Maybe the intention of the film was to tell us that ladies who dance for a living also have the right to respectability, which is wonderful, but a mothballed plot and an even more mothballed treatment isn’t the way forward.

Invariably, Hindi cinema’s depiction of bar dancers is straightforward: trash-talking roadies by night, virginal white-salwaar angels by day. There is such a vast difference between these two avatars that it becomes more difficult to digest than Puneet Issar playing a respected lawyer.

…barring cinematography and music, other aspects of the film are way too mediocre and cliched for your liking. Sadly it’s 2015 and this formulaic drama has nothing new to offer.

Despite its best intentions, it is a tedious exercise going through this film. Sara Loren is pretty, but her performance isn’t. The director and writer still probably think we’re stuck in the 60s and 70s. We know it’s stupid to make sweeping statements like “all bar girls are prostitutes” (because it isn’t true), but why does one need to make a film to elucidate that point?

The only saving grace of the film is its cinematography (Mujahid Raza). The film could have come across as a decent affair if its editing (Mayuresh Sawant) was at least average.

On the whole, BARKHAA can be avoided as it offers nothing new.

The film looks good, is short on runtime and harbors on old-fashioned hysterics. Likeable but not exactly enjoyable!