Rajeev Masand
Top Rated Films
Rajeev Masand's Film Reviews
-
Panipat ultimately is overlong and unwieldly. It may have its heart in the right place but its other organs are all over the place. Gowariker, who kept us engaged and invested through 3 hours and 40 minutes of Lagaan, or even through the genteel romance of Jodhaa Akbar, can’t seem to recreate the magic of his finest films. I’m going with a generous two out of five for Panipat. You come out feeling like you’ve survived war…just about.
-
Both Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff fully commit to the action, bringing swag to the big stylish sequences and a visceral energy to the one-on-one punch-ups in the movie.
-
The impressively staged but ultimately exhausting action sequences take up the bulk of screen time, but they can’t salvage this soulless film that has all the depth and emotional wallop of a video game.
-
Super 30 comes with an important message but the overwrought treatment weighs it down ultimately.
-
Game Over has some genuinely suspenseful moments, one terrific jump scare, but also a ridiculous sentimental track that sticks out like a sore thumb in a brisk thriller. The makers have some interesting things to say about violence towards women and the residue it can leave. There’s a lot going on, but barring its leading lady’s impressive performance, it’s simply hit and miss.
-
In the end Bharat is exhausting and pointless. It exists only to add to the legend of Salman Khan as the selfless provider, the man who has a heart as big as his biceps. In Bharat, Salman Khan plays Bhai.
-
Ultimately, watching De De Pyaar De is a frustrating experience because while there are things to admire, including the unconventional ending, there is no escape from the lazy stereotypes, the simplistic moralizing, and the episodic, sitcom-style screenplay. Yes I laughed, and it made me think. Some bits crackle too, but the film needed more of that.
-
Just shy of three hours Kalank is ultimately tiring and heartbreaking even. You can see the talent on screen. If only there was a sharper script to harness it.
-
The writing doesn’t pack the emotional urgency of The Lunchbox, and the characters aren’t as compelling. There is a delicate quality to the central relationship but it never takes flight. Batra keeps the story on slow-burn; how you wish he’d stirred things up from time to time.
In the end Photograph feels oddly out of focus.
-
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is a respectable directing debut from Dhar, and a film with its heart in the right place. The writing ought to have been braver. That would’ve made this film something worth crowing about; a film as memorable as the one whose iconic romantic song inspired this title.