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Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
For the first time, Karan Johar comes across like a filmmaker who’s going to end up making love stories with a happily-never-after.
Oct 2016
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Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu
Who says a rom-com - even one with big-name stars - cannot be shaped with an invigorating voice and vision?
Feb 2012
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Dekh Tamasha Dekh
...the director, Feroz Abbas Khan, positions the film at the border of surrealism and absurdity – and this tone, gently satiric, makes all the difference.
Apr 2014
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Pad Man
...Balki never loses sight of the fact that what he’s making isn’t an Oscar-bait biopic but a rousing audience-pleaser.
Feb 2018
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Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota
It’s classic masala, and Abhimanyu Dassani’s impressive performance mirrors the director’s vision: a mix of affectionate mocking and serious homage.
Apr 2019
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Mardaani 2
As a pure genre film, Mardaani 2 delivers. It helps that Rani Mukerji is a superb actor.
Dec 2019
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Queen
It’s too long, too predictable, and too full of bits that needn’t have existed – that lizard bit? that sex shop bit? that casino bit? – but everything is pulled off with such panache (and with such good performances, especially from Ranaut) that you don’t feel like complaining.
Mar 2014
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Kahaani
...is beautifully shot and put together, and its deeply atmospheric scenes are driven by a superb score...
Mar 2012
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Badlapur
...goes beyond genre and simple homage. It isn’t slick. It has a verité feel.
Feb 2015
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Pari
A rewarding slow-burn story that’s not a ‘horror movie’ so much as a horror-inflected drama about misfits.
Mar 2018
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Airlift
...a fine example of how it’s possible to incorporate Western understatement into a very Indian movie, and, more importantly, a fine model for how our aging heroes can continue playing the action hero.
Jan 2016
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Mar 2016
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Sep 2010
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Trapped
Even at a 100-something minutes, Trapped feels a tad stretched, but Rajkummar Rao ensures that the film is never less than watchable.
Mar 2017
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Jan 2016
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Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3
...is a bit of an underwhelmer, but not unwatchable — and the reason goes back to what the Randeep Hooda character said in Part 1: “Is haveli ke sab log pagal hain.” Everyone’s bonkers — even the filmmaker.
Jul 2018
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Chhapaak
This isn’t the angry film I thought it would be. It is, surprisingly, filled with laughter and hope...
Jan 2020
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Kedarnath
A generally watchable film whose scenery does more heavy-lifting than the screenplay.
Dec 2018
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Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya isn’t a cynical rip-off. It’s more the work of a young filmmaker who clearly adores an older filmmaker’s movie, but infuses it with his own new-gen vibe. And that vibe is infectious.
Jul 2014
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Happy Bhag Jayegi
...the comedy, when it works, works so spectacularly that you may not care about anything else.
Aug 2016
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Panga
A superb Kangana Ranaut anchors a sports drama that’s really a story about second chances.
Jan 2020
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Simmba
On his good days, Salman Khan can really carry off a “mass” movie. But based on his extraordinary performance in Simmba, Ranveer Singh can apparently do this even on a bad day.
Jan 2019
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Bombay Talkies
The quartet of shorts that make up Bombay Talkies train a zoom lens on cinema, starting on the outside and slowly drawing us in.
May 2013
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The Lunchbox
...a fascinating mix of fact and fiction, documentary-like realism and flights of poetic whimsy.
Sep 2013
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Titli
This is an impressive debut, and the only one I can recall right now that puts up such a loveless, unlovable bunch on screen.
Nov 2015
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Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana
Family is the motor that revs up this wonderful romance, which is as much about the ways we love people as the ways we love food – and this is only fitting in a film whose title embraces both "luv" and "chicken."
Nov 2012
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Jan 2019
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Guzaarish
Just what, exactly, is this oddly bloodless film - a Bhansali movie for those who don't like Bhansali movies?
Nov 2010
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Jannat 2
I went in with low expectations and the film surpassed them at every level, and this isn’t faint praise.
May 2012