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Shaandaar
...proceeds in a jerky and slapdash fashion, and only a few sequences hit the mark.
Oct 2015
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Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana
...sets up its plot with confidence and coherence before going off the rails in spectacular and painful fashion.
Nov 2017
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Shaadi Ke Side Effects
...has gained gloss and glamourous leads but at the expense of variety of tonal consistency.
Feb 2014
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Section 375
In the interests of free expression, then, it is necessary to hear the support for patriarchy laid out by Section 375 – just as it is possible, in a democracy, to decide for yourself whether the movie is an effective legal drama or a bilious defence of deeply entrenched sexism in Bollywood.
Sep 2019
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Satyameva Jayate
The movie never takes itself too seriously, even as it emerges as the obverse of Hindi movies that celebrate the super-cop who breaks the rules while in uniform.
Aug 2018
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Satellite Shankar
...the movie isn’t interested in teasing out the shades and complexities of Shankar’s cross-country adventure. Ballad of a Soldier celebrates the Russian spirit while allowing for doubt and sadness. Satellite Shankar is all grins and salutes...
Nov 2019
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Sarkar 3
Amitabh Bachchan’s perfectly judged performance and the gravitas and authority that the thespian brings to his performance keep these scenes from sliding into pure parody.
May 2017
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Sarbjit
The loud and insistent melodrama takes away from the pathos of the central character’s story.
May 2016
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Sanju
It promises complexity and psychological acuity. Until a point, it appears to be on track to creating a nuanced portrait of controversy’s favourite child – but then it plummets into unquestioning and misty-eyed reverence.
Jun 2018
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Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
Without a sense of urgency or a clear understanding of how the characters are evolving between various crises, the 125-minute narrative moves stiffly from one scene to the next. Needlessly grim for the most part and jaunty when least expected, the movie ignores Pinky’s advice to Sandeep to “use head not heart”.
Mar 2021
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Sanam Re
Despite numerous plot twists, the two-hour duration feels as stretched as Samrat’s movie star ambitions. Every now and then, a song that might be better viewed on YouTube shows up to relieve the tedium.
Feb 2016
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Samrat & Co.
The ending promises a sequel, which might be better suited to television, given the basic production values, sheer scantiness of the plot, and the staccato screenplay.
Apr 2014
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Saina
The overwritten script, which includes a voiceover by its subject, still falls short of revealing her inner life. Sports biopics and documentaries often seek to discover the unknowable – the higher force that propels athletes to excellence.
Mar 2021
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Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande
...patchily written and too long for its own good. But it is also attempts to tackle the issue of the acquisition of farm land with some degree of seriousness.
Aug 2011
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Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns
...far more densely plotted than the first movie and has many more characters, but there’s no change in the theme—the struggle of feudals possessed by an immense sense of entitlement to remain relevant in a democracy.
Mar 2013
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Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3
The law of diminishing returns has finally caught up with one of the most unlikely film franchises in recent memory.
Jul 2018
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Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster
The actors sparkle, the dialogue crackles and, after what seems to be aeons, there is a sense of a director approaching his material with seriousness.
Oct 2011
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Jan 2020
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Saat Uchhakkey
...has little going for it, but the movie might be worth its 139-minute running time for those who know only 19 ways to insult their mothers and sisters and have merely four phrases to describe the manner in which the human posterior can be punished.
Oct 2016
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Saare Jahaan Se Mehnga
...is too slight to be this year’s Bheja Fry or Welcome to Sajjanpur, but there is no doubting its relevance and sincerity.
Mar 2013
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Saand Ki Aankh
The movie aims high, and wants to say many important things about the lack of opportunities for women, in sports or elsewhere. But its uneven tone and the easy-peasy manner in which the lead pair accumulate awards rarely allows for an nuanced understanding of just how the Tomar women did it.
Oct 2019
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Saala Khadoos
The movie is unnecessarily overblown but also curiously affecting due to the knockout performances of real-life fighter and debutant actor Ritika Singh and Mumtaz Sorcar as her elder sister.
Jan 2016
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Rustom
Rustom’s recreation of an iconic trial echoes the narrative style of the lesser films of the period in which the actual crime occurred – it throws out the facts in favour of a simplistic and crowd-pleasing solution, glosses over its hero’s criminal behaviour, and paints its characters in black and white.
Aug 2016
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Running Shaadi
...a comic critique of arranged marriage? Or is it a quirky but slowburn romance between an odd couple? Running Shaadi tries to be a bit of both, and becomes neither.
Feb 2017
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Roy
...is ponderous, slow-burning to the point of being slow-moving, and too self-absorbed to notice that it isn’t going anywhere. But it always looks tip-top.
Feb 2015
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Jun 2012
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Rough Book
The message is muddled and the pace glacial even at 90 minutes. Most of the acting is strictly functional...
Jun 2016
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Roohi
Without the entertainment offered by Stree or the conviction of Bulbbul, Roohi is neither here nor there, like its dual-sided heroine.
Mar 2021
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Romeo Akbar Walter
The twists in Romeo Akbar Walter don’t always work, and the narrative is stretched to 144 unearned minutes. The plotting barely rises above the level of the popular television series CID.
Apr 2019