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Ujda Chaman
I was bored to death as Ujda Chaman unfolded slowly, verrrry slowly over two long hours.
Nov 2019
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Jan 2021
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The Tashkent Files
By eschewing the tenets of effective filmmaking, The Tashkent Files fails to get both, the fact and fiction right.
Apr 2019
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The Sky Is Pink
Despite the blatant manipulation, there are moments that left me with a heavy heart, and with a lump lodged in my throat. Still, watching a child’s life cut short should hurt like your heart’s being carved out of your flesh. The Sky is Pink never bruises you with that intensity.
Oct 2019
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Thappad
It’s a hard subject to pull off, but Anubhav Sinha achieves it with first-rate storytelling. The best films inspire dialogue, they set you thinking; they can even lead to change. This one made me uncomfortable; it made me question myself and I think it will make you too. It’s essential viewing.
Feb 2020
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Tanhaji
...you’ll appreciate the robust filmmaking, the visceral battle scenes, and a delicious performance by an actor who’s seldom got his due.
Jan 2020
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Super 30
...is a dramatized, ‘Bollywoodized’ version of a true story, complete with too many songs, caricaturish villains, a deafening background score that cues every emotion, and the kind of rousing dialogue intended to elicit cheers.
Jul 2019
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Student Of The Year 2
...is both predictable, and far from original. But that’s not even the big problem with the film. Unlike the previous instalment this one isn’t grounded in emotion, so it’s hard to be invested in the characters or affected by their conflicts.
May 2019
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Street Dancer 3D
...the problem with this franchise is that for some reason the makers think these films need to be about something more than the dancing. Something ‘important’, something ‘serious’. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Jan 2020
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Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
...there is enough to enjoy and appreciate here. It takes a difficult subject and executes it with some flair.
Feb 2020
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Saaho
The impressively staged but ultimately exhausting action sequences take up the bulk of screen time, but they can’t salvage this soulless film that has all the depth and emotional wallop of a video game.
Aug 2019
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Roohi
...establishes an instant connect in spite of outrageous situations and extremely over the top comedy.
Mar 2021
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Romeo Akbar Walter
On the upside, RAW, fortunately, is not a particularly lengthy film and once the protagonist gets into enemy territory, the thriller elements do kick in. The second half picks up pace building on the intrigue and gives us a satisfying ending.
Apr 2019
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Radhe
...is a collage of high-pitched songs and slow-motion shots that made us cringe even five years back. You need to have a high appetite for Khan’s antics to enjoy this one.
May 2021
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Pati Patni Aur Woh
In a very roundabout, over-simplistic way, the film is actually progressive. Thank you for small mercies. Plenty laughs are guaranteed.
Dec 2019
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Panipat
...ultimately is overlong and unwieldly. It may have its heart in the right place but its other organs are all over the place.
Dec 2019
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Panga
The film’s big success is in delivering its message without making a big noise about it.
Jan 2020
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Pagglait
Sandhya’s compassion – without the usual Indian cinema melodrama, tears and all of that — for her parents-in-law is heart-tugging that completely transforms the movie into something that is worth pondering over.
Mar 2021
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Nail Polish
...can be enjoyed for various reasons, but most of all for its gentle salute to the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock.
Jan 2021
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Marjaavaan
I came away from Marjaavaan bored and exhausted. It’s literally a film with no perceivable merit, and one that begs two key questions: How did this film get made? And why are we being taken for a ride?
Nov 2019
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Malang
There is both a love story and some good songs in his new thriller Malang. There are also, to be fair, some interesting ideas floating around. But those ideas never come together coherently; they’re lost in a film that is more interested in surface-level stuff.
Feb 2020
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Love Aaj Kal
...is pretty awful and dreadfully boring. It’s also overlong and hammy. The pursuit of romantic fulfilment has seldom felt so banal.
Feb 2020
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Khandaani Shafakhana
...has many plot points—the importance of traditional medical practices for instance --that if developed carefully could have packed in a lot more punch but end up merely being missed opportunities.
Aug 2019
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Kalank
...is ultimately tiring and heartbreaking even. You can see the talent on screen. If only there was a sharper script to harness it.
Apr 2019
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Kabir Singh
...is an unmistakably misogynistic film, but the sad part is that it’s exactly these troubling portions that the filmmakers peddle as intense love. Even more sad is that there will be many who’ll buy into it.
Jun 2019
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Judgemental Hai Kya
While you admire the attempt at originality, you can’t help feeling frustrated at just how it all comes apart in the end.
Jul 2019
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Jawaani Jaaneman
...Saif is in good form once again, but saddled with the kind of material he knows inside out.
Feb 2020
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India‘s Most Wanted
The movie does have a good story, but unfortunately, its full potential has not been mined.
May 2019
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Dec 2019