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Manto
The Bombay portions feel like clips of a highlight reel, but these scenes are buoyed by lyricism and spirit, even though the editing is choppy and some moments flash by too hurriedly. The Lahore half, more conventionally linear, feels eventually tedious, with hoary scenes of tormented creators and sick children.
Sep 2018
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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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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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Main Aur Charles
...tells its tale with calculated intent -- coolly, cleverly, taking its time -- mirroring the dry panache of its self-assured protagonist.
Oct 2015
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M.S. Dhoni
Rajput steps forward and tonks it out of the park, but it would matter much more if this wasn't an exhibition match on a conveniently doctored pitch.
Sep 2016
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Lucknow Central
Any good escape film requires detailed plotting, however, and Lucknow Central is frequently stupid.
Sep 2017
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Love Sex Aur Dhokha
Dibakar Banerjee has taken that much-nudged envelope, ripped it apart, and mailed out a magnificently tawdry postcard. He's made a film which lets Hindi cinema sit back, take a deep glug of adulthood, and wipe Haywards 5000 foam from its 'stache as it leers at the girl in stockings. Bollywood has just grown up the only way it could...
Mar 2010
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Lootera
...a gorgeous, gorgeous film, one that uses its period setting affectionately, with loving detail, and not exploitatively, as our cinema is wont to do.
Jul 2013
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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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Laila Majnu
...is a thoughtfully written film, where the escalation of feelings appears as natural as it can, and characters stay credible even as the intensity becomes unbearable.
Sep 2018
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Ladies VS Ricky Bahl
An inexplicably sluggish pace and forgettable songs thrown in every few scenes kill any possibility of a narrative rhythm
Dec 2011
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Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum
It'd still have been tolerably okay, if only the jokes were funny.Spoiler alert: They're not.
Jul 2012
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Kochadaiiyaan
...a fundamentally flawed dud, one without anything to applaud besides grand (if self-glorifying) ambition. And little is as heartbreaking to witness as utterly failed ambition.
May 2014
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Kites
...starts off well enough, but loses itself in a mess of superficiality, which would have been just fine if the film wasn't also masquerading as operatic drama.
May 2010
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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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Ki & Ka
...wants to be important, it wants to be revolutionary, it wants to be a feminist statement of equality. Admirable, sure. But it doesn't know how.
Apr 2016
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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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Dec 2010
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Khandaani Shafakhana
It’s as if the filmmakers were instructed to amp up the drama to increase the storytelling stakes — I keep picturing producers and executives asking for more conflict, the way characters in this film want more ghee on their parathas — and that hurts this film’s simple, good-natured spirit.
Aug 2019
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Mar 2019
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Kedarnath
...is a pointless, entirely forgettable film, but some may remember the girl (Sara Ali Khan) fondly — which may well be the film’s only task.
Dec 2018
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Katti Batti
It is an imbecilic cliche-ridden embarrassment that made me want to punch it in the mouth.
Sep 2015
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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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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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Kabir Singh
...I assumed Vanga (Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga) was making a cautionary tale. Instead, Kabir Singh actually applauds its pathetic protagonist, and ends up an obnoxious celebration of toxic masculinity.
Jun 2019
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Judgemental Hai Kya
...looks like a slick, snappy comedy but there is so much more to this smart, significant satire.
Jul 2019
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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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Joker
There isn't a single line in Shirish Kunder's Joker that actually works, leaving us with a film that, while commendably brisk in a 100-minute package, refuses to get going at all.
Aug 2012
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Jul 2019