Debutant director Kushal Srivastava is trying to create a twisty suspense thriller – a la M. Night Shyamalan. But the script is riddled with football-size loopholes.

It’s also a rallying cry and an inspiration. Spielberg and writers Liz Hannah and Josh Singer who also wrote Spotlight, make an eloquent argument for a free and fair press and for courageous media company owners who are willing to speak truth to power. In the current scenario, especially in India, this seems almost as much of a fantasy as a Marvel superhero movie. Which is why The Post needs to be seen.

Pink works because the grimness of the material doesn’t weigh on the telling. This isn’t a laboured lecture on women’s rights. Pink is a powerful film that needs to be seen.

I’ ll warn you that at 2 hours and 50 minutes, Sultan is much too long. The music by Vishal and Shekhar is lilting but there are too many song breaks.
But I left the film satiated, like I had eaten too much atarich, many-flavoured feast.

There are a few scenes in which the lunacy hits the mark, but they are painfully infrequent. At one point Sandy, pretending to be wheelchair-bound, lunges at Bakul’s feet, saying: ‘Wheel payna papaji’. I had to laugh. The men – Akshay, Riteish and Abhishek Bachchan – all seem to be having fun and their energy keeps the engine running. But it’s not enough. And did I mention that Chunky Pandey reprises his role as Aakhri Pasta. In one scene, he appears disguised as the paravarik jyotish Akhri Aasta.
It’s very tiring.

Sanjay Mishra’s grief is so palpable that it gets under your skin. Even the actors with smaller roles, like Shweta Tripathi and Pankaj Tripathi, make an impression. But the real find is Vicky Kaushal. He inhabits Deepak completely. When he falls in love, his face lights up. His joy is infectious. Which is why when he weeps, you break down with him. This is the debut of the year. At one point in Masaan, a character points out that there are 28 trains that stop at Varanasi but 68 that don’t.

This is an overblown, old-fashioned, feelgood film. But I recommend that you surrender, and keep a hanky handy.

What doesn’t work so well is the pacing in the first half. The set-up takes too long. A voiceover, amusing at first, starts to grate because it’s over-used. I also wished that the depth in the writing had extended to the characters of Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma. Both are charismatic, capable actors, but their parts are under-written. So be prepared to get restless in the first hour, but once Dil Dhadakne Do gathers momentum, it will force you to care about this frustrating, flawed family.

In any case, how much can actors do, in what is essentially a live-action cartoon? Director Ashish R Mohan is mostly interested in jokes, and all the best ones are in the film’s trailer.

I recommend you watch that instead.

The strong writing is complimented by equally strong performances. Deepak Dobriyal is wonderful as the hapless, permanently rejected Pappi. However, Tanu Weds Manu Returns rests on Kangana’s shoulders and she carries it with her Herculean talent. Parts of the film are over-stretched and clunky — especially the climax. But if you can get past the over-blown drama, this film is a treat. I left the theatre thinking about Kusum. She is so terrific that she overshadows the bumps in the film.