By Joginder Tuteja
Manoj Bajpayee has done it again. With his act as a tough cop who also has a sense of humor that is laced in sarcasm, the National Award winner actor has aced again in Silence... Can You Hear It, which has expectedly emerged as an entertaining murder mystery. The promo had promised a thrilling ride and that's exactly how the two hour long movie turned out to be which has premiered on ZEE5. It is by far one of the better straight-to-digital films that have arrived from Bollywood and the makers can be assured of good viewership in weeks to come.
Pagglait is another straight-to-digital release, and this time the platform is Netflix. The OTT channel has already premiered Sanya Malhotra's Ludo and Ekta Kapoor's Dolly Kitty aur Woh Chamakte Sitare last year and now that the actress-producer jodi has reunited for Pagglait, it is for a classy outing which is just the right kind for a digital release. The film does have its moments and is the kind that should appeal well for the women audiences. However, somewhere it is way too similar to Ram Prasad Ki Tehrvi and that makes it an overall decent watch.
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OK Computer is a sci-fi offering by Disney + Hotstar and is a futuristic tale set in Goa, 2031. Somehow, Anand Gandhi had a germ of an idea around how technology could well take over the humans in a decade from now and nature needs to be preserved. Of course, he doesn't go the Terminator way which again was about man v/s machine. However, the narrative here is way too offbeat and at times plain weird, as a result of which some of the messaging is lost in translation. Jackie Shroff does entertain in a quirky avtar but overall this one meanders away.
For Vijay Verma, this was a big outing again after a double role act in Mirzapur 2, especially since he is leading the show. He is reliable as ever but is required to act in a certain manner which is not quite cut out for the masses. As for Radhika Apte, she is in a usual avtar and this marks yet another OTT outing for her, something where she is a regular for years now.
Coming soon
After a flurry of releases in the last few weeks, the coming week would be empty as there isn't any notable OTT release planned on any of the premium channels. Surprising, since this is a Holi week and hence a new release or two over the weekend (or on Monday, when Holi falls) could well have been lucrative for the audiences. It is apparent though that the makers didn't quite think like that and hence nothing has been planned right till 8th April when the next big film, The Big Bull, arrives on Disney + Hotstar.
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)