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The Tashkent Files
...this is the sort of know-all, grand con-spiracy theory picture - regurgitating catch-phrases like "presstitutes", "Lutyens Delhi," "fake news" - that emanates from a world-view wholly derived from spending far too much time on social media.
Apr 2019
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Kesari
Maybe there's more to the battle. Or maybe this in-your-face, goose-bumpy ride—heartwarming, because its history; and hysterical, because it's that kinda movie—is just the best one can do. Well, either way, this works alright.
Mar 2019
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Milan Talkies
...one suspects, much of this movie pretty much remains in the filmmaker's imagination/head. Rest of it, quite honestly, gave me a bit of a headache.
Mar 2019
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Mere Pyare Prime Minister
That you don't feel for anyone in this film (let alone, the issue), with the camera hovering around a bunch of parallel songs/story-lines, aimed to extend a simple short film into a full-length feature, is perhaps worse.
Mar 2019
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Luka Chuppi
...dumbfounded, fumbling all over the frickin' place - much like his film.
Mar 2019
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Total Dhamaal
...this is the sort of deliberately-sasta, kaam chalau comedy that works on simplest set-ups, and pay-offs - or punch-lines - that you ought to be in sync with. Some jokes work - at a pure comic timing level. Several don't.
Feb 2019
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Gully Boy
This is a new kind of 'Angry Young Man' movie, in effect - seamlessly merging sub-culture with pop mainstream.
Feb 2019
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Manikarnika
Dainty but fierce, Ranaut plays Rani Lakshmibai with the ferocity that suits her character best. She leads the charge not just as an actor, but also as director, the baton she took over midway through the making of this film. One can't help but conjecture if there are really two separate movies here, given that two directors were helming it at different times.
Jan 2019
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Why Cheat India
...it eventually starts descending to such levels of random, thoughtless spinning of the yarn that by the end of it you're not even too sure it's the same film that you had started with in the first place.
Jan 2019
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Uri
Supremely competent first-time director Aditya Dhar uses these weapons—sophisticated machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, top-grade fighter aircraft—to hit home with a winning plot, over two hours, 10 minutes of stunningly shot (Mitesh Mirchandani), non-stop, military-action drama, packed with pyrotechnics that appear authentic, world-class, technically kickass.
Jan 2019
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Simmba
This only brings back strong memories of large single-screen cinemas - on the verge of extinction - with people on both cheap and super-expensive seats, sharing entertainment as a common, tribal experience. That's where you should go for this.
Dec 2018
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Kedarnath
Practically all top stars from the '90s have at some point owed their stardom to a similar super-hit. Maybe that's the intention here. Wonder if this stuff still works in the front benches; forget the few highfalutin film-buffs.
Dec 2018
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2.0
The star is the director Shankar still. As a story-teller, you can tell, he could do with simplicity, and a better sense of proportion. As a filmmaker, he's sheer genius. Need better proof? Yes, you could catch 2.0.
Dec 2018
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Badhaai Ho
...is just as funny, and as much fun; even as the point of the picture might seem progressively belaboured.
Oct 2018
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Tumbbad
...an artsy, gutsy mix of mythology, history, horror, and moral science. Do these elements seamlessly add up for you to naturally feel for the characters in the story? Honestly, no. Does the incredibly strong visual craftsmanship (rare for an Indian indie) satisfyingly guide you into a world hitherto unseen/unknown? Oh, absolutely.
Oct 2018
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Manmarziyaan
Together the three actors add incredible zest, flesh, and energy to roles that compel you look at the world through each perspective, and probably even find oneself in it in some form.
Sep 2018
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Stree
The filmmakers here, supremely strong on craft, pull it off swiftly though, landing most of the punches (including punch-lines) at the right place.
Sep 2018
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Gold
...a thoroughly engaging sporting drama with all its necessary ingredients—namely infighting, warring egos, and sharp strategy...
Aug 2018
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Mulk
...a significant polemic first, and a thoroughly engaging picture, only thereafter.
Aug 2018
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Karwaan
Something about this film tells me it's possibly much better written than it's turned out...
Aug 2018
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Soorma
With Soorma, Ali confidently gets to the centre, keeps his impulses under check, and plays it totally narrow, and fully straight. And, yes, he hits home, alright. This is possibly his best work yet.
Jul 2018
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Bhavesh Joshi Superhero
...with some cracker locations and fine camera work otherwise, is anything to go by, you can tell, the chops to recreate a Frank Miller type visual flipbook exist. Except the non-superhero on the screen, like the movie itself, merely moves around in convenient circles, and head-splitting clichés.
Jun 2018
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Raazi
This is a meditative version of a war film, subtly weighing in on human loss and ruthlessness, even as it seldom wavers from checking off all the crackling elements of an espionage thriller.
May 2018
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Daas Dev
This rough, dusty roller-coaster ride though is still about the stolen moments (music included), some delightfully wonky folk, crackling scenes (screenplay co-credited to Jaydeep Sarkar), top-notch dialogues, soaked in the patois of contemporary Lucknow (co-credited to Tariq Siddiqui).
Apr 2018
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Nanu Ki Jaanu
Sad. Very sad-chiefly for the super-fine, and now ironically an under-rated actor, at the centre of it all.
Apr 2018
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Hichki
This film’s intentions—even if multiple, and therefore all mixed up—are laudable, no doubt. But, naah, doesn’t quite cut it, you know.
Mar 2018
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Mar 2018
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3 Storeys
Internet is really where the scene for this film's genre is. Would I've happily caught this online? Yes. But the invitation is for the big screen? That's being thoda sa ambitious, I think.
Mar 2018