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Kesari
...dull and monochromatic. There’s a worthy tribute due to those 21 men, but this reductive, gratuitous film isn’t it.
Mar 2019
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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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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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Total Dhamaal
Not for the first time, Kumar aims for It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and ends up with It’s a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad Film.
Feb 2019
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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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Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
Dhar’s mild-mannered film does something similar, setting off a bomb under a hetero cinema tradition, but turning it into something soft and pretty so as not to alarm the viewer.
Feb 2019
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Thackeray
A critical biopic was never on the cards; the only question, really, is how vitriolic it was going to be. Thackeray is 2 hours and 19 minutes, so the hate is spread out. The problem is, the scenes which exist only to praise Thackeray’s altruism and courage are bland. The nasty moments kept me engaged and enraged.
Jan 2019
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Manikarnika
...is a slow-building, sustained surge of patriotic fervour, as messy and inflammable as a geyser on an oil rig.
Jan 2019
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Why Cheat India
Hashmi seems to enjoy himself; if the writing was brighter and the other characters had more agency, the film might have played differently.
Jan 2019
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Uri
...has incredibly persuasive action sequences, but its military reserve can be stifling.
Jan 2019
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Simmba
Even for Hindi cinema, where rape-revenge is a thriving subgenre (there were four films on the subject last year), this is pretty dire.
Dec 2018
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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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Stree
...an amiable comedy with a couple of good ideas, too many jump scares and the most confusing ending I’ve seen in a long time.
Aug 2018
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Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi
...isn’t a total bust: there are intermittent laughs, and the Indian and Pakistani characters are treated with generosity. But to set a film in China and then spend 135 minutes sneering at the Chinese is, to put it plainly, opportunistic and childish.
Aug 2018
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Gold
The story itself is a nice idea, but that extra beat, that crucial unwillingness to trust the viewer, reveals the film’s insecurities.
Aug 2018
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Vishwaroop II
Haasan has full control over Vishwaroop II – he’s the writer, director, co-producer and star – and yet it keeps getting away from him. The film never settles into a satisfying rhythm: irrelevant scenes are stretched beyond reason and important ones are rushed through.
Aug 2018
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Karwaan
Some of the pit stops in Khurana and Adhir Bhat’s script (based on a story by Bejoy Nambiar) feel gratuitous and the characters never reach out and touch us.
Aug 2018
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Fanney Khan
...is a well-meaning feint at the issue of body-shaming and an exhortation to not give up on one’s dreams. Yet, it also shows the yawning chasm between intent and execution into which so many Hindi films fall.
Aug 2018
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Dhadak
By replicating the narrative but tossing in caste almost as an afterthought, Dhadak shows the limitations of mainstream Hindi cinema.
Jul 2018
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Sanju
It’s a warts-and-all film that hedges its bets: Sanju baba is rarely kept apart from the viewer’s sympathy.
Jul 2018
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Bhavesh Joshi Superhero
...is caught in a peculiar bind: it’s a bit too competent to be dismissed, but not original or striking enough to dispel the feeling that it’s all been done before.
Jun 2018
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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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Omerta
Mehta’s frequent juggling of timeline and location means the jag and jump of the filmic technique matches the fragmented nature of the narrative. The chaos is needed, for though there’s some shock in Omerta, there’s little surprise.
May 2018
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Beyond The Clouds
...had it not been Majidi making this, it’s debatable whether Beyond the Clouds, which feels like an artily rendered patchwork of stock Mumbai film moments, would have been on anyone’s radar.
Apr 2018
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Baaghi 2
The ridiculousness of such scenes almost distracts from the noxious nature of this film, which dilutes its near-constant violence with cheaply bought nationalism.
Mar 2018
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Hichki
...often comes across as parachute filmmaking—dropping in on a problem just long enough to prick the viewer’s conscience and make them feel like they’re watching something meaningful, but avoiding any sort of meaningful engagement.
Mar 2018
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Padmaavat
...the Karni Sena has unwittingly been protesting a wet dream of Rajput pride. Pride beyond logic, pride in defeat, in suicide, in abetting suicide.
Jan 2018
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Mukkabaaz
...is a bracing start to the movie year—overstuffed, enjoyable and urgent. It doesn’t have big stars, but feels like a commercial movie in a way that Bombay Velvet didn’t.
Jan 2018