‘Bubble Gum’ suffers from some amount of narrative drabness, and some strange too-quick transitions. But it is a film that needs to be noted for its appealing cast and being true to itself.

‘Singham’ works in bits and pieces, only when Devgn gets fully into his stride, squaring up to Raj as he hits the high notes. The rest is just stitched-up scenery.

ZNMD is designed as a feel-good bromance. Arjun (Roshan) is a broker with a plush three bed-roomed house in London, who leads a frenetic deal-making, yen-and-pounds-and-dollar-collecting life. Imran (Akhtar) is a copywriter who writes poetry. Kabir (Deol) is the wealthy scion of a construction firm, whose engagement to uptight interior designer Natasha (Koechlin) sets the three friends on a road-trip to Spain.

Despite the cartoony swipes, and the thundering track underlying every scene, ‘Chillar Party’ proves that it is entirely possible to make a smart children’s film, with good production values, with kids seen to be having a blast.

‘Murder 2’ checks all the boxes of an Emraan Hashmi-Mohit Suri-Vishesh Films production.

If ‘Bbuddah’ proves something, it is that there has never been star-actor to fill the Bachchan shaped hole his getting silver has caused. No one delivers dialogue (never just lines, okay?) with such impeccable timing as he does; and as to romance, well, just look at him look at Hema. Yearning went out of style, when Amitabh Bachchan stopped lovin’ and leavin’.

This sequel is tired and flat. Vinay Pathak is a brilliant comic, but here his constant widening of the eyes and his whinny of a laugh is more grating than funny.

The writing is unerring when it comes to the lads, but goes off track with the lasses. Their acts are good, but distressingly single-tone.

`Stanley Ka Dabba’ is a heart-warmer that wraps itself securely around you, making you wholly unwilling to let it go. And Partho, director Amol Gupte’s son, who plays Stanley, lights up the film. As do his companions.

The trouble with ‘Shagird’, despite its sharp, often funny exchanges, and a few spanking scenes, is that it is not new enough.