Akshay Kumar hogs the footage but it is the other actors who do the fancy dribbling on the acting front.

It repeatedly fires blanks – noisy but of no use. Has a movie sequel ever been so pointless?

But in a film that glides in and out of the make-believe, it is no big deal if the love story, which anyways runs parallel to the main narrative track of the film, flirts with the unreal. Isn’t that what cinematic plots hinging on the realization of impossible dreams are supposed to be? Fanney Khan is that – and more. Embrace it. It will do no harm.

That statement could well be directed at the makers of Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3. The title has a resonance thanks to the impact that the film’s two predecessors had made. Frittering it away on a flimsy Russian roulette-style effort isn’t a good idea. So when the team decides to come up with another follow-up – the final moments of this film suggest that the fourth may not be far away – it will have to go all guns blazing. Or not at all.

Soorma is more drag than flick, a hockey film sans genuine impetus. It is nowhere near the league of Chak De India despite telling a story that is no less intense than a wrongly victimized coach’s struggle for redemption. Come to think of it, the Shimit Amin film was made over a decade ago. Why hasn’t the Mumbai movie industry delivered another sports drama quite that good? The reason is obvious: Bollywood just doesn’t do sports well. Its rules militate against the genre. Soorma, a wasted opportunity, demonstrates why and how.

Well, the climax of Race 3 does pack some punch – both Salman and Bobby drop their shirts – but it is a case of too little too late…

John Abraham does his best to lend some frisson to his role, but he is weighed down by a ridiculously fanciful screenplay…

Feckless men on the back foot, wily and strong-willed women with transgressive tricks up their sleeves and a set of nondescript lives hurtling towards hell in an irreversible tailspin: Blackmail has them all. Sadly, in the end, they do not add up neatly enough to yield a genuine cinematic corker.

Rani Mukerji’s energetic, engaging performance apart, Hichki is a huff-and-puff show marked by too much mush and fuss. But it has just enough to keep tearjerker junkies interested.

For all its flaws, 3 Storeys is still worth watching because it seeks to engage with the audience in a manner that is anything but run of the mill.