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7 Khoon Maaf
...granted Bharadwaj opts for a low-lit East European cinema style, and occasionally comes up with a striking visual (a white cat in snow). The trouble is that he doesn’t pay half as much attention to the human element. The emotional quotient remains relentlessly surfacial.
Feb 2011
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Feb 2011
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Yeh Saali Zindagi
Yup, it does get very complicated but what the hell, still the result is a pretty engrossing mind-teaser. Can’t leave your brains at home for this one.
Feb 2011
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Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji
...the other guys and gals merely evoke indifference. If their love stories work out, fine, if not, yawn the yawn. Like it or not, the effort appears to be a technically slipshod quickie.
Jan 2011
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Dhobi Ghat
...is uneven, particularly in the writing. It's neither totally impressive nor totally dismissable.
Jan 2011
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No One Killed Jessica
...one helluva knockout of a movie, the sort which lingers in the heart and mind long after its 16 reels have ended on a note of hope and interiorised glory.
Jan 2011
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Tees Maar Khan
How you miss Farah Khan's feather-light touch. Here every point and joke is bludgeoned into you as if you were too dimwitted to catch the PJs. For heaven's sake, please don't treat the audience as toddling ninnies.
Dec 2010
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Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey
...the period picture is a valuable addition to the director’s oeuvre...
Dec 2010
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Break Ke Baad
For a cushily-budgeted project, the narrative is toothpick thin. How you long for a twist or two in the plot pourri. Consequently, there is precious little by way of a conflict or substantial content.
Nov 2010
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Guzaarish
...never quite comes to grips with its theme of mercy killing. Or emotional healing.
Nov 2010
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Nov 2010
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Daayen Ya Baayen
For all those who care about defiantly individualistic cinema, Daayen Ya Baayen is quite a few steps in the right direction.
Oct 2010
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Jhootha Hi Sahi
...the casting of Pakhi as the heroine is the enterprise's fatal flaw. She isn't right for the role which required far more vulnerability.
Oct 2010
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Aakrosh
All said and endured, save yourself a trip to Aakrosh land. It’s full of sound and fury, signifying a headache.
Oct 2010
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Do Dooni Chaar
Neither rabidly formulaic nor elliptically arty, this look at the aspirations and anxieties of a lower middle-class family, evokes a smile of rueful recognition.
Oct 2010
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Dabangg
...even in the name of a mindless, 'paisa vasool' entertainer (!?), first-time director Abhinav Singh Kashyap's Dabangg just doesn't give you sufficient bang for your bucks.
Sep 2010
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We Are Family
...is an endurance test to sit through. It’s no longer all in the family – meaning warmth, love, sharing, caring - it's all about gross manipulation to coerce the audience to shed a tear or twenty.
Sep 2010
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Antardwand
Although technically jejune with the tempo slower than a bullock cart at key points, the outcome still arouses your curiosity, and admiration for its indie spirit.
Aug 2010
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Lafangey Parindey
Its two-hours running length seems like 20. Indeed you visibly age, ruminating about whatever happened to the director who was at least style-savvy in Parineeta, Laaga Chunari mein Daag...
Aug 2010
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Peepli [Live]
For avoiding the route of fantasyland, for narrating a story hooked on fact rather than fiction, and for being remarkably observant about the quirks, anxieties and hopes of the BPL (those subsisting below the poverty line), Rizvi makes an auspicious debut as a director of substance.
Aug 2010
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Aug 2010
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Jul 2010
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Khatta Meetha
...could well be considered by the Guinness Book of Records for the LOUDEST movie ever made in heaven or earth. Forget mirth, this self-styled comedy pumps up the volume so high that the cacophony could possibly be heard in Patagonia and Perth.
Jul 2010
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Lamhaa
...may not be a completely satisfying two-hour experience. Yet its noble intentions and a bid to go beyond the surfacial situation in the troubled valley of Kashmir, elevate the outcome to a notch above the candy-floss and the commonplace.
Jul 2010
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I Hate Luv Storys
...oozes a fair amount of charm. For the viewer, exasperated by the ragbag of movies in recent months, here’s a designer bottle of balm.
Jul 2010
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Raavan
...the narrative is choppier than the monsoon sea, frequently disjointed, terribly repetitive...
Jun 2010
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Jun 2010
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Kites
Save yourself your multiplex money, fly a kite instead. Much more entertaining that.
May 2010