Parmanu
...can scream 'desh' all it wants and turn up the volume as loud as it likes to make a big deal. But it's ultimately a cursory glance at a tough tactical choice and tame recreation of a controversial reality whose face is a stiff star.
May 2018
Raazi
...is a rarity. It is intense, riveting, clever, dark, sad, lyrical, heartfelt, relevant and understated.
May 2018
Hope Aur Hum
...never strays into complicated territory and sticks to its gentle celebration of everyday highs and lows. Its idealism may seem intentional, but never ever contrived.
May 2018
102 Not Out
Every single gesture is overdone and extra boisterous like Bachchan's inflated exuberance and screaming prosthetics, reminiscent of the 1970s when he'd masquerade as a grey-haired old man playing to the gallery. It was phony, but so much fun.
May 2018
Nanu Ki Jaanu
When not playing its hammy sentimentality on a loop in a series of daddy-daughter flashbacks or going creepy full throttle, Nanu Ki Jaanu coughs up some unintentional laughs in moments of genuine bizarreness.
Apr 2018
Beyond The Clouds
What works in this manufactured moral tale is Ishaan Khatter's unripe intensity.
Apr 2018
- Mar 2018
Raid
...does have its moments of compelling optimism and unexpected wit. It's also the most I've enjoyed watching Ajay Devgn in a while.
Mar 2018
Dil Juunglee
...may reward his conceit for jumping into the water, but that won't wash his sins away or make suffering fools a love story.
Mar 2018
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety
Pedestrian wit works best around actors who don't just go with the flow, but shape it to suit their comical timing. That's the difference between performers and parrots. But the underwhelming leads of Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety don't seem to know the difference at all.
Feb 2018
Aiyaary
It's a bloated, prolonged mess of misplaced purpose that digresses from military misdeeds to animal cruelty.
Feb 2018
Pad Man
...dramatises his reality to accomodate romance and distinction with a calculation that is one of the weakest aspects of an otherwise constructive narrative.
Feb 2018
- Jan 2018
Tiger Zinda Hai
Safe idealism or simply phony, you decide if you intend to endure 161 minutes of this toothless, tiring, plastic Tiger Zzzzzinda Hai.
Dec 2017
Fukrey Returns
...the gags, contrived around comically hostile interactions and burdened by a steady supply of predictable rejoinders, fall completely flat.
Dec 2017
Firangi
Firangi's persistence to club romantic overtures, non-cooperation movement mania, 19th century naiveté and con-adventure spunk in its 160 minutes running time proves to be its undoing. That's just too much to take in a movie that neither wants to be fun or funny.
Dec 2017
Tumhari Sulu
Despite its love for feel-good, Tumhari Sulu isn't stuck in a fool's paradise and confronts the conflicts thrown in its path.
Nov 2017
Chef
Grown up angst is a valid and neglected aspect of our storytelling. Except Menon’s digressing exploration of it feels more dull than delicious.
Oct 2017
Judwaa 2
Judwaa 2’s balloon of recycled gas soon goes phus and what’s left is tedious buffoonery of the brainless, for the brainless and by the brainless.
Sep 2017
Bhoomi
...Bhoomi’s blood-splattering, bone-crunching vigour is as unwelcome as the rest of this ghastly movie.
Sep 2017
Lucknow Central
Writer Aseem Arora's low-hanging ambitions and straightforward conflict between negotiators of harm and reform renders Lucknow Central a surprising watchability.
Sep 2017
- Sep 2017
Baadshaho
...Baadshaho's sluggish screenplay and humourless rhythm are spectacularly low on swagger and daredevilry as well.
Sep 2017
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Every single scene of this freewheeling entertainer is peppered with witticism that deserves to be savoured and parroted. But it's not always an uproarious one-liner -- and rest assured they are there in abundance -- highlighting the broader picture of this wholeheartedly frolicsome rom-com.
Sep 2017
Qaidi Band
Qaidi Band's biggest undoing is its superficial treatment of a thought-provoking premise.
Aug 2017
Sniff
...Gupte sources his own experiences growing up in the said neighbourhood, employing a large number of non-actors to fill the frames with authenticity and flavour the narrative in a humour that comes from a place of familiarity.
Aug 2017
Toilet
...Toilet's sanctimonious tone and melodramatic inclinations that takes every possible complexity -- social, cultural or religious -- and shoves it down the viewer's throat in the garb of rushed protests and simplistic resolve.
Aug 2017
Jab Harry Met Sejal
In essence, Jab Harry Met Sejal's titular characters wander aimlessly from one place to another from inside a bubble, holding on to a dream that's playful yet unreal, surprising but hollow. Had Imtiaz treated it like one and not surrendered to predictable fantasy, I'd still admire his audacity.
Aug 2017
Munna Michael
...Sabbir Khan's teetering timing, glaring ineptitude for farce and two stiff leads make it a slog to sit through.
Jul 2017