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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
...stays strictly within the limits of acceptability in dealing with a thorny theme that could easily have plunged into overt awkwardness. Lightheartedness is the cloak it wears to conceal its uneasy patches. That it succeeds in that endeavour more often than not is a measure of the director's ability.
Sep 2017
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Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
...hurtles towards an insipid, unintelligible climax, which includes a bout of Russian roulette between two adversaries. It is, in the end, much ado about nothing because the outcome of the life-and-death contest is as predictable as everything else in the film.
Aug 2017
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A Gentleman
...is a pileup of little ideas gone haywire. They could have done with more breathing room.
Aug 2017
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Aug 2017
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
...is definitely worth a watch provided you do not expect the world from it. It is happy to be what it is: a modest barfi from nondescript Bareilly.
Aug 2017
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Toilet
...all hell breaks loose (and hell, loos are broken) as the screenplay is gradually replaced by a government pamphlet. It all becomes painfully predictable, from a media scrum to a nick of time climax, and this film could well have been titled Poop-li Live.
Aug 2017
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Toilet
The intent of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha may be commendable. The execution is hugely hamfisted. When a Bollywood filmmaker assumes the role of a cheerleader for a government campaign on whose efficacy the jury is still out, you know you've been had.
Aug 2017
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Jab Harry Met Sejal
...is cinema's equivalent of a shiny bauble that glitters wholly in vain. Watch it only if you fancy a vicarious romp through Europe with an off-colour megastar trying hard to get going.
Aug 2017
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Gurgaon
...is a felicitous first film that bears the stamp of cinematic craftsmen who know their art inside out.
Aug 2017
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Raag Desh
...blends details drawn from extensive research and some amount of fiction to rustle up a narrative that has enough drama to keep the audience engaged through its run time of two and a quarter hours.
Aug 2017
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Indu Sarkar
...demonstrates that it doesn't matter who is in charge if the thinking is oppressive. It serves also as potent warning to those in power now and in the future, threatening their legacies. Behave yourselves or else Madhur Bhandarkar will make a film about you.
Jul 2017
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Mubarakan
The rigmarole is enjoyable up to a point but once the idiocy quotient peaks, the overlong Mubarakan goes somewhat haywire. Yet, if it isn't as insufferable as other average Bollywood romantic comedies, a part of the credit goes to the actors.
Jul 2017
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Jul 2017
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Munna Michael
...is only for fans of Tiger Shroff. All ye that haven't yet figured out what he is about, stay out of the way. You aren't likely to go home humming and dancing after watching this one.
Jul 2017
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Lipstick Under My Burkha
...busts many a myth and serves the purpose of lifting the haze of prudery that generally surrounds the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema. It throws the whole shebang into the pot – the result is a big, big bang that is bound to ring in our ears for a long, long time.
Jul 2017
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Shab
...is a courageous film and not only on account of its theme. It dares to go against the grain of what is passes for 'well-made' cinema in the Bollywood playbook. It is stylish, layered, evocative and not averse to embracing subtle obliqueness.
Jul 2017
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Jagga Jasoos
If Jagga Jasoos, for all its deviations, passes muster, it is largely due to a pivotal star turn that is worth its weight in gold and the heartily surreal touches that Basu imparts to this colourful, imaginative fantasy.
Jul 2017
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Guest Iin London
It is an excruciatingly painful, abjectly misshapen creature that stomps about absolutely aimlessly.
Jul 2017
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Jul 2017
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Tubelight
...means well, an anti-war movie that illustrates the pointlessness of battle and the importance of not actively hating those you are at war with, and while its simplistic message is timely and admirable, the film is rendered unwatchable because of the leading man.
Jun 2017
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Bank Chor
Even a substandard or cliched basic plotline could have been sidestepped were only the gags smart enough, or, at least, that there were enough of them. This one spends too much time not going for the laughs. It starts off being about blank chors, and ends up a bank bore.
Jun 2017
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Jun 2017
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Behen Hogi Teri
The quality of the acting is uneven, especially when compared to the steady performance from the unwavering Rao. Watch Behen Hogi Teri only if you think a one-man show is good enough to offset the drudgery of a two-hour trudge through a maze of inanities.
Jun 2017
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Dear Maya
...does not deliver conventional entertainment nor does it favour high drama. If anything, the film's even pitching proves that Sunaina Bhatnagar does not mind taking risks. And that is just the sort of filmmaker that Bollywood needs many more of.
Jun 2017
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Dobaara
...the portentous game of shadows, silhouettes and sly suggestions, which alternates between the teasing and the terrifying, is too much superficial style for a film so slight.
Jun 2017
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Hindi Medium
It isn't possible to completely dislike Hindi Medium. So, ignore its hiccups and watch it for the relevance of the questions it poses and the remarkable quality of the acting.
May 2017
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Mantostaan
The effort of actor-writer-director Rahat Kazmi is, therefore, irrefutably pertinent and praiseworthy. The result, alas, is uneven. Mantostaan is devoid of the gut-wrenching punch that Manto's seething pen could deliver at will.
May 2017
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Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
This is the rare sequel that is better than the first. Rajamouli's original Baahubali was engaging and effective but significantly overstuffed, with waterfalls and a weird romantic track and far too many songs for the genre, while this film is a lot more assured about both narrative and tone.
Apr 2017