This International Women's Day, Fitoor Mishra takes the pants off redundant Bollywood stereotypes. Kyunki dakiyanusi baatein aur bachpan ki sexist filmein dimaag se delete kahan hoti hain!

Ek aur period film, ek aur war. Fitoor ka kehna hai 21 soldiers is also 20 too many, kyunki Khiladi sab kuch khud kar deta hai! Ab dekhna yeh hai ki 2019 mein sarkar Kesari hogi... ya aapki zubaan!

Kangana Ranaut’s combative, no-filter style has come with setbacks. Thanks to her unwillingness to be diplomatic, she has alienated an influential chunk of Bollywood. It’s the reason that, even after doing a massive costume drama like Manikarnika, she’s not mentioned in the same breath as contemporaries Deepika, Anushka, and Alia.

We did not expect Thackeray, produced by Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and directed by MNS’s Abhijit Panse, to be critical of the party supremo. But even their unabashed allegiance can’t prepare you for the relish with which the film glorifies the ugliest parts of Bal Thackeray’s legacy.

As someone rooting for the success of Manikarnika, I was hungry for the movie to delve into the story behind the story. Did the exemplary Queen of Jhansi make mistakes? Did she have regrets? But the film only offers us Kangana Ranaut’s glaring dialogue-baazi and jaw clenching, and hammy plot devices.