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Hope Aur Hum
There are films which alter one without hammering down the message they hope to convey. Then, there are those like Hope and Hum which aspire to take on too much and breeze through it all without managing to achieve anything at all.
May 2018
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Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3
...high ambition and low vision result in amplifying tracks that worked in the past, even if they come at the cost of a disjointed story.
Jul 2018
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Street Dancer 3D
A true test for a dance movie is checking if it holds its own minus the groovy numbers. And in this case, what’s left if you remove the electric dance sequences, is an excuse for a story and some exasperating performances.
Jan 2020
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Evening Shadows
...the welcome turn that Indian society has taken towards its view on the queer community in recent years will have a direct impact on how the same content will now be viewed and assimilated. In such a light, Sridhar Rangayan’s Evening Shadows seems a bit dated.
Jan 2019
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Nakkash
...the makers barely manage to go beyond the compelling premise and its inevitable conclusion can be predicted just minutes into the film.
May 2019
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Housefull 4
The spurt in comedies crowding the multiplexes could be a result of the economic depression, but the writing here points at a more graver concern — the creative recession gripping the Hindi film industry.
Oct 2019
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Indu Sarkar
Apart from his (Bhandarkar) myopic and shallow take on the blotch in Indian history when the world's largest democracy resembled a dictatorship, his propaganda treatment to the material is objectionable
Jul 2017
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Total Dhamaal
...is a one-time watch but only when it airs on TV on a Sunday afternoon when you can’t seem to find the remote to turn it off.
Feb 2019
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UnIndian
...this tepid film takes a turn for the intense and gradually becomes much to bear.
Aug 2016
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Bombairiya
...odd and impractical lapses in writing are meant to pass for hilarity in this supposed comedy of errors which can surely culminate in a headache.
Jan 2019
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Ujda Chaman
...could’ve been a comic account that captures this peculiar sentiment by drawing hilarity from its socially awkward circumstances. But it barely scrapes beneath the surface and lacks depth in depiction.
Nov 2019
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Mar 2020
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Hamari Adhuri Kahani
If Balan and Hashmi weren't as committed to brave this adversity on paper (the script), this could've gone down much worse.
Jun 2015
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Main Aur Charles
...investing time to watch this one will only mean making a 'oyal' buffoon of yourself.
Oct 2015
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Jabariya Jodi
That this film sways violently between a light-hearted comedy and one that depicts a serious and very real concern, left the makers on the cusp of a disaster.
Aug 2019
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Drishyam
...could've been crisper and woven in a few more tricks and surprises. But it is only a lazy remake and a lot is lost in translation.
Jul 2015
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Sep 2015
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Monsoon Shootout
...there's little intensity as it all seems constructed and trite. Also to be pinned for this half-baked product would be the film's editing which is embarrassingly choppy—not in an indie way—but like the-editor-dozed-off-on-the-keyboard way.
Dec 2017
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FryDay
This would also cater to those who want to avoid the blazing heat and spend a couple of hours in an air-conditioned environment.
Oct 2018
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Dabangg 3
Salman Khan, at 53, pulls off his cocky cop avatar with excessively smug dialogue, devastating dropkicks and by packing a dance number while getting jiggy with his belt. After all, his ardent fans couldn’t care less for the conventional metrics of evaluating a film. And when the going gets painfully formulaic or predictable, toss in an item song for good measure.
Dec 2019
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Irada
...the film has a noble irada. But the laboured lecture that it ends up becoming ensures the message is spelt out repeatedly until it becomes a tiresome affair.
Feb 2017
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Marjaavaan
In this film, someone refers to a “dedh kilo ka dimaag” which is supposedly the most fierce weapon of all. If only it had been utilised, we wouldn’t have had to succumb to this crusade against better sense.
Nov 2019
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May 2016
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Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana
If the noble cause of this film was to train societal soch, the regressive characters could've at least gone through a mindset makeover by the climax. But the only transformation here, happens for those in the audience — greying guaranteed.
Nov 2017
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Paltan
A dialogue in this film goes ‘heroes don’t choose their destiny, destiny chooses them’. But if you were to pick Paltan, be rest assured, your destiny is doomed.
Sep 2018
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Aug 2019
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Vishwaroop II
The first part of this film had shocking twists such as the drastic transformation of an effeminate Kathak teacher who was a closet Bond tailing terrorists. This one is a watered-down version that barely draws on the veteran actor’s many talents and scripts its own demise.
Aug 2018
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Blank
Writer-director Behzad Khambata seems to have a healthy appetite for police procedurals and is aware of the basic construct required to make them tick. But in 2019, sticking to tropes can hardly trigger an exciting watch and the supposed turn in the climax seems more ridiculous than rational to be palatable.
May 2019