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Helicopter Eela
The story certainly has its moments, but the schmaltzy grammar adopted by Sarkar fails this messy story about prodigy mothers and prodigal sons.
Oct 2018
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Kabir Singh
There’s no forgetting an original performance, a sentiment this story coasts rather lazily on.
Jun 2019
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Pati Patni Aur Woh
Its humour doesn’t stem from escalating confusion or clever lines, but plain sleaze. It takes the fantasy world of old Govinda movies and grafts it onto a real milieu — a scary combination by all means, as hinted at by Bhumi’s ‘single-screen/multiplex’ line.
Dec 2019
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Pihu
The set-pieces are intriguingly imagined, but they mesh oddly, and entire sequences, like unmatched pieces of Lego, refuse to fit into each other.
Nov 2018
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May 2019
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Student Of The Year 2
...in trying to tell a rags-to-riches story in a franchise that solely celebrates the latter, he belittles the spirit of genuine sports films worth their salt. As a love story, too, the film is bereft of spark, with tired tricks and predictable arcs promptly giving away who will go with whom.
May 2019
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Ujda Chaman
The result is a tone that’s constantly wobbly, from jokey to insensitivity.
Nov 2019
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Jabariya Jodi
Hindi cinema needs to get real about getting real. It is exploitative to borrow a milieu and short-change its people. Such meanness belongs in politics, not art.
Aug 2019
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Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
The hush-hush handling doled out to homosexuality in this film is bound to do more damage than good. Here’s a story that is more concerned about the squeamishness of the Indian viewer than the emotional journey of its characters.
Feb 2019
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Radhe
Any Prabhudheva movie is a challenge to rote plot summaries; even then, Radhe takes the cake. There’s no logic between, under, over or in the middle of scenes.
May 2021
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Romeo Akbar Walter
Purportedly based on a real man, the film has little interest in truthfully engaging with its subject, clearly driven by the singular ambition of cashing in on patriot season.
Apr 2019
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Bhaiaji Superhittt
Films like Bhaiaji Superhit were once considered senseless fun. Today, they bear the shuddering foretaste of a zombie apocalypse, one where out-of-wind actors raise the undead of their past glories and come rushing towards the audience, desperate for one last bite.
Nov 2018
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Mar 2020
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Satyameva Jayate
For a film thumping its own patriotism, Satyameva Jayate unites us through only one common emotion: boredom.
Aug 2018
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Feb 2019
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Aug 2018
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Jan 2020
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Jhootha Kahin Ka
Comedies like Jhootha Ka Nahin are horror in today’s age. Their ‘error’ isn’t derived from characters double-dealing each other, but in filmmakers thinking they can double-deal the audience.
Jul 2019
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De De Pyaar De
...is the sort of nightmare you want to unleash on a disgruntled gender studies professor; the film is bookended by two women rationalizing male infidelity as a mild derision.
May 2019
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The Accidental Prime Minister
Films like The Accidental Prime Minister make a strong case against the politicisation of Indian cinema. They embarrass both sides with their shoddiness, and expose strange limitations of the medium...
Jan 2019
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Love Aaj Kal
It’s the unholiest of cash-grabs — and an all-time low for its writer-director.
Feb 2020
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Pagalpanti
There’s nothing lazier than a film pleading insanity at the get-go, barely bothering to make sense of the chaos. Madness, more often than not, leads to intriguing art. It rarely shelters imposters.
Nov 2019
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Amavas
...the film refurbishes old creeps just for the sake of it, with no added ambition or intent attached...
Feb 2019