Deepa Gahlot
Rediff·Scroll.in·Sify
Most Divergent Takes
- Bloody Ishq (2024)2.0 vs TRM 4.3-2.3
- Do Deewane Seher Mein (2026)4.0 vs TRM 5.5-1.5
- OMG 2 (2023)5.0 vs TRM 6.5-1.5
- Prem Keetanu (2026)4.0 vs TRM 5.5-1.5
- Doosra (2026)4.0 vs TRM 5.3-1.3
Heer Sara
2026 · Rediff
Heer Sara needed a lot more fizz, humour, and maybe even some stranger danger. The journey lacks a sense of adventure that would have made it worthwhile for the audience, and the plot remains flat — pleasant enough to be watchable, but not funny or dramatic enough.
Do Deewane Seher Mein
2026 · Rediff
The film uses the romcom template, but hampers itself with a plodding pace, flimsy conflicts and an almost absent sense of humour. Instead it's saddled with the most boring characters in a dull story.
O'Romeo
2026 · Rediff
It's an ordinary plot about a man's obsession, but Vishal Bhardwaj lays it out like a lavish spread, with stylish and very violent action set pieces, effectively used music, and a romance that has moments that are tender as well as bitter. If there is poetry in the emotions, unfortunately, there is also gratuitous violence, that actually takes away from the enjoyment of the action scenes.
Batwara 1947
2026 · Rediff
Coming so soon after Main Vaapas Aaunga, also a Partition era tale with a message of compassion, the flaws in Batwara 1947 are even more grating. The film is set mostly in and around one mohalla in Lahore, which worked for a stage play but on screen, it looks oddly stilted, as if the cataclysm of Partition is happening on another continent.
Max, Min and Meowzaki
2026 · Rediff
The Eric Rohmer-ish film, with its engaging tête-à-têtes and gentle humour, is not something Bollywood audiences are used to in their cinema that thrives on melodrama and noise. Still, it captures a slice of city life that has made space for cat lovers, movie buffs and Carnatic rockers!
The Sheep Detectives
2026 · Rediff
The Sheep Detectives is delightful and wholesome in the way family movies used to be before kids started getting too smart to be easily pleased. The voice cast is so wonderful that the scenes with the sheep are far more entertaining than the ones with humans.
Tu Hai Meri Kiran
2026 · Rediff
With minimal use of CGI, which today's films lean on far too much, Rawal spins a dark and enjoyable tale of the dangerous obsession of a man who believes he has been dealt an unfair hand in life. It does look at times as if the film is going off the rails, but Rawal brings it to a satisfying close, which is believable even in a fanciful set up.
Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos
2026 · Rediff
Happy Patel is not supposed to make sense, and doesn't even pretend to. But most of the time, it is trying too hard -- which ruins any comedy -- and the jokes fall flat. With his screen presence and enviable comic talent, Vir Das deserves a better film.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
2026 · Rediff
As bombs fall and fascists rise in Britain, it is left to an over-the-hill thug to save his country from Nazi-engineered ruin. The thin plot is not what holds the film together, it is the characters who make up the emotional spine of the story.
Border 2
2026 · Rediff
Because it treats soldiers as human, and concentrates on their emotions as much as their bravery, Border 2, probably without meaning to, speaks out against war. The film is overlong and overdramatic but still watchable, with Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh and Mona Singh standing out amidst the crowd of actors, their sincerity adding to the elements that makes the film watchable.
Mercy
2026 · Rediff
The blandness of the script and the just about passable performances make Mercy a wearying watch, particularly since the complexities of euthanasia are not adequately explored.
Toy Story 5
2026 · Rediff
Toy Story 5 delivers a timely and visually stunning narrative that gently but firmly advocates for protecting children's imagination from the pervasive influence of digital devices. The film is an absolute visual marvel, and makes a strong case for finding ways of letting kids be kids and not tech-absorbed zombies.
De De Pyaar De 2
2025 · Rediff
The film is a fun watch, and it's been a while since Hindi cinema had a zany, well-written comedy. The sharp banter between the characters is what gives the film its humour, and while it stays that way, there's a chuckle a minute.
Haq
2025 · Rediff
Made at a time when an insidious agenda can be read into it, Haq is an important film that deals with a contentious subject with maturity. Yami Gautam has played the challenging role with ease, never letting the dignity of Shazia slip, even when she is at the end of her tether. Hopefully, Haq will ignite some discussions as to how social attitudes might be changed.
Superboys of Malegaon
2025 · Rediff
Superboys of Malegaon is a delight to watch. The ensemble of new and known actors perform with such abandon that even the ridiculous scenes that they shoot are a delight to watch.
Maalik
2025 · Rediff
Maalik is just unpleasant, not even slightly engaging. A film with relentless violence cannot be entertaining, but Maalik is just unpleasant, not even slightly engaging. There is nothing in Maalik that has not been seen in films before, and Pulkit has just turned his protagonist into a despicable monster.
Dhurandhar
2025 · Rediff
Dhurandhar may not have the dark realism of a spy story which a Web show can manage. But it does not have the flamboyance either, that has come to be associated with espionage movies. What it does have is excessive violence and a bunch of characters that one can neither like nor hate.
Jolly LLB 3
2025 · Rediff
The three lead actors, Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi and Saurabh Shukla, are in top form. Jolly LLB 3 does shift gears from humour to violence to courtroom rhetoric, so the right questions are highlighted.
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari
2025 · Rediff
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari is one of those mindless fluff kind of date movies, where there is no real conflict, lots of singing and dancing in fancy outfits. For its flimsy plot, which the title gives way, it's much too long.
Wild Wild Punjab
2024 · Rediff
This is the kind of film to watch with friends and maybe a six-pack. It has some risqué bits but nothing so vulgar that the pause button would need to be hit if Mummyji walks into the room.
Sector 36
2024 · Rediff
Sector 36 goes for gruesomeness and shock; watching it needs a tough heart or a quick averting of the eyes. As just another crime thriller, Sector 36 is well made. But this was not an ordinary crime, and the film needed much more than just a police procedural.
OMG 2
2023 · Rediff
The film is like an argument for the sake of argument. Some of the points are intelligently presented, and there are bursts of genuine humour, but the film that is otherwise a lot of verbiage, without saying much.
Adipurush
2023 · Rediff
Cherry blossoms in Sri Lanka, Hanuman speaking Bombaiya, the mythical Sone Ki Lanka looking darkly Gothic, Raavan looking like a Bollywood dude... this is not modernisation. This is a travesty. The Ramayan is a part of our cultural DNA. It needed faith and humility for a film-maker to present it to a Gen Z audience, not the arrogance of a big budget spectacle and computer imagery.
Pyre
2026 · Rediff · Oct 2026
Pyre is a sad, fatalistic, slow-moving film, but with memorable moments that linger in the mind. The story is simple but also hauntingly melancholic, stopping much short of the shrieking melodrama so many films about aging resort to.
Doosra
2026 · Rediff · Oct 2026
The idea sounds more exciting than the film because it is a stretch juxtaposing Tara's life with the Indian cricket team's winning streak under Ganguly's captaincy in 2001. Together, they fall into neither fish nor fowl territory.
Prem Keetanu
2026 · Rediff · Oct 2026
Prem Keetanu feels outdated for its 'boys will be boys' narrative and muddled messaging, failing to deliver a compelling modern romance. Far from being a sweet, youthful romance, Prem Keetanu is a mess of mangled messaging, and the film just cannot make up its mind what it wants to say.
Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2
2025 · Scroll.in · Dec 2025
Unfortunately, the film is dated and ludicrous. There is a modicum of satire, like a spark in the gloom. The actors, particularly Kapil Sharma, Manjot Singh and Vipin Sharma, have superb comic timing, but the overall execution falls short of redemption.
Homebound
2025 · Rediff · Sep 2025
The film is deeply moving and the director's view of social reality is profoundly compassionate. Homebound is shot without any fake embellishment, with an unflinching camera showing the ugliness of the spaces the underprivileged are forced to inhabit, and the performances by Khatter and Jethwa are wonderfully empathetic.
Sitaare Zameen Par
2025 · Scroll.in · Jun 2025
The film is well-intentioned, often heart-warming, but also simplistic. While the film's message of inclusivity is undoubtedly noble, the actual challenges of having a specially abled child are ignored to create moments of slapstick comedy.
Singham Again
2024 · Rediff · Nov 2024
Singham Again is action heavy, so its appeal is limited to fans of the genre, unlike his other films that had the buoyancy and sense of fun that worked even with children. Arjun Kapoor does not look menacing, no matter how much is written for him.
Bloody Ishq
2024 · Rediff · Jul 2024
Bloody Ishq comes off looking even more shoddy and ill-conceived when there is so much superior content to entertain the horror buff. The horror universe in Hindi cinema has moved on but Vikram Bhatt is still stuck with outdated plots of haunted mansions and women trapped with evil spirits.
12th Fail
2023 · Rediff · Oct 2023
If Vikrant Massey does not win a National Award for this film, it will be unjust to an actor who has given a performance of such unalloyed brilliance. 12th Fail ticks all the boxes of the underdog-to-victor story and still gives it heart-wrenching emotional force.
Dhoom 2
2006 · Sify · Nov 2015
Dhoom 2 is sheer, unapologetic entertainment, and a lot of effort has gone into making a crowd-pleaser, but the easy humour and effervescence of Dhoom could not be replicated. Since so much of the directorial and technical input has gone into the action and dance numbers, you don't really get close to any of the characters. A little less ostentation and a little more attention to plot and characterisation, would have made a world of difference