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Raazi
The stakes feel dramatic but unreal, and the film feels slow as a result. It certainly doesn't earn its running time of two hours and twenty minutes. By the time the shrill climax comes around, dullness has set in.
May 2018
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Mar 2019
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Game Over
...reaches its triple-header final act swiftly, then devolves into a witless muddle, with filmmakers ramping up sudden thrills but not seeding in the problem-solving elements the film needed.
Jun 2019
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Dec 2010
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The Japanese Wife
There is enough to dwell on and smile at, but this Wife is an insipid woman, one with bright eyes and a pretty smile and not nearly enough to actually say. She's refreshingly pleasant, but a large part of sitting down to tea with her will involve looking at your watch and pretending to be interested.
Apr 2010
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Tiger Zinda Hai
At an exhausting two hours and forty minutes, I really don't care if Tiger is alive or a vegetable - whether he's Zinda or Tinda, really - but this film needed to be much tighter.
Dec 2017
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Kalank
From verbose lines to obscene opulence, Kalank is too theatrical and stage-y to feel current, which is where the old-world setup works… until it doesn’t. More attention is paid to the chikan embroidery on the husband’s kurtas than to the climactic revolution, and the third act exposes the story’s hollowness while the film flits inconsequentially between timelines.
Apr 2019
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Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!
...for all its stylishness and period grandeur it is not as intelligent a film as it yearns to be, the plot isn’t cunning enough and the conveniently-unravelled puzzle never quite sucks the viewer in.
Apr 2015
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Drishyam
It’s a depressingly ordinary film, and the allegedly stolen plot -- about a crime being covered-up -- is something we’ve seen many, many times before.
Jul 2015
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Simran
Unfortunately the film, doubling up as a showreel for the actress, pretends also to be a drama, a thriller, even a sweet romance. None of these other gears work well enough, and the eventual result is tedious.
Sep 2017
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Dec 2011
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Dhobi Ghat
...a middling debut, watchable due to its nuances but simply not interesting enough to recommend. Yet Rao seems assured of her craft, and worth looking out for in the future.
Jan 2011
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Gangs Of Wasseypur
Kashyap gets flavour, setting and character right, but the lack of economy cripples the film. There is a lot of gunfire, but like the fine actors populating its sets, Wasseypur fires too many blanks.
Jun 2012
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Manmarziyaan
It is ultimately a disappointment not because of its craft, but because of predictability, self-indulgent pace and its irritating attempt to be both a light crowd-pleaser with a cutesy ending as well as an impassioned, volatile romance.
Sep 2018
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Talaash
Someone asked me if Talaash was a watchable film, and indeed it is. It's better put together than a lot of the films we see here, and definitely strongly acted, but ends up so, so much less enjoyable than it deserved to be.
Nov 2012
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Agent Vinod
...as a game it'd be sensational, and tremendous fun. As a film, on the other hand, Agent Vinod must be termed a disappointment, a slick and well-produced throwback to the spy thriller that feels both overlong and under-conceived.
Mar 2012
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De De Pyaar De
There is genuine fodder for situational comedy, but debutant director Akiv Ali can’t strike the balance between clever humour and broad farce, making something that wants to be intelligent but looks (and sounds) like a Priyadarshan slapstick climax.
May 2019
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Dabangg 2
For a fan of the star in question, all that matters is whether the star seems to be having fun. In which case Dabanng 2 is just the ticket, since Salman looks to be having the time of his life. The film itself is better than the original -- or, to word it differently, is less unwatchable.
Dec 2012
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A Flying Jatt
The problem with A Flying Jatt is its lack of faith in its own originality, which is why director Remo D’Souza ends up -- like Amrita Singh -- cribbing from superhero films we already know and love.
Aug 2016
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Bittoo Boss
A sweet but slapdash effort, this is, all in all, quite like watching a wedding video.
Apr 2012
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Raja Natwarlal
...far too unchallenging to its protagonists and too convenient to its writers -- doesn’t aim or offer greatness but certainly throws up a movie more watchable than most of the things crowding your local multiplex.
Aug 2014
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Why Cheat India
The writing is flat. The wheeze is ingenious enough to fill a great film, but Sen revels in obvious filmy cliché.
Jan 2019
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Guzaarish
The film tries far too desperately to evoke what Bollywood calls the 'feelgood' factor, but ends up evoking more apathy than empathy. Guzaarish starts off slow and beautiful, but gradually, sadly congeals into a wet mess.
Nov 2010
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Bank Chor
Even a substandard or cliched basic plotline could have been sidestepped were only the gags smart enough, or, at least, that there were enough of them. This one spends too much time not going for the laughs. It starts off being about blank chors, and ends up a bank bore.
Jun 2017
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Helicopter Eela
Sarkar’s film is too melodramatic and long drawn out to hold any impact.
Oct 2018
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Jolly L.L.B.
Clearly, Kapoor can bring the humour (though someone else should write dialogue.) But alas, preachiness and the need to flaunt the film’s sincerity and heart, gets in the way of a good time.
Mar 2013
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Allah Ke Banday
What does work for Allah Ke Banday, though, is an overall earnestness to the proceedings -- the film is pretty watchable for the first hour and then gradually loses steam -- and the performances.
Nov 2010
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Mar 2019
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Ishaqzaade
There is much craft on display, and some lovely moments, but the immense promise shown by the first half turns out as hollow as a politician's. Soaked in sloppy sexism...
May 2012
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Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi
The sequel has an even more ridiculous plot, a tedious heroine and — this is the crucial bit — not enough gags. It runs out of steam long before the finish line.
Aug 2018