Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Pappu Can’t Act, Saala

ABCD 2 Director: Remo D’Souza Starring: Prabhu Dheva, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Dharmesh Yelande, Lauren Gottlieb Rating: 1.5/5   In his 2008 book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be world-class in any field.

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Heartbreak Hotel

    Hamari Adhuri Kahani Director: Mohit Suri Starring: Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan, Rajkummar Rao Rating: 1/5   His face fell when he heard the bad news. He couldn’t believe it; he asked again to make sure. He didn’t need

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Poor Little Rich Kids (and Dog)

Dil Dhadakne Do Director: Zoya Akhtar Starring: Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Rahul Bose Rating: 3.5/5 Two of the best expository scenes in Dil Dhadakne Do, Zoya Akhtar’s excellent third film, take place in the

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Banno’s Got Swag

Tanu Weds Manu: Returns Director: Anand L Rai Starring: Kangana Ranaut, R Madhavan, Jimmy Shergill, Deepak Dobriyal, Swara Bhaskar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Rating: 2.5/5   “Haalat dekhi hai? Adrakh ho gaya hai yeh aadmi! Kahin se bhi badh raha hai.”

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

The Internet Didn’t Kill Bombay Velvet

Bombay Velvet Director: Anurag Kashyap Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar, Kay Kay Menon, Manish Choudhary, Siddhartha Basu, Satyadeep Mishra Rating: 2.5/5 This is not a review of Bombay Velvet,” begins a rant by YRF exec and film critic

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Hope I Die Before I Get Old

Piku Director: Shoojit Sircar Starring: Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Raghuvir Yadav, Moushumi Chatterjee, Jishu Sengupta 3.5/5 There’s much to be said for the benefits of a satisfactory morning dump. It is the best cure for hangovers; much more

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Lynch Mob

  Gabbar is Back Director: Krish Starring: Akshay Kumar, Shruti Hassan, Suman Talwar, Jaideep Ahlawat, Sunil Grover Rating: 1/5 stars Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, eight hours for what we will.” The slogan of the short-time work

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Glass Half Full

  Margarita With A Straw Director: Shonali Bose Starring: Kalki Koechlin, Revathi, Sayani Gupta, Kuljeet Singh Rating: 3/5 Early in Shonali Bose’s second film Margarita With A Straw—a decade after her celebrated 2005 debut, Amu—Laila, Kalki’s cerebral palsy-afflicted protagonist, writes a

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Out of Order

  Court Director: Chaitanya Tamhane Starring: Vira Sathidar, Vivek Gomber, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Pradeep Joshi, Usha Bane Rating: 4.5/5   The best moment in Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court comes during the denouement. Judge Sadavarte (Joshi) is sleeping on a bench one afternoon

Cinema
Ajachi Chakrabarti

Truth Detective

  Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! Director: Dibakar Banerjee Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput, Ankit Tiwari, Neeraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon 3.5/5 Perhaps the best review for Dibakar Banerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! came during the interval of the first-day-first-show I attended. As