1) 12th fail
Theme : Biopic
Director : Vidhu Vinod Chopra
The plot is based on the real-life story of IPS officer, Mohan Kumar Sharma, a best-selling book written by Ashok Pathak. It is a simple story of a 12th fail student, who through sheer grunt work and perseverance against many odds, manages to crack the UPSC examination to become an IPS officer.
Vikrant Massey has literally gotten into the skin of the protagonist by looking appropriately sleep-deprived and malnourished for this role. His look of the character is balanced by his outstanding performance to bring alive Mohan Kumar Sharma's noteworthy achievement on screen. Inspite of hailing from a village in Chambal (MP), where schools push students to cheat in order to clear 12th grade; he takes inspiration from a local cop, decides to study with integrity, and become a police officer like him. The righteous path is never easy, and indeed in his case, you really feel the burden of his failures weighing him down yet never completely breaking his spirit. The theme of "restart" is very much required to keep up the volatile spirits of today's youth, and relevant even for adults.
He could not have done it without the sacrifice of his grandmother, the values instilled by his father and the unstinting support of some friends, well-wishers as well as his lady-love. Ably supported by Medha Shankar, Anant Joshi, Sarita Joshi, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Harish Khanna, the director has woven a truly impactful story which will be an inspiration for the current mall-hopping generation.
2) Dunki
Theme : Illegal immigration
Director : Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani is that magician who has taken up extremely diverse yet relevant topics and made blockblusters out of them through comic screenplays. It is very apparent that he goes to a lot of depth to flesh out his characters and wields the baton such that they become unforgettable.
I have to say that the movie plot was refreshingly original even for a movie-buff such as myself. The topic is quite serious but it has been handled so deftly by the director, that though its light-hearted to watch for the most part, it leaves a massive after-thought and provokes debate regarding the ethics of illegal entry into any country. This emotional roller-coaster, backed by SRK's charisma, a tight screenplay, as well as flawless rendition of the unforgettable characters by the cast, packs a solid punch at the very end of 2023.
Set in the backdrop of Punjab, the characters are all Punjabi and speak the dialect fluently. Taapsee Pannu is extremely credible as a go-getter, wanna-be wrestler, Punjabi kudi. Vicky Kaushal's cameo is nothing short of mind-blowing, while Boman Irani, Vikram Kocchar, Anil Grover all give superb performances as the supporting cast. But the outstanding performance is by King Khan himself, who did not just ride on his phenomenal star presence, but made Hardy Singh an extremely relatable and loveable protagonist. Though the love story angle of the movie is far from satisfactory, it brings out the stark contrast in the priorities of the lead couple when faced with a life-changing decision.
It took courage to make a movie on this topic for the masses instead of sticking with a documentary and I heartily applaud the effort as well as the end-product!
3) Kathal
Theme : Social satire on politics, police
Director : Yashowardhan Mishra
This is an underrated, under-marketed movie that did not get its due credit.
Kathal - a jackfruit mystery, is a heavy topic handled light-heartedly by the director and enacted very well by the cast : Sanya Malhotra, Anand Joshi, Rajpal Yadav, Vijay Raaz & Neha Saraf. It starts off as a case of two missing jackfruits from the tree of the local MLA, who pulls rank with the police to give it undue priority over other more relevant cases. Sanya is the officer in charge of investigating the missing fruits and given a carte-blanche as well as award money for finding the thief and returning the fruit before it turns ripe. Ironically, by following a text-book investigation of the same, she ends up bringing to the fore, and cracking, a much more serious crime, with the help of a well-meaning journalist and her trusted aides.
How thrilling can the chase for 2 missing jackfruits be? Well, the movie not only manages to make it interesting, but handles the topic of caste divide, romance across ranks, women's liberation as well as fighting the "right battles", alongwith the who-dun-it thread too! Sanya Malhotra turns in a performance with undeniable versatility and confidence.
4) Dasvi
Theme : Importance of education
Director : Tushar Jalota
This Abhishek Bachchan, Nimrat Kaur & Yami Gautam starrer was a surprise package.
What starts off as the story of a typical illiterate yet powerful politician, quickly transforms into his spiritual ascension through education - giving his matriculation exam while in jail. The reverse transformation of this wife, Nimrat, is also equally thought-provoking. All 3 have done great justice to their roles - definitely one of the best of Abhishek's career, and they got the dialects bang on too. The challenges faced by the protagonist to learn the various subjects, especially his nemesis : Maths and Hindi, totally resonated with our teenage daughter too.
While it spans across politics, importance of education and what one can accomplish if one is committed to the goal - it is basically a human story that needs to be watched by all.
5) Atrangi re
Theme : Mental health
Director : Aanand L Rai
So much has been shown about love over the years. Indeed there is so much literature about it, that there can be hardly be any aspect of love that is novel. Yet 'Atrangi re' manages to pull this off.
With superb performances by Dhanush and Sara Ali Khan, and a contemporary theme about mental health, this one was a pleasant surprise! It definitely exceeded my expectations as far as storyline and acting are concerned. Akshay Kumar, in his cameo, lends steady support.
The various layers of the traumatized mind are unraveled gradually as we head toward the climax; the sensitive handling of the subject is a credit to the director. Definitely one of the memorable performances by Sara Ali Khan; Dhanush excels as usual. The other characters are sketched extremely well and each has their own footage and significance, even if only in a supporting role.
