The only purpose of “Dilwale” is to chant every known Bollywood mantra for a successful film and cash in on its celebrated lead actors. In that aim, the film is hugely successful.

Despite all its faults, “Bajirao Mastani” is propped up by the performances of Singh and Chopra; and for that alone, it’s worth a watch. Just forget your history lessons inside the theatre.

Pan Nalin’s “Angry Indian Goddesses” is a chick flick in denial – superficial and skin-deep as most other films, but fools itself into thinking that it is about woman power and women’s rights by throwing big words at the audience and framing shots in slow motion.

There are some laugh-out-loud moments when the screenplay plummets to the absolute depths of Bollywood inanity. Apart from such moments of hilarity, “Hate Story 3” has absolutely nothing going for it.

“Tamasha” is not an easy film to slot. Ali is obviously trying to push his boundaries and it doesn’t always work, but when it does, the result is breathtaking. For that alone, the film is worth a watch.

Salman Khan saunters onto the screen, pretends to emote, and then bursts into song and dance. Sonam Kapoor is particularly grating – more than ten minutes of her on screen and you might want to look away. Right from Kapoor’s attempts to appear subdued and coy, to the fake waterfall gushing under the palace, “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” is a spectacle that rings hollow. This is not the Diwali gift you were waiting for.

A man who could kill so many people and was able to amble out of jail after drugging every single guard has to be some sort of a genius and a psychopath, but Raman’s narrative never quite hits the high note, unlike the background music in the film. Instead, “Main Aur Charles” is a disjointed effort that chooses to focus on the trimmings while neglecting the actual story.

Perhaps it is time Bollywood discards the candy floss version of the great Indian family and adopts this more real, searing version.

“Shaandaar” has good locations, jazzy dance numbers and lots of glitz and shine, but if you break down the surface, what stands exposed is its completely vacant centre. It would be funny if it wasn’t such a tragic waste of talent.

The lead actors – debutante Anushka and Diganth – stutter through their performances, and a coterie of character actors mouth mindless lines and act out ridiculous situations as if they are sleepwalking. Rishi Kapoor makes a fleeting appearance as a benevolent stranger, but he seems out of sorts in a screenplay as hackneyed as this one. With its bad jokes and mediocre dialogue, this pullav – to use another cliché – is unpalatable.