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Aug 2014
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Dream Girl
Just when you think Dream Girl has succumbed to what critics have in the past called The Curse of the Second Half though, it picks up once again thanks to certain cast members with unfailing comic timing.
Sep 2019
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Chhapaak
...means well, no doubt, but the screenplay is surprisingly thin – surprising because of Meghna’s brilliance with Raazi and Talvar. Combine that with plotline weaknesses, an excessive effort to stay low key and the unexpected shot at being a conformist fairytale in the end, and the result is a film that seems curiously detached from its heroine, despite the devastating true story that inspired it.
Jan 2020
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Badlapur
...boasts of many memorable scenes peopled with brilliant actors. The overall feeling though is one of a sporadically, episodically effective film that doesn’t quite add up.
Feb 2015
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Pad Man
For a film that is about self-sustenance among women, there is also some needless patriarchal dialoguebaazi about a mard being one who can provide raksha (protection) to the women in his life. That said, there is so much in Padman that is enjoyable and meaningful.
Feb 2018
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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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Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Despite its jumbled story and this undercurrent of misogyny, it’s hard to write off the film. Because when the going gets good the dialogues are killers and because of the immaculate acting.
May 2015
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Rocky Handsome
...high on style and visual gratification, but low on substance and passion.
Mar 2016
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Notebook
...is not perfect, but like the sterling Kashmir waterscapes in the film camouflaging so much turmoil, and captured here so beautifully by cinematographer Manoj Kumar Khatoi, it too is worth a visit.
Mar 2019
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Cocktail
...bubbly in the first half, boring in the second, pretending to be free-thinking but actually narrow-minded and stereotypical to the core.
Jul 2012
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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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Jannat 2
...despite its many flaws, it’s only fair to say that Jannat 2 is a mildly entertaining even if unmemorable film.
May 2012
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Apr 2016
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Saat Uchhakkey
...stands out for its excellent casting, excellent acting and – when it is not self-conscious – excellent humour. Now if only that had been enough...
Oct 2016
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Raees
The first half of Raees is supremely interesting and filled with promise. Besides, Shah Rukh Khan is a joy to watch in this new, exploratory innings of his career. The second half lets him down though. Style trumping substance is rarely a good thing for a film.
Jan 2017
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Fitoor
The pain, the rejection, the searing desire for revenge, the all-conquering power of love – none of it is adequately conveyed in this film which, by the time its final scene rolled around, left me as cold and detached as Estella’s heart was when she first met Pip.
Feb 2016
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Happy Bhag Jayegi
Aziz obviously has a flair for comedy but he needs to work on it. What he desperately needed here was either more time and thought, or a co-writer to help him build on the starting blocks he set up.
Aug 2016
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Ishaqzaade
Discussing the music, cinematography and other technical aspects of Ishaqzaade seems superfluous considering the way the film’s fun and seemingly feminist first half is marred by its anti-women second half.
May 2012
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Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara
The lasting impression though is of a sliver of a project, not a fully fleshed out film.
Aug 2013
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Bhoothnath Returns
...until it gets confused about what it wants to be – feature film or docu, children’s film or adult fare, light-hearted entertainer with a message or dead serious – Bhoothnath Returns is a lot of fun.
Apr 2014
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Singh Is Bliing
SIB’s lack of substance makes it forgettable, but while it lasts it is a pleasant, mostly harmless, rib-tickling, side-splitting affair.
Oct 2015
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Guddu Rangeela
For the most part then, Guddu Rangeela remains engaging because of the balancing act it achieves between its grim subject and its light touch.
Jul 2015
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Ittefaq
...may not be perfect, but it is clever enough. Bollywood rarely does thrillers well. This one is not brilliant, but it is fun while it lasts.
Nov 2017
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Ek Tha Tiger
...is neither here nor there. It’s neither this nor that. It’s not an all-out action film, nor is it a heart-wrenching romance.
Aug 2012
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Pihu
Kapri’s debut feature, Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho, was marked by the same tendency to bite off more sociological profundities than he could chew.
Nov 2018
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Shuddh Desi Romance
It’s brave all the way and bouncy up to a point, beyond which it just gives up.
Sep 2013
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Mom
The emotional pull of the first half and Sridevi’s acting excellence notwithstanding, Mom in many ways is as dangerous as the loud, raucous, not-even-pretending-to-be-progressive-about-women commercial Bollywood of the 1970s and ’80s.
Jul 2017
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Mar 2019
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Veerappan
In certain aspects of storytelling then, this is a film that cannot be ignored. It is however hard to get past the poor acting by Joshi and Ray and that overly loud background score.
May 2016
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Jagga Jasoos
...brings together a range of quality ingredients, but something has gone wrong in the cooking of it. It is highly engaging up to a point, but needed tighter writing and direction to stay on course.
Jul 2017