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Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
The film is a mixed bag but I found myself drawn to its quietude and heartening conviction that kindness may be found in the most unexpected places and the most unexpected persons could turn out to be allies, sometimes without the expectation of anything in return.
Mar 2021
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ABCD - Any Body Can Dance - 2
If only a teeny bit more attention had been paid to the writing of ABCD 2, this could have been a great film. Well, even with its blemishes, it is remarkably entertaining.
Jun 2015
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Revolver Rani
...has many wonderful moments and ideas, but as a whole it’s neither satirical enough nor farcical enough nor intense enough nor thrilling enough to be what it seems to want to be.
Apr 2014
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Traffic
Drama is intrinsic to these situations and to the larger, multi-cultural Indian reality, without the crutch of high-decibel songs or explicit moralising. If Team Traffic had understood that, this could have been a great film. As things stand, it is an uneven, unsatisfying ride.
May 2016
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Tiger Zinda Hai
If you can see Tiger Zinda Hai for what it is, you too may not mind its unabashed blend of swag, silliness and schmaltz.
Dec 2017
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Judgemental Hai Kya
...is based on an interesting concept, it is often funny and fascinating, but in the ultimate analysis, it does not make the grade.
Jul 2019
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Udta Punjab
It is a mystery why this film was allowed to come undone despite the tremendously gifted individuals involved and the extreme poignancy plus conviction of the first half.
Jun 2016
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Bala
...inconsistent characterisation and the team's lack of awareness of their own prejudice robs Bala of much of its value.
Nov 2019
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Highway
...with all this going for it plus an unpredictable ending, Highway cannot escape from the burden of its sketchy, incomplete feel.
Feb 2014
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Phillauri
Too many Hindi films are lost to the curse of the second half. Fortunately for Phillauri, its affliction is the exact opposite.
Mar 2017
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Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
...is not an immersive experience and after a while I lost interest in its rigmarole of relationships, the many datings and matings, break-ups and patch-ups, marriages, divorces, friendships and the one-way scenarios involved.
Oct 2016
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Tubelight
...with Tubelight, my glass is half full and not half empty. When your head points out several exasperating aspects of a film and you still find yourself weeping with it, there is something to be said about the director’s ability to strike an emotional chord.
Jun 2017
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Wazir
Although Wazir falls flat on its face as a thriller when you consider the question posed earlier in this review, it does work in other departments.
Jan 2016
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Jolly LLB 2
...it pulls off humour and emotional resonance in several places, but those passages are also a reminder of what might have been if more time and thought had been invested in the writing of this film as a whole.
Feb 2017
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Hichki
The film itself is not without its faults, but its uplifting theme and Mukerji’s understated performance serve as compensation.
Mar 2018
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Aligarh
Despite a sterling performance by Manoj Bajpayee and other positives, Aligarh ends up being an inconsistent biopic – on the one hand providing a beautiful portrait of reclusiveness, yet elsewhere doing a disservice to a man to whom this country owes an apology.
Feb 2016
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Baar Baar Dekho
If I had the power to go back in time and any power over Team Baar Baar Dekho, I would cajole or bully them into rewriting the second half of their script. In the present though, in the here and now, this is a film that starts off well but fails to sustain itself.
Sep 2016
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Nov 2016
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Aug 2014
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Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
...while the film remains engaging throughout, it is hard to ignore the post-interval lack of substance.
Aug 2017
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Dabangg 2
The film is fun and funny only in parts, not a complete washout but certainly a completely unworthy successor to Dabangg.
Dec 2012
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Happy New Year
Team Farah-Shah Rukh are capable of much better in the over-the-top genre that they favour together. Happy New Year is a step down from Om Shanti Om, but if you enjoy boisterous entertainment that is still not entirely mindless, it’s worth a visit.
Oct 2014
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Jai Gangaajal
...is watchable. The film suffers sorely because Prakash Jha makes it too much about himself.
Mar 2016
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Noor
The film’s pluses do not eclipse its minuses though. Its news office milieu is poorly sketched...
Apr 2017
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Dear Zindagi
I loved SRK in the film, Bhatt is always a pleasure to watch, the story visits many themes that are uncommon in Bollywood, and several of the discussions are either witty or insightful or both. Overall though, the film comes across as being not enough because the writing needed more substance.
Nov 2016
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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
...is super-fun till it gets superficial. It is, to borrow the tagline of another film now in theatres, sundar, susheel and risky in its first half, flails about in the second, but remains entertaining overall.
Sep 2017
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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
MKBKM’s effort to be joyously absurd is too obvious and the usually assured Bhardwaj seems to be playing fast and loose with the reins in his hands.
Jan 2013
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Holiday
The problem with Holiday is that the formulaic comedy and romance end up diluting the thriller that it is intended to be, while the entire film is weighed down by its senselessness.
Jun 2014
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Madaari
This Khan makes Madaari a film worth watching. And his presence in contemporary cinema, makes this world a better place to live in.
Jul 2016
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Rangoon
The Bhardwaj who made Maqbool, Omkara and Haider is a man perfectly suited to a film like Rangoon. Sadly, without the writing brilliance of the director’s Shakespeare trilogy, Rangoon gets many things right, but fails to come together as an involving, engaging whole.
Feb 2017