• On the flip side, the plot gets a tad repetitive in the second half and seems dragging. Thankfully, Sunil Grover comes to the rescue and pulls up the strings.

  • Simply put, with sparkling performances and a colourful setting, Pataakha shines on screen like a proper boxful of crackers!

  • With Sanya Malhotra’s Full-Throated Performance, It’s A Cracker Of A Film…This is a cracker of a film that blends the dynamics of a rustic burlesque with a stylised cinematic sensibility

  • IANS
    IANS
    Sify

    6

    The loud background score and the music mesh seamlessly with the narrative. Those looking forward to Malaika Arora’s item number would be disappointed.

    Overall, the film is an above average entertainer.

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

  • Pataakha is an oxymoron. It’s explosive but subtle; it’s emotive but doesn’t take itself too seriously as a film. It could have benefited with a tighter edit, but for the most part I couldn’t take my eyes away from the screen. Pataakha is an indulgence worth investing in.

  • Mohar Basu
    Mohar Basu
    Mid-Day

    7

    Your Dose Of Smiles And Tears…Viewers are instantly sucked into the rustic milieu and volatile world of Champa and Genda Kumari

  • Suhani Singh
    Suhani Singh
    India Today

    5

    Pataakha, starring Sanya Malhotra and Radhika Madan, marks the return of Vishal Bhardwaj to direction. The film is entertaining in parts, but fails to leave a mark…

  • Fun, colourful, comical are adjectives you rarely use for a Vishal Bhardwaj film, but that’s exactly what Pataakha is…

  • “Pataakha” should have been a short film, but it got inexplicably extended into a 136-minute full length feature. Much like his protagonists, Bhardwaj doesn’t know when to cut it short and walk away.

  • he rustic tale of sibling enmity provides an abundance of wisecracks
    Pataakha has everything that makes it a perfect fit in Vishal Bhardwaj’s oeuvre: literary adaptation, feisty women, rustic hinterland, unapologetic use of dialect and free-flowing gaalis. Yet, the film doesn’t feel contrived or formulaic.

  • Suparna Sharma
    Suparna Sharma
    Deccan Chronicle

    7

    Delightful, with a peppy, folksy punch… Vishal Bhardwaj’s direction and writing are superlative.

  • Shubhra Gupta
    Shubhra Gupta
    Indian Express

    6

    The girls in Pataakha take some getting used to: you have to suspend disbelief to take these dusty, filthy-mouthed sisters seriously. But once they start settling into their roles, you cross a hump

  • Raja Sen
    Raja Sen
    Hindustan Times

    8

    The new Vishal Bhardwaj film is colourful, noisy and dazzling…Vishal Bhardwaj turns the two warring sisters, played by Radhika Madan and Sanya Malhotra, into a metaphor for India and Pakistan, countries locked in an endless cycle of sniping.

  • Rohit Vats
    Rohit Vats
    IBNLive

    7

    Pataakha is a well-crafted adaptation of Charan Singh Pathik’s short story Do Behnein, which ends with something that’s quite clearly wishful thinking.

  • Rachit Gupta
    Rachit Gupta
    Times Of India

    7

    Vishal Bhardwaj, as he always does with his films, has tried to put many quirky spins into this comedy. The music is rustic, but very pleasing. He has also provided an interesting background score. During the second half, as the film briefly explores a psychological reason for the sisters’ tendency to fight, the sci-fi sounding background music adds a delightful touch to the proceedings. But for all its wonderful and creative touches, Pataakha still feels like a story that stretches a short concept, for a little too long.