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Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi
This sort of material, to be pulled off, needs a certain kind of director – Bela Bhansali Sehgal isn’t that director.
Aug 2012
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Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
There’s always something happening, but very little perspective on why this man’s life demanded to be made into a movie.
Jul 2013
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Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho
The other thing that makes us uneasy is the persistent doubt that these villagers are being paraded about for our amusement, that they’re being made a little too colourful just so we can sit back in our multiplexes and laugh at them.
Jul 2015
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Sep 2016
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Gold
Unlike Talaash, which was incendiary material that could be handled in Reema Kagti’s tasteful style, Gold needs a director who’s a shameless hustler.
Aug 2018
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2 States
This material, based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel 2 States: The Story of My Marriage, might have worked if treated with slapstick energy. Instead, Varman tries to class it up.
Apr 2014
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Dolly Ki Doli
...Abhishek Dogra, tries desperately to convince us that it’s a comedy, but the jokes are essentially one-note, the same setup warmed up and served over and over.
Jan 2015
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Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey
The problem with Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey isn't its simple-minded straightforwardness. The problem is that not a single character in this story is brought to three-dimensional life - we get a parade of names and faces, and we could be staring into an illustrated history book.
Dec 2010
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Tum Milo Toh Sahi
...a crisscross of lives converging on a depressingly drawn-out courtroom proceeding.
Apr 2010
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Tanu Weds Manu
A generally underwhelming love story cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a romantic comedy or a romantic melodrama.
Feb 2011
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Guddu Rangeela
Some films that don’t quite work, you dismiss outright. Guddu Rangeela is the kind of film you grapple with. You wish it were better.
Jul 2015
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I Hate Luv Storys
Extremely winning leads do their best to add freshness to a film that feels a decade old (and about as long).
Jul 2010
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The Dirty Picture
Like most of The Dirty Picture, these supposedly stinging observations are little more than storms in a D cup.
Dec 2011
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Hawaizaada
Puri has toiled hard to make his film look outré, but that isn’t enough – you wish he’d expended an equal amount of energy to infuse a similar eccentricity into the plot and the characters as well.
Feb 2015
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Dear Dad
The film is anchored by Arvind Swamy’s performance – though it’s really his presence, that quiet way he weathers the worst of storms.
May 2016
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Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb, which should have been much better, plays like a mashup of Hindi cinema before it became Bollywood.
May 2013
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Dilwale
Every decision in Dilwale screams: I have Shah Rukh and Kajol in my film, so why bother?
Jan 2016
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Zubaan
...it’s a problem when what’s meant to be an edgy coming-of-age story is hijacked by a campy, entertainingly nutty family soap.
Mar 2016
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Singh Is Bliing
Why can’t we make just pure comedy – without action, without missing mothers, without villains? I’d have ended up happier had I walked out during the interval.
Oct 2015
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Jolly LLB 2
Merely okay as courtroom drama, but a vivid look at Hindu-Muslim dynamics.
Feb 2017
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I Don't Luv U
...isn’t terrible and it could have been saved with a rousing climax, but the end is shockingly low-key.
May 2013
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Happy New Year
...relentless cannibalisation (and self-cannibalisation) is a pity because Farah’s real talent lies in the mad bits she cooks up...
Oct 2014
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Daddy
A barrelful of gangster clichés makes for a stylish but been-there-done-that biopic.
Sep 2017
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Kurbaan
Yet another story about yet another terrorist. The hardware is there, but where’s the heart?
Nov 2009
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Agneepath
...is thunderously staged (quite literally; the background score is a force of nature) and it's never boring, but the film never amounts to anything.
Feb 2012
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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
Bhardwaj gives the feeling of having worked hard – really, really hard – on these scenarios and we are torn between admiring the thought and effort that’s gone in and being exasperated by how it all comes together on screen.
Jan 2013
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Manjunath
This is the kind of film about which you use words like “well-intentioned” and “earnest” and “solid.” But it never catches fire.
May 2014
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Badla
...despite an overall watchable quality, especially towards the end, Badla is a tepid affair.
Mar 2019