Unlike the early Potter adventures, Fantastic Beasts, the first film in an intended five-part series, is darker, and more suited for older viewers who can grasp the film’s themes of segregation and xenophobia. A subplot involving a religious crazy (Samantha Morton) who mistreats kids and hunts witches might be especially disturbing for young kids.

The performances are adequate at best, and the picture-postcard photography of Meghalaya is refreshing. But as you leave the cinema in the end, you can’t help missing the distinct sense of fun that the earlier film delivered…and yes, those infectious tunes. It’s an opportunity lost.

Doctor Strange is entertaining despite its formulaic plot, but will need more than just good humor and snazzy CGI to justify a sequel.

Despite the occasionally mawkish undertones and the blatant attempt at emotional manipulation in its final act, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil gives you a hero that makes you care. I suspect you’ll be a slobbering mess at the end of the film, a puddle of tears when the lights come back on. Johar knows how to do that. It’s a skill that’s stayed with him even if his grammar has changed.

What Ajay Devgan the star deserved, was a sharper director and a better script. In the end, there’s little else to Shivaay than the eye-watering locations (both in the Himalayas and in Bulgaria), and occasionally poignant moments between Devgan and the little girl who plays his daughter. Everything else is noise. Way too much noise.

The blatant sports-movie clichés aside, this is a genuinely moving film with winning performances.

In the end Mirzya is a misfire, despite its staggering ambition and its remarkable technical achievements.

So even though your head knows this is far from a no-holds-barred, warts-and-all biopic, your heart is happy to settle. Much of the credit for that must go to the finely executed cricket scenes, and to the film’s terrific ensemble of actors led by Sushant Singh Rajput who does some of his best work here.

In the end, the notion of a film about an undervalued genre of musicians is more compelling than “Banjo” itself. It starts out from a promising place, but fails to make any leaps or strides.

…it’s an entertaining ride. The three friends, parched both emotionally and sexually, will have you rooting for them and cheering as they find their feet and their freedom in the end.