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Uunchai Movie Review : Even with some hurdles, Uunchai scales new heights

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Uunchai - Official Trailer

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Users' Reviews

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MANISHA SIRWANI 9751 252 days ago

If I have to describe or rename this movie I would rename it as " Hum saath saath hain Featuring Everest Base Camp ".<br/>I actually had good expections from this one because I like slow paced and Motivating Content. But this one is quite boring. The Starcast is On-point but Story is damm weak & Production house haven't Changed their way of Story Telling which is Very Important in today's time. I didn't like Parineeti's Character and she was not fitting the part. She as a Trek Leader is not Convincing enough & unable to control the damage on Trek. Also writer could have worked on Other side characters who are part of Everest Base Camp. I liked all the other Aspects which includes Frames, Tones, Cinematography & Music. The transitions from past to present are very smooth & it shows how visionary Sooraj Barjatya is as a Director. The movie tries to Celebrate the Friendship but Dialogues & The Situations in each Character's life doesn't touch the Core. Well, we hope Bollywood comes up with these Subjects with good Scripts .

Om 42 408 days ago

Heart touching movie <3

Manu 486 days ago

Just too good movie. Teaches you about various but common behavioral scuffles within a family and how to rise above them. Adventure is there as well.

Edward Wilson Mollah 487 days ago

Great Movie to watch with family. Amazing work of all stars...

Ram Thakur 95 490 days ago

I fully agree the first half of the movie is the best. My major disappointment about the second half is lack of authenticity about the locale, i.e., trek from Namche Bazar to Everest Base Camp. I have trekked to EBC thrice in my life. You don't trek every day for acclimatization reasons on this part of the trail. The location of EBC is not exact. It is totally fictitious. The long bridge on which some irrelevant action is shot is below Namche and we cross it on the second day's trek from Phakding to Namche. There is no such bridge between Lobuche and EBC. Shows total lack of proper research. Overall, it is a good movie in terms of human feelings, relationships and life in general.

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Uunchai movie review: A heartwarming tale of friendship and loss

Uunchai movie review: amitabh bachchan, boman irani, anupam kher's movie is warm and wholesome tale of true friendships..

It's not very often that you walk out of a theatre and your heart feels full and makes you want to live all your dreams, sometimes even those of your friends. Uunchai left with me sense of solace, happiness and fulfilment. A heart-warming story without any intent of being preachy or trying to evoke extreme emotions, Uunchai moves you from the word go. Returning to direction after seven long years, Sooraj Barjatya brings a mixed bag of emotions varying from love, loss, dreams, desires, friendship, failures to self-belief, conviction and a promise made to your loved ones and most importantly yourself. Starring veterans including Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Neena Gupta and Sarika in leading roles, Uunchai rightly boasts of being loaded with powerhouses of talent. (Also read: Black Panther Wakanda Forever movie review)

Uunchai movie review: Boman Irani, Amitabh Bachchan and Anupam Kher in Uunchai.

Unlike his earlier family dramas mounted on a large scale with a backdrop of a family wedding or a love story, Barjatya's Uunchai is refreshingly different and breathtakingly beautiful. It opens with a group of three friends -- Amit (Bachchan), Om (Kher) and Javed (Irani) along with Mala (Sarika) who are on a trek to reach the EBC (Everest base Camp) led by tour guide Shraddha Gupta (Parineeti Chopra). Soon after, we are shown a flashback from two months ago about how they landed here and what unfolds thereafter. Back in Delhi, we are told, this trio celebrated their close friend Bhupen's (Danny Denzongpa) birthday, and the next morning his demise leaves them shattered. To fulfil his last wish of doing a trek with his friends, these three decide to embark on a journey full of uncertainties and hardships. Will they be able to complete the trek and fulfil their friend's last wish? Will the difficulties along the journey break them? Or will there be more harsh realisations along the way? Uunchai beautifully showcases these dilemmas that each of the characters go through.

Bachchan, Kher and Irani are a riot together. Their camaraderie instantly reminds you of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara albeit they have different set of life issues they're dealing with. The finesse and expertise they bring to the screen in unmatched. While Bachchan as the most sorted and sure of the three, convinces the rest for this trekking expedition, Kher is the cry-baby yet the sweetest and most relatable out of all. Irani brings forth his charisma and wins you over with his performance. With his wife Shabina (Neena Gupta), they make for an endearing couple. Their chemistry together makes you believe that love has no age. Neena's expressions, dialogue delivery and screen presence just light up the mood. Sarika, on the other hand, carries a more poised demeanour bringing a sense of calm to the chaos. However, her track, I felt, was quite rushed and never explained much in detail for me to fully connect with it. For a tour guide, I often found Parineeti Chopra less empathetic while dealing with senior citizens but guess she gets ample space to justify her actions and convincingly so. Amid all this, it was a treat to watch Denzongpa on screen after so long. His smile, persona and mannerisms leave you in awe and wanting to see more of him.

As beautiful as these characters, the film has a beautifully written story by Sunil Gandhi that's high on emotions and there's never a dull moment. Beautifully complementing the narrative are dialogues from Abhishek Dixit, which look apt for every situation. I loved the way how even in the grimmest situations, he tries to put in a tinge of humour yet doesn't make it look odd. Shweta Venkat Mathew's editing could have been a little crisper and the film could have been easily 20 minutes shorter yet you don't complain much about the length for the story keeps you hooked. With Amit Trivedi's music that's soothing to ears and isn't forced into the screenplay, Uunchai turns out to be the perfect family entertainer. Special mention to Manoj Kumar Khatoi's cinematography and the way he has captured stunning views of the Himalayas. From aerial to low angle to close-up shots, it's nothing short of magical and makes second half of Uunchai a perfect visual spectacle.

What I particularly loved in the film is that the makers didn't rush into showing the group of friends on the final trek instead they took their sweet time to soak into their respective stories. As the trio along with Neena Gupta took the road trip to reach Kathmandu, we get to see India in its full glory from places like Agra, Kanpur to Lucknow and Gorakhpur and their cultural influences. Every scene celebrating this friendship and emotions puts a smile on your face and that makes Uunchai worth it.

Amitabh Bachchan
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Anupam Kher
Boman Irani

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Uunchai Reviews

Every moment, every exchange, every line of dialogue feels like it was coughed up by the human equivalent of Bing, while being held prisoner in the Rajshri basement.

Full Review | Feb 23, 2023

Uunchai takes a simple and not-very-original concept (elderly people going on an adventure trip) and ruins it with a bloated run time of 173 minutes, very hokey scenarios, and mediocre acting. The movie is half over by the time they get to Mount Everest.

Full Review | Nov 21, 2022

Uphill in every which way...

Full Review | Nov 14, 2022

A basic trek through lofty themes...

The film is shot well by Manoj Kumar Khatoi. Whether it’s the car sequences or the trek across the hills, the camerawork provides an immersive experience.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 14, 2022

A bit fewer of several stretches towards the second half where the film meanders into more than one man-made crises, and this Uunchai would have been mission truly accomplished.

Uunchai spends an inordinate amount of time holding forth on ageing, transience, mortality and the urge for freedom...Not that these are not important themes to tackle, but the treatment that Uunchai reserves for them borders on the preachy and syrupy.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 14, 2022

From aerial to low angle to close-up shots, it's nothing short of magical and makes second half of Uunchai a perfect visual spectacle.

The film is not solely about older people, and even with its flaws there’s a certain relatability to the characters and the story.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 14, 2022

Uunchai is a call to the elderly to embrace life and accept change. Ironically, the film itself is stuck in time.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 14, 2022

Uunchai has a simple enough story that drags on for 169 minutes and 48 seconds on the sheer good will of its veteran cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 11, 2022

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Uunchai Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani are the quintessential friends we all need in life

Amitabh bachchan, anupam kher, boman irani-starrer uunchai is a beautiful tale about old school friendships. here's our review..

Listen to Story

Uunchai released on November 11 in theatres.
The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa and Boman Irani in lead roles.
It has been helmed by Sooraj Barjatya.

Cast & Crew

Amitabh Bachchan Actor

Anupam Kher

Boman Irani

Danny Denzongpa

Parineeti Chopra

Release Date: 11 Nov, 2022

Keti Ko Keti Ko Surkh Aggan Hai - We live in an age where Gen Z feels that friendships are driven by need and greed. Would you go miles (literally) to fulfil your deceased friend’s last wish of travelling to an unimaginable destination together, that too in your 70s and 80s? No matter what your answer is, Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Danny Denzonpa-starrer Uunchai seamlessly explain how friendship can be spirituality for some. Directed by Sooraj Barjatya, the film is set in the modern era, where four old friends are ready to climb mountains for the sake of friendship.

There’s no cinephile who’s never watched a Sooraj Barjatya film. In fact, there’s a pattern to his films. It starts with an ideal and happy family, making the most of their time, until the unfortunate befalls. But if you know the pattern, you can pat yourself and say that everything’s going to be alright in the end. That is exactly what you will find in Uunchai – a tale that is about deep, underlying love, friendship and life. So, Danny (who plays Bhupen) passes away in his sleep, a day after his birthday party. That’s when we see a clearer picture of the bond he shared with his pals, Amitabh Bachchan (Amit), Anupam Kher (Om) and Boman Irani (Javed).

Bhupen always wanted to go on a trek with his friends but just when he was envisioning a trip to Everest Base Camp (EBC) with them, he was gone. His friends then take the baton to take the plunge in their 70s and bury his ashes in the place that he forever thought of his own, Everest. And that is how the adventure begins.

Not only is their mission difficult but they have a lot of things to take care of. Climbing EBC in the 70s is no cakewalk. The best part if Uunchai makes it look real. For instance, health reports had to be taken care of, indifferences about whether to opt for it in the first place and fitness concerns, Uunchai had it all. As the story progresses, the film also hangs on to realism. When Javed and his wife (played by Neena Gupta) prep to surprise their newlywed daughter and son-in-law ahead of her birthday, the latter duo don’t seem too happy about it. Reason? They’re all grown up now and have a life of their own.

Parineeti Chopra has a small but meaty role. The actress only proves that she is getting better with every film. She plays a tour guide and looking at her performance, one can figure that a lot of homework went onto it. Also, we loved her costumes! Neena Gupta plays Javed’s (Boman Irani) wife in the film and since she’s so perfect at her job, we would sometimes forget that it’s happening in a reel world. Another surprise element in the film was Sarika as Mala Trivedi. Without divulging much about her role, all she does is make us wonder why doesn’t she act more!

We have to give it to Sooraj Barjatya for yet again living upto his name and doing a great job with the direction and storyline. A little into the film, there are a few pause-and-breath moments, which have been shot well. For instance, while the camping troupe along with the three lead protagonists land up on a bridge, the weather turns grey with anger and it rains cats and dogs. Now, that is no cakewalk when you are standing thousands of miles above sea level. The jerky shots and sudden close-ups were indeed intriguing.

One of the few things that could have been mended was the length of the film. Sooraj Barjatya films are famous for being lengthy and this one too is no different. Some bits and dialogues look forced too. We know it’s a film about friendships with four veteran male leads but we also wished to see more of Parineeti, Neena and Sarika.

Coming back to the pros again, it needs no mention that the star cast of the film was outstanding. Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa and Boman Irani are all legendary actors and each one of them looked effortless and real.

All in all, Uunchai is all about feelings, love, emotions, compiled into one term, commonly called friendship. The film also draws a sensible comparison between old school friendships with the Gen Y. If you are looking for good content merged with some great acting, Uunchai is the film for you. Go with your friends and family but with a disclaimer to carry lots of tissues. Afterall, who has ever said bye to a Barjatya film without a heavy but sweet lingering in the heart?

We give the film, 2.5 out of 5. Published By: Anindita Mukhopadhyay Published On: Nov 11, 2022 --- ENDS --- ALSO READ | Uunchai Twitter Review: Netizens laud Amitabh Bachchan's film, say 'it will make you cry and laugh'

Cast & crew
User reviews

Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, and Boman Irani in Uunchai (2022)

Three friends take a trek to the Everest Base Camp. A simple trek turns out to be a personal, emotional and spiritual journey as they battle their physical limitations and discover the true ... Read all Three friends take a trek to the Everest Base Camp. A simple trek turns out to be a personal, emotional and spiritual journey as they battle their physical limitations and discover the true meaning of freedom. Three friends take a trek to the Everest Base Camp. A simple trek turns out to be a personal, emotional and spiritual journey as they battle their physical limitations and discover the true meaning of freedom.

Sooraj R. Barjatya
Sunil Gandhi
Abhishek Dixit
Amitabh Bachchan
Anupam Kher
Boman Irani
68 User reviews
15 Critic reviews
14 nominations

Amit Shrivastav

Javed Siddiqui

Shraddha Gupta

Shabina Siddiqui

Mala Trivedi
(as Sarika)

Abhilasha Shrivastav
(as Nafisa Ali Sodhi)
Siddharth Sharma
(as Pranav Sachdeva)

(as Sheen Dass)
Neha Sharma

Sunny - Asst. Trek Guide

Guddu Sharma - Om's Brother
Manohar Sharma - Om's Brother
Om's Elder Bhabhi
Om's Younger Bhabhi

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Did you know

Trivia The last time Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Danny Denzongpa appeared together on screen was in 1991 for Mukul Anand's blockbuster Hum. In that movie they all played enemies of each other and in this movie they all played best friends.
Goofs The actors are shown speaking from Mount Everest base camp where there is no network.
Connections Referenced in 68th Hyundai Filmfare Awards 2023 with Maharashtra Tourism (2023)

User reviews 68

Dec 1, 2022
How long is Uunchai? Powered by Alexa
November 11, 2022 (India)
Kathmandu, Nepal
Boundless Media
Mahaveer Jain Films
Rajshri Productions
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 2 hours 53 minutes

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User Movie Reviews

Uunchai Movie Review: UUNCHAI is a simple, emotional, family film with top notch performances by the lead cast.

Uunchai is a simple, emotional, family film with top notch performances, but suffers due to mediocre music, excessive length., uunchai review {3.5/5} & review rating.

UUNCHAI is the story of a life-changing journey of three friends. Amit Shrivastava ( Amitabh Bachchan ) is a successful author, based in Delhi. He is separated from his wife Abhilasha (Nafisa Ali Sodhi) and the closest people in his life are his three friends – Javed ( Boman Irani ), Om Sharma ( Anupam Kher ), and Bhupen ( Danny Denzongpa ). The quartet meets on Bhupen’s birthday and makes merry. Bhupen, who’s originally from Nepal, expresses the desire to head to Everest Base Camp along with Amit, Javed, and Om. The friends, however, reject the idea, citing their old age and health issues. Bhupen goes home after the party and passes away in his sleep. Even in the case of Bhupen, his friends are his only family and they handle the cremation and other rituals. While going through Bhupen’s study, Amit finds that the former has booked a tour package to the Everest Base Camp for his three friends. The tour is going to take place in two months. Meanwhile, Om is making plans to immerse Bhupen’s ashes in the river Ganga in Varanasi. Amit informs Om and Javed about Bhupen’s Everest plan. He persuades them to join him so that they can release his ashes at the Base Camp since it was Bhupen’s favourite place on Earth. Om and Javed agree after a lot of persuasion. But there’s a problem. Javed’s wife Shabana (Neena Gupta) will never allow her hubby to take such a risky trek. Hence, Amit comes up with a plan. He tells Shabana that the trio will go to Kathmandu, Nepal where they’ll immerse his ashes. As per the plan, they’ll go to Kathmandu by road since Om is scared of flights. Amit tells Shabana to join them. He tells her that they’ll drop her at Kanpur at her daughter Heeba (Sheen Dass) and son-in-law Valli (Abhishek Pathania)’s place. Once that’s done, the trio will then head to Gorakhpur where Om will meet his brothers, whom he hasn’t met in 30 years. The three friends and Shabana begin their trip. But sadly, Amit’s foolproof plan goes for a toss. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Sunil Gandhi's story is touching. Abhishek Dixit's screenplay is simple and neat. The script flows at its own pace and is peppered with adequate funny, emotional, and even thrilling moments. In a few places, however, the writing could have been tighter. Abhishek Dixit's dialogues are simple, and conversational and in some scenes, it is quite deep.

Sooraj R Barjatya's direction is exemplary, as expected. He’s known for making films about families and this is the first time that he has toyed with a film which celebrates friendship. And he succeeds as he executes the script beautifully. What’s remarkable is his old-school style narration. The film is not just about three friends trying to scale Everest. There are multiple tracks, and they all contribute a lot to the principal track. At the same time, it gives viewers a wholesome, cinematic experience. A few twists in the tale also add to the entertainment quotient.

On the flipside, the film’s length is a major issue. At 170 minutes, UUNCHAI tests the patience of the viewers in some places. Secondly, the youth is the major chunk of the moviegoing audience and the film doesn’t offer much to this section. This can prove detrimental, from a box office point of view. Lastly, Sooraj R Barjatya’s films are known for super-hit music. Even like MAIN PREM KI DIWANI HOON [2003] had chartbuster songs. UUNCHAI, however, has a poor soundtrack. A minor issue with the film is also the track of Amit and his estranged wife as it is not explained properly.

Uunchai – Official Trailer | Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani

UUNCHAI begins with a breath-taking sequence. The film then goes into flashback mode and nicely introduces the principal characters. The scene of Bhupen’s demise is very moving. The scenes where the trio start prepping for the trek in Delhi are cute. The Kanpur sequence is dramatic. What’s praiseworthy is that instead of going the BAGHBAN [2003] way, the makers chose to show that even the parents can go wrong. The best part of the first half is reserved for the intermission point. It is sure to bring the house down. Post-interval, the Gorkhapur episode and Mala Trivedi’s (Sarika) flashback is memorable, as also the confrontation thereafter. The initial trekking scenes are nice but later, the film slows down and drags. The pre-climax is when the film picks up. The finale is lovely.

Amitabh Bachchan delivers a terrific performance, as expected. It was a challenging role, not just physically but also emotionally and Big B comes out with flying colours. Especially in the second half, he’s too good. Anupam Kher’s part reminds one of his similar acts in KHOSLA KA GHOSLA [2006] and BABY [2015]. But he ensures it stands out and does a fine job. His breakdown scene at the Gorakhpur ghat is lovely. Boman Irani underplays his part well and lends support. Danny Denzongpa is fair in a cameo. Parineeti Chopra is hardly there in the first half but in the second half, she makes her presence felt. Neena Gupta is charming and one does miss her after a point in the film. Sarika is restrained and apt for the part. Nafisa Ali Sodhi is good in the cameo. Sheen Dass, Abhishek Pathania and Raju Kher (Guddu bhaiyya) are okay.

Amit Trivedi's music is poor. A film like this should have had a chartbuster or a soulful melody. All songs of the film, 'Keti Ko', 'Arre Oh Uncle', 'Haan Kar De', 'Ladki Pahadi' and 'Savera' , work as they are well woven in the film, and due to the picturization. George Joseph's background score is appropriate.

Manoj Kumar Khatoi's cinematography is spectacular. The locales of Nepal are very nicely captured. Urvi Ashar Kakkar and Shipra Rawal's production design is rich. Sham Kaushal's action is realistic. NY VFXWaala's VFX is praiseworthy. Terrence Lobo, Daena Sethana, Priya Patil and Mohit Rai's costumes are in sync with the character’s personalities. Shweta Venkat Mathew's editing should have been sharper.

On the whole, UUNCHAI is a simple, emotional, family film with top-notch performances by the lead cast. However, the film suffers due to mediocre music, excessive length and offers nothing for the youth. At the box office, the film will appeal only to a limited section of the family audience and will need positive word of mouth to sustain.

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Uunchai Review: Long-Winded Motivational Speech Top-Lined By Amitabh Bachchan

Uunchai review: like mount everest, which can be spotted in the distance in several frames, the peak that the film seeks remains elusive..

A still from Uunchai trailer. (courtesy: YRF )

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra, Neena Gupta

Director: Sooraj Barjatya

Rating: 2 Stars (out of 5)

The heights that it aims for are way beyond the reach of Uunchai . If anything, director Sooraj Barjatya's first film in seven years - and second in 16 years - is a rather steep climb.

More a long-winded motivational speech that peddles idea that are as old as the hills than a bright, engaging film that will have you asking for more, it centres on a long road trip and a six-day high-altitude trek, both as arduous as you would expect them to be.

Top-lined by Amitabh Bachchan playing a bestselling author of character development books for young people, the film abounds in emotional crescendos, but the drive from Delhi to Kathmandu and the hike from Lukla to the Everest base camp do not yield much adventure until the film reaches its last legs and is about to collapse under the unwavering solemnity of its purpose.

Fun-loving Bhupen (Danny Denzongpa), a man who left Nepal as a youth and spent his entire working life as an Indian government officer in Delhi, dies of a cardiac arrest on the night of his birthday. At the bash earlier in the evening, he announces his plans to return to Nepal for a Himalayan trek with his three men he has been friends with for five decades.

The friends - writer Amit Shrivastav (Bachchan), bookseller Om Sharma (Anupam Kher) and garments shop owner Javed Siddiqui (Boman Irani) - decide, after weighing all the pros and cons given their advancing years, to go ahead and honour their deceased mate by undertaking the difficult journey up the mountain that they know will be an endurance test for their creaking bones and worn-out lungs. It isn't just another outing for the trio - they carry an urn containing Bhupen's ashes.

Amit, Om and Javed are septuagenarians with health and other issues, but they join a group of youthful trekkers under the guidance of adventure tour operator Shraddha Gupta (Parineeti Chopra). When things get really tough and they close to wilting, they remember Bhupen's repeated assertion that the Everest has all the answers and the trek to its base is worth the pain.

Uunchai , which marks a comeback for the Rajshri Productions banner, founded in 1947 by the late Tarachand Barjatya, tries very hard to keep up with the times, but fails to shake off the lure of methods that reek of obsolescence. If not outright maudlin, the film looks for the most simplistic of ways to deal with complex psychological and behavioural questions. The era of simple relationship dramas is long gone, but Uunchai isn't willing to let go of the past.

As the story unfolds - backstories of the principal characters are revealed bit by bit, with separations, bereavements and misunderstandings causing lasting psychological damage - it becomes clear that the camaraderie between the three men and the hopes of reconciliation and filial (or familial) fealty that they nurture not only hide a lot of latent tension and emotional scars but also turn out to be disconcertingly misplaced.

The road trip takes them across the state of Uttar Pradesh with pit stops in Kanpur, Lucknow and Gorakhpur. Wherever the group goes, they only encounter disappointments and disputes but, like life, their journey goes on.

The screenplay gives the actors - the cast includes Neena Gupta as Shabina, Javed's wife, and Sarika as Mala Trivedi, a stranger who joins of the group and causes a great deal of friction among the friends - ample room to demonstrate their skills. They do not miss out on the opportunity. Unfortunately, the story that they are a part of is bereft of any striking insights into what the vagaries of time do to people as they age and try to come to grips with life's curveballs.

One of them asks another: Sab kuch kyun badal jaata hai (Why does everything change)? He follows that up with another related query: Sab kuch sthir kyun nahi rehta (Why doesn't everything stay stable)? In response, the person to whom these questions are directed plays a song on his mobile from the 1972 Hindi film Piya Ka Ghar - Yeh jeevan hai iss Jeevan ka yahi hai, yahi hai rang roop. This number is employed to sum up the philosophy of Uunchai , a film as conformist in its messaging as any that Rajshri Productions has ever made.

Piya Ka Ghar is a Rajshri Productions film from exactly 50 years ago - which is how long the four pals in Uunchai have been friends. Shouldn't the three surviving men and the makers of this film have been aware that nothing stays the same from one year to another and here we are talking several decades.

The Uunchai script brings in a millennial - Shraddha, a rebel who is determined to plough her own furrow no matter what the cost of her defiance is - to represent the zeitgeist. She clashes on several occasions with the three old men, but it is the latter who always manage to have their way.

Uunchai is steadfastly conservative in its approach to the questions that it tries to answer through the collective prism of four men who have faced more than their share of ups and downs in life. It touches upon a love lost, on a marriage cut short by untimely death, another disrupted by irreconcilable differences and the onset of clinical depression, and on a girl's estrangement with her parents. The revelations, strewn across the film, are meant to be the dramatic high points. But they come and go without causing so much as a ripple.

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The overlong Uunchai spends an inordinate amount of time holding forth on ageing, transience, mortality and the urge for freedom when old age threatens to change the pace and quality of life. Not that these are not important themes to tackle, but the treatment that Uunchai reserves for them borders on the preachy and syrupy.

A large part of the story is set in the Himalayas, which are captured translucently by cinematographer Manoj Kumar Khatoi. Is the eye-popping beauty of some of the frames the reason why the editor has been lenient with them? Uunchai needed a far sharper edit. Like Mount Everest, which can be spotted in the distance in several frames, the peak that the film seeks remains elusive.

Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra, Neena Gupta

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Uunchai movie review: This buddy-drama decides to sleep when it has promises to keep

Friendship was their only motivation,” reads the tagline of Uunchai, a story of three friends who trek to Everest Base Camp in honour of their deceased companion. Bollywood has, time and again, given us tales of doing the extreme for your fellow comrade. Be it helping the bride run from her marriage (3 Idiots), going for a bachelor trip even when you don’t find the third amigo funny (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) or shooting a defence minister (Rang De Basanti). The question is, is that friend worth it? And if yes, how does the audience know that?

Danny Denzongpa as Bhupen, whose death sets the film in motion, is still affable and charming even when he is not playing a bourgeoisie villain. He is obsessed with climbing Mount Everest because he told us. He is a great friend because his friends told us.

He wanted to have a just society because his lost love later tells us. A lot of telling and a bit of preaching happens during this Sooraj Barjatya film. As for Bhupen, you, and also his friends, only remember him dancing with a Nepali cap on. Thus, the central motivation of the film wobbles like a mountain bridge. But it’s still refreshing to see Barjatya break away from the grand family. In Uunchai, Amitabh Bachchan plays Amit Srivastava, a writer who is estranged from his wife; Anupam Kher is Om, who left his brothers in Gorakhpur to establish a books business in Delhi, and Boman Irani plays Javed, a lingerie salesman with a controlling spouse.

If this was the early nineties, this film would have been set in Om’s, now ramshackle, haveli, and the title would have represented a business family’s losing morals at the height of its success. Bless our stars, Uunchai is a buddy film. But it is still an uphill road less travelled for Barjatya and he manages to keep on track. He crosses all milestones of a road comedy: there is the initial reluctance to go on the trip, the uninvited traveller who has a past, and the jolly friend who is hiding a deadly disease.

The film at points feels like traditional Rajshri characters dealing with an evolving world. In a scene Anupam Kher’s Om, after being shunned by his elder brother, asks Amitabh, “Sab kuch badal kyun jata hain?” (Why does everything change?). In another sequence, Amitabh explains to Boman’s Javed and his wife Shabina (an alluring Neena Gupta), after their daughter doesn’t invite them for her birthday party, that sometimes they should also understand their children’s predicament. Although it’s a dated theme, Uunchai tries to bring the young and the elderly together, arms-over-shoulders, laughing and being merry with just a Hariharan song missing.

The hurdle, however, is the pacing. Barjatya spends too much time on the stopovers. The film starts from Delhi, crosses Kanpur, Agra, and Gorakhpur before reaching Kathmandu, and before the actual trek begins, we are into 80 per cent of the film. Uunchai then inflates its length to make up for lost time and resultantly becomes dreary.

It emphasises a point with its sentimental music long after it is made. The film goes on and on, like its main characters on trek, but doesn’t explore the thrill and the dangers of climbing Everest enough. You start hoping for the climax to come sooner and when it does, it is more relieving than cathartic. Uunchai’s runtime feels like a lifetime. But I guess, ye jeevan hain.

Uunchai Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Danzongpa, Neena Gupta, Parineeti Chopra, and Sarika Thakur Director: Sooraj Barjatya Rating: 2.5/5

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‘Uunchai’ review: Uphill in every which way

Sooraj r barjatya’s comeback film is out in cinemas..

A character in Sooraj Barjatya’s Uunchai speaks about the two lessons he has learnt from every experience. To use this method, the first takeaway from watching Rajshri Films’ Uunchai is that the upholders of traditional values have reluctantly conceded that the modern family has cracks. Secondly, a film that aims for sympathy or admiration for the elderly unfortunately does just the opposite.

When their single buddy Bhupen (Danny Danzongpa), the most fit among a gang of four, suddenly keels over with a heart attack, the grieving three – writer Amit Shrivastav (Amitabh Bachchan), bookseller Om Sharma (Anupam Kher) and lingerie shop owner Javed Siddiqui (Boman Irani) – decide to fulfil his last wish and make a trek to the Everest Base Camp.

Since Bhupen had no family, it falls upon the three friends to scatter his ashes at the place dear to him. It is strange that over a friendship of several decades, the buddies never travelled to Nepal, to which Bhupen belonged.

The preparations to undertake the expedition, which are obviously beyond the physical scope of seventy-plus men, offer a bit of humour. Also, the foolhardy mission must be kept a secret from Javed’s over possessive wife Shabina (Neena Gupta).

They drive from Delhi to Kathmandu taking detours through Agra, Kanpur, where the Siddiquis’ daughter lives, Gorakhpur to visit Om’s ancestral home and Lucknow, where a mysterious passenger, Mala (Sarika), is to join them. This road trip portion of the film is enjoyable, with the warmth among the actors suffusing their teasing banter. Manoj Kumar Khatoi’s camera captures the vivid colours and landscapes of north India – the parts not seen in the many small-town films and serials crowding the screens with their stories of crime and dysfunctionality.

It is when Uunchai reaches the point from where the difficult trek to the Everest camp is to commence that Abhishek Dixit’s screenplay hits cliche central, even as it stuns with the mist-covered picturesque mountain locations. It is not quite clear how any trekking company would accept such seniors in their group, and if they did, would they mix them with a bunch of youngsters? The tour guide, Shraddha (Parineeti Chopra), can barely conceal her impatience, as the seniors are unable to keep up.

While the trope of senior citizens taking impossible tasks to prove their strength and ne’er say die spirit has been done before, this film also needed loads of humour and unusual situations to carry it off so that audiences don’t feel the irritation of the young group every time one of the older men falls or falters. Although the youngsters are solicitous, this generation takes flak for being apathetic towards older people, particularly their parents. Amit, who has the deepest secret, also has bizarre ideas on aging.

For the armchair mountaineer, Uunchai , is a delight. Audiences get the complete experience, from quaint log cabins to sudden squalls, snow storms and swaying bridges over raging rivers. If the plot leads the three friends towards self-realisation, it is of the superficial kind, as if the film decided what it wanted them to experience and worked backwards.

If the over-long film is bearable, it because the actors make their characters endearing. Bachchan, of course, is pitch perfect (and is given a wardrobe of enviable athleisure and winter wear). Like the man he plays on screen, he chivvies the other along till they reach the finishing line. Uunchai could have been entertaining if it wasn’t so sanctimonious. A film about endurance shouldn’t end up testing the audience.

Uunchai review
Sooraj R Barjatya
Amitabh Bachchan
Anupam Kher

Uunchai REVIEW: Amitabh Bachchan starrer is a heartwarming movie backed by an emotion-driven plot and stellar performances

Gretel Sequeira

November 11, 2022
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Amitabh Bachchan starrer Uunchai movie REVIEW

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Uunchai REVIEW: Amitabh Bachch ...

Film: Uunchai

Directed by: Sooraj R. Barjatya

Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Sarika, Neena Gupta, Parineeti Chopra

Uunchai Movie Review:

I know that only very few wouldn’t have a last wish. While many manage to fulfill their dreams and ambitions, a certain few fail to. Uunchai, based on a journey of three friends around 60 years of age or so, who plan to trek to the Everest Base Camp aka EBC, is all about friendship and hope. The movie is heartwarming and well-executed. However, if you let go of the beautifully captured and picturesque views of the Himalayas, Uunchai does have its flaws. As the stellar performances and plot keep you hooked, the music of the movie keeps it all well-bound together and accompanies it perfectly.

Uunchai opens with Parineeti Chopra, the trek guide, excited and welcoming her team. She looks amped up for the trek and so are the other youngsters in the clan. However, it is a test for three friends, Amit Srivastava (Amitabh Bachchan), Om Sharma (Anupam Kher) and Javed Siddiqui (Boman Irani) who set on a mission to fulfill their beloved late friend Bhupen’s (Danny Dengonzpa) last wish. One can easily sense fear in them as they gear up to take up a challenge that is not for the faint-hearted.

The trailer of the Sooraj Barjatya directorial might inspire you, but the movie will make you want to have an expedition of your own. Or maybe, Uunchai will leave you wanting a story just like that of four friends, left to be told.

Three friends take a trek to the Everest Base Camp. A simple trek turns out to be a personal, emotional, and spiritual journey as they battle their physical limitations and discover the true meaning of freedom.

Star Performances:

Amitabh Bachchan plays the role of the writer of the best-selling books, Amit Srivastava. And, he is a dashing and handsome star. His performance in the movie, after Goodbye, is refreshing. Big B’s new character is a treat to watch.

Anupam Kher plays the role of an irritated book stall owner, Om Sharma, who is not interested in selling off his shop. Kher delivers a stunning performance as he plays his character well.

Boman Irani as Javed Siddiqui and Neena Gupta as Shabina Siddiqui leave you mesmerized by their onscreen chemistry. They are a treat to watch. Neena Gupta once again delivers a short yet entertaining performance. And, you will definitely love her.

Parineeti Chopra, who essays the character of a trek leader, Shraddha Gupta, perfectly fits into her role. She makes you believe she can guide you on a trek to the Everest Base Camp. Not kidding!

The performances of Sarika (Mala Trivedi), Danny Dengonzpa (Bhupen) and Nafisa Ali (Sumitra Shrivastava) add gravitas to what makes the amazing cast of Uunchai, unfaulty.

Screenplay: Sooraj Barjatya deserves applause for his near to perfect execution and visual spectacle of a film. After Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Barjatya comes back with a bang! And, Uunchai manages to bring him to the top spot once again. Be it the grandeur, the almost three-hour-long movie, or the songs; the filmmaker gives you a taste of good cinema and how! He shows how filmmaking is not lost and that Bollywood does make properly executed movies, with a simple yet heartwarming narrative, that has an almost three-hour long run time.

Drawbacks: A few ‘idhar udhar’ (here and there) makes Uunchai an average watch. At the beginning of the movie, I failed to find flaws. To be honest, my mind was even hanging between the rating I would want to give. However, by the interval, you start noticing the flaws. To elaborate further, although Neena Gupta was awesome, her character Shabina entertained me only as much as a few bouts of laughter. Eventually, the character sort of left me irritated. I was then put off instantly. Secondly, Amit and Om land in Mala’s room and suddenly discover her identity was not connecting. Lastly, Boman Irani doing a video call to Shabina from the Everest Base Camp, not from a Satellite phone, but via our general mobile service provider; quite fishy! I wonder how one could make a video call at such Uunchai when making a video call during mere travel is impossible in India.

Uunchai’s background music and songs bind the movie together. The powerful background keeps you engaged. What’s more interesting is, the background music changes with the different scenes and it’s intensity, rather than one score all throughout. Songs like Keti Ho, Haan Kar De, Savera are pleasing to the ear.

Conclusion I recommend one to watch this movie. Forgetting the minor flaws in Uunchai, the Sooraj Barjatya directorial is something you could buy a ticket for. Although the movie is rather long, if observed closely, you understand why every nook and detail was required to be explained or why the screenplay was in a certain way. Lastly, Barjatya and his team serve you ‘grandiosity’ at its best.

Watch the Uunchai trailer here, after the review:

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Uunchai Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher Film An Intense Tribute To Friendship, But Unbearably Long

This amitabh bachchan, boman irani, anupam kher, parineeti chopra, starrer is high on emotion, slow in pace, a genre-reverser film about life, relationships and coming to terms with old age..

Sooraj Barjatya

Amitabh Bachchan Anupam Kher Boman Irani Danny Denzongpa Neena Gupta Sarika Parineeti Chopra

New Delhi: 'Uunchai' is like a documentation of what an intense trekking experience amidst the wilderness of Himalayas feels like. This template is then married to the family-entertainment genre of the Barjatya school of filmmaking which emphasises heightened emotions and drama. The Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Parineeti Chopra, Danny Denzongpa, and Sarika starrer is high on emotion, slow in pace, a genre-reverser film about life, relationships and coming to terms with old age. What really hurts is how each of the subject matter is treated chronologically in order to spoon-feed an audience which is smart enough to understand layers, nuances and landscape change without drilling it into their heads.

'Uunchai' begins with a voiceover narration of Amitabh Bachchan telling the intent of the film in the very beginning. The film opens in the beautiful landscape of Nepal where we are introduced to all characters until each of their life with all its layers is gradually unfolded in the process of the film.

From here the narrative and landscape shifts to Delhi and the backstory of four aged-friends is revealed. Soon after, one friend passes away, the other three try to fulfill his last wish by trekking to the base camp of Mount Everest.

The gradual unfurling of emotions, and each of characters' backstory is weaved very organically into the text, a commendable move in a film which has a lot of noise, particularly with this dominating force of a background score and with music: one song thrust upon another.

As great as it is to see veteran actors with such craft on screen come together, there are major problems with 'Uunchai' that even they cannot address.

The plot is given-away from the very beginning with this need to tell and not show. Every scene which could have added a layer of anticipation is shared with the audience helping diminish the interest in the film slowly. What keeps you going ( at least for me) was the anticipation of the beautiful landscape of the trek which begins only the second half.

So, the first-half of 'Uunchai' is unbearably long trying to establish characters, locations, why the actors do what they do etc. etc. The use of framing and the break into 'Keti Ko' song is nice; in fact the one thing to see in the first half is the song, it has a feel-good element attached to it despite the artificiality of emotions on display.

Perhaps, the pace of the film is toned down to suit the genre-reversal of a road trip which is usually filled with adventures etc. to suit the three-aged men on screen. Or, that the layering of life-drama on each of the character's backstory naturally slows down the pace of 'Uunchai'.

But, 'Uunchai' has moments and sequences which stand out. There are small incidents that have an organic flavour of comedy and drama to them, which will naturally bring a smile to your face or tears to your eyes. For instance; Anupam Kher putting food into the mouth of Amitabh Bachchan or Neena Gupta's possessive zeal to overcare for her husband, played by Boman Irani etc. Barring these, it's more like a marathon for which you need immense patience until the end.

So, perhaps, a documentary style of filmmaking would have more suited the syntax of a film like 'Uunchai'.

However, there are some ideological stances and debates that are dealt with quite practically ( almost in a moral lecture sort of way) but the way such matters are dealt with stand out. The slow revelation of glitches in parents-kids relationship and the non-judgmental attitude to take when dealing with them , for instance, or the way one comes to terms with the reality of aging and a deterioration of the body when the mind wants more... etc.

As for actor performances, Anupam Kher, Amitabh Bachchan and Boman Irani ace their parts as do Neena Gupta, Sarika and Parineeti Chopra. The dramatic tangent is slightly high in all of them but perhaps the need of the script or the hour or the director is the reason why that is so.

The post-interval 'Uunchai' is much faster, rooted and real. It opens with a good cathartic sequence in Gorakhpur and from there in Kathmandu, giving each of its characters a moment to shine.

Parineeti Chopra is present in the post-interval film and much under-utilized than her potential.

The second-half of 'Uunchai' also happens to be high on the emotional tangent with extraordinary physical and mental challenges that the protagonists face in the Himalayas to come to terms with their lives.

Towards the climax, when the film enters the snow-landscape of the Everest Base Camp, the shots begin to feel unclear and unreal. A filmy grained sequence captures the essence of the climax where a lot of fog amidst mountains feels something out of an old Hindi film song sequence. Besides this, there is barely an experiment with the form of the film.

'Uunchai' ends with the cringiest end-credits song sequence teaching audiences to live life to the fullest in all honesty. The template of the film follows the conventional three-act structure with the monotony of predictability and over dramatic music, narration and dialogue to complement it. But for the performances of veterans in a different light, 'Uunchai' is a bearable watch of a film, but too long for a feature-film with this kind of content.

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Uunchai Movie Review

Uunchai Devesh Sharma , Nov 11, 2022, 20:25 IST

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Home » Movies » Bollywood Movie Reviews

Uunchai Movie Review: Sooraj Barjatya With His USP Roadmap Brings A Smile On Your Face & That’s All That Matters Here

Uunchai is a movie made with a lot of heart and a whole lot of nostalgia involved..

Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra, Sarika, Neena Gupta, Nafisa Ali & ensemble.

Director: Sooraj Barjatya

What’s Good: It’s an USP Sooraj Barjatya movie where even he is trying to marinate his idea with modern ideology and create a tale about friendship that will connect across age groups.

What’s Bad: The general troops that the movie follows and the obsession of the filmmaker to only have beautiful people. Also, the runtime is a bit too much.

Loo Break: There is no point where you aren’t being entertained in this one, so you might want to wait for the interval.

Watch or Not?: For a return to the cinema of your childhood (if you are a 90s kid like me) and the vibe Barjatya endorses, there is no loss as such to invest in this one.

Language: Hindi

Available On: In Theatres Near You!

Runtime: 170 Minutes

4 friends all in their mid-seventies have been together for 50 long years. Their bond is eternal and beyond the label called friendship. One fine day, one of the four passes away suddenly and the rest are left with the deceased’s last wish. They decide to trek to Mount Everest Base Camp and unfold the tale of loss, love, and friendship.

Uunchai Movie Review: Script Analysis

Agree with it or not, Sooraj Barjatya is a brand in Hindi cinema. His fan base is spread across age groups and the core ones now are all adults and crave his cinema. The wide appeal of his films on television is proof enough. Over the years, man has taken over our subconscious in a way that many of us talk about Hindi cinema by referring to his characters. Even our antakshari game rounds begin with a song from his movie. You know the influence he has on us. So when he decides to bring together 7 of the most prolific and veteran names from the industry together in a movie about friendships and family values, he is here to take you on a nostalgia trip.

Uunchai, a movie that begins in the mountains takes you back to the days the reason behind this trek was unfolded. Written by Barjatya himself with Abhishek Dixit handling the screenplay, the movie is a classic Barjatya USP film that believes in simplistic storytelling. For a man who has based half his filmography replicating the Ramayana blueprint, understands the three-act structure in a way that he doesn’t like to break it. So even when he has 7 main characters, and 1 extended cameo (that too a well-known star), he doesn’t let the lines ever cross in a very intricate manner. He believes in telling all the stories one at a time and with ease that he possesses.

The fact that he makes the biggest of the stars and also acknowledges their age instantly reminds you that his cinema has aged with them. Anupam Kher, a constant in Sooraj Barjatya’s movies is the biggest of the reminders. The good thing is that the filmmaker also wants to cater to the newer audience while sticking to his morals and ethics. While there are songs after every heavy sequence, they are fresh and not the ones we have known him for. Or his constant nudge to the world of social media. But the latter point also turns a bit caricatured at a point. But his constant attention is on the friendship and the bonds.

While all of it is a breezy watch entertaining you all the time with some very stretched sequences leading to a very long run time, one cannot really ignore the problems. Women in the Barjatya universe only equipped men to trigger their stories and that very much continues here too. Of course, it comes to a point where Neena accepts she hasn’t given herself any attention, but that is too late. Also, why are everyone conventionally beautiful in this world and nobody belongs to the middle class? If you argue Boman and Kher’s characters are from the middle-class milieu, I am not buying that. The socio-economic structure is changing and that should reflect in films talking about real-time.

Also, the children-parent and parenting conflict are not to be just touched and left, Uunchai does that and kills a bit of the vibe.

Uunchai Movie Review: Star Performance

These are all the legendary names coming together to make a product with a filmmaker who is iconic in his own way. Amitabh Bachchan is only busy defying the notions around age and being himself. He brings the chirp and emotional core of the movie many times and it is so assuring to watch him do what he does at his age.

Anupam Kher still has his comic timing in place and nothing can be compared to how he used his body to bring out the humour. Boman Irani and his quirks are altogether a different animal and he even romances this time. Just too cute.

Talking of romance and cuteness, Neena Gupta is a breeze of fresh air in here as she is the only woman with (limited) agency. Every time she comes on the screen, you have to surrender and smile. Also, can anybody even touch the level of her enigmatic screen presence? Sarika in her second innings is doing a wonderful job and I hope she continues to for years now, because she still has it in her and we need to have that on screen more.

Parineeti Chopra in an extended cameo does a pretty decent job because she wakes up with crisp blow-dried hair and I can’t!

Uunchai Movie Review: Direction, Music

Sooraj Barjatya as a director finds beauty in culture and the love between a family. His need to diversify his characters is quite visible in his movies. Even Hum Saath Saath Hai, which was predominantly about one family included a Muslim couple. So he does that here too, but it does not really do anything to the entire storyline. But the filmmaker does know how to make the simplest of the movies and still keep audience entertained and hooked.

The man even tried his hand at the survival genre at a point and those 10 minutes or so are enough to tell you he can do that too.

Just the fact that the characters even after getting out of bed are prim and proper bothers because haven’t we already criticised television enough for it?

Amit Trivedi takes over the music and gives an album that will click with the audience. Particular Keti Ko, a celebratory song is fun and the way Barjatya picturizes is it incredible. It is like my childhood dancing in front of me because these are all the actors I have grown up watching. The background score gets very interesting in the second half and is good.

Uunchai Movie Review: The Last Word

Uunchai is a movie made with a lot of heart and a whole lot of nostalgia involved. Watch it with no expectations and with the thought that it is a filmmaker who wants to talk about love and its purity.

Uunchai Trailer

Uunchai releases on 11 November, 2022.

Share with us your experience of watching Uunchai.

For more recommendations, read our I Am Not River Jhelum Movie Review here.

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Uunchai Review: Too Much Rona Dhona

Uunchai has a simple enough story that drags on for 169 minutes and 48 seconds on the sheer good will of its veteran cast, points out Sukanya Verma.

Frail old folk overcoming physical limitations and taking on challenges beyond their capabilities for the sake of friendship is inspirational. But Sooraj R Barjatya's Uunchai mines it for melodrama.

Back in 1989, when the debutant director highlighted young Salman Khan's grit at overcoming hardships in Maine Pyar Kiya , it came from a place of naïve impulses.

But his insistence to romanticise 80-year-old Amitabh Bachchan's triumph against overwhelming odds in the same vein is plain unnatural.

Uunchai forcibly draws out our emotions by playing up the octogenarian actor's ordeal in a drama whose focus fluctuates between friendship, trekking, ageing, closures and making peace.

Goody-goody ideals have formed the core of Rajshri Production's values for 75 years, an attribute it steadfastly upholds in Uunchai where the religious identity of a staunch Hindu (as well as liberal), a moderate Muslim and their Nepalese best friend never comes in way of their affection.

What's disappointing is how made-up these bonds seem.

Amitabh Bachchan, Danny Denzongpa and Anupam Kher's Hum reunion is gate-crashed by a cheerful new entrant in Boman Irani, but the camaraderie is just not there -- neither on screen nor on script.

For long-time friends, they are surprisingly clueless about each other's lives, history and health.

How does a revenue officer and hosiery seller become besties in the first place? It's only because all four are so seasoned in their profession that Uunchai exudes an air of bonhomie and free flowing interactions.

Uunchai has a simple enough story that drags on for 169 minutes and 48 seconds on the sheer good will of its veteran cast. After the demise of their fittest friend, three elderly men from Delhi resolve to honour his last wishes and immerse his ashes in the mountains he hails from.

Craggy and covered in pristine white snow, the Himalayas are a metaphor for age and will as well as overcoming life-sized mountains. Buoyed by their buddy's belief, Everest has answers for everything, and the senior citizen troika embark on the journey of a lifetime.

An itinerary for a trek to the Mount Everest base camp in Nepal is set as the three friends get busy building their stamina, hoodwinking one's overprotective wife (a feisty Neena Gupta) and swallowing some bitter truths about estranged partners, extended families and parenting along the way.

If the mawkish sentimentality of these clumsily written conflicts isn't jarring enough, shoving down Piya Ka Ghar 's philosophical melody, Yeh Jeevan Hai as an explanation for 'it is what it is' makes it even worse.

If one half of Uunchai documents the difficulties of hiking on bumpy terrain and high altitude guided by tour leader Parineeti Chopra (her real life commitment to fitness reflects in her no nonsense detailing of what to expect on a tough trekking turf), the other half is an meandering road trip to Kanpur, Agra, Lucknow of foodies feasting on kachori s and imarti s.

Guess it won't be a Sooraj R Barjatya film without one elaborate scene of breakfast on the table.

Hunky-dory scenarios can get dreary even for a dove like Barjatya. To make the six-day trek eventful, he manufactures medical issues around Bachchan, gives Parineeti something to grumble about and tosses in (a wonderfully natural) Sarika's mystery woman harbouring a secret about their late friend.

The upshot is needless delay and endless rona dhona .

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Uunchai movie review: Big B's film is heartfelt ode to friendship; Amitabh, Anupam Kher and others create magic

Updated Nov 11, 2022, 18:18 IST

Uunchai review

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Uunchai movie review: Hum saath-saath hain now too with sugary sweetness, group dances and zero subtlety

A life-affirming lesson about how you are never too old to scale great heights is drowned out by predictability, stereotypes, silliness and dated storytelling.

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Sarika, Neena Gupta, Parineeti Chopra, Nafisa Ali

Director: Sooraj Barjatya

Language: Hindi

Four friends gather to celebrate the birthday of one. Amit Shrivastav ( Amitabh Bachchan ) is a bestselling author who prides himself on his success with young readers. He has a wife but, as one fan points out, she has never been seen in public. Om Sharma ( Anupam Kher ) runs a shop with his son and is openly resistant to change. Javed (Boman Irani) loves his spouse Shabina ( Neena Gupta ) who in turn dotes on him but keeps him on a tight leash. And then there is Bhupen ( Danny Denzongpa ), whose sudden death serves as a spark that sends the others on a trek to the Himalayas.

The men are all senior citizens, so the journey becomes a medium for a life-affirming lesson about how you are never too old to scale great heights.

Uunchai (Height) is helmed by Sooraj Barjatya who, in the 30-plus years since his blockbuster debut with Maine Pyar Kiya , has not once deviated from his signature conservatism or predictability in storytelling. It is fair then to assume from what is revealed or pointedly hinted at in early scenes that at least a couple of secrets will be confessed by the finale, new equations will be formed, the buddies will each smooth out the wrinkles and fill out the cracks in their respective family relationships, and if there is evolution, then it will be written with extreme care to ensure that the social status quo is not rocked to such an extent as to make a traditionalist audience uncomfortable. It is also fair to assume that the path to self-discovery will be lined with sugary sweetness, sanskaar and group dances with choreography familiar from all the director’s earlier films. Both assumptions are proved right.

The film’s message about living life to the fullest at every age is, of course, heartening, and of significance in India where the scripturally inspired social expectation is that every person will naturally settle into Sanyas once they have conformed to the other prescribed stages of human existence: Brahmacharya, Grihastha and Vanaprastha. But the means to that message is so maudlin, and the risks taken by the Big B’s character Amit so ridiculous, that an important point is lost.

Emotions run high throughout Uunchai . Every feeling every character experiences is signalled and then repeatedly underlined with a marked change in the loud background score. The humour is childish, particularly so in passages involving Om sniping at Bhupen and later Javed. And the narrative style is terribly outdated.

Stereotypes abound, most markedly in the writing of the women. One wife automatically gets jealous at the mere mention of the possibility that a woman will be travelling with her husband. Several long – oh so long! – stretches are devoted to jokes about her suspicious nature and how no man should ever praise another woman in the presence of his own partner. A second woman ditches her boyfriend, not under pressure from her family as is initially indicated, but because she is overwhelmed by the wealth of an alternative prospective groom. As we often see happening in the real world, a wife’s meticulous planning of her husband’s healthcare is portrayed as suffocating behaviour. These women are not villainised, which suggests that these clichés are emerging from genuine conviction – I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than insidious intent.

Meanwhile, of course there are un- sanskaari children in the picture who are unmindful of their lovely parents’ devotion and wishes. Quite unexpectedly, in the latter case, at least one father is shown introspecting and adapting to the new generation’s dreams. I suppose it is a revolutionary step for The House of Barjatya to concede that parents may possibly be wrong. As the sort of person who likes to see the glass as half full, I am tempted to celebrate, but Uunchai is so lacking in nuance that everything about it feels contrived and staged. Even this.

The only positive that seems to flow naturally is the completely normalised portrayal of the Muslim family among the friends. Sadly, what flows just as naturally is the story’s emphatically upper-caste universe, evident not only through the characters’ surnames but also the casual mention of Brahminical practices, as is the norm with Hindi cinema.

As the gang goes from Delhi to Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra and Nepal, we are served some stunning frames of the mountains, but their impact is diluted by the in-your-face studio shots. Worse, the narrative becomes increasingly mushy with every passing minute until it gets tiring.

Amitabh Bachchan and Boman Irani hold back to a certain extent even when the melodrama gets overwhelming. Sarika and Neena Gupta are as restrained as is possible in such a film. Anupam Kher, who is capable of so much better, over-acts inexorably here, especially in his comical interludes, but is overshadowed by Nafisa Ali who looks luminous but under-acts in what is possibly the film’s worst scene. Parineeti Chopra as a mountaineer and guide is wasted in a marginal role. And Danny Denzongpa’s cameo is a reminder of his warm screen presence that is much missed in Hindi cinema.

Uunchai is a call to the elderly to embrace life and accept change. Ironically, the film itself is stuck in time.

Rating: 1 (out of 5 stars)

This review was first published when Uunchai was released in theatres in November 2022. The film is now streaming on Zee5.

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial

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'If' movie review: Ryan Reynolds' imaginary friend fantasy might go over your kids' heads

Even with likable youngsters, a vast array of cartoonish characters, various pratfalls and shenanigans, and Ryan Reynolds in non- Deadpool mode, the family comedy “IF” isn’t really a "kids movie" – at least not in a conventional sense.

There’s a refreshing whiff of whimsy and playful originality to writer/director John Krasinski’s big-hearted fantasy (★★½ out of four; rated PG; in theaters Friday), which centers on a young girl who discovers a secret world of imaginary friends (aka IFs). What it can’t find is the common thread of universal appeal. Yeah, children are geared to like any movie with a cheery unicorn, superhero dog, flaming marshmallow with melting eye and assorted furry monsters. But “IF” features heady themes of parental loss and reconnecting with one’s youth, plus boasts a showstopping dance set to Tina Turner, and that all leans fairly adult. Mash those together and the result is akin to a live-action Pixar movie without the nuanced execution.

Twelve-year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming) doesn’t really think of herself as a kid anymore. Her mom died of a terminal illness and now her dad (Krasinski) is going into the hospital for surgery to fix his “broken heart,” so she’s staying with her grandma (Fiona Shaw) in New York City.

When poking around her new environment, Bea learns she has the ability to see imaginary friends. And she’s not the only one: Bea meets charmingly crusty upstairs neighbor Cal (Reynolds) as well as his IF pals, like spritely Blossom (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and overly sensitive purple furry monster named Blue (Steve Carell). They run a sort of matchmaking agency to connect forgotten IFs whose kids have outgrown them with new children in need of their companionship, and Bea volunteers to help out.

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Bea is introduced to an IF retirement community located under a Coney Island carousel with a bevy of oddball personalities in the very kid-friendly middle section of the movie. “IF” low-key has the most starry supporting cast of any movie this summer because of all the A-listers voicing imaginary friends, an impressive list that includes Emily Blunt and Sam Rockwell as the aforementioned unicorn and superdog, Matt Damon as a helpful sunflower, George Clooney as a spaceman, Amy Schumer as a gummy bear and Bradley Cooper as an ice cube in a glass. (It's no talking raccoon, but it works.)

One of the movie's most poignant roles is a wise bear played by Louis Gossett Jr. in one of his final roles. Rather than just being a cameo, he’s nicely central to a key emotional scene.

While the best family flicks win over kids of all ages, “IF” is a film for grown-ups in PG dressing. The movie is amusing but safe in its humor, the overt earnestness overshadows some great bits of subversive silliness, and the thoughtful larger narrative, which reveals itself by the end to be much more than a story about a girl befriending a bunch of make-believe misfits, will go over some little ones’ heads. Tweens and teens, though, will likely engage with or feel seen by Bea’s character arc, struggling to move into a new phase of life while being tied to her younger years – not to mention worrying about her dad, who tries to make light of his medical situation for Bea.

Reynolds does his part enchanting all ages in this tale of two movies: He’s always got that irascible “fun uncle” vibe for kids, and he strikes a fun chemistry opposite Fleming that belies the serious stuff “IF” digs into frequently. But unless your child is into old movies, they probably won’t get why “Harvey” is playing in the background in a scene. And when “IF” reaches its cathartic finale, some kiddos might be wondering why their parents are sniffling and tearing up – if they're still paying attention and not off playing with their own imaginary friend by then.

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But when Diddi is killed in a freak fire in a road tunnel the next morning – a national disaster that claims upwards of a dozen lives – Una finds herself alone with her searing grief. Diddi’s friends fly in to check hospitals and records; people she has never met, but who have known him all their lives. Klara (Katla Njálsdóttir) is there, a dead ringer for Una and recognized as the officially bereaved. The friends hug each other. These people own his past which, given that Diddi now has no future, means they own him.

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It’s understandable. There were only five of them in the 10th grade in their tiny country high school, Diddi’s old schoolmate Siggi (Gunna Hrafn Kristjánsson) tells her. It is an immediately recognizable but unfathomable bond.

Una is an oddball in her way, a “pan-sexual” who dresses in men’s clothes, but she is not so against convention that she would break Klara’s heart with the truth. Instead, she tells herself she is the real widow and bites her tongue. These two women give remarkable, sensitive performances; they are perfect foils for each other. Klara is cow-eyed, flattened by sadness, fleshy where Una is lithe, a bit of a country bumpkin. Klara is not, however, any kind of fool.

Whenever he can, he takes us outdoors, showing the sun descend to the horizon while casting its empty spotlight across the waves. At times – when skipping us over the sea or taking us through the doomed tunnel – the light becomes an abstraction, heightened by the soaring voices of boy choirs that he already used to powerful effect in his 2015 film Sparrows .

There is a sense of living under a great canopy of light, with roofs an insignificant interruption. Going to find out if Diddi is one of the dead, talking about him, celebrating him – all within a space of 24 hours – is the story’s busywork, but it is overarched by the transcendent.

That said, Rúnarsson has kept his ambitions small; his canvas is limited, his narrative spare – so spare, indeed, that it sometimes drags. Within his self-imposed limitations, however, he draws a portrait of muffled grief that feels true and poignant. The reflective pairing of the two young women, emphasized by a visually inventive moment when their images merge in a window where one is seen through the glass and the other as a reflection, recalls the existential ambiguity of Bergman’s Persona . Una feels more than she can say; Klara knows more. Their silence communicates volumes; their shared pain is so thick you could run your hands through it. Somehow, they will find their way through silence to accommodate each other.

As an opening-night choice for Cannes ‘ Un Certain Regard, When the Light Breaks sets a standard for the original and specific vision that is expected of films in this section. Whether its heavy-hearted melancholy will be a hallmark of the sidebar itself will be revealed over the next 12 days.

Title: When The Light Breaks (Ljósbrot) Festival: Cannes (Un Certain Regard) Director-screenwriter: Rúnar Rúnarsson Cast: Elín Hall, Katla Njálsdóttir, Ágúst Wigum, Mikael Kaaber, Baldur Einarsson, Gunna Hrafn Kristjánsson Sales agent: The Party Film Sales Running time: 1 hr 22 min

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Cannes: ‘Fury Road’ prequel ‘Furiosa’ forgets what makes the ‘Mad Max’ movies great

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When Australia’s George Miller came here in 2016 to serve as jury president, just months after his “Mad Max: Fury Road” won six Oscars, he swept in like a conquering hero. His movie was undeniable: a reinvigoration of both his career and the action genre. Often, the relationship between Cannes and the blockbuster directors it invites comes off as strained — see French artist Zaho de Sagazan serenading “Barbie” filmmaker and this year’s jury president Greta Gerwig at Tuesday’s opening ceremony — but with Miller, the moment felt right.

Things change. His “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (in theaters May 24), a somewhat dutiful new prequel to “Fury Road,” had its world premiere out of competition Wednesday, unspooling at the capacious Grand Lumière Theatre to a rapt audience that, it must be said, didn’t laugh once. “Who laughs at the end of the world?” you may ask. But that would be to deny Miller the richness of his grungy post-apocalyptic series, one that pairs brutal action sequences with emotional resonance, dark mythmaking, sociopolitical alarm and, yes, the odd Ozploitative chuckle at some catastrophic personal misfortune.

Director George Miller poses for a portrait on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in Burbank, CA.

We strap in with director George Miller, the ‘Mad Max’ mastermind, back with ‘Furiosa’

Australia’s leading export of postapocalyptic mayhem, Miller reflects on 45 years of action, the lure of digital and the summer’s most anticipated blockbuster.

May 6, 2024

Some of that is in evidence in “Furiosa,” but nowhere near enough. For the first time in Miller’s now-five-film franchise, he seems to be falling shy of the immediacy he’s sustained, often deliriously, for an entire feature. Any prequel would necessitate a certain distance: This is what happened before the story you already know. And if you ever confused Charlize Theron ’s hollowed-out stare in “Fury Road” for a lack of backstory (that’s actually the performance you’re noticing), “Furiosa” is here to supply that material for you, not unentertainingly. But with every supersaturated blue sky, russet-colored desert shot and faux-literary chapter heading (“2. Lessons from the Wasteland”), the movie gets further away from feeling like a tale that’s happening, to one that’s already been told, cleaned up and prettified.

Miller still mounts a story more confidently than just about anyone on the planet, and his kickoff, a 10-minute, near-wordless chase, is the definition of getting off on the good foot. A ferociously protective mom (the wonderful Charlee Fraser) trails, on horseback and motorcycle, a gang of kidnappers who have fled with her preteen daughter Furiosa (Alyla Browne, expressive during the film’s first hour). The latter, while unfortunate to be caught, is resourceful in her own way, chewing through fuel lines and blessed with the benefit of an especially prescient name. Flung over the back of a bike, her long hair flowing in the wind, the shot brings to mind to another defiant woman in Miller’s 1982 “The Road Warrior.”

A word about that stone-cold classic: By dint of the technology that was then on hand (i.e., no digital effects and a nutso stunt crew), “The Road Warrior” throws you into bodily panic with every kinetic setup. “Furiosa” rarely feels dangerous. Too much of its blood and fire is the work of computers, and for the first time, that work is obvious. There’s something very un-“Mad Max” about this; the tactility of the earlier films fed into the realness of potentially surviving the fall of civilization, even if that meant coming face to face with a tyrannical Tina Turner .

But the punkish spirit of the young Furiosa — forced to sit in a cage like a sad pet — goes a long way to setting up our connection with the story. Less so her captor, Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth, who, though he tries hard to build an arm-swinging, cape-wearing, motormouthed swagger, doesn’t have the lines to give his gang leader the kind of vanity we could relish in a villain. Eventually we get those bleach-pale War Boys from “Fury Road” again, along with the monstrously masked Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), his thuggish mutant son Rictus (Nathan Jones) and a geographical trade war that’s a bit more complex than it needs to be.

Miller, who with co-screenwriter Nick Lauthoris worked out these script details before they approached “Fury Road,” mainly have their sights set on a centerpiece that comes close to redeeming the entire film: a lavishly armed War Rig truck barreling down an endless highway, hounded by attackers with propellers strapped to their backs. Finally, the grandeur of the older movies is here, as is Anya Taylor-Joy , whose Furiosa has now gone through her Yentl-passing-for-a-boy phase and now seems meant to wear a glamorous black smudge on her forehead and learn everything she needs to know about “road war” from Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke of “The Souvenir,” channeling the Leone-esque minimalism that marked Mel Gibson’s original antihero).

Two people drive a truck in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

We have a lot to learn about road war as well. What’s a bommy-knocker? (I won’t spoil it, but generally, you pay extra for that option.) There’s a finding-your-calling film built into “Furiosa” — maybe it took the apocalypse for this former fruit-picker to discover what she does well — plus a hint of a front-seat romance that’s never made explicit. But just as the movie is hitting its stride and Simon Duggan’s cinematography settles down, Miller strays back to a less-exciting vengeance narrative.

Much has already been made of Taylor-Joy’s lack of dialogue — hardly a drawback when you take in her burning stares and see how potently she’s making something out of nothing. If the movie has a deficiency (and it does), it’s not one of exposition but euphoria. The “Mad Max” universe was never that cautionary, not if you yourself ever wondered how you’d make it through societal meltdown and what kind of mohawk you’d get. The exhilaration of the polecats sequence in “Fury Road” — that fact that there’s such a thing as polecats — made the series a constant source of glee.

“Furiosa,” to its distinction and detriment, ends up being too self-regarding, too downbeat. It takes the fun out of survival. Miller’s imagination has fed into “The Last of Us,” “Fallout” and a host of other grayscale nightmares for movies and TV. He knows better than anyone that forward momentum is key to a “Mad Max” movie. Leave the prequels to those who don’t have any gas left in the tank.

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Joshua Rothkopf is film editor of the Los Angeles Times. He most recently served as senior movies editor at Entertainment Weekly. Before then, Rothkopf spent 16 years at Time Out New York, where he was film editor and senior film critic. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Sight and Sound, Empire, Rolling Stone and In These Times, where he was chief film critic from 1999 to 2003.

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‘Wild Diamond’ Review: Agathe Reidinger’s Drama About a 19-Year-Old Girl in Thrall to the False Gods of Social Media and Reality TV Announces the Arrival of a Major Filmmaker

Malou Khebizi plays the heroine, who is lost in the dreams of the deluded new fame culture. Just like so many of us.

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‘Wild Diamond’ Review: Agathe Reidinger’s Drama About a 19-Year-Old Girl in Thrall to the False Gods of Social Media and Reality TV Announces the Arrival of a Major Filmmaker 6 hours ago
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Review: The Origin Story of Furiosa Has Dazzling Sequences, but George Miller’s Overstuffed Epic Is No ‘Fury Road’ 11 hours ago
‘The Last Stop in Yuma County’ Review: An Accomplished Pressure-Cooker Thriller That’s Like a Tarantino-Fueled Noir, 30 Years Later 6 days ago

Religion, Karl Marx said, is the opiate of the masses. Today, he would likely say that the opiate of the masses is fame — the desire for it, the things you have to do to get it, the fragmentary nature of it (the old “15 minutes” is now, in many cases, more like 15 seconds), and everything it’s supposed to bring you. The new fame, the lusty fickle kind bred by social media, is at the center of “ Wild Diamond ,” a startlingly bold and true French drama that premiered today at Cannes.

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Of course, it’s not just her appearance that Liane is selling, the oooo!-look-at-me-I-could-be-in-the-sex-industry transgression. She’s a Catholic girl who’s in touch with sin (even though she has never slept with anyone), which is why, in her eyes, she has to suffer for her celebrity. When she inks a homemade tattoo onto her abdomen, it’s really a penance. (She’s shivering with pain, until she records her Instagram post about it, which is as chirpy with girl power as an infomercial.) But she’s also pushing the attitude that goes with the tat: the hyped aggression, which in her case is a fusion of hip-hop braggadocio and reality-TV confrontation. After all, it’s by being in your face that one attracts attention, and gains followers, and become “famous,” and becomes an influencer, and makes a fortune, at which point one is presumably…fulfilled.

The trick, for Liane, is how she draws the fame-whore theatrics out of her inner misery. Her trauma fuels her outrage. She puts on a show for the world because “authentic” is what sells. The actress Malou Khebizi, who first played this character in a short, inhabits her with a surly dynamism that sears the screen. Liane is all about vanity, yet there isn’t a trace of vanity to this performance, which is tethered to Liane’s every volatile mood swing. Khebizi reminded me, at moments, of Sandrine Bonaire in “À nos amours” — her acting has that kind of layered combustibility. The story of Liane isn’t just that she’s furious. It’s that she’s in thrall to a false god.

A reality-TV producer leaves a message on Liane’s voicemail. She was impressed by the exhibitionism of Liane’s social-media posts, and asks her to come in and interview for a spot on “Miracle Island,” a reality show about 15 pretty young people living together in a beach house. So Liane is getting her shot. In the interview, she projects the right bad-girl attitude, encouraged by the producer who says, “We don’t want a goody-goody.” The way the shows are packaged, the cast members are encouraged to sell themselves to each other (when they’re not hating on each other). That’s how they become “stars.”

Yet the family’s unhappiness, at root, is driven by economics. Liane has an employment counselor she couldn’t be more bored with, because she doesn’t want to toil for the Man. No, she wants it all: the fantasy of affluence. If Karl Marx were here, he’d have a lot to say about how social media and reality TV work — how the leaders of the new Gilded Age, which is sucking all the money up to the top, have designed these diversions as a way of hoodwinking everyone else. It’s like the lottery with lip gloss and spandex: a way for the masses to “have it all.” As if being a TikTok dance-craze icon or a reality-TV star, who then becomes an influencer — a nobody who gets to be the corporate flavor of the month — were a viable career option.

Liane meets a biker kid (Alexis Manenti) and seems to develop a romantic attraction to him (the feeling is mutual), but these scenes drag a bit. Then again, the whole movie is designed as a (deceptive) downward spiral. After a while, it appears that the reality-TV producer has ghosted Liane. And why wouldn’t she? There are a thousand girls out there just like her. But the film’s ending surprises you. After all the despair, the piling up of glitzy delusion, there’s a feeling of redemption to it connected to what a good movie can do. Seated on an airplane high in the sky, Liane looks out the window, and the light of the sun catches her eye just so. The false god has smiled. And the audience feels blessed, by the arrival of a filmmaker this accomplished.

Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (in Competition), May 15, 2024. Running time: 103 MIN.

Production: A Silex Films production. Producers: Priscilla Bertin, Judith Nora.
Crew: Director, screenplay: Agathe Reidinger. Camera: Noé Bach. Editor: Lila Desiles. Music: Audrey Ismael.
With: Malou Khebizi, Idir Azougli, Andréa Bescond, Ashley Romano, Alexis Manenti, Kilia Fernane, Léa Gorla, Alexander Noisier, Antonia Buresi.

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COMMENTS

Uunchai Movie Review: Even with some hurdles, Uunchai scales new heights
Uunchai Movie Review: Critics Rating: 3.5 stars, click to give your rating/review,Uunchai scales new heights in terms of storytelling and concept, but never quite reaches the top.
Uunchai
Feb 23, 2023 Full Review Carla Hay Culture Mix Uunchai takes a simple and not-very-original concept (elderly people going on an adventure trip) and ruins it with a bloated run time of 173 minutes ...
Uunchai movie review: A heartwarming tale of friendship and loss
Uunchai movie review: Boman Irani, Amitabh Bachchan and Anupam Kher in Uunchai. Unlike his earlier family dramas mounted on a large scale with a backdrop of a family wedding or a love story ...
'Uunchai' movie review: Amitabh Bachchan's Everest climb is a familiar
'Uunchai' movie review: Amitabh Bachchan's Everest climb is a familiar, yet enriching experience Director Sooraj Barjatya's 'Uunchai' tells a well-written, emotional story unhurriedly ...
Uunchai
The film is not solely about older people, and even with its flaws there's a certain relatability to the characters and the story. Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 14, 2022. Uunchai is ...
Uunchai Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani are
The film also draws a sensible comparison between old school friendships with the Gen Y. If you are looking for good content merged with some great acting, Uunchai is the film for you. Go with your friends and family but with a disclaimer to carry lots of tissues.
Uunchai (2022)
Uunchai: Directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya. With Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Parineeti Chopra. Three friends take a trek to the Everest Base Camp. A simple trek turns out to be a personal, emotional and spiritual journey as they battle their physical limitations and discover the true meaning of freedom.
Uunchai movie review: A heartfelt ode to friendship
A bit fewer of several stretches towards the second half where the film meanders into more than one man-made crises, and this Uunchai would have been mission truly accomplished. Uunchai movie cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra, Neena Gupta, Sarika. Uunchai movie director: Sooraj Barjatya.
'Uunchai' Review: Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani and Anupam Kher's Film
Sooraj Barjatya's 'Uunchai' stars Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra in pivotal roles among others.
Uunchai Movie Review: UUNCHAI is a simple, emotional, family film with
Uunchai Movie Review 2022 : Uunchai Critics Rating 3.5/5. UUNCHAI is the story of a life-changing journey of three friends. Amit Shrivastava (Amitabh Bachchan) is a successful author, based in Delhi.
Uunchai Review: Long-Winded Motivational Speech Top-Lined By Amitabh
Uunchai Review: Like Mount Everest, which can be spotted in the distance in several frames, the peak that the film seeks remains elusive. Movie Reviews Saibal Chatterjee Updated: November 11, 2022 ...
Uunchai movie review: This buddy-drama decides to sleep when it has
The film starts from Delhi, crosses Kanpur, Agra, and Gorakhpur before reaching Kathmandu, and before the actual trek begins, we are into 80 per cent of the film. Uunchai then inflates its length ...
Uunchai movie review: Uphill in every which way
For the armchair mountaineer, Uunchai, is a delight. Audiences get the complete experience, from quaint log cabins to sudden squalls, snow storms and swaying bridges over raging rivers.
Uunchai Review: Sooraj Barjatya's Film Is An Age-Defying Ode To
Uunchai Review: Sooraj Barjatya's Film Is An Age-Defying Ode To Friendship And Life Uunchai is a hard relate, for everyone. It teaches you, without being preachy, that change is the only constant and its acceptance - although hard - makes life more endearing in the long run.
Uunchai REVIEW: Amitabh Bachchan starrer is a heartwarming movie backed
Uunchai Movie Review: I know that only very few wouldn't have a last wish. While many manage to fulfill their dreams and ambitions, a certain few fail to. Uunchai, based on a journey of three ...
Uunchai Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher Film An Intense
Uunchai Movie Review: Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher Film An Intense Tribute To Friendship, But Unbearably Long This Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Anupam Kher, Parineeti Chopra, starrer is high on emotion, slow in pace, a genre-reverser film about life, relationships and coming to terms with old age.
Uunchai
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 27%, based on 10 reviews. A critic for Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Uunchai is a simple, emotional, family film with top-notch performances by the lead cast. However, the film suffers due to mediocre music and excessive length."
Uunchai Movie Review
Uunchai Movie Review. Follow On. Devesh Sharma Nov 11, 2022, 20:25 IST. Uunchai Devesh Sharma, Nov 11, 2022, 20:25 IST. Average User Rating 3.8/5. Rate Movie 0/5. Uunchai. Your Rating Slide to Rate.
Uunchai Movie Review: Sooraj Barjatya With His USP Roadmap ...
Uunchai Movie Review: Script Analysis. Agree with it or not, Sooraj Barjatya is a brand in Hindi cinema. His fan base is spread across age groups and the core ones now are all adults and crave his ...
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Review: Too Much. Rona Dhona. Get Rediff News in your Inbox: Uunchai has a simple enough story that drags on for 169 minutes and 48 seconds on the sheer good will of its veteran cast, points out ...
uunchai movie review and rating, Movie Cast
In Uunchai, he explores different dynamics of relationships - be it friends, or family. The film is overall a heart-warming watch that will bring a smile to your face but will also leave you teary-eyed. Uunchai Movie Review: Sooraj Barjatya's directorial, as expected, is a roller coaster ride of emotions. There are times, when you will laugh ...
Uunchai movie review: Hum saath-saath hain now too with sugary
Uunchai is a call to the elderly to embrace life and accept change. Ironically, the film itself is stuck in time. Rating: 1 (out of 5 stars) This review was first published when Uunchai was released in theatres in November 2022. The film is now streaming on Zee5.
'IF' Review: Ryan Reynolds Stars in John Krasinski's Messy ...
Camera: Janusz Kamiński. Editors: Andy Canny, Christopher Rouse. Music: Michael Giacchino. With: Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr ...
'If' movie review: Ryan Reynolds leads whimsical imaginary friend film
One of the movie's most poignant roles is a wise bear played by Louis Gossett Jr. in one of his final roles. Rather than just being a cameo, he's nicely central to a key emotional scene. While ...
'If' Review: Childhood Wonder Succumbs To Deep Melodrama
The film's narrative, although imaginative, doesn't captivate fully, rendering it a somewhat dull experience despite its fantastical elements as it stumbles over its own narrative weight. IF ...
Furiosa Review: Mad Max Saga Prequel Is Dazzling but ...
Jump to Comments. 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' Review: The Origin Story of Furiosa Has Dazzling Sequences, but George Miller's Overstuffed Epic Is No 'Fury Road'. Reviewed at Dolby 88, New ...
'When The Light Breaks' Review: Runar Runarsson Movie About Grief
These two women give remarkable, sensitive performances; they are perfect foils for each other. Klara is cow-eyed, flattened by sadness, fleshy where Una is lithe, a bit of a country bumpkin ...
Cannes: 'Furiosa' forgets what makes 'Mad Max' movies great
By Joshua Rothkopf Film Editor. May 15, 2024 9:28 PM PT. CANNES, France —. When Australia's George Miller came here in 2016 to serve as jury president, just months after his "Mad Max: Fury ...
'Wild Diamond' Review: A Girl in Thrall to the False God of Reality TV
Camera: Noé Bach. Editor: Lila Desiles. Music: Audrey Ismael. With: Malou Khebizi, Idir Azougli, Andréa Bescond, Ashley Romano, Alexis Manenti, Kilia Fernane, Léa Gorla, Alexander Noisier ...