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Pagglait
...tries to muster up feelings of remorse and loss, but is more comfortable sliding into humour or ladling out the snark.
Mar 2021
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Saina
The overwritten script, which includes a voiceover by its subject, still falls short of revealing her inner life. Sports biopics and documentaries often seek to discover the unknowable – the higher force that propels athletes to excellence.
Mar 2021
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Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
Without a sense of urgency or a clear understanding of how the characters are evolving between various crises, the 125-minute narrative moves stiffly from one scene to the next. Needlessly grim for the most part and jaunty when least expected, the movie ignores Pinky’s advice to Sandeep to “use head not heart”.
Mar 2021
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Mumbai Saga
Packed with Sanjay Gupta’s trademark flourishes – aphoristic dialogue, massive close-ups, shots of men walking chest out and in slow motion towards the camera, scenes lensed through a jaundice-yellow filter – Mumbai Saga works hard to live up to its title.
Mar 2021
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Roohi
Without the entertainment offered by Stree or the conviction of Bulbbul, Roohi is neither here nor there, like its dual-sided heroine.
Mar 2021
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Madam Chief Minister
...is about as sophisticated as a college play. The complexity of identity politics is reduced to palace intrigue.
Jan 2021
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Tribhanga
Shahane’s chronicle of imperfect mothers and difficult daughters says far more on the subject than is usually seen, but is crimped by its desire to extract sweetness from bitterness.
Jan 2021
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The Power
...is a slog, staggering from one grisly death to another and pausing only to marvel at Vidyut Jammwal’s eye-popping stunts in slow motion.
Jan 2021
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Nail Polish
The biggest twist in Nail Polish actually emanates from the restrained storytelling and overall lack of hysteria. Bhargava Krishna lulls us into thinking that we are watching one kind of movie while actually delivering something else – a switcheroo that goes beyond anything seen in the movie.
Jan 2021
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Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi
...bustling with colourful characters, acerbic humour and rancour.
Jan 2021
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Coolie No.1
Varun Dhawan and dialogue writer Farhad Samji are no match for Govinda’s manic energy and Kader Khan’s rat-a-tat repartee. The most energetic moments in the tedious and needless retread emanate from Ganesh Acharya’s ants-in-the-pants choreography in the song sequences.
Dec 2020
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Dec 2020
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Angrezi Medium
The jalebi-shaped screenplay is attributed to four writers. The direction, by Homi Adajania, struggles to contain a narrative that is figuratively and literally all over the place.
Mar 2020
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Baaghi 3
Apart from a couple of lavishly mounted action scenes, Baaghi 3 has little going for it, except, perhaps, the compulsion to drag the franchise along for as long as its leading man is able and willing.
Mar 2020
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Kaamyaab
Mehta consciously attempts to sidestep the cliches associated with meta-movies, but eventually succumbs to the lure of the actor staring at his reflection in the mirror and the nightmare about a shoot gone awry.
Mar 2020
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Thappad
The bloated runtime of 141 minutes packs in many necessary truths, especially about the pernicious nature of patriarchy and the manner in which women enable discrimination. The overall message, of heeding the conscience even if it pricked just once, survives the needless wandering.
Feb 2020
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Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
Filled with subversions both major and minor, the Aanand L Rai production is packed with superbly sketched characters and spot-on performances. It uses a light touch to launch a heavy attack on homophobia, general intolerance and repressive tendencies, and the very foundation of the conventional Indian family.
Feb 2020
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Bhoot – Part One
The absence of a strongly plotted emotional undertow to convey the idea that personal loss can lead to a never-ending nightmare of literally monstrous proportions results in a half-full vessel that makes some noise.
Feb 2020
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Love Aaj Kal
A few of Ali’s gambles pay off up until the interval, at which point the 141-minute movie launches into freefall, never to recover. Love Aaj Kal is crammed with non-sequitur conversations and faux philosophical musings, but the best bits are the dialogue-free montages, which reflect the beauty and purity of timeless ardour that the film seems to be aiming for.
Feb 2020
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Shikara
The epistolary device is one of the clumsy ways in which the movie deals with a knotty issue. Chopra, who has written the screenplay with Rahul Pandita and Abhijat Joshi, picks a narrow-angle lens through which to view the Kashmiri struggle.
Feb 2020
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Malang
...benefits vastly from clever casting, Vikas Sivaraman’s slick and attractive cinematography, and a distanced approach to wrenching matters of the heart.
Feb 2020
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Happy Hardy And Heer
Director Raka does his best within the circumstances, cutting to a song whenever possible. It’s a wise choice, since the only sources of energy is Reshammiya’s pulsating soundtrack, which has the potential to survive the movie’s life cycle.
Feb 2020
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Jawaani Jaaneman
...smartly directed movie that is a family drama pretending to be a romcom.
Jan 2020
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Street Dancer 3D
The movie leaps to life only in the last 30 minutes, as various crews twist and twirl their way through the inevitable contest. But to get there, you have to wade through sentimental slush and endure trite humour (the tin-eared dialogue is by Farhad Samji) and endless distractions.
Jan 2020
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Jai Mummy Di
The spineless and unimaginative leads are matched by the one-note matriarchs, who are never allowed to be anything more than face-pulling shrews.
Jan 2020
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Chhapaak
...is needlessly uneven and sluggish at times, but it’s most powerful when it keeps things simple and stays on course.
Jan 2020
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Tanhaji
People will write powadas, or ballads, about you, Tanjahi is told. They did, and the movie often has the quality of a ballad – it’s heavily embellished, romantic and simplistic. Tanhaji loudly sings its hero’s praises, creating a spectacle that is thrilling when in battle mode and troubling when considering the dynamic between the Marathas and the Mughals.
Jan 2020