This is an important film, and I do hope it gets seen widely, timely and topical as it is in the time of Muzzafarnagar, misguided mullahs and modified bhakts.

Dekh Tamasha Dekh offers a combination of farcical, funny and depressing. How many movies can you say that for?

What it spotlights is a system that panders to stupidity which always spreads like an epidemic. It indicts the system, i.e. police, that is so scared of religion and religion-wallas, is so desperate to seem neutral that it would rather watch people kill each other than step in and put a stop to this nonsense. The film tells us that snuffing out a riot is possible at every moment of the life of a riot. You just have to cut off phone lines first.

…rolls out like a play or a social commentary with staged events (often over-stretched) that result in an abrupt narrative. The stark portrayal of bare-faced reality (devoid of background music) with a cast of commoners – gives it a docu-drama flavour. ‘DTD’ is ‘grave’ alright, but offers hilarity in decent doses.

With a run time of just about 100 minutes, DEKH TAMASHA DEKH is indeed watchable.

Feroz Abbas Khan’s DEKH TAMASHA DEKH is a well-nuanced film which is frighteningly disturbing and intelligently engaging at all levels; be it at the stark portrayal of political situations, comedy or tragic relationships. DEKH TAMASH DEKH is liberating.

A rare film that treats its audience as intelligent enough to understand the nuances of the subject that it deals with. You may squirm in your seats as the harsh truth is served in a cold plate. Even so, go watch it because the truth always stays longer with you.

Dekh Tamasha Dekhis a satire devoid of commercial ingredients. It will go as it has come – unnoticed. Flop!

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.

Like every other genre of films besides romance and action, political satire is a scarce commodity in Hindi cinema. Khan makes one without alienating any kind of audience. Far from being preachy; its politics is utterly engaging.

The film is a searing satire, where fantasy and humour mingle with stark reality

Neither a biting enough political satire, nor a moving drama— Dekh Tamasha Dekh hangs precariously in-between. You understand the intention, you even connect with a few scenes, but overall the film is dismal. Avoidable.

The admirable part about this cleverly-mounted liberal dialogue is that despite its mid-90s setup, this film refuses to take sides. Khan tries too hard to stick to a multi-tracked parallel setup though, and perhaps loses out due to the absence of a sole protagonist. At times, he tilts towards an idealistic newly-transferred cop, but stops short of giving him a voice. Still, this unfamiliar balanced treatment only adds to its topicality today, at this moment, in a country on the verge of a fierce political revolution.