Sharmaji Namkeen is a tad light but a sweet and simple film without melodrama and sentimentality. Director Hitesh Bhatia tells the story so cleverly that his use of two actors for the same role does not appear a gimmick.
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Jalsa is a drama that does not try to make you weep. You may feel that it holds back a bit too much, but its approach suits the issues it deals with. The raw and powerful film also has great acting.
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Shakun Batra's Gehraiyaan is a slow-burner of a film that discusses infidelity, the levels of trust among modern partners, and the importance of letting go of the past. Gehraiyaan is not an easy film to watch throughout, but it has terrific performances and can appeal more to patient viewers.
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Looop Lapeta is the kind of thriller brimming with a sense of eccentricity and wit that you rarely see in Hindi cinema. It takes a while to get going, but once you figure out what the film is all about, the makers really let it rip. It is the sort of film where the main characters run a race against time.
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Kabir Khan's unabashedly old-school 83 is a documentary-like rendition of India's triumphant 1983 Cricket World Cup campaign. The movie contains too many reaction shots, artificial cricketing moments, and stretches of predictable storytelling.
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Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham on Amazon Prime is based on the life of freedom fighter Udham Singh. The film takes way too long to get going but benefits greatly from the authenticity of the makers and the conviction of Vicky Kaushal as Udham.
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Vishnuvardhan's Shershaah is about Kargil War hero and Indian Army Captain Vikram Batra. While seldom spectacular and mostly generic, Shershaah is a respectable entry in the Indian war film genre nevertheless. Sidharth Malhotra plays the titular character with qualities that befit an Army man, whereas the makers avoid oft-repeated mistakes in movies like this.
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Mimi is a well-intentioned yet saccharine film about surrogacy and motherhood. A lot of it may be enjoyable, but little seems authentic and perceptive enough here. It is also a message movie for those who want their films to be too sweet and sentimental with easy conflicts and easy resolutions.
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Devanshu Singh's 14 Phere is a ridiculous movie that treats a sensitive subject as how an over-the-top comedy film director would. The movie seems to be confused about whether to treat itself as a satire, or a big fat Indian wedding film with happy-go-lucky characters.
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Like all boxing movies, Toofaan has a conventional arc in its story of an underdog winning against all odds. The movie has some bold and unconventional moves but too many songs, cliches and contrivances. Nevertheless, an earnest Farhan Akhtar in the central role makes it watchable.
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It appears that Haseen Dillruba has more depth on paper, but director Vinil Mathew treats the film with pulp, like how, say, an Abbas Mastan would. Nevertheless, the performances from the lead actors make it a rather believable watch.
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Amit V. Masurkar's Sherni works as an efficient warning against the bureaucracy's anti-conservation behavior. Sherni is not the first film to suggest that animals beyond the forest are more savage than those in it, but it may be the most intelligent of its kind. In Vidya Balan, it has just the right actor for holding it together as both a human and animal story.
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