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Writing for Scroll.in, the reviewer noted that while the series is built around an intriguing premise, much of the narrative follows a predictable trajectory.

So silly that it’s juvenile and sometimes so anarchic that it almost escapes notice, the 121-minute Happy Patel takes refuge behind its conceit.

Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in called it a "seriocomic" exploration of "new-old ideas about marriage and motherhood," particularly praising Priya Bapat's performance.

It does seem puzzling that Pawan is clueless about the social currents in his home town. He’s bursting with bravado and uprightness, but his inability to see what is groaningly apparent doesn’t help his case. It’s a credit to Saif Ali Khan that the 55-year-old actor not only passes as a 40-year-old character but also manages to keep a mid-scene snooze at bay through sheer charisma. Everyone performs very seriously and earnestly in a movie whose screenplay, also by Pulkit, isn’t trying to be anything but… dutiful. Everyone except Saurabh Dwivedi, a popular journalist in real life who has trouble posing as a powerful abuser.

The eight-episode show suffers from a bit of bloat and threadbare production values. The period detailing is all in the fixed telephones and newspaper advertisements. But in its engrossing and thought-provoking exploration of complex ideas, Matka King is a winner. The unfussy, ground-up approach places Brij’s Robin Hood-like figure in a time when the post-Independence compact is giving way. Sureties about virtue and vice, integrity and corruption, role models and villains are eroding. Within typical plot turns are nestled essential truths about multicultural, Mammon-addicted Mumbai. Matka King identifies the city’s visible and invisible barriers to aspirants; its transactional embrace of anybody who can turn a profit; its disregard for the underclass. It’s rare to have a show that portrays workers positively, rather than as obstacles.

With a spectacular lack of creativity, the writer creates a modern-day Rahu and Ketu (Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma) inspired by the mythological characters. Like the originals, these two bring bad luck wherever they go. They are shunned by the villagers in Himachal, where they have landed. After a bit of pointless tomfoolery, the local femme fatale, Meenu (Shalini Pandey) rides in. Skimpily dressed when everybody else is bundled up, she strings along Rahu and two cartoonish cops (Amit Sial, Sumit Gulati). She ends up stealing the magic book, in the hope of taking over the drug business run by the Israeli Mordechai (Chunky Panday), whose name is mangled by everyone. In spite of Varun Sharma’s heavy lifting – he gets into the spirit of silliness more easily – and a fair amount of exertion by the other actors, Rahu Ketu simply refuses to be anything more than sporadically funny. The Himachal scenery does more for the film than its inane story. A sequel is on the cards – beware, Bollywood!

Riteish Deshmukh plays the Maratha emperor with dedication, if not quite kingliness. Only Vidya Balan and Sanjay Dutt emerge as somewhat fleshed-out characters. Most of the cast members deliver performances as uninspiring and studious as the film itself.

Until the plot development that ties together the boy, police inspector Pavithran (Jean Paul Lal) and the thief Abbas (Tovino Thomas), Balan The Boy is a suspenseful, gripping, plausible and often moving character study.

Even at a relatively crisp runtime of 105 minutes, Bhai Tera Star Hai strains patience levels.

Manoj Tapadia finds ways to introduce balance. Although Kangana Ranaut’s Geeta is shown as the one who comes up with all the bright ideas, she does not dominate the narrative. If anything, Geeta is one among a crowd, a leader but also a co-worker. By giving Geeta’s colleagues strong scenes, the film lets them become a part of her reflected glory. The efforts of the small people who expect nothing more than an extra-tight hug before they go back to emptying out bedpans stand out in Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata. The film rescues itself from being a mouthpiece of the regime, instead becoming a voice for an unheralded strata of society.

Sid Vinsurkar and writers Saurabh Bhave and Himanshu Nimbhorkar make good use of silence here, ratcheting up ample suspense with sound effects and meaningful camera angles.

Time passes because the screenplay says it has, not because the world around the characters changes in any meaningful way.

Vir Hirani makes an assured and noteworthy acting debut, marred only by stilted dialogue delivery.

by Nandini Ramnath

Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in said that "Shatak is recruitment video, tutorial and pat on the back rolled into one.

This theme deserves better elaboration if there will be a follow-up season.

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