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Dishoom
The audience sits through the cacophony hoping for a genuine knockout blow to be delivered somewhere down the line. It never materialises. Dishoom doesn't land a single half-decent punch.
Jul 2016
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Gold
...dragged down by a storyline that puts too much store by the anticipated crowd-pulling power of a Bollywood A-lister.
Aug 2018
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Mahabharat
There is a laboured attempt here to prove that animation has come to animated life in Indian cinema. Sadly, it ends up proving only the opposite. We've a long way to go.
Dec 2013
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Jai Ho! Democracy
...the enormously accomplished actors struggle against the tedium of repetitive jokes about the banality of parliamentarian exchanges.
Apr 2015
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Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu
A film like this required more inventive and flamboyant writing.
Nov 2010
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Dangerous Ishhq
Karisma makes a fair fist of it. The plot is a problem. It is all over the place.
May 2012
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Bajatey Raho
Off-key and overly contrived, it is a pretty ordinary effort that is not even mildly engaging.
Jul 2013
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Toilet
The intent of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha may be commendable. The execution is hugely hamfisted. When a Bollywood filmmaker assumes the role of a cheerleader for a government campaign on whose efficacy the jury is still out, you know you've been had.
Aug 2017
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Fukrey Returns
For a film that aspires to be a full-on laugh riot, Fukrey Returns is a bit of a trudge.
Dec 2017
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Zero
...its astral ambitions are thwarted by a lack of imagination and genuine understanding of the minds of people struggling to ward off undeserved ridicule and earn rightful recognition.
Dec 2018
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Chala Mussaddi - Office Office
...does not rise to any great heights, it is certainly not for want of trying. In fact, the film tries too hard – too hard for its own good. The final result is a hopelessly flaccid pastiche of situational gags that relies solely on broad strokes of humour.
Aug 2011
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Lucknow Central
Any good escape film requires detailed plotting, however, and Lucknow Central is frequently stupid.
Sep 2017
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Welcome to New York
...is far too haphazard to hold together as a cohesive film over its entire runtime.
Feb 2018
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The Zoya Factor
...could have been a thoroughly enjoyable comedy. It ends up being a scrappy, erratic knock where a few crisp strokes are hopelessly outnumbered by a host of ungainly heave-hos. The film does not hit the sweet spot often enough to translate into either a truly rousing cricket film or a memorably moving love story.
Sep 2019
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Angrezi Medium
...the screenplay, credited to four writers (too many cooks...?), muddles things up, which is more frequently than is good for the film, it definitely isn't good news, no matter what medium one chooses to deliver it in.
Mar 2020
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Game
There's lot of strutting and style and high-tech sleuthing. But there isn't a story that makes sense.
Apr 2011
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Rocky Handsome
...a slick, stylistically derivative neo-noir thriller that is surprisingly humdrum.
Mar 2016
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Badrinath Ki Dulhania
... a pulpy, uneven romantic caper that strives to pass itself off as a mellow tale of patriarchy, love, honour and ambition set in small-town India and couched in doses of humour. Neither the mush nor the air of mirth can pull it out of the trough it digs for itself.
Mar 2017
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Mar 2021
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Nov 2009
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Alone
...delivers enough surface-level chills and thrills to please diehard fans of this form of entertainment. But those that expect paranormal thrillers to open the doors to deeper layers of experience will find in this film nothing that could capture their imagination.
Jan 2015
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Toilet
...all hell breaks loose (and hell, loos are broken) as the screenplay is gradually replaced by a government pamphlet. It all becomes painfully predictable, from a media scrum to a nick of time climax, and this film could well have been titled Poop-li Live.
Aug 2017
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Simmba
...is the kind of film that derides toxic masculinity while ill-advisedly celebrating unbridled virility as a necessary component of law enforcement. Instill fear in the hearts of the wrongdoers, Singham advises Simmba. And how, pray, do you do that? Simmba advocates throwing due process out the window and embracing another flagrant form of lawlessness. And that can only be dangerous.
Dec 2018
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Coffee With D
...is like an unfinished unpolished version of what could have been a rollicking run-in into a ruminative session between Indian's biggest fugitive and loudest journalist. If only it had allowed more leg-space to lunge in the lap of the ludicrous.
Jan 2017
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Pari
...is an uneven film that could have benefitted from the intervention of a more assertive editor. While it is replete with twists, these throw the audience off rather than aid in enhancing clarity.
Mar 2018
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Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?
...attempts to impart valuable lessons but the comic sugar-coating just doesn't crackle enough.
Mar 2010