Super 30, Review: Inequality, equality and variable quality Two basic tenets form the paradigm of Super 30: a real-life story about a nondescript do-gooder who is a super achiever must strike a chord with audiences, and, secondly, any tale of a low caste and poverty-stricken protagonist, sacrificing his lady love and filthy lucre for the cause of educating fellow under-privileged ‘untouchables’ in his society, will have them rooting for the unlikely hero. How these doctrines pan o...

High Jack, Review: Hitting a new low Several theories come up when you try and analyse what went wrong with a potentially high scoring black comedy. Firstly, it seems to be incomplete, with large chunks either not written at all or left out on the editing table. The second possibility is that the censor board did not take too kindly to a stoner subject and chopped out major scenes. It is also possible that the production worked with a skeletal script and tried to improvise as they went along,...

Shaandaar, Review: Insomniacs, maniacs, megalomaniacs and necrophiliacs It’s a Shaandaar combination. Producers of this eagerly-awaited film include the Dharma banner owner Karan Johar (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, My Name is Khan, Student of the Year; also director), Vikramaditya Motwane (director of the mini-classic, Udaan, and co-owner of the production house, Phantom Films, with Shaandaar director Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, and Madhu Mantena) and Anurag Kashyap himself, the director of such...