Vodka Diaries | Movie Reviews

Being an Amazon Prime Member has its own perks! Recently, I got a chance to watch a few good movies on Amazon Prime which I missed watching in theatre. These days, most of us visiting the theatres less frequently, right? Actually, the prices of a movie ticket got quite high, and the additional cost of popcorn, cold drinks and other stuff are even more than that, contributes in their own way in keeping viewers away from the the theatres. And, adding to that are the factors like the quality and time of the movie. It lead to a significant rise in the people opting for online streaming services like NetFlix, Amazon Prime and others. Needless to say that the availability and affordability of high speed internet played a major role in changing the habit of the people.

Here are some of the movies which we recently found on Amazon Prime and gave it a watch, and of course, shared our unbiased views and reviews for the same.

• Blackmail: A thriller with dark humor
• Missing: A psychological thriller
• Raazi : A thriller exploring selfless patriotism

Today, let us discuss about Hindi Film Vodka Diaries, which is a thriller.

Let us take a look at the story the movie explores.

Book Plot:

ACP Ashwini Dixit is a honest and hardworking police officer who is respected for his skills in solving crime mysteries. His work doesn’t allow him to spend quality time with his wife Shikha. So, he took a small break from the work and is now back in the town again, all fresh and ready to take over the crime.

But, before he take much rest, he was immediately called by Ankit, his subordinate, to inform about a murder! He immediately reached there. While investigating they uncover a series of murders! The only common link between all the murders is Vodka Diaries.

As they try to uncover the mystery, it keeps getting more and more complicated. So, why these murders are happening? And, who is committing them and even more importantly why?

Well, that is the rest of the story.

Well, I like the movie. It is much much better than some of the under-quality ones released in recent times which were even able to earn their places in now famous “100 crore” club!

Vodka Diaries is a thriller and it remains so, throughout the course. However it shifts sub-genre from crime thriller to psychological thriller after interval. This is a twist which work in favor of the movie, as well as against it! The way, the plot is built and suspense is raised, till the interval, makes viewers much curious to explore the events exposing the suspense, and here, some of them will be disappointed. It is because, the path this movie choses is slight different than the audience, especially the viewers of Hindi movies, has expected.

However, without adding any spoilers, I can say that the climax of the movie explains a lot of things, and it almost justifies all the actions. And the last scene of the movie, creates a long lasting impact.

Another segment of the movie which is moderately good, but could have been much better is, songs. Well, when you talk about Bollywood movies, you expect the songs to be ear pleasing, right? The songs of this movie are meaningful but not very popular so far. In a thriller, you may avoid having songs completely and still deliver a stunning thriller. But, due to commercial reasons, a very few of the movie makers prefer that path.

If the music album gets popular, it works in two way, for the good of the movie. It raises awareness about the movie, making people curious to watch it; and the sell of the audio CDs and music rights, may earn considerable amount of money for the makers. The background music is good and it flows with the story nicely.

So, the story is good which shifts the gaze in the second half and justifies the things in the end; and music album is moderate; what about the performances? Well, Key Key Menon is a superb actor and he made us falling for his performances since his debut commercial Hindi movie, Deewar (which gave him recognition to the wider audience). Being the protagonist, he got the maximum screen time and he delivers what is expected from him. We are unfortunate that such talented actors does get meaty roles in commercial films very frequently. Anyway, it is good to see him performing. You can check the scenes where he (his characters) is an authoritarian and the we handles the things, and at the same time, you can see his vulnerable side and compare the performances to see his wide range. And, at the same time, you can see that a normal commercial film writer couldn’t have written such scenes. That is the beauty of the film.

Mandira Bedi is good, but her appearance could have been better. She acts well. The conflict scene could have been filmed better, but, she, overall, delivers whatever is expected from her. You will enjoy poetry reciting scenes for sure. Raima Sen, didn’t get much scope and she looks flat in most of the scenes she performed in. Sharib Hashmi (playing Ankit) comes as a surprise package. He is a very good actor and is scene stealer. He makes the character(s) he is playing believable. If given a chance, he could deliver some stunning performances in his future career for sure.

Rest of the actors, try doing their job honestly and most of them are convincing.

Another thing which I like in the movie is the way the locales of Himachal Pradesh are explored. The cameraman and the cinematographer did their job brilliantly. The snow clad locations, the narrow baazars, the isolated homes, the mountain roads,… everything is explored on the screen so beautifully, that it will raise an urge in your mind to just escape from your routine and visit these places. The quality of these scene can compete any international movie for sure.

So, if the script could have been a little better (especially in second half), the movie could have been even better; especially for typical Bollywood movie audience.

Summary:

All in all, I liked watching it. If you love thrillers, you will enjoy it, despite of some of its limitations.

7.5 out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Purchase Vodka Diaries from Amazon India
• Purchase Vodka Diaries from Amazon India

Over To You:

Did you watch the movie? Or Are you planning to watch it? Which part of the movie you like the best? What is the most effective scene of the movie according to you? Is there anything you want to share about this movie or this article? Are you going to purchase it when available on DVD? Do not hesitate, go ahead and leave your comments below. And yes, do not forget to share this article with your friends over various social networks via Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and others. And yes, you may like to subscribe to our RSS feeds and follow us on various Social networks to get latest updates for the site to land right in your mail box.