Photograph

This bland, sombre love story from the director of The Lunchbox (2013) lacks that film's flavour.

It's an artful look at two misfit loners who find each other. But only just.

There are some nice touches, and the bustle of Mumbai is always fascinating, and the performances are good all-round, but whatever Batra hoped this would add up to it doesn't.

Well made, well performed, just a little too tamped down for its own good.

Sanya Malhotra's reserve does suggest reserves - of thought, emotion, romantic depth and perplexity. But the script wanders like a thing distracted.

Photograph finds new ways to tell a familiar fairy tale.

The loveliness of this film shines through in the openness each character has to the other person's good.

Photograph is a slow-paced dramedy that can't quite transcend its setup. So, Batra ends up with a bland and meandering tale that is all foreplay and no climax.

Simple, coherent and evocative.

Yes, the bare bones plot reeks of familiarity, but the cultural details make it feel fresh, taking the mundane and turning it into something not so dismissible.