From the director who made Johnny Gaddar (2007) one of the greatest thrillers ever in the history of cinema, Badlapur is a return to form for Sriram Raghavan, after the disappointing Agent Vinod. Raghvan’s forte is engaging the audience with the proceedings, the way he has crafted the characters and added twists and turns to the story, it could easily go on for another couple of hours and you would still be engrossed with his story telling.

To put it plainly, this is an extraordinary film. In terms of the basic story of a student-teacher relationship it not only has a slightly different arc but it is the execution and all the other elements, acting, direction, music, editing which make Whiplash an exhilarating cinematic experience of the highest order.

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.

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 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.

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.

There is a fair bit of on field action, which primarily portrays the soldiers in good light and most of the local residents are either double crossing agents or bad guys. Perhaps that is what Kyle came across during his encounters. Much like what we saw in The Hurt Locker, being in the middle of the action almost becomes an obsession. While it celebrates the heroics of a soldier on the duty, it also laments about war and its final outcome.

With top class production values and an impressive music score, the film hits the right notes on the technical front. When it comes to acting, it excels. Felicity Jones as the woman who stands by his side is first rate. But ultimately, this film belongs to Eddie Redmayne who has delivered an extraordinary performance. The physical transformation, right from the way he slumps in the chair, moves his hands, it is all very impressive.

It is in the last and final lap that the film stumbles a bit – after all, there is only so much of prisoners camp incidents that you can take, not because of the violence but because it gets routine. Jolie perhaps wanted to highlight the fact the how in-human mortals become during war and the point is well taken.

Ugly is the work of a director who is on the top of his game.