Parts of it grab you, especially the interplay between the deeply unhappy Tejaswini Kolhapure and the unsmilingly vicious Ronit Roy: I wanted to know more about these people, and what makes them tick. But the film backs off from them, and stays a zig-zag between being a police procedural and a human drama that wants your jugular.

Ugly is a tale of torment, masterfully woven around the universally urgent trigger of a disappearing minor — and yet where, in the larger scheme of things, that kidnapping itself becomes, I daresay, a minor detail. Genius.

Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Ugly’ with make you laugh at some of the irrelevance, it will make you cringe at the blood and gore, it will leave you disturbed even but more importantly it will make you think. And that’s why you should watch it.

Watch the movie for brilliance and for its simple, touching and mind-blowing messaage. Watch it for Ronit Roy, Rahul Bhatt and Vineet Kumar Singh. Do not watch the film if you do not like being subjected to the dark and intense feelings of guilt, realisation and loss. Skip the movie if blood and shootouts is all you want to see in an Anurag Kashyap venture.

‘Ugly’ takes steep turns that will leave you confused as to who to root for in the end. The ending is a haunting final shot, which pummels the moral centre of the movie. The film begins and ends with intentional violence which simply accentuates the ugliness instead of serving as a shock-value.

This may not be Anurag Kashyap’s best film, but it is infinitely and indescribably better than all the muck that mainstream Bollywood passed off for entertainment this year.

While the pace does dip in the second half, what makes Ugly tick is the searing honesty with which it is told. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but for those who are willing to let the morally decrepit live.

“Ugly” is a disturbing film which will make you squirm in your seat. But if you don’t mind that, it is worth a watch.

Do not miss this film. It may be all things dark and forbidding this festive season, but it is, with flaws and all, one of the best films you’ll watch this year.

It may not be the best film to watch around Christmas but it’s one hell of movie that shouldn’t be missed. Anurag Kashyap is at his best once again. Ugly is dark and hard-hitting like his critically acclaimed film Black Friday (2007).

Ugly is a mean, dark and unsettling film that will rip you off in its last scene. This film is for the strong-hearted. It is honest, bare and raw in all its sense. As disgusting as the characters are, you want to watch this film for their diverse personalities and just to see what goes on in warped brains that bring out the worst in them. I loved the film for its brave nature…

…technically brilliant with some wonderful performances, UGLY strictly caters to a niche audience. Moreover the choice of releasing it during a festive period isn’t a great idea either. Watch it if you are an Anurag Kashyap fan, else avoid!

Ugly is the work of a director who is on the top of his game.

The underlying sense of peril and the unrelenting tension grips you through a sweat breaking two hours. And when the climax of Ugly arrives you’re dealt a killer blow. It’s so dark and inconvenient that it’ll wrench your gut. And yet, it’s so simple that you’ll hate yourself for not guessing. More so, you’ll hate the characters for being so ignorant and misguided. Ugly is a film that draws the deepest and darkest behavior of men. This is how you make a great film.

UGLY is fast-paced and stays true to its genre. If only Kashyap had got the timing of his release right!

Ugly is not your cheerful holiday movie but the kind of film that must be seen. Its serves as a brutal mirror to society and is likely to do more so for parents. It will act as a wake up call and stir up realisations that perhaps you’ve been ignoring. Not everyone has a taste for an Anurag Kashyap film but if there is one Anurag Kashyap film you’re to watch, it should be Ugly.

…must say that this film manages to deeply disturb you, mildly depress you and tag along with you for a long time even after you come out of the theatre. That obviously is Kashyap’s intent.

This is a thriller which leaves us with a sense of utter futility about the quality of life that we lead. Anurag Kashyap’s most incisive exploration of human relationships Ugly boasts of some of the most skilled performances in recent times, so skilled that they do not seem to be performances at all. These are actors who must be seen more often. Or their souls would be broken beyond repair… just like the characters that they play so well they don’t seem to be playing them at all.

You’ll probably be confused as to whom to root for by the end of the film, but the answer really is nobody. Kashyap never tries to make you sympathise with any of the characters, thereby making them more real. Human beings are terrible by default, and they would only do more terrible things to others to have their own way. So there’s no point of rendering a contrived ‘goodness’ to the central character, and Kashyap remains quite non-judgemental. The vast space between helplessness and desperation is morbidity, and Ugly lives in that world.

Ugly is a disappointment, not just because it’s a whodunit that sinks like a badly-made souffle but also because we expect better and more of Kashyap. Of him, we expect more taut storytelling, greater sensitivity in characterisation, as well as more originality and insight.

Ugly is another masterpiece from the Anurag Kashyap’s closet. Ugly is special, and if you love Anurags earlier film, you will love this one too.

…the film itself, tightly put together, ideally watched without an interval, keeps you thoroughly engaged and almost at the edge of your seat until you get to that end. That’s fun enough. Would you even want to look back? I didn’t.

There is something about Anurag Kashyap’s cinema that makes no attempt to soften reality. Ugly is a film about how we are forgetting the little things in pursuit of money, revenge and power.

I went to watch this film not having much expectations from it, but Anurag Kashyap won me over with his storytelling and direction. If you are a lover of good cinema and if you can handle dark, raw truths of the society, then this is a must watch. It is worth every penny spent!

Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Dev.D, Black Friday) gives us a film that represents a disturbing reflection of life. It’s a film where there are only villains in varying degrees and no heroes. It reminds you of his 2011 film ‘That Girl in Yellow Boots’.In the end, ‘Ugly’ is a fairly gripping film that’s also exhaustingly melancholic and cynical. After all, it does seem unreasonable to view the world only through smog-tinted glasses!

The film’s content is so unsettling that you wouldn’t want to watch it again, at the same time you feel like you haven’t grasped it all in the first go. It is long and does seem to stall at places, over and above the lingering that is likeable. As well-made as I find a depressing film that shows you reality, I was ready to be out of the theater. After all, it does go out of its way to prove how deeply immoral we are as a society and as humans and after a point I don’t want to be reminded that reality s***s. And at the same time, give me reality over gloss, any day!

This isn’t an easy film to watch, and not each of its 127 minutes is entirely purposeful. Everyone is an antagonist; there’s not a moment when they are not driven by oppression and greed.
I disliked what I saw, and I dislike thinking or even writing about its familiar environment. And this vile aftertaste is perhaps Mr. Kashyap’s most significant achievement.

Anurag is so miserly with information that at one point you like to beseech him to part with more details but he is no mood to take a please-all route. Still all threads come together when they need to. Still it is Anurag’s least indulgent yet most visceral film. There is no escape from the ugliness that we and our films like to keep under wraps. Last week Hirani had hung a mirror in theatres, this week Anurag has put together few shards of glass. That was easier to face; this one will test the nerve.

‘Ugly’ is a beautiful portrayal of the squalidity that swamps the human soul. The characters are ruthless, dark, desperate and dangerous, more to themselves than others.

This is a thriller which leaves us with a sense of utter futility about the quality of life that we lead.

With Ugly Anurag Kashyap shuttles bravely between intrigue and mystery. He puts forth an unabashed and yet a non-judgmental commentary on the dark ingredients that make our being. From betrayal to brutality and from lies to unsolicited liaisons, Ugly sheds light on the darkness that thrives in the city and perhaps in the heads of those who dwell it. Don’t miss this cinematic treat if you have both the stomach-and the palate-to digest this delicious story soaked in disturbing darkness.

Ugly” is a beautiful portrayal of the squalidity that swamps the human soul. The characters are ruthless, dark, desperate and dangerous, more to themselves than others.
This is a thriller which leaves us with a sense of utter futility about the quality of life that we lead.

The characters in Ugly are ruthless, dark, desperate and dangerous, more to themselves than others. Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly is a thriller which leaves us with a sense of utter futility about the quality of life that we lead.