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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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Bala
The central quandary is that Bala would have seemed skewed and farcical with only male baldness to concentrate on. It needs the skin colour scenes – but it really didn’t need the blackface.
Nov 2019
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Ferrari Ki Sawaari
...has heart, a time-tested premise and some good performances. It tries hard to tow the formula, and yet it’s worth a watch if you can ignore the time-consuming excess.
Jun 2012
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Bombay Velvet
...is frustrating and exhilarating in equal measure. Though his ambition is plain to see, I prefer the Kashyap who delivers the shock of the new rather than the glamour of old.
May 2015
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Bhavesh Joshi Superhero
...is caught in a peculiar bind: it’s a bit too competent to be dismissed, but not original or striking enough to dispel the feeling that it’s all been done before.
Jun 2018
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Stree
...an amiable comedy with a couple of good ideas, too many jump scares and the most confusing ending I’ve seen in a long time.
Aug 2018
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Khiladi 786
The anything-goes movie is packed with so many random characters and even more random jokes that moments of inspired humour emerge out of the hodgepodge.
Dec 2012
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Shorts
Despite the realism, grittiness and seriousness on display, four of the five stories aim for poignant and uplifting conclusions that undermine their impact.
Jul 2013
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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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3 Storeys
The problem with 3 Storeys is the screenwriting; Althea Kaushal’s three stories don’t match moods or stay on the same beat.
Mar 2018
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Special 26
An insipid lead character and unnecessary digressions derail a good heist story.
Feb 2013
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TE3N
...keeps the surprises, not all of which are easy to predict, coming at regular intervals. Whether all these twists make sense, or are entirely fair, is another matter.
Jun 2016
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Sanju
It’s a warts-and-all film that hedges its bets: Sanju baba is rarely kept apart from the viewer’s sympathy.
Jul 2018
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Aug 2016
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Hunterrr
...has the right comic material but lacks the timing that would make the movie sing.
Mar 2015
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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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Uri
...has incredibly persuasive action sequences, but its military reserve can be stifling.
Jan 2019
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Bhoothnath Returns
The overly busy screenplay, which clocks at 155 minutes, is packed with so many ideas that it unfolds at the pace of a multi-phase election.
Apr 2014
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Raees
...because Khan holds so much in reserve, Raees remains a cipher. To borrow an old theatrical aphorism, he plays the king as if afraid someone else might play the ace.
Jan 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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Soorma
Writers Shaad Ali, Suyash Trivedi and Siva Ananth gently follow a linear narrative to recount Singh’s story but the screenplay feels rather lazy and the drama of Singh’s inspirational story is barely felt.
Jul 2018
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Thappad
There are times you wish Sinha could take some of the weight off his writing with inventive filmmaking. But he isn’t a visual director, and the 142-minute Thappad mostly has the look and rhythms of a stage play.
Feb 2020
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Aurangzeb
This is a movie that aspires to be about the mini-empires that exist within-and often work against-the Indian republic, but it scuttles its own ambitions midway through.
May 2013
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Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi
...has many rough edges, patches of amateurish staging and acting, misguided attempts at humour, and an ear-splitting and disposable Amar Mohile background score, but it is also good-natured, warm-hearted, and finely observed.
May 2014
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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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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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Dhadak
By replicating the narrative but tossing in caste almost as an afterthought, Dhadak shows the limitations of mainstream Hindi cinema.
Jul 2018
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OMG Oh My God!
...could have been a taut, edgy take on organized religion. But it stops short, almost scared to really question religion, and turns into a verbose and silly film.
Sep 2012
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Ishkq In Paris
If the movie works at all, it is because Prem Raj restricts the lopsided affair to 96 minutes, and Zinta’s joy at being the cynosure of attention is undeniably contagious.
May 2013