Those seeking movies with meaning, note – Main Tera Hero is a pav bhaji picture, quick, spicy, hot. It has the depth of a comic strip but it also has its neon-shaded fun. For those who want a light laugh, here’s your boy.

The overburdened story unravels under a palpable nervousness to please all. Therefore, too frequent songs, too many gaalis from Kilol, too many subplots (from gamlas to gay sex) and too many poor jokes spoil the show.

Overall, the direction of O Teri simply loses the satirical plot, leaving you sighing, jaane bhi do yaaron.

There are too many tangents, navels and nose-rings, diverting focus from Rajjo, the story’s driving force. Instead of knowing how and why she becomes the tigress of Madhavpur, we’re given mellifluous songs, intercut with soon-repetitive scenes of exploitation. Considering the subject’s intense power and the charisma of these stars, the movie’s hesitation with how to proceed stands out.

Highway is not an easy ride. But it offers fresh breezes and new sights.

At times, Highway feels like an unending Bharat darshan, a long look at suffering souls through several deserts and eucalyptus trees. But some meandering is its only flaw. Watch it for its cathartic creativity, for colours akin to Iranian palettes, for sound design where melting qawwalis, chirruping crickets and a screeching train make layers of noise – for that shot where Veera rests her head on a pillow of water.

Gunday’s heart is in the right place but the plot gets overwhelmed by its own voluptuousness, its slick torsos and slow-motion slaps, its extended Durga Puja which leaves it lost between Calcutta’s cabarets and Dhanbad’s dark mines.

Straight away, 12 Years A Slave is not a film for the faint-hearted. It is one of the most haunting, daunting movies made. But despite its unrelenting, tense brutality, you’re unable to tear your eyes away. This is what makes 12 Years A Slave a work of disturbing genius.

This fast-moving film extends beyond one icon. Alongside Mandela, it follows the anti-apartheid movement itself, from peaceful boycotts to blowing offices up, terrible civil war and a return to peace. It captures the tremendous romance of Africa, its gold-pink vistas as beautiful as blush, its rhythms, vibes and colourful tribes. And it presents fabulous performances.

…amuses with irony, music and wit. It tantalizes with danger but doesn’t get violent. Its sexiness – there’s grinding in washrooms, on tables and laps – is electric and fun. Intelligent and good-looking, American Hustle could’ve lost 20 minutes to deliver an even sharper kick.

…one of the most amusing and appalling films around. Martin Scorsese paints a compelling portrait of Wall Street, that metaphor for American ability and greed, sending your head spinning with its ferocity. Leonardo DiCaprio stands foreground, delivering fresh-faced-with-wicked-eyes with the kick of a cocktail.

Dhoom 3’s story with a twist wrapped around it, like the ribbon around a Christmas gift. Merrily unwrap – flying out of the Great Indian Circus, Dhoom 3 is great fun.