A whole lot of time is wasted setting up the story; far less is assigned to unravelling the mystery or providing adequate backstory to all the characters. It feels like misdirection to bring you into the world of Malang through Advait and Sara’s superficial, chemically assisted love story but place greater emphasis on the twisted minds of the cops in charge.

Gowariker finds the emotional connect in the scenes between Kapoor and Sanon, but there’s a been-there-seen-that feel to the battle scenes and the drama of the royal court. This is an interesting chapter of history to revisit, because the winners were not the real heroes of the Third Battle of Panipat.

Singh, the director, had all the pieces to craft an effectual Indian western: the terrain, the long-suffering sadhu, an age of flux, elements of magic realism, and touches of Shakespearean tragedy. But Laal Kaptaan falters on an over-written script and visually over-told story.

The style of the film veers from domestic soap opera to dramatic crime and action stitched together by political drama. Structured like a Shakespearean tragedy, Prassthanam is built on countless conflicts, awash with textbook characters and dated in its story-telling.

The tropes of campus films abound, yet the humour in Chhichhore is so organic and the characters so particular, you feel like a member of the crowd hoping Hostel 4’s strategy makes them champions. It’s almost enough to make you overlook the present day prosthetics and script conveniences that lean heavily on the kind of Bollywood melodrama one is not nostalgic about.

John Abraham’s dramatic film seems burdened by its patriotic ambitions…

Vidyut Jammwal’s action-adventure film is well-intentioned but lazily executed

‘Dumbo’ gets by on the charm of its titular character…

Bachchan is commanding as always but Pannu earns neither sympathy nor surprise, whereas Amrita Singh achieves both in her decisive role. If revenge is a dish best served cold, this one isn’t icy enough.

Utekar directs what can best be defined as an overwritten dummies guide to live-in relationships. There is so much drag in this 126-minute film that even the occasional build-up of momentum is punctured by the next chapter of humourless nonsense, such as a bizarre dream sequence with a child getting married and a scene at a temple.