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Kesari
...is well-intentioned but bloated. It’s a two-and-a-half hour battlefield bluster that could have done with sharper writing and judicious editing. When the lights come back on in the end, you can’t shake off the feeling of having survived war yourself.
Mar 2019
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Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota
Vasan Bala hits the high notes frequently, even if the film doesn’t quite fall into a seamless symphony.
Mar 2019
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Photograph
The writing doesn’t pack the emotional urgency of The Lunchbox, and the characters aren’t as compelling. There is a delicate quality to the central relationship but it never takes flight. Batra keeps the story on slow-burn; how you wish he’d stirred things up from time to time.
Mar 2019
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Badla
The film doesn’t pack the wallop that Kahaani delivered, but it’s a respectable enough thriller that seldom loses grip of its pace or your attention.
Mar 2019
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Luka Chuppi
It’s allegedly a comedy but it delivers at best a handful of decent laughs, all in the second half.
Mar 2019
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Total Dhamaal
I want to say here that I’m not against comedies that require complete suspension of disbelief. But even that requires thought, clever writing, and a lightness of touch. Total Dhamaal has none of those things.
Feb 2019
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The Fakir Of Venice
Director Surapur, an ad film-maker otherwise, shows an ability to draw good performances from his actors, which is a big part of the job, but where he fails is in creating heightened drama.
Feb 2019
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Feb 2019
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Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
...is a respectable directing debut from Dhar, and a film with its heart in the right place. The writing ought to have been braver.
Feb 2019
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Why Cheat India
It’s a shame you leave the cinema bored and underwhelmed because there was potential here to make a smart film about our flawed education system – one that encourages mugging and rote learning over understanding; one that values a degree over real aptitude. A system that drives students and their parents to seek dangerous, unhealthy shortcuts. Some of that is addressed but it’s not really what the film is about.
Jan 2019
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Uri
Ultimately there’s a lot to admire here, but because it can’t shake off its unmistakably filmi sensibility – which is inherently at odds with the no-nonsense tone it aspires for – it proves thrilling only in parts.
Jan 2019
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The Accidental Prime Minister
The film is a hatchet job that looks like a hatchet job. It’s all so incompetently staged there were times I felt I was watching an MTV spoof.
Jan 2019
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Simmba
What Shetty does really well though is adding the commercial bells and whistles complete with song-dance, maar-dhaad and emotionally-charged sequences that are critical to a film driven by sheer star power.
Dec 2018
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Zero
Shah Rukh Khan is especially entertaining in the first half while the script stays on track. But in the end it feels as if the makers threw everything at the wall and decided to see what sticks. Unfortunately, very little does.
Dec 2018
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Kedarnath
...ultimately falls short of living up to its promise, but I was happy to visit its world. The imagery is overwhelming, even if the writing feels laboured.
Dec 2018
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2.0
...director Shankar marries social message with grandiose tentpole filmmaking, and the result is an overlong, seldom subtle but always watchable movie that knows its strengths and plays to them.
Dec 2018
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Pihu
It’s neither a compelling cautionary tale about bad parenting or a sufficiently responsible thriller. The film revels in making you flinch and squirm and cringe. That’s just mean-spirited.
Nov 2018
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Thugs Of Hindostan
...for the most part Thugs of Hindostan is a humourless, solemn affair.
Nov 2018
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Jack And Dil
The plot packed with frivolity, meanders without any inciting or sticky moments and the expositions are strictly verbose.
Nov 2018
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Tumbbad
Above everything else this is a wildly original film with a look and feel that is of the highest standard. The middle portion is long drawn and flabby, and there were times I found myself scratching my head unable to keep up. But these are minor grumblings.
Oct 2018
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Oct 2018
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Jalebi
Even in your most generous mood, you won’t find Jalebi better than the most average episode of a saas-bahu soap. My advice — try not to taste this stale, overdone offering.
Oct 2018
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LoveYatri
The blame for LoveYatri rests not with these young actors, but with its makers for setting them up to fail. Frankly even Salman Khan would have trouble making this script work today.
Oct 2018
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Andhadhun
It is to Raghavan’s credit that he packages this sinister thriller with such bells and whistles like popular 70s film songs and nods to Anil Dhawan’s own pulp hits. The result is a deliciously twisted film that delivers more fun than any other Hindi movie this year.
Oct 2018
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Pataakha
...feels inconsistent and never fully satisfying. It’s a lightweight offering that’s got its sparks, but doesn’t quite live up to its firecracker name.
Sep 2018
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Sui Dhaaga
This could have been a neatly-stitched up narrative with its well-meaning message about the spirit of entrepreneurship, but sadly it unravels in its troubling second half.
Sep 2018
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Manto
It’s a film that will make you think, hurt you and will bring you back to your ideals.
Sep 2018
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Batti Gul Meter Chalu
This is one of those mainstream movies that delivers its message coated with a thick layer of melodrama. And it works.
Sep 2018
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Manmarziyaan
...may not be perfect but it gets some things perfectly right. I left the theatre in appreciation of the sheer craft on display.
Sep 2018