Laila Majnu

“What is truly troubling is the fact that the Alis have resorted to the woman-as-a-tease and the male-suitor-as-a-stalker clichés that were once a fixture in Bollywood but that many contemporary filmmakers now abjure. Not only does this triteness reveal a dangerous inclination for gender stereotyping, it is also, frankly, boring. I mean, seriously, how much longer must we contend with writers whose idea of romantic sparks is a girl pretending not to like a boy although she does, or a boy being obnoxious to win her affections?”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

“Contains the most exasperating thirty minutes as well as the most enthralling thirty minutes of the year… The more optimistic among us might imagine deceit to be hardwired into this film’s DNA. What if the first half is deliberately formulaic so that the second half punches us right in the gut after our expectations hit rock bottom?… The more pragmatic among us might believe that perhaps first-time director Sajid Ali handed over the reigns to his brother Imtiaz post-interval.”

Rating: 2.5 stars | Full review

“The film flirts with allegory in the same manner that Laila (Tripti Dimri) deals playfully with her numerous admirers lining the streets of Srinagar as she makes her way to college every day.”

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“Avinash’s Qais (or Majnu) is treated as a clamorous embodiment of poetic ‘madness’: a low-rung cross between Shahid Kapoor from Haider and Ranveer Singh from Padmaavat who rages blind in the rolling hills of Kashmir.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

“Little sense, some good taste and enough feeling to flood a valley. On the face of it, it’s a standard ‘girl meets boy, their families disapprove, boy loses the plot’ story. But director Sajid Ali lulls viewers with Kashmiri meadows and lakes and a heady soundtrack and then throws the emotional kitchen sink at them.”

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“Layla and Majnun — the “virgin love”, where the two neither marry nor consummate their affair — can best, if not only, be told through melodrama. I’m not confident about realism doing justice to the innate exaggeration and passion of this tale, but the problem with the first half is that it neither commits to melodrama nor realism. It is stuck in an awkward limbo. But the second half of the film, with right dollops of exaggeration, soulful melodies and acting skills, elicits the right amount of melodrama.”

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