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31 August 2012Hindi104 min

Joker

3.811 reviews
CriticsUnfavorable

Bayesian avg · 11 critic reviews

7.5+ Exceptional · 6.5 Recommended · 5.0 Mixed

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Joker is an 2012 Hindi fantasy film directed by Shirish Kunder, and also his second directorial venture after Jaan-E-Mann.

Critic Consensus

Critical reception for Joker is overwhelmingly negative, with most reviewers finding it incompetent, dull, and a wasted opportunity. Several critics called it one of the worst Bollywood releases of its time, with words like 'inept,' 'daft,' and 'disaster' appearing across reviews. The few marginally warmer takes acknowledged occasional stray laughs or a passable premise, but even these reviewers agreed the film failed to deliver on its basic promise of entertainment. A recurring complaint was that the film does not work even as a children's movie, despite appearing to target that audience.

11 reviews · 1 positive · 3 mixed · 7 negative

Praised: occasional stray laughsCriticised: inept, unfunny, wasted premise

AI-generated summary of 11 critic reviews · may contain errors

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Critic Reviews (11)

Rajeev MasandTop Critic· IBNLive
3.0
"Joker unfolds briskly and predictably. Alas, just as you're confronted with an unpredictable twist in the tale, the film comes to a screeching halt. Once again, an opportunity wasted."
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Raja SenTop Critic· Rediff
3.0
"Does Joker hold up, then, as a children's film? Not a chance. It's clean, sure, bereft of swearing or innuendo (yet with a sultry item song) but it's also daft."
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Shubhra GuptaTop Critic· Indian Express
2.0
"Can kids watch this, I asked myself as I watched this all-over-the-place faradiddle. And then I dismissed it. Because even children, especially children, need a story that holds, and characters that engage."
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Anupama ChopraTop Critic· Hindustan Times
2.0
"Joker testifies to the power of the star in Bollywood. It is staggeringly inept. I can't imagine that it was persuasive even as a concept."
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Gaurav Malani· Times Of India
6.0
"Like a joker, the film makes a complete fool of itself. However it fails to make you laugh. The circus clown is funnier!"
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Roshni Devi· KoiMoi
4.0
"Joker is an amusing but predictable fare. Nothing out-of-this-world."
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Martin D'Souza· Glamsham
4.0
"All that you take home from JOKER is a few stray laughs."
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Prateeksha Khot· Bollyspice
4.0
"With a baseline that sounded interesting enough, I was hoping for a more entertaining and enjoyable fare. Although really not that bad as some are making it out to be, there is no doubt that this Joker could have been funnier."
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Aniruddha Guha· DNA India
2.0
"Joker isn't as awful as you expect it to be, falling a few degrees short of entering the 'So Bad It's Good' category, a list which has had two brilliant additions this year."
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"Give Joker a miss if you value your sanity and money. It gives commercial Hindi cinema a bad name."
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Taran Adarsh· Bollywood Hungama
2.0
"On the whole, JOKER is a joke of a film. Disaster!"
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Cast & Crew

Cast

Details

Release Date
31 August 2012
Runtime
104 min
Language
Hindi
Genre
Drama

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