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English Vinglish Movie Review by Top Critics
Ratings:3.5/5 English Vinglish Review by Rajeev Masand Site:CNN IBN (IBNLive)
In English Vinglish there’s little that’s blazingly original ; much of it feels formulaic and predictable, in fact. Yet Shinde knows there’s comfort to be found in the familiar, and she mines feel-good moments in been-there-seen-that territory. Making an assured debut with a light, frothy film that still has something important to say, Gauri Shinde delivers one the year’s most pleasing films, and Amit Trivedi lends some of his best compositions to the soundtrack. I’m going with three-and-a-half out of five for English Vinglish. It’s warm and fuzzy, and leaves you with a big smile on your face.
Ratings:4/5 English Vinglish Review by Taran Adarsh Site:Bollywood Hungama
ENGLISH VINGLISH is the story of a woman who struggles with English and is made to feel insecure by her family and society at large. The film depicts the touching and transformational journey of a housewife, Shashi [Sridevi]. Circumstances make her resolute to prevail over this lack of confidence, master the language, teach the world a lesson or two on the way to becoming a self-assured and confident woman. Sure, masala movies are great fun, but a film like ENGLISH VINGLISH breaks the monotony, shatters the unwritten rules of the game and scores brownie points. Cinema is rapidly changing and one can connect with viewers across the globe even without making the usual mainstream Hindi movie. ENGLISH VINGLISH proves it! On the whole, ENGLISH VINGLISH is a remarkable motion picture. It's amusing, emotional, heartrending and also insightful. An inspiring film with an overwhelming message. A must-watch for every parent, every child. Strongly recommended!
Ratings:3.5/5 Review by Anupama Chopra Site:Hindustan Times (Star World)
English Vinglish falters in the second half. The pace drops and Shashi’s English class seems to be like an outtake of Mind Your Language, the successful television series about a motely group of people learning English. There’s also a clumsy sub-track about Shashi’s English teacher being gay, complete with a sermon on equality. But even when the film feels shaky and stretched, Sridevi doesn’t miss a beat. Her performance is a triumph. She’s vulnerable and sad and yet selfless and strong, in the way we all know our mothers to be. It’s hard to imagine that this is an actor who hasn’t worked in fifteen years. Sridevi makes English Vinglish an absolute delight. I’m going with three and a half stars and strongly recommending that you watch it.
Ratings:4/5 Review by Meena Iyer Site:Times of India (TOI)
The film drives home the point that those who speak English fluently usually adapt a condescending attitude towards those who don't.Easily one of the best films on 2012; is tale of women empowerment (actually it is bound to empower every viewer) because it strikes a chord, right from the start to the end titles.The result is a sweet, sensitive and superlative film that makes you laugh, cry and smile. Every emotion is identifiable, every nuance is balanced. The characters are real, the performances effortless English Vinglish has the feel-good factor. It's the movie to which you must take your grandmother, mother, sister, wife, sweetheart and saas.
Ratings:4/5 English Vinglish Review by Raja Sen Site:Rediff
Go watch English Vinglish, and take your mothers along. As shown by one great scene which has Shashi speaking furiously in Hindi to her chef friend Laurent, who replies back in thoughtful-sounding French, it isn't about language. It's about one of the biggest stars of her era transformed into the plainest Jane, a delightful heroine who saves all her grace for hoisting her son onto her pillow. It's about how vital the smallest-seeming dreams can prove to be. Ah, spell it English Win-glish, I say.
Ratings:---- Review by Komal Nahta Site:ETC
On the whole, English Vinglish is a simple tale sensitively told and extraordinarily enacted. It may have taken a slow start but it has immense power to grow greatly because of positive word of mouth and ultimately prove a hit! No doubt, it will work more in the cities and the multiplexes but business from there will be big. Ladies will give a huge boost to the film. It also has tremendous repeat value because it is a very uplifting and feel-good film.
Ratings:2.5/5 Review by Saibal Chatterjee Site:NDTV
This film hinges on an idea that only reinforces the phony notion that a woman, no matter how gifted, must speak fluent English in order to truly assert herself.Tame superficiality is indeed the biggest bane of English Vinglish, which, for the most part, is otherwise reasonably watchable, especially owing to a charming performance by Sridevi.Her hesitant but heartfelt climactic speech, delivered undemonstratively, is the high point.But it takes two hours too long in coming. Chances are that by then you might cease to really care about her newly acquired spoken English skills.If you don’t, you might actually feel a little lump in your throat. That is the kind of film English Vinglish is. It would work strictly for those who can discount the film’s oversimplified worldview.
Ratings:3.5/5 Review by Shubhra Gupta Site:Indian Express
‘English Vinglish’, Gauri Shinde’s first feature is a likeable film, which gives us a silky- smooth first half, a slowed-down second, broad-brushstroke-y characters, and an actress who makes it all work.What I liked about Shinde’s feel-good debut is that it stays away from stridency, even if it stays equally safely away from surprises, sidestepping those difficult questions by focusing on Shashi’s innate abilities to make other people happy, and Sridevi’s display of her skills. Hers is a fully-rounded role, so rare in Bollywood, and Sridevi delivers a beautifully-calibrated performance.Dekho vekho.
Ratings:4/5 Review by Aniruddha Guha Site:DNA
It tells a story that revels in its simplicity, with aid from some witty writing and honest moments that elicit a smile here, a laugh there, and which leave you touched. Without Sridevi, English Vinglish would have still worked, but the actress makes the film what it is. You may find cliches along the way, yet English Vinglish is among the most refreshingly novel films made in recent times. Gauri Shinde makes an assured debut with a film that seems to have been made with more honesty than calculation, and with more heart than mind. If you're a Sridevi fan, you can't miss it. If you aren't, you still can't miss it.
Ratings:3/5 Review by Roshni Devi Site:Koimoi
What’s Good: The nuanced screenplay & cinematography; the effortless direction; the touching performances; the music.What’s Bad: Some characterizations; tries a bit hard to get emotional; the slow pace.Loo Break: Not really.Watch or Not?: This light-hearted movie is a lovable watch for Sridevi, the direction and the music, though the forced emotional quotient might get to you.
English Vinglish Review International Critics
Ratings:---- Review by Joe Lydon Site:VarietyPopular Indian thesp Sridevi returns to the screen after a 15-year hiatus with "English Vinglish," a sprightly star vehicle that finds her perfectly cast as an attractive yet old-fashioned homebody who elevates her sense of worth by becoming bilingual. Pic occasionally resembles a broadly played U.S. sitcom, as Shashi amusingly interacts with a multiethnic cross-section of fellow students.Far more often, though, "English Vinglish" is traditional Bollywood escapism, a lightly enjoyable trifle featuring exuberant musical interludes, an extremely chaste approach to conjugal relations and extramarital temptation, and a crowdpleasing wrap-up that allows the lead character to be all she can be while still respecting family values.
Ratings:3/5 Review by Peter Bradshaw Site:Guardian
Here is a likable family comedy from India with its own air of innocence, and a boisterous cameo from Amitabh Bachchan. It's very amiable, feelgood entertainment, featuring some broad comedy and stereotypes, yet with a notably bold repudiation of homophobia. An undemanding picture that goes down as well as the heroine's tasty ladoos.
