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Panipat
...does do something that Bhansali, and the other directors of recent historical films, didn’t bother with – which is to give the viewer a sense of history playing out.
Dec 2019
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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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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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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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Apr 2017
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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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Neerja
Kapoor, in a break from her usual achingly hip persona, presents Bhanot as a believable mixture of quick thinking and barely suppressed panic.
Feb 2016
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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
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Mr Joe B. Carvalho
...is certainly cleaner than the average Bollywood comedy nowadays, but something’s been lost in the rinsing.
Jan 2014
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Mom
...is a strange brew: audience-appeasing thriller, relationship drama and social commentary all rolled into one. To Udyawar’s credit, he manages to make it look cohesive, even as he struggles to contend with the moral quagmire of revenge and opts instead for the escape of pulp.
Jul 2017
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Aug 2016
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Mission Mangal
The film plays up Indian ingenuity without making a convincing case for it.
Aug 2019
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Oct 2016
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Meri Pyaari Bindu
...ends on an intriguing note, at once messy and fitting. But is this enough?
May 2017
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Meeruthiya Gangsters
Still, there’s just enough here to suggest that Quadri has a future as a screenwriter. Direction, though, may require a little work.
Sep 2015
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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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Jan 2016
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Mardaani 2
...Hindi cinema has no appetite for complexity when it comes to sexual assault, opting time and again for vigilante retribution.
Dec 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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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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Manjhi
Manjhi is rousing, simplistic cinema, just about saved by a fantastic lead turn.
Aug 2015
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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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Main Aur Charles
Hooda’s Sobhraj is a cipher, a beautiful surface with no indication of the emotions—if any—that are raging underneath.
Oct 2015
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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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Listen... Amaya
Too often, it feels like the film is straining for hipness, with its coffee table books and jogging and touristy Delhi locales like Khan Market and Chandni Chowk. All of which are at odds with the three living, breathing characters at its centre.
Feb 2013