‘Lootera’ looks splendid, and despite the languorous tempo, you’re steadily drawn into a world where it was still feasible to fall in love at first sight. All the pros and cons considered, here’s a commendable labour of love, enhanced by Amit Trivedi’s music score. And once again, the director extracts impressive performances. Barun Chanda as the zamindar is believable. Ranveer Singh, using a subdued manner of dialogue pitch, is kept on a tight leash, leading to a correctly restrained performance. Sonakshi Sinha exudes sincerity and is convincing, especially when she dispenses with make-up and any traces of glamour.

Dhanush, overeager and hyperactive, is appealing when called upon to do scenes of some seriousness and sobriety. But it’s Heer whom the film belongs to. Projecting vulnerability as well as steely resolve, Sonam Kapoor carries out her age graph sensitively and belts out her most mature performance yet. Just for her, go for it.

With all its pluses and minuses, ‘Man of Steel’, is a fairly satisfying entertainer, complete with 3-D gimmickry. And it has sufficient star clout: Russell Crowe as Papa Superman is reliably impressive, delivering the most mundane lines of dialogue with a Shakespearean flourish. Kevin Costner is excellent. Michael Shannon oozes menace as all impactful superfoes should. And the British actor, Henry Cavill, fits the bill with his body-beautiful screen presence.

The heroine of Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, is in fact, two movies for the price of one. And just in case that isn’t sufficient, Ms Madhuri Dixit shows up to perform an item number

Conceptually alas, this globe-trotting enterprise is a non-non, bereft of a substantial storyline, and so excessively dedicated to its producer-cum-heroine showing off a range of casual chic costumes, that it ends up looking like an extended photo-session.

Apart from the all-too-contrived screenplay – really, how much dramatic licence can you grant irrelevant flashbacks? – Nair’s tiresomely tangled film articulates too little and too late.

Just a small recommendation for speed flick buffs: beg, borrow or steal DVDS of Howard Hawks’s Red Line 7000 (1965)and John Frankheimer’s Grand Prix (1965) . The Fast and Furious series pale by comparison to them, despite the new millennium’s technical haberdashery.

‘Bombay Talkies’ is made by four directors who don’t seem to be on speaking terms with each other. Their films don’t hand the baton to the next one. Each one dwells in its own universe, gyrating mostly on the director’s pet peeve.

Indeed, here’s so much plotting and planning going yawn, that you lose track of what’s going on in the cauldron of political ambitions and quickie sex.

Abhishek Kapoor had dealt with a friends-turned-foes quartet in the excellent ‘Rock On!’ Now he’s back to the traditional square three with ‘Kai Po Che,’ which does have its passages of superior cinema – particularly in the shot takings, ethnic chic costumes, sets and locations – but in its entirety, strikes you as shallow and schematic. Thanks to the three fast-rising actors, technical finesse and some engagingly directed vignettes, ‘Kai Po Che’ is a cut above the commonplace. It’s good but with a touch of depth, it could have been wow.