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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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Laal Kaptaan
For the second time this year, Hindi cinema takes a run at a revisionist Western. Laal Kaptaan doesn't come together as satisfyingly as Sonchiriya, perhaps the best theatrical release of 2019.
Oct 2019
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Jan 2016
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Ki & Ka
A promising premise is ruined by narrative unsubtlety and some strange stylistics choices.
Apr 2016
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Khiladi 786
Ashish R Mohan, making his directorial debut here after assisting Rohit Shetty on the Golmaal series, pops the Dabangg/Singham/Son of Sardar template into the microwave, lets it heat for a bit and serves it up to a public that seemingly can’t get enough of silly action comedies.
Dec 2012
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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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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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Kalank
In a Bollywood that’s trying to look more self-aware, emotion can be a lead weight. I'd be curious to see what audiences make of the film over the next week or two; the one I saw it with seemed to tire by the end of all the eloquence.
Apr 2019
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Kabir Singh
...it takes nearly three hours for Kabir to admit that he has a problem, whereupon he’s immediately rewarded. “Go to the depth of anything and you get zero," we’re warned early on. In this case, it’s absolutely true.
Jun 2019
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Jugni
...its virtues are the sort that are often missing from films more highly rated: a keen sense of place; a commitment to its characters’ best and worst impulses; and an ability to suggest an emotional journey...
Jan 2016
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Judwaa 2
Leave your brain at the door, they used to say about Dhawan’s films. I did that today, and when I picked it up on the way out, it thanked me.
Sep 2017
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Jolly LLB 2
There’s little doubt about what kind of film Jolly LLB 2 wants to be: broad, accessible and successful.
Feb 2017
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Jazbaa
...is all Dutch angles and green filters and slo-mo, an excess of stylization that calls attention to the absence of any real style.
Oct 2015
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Jawaani Jaaneman
Having set itself up nicely in the first hour, Jawaani Jaaneman finds itself with little to say in the second.
Jan 2020
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Apr 2014
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Mar 2016
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Jagga Jasoos
The singing stratagem occasionally gets in its own way, with dramatic scenes rendered silly by characters breaking into song. There’s also the baffling decision to cast, opposite Bollywood’s nimblest male star, the slow-reacting, risk-averse Kaif.
Jul 2017
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Jabariya Jodi
It’s been a year of offensively bad films – PM Narendra Modi, Thackeray, Kesari. But anger and disgust will keep you awake, which is more than I can say for Jabariya Jodi.
Aug 2019
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Jab Tak Hai Jaan
We’d rather not point out more flaws in Yash Chopra’s swansong. Instead, let’s celebrate what has been a singularly important career.
Nov 2012
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Jab Harry Met Sejal
Imtiaz seems to have settled into a comfort zone of his own. The cult of Ali the Incurable Romantic will only grow with films like these. But Ali the Director might need to branch out soon.
Aug 2017
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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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Indu Sarkar
And though it’s a shade better than his last, the laughable Calendar Girls, it’s still a Bhandarkar film. It hardly matters that he’s swapped salacious expose for historical statement...
Jul 2017
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I Me Aur Main
It’s a little scary to spend any film entirely in John Abraham’s company.
Mar 2013
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Hunterrr
...has the right comic material but lacks the timing that would make the movie sing.
Mar 2015
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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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Hero
It’s unlikely anyone in this day and age could have made a totally convincing film with material like this, but Hero is dragged down further by pedestrian writing, unremarkable music and patchy direction.
Sep 2015
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Haraamkhor
...with its unadorned, unflinching treatment, Haraamkhor is a difficult film to shake off.
Jan 2017