Hills That We Climbed

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Travelogue: Captain Tanaji Kalate Udyan (Public Park), Wakad, Pune

- Rahul

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Movie Review: Ginny Wedss Sunny 2 (2026) – A Fun Filled Rom-Com with a Social Message

After watching his film “Laila Majnu” (2018) on TV, I became actor Avinash Tiwary’s fan. I was really touched by how he portrayed the role in that film, which went deep in the heart. After a while, I happened to watch another of his film “Madgaon Express” (2024), which was a comedy, on TV and was highly impressed by how perfectly Avinash Tiwary played in a comedy too. Therefore, when I came to know about this film “Ginny Wedss Sunny 2” being released in the theatres, I got chance to watch his first film on the big screen. And how lucky I turned out to be.

“Ginny Wedss Sunny 2” is a romantic comedy based on the life of Sunny or Shivansh, played by Avinash and Ginny or Geetanjali, played by Medha Shankr who get married under hilarious circumstances and it only starts a chain of events murkier than their marriage. Both Avinash and Medha have given great performance, with even slightest emotions portrayed so well; and even supporting actors like Sudhir Pandey have done a great job. The first part of the movie before intermission is largely comedy, and the whole theatre was in splits laughing at the perfectly timed and executed situational comedy scenes. If you have read my two previous movie reviews, you would understand that I was not going to pardon the film if I found any absurdities or imperfections. But this movie gets “A” grade in all departments.

The movie is based in Rishikesh and Uttarakhand, and captures its natural beauty very well. The whole natural beauty and daily life captured in this film is “dream like” beautiful. The movie also shows how social media is impacting our lives and h`ow India is torn between modernity and traditions. The film walks on a tight rope and comes out as a remarkable winner.

The wedding of Ginny and Sunny is only the beginning – and the movie then largely captures the “real task of marriage” – which is to “sustain” it. Marriages are falling apart in high numbers these days, and this movie captures the nuances of it in such a perfect manner. The male ego, the female ego, the burden of expectations from larger family, intrusion by society, impact of women’s education and independence on marriage and families, problems due to misunderstandings, role of elders in families, sibling rivalries and bonds, father-son and mother-daughter relationships, all these aspects are captured so very well in this film. And these are shown even while in the context of comedy, which is remarkable. The story is captivating and there is not a single boring moment in the film. The director of this film Prasshant Jha has done a genius work.

The songs of this film and also too good. Earlier I was enchanted only by the song “Chhap Tilak” but while watching the film, I got to know that there are total seven songs and all are so brilliant.

Without providing too much of spoilers, I would highly recommend this film for one and all. It is a wholesome family entertainer as well as an educational one for the young couples and those facing challenges in their marriage. I witnessed the entire theatre audience enjoying the film from the beginning to the end, and at the end they only wanted more.

Wishing all the success to this film “Ginny Wedss Sunny 2” and thanks to the makers for such a nice time watching it.

- Rahul

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Movie Review: Bhooth Bangla (2026): From Dhurandhar’s Peak Detailing to Bhooth Bangla’s Weak Detailing; Bollywood Comes Around in Just a Month

A few weeks ago, 'Dhurandhar: The Revenge' had hit the cinema halls, and everyone said one thing, that it had “peak detailing”. Last week, another Bollywood film released, with Akshay Kumar, the hero of the masses in its lead. After watching it, I could not stop myself from noticing its “weak detailing”. Here is how.

1. Similarity with Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise: You will keep missing Kartik Aaryan

Although, the original ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ (2007) film was directed by Priyadarshan, the same director of this film, and Akshay Kumar was its hero, but the real mass success of the franchise had occurred only when Kartik Aaryan had joined it for Part 2 and 3. About 20 years passed since the first film, and by now, Kartik Aaryan is synonymous with Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise. And this film does not have Kartik! To make it feel weirder, this film still has almost whole cast of Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise: Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Paresh Rawal, etc. It keeps feeling as if the film makers chose Akshay instead of Kartik "by mistake".

2. Akshay Kumar as boyfriend material

Akshay Kumar is about 59 years old. And it shows in this film and we can’t ignore it. After a few scenes at the beginning, we can see his “chest hair” which is grey and weird. After a while, we need to see how his whole body skin is wrinkled, like a 75 year old man. We also need to notice every once in a while that he has “polished” his face to appear younger, and it has resulted in his face not matching with rest of his body and it keeps feeling “what the yukk”. His father-in-law Superstar Rajesh Khanna at least had the decency to take up "father roles: after he aged. Akshay Kumar is still chasing girls in the bushes. In one scene, when Akshay Kumar meets the fiancée of his sister, he calls him "beta" in a natural tone. That scene "nailed" the weak detailing of this film like a hard fact.

3. Vulgarity in Comedy

At the beginning of the film, in a comic scene, Rajpal Yadav pulls down Akshay Kumar’s trouser by mistake, and we are forced to see his bum, totally naked. At first, I could not believe “what just happened”, but I knew it was weak detailing camouflaged as peak detailing. After a while, the movie focuses entirely on the “housemaid” to create vulgar comedy. Rajpal Yadav, the famous “mandir ka ghanta” whom anyone can ring when one feels like, is made the villain while it is not even his fault – although this part has become totally hilarious. And by the end of the film, there is a song where group of women are dancing, and the same housemaid is seen dressed and dancing like other rich noble women. Weak detailing.

4. Wamiqa Gabbi as a fresh face in the female lead

Perhaps the only sane and logical character in this film is of Wamiqa Gabbi who plays female lead opposite Akshay Kumar. She is shown as extremely beautiful, although at times she starts resembling Aishwarya Rai and at times even Alaya Furniturewalla (female lead of Kartik Aryan’s film Freddy (2022). She brings a fresh face among all other old stale, wrinkled stars. But then, our happiness is not made to last long. A few scenes into the film and I could not stop noticing that her upper tooth was “bent”. Out of the two front upper teeth, one is longer than the usual and is also bent as if dentist has tried grinding it to make it even. I know that it is not her fault, that best of the Hollywood stars also had some teeth problem, and it feels like “body shaming”, but I have just put my observations since I could not “un-notice” it. Almost feeling guilty now, but I wonder if this should be considered normal in the age of “peak detailing”.

5. Other weak detailing

The movie’s plot is so weak and full of holes. First, no one can understand the necessity to conduct the wedding in that haunted palace even after it becomes clear that the bride would die if she gets married in that venue. The ghost fears light, but in the end scene the ghost is shown as making offering of twelve brides to demon in a cave full of “fire torches” which obviously emit “light”. In the climax scene in the cave, the bride’s wedding saree keeps changing colour from red to pink and pink to red. There is unnecessary “doubling” of characters and even Akshay Kumar plays a double-role and it becomes too confusing. The palaces in the film clearly look like Rajasthani palaces, but are claimed to be situated somewhere in UP. The scenes of world famous ghats of Varanasi and pictures of the city having multi-storey buildings are shown as some old city from centuries ago. And after completing this whole film about ghosts, Akshay Kumar does “virtue signalling” by slapping the astrologer of his sister’s in-laws after taking him aside in secret, and then tells him “do not tell anyone or else they will laugh at you”. It made no sense why the big jyotishi would tolerate getting slapped like that. And this “do not tell anyone” is repeated so many times in the film, and so many characters tell the same “do not tell anyone about this” to so many other characters so frequently, that this weak detailing becomes a joke.

6. The bhoot and the horror are well-made and feel original

Although slightly similar to the Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise, the ghost/demon (bhoot) in this film resembling a bat, is really innovative and appears real. And the bhoot is finally a 'male', not a female ‘chudail’ like earlier films. The horror scenes are able to make you feel horrified and the use of old temple and gospel stories from the Hindu epic tales feel very real. But at the same time, I did not like the way Akshay Kumar is able to physically hurt the bhoot in the climax scene and the very long fight scene where he appears almost equal in physical strength to the Rakshasa. What is even the point of a big fight scene in the climax when everyone knows that the “hero will get beaten up at first but will be able to kill the villain eventually”. It is like a “fixed match” no one will bet even a paisa on. But then, this should not be surprising, since we are dealing with Bollywood’s ordinary films with weak detailing.

Final verdict: Recommended

All said and done, the film is entertaining, with too many comic and laughter scenes and at the same time some very good horror in the later part, with usual performances by the cast. The setup of royal palaces of Rajasthan and the dense jungle scenes are also nice to watch. I think this film should definitely qualify for an entertaining casual watch and hence I recommend it, despite my freak detailing in this blog review.

- Rahul