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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
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Jan 2020
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Shimla Mirchi
The plot fits snugly in romcom territory, providing an update to the hill-station romances that were the staple of Hindi cinema in the 1960s and ’70s.
Jan 2020
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Good Newwz
It’s a clever premise for a comedy of errors, and it also helps that Good Newwz is grown-up and matter-of-fact about adult bodily functions and needs.
Dec 2019
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Dabangg 3
...isn’t funny or even campy enough to be anything more than an aging hero’s throw of dice, hoping that third time will be as lucky as the first two.
Dec 2019
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Mardaani 2
While the briskness lends some urgency to what turns out to be routine serial killer fare, it barely allows for character sketching.
Dec 2019
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Pati Patni Aur Woh
The movie is refreshingly unsentimental and bereft of breast-beating, but fails to capitalise on its independent-spirited women...
Dec 2019
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Nov 2019
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Pagalpanti
...pedestrian writing and severe shortage of engaging characters and imaginative gags.
Nov 2019
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Satellite Shankar
...the movie isn’t interested in teasing out the shades and complexities of Shankar’s cross-country adventure. Ballad of a Soldier celebrates the Russian spirit while allowing for doubt and sadness. Satellite Shankar is all grins and salutes...
Nov 2019
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Bypass Road
Had the 137-minute movie been as ruthless about its running length as some of its characters, Bypass Road might actually have worked.
Nov 2019
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Bala
...extends its leading man’s predicament in more interesting ways, and is an altogether more humorous and layered examination of a widespread problem than Ujda Chaman. And yet, every time Latika appears on the screen, a shred of legitimacy falls to the floor, just like one of the many strands leaving Bala’s scalp at an alarming rate.
Nov 2019
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Ujda Chaman
A movie that sets itself up as an anti-romcom, one in which outward appearances don’t matter, makes little effort to explore the inner lives of its characters, particularly its self-centred hero.
Nov 2019
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Made In China
The movie tries to marry the world of the inept trader with nothing to sell and the enlightened doctor with something important to say, but no amount of magic potion can make this union work.
Oct 2019
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Saand Ki Aankh
The movie aims high, and wants to say many important things about the lack of opportunities for women, in sports or elsewhere. But its uneven tone and the easy-peasy manner in which the lead pair accumulate awards rarely allows for an nuanced understanding of just how the Tomar women did it.
Oct 2019
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Laal Kaptaan
Threats are delivered but never carried out, and ambition is spelt out but not realised. Yet, Laal Kaptaan scores on other fronts. The lack of sentimentality suits the material, and Navdeep Singh effectively conveys the sense of a battle without honour or humanity.
Oct 2019