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Apr 2017
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Right Yaaa Wrong
...a morality-play thriller that’s not exactly bad, but not much good either.
Mar 2010
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Fukrey
What’s missing is the sense that something is at stake. Rather, we see what’s at stake, we know it, but we don’t feel it as the film progresses.
Jun 2013
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Happy New Year
...relentless cannibalisation (and self-cannibalisation) is a pity because Farah’s real talent lies in the mad bits she cooks up...
Oct 2014
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Lekar Hum Deewana Dil
After a point, the film turns as clueless as its characters. It’s a nice little loop. Arif Ali is laughing at his leads (both of whom wilt under the bad writing), and we are laughing at him. He cannot decide what kind of movie he wants to make, and for whom.
Jul 2014
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Student Of The Year
How can such a lively premise result in such dullness? The blame may lie with characters who are as clichéd as they come.
Oct 2012
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Bullett Raja
With so much that’s so fascinating at a conceptual level, it’s surprising how dull Bullett Raja is – and that’s because Dhulia, in his attempts to imbue his material with layers and texture, forgets what made those masala movies work in the first place.
Dec 2013
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Befikre
You need emotional investment. You need to care about these borderline-unlikable characters. It’s not a good sign when you keep wishing someone would make a love story around the heroine’s parents instead.
Dec 2016
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Agent Vinod
Why do filmmakers who work so well within the confines of Bollywood mandates feel pressured to set course for western horizons? Is it simply not enough, anymore, to tell a solid story in an emotionally engaging manner, without stopping, periodically and apologetically, to unburden a guilty conscience?
Mar 2012
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Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety
Another Luv Ranjan film, aka some mild laughs buried in a mountain of misogyny.
Mar 2018
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Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke
...this genial television-level skit is too slight to amount to anything.
Mar 2010
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Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji
Romantic material more suited to delicate drama is twisted into a sex-jokey comedy. The results aren't pretty.
Jan 2011
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Cocktail
...is too long, too taxing - after a point, we know exactly what’s coming, and we just wish it came soon enough.
Jul 2012
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A Flying Jatt
...is the world’s first environmental-PSA-disguised-as-a-superhero-film...
Aug 2016
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Gurgaon
...is like… a dazzling edifice in Gurgaon. It’s imposing. It’s also remote. The director drains all life from his scenes till they come to resemble modern-art tableaux.
Aug 2017
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Sep 2019
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Phantom
If you could taste films, this one would be positively brackish from all the pinches of salt.
Aug 2015
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Chance Pe Dance
...not interesting enough to earn outright approval, yet not incompetent enough to warrant outpourings of spite...
Jan 2010
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Nov 2010
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Vicky Donor
...is one of those films that looks as if it’s going to shatter a hundred different on-screen taboos, but it’s actually as old-fashioned as they come.
Apr 2012
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Coffee Bloom
After a gentle two-thirds or so, the plot picks up and the film becomes hurried and less satisfying.
Mar 2015
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Meri Pyaari Bindu
I’m just saying that keeping things light is one thing, and merely scratching the surface is something else entirely.
May 2017
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Mar 2018
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Badla
...despite an overall watchable quality, especially towards the end, Badla is a tepid affair.
Mar 2019
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Akira
The low-budget, indie vibe that contributed so much to the gritty atmosphere in the original is sacrificed for big-budget razzle-dazzle – everything looks like a set. The film is very broadly staged, like something out of the 1990s – or a TV serial of today.
Sep 2016
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Ek Tha Tiger
The film seems to be made for the young-at-heart – there’s no heat in the romance, no sex, and there’s no bloodlust in the action.
Aug 2012
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One By Two
After a while, the film begins to feel like an academic experiment: Can the lives of two not-terribly-interesting people be shaped into an interesting story?
Feb 2014
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ABCD - Any Body Can Dance - 2
How you respond to ABCD 2 will probably depend on how much you follow dance-reality shows on television, how much you like hip hop moves, and, most important, if you’re still at an age where you squeal when people you like show up on screen.
Jun 2015