Starring: Brad Pitt, Ben Kingsley, Meg Tilly
Directed by: David Michod
[wp-review id=””]
Last week THE Brad Pitt was in Mumbai to promote his new film which was released on Netflix this week.
Now after seeing this dreadful war saga I realize Mr Pitt was wasting his time trying to generate interest in a film that is so outrageously mediocre and so self righteously ‘American’ in tone you wonder what Brad was promoting: the film or its heavily underlined message of American patriotism.
War Machine is one of those rare battle-scarred films that the actors try hard to prop up with a blitzkrieg of bravado. But the vacuousness and vapidity of the content is impossible to conceal. This is a film that wants to cry for its beloved country and its brave soldiers who leave family and home to rough it out in the hostile impenetrable hinterland of Afghanistan.
Director David Michod (best known for the wickedly quirky Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom) hits the shrill notes soon enough as the narrative introduces us to General Glen McMohan who is so full of it—Trump-esque bravado, I mean—you want to flip him over and shake him until he stops behaving like General Patton on a night when he just couldn’t get it up.
The troops, I mean,
It isn’t McMohan’s fault, really.It’s the way Brad Pitt plays him. The superstar, as American as ‘We Hate Osama’ teeshirts, grabs the character by his jowls and goes right into its bowels in pursuit of the “real American patriot.” It is an over-stuffed, grossly exaggerated performance, anointed by cheesy ‘grey’ makeup, replete with theclichés of soldiering that we thought died with George C Scott’s General George Patton.
Brad has neither the booming baritone nor the bristling energy to carry off the majestic shifts of wartime machismo that made Patton so imposing. Brad’s soldiering sensitivities make McMohan more a brat than a hero.Ben Kingsley as the oblivious President Of Afghanistan steals the show in one sequence where Pitt comes visiting in Kingsley’s bedroom.
Kingsley explains to Pitt what the makers of this film fail to understand: sometimes it is best to let sleeping dogs lie.
There are some very interesting foot soldiers in this messed up mega-catastrophe , played by actors who seem to know the purpose of their visit into this tortuously defensive tale of the American will to poke its nose into foreign affairs.Some actors rise above the morass created by a director who thinks war is a zone that cinema cancrashland into without a map.
There are some moments that rise above the banality of the bravado to claim some seriousness of intent. The very talented Meg Tilly(still remembered for her star turn in Agnes Of God decades ago) shows up as Brad’s wife trying hard to empathize with his obsession with battle-front heroism. She vaguely reminded me on Anjali Tendulkar who incidentally doesn’t try to act in the new Sachin Tendulkar bio-pic that came out this week.
You wish some of the principal actors in War Machine would also have desisted from ‘acting’ so extravagantly. With a sledgehammer’s subtlety this utterly misguided film reminds us that Uncle Sam needs to be in difficult places because, well, he knows best.
Brad Pitt won’t argue with that.He just visited India.

Exclusive Premium Content
Shah Rukh, Deepika, John Will Meet The Media On Monday At 4 pm(But There’s A Catch)

Pathaan has effectually discredited the efficacy of media interactions to promote a film. The film’s lead actors Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham did not conduct any press or portal interviews to promote the film.
And yet Pathaan is a blockbuster.
This weekend the Pathaan producer Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films took a call on behalf of the Pathaan team to do one media meet at the Taj Land’s End in Mumbai on Monday January 30 at 4 pm.
The three principal actors and director Siddharth Malhotra will address the media.
But here’s the catch: the media will not be allowed to ask any questions. There will be no Q& A s or one-on-one interactions.This basically means that the Pathaan team will have an opportunity to say what it wants to the media. But the media will have no say.
Make what you will of this one-way traffic.
A source close to Yash Raj informs me that this is the pattern regarding the media that Yash Raj will follow for future releases: no press meets no promotional engagements.
Exclusive Premium Content
Fake Projects of Pathaan Director Being Planted In Media

Siddharth Anand Denies Considering Any Project With Deepak Mukut
A word of caution to those marketing and publicity wizkids who think it’s okay to plant fake stories on (fake) projects with the Pathaan director.
It is not.
Such baseless announcements are meant only to raise the equity of the producers with whom Siddharth Anand’s name is linked. One such producer whose name has cropped up after the spectacular success of Pathaan is Deepak Mukut.
There were reports everywhere that Siddharth Anand’s next would be with Mukut.
Turned out to be a false rumour.
A source in the know informs, “Siddharth now has to complete Fighter starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone for Yash Raj.Then he is committed to direct the sequel to War 2 for Yash Raj films. They will then start work on the next film in the Pathaan franchise. There is no scope or room for any outside projects for Siddharth Anand. So every announcement that you read of a new film to be directed by Siddharth Anand for an outside producer is likely to be a hundred percent fake.”
When I asked Siddharth Anand about the supposed project with producer Deepak Mukut he promptly replied, “NOT AT ALL.”
Exclusive Premium Content
Pink Director’s Next Featuring Yami As A Crime Reporter To Stream From February 16

Anniruddha Roy Chowdhury whose Pink featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu was one of the most important films of 2016, is all set to release his next Hindi film.
Entitled Lost, Anniruddha’s film , based on true events, will see Yami Gautam Dhar(that’s what the actress calls herself after her marriage) as a crime journalist. LOST is an emotional social thriller that represents a higher quest, a search for lost values of empathy and integrity.
Inspired by true events, Lost is a story of a bright young woman crime reporter in her relentless search for the truth behind the sudden disappearance of a young theatre activist.

Lost
Says Aniruddha “The shoot of LOST has been an incredible journey. I have been eager for the release of our hard-worked venture. The film is a realistic highlight of media in a social context and I am sure that it will give the audience a compelling watch. I am curious about its release and see the responses it shall get. I hope they will welcome it with open hearts.”
Yami Gautam Dhar who plays the lead of the crime reporter says, “I can’t be happier and more proud of the film’s selection for the opening night at CSAFF. I feel like its one that the people will connect to and will be the one that you cannot miss, especially in the current age and time. I have loved playing this role because it was such a special experience, it allowed me to explore so many layers of emotions as an actor and the entire team has worked really hard on it. I genuinely cannot wait for the film’s release, especially to see the reactions of the audience to it.”
The crime investigation drama boasts a stellar cast. Along with Yami, the film will feature Pankaj Kapur, Rahul Khanna, and an ensemble of younger talent, including Neil Bhoopalam, Pia Bajpai, and Tushar Pandey, in pivotal roles.
Exclusive Premium Content
Jamuna Had A Love-Hate Relationship With Bollywood

Veteran Telugu actress Jamuna who passed away on Friday, shared an uneasy relationship with the Hindi film industry.She did eleven Hindi films including the iconic Milan in 1967 where Jamuna agreed to play the second lead, or the supporting role if you will, to Nutan.
Jamuna as Gauri was the Other Woman who craved for the hero Sunil Dutt’s attention whereas he had eyes and devotion only for Nutan. In later years Aruna Irani played a similar role in Caravan.
In Milan Jamuna was not keen to do a supporting role. Producer L V Prasad tempted her with three chartbusting songs. Besides, Jamuna had played the same role in Mooga Manasulu, the Telugu original of Milan. But it was the songs composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal which convinced Jamuna to take up the second lead in Milan.
While Nutan had no solo songs in Milan, she did have the chartbuster duet Sawan ka mahina . Jamuna on the other hand, had two splendid Lata Mangeshkar solos: Tohey saawariya naahin khabariya and the magnificent Ghazal Aaj dil pe koi zor chalta nahin.Not only these, Jamuna also had a hit duet with Mukesh based on her character Gauri: Bol Gauri bol tera kaun piya.
But then, fate intervened. After the film released one of Jamuna’s solos, the poignant and memorable Aaj dil pe koi zor chalta nahin was snipped out of the film.
Here is what happened: the Ghazal , one of Lataji’s all-time greats, was very much a part of Milan when it released on 17 March 1967. But then it was seen to hamper the flow of the film and edited out. The beautiful song occurred right after intermission. Producer Prasad, a shrewd filmmaker, got to know that audiences prolonged their loo breaks as there was a song after the break. Hence the sacrifice of a seriously sonorous melody.
Jamuna hardly did Hindi films after Milan. Her last Bollywood appearance was in Raj Kumar Kohli’s Raj Tilak where she was lost in a multistarrer as the royal queen.
-
Exclusive Premium Content5 days ago
Pathaan Is A Slick Spin On SRK’s Stardom
-
Exclusive Premium Content1 week ago
Has Mahesh Bhatt Undergone Heart Surgery? Bhatt Clarifies
-
Exclusive Premium Content1 week ago
Would Gautam Tinnanuri’s Film Save Vijay Deverakonda’s Career?
-
Exclusive Premium Content1 week ago
What Happened To Hera Pheri 3?
-
Exclusive Premium Content1 week ago
On To The Oscar, RRR Team To Focus On Naatu Naatu
-
Exclusive Premium Content6 days ago
Chhatriwali So Earnest Yet So Awful
-
Exclusive Premium Content1 week ago
Hema Malini On Working With Ramesh Sippy
-
Exclusive Premium Content1 week ago
Mission Majnu: Crossborder Rom-Kaum
-
Exclusive Premium Content6 days ago
India Shines bright at the Oscars
-
Exclusive Premium Content6 days ago
No Leading Lady For Akshay Kumar In C Sankaran Nair Bio-pic
-
Exclusive Premium Content4 days ago
5 Most Relevant Patriotic Songs
-
Exclusive Premium Content4 days ago
“Professionally, What A Year It Has Been For Me,” Raveena Tandon On Her Padma Shri
-
Exclusive Premium Content4 days ago
Pathaan Collects 55 crore nett in India On Day 1
-
Bollywood News4 days ago
Undekhi A Dark Compelling Thriller Set In The Heartland
-
Exclusive Premium Content5 days ago
Will Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan Break All His Previous Records?
-
Exclusive Premium Content1 week ago
To Avoid Questions On Nepotism, Raj Santoshi Keeps His Daughter Out Of Media interactions
-
Exclusive Premium Content4 days ago
Salman-Shah Rukh’s Hilarious Take On The Khan Hegemony
-
Topics4 days ago
Movierulz 2021: Download Movies for Free
-
Bollywood News4 days ago
Stephanie Beacham’s Net Worth (Updated 2021)
-
Bollywood News4 days ago
Phil Ivey’s Net Worth (Updated 2021)