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Pati Patni Aur Woh
Its humour doesn’t stem from escalating confusion or clever lines, but plain sleaze. It takes the fantasy world of old Govinda movies and grafts it onto a real milieu — a scary combination by all means, as hinted at by Bhumi’s ‘single-screen/multiplex’ line.
Dec 2019
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Dec 2019
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Pagalpanti
There’s nothing lazier than a film pleading insanity at the get-go, barely bothering to make sense of the chaos. Madness, more often than not, leads to intriguing art. It rarely shelters imposters.
Nov 2019
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Marjaavaan
...an 80s masala template, dance bars and remixes, infuriating rhyme schemes, and a pyro-maniacal obsession.
Nov 2019
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Ujda Chaman
The result is a tone that’s constantly wobbly, from jokey to insensitivity.
Nov 2019
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Oct 2019
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Housefull 4
...moments of ingenuity and wackiness manage to balance, albeit temporarily, the outrage the film induces otherwise.
Oct 2019
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Made In China
...is a fairly entertaining watch coupled with a socially-relevant message. But the lack of a more intense approach pulls down the characters and their scope to evolve.
Oct 2019
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P Se Pyaar F Se Faraar
...having the heart in the right place just doesn’t cut it anymore
Oct 2019
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Laal Kaptaan
...crucial balance between gravitas and fun is woefully amiss in Navdeep’s latest work, a galloping period western, weighed down by its broad historical sweep and dreary philosophizing.
Oct 2019
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The Sky Is Pink
With The Sky Is Pink, Shonali Bose has crafted a happy dream. And she is more than willing to admit it.
Oct 2019
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War
Despite the toughness of its leading men, the film tires them out with its convoluted writing — which, I am afraid, is the only villain in this skirmish. The rest are just in it for the money.
Oct 2019
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The Zoya Factor
A love story is only as good as its leads, and Abhishek Sharma gets the casting right.
Sep 2019
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Section 375
...as the politics of Section 375 gradually comes into view, it loses all claim on even-handedness. This is a film too smug about its own neutrality, using it as a front to sneak in a damaging conclusion.
Sep 2019
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Dream Girl
...is consistently funny, but structured too much on Ayushmann’s own Vicky Donor to draw a fresh response.
Sep 2019
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Chhichhore
...has a big point to make about defeat and self-worth, but takes the laziest possible route to get there. For a film about the dignity of trying, it does not lead by example.
Sep 2019
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Batla House
All Nikkhil had to do was slow-bleed the suspense, and extend the moral tossup. But Batla House is not that kind of film.
Aug 2019
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Mission Mangal
...is respectful and clear of heart, but struggles at times to pick out its heroes. If the answer is no one in particular, that signal is lost in space.
Aug 2019
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Jabariya Jodi
Hindi cinema needs to get real about getting real. It is exploitative to borrow a milieu and short-change its people. Such meanness belongs in politics, not art.
Aug 2019
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Khandaani Shafakhana
Shilpi’s debut effort is well-intentioned but suffers from the same hypocrisies that afflict Indian drawing rooms. Not a line of dialogue sticks and there are very few talking points in this film on sex talk...
Aug 2019
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Arjun Patiala
...it misses the mark by quite a bit, as Diljit's unassuming demeanour and charming effervescence can only take you so far.
Jul 2019
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Judgemental Hai Kya
Prakash Kovelamudi has made a punchy Hindi debut. Seductive and snarly, it urges us to look beyond the obvious — to do a double-take on things.
Jul 2019
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Jhootha Kahin Ka
Comedies like Jhootha Ka Nahin are horror in today’s age. Their ‘error’ isn’t derived from characters double-dealing each other, but in filmmakers thinking they can double-deal the audience.
Jul 2019
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Family Of Thakurganj
With little resources, filmmakers like Prakash Jha, Tigmanshu Dhulia and Anurag Kashyap made our northern badlands cinematic. It’s the impostors that come now who are balling up the place. They exploit dialect for laughs, landscape for scenery, and violence for plot twists. It’s all so criminally wrong.
Jul 2019
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Super 30
...is not quite the masala potboiler it wants to become. The emotional beats are grand but disingenuous, while the wit is hollow.
Jul 2019
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One Day
...lacks the finesse to shoulder this wafer-thin plot, which crumbles even further due to some amateurish staging.
Jul 2019
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Malaal
The film is constantly aiming for a large-canvas treatment, often at the expense of local colour and depth. Only because it can.
And, because this is ultimately a launch film.
Jul 2019
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Article 15
Cynicism and hope strike a precarious balance in Mulk director Anubhav Sinha’s new film. The procedural drama paints a grim picture of caste-based violence in rural India.
Jun 2019
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Kabir Singh
There’s no forgetting an original performance, a sentiment this story coasts rather lazily on.
Jun 2019
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Jun 2019