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.

…is zany and funny, an Uttar Pradesh take on Sholay’s Jai and Veeru, ‘twice-born’ in Lucknow as Raja Mishra (Khan) and Rudra Pratap (Shergill). BR is a racy ride, cynical, yet sweet, dark, yet bright. Go watch – you’ll enjoy those bangs in the dark.

Its finesse qualifies this charmer as India’s potential entry to the Oscars, The Lunchbox an unusual banquet, raising a bitter-sweet toast to life.

Showing true Satyagraha has no short-cuts, it also shows solutions glimmering ahead, as ephemeral, yet powerful as a rainbow cleansing the dust.

Straight up, Madras Cafe couldn’t be more different to director Shoojit Sircar’s Vicky Donor. Political, tense, finally explosive, Madras Cafe is no picnic in the neighborhood park.

Straight up, D-Day is explosive at three levels. The plot crackles. The acting sears. And the music flares with passion. Catch it – this ‘D’ company denotes both debate and desh-prem.