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Simmba
...is a decent enough commercial film when not angling for resonance — with some of the funnier lines really popping on screen — but its self-serious orations on the topical issue of rape make a parody of the whole situation.
Dec 2018
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Zero
This film reimagines the all-consuming charisma of its leading man with a cool spin, but constantly cushions it in padding just in case he falls. The result is a middling vaudeville occasionally lifted by a clever line or a peak in the music score, pushing towards a trite and predictable climax that can be seen from space.
Dec 2018
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Kedarnath
Abhishek Kapoor melds two difficult subjects — interfaith romance, natural calamity — while working within a moderate budget. The writing is clunky and the payoff unearned, and everything feels like a drag at the two-hour runtime. The execution hurts the most.
Dec 2018
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Bhaiaji Superhittt
Films like Bhaiaji Superhit were once considered senseless fun. Today, they bear the shuddering foretaste of a zombie apocalypse, one where out-of-wind actors raise the undead of their past glories and come rushing towards the audience, desperate for one last bite.
Nov 2018
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Pihu
The set-pieces are intriguingly imagined, but they mesh oddly, and entire sequences, like unmatched pieces of Lego, refuse to fit into each other.
Nov 2018
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Tumbbad
It is not easy for a subversive horror film to trim away its genre tentacles and still land an 800-screen release. Tumbbad has pulled off a rare trade-off, but its authenticity has taken some beating. It is the closest we have come to breaking new ground, but is it really the way forward?
Oct 2018
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Jalebi
Filled with laughable coincidences, a penchant for melodrama, and an unnecessary romanticisation of love and heartbreak, Jalebi fails to make any sort of impression on you.
Oct 2018
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Helicopter Eela
The story certainly has its moments, but the schmaltzy grammar adopted by Sarkar fails this messy story about prodigy mothers and prodigal sons.
Oct 2018
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Andhadhun
The trailer had promised intrigue and duplicity, and the film delivers profusely on both fronts.
Oct 2018
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Sui Dhaaga
In spite of mediocre humour and the predictable conclusion, Sui Dhaaga is a story worth investing in for all the fine instances of pathos.
Sep 2018
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Pataakha
...has enough combustion to light up a night sky, but it fizzles out like a moist rocket. The crackers, like they say, needed more sunning.
Sep 2018
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Manto
It makes brave pronouncements on artistic freedom, religious violence and abject nationalism without losing sight of its investigative rigour— the film illustrates; it does not preach. Such mindfulness is often absent in our cinema, a medium so susceptible to rage, but Manto stands apart as a poignant exception.
Sep 2018
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Batti Gul Meter Chalu
...though Batti Gul Meter Chalu has a final message that is well intentioned, it is the poor execution (writing, acting, and directing) that lets it down.
Sep 2018
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Love Sonia
What could have easily slipped into the trenches of reductive cinema is rescued by a dogged upscaling of drama.
Sep 2018
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Stree
The subtext is heavy, but not heavy-handed. The film swings intently between humour and exposition: there’s depth to be explored, but also fun to be had.
Aug 2018
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Aug 2018
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Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi
The first film was a promise that good comedy is probably returning to Bollywood after decades. Then it regressed to a place of discomfiting familiarity. Not even a 90s earworm and Jimmy Shergill can save it.
Aug 2018
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Satyameva Jayate
For a film thumping its own patriotism, Satyameva Jayate unites us through only one common emotion: boredom.
Aug 2018
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Mulk
...is the sort of film that sheds light on all that is wrong with India. It can only be hoped that a dramatisation of real events makes people sit up and think about altering attitudes and doing away with prejudices that are governed by fear and a lack of basic understanding.
Aug 2018
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Aug 2018
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Dhadak
Dhadak, with the help of Shashank Khaitan and Karan Johar, rips apart Sairat’s soul.
Jul 2018
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Soorma
Here is one of the best stories celebrating will, talent and love for the game. But did you do it against Pakistan? No? Please close the door on your way out. Next candidate please.
Jul 2018
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Sanju
While the subject is starkly different, Hirani's sticks to the treatment that comes naturally to him. This is a film that is intensely Bollywood and in love with the industry, the approach is a strange concoction of melodrama, parody and comedy.
Jun 2018
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102 Not Out
...is hopelessly in love with the old school, and while that is not always a bad thing, it is also written in unimaginative, derivative ways.
May 2018
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Daas Dev
Sudhir Mishra’s latest film has a title that wants to scream at you its creativity — or lack thereof — but ends up with an indiscernible, squeaked out nonsense.
Apr 2018
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Beyond The Clouds
...sheds light on how far one is willing to go for the sake of those they hold dear. It scores superlatively on all the facets cinema ought to be judged on.
Apr 2018
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Baaghi 2
For a film with a tag line screaming "Rebel for Love", there is very little rebelling. There is very little action too.
Mar 2018
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Dil Juunglee
At every turn, Dil Juunglee (written by Tonoya Sen Sharma and Shiv Singh) teases you that now it will change into some other film, but it is relentless in its mission to disappoint.
Mar 2018
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Aiyaary
Almost every Pandey film has had a kinetic energy that never decelerates, but Aiyaary is a different breed. It doesn’t know what it wants to be.
Feb 2018