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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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Coffee Bloom
...isn’t the most exciting of films, but it has a slow-burn intensity that owes a lot to Mathur and Garg’s carefully calibrated performances and Kapoor’s exuberant, pressure-releasing one.
Mar 2015
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Children Of War
...a welcome indication that some Hindi filmmakers are starting to look outside India for stories. That Devvrat tackles his subject head-on is something else to feel encouraged about.
May 2014
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Chhapaak
Padukone's quiet portrayal of Malti’s determination is moving, but I missed the poetic flourishes of Talvar and Raazi, and the little cameos that enlivened those films.
Jan 2020
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Chef
Like the original, it’s a film that’s easily consumed, even if, like the original, the emotional beats being stressed are amusingly obvious.
Oct 2017
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Chauranga
Had the performances been stronger, the accents more convincing, and the ideas more novel, Chauranga might have achieved something...
Jan 2016
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Chauranga
A portmanteau film with little of the excitement and risk one associates with great short films.
May 2015
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Calendar Girls
...a ‘Madhur Bhandarkar-type film’ is one the worst things you could call a young filmmaker’s work. And yet, the man himself perseveres.
Sep 2015
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Brothers
It’s difficult to imagine anyone making mixed martial arts cheesier than it already is, but Karan Malhotra manages that here.
Aug 2015
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Bombay Velvet
...is frustrating and exhilarating in equal measure. Though his ambition is plain to see, I prefer the Kashyap who delivers the shock of the new rather than the glamour of old.
May 2015
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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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Bharat
For 130-odd minutes, Bharat trundles along, sometimes diverting, often annoying, deeply inessential.
Jun 2019
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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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Befikre
For a film about relationships, there’s little insight offered into why we behave the way we do in love and lust, just a reiteration of that old chestnut: former lovers can’t be friends.
Dec 2016
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
...it lacks bite, which Rao, playing a rather toothless individual, supplies.
Aug 2017
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Barefoot To Goa
I take no pleasure in running down a film that’s obviously been strung together on a miniscule budget, but couldn’t everything have been thought through a bit more?
Apr 2015
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Bala
The central quandary is that Bala would have seemed skewed and farcical with only male baldness to concentrate on. It needs the skin colour scenes – but it really didn’t need the blackface.
Nov 2019
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Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Whether you’re a sceptic or a fan, it’s almost impossible to withstand Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s calculated emotional assault. But it’s also tough to shake the feeling that you’re being played.
Jul 2015
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Bajirao Mastani
Bhansali might be one of the last exponents of the grand old Bollywood style. Melodrama is not only something he’s comfortable with, it’s the air his characters breathe.
Dec 2015
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Mar 2017
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Baar Baar Dekho
In her first film as director, Mehra moves everything along briskly but is unable to add her own visual touch to the impossibly bright and beautiful Dharma house style.
Sep 2016
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Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
...is undoubtedly a spectacular action film. It’s also a tradition-bound, caste-conscious macho militarist fantasy.
Apr 2017
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Baaghi 3
The Baaghi films aren’t sequels, but they’re basically the same: someone close to Tiger is threatened, and he responds by killing his way to the source.
Mar 2020
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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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Baadshaho
...may not be a smart film, but it’s a reasonably savvy daft one, inventive enough to revisit a key event from multiple perspectives and silly enough to have Mishra pick a safe in horse blinkers.
Sep 2017