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

Ferocity (Hindi)

Animal (Hindi) blew my mind, not because of the level of violence (given Manga and Tarantino we have seen worse) but the attempt at opening up a raw genre of Punjabi gangster-Industrialist movie that shows raw use and abuse of power. Rannvijay (Ranbir Kapoor) channels his inner animal into gratuitous violence - the raison d etre being an unfulfilled "daddy issue" - trying to win his father's affection - but who knows...? Estrangement, an ambiguous moral code, an easy descent into violence, even against one's wife (Geetanjali) and manipulation (Zoya). An unusually unique attempt by Sandeep Reddy Vanga to bring out the best and the worst in a man - you will relate to Rannvijay, occasionally gasp at his behavior, maybe even want to reach out and help... he is an unstoppable force and the only thing that ties him down however frugally are his father and his children

16/20