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Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Director Ayan Mukherji, who gave an impressive account of himself in his debut film, Wake Up Sid, appears to have allowed the skills that he displayed the first time around to go into deep slumber.
May 2013
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Oct 2015
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Table No. 21
This is a well-meaning film. It even has a relevant social message appended to its ending. Unfortunately, along the way, it yo-yos wildly between semblances of profundity and dashes of pulp.
Jan 2013
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Mar 2013
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Gour Hari Dastaan
One, lead actor Vinay Pathak is clearly miscast. And two, the pace of the narrative is painfully ponderous.
Aug 2015
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Hichki
Rani Mukerji's energetic, engaging performance apart, Hichki is a huff-and-puff show marked by too much mush and fuss. But it has just enough to keep tearjerker junkies interested.
Mar 2018
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Ankur Arora Murder Case
It is a well-meaning, proficiently crafted and competently acted drama about the wages of medical skullduggery. But Ankur Arora Murder Case fails to make a strong enough case for itself.
Jun 2013
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Mirzya
For a story of young and defiant love, Mirzya is too passionless to exercise a sustained hold on the audience.
Oct 2016
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Begum Jaan
She (Vidya Balan) is phenomenally riveting no doubt, but the film that rests awkwardly on her shoulders is passable at best.
Apr 2017
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Rockstar
...has a Sufi soul. If only it had been set free and allowed to go the whole hog!
Nov 2011
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Dil Dhadakne Do
It is an overly caramelised and flaky dysfunctional family drama that strives - and fails - to strike a balance between the sly and the syrupy.
Jun 2015
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Haraamkhor
...isn't a ground-breaker, but it certainly is worthy of applause for its fearlessness and for the impressive quality of the acting.
Jan 2017
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Besharam
...rambunctious and robust, does not offer much by way of narrative novelty. But like Dabangg, it sets a crackling pace and does not flinch from the prospect of going over the edge in its pursuit of cheap thrills.
Oct 2013
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Rustom
...is largely inoffensive, even passable in the main, but could have been infinitely better had the screenplay not been so utterly conventional and unimaginative.
Aug 2016
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Aarakshan
...a rather safe, superficial and simplistic take on an extremely complex theme. The film lets off steam, and generates some smoke, but the fire is missing.
Aug 2011
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Ishaqzaade
If only Arjun Kapoor's dialogue delivery had greater punch and Parineeti Chopra could pull off the emotional moments without going shrill, Ishaqzaade would have been a markedly better film.
May 2012
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Dilwale
The lead pair is all heart. The film they are trapped in is, unfortunately, utterly soulless.
Dec 2015
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Ok Jaanu
A breezy, feel-good romance with its share of highs, OK Jaanu floats along through some interesting thematic territory without managing to soar to the altitude one expects it to.
Jan 2017
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Shamitabh
Dollops of stylistic flourishes and narrative sleights are added to the mix and stirred with utmost vigour. The result of the exercise is too uneven to be consistently enjoyable.
Feb 2015
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Beyond The Clouds
For all its evocative daubs and dashes, Beyond the Clouds falls short of Majid Majidi's own lofty benchmark. It is a not so great film from a great director.
Apr 2018
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Mary Kom
The obviously questionable casting of Priyanka Chopra as the lead actress and the choice of the principal shooting locations are the least of the numerous glaring problems that mar first-time director Omung Kumar’s well-intentioned but excessively effusive Mary Kom.
Sep 2014
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31st October
...has its heart in the right place. What it lacks is genuine firepower. Despite the anger and anguish that drives it, it is unable to whip up urgency and force.
Oct 2016
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Malaal
...would have left as with no regrets whatever if only it had the courage to go all out to stress upon the power of love to surmount divisive forces at play in Mumbai and elsewhere. It abandons that topical concern and settles for a construct that drifts towards a tame, sanitized finish.
Jul 2019
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Bollywood Diaries
If only the disparate elements were better dovetailed into the larger picture it seeks to paint, Bollywood Diaries might have had more to write home about.
Feb 2016
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Happy Bhag Jayegi
...isn't the kind of film that will have audiences rolling in the aisles. But it might occasionally induce faint smiles on some faces.
Aug 2016
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Pati Patni Aur Woh
This iteration of Pati Patni Aur Woh manages to convey two truths: one, Bollywood's fictional heroines have evolved much faster than their male counterparts and two, film comedies that Mumbai churns out these days are no patch on the ones that the industry produced in earlier decades.
Dec 2019
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Student Of The Year
...if you like your entertainment to be served up with glitzy but pulpy garnishing, pirouette your way to the nearest screen by all means.
Oct 2012
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Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
...Rajamouli is an exceptional storyteller and craftsman. He packs just enough into this magnum opus for it not be dismissed merely as a hollow extravaganza. It is in excess that the strength of Baahubali 2 lies and it makes no bones about it, take it or lump it.
Apr 2017
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Shikara
...is evasive on many crucial counts, but, judged on purely cinematic parameters, its strengths are noteworthy.
Feb 2020