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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
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Thugs Of Hindostan
Like previous works, which include Tashan and Dhoom 3, Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan is big but hollow.
Nov 2018
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Jan 2013
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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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Omerta
Mehta’s frequent juggling of timeline and location means the jag and jump of the filmic technique matches the fragmented nature of the narrative. The chaos is needed, for though there’s some shock in Omerta, there’s little surprise.
May 2018
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Bharat
For 130-odd minutes, Bharat trundles along, sometimes diverting, often annoying, deeply inessential.
Jun 2019
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Chakravyuh
...has a sense of authenticity in its location and milieu, but Jha’s simplifications and reliance on melodrama fail to underscore them. His tone is serious and sombre-not a fortuitous combination-forcing its narrative upon its viewer.
Oct 2012
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Jun 2013
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Roy
Singh’s un-Bollywood storytelling (long pauses, silences and thoughtfulness), colour palette and controlled drama are refreshing, but the pace is sluggish and the plot too thin to carry a two-and-a-half-hour film.
Feb 2015
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Freaky Ali
He (director Sohail Khan) squanders the dramatic potential of the plot and ends up with a puerile comedy involving dons, puns and women as eye candy.
Sep 2016
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Dear Zindagi
...it’s awkwardly written and exists more as an excuse for Alia to be able to do a big shout-y scene.
Nov 2016
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Gangs Of Wasseypur 2
...a blow-out. The violence soars spectacularly, but the story does not rise above the mundane. It is a smug, tiresome follow-up
Aug 2012
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Jolly L.L.B.
...is bereft of debate or subtlety. It’s what they call an open-and-shut case.
Mar 2013
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Shuddh Desi Romance
The big disappointment of Shuddh Desi Romance is writer Jaideep Sahni. Known for scripts and screenplays that retain efficacy of storytelling with commercially viable Bollywood elements, here is non-committal to making his characters fleshy or believable. The director and actors don’t rescue the fragile boat.
Sep 2013
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Shuddh Desi Romance
The narrative is not entirely smooth, the direction is uneven, the screenplay flirts with unnecessary cleverness and a pre-interval ballad makes you groan.
Jul 2016
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Agent Vinod
A disjointed narrative, uninspired camerawork and set action pieces that fail to wow make this film a jumpy ride.
Mar 2012
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Mar 2016
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Padmaavat
...the Karni Sena has unwittingly been protesting a wet dream of Rajput pride. Pride beyond logic, pride in defeat, in suicide, in abetting suicide.
Jan 2018
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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.
Dec 2018
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Shaadi Ke Side Effects
...has gained gloss and glamourous leads but at the expense of variety of tonal consistency.
Feb 2014
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Mary Kom
The champion’s amazing journey is broad-brushed, Manipur is a puzzle and Priyanka Chopra is impressively industrious
Sep 2014
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Main Aur Charles
Hooda’s Sobhraj is a cipher, a beautiful surface with no indication of the emotions—if any—that are raging underneath.
Oct 2015
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Befikre
For a film about relationships, there’s little insight offered into why we behave the way we do in love and lust, just a reiteration of that old chestnut: former lovers can’t be friends.
Dec 2016
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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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Naam Shabana
It barely works in this case largely due to the script, but in part because of Pannu’s deadpan expressions and in part because of director Nair overtelling it.
Mar 2017
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Gold
The story itself is a nice idea, but that extra beat, that crucial unwillingness to trust the viewer, reveals the film’s insecurities.
Aug 2018
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Ghanchakkar
...is at heart a languid and quirky comedy, but even laidback movies need momentum.
Jun 2013
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Mar 2016
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Chor Chor Super Chor
...a mild-mannered 99-minute affair, with committed performances...
Aug 2013