For a meditation on death and salvation, “Mukti Bhawan” is an accomplished effort, and one that must be appreciated.

The idea of a female spy who is out to kill evil men is not a bad one and almost unprecedented in Bollywood, and Pannu’s one stand-out scene in 2015’s “Baby” set her up nicely for the role. But on watching “Naam Shabana”, you realise that not all stories need two hours of run time. Sometimes, a well-executed five-minute scene is more than enough.

The idea must have been to juxtapose the two love stories, but on screen, that sentiment hardly comes through. The two timelines and the characters seem worlds apart, and the tenuous thread that holds them together seems to snap much before the 137-minute narrative ends.

“Trapped” is one of those films taken to another level only on the strength of a powerhouse performance, and Rajkummar Rao will be remembered for this one for a long, long time.

The performance of the leading pair doesn’t impress either. Sadh has a perpetual scowl on his face, and Pannu’s attempt at playing the gregarious Punjabi girl falls flat. This “shaadi” should have never happened.

“The Ghazi Attack” is stylishly shot and employs technology on screen better than many other Bollywood films, but its story-telling is reminiscent of patriotic films from the 60s and 70s, when a “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogan and the waving of a tricolor was enough to evoke rapturous applause from the audience.

“Kaabil” may not be in the class of 2015’s “Badlapur” when it comes to exploring the nature of vendetta, but it doesn’t discredit the genre either, and the credit should rest on the shoulders of its leading man. 

“Raees” follows the 70s gangster film formula to the T, complete with the honest police officer who will stop at nothing to capture his nemesis, the perfunctory romance, and the final redemption that makes the audience root for the flawed hero.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has made a career out of playing the evil man, so he gets into his role in “Haraamkhor” with ease, bringing the right kind of sliminess to Shyam’s character that will make you despise him. Tripathi as Sandhya is wonderful too, but it is Irfan Khan and Mohd Samad, the two boys who play Kamal and Mintu, who are the two standout performers in the film.

…there is something to be said for a film that takes a tired romantic trope and turns it into a tale that will bring a smile to your face. But any credit must go to Mani Ratnam. Ali and his cast are merely transcribers here.