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Titli
Unrelentingly grim, morally unmoored, Titli festers like a sore on your consciousness.
Oct 2015
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Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota
...Vasan Bala manages something rare: a delirious pastiche with a heartbeat.
Mar 2019
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Court
...is absolutely worth raving about, and that it might be one of the most original films to come out of the country in a long time. But its insights are hard-won: you have to be willing to wait and watch until the point of each scene...
Apr 2015
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Dangal
...bends a little to accommodate its superstar, but has plenty of charm and grit.
Dec 2016
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Sep 2016
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Newton
...can say with confidence that Newton thrilled me like no other Hindi film this year.
Sep 2017
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Raazi
Like she did in Talvar, Gulzar assembles and marshals an expert ensemble. It’s a pleasure watching a detail-oriented director like her collaborate with an actor like Bhatt, who has a knack of making the tiniest gestures count.
May 2018
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Happy Bhag Jayegi
I’m having a hard time remembering the last time I watched a Hindi film this silly but still found myself laughing.
Aug 2016
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Island City
As a tonally tricky, slyly subversive mood piece, it finds itself in a very small group of Hindi films. It’s also an intriguing new entry in the long tradition of films that explore the spiritual heartache of living in Mumbai.
Sep 2016
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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
Fans of Bhardwaj, meanwhile, will be happy he’s back filling the screen with life and colour after the strangely acrid 7 Khoon Maaf last year.
Jan 2013
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Talvar
By turns witty and thoughtful, devastating and emotional, it’s up there with Masaan and Dum Laga Ke Haisha and the one or two other stirringly well-written films of the year.
Oct 2015
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Article 15
...might not comfort the afflicted, but there’s every chance it will afflict the comfortable.
Jun 2019
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Udta Punjab
It’s fascinating to see how the diverse acting styles of the leads meld or clash with each other throughout the film.
Jun 2016
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Gully Boy
If Gully Boy earns its props by the time it’s done, this is testament to its immersion in, and respect for, the world it springs from.
Feb 2019
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Raman Raghav 2.0
...is as unpleasant as it is gleefully amoral and perversely enjoyable.
Jun 2016
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Trapped
Time games, inventive soundscapes, Rajkummar Rao: there’s lots to love in ‘Trapped’.
Mar 2017
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Apr 2015
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Sonchiriya
There’s a question that recurs through Sonchiriya: what is a dacoit’s dharma? At one point an answer is given: to protect one’s people and caste, to live and pass away in the ravines, to die from a bullet. A fatalistic response, and a bracingly nihilistic film.
Mar 2019
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Lipstick Under My Burkha
...a film that’s sure about what it’s saying, and which says it clearly and loudly at every turn.
Jul 2017
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Fan
It’s been a while since Khan did anything that involved the turning on of one personality, let alone two. Fan is a welcome correction.
Apr 2016
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Manmarziyaan
For a director whose narratives are propelled more by dramatic incident than by character psychology, Manmarziyaan represents a bit of an experiment. Though the film is perpetually busy over its 150-odd minutes, there’s little forward movement, and a lot of sideways shuffling.
Sep 2018
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Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana
The film’s resolution of its characters’ dilemmas tends to be a bit disingenuous, but Sharma has a knack – again, befitting someone who worked on DDLJ – for the sweetly engineered plot twist.
Nov 2012
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Panga
...the film is an empathetic look at the social cost of continuing with one’s life after marriage and children.
Jan 2020
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Waiting
...walks the line between emotional resonance and emotional manipulation skilfully.
May 2016