In an era of which Bollywood is increasingly passing off pulpy apologies for demagoguery for cinema, Gully Boy could have been a fitting riposte. It just doesn’t go far enough to pose discomfiting questions in keeping with the art of the street rapper. But all said and done, Gully Boy can be whole-heartedly commended for its craft, fascinating characters and RANVEER SINGH. He absolutely kills the slow-burning rapper act. What’s more, he does with a lot of energy to spare.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha… goads the audience to think differently without trying to deviate from its primary purpose, which is to deliver entertainment. It does the latter well enough and yet does not overly dilute its off-kilter vision. No mean feat that.    

The film is never less than watchable because the performances are first-rate even when the writing isn’t.

Badhaai Ho is a sweet little gem informed with gentle wit and infectious warmth. The slice-of-life storytelling, which is appreciably enhanced by solid performances from a wonderful cast, is marked by control and sensitivity.

The overall result, despite being somewhat stodgy and purposefully solemn in parts, is a gritty, real, revelatory tale bracketed within a larger canvas that dovetails into its wide but coherent expanse a decade of US space missions and a multiplicity of narrative strands. Well served by a lead actor who allows the subject to subsume his starry personality, First Man has the craft and the class to be a befitting tribute to one of the most monumental moments in the history of space exploration.

Watch Andhadhun with your ears, eyes and minds open. You will come away with your senses heightened.

With Sanya Malhotra’s Full-Throated Performance, It’s A Cracker Of A Film…This is a cracker of a film that blends the dynamics of a rustic burlesque with a stylised cinematic sensibility

Nawazuddin Siddiqui Is Phenomenally Good As The Anguished Writer…Nandita Das’ film can be described as the Garam Hawa of our times

Abhishek and Vicky give their roles all they have but the screenplay does not give them the bandwidth reserved for Taapsee…

Gali Guleiyan is obviously not a conventional entertainer. Just as well. The film stands out because of the balance it attains in depicting a man sinking steadily into incoherence and yet clinging to his humanity. If for nothing else, watch Gali Guleiyan for the joy of witnessing a lead actor in full flight getting into the skin of a completely fettered man. It’s a master class of rare resplendence.