Adil Sayyad

A Sharknado, A NuclearNado, A Lightning Nado, A CowNado! An OilNado! Am I missing any other forms of Sharknado featured in this film?

It's pretty much the same movie, with the final act shot in space. One must wonder how long they can tell the same story before running out of ideas to keep it fresh. There are no overtly funny moments as seen in previous two film, resorting to same action sequences we have seen before. Let's move on to the fourth film in hopes for some novelty.

When we see the state of Bollywood and the slop it churns out, one look at an independent artist will make you realise that talent does exist in our country; it’s just that they need opportunities to express themselves, and one such artist is Rohit Chauhan. Pretend Play is about a young content creator (Rohit Chauhan) who is trying to launch his career at the expense of his demented mother (Neha Dhar), but soon we realise not all is as it seems. Pretend Play is about the world of pretences, a world where everything is content. Even sympathy and blessings can be monetised and sold back to us. In such a world, human experiences are commodified and not authentic, but something we pretend for the sake of more plays. Shanmukh, the cinematographer, makes amazing use of framing and symmetry to create beautiful shots. The close-ups of characters gulping food are disgusting but also bring out the theme of consumption. I also loved how the sound changes from upbeat to serious the moment we realise that there is something more at play. I believe that the sounds of temple bells and prayer calls serve as a reminder to return to our roots. Harsha ‘Komet’ Maheshwari plays a representative from a firm, and her sycophantic nature is disturbing, someone who is not interested in a person’s wellbeing, just trying to milk out as much content as possible. Rohit Chauhan plays the disturbing side of the character well, his constant stares at his mobile kit, serves as a reminder that he isn’t portraying his genuine self to his viewers.

This time, sharks are flying in New York! That’s it; that’s basically the plot. Fin (Ian Ziering) is suffering from PTSD; does this matter to the plot? No, it doesn’t. And April Wexler (Tara Reid) is a famous writer who wrote a book about her experience during the first Sharkando, but all this doesn’t matter when there are sharks flying from the sky because all chaos is let loose. The film is hilarious. I didn’t stop laughing. Right from the very first scene when we see sharks entering a flight. There are also tons of cameos this time, all hamming up their scenes because why not. Who doesn’t want to be eaten by a falling shark in a film? The climax is the most insane thing in the film, and mentioning it here would ruin it, so I would just leave it up to you.