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Fukrey Returns
It’s hard to see a film that seemed as casually tossed off as Fukrey gain a follow-up that’s so labored.
Dec 2017
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Ajji
...is one of the most unsettling experiences you’ll have at the movies this year. Whether it adds up to much more than exploitation-art is another question.
Nov 2017
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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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Tumhari Sulu
Kaul’s performance works wonderfully in tandem with Balan. Her Sulochana is everywoman but with a dollop of infectious optimism and Balan leaves you wanting more.
Nov 2017
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Qarib Qarib Singlle
A patchily constructed romantic comedy, redeemed somewhat by Irrfan and Parvathy.
Nov 2017
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Ittefaq
The look and feel is in place and so is the big twist. These two factors make Ittefaq a serviceable thriller, but not a genre-defining experience.
Nov 2017
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Chef
Like the original, it’s a film that’s easily consumed, even if, like the original, the emotional beats being stressed are amusingly obvious.
Oct 2017
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Judwaa 2
Leave your brain at the door, they used to say about Dhawan’s films. I did that today, and when I picked it up on the way out, it thanked me.
Sep 2017
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Haseena Parkar
Kapoor launches into the role with complete commitment, though one can question both the plausibility of her playing the part of an intimidating middle-aged godmother and her ability to bring in nuance.
Sep 2017
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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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Simran
After all the drama of the last month, it’s nice to be reminded that offscreen Ranaut, no matter how entertaining or scandalous, cannot hold a candle to onscreen Ranaut.
Sep 2017
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Daddy
It feels like an extension of the idea of the Mumbai gangster as family man that Bheeku Mhatre introduced some 20 years ago, just as Daddy seems to build on the legacy of Satya while pushing the Indian gangster film into darker, more ambiguous territory.
Sep 2017
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Baadshaho
...may not be a smart film, but it’s a reasonably savvy daft one, inventive enough to revisit a key event from multiple perspectives and silly enough to have Mishra pick a safe in horse blinkers.
Sep 2017
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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
...a funny, hopeful film, with enough dry wit and generosity of spirit to allow it to circumvent the farcical pitfalls of its subject matter.
Sep 2017
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A Gentleman
By the truly dismal standards of Indian action comedies, A Gentleman is a middling offender—but what does that even mean?
Aug 2017
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Qaidi Band
...rather than leave it to the audience to discern and feel, circumstances are described and speeches delivered patronisingly. The script soon turns towards drama, a poorly planned escape and a convenient climax.
Aug 2017
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Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
If only there had been more life in this story and its telling.
Aug 2017
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
...it lacks bite, which Rao, playing a rather toothless individual, supplies.
Aug 2017
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Toilet
Instead of sticking to social satire, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha takes on the mantle of an extended propaganda film—it’s just as tiresome, but with better production values and performances.
Aug 2017
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Jab Harry Met Sejal
Imtiaz seems to have settled into a comfort zone of his own. The cult of Ali the Incurable Romantic will only grow with films like these. But Ali the Director might need to branch out soon.
Aug 2017
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Indu Sarkar
And though it’s a shade better than his last, the laughable Calendar Girls, it’s still a Bhandarkar film. It hardly matters that he’s swapped salacious expose for historical statement...
Jul 2017
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Lipstick Under My Burkha
...a film that’s sure about what it’s saying, and which says it clearly and loudly at every turn.
Jul 2017
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Jagga Jasoos
The singing stratagem occasionally gets in its own way, with dramatic scenes rendered silly by characters breaking into song. There’s also the baffling decision to cast, opposite Bollywood’s nimblest male star, the slow-reacting, risk-averse Kaif.
Jul 2017
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Mom
...is a strange brew: audience-appeasing thriller, relationship drama and social commentary all rolled into one. To Udyawar’s credit, he manages to make it look cohesive, even as he struggles to contend with the moral quagmire of revenge and opts instead for the escape of pulp.
Jul 2017
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Tubelight
It’s nearly always excruciating when an actor with limited talent plays a character with limited intelligence. Normally, the charge against Salman is that he doesn’t do anything; here, he does so much that you’ll be begging for him to go back to his minimalist ways.
Jun 2017
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G Kutta Se
...this is a sharp, pitiless look at a society governed by feudal minds overly concerned with women’s honour while utterly dismissive of their rights. G Kutta Se might seem violent and unsubtle. Then again, so might India.
Jun 2017
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Raabta
This reincarnation drama with convenient plot-points doesn’t quite come together.
Jun 2017
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Half Girlfriend
Mohit Suri makes a particular type of film—full of rain, pain and emotional strain— but, from moment to moment, scene to scene, he isn’t the most imaginative of directors. Nor are Shraddha Kapoor or Arjun Kapoor captivating actors...
May 2017
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Hindi Medium
...is obviously playing to the gallery. It makes you laugh, it makes you think, but its one-note characters and black-and-white divisions mean that while it makes the grade, the film is no topper.
May 2017