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Parched
Writer-director Leena Yadav’s Parched left me, well, rather parched. While in some respects it quenched my thirst, but — to further stretch the sexual hint in the film’s title — mostly it left me high and dry.
Sep 2016
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Moh Maya Money
My grouse is with the screenplay. Written by Bhardwaj and Mansi Nirmal Jain, it’s uneven, much like the film’s cinematography and scene-setting. At times smart and crackling, but also, for long spells, dull and sparse.
Nov 2016
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PK
We keep getting emotionally overwhelmed in the way Hirani has now mastered. We are putty in his hands. But his tricks are all too transparent and in the end the emotional drubbing leaves you feeling underwhelmed.
Dec 2014
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Shaadi Ke Side Effects
...is a greater film on screen than it is on paper because it has the talented Mr Akhtar and Ms Balan. Both bring warmth and a mature, knowing naughtiness to their interactions.
Mar 2014
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Aug 2018
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Hunterrr
The obsession with “likes” in these times of Facebook is killing all the fun. And Hunterrr is its latest victim. It’s all too keen that we like it, rather than we simply enjoy it. How sad.
Mar 2015
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Gulaab Gang
Visually the film is seductive – pink saris in sepia dehaat — but its message is scary. While I had severe problems with its glorification of vigilante justice, there were a few moments when I was both thrilled and moved.
Mar 2014
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Panipat
Directors like Gowariker do no service to the nation or their audience by twisting the truth, ignoring military, diplomatic, common sense follies and rewriting history with jingoistic fervour. They condemn us to repeat historical wrongs.
Dec 2019
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Bajatey Raho
...crude, functional only in fits and starts, and with broken bits taped together.
Jul 2013
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Pati Patni Aur Woh
...it would have made for a much more engaging retelling of a B.R. Chopra naughty classic.
Dec 2019
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Rang Rasiya
It establishes that the painter-artist's life is a powerful story that needs to be told by a better, more accomplished director and actors.
Nov 2014
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Jal
...it takes occasional flight, like a good, compelling dastan. But the film has an intermittently sparse and jam-packed screenplay
Apr 2014
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Welcome 2 Karachi
...a warm, idiotic outing to do nothing except tickle and lionise every stereotype on the other side of the border for our oafish desi jollies.
May 2015
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Street Dancer 3D
...true to the simple minded genre of let’s-dance-to-challenge-and-conquer-all, is a chitrahar of grand, impressive, foot-tapping dance performances strung together by a very silly but melodramatic story that carries a moral — love all, hate none.
Jan 2020
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Bhoothnath Returns
...tries to strike a high moral tone in its social messaging, but creatively it doesn’t flinch from being crassly exploitative. It made me cringe so often that I wished this clever concept had been handed over to a directoir with a light touch.
Apr 2014
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Kerry on Kutton
The film is flawed, not just in pacing, but also some characters. But nothing that damages it in any serious way.
Jul 2016
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The Accidental Prime Minister
...the film, coming as it does in election year, has an agenda — it’s politically motivated. And the motive of this tacky, third-rate propaganda piece is all too apparent in the story it wants us to go home with, and the characters it wants us to hate and love.
Jan 2019
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War Chhod Na Yaar
...is marred by tacky and unintelligent direction, it does have some rib-tickling scenes and dialogue...
Oct 2013
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Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aaata Hai?
Ranade’s Albert Pinto Ko… is only interested in expressing its gussa. And that made me gussa.
Apr 2019
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Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene
It actually has a strong, interesting plot. But, unfortunately, it places at the centre of its story the two worst possible non-actors.
Jan 2015
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Hero
He has co-written the film’s screenplay and that’s where the film’s first major problem sits. The second is his direction.
Sep 2015
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The Sky Is Pink
I felt impaled by the film’s relentless emotional badgering, constant telling us, and not showing, how terribly tragic it all is.
Oct 2019
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Bittoo Boss
...is desperate to be different, specifically from Band Baaja Baaraat. And it is; it’s not half as good.
Apr 2012
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Rahasya
The film keeps us hooked, but it also irritates. It doesn’t deliver exactly what it promised to, but it does give us the confession we need to hear.
Jan 2015
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Ek Paheli Leela
My only humble request is that the next director who gets to sign Ms Leone in a title role and the film is certified A, no time must be wasted in telling a story.
Apr 2015
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Dharam Sankat Mein
Somewhere in the idea of making a film about Hindu-Muslim identity lurks a noble thought. But Dharam Sankat Mein is a low IQ film that is not really up for the task it sets for itself.
Apr 2015
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Kill Dil
...flirts with the idea of having rotten men as its lead pair. It even seems to enjoy their bloody bonhomie. But it chickens out. What a shame! And what a waste!
Nov 2014
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Dec 2018
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Purani Jeans
If you haven’t seen 16, I suggest you dump this film and get a DVD of that one.
May 2014