Recent Reviews by Priyanka Roy
The Telegraph
Priyanka Roy heads the screen beat at The Telegraph t2. Based in Kolkata, she has 18 years of experience in film writing, which includes reviews, interviews, trend stories and opinion pieces. She writes on Hindi, English, regional Indian films and world cinema. When she isn’t watching something to review, she relaxes by watching true-crime documentaries.
Films reviewed on this Page
Singham Again
Packed with action and star power but very little else.
There is not a single subtle bone in Singham Again’s action-packed, slo-mo loving body. While over-the-top has always been the signature of not only the Singham films but also of director Rohit Shetty’s cinema as a whole, Singham Again takes it to level next. Which really isn’t a good thing from the point of view of the art and craft of cinema but perhaps works in giving fans of this kind of filmmaking ample bang for their buck.
Read all 12 reviews of Singham Again here
Do Patti
Do Patti has its heart in the right place but is otherwise all over the place.
The growing worry about lack of quality control in the OTT space now has a physical embodiment. Do Patti. A film which may have its heart in the right place but is otherwise all over the place. Do Patti aims to be a sensitive and scathing film on domestic abuse. The other tags it wants to earn for itself are a noir thriller, a police procedural, a film on sibling rivalry, a blistering criticism of privilege and a racy romance laced with sex, lies and videotape (or rather, mobile phone footage). It ends up being neither.
Read all 17 reviews of Do Patti here
Raat Jawaan Hai
A breezy watch which scores for being relatable
The millennial attempting to retain individuality and identity, while holding on to old friendships and coping with being a new parent, is a demographic that has hardly, if ever, been represented on the Indian screen. Even if it has been, it has been reduced to a strand or a subplot in a coming-of-age story. The fact that it even goes down this route immediately sets Raat Jawaan Hai apart. That it does it well, making its eight episodes a breezy watch which you want to hold on to and hope it doesn’t end, is a huge feather in its cap. This is a definite clutter-breaker in the Indian streaming space. One which has been long overdue.
Read all 5 reviews of Raat Jawaan Hai here
Jigra
Jigra is a rich cinematic experience powered by Alia Bhatt
Agneepath plays on the aircraft entertainment system, that telling scene of a young Vijay Dinanath Chauhan burning down a petrol pump being a visual allegory of a similar incident perpetrated by the protagonist in Jigra a few moments ago. This is just one instance. Throughout the runtime of Jigra, Amitabh Bachchan pops up as idea and inspiration, set-up and syntax. When Satya (Alia Bhatt), caught in a situation which may end in violence, is gently warned: “Abhi Bachchan nahin bann na hain… sirf bachke nikalna hain”, she rolls up her sleeves and says matter-of-factly: “Ab toh Bachchan hi bann na hain”.
Read all 18 reviews of Jigra here
Joker
Folie a Deux doesn’t submit to formula but fails to hit any high notes
After a haul of $1 billion at the box office, 11 Academy Award nominations and the first-ever Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix, director Todd Phillips knew it would be carte blanche for him when it came to the inevitable sequel to 2019’s intriguing if ultimately superficial Joker
“Let’s give the people what they want,” Lady Gaga’s Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn) declares at a key moment in Joker: Folie a Deux. That seems odd coming from a film that is committed to giving audiences quite the opposite.