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Titli
Unrelentingly grim, morally unmoored, Titli festers like a sore on your consciousness.
Oct 2015
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Gangs Of Wasseypur
...is relentless in its ability to entertain, and that’s possible purely because of highly accomplished film-making. A new template for the Indian blockbuster.
Jun 2012
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Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota
...Vasan Bala manages something rare: a delirious pastiche with a heartbeat.
Mar 2019
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Ugly
Ultimately Ugly rests on an irony, and although there are some masterfully-crafted scenes to build up suspense, none of it can hide the writer-director’s moral gaze—how depraved are you, he seems to ask, leaving his audience uneasy.
Dec 2014
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Haider
...an immensely effective reimagination of Shakespeare—and the film’s biggest triumph is that the provincial, in this case Kashmir and the characters defined by its reality, shine in a universal and timeless tragedy.
Oct 2014
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Newton
...can say with confidence that Newton thrilled me like no other Hindi film this year.
Sep 2017
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Oct 2018
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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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Sep 2016
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Shanghai
An immensely enjoyable thriller, helmed by a brilliant cast of actors and a master storyteller in Dibakar Banerjee.
Jun 2012
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Dangal
...bends a little to accommodate its superstar, but has plenty of charm and grit.
Dec 2016
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Queen
...an ebullient, enjoyable film, its feminist points squirelled into the film’s margins. It’s the breeziest film you can imagine about a person’s transformation in a short span, and Ranuat is winningly responsible for it.
Mar 2014
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Lootera
It may be a couple of notches short of a masterpiece, but Lootera is the kind of film you will remember long after watching it.
Jul 2013
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PK
...the director’s biggest feat is the idea, its effortless translation and its politics.
Dec 2014
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Kadvi Hawa
Panda does not preach or offer solutions. Juxtaposing two characters, two different geographies, communities and lives affected by changing winds and global warming, he simply asks us to face a bitter truth before its impact is irreversible.
Nov 2017
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Apr 2015
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Talvar
By turns witty and thoughtful, devastating and emotional, it’s up there with Masaan and Dum Laga Ke Haisha and the one or two other stirringly well-written films of the year.
Oct 2015
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Udta Punjab
It’s fascinating to see how the diverse acting styles of the leads meld or clash with each other throughout the film.
Jun 2016
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Happy Bhag Jayegi
I’m having a hard time remembering the last time I watched a Hindi film this silly but still found myself laughing.
Aug 2016
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Chhichhore
Director Nitesh Tiwari offers the ultimate homage to his college days with this film about his time as an engineering student and the lessons one learns outside of the classroom.
Sep 2019
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Raman Raghav 2.0
...is as unpleasant as it is gleefully amoral and perversely enjoyable.
Jun 2016
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Island City
As a tonally tricky, slyly subversive mood piece, it finds itself in a very small group of Hindi films. It’s also an intriguing new entry in the long tradition of films that explore the spiritual heartache of living in Mumbai.
Sep 2016
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Margarita With A Straw
Watching Margarita with a Straw, I smiled and laughed a lot. Even in moments when I felt deep sympathy for her, the girl was sassy.
Apr 2015
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Gully Boy
If Gully Boy earns its props by the time it’s done, this is testament to its immersion in, and respect for, the world it springs from.
Feb 2019
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Trapped
Time games, inventive soundscapes, Rajkummar Rao: there’s lots to love in ‘Trapped’.
Mar 2017
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Raazi
Like she did in Talvar, Gulzar assembles and marshals an expert ensemble. It’s a pleasure watching a detail-oriented director like her collaborate with an actor like Bhatt, who has a knack of making the tiniest gestures count.
May 2018