WAZIR
Release date: 08.01.2016
What: An unlikely friendship develops between a top cop (Farhan Akhtar) and a maimed chess grandmaster (Amitabh Bachchan), both battling their own demons, as they attempt to uncover a murky murder plot. Despite ho-hum reviews, Wazir notched up a neat little profit to become the year’s first money-earner.
Thumbs up: Bachchan’s paisa vasool lines, Farhan’s intense act, some well-executed scenes. 
Thumbs down: Lack of a cohesive plot, too cryptic.
t2 review: There’s nothing that can’t be understood about Wazir. You can predict the twist in the tail right from the interval or even earlier. It’s a teary state of affairs dipped in a melancholy background score the Wazir premise is.
Verdict: semi-HIT

CHALK N DUSTER
Release date: 15.01.2016
What: Shabana Azmi and Juhi Chawla got together to play educators and to drive home the point that learning shouldn’t 
degenerate into business. That’s all we could figure out from this muddled movie.
Thumbs up: The feel-good premise, the A+ acting.
Thumbs down: Overdone plot, amateurish treatment.
Verdict: FLOP

KYA KOOL HAIN HUM 3
Release date: 22.01.2016
What: Positioned as a “porn-com”, the third Kool film touched a new low in crude and crass with its story of two young men (Tusshar Kapoor and Aftab Shivdasani) who earn a living as porn stars.
Thumbs up: You must be joking!
Thumbs down: Lewd and loud, the double-meaning gestures and jokes, Tusshar and Aftab’s crude antics, an insufferable Gizele Thakral (and her huuge lips!).
t2 review: If you were walking past and stopped at a scene, you’d find it funny. But if you were to sit through 125 minutes, you wouldn’t. 
Verdict: FLOP

AIRLIFT
Release date: 22.01.2016
What: Akshay Kumar poured soul and skill into the real-life story of a man who almost singlehandedly planned the precise 
evacuation of 1,70,000 Indians living in Kuwait ravaged by the Gulf War of the ’90s. Buoyed by strong word of mouth, Airlift is the year’s only Rs 100-crore earner so far. 
Thumbs up: Gripping narrative, top-class acts led by Akshay and Nimrat Kaur, the strong supporting cast, minute attention to detail.
Thumbs down: Not nail-biting enough.
t2 review: Airlift is a soaring crowd-pleaser of a film, one that deserves a watch. The film may flounder at times, but Akshay doesn’t, giving us a hero we root for till the very end.  
Verdict: BLOCKBUSTER

 

 

SAALA KHADOOS
Release date: 29.01.2016
What: Rajkumar Hirani put his money on this Chak De! India-style story of a failed boxer (R. Madhavan’s Adi) who puts heart and soul into mentoring a young female boxer (Madhi, played by newcomer Ritika Singh) with ample talent but zero focus and drive.
Thumbs up: The engaging and interesting storyline, power-packed performances from Madhavan and Ritika.
Thumbs down: Predictable plot, too many songs.
t2 review: It’s no knockout triumph but the film scores enough cuts, jabs and hooks to emerge victorious.
Verdict: FLOP

MASTIZAADE
Release date: 29.01.2016
What: Arriving the Friday after Kya Kool Hain Hum 3, this Milap Zaveri film packed in the usual crass jokes and tasteless humour. Even Sunny Leone — in a double role, no less — couldn’t keep it from sinking at the box office.
Thumbs up: An eyeful — and more! — of Sunny.
Thumbs down: Loses the plot midway, a confusing and contrived climax.
t2 review: Mastizaade is utter and absolute trash masquerading as cinema. Almost every scene has a close-up of breasts, almost every dialogue has some innuendo about balls, and there’s a lot of khada and geela, dena and lena thrown in.
Verdict: FLOP

GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN
Release date: 05.02.2016
What: Twenty-six years after the hard-hitting Ghayal, Sunny Deol returned — this time as director and actor —  to tell a story of a group of youngsters who stand up to the clout of a corrupt industrialist. Enter Ajay Mehra (Sunny)... and it’s all action and fists thereafter.
Thumbs up: Some nostalgic moments, pertinent social message, edgy action.
Thumbs down: Weak acts, too loud in parts.
t2 review: This afterthought of a sequel — coming 26 years after the Rajkumar Santoshi film — is a desi mix of the Rocky, Die Hard and Taken sequels with some terrific action and some terrible acting.
Verdict: SEMI-HIT

 

 

FITOOR
Release date: 12.02.2016
What: Kai Po Che! man Abhishek Kapoor adapted Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, exploring the tumultous love story between Noor (Aditya Roy Kapoor) and Firdaus (Katrina Kaif), with Begum Hazrat (Tabu) looming large. Despite its beautiful leads and soulful music, Fitoor was a box-office disaster.
Thumbs up: Amit Trivedi’s score (Fitoor mera to Pashmina to Tere liye), the breathtaking Kashmir locales, a strong act from Tabu.
Thumbs down: The lack of chemistry between Aditya and Katrina, a poorly told Half Two. 
t2 review: Aditya’s painting scenes, displaying his abs more than his expressions, look like a denim commercial while Katrina cannot slip in the spite with the sexy. Let’s just say they turn Fitoor into Unfitoor.
Verdict: FLOP

SANAM RE
Release date: 12.02.2016
What: High-school lovers Akash (Pulkit Samrat) and Shruti (Yami Gautam) get together several years later, but.... The rest didn’t matter.
Thumbs up: The eye-pleasing locations, Ladakh to Calgary, the foot-tapping music.
Thumbs down: Boring and banal.
t2 review: Sanam Re, with its tale of love, longing and eventual loss, aims to be the Aashiqui 2 of 2016, but what you have in the end is a beautiful-looking film with very little substance and even less soul. 
Verdict: AVERAGE

LOVESHHUDA
Release date: 19.02.2016
What: A young man’s bachelor party ends with him waking up next to another woman. And then the fun begins. 
Thumbs up: The GenY premise.
Thumbs down: Everything else.
Verdict: FLOP

NEERJA
Release date: 19.02.2016
What: The inspiring and heartbreaking story of braveheart Neerja Bhanot — a real-life flight purser who was gunned down fighting hijackers in the 1980s — was brought alive on screen in this powerful and poignant film. Neerja is one of the year’s biggest hits so far, with Rs 75 crore in its kitty in the domestic market alone.
Thumbs up: Sonam Kapoor as Neerja, the lump-in-the-throat plot, strong supporting performances from Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravjiani and Jim Sarbh.
Thumbs down: The not-so-gripping hijack scenes.
t2 review: She was not trying to be a hero; she was doing her job. And that is what the film captures brilliantly. 
Verdict: SUPERHIT

BOLLYWOOD DIARIES
Release date: 26.02.2016
What: Three individuals from different backgrounds land up in Mumbai to pursue their Bollywood dream. But in this dog-eat-dog world, that’s easier said than done. 
Thumbs up: Interesting plot, stellar acts from Raima Sen and Ashish Vidyarthi.
Thumbs down: Lack of big names, very little publicity.
Verdict: FLOP

ALIGARH
Release date: 26.02.2016
What: Hansal Mehta brought power and pathos to the real-life story of R. Siras, a professor at Aligarh Muslim University who was ostracised and eventually hounded to death because of his sexual preferences. 
Thumbs up: The bold premise, Mehta the fearless filmmaker, award-worthy performances from Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao.
Thumbs down: Not many people watched it.
t2 review: Writer-editor Apurva Asrani, director Mehta and Bajpayee transform the trials and tribulations of one man into a deeply resonant and unflinchingly human tale.
Verdict: FLOP

TERE BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE
Release date: 26.02.2016
What: The sequel to the 2010 surprise hit focuses on Osama doppelganger Paddi’s life after the dreaded terrorist is gunned down by the US.
Thumbs up: A fun first half, the comic chemistry between Pradhuman Singh and Manish Paul, Sikander Kher’s top act.
Thumbs down: Loses steam midway, overblown and predictable climax.
t2 review: Some jokes are repeated, some gags feel familiar and the film, as a whole, seems dragged down by the weight of trying too hard to be ha-ha.
Verdict: FLOP

JAI GANGAAJAL
Release date: 04.03.2016
What: Priyanka Chopra plays a tough top cop in this Prakash Jha film that explores the politican-police nexus (again). The one big problem with Jai Gangaajal? It focuses less on PC and more on PJ (Prakash Jha), making his debut as an actor.
Thumbs up: Priyanka’s power act, engaging in parts.
Thumbs down: The rest of the film.
t2 review: Don’t let the posters, the promotions or the climax of the film fox you. If Jai Gangaajal were to be sent to the Oscars, or the Razzies, they would consider Priyanka Chopra in the supporting actor category and Jha in the leading role.
Verdict: FLOP

TERAA SURROOR
Release date: 11.03.2016
What: Himesh the actor returned — unfortunately for us — as a hired assassin out to rescue his framed ladylove holed up in jail. The rest of Teraa Surroor, despite a screaming-his-guts-out Himesh, was a big bore.
Thumbs up: You must be joking!
Thumbs down: The whole film.
t2 review: Boy: He’s an undercover assassin. Like Bond. James Bond.
Girl: James Bond doesn’t live with his mother-in-law. Uff, one more song!
Boy: Can’t you see he’s sad? She’s been arrested by the Irish police for peddling drugs. Girl: The same stuff they were snorting while making this film?
Verdict: FLOP

KAPOOR & SONS
Release date: 18.03.2016
What: As they get together at their Coonoor  home after years, a family 
unravels bit by bit with their deepest and darkest secrets spilling out. A box-office winner, Kapoor & Sons has earned Rs 65 crore — and counting. 
Thumbs up: The me-too look and feel, strong acts from the cast — Rishi Kapoor to Rajat Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah to Fawad Khan, the fun one-liners, the chartbusting music, led by party anthem Kar gayi chull. 
Thumbs down: Twenty minutes too long.
t2 review: Kapoor & Sons is two thumbs up to the changing character of mainstream Bollywood, where formulaic ingredients are being tossed and turned for a refreshing cinematic experience.
Verdict: SUPERHIT

ROCKY HANDSOME
Release date: 25.03.2016
What: John Abraham’s biceps powered the Bolly remake of Korean thriller The Man From Nowhere, the tale of a dreaded gangster who forms an emotional bond with his knee-high neighbour.
Thumbs up: The action scenes.
Thumbs down: Too much blood and gore, John’s bond with the little girl doesn’t tug at the heartstrings.
t2 review: Rocky Handsome is more rocky and less handsome. Jazbaa last year and now this, the Korean roots in Bollywood seem to be running low on (kim)chi.
Verdict: FLOP

PLUS...

KI & KA
Release date: 01.04.2016
What: A progressive couple reverse roles — he is a stay-at-home husband, she a ‘corporate robot’ — in this R. Balki film that sadly reinforces the same stereotypes it seeks to challenge. 
Thumbs up: The gender-bender premise, delightful cameos from Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.
Thumbs down: Half-baked execution, lack of chemistry between Arjun Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan.
t2 review: A film which tries to turn the patriarchal stench of the society on its head actually just champions its hero showing him to be better at everything than his better half. Ki is just a catalyst here to go Ka Ka. 
Verdict: OPENED ABOVE AVERAGE

Which was the best/worst film you watched between January and March? 
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FAST FORWARD TO Q2

UDTA PUNJAB
Ishqiya man Abhishek Chaubey’s long-in-the-making project about substance abuse in Punjab is scheduled to see the light of day on June 17. Bringing together Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor nine years after Jab We Met, the film also stars Alia Bhatt and Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh.

Which of these films is on your must-watch list?
Tell t2@abp.in