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4/5
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Ullozhukku
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Powered by Urvashi, Parvathy and consistent direction, Ullozhukku is everything that is precious about the best of Malayalam cinema: naturalistic, realistic, and an illustration of how both qualities could be a source of edge-of-the-seat entertainment.
Posted Jul 03, 2024
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3.5/5
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Crew
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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The lesson from Crew for the likes of Indra Kumar (the Masti series) and Sajid Khan (Housefull 2) is this: you can joke about sex without demeaning other genders, without making light of violence, and without lazily aiming at the oppressed...
Posted May 29, 2024
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3.5/5
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Amar Singh Chamkila
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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...brave in its stand on religious despots, lazy when it clubs harassment with fun and equates censorship with all criticism. It is also beautifully acted and uses music in the best way a film can, making it a memorable tribute to a folk hero...
Posted May 03, 2024
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3/5
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Do Aur Do Pyaar
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Do Aur Do Pyaar ... is not in the business of finding villains. Instead it examines the circumstances that cause its protagonists to cheat on each other.
Posted Apr 21, 2024
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3/5
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All India Rank
(2023)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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The unhurried demeanour and unmelodramatic presentation of even its most dramatic moments convey an impression that little happens here. In truth, it is packed with thoughtful character development and discreet socio-political commentary.
Posted Feb 26, 2024
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2.5/5
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Manjummel Boys
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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...survival thriller cum coming-of-age saga (that) is outstanding in part yet thinly written and inconsistently toned for the most part.
Posted Feb 24, 2024
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1.5/5
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Bramayugam
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Behind the gloss and beyond an in-form Mammootty, Bramayugam is not scary despite its promising atmospherics. It is also flimsy ... until it begins to lay out its caste politics. The film’s allegorical take on caste proves to be muddled and insensitive.
Posted Feb 17, 2024
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2/5
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Malaikottai Vaaliban
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Malaikottai Vaaliban features some of the most sensational images and sound ever created for the Indian screen... It is also stretched to nearly three hours with a plot and character graphs undeserving of that length.
Posted Feb 01, 2024
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2.75/5
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Neru
(2023)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Mohanlal’s filmography has for decades been dominated by hyper-masculinity and omnipotent heroes. So when he chooses to play a man who wears his vulnerability on his sleeve, the character’s significance extends beyond the boundaries of this storyline.
Posted Jan 29, 2024
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2/5
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Fighter
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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"PoK stands for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. You have occupied it. But we are the actual owners,” says Hrithik Roshan’s character... Never before has a Hindi film spelt out its proprietorial attitude towards Kashmir in such black-and-white terms.
Posted Jan 28, 2024
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4.5/5
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Aattam
(2023)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Conversations on the all-pervasiveness of patriarchy and violence routinely draw this clichéd caveat from defensive participants: Not All Men. Aattam is a quiet reminder that ... the appropriate rejoinder often is: Yes, All Men.
Posted Jan 18, 2024
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2.75/5
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Merry Christmas
(2024)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Merry Christmas...is a crime drama aspiring to be a love saga. It is a slow burn that is intriguing in its first hour, but declines after its big reveal.
Posted Jan 15, 2024
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1.75/5
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Dunki
(2023)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Dunki is an over-wrought, over-stretched, over-crowded sample of cinematic mediocrity, marked by clunky writing and puerile politics – an inexplicably incompetent film coming from one of the most successful teams in Hindi film history.
Posted Dec 23, 2023
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2.5/5
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The Archies
(2023)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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The film’s updated politics, the decision to set it among Anglo Indians in north India and the non-stereotypical portrayal of the community are among The Archies’ exciting elements. Sadly, they are not effectively sewn together.
Posted Dec 15, 2023
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0/5
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Animal
(2023)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Boring, blood-spattered film... Animal’s terrible attitude to women runs alongside a cunning use of India’s religious minorities.
Posted Dec 06, 2023
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2/5
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Sam Bahadur
(2023)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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...comes across as a listing of historical events rather than an in-depth exploration of the person behind the larger-than-life persona.
Posted Dec 02, 2023
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0.5/5
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Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2
(2015)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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...all-out anti-women hate fest pretending to be a comedy. It also unwittingly degrades men...
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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1.5/5
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Pyaar Ka Punchnama
(2011)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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I’ve never before witnessed such misogyny in a film, or emerged from a theatre in such a state of shock, thinking: “Whoa, that director must be really really really hating women!”
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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2/5
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Dhoom 3
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Dhoom 1 & 2 delivered on the promise of unrelenting entertainment. In Dhoom 3, it’s clear that the franchise is wearing thin.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2/4
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What the Fish
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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When the fish will this fishing film industry give a fishing good actress like Dimple a more solid role in a fishing solid film?!
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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1/5
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Rambo Rajkumar
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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The film is so cliched that I don’t even have the energy to dwell at length on the many feminist concerns it raises with the treatment of its heroine
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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4/5
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Ram-Leela
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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There’s nothing conventional about it. It’s based on Romeo and Juliet, but Bhansali has contemporised and Indianised it so much that it feels like Shakespeare’s play is just the foundation on which has been built this extravagant film.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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0.5/5
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Satya 2
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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The kindest thing that can be said about RGV’s latest film is that it’s not half as bad as his Sholay remake Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2.75/5
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Defender
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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With all its blemishes, Krrish 3 still has a lot to offer: a loveable, beautiful-looking superhero, an intriguing female antagonist, hugely entertaining action sequences, the promise of a Krrish 4 ...
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2/4
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Mickey Virus
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Mickey Virus is too long, the first half feels too much like it’s an aspirant to coolth, and the ending is the old-fashioned cliched sort where all the villains gather and explain in detail why they did what they did.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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4/5
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Shahid
(2012)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Hansal Mehta has resisted the temptation to make a high-decibel potboiler, delivering instead a disconcertingly real and highly effective film.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2/5
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Boss
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Cleverly-crafted mindlessness can be so much fun. Boss is mindless all right, but cleverly crafted it is not. Over and above everything else, it is designed as a vehicle for its megastar hero...
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2/5
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Besharam
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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This (...) is what makes Besharam dangerous – it strives to lull us into an acceptance of its medievalism.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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3.5/5
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Prague
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Prague is a thoroughly engaging, highly engrossing film. It demands every ounce of the viewer’s attention, but in the end it’s an intriguing, rewarding experience.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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4.5/5
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The Lunchbox
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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The Lunchbox is seemingly simple yet as complex as all human beings are. It’s sad yet throws up humour when you are least expecting it. It’s not larger than life, it’s just as large as life always is. This film is truly sensational.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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3/5
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Phata Poster Nikla Hero
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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It’s funny and goofy, sweet even when it's being silly, a good ol’ clean comedy from Bollywood after a long time.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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-10
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Grand Masti
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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There’s no better indication of our Great Indian Hypocrisy than that a film like Grand Masti.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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1.5/5
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John Day
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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John Day is a mirage. There’s no better way to describe a thriller in which, as a viewer you keep waiting to reach that oasis in the distance that will make the trek through the burning desert worth it, but it just doesn’t come.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2.75/5
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A Random Desi Romance
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Shuddh Desi Romance is brave all the way and bouncy up to a point, beyond which it just gives up.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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1.5/5
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Thoofan
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Apoorva Lakhia takes almost precisely the same story, fails to contemporise it or re-interpret it in any way to fit the present Indian social or cinematic scenario, dilutes the Vijay-Sher Khan bond, and begs to be asked that one word: why?
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2.5/5
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Satyagraha
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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It’s wonderfully timely and intermittently gripping, but suffers from an inability to decide whether it wants to be realistic or a vintage Bollywood fantasy that’s over-dramatised, unreal and inaccurate.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2.75/5
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Planes
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Planes is sweet. It’s also insubstantial and feels incomplete; a film I think I might have liked better if I’d never seen Pixar’s Cars.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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3.5/5
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Madras Cafe
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Despite some of its questionable politics, Madras Café pulsates with life, a realistic feel and a sense of danger at every turn.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2.5/5
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Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara is not an absolute washout though. Far from it. (...) The lasting impression though is of a sliver of a project, not a fully fleshed out film.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2.75/5
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Chennai Express
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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One thing’s for sure: this film is not as mindless as it would like us to think it is. (...) Chennai Express is not unrelentingly laugh-worthy, but it’s still good enough for a relaxed, pleasant evening.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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0/5
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Rabba Main Kya Karu
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Rabba Main Kya Karoon follows Hindi cinema’s long-standing tradition of finding mirth in male marital infidelity.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2.75/5
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B.A. Pass
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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In many ways, B.A. Pass is a pathbreaking Hindi film. It presents to us aspects of sexual exploitation rarely visited by Hindi cinema. But the promising build-up of the first half is not matched by the denouement.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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4.5/5
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Ship of Theseus
(2012)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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That a story with such profound philosophical underpinnings could lead to a film so simple, so small, so unpretentious, so sweet and yet... so endearing, so entertaining, so humorous and so intriguing would be inconceivable to most. But it is… all this.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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0.5/5
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Ramaiya Vastavaiya
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Ramaiya Vastavaiya is such a dated and formulaic film that it begs the question: why was it made? Answer: it’s been made to launch Girish Kumar Taurani, son of producer Kumar Taurani who owns Tips Industries
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2/5
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D-Day
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Why bother with common sense and logic when populism has been known to work magic at the box-office? Why bother even if it messes up an otherwise significant film?
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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3.5/5
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Sixteen
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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If you watch Sixteen, don’t go looking for a massive epic and what you’ll get is what it is: NOT a nostalgia ride harking back to your own youth, but an insightful slice of urban, upper-crust teen life precisely as it is today.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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1/5
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Policegiri
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Policegiri is noisy, garishly coloured and crudely plays to the gallery. It also works on the stereotypical hero + villain + hero’s ‘love interest’ + comedian + songs + fights formula with complete lack of imagination.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2/5
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Ghanchakkar
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Ghanchakkar is a fantastic concept stretched to non-fantastic proportions. (...) Three great masks and a Vidya Balan do not a summer or a movie make.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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1.5/5
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Shortcut Romeo
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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Ganeshan’s direction is inconsistent. There’s a disconnect between his storytelling style in different parts of the film.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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2/5
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Raanjhanaa
(2013)
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Anna M.M. Vetticad
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The mischief it plays with its Hindu-Muslim dynamic, the glorification of sexual harassment are concerns many viewers may not share. As it happens, it is also confused, confusing, all over the place and, beyond a point, tiresome and dull.
Posted Jan 15, 2023
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