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 29, 2023 19:35 IST
The story-telling in Reacher Season 2 is basic, but it gets the job done without wasting any time, and it’s all just as it should be, for Reacher fans.
Fri, Dec 29, 2023
December 27, 2023 08:04 IST
As Shubhra Gupta picks the weakest web shows of 2023, one thing is clear -- they came out riding on the coat-tails of Bollywood biggies.
Sun, Dec 31, 2023
December 26, 2023 15:26 IST
Kho Gaye Hum Kahan movie review: The writing of Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Adarsh Gourav film is determinedly inoffensive. You can scroll through the film, stopping off at moments which try for depth.
Tue, Dec 26, 2023
December 26, 2023 08:28 IST
The best web-series trumped the best movies of the year in the way they were backed by solid, layered, meaningful writing, with proper character arcs and motivations built in.
Sat, Dec 30, 2023
December 22, 2023 13:17 IST
Salaar Part 1 Ceasefire Movie Review: Till the violence in Prabhas-Prithviraj-starrer is comic-book and ‘Games Of Thrones’-type stylised, you can find a way to rationalise it; the trouble ratchets up when it becomes more ‘real’.
Fri, Dec 22, 2023
December 21, 2023 13:21 IST
Dunki Movie Review: In the 161-minute run-time of the Rajkumar Hirani film, I was hard put to find anything that made me feel. Even Shah Rukh Khan’s Hardy comes off as working too hard for not enough pay-off.
Fri, Dec 22, 2023
December 16, 2023 09:23 IST
On January 25, Shah Rukh Khan turned up in our movie halls as Pathaan. Those who had been quiet during the months he had been resolutely silent, biding his time with his son in prison on a trumped-up charge, voted with their cash
Sat, Dec 30, 2023
December 16, 2023 08:02 IST
An ugly, misogynistic paean to the Alpha male; a crass mash-up of Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings and Game Of Thrones, minus any signs of reverence and piety; and a godawful Salman Khan film find place in Shubhra Gupta's worst films of 2023 list.
Thu, Dec 28, 2023
December 15, 2023 08:03 IST
Shah Rukh's double whammy, and a film that uses religion to broach a taboo subject find place in Shubhra Gupta's top films of 2023 list. Check out if your favourites found a place here.
Sat, Dec 30, 2023
December 08, 2023 13:22 IST
Kadak Singh movie review: Pankaj Tripathi and Parvathy Thiruvothu, who can both be relied upon to give us joy, are comprehensively let down by this badly-made film.
Fri, Dec 08, 2023
December 07, 2023 18:14 IST
Joram movie review: Manoj Bajpayee is effective, needless to say, but is given a limited register of despair and terror.
Fri, Dec 08, 2023
December 07, 2023 14:04 IST
'The Archies movie review: Khushi Kapoor has more verve than both Agastya Nanda and Suhana Khan, but the latter does grow on you. The film's writing, however, is less than perky.
Mon, Dec 11, 2023
December 01, 2023 12:58 IST
Animal movie review: This Ranbir Kapoor-Anil Kapoor-Rashmika Mandanna film ricochets off target after having raced full-tilt to the mid-point: if it had come to an end at the interval, it would have made its point.
Sat, Dec 02, 2023
November 30, 2023 21:51 IST
Sam Bahadur Movie Review: Vicky Kaushal wins you over by being spot on, eyes a-twinkle, moustache a-bristle. It’s hard to play a character so closely without becoming a caricature, but he becomes Sam Bahadur.
Fri, Dec 01, 2023
November 28, 2023 05:05 IST
The only trouble with the busy schedule at the bazaar is not being able to see the films creating major buzz.
Tue, Nov 28, 2023
November 18, 2023 13:43 IST
The Railway Men review: Yashraj Films’ has chosen a weighty subject for its first web-series by giving us ‘the untold story’ of a bunch of individuals who staked their own lives to save thousands that fateful night.
Thu, Nov 23, 2023
November 17, 2023 15:36 IST
Khichdi 2 movie review: Why did this ultra-loud, blindingly colour-coordinated bunch who did nothing of any consequence in the first movie, bother to circle back for a sequel?
Sat, Nov 18, 2023
November 12, 2023 09:34 IST
Tiger 3 movie review: Salman Khan is looking his age, but the good thing is that he isn’t hiding it. And of course, the best part of the film is when Pathaan aka Shah Rukh Khan comes flying into the horizon with his hair still in that sexy man-bun.
Fri, Nov 17, 2023
November 10, 2023 12:17 IST
Pippa movie review: A good war film takes you up close to the sights and smells of battle, to the point where you flinch when bullets hit bodies. In this Ishaan Khatter film, what's meant to exude menace, comes off more like a caricature.
Fri, Nov 10, 2023
November 07, 2023 15:31 IST
Rainbow Rishta review: These stories foregrounding real people have real poignance and warmth. You feel for them, and you wish them well.
Tue, Nov 07, 2023
November 06, 2023 15:51 IST
For the generation used to learning via 'WhatsApp University', well-researched, sharply-voiced documentaries like Indi(r)a’s Emergency are a vital, timely reminder that there can be light at the end of the tunnel
Thu, Nov 09, 2023
November 03, 2023 14:07 IST
Three Of Us review: Shefali Shah, the centre of this triangle, treads the fine balance between underlining her part, and managing the delicate touches which her character requires, and mostly manages to pull it off.
Fri, Nov 03, 2023
November 03, 2023 13:49 IST
UT 69 movie review: The only surprise is that Raj Kundra himself appears quite relaxed on screen. Perhaps he does have a future in the movies.
Fri, Nov 03, 2023
November 03, 2023 09:03 IST
Aarya season 3 review: This Sushmita Sen-fronted series doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to bumping off its characters, so those with delicate sensibilities need to be careful.
Fri, Nov 03, 2023
October 27, 2023 17:51 IST
Mujib The Making Of A Nation movie review: There's no attempt at any complexity in this recounting, and there’s nothing that suggests reasons for the occasional prickliness between India and its neighbour.
Fri, Oct 27, 2023




