NowRunning, DNA India
Reviewing since 2012 · Last review Apr 2019
Films
Scoring fingerprint
169 scored reviews · 0–10
Most given: 4 (46 reviews)
In step with the room
Within a point of the Monk Score on 38% of 167 films
Closest peer
Agrees with Manisha on 93% of 23 shared films
Divergence
From the archive
A bank cashier is recruited to spy for India, with several reasons to double cross. What could have been an action packed drama seems to be caught in a quagmire of stereotypes and predictability. It is so slow it fails to hold your attention despite a good premise.
Full review ↗TRM 4.6−0.6
All in all, the film is well adapted, but does feel like the plot is too convoluted, and it goes on and on, even though it lasts only for two hours.
Full review ↗TRM 6.3−1.3
A brilliant film after a long time, and you take Ranveer Singh back into your heart as you think, 'Apna time aayega' (my time will come!).
Full review ↗TRM 7.3−0.3
The film is shabbily made even though they get lots of cast to look like people in real life, and skims the events in Dr, Singh's work life. Is this a propaganda film?
Full review ↗TRM 3.9+0.1
It's shot well, and despite being a patriotic revenge drama it remains soulless.
Full review ↗TRM 6.0−2.0
A street smart orphan realises that the corrupt cops have money and power, so he grows up to become one. Ranveer Singh crackles in the title role of Simmba and wins us over in this simple tale of bad cop turning into gold. Eminently watchable!
Full review ↗TRM 5.7+0.3
A Hindu-Muslim romance set in the temple town of Kedarnath, at the time of the deadly cloudburst that wiped out thousands of people. The film launches Sara Ali Khan and she has infinite possibilities although the film doesn't.
Full review ↗TRM 4.9−0.9
There's a tale of Chander town of a 'chudail' (witch) called 'Stree' (woman) who shows up during the four days of the local temple festival and preys on men, taking them and leaving only their clothes behind. A young lad Vicky who's the local tailor and his two friends get embroiled in the witchy tale and begin suspecting a beautiful visitor who shows up only during the festival. Small town rumors and witty one liners make this horror tale funny, but you come away with a niggling dissatisfaction
Full review ↗TRM 6.3−1.3
The locations are beautiful and the idea of finding oneself after a parent dies is good too. But the stink from the dead body permeated the film. You will enjoy it should you leave your brains (and your olfactory senses) behind!
Full review ↗TRM 5.8−1.8
Let's get one thing straight: This is a work of fiction masquerading as a biopic. And Rajkumar Hirani may have violins standing by to manipulate emotions, and he has Ranbir Kapoor mimicking Sanjay Dutt's mannerisms, but the movie remains a vanilla version of a life full of violence induced by drugs, guns, bad company and women.
Full review ↗TRM 6.9−2.9
This movie about guns and baddies is so slow you could answer all your pending emails and the story would not have moved an inch. A local politician and a local baddie rule a small town with guns. The politician lusts after the wife of a local chap. The machinations to kidnap her are so pathetic and the posturing with guns is so ridiculous, you want to fast forward the whole thing and be done with lust and guns and whatever...
Full review ↗TRM 3.3−1.3
A young man dedicated to righting the wrongs of the world around him stumbles into something sinister and way beyond his masked paperbag avatar of 'Insaaf TV' on social media. Bhavesh Joshi tries to handle the big bad world of baddies and is outnumbered. His one time friend then takes on the role of the vigilante Bhavesh Joshi and tries to undo the wrongs.
Full review ↗TRM 4.8+0.2
Four friends come together as grown ups when one of them, Kalindi, decides to get married. The couple thinks it will be a small, intimate do, but it turns out to be a great Indian over the top shindig. The friends find their troubles magnified under the glitter and after lots of boozy nights and days discover how love triumphs all. You want to facepalm several times but it's all frothy and bubbly as Champagne...
Full review ↗TRM 5.6−0.6
Based on a wonderful story 'Kabuliwala' by Rabindranath Tagore, this story turns a dry-fruit vendor into a Bioscopewala, and Minnie and her dad into this modern dysfunctional family. It is not just a stretch but the whole film is about Minnie rediscovering 'facts' that everyone and their popcorn in the audience has already guessed. You want to slap Minnie many times, but Danny as Bioscopewala wins your hearts...
Full review ↗TRM 5.7−2.7
With American satellites keeping a constant eye on Pokhran, India's Nuclear site for years (India had conducted the first 'peaceful' nuclear explosion in 1974), there was no way they world was going to allow India to join the nuclear nations. So a civil services officer created a team and helped conduct not one, but three underground nuclear explosions successfully, one of the most successful covert operations in the world. The idea is great, but it takes too long to build the story.
Full review ↗TRM 5.2−1.2
A lovely story about love, duty, everyday life set in Benaras. A grouchy, crotchety man who does his duty by his wife and daughter announces that he has arranged for his daughter to be married off. The daughter rebels and questions her dad: do you even know what is love? How the question is answered is this lovely tale of heartache and love and new beginnings.
Full review ↗TRM 5.7+1.3
A copy of the Marathi film Ventilator, Khajoor Pe Atke exaggerates in every possible way bringing down what could have been a wonderful situational dark comedy to something unsavory. A brother is about to die, and the family gathers around to 'be there'. Each person has his or her own motives for being there. Alas, instead of letting the audience decide when to chuckle and when to fall off the chair laughing, the loud comic sounds and the constant overacting puts you off.
Full review ↗TRM 4.4−2.4
Everything old is eventually replaced by something new, and it's best to adapt. Whether it is an ancient photocopier or a big old house. This is a lesson that this small feel-good family film that has the heart in its right place brings on the big screen. They try really hard and even though little scenes from the film are good, the film drags on and on and you wish it should have been made for TV movie instead.
Full review ↗TRM 5.1−0.1
How do you make a patriotic film without any bombastic dialog and still manage to move the most cynical filmgoer to tears? Raazi is one of the finest films to come out of Bollywood. It is the story about a young Kashmiri girl who marries into a Pakistani general's family and in her own way and at great danger to her life spies for India and practically saves the day during the war between Pakistan and India in 1971. It is a tale well told and brilliantly acted. Must watch!
Full review ↗TRM 7.1+1.9
The word 'Omerta' means a code of silence that members of crime groups adopt when caught by the law. This film shows us how Omar was happy to kill in the name of religion. The staccato storytelling style and the constant shift between past and present is distracting at best. Unfortunately there is no emotional takeaway from the story, so you watch the stabbings and the kidnappings wondering 'what was that?'
Full review ↗TRM 6.1−2.1
A man who is 102 years old and full of life teaches a lesson or two or three for his grouchy 75 year old son. Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor make this father and son melodrama a good watch simply because they deliver. But if you step away from the casting coup, the loud violins that accompany the moralising and the mawkish sentimentality could put you off. Should have been a Sunday afternoon theatrical production, with a family hug afterwards...
Full review ↗TRM 6.2−1.2
Is it a comedy? Is it horror? Is it social drama? Is it funny? Is it a weird love story? No one quite knows and when everything is piled on so thick, you begin to wonder as audience if you have lost your capacity to care. The background music is ideal for saturday morning cartoons and is so loud you want to order ear plugs. At 132.47 minutes, you idly wonder if they would be easily delivered before you would turn permanently deaf.
Full review ↗TRM 3.4−1.4
Majid Majidi comes to India and falls for the poverty is beautiful trap. After that, he simply rolls from one cliche to another and another until you just shake your head in despair. Ishan Khattar who makes his debut shows flashes of talent and is let down by a 70s style poverty porn. And the other star of the film is the city itself. But that just isn't enough to make you want to spend multiplex money.
Full review ↗TRM 5.9−1.9
Four lads and a girl are at a school reunion and are happily partying when they accidentally run over someone. They find themselves trapped in an old abandoned factory at the mercy of a madman. The terror is doubled because the protagonists are speech and hearing impaired. It's an interesting experiment but the loud background music fails many, many times. As does the overacting.
Full review ↗TRM 4.9−0.9
Shoojit Sircar has managed to turn a singing, dancing, goofball called Varun Dhawan and shown us that the lad can get the audience to cry and laugh and be on his side. October is an unlikely film for Bollywood so used to boy meets girl and falls in love narrative, that a story about human empathy is rare. The film falters because it takes it own time and feels like it is stuck in a loop, but if you are patient, the reward is wonderful.
Full review ↗TRM 6.9−0.9
Sushant Dubey and Aparna Dubey check into a Mauritian resort late night with their very unwell daughter Titli. By the morning, the child is missing. Everything literally begins to unravel as you watch cringeworthy hamming from greats like Tabu and Manoj Bajpayee. To add to the mess Annu Kapoor shows up as a cop overacting as always. It's been touted as a 'murder-mystery', because they murdered cinema and it will be a mystery why these good actors chose to 'act' in this film.
Full review ↗TRM 3.6−2.6
A toilet paper salesman attempts to infuse some life into his marriage and comes home early to find his wife in bed with another man. Instead of confronting them, he chooses to blackmail them. This sets off a series of what ifs and what then scenes that seem super chaotic and funny, but nothing makes you really care. If Irrfan Khan weren't as talented as he is, this film would have fallen apart within fifteen minutes.
Full review ↗TRM 5.7−1.7
Hollywood gave us Rambo and his ilk in the late 80s. Bollywood seems to be still stuck there. Baaghi 2 is pure homage to these bad action flicks. It's full of corny manufactured situations and characters, and dialog that make you choke on the cheese nachos. So bad, it's good.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7−0.7
An honest Income Tax officer leads a team in a raid to find hidden assets of a local heavy, a political leader, at his bungalow called 'White House'. The dialog is tight, the good guys are as smart as the bad guys are clever, the danger seems real and it's money well spent when you watch this film. If only the thrill of watching money tumbling out of walls was not marred by silly songs and a whiny wife.
Full review ↗TRM 6.1−1.1
The fourth in the 'Hate' franchise, this film like its other tales has lingerie, shaved manly chests, moans and suggestive hip thrusts, whiny song or two, high heels, pancake makeup, bearded men who snarl at each other, murders too and foreign locations... The acting is so poor your nerves will be jangled. Supposedly erotic, the on screen kisses will put you off kissing for ever.
Full review ↗TRM 3.2−0.2
If you manage to stay awake during the first half, which is wasted entirely in establishing the 'quirky-ness' of the characters, then you'll wonder if the second half is from another script altogether. But not even Taapsee Pannu's little chirpy gal turned corporate act nor Saqib Saleem's daft selfish lad in love act can save this film. When the two fall into the Thames (or is it the sea?), you wish they will never be rescued...
Full review ↗TRM 3.5−2.5
3 Storeys are three stories about people who live in a Mumbai Chawl (old fashioned project housing). It's almost refreshing and yet not really. Someone from the ensemble cast overdoes it. It's almost good, and then it isn't because you've read the story somewhere. It's an idea that's not new and yet, a decent effort. Would have been smarter move to put it straight to Netflix or Amazon.
Full review ↗TRM 5.3−1.3
The hallmark of a good scary movie is that the scares come at you from all sides, fast and furious and do not allow you to breathe. This movie is slow to create the scary world, and even though you enjoy it, it takes too long to actually make you gasp for air. But what an awesome beginning for Anushka Sharma and Parambrata Chatterjee.
Full review ↗TRM 5.4−0.4
'Bromance or Romance' is the underlying premise of the battle of the sexes film. Although it feels misogynistic to paint women the way they have in the film, it is so delightful and frothy and fun, you come away smiling. Are all girlfriends needy or plain manipulative? Will Sonu save his best friend Titu from his girl? What is true love? Do Punjabis drink and wed? The film is a tad too long, but has enough to make you finish gigantic popcorn tubs.
Full review ↗TRM 5.2+0.8
The movie itself is terribly made. It uses footage from the IIFA awards, showing how stars arrive and are seated and are cheering for something that's happening on stage. It's so terribly inserted, even lay people in the audience can see clearly that it is not shot for the film. And if IIFA paid money to promote their brand, the audience will prove that content, not footage is king. Am sure Karan Johar's cell phone has smarter and more interesting video footage than this awful, awful film.
Full review ↗TRM 2.8−1.8
The story of a beautiful, faithful queen and a lustful invader who will stop at nothing is told in three very long hours. The costume drama is beautiful and Rajasthan is a great setting for this tale of Rajput valor. But the talk of pride and glory is so endless, it makes you want to run into your sword out of sheer boredom. But Ranveer Singh makes a brilliant hammy villain, and Deepika is luminous.
Full review ↗TRM 6.2−1.2
Is it is guilt for the one sexual encounter that keeps Rajeev Kaul awake or has he really killed the girl? The film is a psychological thriller which is rather interesting, but feels dragged despite its short running time of 95 minutes. Sanjay Suri looks traumatised enough as Rajeev Kaul but is that enough? This film has a decent supporting cast but needed a huge pay-off at the end. So much thrill for so little an end...
Full review ↗TRM 4.6−0.6
If you think a story like Delhi Belly could be replicated or something 'as cool' could be made, Kaalakaandi will disappoint you. Three random stories in one night in one terribly pretentious film that tries too hard. Fails.
Full review ↗TRM 4.8−2.8
Based on a true story of a hotheaded pugilist who wants to prove he is better than everyone else in the ring, Mukkabaaz puts its fist in many pies: boxing, romance, caste wars, defiance and revenge. Anurag Kashyap brings alive small town Uttar Pradesh brilliantly. But the fist through so many pies laced with too many songs becomes a feast too difficult to digest.
Full review ↗TRM 6.9−1.9
There are period films and there are films that periodically make you wonder why this genre is not relegated to history. Kapil Sharma attempts to replace cricket with comedy to a story that Lagaan brought to the screen, and fails miserably. If you manage to stay awake through the romance, perhaps you deserve a medal...
Full review ↗TRM 4.1−3.1
You step out of the theatre laden with cheese and corn: there's flag waving patriotism, there's good vs evil, there's his girl kicking ass, there's dialog, there's biceps and six pack abs, there's the gigantic gun, there's comic relief, there's also American drone strikes. Salman Khan fans will love the action-packed corny cheese fest that makes for a decent if predictable watch.
Full review ↗TRM 6.2−1.2
The trouble with sequels is that they need to take the story forward or put the protagonists in a new setting. Fukrey, the original mayhem was fun because the protagonists were losers and yet they had a knack of getting out of trouble. This film alas has none of the original humor, the jokes seem forced and out of really bad whatsapp forwards, the characters have no redeeming qualities and despite a bigger budget the story seems forced.
Full review ↗TRM 4.8−2.8
Sulochana likes to compete, and she wins at most things. Whether it is a Pressure Cooker for a Radio Call In show or a spoon and lemon race at her son's school. She takes a chance and becomes an RJ too. Her sexy late night call-in job alarms her rather middle class family and you'll love her dexterity in handling them all. Delightful watch.
Full review ↗TRM 6.6−0.6
Films based in small Northern towns that deal with dowry and squashed ambitions of daughters are a trope done to death. Along comes another with Rajkummar Rao as hero. Just because he's had a spate of successes, does not mean he will carry this shaadi ka dead horse alone on his shoulders. Everybody tries hard, but the melodramatic treatment makes this film a terrible watch
Full review ↗TRM 5.0−2.0
This film is Qarib Qarib Perfect. The resolve of the tensions between Irrfan and Parvathy is sweet, and you are convinced love is in the air even as you emerge from the theatre.
Full review ↗TRM 6.00.0
If the lead actors: Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha weren't so passionless in trying hard to be mysterious, this film could have been less painful to watch.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5−1.5
The super slowness of the film kills any interest you may have in the unraveling of the plot given away ten minutes into the film.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5−2.5
One Jia wants to die and the other is dying and before you come to the 'Babumoshai' moment you loved in Anand (Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan), you have plotted their demise several times over.
Full review ↗TRM 2.9+0.1
Golmaal Again becomes funny in the second half and some ghostly goings-on make you laugh. But overall it's loud and lurid and you come away with a headache.
Full review ↗TRM 5.2−0.2
How a little girl with big dreams becomes a burka-wearing YouTube sensation is the story of the film. But the cliches drown what could be fun and frothy into sentimental molasses.
Full review ↗TRM 6.8−1.8
A remake of Jon Favreau's film by the same name, this film is more of a kitchen disaster than a chef's signature dish. Unappetising!
Full review ↗TRM 5.7−3.7
Judwaa 2 is louder and bigger and bolder and Varun Dhawan may not be Salman Khan, but he holds his own, both as Prem and Raja. Fun watch for the younger generation.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7−0.7
This version of avenge-your-daughter's-rape film is so gory and violent, you wonder if they're all living in some time warp. Who makes such films? And why should we watch such blood and gore?
Full review ↗TRM 4.0−1.0
It's brave of a really young actor Shraddha Kapoor to want to play Marlon Brando in The Godfather. And full marks for effort. But Haseena Parkar is a poorly researched film, which just makes you laugh at the end of it all.
Full review ↗TRM 3.6−0.6
A stickler for rules, Newton Kumar' stubbornness and reality clash beautifully in this wonderfully written film.
Full review ↗TRM 7.3+0.7
Based loosely on the story of the Bombshell Bandit - Punjabi girl Sandeep Kaur, Simran could either be a great comic caper or a tragic story of greed gone wrong. It's neither.
Full review ↗TRM 5.4−2.4
The story of great escape of five prisoners from Lucknow Central jail is a decent watch because of the supporting cast.
Full review ↗TRM 5.3−1.3
The biopic of the reluctant gangster Arun Gulab Gawli is brilliantly shot, the film gives us a great insight into the gangs that ruled Bombay during the seventies and eighties. A decent watch.
Full review ↗TRM 5.1+0.9
A remake of the Marathi film with the same name (it's 'Poshter Boys'), this comedy of errors gets really funny in places, and sags in others. It makes for a one-time watch.
Full review ↗TRM 5.2−1.2
A remake of the very successful Tamil film Kalyana Samayal Saadham, this Bollywood film is a one trick pony that is carried for two hours by a fine ensemble of supporting cast and some funny writing.
Full review ↗TRM 6.0−2.0
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz has a fine story, but is executed with so much sleaze that you just come away wondering why a fine actor like Nawazuddin Siddiqui needs to stoop so low.
Full review ↗TRM 4.8−2.8
Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari beautifully captures the small town flavour in Bareilly Ki Barfi but the problem with this film, is that the hero fails to endear us to him. We have no logical reason to want to root for him.
Full review ↗TRM 6.0−1.0
Toilet - Ek Premium Katha is a propaganda film, which attempts to tackle a serious issue of hygiene and open defecation but fails to make an impact.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5−1.5
The plot of Jab Harry Met Sejal is just like the ring, the protagonists are searching for - lost. And not even Shah Rukh Khan can save this pointless jaunt through Europe.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7−1.7
Set during the emergency, a dark period in recent Indian politics, this is the story of an orphan who has a speech impediment. The film wanders directionless, starting out as a propaganda film showing the Congress as evil, then not knowing where to take the rebellion. Pointless exercise.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7−1.7
Mubarakan is so loud, you need ear muffs but quite funny because there is a natural chemistry between the actors Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah and Pavan Malhotra. The heroines serve to add lots of color and mix ups. It's Punjabis running amok in India and London.
Full review ↗TRM 5.6+0.4
Munna Michael is all fun and dance but falls into the predictable zone. Tiger Shroff is getting better with every film, but he does not need a dramatic pause in that one signature dialogue he gets to say in every movie.
Full review ↗TRM 3.8+0.2
In a patriarchal society four secretly rebellious women find slices of happiness even though their rights are trampled casually. The film serves reality with a dash of humor.
Full review ↗TRM 6.8+0.2
Jagga Jasoos is too long, but great fun watch. Ranbir has great comic timing, and Katrina - even though she looks exhausted most of the times - makes for a great sidekick.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5+0.5
Guest Iin London is supposed to be a comedy, but laden with offensive jokes, Paresh Rawal's farts and poorly scripted characters, the film is painful to watch.
Full review ↗TRM 3.2−1.2
MOM is a terribly long-drawn out film and even though horrendously cliched and predictable, but worth a watch for Sridevi, who is simply stupendous.
Full review ↗TRM 6.4−1.4
Salman Khan magic fails in this flat, linear remake of the 2015 Hollywood film Little Boy.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7−2.7
If the one line of premise had not been stretched so long and stayed focussed on comedy, this film could have been a hoot. But unfortunately it isn't.
Full review ↗TRM 3.7−1.7
Raabta is a brainless, pointless romance with pretenses of rebirth, set in a foreign country. Utterly devoid of chemistry, the lead pair talks inanities until you fall asleep.
Full review ↗TRM 4.1−2.1
They call it a film but it is a documentary of Sachin Tendulkar's life, with all kinds of videos of his personal life, footage of cricket matches, interviews with people connected to the sport and finally Sachin talking to the camera explaining what his life has been. Meant only for fans. For the others, it's just a never-ending tribute to a fine sportsman.
Full review ↗TRM 7.1−2.1
Through this half baked attempt at romance, social service, drunkenness you realise that Half Girlfriend is an asinine attempt at movie making, the heroine would rather have cancer than be his girlfriend! There's no reason at all why you should go see this film.
Full review ↗TRM 4.0−2.0
Hindi Medium starts out on a right note but the need to teach you a lesson is pushed and pushed in your face until you are weary. But Irrfan Khan and Saba Qamar in 'branded' clothes and blingy accessories will make you smile.
Full review ↗TRM 6.5−2.5
Meri Pyaari Bindu is just about okay. If you wish to escape the summer heat outside or are seeking help in falling asleep, this film is a great option. However, you'll come away loving Parineeti Chopra's performance.
Full review ↗TRM 4.9−0.9
Sarkar 3 fails on many levels. The film is crammed to the gills with characters and motives that go nowhere. Amitabh Bachchan is earnest but even he cannot prevent the poorly scripted and horribly hammed work from turning into a train wreck. |
Full review ↗TRM 4.0−1.0
...gives you the complete joy of watching an epic fantasy film. Watch it on the biggest screen near you. And yes, why Katappa kills Bahubali, the secret is revealed.
Full review ↗TRM 7.1−1.1
Maatr is a predictable revenge story that completely ignores the trauma and social stigma that is usually attached to rape victims regardless of their social class. The subject is handled so ham-handedly, you cringe at the mistakes and wish they'd stop making rape an easy subject.
Full review ↗TRM 4.3−2.3
Despite an earnest performance by Sonakshi Sinha Noor fails to make an impact. The movie is so poorly researched it gives journalist a bad name.
Full review ↗TRM 5.1−2.1
Begum Jaan chronicles the life inside a whorehouse set in the middle of the India-Pakistan border. Unfortunately, Vidya Balan who plays the title role cannot save the hopelessly predictable plot. The film is such a terrible, bloated and tastelessly overdone copy of the Shabana Azmi starrer Mandi (1983).
Full review ↗TRM 5.0−1.0
'Mukti Bhawan' is brilliant, funny, life affirming tale about death, which is supported by a superb script and a flawless cast. Watch it!
Full review ↗TRM 7.1−0.1
Poorna is the story of Poorna Malavath, who at 13 years became the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest. Although the story is inspiring, the telling of the tale is tedious.
Full review ↗TRM 6.4−2.4
Naam Shabana is a spinoff backstory of one of the characters from the successful film 'Baby,' the story is a tad too obvious, but the action sequences redeem the film.
Full review ↗TRM 4.9+0.1
The film has flashes of brilliance, but the tedious sequences go on for so long you think you have aged when you emerge out into the sunshine.
Full review ↗TRM 5.0−1.0
Trapped is a typical festival film, which has its moments but is tiresome to watch and makes you wonder if it would have been better as a short film.
Full review ↗TRM 6.5−2.5
Badrinath is stud of Jhansi helping his dad recover loans. He falls in love with Vaidehi Trivedi who is smart and ambitious. The duo are in love, but in a patriarchal set up, will their love survive?
Full review ↗TRM 5.7+0.3
There are reluctant bodyguards, sacrificing soldiers, national anthem being sung, atrocities on common folk, and a bridge on the river Kwai that should have been blown up by at least one warring side. The movie is so long you are too tired to call it names when it is over.
Full review ↗TRM 6.0−2.0
Ram Bharose from Patna works for a clothing store in Amritsar and is in love with the boss' daughter Nimmi. Insulted at her birthday party, he quits and begins a startup with his geeky Sardar friend 'Running Shaadi' for runaway couples. Everything works fine until Nimmi decides she want to run away. With Ram Bharose. The supporting cast is stellar, the situations and dialogue are funny, but the lead cast is pathetic. And that makes you wish the film weren't that long.
Full review ↗TRM 4.8+0.2
It's a fictionalized account of a brave unsung Indian submarine that downs the Pakistani super submarine that has better capabilities and a supposed most decorated Captain. Shoddily made, with terrible special effects and worse physics, you will be bombarded with melodrama and patriotism that will make you upchuck. Completely avoidable.
Full review ↗TRM 5.8−1.8
In Jolly LLB 2, Akshay Kumar subdues his muscle power and makes for a good dramatic turn as the lawyer on a right path. The comedy lies in the local language and the conversation between Annu Kapoor (the crooked prosecutor) and Saurabh Shukla (the judge). Worth a watch!
Full review ↗TRM 6.2−0.2
A blind couple is terrorised by local goons: the wife is raped and the cops are unhelpful because the perpetrator is the brother of a local politician. The young blind man decides to take the law into his own hands. No one takes him seriously because of his disability. But he takes his revenge slowly and surely and the police are unable to pin the murders of the rapists on him. This revenge drama is perhaps Hrithik Roshan's best work, but hampered by a deathly slow pace.
Full review ↗TRM 5.9−0.9
A dogged cop wants to catch and disable Raees' operations, but Raees outsmarts him every single time, until in a 70's style end with guns and alcohol and politics... It's a welcome turn for Shah Rukh into an action hero and a great platform for the ever cool Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Full review ↗TRM 5.8+0.2
In a small town, when a young girl battling hormones battles loneliness and finds it easy to seduce a local teacher, who thinks nothing of but his own pleasure, there is chaos in the lives of a young lad (and his friend) who stalk her constantly. This is such fearlessly new storytelling, it takes getting used to. But it's a story that needs to be told.
Full review ↗TRM 5.9+0.1
When young Aadi (who is a video game maker) and Tara (who is an architect) fall in love, they say they care only for their careers to be tied down to marriage. For serious career-oriented couple, all they seem to do is escape work to ride in buses and trains, call each other 'Jaanu' and smile coyly at each other. All is 'Okay' until the time comes to go their separate ways. Then all becomes a drag. Not 'Okay' at all.
Full review ↗TRM 5.00.0
An ex-wrestler channels his ambition for an international gold medal through his daughters and he trains them to fight. A quintessential sports movie, where everyone laughs at Geeta and Babita Phogat when their father pits them against boys in local 'Dangal' - a wrestling match, then hold them high when the two sisters win state and national competitions. Brilliant biographical tale that is a must watch.
Full review ↗TRM 8.0−1.0
Everything in this film is 'Baseless, logic-less and abstract'. You laugh at the police officer's dialog, you cringe at the skin show, you shake your head at the stupidity of such films and you come away at the needlessness of such films.
Full review ↗TRM 3.3−1.3
You come away from the film not hating it entirely, but not in love with it either. And that 'okayness' the 'averageness' of the film is its true crime.
Full review ↗TRM 5.8−1.8
For two hours you put up with too shiny, too happy people holding hands and you're fed up with the hokey counseling sessions. The last half hour actually touches you but it is too little too late.
Full review ↗TRM 5.6−1.6
Mumbai Police officer ACP Yashvardhan (John Abraham) once again kicks, punches and shoots his way to the baddie, his biceps flexed permanently, his dimple flashing rarely. This time the bad guy is killing RAW agents one by one. In this mission, he has to assist a RAW agent (Sonakshi Sinha) who is a stickler about protocols and obeying orders. The film could have done with a dose of humor, but thankfully there's no romance between the two lead actors to dilute this relentless action-packed bullet
Full review ↗TRM 5.2−0.2
After 8 years the story of a broken band 'Magik' comes alive again. Barely. It is so slow you can see where the story if going a mile ahead. Each band member though busy with different things, deal with the death of young lad - who wanted to make music and whom they ignored - differently. This includes the sister of that boy who also makes music. The faraway village where one band member lives is burnt and the band comes together to save the village, and save themselves.
Full review ↗TRM 4.5−2.5
You enjoy the first half which is bubbly and frothy and Anushka Sharma's fun, feisty character steals your heart. Then the film becomes more of a 'mushkil' than a tale of 'dils'. Suffering from a case of 'One-sided love'?
Full review ↗TRM 6.1−2.1
Not a shred of originality in this father-daughter copy of 'Taken' plus 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', unless you are fascinated by snow, tattoos, and foreign locales where really bad foreign people live. Ajay Devgn, has a huge fan following as an action hero does not disappoint, but the CGI finishing does. And you begin hating Kailash Kher singing annoyingly in the background during emotional scenes and the title song playing ad nauseam during the action scenes.
Full review ↗TRM 4.6−0.6
The story of the Sikh pogrom after the Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated (31st October, 1984) has been well documented and accepted as something where no justice can be truly offered. But when a film attempts to dramatise the events in an amateurish way, the heart-wrenching awfulness of those events is lost. The audience feels no empathy in the fake emotions and the graphic blood and gore fails too.
Full review ↗TRM 3.9−1.9
Fed of poverty and his inability to provide his girl with nice things, a small time crook plans a heist. And yes, it goes wrong. In fact, everything from the language that is used in the film is wrong. It's a mystery how the Censor Board allows the word, 'Kutiya' (bitch) being used again and again to describe the girlfriend! This film should go wash it's mouth with soap.
Full review ↗TRM 4.5−2.5
A young man comes to Bombay with dreams and even though he manages to find himself a job, and gets married, he is unhappy. Living in a room with his two brothers and their wives and kids, he is unable to make love to his wife, who ups and leaves him. Is he the 'fuddu' people label him o will his parrot fly out of the cage? You come away wanting to shower after watching this... This swamp thing.
Full review ↗TRM 4.2
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, they say. And when this woman turns out to be Sunny Leone, you wonder who in their right minds and eyes in their head would reject her romantic advances and why. The movie is horrendous but for the honest emoting by the heroine.
Full review ↗TRM 2.9−0.9
A high concept film is a welcome change from the usual loud Bollywood love stories. But when all you see is a Zhang Yimou hangover on screen without the vision or the depth, you realise that it's just a pretentious film. And the world that the characters in Mirzya occupy are neither ancient nor in the now. It's a sad debut film of two young people who just go through the motions because everything is pretending to be art.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7−1.7
Neeraj Pandey proves that he is a Dhoni fanboy. The movie starts out awesomely well, telling us details about Mahi's early life we eagerly lap up. But we want to know about his growth from getting selected in the team to becoming a captain. We get Bollywood style romance instead and then we begin to look at the time: 190 minutes. Cricket wins, but...
Full review ↗TRM 6.3−1.3
Rajasthan is probably the heart of patriarchy land, and the villages hide many ugly tales. But three friends are there to support one another and they eventually learn to help each other fight the ugly reality that is their life. Shot beautifully, the film seems much longer than its running time because it is full of cliches about women and the feminist text seems to be borrowed rather than believed.
Full review ↗TRM 6.4−1.4
Emraan Hashmi is Aditya again. Alas there's no Bipasha Basu rebooted as Shanaya, but another pretty girl (Kriti Khabanda) rebooted as Shaina redoing the Arth mangalsutra beads are broken act, the ghosts that possess bodies are still levitating and contorting bodies, and creaking doors and yanking screaming women under the bed... Reboot means Rehash.
Full review ↗TRM 3.8−1.8
Two hours and sixteen minutes long moral science lessons on molestation of women and the attitude society still nurtures. You learn nothing new, you haven't seen anything different, you have heard it all before. But having Amitabh Bachchan make an argument for the cause, his whisky and honey baritone commenting on entitlement and patriarchy makes all the difference.
Full review ↗TRM 7.8−2.8
A grouchy young man seems to be living a sort of groundhog day when everyone around him is happy celebrating his wedding to his childhood sweetheart. We know he has to re-live the day that changed his fate but we don't know why. And despite Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra's 'hotness' which drew the audiences in, the story leaves you cold.
Full review ↗TRM 4.8−1.8
It's a sports underdog movie where Nawazuddin Siddiqui gets to play a man from the wrong side of the tracks to win at a game meant for the idle rich. The story starts out to be great fun, but it becomes so repetitive in the middle that even the jokes are a drag and then dragged down by Bollywoodisation of the story: unsportsmanlike behavior, intervention by the gods, maa ka aashirvaad and big gangster with bigger heart...
Full review ↗TRM 4.5−0.5
Three stories, tenuously tied in a presentation that is so amateurish, you wonder why NFDC would back this film school type story-telling. Thankfully one story stands alone and puts a smile on your face. This should have been released on YouTube.
Full review ↗TRM 6.2−3.2
Sonakshi Sinha plays Akira, a girl who has been taught to stand up to bullies from her childhood. She stands in the way of a bunch of crooked cops headed by Anurag Kashyap. What unfolds keeps you hooked for one hundred and thirty eight minutes. As they say, 'Full Paisa Vasool!'
Full review ↗TRM 5.3+0.7
A young lad becomes a superhero and defeats a big baddie and not only wins hearts but also the girl. Good plot, right? But it has been so needlessly Bollywoodised with a song and dance and everything seems to be happening so slowly you lose patience with it, despite some genuinely funny moments.
Full review ↗TRM 4.3−1.3
An India-Pakistan encounter that does not involve terrorists or silly politicians or bad-mouthing 'them'? Never thought it was possible. But writer-director Mudassar Aziz manages that and offers us a funny story on a runaway bride, harried cops, silly cops, ambitious fathers, arranged marriages, and so much more... Mostly predictable, but delightful nonetheless.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5+1.5
A fictionalised version of the famous (or the infamous?) Nanavati case where a Naval officer shot his wife's lover should have been a brilliant courtroom drama, but ends up being ridiculous, with the director opting for cheap laughs. Akshay Kumar looks handsome in the uniform, but the mooch... the mooch...
Full review ↗TRM 5.6−0.6
It starts out to be an interesting journey, but rapidly rolls towards a disaster (literally and figuratively) to a bedraggled end.
Full review ↗TRM 4.5−0.5
It's so badly written, there is one guffaw in the whole movie (unintentional), lazily acted, the regional accents are horrible (sometimes absent) and you have seen better choreography and lyrics at the neighborhood bollywood dances classes.
Full review ↗TRM 2.6−0.6
When a coach trains a five year old against all logic, is it for self publicity or has he really saved the boy from abject poverty and slavery? Does the government have any right over a young sportsperson's need to run or did they do a right thing? This movie tackles all this and more by telling us the story of a five year old marathon runner Budhia Singh and his devoted coach Birinchi Das. Will shake you up.
Full review ↗TRM 6.7−0.7
If you said Hindi comedy, it meant ghastly sex comedies or completely stupid comedies which are loud and labled 'leave your brains behind'. Thankfully Dishoom is nothing like either. It's pure fun. Silly, but fun. You'll laugh at the funny lines, and you'll like where the story is going. And everyone in the cast looks like they had a great time at the movies.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5+0.5
An eye for an eye to get the corrupt politicians to own up to their mistakes, is a great idea. And we don't doubt that Irrfan Khan is able to carry the movie on his shoulders alone. But once you know the 'eye for an eye' motive, the thrill wears off and you labor through the how is he going to get caught by the police. It's too long, too loud and too melodramatic. Watch only for Irrfan Khan.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5−0.5
A pretentious little film that's so cliche ridden, you wish the four friends who have set out for the hills in search of a 'legendary' drug to smoke up, fall off some cliff.
Full review ↗TRM 3.6−1.6
Amar, Meet and Prem are back on the screen with the third instalment of their almost sexcapade. This time it is set in a haunted house. But no matter what the setting is, the comedy remains shallow: the jokes do not go beyond buxom women and male genitalia. It could have been very funny had they aimed at 'Carry On' series, but they do not go beyond bad Whatsapp jokes.
Full review ↗TRM 2.5−0.5
The most anticipated film of the year: Salman Khan's Eid release, Yash Raj films and the film has been directed by Aditya Chopra himself. But what starts out to be a promising romance between sportspersons (both are wrestlers) soon dives headlong into a horribly predictable tale badly told. How you will hanker for Chak De!
Full review ↗TRM 6.5−2.5
Remember the British Comedy Films in the 'Carry On' series? This film attempts to be that and then takes comedy into darker realms. The dialog and situations are very funny in parts, the characters are beautifully cast, but a better director would not allowed the film to meander all over the village.
Full review ↗TRM 4.3
Do you have nothing better to do than watch a story about a small town burning and killing and raping people over religion? Can you be so bored that you could watch cliches in character and dialog? Then this movie might satisfy you and give you the despair you are craving for.
Full review ↗TRM 3.8−1.8
Anurag Kashyap delivers a gritty, grimy, gut-wrenching story of opposites in order to tell you that they're not really so. Takes a while to come to the point, but you understand why it is so difficult to edit out stuff that is so deliciously dark. The opposites played by Vicky Kaushal and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are so equally ugly, you know the director has made his point when you cannot swallow popcorn.
Full review ↗TRM 5.9+0.1
A physics teacher shows up to teach 'section D' at a posh junior college and helps them 'clear their fundas'. Beautifully shot, the writing makes for a frustrating viewing. It makes a weak and very obvious point about the education system but fails in delivering the message.
Full review ↗TRM 4.5−1.5
You will hear reviews like 'heart-warming', 'cute', 'innocent', 'natural', 'endearing', 'brave journey', 'restores faith in humanity' and wonder why no one is saying, 'exotic India', 'made for the festival circuit', 'annoying kids', 'silly characters', 'far-fetched'... And depending on which side of logic you are, you will either love it because 'the kids are so cute' or step out for coffee ever so often, come back and discover that the journey has gone nowhere.
Full review ↗TRM 6.7−2.7
This is a remake of a Korean film Always/ Only You. Also remade a year ago in Kannada as Boxer. And it successfully hammers the last nail in the coffin of groan-inducing schmaltzy romances. She's blind and he's burnt out and they fall in love. She talks so much, it's a miracle they don't announce half-way through the movie that he's gruff and quiet because he's deaf.
Full review ↗TRM 3.8−1.8
A cop turned priest is connected to an old man obsessed with his grand-daughter's unsolved kidnap and murder as well as a new case of kidnapping which is practically mirrors the old man's case. This could have been a good who-dun-it. The movie is well shot, and the actors are more than competent, but it remains average because the script insists on pointing fingers until you want to break its fingers and say, 'Stop!'
Full review ↗TRM 5.8−0.8
When a delightful Hollywood black comedy like The Nice Guys is playing in the theatre next to this movie, you wish you could get up and sneak into the other movie. But you are so deadened by the unfunny situational comedy unfolding in front that you just wait it out, let the movie die its slow painful death.
Full review ↗TRM 4.3−2.3
The movie spans only the period of April 2004 until October 18, 2004, but it feels like you have lived the life of Veerappan, in the jungles, surrounded by mosquitoes (and bad dialog and silly characters)... Even though the man who plays Veerappan looks spot on like the dacoit, Ram Gopal Varma misses this one by a mile.
Full review ↗TRM 4.6−1.6
What happens when two strangers who meet because their loved ones are in the hospital and they're waiting for news of their health? The need for human understanding, how you connect with the hospital staff, the madness of reading up on the disease... It's all there. Human and real and funny and serious.
Full review ↗TRM 6.5−1.5
What do you do when you are suffering from Agoraphobia? You are too anxious to step out of your comfort zone and too panicky to remain inside the house. When the lead character is Radhika Apte, then the audience feels her fears (what large eyes she has!), her panic attacks, and begin to feel what everyone around her feels...
Full review ↗TRM 6.4−2.4
Sarbjit is a brave attempt, but the treatment is so melodramatic and so shrill, you come away with a heavy aching head, instead of a heavy heart at the tragedy of the peoples from both sides of the border.
Full review ↗TRM 5.1−1.1
Nonsensical attempt to sound posh by giving it a fancy title and claiming that it tackles subjects like Naxalites in Chattisgarh. If there is an original idea in the film it is that Naxalites are everywhere amongst us, and that they could be anyone: your doctor, your best friend, your banker, your lawyer, government officials and that they are biding their time for a bloodbath on the streets. Howlarious.
Full review ↗TRM 3.4−2.4
It's a brave but pointless attempt to make a fallen star look less fallen. Is there such a thing? The film claims it to be a work of fiction, and manages to make it such a drag, you wonder why they would try and convince people that there was righteous innocence in a game known to be tainted by money.
Full review ↗TRM 5.0−3.0
Dimpled Rajasthani prince is suddenly possessed by an evil spirit that makes him contort horribly. Wifey goes back to her home state where cardboard cutout Royal family takes her to priest. It's black magic! The only guy who can save her husband is her ex boyfriend. Or can he? The movie starts out to be interesting then goes through an entire checklist of horror movie cliches until you are weary...
Full review ↗TRM 3.2−1.2
For a remake of a Malayalam movie this one tells the tale based on a true story, but it becomes so tedious because it tries too hard to infuse the TV drama pace of Kiefer Sutherland's 24 and ends up being tedious.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5−1.5
Lad obsessed with a beautiful girl he met in a faraway land discovers she lives in the same city, is a propah sati-savitri and begins to stalk her. And his attempts at being stalker are so pathetic you cannot but laugh. Everyone tries so hard to 'act', you wish it were an honest to God skin flick instead of this dreadful feminist 'equal right to make out with strangers' thing...
Full review ↗TRM 4.3−2.3
If this were a Disney movie, there would be a song playing continuously: A tale as old as time... Before you can complete the song and sing, 'Beauty and the beast!'Cliche upon cliche is piled up in this movie that should have been named Captain Obvious. Even the fights are so choreographed there is nothing new. Yes, the one star goes to Tiger Shroff for effort and for growing some facial fuzz.
Full review ↗TRM 4.6−2.6
The last Pursuit of Happyness style ending is so bad, you want to shake someone up and say could you simply just tell a story and allow the audience to make up their minds about the importance of never losing hope and dreaming big without you having to explain it all? This is a precious little gem of a film, despite it's obvious moral science lesson. Watch!
Full review ↗TRM 7.0−1.0
Who could think that stealing blood and selling it for profit would be the stuff that could have you grinning in the dark of the theater? It is. And the characters that have been created seem to be unrepentant and brazen in their greed. If only the exaggerations could be reined in, this would be a wonderfully dark comic film.
Full review ↗TRM 5.1−0.1
There is death, and destruction of a premise that could have been a wonderful thriller if only the whole movie had been handled with a little more finesse.
Full review ↗TRM 3.7−1.7
Director Nishikant Kamat piles on horror upon horror to make John Abraham the action star that he has been in his earlier films like Force. But the horrors are so unbelievable - tourists being killed for their organs, kids kidnapped and killed for organs and thievery, drugs, guns, builder mafia - and executed so laughably, so over the the top that there's unintentional laughter instead of tension.
Full review ↗TRM 4.2−3.2
Is there any family without little cracks and big gaps? In a small town of Kunoor, inside a traditional bungalow, a family faces many struggles. But there's always love to tide things over, and that makes for a very watchable popcorn treat.
Full review ↗TRM 7.2−1.2
This is not Oh My God, neither is it PK, but this is a clever little gem that may slip through the cracks simply because the film does not have A-listers. Global Baba is a clever satire, written well but it fails to deliver the punch against fake godmen that Oh My God did. Even though directed well, the story feels like it is looping without moving an inch. But the heart is in the right place.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7−0.7
The trailer you watched is far superior to what you watched for two hours. Everything happens so slowly, you want to take the hero's gun (he's just posing with it!) and shoot yourself with it, or at least someone in the movie just to get a reaction from them.
Full review ↗TRM 3.5−1.5
You come away with mixed feelings even though you really loved the idea of 'tumhari zubaan kuch keh rahi hai...'.
Full review ↗TRM 5.4−1.4
If you liked the original Ganga Jal, then maybe you should stay at home and watch the DVD. The story is the same as the original but diluted. And even though Priyanka Chopra tries her best to kick some baddie butts, she's reduced to sitting by the hero's bedside, eyes wide, saying, 'How did you manage to keep these files so secret, for so long?!'
Full review ↗TRM 4.8−1.8
Three stories of Bollywood crazy people is a good idea. But the film suffers when the three stories are dragged through the mud way after the audience has figured out the end of each story.
Full review ↗TRM 5.2−2.2
A professor of Marathi in Aligarh University is forced to resign after being humiliated for being gay. This is his story, sensitively told and brilliantly delivered by Manoj Bajapyee and supported by Rajkummar Rao.
Full review ↗TRM 7.3−0.3
You emerge from the theater scathed for life. And with a determination that practically grown up kids who behave that way should be legally disowned by parents.
Full review ↗TRM 3.2−1.2
The film is beautifully made and keeps the drama alive in the first half and then loses steam in the second half and ends on a high emotional note.
Full review ↗TRM 7.6−1.6
Poor Charles Dickens! I am sure he never meant for Great Expectations to be a Bollywood romance. He called it a 'very fine, new grotesque idea' when he thought it up. Fitoor is this very finely shot, very bizarre breathy romance film which is saved by moments of true madness displayed by the brilliant Tabu.
Full review ↗TRM 5.0−2.0
...the story is decently fleshed out and all smoking guns covered. The trailer with the songs is very misleading and makes it look like one of those 'also ran' movies. But it isn't like that. It is a decent story that only fails because at 154 minutes, the end is so long drawn.
Full review ↗TRM 3.5+0.5
The computer generated scenes are a tad cringeworthy because they are so obviously computer generated. But on the whole the story keeps moving on a predictable path.
Full review ↗TRM 4.7+0.3
The movie deserves praise for sticking to the sports underdog-movie formula and offering us a decent watch. Madhavan as always is delicious on the screen, despite being given the instructions that he has to be Khadoos (crotchety) all the time. Once you get used to the even louder student (marvelously played by newcomer Ritika Singh), the film sort of grows on you. But the predictability of the story makes its 109 minutes feel like three hours.
Full review ↗TRM 5.4−1.4
We like stories of unlikely ordinary men who obey the call of extraordinary circumstances and turn out to be heroes. The story of one of the largest rescues is nicely packaged here as a movie and presented with Akshay Kumar at his earnest best. It takes its own sweet time to set up, but when the story proceeds, it literally 'takes off'.
Full review ↗TRM 7.0−2.0
The beginning of the movie, the music, the hero's charming presence, the funny appealing dialog keeps you so happy, you sort of believe that the movie is going to be better than fabulous. But the predictable turns the story takes throw the whole movie down a cliff and it just crashes.
Full review ↗TRM 6.0−1.0
Although the movie has been made with the right premise in mind, and has an enviable cast, the shoddy execution makes it a terrible watch. You sit through it because it means well.
Full review ↗TRM 4.2−1.2
Wazir surprises us with a brilliant beginning and Amitabh Bachchan emoting with just his face and Farhan's seething passions are near short of a miracle, you think. And then with the second half of tiresome explanations and almost laughable action sequences, the film simply freefalls into tediousness.
Full review ↗TRM 5.5−1.5
Surely smashing your toes by a hammer would be more entertaining. Invest in that hammer instead of buying a movie ticket. And please sign an online petition that will prevent David Dhawan from remaking Chupke Chupke.
Full review ↗TRM 3.6−1.6
