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Bittoo Boss
What could have had us cracking up becomes dramatically inert, and a film that doesn’t, despite its occasional nice moments, live up to its potential.
Apr 2012
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Ugly
In all the to-ing and fro-ing, it starts feeling too long, and too much, without the requisite emotional pay-off. There are three potentially gripping films in here : one would have been enough.
Dec 2014
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Parched
...despite Parched’s obvious worthy intentions, its execution left me discomfited.
Sep 2016
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Baadshaho
Only it’s 2017 not the 70s, and whatever you might do – add some spit-and-polish and intrigue and new faces, and create funny dialogues – the film comes off as old wine, in a not very new bottle, which we have to sip for over 2.5 hours.
Sep 2017
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Pad Man
...is as worthy, but it isn’t a particularly enjoyable film. It has tonal problems, because it is trying to appeal to many constituencies at the same time.
Feb 2018
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Mere Pyare Prime Minister
...the attempt at balancing the serious with the jokey sits uneasy. And there’s no getting away from the all-hail-the-PM rah-rah-ness...
Mar 2019
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Jo Dooba So Paar
The plot is organically grown, the director knows his ground, but the sure-footedness slips when it comes to that crucial thing : story-telling.
Oct 2011
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Krrish 3
...is a superhero film. It is also a throwback to the creaky family entertainers Bollywood used to make. The hero has special powers, sure, but also a loving daddy, a lovely wifey, an attractive moll and a villain with severe daddy issues.
Nov 2013
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Kya Dilli Kya Lahore
...had the potential to be as powerful, maybe more, because it is our story.
May 2014
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Beyond The Clouds
...good-looking yet hollow, and leaves us wondering why, if Majidi did have to make a Hindi film, did he choose this subject? He’s clearly seeing it at second-remove.
Apr 2018
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Nov 2010
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Aarakshan
...could have been a well-marshalled case of caste-and-conscience, but it turns out to be more light-weight cash-and-carry.
Aug 2011
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Dec 2011
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The Forest
A curious mix of fact and fiction, Ashvin Kumar’s 'The Forest' takes us into the heart of a dense jungle and confronts us with our worst fears.
May 2012
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Chakravyuh
...packaged in a trying-to-be-palatable-to-all plot, which works intermittently in the first half, and not too well in the stretched second.
Oct 2012
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Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi
The film ends up being a strictly average, and mostly bland, slice of Delhi life.
May 2014
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Jul 2017
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Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3
Much more money has been spent in this part, to make it plusher. It’s shinier, sure, but much less on point. In the power-hungry, sexually charged games the trio and its hangers-on play, there’s a lot more that topples than towers.
Jul 2018
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Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety
...provides some laughs, some of which escape involuntarily. But it also leaves you wondering. Can Ranjan grow up his callow characters? Of course, he can, because he has the smarts (remember Pyar Ka Punchnama?). Does he really want to? I’m not sure. Sharp comedy of the sexes is the hard stuff. Cheap laughs are easy.
Feb 2018
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Dream Girl
There are many good ideas floating around in Dream Girl. But ideas need execution, and on that score, this film flubs it: it has so little wit and imagination that it turns all those ideas into a series of flat set-pieces.
Sep 2019
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Baaghi 3
The only reason for Baaghi 3 to exist is this: to showcase the amazingly ripped bod of Tiger Shroff, who is poetry when in motion, and faltering verse when there’s emotion.
Mar 2020
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Phoonk 2
...manages to startle and scare in a few places, even if a few scenes look filched from a couple of Japanese horror films, once in a while. Can’t ask for more, not from RGV’s brand of horror.
Apr 2010
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Feb 2011
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Bbuddah...Hoga Terra Baap
What Bachchan needs is a real, grown-up film, not a stand-up, send-up act.
Jul 2011
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Ra.One
It is a superstarry slurry sludge, with just the occasional consolatory sparkle.
Oct 2011
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Blood Money
...has a story which starts off interesting but becomes familiar as it unspools, underwired with the usual flash.
Mar 2012
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Chef
There are some interesting flavours here, but ‘Chef’ feels derivative, and doesn’t come together as a fully satisfactory dish. And that’s got to do with the uneven, stodgy writing.
Oct 2017
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Milenge Milenge
Despite the silliness , and despite the fact that they look like their much younger, outdated selves...they manage to come up for breath. But only intermittently.
Jul 2010
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Pappu Can't Dance Saala
I had trouble keeping myself interested because of the flatness which the film suffers from, despite some nice touches.
Dec 2011