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.

February 25, 2022 10:40 IST
Love Hostel movie review: As compared to Shanker Raman’s ‘Gurgaon’, ‘Love Hostel’ has more immediacy in its execution, which makes its nonstop violence more impactful.
Sat, Feb 26, 2022
February 24, 2022 17:05 IST
When a parent spirals into addiction, where do the children go?
Thu, Feb 24, 2022
February 18, 2022 10:49 IST
Mithya review: Huma Qureshi and Avantika Dassani thriller locks in long-term guilt and a burning desire for revenge, which make for great companions for a story like this one.
Fri, Feb 18, 2022
February 16, 2022 17:29 IST
A Thursday movie review: The chief problem with Yami Gautam film is that we do not take any of this seriously, whether it is Naina brandishing a gun, or snarling and cooing at her hostages.
Fri, Feb 18, 2022
February 11, 2022 09:23 IST
Badhaai Do movie review: We love rainbows. If only it didn’t get mainstream Bollywood so long to come to the point, and stick with it.
Sat, Feb 12, 2022
February 11, 2022 00:04 IST
Gehraiyaan movie review: The foursome of Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Dhairya Karwa should have been a throbbing hot mess, but the film doesn’t go deep enough.
Sat, Feb 12, 2022
February 10, 2022 13:48 IST
In a world of uncertainties, Reacher is always the last man standing
Sun, Feb 13, 2022
February 04, 2022 14:24 IST
Looop Lapeta review: Looop Lapeta takes much too long to warm up, and gets into its stride only after the interval. Its USP, the looping back of time upon itself, where certain things will happen differently depending upon how it all starts, starts to creak too soon.
Sat, Feb 05, 2022
February 04, 2022 11:35 IST
The Great Indian Murder review: The Great Indian Murder provides us moments of pleasure as it winds its way from start to finish of the first season, if you manage to stick with it.
Sat, Feb 05, 2022
February 04, 2022 09:40 IST
Rocket Boys review: Both Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh, in the titular parts of Homi J Bhabha and Vikram A Sarabhai, are excellent.
Sat, Feb 05, 2022
January 30, 2022 06:30 IST
Representations of neurodiversity on screen often borders on the sentimental and the pedantic. We could do with a lot more authenticity instead
Sun, Jan 30, 2022
January 21, 2022 12:35 IST
Unpaused Naya Safar review: The pandemic anthology has some nice touches, but is beset by looseness and familiarity, and stretched to the point where even the short film format feels extra.
Fri, Jan 21, 2022
January 14, 2022 11:13 IST
Human review: Any piece of fiction which is subjected to tonal switches, from realistic threads to strands which are totally out of the left flank, is left floundering. ‘Human’ is neither fish nor fowl.
Fri, Jan 14, 2022
January 13, 2022 13:00 IST
Ranjish Hi Sahi review: Mahesh Bhatt’s life is replete with so much colour and believe-it-or-faint moments that this should have been a tell-all to end all tell-alls. Sadly, this ends up as just tell.
Thu, Jan 13, 2022
January 13, 2022 10:00 IST
In her directorial debut, Maggie Gyllenhaal brings home a rarity on and off screen — mums who leave
Sat, Aug 06, 2022
December 31, 2021 14:30 IST
Murder At Teesri Manzil 302 movie review: Even for those of us who have been madly missing the inimitable Irrfan Khan, this is one movie memory we’d rather not have had.
Mon, Mar 24, 2025
December 26, 2021 12:44 IST
Here are some of the most telling creative cinematic flourishes of the year gone by.
Tue, Dec 28, 2021
December 24, 2021 10:32 IST
Atrangi Re movie review: Dhanush was one of the nicer elements of ‘Raanjhna’, which came from the same team. Here, he rises above the clunkiness of his character, treading between a dutiful familial union and falling in love with a strange stranger.
Mon, Mar 07, 2022
December 22, 2021 13:40 IST
Minnal Murali movie review: While the film is aware of its superhero-ness, it never loses sight of the fact that it is set in a real place. This is a tough balance, and Basil Joseph gets it just right.
Fri, Dec 24, 2021
December 21, 2021 17:56 IST
Amongst the best stories we watched in 2021 were those that streamed on OTT platforms. Here’s the best of web shows from India and the world.
Thu, Dec 23, 2021
December 21, 2021 09:50 IST
83 movie review: Ranveer Singh disappears into his Kapil Dev even as each of Kapil’s Devils is given their own moment in this faithful recreation of India's 1983 World Cup win.
Fri, Dec 24, 2021
December 20, 2021 15:38 IST
The struggle for Bollywood to stay relevant has never been more real. Almost every film that made it to the best films list is non-Bollywood.
Fri, Jan 07, 2022
December 11, 2021 08:41 IST
Raveena Tandon is unafraid of appearing uncouth and crude, and is able to toughen up and soften when the occasion demands, even if the unsophisticated accent slips.
Sun, Dec 12, 2021
December 10, 2021 10:44 IST
Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam review: The director’s attempts at subverting the classic noir gaze leads to an upending and undoing: this is feminist noir, and enough of it is thought-provoking and entertaining.
Fri, Dec 10, 2021
December 10, 2021 09:57 IST
Aarya 2 review: The real star of this season is Sushmita Sen, the woman who is ‘just a working mother’, doing her thing. She overcomes our skepticism at her not being able to rise above her desire to look perfect at all times and gets down and dirty.
Tue, Aug 23, 2022



