Parmanu – Review by Manisha Lakhe With American satellites keeping a constant eye on Pokhran, India’s Nuclear site for years (India had conducted the first ‘peaceful’ nuclear explosion in 1974), there was no way they world was going to allow India to join the nuclear nations. So a ci… Read full review at http://j.mp/2INV1Od

Khajoor Pe Atke – Review by Manisha Lakhe A copy of the Marathi film Ventilator, Khajoor Pe Atke exaggerates in every possible way bringing down what could have been a wonderful situational dark comedy to something unsavory. A brother is about to die, and the family gathers around to ‘be the… Read full review at ...

Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain – Review by Manisha Lakhe A lovely story about love, duty, everyday life set in Benaras. A grouchy, crotchety man who does his duty by his wife and daughter announces that he has arranged for his daughter to be married off. The daughter rebels and questions her dad: do you ev… ...

Raazi – Review by Manisha Lakhe How do you make a patriotic film without any bombastic dialog and still manage to move the most cynical filmgoer to tears? Raazi is one of the finest films to come out of Bollywood. It is the story about a young Kashmiri girl who marries into a Pakis… Read ...

Hope Aur Hum – Review by Manisha Lakhe Everything old is eventually replaced by something new, and it’s best to adapt. Whether it is an ancient photocopier or a big old house. This is a lesson that this small feel-good family film that has the heart in its right place brings on the big sc… ...

The Past – Review by Manisha Lakhe A novelist and her sister are in a bungalow in Lonavala which is haunted. Before you facepalm at every cliche in the horror genre you will see in this film, spare a thought for the actor Vedita Pratap Singh who gives the role of a girl possessed her ...

Omerta – Review by Manisha Lakhe The word ‘Omerta’ means a code of silence that members of crime groups adopt when caught by the law. This film shows us how Omar was happy to kill in the name of religion. The staccato storytelling style and the constant shift between past and presen… Read full review ...

102 Not Out – Review by Manisha Lakhe A man who is 102 years old and full of life teaches a lesson or two or three for his grouchy 75 year old son. Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor make this father and son melodrama a good watch simply because they deliver. But if you step ...

Daas Dev – Review by Manisha Lakhe Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s classic but simple love triangle of Paro, Devdas and Chandramukhi is turned on its head and complicated needlessly by setting the story in a lawless, political background in Uttar Pradesh. There are stories and backstories … Read full review at http://j.mp/2JwkrQk

Beyond The Clouds – Review by Manisha Lakhe Majid Majidi comes to India and falls for the poverty is beautiful trap. After that, he simply rolls from one cliche to another and another until you just shake your head in despair. Ishan Khattar who makes his debut shows flashes of talent and is le… Read ...

Nanu ki Jaanu – Review by Manisha Lakhe Is it a comedy? Is it horror? Is it social drama? Is it funny? Is it a weird love story? No one quite knows and when everything is piled on so thick, you begin to wonder as audience if you have lost your capacity to care. The ...

Mercury – Review by Manisha Lakhe Four lads and a girl are at a school reunion and are happily partying when they accidentally run over someone. They find themselves trapped in an old abandoned factory at the mercy of a madman. The terror is doubled because the protagonists are speec… Read full review at http://j.mp/2v9NK95

October – Review by Manisha Lakhe Shoojit Sircar has managed to turn a singing, dancing, goofball called Varun Dhawan and shown us that the lad can get the audience to cry and laugh and be on his side. October is an unlikely film for Bollywood so used to boy meets girl and falls in l… ...

Blackmail – Review by Manisha Lakhe A toilet paper salesman attempts to infuse some life into his marriage and comes home early to find his wife in bed with another man. Instead of confronting them, he chooses to blackmail them. This sets off a series of what ifs and what then scenes t… Read full ...

Missing – Review by Manisha Lakhe Sushant Dubey and Aparna Dubey check into a Mauritian resort late night with their very unwell daughter Titli. By the morning, the child is missing. Everything literally begins to unravel as you watch cringeworthy hamming from greats like Tabu and Ma… Read full review at http://j.mp/2JpDwEI

Baaghi 2 – Review by Manisha Lakhe Hollywood gave us Rambo and his ilk in the late 80s. Bollywood seems to be still stuck there. Baaghi 2 is pure homage to these bad action flicks. It’s full of corny manufactured situations and characters, and dialog that make you choke on the cheese … Read full ...

Hichki – Review by Manisha Lakhe Take all the underdog students and hero teacher films and add a dose of Right To Education and a give the teacher Tourettes so we also learn to empathise with differently abled people. The film checks all the boxes of stereotypes and yet only a coupl… Read full review ...

Baa Baa Black Sheep – Review by Manisha Lakhe There’s an art teacher who lives a double life as an art forger. A henpecked dad who is really a contract killer. A politician who runs drugs and hence killing and looting. And sundry characters who are do random stuff to try and get these vastly ...

Raid – Review by Manisha Lakhe An honest Income Tax officer leads a team in a raid to find hidden assets of a local heavy, a political leader, at his bungalow called ‘White House’. The dialog is tight, the good guys are as smart as the bad guys are clever, the danger seems real an… ...

Veerey Ki Wedding – Review by Manisha Lakhe That there is a wedding, is given. And having Jimmy Shergill in the film gives it the half star it has earned. Jimmy bhai is earnest, but he has done this role so often, this film offers nothing new. The music is decent, but you’ve heard it ...