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Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi

‘Captain Marvel’ review: Get Up, Dust Off

Reading Time: 5 minutes Captain Marvel must be the first superhero who faced vicious, non-alien attacks even before she made her onscreen debut. And in this Anna Boden-Ryan Fleck helmed project, there’s an element of grace and humanness, a struggle to match superhero power with emotions that aren’t always the right guiding compass. It also mirrors all that is wrong in today’s more connected, more polarized world. Even as it entertains and gets in its messaging, the movie has a far bigger battle lying ahead. No, not the ‘ Avengers: Endgame’, but the one awaiting it offscreen.

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Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

‘Badla’ review: The Story’s in the Details

Reading Time: 4 minutes Director Sujoy Ghosh lays out a detailed, conversational thriller that’s high on the quality of ingredients, even if the flavors are all too familiar and predictable. But the point of ‘Badla’ isn’t to surprise you as much as it is to make you pay attention and revel in the atmosphere. Plus, of course the top notch acting that rivets, diverts, and then delivers a climactic scene that’s more heartbreaking triumph than a twist.

Drama / Music

‘Gully Boy’ review: Joan of Story Arc

Reading Time: 5 minutes In a movie that runs for a considerable length of time, director Zoya Akhtar creates story arcs that rivet you and stay with you long after you’ve left the cinema hall. And she’s supported by a stunning casting coup. Every one of her actor seamlessly flows into the director’s vision of rebellion and flight of ambition, even if their runway’s paved with hopelessness.

Comedy / Drama / Romance

‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga’ review: Of Inspirations and Subtlety

Reading Time: 6 minutes Director Shelly Chopra Dhar makes a breezy first half that takes the best of a Wodehouse story and comes up with a sunny, happy entertainer. It’s when she takes on societal prejudices and throwing light on a couple but continues to take the pre-interval approach that the cracks in her missus begin to show. And even though her lead actress does a sincere—but skimming the character’s surface—job, it’s the rest of the cast that shines and props up the movie all through. Meanwhile offscreen, the movie’s producer continues to don the mantle of a life and music coach.

Action / Biography / Drama / History

‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ review: Blaze of Glory

Reading Time: 4 minutes Kangana Ranaut is so movingly magnificent, she earns this review an extra point. In a movie not without flaws, hers is an act that’s packed with sizzling energy and ferociousness; she touches you and stuns you all at the same time. In perhaps what is fitting irony and tribute, the queen’s (Ranilaxmi’s, not Ranaut’s blockbuster movie) fight against patriarchy and society’s campy behavior is what the actress faced in real life to complete this movie, and that’s the negative energy she seems to turn around and harness to blaze ahead in this project.

Drama

‘Soni’ review: Parallels and Meeting Points

Reading Time: 4 minutes In his fantastic debut feature, director Ivan Ayr slices the lives of two women in the Delhi Police force and runs a parallel through them. And then, he throws a stunning spotlight on how similar their struggles are, even as he shows other ugly cracks in the form of school shaming, being propositioned, as if it was part of the job description, and the obnoxious entitlement that seems to oil a venal machinery. And even if he does it with a quiet, observant camera, almost as if tip-toeing into the lives of the two women of his movie, his messaging is loud and clear.

Action / Drama

‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ review: Tailored Swift, Family Patriot

Reading Time: 6 minutes Director Aditya Dhar comes up with a slickfest of a first half that’s let down by a second half that compromises on too many fronts. But despite its malaises and tendency to take the pat route out, ‘Uri’ is worth a watch for actor Vicky Kaushal’s magnificent performance. He not only shines in the action sequences, but more importantly, shows the humane side of a trained combatant. And that, the most prestigious medal that you carry around is the one that your elders pin on you.

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