Summing up, given its premise, the film had the potential to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller, if only the writing and execution could have been better.

The movie has flashes of promise but just as many, if not more, moments of amateur execution. There’s also a special track called Ali Ali, featuring Akshay Kumar. Thankfully, it plays during the end credits and doesn’t really add to plentiful woes of the film.

The Tashkent Files makes some shocking claims about India’s political history, dynasty politics and the citizen’s right to know the truth. All its sensational content is relevant and important social issues are highlighted, too. But, the storytelling effort is half-baked and lacks the finesse that such a heavy-duty film requires. It also doesn’t help that the final slide of the movie tells the audience that the authenticity of all the facts displayed in the film cannot be verified.

The problem with Thugs Of Hindostan is that it’s too long by modern standards. What could have been a crisp adventure drags on and on. We all like swashbucklers and despite the Pirates Of The Caribbean overtones, it could yet have been an engrossing film if it was edited properly.

Apart from the stray funny moments and consistently good visuals (thanks to decent CGI efforts), ‘TOH’ doesn’t really have the punch or the thrill that is required to pull off a film of this scale. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, the film feels a little too long and that’s down to the problematic editing. The grand canvas of the film does hold sway in terms of the visual experience, but at the end, this one is all show and no substance. With the mammoth expectations attached to this movie, the end experience just leaves you all at sea.

‘Namaste England’ is shot in some beautiful locations across India and Europe, but the exotic setting is let down by the predictable and uninspired writing.

‘Namaste England’ is shot in some beautiful locations across India and Europe, but the exotic setting is let down by the predictable and uninspired writing.

‘SMJ’ desperately tries very hard to sell the age-old idea of revenge and righteousness. But the big booming treatment is a little too hard to accept and digest. With John in the film, one can expect good action, but it’s gruesome and a little too bloody at times. Truth be told, the story is relevant in today’s times, but too many cliches in the story and the style of storytelling will make you want to cop out of this one.

Vishwaroop 2 is a classic example of overkill. This multi-lingual film has been shot in both Hindi and Tamil. And despite having some genuinely good moments, the film tries to put forth a little too much, a little too quickly.

Race 3 just does not work up the feeling of suspense and intrigue that made the previous masala movies from the franchise a guilty pleasure. This film has a lot of visual appeal but the all style and no substance approach makes this 2 hours 40 minutes film a real drag.