Deccan Trap

 Chhava is the story of Maratha pride. Sambhaji (Vicky Kaushal), son of Shivaji, is the heir to his father’s throne, however, there is much intrigue and betrayal within the palace gates which Aurangzeb (Akshaye Khanna) and his armies try to exploit. In one of the finest examples of sustained guerilla warfare the proud Marathas held back the Mughal armies for a quarter of a century, with the Mughal ruler eventually passing away in the Deccan. The torture and death of Sambhaji at the hands of the Mughals only accelerated the sunset over the Mughal empire. Vicky Kaushal is great aggression and heart as Chhava (Hindi, Lion cub), while Akshaye Khanna delivers a sterling performance as Aurangzeb

 16/20

Who is India

 The (deliberately) deceptively named "Emergency"(Hindi) should have been titled Indira but I guess that just does not draw the requisite eyeballs. It may also be the reason why we sat to the movie in an empty theater in its third week - provocative works for some but may not gel with many. For the most part the movie is highly commending of Indira (Kangana Ranaut) - her initiatives whether it be in Assam to stem refugee movement, her taking Nixon head on, Pokhran, Bangladesh related decisiveness and in general being a highly popular leader. The movie puts the bogey of emergency, mass sterilizations and Bhindranwale largely on Sanjay Gandhi (Vishak Nair) and a fragile mind of Indira at that time. Unable to deal with the pressure of a growing Janata Party and the pressure of her own delusions the Iron Lady of India caves in to a series of catastrophic misadventures that costs her her seat and eventually her life. A decent biopic for a run through history, but some overacting on the part of the lead actor takes the sheen off somewhat - the movie lacks the high quality thespianism required to pull this one off into something truly memorable

14.5/20