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Mar 2018
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Halkaa
Halkaa’s good intentions are never in doubt, nor are the efforts of the filmmaking team in illuminating a dark reality of Indian cities. But far greater subtlety, and a more realistic assessment of the problems faced by slum dwellers in building toilets, were needed to have made Pichku’s mission credible.
Sep 2018
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Kahaani
Sujoy Ghosh is capable of delivering a tight script. He shows us that you can make a Hindi movie without songs and nobody will miss them.
Mar 2012
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Helicopter Eela
The start-stop narrative, which feels jerky and disjointed, contains the ghost of a screwball comedy.
Oct 2018
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The Sky Is Pink
The sincerity of the 149-minute film is never in doubt, but to have been effective, it needed stronger actors and less clutter and over-plotting.
Oct 2019
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Kaamyaab
Mehta consciously attempts to sidestep the cliches associated with meta-movies, but eventually succumbs to the lure of the actor staring at his reflection in the mirror and the nightmare about a shoot gone awry.
Mar 2020
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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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Manjunath
...Varma does throw up some surprises. He effectively captures the ordinariness of the milieu that produces Manjunath, and extracts solid performances from his cast. However, the director is less sure-footed about the larger issues thrown up by Manjunath’s death.
May 2014
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Gurgaon
The movie works best in fits and starts, especially when it lets itself by guided by its richly layered atmospherics.
Aug 2017
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Fanney Khan
The actors help the movie navigate the implausibility at the heart of the plot and its facile critique of a music industry in which talent is worthy of being recognised only if it is televised.
Aug 2018
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Manikarnika
The Manikarnika production isn’t lavish enough to suggest a grand sweep of history, and the focus on its heroine is too narrow to accommodate a larger conversation about the efficacy of Lakshmibai’s actions. There is plenty of leaping and feinting, but not enough reflecting.
Jan 2019
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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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Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
...has a sharp beginning, a sagging middle and an inconclusive end that promises a sequel.
Aug 2010
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Madras Cafe
...points to the consequences of unthinking military intervention. It’s too bad that the movie is unable to make this point with lucidity or conviction.
Aug 2013
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Sonchiriya
The film itself is a tangle of ideas, and works better as an existential mood piece than the heavy-duty action drama it often resembles.
Mar 2019
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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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Guddu Ki Gun
The daring premise seals the movie’s destiny as a cult favourite, but at 124 minutes, it is stretched beyond belief and tolerance.
Oct 2015
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Padmaavat
Although Padmaavat lacks the leap of imagination that is required to make the centuries-old story relevant for contemporary times, the movie coheres better than some of Bhansali’s previous efforts.
Jan 2018
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Kabir Singh
...reimagines the Indian hero archetype in interesting ways, but its inability to even consider the flaws in its leading man’s romantic outlook is its undoing. Is masochism the flip side of machismo? Both movies seem to agree, but they never ask why.
Jun 2019
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Pati Patni Aur Woh
The movie is refreshingly unsentimental and bereft of breast-beating, but fails to capitalise on its independent-spirited women...
Dec 2019
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Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Johar’s latest movie is somewhere in between. He is trying to move away from the large-canvas romances on which he has built his career, but his foundation remains the popular Hindi film idiom, especially Yash Chopra’s cinema.
Oct 2016
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Kadvi Hawa
Panda creates a convincing world of genteel blight, packing in details of rural lives driven to ruin by the weather and an indifferent government. But the story is too sketchy even for its 99-minute running time.
Nov 2017
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Angrezi Medium
The jalebi-shaped screenplay is attributed to four writers. The direction, by Homi Adajania, struggles to contain a narrative that is figuratively and literally all over the place.
Mar 2020
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Titli
...a disturbing yet unforgettable portrait of a bunch of dark souls in search of redemption.
Oct 2015
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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