Shabaash Mithu opens with a dejected Mithali Raj (Taapsee Pannu), drenched in sweat, sprinting through the quiet lanes of Hyderabad. The film hits the rewind button where we get a peek into Mithali’s childhood. When a young, exquisite Mithali strikes a friendship with the sharp-tongued, tomboy Noorie at her classical dance classes, little does she know that it would change the course of her life forever.

Amid sessions of ‘nritta’, ‘natya’ and ‘nritya’, the girls sneak out to play cricket at an abandoned ground where a washing paddle is their cricket bat, and stones lying there double up as their fielders. During one such match, Mithali’s exceptional cricketing skills catch the eye of Samrat (Vijay Raaz), a cricket coach. He offers to take Mithali and Noorie under his wings. While Mithali’s father agrees to this, Noorie keeps it a secret from her family.Years pass by, and this ‘Sachin-Kambli’ duo is now slowly making their mark with the bat and ball. However, owing to certain circumstances, only Mithali gets selected in the Indian National Women’s Team. What follows next is the journey of her glorious career which is marked with hits and misses.

Shabaash Mithu is the perfect example of how the Hindi film biopic can never just be that. In Bollywood, biopics turn into code words for wholesome entertainers. They are mandated to fulfil other duties, simultaneously resembling a love story, a family drama, and a coming of age adventure. Srijit Mukherji’s biopic on the trail blazing female cricketer who disrupted and dominated the country’s favourite male dominated sport follows this pattern. The film captures Mithali Raj as a friend, sister, daughter, a Bharatnatyam dancer who applies her dance lessons to cricket, and an untiring supporter of gender equality. What we never get to see, however, is Mithali Raj the youngest captain in the history of international cricket as a protagonist. As a cricketer coming onto her own. As a remarkable woman who isn’t only defined by her extraordinary actions  or struggles.

There’s not much invention in either the film’s plot or its form. Mukherjee recounts the retired cricketer’s life in a linear fashion, dividing it into three parts, focusing on her childhood discovery of the sport, the years she spent in the national camp as a rookie player, and finally her tenure in the national team leading up to her comeback and eventual retirement. On paper, the film covers more than three decades in Mithali’s life but it’s hard to tell that on screen: Not only do characters refuse to age in Shabaash Mithu but the proceedings itself betray no hold over the passage of time. Years are condensed into minutes and integral phases of life are packaged in saccharine montages. Mithali’s career for instance is reduced to a choppy highlight reel, embodying the absolute rock-bottom of biopic filmmaking.

That is to say Shabaash Mithu becomes the kind of sports biopic that believes it is making a statement even when it says nothing about the life led by its protagonist. It doesn’t tell a story as much as it engineers one by fetishising the gender of its protagonist. The film isn’t interested in just depicting Mithali Raj’s incredible career and comeback as much as it fixated with underlining one thing: Mithali Raj is a woman.

The movie doesn’t amply showcase those edge of the seat, nail biting moments that would have unfolded in her life, especially during the 2017 world cup. Those keenly waiting to finally watch a movie revolving around Mithali, one of women’s cricket’s most iconic contemporary players, will certainly be left asking for more. Maybe a rerun of one of her milestone matches will help.

Click the link below to watch the trailer. 

Content sources- theHindu.com firstpost.com koimoi.com  

The post Shabaash Mithu: Movie Review first appeared on A-Desiflava Magazine.

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif

Directed By: Rohit Shetty

Producers: Hiroo Yash Johar, Aruna Bhatia, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Rohit Shetty

Music: Amar Mohile, S. Thaman

Release Date: 5th November 2021 

Screening timings at  GH Whampoa Plaza: 

November 5th -21:20

November 6th – 18:25 

November 6th – 21:20

November 7th – 14:35

November 7th – 17:20

DCP Veer Sooryavanshi, the chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad and his team join forces with Inspector Sangram Bhalerao and DCP Bajirao Singham to stop a terrorist group planning to attack Mumbai.

Sooryavanshi is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Rohit Shetty, an original story by Shetty, Singham and Simba and now The fourth instalment of Shetty’s Cop Universe, it stars Akshay Kumar as Anti-Terrorism Squad chief DCP Veer Sooryavanshi opposite Katrina Kaif with supporting cast of Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover, and Jaaved Jaaferi. Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh in extended cameo appearances reprise their roles of Singham and Simmba from the franchise’s previous films.

Kumar’s character was announced towards the end of Simmba that served as a character introduction of Sooryavanshi. Sooryavanshi is scheduled to theatrically release worldwide on 5 November 2021 coinciding with Diwali

To participate in the giveaway , Instagram message us the answers to the questions and follow the steps below:

• Name any two unmentioned actors in this press note acting in the film.
• Name the movie in which the character Sooryavanshi was announced.
•  Name any three films written by the director of Sooryavanshi. (Other than the ones mentioned in the press note)
• Share this giveaway post on your story and tag us on our Facebook or Instagram.Follow and like A-DesiFlava on Instagram and Facebook.

To watch the Trailer you can use the links below

The post Sooryavanshi Movie Premier Contest first appeared on A-Desiflava Magazine.

Portraying the brief life of a 25-year-old Captain who gave his life for the nation. The film features Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani in the lead roles. Just like a war drama, Shershaah opens with a heroic sequence that builds an aura around the protagonist, and the rest of the story focuses on Vikram Batra’s childhood, his love story and the saga of his bravery and courage during the 1999 Kargil war. With a compelling screenplay and realistic action sequences, Shershaah puts the spotlight on Captain Batra’s life. Coming to the acting part, Sidharth Malhotra has completely aced the role with his impeccable acting, and one can say that Shershaah is the comeback that Sidharth needed. If someone has already read about Captain Vikram Batra’s life, you must be aware of how the film will progress, but Shershaah’s storytelling is such that even if you know the story, it won’t bore you. The ‘show, don’t tell’ approach of Shershaah works for the film, and the simple yet impactful sequences work for the audience.

Well, since Shershaah is a film with an army backdrop, one would expect a lot of action sequences, and thankfully, Shershaah doesn’t disappoint on that part. Due to its realistic action sequences and the combat scenes, Shershaah hits the target audience very well without showing the scenes to be too violent or dramatic, presenting it in a more authentic and believable way. Though the film delivers decent performance with the war sequences and depicting the life of Captain Vikram Batra, it fails to showcase the romantic life of Captain Vikram Batra. The romantic track between Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani doesn’t really strike the tones properly. I love the jodi of Sid-Kiara, but Shershaah fails to establish it properly, and it feels rushed. Shershaah gets better when Captain Vikram Batra is off to war and the love birds only interact through ‘sandeshas’(messages).

Shershaah is a movie that depicts the life of a man who always dreamt of becoming a fauji(soldier) and can sway the sentiment of an entire community just by talking. Whether it’s sharing Kahwa with Kashmiris on his first posting or making friends quickly wherever he goes, it’s a privilege to know Captain Vikram Batra, the real soldier and pride of India.

Shershaah is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

The post Movie Review – Sheershaah first appeared on A-Desiflava Magazine.

Trust me. This documentary is a real eye-opener to the realities of the world’s fishing industry through the use of undercover filming, whistleblowers and interviews. It begins exploring how modern day fishing damages marine wildlife but then uncovers more and more shocking facts about the world’s oceans and how humans are destroying them at an alarming rate. Facts and statistics are shown on screen to illustrate how severe situations are in the oceans, for example, it is estimated that if fishing trends continue in the way they are going, by the year 2048 we will see virtually empty waters. Additionally, the film-makers explored the impact of plastic pollution and found that plastic fishing nets, discarded by fishing boats themselves, make up nearly half of the dangerous substance that winds up floating in the ocean creating a huge risk to innocent sea creatures. Something in particular that  struck me was the fact that the fishing industry does not just harm species underwater but also creates a torturous environment for people above it. 

Modern slavery was a huge concern and the film-makers interviewed former captives who said that they were forced to stay on boats for years, constantly being threatened and even seeing others killed. I would certainly encourage you to watch this documentary , i don’t want to give away too many spoilers as it is really impactful when you first watch it. Although if you’re wondering about anything you can do to help, the film concluded by saying the best thing individuals can do is to stop eating fish and instead consume plant-based seafood. However, there’s a huge problem with this. Plant-based seafood is expensive and there isn’t a huge variety in supermarkets. It might be easy to make this switch if someone has disposable income and can afford to make this kind of lifestyle change but, the bottom line is, that is not affordable for everyone. Furthermore, it sparked lots of conversation across social media where some claimed the show created a false narrative about having no solution to the extreme fishing methods but, there are many places across the world that have actually implemented strict regulations to fishing and have restored levels of fish in their local areas – so it isn’t impossible.

To conclude I would say that Seaspiracy definitely achieved it’s aims of creating a huge awareness of what is really happening in the current world of industrialised fishing. This is a documentary that everyone should watch and I guarantee that you will take something away from it when you do

You can watch a trailer of the movie on YouTube by clicking on the link below 

The post Movie Review – Seaspiracy first appeared on A-Desiflava Magazine.