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Desi Boyz
The movie is judgement-free, but it's also very pat. Buried underneath the piles of clothes discarded by Rocco and Hunter is a full-on sex comedy that's dying to come out.
Nov 2011
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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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Dharam Sankat Mein
...isn’t a patch on Oh My God! or PK, both of which boldly lampooned the commercialisation of religion, but the very fact that it exists, dares to broach the matter of Islamophobia among Hindus, and has been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification redeems it somewhat.
Apr 2015
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Talvar
A legal petition disguised as a movie, the police procedural takes up cudgels on behalf of the dentist couple...
Oct 2015
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Lipstick Under My Burkha
The sexual politics isn’t always on target, but the emphasis on sexual freedom is. The script wobbles as the four tracks evolve and get far too complicated to be smoothly straightened out, but it is at its entertaining best when the women get all hot and heavy.
Jul 2017
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2.0
In 2.0, Shankar’s ability to marry visual effects with populist melodrama serves him well in some of the sequences, even though the larger message is confused and the screenplay is too sluggish for an action spectacle.
Nov 2018
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Bypass Road
Had the 137-minute movie been as ruthless about its running length as some of its characters, Bypass Road might actually have worked.
Nov 2019
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Tanhaji
People will write powadas, or ballads, about you, Tanjahi is told. They did, and the movie often has the quality of a ballad – it’s heavily embellished, romantic and simplistic. Tanhaji loudly sings its hero’s praises, creating a spectacle that is thrilling when in battle mode and troubling when considering the dynamic between the Marathas and the Mughals.
Jan 2020
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Shamitabh
Here are the offbeat story, the easily flowing and witty banter, the quirky and urbane characters, and the light-hearted touch. But here are also the unwieldy and stretched narrative (153 minutes), the unresolved climax, the gimmicky nature of the material and the inability to expand on the movie’s premise.
Feb 2015
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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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Dream Girl
The movie’s aims include supplying a joke every minute, which it often does, and delivering a comic take on urban loneliness, which it doesn’t quite do.
Sep 2019
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Khiladi 786
The anything-goes movie is packed with so many random characters and even more random jokes that moments of inspired humour emerge out of the hodgepodge.
Dec 2012
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Bhoothnath Returns
The overly busy screenplay, which clocks at 155 minutes, is packed with so many ideas that it unfolds at the pace of a multi-phase election.
Apr 2014
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UnIndian
Although he clear finds pace bowling much easier than dancing, Lee delivers his one-liners with flair.
Aug 2016
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Munna Michael
The undemanding and unpretentious script races from start to finish, pausing to give Shroff numerous opportunities to display his outstanding dancing and fighting skills.
Jul 2017
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Tribhanga
Shahane’s chronicle of imperfect mothers and difficult daughters says far more on the subject than is usually seen, but is crimped by its desire to extract sweetness from bitterness.
Jan 2021
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Shorts
Despite the realism, grittiness and seriousness on display, four of the five stories aim for poignant and uplifting conclusions that undermine their impact.
Jul 2013
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Bobby Jasoos
...harnesses the classic tropes of melodrama—coincidences, conflicts, the perfect resolution—to deliver a feel-good fairy tale of a remarkably mobile heroine who gets up and leaves whenever she feels like.
Jul 2014
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Welcome 2 Karachi
There is a clear sense of a welcome being outstayed, and yet another instance of comedy creators having so much fun amongst themselves that they forget that they’re at the movies, rather than a jam session.
May 2015
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3 Storeys
Mukherjee directs his cast well and creates a convincing middle-class milieu, but the hothouse of desire, deceit and death that Mayanagar supposedly represents simply does not emerge from the lightweight and toothless material.
Mar 2018
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Judgemental Hai Kya
Neither whodunit or even whydunit, Judgementall Hai Kya is never quite able to match its ambitions. Buried somewhere in the rubble is the ghost of a movie about why madness is sometimes the only sane response to violence.
Jul 2019
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Players
...it never makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously and manages to successfully Bollywood-ise a Hollywood speciality - the big-budget heist movie.
Jan 2012
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Sultan
Sustained by the leading man’s magnetic pull, nicely cast supporting actors, a welcome lack of melodrama, and a setting that looks less plastic than the average A-list movie, Sultan is the apogee of the Salman Khan cult.
Jul 2016
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Junglee
The scenes between Jammwal and elephants of various sizes are the best thing about Junglee, after its plea to halt the poaching of the gentle giants.
Mar 2019
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The Zoya Factor
...a movie that both suffers from miscasting and benefits from perfect casting. Abhishek Sharma’s shambolic romantic comedy, based on the bestselling 2008 novel by Anuja Chauhan, gives top billing to Sonam Kapoor, but all the attention is hogged by the name that follows hers in the credits. Malayalam star Dulquer Salmaan...
Sep 2019
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Luv Ka The End
If the film hits its target audience – undiscerning teenagers – then the poorly written characters and the script contrivances shouldn't matter.
May 2011