Dream Girl/Ready or Not/Section 375 – Which Movie to Watch this September??
Dream Girl/Ready or Not/Section 375
Considering I wrote about a movie a month ago, this is an attempt to write about 3 movies
I watched all 3 over the weekend; hence a post about all 3 combined makes sense
Please be mindful that all 3 movies: Dream Girl/Ready or Not/Section 375 are varied in Genre
These should not be compared or pitted against each other
Let’s begin with the first one – Dream Girl/Ready or Not/Section 375:
Dream Girl is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language comedy film starring Ayushmann Khurrana as a cross-gender actor whose female voice impersonation attracts male attention.
The film is directed by Raaj Shaandilyaa and is co-produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor under their banner Balaji Motion Pictures.
Nushrat Bharucha, Annu Kapoor, Manjot Singh, and Vijay Raaz feature in supporting roles.
Ayushmann stars in the title role and is getting bolder with his choice of roles
Let’s see if he delivers!
What works?
- Ayushmann in the title role of a guy with skills to impersonate a girl does Wonders!
- The Supporting Cast is bang on target with every actor milking their screen time
- Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz and Manjot Singh are hilarious
- The Screen Play maximizes certain situations to it’s fullest
- The one liners are a hit or miss
- Some of them hit the mark while some miss by a mile
- Raaj Shaandilyaa makes his debut and manages to keep a tight rein on the proceedings
So, what DOESN’T work?
- The Screen Play never milks the concept for what it’s worth
- We never witness where Karam(Ayushmann) and his shenanigans could have landed
- The Supporting Cast would be more fleshed out had this happened
- Nushrat Bharucha in the cast has been wasted
- After a while, the Screen Play falters in not knowing how to reach a conclusion
- This is evident when the climax finally arrives as there is an attempt to rush proceedings
- You get to witness a Priyadarshanesque climax
The Verdict?
- This Dream Girl deserves a viewing due to 2 reasons:
- Ayushmann and Certain Moments – Witty One-liners
The world will not end if this Dream Girl is not part of your Dream watch list!
Now, let’s move to the second one – Dream Girl/Ready or Not/Section 375:
Ready or Not is a 2019 American black comedy horror film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy.
The film stars Samara Weaving as a newlywed who becomes hunted by her spouse’s family as part of their wedding night ritual.
Mark O’Brien portrays her husband, with Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, and Andie MacDowell as members of his family.
Here comes another refreshing Horror Black Comedy along the lines of Get Out
What Works here?
- The Concept of a newly wed becoming hunted on the eve of her wedding night
- This premise is hilarious while it is being executed on screen
- Samara Weaving deftly portrays this role using her naivety, vulnerability and steely determination to survive against all odds
- She goes from freaked out to cautious to ready to survive to Finally Ready To Kill
- The backdrop her character gets also helps in show casing this transformation
- There are subtle digs at white privilege, age old chauvinism, black sheep references and others displayed immaculately
- These references are slipped into the narrative effortlessly, you just have to notice them
- The narrative works at a brisk pace without any hiccups
- The humor gets slipped in at places you haven’t anticipated
- It will still crack you up even though the proceedings on screen are grim
- The Performances by most of the cast is maniacal, eerie, weird and any other adjective you could think of
- The Screen Play is well thought of and keeps ample of room to absorb the shock and awe moments
What DOESN’T work?
- There is hardly anything that you can complain of
- The only thing I see is more screen time assigned to the hunt and kill sequences
- It would have been even more crazier and funnier
The Verdict?
Even if you are not ready, Ready or Not deserves a viewing for it’s black humor, action, performances and overall premise
Please be Ready to make this a priority on your watch list ASAP
Finally, moving on to the third one – Dream Girl/Ready or Not/Section 375:
Section 375 (also known as Section 375: Marzi Ya Zabardasti)is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language courtroom drama movie produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak and SCIPL and directed by Ajay Bahl.
It is based on Section 375 of Indian Penal Code laws, in India.
The film stars Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, and Rahul Bhat.
This is the second directorial venture from Ajay Bahl(of B.A. Pass fame)
The story centers around a filmmaker who stands trial when a costume assistant on his movie accuses him of rape
What Works here?
- The crisp Screen Play which packs a punch packing in the most pertinent questions
- These are questions that deserve to be raised and addressed
- Bahl gives us an unflinching portrayal of how rape cases are handled
- The entire machinery is shown at work
- Sometimes it works efficiently, at others it doesn’t
- The proceedings tend to get disturbing with every moment spent, every question asked
- The court room scenes are gripping and present 2 sides to the same coin
- Both these sides are displayed with 2 perspectives
- The Performances by Khanna and Chadda are riveting
- It’s a treat to watch these 2 going head on for their cause they believe is righteous
- The Direction is restrained and avoids any over the top need for drama
- There is a certain precision to how revelations are made, jigsaw pieces are put in place Et al.
- The editing helps ensure scenes aren’t stretched and serve their purpose
What DOESN’T work?
- A back drop explanation was needed to explain the mentor – mentee equation between Khanna – Chadda
- This would have lent certain heft to the on screen rivalry during the court room scenes
The Verdict?
You don’t need to know about IPC Section 375 to experience this Section
Please head out to the nearest movie theater to watch this power packed drama
It addresses a topic that still remains fresh and has since millennia