Never ever thought a movie will be made on a subject as small as Cycle. Cycle, a Marathi movie based on Post Independence Era. An era where people used to believe in goodwill .

Marathi movie - Cycle

A story about Keshav's intense love for his cycle which gets stolen by two thieves Gajya and Mangya. A movie which is very sweet and never loses its sweetness throughout its 90 minutes of the run time. A very simple yet engaging story where even you will fall in love with the negative characters. All the characters are very lovable and the scenic beauty of Konkan adds to the visual treat. Cinematography by Amalendu Chaudhary is wonderful. It really brings out the beauty of Maharashtrian villages in a superb manner. Hrishikesh Joshi, Bhau Kadam & Priyadarshan Jadhav has done justice to their roles and have done wonderful job. Bhau Kadam well known for his comic timing delivers all his dialogues well and leaves you in splits.

Loved this movie and looking forward to more of such movies. Content-driven Marathi cinema has truly evolved a lot. It also gives the message that Goodwill can remove any negativity even if roof falls on one's heads as it does here on one and it should be retained no matter what :)

IMDB Rating of 8.9/10. This Cycle is worth riding and loving for. Worth a watch for sure.

Reviewed by Mandar Dalvi

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Mirzapur  - Web Series (Amazon Prime Video)

Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's latest web series Mirzapur caught everyone's attention with its trailer and finally, the show went on-air on November 16th. Mirzapur, which is the third Amazon Prime original made in India, after Inside Edge and Breathe, boasts a stellar cast comprising of Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, Ali Fazal, Divyendu Sharma, Rasika Duggal, Shweta Tripathi & Shriya Pilgaonkar.

Mirzapur - Amazon Prime Video

The story of Mirzapur is about a local drug lord Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi) whose son Munna (Divyendu) is trying too hard to take his place but doesn't have any of the diplomatic or criminal skills. During an incident, Munna is attacked by two local boys Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu (Vikrant Massey) and hires them as his local goons. The series comprising of 9 episodes and each episode will remind you of Gangs of Wasseypur. The series starts on a dark note and ends in a gripping and shocking way.

Web series - Mirzapur

As far as the performances are, Pankaj Tripathi is magnificient and in his home ground. Be it his nuances, mannerism or the way he delivers lines, it's hard to not be in awe of him. He is truely one of the best actors of modern times and is truely the heart of the series. Vikrant Massey is an underrated actor who has again and again proved that he is an awesome actor in movies like Lipstick under my Burkha, Lootera and many more. He does full justice to the role and plays his part superbly well. The main surprise is Divyendu, who has till date played a boy next door but plays a spoilt evil in Mirzapur with perfection. Ali Fazal also surprises on his part where he delivers a great screen presence as an all brawn and no brain. His physical transformation & body language is truely commendable. Shriya Pilgaokar has good screen presence and plays well. Shweta Tripathi has less screen space but portrays her part well. Rasika Duggal has played her part well as a seductress. It's good to see Kulbhushan Kharbanda in a negative role after ages. The background score is amazing and the cinematography is good too. The only downfall of the series is the 1 hr long episodes and the slow pace of the series where Anurag was master of.

Overall, Mirzapur is an engaging watch and captivates you from start to finish. It is truely gripping, captivating and has high shock value. IMDB Rating  of 8.8/10 truely makes the series worth watching

It has been quite sometime that Hitchki opened at R city, Ghatkopar. Ideal place for all the Vikhroli and Ghatkopar crowd as they had to go all the way to Powai to explore this place and you have another option nearby.

Hitchki, R city - Ghatkopar

The ambiance is very beautiful. We had been to this place during Diwali so it had most of the office goers crowd. As it is newly opened, they are not Zomato Gold Partners unlike the Powai one nor do they have any corporate discount so please make a note of this. Yes, the food is just amazing. Each and every dish that we had, our expectations were totally met.

Another disclaimer, the quantity is not much so be prepared to order good amount of food if you are a larger gang. So, without wasting much time, here you go with the list that you must try -

A) Chana Garlic 65 - A perfect chakna to start with.

Chana Garlic 65

B) Chicken Tikka zafrani - juicy chicken with amazing masala

Chicken Tikka zafrani

C) Mere tandoori momos aayenge (chicken) - yes, that's the name for chicken tandoori momos. They have some innovative, funny names in their menu. This item won most of the hearts on the table so it was ordered again.

Mere tandoori momos aayenge (chicken)

Now, jumping to the main course.
D) Chow mein - Fried rice with gravy. Loved this!

Chow mein

E) Indi Chini bhai bhai - Chicken Manchurian with butter Naan.

Add captionIndi Chin

F) Chicken Dinchak - Kadai masala with bhuna chicken, chura roti and namkeen.

Chicken Dinchak

Thugs of Hindostan (TOH)

Ever since the starcast of the movie was announced, I was eager to watch AB Sr. & AK coming together on big screen but sadly it didn't live up to the expectations & from the first day heard all sorts of negative things and comic memes about the movie. So, I went to watch the movie on backdrop of all negative things heard about it and having watched the movie came out of the theatre feeling that the movie has been over bashed by the critics and audience and the movie surely isn't a masterpiece or a blockbuster but not a worst movie too as there are many worse movies than TOH.

Thugs of Hindostan

From the director of movies like D3 & Tashan, Vijay Krishna Acharya is a director who has failed to deliver good movies despite of getting great actors. Yet again he fails to give justice to the movie due to his poor direction. Coming to acting, Amitabh Bachchan is an actor par brilliance and excellence. The Star of the Millenium has given his 200% to the movie and performed his part brilliantly. His entry scene will surely give you goosebumps and will remind you of "Khuda Gawah". Such is the aura and charm of the person, he has done every bit from performing stunts, dancing to swordfighting with utmost ease at the age of 76. He is surely the hero of the movie who will be remembered for a long time for his role Khudabaksh. Second is Aamir Khan, who said that he acted in the movie simply because he loved his character. He played his role of Firangi Mallah with very ease and utmost grace. He is truely the Thug of the movie and is very hard to believe which side he is on during the movie. The 2 stalwarts of Bollywood have tried their best to save the sinking ship. The comic elements in the movie are very well played by Aamir and truely supported by Zeeshan Ayyub who portrays his friend in the movie. Fatima Sana Shaikh does well in her role as Zafira. Katrina Kaif as usual is used for glamour purpose and is wasted. She barely has 3-4 dialogues in the movie & is only used for 2 songs. Art direction and cinematography is mind blowing. The songs are bad and except "Vashmalle" nothing excites. The CGI is good not great. The action scenes are also beautifully shot, the efforts done by the actors are clearly visible in the fight scenes.

Thugs of Hindostan

Overall the movie is a one time watch because of Amitabh & Aamir and some different style of movie. This movie is not a copy of Pirates of Caribbean but Vijay Krishna Acharya was majorly inspired by it which resulted to the failure of the movie. A movie which could have been a masterpiece becomes an ordinary movie due to the poor direction and the story. IMDB Rating of 3.6/10 is too harsh for the movie.

Reviewed by Mandar Dalvi

Feel free to share our posts, page with your family, friends, relatives to share such wonderful experiences through food, places or thoughts 😇 Thank you all!
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My family at Mini Punjab's Lakeside

Let me go in reverse order this time, so this is the standee that is there at the entrance with nice, funny props. Even before, we could enter the restaurant, my cousin and me decided to click some nice pictures here to have a beautiful end to the evening. Mini Punjab's Lake Side - Powai has got this two floored space where they don't just serve Buffet but also have À la carte. They have something known as Dhara Singh's Thali which has 40+ items but we decided to go for À la carte as per our choice. There's a challenge associated with the thali - if you alone can finish the entire thali then it is free of cost for you but I have read and heard from people that it is difficult for even 4 people to finish it :)
"Life is uncertain so eat dessert first" ;) is the quote my dad is holding which is really appropriate for him as he can eat a lot of sweets. Maybe equivalent to what my mom, brother and I can :D So, like I mentioned earlier, I'm starting in reverse order so here's what we had.

RK Wine and dine - Also known as Radha Krishna wine and dine is one amazing restaurant in the LBS road, close to Ghatkopar station next to Sarvodaya hospital.

The first and foremost warning for everyone would that there's long waiting for this restaurant if you visit during the peak timings so better reach early to get place  This place not just has amazing food but is decently priced too. That's the reason it is always crowded and why wouldn't it?

We visited this place on a Sunday evening and had to wait for almost an hour, I know ridiculous but food was something that pulled us to this place. Fortunately when we ordered and had food, it was worth the wait. We ordered -
A) Chicken Lollipop - The best! The craving is still there.

Chicken lollipop

B) Dum kebab - This is like reshmi kebab but in dum style. The masala in it tasted amazing.

Dum kebab

C) Saibo chicken - Perfect for a larger group. Crispy and yummy like a perfect pop.

Saibo chicken

D) Chicken Balti - Gravy for the main course in green with boneless chicken good to have with chapati, Naan etc.

Chicken Balti and special roti

E) Chicken hot garlic pot rice - Getting a pot rice in an ordinary restaurant is rare and therefore having this option here was cherry on the cake. Most importantly, it was tasty and loaded with chicken.

Chicken hot garlic pot rice

All having all these delicious food, there wasn't any space left for desserts.

So, that's how it was a wonderful dinner with my people. Good food, good company = 100% satisfaction and a perfect weekend 😊

P.S. - Just to reiterate, this place has huge waiting so please reach early as they don't take prior booking during weekends.

Badhaai Ho (2018)

When you come out of the theatre watching Badhaai Ho, you will truely love your family more. A movie which is pure at heart, simple yet very lovable. As the title specifies, this movie is about celebration of a beautiful family and its members who stand by it whatever circumstances be. 2018 is a year which has given a list of content driven movies and have succeeded in it, Badhaai Ho adds to the list.

Badhai ho movie review

Nakul's (Ayushmaan Kuranna) family resembles a perfect happy Punjabi family until the "tragedy" happens when Nakul's mother (Neena Gupta) get pregnant on her late 50s. For sure Nakul, his brother and his grandma everyone starts blaming her and his husband (Gajraj Rao) for being careless. And this story spread like flame and they all started feeling embarresed on the society. What happens next forms the rest of the movie.

The whole movie is very well told with situational humour which keeps you entertained and also some emotional scenes which also brings tears to your eyes. Director Amit Sharma who comes from the forgettable "Tevar" does a good job in conveying the message to the audience. Ayushmaan Khurana, an actor par excellence who always experiments in different roles delivers yet another fantastic performance mainly with his expressions. Sanya Malhotra also gives an effortless performance after "Pataakha". The true charmers of the movie are the masterful Gajraj Rao, the queen of nuances Neena Gupta & the very "young" grandmother Surekha Sikri. Gajraj Rao has given a stellar performance and has played with the expressions so well. With his finely tuned performance, aced with funny mannerisms and slight shifts in expressions he robs everyone else of their equally erudite performances. Neena Gupta also delivers a superb performance and plays her part to perfection. Next in line is veteran actress Surekha Sikhri who eats into the role and delivers an organic performance of a unyielding but liberal grandmother.The writers also take the credit for the dialogues and are very impressive.

Movie Review - Badhai Ho

While watching Badhaai Ho, you will truely remember the line from the animated movie "Coco" that "Family is above everything". It is a movie which will make you laugh and cry at the same time and will make you feel the importance of family. The delicate issue of pregnancy in the late 50's and societal stigma that comes with it has been brilliantly handled and portrayed. Overall Badhaai Ho is a must watch for all movie lovers.

Reviewed by Mandar Dalvi

Feel free to share our posts, page with your family, friends, relatives to share such wonderful experiences through food, places or thoughts 😇 Thank you all!
For more pictures, you can also check my zomato account - @dhungrysouls and follow me :)