at his latest offering.

Dilwale (2015) - Movie Review

I’m kind of surprised and, honestly, kind of disappointed that it’s taken me this long into the year to talk about another Bollywood movie. Given how we had not one but three arrive at my local last year, I honestly thought that we’d get more coming in this year. However, probably as a result of the release drought in response to no-one wanting to directly to compete with Star Wars, as well as the mass releases on Christmas Day, this is one of the few new releases that have come in in the last few weeks. Well, even given my admittedly limited exposure to Indian cinema, I reckon I’ve taken a look at a semi-decent sample: There was Kick, which started out shaky but ended up pretty good, there was Happy New Year, which was alright but a bit forgettable, and then there was PK, which was legitimately surprising in the best way possible. Time to see how today’s film measures up to the minor experience I’ve had previously.

Happy New Year (2014) - Movie Review

As much as I like to pretend that I know what I’m talking about, I really don’t for all intents and purposes; I just like talking about movies. It is with today’s film that my lack of experience shows as I go into a Bollywood movie. Not to say that I’ve never seen a Bollywood movie before, but then again, I might as well have because I only have two under my belt so far: Kick from earlier this year, which was good, and I vaguely remember watching Dhoom when I was younger. Aside from that, I know very little about the norms of Bollywood movies and I will without a doubt get thrown off by some things. However, I did start this blog partially as a learning experience for myself, so I guess I’ll just have to learn as I go.