Mumbai: COVID overshadowed entertainment in 2021 with beelines in front of cinema halls vanishing due to fear of infection.
It was from March 2019, that the audiences were devoid of enjoyment of watching their favourite stars setting the theatres on fire. However, viewers were not disappointed as a wide array of movies were released on OTT platforms.
From Sidharth Malhotra's daring Shershaah to Sara Ali Khan's Atrangi Re, Bollywood fully ensured to keep audiences hooked to movies amid covid-19.
Bollywood movie 'BHUJ' – The Pride of India released on Independence Day in 2021 was a complete entertainer reminiscing the Indo-Pak war of 1971 in which "Bhuj" airstrip a strategically important location suffered great losses.
Reconstruction of the strip within a night by 300 women under the guidance of IAF officer Vijay Karnik, eventually led India towards a victory. Bhuj – The pride of India is a tribute to the fearless unsung heroes. Bhuj ensembled supremely talented cast starring Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, Nora Fatehi, Ammy Virk, Sharad Kelkar, etc.The film was delivered on Diney+Hotstar, proving a perfect diamond jubilee gift on Independence day.
Another flick MIMI,starring Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi was a great puller focussing on surrogacy dilemma into which the protagonist was pushed into by an international couple which refused to accept the baby when Kriti is halfway pregnant throwing societal struggles before her.As the story unfolds, it attracts the attention of the audience towards embracing motherhood.
The movie which was scheduled to be released on July 30 was released four days early, on June 26, because of the alleged leak of the film. However, none of the cast, director or producer verified the leak.
The film's producer Dinesh Vijan said, "Like babies are born premature, our film can also come early."
Surprisingly, the Mimi lead also happens to share the birthday with the release date of Mimi, July 27.
Another out-of-the box entertainer Dhamaka, a Netflix original released on November 19, 2021, is a Hindi thriller in which a cynical ex-TV news anchor gets an alarming call on his radio show that could prove to be his TV comeback but the gist here is –that he might cost him his conscience.
Kartik Aaryan is seen in a dashing role and Mrunal Thakur plays his love interest.
The story is about a prime time news anchor who loses his show and does a radio show for the same channel. During the show, he gets a call from one person called Raghubir stating he will blow the seat, which Arjun does not take seriously.
However, instead of informing the police, Arjun uses this opportunity to get back his prime time show and his boss, who cares about TRP, agrees.Unfortunately, this one call takes a lot from Arjun, including his wife.
Another emotional film 'Shershah' takes us down the memory lane of 1999 Kargil war which is about a brave soldier , Vikram Batra, whose life has been chronicled from his first posting at LOC to his death in the Kargil war.The film stars Sidharth Malhotra as Param Vir Chakra awardee Capt Vikram Batra along with Kiara Advani as his girlfriend. The biographical movie is directed by Vishnuvardhan, who marks his debut as a director in Bollywood.
Equally hit is the music of Shershaah especially the Ranjha one which has crossed 200 million views, and Raatan Lambiyan is the new love anthem. The film was released on August 12,2021.
'Atrange Re ' directed by Anand L. Rai was the most awaited romance drama of the year which released on Disney+Hotstar on December 24. The movie ensembles the southern star Dhanush with Bollywood Khiladi Akshay Kumar and Kedarnath fame Sara Ali Khan.
The flick is about the protagonist Rinku, played by Sara, who is forced to marry Vishu, aka Dhanush much to her frustration. The story gets complex when Sajjad, Rinku's love interest, enters. Eventually, Dhanush falls in love with Rinku but gets to know about Rinku's mental disorder. The story unravels Rinku's childhood trauma where her parents were burnt in front of her. Rinku finds her solace in Sajjad. Vishu is an ideal husband who protects, respects and helps his wife. The nation is grooving to Sara's first solo song, "Chaka Chak."
Movies on freedom fighters are seldom made but 'Sardar Udham ' is a great tribute to the revolutionary who killed Michael O Dwyer in London to avenge Jallianwala Bagh Massacre which took place when hundreds of people had gathered in the Bagh to celebrate Baisakhi. Directed by Shoojit Sarkar, starring Vicky Kaushal is a biopic that conveys the journey of Udham Singh in London.
'Jai Bhim' opened in theatres to full capacity highlighting the socio-political struggles of suppressed castes in Tamil Nadu.The intense legal drama based on a true story directed by TJ Gnanavel and produced by Jyothika and Suriya under 2D Entertainment, Jai Bhim is based on an actual incident that happened in 1993. 'Jai Bhim' brings the case fought by a former judge of Madras High Court, Justice K. Chandru, regarding the Irular tribe of the state to the audience.
Suriya plays the role of the protagonist in this film which also stars Prakash Raj, Lijomol Jose, Manikandan, and Rajisha Vijayan.
All the movies are streaming on OTT, amazon prime.
Many movies which were on the 'wish list' but could not see light of the day were Radhe, Coolie No.1, Saina, The girl on the train, and others. (UNI)