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.

October 14,2022 12:28:33 PM
Code Name Tiranga movie review: Can you swallow Parineeti Chopra as a deadly Indian agent who is able to handle a dozen and more gun-laden terrorists and their mastermind on her own? Then this film is for you.
Fri, Oct 14, 2022
October 14,2022 12:02:37 PM
Chhello Show movie review: The film, India’s official entry to the Oscars, does manage to focus on change as an inexorable part of life. But cinema carries on, taking the changes in its sweep, telling us stories.
Thu, Mar 20, 2025
October 09,2022 06:05:22 AM
Bachchan has become a continuum, reminding us of the time that was, and the promise of a time to come
Mon, Oct 10, 2022
October 07,2022 11:15:26 AM
Goodbye movie review: Amitabh Bachchan-Rashmika Mandana's film delivers broad humour and heavy-handed sentimentality, which succeeds best when the emotion occasionally swims to the top without the belabouring.
Sat, Oct 08, 2022
October 06,2022 15:09:39 PM
Maja Ma movie review: Madhuri Dixit is the pivot around which this film revolves, and in some places she does become the actor who can bring her character-- complex, wistful, wanting -- to life.
Fri, Oct 07, 2022
September 30,2022 18:51:09 PM
Plan A Plan B movie review: I had hopes that there would be some zest to the proceedings, given the director has given us the delightful ‘Khubsoorat’ and ‘Veere Di Wedding’. But as soon as the attraction-despite-everything arc begins, the film turns decisively tepid and flat.
Fri, Sep 30, 2022
September 30,2022 09:19:56 AM
Vikram Vedha movie review: After a long time, two top-flight stars such as Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan sink their teeth into a proper story which comes before them.
Sat, Oct 01, 2022
September 23,2022 16:44:27 PM
Dhokha Round D Corner review: The film wants you to ask some questions, but the one you end up asking is – why was this film made.
Fri, Sep 23, 2022
September 23,2022 15:44:22 PM
Babli Bouncer movie review: Tamannaah Bhatia film makes the mistake so many others have, when they have a strong woman in the lead, it turns them into a female version of the old-style hero.
Fri, Sep 23, 2022
September 23,2022 10:35:39 AM
Chup movie review: This Dulquer Salmaan film, about dream-makers and those who destroy those dreams, is less satisfactory than it should have been.
Sat, Sep 24, 2022
September 22,2022 12:17:25 PM
Hush Hush review: This show begins with a bang and stays on course for the first three episodes. It starts to unravel from the fourth episode on.
Fri, Sep 23, 2022
September 16,2022 15:19:13 PM
Jahaan Chaar Yaar movie review: A quick, illicit getaway for the four pals turns into a light-hearted caper which includes a murder, a bunch of kooky cops, and intrigue.
Fri, Sep 16, 2022
September 16,2022 14:49:52 PM
Jogi movie review: In the way ‘Jogi’ uses Bollywoodian melodrama as its chief operating instrument, it serves only to undercut the tragedy, making it less than it was.
Sat, Sep 17, 2022
September 16,2022 14:17:50 PM
Middle Class Love movie review: Like in most Bollywood movies set in these kinds of ‘schools’, no studying is done, instead the setting is just an excuse for good-looking teenagers to learn life lessons.
Fri, Sep 16, 2022
September 16,2022 11:08:01 AM
Siya movie review: Siya’s struggle to be heard reminds us of the Unnao and Hathras rape cases.
Fri, Sep 16, 2022
September 16,2022 11:02:02 AM
Matto Ki Saikil movie review: This relationship between man and machine is movingly portrayed in M Gani’s film, which coasts on authentic performances and the ability to catch the rhythm of life in a village.
Fri, Sep 16, 2022
September 09,2022 10:18:25 AM
Brahmastra movie review: Despite all those non-stop computer graphics, the opulence of the sets, the starry array, the film’s commitment to its subject, we never really buy into it completely.
Sun, Sep 11, 2022
September 02,2022 09:55:24 AM
Cuttputlli movie review: Nothing about this thriller, which lacks thrills, works the way it should. Instead of tension, we get a mix of tired family drama-and-romance in this Akshay Kumar film.
Sat, Sep 03, 2022
August 26,2022 13:34:54 PM
Delhi Crime Season 2 review: In its second iteration, the show is just as effective as season 1. In a couple of respects, it is even better.
Sat, Aug 27, 2022
August 26,2022 11:40:20 AM
Criminal Justice Season 3 review: Pankaj Tripathi’s implacable good cheer overlays the horrific murder of a young girl, a teenaged lad in the dock for the crime and complex modern-day iterations of nuclear families.
Wed, Mar 26, 2025
August 25,2022 14:48:03 PM
Liger movie review: It boggles the mind that filmmakers still think today’s audiences are willing to swallow utter rubbish in the name of entertainment.
Sat, Aug 27, 2022
August 18,2022 17:53:50 PM
Dobaaraa movie review: The Taapsee Pannu-starrer comes off too choppy and muddled. It’s hard to keep track of the many things happening in the time zones the movie slips in and out of.
Sat, Aug 20, 2022
August 13,2022 10:59:41 AM
The tendency to box films which are either helmed or headlined by female professionals as 'women-oriented' has only damaged the possibility of all-round growth
Sun, Aug 14, 2022
August 11,2022 12:38:36 PM
Laal Singh Chaddha movie review: It’s not just the pace of the film which is the trouble. It is also, centrally and crucially, Sardar Laal Singh Chaddha himself, as played by Aamir Khan.
Fri, Feb 10, 2023
August 11,2022 10:03:30 AM
Raksha Bandhan movie review: Do the filmmakers truly believe that such low-rent family dramas, with their uneasy mix of humour and crassness, is the way out for a beleaguered Bollywood?
Sat, Aug 13, 2022


