At one point in Heroine, a character asks: Iss glamour industry mein kaun fraud nahin hota. This film certainly is one.

This is a film made with love, bolstered by wonderfully etched vignettes, Ranbir Kapoor’s stupendous performance and a gorgeous soundtrack by Pritam. And yet, for me, Barfi was a singularly frustrating experience there was so much to like, but the film never became more than the sum of its parts. As long as Basu stays with the love track, the film moves, but then we are sidetracked by suspense, which isn’t all that suspenseful because you can predict exactly who did what. The film insists too hard that we find the magical in the mundane. I wish Barfi! the film was as magical as Barfi the character. See it for him.

Silver Linings Playbook is that rare thing – a romance with genuine chemistry, emotional heft and an edgy sense of humor that finds laughter in the darkest of places. Director David O. Russell creates a layered family drama that offers a real insight into the strain of living with mental illness. And yet, Silver Linings Playbook never becomes heavy or depressing because, as Pat puts it, it’s all about having a shot at the silver lining.

Joker testifies to the power of the star in Bollywood. It is staggeringly inept. I can’t imagine that it was persuasive even as a concept.

Boman’s heart-felt performance lifts the film to some extent. He gives Farhad dignity. You feel for him, even when he’s selling fluorescent green underwear. Clearly Bela has great affection for her characters. I just wish she had given them a better plot to play in.

Ek Tha Tiger is Salman Khan’s best film since Dabangg. But because his last two films were Ready and Bodyguard, the bar is not exactly high. Still, Ek Tha Tiger has more of a story as well as greater coherence and emotion than both those films put together.

Jism 2 should have been way more fun than this. The film is an anti-climactic let-down. We used to have a word in college for experiences like this: I can’t use it here but I think you know what I mean.

Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum becomes a drag within the first twenty minutes and then continues for another two hours or so. Before you are done, you will have to suffer Chunky Pandey in a hideous wig, playing a fake godman named Baba 3G, and Tusshar Kapoor in drag wearing eyeliner, lipstick and a gown with a plunging neckline.

It helps that the material is directed by Homi Adajania, whose first film Being Cyrus was a dark, twisted look at a dysfunctional Parsi family. Adajania keeps it crisp. He reins in the melodrama, until the last half hour when emotions go ballistic and the plot gets needlessly convoluted, and the actors — Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty — bite into their roles. Cocktail is a fun, romantic romp.

The best thing about the film is Abhishek Bachchan, who lets loose without inhibition. He manages to sparkle even in a script that is lazy and determinedly lowbrow, so the alter ego Abbas is an effete dance teacher who wears flowery shirts. The climax has people hanging on the side of a cliff, which immediately took me back to the equally infantile films of Anees Bazmee (No Entry, Welcome), which is never a good sign for any film.