October tells us that romance doesn’t necessarily have to play out in the metric of song-and-dance-and-high-pitched-melodrama; that it can be low-key, and unusual, can be conducted through speaking glances, rather than words.

How do you manage a casting coup (Manoj Bajpayee and Tabu) and then waste those talents so spectacularly? How do you create an alleged plot that’s so witless?

The Irrfan Khan starrer begins promisingly but descends pretty quickly into flatness and sluggishness, a classic problem of not knowing quite how to play out a perky idea.

The trouble with a full-on masala film going in search of a plot is evident in the way the film unspools. The bare bones are borrowed from Telugu thriller Kshanam, but the fillings are all strictly Bollywood.

In all this to-ing and fro-ing, background music blaring to make up for the lack of real drama, even a terrific actor like Saurabh Shukla is left floundering.

aapsee Pannu, who could have saved this creaky thing, is buried under a bad hairdo in the first half. By the time she gets all chic, post interval, it’s much too late. For her, and the film.

Everyone plays it quite competently, despite the predictable beats. Nice to see Renuka Shahane, who aims for naturalness despite some stodginess in the way her part is written.

The plot of Urvashi Rautela, Karan Wahi, Vivan Bhatena and Ihana Dhillon starrer Hate Story 4 is a steady stream of hot bods. And acting, what’s that? The film has no ambitions that-a-way, so there.

The Anushka Sharma starrer never rises above its silliness…

Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety provides some laughs, some of which escape involuntarily. But it also leaves you wondering. Can Ranjan grow up his callow characters? Of course, he can, because he has the smarts (remember Pyar Ka Punchnama?). Does he really want to? I’m not sure. Sharp comedy of the sexes is the hard stuff. Cheap laughs are easy.