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Tezz
Not quite edge-of-the-seat, the thrills in Tezz are engaging enough to keep us watching.
Apr 2012
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Ugly
This may not be Anurag Kashyap’s best film, but it is infinitely and indescribably better than all the muck that mainstream Bollywood passed off for entertainment this year.
Dec 2014
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Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho
For those looking for a break from the Bollywood staple of star-studded, buffed up, feel-good entertainers, this film might be two hours and a bit well spent.
Jun 2015
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Phobia
...is a canny flick that places known genre conventions in fresh light, the kind that bestows new life on them.
May 2016
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Raag Desh
...blends details drawn from extensive research and some amount of fiction to rustle up a narrative that has enough drama to keep the audience engaged through its run time of two and a quarter hours.
Aug 2017
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Badlapur
...might not be in the Ek Hasina Thi and Johnny Gaddar league, but it is a happy sign that Sriram Raghavan has left Agent Vinod behind.
Feb 2015
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Kesari
...has enough self-sustaining fire to be a well-above-average film. And with Akshay Kumar doing the heavy lifting with unwavering enthusiasm, the star's fans will find it easy to get into the swing of this tale of extraordinary courage in the face of daunting adversity.
Mar 2019
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Guzaarish
Combining euthanasia with song-and-dance is a tough, tough feat and despite his prodigious talent, Bhansali can’t pull it off.
Nov 2010
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Guddu Rangeela
A lighthearted film about a deadly serious subject could have easily gone horribly wrong. Guddu Rangeela doesn't. It is lively, droll and occasionally thought-provoking.
Jul 2015
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Poorna
...is a large-hearted film: more a heartfelt portrait of courage than just another routine underdog film. Small gripes shouldn't offset its overall impact. It is considerable.
Mar 2017
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Nakkash
...only skims the surface of a complex theme. Instead of raining hammer blows on politics that is driven by discord and distrust, it manages to inflict only a few pin pricks on its target. Be that as it may, any film that has its heart in the right place - Nakkash does - merits commendation.
May 2019
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Chhapaak
...has several parts that are delicately crafted. But the aggregation of the elements that constitute film does not somehow yield something greater than the sum of the parts. Nonetheless the parts that work do make Chhapaak essential viewing.
Jan 2020
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Kites
...the film doesn’t become more than the sum of its parts because the second half is flat and in places, outright foolish.
May 2010
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No One Killed Jessica
...is in places, powerful and moving. But it's also loud, simplistic and somewhat schizophrenic in tone
Jan 2011
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Cocktail
...has just the right mix of fizz and flavour to allow the occasional and inevitable crinkles of triteness to flow well below the surface.
Jul 2012
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Kaun Kitney Paani Mein
...there is much to admire in some of the reflections of reality that Kaun Kitney Paani Mein captures.
Aug 2015
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Daddy
See it for the austere unflinching portrayal of violence. For sounds and visuals that do not afford us the luxury of aesthetic gratification. And most of all, for Arjun Rampal's powerful performance that creeps up on us without warning.
Sep 2017
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Mission Mangal
...is watchable, if not always exhilarating, if you can get over its excesses.
Aug 2019
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Kaamyaab
The screenplay is insightful, if not blindingly revelatory. And some of the directorial sleights are commendably in tune with the demands of the material...
Mar 2020
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Do Dooni Chaar
...is a modest film and I mean that in the best sense of the word. I recommend that you make time for it.
Oct 2010
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Ra.One
It delivers more than your money's worth in terms of pure entertainment. It is impressively shot, technically good enough to pass muster and the hi-jinks drama has the pace to keep tedium at bay.
Oct 2011
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Bala
...benefits no end from the quality of the performances as well as from its empathy for the idiosyncrasies of small town folk, but it is the writing that is its Samson's hair: the film's power flows principally from it.
Nov 2019
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Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
...is engaging enough, as we say in Mumbai, time-pass. Go for it.7
Nov 2009
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Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
Few filmmakers in Mumbai engage with ideas and issues of contemporary relevance as felicitously as Bhardwaj. He might have fallen short this time around, but even when he is not at his best, he is infinitely better than most in the business. A director who does not fear failure merits our support.
Jan 2013
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Highway
Writer-director Imtiaz Ali has hit a road less taken. The result is a stylish two-hander that is defiantly unconventional, if not entirely satisfying.
Feb 2014
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Raajneeti
...a mixed bag. The film has moments of ferocious power and just as many flaws.
Jun 2010
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Gully Boy
In an era of which Bollywood is increasingly passing off pulpy apologies for demagoguery for cinema, Gully Boy could have been a fitting riposte. It just doesn't go far enough to pose discomfiting questions in keeping with the art of the street rapper. But all said and done, Gully Boy can be whole-heartedly commended for its craft, fascinating characters and Ranveer Singh.
Feb 2019
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Aiyyaa
It careens from the dreamy to the delirious, the realistic to the raucous, and the perfectly logical to the utterly nonsensical as it turns many a time-honoured convention of Hindi commercial cinema on its head.
Oct 2012