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The Lunchbox
It is a film of multiple pleasures -- small ones and overwhelming ones and exquisitely crafted ones -- layered one on top of the other, with something for everyone, and so, so much for the cinematic glutton.
Sep 2013
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Love Sex Aur Dhokha
Dibakar Banerjee has taken that much-nudged envelope, ripped it apart, and mailed out a magnificently tawdry postcard. He's made a film which lets Hindi cinema sit back, take a deep glug of adulthood, and wipe Haywards 5000 foam from its 'stache as it leers at the girl in stockings. Bollywood has just grown up the only way it could...
Mar 2010
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Lootera
...a gorgeous, gorgeous film, one that uses its period setting affectionately, with loving detail, and not exploitatively, as our cinema is wont to do.
Jul 2013
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Haider
...a knockout, a film that makes you smell corpses, that makes you shudder with melancholia, and a film that points accusing fingers. A film that doesn't flinch.
Oct 2014
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Filmistaan
...is packed with great background scores, unfaltering narration and stellar performances.
Jun 2014
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Omerta
...is a work of true moral force; it is, at the risk of sounding fancy, a motion picture for our times.
May 2018
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Oct 2018
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Ugly
...a constantly riveting, ticking timebomb of a film -- is by far Kashyap’s finest film.
Dec 2014
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Dec 2016
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No Fathers In Kashmir
The story poignantly sums up the day-to-day struggles of life in the Kashmir valley, especially of those whose sons, husbands and fathers have disappeared.
Apr 2019
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Sep 2014
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Pink
This is a solid, terse film that makes its points in mainstream fashion with an appropriate lack of subtlety. Pink is a barnstormer -- and it doesn't pull its punches.
Sep 2016
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Pink
Being young can be quite rewarding if you are willing to take charge, be responsible. Udaan is an enriching experience in highlighting the same.
Jul 2010
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PK
...it is a rollicking mainstream entertainer with ambition to evoke some introspection, one with compelling moments and some genuine surprises.
Dec 2014
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Udta Punjab
...truly soars when being its own madcap beast, profane and powerful and preening.
Jun 2016
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Naam Shabana
Yet it is an aspirational film. Because the Naam Shabana India, though pretty close to what we have today, has still elements of the India we want to be.
Apr 2017
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Mar 2012
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Main Aur Charles
...tells its tale with calculated intent -- coolly, cleverly, taking its time -- mirroring the dry panache of its self-assured protagonist.
Oct 2015
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Dangal
Unlike the overblown Sultan with a somewhat similar milieu, Tiwari's account of inspiring reality is lot more understated in its approach.
Dec 2016
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Rockstar
...a simple, unspectacular tale, sometimes even predictable, but director Imtiaz Ali masterfully weaves in details that draw us in.
Nov 2011
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Tanu Weds Manu Returns
...is not merely superior to its predecessor but the flamboyance and fun it provides is an implication we're not quite done with this mad duo and their quirky universe yet.
May 2015
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Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
The heart wants what it wants, and sometimes all we need is a compelling reason to cry. Thank you, Karan Johar. For this film feels like a sob.
Nov 2016
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Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
... discards volubility for quieter storytelling or oversaturating its protagonists in quirk. Instead, Bhutiani juggles emotion and practicality to skilfully extract real, relatable humour out of ordinary circumstances.
Apr 2017
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Shikara
...there could not have been a better timing for a story that tells us what happens when religion becomes the sole criterion to determine who belongs where.
Feb 2020