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Baaghi 3
There is a phrase in Hindi: dimaag ka dahi, the curdling of brain. That’s what the film does to your mind, leaves you all woolly-headed.
Mar 2020
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Mar 2020
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Thappad
...writers Anubhav Sinha and Mrunmayee Lagoo Waikul do well in turning a solitary slap into larger exploration of male entitlement. They weave a dexterous but concise and economical narrative that, even while focusing on one woman’s life, turns it into the story about every woman. And every man.
Feb 2020
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Bhoot – Part One
Vicky Kaushal and jump scares manage to hold things together well till the Dharma vessel derails in the second half.
Feb 2020
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Love Aaj Kal
In the faux intensity and pointless philosophising of his newer lot of films the soul goes entirely missing and a turgidity underlines the telling.
Feb 2020
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Jawaani Jaaneman
...is fun but complaisant, reinforces the age old cliches associated with singledom.
Jan 2020
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Street Dancer 3D
The dance here looks like action set-pieces, bodily contortions and jumps and leaps in the air. Similar and repetitive at that, and stretching way too long over 150 minutes.
Jan 2020
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Panga
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari directorial is about how love, marriage and children need not come in the way of a sportswoman’s success, but what sets it refreshingly apart is a wonderful sense of humour.
Jan 2020
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Jai Mummy Di
We just keep going round and round in a tiring, boring, humourless circle than things leaping forward with a sense of fun and urgency.
Jan 2020
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Tanhaji
Little then to get excited about yet another Hindi film that aims to make Indians proud of who we are by taking us back to the past, right to the end of the 17th century, when we used to be the “sone ki chidiya”, till “baahari taaqat” (the foreign invaders) came and split us apart.
Jan 2020
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Chhapaak
It’s this sparseness, minimalism and austerity in the telling and an essential quietude that lend Chhapaak an emotional force of its own though some may end up finding it measured to a fault.
Jan 2020
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Good Newwz
A damper of morality and manipulation after an uninhibited and irrepressibly refreshing start.
Dec 2019
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Dabangg 3
...has a wisp of a story told in a tawdry, slipshod way. It depends entirely on the goodwill and popularity of the original and the star power of Salman Khan to sail through.
Dec 2019
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Mardaani 2
The film engages with the gender issue in the all too familiar and stereotypical way, barely rising above being a cat-and-mouse thriller.
Dec 2019
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Panipat
Gowariker may have taken liberties with history, but doesn’t play around with the form. He sticks to the tried and tested, the long and langourous and old-fashioned. However, he is unable to achieve the epic sweep despite the declamatory dialogue, opulent costumes and the big song-n-dance set-pieces.
Dec 2019
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Pati Patni Aur Woh
The film starts off quick and fast, drops pace in the middle to again pick up speed later.
Dec 2019
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Commando 3
Here’s yet another shamefully opportunistic film that plays on the bad Muslim-good Muslim divide.
Nov 2019
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Pagalpanti
...this could have become a fairly decent satire. But that’s like asking for the moon and wishing Anees Bazmee was Kundan Shah.
Nov 2019
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Motichoor Chaknachoor
The rough humour, even the political incorrectness, of a few lines works given the context of the place and its denizens but the film doesn’t know when to stop and how to stay sharp and pointed.
Nov 2019
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Ujda Chaman
The film is also unable to get its tone right. It can’t decide whether it wants to be funny, emotional or romantic or a mix of all. As a result it leaves the audience disconnected and confused as well. Should it laugh, cry or simply tear its hair out?
Nov 2019
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Housefull 4
...hurtles south with such a clarity of purpose and desperate urgency that you can review it with just “eye roll” gifs than go hunting for suitable words.
Oct 2019
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Made In China
...is an utterly confused film. It is unsure about what it wants to focus on and achieve.
Oct 2019
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Saand Ki Aankh
...the bad prosthetics do irk and irritate at the start, but slowly you begin to overlook the cakey make-up on the faces of Pednekar and Pannu and begin warming up to the place, its people, stories, struggles and, most of all, a matter-of-fact rustic sense of humour.
Oct 2019
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Laal Kaptaan
...had the makings of an unusual new genre; a barbaric, brutal, surreal, picaresque fantasy. Unfortunately, it is unable to pull it off.
Oct 2019
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War
Despite there being nothing new and everything predictable about it, War is slick and smart and keeps the audience engaged and absorbed.
Oct 2019
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The Zoya Factor
Despite the film being a rickety ride and Dulquer Salmaan not being utilised to his best potential, the Malayalam star still ends up playing the most rounded role of the lot.
Sep 2019
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Batla House
A needlessly convoluted and garbled interpretation of the Batla House encounter case which sides with the cops.
Aug 2019
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Mission Mangal
With the nation’s conscience keeper Akshay Kumar at the helm and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech featured in a special appearance, the idea behind Mission Mangal quite clearly is to ignite our supposedly latent nationalism.
Aug 2019
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Khandaani Shafakhana
...may have a laudable message at its core, but gets bogged down by it’s own overly righteous attempt to “educate” — that sex is not gandi baat, ashleel aur aapattijanak (bad thing, obscene and unacceptable), nothing to be shameful about.
Aug 2019