Shubhra Gupta is film critic and senior columnist with the Indian Express. She watches world cinema for delectation, Hollywood for fun, and Bollywood for work. She has a huge capacity to sit through terrible Bollywood movies, but no patience at all with bad Hollywood. And world cinema has to be really cutting edge to grab her attention, and keep it. When she began reviewing, over 20 years ago, people would commiserate and say, “oh, you poor thing, you have to watch Hindi cinema”. But soon, Bollywood became cool, cool, cool. So now she hears this more often “oh my god, you watch Bollyood films, can you introduce me to Shah Rukh Khan”? No, she can’t, sorry, though she can vouch for the fact that he is really sharp and good fun in conversation. But what she can do, and has done week after week, month after month, year after year, without a break, is to lead you into the magical world of movies, and share her experiences of watching all those hundreds of films over the years. In her reviews and columns, she lets you into what she likes, and doesn’t, and invites you to be bewitched. And to know how to choose between the good ones and the turkeys, and how you can take away something from even the really ghastly ones. Because life is a movie, isn’t it? Bahut picture baaki hain, mere dost.

December 26, 2025 18:35 IST
Anaconda movie review: This new version of one of Hollywood's most popular creature features is so desperate to pitch in the laughs along with the scares that it renders everything dull and diluted.
Fri, Dec 26, 2025
December 26, 2025 08:04 IST
Family Man 3 is a return of Manoj Bajpayee as our super-smart agent Srikant Verma Don Quixote. New baddies-- Nimrat Kaur, Jugal Hansraj, Jaideep Ahlawat--but not one of them can out-smart our fave jasoos, whose heart has twin beats.
Sat, Dec 27, 2025
December 25, 2025 11:45 IST
Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri (TMMTMTTM) Movie Review & Rating: Kartik Aaryan-Ananya Panday film is nothing but 2.5 hours of glossily vacuous tosh. Is this the best that mainstream Bollywood can come up with, for its clearly demarcated Gen Z audience?
Thu, Dec 25, 2025
December 22, 2025 19:19 IST
As 2025 draws to a close, it was a year in which mainstream Bollywood strengthened its ties with heightened nationalism to garner returns, finding it handsomely rewarded with blockbusters Chhaava and Dhurandhar.
Tue, Dec 23, 2025
December 20, 2025 14:46 IST
Media professional Shivani Pandya Malhotra, who put the Dubai International Film Festival on the map, moved base to Jeddah for the Red Sea International Film Festival.
Sat, Dec 20, 2025
December 20, 2025 07:36 IST
In the fifth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF), the festival honours storytellers and new talent from West Asia, with Bollywood throw in for good measure.
Sat, Dec 20, 2025
December 19, 2025 14:30 IST
Raat Akeli Hai The Bansal Murders movie review: The best written character remains Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Jatil, still moving his mouth in the way he did in the first film, as the moral centre of the film.
Fri, Dec 19, 2025
December 19, 2025 09:34 IST
Mrs Deshpande review: Series driver Madhuri Dixit is ripe for roles which are out of her comfort zone: she no longer has to appear glamorous to catch our attention. But she’s written flatly, like many other stretches.
Fri, Dec 19, 2025
December 15, 2025 13:49 IST
The Great Shamsuddin Family movie review: Watch it for the array of solid performances, helmed by the wonderful Farida Jalal and Sheeba Chaddha, with Anup Soni’s criminally brief appearance leaving a mark. It isn’t perfect, but it makes you smile and think.
Mon, Dec 15, 2025
December 12, 2025 14:29 IST
Single Papa review: The premise of Kunal Kemmu show is interesting, and the setting is ripe for excavating societal hypocrisies revolving around parenthood, and while it’s at it, hoovering up issues like adoption, women’s rights, and of course, patriarchy.
Fri, Dec 12, 2025
December 12, 2025 13:46 IST
Wake Up Dead Man A Knives Out Mystery movie review: Rian Johnson goes full gothic, combining it with a closed door murder, and the result is wonderful, keeping you glued to the screen all the way through.
Fri, Dec 12, 2025
December 12, 2025 12:45 IST
Saali Mohabbat movie review: This is the kind of film that should leave you chilled, but the beats are familiar, you can see the climactic twist coming a mile off.
Fri, Dec 12, 2025
December 10, 2025 21:25 IST
Alia Bhatt recently attended the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Wed, Dec 10, 2025
December 10, 2025 12:02 IST
Real Kashmir Football Club review: What is striking is there’s nothing loud or unnecessarily rah-rah in the way things proceed: being determinedly low-key is much more impactful.
Thu, Dec 11, 2025
December 06, 2025 08:10 IST
If it hadn’t been for Allu Arjun and his second go-round in Pushpa 2, bigger and louder than the first part, roaring in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali, the biggies wouldn’t have been able to save any face.
Sat, Dec 06, 2025
December 06, 2025 07:00 IST
At Expresso, actors Shefali Shah and Huma Qureshi spoke about the latest instalment of popular Netflix series Delhi Crime, how OTT has opened new doors for new stars and taking the critics’ words with a pinch of salt.
Sat, Dec 06, 2025
December 05, 2025 15:09 IST
Stephen movie review: What rescues Stephen, and brings it back to its initial sharpness, is the last act with all its revelatory strands. Smartly shot and enacted, the portion is chilling, just the way it ought to be in a film like this.
Fri, Dec 05, 2025
December 05, 2025 13:35 IST
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's chat with Raya Abirached at the fifth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, gave us a glimpse of the person behind the persona.
Fri, Dec 05, 2025
December 05, 2025 08:33 IST
The year Bollywood tried to prove it wasn't going to go under the South juggernaut which had nearly steamrolled over it in the past two years, with Kantara, RRR and KGF.
Fri, Dec 05, 2025
December 03, 2025 08:43 IST
25 Years of Indian Cinema: 2022 was nearly as dismal as 2021, with films like Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Brahmastra falling short of expectations.
Wed, Dec 03, 2025
December 02, 2025 08:00 IST
The Covid-induced lockdown resulted in shuttered theatres, production slowdown and delayed releases. 2021 was one of the weakest years for films all over the globe, and Bollywood was no exception.
Tue, Dec 02, 2025
November 28, 2025 22:22 IST
Perfect Family review: Perfect Family is an impactful introduction to the importance of therapy, keeping clear of the teaching-and-preaching which could alienate us.
Sat, Nov 29, 2025
November 28, 2025 16:04 IST
Kaisi Yeh Paheli movie review: There are a couple of interesting elements in here, chief of them being the strained mother-son relationship, which spirals after the death of the father.
Fri, Nov 28, 2025
November 28, 2025 15:10 IST
Tere Ishk Mein movie review: Dhanush, Kriti Sanon star in a film which ends up being a confused, heavy-on-melodrama-and-glycerine mish-mash of genres that glorifies an 'aggressive, angry, alpha’ man.
Mon, Dec 01, 2025
November 28, 2025 14:05 IST
Gustakh Ishq movie review: Vijay Varma and Naseeruddin Shah's performances make you look, Vishal Bhardwaj–Gulzar's music is sublime, and both needed a better film.
Fri, Nov 28, 2025


