Recent Reviews by Anuj Kumar
The Hindu
Anuj Kumar has been a part of The Hindu since 2005 and has written extensively on Hindi film trends, conducted interviews, and contributed nostalgia pieces. He has contributed to Housefull (Om Books), a collection of short essays on films made during the Golden Age of Hindi cinema.
Films reviewed on this Page
Freedom at Midnight
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Do Patti
Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video
CTRL
Freedom at Midnight
A pacy, layered account of Partition politics
A fairly faithful adaptation of Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins’ non-fiction book ‘Freedom At Midnight’, director Nikkhil Advani’s series presents a captivating account of the painful events surrounding India’s Independence whose impact is diminished by its somewhat squinted gaze and some ordinary casting choices
Once a purveyor of Bollywood entertainment, director Nikkhil Advani of late is exploring drama surrounding real, epochal events – life-altering situations where the decisions are not made based on right and wrong, but on the pretext of consequences. A slippery ground to navigate, he got it right in Mumbai Diaries set against 26/11 terror attacks in the metropolis and doesn’t disappoint in Freedom At Midnight either.
All 11 reviews of Freedom at Midnight here
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan are underutilised in this drab horror comedy
Kartik Aaryan is alive to the situational humour but director Anees Bazmee falters between sticking to stereotypes and taking a progressive step
In the festive season, director Anees Bazmee tells cinegoers to bring in the popcorn and he would deliver the comic twists. This Deepavali, the director lights up a green cracker that leaves a purple patch in the air but in a bid to be progressive, he fails to keep his traditional comedic pot on the boil and underutilises powerhouse performers like Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan to light up the screen.
All 12 reviews of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 here
Do Patti
Kriti Sanon, Kajol struggle to power this thriller on domestic abuse
Attempting to follow the flowchart of being engaging and meaningful, director Shashanka Chaturvedi loses his grip on the crime thriller
For a long time, one believed that a compelling cinematic narrative shows more than it tells, and expresses more than it explains. However, the recent content spurt on OTT platforms seems bent on cerebrating the opposite. Do Patti is yet another addition to the long list of films that skip theatres for a streaming service. It reduces the art of storytelling to a mere artifice for meaningful cinema. These films end up delivering the message but little else.
All 17 reviews of Do Patti here
Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video
Rajkummar Rao enlivens this long title with a short shelf life
Promising to be a laugh riot, Raaj Shaandilyaa’s bouquet of comic characters doesn’t bloom to its potential
Coming from a background in writing low-brow comedy skits for television, director Raaj Shaandilyaa has this knack for creating funny characters rooted in mofussil towns that generate mirth by engaging in rollicking repartees. His broad humour emanates from deep observation and understanding of the cultural mores of a conservative society coming to terms with socio-economic liberalisation in the 1990s. However, Shaandilya’s skill to combine the comic sketches into a wholesome screenplay is still a work in progress, resulting in a disappointing outcome.
All 9 reviews of Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video here
CTRL
Ananya Panday is in control in this timely lesson on the dangers of AI
Director Vikramaditya Motwane succeeds in creating the mood, moments, and message but the thriller lacks the killer punch
A cautionary tale on cybercrime and artificial intelligence, CTRL works like a ready reckoning on online behaviour for social media junkies and feels like it has been designed to showcase the budding talent of Ananya Panday. Many of us have yet to recover from the shenanigans of Bae when director Vikramaditya Motwane unleashes the effervescence of Ananya in yet another variant of the coming-of-age template for Gen-Z.