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Ishqiya
Rarely are grace and profanity cited in the same breath. Debutant filmmaker Abhishek Chaubey's Ishqiya, however, is a privileged exception.
Jan 2010
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My Name is Khan
Karan Johar's finally made his first grown-up film, and made it well. It could have been the stuff of much more, but let us leave that for another day. This is a film that will inspire, make aware, make happy.
Feb 2010
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Gangs Of Wasseypur 2
Like one of those unending strings of ladis, this is, then, a proper firecracker, even if far too long.
Aug 2012
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Ek Tha Tiger
It could have been snappier, and the girl could have been much better, but the film should be applauded for giving us a non-sleepwalking Salman, and enough genuine bang for our buck.
Aug 2012
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Dil Dhadakne Do
Despite its flaws, I find myself looking back at Dil Dhadakne Do and smiling.
Jun 2015
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Road, Movie
...it goes nowhere, driving aimlessly around in circles. And yet there are charming characters, and visuals to remember. It's a casual drive, short enough to not mind, long enough to leave you slightly tired.
Mar 2010
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Khoobsurat
Some movies are like candy. Wrapped in bright plastic and frequently too sweet for your own good, they act as sunny, unsurprising treats that lead to sticky, syrupy smiles.
Sep 2014
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Airlift
...is compelling, thanks largely to a sterling performance from Akshay Kumar -- who is both suitably weary and suitably level-headed for the part -- enough to anchor the proceedings.
Jan 2016
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Badrinath Ki Dulhania
What makes it work, really, is the intent and the two principal actors.
Mar 2017
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Tumbbad
Barve is a director with vision and a voice, and his film will undoubtedly spawn a cult of admirers. And, ideally, imitators. If there’s one thing Tumbbad has to say, it is that all gods need believers.
Oct 2018
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Manikarnika
There is much intent on display, and while Manikarnika could surely have been sharper, its very existence feels like an arrow against cinema’s patriarchy, a broadside against the boys.
Jan 2019
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Dum Laga Ke Haisha
...a truly simple story. So simple, in fact, that Dum Laga Ke Haisha never gives you a single moment of unpredictability. It’s a two-hour film, and yet drags its feet enough to feel long and stretched. There are superb actors performing a sweet script, but after a while all you have is flavour.
Feb 2015
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Guddu Rangeela
Kapoor tries so hard to make sure his film is quirky that he doesn’t care about how clever or funny it actually is, and Guddu Rangeela could well have fallen flat -- except for the actors.
Jul 2015
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Stree
The laughs are inconsistent, and the plotting feels sloppy and rushed. The ideas are fine, but the writing needed work.
Sep 2018
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Rang Rasiya
...is not a consistent film, but one that tells a story of a pioneering artist and visionary, a story decidedly worth telling.
Nov 2014
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Delhi Belly
A nice, tight, pacy little plot which has lots of satisfying little set-ups and pay-offs, and where everything comes together very well indeed.
Jul 2011
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Chittagong
And while Chittagong falls well short of being a great film, it can't help but be an important one. And Pain keeps it honest.
Oct 2012
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Aug 2017
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Bhaiaji Superhittt
...there’s constantly something worth enjoying in this film that refuses to moralise at the very end, and it is often the leading man — hapless, hilarious and never trying too hard. They could have called this movie Philadelphia, because it really is always Sunny.
Nov 2018
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Action Jackson
It is an uneven, tacky, cheesy actioner, a film that has much going catastrophically wrong but it is also -- surprise, surprise -- at times incredibly zany and, much more importantly, a film that strikes back against the unending misogyny routinely perpetrated by our heroes in these larger-than-life movies.
Dec 2014
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Jab Tak Hai Jaan
...a middling effort. But then, sometimes, all we need is a Khan-song.
Nov 2012
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Dishoom
...the film is clearly aiming for laughs, and even when it gets lost along the way, blindsided by some unnecessarily elaborate action moment or by a bicepped un-actor, it still provides a fair bit of corny fun.
Jul 2016
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Lingaa
At 175 minutes, Lingaa can get tiresome, especially with the too-long fight scenes, but remains constantly watchable because of the miraculously light way in which Rajinikanth continues to wear his megastardom around him, like a chiffon cloak.
Dec 2014
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Kapoor & Sons
A likeable enough little film with fine characters, Kapoor & Sons tries too hard to turn on the water works at the end, going from a good, mellow drama to a full-blown melodrama by the end of it all.
Mar 2016
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Sonchiriya
...this may be Chaubey’s best crafted film, but feels superficial, and is needlessly heavy-handed by way of metaphor.
Mar 2019
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10ml Love
It isn't a well-shot, crisply edited, intelligently staged piece of cinema, but is warmly enough made to allow the legendary play to shine through.
Dec 2012
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Kick
It looks good, moves fast, shows off its superstar. In the world of harebrained Bhai films -- Dabanng included -- Kick is the best made and the most fun.
Jul 2014
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Badla
...remains an engaging film, and while we can blame Ghosh for casting Bachchan and somewhat spoiling the climax, he can’t possibly be blamed for casting that man in a role that requires a lot of talking.
Mar 2019
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Titli
In many a scene it is -- and, don’t get me wrong, this is a stirringly solid directorial debut -- but in many a scene it feels too intentionally underdone.
Oct 2015