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Maximum
...is a case of too much blood and blabber being wasted on a tale that has been flogged to death to such an extent that it is probably now a veritable carcass rotting in the Bollywood sun. No amount of social and political layering can dispel the rancid odour.
Jun 2012
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Maximum
...lacks the nuanced detailing and the urgent pacing that should have automatically sprung from a theme yanked out of the internal files of a highly politicised police force.
Jun 2012
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Bol Bachchan
...is a comedy so absurd that it could reduce you to tears of despair. Conversely, if you have the stomach for such rampant silliness, it might propel you into paroxysms of delight. The call is entirely yours.
Jul 2012
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Cocktail
...has just the right mix of fizz and flavour to allow the occasional and inevitable crinkles of triteness to flow well below the surface.
Jul 2012
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Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum
The film is ostensibly targeted at the teen segment and it might even find some takers there. But it barely passes muster as a sex comedy. It’s crude, crass and completely clueless.
Jul 2012
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Jism - 2
This film is designed to be Sunny Leone’s ticket to a place in the Bollywood sun, but it isn’t quite love-all in her favour. Yet, Jism 2 has enough soul not be swamped by a curvaceous body. It is more than just another 'booby' trap of a film.
Aug 2012
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Gangs Of Wasseypur 2
The sequel gets to the point infinitely quicker than Gangs Of Wasseypur did – it is free from the information overload that weighed down the initial 30 minutes of the first part.
Aug 2012
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Ek Tha Tiger
...has enough zing, visual and otherwise, to keep you in your seats for its runtime of a little over two hours.
Aug 2012
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Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi
Though a bit on the sluggish side, Shirin Farhad Ki To Nikal Padi is warm-hearted and generally watchable without being exhilarating.
Aug 2012
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Joker
...is a crude joke of a film that will leave you in tears unless you have a stomach strong enough to digest such unmitigated junk.
Aug 2012
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Sep 2012
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OMG Oh My God!
...even at its worst, does not ever deteriorate into WTF, thanks to the wondrous presence of Paresh Rawal. It's certainly not a waste of time.
Sep 2012
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English Vinglish
It would work strictly for those who can discount the film’s oversimplified worldview.
Oct 2012
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Kismet Love Paisa Dilli
The makers of KLPD might as well, as a statutory warning, have added another letter to the title to denote ASSAULT. Yes, this wannabe comic thriller is an all-out assault on the senses.
Oct 2012
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Aiyyaa
It careens from the dreamy to the delirious, the realistic to the raucous, and the perfectly logical to the utterly nonsensical as it turns many a time-honoured convention of Hindi commercial cinema on its head.
Oct 2012
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Chittagong
...certainly isn't a drab and dreary history lesson. It manages to be a gripping human drama without being either a sweeping Hollywood-style adventure or a Bollywood-inflected patriotic saga cranked up to a defeaning pitch for easy consumption.
Oct 2012
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Student Of The Year
...if you like your entertainment to be served up with glitzy but pulpy garnishing, pirouette your way to the nearest screen by all means.
Oct 2012
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Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana
...is just the kind of cinematic repast that those might have lost their appetite for Bollywood comedies could do with.
Nov 2012
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Son Of Sardaar
Poppycock in Phagwara: that is what the film should have been named. While the men on the screen defy gravity at will, the narrative defies logic without a care.
Nov 2012
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Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Watch Jab Tak Hai Jaan not just for the obvious sentimental reason but for the fact that it shows, for one last time, what Bollywood will miss now that the undisputed master of romantic sagas is no more.
Nov 2012
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Talaash
By no means is Talaash the end of your search for the perfect whodunit. But there is so much going for this compelling, slow-burning, well-acted tale set in the dark, grimy underbelly of Mumbai that you can barely take your eye off the screen.
Nov 2012
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Khiladi 786
...has nothing new to offer. It is cut from the same cloth that has yielded many of Akshay Kumar's recent vehicles. These films have sought to cash in on his rough and rowdy screen persona.
Dec 2012
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Dabangg 2
There can be no denying that Salman Khan is perfectly cut out for the carefree Robin Hood act that he has made his own. Unfortunately, the Dabangg 2 screenplay is devoid of any fresh ideas.
Dec 2012
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Table No. 21
This is a well-meaning film. It even has a relevant social message appended to its ending. Unfortunately, along the way, it yo-yos wildly between semblances of profundity and dashes of pulp.
Jan 2013
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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
Few filmmakers in Mumbai engage with ideas and issues of contemporary relevance as felicitously as Bhardwaj. He might have fallen short this time around, but even when he is not at his best, he is infinitely better than most in the business. A director who does not fear failure merits our support.
Jan 2013
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Inkaar
For a film that is remarkable in many significant ways, it ultimately disappoints because, despite showing the nerve to deal squarely with a demanding subject, it eventually chickens out of the prospect of going the whole distance to a coherent and radical conclusion.
Jan 2013
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Race 2
To be fair, some of the implausible action sequences are startlingly good. However, they do not add up to a convincing enough whole that can paper over the holes in the narrative.
Jan 2013
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Vishwaroop
...trust producer-director-actor Kamal Haasan to serve up the good old filmic formula in a well-mounted cinematic package that lends the largely predictable material an impressive veneer.
Feb 2013
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Special 26
...is an intelligently scripted, superbly acted, enthralling and believable heist film that is more than just that.
Feb 2013