-
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety
The disposable soft-focus songs and foreign locations cannot gild the coarseness of Ranjan’s view of modern romance.
Feb 2018
-
Sonchiriya
The film itself is a tangle of ideas, and works better as an existential mood piece than the heavy-duty action drama it often resembles.
Mar 2019
-
Sniff
Sluggishly paced and sketchily written, the movie barely has enough going on to merit 90 minutes of running time.
Aug 2017
-
Singh Is Bliing
...is as overstretched as most Bollywood extravaganzas, but it coasts along on its often wacky humour, its minor characters (Lara Dutta is a hoot) and the chemistry between Jackon and Kumar.
Oct 2015
-
Simran
The monomania that characterises Simran – the furtherance of the assertion that Kangana Ranaut can carry off just about anything – dooms the movie to repetition and facetiousness. Ranaut gives the role her all, but her relentless optimism and self-belief in the face of trying circumstances are barely convincing.
Sep 2017
-
Simmba
Ranveer Singh’s energy and flamboyance ensure that Simmba appears more engaging than it often is, and Ajay Devgn’s well-timed cameo rescues the film from being a write-off.
Dec 2018
-
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
Filled with subversions both major and minor, the Aanand L Rai production is packed with superbly sketched characters and spot-on performances. It uses a light touch to launch a heavy attack on homophobia, general intolerance and repressive tendencies, and the very foundation of the conventional Indian family.
Feb 2020
-
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
The screenplay manages to walk the line between crass and preachy, keeping the balance between comedy, romance and the sensitivities around a taboo topic. However, a collection of nice moments and thoughts is untidily stitched together.
Sep 2017
-
Aug 2017
-
Shorgul
...the filmmakers’ love for contrivance, simplification and populist rhetoric combine to make Shorgul yet another misfired investigation of the true nature of communal conflagrations in India.
Jul 2016
-
Shivaay
There’s a decent Hollywood-style lone-wolf- on-the-prowl action thriller hidden inside this long feature, but it is sacrificed to Devgn’s indulgence.
Oct 2016
-
Shimla Mirchi
The plot fits snugly in romcom territory, providing an update to the hill-station romances that were the staple of Hindi cinema in the 1960s and ’70s.
Jan 2020
-
Shikara
The epistolary device is one of the clumsy ways in which the movie deals with a knotty issue. Chopra, who has written the screenplay with Rahul Pandita and Abhijat Joshi, picks a narrow-angle lens through which to view the Kashmiri struggle.
Feb 2020
-
Shamitabh
Here are the offbeat story, the easily flowing and witty banter, the quirky and urbane characters, and the light-hearted touch. But here are also the unwieldy and stretched narrative (153 minutes), the unresolved climax, the gimmicky nature of the material and the inability to expand on the movie’s premise.
Feb 2015
-
Shab
...seems to want to make a grand statement about ambition, migration, exploitation and sexuality, but its scope is limited by the stodgy dialogue, the mostly poor acting (Raveena Tandon has her moments) and incredible levels of contrivance.
Jul 2017
-
Shaandaar
...proceeds in a jerky and slapdash fashion, and only a few sequences hit the mark.
Oct 2015
-
Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana
...sets up its plot with confidence and coherence before going off the rails in spectacular and painful fashion.
Nov 2017
-
Section 375
In the interests of free expression, then, it is necessary to hear the support for patriarchy laid out by Section 375 – just as it is possible, in a democracy, to decide for yourself whether the movie is an effective legal drama or a bilious defence of deeply entrenched sexism in Bollywood.
Sep 2019
-
Satyameva Jayate
The movie never takes itself too seriously, even as it emerges as the obverse of Hindi movies that celebrate the super-cop who breaks the rules while in uniform.
Aug 2018
-
Satellite Shankar
...the movie isn’t interested in teasing out the shades and complexities of Shankar’s cross-country adventure. Ballad of a Soldier celebrates the Russian spirit while allowing for doubt and sadness. Satellite Shankar is all grins and salutes...
Nov 2019
-
Sarkar 3
Amitabh Bachchan’s perfectly judged performance and the gravitas and authority that the thespian brings to his performance keep these scenes from sliding into pure parody.
May 2017
-
Sarbjit
The loud and insistent melodrama takes away from the pathos of the central character’s story.
May 2016
-
Sanju
It promises complexity and psychological acuity. Until a point, it appears to be on track to creating a nuanced portrait of controversy’s favourite child – but then it plummets into unquestioning and misty-eyed reverence.
Jun 2018
-
Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
Without a sense of urgency or a clear understanding of how the characters are evolving between various crises, the 125-minute narrative moves stiffly from one scene to the next. Needlessly grim for the most part and jaunty when least expected, the movie ignores Pinky’s advice to Sandeep to “use head not heart”.
Mar 2021
-
Sanam Re
Despite numerous plot twists, the two-hour duration feels as stretched as Samrat’s movie star ambitions. Every now and then, a song that might be better viewed on YouTube shows up to relieve the tedium.
Feb 2016
-
Saina
The overwritten script, which includes a voiceover by its subject, still falls short of revealing her inner life. Sports biopics and documentaries often seek to discover the unknowable – the higher force that propels athletes to excellence.
Mar 2021
-
Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3
The law of diminishing returns has finally caught up with one of the most unlikely film franchises in recent memory.
Jul 2018
-
Jan 2020
-
Saat Uchhakkey
...has little going for it, but the movie might be worth its 139-minute running time for those who know only 19 ways to insult their mothers and sisters and have merely four phrases to describe the manner in which the human posterior can be punished.
Oct 2016
-
Saand Ki Aankh
The movie aims high, and wants to say many important things about the lack of opportunities for women, in sports or elsewhere. But its uneven tone and the easy-peasy manner in which the lead pair accumulate awards rarely allows for an nuanced understanding of just how the Tomar women did it.
Oct 2019