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Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns
...far more densely plotted than the first movie and has many more characters, but there’s no change in the theme—the struggle of feudals possessed by an immense sense of entitlement to remain relevant in a democracy.
Mar 2013
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Fireflies
The pace can be quite taxing as you wonder when he will reveal the point of his study of human relationships, fettered emotions, and final resolution.
Oct 2014
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Mar 2017
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Aug 2015
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Tanhaji
...has fluent action and a gleeful Saif Ali Khan, though its view of history is slanted and broad.
Jan 2020
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Shuttlecock Boys
...will not induce happy sighs or tears, but the simple, spirited storytelling makes it worth a watch.
Aug 2012
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Saare Jahaan Se Mehnga
...is too slight to be this year’s Bheja Fry or Welcome to Sajjanpur, but there is no doubting its relevance and sincerity.
Mar 2013
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2.0
A film that pivots around technology and artificial intelligence should have laid as much emphasis on artificial (special effects, computer graphics, robots) as intelligence. But writer-director Shankar’s focus is largely on visually wow-ing the audience.
Nov 2018
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Kaalakaandi
...it is technically inconsistent and the narrative doesn’t quite pull together. You are waiting for the loose plots to come together as the film nears its end, but that does not happen quite to satisfaction. You are left with some doubts, a lack of closure, like there’s maybe something that slipped between the writing and the final edit.
Jan 2018
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Love Wrinkle-free
It’s musical, chilled out, quirky and the pace is susegad (laid-back).
May 2012
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
...it lacks bite, which Rao, playing a rather toothless individual, supplies.
Aug 2017
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Manjunath
...Varma does throw up some surprises. He effectively captures the ordinariness of the milieu that produces Manjunath, and extracts solid performances from his cast. However, the director is less sure-footed about the larger issues thrown up by Manjunath’s death.
May 2014
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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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Laal Kaptaan
For the second time this year, Hindi cinema takes a run at a revisionist Western. Laal Kaptaan doesn't come together as satisfyingly as Sonchiriya, perhaps the best theatrical release of 2019.
Oct 2019
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Bobby Jasoos
...harnesses the classic tropes of melodrama—coincidences, conflicts, the perfect resolution—to deliver a feel-good fairy tale of a remarkably mobile heroine who gets up and leaves whenever she feels like.
Jul 2014
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Baar Baar Dekho
In her first film as director, Mehra moves everything along briskly but is unable to add her own visual touch to the impossibly bright and beautiful Dharma house style.
Sep 2016
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Madras Cafe
...points to the consequences of unthinking military intervention. It’s too bad that the movie is unable to make this point with lucidity or conviction.
Aug 2013
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Bombay Talkies
...while they unfold, the stories hold up in their half-hour individual length. But after you have left the theatre, it is not gratification you feel, but the short-lived aftertaste of a music video or a good commercial.
May 2013
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Happy Ending
Listless and phoney though it is as cinema, Happy Ending has some chuckle-inducing moments, and one secret weapon in Govinda.
Nov 2014
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Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Whether you’re a sceptic or a fan, it’s almost impossible to withstand Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s calculated emotional assault. But it’s also tough to shake the feeling that you’re being played.
Jul 2015
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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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Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania
...an extended, 134-minute review of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge by a debutant writer and director who has watched the film closely enough to have his own spin on it.
Jul 2014
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Mar 2019
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Jawaani Jaaneman
Having set itself up nicely in the first hour, Jawaani Jaaneman finds itself with little to say in the second.
Jan 2020
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Vishwaroop
Vishwaroop’s story is preposterous at the best of times, but it is directed with 100% conviction.
Feb 2013
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Veere Di Wedding
Everything about this film is deliberately put together, like the cushion covers co-ordinated with kaftans and teacups. If only, like Meera, who carries her girth with aplomb, all of Veere Di Wedding had been as natural and comfortable.
Jun 2018
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Super 30
...is on track as long as it steadily plugs away at the real life story of a teacher in Bihar who coaches underprivileged children for the IIT-JEE examination. But when the film starts to doubt whether this is enough, it comes undone.
Jul 2019
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Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi
...is an awkward film, interspersed with some heartwarming scenes.
Aug 2012