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All movie reviews

'Tees Maar Khan': a review In her customary closing credit sequence, Farah Khan has husband Shirish Kunder pick up seven (fake) Oscar trophies for story, screenplay, dialogues, background score, title song, editing and even as producer. By the time the director comes dancing on the stage, all she gets is a black trophy. With... Read »

'Band Baaja Baaraat': review Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Boy and girl start working together. Boy sleeps with girl. Girl loves boy. Boy doesn’t love girl. Boy and girl stop working together. Boy misses girl. Girl misses boy. Boy and girl start working together again. Boy and girl fight. Boy loves girl. Girl has to marry an... Read »

A still from 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey'.

'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey': a review

Minutes before he would be hanged, Surya Sen is beaten up by some British cops inside his prison cell. He makes the long slow trudge to the death noose all bruised and bloodied, his hands resting on the shoulders of two Indian constables. That familiar crouching walk almost reminds you of anot... Read »

Still from 'Break Ke Baad': Pic courtsey official website

'Break Ke Baad': review How many times have you watched a film and wondered whether its two halves have been directed by the same person? How many times have you come back with a bucket of popcorn post-interval and double-checked to ensure you were sitting in the right movie hall? Danish Aslam’s first film Read »

'Guzaarish': a review

In his new film Certified Copy, the Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami tosses up a question that is critical to “a Sanjay Leel... Read »

'Action Replayy': review A little over a year back Vipul Shah went to court accusing a Tollywood production company of copying his film Namastey London. He spoke about the need for copyright protection, the importance of originality and setting an example.

Incredibly, Mr Upri... Read »

Autograph: a review Many would laugh at the prospects of a remake of a Satyajit Ray classic. Some would suggestively sneer at the director. The more active others would take to the pulpit denouncing the film as vain and sacrilegious. But those who watched Srijit Mukherji's AutographRead »

Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh in 'Do Dooni Chaar'

'Do Dooni Chaar': A review

There are films that make you smile. There are films that make you laugh. And then there are films that make you feel good about yourself. Do Dooni Chaar has that quality which is almost rare in today’s calculated and calculative Bollywood cinema. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films used to gl... Read »

Dabangg: A review "Salman Khan returns with a bang" is what everyone is saying about the Bollywood superstar's new film. With Rs. 47 crore in its kitty in the opening weekend alone, Dabangg has already created a sort of record.

Good for Salman, brother Arbaaz who's als... Read »

'We Are Family': A review How do you remake a film that has been watched by many on the big screen and had countless reruns on the small? Do you simply take the central idea and build your own story around it? Do you copy it frame by frame, dialogue by dialogue? Do you copy half of it and conjure up the other? Do you Bollyw... Read »

Flies, but not too high

The man who makes movies with swings and saris, ghaats and boats, Rabindrasangeet and Read »

Resurrected, but to what effect The experience of watching a Bengali film can be disappointing these days. Watching a few of them in a row will help you grow a steady conviction that while Bengali filmmakers have the advantage of new technologies and marketing tricks, most of them lack two very basic virtues: guts and seriousness... Read »

'Peepli Live': a review A superstar producer backing an unknown talent is a necessary evil. Necessary because the producer has to make his money and refurbish his image thus also guaranteeing the film an automatic initial audience. Evil because fans are made to chase the sparks of a shooting star which disappear with the ... Read »

'Aisha': a review Aisha the movie is full-on ‘nyaka’. A word which can never be correctly translated in English or Hindi but you know it when you see it. Yes, it’s very much a Jane-Austen-meets-Sex-and... Read »

'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai': A review Dialogue pe dialogue, dialogue pe dialogue, dialogue pe dialogue... in Milan Luthria’s world, people spoke only in dramatic dialogues Once Upo... Read »

Lamhaa: A review Lamhaa depicts multiple issues plaguing Kashmir but doesn't delve into any. The subplots rush you through a village of half-widows waiting for their husbands, who were taken by the police a decade ago; army officials selling their souls to the enemies of the... Read »

'Udaan': A review Udaan is being pushed by its makers as a coming-of-age tale of the protagonist who turns 18 in the film. But actually it’s not. Vikramaditya Motwane’s first film is a story of self-realisation, of a boy finding the mental (and physical) strength to act... Read »

Mithun Chakraborty in a still from 'Shukno Lanka'

Shukno Lanka: A review Shukno Lanka is the story of Chinu Nandy (Mithun Chakraborty), a middle-aged junior artiste at the studio para of Tollygunge. Life comes in bits and pieces to this man, like his brief appearances in films, through an ... Read »

I Hate Luv Storys: a review Chance meeting. Check. Initial dislike. Check. Dance song. Check. Silly fights. Check. Freak friendship. Check. Buddy song. Check. Girl love. Check. Happy song 1. Check. Boy rejection. Check. Sad song 1. Check. Boy love. Check. Happy song 2. Check. Girl rejection. Check. Sad song 2. Check. Airport ... Read »

Off the charted course, charmingly Ace cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay’s directorial debut Ekti Tarar Khonje is definitely watchable, but it stops just short of being an effective film. No doubt it’s a significant entry in terms of visual story-telling and editing. What it lacks is a factor... Read »

Raavan: a review Mani Ratnam is God. For those born in the 1970s and 80s and dropped into the valley of cinema with the synthesised sound of Yeh haseen vadiyan. So it’s ironic that he would choose to show his demonic side with a film where he questions the roleplaying of Read »

Ley Chakka: A review Reviewing a mainstream Bengali film has always been difficult, especially one with no pretensions. While a harsh review would be a show of laughable pedantry, a reviewer worth his salt can't possibly shower praises on such a film. The golden mean in this case would be to analyse what the film in qu... Read »

'Mahanagar @ Kolkata': A review The six protagonists of Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Mahanagar@Kolkata portray fear that lurks behind the cacophony of a metro life.

One wonders which kind of fear is more terrible. The kind where there is a clearly defined bad guy (or group) that can be assi... Read »

Raajneeti: a review In Raajneeti, Prakash Jha’s power-pagal parivaar starts off with Mahabharata, picks up pace with The Godfather and then nears the finis... Read »

'Kites': A review Kites is a film about languages. The heroine speaks Spanish, the hero speaks English and there’s also a smattering of Hindi thrown in there somewhere. So how about a Bengali limerick to sum up the most awaited movie this summer? (The director would app... Read »

It’s A Wonderful Afterlife : review Aburlesque comedy thriving on mad moments and grotesque exaggeration, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife promises too much and delivers too little. Filmed on the lines of an Ealing comedy where raucous humour meets pure silliness, this Gurinder Chadha film elicits e... Read »

Badmaash Company: review A con film is allowed to be many things. It can be devoid of emotions. It can have a weak love story. It can have average acting. But one thing it just cannot be is stupid!

Like all Yash Raj Films movies which try to simplify and sugarcoat things, Parmeet Sethi’s directorial debut aims to be... Read »

Housefull: review Dear Sajid Khan, we know reviews don’t matter to you. You cancel press shows because, well, you don’t care what critics say about your film. You make it for the audiences, you say. So, here’s an open letter from (just) an audience member because truth be told your so-called masterpiece doesn’t exac... Read »

Apartment: a review Can’t there be some global rule where you can just not use a title of a classic? You can make a Godmother but not call your film Godfather. Sorry Jag Mundhra, but Apartment for... Read »

Jodi Ekdin: A review Ian Wyndham lives with his girlfriend Samantha Andrews. A busy businessman, Ian has little time for Samantha who is a musician. The first part of the story shows a day in their life that ends in a heated altercation between the two. Tired of being taken for granted, Samantha finally snaps and decid... Read »

Love's labour's lost "Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination: both depend on being outside rather than inside a situation, and one leads to the other." – Susan Sontag

If you are looking for a cinematic illustration of Sontag's aphorism, go watch The Japanese Wife... Read »

'Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai': Review Ten minutes into Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai is a capsule of cameos by some of the top names in Bollywood. From director Sajid Khan who rues the fact that a newbie superstar Desh (Ruslaan Mumtaz) has kept him waiting for hours outside the make-up van (“Read »

Arshad Warsi in a still from 'Hum Tum Aur Ghost'.

Hum Tum Aur Ghost: Review Hum Tum Aur Ghost is me, you aur some laughs — and a whole lot of yawns!

Writing, producing and acting in HTAG is Arshad Warsi, who we all agree is a natural actor and c... Read »

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: A review It's not your Bollywood take on Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), although its name seems to chime in with the Soderbergh film. Dibakar Banerjee's Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (or LSD) ... Read »

Right Yaaa Wrong: review Irrfan Khan cannot be wrong. He is always right. During the making of Rog Pooja Bhatt had once said that when Irrfan’s in the frame, you can just start the camera and forget about saying ‘cut’. She couldn’t have put it better. Whether it’s Read »

Road, Movie: A review A smart, crisp script makes Road, Movie a welcome change from the usual fare. It’s fresh and thought-provoking, minus the melodrama.

iPod-toting Vishnu (Abhay Deol) is wedged in a hair oil-selling family. All he wants is to escape the reach of Atma Read »

All that glitters... In an interview to ilovekolkata last week, first-time film director Birsa Dasgupta said filmmaking runs in his blood. “My grandfather was sort of a pioneer in documentary filmmaking in India. Since childhood I’ve been seeing the flashbulbs, watching my father... Read »

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?: Review On day one of Chachaji’s (Paresh Rawal) stay at his nephew Puneet’s (Ajay Devgn) plush Goregaon flat, the elderly man puts his legs up on the sofa and farts loudly, much to the horror of everyone present. On day two, he lets out another stinker at the dining... Read »

Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley in 'Teen Patti'

Teen Patti: review Is magic simply another word for mathematics? Is everything and everybody in this world governed by some mathematical theory or the other? Does a simple math equation have the power to change lives? A tale of gambling and greed, deception and death, Teen PattiRead »

Cerebral and kinetic, Abohomaan charms Novelists and poets have used non-linear narrative technique to great effects. Film, an art form that takes a lot of money and labour to crank up, cannot always show the same agility. But among a few good directors who use it to their advantage, Christopher Nolan is foremost.

This is not jus... Read »

My Name Is Khan: A review There’s been much hullabaloo over what Shah Rukh Khan had said about the exclusion of Pakistani players from the IPL 3. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s followers have been up in arms against the Bollywood actor and his My Name Is Khan. The film’s release has... Read »

Poster from 'Rann'- from the official movie website

Rann: a review In Rann, director Ram Gopal Varma attempts to expose how the country’s electronic media is increasingly sacrificing journalistic ethics at the altar of sordid sensationalism, all in a cut-throat bid to stay ahead in the TRP game.

But in an irony of so... Read »

The game is not worth the candle The last time I visited Prosenjit at his Ballygunj residence, I saw him glow in optimism. He spoke at length about his upcoming films. The subject of Clerk came up and he described how he managed to pull off what could be the tightest schedule of his life so... Read »

A poster of 'Veer'. (Picture courtesy: Official website of 'Veer'.)

Veer: A review In his interviews Salman Khan has described his writing debut Veer as a revenge story, an action film and also as a romance. Coming from the son of one half of the greatest Bollywood screenwriter duo (Salim Khan of Salim-Javed) Salman should have known bette... Read »

Bolo Na Tumi Amaar: review The plot: It’s a love story about a pizza delivery boy (Dev) and an aspiring doctor (Koel), spiced up with comic misunderstandings.

Though it all ends on a happy note, the beginning is anything but sweet. For starters, boy and girl bump into each other everywhere — college campus, South City... Read »

Chance Pe Dance: a review Chance Pe Dance is yet another telling audio-visual evidence that Bollywood writers and directors are struggling to keep up with the new kids on the block. Five years, countless reshoots, one heroine replacement, severely re-edited music videos later, direct... Read »

Elementary, my dear Ritchie "... For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation."— Dr. John H. Watson, The Adventure of the Three Garridebs.

The l... Read »

Pyaar Impossible!: A review With just over half an hour left of the 150-minute movie, Uday Chopra, who’s also written the script of the film, finally comes to the point. He dresses up Priyanka Chopra as a geek and challenges her to get the phone number of any of the happening guys in the party Read »

Aamir does a Santa for Hirani True, you can’t possibly make a contraption out of a vacuum cleaner to help a pregnant woman give birth. But then, before Lage Raho Munnabhai, who could have thought that a rose stick can move mountains?

True, whenever Baba Ranchordas (Aamir Khan) open... Read »