Film Reviews by PS

Thoroughly enjoyed this light-hearted thriller. Like many Bollywood films it is a movie of two halves; the first half setting the scene, and the second half ramping up the action to the close. Akshay Kumar and Anupam Kher are both superb and well cast in their respective roles. And the music for the wedding of Sharma's daughter is so catchy I've been playing it on repeat for days.

It is rare I could watch a film twice in two days but 'A Wednesday' was so good that when I told my wife how much I liked it, she wanted to watch it too.

It is a fast-paced thriller that will have your eyes glued to the screen from the first panoramic views of Mumbai to the wonderful closing sequence.

The acting is top class throughout and the cinematography is exquisite.

The only criticism would be that there were a few plot points that were not tied up. Whether they were included as red-herrings or not is unclear, but I prefer for everything to be wrapped up neatly.

Definitely don't read any of the reviews that contain spoilers as this is one film where you don't want to know what is going to happen. It would, most definitely spoil the enjoyment.

The good:

The plot is fast-paced and it gets down to business pretty much from the get-go. I was watching it with my 17 year-old son and he thoroughly enjoyed it (maybe he is the target audience for gross-out comedy). It has some classic comedic moments and there were many times I laughed out loud.

The bad:

I am not totally against the use of bad language in films - some times it is totally appropriate - but I think there were times in this movie

when it was just being used for the sake of it, and/or just to get cheap laughs from teenagers who still find the use of the F-word funny.

One thing I love about Bollywood is it manages to get laughs with having to resort to bad language - and long may it remain that way.

If you enjoyed Hangover then this is likely to be something you'll enjoy too.

I did watch it with sub-titles on, but from what I can remember the dialogue is almost all in English. Maybe this was to try and give it

wider appeal.

Bollywood has changed a lot over the last two decades. Production values have increased dramatically and that cheesiness that was so typical of old Bollywood films has been toned down somewhat and replaced by a professionalism that is often on a par with Hollywood. So how does this 20 year old film stack-up. In short, it is brilliant. Yes, it is has a certain kitschness. It has musical interludes that are so cheesy you almost want to laugh, and some of the acting is pretty questionable. But at the same time there's something sublime about the film. Somehow, the kitschness, the cheesiness and the low-budget production seems to have come together to create a work of art that will live on for decades to come.

Raj and Simran, the male and female leads, are endearing. The support cast are superb. The story line, whilst at times being predictable, also has some clever little twists and turns, and by the end of it you feel like you've watch a movie that will stay with you for many years to come, which I guess answers why Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has such enduring popularity.