Table No 21 may not be the perfect start to 2013 we were looking for, but it’s a well-paced thriller with some highs and quite a few lows, and it’s never boring.

Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana benefits greatly from Sharma’s presence, Amit Trivedi’s enjoyable score and a funny second half. It’s a light-hearted drama that leaves you with a smile, but in the week of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and Skyfall, LSTCK is at best a good third choice.

Joker isn’t as awful as you expect it to be, falling a few degrees short of entering the ‘So Bad It’s Good’ category, a list which has had two brilliant additions this year.

At under two hours, Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi demands little of you and delivers enough for you to not grudge spending time and money on it. I suggest you watch it for some honest moments and a lovable performance by Boman Irani.

Jism 2, then, has it all – ham, cheese and breasts. If that’s not your idea of entertainment, what is?

Kya Super Kool Hai Hum amuses you intermittently but largely leaves your brains in a tangle, and the mind gasping for breath. In other words, dimaag ki macho deta hai.

Ticking all boxes you expect from a film belonging to the genre, Maximum ends up as a ‘me too’ among many RGV-inspired films in the last few years, even though that may not have been the intention. Sadly, there was potential.

To sum, Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai walks the thin line between mainstream and meaningful cinema, and does so beautifully. The rare, well-deserving Rs100cr film? Who cares! There’s more to cinema than box office records and opening weekend numbers; Shanghai is the perfect example. Watch.

There’s nothing excessive in Kahaani; everything is just right — the pace, the length, the drama. It’s the work of a group of well-intentioned and able technicians who work together in harmony to carve out an unblemished piece of cinema. Namrata Rao’s editing is watertight, while Setu’s cinematography captures Kolkata’s sights and sounds brilliantly.

Director Shakun Batra shows rare deftness for a first-time filmmaker in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (EMAET). It is full of honest, warm moments that – to their credit – work without the manipulation most directors resort to in films belonging to this genre. Instead, Batra relies on sharp dialogue, and some well-etched out characters. I’d go a step further and say that the film is the best you would have seen recently in the two genres it melds together – a romantic comedy and a coming-of-age-drama, something Wake Up Sid just about fell short of.