I’ve lost count of the number of times Aamir Khan has showed up in theatres in the final quarter, with what could be the most universally loved movie of the year. This is very likely to be another one. As you can tell, I totally loved it!

Does it hold you right till the very end, gently nudging you to think about ‘the greatest internal security threat to our country?’ Hell, yeah. That way, Newton packs a full-ton, and deserves full marks!

What’s the filmmakers’ single biggest achievement then? That they get away with a film full of double meanings, without ever seeming crass or cheap at any point. This is a miracle, only undone by quite a few moments where they stretch the limits of imagination a bit too far for comfort. Does the movie find solutions, or urge you to dig deeper on the issue? Not really, only great movies tend to do that—this one comes quite close to being that by the way.

…if you took out all the characters and crime-history from Gangs Of Wasseypur, you’ll come close to this. Given what a masterpiece Gangs was, that’s a pretty good compliment by the way!

This already tells you Lipstick Under My Burkha, timed to perfection, mirroring the world we live in, is narrating a story about a subaltern, small-town Indian society at the edge of a revolution. Look carefully at young Rihana. She will lead a movement, if not for herself, then for her kids, for sure. Look carefully at this film. It will move you as well.

…while most thrillers tend to overstay their welcome beyond 90-minutes’ screen time, this one doesn’t feel almost two-and-half hours long. If anything, far too much is going on here. You might question a lot. But so much of it works.

With great power come great possibilities. From the audience’s perspective, this feels more like going back to old school. Which is genuinely heartening to know. That is, before the blast-fest begins, I’m sure!

…this is a film rather subdued on drama, hysteria, and action, although it remains coherent, entertaining, and sincere throughout. More importantly it does not preach to the choir.

Most of it works. Some of it doesn’t. While being crowd-friendly, the film lapses into simplicities, such as that of seeing only virtue in the poor, while the rich usually comprise pretentious a-holes.

What Baahubali does is show the future of Indian big-screen cinema, if it has to survive the onslaught of Hollywood, or move beyond Rajini, Khans, Kapoor, and Kumar, to begin with. The manager in my theatre says he plans to start Saturday shows, 6.30 am onwards. I can’t think of a better way to start your day. The excitement is totally worth it.