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Bhoomi
Sanjay Dutt hasn’t lost his acting chops yet, rather seems to be maturing well. But why did he have to pick up a film this regressive for a return?
Sep 2017
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Haseena Parkar
Don’t go looking for a Shabana Azmi-like assured turn (in Godmother) from Kapoor. She is unable to rise above her age, despite trying to emote way too earnestly in some scenes.
Sep 2017
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Newton
It’s a short, straightforward and simple film but far from simplistic. Director Amit Masurkar uses humour to make his point than get all moralistic, being quietly effective rather than shrill.
Sep 2017
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Simran
What’s interesting is that her Praful is never built as a role model. The filmmaker remains non-judgmental about her; the audience doesn’t know what to make of her. I found that strangely liberating: an on-screen woman you can’t pin down or put in a straightjacket; for a change.
Sep 2017
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Daddy
...falls in the shadow; adrift and astray, mislaid between what would have been aimed on paper, in the script, and what eventually plays out on the screen.
Sep 2017
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Sameer
The much desired subversion gets far-fetched and messy than pointed and plausible. That’s where the film loses a grip on itself and its larger relevance.
Sep 2017
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Poster Boys
Not offensive so much as infantile. And every single character is a cartoon.
Sep 2017
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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
The many characters, families and relationships, their quirks and quarrels feel relatable, played as they are by an ensemble of actors who seem to be born to their roles.
Sep 2017
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Sep 2017
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Qaidi Band
Not only does Qaidi Band stay voluntarily far from scratching the surface of the issue but is unable to be a compelling watch either. For a real, troubling issue the solution offered is an unconvincing fairytale one.
Aug 2017
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A Gentleman
It wants to be a plush action drama, but evidently lacks resources, so settles at being a haphazardly shot ambitious film.
Aug 2017
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Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
...it all eventually boils down to yet another bloody revenge drama, in perpetuity at that. In the midst of several characters and strands the film loses an essential sense of cohesion.
Aug 2017
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Sniff
The one complaint I had with Gupte’s previous outing, Stanley Ka Dabba, was that, like so many of our children’s films, it came with a message attached. Sniff is not weighed down by that. It’s the reason why I am happy with it, but many a righteous adult might end up considering it simplistic and slight.
Aug 2017
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
The mediocre music and song-n-dance routines bring in the typical filmi touch to the film trying hard to fight it but still wanting to remain within it. Although a likeable film, BKB is one that could have but doesn’t quite fly.
Aug 2017
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Shreelancer
All of it gets protracted, hallucinatory and pointless, the viewer’s connect with the growth, change and self-realisation in the character remain distant.
Aug 2017
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Toilet
If there were any doubts that Akshay Kumar is the poster boy of this regime they can be laid to rest with Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.
Aug 2017
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Jab Harry Met Sejal
...marks a thumping return to love at its most banal, hackneyed and exasperating. There is not much in the silly situations and trite conversations to get you invested or interested in the lovers.
Aug 2017
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Gurgaon
There are twists and turns, hidden skeletons and revelations aplenty to keep the audience guessing but all made to unfold in a restrained way, lending poignancy to the intrigues and deceptions.
Aug 2017
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Mubarakan
If you survive the visual overload of mediocrity, the booming background music playing throughout will leave you with tintinnabulations of dhol, even long after the film is over, constantly reminding you of the torture you’ve endured.
Jul 2017
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Indu Sarkar
If the film is Bhandarkar’s effort to cash in on the nationalist wave of the current times, it surely will bag some brownie points from the current government.
Jul 2017
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Raag Desh
...the tension, excitement and exhilaration in a story so potent is diluted by a choppy narrative that is reminiscent of a soporific history class.
Jul 2017
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Lipstick Under My Burkha
Shrivastava’s women are identifiable, their predicaments and problems are easy to relate to. What adds more conviction to the portrayals are the persuasive performances by all the ladies at the helm.
Jul 2017
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Munna Michael
The makers may walk home with money, Shroff with more fame, but the audience will return with a message that you could get away anything as long as it is cloaked in song and dance.
Jul 2017
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Jagga Jasoos
The Broadway musical format does give Jagga Jasoos some captivating moments but they don’t quite add up to an entertaining film.
Jul 2017
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Shab
The filmmaker embellishes Shab with generous dollops of mainstream Bollywood grammar, while you keep wishing he breaks free and implements a restrained approach, like with his earlier works. But what you end up with instead is a farrago of unrealised ideas, where no particular story shines through.
Jul 2017
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Mom
Three months ago, we saw Raveena Tandon trudge the same course in Maatr. The shadow of that film hangs too heavy on Mom. Not only are the titles similar, the films themselves seem like identical twins, with Mom turning out to be the relatively better made of the two. But, only slightly so.
Jul 2017
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Tubelight
Unfortunately piety and righteousness are written way too large on Tubelight. We need some inventiveness and chutzpah even when we take the bull by its horns. Afterall, what’s cinematic subversion without any sparkle?
Jun 2017
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Jun 2017
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Behen Hogi Teri
The possibility of an interesting film gets lost in an overcooked script shorn of any remarkable situations and humour.
Jun 2017
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Dobaara
What you get in the process is very few chills and thrills but a lot of convoluted, half baked, jargon-ridden arguments that don’t add up to anything but boredom.
Jun 2017