I’m an admirer of Sanjay’s passion and rigour, of his operatic sensibility and his commitment to creating epics. He isn’t subtle but he always plays for broke. To steal a line from the poet Robert Browning – Sanjay’s reach always exceeds his grasp. That’s what a heaven’s for. This time he doesn’t quite get there.

I’m an admirer of Sanjay’s passion and rigour, of his operatic sensibility and his commitment to creating epics. He isn’t subtle but he always plays for broke. To steal a line from the poet Robert Browning – Sanjay’s reach always exceeds his grasp. That’s what a heaven’s for. This time he doesn’t quite get there.

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.

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.

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.

There is almost too much plot, and yet it isn’t gripping. Key plot points pop up and then randomly disappear. The climactic sequence has power and poetry, but it feels like too little too late. Bombay Velvet had the potential to be the definitive Mumbai noir. But the centre does not hold.

For me, the final straw was Gabbar’s last speech, in which he exhorts the youth to stand up against corruption and says that his mission was inspired by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. It hit the sweet spot between outrageous and spectacularly dumb.

Hunterrr runs for 141 minutes and feels even longer. That’s just way too much time to spend on the life and emotions of a lech.

Vikramjit strains to create a moody, artistic angst. But it’s impossible to take any of it seriously. The film’s credits read: Ranbir Kapoor in a dynamic role. Even an actor as exciting as him doesn’t possess the dynamism to lift this train-wreck.

Daanish and Amitabh are well-enacted, strong characters. Shamitabh is a lovingly crafted film that doesn’t quite pan out. Which is a shame, because there is much to savour here.