Chakki has been presented by Umesh Shukla of OMG Oh My God fame and is a story of a man who faces a harrowing time when he receives an inflated electricity bill. It is a satirical film and writer-director Satish Munda along with co-writer Ashwin Verman have played on this aspect nicely. It is also very relatable as we all have been victims of red tape and slugging bureaucracy. A few scenes are memorable, especially Rahul Bhat’s outburst. The manner in which the courtroom is depicted is unique and one of a kind! Sadly, though the film is just 98 minutes in duration, it still feels longer due to the insertion of three songs. The romance between Rahul’s younger brother and his classmate is needlessly forced into the film. A few scenes don’t make the desired impact, especially in the middle. A few scenes remind one of the films like Khosla Ka Ghosla, Peepli [LIVE], Batti Gul Meter Chalu etc though the makers ensure their film stands out. Also, the climax is silly but works due to the unpredictability factor. Talking of performances, Rahul Bhat is too good as the lead. Priya Bapat lends able support. Bhupesh Singh (Junior Engineer), Shrikant Verma (Bada Babu), Shahnawaz Pradhan (Executive Engineer aka EE), Dhirendra Dwivedi (Advocate Manoj) and Amit Jairath (Nazir in EE office) do a fine job. Durgesh Kumar (Bhushan of Panchayat fame) is okay as Rahul Bhat's friend. Special mention should also go to Meghdeep Bose's background score. All in all, Chakki is a clean, timepass film.

My rating - *** out of 5!

WILL GOODBYE BRING CHEER FOR AMITABH BACHCHAN IN HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY WEEK?

Many small and mid-sized films will try their luck at the box office in the next two weeks before the festival of Diwali. Tomorrow will see the release of 4-5 films and the biggest among them is Goodbye.

It stars Amitabh Bachchan in the lead and marks the debut of Rashmika Mandanna in Bollywood. Neena Gupta, Sunil Grover, Pavail Gulati, Elli AvrRam and Ashish Vidyarthi also star in this film which is directed by Vikas Bahl. It is about a dysfunctional family that comes together after the death of a family member.

The trailer has caught attention and seems like a funny and moving film. Though Rashmika Mandanna has extensively promoted it, the awareness is limited. The makers have decided to sell the tickets on release day for just Rs. 150. Moreover, it's Amitabh Bachchan's 80th birthday on October 11. Hence, Goodbye will be at an advantage since viewers will be insisted on watching Big B's film on his big day. The word of mouth needs to be positive for the film to have that advantage. The opening should be around Rs 1-1.25 crores.

The other major release of the week is GodFather. It's a Telugu film dubbed in Hindi starring Chiranjeevi and Nayanthara. Salman Khan has a cameo and it has given the Hindi version an edge. It was released yesterday on October 5 on the Dussehra holiday. In Hindi, it opened at Rs. 2 crores and the word of mouth is mixed. Its target should be to cross the collections of Rocketry: The Nambi Effect and Karthikeya 2 which collected Rs. 22 crores and Rs. 24 crores respectively. Of course, it looks dicey right now but anything can happen with dubbed films.

Then, Karan Razdan's Hindutva will release tomorrow. There's no star cast and hence, there’s no awareness despite such a controversial title. And lastly, Chakki will hit cinemas tomorrow as well. It stars Rahul Bhat and is presented by Umesh Shukla of OMG Oh My God fame. Sadly, since awareness is zero, it'll sink without a trace.

And that’s not all. Maja Ma was released today on Amazon Prime Video. It stars Madhuri Dixit in the lead along with Gajraj Rao, Ritwik Bhowmik and Barkha Singh. The film’s bold theme has caught attention. Though the response is mixed, it’ll find an audience due to the theme and Madhuri’s presence.