Raja Sen
Raja Sen's reviews do not count toward the Tomatometer. This is not a
Tomatometer-approved critic, and this critic's reviews are not published on a
Tomatometer-approved publication.
| Publications: | Rediff.com |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5/5 | 50% | Pihu (2018) |
A silly, sadistic and torturous experience.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 16, 2018
|
| 1/5 | 18% | Thugs of Hindostan (2018) |
I believe pirate movies need to have eye-patches. This one doesn't, and that's a shame. The viewing experience would have been hugely improved. I should have gone in wearing two.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Nov 8, 2018
|
| 1.5/5 | 40% | Baazaar (2018) |
There are many problems with the mediocre Baazaar, but the primary issue is intent, because it appears Chawla didn't truly attempt to tell a story. ‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 26, 2018
|
| 3.5/5 | 86% | Badhaai Ho (2018) |
The dialogues are a riot.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 18, 2018
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| 2/5 | 38% | Helicopter Eela (2018) |
Helicopter Eela also claims to be a comedy, though most of the humour is inadvertent.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 12, 2018
|
| 5/5 | 100% | Andhadhun (2018) |
This phenomenal new thriller from Sriram Raghavan pulls off its tricks in plain sight. Everybody knows how a mystery should work, but Raghavan knows how all the mysteries work.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Oct 5, 2018
|
| 2/5 | 86% | Sui Dhaaga: Made in India (2018) |
The film takes over two hours to stitch together the same blasted story.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 28, 2018
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| 4/5 | 50% | Pataakha (2018) |
The delights are in the details. The turns of phrase are rollicking and unassumingly poetic.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 27, 2018
|
| 3.5/5 | 69% | Manto (2018) |
The maestro Zakir Hussain provides an intricate background score, one that is occasionally highlighted by a discordant, drunken sitar twang. This sense of intoxication informs the visuals as well.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 21, 2018
|
| 2.5/5 | 80% | Husband Material (Manmarziyaan) (2018) |
It is ultimately a disappointment not because of its craft, but because of predictability, self-indulgent pace and its irritating attempt to be both a light crowd-pleaser with a cutesy ending as well as an impassioned, volatile romance.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 14, 2018
|
| 1.5/5 | 33% | Paltan (2018) |
There is a lot to be said about the futility of war, and now Dutta has made his case for the futility of the war movie.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 7, 2018
|
| 3.5/5 | 57% | Laila Majnu (2018) |
Here are highly flawed and even doomed characters, yet they partake of something special, enviable and real. Who among us dares judge a true romantic? Love is love.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Sep 7, 2018
|
| 3/5 | 78% | Stree (2018) |
The laughs are inconsistent, and despite a breezy-ish momentum, the plotting feels sloppy and rushed. The ideas are fine, but the writing needed work.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Aug 31, 2018
|
| 2/5 | 50% | Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi (2018) |
Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi relies too hard on obvious attempts at humour at the expense of the Chinese characters.‐ Hindustan Times
Read More | Posted Aug 27, 2018
|
| 3.5/5 | 100% | Trapped (2017) |
Rao plays the character superbly, making his Shaurya insecure and hesitant.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Jul 23, 2018
|
| 1/5 | 17% | Begum Jaan (2017) |
Begum Jaan could well have been a film about a fantastic bunch of feisty, disparate women taking on all odds, but alas. We're left only with memories of some melancholy bores.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Jul 12, 2018
|
| 4/5 | No Score Yet | Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns (2013) |
The new film is much sharper, more assured, and, unencumbered by a classic to stand beside, a far better film.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jul 2, 2018
|
| 1.5/5 | No Score Yet | Sonali Cable (2014) |
Sonali Cable disconnects itself from the point of the film incredibly fast, littering itself with one-note characters stuck in cinematic cliches.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jun 6, 2018
|
| 2/5 | 63% | Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018) |
The film takes forever to get there, and while focussing on realism and grit is great, there is no real build-up of the protagonist's character. ‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Jun 1, 2018
|
| 3.5/5 | 63% | Veere Di Wedding (2018) |
Veere Di Wedding gets this fantastic bond right, and gives us four dramatically different kinds of women with agency and spirit. Nobody stands in the way of their decisions.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Jun 1, 2018
|
| 2/5 | 80% | Zubaan (2016) |
The whole film emerges, sadly, like one of those ads where you can half-hum the song but you forget what it was for. ‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted May 22, 2018
|
| 1.5/5 | No Score Yet | Wah Taj (2016) |
In Wah Taj, the press is the most ridiculous. Assembled to cover a breaking story, they write in notepads while people argue, they posture with microphones even without cameras on them, and they sing bhajans siding with the protagonist.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted May 17, 2018
|
| 4.5/5 | 63% | Ugly (2014) |
Ugly is a tale of torment, masterfully woven around the universally urgent trigger of a disappearing minor - and yet where, in the larger scheme of things, that kidnapping itself becomes, I daresay, a minor detail. Genius.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted May 15, 2018
|
| 1/5 | 18% | Tubelight (2017) |
Salman Khan gives one of the worst performances of his career...‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted May 3, 2018
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| 2/5 | 63% | Hichki (2018) |
There simply isn't room for others during the Rani Mukherji show, you see. Class dismissed.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Mar 23, 2018
|
| 4/5 | No Score Yet | Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008) |
The magic here lies in the lines, the characters, the words, and yeah, a 'feel' as fresh as a spanking new acoustic guitar composition by an old jazz vet trying to make the kids smile. And smile they do.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jan 29, 2018
|
| 2/5 | No Score Yet | Shortkut - The Con Is On (2009) |
Short Kut had the potential to be a genuinely funny one, and while it mostly flubs that promise up throughout, it does manage a few moments. It could really do with a pretty significant re-edit, though.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jan 29, 2018
|
| 1.5/5 | 71% | Padmaavat (2018) |
The problem lies not in Padmaavat being a costume drama, but in the fact that there is too much costume, too little drama.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Jan 24, 2018
|
| 2/5 | 80% | Indu Sarkar (2017) |
Despite being an important mainstream film, Madhur Bhandarkar's take on The Emergency is a poorly written and conceived mess.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Jan 9, 2018
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| 1.5/5 | 20% | Raabta (2017) |
Do not watch Raabta, unless you already suffered through it in a past life.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Jan 4, 2018
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| 3.5/5 | No Score Yet | Hawaa Hawaai (2014) |
It is rare to find a Hindi film hero more deserving of our cheers than Arjun. ‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jan 3, 2018
|
| 2/5 | 67% | Hunterrr (2015) |
The second half of the film consists of at least a half-dozen moments that are filmed but, we then realise, haven't actually taken place. An unreliable narrator is one thing but Hunterrr, like Mandar, cheats too often.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jan 3, 2018
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| 1/5 | 40% | Half Girlfriend (2017) |
Half Girlfriend is about two halfwits who belong together. It is a film that claims to celebrate romance and undying passion and gates both Bill and Indian, but all it does is applaud a spoilt man who believes he's a scapegoat.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Dec 15, 2017
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| 2.5/5 | 71% | Guzaarish (2010) |
The film tries far too desperately to evoke what Bollywood calls the 'feelgood' factor, but ends up evoking more apathy than empathy. Guzaarish starts off slow and beautiful, but gradually, sadly congeals into a wet mess.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 14, 2017
|
| 71% | Gurgaon (2017) |
This is still a strong effort, but could have been much finer without overtly emphasising the characters morals and repeated demonstrations to show us how bad everyone is.‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Dec 14, 2017
|
|
| 5/5 | 96% | The Lunchbox (2014) |
It is a film of multiple pleasures -- small ones and overwhelming ones and exquisitely crafted ones -- layered one on top of the other, with something for everyone, and so, so much for the cinematic glutton. ‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 13, 2017
|
| 0.5/5 | 82% | Gunday (2014) |
Ali Abbas Zafar should have his directorial license revoked for daring to end this godawful film.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 12, 2017
|
| 1/5 | 78% | RamLeela (2013) |
GKRR is an overplotted, bloody mess.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 12, 2017
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| 2/5 | No Score Yet | Jolly LLB (2013) |
Alas, preachiness and the need to flaunt the film's sincerity and heart gets in the way of a good time.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 12, 2017
|
| 2/5 | 63% | Force 2 (2016) |
The fundamental flaw in a film like this -- other than the repetitive wowlessness of it all -- is the fact that by creating too dry and no-nonsense protagonists instead of fleshing them out as characters, you end up failing the genre.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 11, 2017
|
| 1/5 | 22% | Dilwale (2015) |
Dilwale, which, in its convoluted, sloppy fashion, tries to pay homage to Mukul Anand's Hum, was always going to be an uphill climb. What we end up with barely gets off the ground. Ho-Hum.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 8, 2017
|
| 5/5 | No Score Yet | Dedh Ishqiya (2014) |
It's a genuinely smart film. It's beautifully, lovingly shot. ‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 8, 2017
|
| 0/5 | No Score Yet | Calendar Girls (2015) |
Indeed, Mr Bhandarkar...How dare heroines act like heroes? How dare female characters in your movies dream of a slightly better life?‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Dec 6, 2017
|
| 3.5/5 | 100% | Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) |
This is the rare sequel that is better than the first. ‐ NDTV
Read More | Posted Oct 31, 2017
|
| 67% | Paheli (2005) |
Badshah has finally produced a great film, and this won't be the last of them. It might not be a huge commercial hit, in fact, I doubt it will, but I'm going to revisit Paheli in theatres as often as I can afford.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Oct 30, 2017
|
|
| 5/5 | 83% | Sholay (1975) |
Watch Sholay for a taste of how good the Indian entertainer can truly be, and revel in the magic you already know.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Oct 20, 2017
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| 4.5/5 | 97% | Spotlight (2015) |
This film shines for its determined eagerness to not shine.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jan 13, 2017
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| 1.5/5 | 27% | Suicide Squad (2016) |
The only way this film is dark is because it's set at night.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jan 9, 2017
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| 3/5 | 87% | Gone Girl (2014) |
This is a solid mystery film that falls short of greatness. ‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Nov 9, 2016
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| 3/5 | 70% | Kabali (2016) |
What is interesting, besides Rajinikanth, is the wonderfully mixed iconography Pa Ranjith throws together in this film about immigrants and borrowed cultures.‐ Rediff.com
Read More | Posted Jul 25, 2016
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