New Delhi: The first phase trial of the nasal decongestant covid vaccine is successful. Following this, the authorities approved the next trial of the vaccine in India. India’s first nasal vaccine is developed by Bharat Biotech. The experiment took place in people between the ages of 18 and 60 years old.
Review for NETRIKANN:
•Language: TAMIL
•Duration: 02 HOURS 25 Minutes.
•Genre: CRIME THRILLER.
•Streaming on HOTSTAR + DISNEY
• REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI.R.VALIYAVEETIL.
•POSITIVES:
1: Direction.
2: Story and Dialogues.
3: Performance of actors.
4: Cinematography.
5: Editing.
6: Action sequences.
•NEGATIVES:
1: Logics are missing.
2: Dragging second half.
3: Predictable.
4: Mediocre Screenplay.
•ONE WORD: A watchable thriller with the shining performance of Nayanthara.
•STORY IDEA:
Netrikann begins with Durga (Nayanthara) who works as a CB-CID officer who loses her brother due to a sudden accident which leads her to be visionless. She struggles due to her blind eyes but strongly believes in her willpower and manages to survive her disability. One day on a misunderstanding she gets into a car that is driven by a psychopath (Ajmal Ameer) who use to kidnap and torture girls, things get upside from that moment because the psychopath starts to hunt for Durga. Can Durga escape from him and will she be able to survive without her eye and vision is the rest of the story.
• DETAIL REVIEW:
Netrikann is directed by the newcomer Milind Rau who also writes the screenplay. The story is by Choi Min-seok, adapted from the 2011 Korean movie The Blind also Netrikann is done as a frame-to-frame remake. The dialogues for the film are written by Navin Sundaramurthy and Senthilkumar Kesavan. The movie is produced by Vignesh Shivan and Hyunwoo Thomas Kim under the banner of Rowdy Pictures and Kross Pictures. The cinematography is handled by R. D. Rajasekhar, the music is composed by Girishh Gopalakrishnan and the editing is by Lawrence Kishore. The movie opts for the OTT release and is now streaming through Hotstar+Disney.
First of all, I had watched the 2011 Korean film The Blind, so not comparing but the remake Netrikann had almost done justice to the original version, not fully but to an extent. The Korean adaptation to the Indian culture was brought out decently but the impact which the Korean version had created was missing in this remake. The attempt of remaking was honest, it’s a complete frame-to-frame work so those who had watched the original will feel disappointed but for those who haven’t this remake will be a perfect choice. It’s a complete cat and mouse game of heroine and villain so the movie is a thriller that is filled with many moments to get excited. The story is the prior factor here because one blind woman chasing after a psychopath offers the viewers an engaging package of a thriller. The story adapted from the original version is the first primary plus factor of this film because it has the potential content to cherish the viewers and also offers many nail-biting and exhilarating moments.
The direction held by Milind Rau was good but as a screenplay writer he was not up to the real level, for a crime thriller he was having many ideal thoughts in his direction but the screenplay doesn’t get raised to the accurate phase. The screenplay was suffering from many drawbacks, the first is the lack of logic. There are many loopholes in the script, for example, the police authorities failing to get the CCTV visuals of the villain who used to chase the important characters in public places. The next drawback is the subplot which tells the flashback of a villain on how and why did he become a psychopath was not convincing. His past life and the villain who is a doctor further becoming a psychopath was lacking with a good satisfying explanation, the reason was awful. Also, the subplot was having an important character, the villain’s wife which comes as a twist that was not handled correctly and hasn’t been explained properly, leading to losses end. Another is the absence of media, the city was filling with many missing girls and none of the media was not showing interest to cover up, therefore I guess the writer had forgotten it. Next is the mode of operation from the villain, how did he use to pick the girls, or is he picking through by dealing with his profession doesn’t give a clear idea. The most terrible thing in the film is happening towards the end, the villain, again and again, was easily rising back from death. Towards the end villain hitting several times himself on an iron rode and also in a concrete wall to provoke police officers and easily killing all of them and finally escaping from the police station was overdramatic. Then he suddenly gets back to kill where the heroine belongs, the funniest thing is still through the crowds of Chennai city the escaped killer gets easily traveled, no one is noticing and no action from police authorities, he is absolutely free to travel anywhere he likes. Another cliche is villain’s body catching fire and suddenly coming back again to kill the central character was overdramatic. So after all these incidents, the psychopath villain looks fine and healthy to do what he likes. The next drawback is everything is predictable, one can clearly have the idea how the movie is going to end, surprising elements were not seen in the second half.
Nayanthara is one of the biggest female stars in the South Indian film industry so the film offers many interesting scenes for her and for her to admire. The director had amazingly used the talents of Nayanthara and it was seen in the whole film. She carries the movie through her shoulder and her unique screen presence makes the movie not boring or tending to skip. The dialogues are written by Navin Sundaramurthy and Senthilkumar Kesavan give Nayanthara many favorable dialogues which eventually lead to whistle-worthy moments. There are many powerful dialogues in the film, Nayanthara questioning the culprit by asking ‘who are you to decide a woman good or bad and the dialogues of Nayanthara challenging the villain was having the potential scopes for huge applause. Still, the loopholed screenplay was having some interesting scenes especially the Metro station scene of the villain and Nayanthara, at a time it was nail-biting and exciting to know what is next. So the director had amazingly used the talents of Nayanthara and also the emotions he blended in the screenplay were also good especially the love between a dog and the master. Those scenes of Nayanthara with her pet dog was beautiful and emotional. The other emotions such as brotherhood, betrayal, lust, and vengeance were also added to portray different emotions and most of them were sinking in the screenplay. So all together as an adaptation the duty of the director to make the movie was quite easy and it worked decently but as a screenplay writer, he failed to give a big smash.
•PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:
It’s all about Nayanthara’s sterling performance and she once again proved why she is called as Lady Super Star. Her characterization of a blind lady was brilliant in all terms, she was just living into it. The mannerism she had was flawless, how a blind lady lives, how they sense, and how they feel was acted out authentically without any errors. Her screen presences were all over with the film and the way she undertook it was amazing. All her dialogues were extraordinary especially when it comes to the anger scenes and action sequences, the real face of anger was prominently seen. The astonishing dialogue delivery and the accurate timing were exceptional. The emotional scenes were superior like always, the scenes in which she came to know her pet dog is no more was sentimental which gives me tears. So like I said, it was a complete energetic show of Nayanthara. Ajmal Ameer as the villain was an awesome job. The personalities of a psychopath were acted out genuinely, his style and attitude were matching for a psychopath killer. The action sequences were handled certainly in the right manner and the dialogue delivery was also impressive. Saran Shakthi comes with an important role throughout and he had given his best to make it noteworthy. The combination scenes he had with Nayanthara were nice which also had the angle of the brother-sister relationship. K. Manikandan as the Sub Inspector of Police also did a notable performance. Some of his situational comedies were fun and the combination scenes he had with Nayanthara were thrilling.
•TECHNCIAL SIDE:
The technical side of the film was remarkable especially the cinematography, editing, and background score. The cinematography by R. D. Rajasekhar was glorious, his frames and shots were excellent to set the mood of the film. There are many shots to be mention, what I liked the most is the climax visuals and the action sequences because the camera movements he had given to capture it was striking to the best extent. The shots of action sequences had given a great impact and the visuals of the chasing scenes were also steady. The close-up frames to apprehend the emotions of Nayanthara were flawless, the frames took the right mannerism of Nayanthara who act as the blind person. The lighting techniques used in indoor scenes were also harmonizing to set the premise, especially the scenes of villains secret place holding the girls. The editing by Lawrence Kishore was crisp and clear with the right time of cuts. His coloring and grading for the night scenes look original and the mismatches were not felt in the viewing experience. The person who choreographed the action sequences did a great job, how a blind can fight and what all she can do to survive was brought out authentically by the choreographer. The background score tuned by Girishh Gopalakrishnan was highlighted with the right mood and feel for a crime thriller. The background tunes were helping to set the thriller tune and the scenes having nail-biting moments were synced with the perfect background tunes. The song ‘Ithuvum Kadanthu Pogum’ sung by Sid Sriram was melodious and pleasant to hear with appealing visuals.
•CONCLUSION:
So overall Netrikann is all about the sensational performance from Nayanthara, she makes the movie watchable and her unbelievable screen space makes the time worth. There are some important drawbacks of loopholes bit still the movie has its moments to pass the thrill and excitement, won’t be disappointed and can consider for an engaging one-time watch. Therefore to conclude, I liked the film but as a person who had seen the original Korean version ‘The Blind’ this remake was slightly dissatisfying, but those who haven’t watched the original version can choose and go with Netrikaan to get thrilled.
•VERDICT: WATCHABLE THRILLER
•RATING: 3/5
Kochi: The government has revised the triple lockdown norms. If five Covid cases are reported a day in an area of 100 meters, it will be a micro-containment zone. The Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Disaster Management said in an order that the house would be micro-cantonment zoned if covid spreads in a joint family of more than 10 members.
Until now, the micro-cantonment zone was defined on a ward basis and restrictions were enforced. But restrictions are being imposed on only a small area as the spread of Covid continues unabated. Under the new standards, streets, markets, densely populated areas, factories, offices, IT companies, warehouses, auction houses, housing colonies, shopping malls, industrial establishments, flats, harbors, and fish markets will also be covered.
According to the latest Population Weekly Disease Rate (IPR), triple lockdowns have been imposed in 634 wards in 87 local bodies. The IPR is restricted to areas above eight, and last week it was lockdown in 266 wards. Malappuram has the highest number of triple lockdown wards. 171. Palakkad 102 and Kozhikode 89 are the triple lockdown wards. There is not even a single ward in Idukki.
Kochi: Four accused, including a former investigating officer, have been granted anticipatory bail in a case registered by the CBI in connection with the ISRO scam. The first and second accused, former police officers S Vijayan and Thampi S Durgadath, the seventh accused, former IB Deputy Director RB Sreekumar, and the 11th accused, former Central Intelligence Officer PS Jayaprakash, were granted anticipatory bail by High Court Justice Ashok Menon.
Kannur: The Department of Motor Vehicles has filed a charge sheet in court in the case against the E Buljet Vlogger brothers. The charge sheet was filed in Thalassery ACJM court. He was also charged with violating the 1988 MVD Act and the Kerala Motor Tax Act and failing to pay a fine of Rs 42,400.
Meanwhile, the police said that they would file a case against those who called the office on the day of the riots at the RTO office and threatened the officers. Kannur Judicial First Class Magistrate Court had granted bail to E Buljet brothers Ebin and Libin. The two were released on Rs 3,500 bail and two sureties of Rs 25,000 each for vandalism of public property.
Meanwhile, the Department of Motor Vehicles has canceled the registration of Napoleon’s caravan of e-bullet vloggers. The Department of Motor Vehicles said the action was taken for dangerous driving and violation of road traffic rules. The action has been taken under Section 51 (A) of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Shimla: The death toll in the landslide in the Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh has risen to 15. The search, which had been suspended Thursday following a landslide, resumed at 4 am. Two more bodies were reportedly recovered this morning.
The bodies of 10 people were found on Wednesday and four on Thursday. The National Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Police, C.I.S.F, and the police are involved in the rescue operation.
The accident took place at 11.50 am on Wednesday on the National Highway in the village of Chaura in Kinnaur. About 40 people were killed in the accident. Eleven people were rescued with injuries.
Kochi: The High Court rejected the demand to block the screening of the film ‘Eesho’. The Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action in Kochi approached the court stating that permission should be given only after the censor board decides on the complaint.
The court ruled that the petitioner’s request was not substantiated, stating that the title of the film itself was “Eesho – unbiblical.” The petitioners alleged that the film was being misused by naming it Eesho.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice said that the court could not intervene on the ground that the film was named after God.
Thiruvananthapuram: Onam food kit will be available to all categories of cardholders from today. This will depend on the availability of each ration shop.
The government had allowed various categories of ration cardholders to be given kits within the stipulated time. But that did not happen because the supplies were not available. The distribution of kits to white card holders was scheduled to start on Friday, but the distribution of yellow, pink, and blue cards is yet to be completed. Therefore, it is reported that the distribution will continue after Onam.
Items in Onam kit: – Sugar – 1 kg, Coconut oil – 500 ml, Beans – 500 g, Nuts – 250 g, Tea – 100 g, Chili / chilli powder – 100 g, Salt – 1 kg, Turmeric – 100 gm, Semia 180 gm, a packet of cashew nuts – 20 gm – a packet of cardamom – 50 gm, ghee – 50 ml, jaggery / pickle – 100 g, atta – 1 Kg, bath soap – 1.
Review for SHERSHAAH:
•Language: HINDI
•Duration: 02 Hours 15 Minutes.
•Genre: BIOGRAPHICAL WAR DRAMA.
•Release Date: 12th August 2021
• STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEOS.
• REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI.R.VALIYAVEETIL.
•POSITIVES:
1: Direction.
2: Story and Screenplay.
3: Performance of actors.
4: Cinematography.
5: Editing.
6: Music and Background Score.
7: Actions and Stunts.
•NEGATIVES:
1: Contains regular army movie cliches.
2: Romance lacks depth.
3: Subplots felt lagging.
4: Average Dialogues
•ONE WORD: AN ENGAGING FIGHT FOR THE NATION.
•STORY IDEA:
The story starts with Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra) the son of a school teacher who dreams to become a soldier to serve his county. He falls in love with Dimpal and decides to marry but her father rejects and decides to get her daughter married to someone but she still sticks with the love of Vikram. Soon Vikram joins the army and leads many fights and won many hearts of his senior officers and colleagues. After a successful commanding operation, he leaves home to spend his vacation with his family and Dimple but things get upside down when the Pakistani army bunked Indian many territories leading to the Kargil War. Soon Vikram leaves and joins the army to fight against them, will be and his battalion can defeat Pakistani armies is the rest of the story.
•DETAILED REVIEW:
Shershaah is directed by the Tamil filmmaker Vishnu Vardhan who had previously given the hits like Billa, Arrambam, and Pattiyal and the writings are done by Sandeep Srivastava. The movie is produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Shabbir Boxwala, Ajay Shah and Himanshu Gandhi. The cinematography is by Kamaljeet Negi and editing is made by A. Sreekar Prasad. The movie comes under the production of Dharma Productions and Kaash Entertainment and the movie is currently streaming through Amazon Prime Videos.
Vishnu Varadhan’s movies always have the content to get cherish and the package of engaging materials he used to build in his making is something worth our time. So as his first Bollywood film he followed his pattern and made Shershaah one of the gripping and thrilling military movies of recent times. What all elements that we can expect from an army movie is filled in Shershaah with many good compelling moments. The making was amazing, the war and the commitments of our dedicated army officer were bewildering all over the movie and those were exciting to watch. Vishnu Varadhan was having the right clear ideas and thoughts on how to make a war film that is inspired by a real-life hero, so he had perfectly blended the real-life scenarios with his making style which had resulted positively. The making from Vishnu Varadhan was interesting, he starts with the movie with the climax which hinting us that more and more cherishing things are yet to come and on the other hand the narration from one of the twin brothers characters gives it more space to relate to the ongoing scenarios.
The story, screenplay, and dialogues were written by Sandeep Srivastava, the writings were good but not great. The things I liked in the writing is the story and screenplay, inspired by the life of Vikram Batra and by the events of the Kargil War the writer here makes a combined job by mixing all these. So the life of Vikram Batra combing with his personal life and his contributions to the Indian Army gives the viewers a clear idea to connect with his spirit. How did he live, what he does, what he faced, and finally how does he sacrifice himself for the country is written out excellently. The screenplay was also promising, there are enough moments of war and fight of army officials to feel proud unfortunately at certain points things lack depth. The bringing out of emotions was well written, the screenplay was having the different emotions of fight, survival, justice, sorrow, betrayal, love, parenthood, brotherhood, and trust, so these kinds of emotions were neatly written out and passed to the right characters. The war scenes made in the screenplay is the highlight, the entire fights between two military groups were thrilling till the end. As a military war movie the element of patriotism lies down everywhere and certain scenes give us goosebumps and reminding the hard work and sacrifices they use to face to protect us and our country.
The problem with the writings is the regular cliches which we can see in every war movie. The in-between flashbacks make the viewing dull, the usual pattern of heroes defeating the villains and heroes romance, etc were all repeated in the writing of Shershaah. As a biographical movie, the life of the protagonist needs to apprehend bit still the way of showing it was following the regular style and typical methods. The subplot of romance between the central character and heroine was giving the feelings of lag and the chemistry happening between them was not having the real romantic depth. Looking into the dialogues also the impact was less, as a war film the dialogues must be powerful to pass the kick and smash but sadly the dialogues were felt normal, a kind of amusing or influencing words were missing from the central characters. For example, the film The URI: The Surgical Strike was rich with many powerful dialogues but in Shershaah those impact on words was not able to see.
Looking into the performance, Sidharth Malhotra as Captain Vikram Batra & his brother Vishal Batra shines as a brilliant military officer. The whole performance was superlative with his incredible acting and terrific actions. The war scenes were authentically handled by him and the qualities of a daring military officer were perfectly seen on him. The dialogue delivery and its timing were flawless also the aggression he expressed to kill the enemies was fascinating also the few emotional scenes were genuine according to the scenes. The pairing and combination scenes with Kaira Advani were normal which was moderate. Kiara Advani as Dimple Cheema, Vikram Batra’s fiancé did a notable performance. The chemistry between Sidharth and Kaira was not that great but still, some look good and were watchable. Shiv Pandit as Captain Sanjeev Jamwal did good and his combination scene with Sidharth was highlighting especially when it comes to war scenes. Raj Arun as Subedar Raghunath Singh and Nikitin Dheer as Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia aka Jassi did excellent supporting roles, both of their scenes with Sidharth were great with some good emotional scenes. Himmanshoo A. Malhotra as Major Rajeev Kapoor and Anil Charanjeett as Naib Subedar Bansi Lal Sharma did complete justice to their respective characters.
The technical side makes this movie more beautiful especially the cinematography and music. The cinematography by Kamaljeet Negi was outstanding, with no words to describe after seeing his beautiful frames and extraordinary camera movements. The camera movements he used to capture the action scenes and war scenes were magical, the right mannerism to give the proper impact was seen this his work. There are many frames especially the wide-angle shots of the war and the preparations of army officials. The battlefield was taken faultlessly and the lighting methods he used in indoor scenes were also captivating. The editing of A. Sreekar Prasad was powerful as usual with the perfect cuts and the detailed work on coloring was attractive, also none of the scenes hasn’t given any kind of mismatches. The background score tuned by John Stewart Eduri was spelling with the right mood to maintain the film. The background score at the war scenes was perfectly matching to set the scenarios. The tracks were also melodious especially the romantic track “Raataan Lambiyan” sung by Jubin Nautiyal and Asees Kaur. Tanishk Bagchi tunes were flowing with the mood of love. The song “Ranjha” sung by Jasleen Royal and B Praak was melodious and the lyrics by Anvita Dutt were strong. “Mann Bharrya 2.0″ by B Praak and Jaani with the vocals of B Praak was sentimental and both the visuals and song were heartbreaking. Special mention to the whole team behind the action sequences and behind the wat scenes, they made remarkable hard work and the result was wonderful to a great extent.
•CONCLUSION:
So overall Shershaah is a good biographical war drama with many wonderful moments and the life of Vikram Batra is something that can inspire anyone. The clear-cut directions from Vishnu Varadhan and the performance of Sidharth Malhotra make Shershaah worth our time. Therefore to conclude, the movie had satisfied me and won’t disappoint anyone, watch it for the daring officer Vikram Batra also for the Kargil events.
•VERDICT: WORTH WATCH
•RATING: 3.5/5
Thiruvananthapuram: The state has received 8,86,960 doses of vaccine, Health Minister Veena George said. 8 lakh dose Covishield vaccines and 86,960 dose covaxin vaccines were delivered. Thiruvananthapuram received 1,69,500, Ernakulam 1,96,500 and Kozhikode 1,34,000 for dose covishield vaccine, Thiruvananthapuram 29,440 for Ernakulam 34,240 and Kozhikode 23,280 for dose covaxin. Apart from this, 3 lakh covishield were added to Ernakulam. In some centers, the vaccine is available overnight.
With the arrival of the vaccine in the state, the vaccination drive is gaining strength. The first dose of the vaccine is expected to be given to all people over the age of 60, over the age of 18, and in-patients before August 15. Today alone, the first dose has been given to more than 1.5 million people over the age of 60. Of these, a total of 2,37,528 people were vaccinated today.
There were 1271 vaccination centers, including 949 government centers and 322 private centers. So far, a total of 2,24,29,007 people in the state have been vaccinated with one or two doses. Of these, 1,59,68,802 were given the first dose and 64,60,205 were given the second dose. According to the estimated population of Kerala in 2021, 45.5 percent were vaccinated with the first dose and 18.41 percent with the second dose vaccine. According to the population over 18 years of age, 55.64 percent were given the first dose and 22.51 percent the second dose.
