At two hours, it is a stretch. A heavy-handed plot twist, which involves Krishna’s father and his philandering ways, bunged in as a lesson, makes the going bumpy. But the tone remains conversational and light, and Krishna breaking the fourth wall frequently, addressing us directly, doesn’t mercifully feel gimmicky or overdone.

Bulbbul is fashioned as a sharply relevant fable. It is a powerfully feminist, revisionist tale of a woman wronged, and it is told with economy, precision, style and feeling.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt starrer 7500 does not have anything substantial to say. But as a piece of pure entertainment, it is supremely effective.

Keerthy Suresh tries to make the best of a bad job, and is quite a sight when squaring up to monsters, but the proceedings let her down.

The opening of Kadakh is enough bait to stick through the entire thing, even though it meanders for long patches in the middle. We'll always expect more from the man who made Ankhon Dekhi, and while Kadakh doesn't surpass that, it surpasses a lot of desi content that we have been watching online.

Da 5 Bloods is Spike Lee in major key, all trumpets blowing. And what a film it is, excavating past and present, real and fictional, to become not just one of his best, but also a tremendously topical comment on race and race relations, with the impact of George Floyd’s murder still reverberating around the world.

I missed the zest, the drollness and sharpness, that Juhi Chaturvedi’s writing is so full of. Some of that edge shows up in the way the women, old and young, are etched, all happily themselves, never at a loss for words: you wish they had more to do.

Choked movie review: Choked doesn’t quite live up to its premise: it has some fine elements, but the connective tissue that binds it all together is a weak stretch.

Ponmagal Vandhal movie review: Jyotika carries the film with her performance, but you wish she varied the mix of pain-sorrow-determination: after a point it becomes one-note.

‘Comedy likho, badi demand hai’, Ghoomketu is told. We really could do with some laughs in these grim times, and this film’s premise did hold out promise, but it turns out to be more clutch-your-head-ache, than hold-your-sides-laughter.

Mrs Serial Killer movie review: Nothing, not Jacqueline Fernandez in her perfectly coiffed curls, nor Mohit Raina trying very hard to appear as if he knows what’s going on, nor the sundry others who come and go, help. Nor, I’m forced to regretfully report, Manoj Bajpayee, who should have known better.

Ema puts out many contradictory things out there, but my biggest takeaway is something quite simple: love can heal even the deepest wounds. And that sometimes, you can burn the dislike, and hatred, off.

R K Nagar is bankrolled by Venkat Prabhu. One can’t help but wonder, why would a decent filmmaker like him encourage such an incompetent and careless piece of work.

Extraction movie review: There’s not much space in a Chris Hemsworth produced film for too many other faces, but still, the desi contingent does get a look-in.

Bamfaad brings back memories of the small-town love story that Bollywood used to tell, and keeps us watching with a fluid flourish or two, even if we wish for much more freshness, as it takes us to a fully filmi end.

The ensemble does its job well, and even the familiar character of the leading lady’s ‘best friend’ comes off fresh. Both Sathish and Rajendran work well together, and as they head towards an unexpected finish, we see what the director wants us to: blood will tell, and life, with all its pain and problems, is a celebration.

Maska review: The best parts of Maska are filled with food, the cooking and eating of it: the textures of baking fresh bread, the buttery ooze of the maska, the other classic dishes you may find in an Irani establishment, and the golden lights that fill up the kitchen.

Dharala Prabhu movie review: Though Dharala Prabhu ends on a sentimental note, it is fairly entertaining.