Badmaash Company may not be as buoyant as Bunty aur Babli, the original badmash couple in recent cinema, but it does make for some merry viewing.

Don’t expect time-pass entertainment. Think beyond run-of-the-mill and see how Ekta Kapoor re-invents herself as the producer of contemporary Indian cinema’s first full-blown experimental film.

In the end, Wake Up Sid becomes a sort of template of how GenNow navigate their lives: deal with their own little rebellions, find meaning to their own definitions of independence and handle their own set of mistakes. It feels good when the two friends finally meet in driving rain under the grey skies by the sea. Refreshing and heart-warming, Wake Up Sid really puts you in the mood for love.

…this time, the effervescence and adrenalin rush of impetuous love, resonant in the romance of Geet and Aditya in Jab We Met, has been replaced by a more serious and realistic take on modern love. The film literally holds up a mirror to the commitment phobia of the young, successful professionals who keep changing their status from `committed’ to `single’ on the sundry social networking sites. Much to the chagrin of their dads and mums who fail to understand this emotional dilettantism and keep badgering them with love-of-a-lifetime cliches.

The film may not have done well in its Tamil version (Kuselan), but Priyadarshan has suitably peppered it with some heart-tugging moments to make it a moving ode to friendship and ordinariness. Of course, Irrfan manages to invest the ordinary with kingly glow, even as Shah Rukh lends the glamour quotient with his filmy naach-gaana.

…another delectable tale about a superchor who transforms stealing into a fine art. Cineastes may have problems with the morally ambiguous tenor of the story which transforms Lucky, a lad who lives on the wild side of the law, into a lovable character.

The promise that Ranbir Kapoor displayed in Saawariya, his debut venture, has been duly fulfilled in this breezy, urbane tale of love and longing, set against a come-of-age backdrop of 21st century twenty-something Indians. Here is a crackling bunch of gals and guys who mirror the mores and manners of modern India, even as they re-live the traditional Bollywood fable of ishq-vishq, pyar-mohabbat.

Great performances by a bunch of unknowns, a gritty pace and a marvellous restraint make Chakde India an unbridled ode to patriotism without any hysterical chest-beating. And yes, for all you SRK fans and bashers, this time the verdict gotta be unanimous: Chakde Shah Rukh! Can you better this?

Apart from the unusual plot, it is the performances which leave you breathless. Shreyas proves that Iqbal was no accident and Gul gives one of the most convincing portrayals of her career. But it is Ayesha Takia who simply blows your breath away. Her journey from joyous subjugation — where she is content to dance before her husband and be at the beck and call of her in-laws — to silent emancipation is absolutely endearing.