‘Raat Akeli Hai’ review: A slow burn that singes when it keeps its focus
Reading Time: 3 minutes Debut director Honey Trehan lays out his movie on a multi-hued slow burn track that, as long as it stays on it, singes and haunts.
‘Shakuntala Devi’ review: Vidya Balan elevates a spritzy take on an enigma
Reading Time: 3 minutes Director Anu Menon keeps it light and pacy, not pausing even she ought to have. But with Vidya Balan around, an enigma becomes humane.
‘Breathe: Into the Shadows’ review: A plodding plot that lets its actors down
Reading Time: 4 minutes ‘Breathe: Into the Shadows’ takes an elaborate, weary, textbook approach to the serial-killer genre. You’ll be excused for yawning.
‘Panchayat’ review: A delightful take on life in limited measures
Reading Time: 4 minutes ‘Panchayat’ may not zip around to deliver twists and mega thrills, but in these unsettling times, it’s the soothing salve we all need.
‘Bulbbul’ review: A richly hued canvas that’s dipped in gender violence
Reading Time: 3 minutes Why is it that most folklore and campfire catechisms tell of horrors that *female* forms take, usually to slake their bloodthirsty urges? Writer-director Anvita Dutt’s ‘Bulbbul’ is the visually stunning answer.
‘Ganashatru’ review: Suddenly, chillingly relevant for our times
Reading Time: 4 minutes In director Satyajit Ray’s adda-styled story-telling, there’s a ruminating warmth, even if it doesn’t quite reach where it could have. But the chill of the present permeates this 1989 feature.
Pancham: A Return Birthday Gift
Reading Time: 2 minutes For Pancham’s birthday on June 27.
‘Aandhi’ review: An Emotional Maelstrom From the Past
Reading Time: 5 minutes ‘Aandhi’ is a beautiful tapestry of the man-woman relationship that also doesn’t hesitate to tear it apart. Plus, Rahul Dev Burman weaves magic.
‘Gulabo Sitabo’ review: A Delightful, Ambling Tale of Greed
Reading Time: 4 minutes ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ is an ambling, light-touch look at men and their covetous ways. And while director Shoojit Sircar has plenty of them in the movie, his women are no push-overs either.
‘Bad Education’ review: A Tight Tale About a Tight Con
Reading Time: 3 minutes Director Cory Finley spins a tight tale about a true-life embezzlement scandal that throws light on an education system that encourages top rankings for schools at a price no one knows they’re paying. Or do they? Oh yeah, and Hugh Jackman shines in a layered act.