A PPT history lesson about Kashmir at the end sums up a conflicted effort that could have been the new Wednesday. Instead, it leaves us to ponder over why the impetus was either on awareness or on storytelling, with both seldom combining to form a sequence.

This film is far from perfect, but makes for an acceptable non-Italian version of ‘The Indian Job’-by entertaining solely within the confines of a revenge drama. The laughs are best left to Danny and gang.

That the trailers of Mardaani were disappointing could be a blessing in disguise. But for the climax, it is an understated and relatively agreeable mainstream film—manipulative but not exploitative—that thankfully falls short of sensationalizing a serious issue.

Katiyabaaz covers all bases and cause-and-effect repercussions riots and elections, mills, tanneries and hospitals cut with an engaging rhythm that brings to light one of the greatest failures of fifthworld India. It leaves you with enduring images of a calamitous environment navigated by two antivillains whose thoughts and souls form a storied documentary that could well be a game-changer.

I yearn to see Rohit Shetty step out of his booby-trapped comfort zone and attempt something different, because his brand of entertainment leaves no scope for evolution. With ‘Singham Returns’, the wait continues.

I recommend this for viewers who genuinely believe in leave-your-brains-at-home fare. But it turns out that I’m born with a brain, and what it does during a movie is beyond my control, unless I physically remove it. This can only happen if I’m a cartoon character, or part of the absurd world of Entertainment (the business).

Kick is harebrained, patronizing and regressive at most points, and makes the age-old error of being a live-action Salman-starrer. Purely as a kiddie flick though, this is passable—if not plausible—entertainment for children that have never been exposed to movies.

Unfortunately, Amit Sahni is not a character I’d ever want to see succeed much like that customary rich friend that thrives on self-created drama. And structured around his contrived situation is a film like him–it strains hard to find conflict even when there is none, and ends up as more like an Ashton Kutcher romedy than a Julia Roberts romcom.

Filmmakers that venture into this genre must note that it is about what one doesn’t see on screen the anticipation of fear rather than fear itself-that leads to effective results. For now, the fear of being too original is fast turning into an epidemic. And if I can go an entire Pizza review without using terms like “delicious”, “thin crust” or “menu”, maybe a day will come when writers stop using nurseryrhyme crooning zombie children and ringing phones as permanent items on the horror menu.

Director Vishal Pandya could have gone all out and crafted a flamboyant saga of love, sex and dhoka. Instead, he settles for a gaudy half-tracker of a film-the kind that has a car harmlessly rolling bobbing down a slope instead of leaping from a cliff in flames.