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.

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.

‘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.

As a pure fantasy feature, there was an interesting idea in Zero. Carefully designed to appeal to Khan’s core demographic – the family – while providing scope to invent an endearing character. The flaws of Zero lie not in the physicality of the characters, but in the story. Too ambitious in its vision and indiscriminately illogical, Rai falters in exploring both inner spaces and outer space. Even at 164 minutes, the narrative lurches from scene to scene, and before you can say ‘Houston we have a problem’, incredulously Bauaa is suiting up for a space odyssey.

Khan shines in these later scenes, shedding the earlier self-consciousness to throw it all into the physically challenging finale. Rajput is natural as the compassionate Mansoor, though at times he seems to be searching for the soul of his character, which could have been another casualty of a confused script.

Fortunately for Kapoor, the performances manage to keep things afloat, taking the emotions to a crescendo matching nature’s wrath.

Describing the band to manager John Reid (Gillen), Freddie says, “Now we’re four misfits who don’t belong together, we’re playing for the other misfits. They’re the outcasts, right at the back of the room. We’re pretty sure they don’t belong either. We belong to them.”

This is why Queen remains iconic and, even though the movie may not do either the band or the singer justice, you will be singing Bohemian Rhapsody all the way home.

Like previous works, which include Tashan and Dhoom 3, Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan is big but hollow.

A visually rich blend of fear and folklore…‘Tumbbad ‘ is a technically accomplished and edgy home-grown horror fantasy

‘Pataakha’ has the fuse, but not the firepower…Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaption is buoyed by crackling performances