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Jai Gangaajal
...is watchable. The film suffers sorely because Prakash Jha makes it too much about himself.
Mar 2016
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Baar Baar Dekho
If I had the power to go back in time and any power over Team Baar Baar Dekho, I would cajole or bully them into rewriting the second half of their script. In the present though, in the here and now, this is a film that starts off well but fails to sustain itself.
Sep 2016
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Noor
The film’s pluses do not eclipse its minuses though. Its news office milieu is poorly sketched...
Apr 2017
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Nov 2016
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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
...is super-fun till it gets superficial. It is, to borrow the tagline of another film now in theatres, sundar, susheel and risky in its first half, flails about in the second, but remains entertaining overall.
Sep 2017
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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
MKBKM’s effort to be joyously absurd is too obvious and the usually assured Bhardwaj seems to be playing fast and loose with the reins in his hands.
Jan 2013
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Dear Zindagi
I loved SRK in the film, Bhatt is always a pleasure to watch, the story visits many themes that are uncommon in Bollywood, and several of the discussions are either witty or insightful or both. Overall though, the film comes across as being not enough because the writing needed more substance.
Nov 2016
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Madaari
This Khan makes Madaari a film worth watching. And his presence in contemporary cinema, makes this world a better place to live in.
Jul 2016
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Rangoon
The Bhardwaj who made Maqbool, Omkara and Haider is a man perfectly suited to a film like Rangoon. Sadly, without the writing brilliance of the director’s Shakespeare trilogy, Rangoon gets many things right, but fails to come together as an involving, engaging whole.
Feb 2017
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Phantom
...is what we Indians call “timepass”. Considering the subject matter, it should have been more, but as it is, it’s what we Indians additionally call a “one-time watch”.
Aug 2015
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Karwaan
There can be no more appropriate a description of Karwaan: it is not earth shattering, but it is not bad at all. Which is another way of saying it is an intelligent, funny, thoughtful film and a pleasant experience.
Aug 2018
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Aug 2014
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Dream Girl
Just when you think Dream Girl has succumbed to what critics have in the past called The Curse of the Second Half though, it picks up once again thanks to certain cast members with unfailing comic timing.
Sep 2019
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Badlapur
...boasts of many memorable scenes peopled with brilliant actors. The overall feeling though is one of a sporadically, episodically effective film that doesn’t quite add up.
Feb 2015
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Pad Man
For a film that is about self-sustenance among women, there is also some needless patriarchal dialoguebaazi about a mard being one who can provide raksha (protection) to the women in his life. That said, there is so much in Padman that is enjoyable and meaningful.
Feb 2018
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Happy New Year
Team Farah-Shah Rukh are capable of much better in the over-the-top genre that they favour together. Happy New Year is a step down from Om Shanti Om, but if you enjoy boisterous entertainment that is still not entirely mindless, it’s worth a visit.
Oct 2014
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Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Despite its jumbled story and this undercurrent of misogyny, it’s hard to write off the film. Because when the going gets good the dialogues are killers and because of the immaculate acting.
May 2015
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Rocky Handsome
...high on style and visual gratification, but low on substance and passion.
Mar 2016
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Cocktail
...bubbly in the first half, boring in the second, pretending to be free-thinking but actually narrow-minded and stereotypical to the core.
Jul 2012
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Holiday
The problem with Holiday is that the formulaic comedy and romance end up diluting the thriller that it is intended to be, while the entire film is weighed down by its senselessness.
Jun 2014
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Jannat 2
...despite its many flaws, it’s only fair to say that Jannat 2 is a mildly entertaining even if unmemorable film.
May 2012
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Apr 2016
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Raees
The first half of Raees is supremely interesting and filled with promise. Besides, Shah Rukh Khan is a joy to watch in this new, exploratory innings of his career. The second half lets him down though. Style trumping substance is rarely a good thing for a film.
Jan 2017
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Fitoor
The pain, the rejection, the searing desire for revenge, the all-conquering power of love – none of it is adequately conveyed in this film which, by the time its final scene rolled around, left me as cold and detached as Estella’s heart was when she first met Pip.
Feb 2016
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Ishaqzaade
Discussing the music, cinematography and other technical aspects of Ishaqzaade seems superfluous considering the way the film’s fun and seemingly feminist first half is marred by its anti-women second half.
May 2012
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Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara
The lasting impression though is of a sliver of a project, not a fully fleshed out film.
Aug 2013
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Saat Uchhakkey
...stands out for its excellent casting, excellent acting and – when it is not self-conscious – excellent humour. Now if only that had been enough...
Oct 2016
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Bhoothnath Returns
...until it gets confused about what it wants to be – feature film or docu, children’s film or adult fare, light-hearted entertainer with a message or dead serious – Bhoothnath Returns is a lot of fun.
Apr 2014
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Singh Is Bliing
SIB’s lack of substance makes it forgettable, but while it lasts it is a pleasant, mostly harmless, rib-tickling, side-splitting affair.
Oct 2015
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Guddu Rangeela
For the most part then, Guddu Rangeela remains engaging because of the balancing act it achieves between its grim subject and its light touch.
Jul 2015