Birdman is not just a film, it is an experience and a highly exhilarating one at that. Alejandro González Iñárritu has made quite a few memorable films (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel) but with Birdman, he has not just pushed the envelope he has pushed the whole post office itself.

Khamoshiyan written by Vikram Bhatt and directed by Karan Darra is a film on auto-pilot right from the word go. There seems to be very little effort gone in writing and telling a story that has any conviction or entertainment value.

Hawaizaada supposedly based on the exploits of an Indian pioneer called Shivkar Talpade, is a long, exhausting and excruciating account that leaves you running for cover by the end. This flight of fancy never takes because the screenplay is all over the place. It attempts to integrate romance, adventure, science (pseudo), singing, dancing and all the ingredients of a typical Bollyood film.

There are three remarkable performances which elevate the film, starting with Mark Ruffalo who plays a rather unusual character. After doing mostly mainstream films, Channing Tatum shows there is more to him than just his good looks. Steve Carell conveys all the right expressions in good measure, as John du Pont he adds another dimension to his character.

There aren’t too many films that rest on such a flimsy premise, have very little logic and yet are pleasant, like the cool evening breeze, Dolly Ki Doli directed by debutant Abhishek Dogra is one of those. One of the reasons for that is the duration, at a little over an hour and a half, Dolly’s tale moves at a fairly reasonable pace speed without too much extra baggage.

Baby offers a mixed bag, by and large it remains predictable for most parts but the redeeming factor is the finale that is reminiscent of Argo, but keeps you engrossed all the same. That may not be the only film that Baby reminds you of, there is also a bit of Nikhil Advani’s D-Day in the storyline.

There is no doubt that Shankar has got flair and his own style but it is the repetitiveness that gets to you. There are scenes that go on and on till the cows and buffaloes come home and what can be said in five minutes takes more than twice the amount of time.

There are lots of likable factors here, starting from Paddington himself. There are dollops of humor served from time to time and the Brown family is also intriguingly unique.

Ultimately, there is an old world charm to this film and that makes it thoroughly enjoyable.

A remake of the Thai film of the same name, Alone directed by Bhushan Patel stars Bipasha Basu in a double role as conjoined twins. Excruciatingly painful and frustrating this horror film scares you with boredom rather than fright. Pity you can’t even take a peaceful nap while watching it because someone or the other keeps screaming ever so often minutes.

To put it plainly, The Imitation Game is one of the finest films seen on the big screen in recent times. Being a biopic, it works in the framework of a commercial enterprise but within that, it is as good as it gets. Norwegian director Morten Tyldum has got a terrific subject on hand but as we have seen before, there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip, no matter how good the raw material, it still has to translate into a good film on the big screen. But Tyldum has hardly put a foot wrong and The Imitation Game has the makings of a classic.