It is impossible to believe that this war epic has been directed by a first-time filmmaker.How can a virgin artiste conceive such a vivid portrait of the rape of a civilization?

This isn’t really a film. It’s a work of art, tempestuous and terrific.

Yes, this is a masterpiece.

This could not have been an easy film to make. Applaud the director for flavouring the Indian heartland with a plot that reads like pulp fiction but feels like a slice of ugly Indian history.

Hawaa Hawaii is an extraordinary saga of ordinary lives, the kind we often pass by at traffic signals .Amole Gupte penetrates the heart mind soul and dreams of those unsung lives. This is the most moving film on street kids since Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay. Take a bow, Mr Gupte. This is a not-to-be-missed life-changing experience.

Once a while there comes along a man who genuinely wants to change the world we live in. Manjunath is the hard hitting conscientious story of one one braveheart who tried to make a difference. And paid with his life. Manjunath’s valorous story had to be told. The director pieces together Manjunath’s story like Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.

You may not be overwhelmed by Vishwanathan’s satire. But you won’t come away without a smile and smirk in this sly look-see at rural India where every second citizen is a certifiable attention-seeker.

As an actor Vijay Raaz seldom lets down a film. Here he takes on the added responsibility of direction. He keeps the proceedings even-paced and free of techno-generated upheavals. The two actors are mostly left to their own devices. The end-result is a film of tremendous warmth and wisdom.

This is a film that addresses itself to ideas and thoughts buried away from human consideration. We don`t want to consider to what depth human nature can fall if pushed against a dirty wall. To record the dirt on the wall and the blood on the floor with such clarity and honesty is not within the creative powers of every filmmaker.

This is an important treatise of our times, and it should not be missed by any Indian.

Jal is a work of remarkable resonance. The sheer visual mastery of Malik’s directorial debut takes your breath away. The sheer velocity and spatial harmony of the intrinsically disturbed desertscape, the incredibly nuanced sound design and the powerhouse performances by actors who forget the camera is watching them, make this a work whipped into eternity by vast stretches of unchained artistry.

Writer-director Syed Ahmad Afzal has told a story that seems destined to be put on screen. The politics of our disembodied democracy is sexily sketched. In this season of the Lok Sabha election, Youngistaan raises pertinent questions on the quality of leadership in our country. While it gets its political fundas right, the plot also accommodates the central romantic conflict into its structure.

…not a film for the weak hearted and the squeamish.
Lakshmi is a powerfully told inspirational tale that doesn’t brush the brutal reality of sexual exploitation under the rug. It pulls out uncomfortable home truths. There are portions of the narrative in the brothel involving Kukunoor and Shefali as the pimp and the madame that get unbearably violent and gruesome. Both come up with superlative fearless performances.