Be it on OTT platforms or theatres, Bollywood movies are releasing left, right, and center as the film industry is recovering from the unforeseeable halt because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While we’re obsessing over some movies, many are just cringe pro max with good marketing. While some films have great plots, others have even better memes.
Here are 9 recent Bollywood movies ranked on a scale from cringe to excellence.
1. Liger
Liger is a romantic sports action film following the story of a man, Liger, who aspires to be an MMA champion, like his later father. His relationship with his mother, a self-claimed tigress, is pretty turbulent since she incessantly hits him while also ridiculing his stammering and passively motivating him to become a great fighter. Seeing Liger excel is his mom’s only aim in life. Liger also falls in love with Tanya, the sister of his arch-nemesis, which is not surprising at all. The movie is a cringe-fest with heightened emotions, peculiar dialogues, and an illogical storyline, and you will be face-palming hard throughout.
PS – Mike Tyson’s cameo was majorly for the hype.
2. Ek Villain Returns
It takes guts to pick up a fairly decent movie and create a sequel to ruin its legacy. The sequel for Ek Villain does just that with an absurd plotline and toxic characters. You’d not love or hate anybody and largely remain indifferent throughout. Basically, a famous singer gets abducted by an egoistic fellow who couldn’t handle rejection in his love life. Upon hearing the news, the singer’s lover, a rich spoilt brat, decides to avenge her ‘supposed’ death. This is basically it, keeping aside the opaque acting, bizarre twists, and immense objectification of the female characters.
3. Shamshera
The film is set in the 1800s and revolves around a dacoit tribe struggling for freedom from Britishers in pre-independent India. It follows Shamshera who lays down his life in fighting for his people when, 25 years later, his son emerges to fulfill the cause and avenge his death. While the actors deliver promising roles and the cinematography appears compelling, the storyline is too stretched, making the entire movie-watching experience a monotonous affair. The plot feels unevenly knitted, and the movie fails to generate any substantial impact on the viewers.
4. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
While Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 generated good numbers at the box office, it nowhere fulfills the legacy of its prequel except for the involvement of Tabu. On the surface, the film attempts to follow the journey of two strangers where the guy — for no sensible reason — agrees to help the girl he just met by visiting her haunted hometown where she’s presumed dead. After dedicating a good segment of the story to these two strangers, we realize that the story isn’t about them after all. It’s about Tabu! The horror portions of the movie feel like a mockery of its predecessor, while Tabu emerges as the only star in the film.
5. Good Luck Jerry
A remake of a Tamil movie, Kolamaavu Kokila, Good Luck Jerry follows the story of a simple lower-middle class girl hailing from Punjab. She finds herself in the middle of a drug racket as she decides to earn money in a short span of time when her mother is diagnosed with second-stage cancer. The comedic twists and turns of circumstances are such that her family also gets involved in the drug business, even when she wants out. While the movie gets a little monotonous at the end, it’s promising, entertaining, and immensely dramatic.
6. Laal Singh Chaddha
Laal Singh Chaddha is an honest attempt at remaking the 1994 classic Oscar-winning movie, Forrest Gump. The film follows the extraordinary journey of Laal, a slow-witted guy, navigating the most turbulent moments of Indian history while being in love with his childhood friend, Rupa. Despite the box-office failure, it is a heartwarming film that focuses on the message of love and harmony. Nonetheless, the movie is pretty slow, and we have seen greater performances from Aamir Khan.
7. Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva
By now, you must have seen enough memes to know what the movie is all about. Shiva is an extraordinary guy who is unaffected by the fire. Upon meeting the love of his life, Isha, he discovers he can control the fire and even has a connection with a secret supernatural society. Brahmastra is a movie with some mind-blowing VFX that makes it worth watching in the theatres. However, it’s a big disappointment when it comes to poorly written dialogues and a bizarre storyline.
8. Rocketry: The Nambi Effect
Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is a biographical drama film based on the life of an ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan who was falsely accused in the ISRO espionage case and later vindicated. While R. Madhavan plays the role of Nambi in the film, it is also his directorial debut. The actor understood the assignment pretty well as he churned out the best and the most dramatic moments of the scientist’s life and carefully weaved it into a film.
9. Darlings
Released on Netflix, Darlings is a dark comedy following the story of an abusive relationship. Badrunissa, a victim of domestic violence, leaves no stone unturned to change her violent alcoholic husband. Seeing no other option left, she resorts to revenge with the help of her mom, Shamshu. With an incredible star cast and a brilliant storyline, Darlings showcases a topic as sensitive and loaded as domestic violence on a satirical note, covering all of its aspects. Without a doubt, the film is a must-watch.
Which one do you love? And which one do you hate?