New Delhi: Udta Punjab, starring Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh, has managed to keep its date with audiences at the cinemas despite many controversies. The film, directed by Abhishek Chaubey, soars on the back of hard-hitting scenes and superb performances by its cast, but a shorter trip would have given it a greater kick, says Scroll.in. Chaubey’s decision to put his characters through the wringer results in several beautifully performed sequences, showcasing his strengths as a filmmaker, including his ability to create complex and memorable characters within the framework of a realistic mainstream entertainer. Despite its occasional satirical tone, Udta Punjab has a clear moral approach to the drug trade, and nowhere is consumption romanticised. Read more here
Bollywoodlife.com calls it Bollywood at its bravest, an eye-opener for people ignorant of the evils plaguing the youth. While the second half could certainly have been tighter, the film works because of its superb performances and crisp dialogues. Director Chaubey and producers Phantom Films and Balaji Motion Pictures deserve all the praise for attempting this one. Read more here
Nagesh Kukunoor’s road movie Dhanak, starring child actors Hetal Gadda and Krrish Chhabria, is like a dazzling flash in the sky that lights up everything around it and soaks you instantly in its warmth, says NDTV Movies. The spell it casts is so durable that it clings to you for hours after you’ve left the auditorium. Anchored by two charming child actors whose natural flair rubs off on the film as a whole, adults in this tale merely flow along with the irresistible rhythm that the duo strikes without much ado. Read more here
Director Indrajit Lankesh’s Luv U Alia, starring V. Ravichandran and Bhumika Chawla has been filmed and released in Kannada, Hindi and Telugu. Indiaglitz.com calls it a stylish pack of assorted sweets, entertaining and a must-watch for family audiences. The performances are convincing and the dialogues too work well. Read more here
For Hollywood fans, American 3D computer-animated comedy adventure Finding Dory, directed by Andrew Stanton and featuring the voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence and Ed O’Neill, comes to India this week. The fishy sequel to Finding Nemo is awash with emotional manipulation and a heavy-handed approach threatens to drown the film’s disability message, says The Guardian. The problem with the film is it doesn’t know when enough is enough. Its believe-in-yourself message is pounded with the subtlety of a hammerhead shark and despite a great number of bright spots, it’s still for an audience with a short attention span. Read more here
The New York Daily News is more impressed, saying the film plumbs emotional depths rare for a sequel. There are times Stanton really over-relies on the nostalgia, injecting a few too many rehashes from Finding Nemo, but he also reels in plenty of mileage out of the likeability of characters with whom both parents and kids have already fallen in love. Read more here
Action comedy Central Intelligence, directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, could use a little more intelligence, says cleveland.com. The plot and intrigue at the centre of the film are flimsy enough to render the whole story insignificant. And the frequent, cartoonish gunplay seems very inappropriate, given the recent horrible events in Orlando. Read more here
Variety magazine adds that the spy-game action comedy could have used less fake intrigue and more laughs. The dialogue, as quick and aggressive as a punch to the face, really is a form of action; the gunbattles, car crashes, and hurtling bodies are staged with a more-mayhem-the-better lightness that turns violence into something to giggle at. Though you couldn’t really accuse the movie of not hurtling along. It delivers on some basic, giddy, turn-off-your-frontal-lobes level. Read more here
In the south, Tamil political satire film Muthina Kathirkai, directed by Venkat and featuring Sundar C., Poonam Bajwa and Sathish, is a wholesome entertainer sure to make you smile, says Indread.com. Though clichés abound and the story is predictable, the execution and treatment make it work. Read more here
Marathi film Pindadaan, directed by Prashant Patil and starring Siddharth Chandekar, Manava Naik and Paula McGlynn, is simply a bundle of conventional ideas put together in a haphazard fashion, says Pune Mirror. There is no character development and no likeable characters either, no sense of purpose, no logic putting the story together, and it hardly has a script. The film really stretches the concept of “willing suspension of disbelief” to its breaking point. Read more here
Several releases this week haven’t elicited any reviews yet. These include Hindi film Bhouri, Tamil action comedy Enakku Innoru Per Irukku, Telugu romantic thriller Gentleman, Telugu movie Guppedantha, Malayalam film Ozhivudivasathe Kali, Marathi movies Bernie and Kiran Kulkarni Vs. Kiran Kulkarni and Bengali film Shororipu.
