Heroine Movie Reviews
4.0
Joginder Tuteja | Indiaglitz
Madhur Bhandarkar has never shied away from his key mantra - expose - in his films. Fashion, Corporate, Page 3, Traffic Signal, Chandni Bar - each of these films has aimed at getting a sneak peak into the functioning of the respective industries. No wonder, one did wonder whether Bhandarkar would actually take an all out approach for 'Heroine', considering the fact that this time around the industry is his own - Bollywood! Thankfully he actually manages to do thatRead full review3.5
Taran Adarsh | bollywoodhungama.com
Madhur Bhandarkar is eminently regarded for delving into the detailing of varied subjects, be it the gritty life of bar girls [CHANDNI BAR], the socialites and media persons [PAGE 3], the corporate czars [CORPORATE], the people hanging around a traffic signal [TRAFFIC SIGNAL] or the glitzy fashion industry [FASHION]. His movies are in a league of their own. His latest work, HEROINE, orbits around the journey of an actress, the glamour and glitz surrounding her careerRead full review3.5
Taran Adarsh | Bollywood Hungama
On the whole, HEROINE is yet another hard-hitting motion picture from Madhur Bhandarkar. For persistently choosing women-centric themes, for consistently winning national acclaim and most significantly, magnetizing moviegoers in large numbers to view his cinema, the efforts of the maverick film-maker deserve to be lauded. Watch HEROINE for Madhur’s imposing direction, for Kareena’s superlative performance, watch it also for its fearless, inspiring and enlightening storyline divulging the scandalous realities of the movie industry. Try not to miss it!Read full review3.0
Meena Iyer | Times of India
Multiple National-Award winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar takes vicarious pleasure in giving his audience a ring-side view of various walks of life. His Chandni Bar (2001) dealt with Mumbai dance-bars; Page-3 (2005) showed the shallow side of the media and celebrity circus; Fashion(2008) dealt with the seamier side of the fashion industry. And one must say here that in each of his previous works Madhur was far more in control of proceedingsRead full review3.0
Vivek Bhatia | Filmfare
In a world of films created by Madhur Bhandarkar, nothing is sacred. And nothing is erm… different. After exploring the world of fashion, media and corporate boardrooms, Bhandarkar now plunges into the most controversial and talked-about subject we know of today – the film Industry. Heroine is, sadly, just one of his many ‘blowing-the-lid-off’ accounts that don’t really work any magic. The only magician at work here, a beautiful one at thatRead full review3.0
Soumyadipta Banerjee | In.com
For years on end Madhur Bhandarkar has been talking about 'other' professions with more or less success. He showed the true colours of Page 3 journalism, got into the murky world of the boardroom politics... Everyone wondered how he will fare when it would come down to portraying his own 'world' of Bollywood on the big screen. That film finally arrived with 'Heroine'. In this film Madhur Bhandarkar was expected to rock the entire film industry with his closer-to-life screen-playRead full review3.0
Meena Iyer | Times of India
Very clearly the written material at hand draws from unflattering accounts of various real and reel Hindi film heroines of the 80s (unfair to name them because a couple of them are not even around to defend themselves); who were in messy situations with their married co-stars.Read full review3.0
Zeenews Bureau | Zee News
Does ‘Heroine’ work? Yes, but only because of Kareena Kapoor. From doing the raunchy act in ‘Halkat Jawaani’ to the scenes where she is battling depression and popping pills, to the I-don’t-care-attitude of a confident actress, Kareena makes Mahi memorable and lovable.Read full review2.5
Gaurav Malani | Indiatimes
Over the years, Madhur Bhandarkar has made a brand out of his filmmaking, exposing the murkier side of a supposed glamourous industry. Heroine, set on the backdrop of the movie industry, follows the same defined pattern though it is unable to redefine the Bhandarkar brand beyond an extent. Heroine largely plays as the biographical account of a film actress Mahie Arora (Kareena Kapoor) and sees her uneven journey in the industry. She is in love with superstar Aryan KhannaRead full review2.5
Vinayak Chakravorty | India Today
In his 13-year-old career, Madhur Bhandarkar has won accolades basically making one film. It is a film that tells us a woman on top in a man's world will invariably suffer doom, after an elaborate moral science session has played itself out on the screen. That woman keeps changing with every new Bhandarkar release, but the film remains the same. The bar dancer of Chandni Bar, the fiery politician of Satta, the honcho in Corporate, the hack in Page 3Read full review2.5
Kanika Sikka | DNA India
All said and done, the film may be a one-time watch. But if you expected too much out of the film, it may not be worth the anticipation and your money.Read full review2.0
Aniruddha Guha | DNA India
Mahi Arora is a superstar whose career hasn't exactly been going great guns lately. After having refused to sleep with a superstar actor on the outdoor shoot of her last film, she is left out from the film's publicity campaign, which instead focuses on the actor and another actress who has an item song in the film. In spite of it being declared a blockbuster (“150-crore ki film hai,” a trade analyst announces at its premiere), Mahi gets no credit for its successRead full review2.0
Sukanya Verma | rediff.com
Formulas have a shelf life too. And styles fade. But if Madhur Bhandarkar thinks by tweaking his standard format of rise and fall (Page 3, Corporate and Fashion) of a female protagonist to concentrating on an absolute decline, he has made some sort of a breakthrough, he's only kidding himself. This time he sets his story in the glamorous but hardhearted world of show business where the heroine's shelf life is unfairly shorter than her male co-stars and the pressureRead full review2.0
Janhavi Samant | Mid-Day
If it wasn’t for Madhur Bhandarkar, how would film-loving commoners like us learn about the film industry and its inner functioning? You know, important things like how actresses have to woo superstar wives to be paired opposite their husbands or how veteran actresses are left to wait in the sun or how actresses are such insecure, superficial and self-centered people and how they need some nameless pills and cigarettes to keep themselves saneRead full review2.0
Saibal Chatterjee | NDTV Movies
This is a glossy picture postcard that has seen better days – still good to look at but frayed at the edges and utterly lifeless. The foremost problem with Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine is that behind its gossamer exterior, it is weighed down by banalities that don't quite add up. In conveying the ebbs and tides of the life of a self-obsessed, impulsive and troubled Bollywood diva, the film taps into the tropes that constitute the Bhandarkar formula. The novelty has worn offRead full review2.0
Sudhish Kamath | The Hindu
There’s nothing that ruins a deliciously bad film than seriously sincere acting. Maybe a lesser actor would have ensured there was nothing stopping us from laughing out loud at this long string of Bollywood stereotypes tied together as an unintentional spoof of Bhandarkar films. Sample: “So what if I need a psychiatrist? So what if I am an alcoholic? I can't be a good mother? I will sue you. I will sue you. I will sue you.” The dialogue is hilariously badRead full review2.0
Shubhra Gupta | Screen
The only reason to watch Madhur Bhandarkar’s films is for the way they go behind the headlines and show us the dirt and the hurt that’s usually brushed under frayed rags and burnished carpets. In his better moments, Bhandarkar has let us see the stuff that’s crawled out from underneath clearly, and we’ve overlooked the tackiness because it has added to the understanding of the subject. ‘Heroine’, Bhandarkar’s pass at Bollywood, does noneRead full review2.0
Rajeev Masand | IBNLive
Despite an entertaining first half, thanks to all the unintentional laughs, Heroine slips into a slush of melodrama post interval. By this point, it feels interminably long and boring. Bhandarkar loses his grip on the script, and it’s evident that his storytelling now desperately needs reinventing.Read full review2.0
Anupama Chopra | Hindustan Times
At one point in Heroine, a character asks: Iss glamour industry mein kaun fraud nahin hota. This film certainly is one.Read full review2.0
Shubhra Gupta | Indian Express
‘Heroine’ has every single stereotype associated with Bollywood that we are familiar with, from our newspaper supplements, tabloid gossip, sensational TV programmes, fanzines, social networking platforms.Read full review2.0
Pooja Rao | Bollyspice
All the glamour and the sensational allure of Madhur’s great Bollywood expose is let down by a limp screenplay, lame dialogues and an astonishing two and a half hr runtime. Sadly it was such a good material at hand, sadly none of it is explored to the best of its potential, sadly none of it is as earnest as the lead trying to play it.Read full review2.0
Saumya Sharma | BookMyShow
Review: When everything around you starts shouting, “we need a change”, you know it’s high-time you got one. Madhur......Read full review1.5
Pooja Thakkar | Film Street Journal
You’ve seen her umpteen times before – the emotionally fragile, insecure actress showcased forever by Mahesh Bhatt (Arth), Vikram Bhatt (Ankahee, Raaz 3) and Milan Luthria (The Dirty Picture). And you’ve seen Madhur Bhandarkar’s formula a zillion times – the Fashion and Page 3 elements of giddy glamour, bedroom rivalry, claws out, nails sharpened. Add Bhandarkar’s favourite garnish of homosexuality, professional and emotional highsRead full review1.5
Roshni Devi | Koimoi
Heroine Movie Review:1.5 stars. What’s Good: Some performances; the title track and Saiyaan song. What’s Bad: ...Read full review1.5
Raja Sen | Rediff
Heroine is quite stupendously glossy, with every actress soaked in bronzer, and much flattering lighting. And the actors really aren’t the problem here, each of them — even the disastrous ones — earning more than their fare share just for keeping straight faces through this malarkey.Read full review1.0
Trisha Gupta | Firstpost
Madhur Bhandarkar has already made his trademark salacious forays into the worlds of bar dancers (Chandni Bar, 2001), pavement dwellers (Traffic Signal, 2007), journalists and socialites (Page 3 2005) big business (Corporate, 2006), fashion (Fashion, 2008) and criminal lowlifes (Jail, 2010). With Heroine, he turns his attention to the film industry, a world in which he himself has operated since at least 1995, when he landed an Assistant Director’s jobRead full review
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3.5
Yeh Hui Na ‘HEROINE’ Wali Baat….
filmifan45, 9 years agoSuper hit movie. I loved everything about this movie. -
2.0
Heroine...old wine in an old bottle!
thomas.richard, 9 years agoThis is one time watch. You can watch this movie to pass your time. -
3.5
page3 for high soc fashion 4 admedia , 4 film this
bollyfan25, 9 years agoSuper hit movie. I loved everything about this movie. -
3.0
Mix of 'Fashion' and 'The Dirty Picture'.
prakashreddy9, 9 years agoThis is nice movie. I liked it.