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Total Dhamaal
Shall we blame a slapstick comedy for sticking to the slaps? There’s little that’s freshly funny about Total Dhamaal...
Feb 2019
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Feb 2019
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Gully Boy
It’s ambitious but accessible, mainstream yet not machine-made. The mix is overpowering — the sound of the movies, the voice of the streets.
Feb 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
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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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Manikarnika
The film begins as a biopic, but derails quickly into a surreal showdown of unbridled carnage. The facts, if any, get chewed up in the mess.
Jan 2019
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Why Cheat India
...is a neatly-observed film that needed more tonal clarity to be taken seriously. It features a refreshingly amoral protagonist, portrayed by a talented male lead — but the faux-thriller-like posturings of what is essentially a dark social satire gives him little elbow room to play with.
Jan 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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Uri
...plays out in the precarious sub-genre of the 'well-made' propaganda. The ambitious production design and consistent visual flair come scarily close to masking out the timely histrionics. The film is well-executed, if not well-intended.
Jan 2019
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Simmba
...is a decent enough commercial film when not angling for resonance — with some of the funnier lines really popping on screen — but its self-serious orations on the topical issue of rape make a parody of the whole situation.
Dec 2018
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Zero
This film reimagines the all-consuming charisma of its leading man with a cool spin, but constantly cushions it in padding just in case he falls. The result is a middling vaudeville occasionally lifted by a clever line or a peak in the music score, pushing towards a trite and predictable climax that can be seen from space.
Dec 2018
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Kedarnath
Abhishek Kapoor melds two difficult subjects — interfaith romance, natural calamity — while working within a moderate budget. The writing is clunky and the payoff unearned, and everything feels like a drag at the two-hour runtime. The execution hurts the most.
Dec 2018
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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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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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Tumbbad
It is not easy for a subversive horror film to trim away its genre tentacles and still land an 800-screen release. Tumbbad has pulled off a rare trade-off, but its authenticity has taken some beating. It is the closest we have come to breaking new ground, but is it really the way forward?
Oct 2018
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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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Andhadhun
The trailer had promised intrigue and duplicity, and the film delivers profusely on both fronts.
Oct 2018
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Pataakha
...has enough combustion to light up a night sky, but it fizzles out like a moist rocket. The crackers, like they say, needed more sunning.
Sep 2018
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Manto
It makes brave pronouncements on artistic freedom, religious violence and abject nationalism without losing sight of its investigative rigour— the film illustrates; it does not preach. Such mindfulness is often absent in our cinema, a medium so susceptible to rage, but Manto stands apart as a poignant exception.
Sep 2018
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Love Sonia
What could have easily slipped into the trenches of reductive cinema is rescued by a dogged upscaling of drama.
Sep 2018
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Stree
The subtext is heavy, but not heavy-handed. The film swings intently between humour and exposition: there’s depth to be explored, but also fun to be had.
Aug 2018
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Aug 2018
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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