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Why Cheat India
...like the hybrid of fact and fiction, needed far more imagination and audacity.
Jan 2019
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Uri
...is an unabashed love letter to the Indian army. If you want nuance or insight into the hearts and minds of brave men and women who willingly put themselves in the line of fire, you won’t find it here.
Jan 2019
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The Accidental Prime Minister
...strategically, a smart move. But here’s what I don’t get – why create such a shoddy product? The Accidental Prime Minister is narratively incoherent, technically sloppy and flat-out tedious.
Jan 2019
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Zero
...left me stumped and eventually, sad. Because when artists take such ambitious creative risks, you are really rooting for them to succeed.
Dec 2018
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Kedarnath
...feels like it belongs to an earlier decade. Apart from Mukku’s character, there is little that is fresh or contemporary.
Dec 2018
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2.0
Shankar’s cinema uniquely combines scale with social message. Just in case you’ve missed the point of this film, at the end, Dr. Vaseegaran spells it out again. Like everything else in 2.0, it’s a tiring overdose.
Nov 2018
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Nov 2018
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Andhadhun
With precision and control, Sriram constructs a theatre of the absurd. The surroundings – high-rises, leafy streets and old houses in Pune – seem perfectly normal but what’s happening inside is deliciously twisted. There’s murder, betrayal, sex and a mountain of lies. In short, you can’t look away.
Oct 2018
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Manmarziyaan
Like love, this film is messy and flawed and glorious. You have to sign up for all of it.
Sep 2018
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Love Sonia
The plot feels like it is designed to reflect newspaper headlines and everything gets resolved so easily that it seems implausible. But Sonia’s tortured face will haunt you.
Sep 2018
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Gali Guleiyan
...there is enough to admire in this ambitious first film – especially the unstinting talent of Manoj Bajpayee.
Sep 2018
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Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se
...tries to be a comedy, an Ayurveda commercial, a plea for national integration – specifically between Gujaratis and Punjabis – a love story and a moral science lesson.
Aug 2018
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Stree
Director Amar Kaushik and writers Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru create a horror-comedy, which turns out to be subversive commentary on the position and treatment of women in India. It’s clever and very funny.
Aug 2018
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Satyameva Jayate
...the sort of film that bludgeons you and leaves you drained and entirely cheerless.
Aug 2018
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Gold
...inconsistencies and the exhausting length weigh down Gold. But Reema ably pulls the loose threads together in the thrilling climactic match.
Aug 2018
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Karwaan
If the story had more depth, these three could have worked magic. But Karwaan stays on the surface.
Aug 2018
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Fanney Khan
Even when the film becomes a slog, Kapoor saab, as I call him, stands tall.
Aug 2018
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Dhadak
Shashank is the successful maker of frothy romances. Here he steps out of his comfort zone but not enough to tackle head-on, the ugly truth of caste. The hurdles are more palatable and consequently, synthetic.
Jul 2018
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Race 3
Remo fetishizes the cars, helicopters, looming towers, gilded rooms and bars where these characters hang out but he doesn’t extend the same love to the narrative. Storytelling is sacrificed at the altar of Superstar Salman Khan.
Jun 2018
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Parmanu
Sharma unashamedly plays the patriotic card. Without apology, he yanks our heartstrings and evokes a rush of pride when the bombs finally explode. Larger questions about megaton killing machines go unasked. You might question the authenticity and plausibility of what you see in Parmanu but it does deliver on drama.
May 2018
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102 Not Out
Despite the flaws, the emotions connect. And if like me, you are of a certain vintage, you will get a nostalgic head-rush when you see Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan in the same frame.
May 2018
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Daas Dev
...is meant to be a study of power and what happens to those who lust for it. It’s a solid idea lost in execution.
Apr 2018
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Beyond The Clouds
...is a mixed bag. It is likely to be a footnote in Majidi’s rich filmography. But the film is worth seeing as an intriguing experiment.
Apr 2018