The biggest problem with “Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2″ isn’t that it stereotypes women, it doesn’t even do it in a way that makes you laugh.

For all its positives, “Talvar” fails to keep that distance, and therefore compromises its ability to be an impartial, unbiased chronicle of what is India’s most sensational murder case.

Bhandarkar’s stories might have had their showtime, but they’re passé now and “Calendar Girls” is an example of a film-maker who has run out of ideas.

This is misogyny and regression masquerading as comedy, and Sharma seems to be too busy trying to morph into a Hindi film hero to employ his famous comic timing to good effect. Unless you are a fan of Sharma and his somewhat questionable humour, this film seems like a joke gone wrong.

This is a movie meant for those who already believe that the protagonist, who is also the real-life spiritual leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, is God incarnate. If it hoped to convert others into believing so, it does a very bad job of it. In the movie, the pot-bellied, hirsute hero who wears the most psychedelic clothes known to mankind can turn bullets into a crown, swords into rose petals, produce electricity from the palm of his hand; and while doing all this, gambol in meadows with bunnies as women dance in the background. Rajnikanth can take a back seat.

Quadri tries to paint a picture of a lawless town and how this group of youngsters benefit from it and later pay the price for it, but his focus is missing. Like an errant driver, he keeps veering off the path, never sure which direction he should be taking. There are some moments of dry humour, and actors Jaideep Ahlawat and Shadaab Kamal distinguish themselves from the rest of the cast. But these are just a couple of positives that are not enough to keep this ship from sinking.

“Katti Batti” is a film that tries too hard to be “cool” and ends up falling on its face.

That comic relief, though unintentional, is welcome in a film that otherwise provides no entertainment. It is only in the closing credits of “Hero”, when co-producer Salman Khan appears on screen, do you get the feeling that there is a star in the film.

The climax, with its marauding camels and a crazed-looking Shiney Ahuja (in his comeback role), is a mess. “Welcome Back” is sporadically funny, one that ebbs and flows; but it just about passes the ‘guilty pleasure’ test thanks to Kapoor and Patekar.

“Phantom” is a run-of-the-mill action thriller that fails to take its rather clever idea and make it rise higher. Instead, like a Phantom, it disappears into thin air.