Masaan lovingly drawing you into anguish and ache, and leaves you with conflicting emotions. Watching the film is akin to experiencing a good cry – you aren’t fully rid of the sadness, and there’s a sense of emptiness after. It’s not the happy ending you want. But it’s good enough.

Right from the gimmicky Mardaani national anthem (that has been playing at PVR cinemas) to tasteless scenes of little girls being turned into sex slaves, to the penultimate shot of Mukerji walking away from the action in slow-motion like she was in a Telugu action film remake, the film piggybacks on a social issue without being as sensitive as it wants its characters to be.

Irony dies a painful death when a film against exploitation, does exactly that.

Singham Returns, with its kitsch, hyperbole and melodrama, is a smartly-made film, where the manipulation is apparent, but not always a put-off. Unabashed pulp can be fun too.

Like all Eid releases featuring Khan, Kick too will probably notch-up record numbers due to its haphazard concoction of romance, comedy, action and drama, and the overwhelming domination of the 48-year-old actor, but the film is only marginally better than other awful Khan films in recent times – Jai Ho, Bodyguard, Dabangg 2. The setting seemed ripe for an entertaining no-brainer, but Kick will remain as forgettable as most money-spinners lately. What’s worst: The villain deserved a much better film.

Pizza is big on visual trickery and distressingly casual as far as things like plot and credulity are concerned…

What saves Humpty Sharma is that unlike other formulaic love stories set amid burgeoning families and wedding shenanigans, it spells out its references, and constantly hat-tips iconic Hindi cinema moments from the ’90s. It reminds you that, sometimes, dal chawal is sufficient, and if you are looking for some comfort food this weekend, you probably won’t mind a helping of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. The film took its time to grow on me but by the time Singh looked at Humpty with long-last affection and said “Jee le apni zindagi” (instead of saying it to Kavya), I knew the time spent on the film wasn’t wasted.

The third act seems to have been given step-motherly treatment, the writing team struggling to put together the pieces and dispel the confusion without resorting to shortcuts and convenient plot twists. The finale is a mess – and bizarre – undoing a great deal of expectations the film builds up to that point. You look back, then, and find loopholes every step of the way – never a good feeling to carry with you outside a movie theatre.

It’s a pity Suri can’t find an original enough story to put his craft to good use to. There’s no shame in wanting to remake a film, but plagiarism reflects poorly on a team that has otherwise spared no effort to make a competent film.

Humshakals should set several online forums on fire, with topics ranging from “Is Humshakals Really Worse Than Himmatwala?” to “Saif Ali Khan’s Mid-life Crisis – Desperate For A 100cr Hit” to “Must Sajid Khan Get To Make Films Only He And His Friends Enjoy?”

If you plan to spend money on Humashakals, though, there’s a song created only for you: “Hum paagal nahi hai bhaiyya. Humara dimaag kharaab hai (no translation required).”

Watch Fugly only if you are up for some light reading this weekend.