MIMI @NetflixSA #Movies #Comedy #Drama #MimiOnNetflix

Hi Friends,

Mimi is the latest Bollywood comedy-drama movie available on Netflix Online Platform released on 26-Jul-2021 and has an unusual star cast which will arouse your curiosity to check out the story of the movie. The movie stars Kriti Sanon in Mimi Rathore's lead role, an aspiring dancer and actress in the local village. Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak play the role of her father and mother respectively named in the movie as Mansingh and Shobha Rathore. Then we have the man who needs no introduction and can bring any script alive with his acting skills and the real concern for the cause of the story - we are talking about Pankaj Tripathi as Bhanupratap Pandey who plays a taxi or cab driver for rich foreign clients touring in Rajasthan. A special mention also goes to Sheikh Ishaque Mohammad as Aatif playing as one of the Mansingh's students who is learning music from Mimi's father. His dialogues bring in the necessary comedy at the times when the movie is going a little bit too emotional and keeps the overall pace of the movie intact. 

The story is about a couple from the USA looking for a surrogate mother from India in exchange for money and all they want is a healthy kid from a healthy mother who is fit in all regards. Bhanupratap finds Mimi who wants to go to Mumbai to become an actress and wants some money to shoot a music video or to shoot a portfolio of her pictures to get started in the Bollywood film industry. The international couple is played by Evelyn Edwards as Summer and Aidan Whytock as John. The best part is that Summer knows Hindi and speaks it really well. Mimi's best friend is Shama, played by Sai Tamhankar, a student of his father's music classes and sings at the stage and dance shows where Mimi does the dance performances. Somehow Bhanupratap coerces Mimi into agreeing to become a surrogate mother while taking help from Shama as well. The three musketeers then take on the world on this adventure that will change their lives forever and this is the movie about that journey that happens in the next 9 months or so. 

Mimi is a movie about a girl's emotions as she goes through being a mother and all the changes that happen in her body. It's a complicated process and any bad news negatively impacts the mind, body and soul of not only the child in the mother's womb but the mother and the family similarly. The American couple decides one day that they are not going to adopt the kid as the unborn child must have some kind of down syndrome. This news breaks Mimi and then everyone advice about dropping the child but there she held her belief despite everyone going crazy around her. This story is about the support she gets from her parents, Shama and Bhanupratap. 

The kid is born and comes out to be a normal one with a complexion not matching Bhanupratap or Mimi. There are some nice comedy scenes at that point in time. Bhanupratap is situationally told as the father of the kid by Mimi to her parents which brings in much more comedy. Bring in his original wife and mother into the story and you will fall from your seats. Meanwhile, the kid is born and getting raised bringing much joy to the whole family. A small younger kid born into the family brings everyone together as they gel all of them to love and take care of him or her. The young boy is played by Jacob Smith as Raj Rathore. 

In the end, the American couple returns to take their kid and there is some high-level emotional drama as Mimi takes some heartbreaking decision which is not agreed by the family members. Mimi is definitely worth watching with the whole of your family and it's a refreshing story which you must have not seen earlier with a good mix of comedy and certain factors of society throw into the script and story. Kriti Sanon has outdone herself and she is no longer a glam doll as shown in other movies. The music also is great and is given by the all-time greatest - A. R. Rahman. There are about 7 songs and released by Sony Music India. The director of the movie is Laxman Utekar who did Luka Chuppi with Kriti Sanon earlier and as I read and heard Luka Chuppi 2 is also in the making. This film is produced by Dinesh Vijan and Jio Studios. Have some time this weekend and watch Mimi on your Netflix OTT Platform. RATING 4.5/5

Cheers!!!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate and promote your brand, services and products. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #9YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too. Namaste! 

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#TheLifesWayReviews - GUNJAN SAXENA The Kargil Girl @NetflixSA #Movie #Biography

Hi Friends,

Netflix released Gunjan Saxena The Kargil Girl, a real-life biopic on the series of events in the life of Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena as she becomes India's first female combat pilot in the Kargil War on 12th August 2020. The movie is 1hr 52 minutes long and the lead character is played by Janhvi Kapoor and she does her part well to tell the story of a girl who wants to fly a plane to getting enrolled into the Indian Air Force and then facing the men led environment where there are no female toilets too. Janhvi Kapoor looks cute and beautiful and played her role really well but I don't think she will be able to become the likes of Kareena Kapoor or Vidya Balan or Kangana Ranaut, but that's for the time to decide and let's focus on the movie on Netflix.  

The movie is directed by Sharan Sharma and produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar, Zee Studios and Apoorva Mehta. It's difficult to produce a movie which has to showcase any kind of Armed Forces and in some of the scenes, the whole drama looks fake and not real. The film is again fully on the person who can take any movie towards something people will enjoy - Pankaj Tripathi plays Anup Saxena - Gunjan's father who really gives her equal rights in his family and gives her a choice to do whatever she wants to do. The father-daughter relationship is the best that you will relate to and the scenes between Janhvi and Pankaj are awesome. 

Angad Bedi plays the big brother of Gunjan - Anshuman Saxena who is also a soldier in Punjab Regiment as shown in the movie and tries hard to save his sister from the harsh realities faced in the forces and tries to bring it to her awareness. Ayesha Raza Mishra plays Kirti Saxena mother of Gunjan and brings some comical moments in the movie. Vineet Kumar Singh plays the role of Flight Commander Officer Dileep Singh and Manav Vij as Commanding Officer Gautam Sinha. It's the second time Vineet is seen in the role of a soldier after playing one in Betaal web series which is also Netflix production. Angad Bedi tries to look convincing but is not able to do so. The music is composed by Amit Trivedi and the songs suit the movie but nothing worth remembering. 

The trailer really looked promising but the overall execution is not that great is what I felt. The other  IAF officers don't look real at all. The story is great but the overall direction could have been better. The movie should inspire young generations. The movie is definitely a one time watch but won't make an impression other than just being the love between father and daughter and the overall family. Overall, you can watch the movie this weekend to see what were the hurdles faced by the real Gunjan to join IAF under the SSC and thereafter to protect the country. RATING 3/5

Cheers!!!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts and subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel too. Namaste!

MIRZAPUR Season 1 @PrimeVideoIN #Mirzapur #Crime #Action #Thriller

Hi Friends,

I have always heard about this web series called Mirzapur which everyone liked and somehow I was not able to watch it on Amazone Prime Video but yesterday on Saturday night I finished watching the same after starting the same on Friday. The first thing that I observed is the power-packed performances in Season 1 which was launched on 16th Nov 2018 by all the characters as though they are perfectly suited in the character they are playing. Pankaj Tripathi makes all the web series his own by his unique style and here in this one, he is the Bahubali of Mirzapur - Akhandanand "Kaleen" Tripathi. His son is played by Divyendu Sharma - Phoolchand "Munna" Tripathi who is standing in the college elections and does some acts which bring a lot of problems for the whole family. Kulbhushan Kharbanda plays Kaleen Tripathi's father Satyanand Tripathi who used to run this business and passed on to Akhandanand Tripathi. 

The rivalry is shown between the two parties as the separate was created by the grandfather between Kaleen and one of their bahubali Rati Shankar Shukla (played by Shubrajyoti Bharat) who was not given enough power as he wanted to keep all the power within the Tripathi family. So now Rati is taking care of the Jaunpur area and wants to acquire Mirzapur from the Tripathi family as an act of revenge. Because of one of the Munna's acts of firing in a marriage thereby killing the groom in action, the case comes into the hands of a lawyer Ramakant Pandit played by Rajesh Tailang whom you have also seen in Selection Day (Season 1 and 2). Shaji Chaudhary plays Maqbool Khan who is Kaleen Bhaiya's trusted henchman, advisor, and informer. 

Ramakant's family is showcased by our main heroes of the web series Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu (Vikrant Massey) who gets some 5 minutes to either join the Kaleen Bhaiya clan and work for them or there can be some bad consequences when they beat Munna and his friends as they visit their family to take the case away from their lawyer's father. The journey they undertook using their brains and power of the guns and the social status rising after they join the clan is showcased in all these episodes. As Guddu and Munna are of the same age, they find themselves, again and again, going for the same stuff from the same girl, same business, and many other things which leads to a strong action thriller between them from time to time. 

As they say, Power can corrupt the minds of the saint also so Guddu and Munna are just human beings wanted to grab all the attention from the society. When their dreams break, all the hell broke loose and they go on to do the killing spree which leads to the final episode where a lot of loose ends are kept open for the Season 2 which I checked online is coming on 25th November 2020 on Prime Video. Season 1 is around 7 hours of blood, tricks, and understanding the business of Katta (hand made gun going for Rs 1500) and family politics around the families and the political drama, and also a police angle is entered in the last few episodes. 

Sheeba Chaddha plays the mother of Guddu, Bablu and Dimpi played by Harshita Gaur. Sweety Gupta played by Shriya Pilgaonkar plays the love interest of Guddu and Munna. Golu Gupta played by Shweta Tripathi is the younger sister of Sweety and evolving love interest of Bablu Pandit. Rasika Dugal plays Beena Tripathi, the second wife of Kaleen Tripathi and the stepmother of Munna. She has done a strong role as the wife of Tripathi and her life is going to be showcased in Season 2 further. Abhishek Banerjee is one person who is made to be cast in all the web series and here is he again as Subodh aka Compounder as Munna's best friend. A great acting performance by him as he really lives his character. Also, Aasif Khan is Prime Video's favorite star as he makes his way into some of the other episodes of all the web series, and here is acts as Babar Khan. 

The series has a lot of disturbing blood and throat-cutting sequences that are raw and never ever seen in any of the Indian web series before so it's not suitable for people with weak hearts. There is no skin show thanks to Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar who are the producers of this show along with Inside Edge. In one of the chasing sequences of Guddu and Bablu by the police department, Mavericks cricket commentary is played in the background. The series is created by Karan Anshuman and Puneet Krishna and the director is Karan Anshuman and Gurmmeet Singh. The 9 episodes will keep you on the edge of your seat as the action moves from characters to characters. This is worth your time if you want to know the socio-economic-political setting of the Purvanchal area in Uttar Pradesh and the carpet business of Kaleen Bhaiya - under the aid of which how he runs his other illegal businesses. 

The Season 1 ends at that moment where you want more as the newer equations are created as the Tripathi trio does show the whole world their power opening up for more rivalries in Season 2.  This is a web series which is totally raw, a lot of crime, a lot of illegal tradings and how much power can make and break you into someone you have never seen before. RATING 4/5

Sawubona!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts. Namaste!

#TheLifesWayReviews Criminal Justice @DisneyPlusHS #HotstarSpecials #Crime

Hi Friends,

As I told yesterday in the review of ASUR, that sometimes you like a particular actor so much that you see all the serials he or she acts in and all the web series he or she is part of and similar is my case for Anupriya Goenka. She is a part of another big crime and court drama named CRIMINAL JUSTICE where she plays the character of Nikhat Hussain a lawyer who fights the case in the favor of the main hero of this series who is Vikrant Massey (Balika Vadhu fame) playing Aditya Sharma a college student preparing for MBA exams working as a cab driver who is caught behind the murder for one of his last customers. Vikrant has played his character so authentic that you will feel the pain he is going through. Anupriya didn't have much to do in the initial episodes but her chemistry with Pankaj Tripathi does bring a lot of comedy into this serious court drama. 

In another powerful performance is Pankaj Tripathi playing opportunist Advocate Madhav Mishra who takes up the murder case and his journey to earn the respect of his colleagues and police is also shown in this 10 episodes web series. Aditya's sister Avni is shown to be his main pillar of strength and is being played by Rucha Inamdar who has acted very powerfully and she is the main pillar of the story too. How the middle-class family members of a convicted murder suspect suffer in the hands of community, police, lawyers, and society as a whole is showcased so authentically in this web series. 

The fight is shown on both the fronts - inside the jail and the life outside the jails. Outside the jails, there is always something or the other happening with the family members, lawyers, police, and others related to the case. Inside the jail, Aditya has to learn the ropes of the trade and survive so as to save himself and his sanity. He is helped by Mustafa Bhai played by Jackie Shroff against another influential criminal inside the jail named Layak played by Dibyendu Bhattacharya who constantly is after the life of Aditya. How Aditya prepares himself with the help of Mustafa and other characters as the case runs from days to months to years is showcased in the 10 episodes of Criminal Justice? 

The web series is based on the BBC Crime Drama of the same name written by Peter Moffat and is adapted for Indian markets by Shridhar Raghavan and is directed by famous movie director Tigmanshu Dhulia. The series was renewed for Season 2 and I hope it won't be canceled due to this Covid-19. Mita Vashisht plays an important character and reminds of the roles she used to do during her active years in the film industry. Pankaj Saraswat also plays the role of the police who catches Aditya Sharma and is hell-bent on bringing him to be hanged till death. This web series is not a kind of happily ever after kind of series but gives hits you hard in your heart, mind, and soul too. It raises a lot of questions about who is your actual friend, whom shall you trust, and who do you take help from as media, lawyers, and police start vulturing out the victim and his family members. Do watch it on Disney+ Hotstar and it will be difficult to binge-watch but on a weekend in 2 days, you can definitely watch it all. RATING 4/5

Namaste!!!

Contact Aashish Rai Jain at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to send your products, launch event invites, and services to be consumed. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra #7YearsofTheLifesWay. Follow me on www.instagram.com/thelifesway for all travel-related photo posts. Namaste!