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Neerja
Defying every norm laid down in the mainstream Bollywood rule-book, Neerja coaxes a riveting two-hour drama out of a real-life tale of extraordinary courage.
Feb 2016
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Direct Ishq
With a poorly written and predictable story and screenplay, replete with cliches and humour, Direct Ishq gets nowhere even after it is over. Even the love story appears confused. The characters are flimsy, paper thin and trite.
Feb 2016
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Sanam Re
The befuddling, undercooked storyline is sure to leave most viewers wondering where it actually begins and where it ends. Sanam Re is a juvenile jumble that is undecipherable.
Feb 2016
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Fitoor
...succeeds in turning a literary classic into a contemporary cinematic feast for the eyes and the senses.
Feb 2016
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Ghayal Once Again
...looks every inch like a film that has arrived at least 25 years too late even though it does reflect the undeniable fact that corruption is still a way of life in this country.
Feb 2016
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Sanam Teri Kasam
...is neither a believable romantic yarn nor are its stabs of stupidity within the realms of the passable.
Feb 2016
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Saala Khadoos
...despite the many promising situations that it rustles up along the way, there is little room in the well-intentioned yet rough-hewn drama for genuine surprises.
Jan 2016
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Airlift
Menon steers clear of the traps in his way while delivering a sharply written, gripping thriller that rarely, if ever, flags.
Jan 2016
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Jugni
What the beautifully nuanced Jugni film has is a meaningful, if somewhat thin, plot peopled with eminently relatable characters.
Jan 2016
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Chalk N Duster
For intention, Chalk N Duster might get full marks, but the execution is so hopelessly ham-fisted that the film can only be described as an absolute botch-up.
Jan 2016
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Wazir
The surface vim and vigour on show in Wazir is considerable, but Bollywood’s first big release of 2016 is disappointingly low on substance.
Jan 2016
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Dilwale
The lead pair is all heart. The film they are trapped in is, unfortunately, utterly soulless.
Dec 2015
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Bajirao Mastani
There isn't a dull moment in this colourful and dramatic film that embraces excess with unabashed abandon.
Dec 2015
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Hate Story 3
Hate would be a completely wasted emotion here. Do yourself a favour and just ignore Hate Story 3.
Dec 2015
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Kajarya
...a powerful and important film that finds vestiges of genuine humanity in an area of impenetrable darkness. But it offers no false hopes.
Dec 2015
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Angry Indian Goddesses
...a must-see and not only because it is unlike anything Hindi cinema has produced before. It strikes a fine and rare balance between thematic gravitas and breezy entertainment.
Dec 2015
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Tamasha
An off-the beaten track love story that does not go far enough with its surprises, Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha is a film that flatters to deceive.
Nov 2015
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X: Past is Present
...for a cinematic pastiche that represents as audacious a leap into the unknown as this, a few quibbles here and there are no big deal.
Nov 2015
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Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
The overwrought PRDP might not be that bad, but it is syrupy to the point of being unendurable. Only for Salman Khan fans.
Nov 2015
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Guddu Ki Gun
The plot is skillfully crafted. Every character is quirky and well-etched. And every actor delivers a notable performance, albeit a bit over the top.
Oct 2015
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Main Aur Charles
Bollywood biopics usually tend to be horrendously bloated and overwrought. Main Aur Charles is anything but.
Oct 2015
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Titli
A slow-burning, searing crime drama that shuns the conventional trappings of the genre, first-time director Kanu Behl’s Titli is a remarkably sure-footed film.
Oct 2015
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Shaandaar
...a fun film that is infused with great charm, which in turn is enhanced by director Bahl’s panache for a light touch, an attribute that was on full show in Queen.
Oct 2015
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Wedding Pullav
Bland and unenticing, Wedding Pullav is a concoction that is too stale and sloppy to tingle even the least evolved of cinematic taste buds.
Oct 2015
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Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2
...does pretty much the same, but the novelty has worn off and it is saddled with an insufferably inept screenplay.
Oct 2015
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Oct 2015
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Singh Is Bliing
What is irretrievably amiss with the film is that nothing it says manages to drift anywhere near some degree of coherence.
Oct 2015
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Talvar
Mining riveting yet balanced drama from a real-life murder case lost in a tangled web of fact, fiction, hearsay and insinuations could not have been easy. But not a wee bit of the effort shows.
Oct 2015
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Calendar Girls
Slapdash and sanctimonious, Calendar Girls is a stunner, but for all the wrong reasons. It is stunning in its sheer stupidity.
Sep 2015